Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 109 The Golden Bell with Sound, Xinyuan Hongzhi

After the time entered December, the number of memorials sent by the Secretary of General Administration decreased significantly.

Zhu Youtang didn't realize it at the beginning, and after two or three days, he found that the memorabilia did not increase but decreased, and then he remembered that in his previous life, at this point in time, it was indeed the time to practice foreign work.

The Spring Festival is undoubtedly an extremely important top priority for people in this era.

Since officials have already begun to wring their fingers and wait for the New Year, many local magistrates usually choose this time to go to Beijing to give gifts to others, so the number of memorials submitted has plummeted.

Even in the Beijing government yamen, it is adhering to the mentality that more things are worse than less things, and some non-urgent matters are usually postponed until next year.

Zhu Youtang's mentality is completely different from that of the social animals in his previous life, but now he sees the courtiers below him who are not working with their salaries so slack, and he really wants to beat them on the head.

It's just that this is this era, and the sky and the earth are not as big as the Chinese New Year.

The winter in the capital is obviously colder than that of Beijing in the previous life. Facing this snow-capped Beijing city, Zhu Youtang simply stopped the early court.

In fact, last month, he didn't go to the court very often, and Yu Dianyi was naturally much more comfortable than Yumenyi, so it was enough to call several ministers to the Qianqing Palace to discuss important matters.

After all, history has changed. He did not become the virtuous emperor Hongzhi who established the Wu Dynasty, but now he is bound to become the faint emperor Zhu Youtang who is condemned by civil officials.

Before you know it, the time has come to the winter solstice.

Zhu Youtang has now developed the good habit of going to bed early and waking up early, waking up after a full sleep as usual, but the weather outside has become significantly colder.

It's just that as the emperor of this dynasty, there is no shortage of clothes to keep out the cold, and the heating system of the entire palace is running, so you can feel very warm here.

Even if I get up every day, there are always a group of maids waiting outside to prepare everything. I just need to cooperate a little, and there are dedicated people to take care of washing and dressing.

Zhu Youtang has long been doing as the Romans do. Although he will be manipulated like a machine, he will not be disgusted by these sweet-looking young court ladies.

"Your Majesty, please sit down!" When it was time to wash his face, a pleasant voice like a silver bell sounded.

This court lady is about fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features. She is wearing a standard purple dress with a round collar, narrow sleeves, and embroidered sunflowers on folded branches, but the girl's good figure shows the beauty of a seller.

Her skin is fair and delicate, and she looks delicate, especially her hips are very upturned. She is carefully helping Zhu Youtang to clean her face.

Zhu Youtang was sitting directly in front of the dragon bed. He only needed to open his eyes at this moment to see the girl and her sexy red lips.

But he didn't know whether it was his nose that was too sensitive, or the girl's strong body fragrance. He could always smell the orchid-like musk dew on the girl's body, and see the fair neck and a button that had been loosened.

The girl seemed to have noticed Zhu Youtang's gaze, but she boldly looked at Zhu Youtang like a wild little cat.

Which girl does not have a spring, and now Zhu Youtang is the only man in the palace, but he is handsome and attractive, so he has become the crush object of the young palace ladies.

Especially after learning that Erya has received His Majesty's favor, some beautiful young court ladies are obviously ready to move.

No matter how beautiful Erya is, she is still an old woman of 25 or [-] years old. Her body is not as soft as their sixteen or seventeen year olds, and their faces are naturally more watery.

It's just that the court rules don't allow them to be presumptuous. The emperor can pamper them anytime and anywhere, but if they are found to seduce the emperor, they may be beaten to death.

A button that was slightly undone was actually already a sideways move, and it had already sent enough signals to Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang admired the bold and wild beautiful girl, saw that she was clean and serious, so he asked with great interest: "What's your name?"

"Slave...Slave's name is Pan Jinling!" Pan Jinling blushed and responded nervously with her head bowed.

Zhu Youtang found out that the girl was actually a paper tiger, and the last word was unclear, especially because of bad associations, so he confirmed it and said, "Pan Jin?"

"Ling!!" Pan Jinling looked even more shy, but still mustered up the courage to hastily add the last word.

When Zhu Youtang heard that the word was not what he had imagined, he said with some regret in his heart: "Pan Jinling?"

"En!" Pan Jinling was quite satisfied with her name, so she nodded vigorously.

Zhu Youtang looked at her ankle thoughtfully, but it seemed that there was not a golden bell tied on it, but a small and exquisite copper bell.

Pan Jinling saw that Zhu Youtang seemed to be interested in her, especially she could feel Zhu Youtang's gaze was a little eager, and she couldn't help being nervous and looking forward to it.

