The Prosperous Era of Longwan

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, all yamen throughout the Ming Dynasty held seal-opening ceremonies. This represented the arrival of the 40th year of Jiajing and all officials began to work normally again.

It was also on this day that Wu Shan, the Minister of Rites, submitted a memorial to the Minister of General Affairs to invite King Jing to join the vassal, which shocked the government and the public.

The reason why it caused such a big impact was because the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty knew that the renovation project of Prince Jing's Mansion had not been completed, and the Minister of Rites made such a hurried request to confirm the time for the confederation, which felt a bit too much.

However, if I think about it, during the two days of the fourth and fifth day of the lunar month, many officials came to visit the residences of Yin Shizhen, Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde, and the most exaggerated one was at Gao Gong's house. The people who came to visit were already outside Gao's residence. There was a long queue, and its posture was no weaker than that of the cabinet prime minister's house.

Because at this time, a piece of gossip was also spread in the capital, that is, what happened in the Yongshou Palace in Xiyuan on the first day of the new year.

Anyone who believes this piece of gossip knows that King Jing has become a thing of the past. Even though he might have been really close to that position in the past, Emperor Jiajing still chose to follow the ancestral system in the end.

And on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, an imperial edict was transferred from the cabinet again, which was quickly sent to Nanjing after being printed by the Sixth Section. That is, Emperor Jiajing summoned the head of the Hanlin Academy in Nanjing, and Qu Jingchun, the Imperial College's imperial eunuch, returned to Beijing to be promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Although Wei Guangde had already heard about this from Zhang Juzheng before, but at this time when analyzing the current situation of the court, Wei Guangde was also a little confused.

Now a bunch of officials have been assigned to the positions of the Minister of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, including Yuan Wei, Yan Na, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong, and now Qu Jingchun has been added.

And Gao Gong has been filling the vacancy for two months. It is said that Yuan Wei will also officially transfer from the Hanlin Academy to the Ministry of Rites. At that time, he will definitely conflict with Gao Gong's position. There is also Wu Shan, who has been the Minister of Rites for many years. So many Jiajing officials The emperor's favored ministers are all crowded on this road, doesn't it feel crowded?

The reason why Wei Guangde thought about this was because Lu Ben, the third assistant to the cabinet, had not come to ask for leave before the court meeting. It was said that his health was not good anymore. However, he was delayed by Emperor Jiajing's stay in the office many times to request for an official position.

Everyone knows that Lu Ben only has one or two years left. Once he leaves office, the cabinet may add a cabinet minister. After the dust settles on the position of crown prince, many people begin to pay attention to the next one to join the cabinet. Who will it be?

Among the people who are most likely to join the cabinet, perhaps only Wu Shan's house has been deserted these days, because this person has a bad temper. If he visits for nothing, he is likely to be rejected. The more times he visits, the longer the time. Now, there are naturally fewer people who want to build a good relationship with Wu Shan through house visits.

The houses of Yuan Wei, Yan Ne, and Li Chunfang began to become lively, and Gao Gong himself had always been sought after by the officials in the capital.

At this time, although the house of Mr. Yan Ge was roughly the same as before, anyone with a discerning eye could see that when King Jing's vassalage was a foregone conclusion, Mr. Yan Ge's body could not support him for a few more years. Although no one dared to At this time, they started to push against the wall, but in private, the Daoyan faction was still secretly communicating.

Amid all the disturbances, more than ten days passed in a flash. The Aoshan Lantern Festival was over, and the officials in the capital began to calm down. It was time to return to official duties.

Following the auspicious time calculated by them in the Qin Tian Jian's memorial, King Jing submitted the departure time and arrival time of the feudal clan in the form of a memorial. After receiving the permission of Emperor Jiajing, the Si Li Jian approved Hongfa's return to the Ministry of Rites, and Wu Shan's work suddenly increased suddenly.

The classes in Prince Yu's Mansion have returned to normal, but the thoughts of everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion are all about Prince Jing's trip.

There was a system for the prince to leave the capital and join the feudal clan. He could not leave until King Jing went to say goodbye to the emperor and his mother and concubine. There were many rules during this period, and the elder brother, King Yu, and the officials in the capital all had to participate.

"Brother Suqing."

"Qing Su, you are here."

That afternoon, Wei Guangde, Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng were chatting in the room. When the door curtain opened, they saw Gao Gong stepping in. Everyone quickly stood up and saluted.

"Sit down, I'm just coming back to do some errands."

Gao Gong waved his hand to signal everyone's welcome, and then asked: "Your Highness isn't here?"

"His Royal Highness caught wind and cold last night and felt a little unwell. He is taking a rest."

Yin Shizhen said with some embarrassment.

Seeing the ugly faces of Yin Shizhen and others, Gao Gong immediately understood that he still knew the virtues of King Yu. When he was still in the palace, he was not surprised by ridiculous things.

"Then I will handle the handover with you, too. Please take the time to explain the matter to Prince Yu. There must be no mistakes."

