Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 2

Emperor Jiajing, who was burned down by the Longevity Palace and moved to Yuxi Palace, locked himself in the alchemy room in the palace called Jinshen Abode, and had no choice but to issue an imperial edict to his subjects all over the world.The general idea is: it is all because I am not sincere in respecting the sky, and God does not let the snow fall. All parties are guilty, and I am the one who is guilty.From the first day of the first month of the 40th year of Jiajing to the fifteenth day of the first month, I will fast and pray for snow alone in Yuxi Palace in Xiyuan.God reads my sincerity, and the auspicious snow will come down to bless my Ming Dynasty and my subjects.

Since the cabinet surrendered to assist Yan Song, and since then the eunuch Lv Fang, the chief inspector of ceremonies, has expressed their stance that if it does not snow, the crime lies with the cabinet, the chief inspector of ceremonies, and the ministers.All officials in Beijing are not allowed to smoke or eat meat during the annual festival, so as to relieve the worries of the emperor and father.The notice jointly signed by the cabinet and the supervisor of rituals was posted on the wall of the Meridian Gate.As for whether everyone is still secretly passing cups and cups and singing in the backyard of the deep house, after all, this year is too embarrassing, and I am a little worried. Anger, whose head the fire will burn to, it is really unpredictable.

It's so fast, it's Yin time on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in a blink of an eye.There have been cloudy clouds in the sky for the past few days. Although the sky above Xiyuan was dark and starless, there was still no sign of snowfall.And after dawn, the most troublesome annual financial meeting of the Ming Dynasty will be held in the Imperial Palace as usual.Emperor Jiajing, who had fasted for fifteen days, still failed to pray for a piece of snow.How Tianyan faced it, the five major cabinet members and the five chief eunuchs who attended the meeting couldn't get past it.A quarrel in front of the imperial court over who should bear the blame is likely to immediately trigger a hand-to-hand battle between the strict party and the Qing school.And this hand-to-hand combat does not know how many people's lives will be involved.

Firecrackers on New Year's Eve and lights on Lantern Festival.The snow did not fall, and the lanterns were still on.The rule in the palace is to light the lamps one day earlier than the folks. On this day, all the eunuchs and maids have to get up at the end of the ugly hour and light the lamps at the beginning of the Yin hour.There were many figures, and the lanterns under the eaves of the various palaces in Xiyuan were lit up one after another, gradually sticking together into patches of red.Seen from a distance, the patches of red against the boundless black sky, the eaves of the huge temples seem to be floating in mid-air in the red below and black above.

One eunuch picked up another eunuch's legs and lit another lantern. The eunuch being hugged was probably a little numb due to the cold, and the tinder did not ignite after rubbing it several times: "Damn God, it's not snowing yet. It's really cold." The eunuch who hugged him was startled: "Shut your stinking mouth. Let people hear you, if it doesn't snow today, you and I will be the ones who will be beaten."

The eunuch lighting the lamp finally lit the tinder and lit the lantern. Just as he was about to put the red gauze cover on, suddenly his hands froze and his eyes froze, staring fixedly at the gauze cover of the lantern.

A goose-feather-like snow sticks to the upper left of the red lantern veil!

Then another slice!
Then another slice!
"Snow!" The eunuch's voice was already high-pitched, but he yelled again, and it immediately spread throughout the empty night sky in Da Nei.

In the boundless black sky, the silent and traceless snowflakes only appeared one after another when they met the red light of the lanterns, patches of white and a little bit of red!
"It's snowing!" Several sharp voices of surprise sounded almost simultaneously in different places.

"Who is calling!" A stern voice immediately silenced the surroundings again.Under the eaves of a side palace with a big red lantern, stood Feng Bao and a few of his Dongchang attendant eunuchs.

Feng Bao stretched out a palm to catch the snowflakes falling one after another, looked up at the sky, his eyes sparkled: "Auspiciousness has come, God has finally made auspiciousness! I will report the good news to the emperor, and then go to the supervisor of ceremonies You drag the few people who were yelling just now to the respect room. Before I report auspiciousness, anyone who dares to make a noise will be killed immediately!"

"Yes." Those strong Dongchang eunuchs immediately scattered and ran away.

Feng Bao immediately strode towards Yuxi Palace.

