Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

The first year of Hongzhi, the first day of the Lunar New Year, is destined to be a joyous day.

The Great Court Meeting was already very lively, but the Great Court Meeting in the first year of Hongzhi's reign was of great significance. After all, it was the first New Year's Day Great Court Meeting when Hongzhi ascended the throne.

The eunuchs and maids of Qianqing Palace received Zhu Youtang's "year-end bonus" last night, and each also got a new set of clothes, so everyone had a bright smile on their faces.

In fact, the eunuchs and maids did not want much. Now that Zhu Youtang treated them so favorably, they naturally had to serve their master even more wholeheartedly.

Zhu Youtang also put on a brand new dragon robe today, rode a dragon chariot to Fengtian Hall according to the time, and accepted the worship of all civil and military officials on the throne.

This court meeting mainly consists of two parts: in the first half, hundreds of officials congratulate and present gifts to the emperor, which is called the court ceremony. The second half is a banquet given by the emperor, which is called the Grand Banquet Ceremony.

During the congratulatory stage, Wan An and other officials presented their own forms of congratulations, and Wan An presented auspicious signs: two red rabbits.

Naturally, this matter cannot be said to be a surprise. The Chitu was given after a private report, and Zhu Youtang also finalized the corresponding reward.

Zhu Youtang is becoming more and more comfortable with being an emperor, and he is a boss who can exercise discretion.

Xu Pu and other officials looked at the young emperor who was at ease in front of them and found that age no longer mattered.

Which young emperor has only been on the throne for less than half a year and has already completely controlled the situation of the court, and even has the 12th Battalion of the Beijing Army firmly in his hands.

If they still look at the eighteen-year-old new emperor with the same eyes as before and despise the emperor who insists on killing Qingyun Marquis, it can only be said that they are indeed hopelessly stupid.

In addition to civil servants and military officials, foreign envoys could also participate in this great court meeting. The North Korean envoy Bing Cao and Counselor Li Shi, who happened to be in Beijing, came to attend this great court meeting in the first year of Hongzhi.

Similar to the six ministries of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea has six Cao Cao. Among the Cao Zhong, there is one judge (Second Grade), one Senpan (Second Grade), and one Counselor (Third Grade).

Li Shi had a great yearning for Chinese culture. Now that he had learned about the actions of the new monarchy, he looked at the eighteen-year-old Ming Emperor in front of him with some fear.

Although Zhu Youtang was slightly surprised by the appearance of the North Korean envoy, he did not take it too seriously and simply announced: "A banquet!"

Huh?

The civil and military officials present couldn't help but look at each other in confusion when they saw the "end" of the ceremony, and then they all turned to look at Xu Pu, the leader of the ritual guardian sect.

Xu Pu naturally knew the meaning of these glances, but he closed his eyes silently, not intending to stand up.

According to the normal procedure, during this court ceremony, the new emperor would confer the title of queen and even crown prince at the same time, but now Zhu Youtang jumped directly over it.

It is naturally impossible to forget such a big event. Even if Zhu Youtang forgets, someone will keep reminding him. The only explanation is that Emperor Hongzhi did not intend to canonize Crown Princess Zhang Yujiao as queen.

In fact, when Zhu Youtang did this, there were already signs, and many officials even knew about it in advance.

Not to mention that Zhu Youtang no longer favored Zhang Yujiao after he ascended the throne, and some preparations had to be done before being canonized as queen. However, Emperor Hongzhi neither agreed to the request from the Ministry of Rites nor ordered preparations for the canonization, so naturally he would not canonize the Crown Princess as Queen today.

this……

The officials present looked at each other in shock, only to find that not only did Xu Pu not come forward, but none of the ministers in the court came forward to request the crown princess's title.

"I thank you for your kindness!" The disciples headed by Wan An immediately expressed their thanks as if everything was a matter of course.

Some people may think that Zhu Youtang's behavior is unethical, but officials throughout the dynasty were unwilling to make fun of their own career and bet their money on a princess who was destined to fall out of favor.

Xu Pu, the strongest supporter of the Zhang family, has fallen out of favor. The empress dowager who chose Zhang Yujiao as the crown prince is already incompatible with the emperor. As for the crown prince Zhang Yujiao, there is nothing worth boasting about.

Officials at the upper levels did not dare to follow in Li Min's footsteps, while officials at the middle and lower levels might have opportunistically taken advantage of the situation in previous years, but this year happened to be the year of the Beijing-Inspection Bureau.

The Ming court assessed officials every three years. The assessment of local officials was called external inspection, while the assessment of officials below the fourth rank in the capital was called Beijing inspection.

The current Minister of Civil Affairs, Li Yu, is a genuine imperialist. If anyone jumps out now, they will definitely be "eliminated" in the next Beijing inspection.

