It snowed all night and did not stop until dawn. The capital was covered in snow inside and outside, with the sound of firecrackers and laughter everywhere.
New Year's Eve passed in a lively manner, but the elders of the imperial court, dressed in neat and complicated court clothes, gathered at the gate of the palace before dawn.
The first day of the first lunar month is the first day of the dynasty!
There are only three major festivals every year, namely the Winter Solstice, the Zhengdan Festival and the Wanshou Festival.
Among them, the Zhengdan Festival is the most important, which is called the Duan Festival, symbolizing the beginning of the year and the renewal of everything.
Not only civil and military officials in Beijing must participate, but also governors from various places and chief seal officials of state government offices must come to Beijing to pay their respects. It can be called one of the most grand ceremonies in the imperial court.
In particular, this Zhengdan Dynasty was the first Zhengdan Dynasty after Jinshang ascended the throne, and its significance was particularly different.
The sky was dimming, and a ray of orange-red light had just appeared in the east. Heavy drums sounded, and stopped after nine beats.
The tall palace door was slowly pushed open, and the young and magnificent palace of the Forbidden City completely revived in the dawn.
When the palace door was fully opened, the Jinyi Guards, Jinwu Guards, and the Ceremony Department filed out to guard the palace doors on both sides.
Among the ministers, four tall officials with brand-new official robes came out and stood in front of the Jinshui Bridge.
Then, the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the officials of praise, the officials of the messengers, the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and others entered the palace gate first and entered the Danqi in front of Fengtian Hall.
The drums stopped, the whip officer sounded his whip three times, and the etiquette officer said loudly.
"Enter!"
The ministers crossed the Waijinshui Bridge one by one and entered from the palace gates on both sides.
The drum beats again.
In the spacious square in front of Fengtian Hall, several groups of Jinwu Guards soldiers lined up holding flags, stretching from the Meridian Gate to the front of Fengtian Hall.
In front of the civil and military buildings on both sides, there are ceremonial horses, ceremonial rhinoceros, and ceremonial elephants carved in stone.
The flags were fluttering and moving with the wind. The ceremonial image was majestic, thick and tall. Accompanied by the majestic sound of drums, the cultural relics and officials looked solemn as they crossed the Neijinshui Bridge and entered Danchi Square in an orderly manner.
On both sides of Danqi, there are ceremonial guards such as chariots, chariots, and walking chariots. The first salute officer, the messenger officer, and the corrective censor are all in place.
Jinyiwei Chen Lu recorded the guard of honor, and his friends fanned on the throne.
On both sides of the Danbi are the incense case, the treasure case and the Jiaofang Si Shaole. In the middle, under the yellow umbrella, is the spacious throne.
Stretching out from both sides of the throne, there are twenty-six guards in uniform, wearing armor.
After the three drums were finished, the officials lined up on the east and west sides in front of Danqi in front of Fengtian Hall, standing facing north.
The first ray of sunshine in the morning shines down. Looking down from Danbi, the entire square in front of Fengtian Temple is lined up and magnificent.
The loud bell rang, and the ceremonial officer bowed to the ground and shouted loudly.
"Please ascend to the palace."
As a result, the door of Fengtian Palace was slowly pushed open.
The emperor wore a crown, with a guiding officer in front, a Shang Baosi behind him, and beside him were the serving eunuchs.
Surrounded by everyone, he came to the throne.
The bells stopped and Shao music started.
Shang Baosi holds the emperor's treasure seal in his hand and places it on the treasure case next to the throne.
When Shao music stopped, the official sounded the whip three times and loudly announced the time.
When the music started, the saluting officials came out, and all the civil and military officials were invited to perform four bows. The ceremony officials went to various places to congratulate the people. Then, the head of the officials, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, came to congratulate the people in Beijing on behalf of the civil and military officials.
"On the occasion of the first day of the lunar month, the three Yangs will flourish, and all things will be new. I respectfully worship His Majesty the Emperor, pray for blessings from God, and pray for eternal prosperity."
After entering, the ceremonial officer led the ministers to pay their respects again.
The whole process is extremely complicated, but no one dares to take it lightly.
After a series of ceremonial procedures were completed, Wang Wen, the newly appointed official minister, returned to Danqi to get off work.
The emperor opened his mouth and only said two words.
"Declaration!"