At the same time, in the guard room on the opposite side of Yuxi Palace, two white cloud copper braziers filled with inch-long silver charcoal were burning brightly red, and a few red lanterns hanging from the beams of the roof glowed up and down. Warm red into one piece.But the five big eunuchs sitting on the five huanghuali wood armchairs were neither red nor warm, and all of them were silent. The warm shoes were replaced with up-facing boots, and the little eunuchs standing behind were gently wrapping white fox fur scarves around their necks.

Suddenly a gust of cold wind came in through the thick curtain, and a eunuch on duty in the outer courtyard panted and flushed with excitement and almost stumbled in.

As soon as the eunuch entered the room, he knelt down to the big eunuch sitting in the middle: "Congratulations to the ancestors! Congratulations to all the ancestors! It's snowing, and it's snowing from heaven! It's snowing!"

Almost at the same time, the five eunuchs stood up at the same time.

The four eunuchs on both sides looked anxious to go out to see the snow, but they didn't move, they all looked at the eunuch in the middle.

Standing in the middle is the eunuch Lu Fang, who is called the inner minister by the outer dynasty and the ancestor by the inner court. The joy in his eyes shows that he is also very excited, but he is calm, as if he is not in a hurry Going out, I just looked at the door curtain, those deep eyes seemed to be able to see the heavy snow outside the house through the curtain.

"The emperor is virtuous!" At any time, Lu Fang's words revealed his identity as the chief of one hundred thousand, "Look and go." After saying these two sentences, he took the lead to walk towards the door curtain.

Outside the house, in the red light of the lanterns, the snow fell harder than before, so auspicious!
"The emperor should be meditating in the abode right now?" Lu Fang asked Huang Jin, the eunuch holding a pen on the right.

"It should be." Huang Jin continued.

Lu Fang nodded, and said to the eunuchs who held pens: "The time for discussion is coming soon, let's go together to report auspiciousness to the Long Live Lord."

"Old ancestor." The eunuch on duty who came to announce the good news just now came to Lu Fang's back, "I heard that Eunuch Feng suppressed the big guy and kept silent, and I have already reported the auspiciousness to the emperor first!"

"Is there such a thing?" Lu Fang's long eyebrows trembled inadvertently.

"Okay." Chen Hong, the chief eunuch who was standing on the left side of Lu Fang, said in a thin and cold voice, "I rushed to declare this happy news. As soon as the emperor is happy, let him Feng Bao replace us."

Lu Fang continued: "Then let's wait a little longer, when he announces his happiness to the emperor, it's time for him to come to our place to put on a show."

As soon as the words were finished, a young eunuch in the heavy snow led Feng Bao in through the moon gate of the courtyard with a lantern.

"Yo! Godfather and senior brothers all know!" Feng Bao knelt down in the snow under the steps in front of Lu Fang, "Congratulations to godfather, congratulations to my son, congratulations to senior brothers. With this Xue, the emperor is happy, and the errands of godfather and senior brothers can be handled better." After kowtowing, he stood up and looked at Lu Fang respectfully.

There was a smile on Lu Fang's face: "Does the emperor know about Jiang Ruixue?"

Feng Bao quickly replied: "If you go back to your godfather, your son has already reported the auspiciousness to the emperor on your godfather's behalf."

Lu Fang asked again: "What did the emperor say after hearing the good news?"

Feng Bao was silent for a while, and replied: "The son knelt outside the palace gate to announce the good news, and the emperor didn't see him. He only heard the sound of the copper chime inside, which means that the emperor already knew..."

"I thought the emperor rewarded you with the Prison of Rituals as soon as he was happy." Lu Fang interrupted him, still smiling.

The four chief eunuchs who had been silent all the time, the Supervisor of Rituals, all looked at Feng Bao.

Feng Bao was taken aback for a moment, and froze there.

Chen Hong, who originally spoke ill of Feng Bao, immediately said, "Yes, we should move our positions."

Feng Bao's face changed abruptly, and he knelt down facing Lu Fang and the four eunuchs holding pens. He raised both palms and twitched his cheeks fiercely: "Damn my son! Damn my son! My son just wanted to do it for me!" Father and all senior brothers should report their joy to the emperor as soon as possible, and they have no other intentions after death."

Lu Fang stopped looking at him, and said to the four eunuchs standing on both sides: "The people in the cabinet should be here soon, let's go."

