Daming: I am the Crown Prince

The ninth day of the eleventh lunar month in the 30th year of Hongwu was Zhu Yunhuan’s birthday, a day of great special significance to many people.

Although Zhu Yunhuan had previously intended to keep a low profile and not hold a grand celebration on his birthday, he was the crown prince after all, so even if the celebration was simple, he would not really not hold any celebration at all.

After all, he was the crown prince, so there were some things he had to do, such as offering sacrifices and accepting congratulations. Apart from other things, if the officials of the Eastern Palace did not come to pay homage, it would be their fault.

The crown prince has the responsibilities of a crown prince, and the ministers have things to do, so even if you can be low-key, you still need to do what you should do.

Everyone understands this principle, so they will naturally abide by the rules of the game tacitly. It’s good for you, it’s good for me, and it’s good for everyone!
This year is very special for many people. The Crown Prince’s birthday can be said to be the most obvious signal. The next step is to start preparing for the ceremony of the new emperor’s enthronement.

In previous years, all people needed to consider was the birthday of the crown prince. For the birthday of the crown prince, everything should be done according to the ceremony and rules, and there was no need to consider other things.

But this year is a different story, everyone is now preparing for what's to come. It seems that everyone has to prepare to perform well, and Daming will officially start to change its head.

Zhu Yunhuan got up early, changed into his crown and clothes, and immediately started to get busy, because people from the Eastern Palace would also come to congratulate him.

Seizing the opportunity, after accepting the worship, Zhu Yunxun said, "Grandma Consort, you will arrange all the rewards for the East Palace."

Xu Miaojin naturally would not have any objection. When some happy events occurred, rewards should be given. Everyone knew this, and Zhu Yunhuan and Xu Miaojin had always done so.

The Eastern Palace seemed to be an iron barrel from top to bottom, and was managed in an orderly manner by Zhu Yunhuan and Xu Miaojin. This could be considered an area under their complete control, and the people in the Eastern Palace could basically be called their confidants.

It is not an easy task to do all this. If you want to win the hearts of the people in the Eastern Palace, you can't just rely on power and means. Some favors are naturally indispensable.

Zhu Yunhuan hurried to the Huagai Palace, and when he saw Old Zhu, he bowed with great respect, "I, your grandson Zhu Yunhuan, kowtow to your grandfather, the Emperor."

Old Zhu spoke kindly and gently, "Today is the Crown Prince's birthday, you can go to the ancestral temple to offer sacrifices."

This is to give Zhu Yunhuan some privileges. If it was just an ordinary birthday, he could just go to the Fengtian Temple to offer sacrifices, etc. This can be regarded as a practice that suits his status.

But the "ancestral temple" mentioned by Zhu is not just a simple ancestral temple. It also includes the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which is a treatment only the emperor can enjoy.

Zhu Yunhuan did not pretend to be polite and directly accepted the order and said, "Sun Chen will obey your majesty's order."

Old Zhu smiled and continued, "Grandson, you are the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the first heir of my royal family. Today, all the royal families of Yingtian Prefecture should kowtow before you."

Zhu Yunhuan looked up at Old Zhu, and just by looking at Old Zhu's expression, he swallowed back any words of objection he wanted to say. It would be better not to argue with Old Zhu at this time, and just accept whatever arrangement was made.

Seeing that Zhu Yunhuan had no intention of being stubborn, Old Zhu was very pleased. His grandson was good in every way, except that he was too opinionated sometimes, which gave Old Zhu a lot of headaches.

As the crown prince, Zhu Yunhuan could accept congratulations from his brothers and sisters, let alone greetings from them. Even if his uncles saluted him in formal occasions, he could accept the greetings with peace of mind. No one would say anything about it. This was the law of etiquette.

Old Zhu immediately stood up and said, "Let's go, follow me to the court."

Zhu Yunxun immediately stood up and went forward to help Old Zhu, "Where's Wen Yao? He hasn't gotten up yet at this hour?"

Old Zhu immediately became proud and said, "I knew he would have something to do today, so I tried to tease him last night even though he was sleepy. It looks like he won't get up until the court is over."

The court session was already early, so it was normal that Zhu Wenyao had not gotten up. In addition, he was deliberately made very sleepy, so he was now fast asleep and got up later than usual.

There is nothing that can be done about it. After all, Zhu Wenyao is particularly attached to Zhuge Liang. Even if Concubine Guo Ning helps to take care of him, it won't work.

