The sky has darkened, the bright moon is hanging sideways, the Forbidden City is decorated with lights and colorful lights like daytime, eunuchs and palace ladies are constantly coming and going. After cleaning up the officials outside the gate, most of them took their seats and whispered something to the people around them.
I'm talking about Wu Sangui in the Qianqing Sect.
Some people think that why is he there? He is just a general officer! There are many nobles out there who are not qualified, so why should he! There are many people with this kind of thinking, and most of them are nobles.
Some people think that he is natural. Although he has not been awarded the title of Zhuguo, his military achievements are outstanding, and he is qualified to sit in the battle of Ningyuan.
But it's a different scene inside Qianqing Gate. No one cares about what the officials are talking and gossiping outside. They don't care and are not curious. They don't care about who is qualified to sit here. As long as they can sit here, The explanation is sufficient!
But the atmosphere was very different from outside. There were more than ten people sitting in this 180-square-meter place, but they were divided into two groups, or two and a half groups, each talking about their own things and saying their own things.
The discord between civil and military affairs since ancient times was vividly displayed here. Zhou Yuji and others huddled together and frowned to discuss the military situation. Apart from the polite exchanges with Li Banghua when they first came in, they had no communication. The three princes were like social butterflies. Chatting for a while with the military general, and then went to the cabinet to be arty.
Why is it called arty? It's because these cabinet elders are not discussing any national affairs or people's livelihood. At this time, their attention is on the incense burner on the rostrum.
The emperor's seat in the Qianqing Gate faces north and south, and there are two deputy seats on the left and right. Then there are civil and military seats facing east and west. The candlelight in the room is as bright as day, and all the lamps used are horn lamps. These things are made of rhinoceros horns, which are precious. Incomparable.
But the most eye-catching thing is not these horn lamps, but the incense burner on the emperor's seat.
The ancients liked to burn incense when drinking and drinking tea at night banquets. This incense burner has become a must-have item at home. It is an extraordinary royal appliance, but it can attract the attention of many elders and make them unintentional. Other incense burners are even more divine among the divine products. Product, yes, it is Xuande furnace!
It goes without saying how precious the Xuande stove is. It was a copper incense burner that Zhu Di’s eldest grandson, Emperor Xuanzong, Zhu Zhanji personally participated in the design and manufacture of in the third year of Xuande. Because the emperor personally participated in the design and manufacture, it was the first in history. For the first time, it was cast from brass, and the beauty and refinement of the forging process reached an unprecedented peak, making this incense burner a top-quality product in the world. It made many literati and scholars rush to make pilgrimages. However, only a few people can get a glimpse of the real thing, and most of them have only heard of its name. See its shape.
It is said that a total of 3,000 incense burners were made. Except for a small number of them distributed to relatives of the emperor and prominent ministers or to some large-scale incense-producing temples, the rest were for personal use and placed throughout the palace.
But hundreds of years later, there are very few authentic ones that can be seen. Later generations even said that there are no authentic Xuande furnaces. Why is this? Because just because this stove is so exquisite and precious, there have been imitations since it was born!
Yes, there have been high imitations since the Xuande year of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that some people found the craftsmen who were involved in casting Xuande furnaces at that time and even obtained some leftover materials to imitate. Subsequently, hundreds of stores had imitations of Xuande furnaces until the Republic of China, so It is said that there are Xuande stoves from the Ming Dynasty on the market now, but they are not real Xuande stoves!
He is just an imitation of the Ming Dynasty.
Not to mention later generations, even in the late Ming Dynasty, the real Xuande furnace was hard to find and hard to see.
But it was real in the palace.
And even in the palace, after hundreds of years of ups and downs, some were stolen, some were dropped, and some were damaged. There are not many genuine items left, and they are no longer scattered around the palace as in the past. The palaces were arranged randomly, except for the harem, which became the emperor's treasure and would not be taken out to see others at will.
Today at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the emperor placed his beloved objects in the Palace of Qianqing, which naturally attracted Li Banghua and other civil servants to rush to appreciate and comment on them. There is still no shortage of such treasures after hundreds of times. If you have a camera, you must not store it in your memory. Full of shots.
However, Zhou Yuji and other generals were not interested in this thing at all. They really couldn't understand what those civil servants were looking at with their big eyes. Isn't it just an incense burner?
The emperor arrives
Wang Chengen made an announcement, and all the officials inside and outside the Qianqing Gate quickly stood up and came out. Civil and military officials bowed to the left and right and shouted "Long Live" (we usually kneel when going to court). Emperor Chongzhen and his queen and prince slowly walked from the inner court to the Qianqing Gate to sit down. , spread your hands, all the ministers are exempt from courtesy
All the officials outside the door took their seats, but they didn't know exactly who the emperor's family was inside.
The elder inside the door saw clearly. In addition to the emperor, queen, prince and Princess Kunxing, there were six concubines. However, Emperor Chongzhen's two other sons and youngest daughter were not present, perhaps because they were too young. .
