The funeral of Emperor Shengwu was not held for thirty days, as had been the custom for his predecessors.
After consulting with Senior Grand Secretary Zhang and the newly formed cabinet, Moyuan decided that the funeral would be held after seven days of lying in state. This was partly because Moyuan had only just assumed the throne and had a mountain of state affairs to attend to. Secondly, the forces of Prince Yan had already captured eight cities, and Moyuan needed to deploy a counter-offensive. Thirdly, heavy rains in certain regions had left many of the common people displaced as refugees. Holding the funeral for an extended period would be a waste of manpower and money, and would serve no benefit to the political situation.
Some of the old fogies in the court, who felt that Moyuan’s accession was illegitimate, dared not openly oppose him. Instead, they made an issue of this, clamoring that the Emperor must lie in state for thirty days before the funeral could proceed. At first, Moyuan patiently tried to persuade them, but these old men, relying on their seniority, feigned indignation and sobbed that tradition must be upheld, claiming that holding the funeral in such a rush would be unfilial, unkind, and unjust. They came within a hair’s breadth of accusing Moyuan of usurping the throne.
Chapter 351