The enthronement ceremony of Emperor Ming Dynasty was adjusted during the era of Emperor Shizu, making it simpler than the previous generation.
But it's still a very troublesome thing...
On the first day of the first lunar month of the AD year, when the sky was just getting slightly bright, Zhu Jingyuan had already gotten up.
Outside the Qianqing Palace, the emperor's honor guard was also ready.
After Zhu Jingyuan ate and bathed, he was served by a large group of servants and put on the most formal imperial robes.
There are twelve beads hanging from the crown, and there are twelve chapters embroidered on the clothes.
He carries the sun and moon on his shoulders, stars and mountains on his back, dragon fire on his knees, and dragon flowers on his sleeves.
This is the most noble dress in the world.
And there is no one like it.
Even the emperor would not wear them on a daily basis, and it would be too troublesome to have a complete set.
After coming out of Qianqing Palace, we took a specially customized car and headed to Fengtian Palace to start the first part of the ceremony, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth.
Changing the traditional carriage into a car was specifically requested by Zhu Jingyuan.
In the past, emperors would usually go to the Temple of Heaven and Earth in the suburbs to offer sacrifices, but the function of offering sacrifices to heaven in Yingtian Xindu was placed on the top floor of the new Fengtian Hall.
As the emperor, Zhu Jingyuan was the first to go upstairs in a special elevator with several personal servants.
Senior ministers who were eligible to participate took other elevators to go upstairs.
When he came out of the elevator, Zhu Jingyuan stood at the door of the hall named "Tian Palace" and looked at the situation of the hall from a distance.
This is Zhu Jingyuan’s first time...
Among the three new halls in Fengtian, Tiandian is located on the uppermost floor and has the smallest area.
But this small one is only relative to the lower level, and is much larger than the previous main hall of the Temple of Heaven.
The key is that it is too high, more than a hundred meters in height.
When you look up at the zenith, the huge height and distance, coupled with the pressure on your spinal cord when you raise your head, will create a slightly dizzy and depressing feeling.
The majesty is much higher than the previous Temple of Heaven.
As the emperor, Zhu Jingyuan took a short rest after arriving at the main hall, and then, at the prompt of the eldest uncle Shen Fu, he began to preside over the formal ceremony to worship the heaven.
When offering sacrifices to heaven, the emperor presided over the ceremony in the center of the hall, accompanied by other important ministers behind and on both sides.
During this process, personnel from the Thai and Western countries and vassal states were not allowed to observe the ceremony.
Because in the eyes of the great uncle and the officials of the Ministry of Rites, they were not qualified to accompany the emperor to worship heaven.
Kneeling has been abolished in the daily rituals of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven still requires the ritual of kneeling and worshiping, and it is a very troublesome ceremony of five bows and three kowtows.
The difference between the five bows and three kowtows and the three kneels and nine kowtows used by Zhu Jingyuan in his previous life in the Qing Dynasty is not just quantitative.
What's more important is the difference in the "performance concepts" of the two dynasties.
Kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times is the "kneeling ceremony". To salute, you first kneel down and then lie down to kowtow. It is very simple and crude.
Five bows and three kowtows are "prayer".
The bowing ceremony and the bowing of the head and the hand-bowing ceremony that people in the Ming Dynasty usually use today can be regarded as actions within the same system, and they can be connected with each other.
Raising your hands together and shaking them back and forth, or adding a nod, is the simplest hand-over salute.
Holding hands is not the fist-holding seen on TV in later generations, nor is it the salute popular among the people.
When the hands are folded together, the palms are facing the chest.
If you continue to bend forward after putting your hands together, this can be regarded as a head-offering ceremony.
After bowing his head, he continued to lean down, turning his hands from the direction towards the chest to the direction towards the ground, and placed them overlapped on the ground.
In this process, the person lies down first, and the knees are not on the ground before the hands fall to the ground.
After pressing his hands to the ground, he bent his knees and knelt on the ground.
Finally, continue to bend your head downward and point it on the back of your folded hands. This is considered as completing one rak'ah.
After praying, he straightened up and changed his posture to kneeling.
At this time, lift your right leg first, then hold your right knee with both hands, and finally stand up with your entire body.
Repeat this five times to complete the five prayers.
After the last prayer, the hands are no longer folded but placed apart on the sides.
Then touch your forehead to the ground and repeat it three times to complete the final three kowtows.
After such a set of etiquette is completed, the standards of the movements must be in place, and the whole process cannot go wrong, and it requires a certain amount of practice.
Zhu Jingyuan felt that it was not as simple and crude as the Qing Dynasty's three kneels and nine knocks.
Kneel once, kowtow three times, and repeat the cycle three times. There are no other movement requirements.
The Three Kneels and Nine Kowtows of the Qing Dynasty may be a streamlined and optimized version of the Five Bows and Three Kowtows.
But worshiping is indeed a traditional Chinese etiquette.