This is the highlight of this great dynasty. The Zhengdan dynasty is meant to bring about the renewal of all things and the restoration of one yuan. This time, there is one major event in the Zhengdan dynasty, that is... the change of the yuan!
Since he succeeded to the throne, he has always used the orthodox reign name to show respect for the Supreme Emperor, but this is not a long-term solution after all.
Only by changing the title can the legitimacy of the new emperor be truly confirmed to the world.
Cheng Jing, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, stepped forward, unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, and announced the edict loudly.
"The emperor was entrusted by heaven to carry out the edict: First, there were bandits who were wreaking havoc, and the emperor personally went to fight to rectify his crimes... The capital was in turmoil. I accepted the order of the emperor and the empress dowager, and accepted the throne... Today there is peace in the world and peace on the border. Everything is renewed... From now on, the Yuan Dynasty will be changed to Jingtai, and this year will be the first year of Jingtai, and the world will be renewed..."
Of course, as an edict issued by the Zhengdan Dynasty, it must not only include the matter of changing the Yuan Dynasty, but also be accompanied by a lengthy edict of amnesty for the world.
"...Since before December 30th of the 14th year of Zhengtong, officials, soldiers and civilians, except for the crimes of treason, murder, robbery, adultery, poisoning and evil spirits, have been discovered, not discovered, and have been committed. All unjust crimes, no matter how big or small, will be pardoned..."
"... Civil and military officials, flag schools, soldiers and civilians, craftsmen and craftsmen, etc., who are guilty and punished to guard the border will be fully forgiven. Those who were convicted for speaking out will be reinstated, and those who are guilty of violating the law and stealing stolen goods will be dismissed and returned to the civilian ranks. The military will be restored to the army. , the craftsman is still a craftsman, and the people let the Ning family go..."
Amnesty for the world is not just as simple as saying these four words. It includes the three basic contents of forgiveness of sins, exemption from taxes, and exemption from corvee.
In addition, there are some additional measures such as ending the bad government of the previous generation, amnesty for the refugees, and allowing the land to be reclaimed for the people.
Which sins should be forgiven completely and which ones should be mitigated, how much should be exempted from taxes and corvees, and which areas should be exempted. These must be explained in detail in the edict.
Therefore, the content of this edict is very lengthy.
Although the elders present tried hard to concentrate, it was inevitable that they would get distracted.
Until Cheng Jing's mouth went dry when he read one of them.
"... From now on, the system of burial of palace concubines will be abolished. When the emperor dies, the queen in the main palace will be honored as the empress dowager. The remaining concubines in the harem, regardless of their rank, will not be buried in sacrifice. Those who have princes and princesses will be enshrined in the palace. As a concubine, I will give you a jade book. If you are the same as the fourth concubine and have no heirs, a Buddhist temple will be built outside the imperial mausoleum, and you will all go to the Buddhist temple to pray..."
Hearing this, the elders became a little more concerned, not because they cared much about the emperor's harem, but because this measure obviously did not belong to the routine of amnesty for the world.
However, changing the Yuan imperial edict will abolish some of the bad policies of the previous dynasty. For example, when the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne, the imperial edict of changing the Yuan Dynasty prohibited the evil policies of the previous emperor's period of collecting rare and exotic animals from local places to offer to the royal family.
Therefore, this was in line with the rules of the imperial edict of Yuan Dynasty. However, what the elders did not expect was that the emperor actually had his mind set on the harem.
The burial of palace concubines has been an old rule since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The officials in the court have always been dissatisfied with this, so it is a good thing that it has been abolished now.
However, what makes them feel a little confused is, what the hell are these so-called "four concubines"?
The hierarchy of the harem in the Ming Dynasty was extremely simple. The emperor canonized the queen in the main palace at his wedding.
Then, all the women who have been blessed will be given the title of concubine, without distinction.
If the concubine has a prince, she can be promoted to a noble concubine at her own discretion. If the prince she gives birth to is the eldest son, she must be promoted to a noble concubine.
To put it simply, there were only three levels in the Ming Dynasty's harem: queen, concubine, and concubine. Except for the queen, there was only one concubine. There were no permanent quotas for concubines and concubines. It all depended on the mood of the emperor.
Some emperors, such as Emperor Taizong, may have more than twenty concubines, and some emperors, such as Emperor Renzong, may only have twelve or three concubines.
A "fourth concubine" appeared out of nowhere.
Is it possible that the emperor is so pure and has few desires that he plans to only have four concubines in the harem from now on?