In addition, there is Queen Yi'an mentioned above, who is Emperor Chongzhen's sister-in-law.
In addition, there is Zhu Youjue, the king of virtue who traveled thousands of miles without stopping and almost burned his crotch to come to Beijing all night. As the only vassal king summoned by the emperor to Beijing during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Youjue stole the show, and everyone in the government and the public knew about him. He was the only one favored by the emperor. Some people say that it was because of his great efforts for the court that he was so favored by the emperor.
Some people also say that because of their great efforts, they are the same family as the emperor. In the past, when there were vassal kings everywhere, the emperor treated them equally, but now that the vassal kings have died, the emperor's attitude is different, and he cherishes this family relationship very much.
Why is it said that King De and the emperor are members of the same family? Aren't the other princes the same?
Others are, but also aren't.
To be precise, the other vassal kings and Emperor Chongzhen can only be said to be relatives, but King De's lineage is just a cousin.
If you don’t believe it, take a look at the seniority of King De and Emperor Chongzhen. Yes, they are both: "Yu"
Lao Zhu gave birth to twenty-six sons that year. Before his death, he arranged the seniority of all twenty-six sons. (One of the seventh and eighth sons died young and the other died early and was not arranged. Adding nephews and grandchildren, twenty-six were arranged.) For example The boss Zhu Biao is: Yun Wen follows the instructions of his ancestors, the Qinwu King wins, it is good luck to follow the road, and the teacher is good and makes good use of it.
The fourth child of Zhu Di's family is: Gao Zhan Qi Jianyou, Hou Zaiyi Changyou, Cihe Yi Bozhong, Jian Jingdi Xianyou. Therefore, King De and Emperor Chongzhen are both from Zhu Di's lineage. If the other three generations were still close to each other, more than two hundred years later, they would have been cousins eighteen poles away. Even kiss a chicken feather.
If Emperor Chongzhen was determined to be crowned emperor, King De would be the first in line. Historically, he did not become Emperor of Nanming because all of Jiangbei fell, and he surrendered and was killed.
Therefore, both public and private, Prince De was considered a family member of Emperor Chongzhen. They contributed money and effort to the same family, so it was reasonable for him to win the favor of the emperor.
Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou were in the center, with Yi'an, Kunxing and the concubines seated on the left, and the prince and King De on the right. In ancient times, the right was the top, so the prince and the prince sat on the right seat, and the concubines were on the left. But arrange the civil servants on the left and the generals on the right...
This meaning is too obvious!
But how could Li Banghua and others not know about this? Since last year, the emperor's intention to restrain his civility and promote his military power has become apparent, and it has become more and more obvious and unbridled. However, although the civil servants are unwilling to accept it, they are powerless to do anything. It was just because the situation at that time was too chaotic and dangerous. When the building was about to collapse, it was all those generals who led the troops and fought desperately to fight in the south and north. If it weren't for them, the Ming Dynasty would have collapsed long ago.
And what can these civil servants do in that situation?
There is nothing you can do but spit.
Therefore, even if you are not convinced, you can only endure it and watch helplessly as the emperor gradually pushes the status of military generals to the same level as they want. Although the etiquette of the court is still civil and military, in fact, he has the right to speak. He had been a little behind for a long time, but today, during the big festival and the royal banquet, the generals were directly arranged on the right and on top!
Some people are indignant, while others are comforting themselves. Now that the war has not ended, the court needs these generals to work hard. The emperor's move is just to win people's hearts... When the world is at peace... Hey, hum!
So much so that after Li Banghua and others entered the Qianqing Gate, they found that after the seating arrangement, they were all old foxes who had the inner qualities, so they would rather criticize the Xuande stove than nag about the seats, at least not. Will be nagging here.
The eyes and thoughts of the old fox are different from those of ordinary people. If you are low-achieving, your attention will usually be on the concubines or the prince and Prince De. However, the eyes of the old foxes invariably glanced behind Emperor Chongzhen intentionally or unintentionally.
Behind Emperor Chongzhen stood Wang Dehua, Wang Chengen and several other eunuchs from the Supervisor of Ceremonies, who came specially to serve this banquet, but the old fox's gaze was not directed at them, but at Chang Yu.
The expressionless Chang Yu stood with his hands tied behind Emperor Chongzhen. With his eyebrows lowered and his eyes lowered, he seemed to be looking intently, but he could feel several eyes scanning him non-stop. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart, and the corners of his mouth also sneered. He tilted his head slightly.
Hey, the eunuch who usually only wears casual clothes has changed his clothes today and is wearing a python suit!
No, it’s a bullfight uniform!
Good guy!
All the elders were thinking about everything, and their expressions were changing. Emperor Chongzhen took all of this into consideration, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
This is the first signal he has sent out. Yes, I do favor him!