After ten years of hardship, now is the best time to get promoted and make a fortune. Who is willing to bet all their hard work on a princess who knows she has fallen out of favor?

Because of this, at the great court meeting in the first year of Hongzhi, Crown Princess Zhang Yujiao was not able to be canonized as queen as she wished, and all the officials chose to remain silent about this.

The Ministry of Rites was responsible for the overall planning of the New Year's Day banquet in the Ming Dynasty, and Guanglu Temple was responsible for the execution of specific affairs. According to the size of the official position, the banquet table is divided into four categories: upper table, upper middle table, middle table and lower table.

The dishes served are: tea and snacks like raw florets, five types of fruits, five types of fried chicken, phoenix chicken, double stick bones, large silver ingots and large oil cakes, five types of pressed wine, four-color vegetables, three types of soup, and two large steamed buns. Horse, beef and mutton gizzard meat, rice and wine for five minutes.

When it comes to the big banquet ceremony, there are actually quite a few corresponding etiquette.

According to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, the banquet was held nine times with wine, and there was also music and dancing during the banquet.

For example, when drinking the first wine, "The Song of Good Luck by the Flame Spirit" and "The Song of Ten Thousand Years of Life" must be played, and at the same time, there must be a dance to calm the world. Whether it is drinking wine or holding chopsticks, the emperor must start the ceremony.

Zhu Youtang actually doesn't like these flashy etiquette, but who makes him the biggest beneficiary of etiquette?

The officials attending the banquet naturally did not come just for the food, especially the higher-ranking officials, the more sophisticated they were. Therefore, after receiving the banquet from the emperor, the minister wrote a poem: "After ten years of adjusting the tripod, I will accompany you with food, and I will repay your kindness with a meal." Disaster".

Zhang Luan, the minister of Honglu Temple, was sitting in front of the table. He had no appetite for the delicacies on the table and looked at Xu Pu who was not far away with a resentful look.

After Xu Pu became a year older, he found that he was no longer capable of his beautiful concubine, and just now he was too lazy to jump out to fight in the ring.

In the past, supporting a queen might have been important, but now that I can't even enter the cabinet, what's the use of supporting a queen?

But suddenly, the frustrated two people noticed movement above. When they saw clearly the person approaching Zhu Youtang, their hearts suddenly reached their throats.

While the Forbidden City was enjoying itself, the cold wind was raging at a dock in Yangzhou Prefecture thousands of miles away, and hundreds of thinly-clad dock workers were loading and unloading goods.

It is not easy to survive in this era, not to mention the cannibalistic squires and corrupt officials who are doing evil in the local area, and there are often various unpredictable natural disasters.

Due to the disaster in Shandong, a group of Shandong refugees came here to work as coolies.

Even though today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, they still have to work hard to have food, and now they are moving wood that came from nowhere.

The wind on the first day of the new year was filled with chills. At this time, the wind kept blowing from the river, so cold that the hands and feet of the workers here who were carrying wood were already red.

Two young men were carrying wood. One strong young man worked like an ox, but the other handsome young man was complaining endlessly.

But this handsome young man who complained was very resilient. Although he kept complaining about being tired, he still worked hard to carry the wood that had just been unloaded from the ship.

"Did you hear that?"

"What's the matter?"

"The body of the imperial envoy has been found!"

"Which imperial envoy? Why can't I understand what you are saying?"

…

Someone lit a fire in the lee next to the dock, and some resting workers gathered there to chat and drink some hot water to quench their thirst.

An old man wearing a torn cotton coat came here, and other workers recognized him. Next to him, an older, strong man called Brother Gou shouted to make room for Mr. Hu.

Mr. Hu looked like an old man and looked a bit arrogant. He picked up the firewood next to him and added a piece to it. Then he took out the steamed buns he brought and roasted them beside the fire.

When everyone saw this, they couldn't help but secretly swallow their saliva.

"The other imperial envoy, of course, beheaded a bunch of corrupt officials in Huguang!"

"I heard that Wang Yue was a good official, so why did he drown?"

"Haha...it is only good officials who drown. If they were corrupt officials, they would have given money to solve the problem!"

…

Brother Gou continued the topic just now. The biggest thing in Yangzhou now is naturally the imperial envoy Wang Yue who fell into the water and was missing. But the latest news just now is that Wang Yue's body was fished out.

"Why has there been no movement from the imperial court for so long?"

"His Majesty asked the Water Transport Governor's Mansion to search for Wang Yue along the river. I heard that he would also send an imperial envoy down to investigate!"

"It's useless for anyone to come down. Corrupt officials will be fed with money, and honest officials will be stabbed again if they come down!"