The cloaks and white fox fur sleeves were already in their hands, and the eunuchs behind them immediately tied the cloaks on the five people's cloaks, and put on the fox fur sleeves for those who put them on.Immediately afterwards, the tarpaulins on the five tarpaulin-covered lifts in the yard were also lifted.Lu Fang and the four big eunuchs went down the steps and sat on the chair, and their respective eunuchs put a piece of leather felt on their knees.

The four carried the father out of the courtyard gate of the Supervisor of Rites in the heavy snow.

The eunuchs who were supposed to be on duty here didn't dare to stay here anymore, and all walked out one by one.In the empty courtyard of the supervisor's office, only Feng Bao was left kneeling on the snow.

The group of officials walked out of the gate of the Supervisory Court for Rituals, it was already dawn, and the lanterns hanging everywhere were still lit. Due to the heavy snow, the ground was already completely white in less than half an hour.It was originally a "great" happy event, but because of Feng Bao's greeting, there was deathly silence everywhere, but some eunuchs had already cleared the snow on all the passages.

Watching the five-carrying eunuchs of the chief inspector of ceremonies meandering over, several eunuchs who were sweeping snow on the nearest road knelt down on the snow immediately, and then all the eunuchs and court ladies who were on duty from far and near knelt down.

On the snow, on the steps, in the corridors, there were eunuchs and maids kneeling everywhere in the dark.

Lu Fang on the sedan chair glanced at the people kneeling everywhere, and said to an eunuch who was holding on to the pole of the sedan chair, "Look at Feng Bao frightening these children... tell them, this snow is my auspicious snow from the Ming Dynasty." , Tell them not to sweep. Let everyone get up and report auspiciousness, the louder the better."

"Yes." The eunuch opened his voice, "The ancestors have something to say, this snow is the auspiciousness of my Ming Dynasty, and it is not allowed to sweep. Everyone, get up and report the auspiciousness. The louder the better!"

There was still a moment of silence at first, and then a eunuch stood up as if venting, threw the bamboo broom in his hand, and opened his throat: "It's snowing!"

"It's snowing!" Immediately, many people cheered.

"God has snowfall!"

"God sent us a snowfall in the Ming Dynasty!"

Amidst the cheers, Lu Fang had a loving smile all over her face, and the party members walked forward among these cheering eunuchs and maids, Yuxi Palace was just ahead.Lu Fang suddenly stopped her speech.A group of carriages also stopped, and following Lu Fang's gaze, everyone vaguely saw a carriage and several figures in cloaks coming towards the gate of Yuxi Palace in the opposite moon gate.

"They're here. Let's go and meet them." Lu Fang got off the mobile phone, and the other four eunuchs also got off the mobile phone.

Lu Fang took the lead, followed by the four eunuchs who held pens, and walked towards the oncoming vehicle on foot.

Although it was snowing heavily, the sky was still getting brighter.The pedestrian on the opposite side could gradually see clearly that although the fur winter hat on his head was white, the official uniform on his body and the cloak on his shoulders were all bright red. Color—the "them" that Lu Fang refers to were all the cabinet members of the Ming Dynasty cabinet at that time, the first assistant Yan Song, the second assistant Xu Jie, the cabinet members Yan Shifan, Li Chunfang, and the household department who was suddenly appointed by the emperor to attend cabinet affairs in the last month of last year Gao Gong, the hall official, and Zhang Juzheng, the hall official of the Ministry of War.The emperor asked the two dissidents, Yan Dang, to be the quasi-cabinet members when the sky was warning and the people were full of grievances. Today they came to attend the most important annual financial meeting of the Ming Dynasty, which is unpredictable.Yan Song has not shown any attitude, but Yan Shifan has long been on guard in his heart. He is also the official of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Officials. Most of the deficit last year was spent in his own hands.Maybe the emperor asked these two people to check and balance his father and son, or did he intend to test whether the two people representing Qingliu were representatives of those who had been secretly criticizing the court for several months?Fortunately, with this snow, if these two people dare to make trouble at today's meeting, he will immediately show his tried and tested knife, and designate them as Zhou Yunyi's backstage, and as the masterminds who secretly attacked the emperor , "cut them up" in front of the imperial court.

