Since the establishment of the National Policy Conference in the 16th year of Zhengde's reign, there were only eighteen top chairs at the beginning.

Now, the number of permanent political participants in this national policy conference has reached twenty-four.

Their distribution is as follows: There are seven people in the State Palace, including the Prime Minister and the Minister of State. Jiuqing, the Chief of the Royal Study, the Chief of the Sixth Section, and the Chief of the Taxation Department are all civil servants, occupying a total of 19 seats. And the Metropolitan Procuratorate is the Assistant to the Beijing Camp.

Although Rong Zheng is a civil servant, he directly represents the interests of the military together with the general staff of the Military Affairs Council, one of the five military governors, the admiral of the Beijing camp, and the chief of public security.

But this time the national policy meeting is an "enlarged meeting" held every three years, with much more attendees.

No matter how many people crowded into the original Jinshen Hall at this moment, the pattern remained the same - important ministers guarding the emperor.

The National Policy Hall, which was converted from Jinshen Hall, is very large, and the space supported by pillars inside is considered a "frame structure."

Now, the throne is in the center, facing north and south. In front of the throne, it is still similar to the original national policy meeting. There are tables and chairs on three sides, but there are several rows on each side.

The attention of the important ministers would occasionally turn to the eunuchs and eunuchs serving tea and water here, and then they would inevitably look at the emperor.

Five years ago, at the end of the fifteenth year of Zhengde's reign, the ministers and ministers were still very arrogant.

But now, the ministers have no room to comment on national affairs, and their focus is entirely on factory guards and the enterprises founded under the leadership of the emperor.

Even though there are so many important ministers in the National Policy Hall, and even though the Ming Dynasty has established a powerful prime minister, the emperor is still above everything else - for example, of everyone who can sit here now, which one does not need the emperor's nod to appoint?

What everyone never expected was that the first official agenda of this national policy meeting was to determine the style of the "national flag".

No one will think that this matter is not negotiable: for such an important meeting, every move needs to be carefully considered.

Zhu Houcong said loudly in this hall: "As I said in that letter, the Ming Dynasty is integrated up and down, and this body is the country. We have decided on this national flag. In the future, this flag will symbolize both the Ming Dynasty and China. I

As the emperor, we must also respect this flag. By setting this flag, you and others will serve in the future not only to be loyal to the emperor, but also to the country and the people of our country. When the people of the world see this flag, they must also know that our Ming Dynasty is the orthodoxy of China, and the emperor, ministers and people

We share weal and woe, and external enemies and internal worries need to be treated separately."

After a pause, he said: "Treason is worse than treason. Pursuing personal gain at the expense of the country is worse than exploiting the people for personal enrichment. If the Ming Dynasty was a family, the monarchs, ministers, officials and gentry would be like parents and brothers. How could they collude with foreign enemies?

And those who harm younger siblings and children?”

Yan Song and others looked at Zhu Houcong deeply. Starting from the name change of the three main halls... no, from the time when the National Policy Conference was established, His Majesty has actually been emphasizing the concept of the country step by step.

As the governor of Zhejiang, he certainly knew what the emperor was talking about.

These things are especially concentrated in border towns and coastal areas. Internally, they are evading taxes and embezzling national funds.

It's just that in the past, the world was privately owned by the emperor, and these matters purely depended on whether the emperor would vigorously regulate it for the benefit of personal rule. Now the emperor has a vague intention to benefit the country and everyone has a share, and harming the country means harming everyone.

Treason is more serious than conspiracy. This crime is really serious and boundless.

The emperor is putting the country above the emperor's legal system...

"This flag was painted by me under the command of Tang Yin." Zhu Houcong asked Zhang Zuo and Huang Jin to bring a square red silk flag.

Red background, yellow pattern.

"The Zuo Zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Period has a saying: The three-chen flags and flags show the brightness. The three-chen sun, moon and stars are the most noble symbols of China since Yao and Shun. The Zhou rites say: The emperor obeys the sun and the moon and descends. Now, I have This Sanchen flag is the national flag of the Ming Dynasty. Its sun resembles me, its moon resembles the ministers, its stars resemble awns, and it resembles the people of the Ming Dynasty. Do you think this is acceptable?"

On the flag is a circle of yellow stars surrounding the sun on the left and the moon on the right.

There are no more fine lines on the pattern, but they all use bright yellow, which can only be used by the emperor. At this moment, the bright yellow moon and bright yellow star symbolize the subjects. The meaning is not only intriguing, but this flag already shows its dignity.

Naturally, no one has any opinions on this matter and says "no". Isn't the emperor citing scriptures?

The Sanchen Banner is the most noble. Your Majesty also said that treason is especially serious.

If there is any flag that is more noble than the dragon flag, it can only be the Sanchen flag, which itself symbolizes heaven.

The resolution was passed quickly, and Zhu Houcong then issued an edict: "I ordered the Weaving Bureau to weave this flag, and all yamen, armies, schools, prefectures, counties and villages in the Ming Dynasty will fly this flag high. In the future, there will be three chens in the Ming Dynasty. At the flag, everyone must respect the great power of tomorrow!"

…

From the time he was imprisoned and demoted due to an imperial examination in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, Tang Yin wandered around the world for twenty years, selling literature and paintings to make a living and indulged in alcohol and sex. He was depressed and had a bad health.

If it were not for Zhu Houcong at the Imperial University, his original life trajectory would have been poverty-stricken and riddled with many illnesses by the Jiajing period, and he died of illness in the second year of the Jiajing period.

But now that he is the dean of the Arts Department of Huangming University, he has no worries about food and clothing and is very leisurely.

The problems accumulated in the body over the past twenty years have only been delayed a little.

