The three-day Longevity Festival, the main festival is the emperor's birthday, also known as the Holy Festival. On this day, all the officials of the imperial court came to the Huangji Hall to present congratulatory forms to congratulate the emperor and congratulate the world. The etiquette of this process is extremely complex and cumbersome, and even veterans may not remember it all clearly, so there are dedicated etiquette officers responsible for calling out the etiquette.
How cumbersome are these processes? Just to see the emperor, there are bowing, worshiping, worshiping again, standing flat, holding a hut, bowing, dancing three times, kneeling on the left knee, kowtowing three times, shouting long live the mountain, shouting again and again, kneeling on the right knee, going out of the hut, etc., and for these There are many more specific requirements for actions, so there is really no need to explain them one by one.
As for when the emperor will appear and what he will do after his appearance, the etiquette is so detailed that it is not necessary to mention it.
The officials who participated in such a big festival for the first time might be excited, but for the senior ministers - such as Gao Xiangxi, who is still a veteran despite his young age - they were naturally at ease going through these procedures. For example, Gao Pragmatic, his mind was not on the congratulatory gift at all, but on waiting for the subsequent grand banquet.
The grand banquet was held in the Huangji Hall without having to go anywhere else. The positions of the ministers and ministers for the banquet were basically in accordance with the order in which they usually went to court. The preparations for the grand banquet were handled by Shang Baosi. Today, Shang Bao is responsible for the banquet. Si Qing is Gao Wuguan, Gao Pragmatic's younger brother (but adopted to Gao Gong). He has been in charge of this matter for many years, and there will never be any mistakes in etiquette.
After the congratulations, the people from Shang Baosi first set up the throne in the hall, covered it with yellow blankets, and summoned Jinwu Guards to set up twenty-four guards to stand by him. The Secretary of the Jiaofang set up nine music and songs in the hall, and set up a large music group outside the hall, and a dance team was waiting outside the hall. Guanglu Temple has a wine pavilion to the west of the throne, a dining pavilion to the east of the throne, and a rare and delicious pavilion (the original text is an ancient Chinese character, difficult to write, so the general idea is this) on the east and west sides of the wine and dining pavilion.
The royal banquet was placed on the east and west side of the throne. Although the crown prince was not enthroned, he still set his seat to the east of the throne, facing west. The princes and kings then set their seats facing east and west from south.
Officials of the fourth rank and above will have a banquet in the Huangji Hall, while those of the fifth rank and below will be entertained outside the hall, and a team of people including pot masters, wine ministers, and food ministers will be arranged to serve them.
When the banquet begins, the ceremonial department invites the emperor to ascend to the throne. Zhu Yijun walked out with a rosy face, showing no sign of any illness, and the music started playing immediately.
After the emperor ascends the throne, the joy will stop. Then the firecrackers went off, and the princes, princes, etc. came to the palace one by one. The infant princes could not move on their own, but they would not be carried by their biological mothers or nannies. Instead, they would be led or carried to the palace by their respective "big companions".
Next, civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above enter from the east and west and stand in the hall, while those of the fifth rank and below can only stand in front of His Highness. All the officials once again performed a great ceremony of praise and worship. After the ceremony, people filed into Guanglu Temple and the great music played again. When they arrived in front of the emperor, the music stopped. Then Guanglu Temple opened the ceremony and poured wine, and first toasted to the emperor.
During the first round of toasting, the Jiaofang Secretary played "The Song of the Flame Spirit". When the music starts, everyone kneels down, and of course the Jiaofang Secretary also has to kneel down to play. The emperor raised his glass and finished drinking, feeling happy. All the officials fell down, paid homage again, and then took their seats.
During the second round of toasts, the band played "The Song of Imperial Wind". After the music started, Guanglu Temple drank wine for the emperor, and the prelude class drank wine for the ministers. After the emperor raised his drink, the ministers also raised their drinks and were happy.
Next, they enter the soup, and the drumming music begins. The Guanglu Temple goes to the outside of the temple. The drumming stops. The music starts in the temple, and all the officials stand up. The official of Guanglu Temple enters the soup to the emperor. After entering, the officials sit down again, and then perform the ceremony. Qunchen Tang.
At this time, the emperor raised chopsticks, and the ministers also raised chopsticks. This also has a special meaning, which is called praising the food. Next comes the dance. The first one is usually a martial dance, which in modern terms is a vigorous dance, called the "Dance to Peace the World."
Further down to the third round, the band played "The Song of the Emperor Ming" and danced "The Dance of Fu'an Siyi". In the fourth round, they played "The Song of Tiandao Zhuan" and danced "The Dance of Cars and Books". In the fifth round, "The Song of Zhenhuanggang" was played and the "Dance of the Hundred Operas" was danced. In the sixth round, "Song of Jinling" was played and "Eight Barbarians Presented Treasure Dance" was danced. In the seventh round, "Changyang Song" was played and "Lotus Picking Team Dance" was danced. In the eighth round, "Fragrance Song" was played and "Fish Leap in the Deep Dance" was danced. In the ninth round, "The Song of Riding the Six Dragons" was played.
