Chapter 283 Maybe it’s God’s will

The first day of the first lunar month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the first day of the new year, Beijing.

Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty got up early with great joy.

Because according to tradition, the emperor would receive New Year's greetings from officials in the early morning of this day.

Chongzhen hopes this year will have a good start.

At the same time, he also needs blessings.

Therefore, Chongzhen attached great importance to it.

However, after getting up, Chongzhen was shocked to find that a strong wind was howling outside, and the entire world was shrouded in a rare sandstorm.

In the eyes of ancient astrologers, strong winds and haze were a sign of the rise of weapons and weapons in border affairs, and were a sign of great misfortune.

Even people who don't know astrology know that this is not a good sign.

Chongzhen's heart immediately became confused!

He stood still for a long time.

It wasn't until Queen Zhou who accompanied him last night came over and held his hand tightly that he pretended to be calm and got rid of his bad mood. He forced a smile on his face and went to clean up and wash up under Zhou's uncharacteristically excessive warmth.

Yesterday was New Year's Eve, and both of them wanted to be together, both in business and in private.

Moreover, the Zhou family had been with Chongzhen since he was King Xin. She had a deep relationship with Chongzhen and gained Chongzhen's trust. As soon as Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, she was appointed queen.

Chongzhen knew Zhou very well, and at the same time, he also knew that Zhou knew him well and was really worried about him.

However, on the way to the Huangji Palace with everything ready, Chongzhen could no longer pretend to be faced with flying sand and rocks, an indistinguishable sky and chaotic scenery, and his face soon became clouded again.

The Huangji Hall was renamed the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Qing Dynasty, also commonly known as the Jinluan Hall. It was a place for going to court and holding various important ceremonies. It was also the largest and highest-level building in the Forbidden City.

Arriving at the entrance of Huangji Hall, Chongzhen decided to sort out his mood, so he forced another smile.

But as soon as he entered the palace, his expression changed drastically again.

Because there was not a single minister in the entire hall, and there was only a leader of the royal guards standing in the hall.

By this time, the bells ringing to gather the officials had stopped ringing.

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, and he didn't know how to react except that his face was ashen.

He had never encountered or heard of such a thing.

At this time, the lonely leader of the Jinyiwei was also embarrassed and at a loss.

He was on duty in the palace last night, and he didn't really know what was going on.

But this guy rolled his eyes for a long time, and finally decided to muster up the courage to smooth things over and said: "The weather is not good today. The ministers probably did not hear the bell, so they were unable to enter the palace in time. Please order the emperor to ring the bell again, so that all officials can listen."

When the bell rings, I will definitely come as soon as possible."

Chongzhen's expression suddenly changed, and it took him a long time before he uttered a note of unknown meaning.

He obviously didn't want to agree with what the leader of the Jinyiwei said.

At this time, he was convinced in his heart that the incompetent and disobedient ministers must have done it on purpose and had already linked up in order to demonstrate to him in the New Year. Countless horses began to run wildly in his heart.

But no matter how angry he was, Chongzhen seemed to understand that he could only borrow a donkey to go downhill for the time being.

But unfortunately, such words cannot be said to him who always has a very good face.

Since everyone is confused about Chongzhen's note, everyone can only wait for Chongzhen's next words.

But Chongzhen had no further information.

As a result, the hall became eerily quiet, and the air was filled with a weird smell, which also made the sound of the wind outside even more harsh.

After everyone stared at each other and said nothing for a long time, the eunuchs who were most familiar with and closest to Chongzhen finally had to stand up. They had to be cannon fodder and "make their own decisions."

But the strange thing is that the eunuchs rang the bell several times, but the bells and drums rang together and still "no one came for a long time."

Still no sign of the minister.

Chongzhen was completely stunned this time, his face almost turned the color of pig liver, and his hands began to tremble.

But after sitting on the dragon chair and panting heavily for a long time, Chongzhen sadly found that there seemed to be nothing he could do except get angry.

He couldn't shamelessly call the ministers who had been waiting outside the left and right gates of Chang'an for a long time, "Come to court quickly!"

Wouldn’t that be just falling into the trap of these ministers!

Moreover, if the law does not punish everyone, it cannot punish all ministers!

At present, what he urgently needs more is to get rid of the current embarrassment.