After waking up, Zhu Wenyao always wanted only Old Zhu. Now that he is a little older, others can take him out to play for a while during the day. But once he gets sleepy, he will definitely cry and ask for his grandfather.

Even Xu Miaojin knew clearly that although Zhu Wenyao seemed to be close to her, she could not take care of him for long, because the first person the child thought of was his great-grandfather.

The grandfather and grandson talked as they walked leisurely towards the Fengtian Hall. Naturally, a series of ceremonies followed.

Old Zhu waved his hand and said, "Go outside the palace. It's already this late. Don't let people laugh at you or say you're impatient."

Zhu Yunhuan was speechless for a moment at Zhu's joke. Naturally, he was just making fun of his "pretentiousness" during this period, and he had to go outside the palace every time he went to court.

"No one says I'm anxious now, so what's there to be anxious about?" Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "I am not afraid of my own shadow, but I am afraid of some people making groundless accusations."

Old Zhu naturally wouldn't really care. Zhu Yunhuan was able to remain calm at this time, which was a very good quality. Not making mistakes and not being impatient at this time would only be praised by everyone.

As to whether it is pretense or just superficial work, it actually doesn’t matter much.

I am afraid that some people are too lazy to pretend at this point, and that is what makes people most worried.

Everyone naturally understands the truth and knows exactly what to do. At this time, it is even more necessary to remain rational and sober, and not to become carried away by success.

As usual, Zhu Yunhuan arrived at Fengtian Gate on time. It can also be said that he was on time. Seeing the crown prince nod slightly, the eunuch swung the whip, and a group of ministers immediately followed Zhu Yunhuan to the court.

As soon as the civil and military officials entered the hall and stood in line, they heard the news that the emperor had ascended the throne. Naturally, they hurried to pay their respects. This was not surprising news to anyone, as the crown prince's birthday was a big event after all.

Old Zhu, dressed in a royal robe, sat on the dragon throne and looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "The Crown Prince's birthday is a great joy for the country and a major event for the dynasty."

Zhu Yunhuan was a little embarrassed. He was still just the crown prince, and it would be a bit exaggerated to say so now. It would be more legitimate to say so after he became the emperor.

Although he complained in his heart, he certainly wouldn't say it out loud. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be low emotional intelligence, but it would be going against the emperor's wishes, which was obviously unacceptable.

Old Zhu continued, "Officials of the Eastern Palace and royal family members will follow the Crown Prince to offer sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple." The officials had no objections. It seemed a bit beyond the normal specifications, but the Crown Prince was the heir to the throne and he was about to ascend the throne, so offering sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple would not be a big deal.

"Order the fourth and fifth grandsons to go to the Eastern Mausoleum to offer sacrifices to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess." Old Zhu continued to arrange tasks, saying, "The fourth grandson of the emperor must supervise the construction of the Eastern Mausoleum and must not slack off."

Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxi immediately stepped forward to receive the order. Usually they were not qualified to attend the court, but today they had to attend the court. As for going to the Eastern Tomb to offer sacrifices, etc., this was also what they should do.

The work of supervising the construction of the Eastern Mausoleum was legitimate, after all, they were all descendants of Zhu Biao. Moreover, everyone knew that it was just a title, and it did not necessarily mean that they had to make many decisions.

Zhu Yunhuan was still the same as before. He basically kept a low profile at this time and would not speak if he could. Many things could be arranged by the emperor. It was not the turn of him, the crown prince, to make decisions.

What's more, some things are easy to offend people, or are quite sensitive, so it's better for them to have no presence.

Zhu Yunhuan knows very well when to stand out and when to keep a low profile. Now he just needs to do what he should do.

After all, Zhu Yunhuan was the crown prince, so compared to the emperor's birthday, both the rituals and other aspects were much more low-key. Even though Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince, had a special status, he was just a crown prince after all.

Therefore, many things could not meet the emperor's standards, and Zhu Yunhuan also thought that he did not need to pay attention to those details, and it would be better to have a slightly longer-term vision.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan, a slight smile on his face, "Grandson, today you will offer sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and you must inform the heavens. This is the 30th year of Hongwu, and next year the reign will be changed to Chengkang."

Many civil and military officials were also very surprised. In fact, many people were paying attention to the issue of the reign title. Some officials who considered themselves to be talented in literature also considered it carefully. The emperor had also ordered the Hanlin Academy and others to draft it.

But there has been no movement until now, and now the emperor has directly announced the reign title in advance, and it seems that he doesn't care about other people's opinions at all.

