In the second month of the lunar calendar, senior officials of the third rank and above start fasting.
On the second day of fasting, Zhao Han read the sacrificial inscriptions at Yingmin Hall and went to inspect the rice seeds and farm tools in person.
The minister of Taichang Temple and the governor of Jinling sent seeds and farm tools to Xiannongtan.
On the third day of fasting, Zhao Han set off in an imperial chariot.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The bell at the Meridian Gate rang, and the chariot drove out.
After repeated considerations, Zhao Han resumed most of the sacrifices and at the same time restored Taichang Temple, which hosted the sacrifices.
However, the ritual reform has become more simplified.
Restoring various sacrificial rituals is not to engage in feudal superstition, nor to show the majesty of the emperor. But Zhao Han understands a truth. The core values of the ancient Chinese can be summed up in four words: respect for heaven and ancestors!
These four words cannot be discarded, otherwise social thought will fall into chaos.
Before the Lantern Festival, he had already worshiped the heaven and the earth, and what was to be held today was the plowing ceremony. That is, the emperor encouraged farming and farmed the fields himself to express the court's emphasis on farming.
When the charioteer left the Forbidden City, officials of third rank and above had been waiting in line outside the Forbidden City for a long time.
This is also simplified. In the Ming Dynasty, all civil servants of the fourth rank and above and military attachés of the third rank and above had to go. Now, regardless of civil and military affairs, all officials must be of the third rank or above. Zhao Han did not want so many officials to follow.
Raising the standard for participating in sacrifices by one rank immediately reduced the number of officials by more than half.
When the monarch and ministers' sacrificial procession passed by, many Nanjing people gathered around, obviously wanting to follow and watch the fun.
Henry and Charles, two Frenchmen, were also quite curious about this and didn't know why the emperor was leaving the city.
Are you going hunting?
Or organize a knightly contest?
The team went all the way to the southeast outside Nanjing City, where the Nanjing Temple of Heaven and Earth is located.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang followed ancient rituals and worshiped heaven and earth separately in the south and north of Zijin Mountain at the summer solstice and winter solstice.
Etiquette is extremely complicated and goes far beyond that.
So Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Heaven and earth are like parents. How can they be separated by offering sacrifices to parents?"
So he changed the worship of heaven and earth from separate sacrifices to joint sacrifices, and the location of sacrifices was also changed. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's intention was to reduce the number of sacrifices and reduce the distance traveled, so as to avoid wasting people and damaging money.
Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, and all etiquette followed Nanjing's old practices.
It wasn't until Emperor Jiajing held a great ceremony and made a series of etiquette reforms. One of them was to change the Temple of Heaven and Earth into the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth, and worship separately according to ancient rituals.
Now, Zhao Han has changed again.
He had the same idea as Zhu Yuanzhang, and he did whatever it took to save trouble.
The Temple of Heaven and Earth has a large sacrificial hall, where the yin and yang of heaven and earth, sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and various natural gods are all enshrined here.
Xiannong Altar is located near the Great Sacrifice Hall and is dedicated to one of the ancestors of China: Shennong!
The sacrificial officer of Taichang Temple serves as the master of ceremonies and arranges the process.
Chen Maosheng, the Minister of Rites, stood in front and recited the sacrificial inscription, and then Zhao Han led the officials to kneel down and worship Shennong.
According to ancient rituals, sacrifices to Shennong should be carried out, that is, pigs, cattle and sheep are all available.
Zhao Han thought it was too wasteful and could just kill a pig.
After the worship, Zhao Han put the hem of his dragon robe on his belt, took off his boots, and rolled up his trouser legs.
The minister of Taichang Temple waved the red flag, the Minister of Rites invited the emperor to come out of the altar, the Minister of Household Affairs offered a plough, and the governor of Jinling offered a whip. The plough, the most primitive plow, was often carried by the portrait of Shen Nong.
Zhao Han walked out of the Xiannong altar, holding a grass in his right hand and a whip in his left hand.
Two local old farmers followed with their oxen, and the officials of Honglu Temple announced that the emperor would do the plowing himself.
Today, the concubines did not come.
Men farmed and women weaved. Farming was a men's business, although there were definitely women farming among the people.
The land of the emperor is three-quarters of an acre.
One-third of an acre is derived from here.
Unlike other emperors, Zhao Han's Tianzi Tian was not framed within the altar, but was next to the people's paddy fields.
There were many people standing on the field ridge in the distance.
There were even gentry, holding civilian telescopes, standing far away and peeping happily. After Zhao Han came to Nanjing, this was the first time he plowed the fields. The people inside and outside Nanjing had not seen the emperor plowing the fields for more than two hundred years.
"Your Majesty, please dig the ground!" the old morning cow farmer said with a smile.
Old farmers are not invited randomly, they must be senior citizens. They must be over sixty years old, must be highly respected, and must be able to farm.
Zhao Han only needs to take the hoe and go to the fields to plow a few times, and the rest is left to the old farmers to plow with their oxen.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Han actually planted a hoe on the edge of the field and took the rope that led the buffalo from the old farmer's hand. In the eyes of everyone's surprise, the emperor led the cow down to the field, inserted the plowshare into the soil, and drove the buffalo with his whip.
plow.
That action was actually quite skillful.
Only veterans like Chen Maosheng stood by with smiles on their faces. When they only had half a county of land, they helped the common people farm during the busy farming season.
"The emperor really knows how to farm!"
