It snowed all night and did not stop until dawn. The capital was covered in snow inside and outside, with the sound of firecrackers and laughter everywhere.
New Year's Eve passed in a lively manner, but the elders of the imperial court, dressed in neat and complicated court clothes, gathered at the gate of the palace before dawn.
The first day of the first lunar month is the Zhengdan Dynasty!
There are only three major festivals every year, namely the Winter Solstice, the Zhengdan Festival and the Wanshou Festival.
Among them, the Zhengdan Festival is the most important, which is called the Duan Festival, symbolizing the beginning of the year and all things.
Not only the civil and military officials in Beijing must participate, but also governors from various places and chief seal officials of state government offices must come to Beijing to pay their respects. It can be called one of the most grand ceremonies in the imperial court.
Especially this Zhengdan Dynasty, which was the first Zhengdan Dynasty after Jinshang ascended the throne, has a particularly different meaning.
The sky was dimming, a ray of orange-red light had just appeared in the east, and the sound of heavy drums sounded, and it stopped after nine beats.
The tall palace door was slowly pushed open, and the young and majestic palace of the Forbidden City completely revived in the dawn.
When the palace door was fully opened, the Jinyi Guards, Jinwu Guards, and Ceremony Department personnel filed out and guarded the palace gates on both sides.
Among the group of ministers, four tall whip-sounding officers with brand-new official robes came out and stood in front of the Jinshui Bridge.
Then, the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the officials of praise, the officials of the messengers, the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and others entered the palace gate first and entered the Danqi in front of the Fengtian Hall.
The drums stopped, the whip officer sounded three times, and the ceremonial officer shouted.
"Enter!"
The ministers crossed the Waijinshui Bridge one by one and entered from the palace gates on both sides.
The drums are beating again.
In the large square in front of the Fengtian Hall, several groups of Jinwu Guards soldiers lined up holding flags, stretching from the Meridian Gate to the front of the Fengtian Hall.
In front of the civil and military buildings on both sides, there are ceremonial horses, ceremonial rhinos, and ceremonial elephants carved in stone.
The flags fluttered and moved with the wind, and the appearance was majestic, thick and tall. Accompanied by the majestic sound of drums, the cultural relic officials with solemn expressions crossed the Neijinshui Bridge and entered Danqi Square in an orderly manner.
On both sides of Danqi, there are ceremonial guards such as chariots, chariots, and walking chariots. The first salute officer, the messenger officer, and the corrective censor are all in place.
Jin Yiwei Chen Lu recorded the guard of honor and sent fans to Dan Majesty.
On both sides of Danbi, there are the incense case, the treasure case and the teaching hall Shao Le. In the middle, under the yellow umbrella, is the spacious throne.
Stretching out from both sides of the throne, there are twenty-six guards in uniform, wearing armor.
After the three drums were completed, the officials lined up on the east and west sides of Danqi in front of Fengtian Hall, standing facing north.
The first ray of sunshine in the morning shines down. Looking down from Danbi, the entire square in front of Fengtian Temple is lined with majestic queues.
The loud bell rang, and the ceremonial officer bowed to the ground and shouted loudly.
“Please ascend to the palace.”
So, the door of Fengtian Temple was slowly pushed open.
The emperor wore a crown, with a guiding officer in front, a Shang Baosi behind, and beside him were the serving eunuchs.
Surrounded by everyone, he came to the throne.
The bells stopped and Shao music started.
Shang Baosi holds the emperor's treasure seal in his hand and places it on the treasure case next to the throne.
When the music of Shao stopped, the official sounded the whip three times and loudly announced the time.
When great music arose, the salute officials came out, and all the civil and military officials were invited to perform four bows. The ceremony officials went to various places to congratulate them. Then, the head of the hundred officials, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, went to Beijing to congratulate the officials on behalf of the civil and military officials.
“On the occasion of the first day of the lunar month, the three Yangs will flourish, and all things will be new. I respectfully honor His Majesty the Emperor, pray for blessings, and pray for eternal prosperity.”
After entering, the ceremonial officer will lead the ministers to pay their respects again.
The whole process is extremely complicated, but no one dares to take it lightly.
After a series of ceremonial procedures were completed, Wang Wen, the newly appointed official minister, returned to Danqixia for work.
The emperor opened his mouth and said only two words.
“Announce the edict!”
