Chapter 7: Filial Piety to the Two Palaces
Because of the death of the previous emperor, there were many miscellaneous matters today, and when the court meeting ended, it was almost noon.

After all, he was just a teenager, and even though Zhu Yijun tried hard to cheer himself up, he still felt a little lethargic.

Fortunately, since we are in court today, there is no need to talk about it during the day.

"Your Highness, I will send the drafted memorial to the two palaces right away."

Feng Bao gestured with his eyes to the memorials held by two young eunuchs behind him.

According to the custom at the beginning of the founding of the country, memorials from officials were usually delivered to the emperor through eunuchs at Huijimen or the Tongzhengsi, and some of them were transferred to the cabinet for discussion.

Once the results are available, they will be copied to each department and division.

But the common practice in China throughout history is that personnel erode the system, become a new system, and then are eroded by new personnel, and the cycle repeats over and over again.

This is true for the prime minister, the three provinces, the provincial governors, the governors-general, and even the clerks in the county and districts cannot escape this path.

The cabinet is naturally no exception.

After two hundred years of evolution, the power of the cabinet has in fact expanded several times.

Especially after Emperor Shizong Jiajing had not attended court for more than 20 years, the late emperor was obsessed with the harem and entrusted with full power over the government.

Whether it was submitting memorials, discussing in court, or even approving documents, there were already new precedents.

Apart from other things, the previous form of sending memorials to the emperor first and then copying them to the cabinet has changed to sending them to the cabinet for drafting first and then to the emperor for review.

What’s worse is that now even if the emperor issues an edict, it would be illegal in terms of procedure if it is not approved by the cabinet.

This is what is called the disobedience of the imperial decree.

Just like today, for memorials that have been discussed in court, the cabinet will draft preliminary opinions on the spot, also known as draft bills or draft bills, and then transfer them to the Silijian and send them to the two palaces for instructions.

If the two palaces think it is okay, the Imperial Household Department will approve it and then implement it. If they think it is not okay, the Imperial Household Department will send it back to the cabinet for reconsideration.

Of course, there are exceptions. If the two palaces do not want to discuss the matter, they will keep it in the palace, which is the so-called keeping it in the palace, and the matter will be put aside and not discussed.

The power to deal with memorials originally belonged to the emperor. Now that the two palaces are regulating the country, it is up to them to take charge for the time being.

"You can go by yourself." Zhu Yijun nodded.

Feng Bao bowed and took his leave.

Zhu Yijun looked at the old eunuch's departing back with a slightly cold look in his eyes.

He knew that the two palaces did not understand the twists and turns in the memorials, nor did they have the political reputation to reject the cabinet's proposal.

Regarding opinions from all parties, the two palaces can basically only "follow the good advice" or remain silent, and the final autonomy of approval will fall to the Imperial Household Department.

In the end, the cabinet held the power to propose proposals, while the Imperial Household Department held the veto power.

And this great companion naturally ascended to the pinnacle of power and stood shoulder to shoulder with the prime minister of the cabinet.

It’s better not to let this kind of thing happen.

Thinking of this, he turned around and said calmly, "Let's go back to Ciqing Palace."

……

Return to Ciqing Palace.

It was time for lunch.

Because we are still in mourning for the late emperor, today's lunch is a bit bland.

Fortunately, the variety was rich and the taste was excellent, and Zhu Yijun ate very seriously.

He is in the period of growth now, so he naturally needs to supplement his nutrition well. Otherwise, he will die in his thirties like the previous emperor, which would be terrible.

After tasting a dish, Zhu Yijun frowned and pointed at the eunuch.

"Tell the chef that this dish is too sweet and don't serve it anymore."

It’s not that he doesn’t like sweets, but in modern times, after the tomb of Emperor Wanli was excavated and the body was examined, it was found that his mouth was full of cavities.

To the point where they can only rely on opium to relieve pain, and will be in excruciating pain for the rest of their lives.

Since he has this identity, he must be careful and take good care of his oral cavity.

After eating, Zhu Yijun cleaned his teeth carefully, and then lay back on the bed for a nap with the help of the palace maid.

Returning to the East Palace does not mean that all the work for the day is done.

After lunch break, you still need to pay your respects to Empress Chen and Concubine Li.

Since ancient times, only filial sons have been undefeated in the royal family. These are all indispensable things.

In addition to paying his respects, he also had to try to influence state affairs through Concubine Li.

He had to pick someone who suited his heart to take the post of eunuch supervisor from Feng Bao. Otherwise, he would have no one to use.

