For Emperor Deqing, today is also a high-spirited and happy day.
Therefore, when he arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he was in a very good mood, and his face was full of joy.
As the officials shouted "Long live the mountain", Emperor Deqing laughed loudly, and soon made everyone stand free of ceremony. After posing, the first part of today's grand ceremony began - that is, the summary.
The political achievements of the imperial court in the past year.
It is said to be a summary of political achievements, but in fact it is just self-promotion.
Obviously, Emperor Deqing had been preparing for a long time. He was full of energy when he appeared in front of others. When he boasted about himself, he could be said to be eloquent and eloquent.
The political situation in the temple is stable and the people live and work in peace and contentment, all because of my good leadership;
The changes in officialdom and the dismissal and conviction of many corrupt officials are all due to my clear insight;
The imperial government's financial turnaround from losses to profits and the increase in revenue and expenditure in the treasury are also due to my wisdom and skill;
The great victory over the Mongolian coalition forces on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu and the recovery of the homeland in the Hetao area were all due to my talents and strategies.
The Jurchens of Jianzhou, Mongolia, and Korea all came to court one after another, which proved that I am a wise king who is rare in the ages.
Of course, Emperor Deqing's statement was more subtle, but he spoke eloquently for more than a quarter of an hour, and in summary, this is what he meant.
Zhao Junchen stood in the front row of officials and listened to Emperor Deqing's speech at close range. His expression showed just the right amount of respect and admiration, which matched Emperor Deqing's speech very well.
But Zhao Junchen still has a sense of accomplishment in his heart.
This is because Zhao Junchen discovered that most of the achievements that Emperor Deqing boasted about had something to do with him - of course, these achievements were indeed inseparable from the platform and opportunities provided by Emperor Deqing, and Emperor Deqing obviously believed that
Taking credit for his own platform is the key, so he deliberately ignored Zhao Junchen's role. Zhao Junchen naturally would not stand up to compete with Emperor Deqing for credit at this time - but after hearing Emperor Deqing's detailed summary
, Zhao Junchen found that after traveling to this era, he still accomplished a lot of practical things, and it was not just about blindly fighting for power and benefiting himself at the expense of others.
After finally listening to Emperor Deqing's boasting, all the officials were as cooperative and knowledgeable as Zhao Junchen. Everyone's face was full of admiration and love, and once again they shouted "Long Live the Mountain" and flattered him like a flood.
There were also many smart-tempered officials who seized the opportunity at this time and unleashed their lifetime acting skills, shouting hoarsely and bursting into tears, as if they had witnessed the reincarnation of Yao and Shun and the coming of the saints.
Under such circumstances, Zhao Junchen also took the opportunity to secretly observe the changes in Emperor Deqing's demeanor, only to find that Emperor Deqing accepted the blatant flattery of the officials as a matter of course and did not feel anything wrong at all.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but frown secretly, feeling that Emperor Deqing's mentality had indeed changed in some way, but it was not yet clear whether this change was good or bad for Zhao Junchen.
*
After finally waiting for the flattery of the officials to come to an end, with the sound of bells, drums, silk and bamboo, the ceremony entered the second stage, which is when the officials paid homage to Emperor Deqing to celebrate his birthday and presented birthday gifts.
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Zhou Shangjing's birthday gift this year is still the same as before. It is just a birthday gift written by himself. There is no deliberate thought or much cost. However, with Zhou Shangjing's current status and prestige, no one dares to find fault with him.
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In fact, the literary style of this birthday celebration ode is excellent, and the subtle meaning is great. It is an excellent article that is extremely rare in recent years. Emperor Deqing was very happy after reading this birthday celebration ode and ordered it to be read aloud in public, but it was because
Zhou Shangjing's article praised Emperor Deqing's civilized and martial virtues, which can be regarded as flattering.
Next, Li He's birthday gift was an emerald Buddha statue nearly three feet high, and Cheng Yuandao's birthday gift was an ancient book annotated by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Liang Fuchen still stayed in Shaanxi and Gansu to preside over the overall situation, and did not return to the capital.
He also asked someone to send him a golden sword as a birthday gift, which is said to have been used by Wokuotai back then.
Soon, under the spotlight, it was finally Zhao Junchen's turn to present his birthday gift.
As the eunuch Zhang De said, "Young Master, Dongge University Scholar, Zhao Junchen, the new uncle of this generation, presents a birthday gift." Zhao Junchen walked out of the queue of hundreds of officials. At the same time, another young eunuch held the birthday gift prepared by Zhao Junchen.
Entering the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he stood behind Zhao Junchen.
Emperor Deqing had high expectations for Zhao Junchen's birthday gift this year. After seeing what the young eunuch was holding, he couldn't help but be curious and asked: "Zhao Aiqing, the birthday gift you gave this year was not as dramatic as in previous years."
