The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 335: The Third Prince Zhu Changxun
Minister of Rites Sun Yu and Minister of Works Lu Guangzu repeatedly resigned.

As usual, Wanli tried to persuade him to stay again and again.

The two of them went back home to retire.

The next step is for the Ministry of Personnel to recommend a successor.

Wanli wanted to promote the truly capable Lu Kun to be the Minister of Six Ministries.

The question is, will the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Office, which is controlled by Donglin, select Lu Kun?

If the rules of officialdom were followed, Lu Kun would most likely not be elected.

Because Lu Kun was a local official, even though he was also a third-rank official, the same rank as the six ministers, generally those who succeeded the six ministers had to be court officials.

In other words, officials who have served as assistant ministers or even ministers of six ministries.

If a local official wants to become a minister of one of the six ministries, he must first be transferred to the imperial court to take up the position.

Lu Kun had never served as a minister of one of the six ministries, nor had he ever been in the imperial court. Logically, he was not qualified to take over as the minister of one of the six ministries.

However, after Wanli used Meng Yanghao's article to create momentum, Lu Kun had already become the most famous celebrity among the Qingliu.

If we follow the rules of Qingliu, it would not be an exaggeration for Qingliu celebrities to directly enter the cabinet to assist in government affairs, and being the minister of the six ministries is nothing.

Now Donglin is the leader of the Qingliu, do they dare to break the rules of the Qingliu?

Of course they wouldn't dare. If they broke the rules of Qingliu, they would be exposed and would not be able to pretend to be Qingliu. In the future, the young people of Qingliu would not listen to them.

The rules of officialdom can be broken, but the rules of the clean stream must never be broken.

Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Office actually selected Lu Kun and recommended him as the Minister of Rites. However, Lu Kun was ranked last among the several candidates recommended.

However, even so, Shen Li was still very excited. It didn't matter if he was last in line, the key was that he could go up if His Majesty said so.

Early in the morning at about noon, he excitedly ran to the imperial study with a stack of memorials in his hands.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli couldn't help but ask, "Why, what's the big happy event today?"

Shen Li couldn't help but nod excitedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, they really chose Lu Kun, and he is the Minister of Rites."

What's so exciting about this?
If they dare not choose Lu Kun, they will be sent back for re-election. If they still don’t choose, Meng Yanghao will find some young men to question them why they didn’t choose.

In short, Lu Kun will definitely be selected this time.

Wanli glanced at the memorial and nodded slightly. "Well, let's choose Lü Kun as the Minister of Rites. As for the Minister of Works, who do you think is suitable?"

This is it.

Shen Li thought for a moment, then explained in detail: "Your Majesty, I think the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works Zeng Tongxiang is a good choice.

He became a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing, when the Yan Party was at its peak. He and Yan Song were from the same hometown, but he did not curry favor with Yan Song and his son.

When the Prime Minister was in power, his relative resigned due to a disagreement with the Prime Minister, and he also resigned due to illness.

When Yang Bo was in control of the Ministry of Personnel, it seemed that he was asked to abuse his power for personal gain, but he disagreed. Yang Bo directly called him a hypocrite.

He directly replied, "There are many secret cultivators among them, and they cannot be dismissed indiscriminately. Even if they are pretending to be so, who is worse than those who are shameless and aggressive?" Yang Bo was speechless.

Oh, that’s not bad. He even argued with Yang Bo.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, he'll be the Minister of Works."

The candidates for the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Works were decided in this way. It seemed that Wanli had chosen people from the upright ranks. However, these two people were a little different.

It would have been fine if they had shared it together, but Lu Kun was Shen Li's fellow villager, and they had a very good relationship.

When Lu Kun took office as the Minister of Rites, Shen Li seemed to be full of energy.

He used to feel lonely. After Yu Youcai left, he no longer had any acquaintances such as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet or the six ministers, and he felt a little alone.

If Wanli had not supported him, he would probably not have been able to continue his position as the chief minister of the cabinet.

Now that Lu Kun is here, he finally has a companion.

As the saying goes, a thousand cups of wine are not enough when meeting a close friend, but a single word is too much when there is no one to talk to. Now that my close friend is here, even drinking is exciting.

Time flies, and it is November in the blink of an eye.

While the cold wind was howling in the capital, the Qianqing Palace was filled with joy.

Because Queen Wang is about to give birth.

This is a top priority for the harem.

Everyone will feel uneasy if Queen Wang doesn't give birth to a legitimate royal son.

Although there have been many cases in history where people have fought for the throne to the point of bloodshed and even brothers killing each other, there are also people who don't want to fight.

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan didn't want to fight for it. She was born in Zhongzhou, where loyalty and righteousness were passed down from generation to generation. She really couldn't do such a thing as seizing the throne.

The problem is that she clearly has no ideas at all, but those civil servants with ulterior motives always use her as a target, stirring up disputes over the country's foundation again and again. She feels so uncomfortable.