At this time, Tang Yin was already lying on the bed.

"Don't worry about that matter." Wen Zhengming sat beside the bed in his bedroom to comfort him, "Since Your Majesty ordered you to try painting the national flag, how could there be any disturbance in this national policy meeting?"

Tang Yin was worried about gains and losses, so he just murmured: "It's not in line with etiquette, it's not in line with etiquette..."

The concept of country is higher than that of the emperor. Tang Yin is seriously ill and is only worried about the impact his last work will have on his posthumous reputation.

This may be the simplest painting he has ever painted, but listening to what the emperor said when he told him, it is probably the most important painting in Tang Yin's life.

It will become the national flag of the Ming Dynasty and will appear in every corner related to the Ming Dynasty.

But if in the future the emperor's ambitions are not fulfilled and the successors overthrow everything, he, Tang Yin, is bound to be slandered and regarded as a frivolous minister beside the ignorant emperor, who has no sense of etiquette and shame and only wants to be flattered and favored.

"...Li." Wen Zhengming shook his head slightly and sighed.

In addition to Yan Shenggong, the emperor promoted new learning, and even changed the names of the three major halls such as Fengtian Hall, which declared that the legal system was entrusted to heaven. He had his own etiquette in mind.

Tang Yin forced a smile: "I'm afraid I won't be able to survive this winter. Zhengming, my youngest son, I will leave it to you."

He had no biological son, only one daughter. This son was adopted and was only five years old now. His daughter was already married, so Tang Yin couldn't worry about his son.

Incense is always important.

Wen Zhengming is different. He is now the dean of Huangming University, the father of Concubine Shu, and has been granted the title of uncle. Although he is fifty-five years old, he looks much healthier.

This guy really lived a long life. He didn’t die until the 38th year of Jiajing reign, and he lived to be 90 years old!

Tang Yin felt that he should have entrusted the right person.

Wen Zhengming couldn't help wiping his tears when he saw his long-time friend's gesture of entrusting future generations.

Just as he was about to comfort him again, someone from the palace came to deliver the message.

"Congratulations to Dean Tang, congratulations to Dean Tang. The national policy meeting has been agreed upon, and His Majesty has decreed that Dean Tang be at ease and recuperate. After that, the report will be made tomorrow. The Weaving Bureau is still waiting for Dean Tang to analyze the meaning of the flag and assist in weaving."

"Has it been agreed?" Tang Yin was filled with surprise and his face was strangely red.

"Ouch!" The person who came to convey the order knew how to understand colors. He asked in surprise, "Dean Tang, why haven't we seen you for several days? How serious is your illness?"

"It's hard to get back..." Tang Yin confirmed the situation, then took a breath and said, "The implication..."

Do you need to tell it yourself? The emperor knew it, and Wen Zhengming also knew it.

When it comes to Ming Bao Xing, I am afraid that I want to put my name on it so that everyone in the world knows that this Ming Sanchen Banner was made by Tang Yin.

This time I fell ill again, both because of my health and the weather, and also because of the reason for drawing the Three-Chen Flag.

In the beginning, of course, he wanted to be exquisite and painted many patterns and patterns to embellish it.

The emperor said again and again that it should be simpler, but he still felt that what the emperor said meant too much, so he always just thought hard and was in a dilemma.

During this process, even though the final flag pattern was so simple, it took a lot of effort for Tang Yin.

Now that he heard that the matter had been settled, he was certainly a little happy, but he was also even more uneasy.

If such a pattern is spread out, will people say, "This still needs Tang Yin to paint it?"

After a while, he smiled casually and said: "Please tell your majesty, father-in-law, that I am afraid it will be difficult to recover from my illness this time. If you want to inform the world in the Ming Bao Xing, you should order someone to come and ask me as soon as possible."

If word eventually got out that Tang Yin died of a serious illness in part because he "worked so hard" on this simple painting, it would probably be a joke for the ages.

Then just laugh and talk.

Later in the evening, Lin Xiyuan came in person.

Tang Yin weakly raised his arm and pointed at a large bottle with a scroll in the bedroom.

"Your Majesty has assigned this matter to me in April. Several of my drawings are included in it. Maozhen can read it by himself."

Lin Xiyuan took it over and opened it one by one.

I saw at the beginning that there were five mountains, great rivers, dragons and beasts, and the sun, moon and stars living in all directions.

Later, there were patterns with nine cauldrons carrying the sun and the stars and the moon guarding the left and right.

Although there were only sun, moon and stars in the end, there were several editions. From extremely decorative to the last, there were only solid color patterns.

"Do you know why Your Majesty had to be so simple in the end?"

Lin Xiyuan shook his head.

Tang Yin's eyes were dazed for a moment, and then he said: "It means noble and important, but it has many uses. There are countless weaving methods, so it must be simple and cheap. What's more, the most important thing is simplicity. Your Majesty said that only simple patterns can make the Ming Dynasty famous."

Many people who are illiterate and do not know allusions remember the things they are most familiar with at a glance. The sun and the moon combine to become bright, the stars are divided into five angles, and the five elements are interdependent. Whether one star or one angle represents a person, a family, or an industry, they are all living in the world.

The background color of the land of the Ming Dynasty is red. Your Majesty hopes that the monarchs, ministers and people will all know that it means the continuous inheritance of the Chinese blood."

Staring at Lin Xiyuan, Tang Yin finally said solemnly: "The sun, moon and stars are all in bright yellow, and your majesty also wants to tell the people of the world. The Taizu was born in a young age, and he was respected as the emperor because he continued the Chinese orthodoxy. If the monarch, ministers and people have a country in their hearts, then

Everyone is honored.”

Lin Xiyuan was shocked: What about the humble status that is still there?

…
To be continued...