Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 209: Four generations living together, the most important gift of the royal family

Empress Dowager Li and Zhu Yijun certainly thought that the name Youjian was unlucky.

At that time, Zhu Yijun suffered his first stroke, and he was the king who lost his country as mentioned by the "Bodhisattva" in Zhu Changluo's mouth.

But now Zhu Changluo insisted on calling it this, and said it firmly, as if he was determined to suppress this fate.

Empress Dowager Li looked at Zhu Changluo as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself, then she just lowered her head and looked at her great-grandson in her arms.

After a long while, he forced a smile and looked up at his grandson: "Since the emperor has given the name, let's call it this..."

Zhu Changluo ordered someone to carry the child inside to lie down and rest. His mother and Queen Mother Wang also followed in to talk to Guo Lanzhi. Then he invited Queen Mother Li and Zhu Yijun to move to the Qianqing Palace.

In the West Warm Pavilion, Zhu Changluo said, "Let him call me by this name. I won't forget it day or night."

Zhu Yijun's eyes were complicated, and Empress Dowager Li could only sigh: "The emperor is thoughtful..."

"It has been two years since I started to supervise the country." Zhu Changluo looked at Zhu Yijun. "A few days ago, Jiangnan reported that in order to implement the strict preferential treatment and exemption, the officials and gentry of Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture, investigated the case and surrendered themselves. The county officials and gentry returned a total of more than 270,000 taels of stolen silver..."

Zhu Changluo took this opportunity not to show off his achievements to Zhu Yijun, but to let them know what difficulties they were facing.

Hearing about his son's drastic actions and resolute changes, Zhu Yijun was of course terrified.

Not to mention the one room and four courtyards, just the strict implementation of preferential exemptions and commercial taxes is like putting a knife on the necks of gentry all over the world.

Adding more officials and increasing their salaries, increasing gold and silver... many other things were also brought up by Zhu Changluo.

"With these five ministers, their powers will be greater than before, right? Emperor..." Empress Dowager Li was very worried that they would unite in the future to threaten the imperial power.

"My grandson has a request." Zhu Changluo looked at the two of them. "Grandmother, Father, with the military power in your hands, you are safe. The Privy Council is of utmost importance. When the important officials of the Privy Council gather in the capital, I hope that Grandmother and Father will be able to..."

What Zhu Changluo planned was to make all the important officials of the Privy Council feel the importance that the royal family attached to the Privy Council and to build another special loyalty within the loyalty.

The Privy Councilor Tian Le, Deputy Privy Councilors Li Wen and Wen Chun, Minister of War Jian Da, Right General of the Central Army Lü Zhaoxiong, Right General of the Front Army Li Hualong, Right General of the Left Army Xing Jie, Right General of the Rear Army Mei Guozhen, Right General of the Right Army Peng Guoguang, plus a Chief of Staff whose position is vacant, these are the important civilian officials of the Privy Council.

At this moment, the military officials also had to deal with the changes brought about by the establishment of the Privy Council.

Five grand commanders-in-chief and five left commanders-in-chief.

Among the three marquises and five earls conferred by the Xin Dynasty, Yu Zigao and Qi Zuoguo were still young in seniority, Dayun was directly in the Yongwei Camp and independent of the Five Prefectures, Li Chengliang, Liu Jing, and Xiao Ruxun were all in the Jing Camp, and only Ma Gui and Chen Lin were in Liaodong and Nanjing respectively.

"The Grand Commander is in the court, and the Left Commander is in the local area." Li Chenggong, the Earl of Xiangcheng, looked at Zhang Weixian, the Duke of Ying. "Duke Dingguo passed away. According to the rules, the legitimate grandson should inherit the title, so he must wait for the salary first. Marquis Wuding is now only focused on Changming. Don't the old meritorious officials want to fight for it this time?"

Zhang Weixian was a little depressed: "How can we fight? We are all in the Beijing camp. Who will get the turn of the Grand Commander of the Central Army and the Left Commander of the Central Army?"

The main problem is that they don't accomplish much.

After the reorganization of the Beijing Camp, apart from Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian, only Marquis Zhenyuan Gu Dali, Marquis Taining Chen Liangbi, and Marquis Dingxi's son Jiang Chengxun were willing to continue trying their luck in the army, and they all served as lieutenant generals in the Beijing Camp.

Add to that the list is Li Chenggong, the Earl of Xiangcheng, who came from Nanjing to Beijing.

The only old meritorious officials who could still be considered influential in the local army were the Duke of Qian, the Duke of Wei, the Earl of Xinjian and a few others.

At present, the five grand generals and five left generals have not been decided.

As soon as Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi passed away, the old officials in Beijing lost their backbone.

Now Zhang Weixian and his friends could only sigh to each other, feeling somewhat worried about their future.

"Will Marquis Zhangyong and Marquis Pinglu be sent outside the capital or not? We can't let them be the governors of a prefecture, right? How will Marquis Ningyuan still command the Beijing camp?"

"...Forget it, it's useless to think too much." Zhang Weixian waved his hand irritably, "Your Majesty will always think carefully."

Zhu Changluo was indeed thinking about the arrangements for military officials in the Privy Council.

He first decided on the important civil officials, but he did not discuss the important military officials with Tian Le.

This is not about distrust, but about establishing rules.

Among the military officials in the Privy Council, the five great governors and the five left governors did not have a core, because the real core was the emperor.

There is nothing wrong with using civil officials to control the military and to hold the reins tightly, but when the emperor, who has the most say, is prepared to stand on the side of the military officials, a better balance can be achieved.