Today, even to deal with a little eunuch, Feng Bao's approval was still needed, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

In this situation, let alone being able to make decisions on one's own, if someone were to do something desperate, he would not even know how he would die.

Lying on the bed, Zhu Yijun slowly closed his eyes.

His thoughts did not stop as he thought about what he had seen and heard in the palace today.

The Ming Dynasty was truly full of holes.

Xuanda showed signs of separatism, and the central army had obviously lost its deterrent power.

The fact that Huguang dared to insult the imperial envoy and the collusion and annexation among the local wealthy families must have reached an alarming level.

Not to mention the court discussions in the palace, there were also the invasion of Japanese pirates in the southeast and the delay in collecting spring taxes. The situation was a complete mess.

Now that the late emperor has passed away, stability is of utmost importance. The central government can only endure and make concessions again and again for the sake of the country.

But anyone with a discerning eye can see that the time has come to change the law.

It is no wonder that several people in the cabinet do not trust him, the new emperor, at all, and are willing to madly seize power. I am afraid that this is just to suppress all parties and lead the reform.

As he was thinking, Zhu Yijun fell into a deep sleep.

……

After waking up from a nap, the tiredness in my head was finally gone and I felt refreshed.

Zhu Yijun stretched lazily.

He ordered the maid, "Prepare for me to go to the two palaces to pay my respects."

He now has two mothers, his biological mother, Concubine Li, and his patriarchal mother, Empress Chen.

In fact, my previous life rarely took the initiative to pay respects to Queen Chen. After all, she was not my biological mother and the feelings between us were limited.

Furthermore, Empress Chen had no children in her life and was not favored by the previous emperor. She even lived in another palace all year round.

Having neither power nor ruthlessness, it is natural that less is left of the predecessor.

But now that he wants to establish a filial son character, of course he has to pay filial piety to both palaces, without missing out on either one.

So he went to Queen Chen first.

As a result, when Zhu Yijun got outside the palace, he was stopped by a female official.

"Your Highness, the Queen was in extreme grief and had not rested for two or three days. The imperial physician gave her some medicine and she was able to go to sleep," the female official said respectfully.

Zhu Yijun was helpless.

You can't force someone to wake up and ask him to pay his respects.

In the end, he could only perform all the formalities to Queen Chen from outside the palace, then turn around and leave.

Then he went straight to Concubine Li.

On Concubine Li's side, he came frequently, and the palace maids and eunuchs knew that he was coming at this time, so they led him in directly.

When Zhu Yijun arrived, Concubine Li was reading a memorial.

Concubine Li was wearing casual clothes in her bedroom, but her beauty could not be concealed.

There was no other reason why she was chosen by the late emperor to be a palace maid and entered the harem except for her beauty. She is only 28 or 29 years old now, which is the age when she is still beautiful and graceful.

Zhu Yijun called out softly, "My son wishes you well, mother."

Seeing her son coming, Concubine Li closed the memorial.

She twisted her shoulders and neck, and said with a smile: "If you can do your best like today, I'm afraid mother will live a hundred years."

Concubine Li now actually controls the harem and has the people's support. Everything that happens inside and outside the Wenhua Palace is reported by the eunuchs and palace maids immediately.

My son, who used to be impetuous and naughty, was unexpectedly well-behaved today.

But she heard that when the court was dismissed, many ministers publicly praised her son for his qualities as a great ruler, which made her think about it for a long time.

Zhu Yijun naturally knew what to say to make the woman happy: "Thanks to my mother's advice, I didn't embarrass her today."

Concubine Li gently helped him up, with an even wider smile on her face.

After ordering the maid to serve some snacks, she turned back to look at her son and said, "I heard that you caused some trouble in front of the palace?"
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Note 1: After the establishment of the cabinet system, the cabinet could only wait for the emperor to select some memorials to be sent before they could be voted on. Later, in order to improve administrative efficiency, it was customary for officials to send a copy of the memorials to the cabinet in the form of a post, but the cabinet was only informed of the content in advance and could not handle it directly. However, the power of the cabinet was strengthened for a time after that. When Emperor Muzong came to power, he entrusted government affairs to Gao Gong. I checked the records of this time and found that the memorials had already been submitted to the cabinet first, and then submitted to the emperor after being voted on. As for the later Zhang Juzheng period, the cabinet had the final say, and it was shown to Emperor Wanli more as a "teaching material for governance."

(End of this chapter)