prosperous age

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, all the yamen of the Ming Dynasty held a seal opening ceremony, which represented the arrival of the 40th year of Jiajing, and all officials began to work normally again.

It was also on this day that Wu Shan, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, submitted a memorial to the Minister of General Affairs to invite King Jing to become a vassal, which shocked the government and the public for a while.

The reason why it caused such a big impact was because all the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty knew that the renovation project of Prince Jing's Mansion had not been completed, and it was a bit deceptive for the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites to rush to ask for a confirmation of the time for the vassal.

But thinking about it, during the two days of the fourth and fifth day of the lunar new year, many visiting officials came to the houses of Yin Shizhen, Zhang Juzheng, and Wei Guangde, and the most exaggerated one was at Gao Gong’s house. There was a long queue, and its posture was not weaker than that of the cabinet minister's house.

Because at this time, a gossip also spread in the capital, that is, what happened in Xiyuan Yongshou Palace on Zhengdan Day.

Anyone who believes this gossip knows that King Jing has become a thing of the past. Even though he might have been very close to that position in the past, Emperor Jiajing still chose to obey the ancestral system in the end.

And on the day of the sixth day of the lunar new year, another imperial decree was transferred from the cabinet, and it was quickly sent to Nanjing after being printed by the sixth division.

Although Wei Guangde had already known about this time from Zhang Juzheng before, but analyzing the current court situation at this time, Wei Guangde was also a little confused.

Now a group of officials have been assigned to the positions of the Minister of Rites and the Ministry of Officials, Yuan Wei, Yan Na, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong, and now another Qu Jingchun has been added.

As for Gao Gong, it has been a two-month absence. It is said that Yuan Wei will officially transfer from the Imperial Academy to the Ministry of Rites. At that time, there will be conflicts with Gao Gong's position, and Wu Shan, who has been the Minister of Rites for many years, has so many Jiajings. The emperor's favored courtiers are all crowded on this road, don't you feel crowded?
The reason why Wei Guangde thought about this was because Lu Ben, the third minister of the cabinet, asked for leave before the Dachaohui. It was said that his health was already failing, but he was delayed by Emperor Jiajing when he asked for an official position many times.

Everyone knows that Lu Ben only has one or two years left. Once he resigns, the cabinet may add another cabinet minister. After the dust settles on the position of prince, many people start to pay attention to the next one to join the cabinet. Who will the person be.

Among the people who are most likely to join the cabinet, perhaps only Wu Shan's mansion is deserted in front of the door these days, because this person has a bad temper, and if he has nothing to do, he may be rejected if he visits him. The number of times and the time are long Now, there are naturally fewer people who want to establish a good relationship with Wu Shan through door-to-door visits.

But Yuan Wei, Yan Na, and Li Chunfang's residences began to become lively, and Gao Gong himself had always been sought after by Beijing officials.

At this time, the Old Mansion of Yan Ge, although roughly the same as before, can be seen by anyone with a discerning eye. With King Jing's dominion already a foregone conclusion, Old Yan Ge's body can't last for a few years. At this time, they did the thing of pushing the wall, but in private, the Yan faction still secretly connected in series.

Amid all the turmoil, ten days passed in a flash, the Aoshan Lantern Festival was over, and the Beijing officials began to calm down, and it was time to return to their official duties.

Following the auspicious time calculated by Qin Tianjian, King Jing submitted the fan's departure time and arrival time in the form of a memorial. After receiving the permission of Emperor Jiajing, the Rites Supervisor approved the red hair to return to the Ministry of Rites, and Wu Shan's work for a while increase abruptly.

The lectures in Prince Yu's Mansion have returned to normal, but the minds of the people in Prince Yu's Mansion are all on King Jing's travel.

There is a system for the prince to leave the capital and go to the vassal. It is not possible to leave when King Jing goes to bid farewell to the emperor and his mother. There are many rules during this period. As the elder brother, King Yu and all the officials in Beijing must participate.

"Brother Suqing."

"Su Qing, you are here."

That afternoon, Wei Guangde, Yin Shizhen, and Zhang Ju were chatting in the room, when the curtain was opened, they saw Gao Gong stepping in, and everyone hurriedly got up and saluted.

"Sit down, I'm just coming back for some business."

Gao Gong waved his hand, signaling that everyone is welcome, and then asked: "Is Your Highness here?"

"His Royal Highness occasionally felt a cold last night, and he is not feeling well. He is resting."

Yin Shizhen said with some embarrassment.

Seeing Yin Shixuan and others' faces look sour, Gao Gong immediately understood that he still knew King Yu's virtues, and he was no stranger to absurd things when he was still in the palace.