"Your Majesty, the dragon chariot is already waiting, and the time for the grand court meeting is coming soon!" Guo Yong walked in hurriedly from the outside, reminding him seemingly unclear about the situation.

Zhu Youtang saw Pan Jinling's nervousness in his eyes, but he was not so casual yet, but he still remembered this bold and timid golden bell girl.

Although I have stopped the morning court, the half-monthly court meeting is still held as usual, especially today is the winter solstice meeting.

The three major festivals of the Ming Dynasty are: New Year's Day, Winter Solstice Festival and Longevity Festival.Like the Shuo Wang Dynasty on the first and fifteenth day of every month, on this day, the Royal Palace Ceremony will be held in Fengmen Hall.

When Zhu Youtang set off to Fengtian Temple, more than 1000 civil and military officials had already braved the cold wind and came to Fengtian Temple with tooth cards.

The Ming Dynasty implemented the tooth card system and the door registration system. The tooth card system naturally required a tooth card to enter the palace, and the door registration system was actually a leave system. When you were unable to participate in official business or illness, you would fill in an official document to explain the reason.

It is precisely because of the existence of the family registration system that those pampered warriors usually find various reasons, and then they will not go to the early court.

Because many Wu Xun had realized that Emperor Hongzhi would not reuse them, and they did not want to endure hardship in the cold frontier, they still took sick leave today.

Zhu Yong, Marquis of Funing, considered himself an honorable person, and knew that His Majesty might have to hand over the capital camp to him in the future, so he still insisted on clocking in at every court meeting.

Zhu Youtang took the dragon chariot to the throne of Fengtian Hall, accepted the worship of civil and military officials inside and outside the hall, and then returned directly to Qianqing Palace in the dragon chariot.

Since Ma Wensheng, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, shot himself in the foot with a stone in Shuo Ri Chao last time, the current court will naturally become more orderly, and no one dares to make another moth.

On the one hand, Zhu Youtang is protected by the sect, on the other hand, Zhu Youtang can take advantage of Li Min's greed to attack at any time, and now Zhu Youtang has really become a "god".

"Holy bow to all gods!" Wan An and Liu Ji led civil and military officials to worship once and three times outside Fengtian Gate, and then returned to their respective yamen.

Zhu Youtang returned to the Qianqing Palace on a dragon chariot. Although he was exposed to the north wind along the way, the sable coat he was wearing was indeed very warm.

"Your Majesty, the slaves and servants are all ready, but it's windy outside now, do you want to wait a little longer?" Guo Yong, who was wearing a sable coat rewarded by Zhu Youtang, saw Zhu Youtang's return, and asked when he saw Zhu Youtang's return.

Zhu Youtang knew that he was born in a state of etiquette, and that the emperor himself sometimes couldn't help himself, so he gently waved his hands and said, "No! This is my backyard, so I don't need to ride a dragon chariot!"

"Withdraw!" Guo Yong unconditionally obeyed Zhu Youtang's request, and even waved his hand at the bearer and eunuch.

Now the maids and eunuchs in the Qianqing Palace seem to be more and more disciplined, especially after the establishment of a hierarchical system in the Qianqing Palace, because the lower levels will stare at the superiors and want to be superior, so even if there are eyeliners in the East Nuan Pavilion, they dare not pass the news.

Wearing a thick sable coat, Zhu Youtang stepped on the remnant snow on the road, and the remnant snow made a creaking sound, walking along the palace road from south to north.

Similar to the layout of the three main halls, on the central axis to the north of the Qianqing Palace are the Hou San Palaces, namely: Qianqing Palace, Taidian Palace and Kunning Palace.

Since the queen has not been canonized yet, the Kunning Palace, which is located in the northernmost part of the country, is still vacant, and the crown princess Zhang Yujiao still lives in Chengxi Palace.

When Zhu Youtang walked through the Kunning Palace, his face also had a dignified look.

From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to confer Zhang Yujiao as queen.The Zhang family was too close to the Civil Service Group, and Zhang Yujiao was the grandson-in-law chosen by the Empress Dowager. More importantly, Zhang Yujiao was a paranoid.

In the original history, Zhu Youtang was not a monarch who had the courage to go against the trend.

If there were no other forces to force Zhu Youtang, Zhu Youtang would not have been under pressure to wait for Empress Zhang to give birth and draft a woman into the palace, nor would it be possible to become an emperor who defended himself like a jade for a woman.

Zhu Youtang didn't want to explore the truth anymore, but it was impossible for Zhang Yujiao to be canonized as a queen just because she was chosen by the empress dowager as a concubine, and the emperor needed to find a queen who was in the same heart as him.

Fortunately, Xu Qiong, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, can be said to reciprocate. Although the guards headed by Xu Pu opposed the draft, this proposal has been passed by a high number of votes.

