After discussing important matters, the three cabinet ministers Lu, Lu and Shen escorted the princes out of the palace.
Emperor Yuanyou took Chen Tingjian and He Qingxian to the Imperial Study.
In his hand, he held a "Letter to Our Ancestors", in which he stated the reasons and outline of his new policies. On this simple document, in addition to his imperial seal, twenty-one vassal kings also signed their names and pressed their royal seals.
Throughout the more than 200 years of this dynasty, only Emperor Yuanyou did such a great thing to unite all the vassal kings.
Emperor Yuanyou unfolded the bright yellow file and examined it carefully again.
He Qingxian said dissatisfiedly: "So many letters of complaint have been burned. The emperor is still too kind to the princes."
Emperor Yuanyou: "If you want them to do something, you must give them some benefits. Moreover, I have only written off their previous crimes. If they commit the same crime again in the future, I can still hold them accountable."
He Qingxian: "Although the princes have agreed to this, they may not really be willing to cooperate after returning to their fiefdoms. They may find excuses to shirk responsibility, or fan the flames among the officials and gentry. As long as the officials and gentry step forward and successfully block the new policy, the princes will still reap the benefits."
Emperor Yuanyou looked at Chen Tingjian.
Chen Tingjian smiled and said, "We summoned them to Beijing to show the officials, gentry and common people that the imperial court's implementation of the new policy is unstoppable. Anyone who dares to stop it will be killed. This is courtesy before force."
He Qingxian: …
People still say that he is cruel. The Prime Minister who makes cruel words lightly is the real cruel one!
The next morning, twenty-one princes also came to the court.
In fact, most of the civil and military officials in the court were forced by the cabinet to agree to the new policy. When they heard that Emperor Yuanyou was going to summon the princes to Beijing, they hoped that the princes would come earlier even more than Emperor Yuanyou did, hoping that the princes could cut off the young emperor's absurd ideas.
To their disappointment, Cao Li had just finished reading out the imperial edict to implement the new policy when the twenty-one princes knelt even faster than the cabinet. In a blink of an eye, they were all kneeling.
The princes were of higher status than them and owned much more land than them. Now that the princes had knelt, who in the court, civil or military, dared to oppose them
That evening, Huayang learned about this from Chen Jingzong.
The first step of the new policy has been truly taken. The most difficult princes have at least promised on the surface to cooperate with the new policy and dare not cause too much chaos, otherwise the court can go to their fiefdoms to punish them with a volume of "Notice to Our Ancestors".
Huayang breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Jingzong picked up the wine pot, looked at her and said, "Finally, it's not in vain that I recognized so many relatives."
Hua Yang smiled and said, "When the new policy is effective in the future, I will ask the emperor to give you a great credit."
Chen Jingzong pointed the mouth of the pot at her white porcelain bowl and said, "Your Majesty, please don't bother me. Princess, just drink a few sips with me, and that will be enough for me to repay you."
Huayang can even get drunk on fruit wine, so how could he possibly drink the strong liquor he usually drinks
Chen Jingzong proposed this with ulterior motives.
Thinking of the expensive peep show in the inner room, Huayang pushed Chen Jingzong's hand away and glared at him.
Chen Jingzong was not disappointed and started drinking by himself.
But at night, he still hugged the eldest princess and asked for compensation.
.
The princes came all the way to the capital, and the journey was not easy. However, in order to prevent the princes from colluding with the officials in the capital, Emperor Yuanyou only entertained them for three days and then politely sent them away.
Huayang still followed his brother to send him off.
The next day, Princess Anle came to visit.
It was spring time, and the aunt and niece were walking side by side in the garden. The peonies had not yet bloomed, but the crabapples were blooming in clusters of red clouds.
Princess Anle picked a crabapple branch, put it in her hair, and asked her niece, "How is it?"
Huayang smiled and said, "She is as beautiful as a fairy."
Princess Anle looked at her niece's delicate face, then touched her own face and sighed, "What kind of fairy is this? She's already getting old, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes."
Huayang observed his aunt carefully, and just when he was about to point out where the wrinkles were, Princess Anle smiled more exaggeratedly on purpose, and sure enough, a few fine lines appeared at the corners of her eyes.
Huayang: "... You don't usually smile like that."
Princess Anle: "But I didn't get wrinkles when I smiled like this before, so I am still old."
Huayang was only twenty-four years old and could not understand her aunt's feelings. In her opinion, her aunt was still as beautiful as ever, but her mother in the palace had actually grown silver hair. Fortunately, there were only two or three strands, and the palace maid saw it when she was combing her hair and cut it off from the roots.
As the sun gradually grew brighter, the aunt and nephew sat down in the pavilion.
Princess Anle mentioned the new policy: "When I went out these past two days, people on the street were discussing the new policy. The emperor is young and bold, and Lord Chen is also very courageous. He dared to go against the officials and gentry. I also heard that he sent Chen Sanlang to Huating County where Lord Xu is?"
There is no elder named Xu in the current cabinet. The elder Xu mentioned by Princess Anle is the former Prime Minister who has returned to his hometown to retire. Chen Tingjian used to have to listen to him obediently.
It is said that Xu Ge Lao's family has hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and even when he was still a first-rank official, he could only exempt 10,000 acres of land from tax. It is conceivable that when the court implements the new policy this time, the Xu family alone will have to pay a lot of land tax, and how much resistance Chen Xiaozong will face there.
Hua Yang smiled bitterly: "Someone has to do these things. If Lord Chen doesn't dare to take the lead in offending the officials and gentry, other officials will be even more cautious."
