Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"It would be highly inappropriate to confine His Highness to Chengtian Prefecture."

Yan Shifan pondered for a long time,

"If we are not mistaken, this prince is actually His Majesty's eldest son. His Majesty's desire for him to inherit the title of Prince Xing and be enfeoffed in Chengtian Prefecture is truly ill-considered."

Having just found his lost son, His Highness even rushed into the fire with Lu Bing to save the Emperor. Naturally, His Majesty wanted to treat him very well.

His Majesty probably didn't think too deeply about it at the time.

Before the southern tour, His Majesty had already formally appointed the second son, Zhu Zaiyi, as the crown prince. It would be inappropriate to change the order so easily. How could the crown prince, who had committed no wrongdoing, be deposed without cause?

Even if His Majesty wanted to first enfeoff the eldest son as the Prince of Xing, and then find an opportunity to change the crown prince in the future, it would not be a good idea.

His Majesty has few heirs, so it is only natural to be overjoyed to suddenly find his eldest son, who has grown up.

However, due to the scarcity of offspring, His Majesty has never encountered the same problem that long-lived emperors of all dynasties often faced.

That is because the Crown Prince has been the heir apparent for too long, has too many cronies, and his power is too great, so the Eastern Palace has begun to threaten the imperial power.

According to His Majesty's announcement to his ministers, this prince is now nineteen years old, only twelve years younger than His Majesty!

He's actually too old to be the crown prince!

Your Majesty is in the prime of life, in good health, and is also obsessed with the pursuit of immortality. If you are indeed destined for a long life, having an overly old crown prince may not be a blessing for the nation in the future.

Father may subtly raise this concern when he has a private audience with His Majesty.

Your Majesty is exceptionally intelligent and values ​​imperial power highly, so you naturally understood immediately.

From this perspective, the theory of conflicting dragon energies that the old Taoist priest Tao Zhongwen talked about actually makes some sense.

In this light, Tao Zhongwen's persuasion of His Majesty to include this overly old prince in the imperial register as an heir of Emperor Xian was truly a far-sighted scheme.

If he is a son of Emperor Xian, then he would be Your Majesty's younger brother, and his succession would be behind that of the other princes.

Your Majesty's biggest worry all these years has been that he will die out. As far as Your Majesty is concerned, it doesn't really matter which son will inherit the throne.

The Crown Prince, Prince Yu, and Prince Jing are all still young. By the time they grow up and become powerful, His Majesty will be old, so there is no need to worry too much about the Eastern Palace threatening the imperial power.

This eldest prince is nominally His Majesty's younger brother. As long as there is another prince, the throne will not be his to inherit. In addition, being enfeoffed in a remote region, he has no chance to threaten the imperial power.

If His Majesty were to die out like Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Wuzong in the future, this prince would be the rightful heir, ensuring that the lineage of Prince Xing would not be cut off.

Even if His Majesty wanted His Highness to succeed to the throne as the eldest son, it would be simple: leave a will explaining the truth, and the order of generations wouldn't be confused.

"Donglou truly deserves to be called the unicorn of the Yan family."

Yan Song couldn't help but praise,

"That's right. His Majesty values ​​imperial power highly and will not tolerate anyone touching it, not even his own son!"

The reason His Majesty hasn't considered this is simply because the princes are not yet adults.

Your Majesty is exceptionally intelligent; you will surely understand immediately.

Once His Majesty understands this, he will no longer insist on His Highness inheriting the title of Prince Xing, nor will he insist on him taking up his fief in Chengtian Prefecture.

On the contrary, they should try their best to confirm his status as the son of Emperor Xian.

After Your Majesty has thought it through, you will no longer insist on using the character "辰" or "尘". I will choose a character that contains the radical for fire and is somewhat related to those two characters.

The character "尘" means "dust" or "dust" as a deer running and kicking up dust, signifying wandering and lowliness. It is inappropriate to use it for royalty and nobility, so it should be rejected outright.

We could try to find a solution for the character "辰".

Chen refers to the time of sunrise. The sun is called Chen, and adding the fire radical makes it "Yu". This name perfectly conforms to the rules of naming based on the Five Elements, while also retaining the meaning of the character "Chen".

