Chapter 356 Palace Affairs 1
Princess Kunxing stated the conditions, and the Queen and Concubine Huang Shu nodded in agreement.
Princess Kunxing held Ruoshui, and Queen Lu Ling held Yuming. The two of them exchanged the children and held them in their arms.
Princess Kunxing and Queen Lu Ling both held the child tightly and rubbed the child's tender face gently with their faces.
But both children felt that the person holding them had changed today, and they were crying loudly. Even feeding them was useless.
Princess Kunxing sighed and said, "It's God's will!"
Empress Lu Ling ignored all this and tried every possible way to comfort her daughter. She didn't stop until the child was tired of crying. Princess Kunxing snatched the child away and said, "Are you crazy? Are you going to make the child sick from crying?"
Lu Ling was a first-time mother and had no experience. She had probably not even read Zhang Shulan's parenting guide carefully, and only after Princess Kunxing's lesson did she finally come to her senses. Reluctantly, she handed the child back to Princess Kunxing, who then placed the now-sleeping Yuming back in Lu Lingdu's arms.
The most depressed person now was Concubine He. As a noble concubine, she should have been responsible for ruling the country from behind the curtain. However, her performance that night showed that she was not suitable for ruling the country.
But Concubine He felt unbalanced in her heart, and she looked at the three people in front of her with resentment.
The cabinet ministers were busy choosing a temple name for Emperor Zhongxing, and the name they finally agreed on was "Emperor Zhongxing who is loyal to heaven, respectful to the way, benevolent, quiet, and virtuous."
A few days later, Empress Lu Ling recovered and wore mourning clothes. Her funeral was announced under the auspices of officials from the Ministry of Rites.
First, the emperor's body was laid to rest in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, but the palace had been destroyed, and now only a mourning shed could be erected on the original pedestal. This was called "dying peacefully at the end of one's life."
Next came the coffining process: the deceased was placed in a coffin. Before the coffin, a "Jiyan" (a table filled with food and wine) was set up, along with a silk fabric for comforting the spirits, and a memorial banner (shaped like a flag, with the inscription "The Coffin of the Late Emperor"). In the southwest of the imperial palace stood the Renzhi Hall (commonly known as the "White Tiger Hall," located behind the Wuying Hall).
The grand funeral usually took place before the burial. Starting on this day, all temples and monasteries in the capital were to ring bells 30,000 times to "bless the deceased emperor in the afterlife." Slaughter was prohibited in the capital for 13 days. Princes, dukes, princesses, dukes' wives, princesses of dukes, and civil and military officials residing in other regions all mourned in their respective localities, facing the palace and mourning.
Zhao Xiaofei followed the civil and military officials to attend the funeral. When he thought of the past, the only thing that came to his mind was Zhu Cijiong's innocent smile in front of him.
I thought I had changed history, but why is history still so stubborn? The Chongzhen Emperor's family was practically extinct, save for his women. Luckily, I still had descendants for my father-in-law's family. It's better than letting Zhu Yousong, Zhu Youlang, and Zhu Youjian take over your throne, right?
A month of continuous funerals had left Zhao Xiaofei extremely annoyed. He was also exhausted. Cabinet ministers such as Ni Yuanlu, Yang Tianhe, and Chen Yanxi, as well as military heroes Gao Jie and Huang Degong, came to Lugou Bridge in Gongji County to see Zhao Xiaofei off.
"Prince Li, please rest assured. We will devote ourselves to the affairs of the court until our death. We also hope that Your Highness will recover Shaanxi as soon as possible so that the Ming Dynasty can truly be revived." Ni Yuanlu said.
"I don't want to interfere in the affairs of the court. I just want the world to be peaceful as soon as possible. Then I can retire, build a big ship with my family, and travel around the world like eunuch Sanbao." Zhao Xiaofei said.
After hearing this, Ni Yuanlu and other cabinet ministers thought to themselves: "Then you should just be honest and give yourself a piece of land. You can do whatever you want in your land. As for imitating the eunuch Sanbao and sailing to the West, forget it! It's too expensive!"
However, Ni Yuanlu and the others didn't dare to say anything outwardly. The finances were still depending on Zhao Xiaofei! Only when the national finances and taxes were normalized and the new army was trained could this foreign king be completely obedient. There had to be no more major wars; that would be too depleting of national strength.
Zhao Xiaofei approached Gao Jie and Huang Degong and said coldly, "Gentlemen, after I leave, I hope you will be loyal to your duties and keep the capital safe. I don't want us to ever come to blows. That would only bring grief to our loved ones and joy to our enemies!"
"Don't worry, Prince Li. I will defend the capital to the death and will not let the Jianlu enter the capital again." Gao Jie said.
"I, Huang, have received great favors from the country and have no way to repay it. The only way I can repay it is to die. As for whether or not to fight with Your Highness, that depends on Your Highness. As long as Your Highness does not do anything to threaten the Ming Dynasty, we will follow Your Highness's lead." Huang Degong said.
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself: It seems Huang Degong is still a middle school student. I have no intention of becoming emperor. You are all guarding me like a thief.
He smiled and said, "I have a clear conscience towards the Ming Dynasty! To be frank, if I truly harbored any ulterior motives, who among you could stop me?"
Zhao Xiaofei pointed at the crowd, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Ni Yuanlu said awkwardly, "Prince Li, we have no ulterior motives. We are all concerned for the good of the court. It's unavoidable that we may have made some mistakes. If Shaanxi is successfully recovered this time, the cabinet can discuss making Guangdong your place of residence. All the taxes and revenues of that province will belong to you, Your Highness."
Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself: "Fuck, Guangdong belongs to me, do you guys keep your word? If I lift the ban on sea trade there and organize a Canton Fair or something, my annual profits and tax revenue will definitely be higher than the imperial court's. I'm just worried you'll get pink eye."
In fact, the imperial court had long been plagued by jealousy. Zhao Xiaofei's products became the most exported products of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to silk, tea, and porcelain. People from all over the world waited in Nanjing for Zhao Xiaofei's business to sell goods. As long as the goods were available, many people would not ask the price.
Because no matter what the price is, as long as he can import the goods and ship them back to his own country, he will make endless profits.
Jiangnan and other officials now want to bring down Zhao Xiaofei and force him to hand over the source of goods. They seem to be chasing Zheng Zhilong and planning to unite and compete with the Kenan Army.
However, Zheng Zhilong still had some self-awareness, and since his daughter had entered the palace, he would not go against the Kenan Army.
Zheng Zhilong was self-aware, but Concubine Shun was not. Now a widow, she only dreamed of becoming empress dowager and ruling the country. She wrote a letter about the events in the capital and gave it to her confidante, Xue'er, asking her to leave the palace and deliver the letter to the owner of Rongchun Hall.
These things naturally couldn't be hidden from Princess Kunxing, who had her own internal security spies. After receiving the report, she immediately called Lu Ling and Huang Shufei and said, "There's a traitor in the palace. What should we do?"
Lu Ling's eyes widened upon hearing this. She asked, "Who is it? The late emperor has only been gone for a few days, and she doesn't want to live anymore?"
"It's Concubine Shun! We can't afford to offend her father now, unless the imperial fleet can compete with their family!" Princess Kunxing said.
"Marquis Nan'an is a serious threat to our dynasty at sea, but if we deal with Concubine Shun, no one in the court will be able to pacify the sea! It's better to turn a blind eye to this matter!" Concubine Huang Shu said.
"Why not put her under house arrest?" Lu Ling suggested.
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