Then his mind started spinning wildly!

Finally, after looking at the trembling Jinyiwei leader below with red eyes, Chongzhen gritted his teeth and decided to go to the Ancestral Temple to worship first, and then come back to accept the worship of all officials.

This would not only resolve the temporary embarrassment, but also allow the ministers who were causing trouble for him to show off.

Unfortunately, misfortunes never come alone.

When Yousi was preparing to drive, something strange happened that he couldn't get all the horses needed for driving and ceremonial guards at a time because he needed more than a hundred horses.

Chongzhen finally could no longer control his emotions.

Although the time for worshiping at the Ancestral Temple has been moved a little earlier, it is only a little bit, and it is calculated by hours, not days.

Moreover, worshiping at the Ancestral Temple has been planned for a long time and happens every year.

How did Yousi prepare for this?

This is a serious dereliction of duty!

Chongzhen couldn't help but scolded the eunuch in charge with a ferocious expression.

If today was not the Chinese New Year and he was worried about it being unlucky, he would definitely use foul language and might even kill someone.

It was not until someone suggested that the horses for the officials to ride near the dismounting monument outside Chang'an Gate that they could be driven into the palace to make up for it that Chongzhen's rage was temporarily stopped.

Horseback riding is not allowed in the Forbidden City, and officials can only enter the palace through the left and right gates of Chang'an, so the horses they ride can only be temporarily placed near the dismounting monuments at those two gates.

There must be horses there.

Chongzhen thought this idea was a good one.

If you don't come to court, then I will drive away your horses and tell you clearly that I am busy with other things and will not accept your kidnapping.

And you don’t have to sacrifice your worth to remind the officials that it’s time to go to court!

But just when everything is ready and ready to go.

The eunuch and eunuch who presided over the ceremony started to play again cautiously, thinking that the horses outside were not trained, and accidents and chaos would easily occur in today's weather. Not to mention that if something happened and someone was injured, there would be chaos, which was necessary for worshiping the ancestral temple in a grand manner.

The ceremony is also inappropriate.

And if you accidentally hurt the emperor, that would be even more unacceptable.

Chongzhen thought about it carefully, and it did make sense.

So he reluctantly accepted the suggestion after stressing that the matter of worshiping the Ancestral Temple was a big deal and his personal safety was trivial. Then he returned to the main hall in depression and waited restlessly for the ministers who didn't know when they would show up.

He felt very uneasy and thought a lot.

It took a lot of time to prepare to worship at the Ancestral Temple, but no ministers came for such a long time. Chongzhen's heart was completely confused and he was very helpless.

Fortunately, after some time, the belated ministers finally began to appear one after another.

Chongzhen also gradually breathed a sigh of relief.

Civil and military officials enter from the left and right gates of Chang'an respectively. Because they need to stand according to the civil and military divisions, the officials need to pass through the middle gate to adjust their positions.

However, since Chongzhen had already arrived at the main hall early, under the emperor's gaze, the officials had no choice but to lower their heads and walk around in the queue.

In addition, the ministers came intermittently, late and late, so the whole process not only took a long time, but also looked very ungraceful and even funny.

Fortunately, no other troubles occurred.

In this way, the last New Year's court meeting in the history of the orthodox Ming Dynasty, the emperor waited for the ministers for several hours, and the final ceremony was hastily completed.

Of course, with Chongzhen's temperament, he couldn't hold back at that time and scolded the ministers for why they didn't come for so long?

But all the ministers said with one voice that the bells were not ringing because of the storm.

Chongzhen looked gloomy and said nothing. Of course, he still didn't believe the explanation given by the leader of the Jin Yiwei before.

It’s probably hard for anyone else to believe it!

Because everything in the palace is specially designed and has been verified long ago. Naturally, it is impossible not to consider the impact of abnormal weather. Not to mention strong winds, even if there is a thunderstorm, it is impossible for the ministers waiting outside the left and right gates of Chang'an in advance

No bells can be heard.

Nothing like this has happened in the Forbidden City for more than two hundred years.

What's more, in order to ensure that the ministers go to court, the left and right gates of Chang'an will be opened immediately after the bell rings.

If you can't hear the bells ringing, how can you not see that the door to the palace has been opened?

That's the first time the doors open every day.
To be continued...