His Majesty should agree.

But even this is probably not enough to fulfill His Majesty's expectations of his father. Tao Zhongwen must have had his reasons for persuading His Majesty to enfeoff His Highness in Chengtian Prefecture.

It's very likely what you just guessed: using the Hidden Dragon Land to suppress the Hidden Dragon's aura.

Now that Your Majesty has already believed it, even if Old Tao wanted to change his mind, he couldn't. How can I, as Your Majesty, share your burdens?

"Father, who said that one must be enfeoffed in Chengtian Prefecture to stay there?"

Yan Shifan laughed heartily.

"If it were another vassal king, it might be difficult to find a reason."

Your Majesty's words are law; this prince is the son of Emperor Xian!

The Xianling Mausoleum of Emperor Ruizong Xian is about to be expanded, and Empress Dowager Jiang's coffin will also be transported to Xianling to be buried with Emperor Xian. This is actually the most important thing of this southern tour.

Now that His Majesty is here, it is natural that His Majesty will personally oversee this matter.

But His Majesty is the Son of Heaven and will soon return to the capital. The capital is far from Chengtian Prefecture, and it is not easy to make a round trip.

After Your Majesty returns to the capital, wouldn't the most suitable person to preside over the expansion of the Xianling Mausoleum be another son of Emperor Xian?

The expansion of the imperial mausoleum was no small matter; it took a long time. The main construction alone took several years, and with the surrounding works, more than a decade had passed.

Not only is the expansion project of Xianling Mausoleum underway, but His Majesty is also extremely busy with state affairs, so it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to come to Chengtianfu to pay respects in the future.

As His Majesty's younger brother, it is only right that he should pay homage to Emperor Ruizong and Empress Dowager Jiang on behalf of his elder brother every year.

Although His Highness's fiefdom is not Chengtian Prefecture, he can still reside here permanently.

As for the fiefdom, His Highness can choose a prefecture that is right next to Chengtian Prefecture, which would make it convenient for His Highness to travel between the two places.

It would be difficult for Xia Yan and his group to find fault with this method. His Majesty had already made a big concession, and they dared not continue to go against His Majesty's will.

In this way, Your Majesty's worries will be easily resolved.

"Having solved this problem for His Majesty, His Majesty will surely look at my father in a different light."

. . .

March 22nd, Chengtian Prefecture.

Wearing a bright red prince's robe, Lu Chen once again entered the city gate of Chengtian Prefecture.

Since the southern inspection team arrived in Chengtian Prefecture on March 11, Emperor Jiajing had kept Lu Chen at Fengle Post Station, more than 30 kilometers north of the city.

During those eleven days, the Jiajing Emperor did many things.

First, he led his officials to pay homage at Xianling Mausoleum. Due to severe flooding in the old mausoleum city, Emperor Jiajing abandoned the original plan to relocate the mausoleum and personally finalized the plan to build a new mausoleum city and connect it to the old mausoleum city through Yaotai, thus establishing the expansion plan.

They also offered sacrifices to Heaven at the Longfei Hall, with Emperor Ruizong as their counterpart.

Afterwards, he also received Zhu Xianrong, the Prince of Chu, who had come from Wuchang to pay homage. The Jiajing Emperor hosted a banquet for him and bestowed upon him a book, and then sent officials to escort him back to his fief.

On March 20, the Jiajing Emperor received the congratulations of civil and military officials and local officials in the Longfei Hall, issued the "Imperial Edict", exempted Chengtian Prefecture from taxes for three years, exempted two-fifths of the land rent in Huguang for the following year, and granted a general amnesty.

The Emperor's return to the capital was scheduled for March 23.

It wasn't until the very last day before his departure that the imperial decree ordering Lu Chen to enter the city and receive his official title finally arrived at Fengle Post Station.

Lu Chen looked at the north gate tower of Chengtian Prefecture. Two months ago, when he came here, he was still Lu Chen, the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After today, this name will be gone forever.

Instead, he adopted another name: Zhu Houyu!