jdhmnovel Chapter 1189 What, you want to be rehired as the retired emperor?
Chapter 1189 What, you want to be rehired as the retired emperor?
As everyone knows, Li Shanchang, who was preoccupied with how to control the Secretariat and the entire court, and Li Shanchang, who was preoccupied with how to retire and return to his hometown as soon as possible, are two completely different concepts.
The former would try his best to avoid a direct confrontation with Emperor Zhu, no matter what.
The latter, however, didn't care at all.
I may not be able to offend your good son-in-law, Emperor Zhu, but surely I can offend Emperor Zhu himself?
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled, then leaned in and said directly, "From what I've heard from the Emperor, you intend to pass the throne to His Highness the Crown Prince, and then be invited back by His Highness to be the Retired Emperor?"
Emperor Zhu was completely stunned.
If we pass the throne to Biao'er, then we'll be the retired emperor.
That seems right.
But what's the deal with this re-employment as the retired emperor?
Li Shanchang glanced at Emperor Zhu discreetly, then continued to ask, "Aside from the matter of being rehired to be the retired emperor, has Your Majesty considered how to arrange things for the prince consort?"
At this point, Li Shanchang inexplicably became happy.
"The Prince Consort is only in his early twenties, not even thirty yet, and he is already the Prefect of Dengzhou. Even if he serves as Minister in various ministries for ten or twenty years, and then as Provincial Governor for another ten or eight years, he will only be in his fifties."
"If this old minister is not mistaken, the emperor probably intends to have him enter the cabinet before the age of sixty, rehire him when he is seventy, and then let him retire to his hometown when he is eighty."
"But..."
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled: "This old minister was just rehired last year. All told, I only have to endure another nine years. From the time this old minister retired to his hometown to the time when the prince consort entered the cabinet, there is a difference of about twenty years."
Liu Bowen was immediately delighted.
I am a year or two older than Li Shanchang!
Elder Li Shan was rehired, and so was I.
Li Shanchang will have to endure another nine years, but I only need to endure eight.
Hey, it seems like Old Liu is about to retire and go back to his hometown!
Emperor Zhu glanced at Li Shanchang, then at Liu Bowen, whose face was also beaming with joy, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Not right.
Something's 12 out of 10 about it.
Those two old scoundrels are the kind of cunning and slippery bastards who smear sesame oil on themselves.
Are they plotting against us?
Just as Emperor Zhu was pondering this, a young eunuch outside the Qianqing Palace rushed in to report: "Your Majesty, nearly a hundred elderly people from Ningyang County have come to the capital, saying they have come to visit Princess Funing and the Princess of Ningyang County."
Emperor Zhu grunted in agreement, then turned to Chen Zhong and instructed, "Quickly, have someone boil a few hundred red eggs, and prepare some gifts as well. Later, my sister and I will also visit the Prince Consort's residence."
……
With the arrival of more than a hundred elderly people from Ningyang County, the entire Prince Consort's Mansion became lively.
"Yes, six pounds and six ounces, a real big, chubby girl."
"They can eat and drink well. The palace has prepared three wet nurses for them, as well as cattle and sheep."
"We definitely have to go back to Ningyang, but the baby is still too young. He's not even 100 days old yet, so we can't go back until next year at the earliest."
"Your trip to the capital didn't neglect the crops in the fields, did it?"
Yang Shaofeng entertained the men in the front yard, while Jin'er and Yu'er entertained the women in the back yard.
"It has to be Third Grandma's skillful hands; look how well she sewed this little garment."
"Tell me, you came all this way with so many eggs."
“I definitely have to go back to Ningyang. If I don’t go back, Krupp and those county magistrates will definitely cause trouble.”
"Why beat them up? They're either earls or county magistrates, they're all so old, they're of marriageable age, how can you just beat them up like that?"
"..."
The problems in the front and back yards are largely the same.