, what exactly is this birthday gift? Why is it covered with red silk? "
Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the birthday gift I gave you this year is an auspicious thing I found by chance!"
Emperor Deqing looked stunned and quickly asked: "Xiangrui? What exactly is Xiangrui?"
For an emperor who has the power of heaven, the meaning of "auspiciousness" is really too great. It represents the recognition of heaven, and Emperor Deqing naturally attaches great importance to it.
Zhao Junchen didn't show off his mystery, he turned around and opened the red silk.
Then, Zhao Junchen's birthday gift to Emperor Deqing was finally displayed in front of everyone.
I saw four apples placed in parallel on the lacquer plate!
It's not a golden eagle, it's not a jade carving, it's just an ordinary apple you can see.
Of course, these four apples are all very large in size, significantly larger than an adult man's fist. They are red in color and look extremely delicious and juicy, but in the final analysis they are just ordinary apples!
Before that, many sharp-eyed officials and nobles had discovered that the shape of Zhao Junchen's birthday gift looked like a fruit, but everyone thought it was just a similar shape. When Zhao Junchen publicly stated that his birthday gift was
After it was "auspicious", everyone was eagerly awaiting it and did not dare to underestimate it.
But no one expected that Zhao Junchen's birthday gift was really just a few ordinary apples.
It’s just a few apples, how can it be regarded as “auspiciousness descending from heaven”?
For a time, many officials and nobles once again had the idea of gloating over the pot, and many people could not wait to stand up and impeach Zhao Junchen for being a kingless father.
However, the ministers and nobles were standing behind and on both sides of Zhao Junchen and could not see the full picture of these apples. However, Emperor Deqing was sitting on the dragon chair, right in front of Zhao Junchen.
Clearly see the magic of these four apples!
After observing carefully for a moment, Emperor Deqing's expression gradually became serious, and there was a hint of excitement.
"Quick! Bring these fruits over here, I want to check them myself!"
Standing next to Emperor Deqing, Zhang De also saw the unusualness of these apples. Following Emperor Deqing's instructions, he quickly ran down the imperial steps, carefully picked up Zhao Junchen's birthday gift, and gave it to
Arriving in front of Emperor Deqing.
Then, Emperor Deqing personally picked up one of the apples, carefully observed and stroked it, his expression became more and more excited, and he murmured: "It's not carving! It's all natural! It's really auspicious! It's really auspiciousness from heaven!"
After being excited for a long time, Emperor Deqing finally put the apples in his hands back to their original places, and then motioned to Zhang De to hold the fruits and walk to the center of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, allowing officials and nobles to take a closer look!
After all the officials and nobles saw the whole picture of these apples with their own eyes, they all exclaimed softly and couldn't believe it!
It turned out that on these four bright red apples, there were four exquisite light white fonts, which were "Qian", "Autumn", "Wan", and "Sui"!
Just like Emperor Deqing said, these handwritings are completely natural and emerge on their own, with no trace of acquired processing at all!
On the seemingly ordinary apple, the four words "Long Live Qianqiu" will appear on its own. What is this if it is not auspicious words from heaven?
For a time, many officials looked as excited as Emperor Deqing, and repeatedly exclaimed "God bless the Ming Dynasty!"
Seeing the excitement of Emperor Deqing and the noble officials, Zhao Junchen secretly smiled in his heart.
In fact, these apples are the common apples with stickers in later generations, also known as art apples. Hundreds of years later, this kind of apples can be seen everywhere on Christmas Eve every year.
The process of making apples with stickers did not appear until the 1980s. It was created by a Chinese farmer. However, this process is not complicated. In fact, it uses the chlorophyll and anthocyanins of plants. The formation of them requires sunlight.
The principle is that during the process of planting apples, use lettering patterns to block sunlight and prevent the synthesis of anthocyanins on the skin of the apples, and white writing will eventually appear!
The craftsmanship is very simple, but it was more than enough to fool the emperor and officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, this process sounds very simple, but it also cost Zhao Junchen a lot of time and effort. He requisitioned hundreds of acres of apple trees in Luochuan, which is rich in apples, and invited dozens of experienced fruit farmers to use various means.
After conducting experiments at the same time, they finally found a feasible method and successfully harvested more than a hundred apples with stickers on them. From these apples, four of the largest and best-colored apples were selected as birthday gifts for Emperor Deqing.
But in any case, this birthday gift only cost Zhao Junchen a few hundred taels of silver. Zhao Junchen chose an apple with a sticker on it as a birthday gift. Of course, it was because "auspiciousness descending from heaven" could please Emperor Deqing, but the more important reason was
In order to save money - Zhao Junchen has a lot of money, but it still needs to be used in more practical ways.
