Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Meng Zhao, the Minister of Rites, lived in an official residence outside Xuande Gate and was not given a private residence.

When he came home from get off work, his wife Yu Shanwei had just returned, and the couple happened to bump into each other at the door of their home.

"Going to the Dongzhen Palace to party again?" Meng Zhao asked casually.

Yu Shanwei's excitement was not over yet, and he said with a smile on his face: "Today the Dongzhen Poetry Club was founded. There are more than 20 women joining the club, and Master Yi An was elected as the leader."

Meng Zhao was a little worried: "There are concubines and eldest daughters of the former dynasty in Dongzhen Palace. Isn't it taboo to interact with them?"

Yu Shanwei said: "They are all people who have not been regulated. Neither your majesty nor the prince will be held accountable. Sir, you don't need to be too cautious. I heard that Zhao Huan, the deposed emperor of the old Song Dynasty, was promoted to an agricultural officer. Instead of worrying about the noble daughter of the previous dynasty, , it is better to be wary of the current official family members. The Wang family in Qin Hui's family is really too enthusiastic and tries to please me in every possible way, which makes me quite uncomfortable."

Meng Zhao said: "Qin Hui is an old acquaintance of the prince, and he is very talented. Sooner or later he will be promoted and reused. The prince asked him to inventory the land in Xicheng. This person did an excellent job and has cooperated with the local government to dispose of more than one million acres. "

The couple chatted all the way and walked into the back house together.

Meng Zhao has always been afraid of his wife, and he respects her very much. He has neither taken in a concubine nor dared to take one.

They already have four children, one died in infancy, leaving two sons and one daughter.

Now if Meng Zhao is unsure about anything, he will refer to the opinions of his subordinates. If you still feel there is a problem, ask your wife for advice after returning home. Yu Shanwei can often help him make a decision.

In addition to assisting her husband in his official career, Yu Shanwei also has a job.

Ju Ming made the decision immediately and ordered that only three temples should be preserved inside and outside Tokyo, but he forgot about the female monks and nuns.

Later, after being reminded by the monks and Taoists, it was decided to retain two more temples for nuns and female Taoists to practice.

And Yu Shanwei is responsible for supervising and co-organizing this matter. Yu Shanwei can make full decisions on which ones should return to secular life and which ones should stay.

Especially Yaohua Palace and Dongzhen Temple!

Dongzhen Temple is a serious female Taoist temple with a complete Taoist official system.

However, the eldest daughter who voluntarily becomes a monk and practices Taoism, as well as the concubines and eldest daughter who make mistakes in practice, will be arranged to enter Dongzhen Temple to become female Taoist priests, so this Taoist temple is rather special.

If the concubines and eldest daughters of Dongzhen Temple continue to make mistakes, they must be sent to Yaohua Palace to practice.

There is no Taoist official system in Yaohua Palace.

It is an upgraded version of Dongzhen Temple. If you are a queen mother, queen, or an extremely favored concubine, you will directly enter the Yaohua Palace after making a mistake.

Empress Meng during the Zhezong period has been living in Yaohua Palace, but now she has been moved to Dongzhen Temple.

Dongzhen Temple was retained, while Yaohua Palace was abolished.

As long as the condemned ladies still have living relatives, they can voluntarily choose to return to secular life and go back to live with their families. Ju Ming did not forcefully discipline them.

Convicted ladies who choose to continue practicing Taoism will be regarded as normal female Taoists from now on, and they will be allowed to participate in Taoist activities (not allowed before).

Meng Zhao took off his gauze coat, and Yu Shanwei took it easily and handed it to the maid to hang up.

Meng Zhao said: "Your Majesty has given instructions on the title of the master of the former Empress Dowager Meng. You can retain the title of Immortal Master Yuqing Miaojing, but you have to delete the four characters of Huayang Cult Master. When the rank of Taoist officials in the new dynasty is determined, there will be another one." Give her a Taoist official position."

"The officials are kind," Yu Shan said with a smile.

Little did the couple know that this decision was made by Ju Ming purely out of his historical goodwill for Empress Dowager Meng.

Meng Zhao sat down on the chair and said quite tiredly: "After half a year of editing "Da Ming Li", His Majesty sent me back to redo it. It's really a headache."

Yu Shanwei said: "Officials and princes are pragmatic and avoid hypocrisy. Isn't the Ministry of Rites compiled in this way?"

