This is no small matter.
Now that the country is at peace and the people are healthy, and Emperor Yuming is in his prime, he is not in a hurry to establish a crown prince. He can also take this opportunity to examine the character of his princes.
Emperor Yuming had five sons and one daughter. The eldest prince was Zhao Xuanyao, the second prince was Zhao Xuanwu, the third prince was Zhao Xuanwei, the fourth prince was Zhao Xuanyang, the fifth prince was still young, and the only princess was Zhao Xuanqing.
Among them, the most distinguished are the Fourth Prince Zhao Xuanyang and Princess Zhao Xuanqing. As we mentioned earlier, Zhao Xuanyang and Zhao Xuanqing are full siblings, both born to the Empress.
The eldest and second princes were born to concubines and were both over twenty years old.
The Third Prince's birth mother offended Consort Qin and was demoted to the Cold Palace, putting her in an awkward position. She will be of legal age next year.
The Fifth Prince was a few years younger than Princess Zhaoyang and of relatively low status. He was born because Emperor Yuming mistook a palace maid for Consort Qin after drinking.
Therefore, Emperor Yuming did not like this youngest son. He only allocated a palace for him to live in, leaving the mother and son alone there and never inquiring about them.
This shows that Consort Qin was undoubtedly the most outstanding among the six palaces.
Emperor Yuming had long planned to promote her to Imperial Noble Consort, a rank that would essentially make her a deputy empress, and would undoubtedly be a challenge to the empress's control over the six palaces.
However, the Empress was, after all, the head of the inner palace, and matters such as the conferment of titles on concubines required her consent. She used the excuse that "of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring" to rightfully prevent Consort Qin from being promoted.
The Empress's family was quite powerful, and she hadn't done anything inappropriate for her position, so he dared not refute her further. Back then, Emperor Yuming was powerless and ineffective, yet he was able to pacify the country and secure his position, thanks in no small part to the support of the Empress's relatives.
Many court officials repeatedly asked Emperor Yuming to establish a crown prince, but he always brushed them off with the excuse that "establishing a crown prince too early could easily lead to fratricide."
Indeed, the genuine brotherhood within an imperial family is extremely precious. Although the ministers all knew this was an excuse, none of them could refute it.
Historical records state: "When the world was first settled, there were internal and external troubles. Fortunately, the emperor was a man of great righteousness and led all the kings to fight against the enemy and achieve great deeds. Later, all the kings passed away, and the emperor was very saddened. However, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. The emperor ascended the throne, granted a general amnesty, reduced taxes and corvée labor, and the whole country celebrated together."
Before the establishment of the Yu Kingdom, it was a very chaotic time. Emperor Yuming and his brothers worked together to unify the world, but a dispute arose before he ascended the throne.
With the position so close, who wouldn't yearn for it?
Before unification, the brothers were deeply entangled in their own suffering, but after unification, they turned against each other due to their covetousness for the throne. Taking advantage of this internal strife, other countries attempted to invade, forcing the brothers to temporarily assume the titles of princes and unite to resist the enemy.
Two princes died on the battlefield while suppressing foreign enemies, while the remaining princes unfortunately fell ill and died after the suppression.
Left with no other choice, Emperor Yuming ascended the throne, changed the country's name to "Yu," set the era name to "Ming," and became known as "Emperor Yuming."
Having experienced fratricide, Emperor Yuming valued brotherhood even more, which was one of the reasons why he delayed in establishing an heir.
This welcoming of the Crown Prince of Qing Kingdom is a matter of demonstrating national etiquette. Whichever prince performs well in this matter, Emperor Yuming might be pleased and make him the heir apparent.
Therefore, the princes could only do everything in their power to win favor with Emperor Yuming.
However, those who hold the imperial throne are most wary of forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices.
Not to mention that he was a suspicious person by nature, even if he were of ordinary character, he would find it difficult to tolerate his subjects obeying someone else, even if that person was his own son.
Therefore, the only way to improve one's public image is to start with ordinary people.
It was the season for planting, but the people of the capital were much more relaxed than in previous years, and there were hardly any beggars to be seen on the streets.
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