But if you think carefully about the emperor's character, all of this seems to be natural and there is basically nothing strange about it. Emperor Hongwu only believes in himself in many things.

Since the reign title Hongwu had already been set, the title Chengkang seemed to be nothing special. It was simple and crude, and it also reflected the emperor's direct intentions.

Old Zhu continued, "The Book of Songs says: 'When the people have stopped working hard, they can finally enjoy a moderate prosperity.' The Book of Rites also states: 'Now that the great principles have been hidden, the world has become a family; rites and righteousness are used as rules to regulate the relationship between ruler and minister, to strengthen the relationship between father and son, to bring harmony between brothers, to bring harmony between husband and wife, to establish systems, to establish fields and villages... This is called a moderate prosperity."

"Moderate Prosperity" has a very long history, which also shows that Zhu Yuanzhang had many expectations for Zhu Yunhuan.

A well-off society is a prosperous era described in history books as occurring under the rule of Yu the Great during the Xia Dynasty, Tang of the Shang Dynasty, King Wen, King Wu, King Cheng, and Duke Zhou of the Zhou Dynasty.

As for posthumously conferring the title of "Emperor Xiaokang" on Zhu Biao, this was also something that had to be done. Setting Zhu Yunhuan's reign title as "Chengkang" was both reasonable and thoughtful.

However, everyone obviously had no objection. The emperor had decided on the reign title, and the crown prince didn't seem to have any objection either. Even if others had opinions, it obviously wouldn't have much impact.

Another thing has been made clear, the reign title has also been decided, and now we just have to wait for the Crown Prince to officially ascend the throne in seven days.

The morning court looked just like this, and everyone knew that today's morning court was different from previous ones, which was completely understandable.

In the final analysis, this morning's court session is only to celebrate the Crown Prince's birthday, and other government affairs can be put off until later.

After finishing the morning court, Zhu Yunhuan immediately led the officials of the Eastern Palace and the royal family and nobles towards the Taimiao.

For Zhu Yunhuan, there was nothing else to do that day. If he wanted to have a meal with his family, he had to wait until all his serious work was finished.

Morning court, offering sacrifices, receiving congratulations, etc., these are the main tasks. Only after finishing these things can you get some leisure time to get together with your family.

The so-called officials of the Eastern Palace, at a glance, are just the six ministers and some nobles. Ministers with a little weight in the court basically have been given official titles by the Eastern Palace.

Everyone has long been accustomed to this. After all, with the promotion in the Eastern Palace, he can barely be considered the Crown Prince's confidant.

The etiquette and so on have been established long ago. Don't say that today is a birthday to worship. In fact, in ordinary years, when there are festivals such as the New Year and the New Year, it is also necessary to worship in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

The process is actually almost the same. The only difference is that some adjustments need to be made to the sacrificial temple. These are not difficult for Zhu Yunhuan, as he had already memorized them.

After the sacrifice, Zhu Yunhuan came to the Wenhua Hall and began to officially ascend the throne. This time, all court officials were required to participate in the congratulations.

Zhu Yunhuan was very busy. These were all things he needed to do well. He could not be careless in any of them. He needed to do these things well at this critical juncture.

"I've taken a look and it seems that things are almost done." Zhu Yunhuan said to Zhang Fusheng, "Arrange a banquet. All those who have a title, whether they have inherited the title or not, will be given food."

Zhang Fusheng naturally wrote down these things. Giving a banquet was to entertain the ministers. Giving dishes was to "pack" some dishes and send them to the mansions of these ministers.

As for titles, some of them are hereditary, but for various reasons the titles are not inherited temporarily, which is also a possible situation.

Daoyan also took the initiative to speak at this time, saying, "Your Highness, I believe that there have always been rules for giving away food, and everything can be done according to past practices."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly, "That makes sense. There is really nothing to worry about regarding the gift of food."

This is the actual situation. Things like giving food as a gift should be done according to the usual practice, and everyone knows what to do.

Daoyan said quickly, "Your Highness, I think the nobles who have not yet inherited the title can be allowed to inherit the title at your discretion."

Zhu Yunhuan was silent at this moment. Daoyan's intention was very clear, which was to win over some meritorious officials. Most of the meritorious officials were from Huaixi, and they were Zhu Yunhuan's "base".

Although the imperial court has been strictly reducing the number of nobles in recent years, it is still necessary to show favor when it is necessary. (End of this chapter)