They would either ask Yang Baobei if she could eat her fill every meal, or if she needed a few wet nurses from the county to take care of her, or they would ask Yang Shaofeng, Jin'er, and Yu'er if they would ever return to Ningyang.
The questions asked were actually somewhat redundant.
But it makes you feel warm inside.
They might know that the capital, especially the Prince Consort's mansion, has everything they need.
They were simply expressing their concern for Yang Shaofeng, Jin'er, and Yu'er in their own clumsy way, and were willing to extend this affection to Yang Baobei.
They even addressed Yang Shaofeng as "Master" and Yang Baobei as "Miss".
They just instinctively felt that the title "Master" was more intimate than "Son-in-law," and the title "Miss" was more intimate than "County Princess."
When Emperor Zhu arrived at the Prince Consort's residence with Empress Ma and his brothers, the more than one hundred elderly people from Ningyang became even more excited.
We finally saw the Zhu Emperor again!
Old Man Wang, who was at the head of the group, was the first to approach Emperor Zhu. He knelt down with a thud, tears welling in his eyes, and shouted, "Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Emperor Zhu quickly reached out to help Old Man Wang up, and then looked at the group of elderly people behind Old Man Wang and said, "Don't kneel! Don't kneel! It's not a festival, it's not like we're offering sacrifices to heaven or ancestors, there's no need for such a grand ceremony!"
Black Sesame Dumplings and the Zhu brothers also hurried to help the other elderly people. Only after they sat down again did Emperor Zhu smile and pat Old Man Wang's hand, saying, "Old brother, you still remember us?"
Old Wang's lips moved, and Emperor Zhu laughed twice more, saying, "We remember our old brother too!"
“That was our first time going to Ningyang. Your older brother asked us if we were in cahoots with those officials, fearing that we were going to harm your master.”
"Oh my God."
"Now you see, we didn't cheat him, but he cheated us out of our two daughters."
Emperor Zhu held up two fingers and made a peace sign: "He's swindled both of our daughters away!"
Empress Ma reached out and slapped Emperor Zhu, scolding him, "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Emperor Zhu chuckled twice, patted Old Man Wang's hand again, and asked, "Is everything alright at home?"
Old Wang nodded vigorously and replied, "Good, all good. The Emperor has decreed the abolition of taxes and corvée labor. This is the first time in five thousand years. If this is not a good day, what kind of day would be good?"
At this point, Old Man Wang raised his hand to wipe the corner of his eye and said, "Actually, everyone in the county wants to come to the capital to see the Emperor and the Empress, as well as His Highness the Crown Prince, the Master, the Princess, and the Eldest Miss."
"Furthermore, along our journey through various prefectures and counties, many people have come to visit the Emperor."
"Many people say that the emperor is the greatest emperor of all time, and some people say that they have a portrait of the emperor enshrined at home and burn three sticks of incense during festivals."
When the story of offering a portrait and three sticks of incense came out, Emperor Zhu suddenly lost his composure.
There are specific customs and practices associated with offering incense and displaying portraits.
Generally speaking, wealthier families would have a dedicated "family hall," which is a place to enshrine ancestral tablets. Ordinary people's homes do not have such a large space, so they usually use a large table and tea table in the main room as their family hall. During festivals, they would offer ancestral tablets. More particular families would also have a "family hall chart," which would clearly show the names of their ancestors.
The same applies to burning incense.
A stick of incense is a casual incense, usually burned casually without any particular purpose.
Three incense sticks are offered as a form of offering incense, representing respect for the three elements of "heaven, earth, and humanity." Generally, three incense sticks are only burned when offering incense to deities and ancestors.
They want to worship our portrait and burn three sticks of incense. Do they think they're treating Zhu Chongba like a god?
Emperor Zhu patted Old Man Wang's hand with a wry smile, and was about to say something when Old Man Wang grinned and said, "Your Majesty, you don't know, but when the people of Ningyang County invite the Heavenly Father during the New Year, the Heavenly Father is drawn based on Your Majesty's appearance."