The courts of all dynasties have attached great importance to the Spring Festival, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception. The first month also has the most festivals, including the Zhengdan Festival (i.e. the first day of the Lunar New Year), the Beginning of Spring, the Lantern Festival, the Yanjiu Festival, and the Cangcang Festival. The most important ones are the Zhengdan Festival and the Lantern Festival.
During the festival, there are temple fairs, lantern markets, worshiping the Kitchen God and other activities. All people celebrate together and it is very lively.
In the palace, the emperor would offer sacrifices in the ancestral temple, and then hold a large court meeting in the Fengtian Hall. The ceremonial activities of the court congratulations are solemn, the princes and officials are in order, and the ritual guards are majestic. The emperor drove out of the Qianqing Gate, and the golden chariot ascended to the three dais amid the mighty escort procession, passing through the Jinshen Hall, the Huagai Hall, and finally the Imperial Fengtian Hall, where he sat on the golden throne to accept the New Year's greetings from his subjects. After the ceremony in the outer court, the emperor returned to the inner court and accepted the concubines led by the queen to salute, and the prince and grandson saluted.
The emperor was so busy that the queen had no time to spare. Princes, princesses, marquises, uncles and other noble ladies all had to bring their daughters to pay homage to the queen.
The prince could not escape, and the ministers also congratulated him.
After the big court meeting, there will be a 'big banquet ceremony'.
After the official congratulations are over, there will be a grand banquet in the palace, which can be attended by officials, members of the royal family and foreign envoys. Secondly, the ladies will have dinner with the Queen Mother and others in the harem.
The scale of the imperial 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, this day, starting from the burning of incense and setting off firecrackers in the palace at the fifth watch, there has been no leisure time.
But there is a special situation this year, that is, Emperor Hongzhi is in poor health, and is weak and afraid of the cold. But on this day, sometimes you can hear the howling of the north wind right away when you open the door a crack. On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, There was heavy snow falling in the sky every day.
Zhu Houzhao came out of Qingning Palace with a heavy heart. He had a big cloak on his shoulders and his hair could not hold down the snowflakes. The two rows of palace maids and eunuchs behind him did not dare to show their anger because the people in Qingning Palace were in worse condition.
Qingning Palace is where the Empress Dowager Zhou lives. Nowadays, the court affairs are much less due to the Chinese New Year, but the housework has increased again.
To put it in layman's terms, Hongzhi, the man with the highest status in the palace, can't get out of bed now, and the Empress Dowager Zhou, the woman with the highest status in the palace, can't get out of bed either.
Empress Zhang came from a small family, and even though she had been a queen for so many years, she had such a good husband who didn't even bring a competitor into the harem. How much growth could she have achieved?
Now that her husband is lingering on the sickbed, she is taking care of him and worrying about him. She may not be able to hold on in a few days.
So this person can't be counted on.
Counting over and over again, he, the Prince of the East Palace, who was only fifteen years old in the New Year, was the one who had the final say in all matters.
Zhu Houzhao didn't think anything else, and first ordered: "No one is allowed to hear about the Empress Dowager's serious illness."
In the wind and snow, the words made people feel even colder. These eunuchs and maids did not dare to say more, so they could only respond in low voices.
Historically, Empress Dowager Zhou died in the 17th year of Hongzhi's reign. ….
Emperor Hongzhi suffered a crime in his childhood, and the Empress Dowager Zhou took him in to raise him. After such an experience, could the relationship between the two of them be weakened?
Now Empress Dowager Zhou is in a state of coma for several hours every day. They say she is seventy-three or eighty-four, and the King of Hell will not take her there. The old man is obviously already seventy-four, but his physical condition is so bad.
If Emperor Hongzhi knew about this, something might happen, so he could only hide it for now. If there are any consequences in the end, he, the prince, will be responsible for it.
At this time, a young eunuch came over despite the wind and snow, "Your Highness, the three ministers of the cabinet are here and are waiting to be summoned in the East Palace."
Zhu Houzhao probably knew what was going on, so he put on his hat behind his cloak and said, "Go back to the palace."
The day after tomorrow is the imperial meeting, and as a result, Emperor Hongzhi is still lying down unable to move. There are many occasions when the emperor is needed.
Forget it if the emperor doesn’t attend the banquet, sacrifice,
Meetings, these are very important things.
In the East Palace, the tea cups in front of the three pavilion elders Liu, Li and Xie were smoking, but they did not dare to sit down because the prince had just entered and was untying his cloak.
Then he walked to the charcoal pot in the center and stretched out his hand.
"Is it cold enough on a snowy day?"
Li Dongyang said: "It's important for Your Highness to take care of himself. We people won't get in the way."
"Let's bake together. You all know me well, and you know that the joints that I care about most are not these false gifts."
The three pavilion elders looked at each other and stretched out their stiff hands, feeling a hint of warmth.
Zhu Houzhao sniffed, "Maybe it's my misunderstanding. This winter is getting colder every year. After the new year, the cabinet will have more provinces, and any disasters will be reported early. Also, it will be colder on the grassland. They will wait until next spring. After the food is finished, the cattle, sheep, and horses will eat fresh grass for a month to fatten up, and the people at the border of the Ming Dynasty will be exposed to their scimitars again. I should not mention it at the juncture of the festival. These, but I still can’t help it.”
"Your Highness is concerned about state affairs. This is a blessing for the court and the people. However, things are changing, so Your Highness should not work too hard." Mr. Liu's lips were also a little hard from the cold, and he could not speak clearly, and he couldn't say several words. Lao, "Besides, the Zhengdan Festival is the day after tomorrow. Your Majesty said that he was ill and exempted himself from the imperial court. Should the same be true for the imperial meeting?"
