Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1602 The Argument at the Birthday Banquet (Part [-])
The three-day Longevity Festival is the emperor's birthday, also known as the holy festival.On this day of imperial court, all officials came to Huangji Hall to present a congratulatory table to congratulate the emperor and the world.The etiquette of this process is extremely complicated and cumbersome, and even veterans who have been there for many years may not remember it all clearly, so there is a special etiquette officer in charge of shouting the salute.

How cumbersome are these processes?Just seeing the emperor, there are bowing, worshiping, worshiping again, flat body, wat, bowing, three dances, kneeling on the left knee, three kowtows, Shanhu long live, repeated shouting, kneeling on the right knee, and going out of the wat, etc., and for these There are still many 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 he appears, those etiquettes really stipulate the details to the extreme, let alone talk about it.

Officials who participated in this kind of festival for the first time may be excited, but for the old ministers—Ru Gao Yushi is still considered a veteran despite his young age—they naturally go through these procedures with peace of mind.For example, Gao Pragmatism, his mind is not on the court ceremony at all, but waiting for the follow-up banquet.

There is no need to go to another place for the grand banquet, it will be held in the Huangji Hall. The location of the ministers’ industrial banquet is basically in accordance with the order of the usual shifts. Shang Baosi is responsible for the preparations for the grand banquet. Today, Shang Bao Si Qing is Gao Wushi's younger brother Gao Wuguan (but he was adopted by Gao Gong). He has been in charge of this matter for many years, and there will never be any mistakes in etiquette.

As soon as the congratulations were over, Shang Baosi's people first set up the throne in the hall, spread the yellow coat, and called the Jinwu Guard to set up 24 guards to stand by.The Secretary of Jiaofang set up nine music and songs in the hall, set up great music outside the hall, and dancers waited outside the hall.Guanglu Temple has a wine pavilion on the west side of the imperial seat, a dining pavilion on the east side of the imperial seat, and a Zhenxi Delicious Pavilion (the original text is an ancient character, difficult to write, to the effect) on the east and west sides of the Jiushan Pavilion.

The imperial banquet was placed on the east and west sides of the imperial throne. Although the crown prince was not canonized, he still set up his seat in the east of the imperial throne, facing west, and the princes and kings set up their seats facing each other from south to east.

The ministers of the fourth rank and above set up banquets in the Huangji Hall, and those of the fifth rank and below entertained outside the hall, and a group of officials such as pot stewards, Shangjiu, and Shangshi were arranged to serve.

When the banquet begins, the chief of ceremonies will invite the emperor to his seat.Zhu Yijun walked out with a blushing face, showing no signs of illness, and the big music immediately played.

After the emperor's ascension, let's stop.Then the firecrackers blew, and the princes and princes went to the hall one by one—the infant princes could not be brought by themselves, but they would not be brought by their biological mother or nanny, but would be led or carried by their respective "big companions" to the hall.

Next, civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above enter from the east and west, and stand in the hall, while those below the fifth rank can only stand under the Highness.All the officials performed praises and salutes again. After the salute, Guanglu Temple entered in a file, and the great music was played again. When they reached the front of the emperor, the music stopped.Then Guanglu Temple opened the jue and poured wine, and first toasted the emperor.

When toasting the first round of wine, the teacher of Jiaofang played "The Song of Flame Essence".When the music starts, everyone kneels, and of course the Secretary of Jiaofang also kneels to play.The emperor toasted and drank, and the music stopped.All the officials bowed down, saluted and saluted again, and then took their seats.

During the second round of toasts, the band played "The Song of the Royal Style".Let's start with music, Guanglu Temple drinks wine for the emperor, and the preface class drinks wine for the officials.After the emperor raised the wine, all the ministers also raised the wine, happy to stop.

Next, enter the soup, the advocacy music leads, Guanglu Temple goes to the outside of the hall, the advocacy stops, the music starts in the hall, the officials stand up, and the officials of Guanglu Temple enter the soup to the emperor, after entering, the officials sit down again, and then the order Minister soup.

At this time, the emperor held up the chopsticks, and the officials also held up the chopsticks. There is also a special point, which is called praise.Next is the dance, the first one is usually a martial dance, which is called a strong dance in modern parlance, called "The Dance of Tranquilizing the World".

Going down to the third round, the band played "Song of Juan Huangming" and danced "Dance of Fu'an Siyi".In the fourth round, play "The Song of Heavenly Dao" and dance "Dance of Cheshu Huitong".In the fifth round, play "The Song of Zhenhuanggang" and dance "Baixi Chengying Dance".In the sixth round, they will play "The Song of Jinling" and dance "The Dance of Eight Barbarians Presenting Treasures".In the seventh round, play "Song of Changyang" and dance "Dance of the Lotus Picking Team".In the eighth round, play "The Song of Fragrance" and dance "Fish Leaping in the Yuan Dance".In the ninth round, "The Song of Driving Six Dragons" will be played.

