Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 54 The Celebration Ceremony
A mighty cavalry team arrived in front of Xuande Gate. The team of more than 80 people was a little thinner than the [-]-strong prime minister, but far surpassed other civil and military officials. Second only to Zhao Pu, the prime minister's first assistant, he was appointed as the deployment of the inner capital, and he could only enjoy the treatment he enjoyed when he was appointed as the governor of Kaifeng, and Zhao Guangyi, the younger brother of today's son, who was also in charge of Zhongshuling.

More than 80 people, led by two red-clothed officials with gold belts around their waists, surrounded a middle-aged man in a purple square heart with a curved collar and a goldfish bag on his waist, and they went straight to the front of the imperial city.

Seeing Zhao Guangyi coming on horseback, the officials who were still outside the imperial city avoided the road and saluted.Compared to seeing Prime Minister Zhao Pu who just entered the palace, he was much more respectful.

At Xuande Gate, Zhao Guangyi didn't stop much, and rode his horse straight into the imperial city.He and all the civil and military officials entered the imperial city from Xuande Gate, left through a horizontal gate that divided the middle and west of the palace city, and came to the square of Daqing Hall, then dismounted and walked slowly into Daqing Gate.

Including Zhao Guangyi, all the civil servants seemed to be walking very calmly, taking every step and looking like a pedant.

In fact, absolutely most civil servants don't want to walk like this, but the official hat of the Song Dynasty invented by Zhao Kuangyin himself is quite special. There is a wing on each side of the official hat. If you don't come down, it would be a breach of etiquette to go to see the emperor like that.

Along the way, many civil servants met Zhao Guangyi, and most of the fourth and fifth ranks and above hurriedly greeted him with greetings, and those with lower ranks quickly moved out of the way, and also greeted them with greetings.Of course, there were also some civil and military officials who looked indifferent when facing Zhao Guangyi. Even when the two met and saluted, they were neither humble nor overbearing.These people are naturally civil servants of Zhao Pu's family, or generals who are only loyal to the emperor.

Zhao Guangyi behaved extremely courteous and virtuous along the way, often before the person in front of him bowed down, he had already stepped forward to help him up, answered politely, and even chatted a few words.

Behind the Daqing Gate is a [-]-step imperial road leading directly to the Daqing Hall.On both sides of the Royal Road, first the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower face each other across the road from east to west.Behind the Bell and Drum Tower, there are two long corridor-style palaces across the royal road, named East and West Shanggemen.After passing through the Daqing Gate, the civil and military officials did not go straight into the Daqing Hall, but were divided into east and west shifts according to the civil and martial arts, and lined up at the east and west upper pavilion gates, waiting for the celebration ceremony to begin.

Zhao Guangyi's arrival was considered late, most of the civil and military officials who needed to participate in the celebration ceremony had already arrived, the two pavilion gates were full of people, but there was no sound, breathing could be heard.No one dared to talk or act indiscriminately, even the prime minister.The censor and the cabinet envoys were watching from the sidelines. If there was any loud noise or the wrong shift, they would either be scolded immediately, or be impeached on the head after the court meeting was over.

In fact, very few officials in the Song Dynasty knew the rules at first. When Zhao Kuangyin first proclaimed himself emperor, every morning, the courtiers even had seats in the main hall. These ministers and Zhao Kuangyin were colleagues and colleagues at the beginning, and they knew each other very well. There's no such thing as awe, especially since most of them are rude warriors with no rules.Every morning, the ministers have all kinds of sitting postures, and some with their legs crossed, whispering to each other. The hall is not like a hall, but like a chaotic gathering hall of bandits' cottage.

There are no rules, no circle, Zhao Kuangyin looked bad, so he removed the seats of the officials, but the officials still couldn't control their mouths while standing, and they still winked and whispered.Zhao Kuangyin thought of another way, reforming the official hats, adding long hat wings on both sides of the official hats of the ministers, so that the two ministers are separated by hat wings, at least two or three feet away. Not to mention that it is inconvenient to talk to each other, but the standing posture is not standard, and the crooked hat wings are particularly ugly.At this point, even the careless ministers understood what the emperor meant, and gradually followed the rules.

Today, more than ten years after the founding of the Song Dynasty, the laws and regulations have long been strict, and various etiquette systems have been gradually improved by referring to the past dynasties.

Zhao Guangyi walked forward in silence, and the officials of the East Banner bowed and backed away to make way for him.Zhao Guangyi kept walking, only paused slightly at Luo Gongming, and nodded to the latter who laughed.Luo Gongming didn't say anything, and just bowed slightly in return with a blank expression.

Thinking of the past four months, taking advantage of the absence of the emperor's brother and Zhao Pu, I put down my airs and kept expressing my goodwill to Duke Luo, but the latter always respected him face to face, but kept him at a respectful distance behind his back.Zhao Guangyi had a murderous intent towards Luo Gongming in his heart.

Since that person appeared in his house three years ago and had a spy with him, he began to secretly make friends with ministers of civil and military affairs, and tried to place his confidants in various important departments.Just for the big conspiracy and idea that is hidden in my heart and dare not be shown to others.But today, it is difficult for him to intervene in the main position of military commander, and Zhao Pu is under the pressure of civil servants. Although great progress has been made, there are not many important officials, not to mention standing with him, even if they have a close relationship.