In each of the above toasts, the ceremony is the same as the first round, and they are all done in the same way. After waiting for nine rounds, Guanglu Temple received the royal nobles, the preface class collected the ministers, and entered the soup.
By this time, everyone was hungry and had a big appetite, so it was finally time for a big meal. The great music played, the officials stood up, thanked each other and returned to their seats, and the prelude began to serve the dishes.
The raw materials of the banquet food are all rare and rare, sent to Beijing from all over the country by land and water. Some fresh food is delivered urgently by stagecoach. Carefully prepared by famous chefs in the imperial dining room, they are of course of the highest quality.
According to the custom of the Ming Dynasty, everything must have rules, so no matter what the "national" celebration was in the Ming Dynasty, even the recipes were fixed, and most of them were customized by the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties. Specifically, the feast for the Wanshou Festival was custom-made in the 13th year of Yongle (1415).
This customization stipulates: serve five plates of wine, five plates of fruit, fried chicken with tea and snacks, double stick bones, large silver ingots, large oil cakes, three kinds of soup, double steamed buns, horse meat rice, and five cups of wine.
On the middle table, there are four plates of wine, four plates of fruits, fried pancakes, silver ingots of pancakes, two stick bones, three kinds of soup, two pairs of steamed buns, horse meat rice, and three cups of wine.
On the middle table, there are four plates of wine, four plates of fruit, fried food, tea and snacks, two soups, double portions of steamed buns, mutton rice, and three cups of wine.
The monks and officials were served on a plain banquet, with five plates of wine, fruits, tea, fried food, three kinds of soup, steamed buns, honey cake and rice.
The general ordered a plate of wine, longevity noodles, steamed buns, horse meat rice, and a cup of wine.
The Golden Spear Soldier, the Elephant Slave, and the Colonel all ate steamed buns and a cup of wine.
The music master of Jiaofang ordered a plate of wine, noodle soup, steamed buns and a cup of wine.
Give the food table to the official and the envoy, and serve five plates of wine, fruits, two soups, steamed buns, and three cups of wine. There are four plates of wine, fruits, two soups and small steamed buns on the middle table.
A high-ranking and pragmatic official of the second rank, with an additional title of first rank, is of course "on the table". However, horse meat rice was actually replaced by donkey meat rice because of the shortage of horses in the Ming Dynasty.
The arrangement of the table is also interesting. The cabinet elders with the highest status are at a separate table; the six ministers and the Zuodu Yushi of the Imperial Procuratorate are the "seven ministers of the imperial court", and they are also at a separate table; the following are two tables for the ministers of each ministry ——Earlier, there was one big table, but now because the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War both have a system of four ministers, a big table would be too crowded, so we divided it into two tables. Now there is one table for the eight ministers from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, and another table for the other ministers.
The next step is to "join the table" according to the rules of the Dajiuqing and Xiaojiuqing, except for the previous group of big guys. In short, it is to arrange officials with similar status at one table or side by side tables as much as possible.
Since the emperor sat alone in a high position, there was basically no "enjoyment with the people", so when the banquet started, the nature of etiquette was downplayed, and colleagues at the same table had the opportunity to speak.
Gao Jingshi's table is occupied by the six ministers and the censor of Zuodu, and the table next to him is the cabinet minister. The people at these two tables can be regarded as the top power center figures in the Ming Dynasty besides the emperor, so if there is a "God's perspective" at this moment If you do, you will find that the distance between them and other tables is relatively large, so that a physical hierarchical barrier is formed.
But in this way, if people at the two tables want to talk to each other, it will be very convenient. As for the meal itself, everyone knows that the banquets given in the Ming Dynasty palace can only fill the stomach, and are far less reliable than their own meals.
A rich man like Gao Pingshi just ate a few pieces of chicken and drank a small cup of soup. Although wine is provided at such banquets, people usually do not drink openly, so as not to cause drunkenness and cause a disgraceful act. However, everyone still raises their glasses from time to time, only if they touch their lips - it takes time anyway.
At this moment, small talk is the real business.
Today's seven ministers of the imperial court are as follows: Chen Yubi, the Minister of Personnel, Gao Pragmatic, the Minister of Hubu, Xu Xuemou, the Minister of Rites, Zhou Yong, the Minister of War, Shu Hua, the Minister of Punishments, Shi Xing, the Minister of Industry, and Shen Li, the imperial censor of Zuodu.
On the cabinet table are Shen Shixing, a bachelor of Zhongji Palace, Xu Guo, a bachelor of Jianji Palace, Wu Dui, a bachelor of Wenhua Palace, Wang Jiaping, a bachelor of Wuying Palace, Wang Xijue, a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Dongge, who is new to the cabinet. Bachelor Liang Menglong.
The Qiqing table started chatting first, and the first person to speak was the theoretical boss of the table - Tianguan Chen Yubi.
As the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Chen Yubi naturally chose to start talking about personnel establishment. After a round of toasts, he put down the Rhinoceros Horn Jue and asked directly to Gao Pragmatic: "Qiu Zhen, I read your "Innovation Station Shu" a few days ago. , I have some questions while feeling emotional, I wonder if you can help me clarify them?"
