In a blink of an eye, it’s the end of the year and the Spring Festival is here.
Ever since Li Xiao was in Peiping, the Spring Festival in Beiping City has been particularly lively. It is now the seventh year of Yongle. It is already the second year since the capital was moved to Peiping in the fifth year of Yongle. This year, the officials of the imperial court finally felt the benefits of the reform!
In the early Ming Dynasty, officials were very stingy about their holidays.
Under the arrangement of model worker Zhu Yuanzhang, Hongwu, including officials, only had five days off a year, but Peking's holiday resting time had long been changed by Li Xiao.
As the end of the year approaches, Li Xiao suggested that there should be more holidays during the Spring Festival. After everyone has been busy for a year, it is time to reunite. After everyone has been busy for a year, the money earned should be spent. This is a good opportunity to promote the economy.
So Zhu Di was generous again and added a ten-day Lantern Festival holiday, from the 24th of the twelfth lunar month one year ago to the twentieth of the first lunar month after the new year. The Spring Festival is connected with the Lantern Festival, a real long holiday, and civil and military officials can enjoy it again Seeing the benefits brought by the reform, I played around after the holidays.
For example, the Beijing City God Temple Fair on the first day of the first lunar month is really crowded. Looking around, it looks like the ocean, full of people, crowded and shopping.
Since the market opened in the morning, all kinds of goods stalls have been lined up, taking up the entire street of Xingbu Yamen. People's desire to shop on this day is high, and they will come here to buy new year's goods.
There is everything you need for food, entertainment, clothing, and rare goods from all over the country, and there are even Western items imported from Europe.
It is difficult to find a stall in the Chenghuang Temple, and you have to pay expensive rent. There are many stalls, and competition is high. Merchants will give each other some benefits, just like the Double Eleven Shopping Festival in the future.
But the rent is high and the income is high.
Some vendors selling oil, salt, sauce and vinegar have millions of dollars.
The Spring Festival of the seventh year of Yongle was absolutely extraordinary. In order to show the power of the royal family during this Spring Festival, Zhu Di spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to prepare various banquets and lantern festivals, so that the people in the city could feel the prosperity and benefits of being at the feet of the emperor.
There are folk ways to celebrate the Spring Festival, but the royal family is a little different.
Now Li Xiao's status means that he is not celebrating the folk Spring Festival, but the royal Spring Festival.
He was celebrating the festival with Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di and others, so his identity had long been removed from Yibin. At the same time, he was not a consort, but had a new title of "Jinbao".
The status of Yibin and Prince Consort in the Ming Dynasty was relatively low, so low that noble families and even ordinary scholarly families were unwilling to marry the royal family. Anyone who was selected as Prince Consort would be finished. He can no longer become a high official.
"The prince-in-law is not allowed to enter the official position, and his son is not allowed to hold the imperial rank." If the father of the chosen prince-in-law is already serving in the court, he will be promoted to one rank immediately and then retire immediately.
The starting point of this regulation is to prevent relatives from interfering in politics. Because of this national rule, becoming a consort or a guest of honor is regarded as useless by many men.
Secondly, the consort in the Ming Dynasty had very little status. After getting married, he still had a superior-subordinate relationship with the princess. Before engaging in marital affairs, he had to report to the princess first to see how she felt.
When they get married, after they have bowed to heaven and earth, the princess and her consort sit facing each other from east to west. The princess takes the main seat and the consort sits in the guest seat. The consort bows four times to the princess and the princess sits and receives two bows.
After standing up and bowing twice, the consort can live in the princess' mansion. The husband salutes his wife, which is completely contrary to the traditional concept of male superiority and female inferiority.
Not only did the consort have no status, but his parents also had no status.
According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, ten days after the wedding, the young couple must return to the palace. On the day of return, the princess goes directly to the palace to Fengxian Hall, and then pays homage to her father and mother, while the consort must register at Honglu Temple the day before. , went to the Meridian Gate to express gratitude the next day, and then entered the palace to salute. The emperor gave a banquet, and the banquet must be returned home.