"It's not enough," Meng Zhao said, "For example, fasting before sacrifices was ten days in the old Song Dynasty, but your majesty changed it to seven days. Many red tapes must be changed, or the procedures should be simplified, or the duration should be shortened. Also, the rituals of national mourning must also be changed It needs to be settled.”

Yu Shanwei said: "This is a summary of the lessons of the old Song Dynasty."

The Song Dynasty followed the rites of the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty's "Zhenguan Li·Guo Shi Chapter" was deleted. As a result, the funeral rites of the Tang Dynasty royal family varied from person to person, so the funeral rites of the Song Dynasty royal family also varied from person to person.

The brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi had extremely simple funerals, but subsequent emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty all had grand burials, and the trend of grand burials also prevailed among the people.

Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming, father and son, had just established the Ming Dynasty and had to establish the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. One of them was to establish royal funerals. As long as the explicit provisions are written down, the ministers will have a basis to object if the future emperor wants to be buried with lavish burials.

At the same time, all the good aspects of royal funerals in the Song Dynasty were retained in the Ming and New Dynasties.

For example, replace the moon with the sun.

If the emperor of the Tang Dynasty died, the Xiaoxiang Ceremony was an anniversary ceremony, which was shortened to twelve days in the Song Dynasty; the Daxiang Ceremony was a second anniversary ceremony, which was shortened to twenty-four days in the Song Dynasty. The Daxiang Ceremony lasted for three months, but was shortened to three days in the Song Dynasty.

In this way, the extremely long mourning period of two years and three months was directly shortened to twenty-seven days.

After these twenty-seven days, everyone no longer needs to wear mourning clothes for the dead emperor.

At the same time, the emperors of the Song Dynasty did not build tombs during their lifetime and completed the imperial tombs within seven months after their death. Zhu Guoxiang also allowed this system to be retained. It can prevent future emperors from building the imperial mausoleum to be extremely grand while they are still alive.

Meng Zhao continued: "The changes in "Military Salutes" are even greater. On non-important occasions, soldiers do not have to kneel before the emperor, but only need to perform the new military salute. Ordinary sergeants are not allowed to kneel before generals. Both those who kneel and those who kneel will be severely punished! Those who are sent to the army are not allowed to have tattoos on their faces, they can only be tattooed on their wrists."

Yu Shan smiled and said, "The prince really loves his soldiers as much as his son."

Nowadays, some people have been sent to the army. Previously, they were mainly sent to southern Sichuan, but now they are sent to the northwest. Mainly in this kind of border area, normal immigration is too slow, and the distribution of troops can quickly replenish the population.

Tattooing on the wrist is to prevent those who are deserted from the army from escaping, while retaining a certain degree of dignity.

Meng Zhao complained and called his three children to test their knowledge.

The next day I went to work in the Ministry of Rites, and the Hanlin Academy sent me the newly compiled "The Rites of the Kingdom of Justice".

This book was edited by Huan Guo and will be included in the imperial examination books in the future. Because it is related to etiquette, I asked the Minister of Rites to take a look at it and ask for his opinion symbolically.

Meng Zhao didn't find any problems after reading it, so he teamed up with Huan Guo to present the book.

Zhu Guoxiang glanced at it and said, "As for the Confucian classics, you go find the prince."

"Yes!" The two bowed and responded.

Since Zhu Guoxiang ascended the throne, textbook compilation began.

In addition to Confucian classics, there is also a book called "Essentials of Civil Affairs". Farming, water conservancy, famine relief, economics, etc. are briefly summarized. It is not necessary for a scholar to be proficient in everything, but he must at least know a general idea.

This kind of book has been available before, but I only read it after passing the Jinshi examination. It is a reference book for getting started as an official.

The imperial examination must be taken in the future!

There was also a compulsory exam in arithmetic, which was probably at the first and second grade level in later generations.

Zhu Guoxiang also personally compiled a set of primary school textbooks, which are used as elementary school reading materials across the country.

The government-run primary schools, county schools, and state schools created by Cai Jing have been ordered to be restored in Gyeonggi, Henan, Sichuan, and Guanzhong. There must be at least one in each prefecture and county. But it is not like Cai Jing's free admission. Instead, those who have paid tuition can attend classes in the classroom, and those who have not paid tuition can observe outside the classroom. Teachers are not allowed to expel poor students who attend for free.