This is the highlight of this great dynasty. The Zhengdan dynasty is meant to bring about the renewal of all things and the restoration of one yuan. This time, there is a major event in the Zhengdan dynasty, which is... to change the yuan!
Since he succeeded to the throne today, to show respect for the Supreme Emperor, he has always used the orthodox reign name, but this is not a long-term solution after all.
Only by changing the title of Yuan Dynasty can the legitimacy of the new emperor be truly confirmed to the world.
The eunuch Cheng Jing, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, came forward, unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, and announced the edict loudly.
"The emperor was entrusted with the destiny of heaven, and the edict said: First, there were bandits who were wreaking havoc, and the emperor personally went to conquer them to correct their crimes... The capital was in turmoil. I accepted the order of the emperor and the empress dowager, and accepted the throne... Today there is peace in the world and peace on the border. Vientiane... From now on, the Yuan Dynasty will be changed to Jingtai, and this year will be the first year of Jingtai, and the world..."
Of course, as an edict issued by the Zhengdan Dynasty, it must not only include the matter of changing the Yuan Dynasty, but also be accompanied by a lengthy edict of amnesty to the world.
"...Since before December 30th of the 14th year of Zhengtong, except for the crimes of rebellion, murder, robbery, adultery, poisoning and evil spirits, officials, soldiers and civilians have been aware of, have not been aware of, and have committed crimes.
All unjust crimes, no matter how big or small, will be pardoned..."
"... Civil and military officials, flag schools, soldiers and civilians, craftsmen and craftsmen, etc., who are guilty and punished to guard the border, will be forgiven for their crimes. Those who are convicted for speaking out will be reinstated, and those who are guilty of violating the law and stealing stolen goods will be dismissed as civilians. The army will be restored to the army.
, the craftsman is still a craftsman, and the people let the Ning family go..."
Amnesty for the world is not just as simple as saying "out", it includes three basic contents: forgiveness of sins, exemption from taxes, and exemption from corvee.
In addition, there are some additional measures such as ending the bad government of the previous generation, amnesty for the refugees, and allowing the land to be reclaimed for the people.
Which sins should be forgiven in full and which ones should be mitigated, how much should be exempted from taxes and corvees, and which areas should be exempted. These must be explained in detail in the edict.
Hence, the content of this edict is very lengthy.
Although the elders present tried hard to concentrate, it was inevitable that they would get distracted.
Until Cheng Jing’s mouth went dry and he read one of them.
"... From now on, the system of burial of palace concubines will be abolished. When the emperor dies, the queen in the main palace will be honored as the empress dowager. The remaining concubines in the harem, regardless of their rank, will not be buried in sacrifice. Those who have princes and princesses will be enshrined in the palace.
As a concubine, a jade book will be given to her. If she is the same as the fourth concubine and has no heirs, a Buddhist temple will be built outside the imperial mausoleum, and everyone will go to the Buddhist temple to pray..."
Hearing this, the elders became a little more concerned, not because they cared much about the emperor's harem, but because this measure was obviously not part of the routine of amnesty for the world.
However, changing the Yuan Dynasty's imperial edict will abolish some of the bad policies of the previous dynasty. For example, when the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne, the imperial edict of changing the Yuan Dynasty banned the evil policies of the previous emperor's period of collecting rare and exotic animals from local places to offer to the royal family.
Therefore, this was in line with the rules of the Yuan Dynasty imperial edict, but what the elders did not expect was that the emperor actually had his mind set on the harem.
This burying of palace concubines has been an old rule since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The officials in the court have always been dissatisfied with this, so it is a good thing that it has been abolished now.
However, what makes them a little confused is, what the hell are these so-called "four concubines"?
The rank of the harem in the Ming Dynasty was very simple. The emperor canonized the queen in the main palace at the wedding.
Then, all the women who have been blessed will be given the title of concubine, without any distinction.
If the concubine has a prince, she can be promoted to a noble concubine at her discretion. If the prince she has given birth to is the eldest son, she must be promoted to a noble concubine.
To put it simply, there were only three levels in the harem of the Ming Dynasty: queen, concubine, and concubine. Except for the queen, there was only one concubine. There were no permanent quotas for concubines and concubines. It all depended on the mood of the emperor.
Some emperors, such as Emperor Taizong, may have more than twenty concubines, while some emperors, such as Emperor Renzong, may only have twelve or three concubines.
The "fourth concubine" appeared out of nowhere.
Could it be possible that the emperor was so pure-hearted that he planned to only have four concubines in the harem from now on?