"Then it's the same for me to handle the handover with you. Take the time to explain the matter to King Yu, and there must be no mistakes."

While talking, Gao Gong took out a document from his pocket and handed it to Yin Shizheng: "This is the "Ci Chao Yi" set by Wu Shangshu. Although most of them are handled by officials from the Ministry of Rites, the day before King Jing left Beijing, King Jing The king and the concubine went to the palace to bid farewell, and then they had to go to Yu Wang's mansion to bid farewell, and then His Royal Highness would return to pay homage.

Then all Beijing officials have to participate, go to King Jing's mansion to pay homage to King Jing, the next day King Jing leaves Beijing, all civil and military officials in Beijing must wait for King Jing to say goodbye at the palace gate, and then stand in order at the bridge outside the left gate of Chang'an, waiting for King Jing's carriage to pass . "

"Ci Chao Yi" was determined by Wu Shan and the left and right ministers of the Ministry of Rites after reviewing the ceremony of the prince's inauguration in the previous dynasty. The entire procedure follows the previous model and will not be added or deleted.

But for the people in Prince Yu's mansion, what he actually wants to participate in is what he said.

Yin Shizhen quickly flipped through the document in his hand, and then handed it to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde moved the hand holding the document to the right so that Zhang Juzheng could read it together.

Wei Guangde didn't know what other people thought, but anyway, he was very curious about what kind of ceremony it was for the prince of the Ming Dynasty to leave the capital and enter the feudal domain.

On the day before the ceremony note, Gong Yiyu made his speech in front of the emperor. The internal officials previously set the scene outside the gate of the Shangyu Palace. On the day of the day, the king with a crown and concubine Zhai clothes entered from the Donghua Gate to outside the gate of the Shangyu Palace. The supervisor led them to the front of the imperial court, and the king and concubine stood side by side. The king left and the concubine was on the right, and performed five prostrations and three kowtows. In front of the scene and the concubine, the mother and concubine will pay four salutes. The concubine will return to the mansion first. King Jing will go to the mansion of King Yu to make four salutes. Ji Fu went to King Jing's mansion to pay four respects.

The next day, all officials, civil and military, each had court service teams. King Jing, wearing a mianfu, entered from the Donghua Gate to the Dachao Gate and performed five prostrations and three kowtows before the throne. After the ceremony of the god of Tianmen, Wang Chengyu went out of the left gate of Chang'an to the house with his concubine and set off. He went out from the Chaoyang gate, and all the officials Yi Jifu went to the left and right sides of the bridge to wait for Wang Ren to pass by and play back.

Wei Guangde had finished reading "Ci Chao Yi" written by Wu Shan, and he had a general understanding of the procedure for the king of the Ming dynasty to leave the capital to take up the feudal domain. ?”

"Of course, the cabinet delivered this morning has already been sent to the palace."

Gao Gong stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I know what you're thinking, Mr. Yan Ge has maintained his usual style and acted impartially."

"Hehe. By this time, even if he wants to do something, it will be too late."

Yin Shizhen smiled and said: "I will write a letter to Chen Yifu later to make him happy."

"No, he will know by reading the residence newspaper. If you really wrote the letter, if it gets out, it will be bad for His Highness."

Gao Gong hastily spoke to stop him.

"Brother Suqing."

Wei Guangde heard them say that the official document was sent to the palace, he couldn't help but his heart moved, and he shouted.

After Gao Gong, Yin Shizhen and others turned their attention, Wei Guangde asked: "I see that the procedure of "Ci Chao Yi" stipulated by Wu Shangshu is so cumbersome, will your Majesty pass it?"

Well, let’s not talk about the usual court meetings. The three major court meetings of Zhengdan, Winter Solstice and Longevity Festival, Emperor Jiajing will decree in advance that they will be exempted. Only a prince will lead the civil and military salutes of the court. The only one that will appear in the public That is, the palace examination every three years.

According to the "Ci Chao Yi" listed by Wu Shan, he would have to show up two days before King Jing left Beijing, and he would have to face King Jing and Princess Jing. Would Emperor Jiajing do it?

Although most of the courtiers believed that Emperor Jiajing did not go to court and was unwilling to see the second king, the main thing was that he was busy with the great cause of immortality all day long like the former Emperor Zhengde, which delayed the government affairs and family affection.

Emperor Zhengde was busy playing, and Emperor Jiajing was busy cultivating immortals, but Wei Guangde disagreed.

In fact, this is also a common view of later generations. Emperor Jiajing was not indolent in governing, but because he was afraid of being punished.

After seeing the two sons, the son died soon after, so he believed Tao Zhongwen's saying, the motto "two dragons will not meet" has been deeply embedded in his bones.