"My hands and feet are still a bit raw, it doesn't look like an old skill."
"It's been a long time since I've plowed the fields. I'll get better at plowing a few times."
"It's good that the emperor knows how to farm. He knows that it's not easy for farmers, so the land tax won't be heavy."
"Long live your Majesty!"
"..."
The farmers who were watching the emperor plowing the fields from a distance began to whisper there, and then they burst into shouts of long live the mountain.
The two French nobles were stunned.
Henry said in disbelief: "Only lowly farmers can do such things as plowing the land. Why would the Chinese emperor plow the land himself? This would bring down the emperor's majesty! And those officials, no one stopped them, and they all stood there laughing.
.God, what did I see?"
Charlie smiled and said: "Perhaps, the emperor and ministers of China regard this as a game. Listen, there is a band playing music beside the fields. The emperor must be playing the role of a farmer. This is probably his interest and hobby. I listen.
People say that Chinese emperors all have hobbies, and there is also a carpenter emperor. European monarchs also have weird hobbies."
"No, why do all the farmers near us kneel down before the emperor?" Henry looked around and became more and more puzzled. "The farmers knelt down very devoutly. It seemed that the Chinese emperor plowed the fields himself and gained their support all of a sudden.
.”
Charlie said: "The emperor is engaged in menial farming, and of course these menial people will be very happy. You see those officials are laughing, they must be mocking the emperor in their hearts. The Chinese emperor has lost his majesty in front of the ministers."
Ajulius came over at some unknown time and said in French: "You two are wrong. Farming food is a very sacred thing in China. The emperor himself going to the fields to farm means that he is kind and knows how to govern the country. Officials do not
They will laugh at them, but they will support their monarch even more."
Henry couldn't understand: "Aren't people who farm the land despicable?"
Ai Julius shook his head and said: "There is a theory of scholars, agriculture, industry and commerce in China. Scholars are ranked first, which can be understood as scholars and officials. Farmers are ranked second, and craftsmen and businessmen are ranked behind farmers. Chinese officials and scholars,
Many people will plant their own land, either growing vegetables in the garden or growing food in the fields. They think this is a very elegant thing."
Henry spread his hands: "Weird Chinese customs, strange Chinese ideas. If the European aristocrats knew that this Chinese emperor actually farmed his own land, his image would definitely plummet in Europe. There are also farmers, whose status is actually ranked higher than that of craftsmen and merchants.
Up front, farmers are the lowest, and the meaning of their existence is to provide food for the nobles."
Ajulius sarcastically said: "So in the past twenty years, France contributed to the largest number of peasant riots in Europe. Because the French prime minister had exactly the same idea as you."
Henry smiled and said: "Father Richelieu was a great prime minister. Although most nobles and peasants hated him, he made France stronger. He allowed the king to truly control the country's land."
This is where the butt determines the head. Henry was a noble who lost his fiefdom. The harder Richelieu screwed the nobles, the more he would take pleasure in others' misfortunes.
Charlie didn't speak anymore, but he kept in mind what he saw and heard in China, and planned to return to Paris to use it as conversation material, and maybe seduce a few wealthy ladies.
The Chinese emperor plowing the fields himself will surely spread in Paris.
While the nobles despise and ridicule, some open-minded scholars will definitely reflect on the system of European countries. This phenomenon has been popular since the beginning of the Renaissance. Based on fragments of Chinese thoughts and customs, various reflections on the current Europe: This country
Why, I’m asking you in detail!
A famous scholar even raised a very serious thought after reading travel notes about China: Since China existed before the birth of Jesus, was the world really created by God? In other words, were the Chinese created by God? If China
Man was not created by God, so is God still the supreme and only existence?
The news of Zhao Han's plowing spread to Europe, and it is estimated that some scholars are running around shouting: The Chinese emperor attaches great importance to agriculture and treats farmers well. European monarchs only know how to oppress farmers. This is why China is stronger than other European countries! European monarchs, stop and wait.
Wait for your people!
Zhao Han did not plow all of the emperor's one-third-acre field, but only plowed it three times as a show.
This is also etiquette, three pushbacks and three pushbacks.
Then another piece of rice was leveled out. The Yin of the Jinling Prefecture held a green box, and the Minister of Household Affairs held the green box and spread the seeds. This was for breeding, sowing rice seeds intensively, and after they grew into seedlings, they were pulled out and transplanted to the fields.
According to ancient rituals, grains should be sown.
Zhao Han said to the Minister of Taichang Temple last month: "You can plant whatever you want. How can you sow the grains together? Wait for other seeds to rot?"
After the emperor finished plowing, the Minister of Household Affairs and the governor of Jinling went back with the grass and whip.
Zhao Han climbed up to the viewing platform, and the three ministers and nine ministers went to get the whip and the plow in turn. The three ministers pushed five times and returned five times, and the nine ministers pushed nine times and returned nine times. Finally, they finished plowing one-third of an acre of land.
"The plowing ceremony is completed!" Chen Maosheng shouted.
"Start the music and play "You Ping Zhang"!"
"The emperor is driving back to the palace!"
The royal band began to play accompaniment again. Pingzhang means peace in the world and clear political achievements. "Youpingzhang" means God's blessing for the country and the people.
A few farmers stood on the edge of the field and had a lot of fun. This three-thirds of an acre of land had been leased to them. They only collected some token rent and handed it over to the palace.
This is the land of the emperor. If they can cultivate it, they may be able to imbibe the royal spirit.