Although their status was low, the threshold for consorts or honor guests in the Ming Dynasty was also lowered. Many princesses and princesses married ordinary people, which was not seen in previous dynasties.
Li Xiao was able to marry a princess in the Ming Dynasty. If he had been in other dynasties, he would have gone where the fun was.
However, Li Xiao tried his best to eat soft food and eat hard. Unlike other guests of honor and consort, his status increased as he got more mixed up. The one who called him brother-in-law had his own mansion outside the palace. These guests of honor and consort had their own mansions outside the palace. The name obviously doesn't suit him.
Under Zhu Di's order, special matters were handled specially. Officials from the Ministry of Rites and other officials discussed for a week and gave the national preceptor Li Xiao the title of "Jinbao", the only one in the world.
The golden treasure in the golden book refers to the national seal passed down from generation to generation in China, which was engraved on the order of Qin Shihuang.
In other words, Li Xiao's status is equal to that of the Imperial Seal. With the titles of Yongle Gong and Yongle, he is truly the number one person in history.
After Yao Guangxiao learned that Li Xiao's identity was awarded the title of 'Jinbao', he sighed loudly, "It turns out that this is what the calculated half of the emperor's life means. Li Xiao became the jade seal. That is really half of the emperor's life!"
After being sealed as Jinbao, the relationship between Li Xiao and Zhu Di was really equivalent to the relationship between an old father-in-law and an old son-in-law among the people. In fact, it was just like that, but it was only mentioned formally.
However, Li Xiao is a special case. His status improvement has no impact on the status of other honorable guests and consorts.
Of course, if other princes-in-law can, like Li Xiao, help their father-in-law win the throne, save the lives of his father-in-law and mother-in-law many times, extend Zhu Yuanzhang's life, reform and strengthen the country, making the country dozens of times stronger, and even become a Confucian sage, then He must be treated the same as Li Xiao, but obviously, no one can do it except Li Xiao
Starting from the sacrifice of the stove on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the palace began to prepare for the New Year.
The palace family members and eunuchs began to wear gourds and python robes, and everyone prepared to steam all kinds of exquisite snacks and store pork, "for one or twenty days."
From this day to the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, fireworks will be set off in front of the Qianqing Palace every day. Only in case of strong winds, they will stop for half a day or a day.
On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, the palace became even busier. “Peach charm boards and general charcoal were planted beside the door, and the door gods were posted.” The Western prayer wheel may be woven with yellow coins like a dragon", "Sesame straw is inserted into the eaves and cypress branches are burned in the courtyard, which is called Sui".
In the seventh year of Yongle, on the first day of the first lunar month, Li Xiao got up early in the morning and led his family to the palace. He followed Lao Zhu's family to celebrate the royal Spring Festival.
When it gets dark, all the civil and military officials in the capital will get up and rush from their homes to the Forbidden City, because the annual first day of the Lunar New Year is about to begin.
One part is the "congratulation ceremony", and the objects of congratulations are different. Civil and military officials and foreign envoys have to pay New Year's greetings to the emperor.
The ladies of each family would like to send congratulations to the Empress Dowager, the Queen Mother and the Empress.
The second part is the "Grand Banquet Ceremony". First, the emperor holds a grand banquet in the palace after the officials have paid their congratulations. Officials, members of the royal family and foreign envoys can participate. Secondly, the ladies have to meet with the Queen Mother and others in the harem. have a meal together.
The scale of the entire Zhengdan court is very large, and the banquets are also diverse, divided into large banquets, medium banquets or small banquets. Different banquets also correspond to different dishes.
In short, it was just a day of eating, drinking and having fun, but Li Xiao was not a small character who could eat comfortably. He not only had to accept toasts from civil and military officials, but also from many envoys from vassal countries. If he hadn't been in great health, he would have died a long time ago Drink and lie down.
Because the holiday was extended, we played all the way through the Spring Festival, and continued until the Lantern Festival, and then continued the fun.
Another Lantern Festival, I still remember opening Zhu Ningyun’s heart and taking her away from the house to go to the Lantern Festival. At that time, Li Xiao pretended to be a pig and eat the tiger, won the first place in the lantern riddle guessing activity on the Lantern Festival, and won the heart of a beautiful woman. .
