I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 489: Drink and dance

On the morning of the second day after the wedding, Zhu Yijun and Xue Baoqin got up early from the hibiscus tent, and with the help of palace maids, they put on court robes, crowns and jewelry, and prepared to meet the two palaces.

The normal order for the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess to pay homage to the two palaces is the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress and other concubines.

However, there were no Grand Empress Dowager or Empress Dowager in the Forbidden City, only a few concubines, who were not qualified to enjoy the ceremony of audience.

The Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial early on and has already agreed on the procedures.

According to the procedure, Zhu Yijun took Xue Baoqin, as well as the concubines Dong Linglong, Ge Xiuyun, and Zeng Wan'er, who were taken in at the same time, to the Renshou Hall in the Western Garden first.

There are many people in Chonghua Palace, so they need to be welcomed in two batches.

Xue Baoqin was the Crown Princess and was officially married. The concubines who accompanied her were Dong Linglong, Ge Xiuyun and Zeng Wan'er.

Song Liuli is a concubine, and she and the other two women will wait for two days.

Zhu Yijun and Xue Baoqin, along with their three daughters, Dong, Ge and Zeng, bowed eight times to the portrait of the late Emperor Jiajing in the Renshou Hall and presented dates and chestnuts.

It can be considered as meeting the ancestors.

The five men then entered the Forbidden City and first paid homage to Emperor Longqing in the Qianqing Palace, performed eight bows, and presented dates and chestnuts.

Then he went to Kunning Palace to meet Empress Chen and present the meat.

After the audience, Emperor Longqing and Empress Chen held a banquet in the Qianqing Palace. All the concubines, imperial concubines, princes and princesses in the Forbidden City who were able to move came to attend. Zhu Yijun brought Xue Baoqin with him to introduce these people to her.

In fact, Zhu Yijun didn’t know most of them, so Wanfu stood by and introduced them to him one by one.

The same thing continued on the second day, and on the third day the washing and feeding ceremony was held.

That is, Crown Princess Xue Baoqin hosted a banquet in the East Palace to invite the Emperor, the Empress, the Dowager Consort, the imperial concubines and others.

According to etiquette, this matter was handled by the Crown Princess. Zhu Yijun stood aside and went to the Qinzheng Hall in the Western Garden to handle military and national affairs.

Hu Zongxian, the Minister of Military Affairs and the Minister of Supervision, was reporting. Other ministers, including Gu Huan, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, Tan Lun, the Minister of War, Liang Menglong, the Deputy Governor of the Right Army Office and the temporary military commander of the sea, were sitting at the bottom.

"Your Highness, the cities of Pyongyang, Seoul, Haeju, and Yangzhou in Korea have been conquered, and the rebel leaders Lee Chan-do and Choi Gwang-jung have surrendered. The Eastern Expedition to quell the rebellion can now come to an end."

Hu Zongxian was originally granted the title of General Military Administration and Supervisor of Military Affairs. However, an imperial censor wrote a memorial saying that the previous emperor's temple had an imperial edict that the system was not something that a minister could use, so he changed the title of General Military Administration to Supervisor of Military Affairs.

Since it was the emperor who said it and it had nothing to do with the overall situation, Zhu Yijun could not refute it and accepted it humbly.

"Urgent report from Lanzhou: Huo Jing and Huo Bian gathered 4,500 cavalrymen from their old army and formed the West Sea Camp. They marched into Qinghai and defeated Wei Wushen and other tribes, beheaded 2,100 people, captured more than 50,000 people, and more than 300,000 cattle and sheep. Now that winter has arrived, they are temporarily residing at Cuoka Zanan Monastery west of Qinghai Lake."

Zhu Yijun nodded and continued to listen quietly.

"An urgent report from Datong: Minister Wang said the plan is going on as normal and results will be seen soon. Governor Huo has issued strict orders to the border towns of Xuanhua, Datong, and Shanxi to be on high alert and ready to respond at any time."

Zhu Yijun and Hu Zongxian both knew about the plan that Wang Daokun mentioned.

"I hope everyone's efforts will not be in vain. I also hope to learn about Tumed as soon as possible. The world is so big, and the places that the Ming Dynasty's sailboats and iron hooves can go are vast and boundless. I don't want to be entangled in Altan Khan and this corner of the desert for too long."

Everyone quickly responded, "Your Highness is wise."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, "Okay, Mr. Mingquan, tell me about the South China Sea and the Eastern Wo."

Liang Menglong said: "Your Highness, winter has arrived in the north, but the South China Sea has entered the non-rainy season, which is the best time to use troops. Dong'anzi Chen Lin and Xuanping Hou Wu Weizhong led the South China Sea Navy's right camp and the naval and land forces to besiege the Qinghua City occupied by the Zheng family of Annan.

Zheng Jian, the head of the Zheng family, surrendered and defended at times, hesitating and indecisive.

His eldest son Zheng Hui was determined not to surrender. He said that our dynasty's naval and land forces had come from afar, and it would not be long before they would retreat in disgrace like in the Yongle period. Instead of surrendering, it would be better to hold on to the end and occupy the righteous position. By then, when our dynasty's troops retreated, Zheng would raise his arms and call for help, and people would respond in droves.

