Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

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

In the square in front of the Meridian Gate, hundreds of civil and military officials came for the funeral and lined up here in the order of attending the morning court. After receiving the rhinoceros horn belt and beheading uniform from the officials of the Ministry of Rites, he immediately knelt on the ground in the direction of Qianqing Palace and cried loudly.

Whether it was to show his loyalty to the emperor in life, or because he was afraid that the eyeing Ke Dao Yanguan would catch his pigtails, he would try his best to squeeze out a tear at this time. If he couldn't, he would have to squeeze his inner thigh.

There were quite a few who actually cried! For example, Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, had already learned that the Qing faction was going to recommend Wang Shu to take over his position. Thinking that he was about to roll up his quilt and go home, he felt as if he was stuffed with a ball of numbness.

Although the saints teach that "use it to act, abandon it and hide it", after tasting the taste of power, how can there be any saints? Those people who claim to be Qingliu are actually not trying their best to climb up the ladder. Real saints will not take part in the imperial examination at all.

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

Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!

Two tall palace guards appeared on both sides of the palace road holding long whips one foot long. They stood in the open space in front of the civil and military officials, waving the big whips skillfully.

This kind of whip is thick and long, and the tip of the whip is made of special soft leather and coated with a special wax, so that every time the whip is drawn out, it makes a scalp-numbing sound.

Amidst the sound of whips, the main door of the Meridian Gate, which had been covered with dust for many years, slowly opened, and a jade chariot drove out from the royal road.

The person sitting on the jade chariot is naturally Zhu Youtang. Zhu Youtang is still wearing mourning clothes, but his face looks serious, and his whole person already has a bit of an emperor's air.

Although he had realized a few days ago that he would face the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty alone, he still felt a little bit of pressure when facing more than 3,000 officials alone.

If you just want to be a confused emperor, then you can live comfortably in this position without fighting against the world, but there will undoubtedly be a long way to go to dominate the world.

Li Rong, the eunuch in charge of the ceremonial department, sent a posthumous edict. Wan An, the chief minister of the cabinet, read out the posthumous edict and said: "I have inherited the legacy of my ancestor Pi for twenty-three years with a small amount of money. I have been working hard at night and day to achieve perfection, for fear of being entrusted by the late emperor. Now I am suddenly ill and dying, and I am almost unable to prosper. The life and death of a husband is a common law, which is inevitable for people in ancient and modern times. Fortunately, the successor is the successor, and the clan and the people depend on it. Even though I have passed away, I will regret it again! The crown prince Youzhang is smart, benevolent, filial, and virtuous. The weapon has been completed for a long time, and it is suitable for him to ascend to the throne of emperor. The Chinese and foreign civil and military ministers will work together to assist... I admire this!"

…

This edict did not pass through the hands of a civil official, but was written by Wan An, the chief minister of the dynasty, and drafted by Zhu Jianshen himself when Zhu Jianshen was still alive.

Zhu Jianshen neither exaggerated his achievements nor reviewed his mistakes in governing, but he made it clear that he would pass the throne to the prince Zhu Youtang.

"I obey the imperial edict, long live my emperor!"

The civil and military officials had already made it clear about the candidate for the new emperor. Since ancient times, there had never been a prince who could not succeed after the death of the emperor. Now that they saw that things had not changed, they all knelt down and saluted.

Zhou Hongmo, the Minister of Rites, stood in front of the civil and military officials and sang loudly again: "The new king is here, why don't you show courtesy!"

"I bow to the new king, long live my emperor!"

When all the civil and military officials faced Zhu Youtang on the jade chariot, they immediately saluted him again.

Zhu Youtang looked at the civil and military officials kneeling in front of him in darkness, and watched them surrender to him, and he couldn't help but feel the smell of power.

If you want to truly make these people surrender, it is not enough to just rely on this identity, but you must have the skills to reward them with a slap in the face.

Zhu Youtang did not speak, but exchanged a look with Liang Fang, the eunuch in charge of the royal horse department next to him, and Liang Fang immediately arranged for the jade chariot to return to the Forbidden City.

"I respectfully send you off to the new king. Long live my emperor!"

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 just after the death of the late emperor, but as ministers, they naturally had to express their position immediately and firmly support Zhu Youtang as emperor.

The reason why the civil servant group can become the backbone of every dynasty is because of their absolute maintenance of orthodoxy, thereby gaining the recognition of the orthodox heirs.