While he was talking, Gao Gong took out a document from his arms and handed it to Yin Shizhen, saying: "This is the "Ci Zhao Rituals" set by Wu Shangshu. Although most of them are handled by our officials from the Ministry of Rites, the day before King Jing left the capital, Jing Jing After the king and his wife went to the palace to say goodbye, they had to go to Prince Yu's Mansion to say goodbye, and then His Highness had to return to pay homage.

Then all the officials in the capital must participate and go to Prince Jing's Mansion to pay homage to Prince Jing. The next day, Prince Jing leaves the capital. All the civil and military officials in Beijing must wait for Prince Jing to say goodbye at the palace gate, and then go to the left gate of Chang'an to stand at the bridgehead to wait for Prince Jing's carriage to pass by. . "

The "Resignation Ceremony" was determined by Wu Shan and the left and right ministers of the Ministry of Rites after reviewing the ceremony for the princes of the previous dynasty to establish a feudal clan. The entire procedure followed the previous model, without additions or deletions.

But for the people in Prince Yu's palace, what he actually wants to participate in is what he said.

Yin Shizhen quickly read through the document in his hand, and then handed it to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde held the document to the right so that Zhang Juzheng could read it together.

Wei Guangde didn't know what other people thought. Anyway, he was very curious about the ceremony of the Ming Dynasty prince leaving Beijing and becoming a feudal lord.

The day before the ceremony, I paid my respects to the emperor, and the internal officials set the scene outside the gate of the Shangyu Palace. On the solstice, the king's crowned concubine Zhai Yi entered from the Donghua Gate and entered the scene outside the gate of the Shangyu Palace. The ceremony was held The eunuch led the king to the imperial court. The king and his concubine stood side by side, with the king on his left and the concubine on his right. They performed five bows and three kowtows. Both the king and his concubine knelt down to listen to the lecture. After the order was given, a fruit box of wine was given to the king. The king knelt down to drink. After kowtowing, he left. At the end of the act, he and his concubine went to the front of their mother and concubine, bowed four times and then left. The concubine returned to the palace first. King Jing went to Prince Yu's palace and bowed four times. King Yu still went to Prince Jing's palace and bowed twice. Each returned to the palace, and all the civil and military officials were in their respective roles. Jifu went to Prince Yijing's Mansion and paid four obeisances.

The next day, all the civil and military officials were assigned to serve in court. King Jing, in his royal robes, entered from the Donghua Gate to the Dachao Gate and performed five bows and three kowtows in front of the throne. The king was led out of the Chengtian Gate from the east steps to the palace to change his clothes. The king himself offered sacrifices to Cheng. After the Tianmen Divine Ceremony, Wang Chengyu left the left gate of Chang'an to the mansion and set out with his concubine. From Chaoyang Gate, all the officials changed their auspicious clothes and went to the east of the bridge to stand in order to wait for the king's chariot to pass by.

Wei Guangde read Wu Shan's "Ci Chao Yi" and had a general understanding of the procedures for the Ming vassal kings to leave Beijing and join the vassal state. However, at this moment, he heard Yin Shizhen asking Gao Gong: "Has the document passed the cabinet? ?”

"Of course, the cabinet that was delivered to the cabinet this morning has now been sent to the palace."

Gao Gong stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I know what you are thinking. Mr. Yan Ge has maintained his consistent style and acted impartially."

"Haha. By this time, it will be too late even if he wants to do anything."

Yin Shizhen smiled and said, "I'll write a letter to Chen Yifu later to make him happy."

"No, he will know it by reading the newspaper. If you really wrote the letter, it would be bad for His Highness if it spread."

Gao Gong hurriedly spoke to stop him.

"Brother Suqing."

When Wei Guangde heard them talking about the official document being delivered to the palace, he couldn't help but feel moved in his heart and shouted.

After Gao Gong, Yin Shizhen and others turned their attention, Wei Guangde asked: "I saw that the "Court Ceremony" prescribed by Wu Shangshu is so complicated. Will your Majesty handle it?"

Okay, let’s not talk about the ordinary court meetings. The Jiajing Emperor has issued an order in advance to exempt the three major court meetings of Zhengdan, Winter Solstice and Wanshou Festival. He will only arrange for a Duke to lead the civil and military salutes of the court. The only one that will appear in public That is, the palace examination takes place every three years.

If he follows the "Ci Zhao Rituals" listed by Wu Shan, he will have to show up two days before King Jing leaves the capital, and he will also have to face King Jing and Princess Jing. Will Emperor Jiajing do it?

Although most of the courtiers believed that Emperor Jiajing did not go to court and was unwilling to meet the two kings, the main reason was that, like the previous Emperor Zhengde, he was busy cultivating immortals all day long, which delayed government affairs and family relationships.

Emperor Zhengde was busy having fun, Emperor Jiajing was busy cultivating immortality, but Wei Guangde held a different opinion.

In fact, this is also the more common view of later generations. Emperor Jiajing was not lazy in politics, but because he was afraid of being punished.