Zheng Jian was bewitched by him and refused to surrender, ordering his troops to hold on. However, our army approached by land and sea, bombarding day and night, and Thanh Hoa City could not hold out. Zheng Jian began to waver again and sent Shijie to contact our army, intending to surrender.

Zheng Hui hated him and killed his father Zheng Jian, then killed the leader of the Le clan, Le Weibang, and the minister Le Jidi, and established himself as the Grand Master, the General, and the King of Ping An. His brother Zheng Song had been secretly in contact with our army for a long time, and took advantage of the situation to open the city gate and welcome our army into the city.

Zheng Hui knew that the situation was hopeless, so he gathered his family and burned himself. After the capture of Qinghua City, Zheng Song surrendered.

Zhu Yijun could not help but sneer, "It is true that the temple is small but the demons are strong, and the water is shallow but the turtles are numerous. Annan occupies a tiny place, but it has been divided into so many families and created so many problems.

What about the Nguyen clan in Hue?"

“Your Highness, the Nguyen clan of Annan used Hue City as its capital and ruled Hue and Quang Nam, bordering the Zheng clan in the north and Champa in the south.

The head of the Nguyen family, Nguyen Hoang, was the grandson of Nguyen Hong Huu, the powerful minister of the Le Dynasty of Annan, and the son of Nguyen Gan, the Grand Tutor and Duke of Xing Quoc.

Mo Dangyong of the Mo clan usurped the throne and killed his master, claiming to be the ruler of Annan. Nguyen Gan welcomed the orphan of the Le clan as the ruler, and endured hardships in Ailao for ten years before recovering Thanh Hoa and using it as the foundation for a reversal.

After Nguyen Gan's death, all power was handed over to his son-in-law Zheng Jian. Nguyen Hoang knew that he could not defeat him, so he asked to go to Hue to defend against Champa, and then establish himself as the leader.

After our right camp navy recaptured Thanh Hoa City, it continued to move south. The Nguyen army was small and weak, and most of them surrendered. When our army arrived at the city, Nguyen Hoang led more than 400,000 soldiers and civilians to surrender in front of our army.

Now the families of Nguyen, Zheng Song and others have been relocated to Guangzhou and other places. Our army has taken over Thanh Hoa and Hue, which are temporarily governed by the Annan Provincial Secretary. "

Zhu Yijun said with relief: "The matter of Annan has finally come to an end."

Among the various vassal states in Annan, the Mo clan was the most powerful, occupying the capital city of Thang Long, and had the greatest influence. If the Mo clan was destroyed, the remaining vassal states would not be a big problem.

Zhu Yijun bestowed great rewards immediately after the Mo family was destroyed in order to boost morale.

If you wait until all the separatist forces, big and small, are destroyed before you give out rewards, it will take too long. The morale of the soldiers on both the navy and the army would have been worn out long ago.

After being awarded rewards, the naval and land generals of the two armies in the South China Sea took turns to go to Beijing to receive the titles and rewards. After returning, they shouted loudly, each of them was like a tiger, and swept the South China Sea with their naval and land armies.

Be encouraging in time!
Liang Menglong continued, "Our dynasty sent an expulsion order to Malacca, but the Portuguese ignored it. Tong'an Earl Yu Dayou and Fu'an Earl Zhang Yuanxun led the South China Sea Navy's Left Camp and Land Warfare Camp to besiege Malacca.

Four Portuguese warships were sunk, seven were captured, 479 people were killed, and 6,129 people were captured. Zhang Yuanxun now entered Malacca and began to build walls and strengthen fortifications. Yu Dayou led the left camp to assist in the defense of the strait, and sent out patrol boats to cruise westward to guard against the attack of Portuguese ships.

Thang Long City was conquered, the Mo clan of Annam was destroyed, and the biggest thorn in the Ming Dynasty's side in the South China Sea was removed. The rest could not cause any major waves.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty's naval and land forces were crushing the South China Sea region.

Especially with the Suzaku Navy, which has twelve battleships as its main force stationed in the South China Sea, no one can do anything about it!
Spain and Portugal, unless they put all their national strength into it, still have a chance to defeat the Suzaku Navy and the South China Sea Navy. But their navies are all over the world and they are busy making a lot of money. Can they put all their national strength into competing with the Ming Dynasty for this corner of the South China Sea?

The navy, wanting to save face, agreed, but the nobles and merchants refused, as this would delay their ability to make money.

Zhu Yijun understood these Europeans better. They only cared about money and not about shame.

The hatred of the enemy who killed your father and stole your wife?

As long as you don't beat me to death, there will still be business to do and money to make, and we are still good brothers!
Of course, there are definitely religious fanatics who put Catholicism first, and there are also die-hards who only care about face. These people should just be beaten to death!
We only talk to reasonable people.

The current strategy of the Ming Dynasty towards the two countries is to promote peace through war.