*
When all the officials and nobles had finished praising them, Zhang De took the apples back to Emperor Deqing. Emperor Deqing couldn't put them down, praising and caressing them again.
Then, Emperor Deqing looked up at Zhao Junchen reluctantly, with excitement still remaining in his expression, and asked: "What Zhao Aiqing said is right, these apples can automatically reveal handwriting. It is definitely not something that can be done by human power. It must be
What the heavens did was truly auspicious!
What auspiciousness has descended from heaven! It seems that the heaven has also recognized my merits! Zhao Aiqing, you have really made a great contribution to find such auspiciousness. I will definitely reward you. Please tell me quickly, what is such auspiciousness?
Where did you find it?"
When encountering such a time and occasion, it is natural to make up a story.
Fortunately, Zhao Junchen is very good at this. He doesn't even blink when making up random things, and the stories are also exciting.
An old man with an immortal spirit said that he wanted to use Zhao Junchen's hand to give a gift to the pilgrim king. This was a glorious and arduous task. Zhao Junchen had to pass several tests if he wanted to accept the big job.
OK……
Zhao Junchen didn't believe him at first, but the old man showed his magical power in the blink of an eye and disappeared into smoke. Only then did Zhao Junchen know that he had met the immortal. Naturally, he did not dare to ignore the immortal's instructions and quickly followed the immortal's instructions...
Adhering to his loyalty, Zhao Junchen went through many tests and tribulations, and finally found a mysterious valley. There was a towering fruit tree in the valley, and four fruits with writings hanging on them.
, but after Zhao Junchen picked the fruit and left the valley, he turned around and saw that the valley had disappeared...
Of course, this is just the outline of Zhao Junchen's story. The content of the story is much more complicated, and it also highlights Zhao Junchen's loyalty and loyalty that worked tirelessly and was not afraid of hardships. The whole story lasted nearly half an hour.
When he was making up random things, Zhao Junchen did not have any psychological burden, and he was not afraid of anyone exposing himself. In this case, questioning Zhao Junchen's story was questioning Xiangrui, and questioning Xiangrui was questioning Emperor Deqing, so Zhao Junchen's
No matter how incredible the story is, no one dares to point it out.
After listening to Zhao Junchen's story, Emperor Deqing could not help but look fascinated and amazed. He once again praised Zhao Junchen's loyalty and dedication. The relationship between the two men seemed to have improved.
According to today's process, the key time for hundreds of officials and nobles to present birthday gifts to Emperor Deqing is one hour, but Zhao Junchen alone took up nearly half an hour, but he used a few apples to sell them all again
Limelight.
For a period of time that followed, Emperor Deqing and hundreds of officials and noble officials were still praising the magic and mystery of Zhao Junchen's birthday gift and the wonderful stories Zhao Junchen told. Subsequent officials presented birthday gifts to Emperor Deqing.
When it comes to birthday gifts, no matter how rare and valuable these birthday gifts are, they can't help but pale in comparison.
Under such circumstances, after all the ministers and nobles presented their birthday gifts, today's birthday celebrations finally came to an end.
*
The next step was for envoys from various countries to meet Emperor Deqing, which was called "the coming of all nations".
However, when the envoys filed into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Zhao Junchen turned around and was stunned.
Not long ago, Zhao Junchen had carefully observed the envoys from various countries outside the Meridian Gate, and found an acquaintance - Qian Tong, a Han official beside Xuan Ye.
However, after Zhao Junchen met Qian Tong, he thought that Qian Tong was just an entourage of the Jurchen envoys to Jianzhou, and would be in an inconspicuous position when the envoys met with Emperor Deqing.
After all, Qian Tong's identity is extremely sensitive. He was originally a prefect in the Liaodong region and a minister of Emperor Deqing, but now he has betrayed Emperor Deqing and joined Xuan Ye, the Jurchen of Jianzhou. For Emperor Deqing
In general, he was a treacherous traitor. If Emperor Deqing discovered his origin, he would definitely not have a good look on his face, and the relationship between the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Ming Dynasty would probably change.
But now, when envoys from various countries entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Zhao Junchen discovered that Qian Tong was at the forefront of the envoys and was actually the leader of the envoys from various countries!
In this way, even if Qian Tong didn't want to attract Emperor Deqing's attention, it would be impossible!
"What are the Jianzhou Jurchens thinking? Why should Qian Tong, a Han traitor, be the leader of envoys from various countries? This is simply a naked provocation! Aren't they afraid that Emperor Deqing will become angry if he is humiliated?"
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but frown, thinking that Jianzhou Jurchen's behavior might have another agenda!
…
The dust has not yet settled, just watch its changes, act on it and cherish it.