Zhu Houzhao did not reply first, but asked: "Where is the cabinet's opinion?"
Liu Jianzhi said: "I and the other three people all believe that your Majesty's dragon weighs more than anything else, and your majesty should not be allowed to force his sick body. Moreover, your highness is a heavenly person. Even if some foreign envoys know that the Ming Emperor's dragon body is occasionally slightly ailing, Sifang Xiaoxiao doesn’t dare to act rashly.”
Yes, this time the cabinet's ideas reached his heart.
"According to the regulations. For various sacrifices, court gatherings, banquets and other activities, I, the prince, will replace my father. In addition..." Zhu Houzhao pointed, "Ask the Ministry of Rites to use their brains. I am the prince, but I am different from my father." , don’t copy the previous rules and procedures, look through the history books, if there is nothing in this dynasty, look for the previous dynasty, and see what the prince should pay attention to when hosting similar etiquette activities on behalf of the emperor, and there must be differences.”
"That's natural, please rest assured, Your Highness."
"Okay. Is that all?"….
The three of them all nodded. Even if there was something else, there was no need to tell the prince on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao rubbed his hands and said, "I have worked hard for a whole year. I am still very fierce on weekdays. Just stay today and have a meal with me. Just now, Mr. Liu Ge said that there is relaxation. I think it is necessary. Yes, no matter how much work you do, it will have to be done over several years. While there is nothing to do today, let’s chat while eating?”
Xie Qian thought to himself, you also know that you are usually fierce. Now the three of them were a little afraid and waved their hands to refuse.
But Zhu Houzhao felt like he was chasing a duck, "Today is the day. If you want to stay at 29 or 30, I won't keep you! Liu Jin, pass the meal."
"yes."
In this way, the three old men stayed with him.
In the Hongzhi Dynasty, the status of the cabinet was actually not as good as that of the six ministries. But in Zhu Houzhao's mind, the cabinet setting is actually quite good. It's just that there are structural problems. For example, they are all civil servants, which results in other forces not having enough say at the highest leadership level of the country. Of course, this is all for later.
Zhu Houzhao has been dealing with political affairs for so long. In fact, he has a lot of routine work, which should not occupy a lot of the emperor's time. As far as he is concerned, it is more efficient to deploy relevant work in the form of gathering relevant personnel to listen to reports.
But those routine tasks cannot be dispensed with, and this requires the cabinet.
"It should be treated like a treat, and it's the Chinese New Year, so I will be more generous today." Zhu Houzhao has always spoken in a mature manner. In front of several old men, in addition to his childish appearance, his words, actions, and expressions all look like he is decades old. Calmly, "Mr. Liu Ge, Mr. Li Ge, Mr. Xie Ge, you have all worked hard this year!"
The three old men all stood up to receive the ceremony. They insisted on doing so, but there was nothing they could do about it.
"When the Yamen opens in the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign, I want to change my mind. You can think about it too."
"Your Highness, please speak."
Zhu Houzhao said: "From the twelfth year of Hongzhi to the present, I always feel that we are just counting the years. We say we have achieved some results, but it is God's eyesight. Can we have any goals ourselves?"
"What should the country look like? A prosperous people? A strong country? There must be a goal before we work hard, right? Set the goal and then determine the measures. Some problems, such as the problem of clearing up empty wages, are a chronic disease that has lasted for hundreds of years. The court will not Maybe a decree will wipe it all away."
"But it must also take a few years to solve it in a rhythmic manner, maybe three years, maybe five years. The key is to have a process of getting better. You cannot see that the problem is too difficult and just say it involves too many problems. If we retreat, will it be more difficult in the future? If we drag it out from generation to generation, putting aside difficult issues, it will only take one day as long as we can. What is the difference between this and being a monk who beats the clock for one day? "
"So I'm also thinking about what the court will do in the 18th year of Hongzhi. We need to list it first, and then look at what needs to be solved in the next three years. We should also list it. First, we should set out the problems, then the measures, and then Arrange it step by step and in a planned manner. By then, if you can’t do it, I will deal with the people, and you don’t have to have a bad reputation of being punished without teaching.”
Liu Jian was called out and asked for forgiveness, but the prince didn't pay much attention.
Li Dongyang was still stroking his beard and thinking about the prince's words, feeling a little strange, "Your Highness, have you been thinking about these words in your heart for a long time?"
"Well, today is not a court meeting or a morning court meeting, we are just talking at the table. Because of Yang Yiqing's incident a few days ago, the court wanted to clear up the empty salary. He seemed to be under a lot of pressure, but I, the prince, never said that I would To solve all these problems across the country within three months or five months, I mean... such a major issue cannot be taken for granted by the court, and we still have to deal with it step by step. But the atmosphere in the officialdom is not like this, so I thought of it. Write down the goals that the court wants to achieve, so that everyone at the top and bottom knows what measures the East Palace and the cabinet are going to implement."
Xie Qian quite agrees with it, "The Doctrine of the Mean says: When you go a long way, you will be short of yourself; when you climb high, you will humble yourself; you make progress year by year, and the accumulation of small victories leads to great victories. No matter how high Mount Huashan is, there is no way for it to pass. .”
Zhu Houzhao's proposal did not infringe on any interests, and it also showed a positive and enterprising spirit. None of the three cabinet members felt there was any problem after hearing it.
"Then let's wait until after the New Year. You can prepare it yourself first, or you can communicate it separately. After the New Year, the cabinet and the six ministries and nine departments will hold a special meeting and spend two or three days focusing on discussing it. Discuss it in categories, and it concerns the people. Various major categories such as life and border security should be discussed, and we should also try to make a three-year plan. The plan is determined, just like a military flag is planted on the top of a mountain. Once the military flag is raised, you know where to charge!"
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