"One day, let everyone kneel at his feet like dogs." Zhao Guangyi secretly cursed in his heart.

After crossing a group of Hanlin scholars, he continued to move forward until he reached the front of the queue.Standing in the second place in the east class, also behind Zhao Pu, holding a wat board, closing eyes and not speaking, waiting for the start of the court meeting.

Now in front of him, there is only Zhao Pu left, and one step further, he will be an extremely human minister, and then the emperor will sit on the throne.

In the Spanish class, Cao Bin is the envoy of Xuanhui South Academy, ranking only behind Li Chongju, the chief envoy of the Privy Council, and Shen Yilun, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.The privy envoy originally had one chief and two deputy envoys, but now one privy envoy is vacant, so Cao Bin is ranked third, and when the army returned from the Jinyang squadron a few days ago, there were rumors that Cao Bin would be promoted to deputy privy envoy.

Ye Chen and Luo Yaoshun followed Luo Gongming and had already arrived, and they were standing at the very back of the Spanish military generals in the main hall.

Originally, the two of them were not qualified to be in the court class in an ordinary court meeting or grand ceremony, but because today was a celebration ceremony, and the two of them were rewarded persons, they were able to stand here.

On the way here, Luo Gongming had already mentioned to the two of them the etiquette and rules of the grand ceremony and court meeting very seriously. At this moment, the two stood side by side. Although there was no wat board, they hung their heads in silence and did not dare to look left and right.

After waiting for a long time, almost all the officials who participated in the celebration ceremony had arrived, and the time for the celebration ceremony had arrived.

The area of ​​the Daqing Hall is also large enough to accommodate more than a thousand people.

Everyone stood still, the whips sounded, and at the edge of the hall, the musicians began to blow the sheng and ring the bell, playing Shao music in praise of the sages and virtuous officials, and the gatekeepers sang loudly along with the music.Zhao Pu and the Privy Councilor made Li Chongju hold the wat board, and led all the ministers to enter the hall one by one according to the roll call, and stood by His Majesty on the platform.

The net whip rang again, and there was movement in the back of the hall.First, two living servants came out. They were the attendants who recorded the words and deeds of the emperor, and they stood at the two corners of the hall one east and one west.Then came a group of Huangmen eunuchs holding fans, swords and other ritual objects.When Huangmen took a good position, the tune of sacred music suddenly rose to welcome the emperor to come out.

Zhao Kuangyin walked out slowly from the back of the hall, wearing a yellow ocher robe and a flat-footed headband, which is the uniform of the emperor's constant court.Under the illumination of 99 tallow butter candles, the brilliance shines everywhere.Standing in front of Baozuo, Zhao Kuangyin glanced across the officials like lightning, rejoicing in his heart, with a coercive demeanor.

The emperor sat down, and the officials shouted long live three times. Zhao Kuangyin accepted everyone's kneeling and professed to be exempt from courtesy. Everyone knelt and sat behind the table, bowing their heads and lowering their eyes in a solemn manner. Lost in a state of contemplation.

Because it was a celebration ceremony and it took a long time, the ministers could sit down, but except for a very few important ministers in front, the others had no chairs and could only sit on the spot with cushions.

On weekdays, there are only a hundred or so people in the morning. It is no wonder that more than 1000 people were crowded into the celebration ceremony. The team lined up outside the hall, and Ye Chen and Luo Yaoshun were already sitting at the door with their current official positions.

Ye Chen often participated in various celebrations and conferences in later generations, and he knew the importance of a good location, so he found a good location early, with his back against a huge wooden dragon pillar by the door. It can't be over, but fortunately, he has had special training and repeated tests on the problem of sitting posture in the later generations of the army. Under the condition of ensuring a good sitting posture, he can cleverly take the opportunity to take a good rest, which is still possible.

A ceremony official came out and recited the congratulatory speeches that had been prepared to praise the emperor and the city of this Northern Expedition, followed by praise music and dance, followed by Zhao Pu summarizing the great achievements of this Northern Expedition, how many enemies were beheaded, and how much money was gained. State and county land, how much food, ordnance, money, etc. were seized, all were carried out in strict accordance with the relevant regulations and procedures.

In short, all the procedures express one meaning, that is, because of Zhao Kuangyin, the wise emperor, he led the army to expand the territory.

Sitting on the throne, Zhao Kuangyin listened with gusto, was in a good mood, and was ambitious at the same time. However, Zhao Kuangyin felt a little bored after Zhao Pu summarized the ceremony after the congratulatory speech. heroes.

The celebration ceremony is still going on step by step.

Ye Chen was a little curious at the beginning, and kept his eyes wide open, not wanting to miss every link, but in the end he felt a little bored, and even felt drowsy because he didn't sleep well last night.Sitting upright from afar, his eyes are already slightly squinted, clearly entering a state of doze.

The sun rises higher and higher from the entrance of the main hall, and the light passes through the thin mist, covering the entire Daqing Hall domineeringly, making the already bright Daqing Hall even brighter and more brilliant, and making everyone feel a bit stuffy, the ceremony finally came to the award ceremony In the first ring, an imperial edict came out, holding the imperial decree, and read out the names and contents of the awards one by one.

(End of this chapter)