Even though it was King Jing who left the capital to take up the feudal clan, Emperor Jiajing might not have received him, otherwise he would have met King Jing in the first day.

From the perspective of later generations, during the 45 years of Emperor Jiajing's reign, except for the first few years when the government fell into the hands of Yang Tinghe and others, the power of the government was firmly in his own hands in the following years, and he never lost a moment.

The reason for this is that although Emperor Jiajing was busy practicing Taoist secret arts, he was never lazy every day and insisted on dealing with the official documents sent by the cabinet.

Regarding the cabinet's proposals, Emperor Jiajing never followed blindly, but made his own judgments. This is why he set up Zhilu after he had a cabinet.

For those who don't understand or don't know in the memorandum, the ministers will be summoned to inquire immediately, and then deal with it.

The decision-making power is always firmly held in the hands, so that although the cabinet ministers can gain power, they dare not act recklessly.

"This is the system, Your Majesty should"

Gao Gong didn't pay much attention to it at first, but then he also understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

Emperor Jiajing had already broken a lot of rules. Even Emperor Zhengde, who was considered absurd back then, did not go to court for more than ten years like today.

"You mean, His Majesty might dismiss it?"

Gao Gong's expression changed instantly.

"I don't know, the Sacred Heart is unpredictable."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said, "However, even if it is dismissed, it should only be a large reduction in the farewell ceremony, and those who may enter the palace will be deleted. After all, Qin Tianjian has already calculated the time. If it is really direct Rejected, if you come and go again and again, if you don't say it, you will miss the auspicious time."

In fact, Wei Guangde did not say anything, that is, Emperor Jiajing might really resist seeing his two sons, worried that they would have accidents just because they saw him.

Gao Gong had already stood up at this time, rubbing his hands and walking around the room.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Gao Gong walked back and forth, muttering in his mouth.

"Ci Chao Yi" passed his hands before it was handed over. At that time, he still felt that Wu Shan's work was stable and completely followed the ritual system, and there was absolutely no mistake. the emperor.

Although the ancestral system was followed in the selection of the crown prince, it was only a matter of a prince becoming a vassal. Even if Emperor Jiajing really violated the system of the previous dynasty, except for some civil and military people in the Manchu Dynasty, most of the other people are eager for King Jing If you leave early, naturally there will be no more troubles.

Thinking of this, Gao Gong stood still and said to the three people: "I am sloppy in this matter. If the official document is really rejected by His Majesty, then I will propose to Wu Shangshu that the ceremony of King Jing's entry into the palace should be deleted directly and replaced by King Jing's hand-carrying ceremony." The concubine pays homage to the emperor and bids farewell, and all the officials are waiting."

Not only did Emperor Jiajing not want to meet them, but usually all the officials and women’s family members were also canceled to see them in the palace. However, when Gao Gong said this, he was still a little hesitant. It's a bit unreasonable.

"As it should be."

Wei Guangde said, "I have also seen the memorials reviewed by His Majesty in the Yan Mansion before, and I think many of them have been changed in red."

"Yes, some things His Majesty thinks are inappropriate will be revised by the imperial pen."

Although most of these changes were written by the eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, they were all changed according to the intention of Emperor Jiajing, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was the imperial pen.

Wei Guangde had seen the returned memorials when he visited the Yan Mansion before. According to Wei Guangde's opinion at the time, some of these revisions were actually insignificant words, and it didn't matter whether they should be moved or not.

But Emperor Jiajing still changed it in the memorandum, and then Wei Guangde thought of a possibility, which is to remind all the officials and cabinet ministers that I have read all your memoirs, so don't try to fool me.

Of course, Wei Guangde never said anything about his thoughts, and Wei Guangde didn't bother to ask whether other people thought the same way.

However, what Wei Guangde, Gao Gong and others did not expect was that the instructions for "Ci Chao Yi" had not yet come down, and only two days later, another major event happened again.

Jiajing 40 years, on February [-]th, the red sun hung high and the sky was clear with patches of white clouds passing by. Although it was still a bit cold, it was also a rare sunny day.

At the third quarter of the si time, the sky suddenly gradually became dark, as if it was about to fall into the night, and the sky was full of stars.

"eclipse."

When the vision in the sky happened, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng shouted at the same time.

People who were chatting in the room, including King Yu, ran out of the room one after another, looked up at the dark sky, and there was only a small half of the red sun hanging high.

"Damn Qin Tianjian."

Seeing such a scene, King Yu couldn't help cursing angrily.

In the Ming Dynasty, whenever a solar or lunar eclipse occurs, Qin Tian monitors and calculates the date of occurrence and duration of the solar or lunar eclipse.

But this solar eclipse, Qin Tianjian did not calculate it.