Each of the above-mentioned toasts, the ceremony is the same as that of Chulun, and they are all done in the same way.After waiting for nine rounds, Guanglu Temple received the imperial nobles, and the preface class received the cups of the ministers, and entered the soup.

By this time, all the people were so hungry that their appetites would naturally increase, so it was finally their turn to have a big meal.The big music was played, the officials stood up, thanked them and sat down again, and the preface class began to serve the dishes.

The raw materials of the banquet food are all rare and exotic, and they are sent to Beijing by water and land from all over the country.Some seasonal foods are expressly delivered by stage horses.It is of course the best top-grade dish prepared by famous chefs in the Imperial Dining Room.

According to the habits of the Ming Dynasty, there must be rules in everything, so no matter any "national" celebrations in the Ming Dynasty, even the recipes are fixed, most of which are customized by the Hongwu and Yongle Dynasties.Specific to the feast of the Wanshou Festival, it was customized in the 13th year of Yongle (1415).

This customization stipulates: five plates of wine, five plates of fruits, tea and fried chicken, double stick bones, large silver ingots, large oil cakes, three soups, double steamed buns, horse meat rice, and five cups of wine.

On the upper and middle tables, there are four plates of wine, four plates of fruits, roasted and fried, silver ingot oil cakes, double stick bones, three soups, double 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, two soups, double steamed buns, mutton rice, and three cups of wine.

The monks and officials have a vegetarian banquet, five plates of wine, fruits, tea and food, roasted fried food, three soups, double steamed buns, honey cake and rice.

The general has a plate of wine, birthday noodles, double steamed buns, horse meat rice, and a cup of wine.

Golden Spear Soldier, Elephant Slave, Colonel, two steamed buns and a cup of wine.

The Sile people in Jiaofang put a plate of wine, powder soup, double steamed buns, and a cup of wine.

Give food to the table, internal officials and internal envoys, and serve five plates of wine, fruit, two soups, small steamed buns, and three cups of wine.On the middle table, there are four plates of wine, fruit, two soups, and small steamed buns.

High-level practical officials are the second rank, and the title is from the first rank. Of course, it belongs to "serving the table", but the horse meat rice was actually replaced by donkey meat rice because of the lack of horses in Ming Dynasty.

The arrangement of the table is also interesting. The elders of the cabinet have the highest status and sit alone at the table; the six ministers plus the Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are the "seven ministers of the imperial court" and also sit at the same table alone; the following are the two tables of ministers ——It used to be a big table, but now because the household department and the military department are made up of four servants, the big table is too crowded, so there are two tables.Now there are eight servants from the household department and the military department at one table, and the other servants have another table.

In the future, it will be "table sharing" according to the big Jiuqing and Xiao Jiuqing except the first group of bigwigs. In short, it is to arrange officials with similar status at the same table or side by side as much as possible.

Since the emperor is a lone seat high above, there is basically no "joy with the people", so when the seat is opened, the nature of etiquette is downplayed, and colleagues at the same table have the opportunity to speak.

At Gao Yushi's table are the six ministers and Zuodu Yushi, and the next table is the cabinet elder. The people at these two tables can be regarded as the top power centers in the Ming Dynasty other than the emperor, so if there is a "God's perspective" at this moment If you do this, you will find that the distance between them and other tables is relatively large, so that a hierarchical gap is formed physically.

But in this way, if the people at the two tables want to talk to each other, it will be very convenient.As for the meal itself, everyone knew that the banquets given by the Ming court could only fill one's stomach, and were far less reliable than their own meals.

Such a rich man as Gao Yushi even ate a few pieces of chicken casually and drank a small cup of soup to forget the matter.Although wine is given at such a big banquet, people usually don't drink it openly, lest if they get drunk, they will make a mess before the emperor and it will be very unbeautiful.But everyone will still raise their glasses from time to time, and it will stop as soon as they touch their lips-anyway, it's time to delay.

At this moment, small talk is business.

Today’s Seven Ministers of the imperial court are these: Chen Yubi, Minister of Officials, Gao Pragmatic, Minister of Household Affairs, Xu Xuemo, Minister of Rites, Zhou Yong, Minister of Military Affairs, Shu Hua, Minister of Punishment, Shi Xing, Minister of Industry, and Shen Li, Minister of Zuodu.

At the cabinet table are Shen Shixing, a scholar of Zhongji Hall, Xu Guo, a scholar of Jianji Hall, Wu Dui, a scholar of Wenhua Hall, Wang Jiaping, a scholar of Wuying Hall, Wang Xijue, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the new Dongge Bachelor Liang Menglong.

Qiqing's table began to chat first, and the first person to speak was the big boss at this table in theory—Chen Yubi, the official of heaven.

