Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 8

The east is getting brighter, and the entire Forbidden City gradually becomes clear in the morning light.

In the square in front of the Meridian Gate, civil and military officials came here for the funeral, and lined up here in the order they participated in the early court.After receiving the rhino horn belt cut-off uniform from the officials of the Ministry of Rites, he immediately knelt on the ground in the direction of the Qianqing Palace and cried loudly.

Whether it is to show his life philosophy of being loyal to the emperor, or because he is afraid that the covetous Kodao officials will catch the pigtails, he will try his best to squeeze out a tear at this time.

There are quite a few who really cry!For example, Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, had already learned that the Qing school was going to recommend Wang Shu to take over his position. Thinking that he was going to go home soon, his heart seemed to be stuffed with hemp.

Although the sage taught that "use it to do it, and discard it to hide it", after tasting the taste of power, there may be no sage.Those who keep talking about Qingliu are not actually doing everything possible to climb up, and the real saints will not take the imperial examination at all.

Xu Pu, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy who was kneeling on the ground, wanted to laugh, but knew that this was not the time to be happy, so he held it back abruptly.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
Two tall palace guards in brocade clothes appeared on both sides of the palace road holding a one-foot-long whip. Standing in the open space in front of the civil and military officials, they waved the big whip skillfully.

This kind of leather whip is thick and long, the tip of the whip is made of special soft leather, and a special wax is coated on it, so that every time the whip is pulled out, it can produce a tingling sound.

With the sound of whips, the main entrance of the Meridian Gate, which had been sealed in dust for many years, slowly opened, and a jade chariot drove out from the royal road.

Sitting on the jade chariot was naturally Zhu Youtang. Zhu Youtang was still wearing filial piety, but his face looked serious, and he already had a bit of a royal air.

Although I realized that I would face the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty alone, I felt a little pressure when I faced more than [-] officials alone.

If you just want to be a foolish emperor, then you can live comfortably in this position without contending with the world, but you will undoubtedly have a long way to go if you want to rule the world alone.

Li Rong, the eunuch who was in charge of the ceremonial supervisor, sent out the edict, and Wan An, the chief assistant of the cabinet, read the edict, saying: "With meagerness, Shao inherited the ancestor Piye for twenty-three years. I worry about work at night and work hard, and I want to achieve perfection. I am afraid that there will be a lonely emperor entrusting me. Now suddenly the disease is dying, and it is almost impossible to prosper. The common sense of life and death is unavoidable for ancient and modern people. Fortunately, the successor has a successor, and the ancestors and society depend on the people. Even if I die, I will regret it again! The device has been completed, and it should be the throne of the emperor, and the Chinese and foreign civil and military ministers will work together to assist... this!"

……

This posthumous edict was not written by civil officials, but was written by Wan An, the chief assistant of the dynasty, and drafted by Zhu Jianshen himself when Zhu Jianshen was alive.

Zhu Jianshen neither exaggerated his achievements, nor reviewed his mistakes in governing, but he made it very clear that he passed the throne to Prince Zhu Youtang.

"The ministers and others are ordered, long live my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

The civil and military officials had already made it clear about the candidate for the new emperor. Since ancient times, there had been no prince who could not succeed after the emperor's death.

Zhou Hongmo, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, stood in front of all the civil and military officials, and sang loudly again: "The new king is here, so you can't be polite!"

"The ministers and others kowtow to the new king, long live my emperor, long live long live!"

Facing Zhu Youtang on the jade chariot, all civil and military officials immediately saluted again.

Zhu Youtang looked at all the civil and military officials who knelt in front of him in a dark manner, and watched them surrender to him, and he couldn't help but feel the taste of power.

Just relying on this identity is far from enough to really make these people surrender, but it is necessary to slap a sweet date on the wrist.

Zhu Youtang didn't speak, and exchanged a wink with the eunuch Liang Fang who was next to him, and Liang Fang arranged for the jade chariot to return to the Forbidden City.

"The ministers and others respectfully send off the new emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live long live!"

When the civil and military officials headed by Wan An saw the jade chariot returning to the Forbidden City, they immediately knelt down again.

It was impossible for Zhu Youtang to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor immediately after the first emperor died, but they naturally had to express their position as soon as possible as the courtiers, and they firmly wanted to support Zhu Youtang as emperor.

The reason why the civil official group can become the backbone of each dynasty is their absolute maintenance of orthodoxy, which in exchange for the affirmation of the orthodox heirs.

Although Zhu Jianshen has become a thing of the past, the ceremony of the national funeral is not sloppy at all.

dong dong dong...

The bell of Wulou rang continuously and spread throughout the entire city of Beijing.