However, after many years, Li Xiao has been classified as a national teacher, a Confucian sage of the Ming Dynasty, Duke Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, and a medical sage of the Ming Dynasty.
It is obviously inappropriate to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger again, and the sculptures of Li Xiao's Confucian saints are all erected in the Confucian Temple. It is true that you have no friends in the future. Who in the world does not know you?
Different from the last Lantern Festival, this time the royal family took direct action.
Zhu Di decreed that the Aoshan Lantern Festival organized by the imperial court would be even more spectacular, with the Ming Dynasty royal family setting up a giant lantern and fireworks landscape in the palace.
The scale of the Aoshan Lantern Festival is naturally unprecedented, and the cost is hundreds of thousands of taels. There are now many fireworks factories in Peiping, and the craftsmanship has been greatly improved under Li Xiao's promotion, and the economy is prosperous.
The imperial court purchased them from the private sector and stacked various "strange flowers" and "cannons" with unique designs in layers, usually thirteen stories high and several feet high. Because the image resembled a mountain, it was called "Aoshan".
At the same time, the subjects were allowed to enter the palace, and they went to the Meridian Gate to view Mount Ao for three days. It was of great significance that the monarch and his subjects had fun together, and it could be called the Ming Dynasty version of the "Spring Festival Gala".
On the day of the Lantern Festival, colorful lanterns of various shapes flashed on the huge "Aoshan Mountain", and gorgeous fireworks continued to set off. It was really colorful, the sky was filled with colors, and the scale was so large that only Li Xiao called it the world of Confucian saints that day. Visions can rival that.
On this day, the maids danced gracefully to the beautiful music of the Bell and Drum Division, which was a wonderful audio-visual enjoyment.
It is worth mentioning that the 30,000 Qingsuan scholars gathered in the capital did not go home to celebrate the New Year because of training. Instead, they chose to celebrate the New Year in the capital and experience the Spring Festival in the capital.
At this lantern festival, you can see literati and poets everywhere, guessing lantern riddles, composing poems and lyrics, and winning silver coins. It has to be said that scholars still have something to offer. They have almost wiped out all the silver coins at this lantern festival.
"It's so lively."
Li Xiao, Zhu Ningyun and Li Wuyou also wandered around the lantern festival to feel the festive atmosphere. There were also small vendors selling food here.
"Mutton skewers, fresh mutton skewers."
Many real girls came to Shanhaiguan to make a living. They found that they could make a lot of money selling fresh kebabs here, and the most popular business was selling mutton kebabs.
"Daddy, daddy, I want to eat mutton skewers."
"Okay, let's go and have a look."
For this daughter, Li Xiao was unconditionally satisfied. His son was poor and his daughter was rich. Li Wuyou pulled Li Xiao's clothes and walked towards the kebab stall.
When they saw that the Imperial Preceptor was coming, the people or officials consciously made a space for Li Xiao. They were very conscious.
The stall owner of the mutton kebabs was a middle-aged man, and his clothes were very girlish. Different from the ordinary people's clothes, he was dressed in furs, but his needlework and craftsmanship showed a rough look.
He felt out of place with his surroundings, but that didn't stop him from doing well in business. His clothes made others think his mutton skewers were fresh.
"I've seen the Imperial Preceptor." The middle-aged man recognized from the surrounding voices that this was the Imperial Preceptor and hurriedly saluted in the Jurchen way.
"How to sell mutton skewers?" Li Xiao asked.
"Dear Imperial Master, these are the finest fresh beef and mutton. Thanks to your blessing, they are brought here by train from outside the customs and slaughtered. They are absolutely fresh."
The middle-aged man introduced a lot of things in a long-winded way, for fear that the Imperial Master would not patronize his business, so he finally got to the point: "Master Imperial Master, these mutton skewers cost three skewers for one coin."
Li Xiao looked at the mutton skewers. They were not expensive, they were genuine and the portions were sufficient. The mutton was a big skewer, with large pieces of meat. It was sizzling on the oven, giving off the unique aroma of mutton, which made it feel a little sober. The smell of the smell is mouth-watering.