In the early Qing Dynasty, it was possible that people were rather careless and imitated the etiquette of the Central Plains, but they did not learn it thoroughly, or they thought the original version was too troublesome, so they changed it to a simple and rough version.
Just like "Taiji" is actually the transliteration of Prince, "Fujin" is also the transliteration of Madam.
Because they have accents and don't learn the same accent, they have this pronunciation.
After the Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains and became "orthodox", the sensitive word Taiji was no longer used, and the word Fujin became the norm.
After five bows and three kowtows, Zhu Jingyuan began to read the memorial text himself.
Tell the emperor's "father" and "heaven" about your plans to officially become the emperor, as well as your thoughts and plans after becoming the emperor.
Zhu Jingyuan said that he was Zhu Jingyuan, the fourth son of the former emperor Zhu Tao Shangjian Xiayan.
I respect my ancestors in heaven, inherit the orders of Taizu, Chengzu, Shizu, and my father, and officially ascend the throne as the Ming Emperor from today on.
Starting from this year, the title of the year will be changed to Da Gong, which means "Dao Da Gong".
The journey of the Great Dao also means that the world is for the common good, selecting the worthy and capable, advocating trust and cultivating harmony.
Therefore, people do not only care for their relatives, nor do they only have children for their children, so that the old will die, the strong will be useful, and the young will grow.
Those who are humble, widowed, lonely, alone, and disabled will all be provided with support, men will have their share, and women will have their own home.
If the goods are disgusted and thrown to the ground, there is no need to hide them in oneself; if the power is disgusted and they do not come from the body, there is no need to hide them for oneself.
This is why people seek to be closed but not prosperous, to steal and commit robberies but not to commit robberies, and why people outside are not closed to the outside world. This is called Datong.
I will uphold the ambition of "the world is for the common good", make the country of Ming Dynasty strong and civilized, make the court of Ming Dynasty clean and just, and make the people of Ming Dynasty rich and polite.
This year is the Year of the Great A.D. From now on, the new imperial calendar will be used in etiquette, history, and education.
I hope that the world will be stable and prosperous, and that there will be no more wars and disasters, but I will also fight against evil to the end.
As the most powerful and civilized country in the world, Ming Dynasty has the obligation to supervise and supervise the royal families and courts of other countries.
If his royal family and court go against the grain, he will order the soldiers of tomorrow to punish the people.
Although Zhu Jingyuan's words were spoken to God, they were also announced directly to the entire Ming Dynasty and even the whole world through radio and newspapers.
Zhu Jingyuan's last few words are equivalent to a final warning to other countries.
If you go too far, I might really teach you a lesson. Don’t blame me for not reminding you in the future.
Zhu Jingyuan told God about his affairs and waited in the hall for a while.
God didn't give any response, so Zhu Jingyuan thought that God recognized him, so he led all the officials to salute him again.
After a complete set of rituals to worship God, Emperor Zhu Jingyuan and the officials took a short rest and took the elevator to the ancestral temple on the middle floor of the new hall.
In front of the ranking of ancestors and clans, Zhu Jingyuan once again led the civil and military officials to salute.
Tell your ancestors that you are the emperor.
The ancestors didn't have any objections. They probably thought that this generation of emperors had great potential.
Zhu Jingyuan rested for a while again and took the elevator all the way down to the Sheji Treasury at the bottom of the hall to offer sacrifices to the Sheji God.
Finally return to the first floor of the main hall.
Emperor Zhu Jingyuan of the Ming Dynasty ascended the emperor's throne and accepted the worship and congratulations of civil and military officials, overseas vassal states, and guests.
Only at this time did the guests from overseas have the opportunity to see the Ming Emperor again.
After paying homage to the emperor, Shen Fu, the eldest uncle, stood up and read Zhu Jingyuan's enthronement edict.
The edict includes information about heaven and earth, ancestral temples, and the country, but it is more detailed and precise.
It includes information about the era name, the intention of the era name, requirements for oneself, and external reminders and warnings.
There are also plans related to the new calendar and vacation plan that have been announced before.
Plus some routine decisions, such as pardon-related situations.
Now there is no general amnesty regardless of circumstances in the Ming Dynasty, but the link of the emperor's accession to the throne and predicted amnesty still remains.
Only the provisions related to amnesty have been refined and restricted.
Except for the heinous crimes, all crimes that harm others and cause losses to others are not within the scope of forgiveness.
In fact, the cases that will be pardoned are mainly public faults.
Most of them are officials and clerks.
At the same time, most pardons do not directly absolve the offender completely, but reduce the penalty by one or two levels according to the seriousness of the crime.
Finally, there are routine rewards for officials.
The promotion and sealing of Zhu Jingyuan's "direct descendants" were completed in the second half of the year.
This reward is for all officials.
The scope of the reward is very large. The scope of the reward is not large, but it is very real.
