The big court meeting is over, but the busy day for the elders has just begun.
In the following time, officials of seventh rank and above will follow the emperor to perform rituals to worship heaven and be busy until the afternoon.
After it was over, the elders of the third rank and above hurriedly changed out of their court clothes and put on ordinary official clothes with patchwork, and prepared to enter the palace again to accept the banquet given by the emperor.
However, this time the banquet was different from the usual ones, it was together with the clan banquet.
This time, the number of clans entering the capital was quite large. Although the princess, county lord and other female clans all received banquets in the harem, and the number of clans entering the palace was limited to General Fengguo and above.
But even so, there were nearly a thousand people receiving the banquet at the same time.
More than 80% of them are ordinary clan members, nearly a hundred are at the level of county kings, and there are nearly twenty princes.
Therefore, ordinary clans can only be in the square at Meridian Gate, and clans at the level of princes can only be in the square outside Fengtian Hall.
Only prince-level clans can enter the Fengtian Hall to receive banquets.
Night falls quietly, but the entire Forbidden City is brightly lit.
The splendid Fengtian Palace was filled with royal princes dressed in purple python robes.
The ministers and cabinet ministers who usually played an important role in the court were all pushed to the back. As for the ordinary third-grade ministers and other officials, they could only sit not far from the entrance of the palace.
In fact, originally according to the wishes of the Ministry of Rites, the banquets given by the courtiers and the banquets given by the clan were to be staggered.
After all, the royal family banquet is more like a family banquet, and the elders are not willing to have a banquet with a bunch of noble princes. It doesn't feel good to feel inferior in every way.
But it is a pity that the instrument was rejected when it reached the emperor.
The emperor's golden words have a very good reason.
Since it is the Zhengdan banquet, of course the banquet must be held on the Zhengdan day. It doesn’t matter if it is staggered to another day, just put it together.
Therefore, the elders could only sit awkwardly. When someone came in, they had to stand up and salute.
This experience has not been experienced by the elders in Fengtian Temple for a long time.
Not only these ministers, but in fact, the princes in the palace were also very embarrassed.
You should know that among the existing princes, most of them are from the Taizu line, followed by one from the Taizong line and four from the Renzong line.
Except for the three newly crowned princes in the Renzong line, the other princes are all second, third, or even fourth generation princes.
In order to prevent the princes from colluding with each other and threatening the central government, Taizu set a rule that after joining the vassal, the two princes were not allowed to meet each other.
In other words, after the princes arrived in the fiefdom, they would never have the opportunity to meet other princes again in their lifetime, and even if they went to Beijing for pilgrimage, they would have to stagger their visits.
As the older generation of newly crowned princes passed away one after another, these newly promoted princes, although they are all relatives of the same clan, to be honest, have never met each other.
The Taizong clan and the Renzong clan were a little better. Before they became feudal lords, they met a few times in the capital. Although many years had passed, they could still recognize each other and chat with them for a few words.
But the other princes entered the hall and first paid a visit to King Min, their great uncle, and then returned to their seats. They could only look at me and me and talk awkwardly about how beautiful the sun is tonight.
However, they were not embarrassed for too long. Soon, the chimes in the palace rang, and many maids and chamberlains poured out from both sides of the hall, and a courtesy officer came forward.
"Your Majesty has arrived, and all the officials of the clan are bowing down!"
As soon as the words fell, the emperor was seen walking out slowly in his imperial robes, came to the imperial steps, and stood facing everyone.
What is different from usual times is that at this moment, Zhu Qiyu clasped his hands in front of his chest, holding a white jade tablet with the top and bottom in his hand.
This tablet is about seven inches long and three inches wide. It has eight characters engraved on it, saying: "Fengtian Dharma Patriarch, passed down from generation to generation."
This thing is called Dagui, and it is an ancestral treasure of the old Zhu family.
Well, it is an ancestral treasure starting from Taizu.
It is clearly written in the ancestral precepts of the Emperor Ming Dynasty that this jade guide will be passed down from generation to generation by the emperor.
Whenever princes, princes, or princes, even if they are the elders of the emperor, come to the court to pay homage, the emperor can hold a large gui in his hand and receive great gifts from him.
Seeing this Gui is like seeing Zu Kao.
Then, the princes of the clan, civil and military officials stood up and saluted one after another.
The only difference is that the ministers present bowed four times, while the princes bowed five times and kowtowed three times.
The reason why it is different is that the kings worshiped not only the emperor, but also the big gui that symbolized Zukao in the hands of the emperor.
As soon as Yugui comes out, the legal system will be determined by itself!
Today's grand banquet, starting from the five bows and three kowtows, has established the orthodox status of today's emperor.
Putting the jade guide in his hand on the treasure case that had been prepared long ago, Zhu Qiyu also bowed to the jade guide.
Immediately, he turned around and said to the kings and ministers who were bowing down below.
"Pingshen!"
After the emperor's golden voice fell, all the kings stood up respectfully, and the ministers also stood up accordingly.
Zhu Qiyu sat down on the throne, and his originally solemn expression became much gentler at this moment.
"All the kings are my elders. We haven't seen you for a long time, so don't be cautious and take a seat."
The kings below bowed their hands in thanks, and then took their seats one by one.
When the music started, the songs and dances prepared by the Jiaofang Si also started, and the dishes for the palace banquet that had been prepared began to be served one after another like water.
After the awkward conversation before, the kings present finally became somewhat familiar with each other. At least they knew who was sitting around them, so it was not that embarrassing.
Singing, dancing, wine and food were all available, and the atmosphere gradually became lively.
All the clan members who can enter the palace are princes, so the seating arrangements can only be based on seniority and proximity to the emperor.
Therefore, the first person sitting under Zhu Qiyu was the highest-ranking King Min.
Counting down, there are several close uncles of Zhu Qiyu, namely King Xiang Zhu Zhanyi, King Zheng Zhu Zhanyu, and King Jing Zhu Zhanyu.
There were four kings in the Renzong clan. In addition to these three, there was also a Huai king, Zhu Zhanxi.
, but Prince Huai died of illness three years ago, and the eldest son Zhu Qiquan who came back to inherit the throne is not Zhu Qiyu’s elder, so he is further away in the queue.
After three rounds of drinking, Zhu Qiyu saw that King Zheng and King Jing below him kept winking at King Xiang.
Speaking of this King Xiang, he can be regarded as a legendary figure.
He is the fifth son of Emperor Renzong, and he is also the only legitimate son of Emperor Renzong who is still alive. He is a sibling of the late emperor and his mother, both of whom were born to the Empress Dowager Zhang.
The reason why he is said to be legendary is because he has been involved in the struggle for the throne three times in his life, and each time, he was pushed out inexplicably.
This kind of life experience is unique even if it goes through several generations, not to mention the clan of the Ming Dynasty.
More importantly, the relationship between Prince Xiang and Zhu Qiyu, or to be more precise, with Zhu Qiyu in his previous life, is no smaller than that of Shi Heng and others...