Therefore, “dividing the cake” this time is also very important.

After Yu Qian was killed, the Ministry of War actually took precedence over the Five Military Commandery. During the Wanli period, the appointment of officials by the military commissions was no longer necessary, and the Five Military Commandery basically lost the power to select and appoint military officers.

As for military training and military intelligence, they are the responsibility of local governors, generals and their subordinate generals.

They had no hierarchical relationship with the Five Military Commission and did not need to report to the Five Military Commission, but reported directly to their superior governor or the imperial court.

But now that the Privy Council has been established, the role of the Five Military Commanderies and its position within the Privy Council need to be re-clarified.

The Five Military Commandery should undoubtedly command and train the troops well. If there is a war or other special missions, they should also be carried out in detail. Zhu Changluo has already thought about the positioning of the Five Military Commandery. Now he just needs to decide on the right candidates and balance the various military officials.

The Grand Commander in the capital should naturally take over the first stage of power in selecting military officers. How can he leave all the military personnel matters within the army to the civil officials?

As for the five left generals in the local areas... Zhu Changluo's idea was to allow them to establish a mobile army in every direction, while supervising the basic training of local garrisons and serving as front-line inspectors for the selection of military generals.

So in fact, the Left Commander-in-Chief is more important than the Grand Commander-in-Chief.

Also consider the combination of arms.

During the three days when court was suspended, although Zhu Changluo did not approve any memorials, he had been doing this.

After careful consideration, prioritize.

So on July 22, the Privy Council members who were already in Beijing, from Tian Le to Wen Chun, as well as Li Hualong, Li Chengliang, Zhang Weixian, Li Chenggong, Liu Jing, and Xiao Ruxun, were ordered to stay after the court meeting to meet the emperor.

The court meeting had already been held at the Huangji Gate, and the eight people went to the Qianqing Palace together. They knew that the civil and military officials came for different reasons.

Zhang Weixian and Li Chenggong were of course a little excited, as if they had a share!
When they arrived at the Qianqing Palace and heard the announcement and went into the hall, the eight people were all stunned.

In the Mingtang of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, the emperor did not sit on the throne.

There was actually a special chair in front of the throne. The emperor emeritus was half lying on it, while the emperor was standing beside him holding his eldest son who was only a few days old.

There were curtains on both sides behind the throne, and there were several people sitting behind it.

"Father, the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress are all here." Zhu Changluo looked at them, "Please pay your respects first. You all know how important the Privy Council is."

Tian Le, Wen Chun, Li Hualong, Li Chengliang and others were shocked. They were obviously the first group of ministers to see the complete royal family.

Apart from them, who else has seen the newborn eldest prince Tianyan?

Four generations living together was to show the importance of the Privy Council. To receive them in this way was the highest courtesy of the royal family.

"Min Tianle..."

"Your servant Li Chengliang..."

"minister……"

They kowtowed one by one, and the sound woke up the young eldest prince.

Amid the crying of the baby, the eight people excitedly and nervously performed the ceremony, and heard the emperor tell them to stand up.

After handing the child to Sun Moxin and carrying her to the back, Zhu Changluo looked at them, then turned to look at Zhu Yijun: "The most important affairs of the country are sacrifice and military affairs. Now, all military affairs are in the Privy Council. My family of four generations are here to see you, hoping that you will be loyal and virtuous, and be good at planning and fighting. Father is now unable to speak, and his hands and feet are inconvenient. He is also worried about the country, so he can only encourage you with his eyes."

The eight people all looked at the retired emperor, who was wearing a dragon robe but had a distorted face. They saw that his eyes were red and there was indeed expectation in his eyes.

Before Li Hualong was ordered to go to war, the emperor was still Zhu Yijun.

When he returned to the Forbidden City, the emperor had been replaced.

He had not expected this audience to be so grand, so he immediately stepped forward and knelt down, choking with sobs as he said, "How can I be so incompetent? I have been trusted by the Supreme Emperor and entrusted with the important task of commanding the army; and I have also been so kind to Your Majesty and entrusted with the affairs of the Nanjing Ministry of War..."

Only then did Li Chengliang and others realize that Li Hualong already had a clear destination.

Seeing Li Hualong step forward to express his loyalty first, the five meritorious officials naturally followed suit.

Wen Chun is the second to last, and Tian Le is the last.

The emperor always served on the side, holding one of the emperor's hands and asking them to come forward and shake it.

The retired emperor could not speak, but the emperor would speak words of encouragement on his behalf, and the retired emperor would move his pupils up and down with a look of entrustment, as if nodding.

After this intimate and solemn ceremony, Zhu Changluo said, "Go to Wuying Hall and wait. I will follow you."

This was the first time Li Hualong met the new emperor, and he was still a little dazed when he left the Qianqing Palace.

Li Hualong was not clear about what the Privy Council was like. After all, the emperor had not yet ordered him to attend any meeting.

However, the Privy Council was obviously treated differently from the other three houses.

Li Hualong has always been steady and cautious, so he didn't ask many questions on the way.

After arriving at the Wuying Palace, Tian Le thought for a moment and then said, "Before your majesty arrives, let me first tell Yu Tian the main points of the Privy Council. Yu Tian is going to Nanjing, and he will serve as the Minister of War and the Right Commander of the Front Army Commander's Office. The responsibility is heavy."

Li Chengliang and others were shocked and looked at Li Hualong.

Li Hualong was equally confused: "Front Army... Right Commander... Military position?"

(End of this chapter)