As for Concubine Wang Gong, she had even less idea.

Her only wish was for her and her son to be safe and live a peaceful life. However, those officials with ulterior motives still wanted her precious son to be the crown prince.

How can she live a peaceful life?
Historically, her beloved son Zhu Changluo became the crown prince.

However, those civil servants with ulterior motives were fighting for the throne of the country and for the crown prince, and they did not care about the life and death of the mother and son at all.

In history, she was imprisoned in the cold palace, cried until her eyes were blinded, lived a life worse than a dog, and died a death even more miserable than a dog.

Taichang, the prince who was made the emperor through the hard work of the civil servants, was killed by those civil servants who fought for the throne after only one month on the throne.

How tragic was the fate of this mother and son in history?

At this moment, she really wanted Queen Wang to give birth to a legitimate royal son and quickly end the worrying dispute over the throne.

On the fourth day of the eleventh month, Guimao, around noon, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Wanli was just about to go to dinner with the concubines and the princes and princesses when Concubine Wang Gong suddenly ran over and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, the Empress is about to give birth."

She only had one son, Zhu Changluo, and Zhu Changluo was either practicing martial arts or learning military tactics every day. His day was fully scheduled and she didn't have to take care of him at all.

Therefore, she basically stayed by Queen Wang's side, helping to take care of the eldest princess and the second princess. Naturally, she was the first to know that Queen Wang was about to give birth.

Upon hearing this, Wanli couldn't help but ask nervously, "Have all the wives and concubines of Doctor Wanshen come?"

Concubine Wang Gong nodded repeatedly and said, "Some of them have been accompanying the Queen the entire time, and they are all gone now."

That's good.

Wanli said hurriedly: "Let's go too."

After saying that, he took Concubine Wang Gong and walked quickly towards Queen Wang's bedroom without even eating.

At this time, Queen Wang was already crying out in pain.

However, she was gentle and virtuous, and she had given birth to two children, so her cries of pain were not very loud, which made people less anxious.

Wanli had just sat down in the common room outside the bedroom when Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, Imperial Noble Consort Zhang and Imperial Noble Consort Zheng Xiangfei came over hand in hand with several princes and princesses.

Now, the originally small common room was packed with people.

Seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but ask with concern: "Why don't you eat? It's still not too late to come after you eat."

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan shook her head repeatedly and said, "It's okay, Your Majesty, it's okay to eat later."

You guys are fine, but the little ones are very hungry.

Wanli looked at the princes and princesses and said decisively, "Uncle, have them bring a small table over and put it on the bed. Let Luo'er, Xi'er, and Meimei eat first."

This room was originally a resting place for the palace maids on duty at night. A bed took up almost half of the space, so there was definitely no room for a dining table. However, a small table could be placed on the bed.

After a while, the little ones climbed onto the bed and started eating. Imperial Noble Concubine Qin Lan, Imperial Noble Concubine Zhang, Imperial Concubine Wang Gong and Imperial Concubine Zheng Xiang were busy picking up dishes, feeding them and coaxing them. They were very busy and happy.

Wanli was also a little restless, so he simply stood up and helped feed the two little princesses, just to kill time.

I don’t know how long it took, but finally a cry was heard from the bedroom.

Soon, one of the Wan brothers' wives and concubines came out with a happy face and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! It's a prince, and both mother and child are safe."

Ok.

When Wanli heard this, he couldn't help but smile.

Now that the emperor's legitimate son was finally born, there was no more dispute over the throne.

He can also concentrate on dealing with the Japanese pirates in Japan.

If the Wan brothers and their wives and concubines were not there, he might have to worry about the prince dying young. But with these people around, he didn't have to worry at all. None of the ten brothers of the Wan family died young, and their child-rearing skills were comparable to those of later generations.

This family has helped him a lot, but he seems to have not rewarded them much yet.

Wanli thought for a moment and said decisively, "Uncle, order someone to bring a few boxes of gold. Anyone who delivers a baby today will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold."

Oh, this is equivalent to tens of thousands of taels of silver each.

Seeing this, the wives and concubines of the Wan brothers bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Seeing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan couldn't help but sigh, "That's good now. Those people won't have anything to fight for."

Concubine Wang Gong also nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, the Queen finally gave birth to the Crown Prince. Now we can finally have some peace and quiet."

The sisters actually have a very good relationship and don't want to fight at all.

Concubine Zhang and Concubine Zheng Xiang did not give birth to a prince, so there was no question of whether to fight or not.

Concubine Zheng Xiang couldn't help but say, "Isn't it a coincidence that it's the third prince again this time?"

This is really a coincidence. Longqing is the third son of the emperor, and Wanli is also the third son of the emperor!
They are all the third sons of the emperor who inherit the throne.

Concubine Zhang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, what a coincidence. By the way, Your Majesty, what is the third brother's name?"

What is the name of the third prince?
Zhu Changxun!

(End of this chapter)