Chen Yubi, as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, of course chose to start the discussion from the aspect of personnel establishment. After a round of toasting each other, he put down the rhinoceros horn and asked Gao Wushi directly: "Seeking the truth, I read your "Revolutionary Post Book" a few days ago. , I have some doubts while feeling emotional, I wonder if I could ask you to clarify my doubts?"

Although Chen Yubi has actually belonged to the School of Reality, his foundation comes from his father Chen Yiqin (a scholar of the Wuying Temple in the Longqing Dynasty). Chen Yubi was also regarded as the core of the "Chen Party" before. , can only be said to be the peripheral force of the pragmatism school, high pragmatism will definitely give him enough face.

So Gao Yushi immediately put down the rhinoceros horn jue, and said politely: "Brother Yuanzhong, you are welcome. If you have any questions, please come and ask me. Pragmatism will know everything." talk to people.

Chen Yubi didn't beat around the bush, but asked directly: "If this is done properly, more than a dozen members of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wailang, will be in charge of the post stations in each province, but as far as the center is concerned, the post stations are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. Come on, in the future, the driver of the post station will have the final say, or the members of the household department Wai Lang will have the final say? The headquarter is in charge of civil affairs, so we have to understand this."

"Brother Yuan Zhong's consideration is just and appropriate, but I have discussed this matter with Da Sima." Gao Wushi turned his head and said to Zhou Yong: "Brother Yangsi (Zhou Yong's word Yangsi, name Lexuan), please What do you say?"

Zhou Yong is different from Chen Yubi, he is from the real school of practicality, and he is also from Yanjin County, Henan Province. He is a township party with Gao Gong and Gao Yushi.Zhou Yong was one of the top seven Jinshi in the Renxu Division in the 41st year of Jiajing (1562). He did not do well in the exam. It is reasonable to say that it is generally difficult to get into the top ranks. Very good.

What is official luck?For example, whenever you pass the three-year exam as a subordinate, at exactly this time 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 with Zhou Yong. He was the governor of Liaodong in 15 years with a qualification of only the top three, and the governor of Jiliao in less than 20 years. Then, because Zhang Xueyan asked to resign to return to his hometown, he was able to return to the ministry as the chief minister.

As we all know, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty attaches great importance to "education", and the three "celestial gods" in the first class can be praised as much as they like. For example, Gao Pragmatic's promotion has repeatedly set records, but no one says he is not qualified. At most, some people say that he is too young. ——Most of the other Jinshi pilots are around 30 years old, and you, the number one scholar, are really too open.The result is the age at which most people can take the pilot test, and he has already achieved the title of Hubu Shangshu.

In less than ten years, from the champion of the new department to the minister of the household department, there was even a "relegation to three ranks" in the middle. This is the confidence of the champion, and no one can question his qualifications.

On the contrary, the qualifications of the top three Jinshi are much worse than those of the first and second grades, because the first grade is called "Jinshi Jidi", and the second grade is called "Jinshi background".Needless to say, the background also means that this status is worthy of the name, but the top three is obviously inferior, which is called "same Jinshi background"-we barely count you as Jinshi background.

It is very rare in the officialdom of Ming Dynasty to be able to do well with such qualifications.During this period in the original history, there was another top three 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 himself passed the top three exams, when he was selected for the library After being admitted to Shu Jishi, he still has the status of Hanlin.

Zhou Yong's "education" is not very good, but his official luck is good. In addition, after he arrived at the position of Liaofu, it happened that the real school was "not accepted", so he could only be reused for him, so he became a big Sima after going back and forth.

The consequence of not having a solid foundation is that he, the big Sima, really doesn't have much face in front of the big Situ Gao Yushi. In the eyes of many people, he has already made up his mind to be a high-level pragmatic answerer.

This time was no exception. As soon as Gao Wushi asked him to speak, he immediately took over the conversation and explained for Gao Wushi: "Chen Tianguan didn't know something, what Gao Situ said in the Shuzhong was a temporary expedient move, and the post station was from the beginning to the end. They are all under the management of the Vehicle Driving Department of the Ministry of War, and Uiro, a member of the Ministry of Households, only supervises the finances.

In addition, Gao Situ also said in advance that in the future, after the post stations can be responsible for their own profits and losses, and even contribute to the finances, the household department will support the expansion of the car driving department. Today, the household department generally sets up the chief officers of each provincial post station to strengthen the jurisdiction. "

Chen Yubi's question was actually to explain the situation in cooperation with Gao Yuyu. When the three people talked about this, Xu Xuemo, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't help but said: "What is the reason for the post station? The Ministry of Rites is not in charge of it, but so the ministries have been increasing every year. Let’s say, let’s set up more than ten officials today, and another ten officials tomorrow, when will it be the first? The people of the world support hundreds of officials, if these officials are added endlessly, isn’t it just fishing and hunting the people?”
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(End of this chapter)