Chapter 6: Huzhongtianman (VI)
Empress Dowager Hu Shanxiang, who was known for her kindness, wisdom, virtue, and longevity, would be celebrating her 80th birthday in two years. In the Ming Dynasty today, 80 years old was considered a long life, and preparations for the empress dowager should have been made long ago in the Jingling Mausoleum of Emperor Xuande Zhu Zhanji.
However, it is really incredible that the emperor, who had never expressed his opinion on this matter, now proposed to build another mausoleum for Empress Dowager Hu Shanxiang.
The Empress Dowager was the first wife of Emperor Xuanzong Zhang. From being the Crown Princess, Crown Princess, Empress, to the current Empress Dowager, the status of the couple has never changed. Emperor Zhu Yuhuan is Hu Shanxiang's biological daughter, so the Empress Dowager should be buried together with Emperor Xuande according to etiquette. Why is it necessary to build a separate mausoleum for Empress Dowager Hu Shanxiang?
If this is done, it will be criticized by others if it gets out.
Although the commoner Zhu Qizhen once appointed Consort Xuanmiao Sun as the empress dowager, he deposed Sun from the position of empress dowager after his grandmother ascended the throne. Sun died shortly after the wedding of the crown prince and the crown princess. Afterwards, according to the emperor's wishes, no additional mausoleum was built for the concubine, but she was buried in Jingling, which had two positions for empress and concubines originally prepared.
The reason why Jingling Mausoleum has not been completely completed over the years is because it has to wait for the coffin of the future empress dowager to be buried inside. However, it is indeed unbelievable that the emperor suddenly wants to build a mausoleum just for the empress dowager.
In addition to being inappropriate in terms of etiquette and law, there were also private discussions among the people that the emperor's behavior was not only unfilial, but also extravagant and wasteful.
Although the Ming Dynasty's treasury is now full, it still has to maintain supplies from various overseas countries, and the expenses are not small. Building a mausoleum for the Empress Dowager alone will definitely not be small in scale and will require a lot of manpower and material resources.
Due to their special status, the Crown Prince and Prince Hui have always been indifferent to past family affairs. In the cabinet, the Chief Minister Xu Yun, Han Guilan and Song Cuilian all firmly support any decision of the emperor. The Second Minister Shang Lu is the nominal teacher of the Crown Prince, so naturally he will not say much. Seeing that the previous ones did not speak, the rest of the people would not make trouble for themselves.
Only a few imperial censors stood up and spoke, and their ideas were somewhat similar to Zhu Youhuan's.
The emperor's ascension was special in itself, so he naturally needed to pay more attention to incorporating himself into the etiquette and laws. Burying the empress dowager together with her husband was naturally one of the parts of this.
If the Empress Dowager really minds, she can just move Consort Sun from Jingling. In this dynasty, concubines have their own mausoleums, so how could the Empress not be buried with the Emperor?
Although the censor's words were all for the emperor's wisdom, the emperor obviously had no such concerns and issued an edict to express his opinion.
The Empress Dowager is very old and it is unknown when she will die. The late emperor has been dead for many years and his mausoleum has been disturbed once when Concubine Sun was buried. The Empress Dowager does not want to disturb the late emperor's spirit in heaven. The emperor is very filial to his mother, so he built a separate mausoleum for the Empress Dowager.
With a suitable excuse, the censors had nothing more to say.
The emperor was not a person of extravagance by nature. He just built another mausoleum for the empress dowager. The scale of the mausoleum was much smaller than that of the emperor. It was just an extra expense. The emperor and the country did not lack that little money.
Despite this, Zhu Youhuan was still very puzzled. For the emperor, orthodoxy was the most important thing. As the legal wife, his great-grandmother should of course be buried with his great-grandfather. Why did the emperor insist so much?
But Zhu Youhuan certainly would not ask the emperor such a question in person.
The Crown Princess noticed her daughter's confusion and said, "Your Majesty is not only the Emperor, but also the Empress Dowager's daughter."
Zhu Youhuan was originally instructing his younger siblings on calligraphy at the table when he suddenly heard his mother speak. He couldn't help but look at his mother who was directing the palace maids to iron clothes.
"mother……?"
The Crown Princess waved her hand and asked everyone to leave, then asked, "What's wrong?"
"Isn't it filial piety to let my great-grandmother be buried with my great-grandfather as the queen?"
The Crown Princess and her daughter exchanged glances for a moment before she spoke, "Huan'er, His Majesty is different from you. Without the Empress Dowager, there would be no His Majesty today. You were born in a comfortable and comfortable time, but you wonder how hard it was for His Majesty to get to where he is today. How many women in the world are born into proper behavior? They are simply bound by layers of constraints. Without the Empress Dowager's care, how could His Majesty be the Majesty he is today?"
Zhu Youhuan's face was filled with even more confusion as he asked, "Because of this, shouldn't Grandma use this opportunity to demonstrate that Great-Grandma's position is legitimate? Wouldn't this simply give others leverage, something to gossip about in the future?"
The Crown Princess was silent for a moment, then sighed softly after a long while and said, "Perhaps, but Your Majesty is more concerned about the Queen Mother's heart."
Zhu Youhuan was slightly stunned when he heard this, then he understood and said, "Great-grandmother doesn't want to be buried in the same mausoleum with great-grandfather?"
In Zhu Youhuan's heart, his great-grandmother had always been gentle and easy-going. Although she never asked others to abide by the rules, she herself had never overstepped the boundaries. Zhu Youhuan could never have imagined that his great-grandmother would have such "rebellious" thoughts in her heart.
The Crown Princess didn't directly answer her daughter's question, but sighed, "No one in this world is born to like to follow rules and regulations. They are simply constrained by others. Besides, this little bit of 'willfulness' is not excessive. Given Your Majesty's personality, you won't force anything."
With the examples of Prince Ji and Prince Hui, late marriage is now popular in the Ming Dynasty, and the same is true for palace attendants. The emperor decides who are the palace maids, and they are rotated every seven years. The older ones can be sent out of the palace to work as tutors, female workers, etc. If they can pass the examination to become female officials and serve the emperor, they may have the opportunity to rise to the top like Han Guilan, Song Cuilian and others, so some families will send their daughters to be selected as palace maids.
Therefore, the palace servants had been replaced many times, and they were not familiar with the past events when the Empress Dowager was still the Crown Prince's Consort. Although Wan Zhen'er didn't know much, she had entered the palace as a child and had heard about the affairs between the Empress and the Imperial Concubine. She vaguely understood that this huge palace would drive everyone crazy.
Because of this, she admired the Queen Mother even more for still sticking to herself in her heart.
In a sense, she is luckier than Concubine Sun.
Zhu Youhang, who was practicing calligraphy nearby, sighed and said, "Sister, why are you so stupid this time? Great-grandmother finally has the chance to make her own decisions. She doesn't want to be trapped in the same place with someone she doesn't like even after death."
Zhu Youhuan was startled and looked down at his sister. After a long moment, he said, "So that's how it is. I'm so stupid."
But if it were her, if her mother made such a request, would she agree?
Thinking of this, Zhu Youhuan couldn't help but look at his mother beside him.
The Crown Princess noticed her gaze, but said nothing, just silently looked away.
Zhu Youhuan vaguely understood what his mother meant.
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