Many low-grade and unqualified officials in the Hanlin Academy were sent to local places to serve as principals and academic advisors.

Meng Zhao and Huan Guo went to see Ju Ming with the "Book of Rites of the State and Justice".

Ju Ming opened it and read it quickly, constantly giving instructions with his pen. He did not study the "Book of Rites" deeply and simply relied on his personal thoughts to make points. When he read the "Nei Ze Chapter", he directly wrote six words: This chapter will not be tested in the imperial examination.

Meng Zhao and Huan Guo, who were standing nearby and watching, suddenly looked at each other in astonishment.

What surprised them even more was what happened next. Ju Ming wrote several notes in succession——

"This is a bad habit. There is no need to follow it."

"This foolish filial piety should vary depending on the situation."

"This is against the original intention of etiquette. Parents should not do it alone."

"This statement is completely false..."

Huan Guo was trembling as he spoke, and admonished: "Your Highness, you cannot comment on the classics based on your personal likes and dislikes."

Ju Ming put down his brush and said: "The highlight of this article is that it records the daily eating and living habits of the pre-Qin Dynasty. Times have changed, how can we follow it now? Take this sentence as an example, women must cover their faces when they go out. Looking at the world How many women cover their faces when going out today?"

Huan Guo said: "The classic principles are the correct etiquette, while the secular world is the contingency."

"You also said that a contingency is needed. Since it is a contingency, it should be noted on it," Zhu Ming said. "Otherwise, there will be those poor academics and nerds who follow the unreasonable content of the "Book of Rites". Or maybe the learning of later generations will become rigid. , use the "Book of Rites" to strictly restrict women and not allow women to show up in public. The etiquette is based on emotion, and if it is not in line with the emotion, it is not etiquette, and it is even more unnatural!"

Huan Guo stopped talking.

Ju Ming said: "There are still rules for scholar-officials here. In the pre-Qin period, people were not wealthy, and porridge was also a drink for scholar-officials. When distinguished guests come to your home, will you use porridge as a drink to entertain the guests?"

Huan Guo said: "No."

Ju Ming added: "The internal organs of some poultry and livestock are harmful to humans and cannot be eaten. That is because the cooking methods of the pre-Qin Dynasty were insufficient. Are they still inedible today? For example, chicken livers and duck intestines are not edible in the "Book of Rites". Use this to restrain the people?"

Huan Guodao: "It's edible."

Ju Ming continued: "Scholar-officials in the pre-Qin Dynasty could not eat preserved pork if it had preserved meat, and they could not eat pork belly if it had soup. They could only choose one of the two. It is not only a reasonable combination of food, but also an avoidance of waste. If you usually eat, you will strictly abide by this etiquette. ?"

"No." Huan Guo shook his head.

Ju Ming said: "Regarding the restraints of scholar-bureaucrats, scholars know how to adapt. But when it comes to restraints on weak people such as women, some scholars take it seriously. It is common for people to be strict with others and to be lenient in self-discipline. It cannot be described in words to perpetuate this custom. "

After the sentence "A son is very suitable for his wife, if the parents don't tell her, she will go out", Ju Ming commented: If a woman does not violate the seven rules of going out, her parents cannot go out. Occasionally contradicting one's parents with words does not count as disobedience to one's parents. How can one be submissive to one's parents at all times, even though they are not grass and trees?

There is also an annotation after "The son is not suitable for his wife, and the parents say: This is a good thing for me": The melon of force is not sweet, so you can decide to reconcile and separate according to the circumstances.

Huan Guo looked at Ju Ming's various comments. He wanted to delete the entire text directly from the "Book of Rites" because it had been changed beyond recognition by the comments.

Ju Ming said: "I will keep all my comments. When printing, I will add the sentence 'Prince said'. I can bear any infamy."

"Yes." Huan Guo could only do as he was told. If it were anyone else, he could debate the scriptures, but he really couldn't argue with the prince.

Huan Guo sighed in his heart: In the spring of the first year, Wang Zhengyue, it was really a new dynasty and a new atmosphere.

Not only the "Book of Rites" and the new dynasty etiquette, but also the names and formats of official documents were all unified.

Even capital numbers, which used to be represented by a variety of homophones, are now officially unified as one, two, three, four, five... If an official dares to write randomly, he will be given a warning for the first time and his salary will be deducted for the second time.