Let's see the truth on the battlefield first. Once the Portuguese and Spanish have been hurt, they will naturally sit down and talk slowly about doing business together and how to make money together.

After discussing the South China Sea issue, Zhu Yijun started talking about the situation in Eastern Japan.

"The situation in East Japan has changed again. Mr. Mingquan, please tell us about it."

"Yes, Your Highness. After the Japanese envoys returned home, some people were unwilling to accept the result and gathered a group of people. Under the banner of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, they said they would defend the emperor to the death and angrily denounced Ashikaga Yoshiteru and the other lords as traitors.

These people incited public opinion and indeed received the response of some low-ranking samurai. They attacked and killed several shogunate officials who supported peace talks with the Ming Dynasty, as well as several lords and retainers.

The Japanese shogunate and several major feudal lords have been very arrogant and have changed their attitude towards peace talks with the Ming Dynasty. "

Zhu Yijun chuckled: "Loyalty to the emperor and patriotism? These people are just using the banner of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism to deceive people and achieve their own ulterior motives.

Since Japan is going back and forth, let them be. We are just like nephews holding lanterns, and we will continue with the previous measures and intensify them. No one is allowed to go to sea.
The rations for the Eastern Expedition Army can be purchased directly from Japan. They can be purchased with tea, sugar, liquor, and discarded swords and guns. Those lords, big and small, are the best at making the people suffer.

The Japanese people are also the best at endurance. They would rather starve to death than not support the restoration of the kingly way."

"As ordered!"

Everyone responded in unison.

The fourth day of the wedding is the temple meeting.

Zhu Yijun took Xue Baoqin with him, wearing sacrificial clothes, and went to the Taimiao first to offer sacrifices to the second ancestor and perform the ritual of kneeling and worshipping. After offering sacrifices to the ancestors, Zhu Yijun, the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, got married.

The two then went to Fengxian Temple to continue worshipping their ancestors.

The spirit tablets of ancestors who were not qualified to enter the Taimiao, including Emperor Longqing's biological mother, Zhu Yijun's biological grandmother, and biological mother Li, are all enshrined in the Fengxian Hall.

The Taimiao is the ancestral temple of the royal family, and the Fengxian Hall is the emperor's ancestral temple.

Offer sacrifices, kneel down and worship, and pay homage to the ancestors.

On the fifth day, ministers and eunuchs Da Diao Yan were sent again to bring back concubine Song Liuli to the East Palace. The concubines who followed her were Xu Youlian and Wang Lan'er.

The whole ceremony was not as grand as that of Xue Baoqin, but among Zhu Yijun's concubines, Song Liuli was the only one besides Xue Baoqin who enjoyed the treatment of being married.

The rest are called Na.

The sixth day is a celebration.

Civil and military officials, as well as royal nobles, dressed in court robes, entered the Huangji Hall to express their congratulations to Emperor Longqing.

All the officials, royal family members, and noble ladies dressed in their best attire entered the Kunning Palace to express their congratulations to Queen Chen.

Congratulations on the prince’s wedding, and may the ancestors’ country prosper forever.

Emperor Longqing gave a banquet in the Huangji Hall, and Chen gave a banquet in the main hall of the Kunning Palace, entertaining civil and military officials, royal family nobles, and ladies of honor respectively.

Since he was only the crown prince and not the emperor yet, there was no need for the civil and military officials and ladies to pay their respects to Zhu Yijun and Xue Baoqin separately, or for them to go up to Chengtian Gate together to accept congratulations from the military and civilians.

Far north of Datong, in the tent of King Dabansheng Tumed, Altan Khan was also holding a birthday banquet.

His birthday is on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the birthday party starts six days in advance.

First, envoys from various tribes presented birthday gifts, and then his younger brothers, nephews, and grandchildren took turns to come forward to kowtow and wish him a happy birthday and present gifts.

Huo Ji also sent an envoy to present a warm jade Buddha statue, a pair of jade carvings of fertility and good fortune, a pair of Jingdezhen colorful and rich vases, and six kilograms of famous teas such as Lu'an Guapian, Biluochun, and Huoshan Maojian as congratulations.

After celebrating the birthday, Altan Khan ordered a grand banquet to entertain envoys from all parties who came to celebrate the birthday, as well as his younger brothers, nephews, and grandchildren.

Cattle and sheep were slaughtered, and jars of fine wine were brought in from the south. The nobles sat in several large tents that were sheltered from the wind and rain, eating roasted mutton, drinking fine wine, and watching beautiful women dancing. They were very happy.

The rest sat in circles around the campfire on the grassland, eating roasted mutton and drinking wine given by Altan Khan, having a great time and laughing.

Altan Khan held a banquet in the royal tent to entertain important guests.

Everyone was toasting each other. Just after they had drunk a few bowls of wine, Bosihaer hurried in, glanced at everyone with an anxious look, forced a smile and greeted everyone, then went straight to the top, leaned close to Aldan Khan's ear, and spoke in a low voice.

"Khan, those people ran away!"

These words sounded like spring thunder in Altan Khan's ears.

(End of this chapter)