When the Yuan Dynasty is officially changed next year, the Ministry of Rites will select a group of beautiful women from Jiangnan and other places to enter the palace. At that time, he will choose a child from a good family to be the queen, or choose a woman from a famous family to be the queen.

The front door of the three palaces is the Qianqing Gate, while the back door is the Kunning Gate.

Zhu Youtang walked through the Kunning Gate, like an ordinary family's three-entry house, and resolutely came to his "backyard", and now the royal backyard is named "Gonghouyuan".

Gonghouyuan, the buildings on the east road include Duixiu Mountain Yujing Pavilion, Lizao Hall, Fubi Pavilion, Wanchun Pavilion, and Jiangxue Pavilion; the buildings on the west road include Yanhui Pavilion, Weiyuzhai, Chengrui Pavilion, Qianqiu Pavilion, Yangxing There are also four shrines, well pavilions, deer terraces and so on.

Here is a full [-] square meters. Old locust trees are planted all over the garden, and there are strange stone and jade seats, bronze statues of Jinlin and pile scenery, etc., and there is not a single flower in sight.

There are Qiongyuan East Gate and Qiongyuan West Gate on the left and right in the garden, which can lead to the six palaces in the east and west; on the north side are the Pailoufang Gate and Shunzhen Gate enclosed by Jifu Gate, Yanhe Gate and Chengguang Gate, facing the northernmost gate of the Forbidden City. Shenwumen.

Zhu Youtang walked along the palace road in the middle. The east and west buildings in the garden were basically symmetrical, and on the central axis was the Qin'an Hall with double eaves and a top with gold-plated vases.

The foundation of the Qin'an Hall is the Xumizuo made of white marble. The dragon and phoenix patterns on the pillars and railings are beautifully carved. The top of the hall is flat and surrounded by four ridges.

Entering the hall, the Taoist Emperor Zhenwu is enshrined in the center.

"Your Majesty, please burn the incense!" Liu Jin and the eunuch Meng Shou, the supervisor of the palace, had already placed sacrifices here, and Meng Shou respectfully sent three sticks of incense.

Zhu Youtang took the three sticks of incense, put them in the incense burner, and prayed.

Emperor Zhenwu is the god of water, so every year in the beginning of spring, beginning of summer, beginning of autumn, and beginning of winter, the emperor needs to pray to the god of water to bless the palace and extinguish the fire.

Zhu Youtang knew very well that once the palace was hit by thunder and fire, it would prove that the emperor's virtue was deficient. Even if he is the emperor who is in the sky every day, he must obediently ask God for blessings and forgiveness.

Fortunately, in his impression, he was not hit by a major fire during his reign, and it didn't seem to be particularly important whether he came to worship God or not.

"Your Majesty, I just went to the Yujing Pavilion to look at it. The snow scene in the Forbidden City is really beautiful now. Would you like to go up to enjoy the snow?" Liu Jin also did everything possible to please Zhu Youtang, pointing to the Yujing on Duixiu Mountain. Ting suggested.

Zhu Youtang really didn't have any official business in his hands now, so he didn't need to go back in a hurry, so he slightly raised his hand and said: "Then go up and have a look!"

Liu Jin seemed to be very attentive and led the way ahead. Although there were steps, the eunuch next to him seemed to be taking care of the elderly. Everyone seemed very nervous, but they were afraid that Zhu Youtang would fall.

Zhu Youtang went up to the Yujing Pavilion, although he was only standing at a height slightly higher than the second floor, he could see the entire Forbidden City and the snow-capped new world in front of him.

"Your Majesty, look, which one is our Qianqing Palace, and the tallest one is Fengtian Palace!" Liu Jin looked very happy, pointing to the south palace and introducing.

Zhu Youtang's sense of direction is very good, so he doesn't need Liu Jin's introduction, but he found that the snow scene here is indeed very distinctive.I just saw the six palaces on the left and right look lifeless, but I realized that I should fill the six palaces as soon as possible, otherwise the central area where I am is really too deserted.

"Your Majesty, be careful of catching a cold up there, you'd better go back to the East Nuan Pavilion quickly!" Guo Yong didn't follow up, but raised his neck and said worriedly from below.

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but secretly sighed, realizing that he couldn't catch the wind and cold now, so he decided to go back home.

As the end of the year was getting closer, the world seemed to be peaceful. Even though he wanted to know the latest news about Wang Yue, Nanzhili had never sent any relevant memorials.

In the blink of an eye, it was already New Year's Eve.

With the fireworks blooming in the night sky in the early morning, the 23rd year of Chenghua ended, and the year of Chenghua was also marked with a stop sign. Naturally, there will be no more 24th year of Chenghua.

Instead, the reign of Hongzhi made its grand debut.

(End of this chapter)