…

The few people around the fire seemed to have seen through this era, and they couldn't help but feel disheartened when they thought of those corrupt officials in Yangzhou who bought homes and kept beautiful concubines.

Brother Gou, who had been talking eloquently, sighed softly, looking full of grievances and said: "I live my life by drying salt, but it turns out that there is a stove director above me, a general manager above the society, and an ambassador and deputy envoy at the salt farm. They are all like this." You are a bastard who eats people without spitting out their bones, and now you have to work hard to get a meal even at your age!"

"Master Gou, didn't you say that I was always urged to set fire to your house and burn your mother to death, so you came out to sue? Why don't you sue now?" A young man next to him asked curiously while drinking hot water.

When Brother Gou heard this, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said, "I would like to sue, but these morons have already colluded with the government. Can I win the lawsuit?"

When the people present heard this, they couldn't help but sigh silently. The officialdom in Yangzhou had already formed a group.

"Here, let's share a share for everyone!" Mr. Hu said generously after heating up some steamed buns.

The people present had already smelled the aroma of the steamed buns, so they naturally and politely divided them, just half for each person, and Brother Gou handed the larger half back to Mr. Hu in an authentic manner.

Mr. Hu took the steamed bun and started eating it. He said to the honest middle-aged man in front of him: "I know a little bit about physiognomy. If you go to Yangzhou next month to appeal, you will definitely be able to find someone to uphold justice for you!"

"If that's really the case, I'll treat you to dog meat!" Brother Gou's eyes lit up, and he pretended to be making a genuine statement.

Mr. Hu looked at the dog brother in front of him strangely, but he nodded readily and said: "Okay, let's say a word to settle the matter!"

At this time, two young men came to the fire, and one of them, a handsome young man, looked at Mr. Hu with resentment.

"Master Hu, you have raised two capable and good grandchildren, I will go and get busy first!" Brother Gou looked embarrassed and put the remaining steamed buns into his mouth, and then hurriedly left here.

When other workers eating steamed buns saw the two young men appearing and had already drank hot water to quench their thirst, they all said their goodbyes and left the fire.

It's just that the workers who left looked at Mr. Hu with very complicated eyes. Although he liked Mr. Hu's generosity, this old man was squeezing his two capable grandsons every day.

"Where are the bamboo sticks?" Mr. Hu spread his hands and asked directly from his two grandsons.

The handsome young man took all the bamboo sticks and prepared to boil water to drink.

"Why are there so few today?" Mr. Hu looked at the bamboo sticks in his hand and looked dissatisfied.

The handsome young man scooped up the water and said angrily: "How about you try it tomorrow?"

"The wind blew tears in my eyes, and the frost turned into ice on my beard. I remember passing here last year, and my iron clothes were sweating and bitter. You have never been to the border, so what does your hardship mean?" Mr. Hu counted the bamboos in his hands. Signing is a docile sermon.

"Wang Da...Grandpa, Hu Yu is really not lazy, he's just not used to it yet!" Hu Jun handed all the bamboo sticks in his hand to Mr. Hu, but he spoke helpfully.

"You have a good harvest today. You guys wait here, I will change the money and come back!" Mr. Hu straightened up and said when he saw Hu Jun's bamboo stick.

In the last attack, the other party actually dispatched hundreds of people, which made him realize that the water in Yangzhou was much deeper than imagined, and even more dangerous than imagined.

Faced with this bad situation, he chose to take advantage of the situation.

Lu Song, a member of the Jinyi Baihu family, reported that he was missing while saving water, and he pretended to be a Shandong refugee and entered Yangzhou territory, but he wanted to get to know the bottom of it.

The leader in charge of port handling was named Li. He was nicknamed One-Eyed Li because he was blind in one eye, but in front of these coolies, he was naturally Mr. Li.

"Yes, your two grandsons are really neat at work!" One-eyed Li said after finishing counting the bamboo sticks and settling the money.

When Wang Yue took the money, he stuffed several more copper coins back and said, "Master Li, please take care of me if you have any good things to do in the future!"

"Now that the New Year is over, many people have gone back. There is indeed a good job tonight, but you have to be strict with your mouth. Do you want to let your two grandsons try it?" One-eyed Li's heart moved slightly, and even if he asked .

Wang Yue knew that he had found the private salt factory he had been looking for, and he secretly said with joy: "I can come too!"

"You'd better forget it! Regardless of whether I want him or not, you should keep your bones and live for a few more years!" One-eyed Li looked at Wang Yue in front of him with disdain, and he seemed to be disgusted with it.

Wang Yue knew that he could only rely on his grandson to track down the private salt farm. He immediately nodded happily and said: "Okay, then I will ask the two grandsons, Hu Yu and Hu Jun, to come over on time tonight to listen to your orders!"