Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, stipulated that, except for the crown prince, all other sons would be granted the title of prince at the age of ten and would be sent to their fiefdoms at the age of twenty.
In case of special circumstances, it can be advanced or postponed.
Before a prince is enfeoffed, he usually gets married in the capital.
After all...the prince will basically never come to Beijing again after he is enfeoffed.
Getting married in the capital would allow the emperor and empress to meet their daughter-in-law.
"Your Majesty, please summon Prince Ding and Prince Yong to the capital, grant them marriage and set up fiefdoms!" Seeing that Chongzhen did not speak, Fan Jingwen reminded again.
"Ahem," Chongzhen cleared his throat and looked down at Fan Jingwen: "Lord Fan, Prince Ding and Prince Yong are already on their way to Beijing. If nothing goes wrong, they will arrive today."
What?
When Fan Jingwen received the news, his eyes widened in disbelief.
The two princes traveled north from Nanjing to the capital, passing through countless prefectures, states and counties along the way.
Even if we don't alert the government, we still have to stay in the post station, right?
Even if you don't stay at the post station, you still need the corresponding procedures to pass through the cities along the way.
Furthermore.
The officials in Nanjing are not blind. If they find out that the two princes are missing, they will definitely report it.
However, no one reported it at all.
He, the chief minister of the cabinet, didn't know anything about it.
Just...very unhappy.
Fan Jingwen raised his head and glanced at Chongzhen quickly, then lowered his head and said, "I wonder why Your Majesty concealed the whereabouts of the two princes. Did I do something wrong?"
Facing Fan Jingwen's "questioning", Chongzhen smiled faintly: "I think this is a family matter and there is no need to bother the court. So I ordered the Jinyiwei to go to Nanjing and bring back the two princes Ding and Yong."
"I remember that Your Majesty once said that family and country are one, so how can there be any talk of private matters? I wonder if Your Majesty still remembers this?" Fan Jingwen asked seriously.
"This..." Chongzhen suddenly felt something was wrong.
He didn't expect Fan Jingwen to have such a good memory.
"Ahem," Chongzhen coughed to cover up his embarrassment and smiled, "I did say that, but I did it for the sake of the court. Otherwise, officials along the way would have to welcome and see off the officials, which would not only cost a lot of money, but would also impose a lot of corvée labor, which would disturb the people."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your frugality!" Fan Jingwen bowed.
The confrontation between the emperor and his minister ended with Chongzhen winning a small victory.
The battle continues.
Seeing that there was no one else in the hall, Fan Jingwen took a half step forward and asked in a low voice, "Now that the internal troubles have been resolved, may I ask why Your Majesty did not summon the Crown Prince to the capital?"
"Since the two dragons cannot meet, let him stay in Nanjing. Besides, the currency reform in Jiangnan is in full swing. With him in Nanjing, I feel more at ease."
"But..." Fan Jingwen was very worried.
He looked around again and reminded in a low voice: "If Your Majesty summoned all the princes to the capital, it would be fine, but Your Majesty only summoned Prince Ding and Prince Yong to the capital, and left the Crown Prince in Nanjing. I am afraid that the Crown Prince will have wild thoughts..."
"Minister Fan, why don't you make your point clearer?"
Fan Jingwen took a deep breath and said, "I think the prince will commit treason in Nanjing because he is afraid of the position of the crown prince."
"Fan Jingwen, you are so bold!" Wang Chengen jumped out and pointed at Fan Jingwen's nose, "As the chief minister of the cabinet, you dare to sow discord between His Majesty and the Crown Prince!"
Fan Jingwen ignored Wang Chengen's words and continued to speak to himself: "Your Majesty, the prince left the capital at the age of seventeen, and it has been six years. He should be recalled to the capital to be taught the way of governing the country. Moreover, after being away from the capital for a long time, the affection between father and son has faded, which is definitely not good for the Ming Dynasty."
“Ha, ha ha ha!” Chongzhen laughed, “Lord Fan thinks too much. The Ming Dynasty is not the Tang Dynasty. There will never be a son rebelling against his father! Even if it really happens, I will be too happy to wait.”
Fan Jingwen was speechless.
He was so shocked by Chongzhen's train of thought that he was speechless.
"Minister, I'm leaving!"
"Wait." Chongzhen suddenly remembered something very important. "Lord Fan, how is the deficit of the Ministry of Revenue this year? The war in Liaodong needs money, and the construction of temples in Mongolia also needs money. In addition, Annan has repeatedly violated the border, and the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi has requested to allocate silver to recruit local wolf soldiers to resist. This summer, the Yellow River in Henan Province broke its dike, and disaster relief and river dike construction are needed..."
"This amount of money added up is not a small sum!"
Fan Jingwen lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, some time ago, the governor of the East Factory, Wang Zhixin, arrested two evil gentry while mining, and seized nearly one million taels of silver from their property. A new profit of 600,000 taels was sent from various places for casting Ming Yuanbao. Shaanxi sold some official land and got 300,000 taels of silver. The commercial tax of Shanghai Port was also collected at 110,000 taels..."
"I want to ask you how much deficit the Ministry of Revenue has this year!" Chongzhen interrupted Fan Jingwen's statement.
"The Ministry of Revenue still has a deficit of three million taels this year that has yet to be addressed!"
"Urge Xie Sanbin to speed up the salt inspection and find a way to make up for the deficit before the end of the year!"
"Yes, I'll convey it right away." Fan Jingwen bowed and said goodbye.
After they left, Chongzhen half-lay on the dragon throne, feeling somewhat helpless.
Since he traveled through time, he has been trying to make money every moment.
However, as soon as the money entered the national treasury, it would be taken out and spent for various reasons.
Either a natural disaster or a man-made disaster.
In short, four words: can’t save money!
How to make money?
With this question in mind, Chongzhen fell asleep half lying on the dragon throne.
I don't know how long it took, but Wang Chengen's voice rang in my ears: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Chongzhen slowly opened his eyes and found that it had darkened outside.
In the slightly dim hall, Wang Chengen stood beside Chongzhen with a festive face.
"What's wrong?" Chongzhen asked.
"Your Majesty, Prince Ding and Prince Yong have entered the capital at this time."
"Oh," Chongzhen said in a very calm tone.
He is a time traveler and has no feelings for Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, Prince Ding Zhu Cihong, and Prince Yong Zhu Cizhao.
But in order to hide it, he still showed a happy expression, "After several years of separation, we are about to meet each other today. I am very excited."
"Although the emperor is the son of heaven, he is also a father, so it is inevitable that he will be excited!"
"What time is it?" Chongzhen asked as he looked at the darkening sky outside.
"Replying to Your Majesty, it is the middle of the evening hour."
"Order the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor to hold a banquet in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. I want to welcome Prince Ding and Prince Yong. Also, send a decree to the harem to have Empress Zhou and Imperial Concubine Yuan accompany them. Their son has returned to the capital, and it's time for them to have a good meeting."
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