Although Chen Yubi actually belongs to the Real School, his foundation comes from his father Chen Yiqin (a bachelor of Wuyingdian in the Longqing Dynasty). Chen Yubi was also the core of the "Chen Party" before. In terms of closeness at this time, , it can only be said to be the peripheral force of the Practical School, and Gao Pragmatism will definitely give him enough face.
So Gao Jingshi immediately put down the rhinoceros horn prince and said politely: "Brother Yuan Zhong, you are so polite. If you have any questions, just ask me. You must tell me everything you know." When the others saw the show coming, they also stopped their cups and listened to his words. People talk.
Chen Yubi did not beat around the bush and asked very directly: "If this sparseness works, more than ten members of the Ministry of Revenue will be in charge of the post stations in each province, but as far as the center is concerned, the inns are under the jurisdiction of the Vehicle and Driving Department of the Ministry of War. In this way Come on, in the future, will the driving department have the final say on matters regarding the inn, or will it be the ministers from the Ministry of Household Affairs who have the final say? I am in charge of civil affairs, so I have to understand this."
"Brother Yuan Zhong's concerns are just and appropriate, but I have discussed this matter with Grand Sima." Gao Pingshi said, turning his head to Zhou Yong and said: "Brother Yangsi (Zhou Yong's nickname is Yangsi, his name is Lexuan), please How about you tell me the difference?"
Zhou Yong is different from Chen Yubi. He is from the real school of thought and is a native of Yanjin County, Henan Province. He is a township party member like Gao Gong and Gao Pragmatic. Zhou Yong was the fifty-seventh Jinshi in the top three grades of Renxu in the 41st year of Jiajing reign (1562). He did not do well in the examination. Logically speaking, it is generally difficult to get to the top. However, although this person had poor grades, his ability was only He is mediocre, but his official luck is particularly good.
What does good official luck mean? For example, whenever you complete your three-year exam as a subordinate, your boss will either have an accident or be promoted, and the position will be vacated for you. This is a typical example of good official luck.
This is almost the case for Zhou Yong. With only the qualification of the top three in the district, he became the governor of Liaodong in fifteen years, and the governor of Jiliao in less than twenty years. Then, because Zhang Xueyan resigned and returned home, he was able to return to the ministry and serve as the chief minister. .
As we all know, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty attaches great importance to "academic qualifications". The three "gods in the sky" who are ranked first can be praised as much as they want. For example, Gao Pragmatic was promoted quickly and set records, but no one said that he was not qualified. At most, some people said that he was too young. ——Most of the other Jinshi candidates were around thirty years old. You, the eighteen-year-old who won the top prize, are really cheating. The result is that at the age when most people can pass the examination, he has already become the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.
In less than ten years, he went from being the top scholar in the new department to being the minister of household affairs, and was even demoted three levels in a row. This was the confidence of the top scholar, and no one could question his qualifications.
On the contrary, the qualifications of the top three Jinshi are much worse than those of the first and second grade, because the first grade is called "Jinshi Ji", and the second grade is called "Jinshi origin". Needless to say, rank and birth also mean that this status is worthy of the name, but the top three is obviously inferior, which is called "from the same Jinshi" - you can barely be counted as a Jinshi.
It was very rare in Ming Dynasty official circles to be able to get along well with such qualifications. During this period in history, there was another top-level boss named Shen Yiguan, but Shen Yiguan was also tougher than Zhou Yong because he was first of all the nephew of the great poet Shen Mingchen, and although he passed the top-level exam, he was not selected during the selection process. Being admitted as a Shujishi can still be regarded as a Hanlin status.
Zhou Yong's "academic qualifications" were not very good but his official luck was good. In addition, after he reached the position of Liao Fu, it happened that the practical school was "not available", so he could only be reused. Therefore, he became the Great Sima after two rounds.
The consequence of a weak foundation is that he, the great Sima, does not have much respect in front of Gao Pragmatic, the great Situ. In the eyes of many people, he has already made up his mind to be a high-pragmatic yes-man.
This time was no exception. As soon as Gao pragmatic asked him to speak, he immediately took over and explained for Gao pragmatic: "Chen Tianguan didn't know something. What Gao Situ Shuzhong said was a temporary expedient. The station has always been They are all under the management of the Vehicle and Driving Department of the Ministry of War, and Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs, only supervises the finances.
In addition, Gao Situ also said that in the future, when the post station can be responsible for its own profits and losses, and even contribute to the finance, the Ministry of Household Affairs will support the expansion of the Vehicle Driving Department. Today, the Ministry of Household Affairs generally establishes the chief officers of the post stations in each province to strengthen the jurisdictional authority. "
Chen Yubi's question was actually to cooperate with Gao Pragmatic to explain the situation. For the three people to talk about it, Xu Xuemo, the Minister of Rites, couldn't help but said: "What is the reason for the incident at the post station? It is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, but in this way, various ministries have increased their Suppose, today we set up more than ten officials, and tomorrow we set up more than ten officials. When will they start? The common people in the world support hundreds of officials. If more officials are added endlessly, aren't they just preying on the people?"
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