Princess Anle snorted: "Thanks to your father-in-law, your aunt has to pay more land tax."
Huayang: …
Huayang said admiringly: "It would be great if all the clan members in the world supported the new policy like you do."
Princess Anle said: "It's difficult. We princesses are not so bad, but the princes and dukes all keep a lot of concubines. The more people they keep, the more expenses they have. If they want to maintain a luxurious life, they can only find ways to bring money into the family."
Hua Yang sneered: "If you don't make money in a legitimate way, you can only blame yourself."
Princess Anle: "I just realized that you are still a person who hates evil. It really proves the saying that if you are not from the same family, you will not enter the same door."
After lunch, Princess Anle said goodbye.
Huayang was reminded of her aunt's words. When Chen Jingzong came back in the evening, she asked him casually, "My eldest and third brothers have been away from Beijing for three months. Have they written to you?"
Chen Jingzong: "No, why did you suddenly mention them?"
Huayang was afraid that he might get jealous, so he brought up his conversation with his aunt.
Chen Jingzong: "The Grand Princess is really well-informed. Nothing in the capital can be hidden from her."
Hua Yang: "Aren't you worried about them? My eldest brother is in Guangdong. Even if he is the eldest son of the Prime Minister's family, it will be difficult for him to convince the people there with his status. And my third brother, let alone the fact that he only won the third place in the imperial examination, even if he won the first place in the imperial examination, it would be useless against Lord Xu."
Chen Jingzong: "It's difficult to send them out, otherwise how can their abilities be shown."
Huayang: "... I have nothing to say to you. I'm going to take a day off at the end of the month to visit my mother."
Chen Jingzong: "Visiting mother, or asking whether the eldest and third brothers have written to the family?"
Huayang: "It has nothing to do with you."
Chen Jingzong pulled her into his arms and tried to find a way to get close to her. He didn't let go of the princess, who was breathing slightly, until the maids came in to bring in dinner.
On the day off, the couple took a car to Chen's house together.
As soon as I got off the car, I saw the manager inside bringing out a matchmaker.
The matchmaker excitedly bowed to the princess and her husband.
Chen Jingzong's face darkened. His three brothers were all married, so who was the matchmaker coming for? His oldest niece, Wanyi, was only fourteen years old!
In Chen Jingzong's eyes, his fourteen-year-old niece is still a child. Anyone who dares to target his niece so early has bad intentions!
Although Huayang was surprised, he was not as resistant to this as he thought. A fourteen or fifteen-year-old lady from a wealthy family was already at the age of getting married.
The two of them came directly to Chunhetang.
Prime Minister Chen Tingjian had not had a day off for a long time, and he was in the palace again today. At Chunhe Hall, because the matchmaker came, Yu Xiu and Luo Yuyan were accompanying their mother-in-law.
Huayang sat in the main seat next to Sun, and Chen Jingzong sat opposite his two sisters-in-law.
He spoke first: "Someone has taken a fancy to Wanyi?"
Yu Xiu felt that her uncle's eyes were somewhat fierce at this moment. She didn't dare to look him in the eye and looked at her mother-in-law.
Sun smiled faintly and said, "Yes, the eldest grandson of the Minister of Personnel Ma is eighteen this year. He is well-read and his age is a good match for Wanyi. But the old man said that he would consider Wanyi's marriage after your eldest brother comes back. Anyway, Wanyi will only be seventeen by then, so it's not too late."
This year's new policy is more difficult than the previous performance evaluation system and land surveying system. Officials are in a state of flux. Some are unsure of how long the old man can hold on and dare not marry into the Chen family. Some are optimistic about the old man and are willing to surrender to him by marrying him. In short, everyone has their own thoughts and they are all thinking about the officialdom. Few really like Wanyi.
Her husband did not want to use his granddaughter to win over his faction, but Sun was even more reluctant than him. She had always wanted a daughter, but there was nothing she could do if she could not give birth to one. Wanyi was her first grandchild. She had been smart, gentle and bright since she was a child. Sun treated her like her own flesh and blood and would never hastily arrange a marriage for her without careful selection.
Chen Jingzong's expression improved after hearing his mother's words: "It should be so. Stay for a few more years."
Huayang was holding a tea bowl in his hand, and the tea was clear green in color.
Wanyi is the apple of the Chen family's eye and also her favorite junior.
In her previous life, when the Chen family was exiled to the border, she was most worried about Wanyi, so when she returned to the Princess's Mansion on that snowy day, she asked Zhou Ji to prepare two carriages and warm clothes, and bring a team of guards to escort the Chen family. She didn't want the once handsome and elegant scholar to be shackled and watched by others, didn't want Dalang and other young men to endure the hardships of a thousand-mile journey, and she certainly didn't want her two sisters-in-law and nieces to encounter the disaster that any woman would avoid!
She was probably the first princess to openly take care of the families of criminals exiled by the court.
At that time, Huayang was not in the mood to think about what others would think, and she didn't care.
She even hoped that some censor would report her to her brother, so that she could see whether her brother no longer recognized her as his sister.
But until she fell ill, there was no movement in the capital. The censors acted as if they had never heard of the matter and kept silent about it in the court.
The Queen Mother will not interfere, but he is afraid he does not have the face to care about his younger brother.
Huayang picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.
Since she returned to Beijing, she has done so many things, and has been trying overtly and covertly to lead her brother towards becoming a wise ruler.
The Dragon Boat Festival will be here soon, and she wants to see if her good brother has come back.
(End of this chapter)