Chapter 123
Slightly bowed, Xu Yan presented the secret letter to Zhou Chen, lowered his head and said with trepidation, "Subordinates don’t dare to say it, it’s your sir. Come and see!"
When I heard this, Zhou Chen's brows became tighter, but he didn't continue to say anything, just put Xu Yan in his hands. Received the secret letter and looked at it.
"On the seventh day of May in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, the Emperor Daxing collapsed in the Palace of the Qing Dynasty!"
The content of the secret letter is very brief, but the meaning is enough to be called. It was earth shattering, which turned out to be a secret letter from Bright Gown Guard to report funeral.
Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youzhan died two days ago.
Because Emperor Hongzhi had only the only son of Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao, his funeral was not covered up. On the day of his death, the news of the funeral spread from the capital to all parts of the Ming Dynasty.
Now Zhou Chen only learned the news in advance from the channels of Bright Gown Guard. In a few days' time, the urgent messengers in the capital may also rush to Guangzhou. Yang Mansion.
After learning the news of Emperor Hongzhi's death, Zhou Chen's eyes couldn't help but a look of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes.
Although Emperor Hongzhi’s previous measures were prepared, Zhou Chen guessed that Emperor Hongzhi’s body might be worsening day by day.
But even so, Zhou Chen did not expect that he had just been transferred to Guangyang Mansion by Emperor Hongzhi for more than a month, and Emperor Hongzhi would really control Bintian.
According to Zhou Chen’s previous speculation of Emperor Hongzhi, Emperor Hongzhi should let him serve in this Guangyang Mansion for a period of time, and then he will be transferred to the capital to take charge of the Bright Gown Guard and become the future. The emperor Zhu Houzhao used a sharp blade to deter the court officials.
However, now that the news of Emperor Hongzhi's death is so sudden, Zhou Chen is also a little confused about how his next path will be arranged.
It's just that this is the end, and all Zhou Chen can do is wait quietly.
Whether he continues to serve as the prefect of Guangyang Mansion, or is transferred to the capital, there will be a result in short.
Holding the secret letter, I quietly meditated for a while, only to hear Zhou Chen speak to Xu Yan instructed: "The secret letter has already been read, you will go down and prepare in advance. , Only after a messenger in the capital sent the funeral report, the government officials and the Bright Gown Guard were all dressed up.
As for other things, everything will wait until the messenger in the capital arrives. Let's talk about it!"
Although Zhou Chen learned the news of Emperor Hongzhi's death one step ahead of time through the intelligence channels of Bright Gown Guard, he couldn't do anything else at all.
The news mentioned in the secret letter from the Bright Gown Guard headquarters is only the death of Emperor Daxing in the Palace of Qing Dynasty.
As for the Crown Prince suitable for ascending the throne, what is the new reign name, how should the posthumous name of the Emperor Daxing emperor be announced, and so on.
All of this needs to wait for the conclusion in the capital to be reported by the messenger to various places before it can be announced to the people.
So what Zhou Chen can do now is to let the officials in Guangyang Prefecture prepare a mourning suit in advance, and then quietly wait for the funeral report in the capital to arrive.
After getting Zhou Chen's order, Xu Yan seemed to have found the backbone of his heart. The panic on his face finally relieved a lot.
Immediately, I saw Xu Yan, cup one fist in the other hand, bowed and complied and said: "I must follow the instructions of the lord, and my subordinates will go down and prepare for a plain mourning dress."
"Go on. Come on!"
slightly nodded, Zhou Chen said softly.
So Xu Yan retreated and left Zhou Chen's room, and went down to make preparations in advance according to Zhou Chen's instructions.
In a blink of an eye, three days passed, and the urgent messenger in the capital finally came to the outskirts of Guangyangfu with the edict.
Before waiting for the messengers from the capital to enter the city of Guangyang, Zhou Chen led a group of officials to the outskirts of the city to greet them.
That was a group of elite sergeants dressed in plain clothes, all of them were elite forbidden troops in the Forbidden City. Their arrival clearly showed that the era of Emperor Hongzhi had completely come to an end.
Emperor Hongzhi died in Qianqing Palace, Crown Prince Zhu Houzhaoling succeeded to the throne and changed his reign to Zhengde. This is your content on the edicts brought by the Forbidden Army.
At the same time, the elders of the cabinet also negotiated the temple name and posthumous name of Emperor Hongzhi based on the achievements of Emperor Hongzhi during his lifetime.
The temple name is Ming Xiaozong, and the posthumous name is Jiantian Ming Daocheng, pure Zhongzheng sage Wen Shen Wu Zhi Ren Da De Jing emperor, and the envoy of the imperial army announced the world.
In addition to the edict about the death of Emperor Hongzhi, the commander of the imperial army also handed a secret decree to Zhou Chen.
Then they left Guangyang Prefecture and went to other surrounding state capitals to deliver funeral reports.
As for the contents of the secret purport, Zhou Chen needs to read it by himself.
To enshrine the edict in the main hall of the government office, Zhou Chen and a group of officials from Guangyang government put on plain mourning clothes, and solemnly began to carry out the salute.
This kind of funeral begins on the day when the edict arrives. It takes three days in total and is held every day and night.
The plain mourning gown worn by Zhou Chen and others cannot be removed until 27 days later.
After the salute, Zhou Chen ordered Tongzhi Xie Ming and other officials to prepare to issue notices known to the people.
So that the common people know the news of the death of the virtuous brother, they are not allowed to marry or have fun during the national funeral for a hundred days, so as not to commit taboos.
Apart from this, the news of Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao's accession to the throne will also be announced.
All official names, place names, personal names, etc. that have the same name as the new emperor need to be changed. This is called avoidance of names, so as not to commit a crime of disrespect.
After all the matters have been ordered, Zhou Chen has time to go to the back house of the government office to check the secret decree.
There is no difference between this decree and the two previous decree Zhou Chen received in terms of style and specifications, but the person who made the decree seems to have changed.
At present, Crown Prince Zhu Huzhao has ascended to the throne and is Emperor Zhengde, so this sealed decree naturally came from his handwriting.
The content of the secret essay is nothing unusual. It is nothing more than asking Zhou Chen to go to the capital to report on his duties after 27 days of service.
As for the subsequent arrangements for Zhou Chen, Emperor Zhengde did not say clearly in the secret edict. Everything still needs to be known after Zhou Chen goes to the capital.
It’s just that Zhou Chen has some speculation in his heart. The Emperor Zhengde asked him to return to the capital to report on his duties. It should be just like the plan of Emperor Hongzhi before his death, he was ready to take charge of the Bright Gown Guard. Becoming a sharp blade began to frighten the court and hundreds of officials for the new emperor.