Although Zhu Jianshen has become a thing of the past, the national funeral ceremony will not be careless at all.

Dong dong dong...

The bells of the Meridian Tower rang continuously, spreading throughout the entire city of Beijing.

The bells of Berlin Temple in the north of the city rang, the bells of Longfu Temple in the east of the city rang, and the bells of Chongxuan Temple in the west of the city rang. 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 thirty thousand bells and pestles together every day to "bring blessings to the underworld" on behalf of the recently deceased Emperor Chenghua.

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

The Secretary of General Affairs sent obituaries and edicts to the whole country through eight hundred miles of mail. From provincial capitals, prefectures, prefectures and counties, towns and villages, the whole country will enter a state of mourning.

Government offices in various places must bow to the north, including vassal kings in various places, who must do this every day.

All government offices in the capital have stopped functioning, and at the same time the entire city must observe strict fasting. Slaughtering has been banned in the entire capital for about half a month, so starting from today, it will be difficult to eat fresh meat.

The mausoleum of Emperor Chenghua has been built long ago, but the emperor's burial is not a child's play. Usually, he has to choose an auspicious day in the zodiac, and the interval between this period is often as long as several months.

Since the temple name and posthumous title of Emperor Chenghua were finalized, Zhu Jianshen could enter the Zi Palace after passing the small coffin and the large coffin. Although the weather gets cooler in August, the smell of corpses is not good if it lasts too long.

The place where corpses are buried among the people is called the mourning hall, but the imperial place is called the Jiyan Hall.

The Jiyan Palace of the Ming Dynasty was usually located in the Renzhi Palace, also known as the White Tiger Palace. It was located in the outer court area of ​​the Forbidden City and was a secluded palace located to the north of the Wuying Palace.

The plaque of the palace was covered with white cloth, and the tree in front of the door was hung with spiritual flags and white flags. The altar in the palace was filled with wine, food and other memorial objects, and in the middle was the spiritual tablet of Emperor Chenghua.

All the civil and military officials came to the palace, whether it was true or false, they all had to mourn at this moment. In addition to the civil and military civilians and relatives of nobles and nobles, the imperial wives of the third rank and above in Beijing will also come.

Although Zhu Youtang became the new king, he still had to wear linen and observe mourning in the mourning hall every day.

No matter how anxious he was, it was impossible for him to ascend the throne immediately after the old emperor died. Especially now it is still a period of peace, so there is an even more process to go through.

In the East Palace in the southeast corner, white curtains have also been hung here, and the trees in the courtyard have not fallen 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 palace will become history, and their status will naturally increase when they return to the palace.

Sandalwood scented the main hall, and a fair-skinned and beautiful woman was combing her hair in front of a bronze mirror.

Under the skillful hands of the two palace maids, her black hair was slowly twisted into an exquisite three-dimensional high bun. A golden hairpin with hundreds of birds facing the phoenix was inserted in the front, and round pearls were hung on her earlobes, resolutely. It is an image of noble beauty.

Although she had to wear linen and mourn, her long skirt was tight-fitting, with a green 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 palace is naturally the crown prince Zhang Yujiao who is about to be the mother of the world.

Zhang Yujiao rarely got up early today and seemed to be in a good mood. After combing her hair, she took matters into her own hands and began to apply makeup on herself in front of the bronze mirror.

Different from the heavy makeup that was popular in the Ming Dynasty, she always wore light makeup and pursued elegance and purity. This was one of the reasons why Zhu Youtang was once fascinated.

"Princess, you are not allowed to wear makeup during the national mourning!" An older palace maid nearby saw Zhang Yujiao drawing her eyebrows and immediately reminded her carefully.

Zhang Yujiao almost made a mistake with her eyebrows, her face suddenly turned pale, but her eyes fell on the palace maid Xiao Zi through the bronze mirror.

Xiao Zi stepped forward immediately, and before the palace maid could react, she slapped her hard in the face and said, "You are so outrageous! Someone, lock her up and starve her for three days!"

"Yes!" Hou's two eunuchs from outside came in immediately and dragged the crying maid away involuntarily.

After half a stick of incense and some exquisite light makeup, Zhang Yujiao was determined to have "skin like gelatin and as bright as morning glow."

She looked at herself in the mirror, the corners of her mouth raised slightly, but she believed that she would shine when she entered the palace. As for the prince whom he had not seen for many days, he would definitely kneel down under his pomegranate skirt.