"Let's get three strings." Li Xiao smiled and took out a one-dollar Ming Dynasty treasure note with his portrait on it.
The middle-aged man declined at first, saying he didn't need the money, but Li Xiao said he didn't want to take advantage of the common people, so he took the money with both hands.
These herdsmen outside the customs earn treasure money in Peiping, and when they leave, they will go to the Daming Bank to exchange it for gold and silver, so they do not resist treasure money.
"Put it away." The middle-aged man took out three skewers and handed them to Li Xiao.
"One string per person." After Li Xiao took it, he handed it to Ningyun and Wuyou respectively.
"I don't want it anymore. Husband, you can eat it." Zhu Ningyun still focused on image and had no intention of eating skewers in public, so she pushed it back with a smile.
"Then I'm welcome."
Li Xiao took a bite and found that it tasted very good, with a pure mutton flavor, and a few seasonings, cumin and chili powder, which made it even more appetizing.
Li Wuyou on the side had a mouthful of food, and his mouth was full of oil. It was so spicy that he kept inhaling. He obviously doesn't eat spicy food at home, but he can eat it outside. The food outside is still delicious.
"How's the business?" Li Xiao looked at the stall owner and asked with a smile.
"Business is very good. It's only been a month. It's just in time for the Spring Festival. I've made more than a hundred taels of silver this month that I couldn't make in the past few years."
The middle-aged man said in broken Chinese, "The Ming Dynasty is great. Many people over there want to learn Chinese and come here to do business and make money."
In fact, the reason why many Jurchens did not come was firstly because of the language barrier, and secondly because relatives and friends there were unwilling to come.
"Oh?" Li Xiao immediately became interested, "How did you learn?"
"It's difficult to learn." The middle-aged man said, "It took me several years to learn it."
Li Xiao nodded slightly. Next year, when the Confucian scholars go there to teach Chinese, it is estimated that many people will want to come here after learning it. But as the city is built there, this situation will slowly change. few.
Li Xiao asked: "By the way, what's your name?"
The middle-aged man was flattered. People here didn't treat Jurchens like them very much, but the Imperial Master felt very friendly.
The middle-aged man replied: "The grassroots man's name is Gualja Dajib."
Li Xiao grinned. This name was too difficult to pronounce.
Seeing the confusion on the Imperial Master's face, Gualja Dajib replied with a smile: "Dajib means outstanding ability."
Li Xiao smiled and said: "It seems that you are really capable. You have made your first pot of gold in this capital. Your life will be better in the future."
Gualja Dajib smiled and said: "Yes, yes, it is all thanks to the blessing of the national master. I am really grateful."
As he spoke, he put his hand on his chest and bowed.
The Jurchens generally refer to the aboriginal people living in the entire Northeast outside the Pass. There are numerous large and small tribes, and the Jurchens are the general name for all tribes.
The Jurchens are actually very similar to Annan. They mainly rely on chieftain management, but it is much better than Annan. It is not unreasonable for Annan to be called Nanman. The people there are aggressive and often rebel.
The Jurchens really gradually broke away from the control of the Ming Dynasty after the Tumubao Incident, when the military strength of the Ming Dynasty declined significantly. The strength of the Ming Dynasty weakened, and the Jurchens gradually no longer feared the Ming Dynasty as before.
But now that the Ming Dynasty is strong, the Jurchens are very well-behaved and can sing and dance.
"Guaguawazi·Big Chicken Bu, right?" Li Xiao said.
"The national preceptor is Gualja Dajib."
Gualja Daguib corrected politely.
Li Xiao thought for a while and said, "Your name is a bit long. If my master means to change your last name, would you be willing?"
In fact, the Jurchen people don't pay much attention to their surnames, and they all use their tribe's surname.
For example, people from the Wanyan tribe are surnamed Wanyan, and people from the Yehe tribe are mostly surnamed Yehe. Guawazi. Guarjia is a common surname from the Guarjia tribe. If it branches out, there will be many surnames. There are more surnames than hundreds of families.