The car that Yan Song was riding alone stopped, and Yan Song, who had white beard and eyebrows, had already seen that it was Lu Fang and others who were coming to meet him, and quickly ordered Yan Shifan who was closely following the car: "Quick, help me down." Yan Shifan Immediately helped his father get off the elevator.Yan's father and son were in front, and several cabinet members, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng followed closely behind, and the group also greeted Lu Fang and others who were walking towards them.

"Great joy!" Far away, Lu Fang arched her hands.

"Overjoyed! Overjoyed!" Yan Song on the opposite side always smiled like a chrysanthemum when he saw Lu Fang.

"Ge Lao! Ge Lao!" Lu Fang naturally went up to Yan Song with a smile on his face and held Yan Song's other arm, "After this snowfall, you were 79 years old last year, and you should be [-] this year."

"Eunuch Lu thinks I'm old." Yan Song smiled deliberately, and raised his Jiangxi accent, "Snow is good snow, if it's all silver, I won't do this anymore Heart, you can say goodbye to the emperor and return home."

"Don't." Lu Fang helped him walk towards the steps of Yuxi Palace, "Long live the emperor, a hundred years old. You still have to serve the emperor for 20 years."

"If we have to work for another 20 years, some people will hate us to death." Yan Shifan, who was holding Yan Song's left arm, said these words coldly.Although he is in his early fifties, after staying in Beijing for more than 20 years, he has changed the accent of his hometown in Jiangxi and speaks a very authentic Beijing accent.

"No way?" Lu Fang smiled and looked at the few cabinet members following Yan Song.

Those few people didn't seem to hear anything, and each looked at the ground.

"We are in the same boat, we are in the same boat." Lu Fang still smiled.

A group of people climbed up the steps while talking, and the vigorous and round regular script characters of "Yuxi Palace" and the five respectful regular script characters of "Chen Yan Song Jingshu" on the left side of the plaque could be seen clearly, and the group of people were silent No more words.The eunuchs on duty outside the gate of the palace took off their cloaks one after another for the chief eunuchs and cabinet members of the Supervisor of Rituals, and swept the snow. The movements were not only quick, but also very light, as if they were afraid of making a noise.

At this time, Lu Fang had also changed into a solemn and respectful face, and slowly looked at everyone: "Everyone knows what happened to Zhou Yunyi on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month. From the first day of the lunar new year to today, the emperor has been here to practice and pray. Snow. Although auspiciousness fell today, the emperor’s mood may not be any better. We will try our best to get over the shortfall if we can, and think of other ways this year. I still say the same thing, it’s a big deal , thanks to our solidarity.”

Of course Yan Song nodded in deep agreement, but Yan Shifan looked at the cabinet members behind him, but those cabinet members still looked at him.

The two eunuchs went to open the door. Instead of pushing, they used both hands to slowly lift up the respective door a little bit, and then slowly moved in—the two doors were not heard at all. Moved away slowly.

On the left are the eunuchs of the chief inspector of ceremonies, and on the right are several members and quasi-eunuchs of the cabinet, who entered the gate of the palace like geese.

The inside is really big, but it doesn't look like a "temple".

In the center of the house is not a Sumeru seat, but a simple rosewood chair with armrests around it.

Behind the seat is a huge copper censer with three legs and a cover. The lid is hollowed out according to the gossip pattern. At this time, faint cigarettes continue to flow out of the hollowed out place.In the center of the north wall directly above the copper censer hangs a very white framed nave, on which are written a few lines of thin gold regular script characters: "I have three virtues, compassion, thrift, and dare not be the first in the world"; at the bottom left of the nave The inscription is "Jiajing 40th Year, First Month, First Day, Zhu Houcong Respectfully Records the True Words of the Supreme Daoist Lao Tzu"; at the bottom of the inscription is a big red seal, on which are engraved the four seal characters of "Loyal and Filial Emperor".

The four large pillars on both sides are square and equally spaced about two feet apart. There is a long red sandalwood table between the two pillars on the left and a long red sandalwood table between the two pillars on the right.Both cases are full of account book documents, eight-line blank paper, pens and inkstones.The strange thing is that there are no seats behind the two long cases, only an embroidered pier on the top of the right long case.

There is another difference, the bronze inkstone box on the left long case is filled with red ink, and the copper inkstone box on the right long case is filled with black ink.

(End of this chapter)