The main thing is that everyone will receive an additional three months of salary, and an additional three years of service experience will be added, which is the accumulation of one term of service.
This kind of reward is very consistent with Zhu Jingyuan's habits, and everyone can be considered happy after it is announced.
By the time all the morning rituals were completed, it was already noon.
Therefore, after reading the edict of enthronement, he immediately announced the start of the planned banquet, which was also a discussion and exchange session for all parties.
The officials and representatives of the Ming Dynasty mainly chatted happily and expressed their emotions.
What Zhu Jingyuan wanted to do was already started when he succeeded to the throne in front of his father, and is now being implemented step by step.
The main hall is ceremonial in nature and an additional reward.
As for the vassal states and the Westerners, the first thing they paid attention to and discussed was Zhu Jingyuan's reign name.
The reign title of the Ming Emperor can be regarded as a condensation of the Ming Emperor's ruling goals.
When the new year's title is officially announced, you can roughly tell what the new emperor wants to do in the future through the title.
British Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson told his colleagues:
“Donggong means pursuing justice, pursuing selflessness, and pursuing harmony throughout the country.
“Although it is not as reassuring as Ankang, it is still a choice that can make people feel relieved.
"Combined with other explanations about Ming's obligations to the world order and its higher level, this Grand Duke should not only be aimed at Ming's internal people.
“In the face of other countries besides the Ming Dynasty, we will also adhere to this goal on other platforms such as the League of Nations.
"This can also be regarded as a more beneficial goal for our United Kingdom."
The surrounding British ministers and scholars nodded.
On this basis, we continued to discuss for a long time with emotion.
The Prussians and Lucians on the other side were a little worried about Zhu Jingyuan's warning.
Nicholas I of Lucia and William III of Prussia were reunited.
But this time it was not just two monarchs, both parties also brought several accompanying ministers and children.
Nicholas asked William directly:
"Your Majesty William, what do you think of the warning in the Ming Emperor's enthronement edict?
"Will the Ming Dynasty... really fight against the so-called evil? Will it really take the initiative to send troops to punish the people?
“Will Ming Dynasty take the initiative to assume and use its obligations and powers to maintain world order in the future?
“Before, Emperor Ming said privately that he would not prohibit war within the alliance, and now he has publicly stated that he does not want war in the world.
"Has his mind changed? Will he still ignore our actions?"
William III's expression was very serious and he did not express his opinion directly. Instead, he looked at his chief of staff Gneisenau.
Gneisenau nodded slightly at Nicholas:
“Your Majesty, we believe that if His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty thinks that doing something is profitable for Ming Dynasty, then he should do it.
“But at the same time, what is considered a profitable situation is analyzed and discussed in detail.
“If the Ming Emperor had no interest in war or was even afraid of war, the standard would become very high.
“Maybe as long as others don’t take the initiative to attack Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty will not interfere or join the war.
“On the other hand, if the Ming emperor was very interested in war, the standard would be very low.
"Even if there is no suitable reason and there is no so-called evil existence, he can still actively find reasons to provoke and join the war.
"According to the Ming Emperor's new title as Grand Duke, in accordance with the Ming Emperor's pursuit of justice.
“I think this standard should be at a medium to high level.
"As long as we don't directly harm Ming's actual vital interests, Ming will probably not take the initiative to join the war.
“In many matters, the louder the decision-maker shouts, the more worried he is about others doing something that he himself does not have the energy or willingness to interfere with.
“The so-called supervision and supervision of other royal families and courts should be this form of warning of what is not expected to happen.
“After all, the Ming Emperor has personally said that he will not prevent the war within the alliance.
“Of course, when it comes to the actual situation, after we take certain actions, how will Ming react?
"It also requires careful observation and analysis by specialized diplomats."
Nicholas was silent for a few seconds, and then nodded slowly and gently, indicating that he recognized Gneisenau's judgment.
At the same time, the Austrian Emperor, Francis II, was a little surprised and asked his Prime Minister Metternich:
“The emperor’s enthronement edict stated that he would fight against evil, and the Ming Emperor had the obligation to manage and supervise other royal families and courts.
"So if Prussia sends troops to Austria, Ming Dynasty should have the basis and claim to intervene, right?"
Metternich's expression did not change much. At this time, he looked around and sighed:
"These can basically be regarded as empty words. Although they can indeed be regarded as claims, whether they are necessary or not depends entirely on the mood of the Ming Emperor.
“If I were the decision-maker and staff officer of the Ming Dynasty, I might suggest that the Ming Dynasty intervene after Austria is destroyed...
“The Ming Dynasty could definitely defeat Prussia, so why did he have to add a complete Austria and a complete Habsburg royal family?
"After it is destroyed, wouldn't it be more in line with the interests of the Ming Dynasty to establish a completely controlled new puppet vassal state court?"
Franz's expression quickly fell.