The bell of Bolin Temple in the north of the city rang, the bell of Longfu Temple in the east of the city rang, the bell of Chongxuan Temple in the west of the city rang, and all the bells in the city rang at this time.

According to the national mourning system of the Ming Dynasty, during this period, temples and temples in the capital had to strike [-] bells and pestles together every day to "bless the world" on behalf of the Chenghua Emperor who had just passed away.

Starting today, the entire Ming Dynasty officially enters the state mourning.

The General Administration Department issued the obituary and posthumous edict nationwide, and the whole country will enter the national mourning from provincial capitals, prefectures, prefectures, counties, towns and villages.

Yamen in various places must face north to worship, including vassal kings in various places.

All the yamen in the capital stopped working, and at the same time, the whole city had to carry out strict fasting.Slaughtering has been banned in the entire capital for about half a month, so starting today, it will be difficult to eat fresh meat.

The mausoleum of Emperor Chenghua has already been built, but the emperor's burial is not a child's play, usually choose an auspicious day, and the interval between these periods is often as long as several months.

Since the temple name and posthumous title of Emperor Chenghua had been finalized, Zhu Jianshen could enter the Zi Palace after a small funeral and a large funeral.Although the weather turns cooler in August, the smell of corpses is not good for too long.

The folk mortuary is called the mourning hall, but the royal family is called Jiyan Hall.

The Hall of Renzhi, also known as the White Tiger Hall, is usually chosen for the several feast halls of the Ming Dynasty, which is located in the outer court area of ​​the Forbidden City and is a secluded palace located north of the Hall of Valor.

The plaque of this palace is covered with a white cloth, the tree in front of the gate is hung with spiritual streamers, white flags, etc., and the table placed in the hall is placed on the sacrificial objects such as wine and food, and the spiritual tablet of Emperor Chenghua is in the middle.

All civil and military officials came to the palace, whether it was true or false, they must cry and mourn at this moment.In addition to civil and military commoners and honored relatives, imperial wives who are above the third rank in Beijing will also come.

Even though Zhu Youtang has become the new king, he now has to wear hemp to keep his filial piety in the mourning hall every day.

No matter how impatient he was, it was impossible for the old emperor to ascend the throne immediately after his death.Especially now that it is still a time of peace, so it is even more necessary to go through a process.

In the Prince's Mansion, a white curtain was also hung here, and the trees in the courtyard did not fall down.

Although everyone was wearing mourning clothes, there was still a hint of excitement between their brows.As long as the prince ascends the throne, the prince's mansion will become history, and their status of returning to the palace will naturally increase.

The sandalwood in the main room curled up, and a fair-skinned and beautiful woman was combing her hair in front of the bronze mirror.

Under the skillful hands of two palace maids, a head of black hair was slowly coiled into an exquisite three-dimensional high bun hairstyle. A golden hairpin with a hundred birds facing the phoenix was inserted in front, and round pearls hung from the earlobe. It is the image of a noble beauty.

Although she was going to wear linen and filial piety, the long skirt was tight, with a blue belt around her waist, and a touch of white brocade wrapped around her chest. This woman's capital was also one of her weapons.

Now that the old emperor has passed away and the crown prince is about to succeed to the throne, the happiest person in the entire prince's mansion is naturally Zhang Yujiao, the crown princess who is the mother of the world.

It was rare for Zhang Yujiao to get up early today, and she seemed to be in a good mood.After combing her hair, she started to apply her own makeup in front of the bronze mirror.

Different from the heavy makeup prevailing in the Ming Dynasty, she has always been wearing light makeup, pursuing elegance and cleanliness, which is one of the reasons why Zhu Youtang was fascinated for a time.

"Crown Princess, makeup is not allowed in national funerals now!" An older court lady next to her reminded carefully when she saw Zhang Yujiao thrushing her eyebrows.

Zhang Yujiao almost made a mistake, her complexion suddenly froze, but her eyes fell on the palace maid Xiaozi through the bronze mirror.

Xiao Zi immediately stepped forward, and before the maid could react, Dang even slapped her across the face severely and said, "It's really presumptuous! Someone, lock her up and starve her for three days!"

"Yes!" Two eunuchs from Hou Zai's outer room immediately came in and dragged the crying maid away involuntarily.

After half a stick of incense, after a delicate light makeup, Zhang Yujiao resolutely has "the skin is as smooth as fat, and as bright as the morning glow".

She looked at herself in the mirror, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, but she believed that entering the palace this time would be a great success.As for the prince whom he hadn't seen for many days, he would definitely kneel under his pomegranate skirt.

(End of this chapter)