At this time, the surname Aixinjueluo did not exist. At this time, Nurhaci later came up with the surname himself and used it for the royal family.
"Change your surname." Gualja Dajib asked in confusion, "What surname should I change to?"
Li Xiaodao: "Change it to the surnames of the Ming Dynasty, Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng."
After saying that, Li Xiao added: "It's okay. I apologize if I offended you. Just ask."
After all, according to Han customs, asking others to change their surnames will undoubtedly make them no longer recognize their ancestors.
Gualjia Dajib asked with some joy: "National Master, if I change my surname, can I become a subject of the Ming Dynasty?"
Li Xiao smiled and said: "What are you talking about? You are the people of the Ming Dynasty."
"No, no, no." Gualja Dajib asked: "I mean, enjoy the same treatment as the Han people and be able to live in Peiping for a long time."
"This." Li Xiao thought for a while: "This hasn't been discussed yet, but it's not impossible."
As long as they buy a house here, Li Xiao thinks that these people can settle down. However, now that Beiping City is overcrowded, it is really not possible. How about building a few towns outside the city as an outer ring?
It should be possible to concentrate the population and resources and vigorously develop Beiping. When Beiping becomes more and more powerful, it will naturally spread throughout the country.
Li Xiao suddenly had this idea in his mind. He used to always want the whole country to develop together, but now he found it a bit difficult.
Nowadays, everyone wants to come to Peiping. Peiping has become a city like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the future. Most people who have achieved academic success will go to big cities to try their luck. Even if they fail, they can return home and build their hometown. Bring back new technologies and ideas.
For example, in the future, new things such as movie theaters, KFC, and KTV will be the first to appear in big cities. These things were not available in small counties before. But ten years later, these things slowly began to appear in provincial capitals, and then slowly appeared. In a small county
At this time, Guarjia Daji preached: "National Master, if you can settle in Peiping by changing your surname, I will be the first to change it."
"good."
Li Xiao smiled at Dong An: "Then just wait for the good news."
"I wish you a long life."
Gualjia Dajib saluted again in the special Jurchen way.
Are you trying to curse me? Li Xiao smiled slightly. Since others said auspicious words, he couldn't be stingy. He took out a red envelope and handed it over.
Gualja Dajib took the red envelope, opened it, and found that it was a gift of one silver coin. He was so happy that he bowed again and again.
"Wow, if you say auspicious words to the Confucian sage, you will get a red envelope."
After seeing it, several Confucian scholars in the distance had some ideas in their minds.
As soon as Li Xiao left, a Confucian scholar came over and knelt down to pay homage.
"Student Wang Zhixin has met the Confucian sage of the Ming Dynasty. As the new year comes, I wish the Confucian sage a hundred blessings, a long life and a healthy life."
A literati is a literati, and praising others sounds noble.
"reward."
Li Xiao was in a good mood and gave him a red envelope. The Confucian scholar was overjoyed.
When other people saw that I was going to get a red envelope, they all came over.
"I wish the Confucian sage and his wife a prosperous old age and a bright future."
"Mr. Confucian sage is virtuous and respected, and his wife is the happiest when doing good deeds, accumulating love and becoming blessed."
"I wish you good luck and good luck in the new year and everything goes well."
"I wish the Confucian sages have white heads and equal eyebrows, and mandarin ducks fly together, and the blue sun and peach blossoms are in the same heart."
Blessings and auspicious words are floating like snowflakes one by one, making them sound pleasant to your ears during this Spring Festival.
Although they all want to win red envelopes, Li Xiao doesn't care. He has money and is willful.
Reward, reward, reward, reward, reward
There are more and more people.
That's it,
During the Chinese New Year, Li Xiao threw coins like crazy and became the most handsome guy in the room.
In the distance, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were enjoying this good time enjoying themselves with the people.
"The Ming Dynasty is getting better and better." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed.
"Yes, it's prosperous and it's another good omen for the year." Zhu Di said.
Later, when the two saw Li Xiao's lively scene in the distance and how he was surrounded by people, they couldn't help but smile at each other and said in unison:
"Thanks to him" (End of Chapter)