After meeting his two sons, the son died soon after, so he believed Tao Zhongwen's statement, and the motto "Two dragons never meet" has been deeply rooted in his bones.

Even though King Jing left Beijing to join the vassal state, Emperor Jiajing might not receive him, otherwise he would have met King Jing on the first day of the new year.

From the perspective of later generations, during the forty-five years of Emperor Jiajing's reign, except for the first few years when the government fell into the hands of Yang Tinghe and others, in the subsequent years, the power of the government was firmly in his own hands, and he never lost it for a moment.

The reason for this is that although Emperor Jiajing was busy practicing Taoist secrets, he was never lazy every day and insisted on processing official documents and memorials sent from the cabinet.

Emperor Jiajing never blindly followed the cabinet's votes, but would make his own judgment. This was also the reason why he established Zhilu after the cabinet was established.

If you don't understand or don't know something in the memorial, you will immediately summon the ministers to inquire and then deal with it.

The decision-making power is always firmly in their hands, so that although ministers can gain power, they dare not act arbitrarily.

"This is the system, Your Majesty should"

Gao Gong didn't pay much attention at first, but then he understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

Emperor Jiajing had already broken quite a few rules. Even Emperor Zhengde, who was considered completely ridiculous back then, did not stay away from court for more than ten years like he does today.

"You mean, His Majesty might reject it?"

Gao Gong's expression suddenly changed.

"I don't know, the Sacred Heart is unpredictable."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said, "But even if it is rejected, it should only greatly delete the farewell ceremony. It is possible that those entering the palace will be deleted. After all, Qin Tianjian has already calculated the time. If it is really direct Rejection, this back-and-forth, may be a bad time."

In fact, there is one thing that Wei Guangde has not said, that is, Emperor Jiajing may really resist seeing his two sons, fearing that they will have an accident because of seeing him.

Gao Gong had already stood up at this time, rubbing his hands and walking around the room.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Gao Gong walked back and forth and whispered in his mouth.

"Ci Chao Yi" had passed through his hands before being handed over. At that time, he felt that Wu Shan's work was smooth and in full compliance with the rituals. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. However, he forgot that people nowadays do not act according to common sense. The emperor.

Although they abide by the ancestral system on the issue of choosing the prince, it is only a matter of a prince to establish a vassal. Even if Emperor Jiajing really violated the system of the previous dynasty, except for some people in the civil and military circles of the Manchu dynasty, most of the others are eager for King Jing. If you leave early, there won't be much trouble.

Thinking of this, Gao Gong stood still and said to the three of them: "I was careless about this matter. If the official document is really rejected by Your Majesty, then I will propose to Wu Shangshu to delete the ceremony of King Jing entering the palace and replace it with the ceremony of King Jing's entry into the palace. The princess pays her respects to the emperor from a distance and bids farewell, while hundreds of officials stand waiting for her."

Not only was Emperor Jiajing unwilling to receive them, but the usual visits to the palace by hundreds of official and female family members were also cancelled. However, Gao Gong was still a little hesitant when he said this. After all, Princess Jing's mother-in-law, Concubine Lu Jing, was still there, so it seemed that the mother and son would not be arranged to meet. It's a bit unreasonable.

"That's how it should be."

Wei Guangde said, "I have seen the memorials reviewed by His Majesty in the Yan Mansion before, and I see that many of them have been changed in red letters."

"Yes, if His Majesty thinks it is inappropriate, he will revise it."

Although most of these changes were actually written by the eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Liturgy, they were all changed according to the wishes of Emperor Jiajing. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were written by the emperor.

Wei Guangde had seen the returned memorials before when he visited the Yan Mansion. According to Wei Guangde's view at the time, some of these changes were actually insignificant words, and it didn't matter whether they should be changed or not.

However, Emperor Jiajing still made changes in the memorial. Later, Wei Guangde thought of a possibility, that is, he was reminding officials and cabinet ministers that I have read your memorial, so don't try to fool me.

Of course, Wei Guangde never said anything about his thoughts. As for whether other people thought the same, Wei Guangde didn't bother to ask.

However, what Wei Guangde, Gao Gong and others did not expect was that the instructions on "Ci Chaoyi" had not yet come down, and only two days later, a major event happened.

On February 7, the 40th year of Jiajing's reign, the red sun was high in the sky, the sky was clear, and white clouds were passing by. Although it was still a bit cold, it was a rare sunny day.

At three o'clock in the morning, the sky suddenly gradually became dark, as if it was about to fall into the night, and the stars were vaguely visible in the sky.

"eclipse."

When the vision in the sky happened, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng shouted in unison.

The people who were chatting in the room, including King Yu, all ran out of the room and looked up at the dark sky. The red sun should have been hanging high, but only half of it was left.

"Qin Tian Jian deserves to die."

Seeing such a scene, King Yu couldn't help but cursed angrily.

Under the Ming system, whenever a solar or lunar eclipse occurs, Qintian will first monitor and calculate the date and duration of the solar or lunar eclipse.

But this time the solar eclipse was not calculated by Qin Tian Jian.