Chapter 65 The Dust Settles
Zhu Yuhuan noticed the looks of several people trying to hide their emotions and coughed lightly.
Xu Yun took the initiative to speak: "After all, the Imperial Concubine is the biological mother of the Emperor's eldest son. She deserves special treatment and it is understandable."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Xuan Yu is absolutely right."
Zhou Yingying herself contributed a lot to Zhu Yuhuan's ascension to the throne. Although her role was not decisive, it did reduce some of the resistance.
Now that Zhu Yuhuan has rewarded the ministers who have made contributions, of course Zhou Yingying cannot be left out.
On the path of being a concubine, the highest status Zhou Yingying could achieve was queen.
However, Zhu Qizhen's status as emperor was abolished, so naturally he no longer had the corresponding status of empress. Even if Zhu Yuhuan became emperor, he could not enthrone the empress, let alone let Zhou Yingying, his "sister-in-law", sit on his throne. "Imperial Concubine" was already the highest status and treatment.
She naturally knew that Zhou Yingying definitely did not want to stop there. Anyway, the treatment of concubines was decided by her. It was nothing more than giving Zhou Yingying a treatment higher than that of a noble concubine but lower than that of the queen. In addition, with the power to control the six palaces, no matter how unhappy Zhou Yingying was, she should be coaxed.
There are a lot of things to do in the harem, not only palace affairs, but also editing books and essays, etc., which must be enough for Zhou Yingying to take care of. It is expected that by that time she will not have any time to target Queen Qian.
Thinking of Zhou Yingying's aggressive debate with the scholars in the hall that day, everyone stopped talking.
This imperial concubine, who was so angry that she could get physical with the soon-to-be-deposed Empress Dowager Sun, had made a perfect speculation. The emperor would not do anything shocking for her anyway, and as the mother of the next emperor, it was reasonable for her to enjoy preferential treatment.
Zhu Yuhuan thought for a moment and said, "The imperial concubine's father is in the capital, and it seems that he has no business."
Everyone was surprised that Zhu Yuhuan would ask this, but Zeng Heling answered honestly, "The royal family is supported by the state and rewarded by the inner treasury. They should also have some small businesses and some granted farmland."
Although Zhu Qizhen did not give Zhou Yingying any special treatment when he was still alive, he still gave her all the rewards she deserved, so the Zhou family could be considered wealthy.
Zhu Yuhuan smiled upon hearing this and said, "I'm not asking about that. I just want to know if Zhou Neng is free on weekdays."
Xu Yun was a little surprised, thinking that Zhu Yuhuan wanted to love Zhou Neng as well as his family, so that Zhou Neng could have an official position like the Sun family did in the past.
"Of course there is."
Zhu Yuhuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's perfect. Bring him and the concubine's brother to the Imperial Academy and teach them both learning, riding, and archery. Test them thoroughly every once in a while, submit the results to Han Guilan, and report to me regularly."
Everyone looked at each other in confusion as to Zhu Yuhuan's intentions.
Zhou Neng comes from a farming family, so what’s the point of learning these things?
"When Duke Yingguo sang 'The Singing of the Deer' with the crowd at the Imperial Academy, it was a legendary event. How could the Imperial Concubine's family miss out on such an opportunity?" Zhu Yuhuan said with a kind face, "Let's try it out with the Zhou family first and see if it works. If it's a good result, we'll do the same with the princes, princesses, heirs, and princesses. Ordinary families will have to tighten their belts to support a scholar. We can't allow the royal family to indulge in extravagance and debauchery."
Zhu Yuanzhang had suffered a lot in the past, and he was very lenient in managing his descendants, and was very willing to shed blood for them. When it came to Zhu Di, with his own experience of the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di attached great importance to the reduction of the feudal lords, not only reducing the guards, but also weakening the quality of the vassal kings and their descendants.
One of the core points of Zhu Di’s plan to reduce the power of the feudal lords can be summarized in two words: “nurturing the useless.”
Although the descendants of the princes could read and write, they were forbidden to engage in other work. Such a life of eating and drinking might sound good at first glance, but it was very painful for the collateral descendants of the princes who did not inherit the throne.
They could only wait for the court to distribute the rice stipend to the vassal kings, who would then divide a small portion of it among the side branches. As for how it was divided, it all depended on the conscience of the vassal king.
Therefore, the more distant the blood relationship, the worse the treatment. However, as royal blood, these people cannot exchange labor for compensation. As time goes by, their lives become worse and worse. If this continues, they will inevitably starve to death on the streets. The princes who have the right of distribution are all fat and bloated.
Zhu Yuhuan had no interest in raising pigs. If she hadn't considered that it would be difficult for everyone to adapt to the change overnight, she would have wanted to drive out all the princes from all over the country and find a class for them.
But Zhu Di's decree had been implemented for so long, and one of the reasons why Zhu Yuhuan ascended the throne was because of her "filial piety" to Zhu Di. It would be too hasty to directly abolish the ban on the imperial examinations for vassal kings, but there must always be a gradual process.
It would be most appropriate to start with the least threatening relatives.
Everyone understood the emperor's intention of doing this. He wanted to test the winds and warn his relatives, so they stopped asking too many questions.
Although the current expenses of the vassal kings will not drag down the country's fiscal revenue, it is still a considerable expense. If the descendants of the vassal kings are really allowed to support their families on their own in the future, thereby reducing the amount of rice distributed to the vassal kings, it would be a good thing.
On November 11, Hu Shanxiang took the lead in issuing an edict, and the cabinet stated the mistakes made by Zhu Qizhen during his reign, and coupled with the defeat at Tumu, the emperor was officially deposed.
It’s hard to say on a biological level, but on a social level, Zhu Qizhen is officially dead.
Zhu Yuhuan took some time out to visit the Taimiao to pay respects to his ancestors and sincerely asked whether he could adopt Zhu Shuyuan and Zhu Jianshen as his own children.
The final result was naturally positive. With this title, the Ministry of Rites acted very quickly and allowed Zhu Yuhuan and his children to complete all the procedures.
In this way, Zhu Shuyuan and Zhu Jianshen both became Zhu Yuhuan's children and still enjoyed the treatment of royal heirs. Except for the change of person on the throne, the entire royal family seemed to have no changes.
"Is Concubine Xuan Miao still refusing to drink?"
The female official who came to report looked slightly embarrassed and said, "It's not that he hasn't eaten or drunk anything... He just rarely eats and spends every day lying on the couch. Ruilan's persuasion is useless. The Imperial Concubine has also tried to persuade him several times. He was almost about to fight, but we stopped him."
Recalling the incident when Zhou Yingying almost came to blows with Sun Mengqiu in the palace, Zhu Yuhuan could already imagine Zhou Yingying ready to "persuade" Sun Mengqiu.
It's no wonder that the female official looked embarrassed. I'm afraid she had to endure Zhou Yingying's physical persuasion with great difficulty.
Zhu Yuhuan put down the pen in his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "I will go to visit her in person tomorrow."
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