The imperial city was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, exuding the joy of celebrating the festival everywhere. The faces of the hurried eunuchs and maids were filled with smiles, making people suddenly think that it was the New Year.
In fact, the atmosphere of this Mid-Autumn Festival is better than that of the Spring Festival in past years. It is mainly related to the current situation.
The current situation has been turbulent in past years, and no matter how peaceful it is, the gloomy atmosphere in both the government and the public remains lingering.
And now, although the world is not saying that the world is at peace, the court has finally let the royal family breathe a sigh of relief, so the atmosphere has become cheerful.
It was said that during this Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor not only went out of the palace to worship the emperor and the empress, but also held a banquet for hundreds of officials in the palace. This was a rare lively event in many years. Naturally, such a large event would allow the eunuchs and maids in the palace to celebrate They were busy making a group.
The banquet was held at the Qianqing Gate. As the gate of the inner court, the Qianqing Gate was five rooms wide and three rooms deep. It measured an area of 180 square meters in later generations. As an ordinary banquet hall, it was quite spacious and grand, but if you wanted to entertain hundreds of officials, , but it is obviously insufficient. After all, the tables and chairs take up a lot of space. What's more, this is a royal banquet and cannot be like a banquet in the countryside, with ten tables and ten people at each table...
It was not difficult for the Ministry of Rites and the Supervisor of Rites to arrange a table with two rows of seats inside.
In the center is the emperor's seat, and on both sides are the cabinet elders and the three princes and generals.
The rest set up banquets in the tent outside Qianqing Gate.
How many tables have been set?
There are fifty long seats on the left and right, a total of one hundred seats. If we calculate four people per seat, there will be four hundred people!
Some people are surprised, isn't it a hundred officials? This is taking too much risk, and are there so many officials in the court?
It is indeed a hundred officials. Nine hundred counts as a hundred.
But there are really not so many people attending court on weekdays. Although in movies and TV dramas, emperors often appear in court early, with hundreds of civil and military officials standing in rows in the hall. In fact, this phenomenon is rare, except for some grand ceremonies or special festivals. There were many people. Before the Ming Dynasty, only officials of fourth rank or above in Beijing could participate. In the Ming Dynasty, although there was no rank, only three great scholars, six ministers, six ministers, six servants, and a few hand-picked people could go to court. In total, There were only thirty or fifty people.
Naturally, the hundreds of officials attending this banquet of Emperor Chongzhen are not limited to those who usually attend court. Including the nobles in the capital, according to incomplete statistics, there are three princes, twenty marquises and more than fifty uncles in the capital alone... which is nearly a hundred people.
It was either a big festival or a grand gathering. This also shows how depressed Emperor Chongzhen was before, but now he finally felt proud and proud. With a wave of his hand, he hosted more than 400 officials from the capital for the first time in recent years...
The outside of Qianqing Gate is extremely lively but not noisy. After all, this is the entrance to the emperor's home. At this moment, hundreds of officials are whispering to each other in the seats under the tents on both sides, or chatting in small groups. At this moment This place is not only a banquet, an official place, but also a social place. There are many places to introduce each other, pay homage to each other, and recognize the disciples of the hometown.
The cabinet elders in the Qianqing Sect were much quieter, even a little silent, rarely talking to each other, some were even closing their eyes in meditation, and the officials chatting outside would not come to disturb them. This is well known to everyone. Official rules, not to mention on this occasion, Qianqing Sect is not something you can just come in if you want.
The elders sometimes looked at the officials outside the Qianqing Gate, and sometimes glanced inside, which was just a meow. After all, it was the emperor's inner chamber, so keep your eyes peeled. Being too casual would be disrespectful. .
There is tea and snacks on the table to satisfy your hunger, but the serious food and drinks will have to wait until the emperor comes. As for when the emperor will come, no one is sure, so just wait.
Chang Yu entered the palace from Donghua Gate and walked slowly with his hands behind his back. From time to time he encountered hurried eunuchs and maids who hurriedly greeted him. He just nodded and stopped when passing by Duanben Palace: "Your Highness the Crown Prince Where is it?"
The accompanying young eunuch quickly said: "We should be in Qianqing Palace at this time."
Chang Yu continued walking without saying anything, and saw the lively scene outside Qianqing Gate from a distance. He couldn't help but be startled. There were so many people, or to be precise, so many officials! This was the most officials he had ever seen in time. Having seen such big scenes, he felt a little nervous, so he quickly changed his walking posture and walked forward with his hands on his chest.
Why change the walking posture?
This is another rule. These days, people of certain status walk in a square step, which is what ordinary people call official steps. The square steps are upright and particularly imposing. To put it crudely, it means they are quite stylish, while ordinary people and The woman walked in small steps.
As the governor of Dongchang, Chang Yu is of course also a person of status. Even if he doesn't want to show off his power when he goes to the countryside and does as the Romans do, he can't act like a second-rate person when he is so powerful, and he has more or less the tone of a square step.
But why did he suddenly change his walking posture now?
As the saying goes, people’s words are terrible!
He is a eunuch, no matter how powerful he is, he is still a eunuch, not an official, especially in the palace. No matter how powerful you are outside, you are just a servant of the emperor's family here.
So in front of hundreds of officials, where are you showing off and showing off your official steps?
You can, but it's not necessary and you'll get spit on your face.
Chang Yu didn't want to provoke unnecessary saliva anymore, so he simply changed his walking posture. It was not a square step, but it was not the typical eunuch's small step with his chest and waist bent, but his walking posture was a normal look in later generations. Although he held his hands, he held his head high. Hold your chest out.
Even the eunuch I am is a powerful eunuch, so I have to walk differently from ordinary eunuchs!
Eunuchs and maids came and went, but no one noticed Chang Yu at first, but soon someone noticed the difference. They recognized his identity with sharp eyes and then whispered to the people next to him, and then a dramatic scene occurred.
Wherever Chang Yu passed, hundreds of officials on both sides watched in silence.
Look, look, I am so handsome. Chang Yu looks at his nose and his heart. Regardless of whether the officials on both sides know him or not, he doesn't look at or say hello.
"So this is the big eunuch." After Chang Yu passed by, an official whispered: "He is really a dirty kid..."
"Hey, Mr. Li, if you say this, you won't be afraid that the eunuch will cause trouble for you."
"Oh, I'm afraid of him..."
When leading troops to fight in military parades, there was no one without thousands of troops. Chang Yu never had stage fright and never felt weak. However, he did not expect that walking more than a hundred steps under the eyes of hundreds of officials made his palms sweat. After finally reaching the door of Qianqing, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The Qianqing Gate has three doors. Only the emperor can enter through the middle door, while the left and right exits can be entered on both sides. Before Chang Yu went up the steps of the Qianqing Gate, someone stood up to greet him. It was Zhou Yuji and Li Yantang. When I met a few people, others looked at me sideways, and some even showed disdain.
Chang Yu hurriedly walked in, and it was clear at a glance that these guys are all big bosses.
The cabinet elders headed by Li Banghua and all the academicians sat in the row on the left. The three princes, Zhou Yuji, Li Yan, Tang Tong and others sat in the row on the right. They faced each other from east to west and were divided into two sides of the chairman. What surprised him was that Wu Sangui actually There, too, and sitting in the same row as Zhou Yuji.
This is intriguing.
Those who can sit in the Qianqing Gate, except for the cabinet and the Duke of the Three Kingdoms, the remaining Zhou Yuji and others are all nobles of the Zhuguo Kingdom in terms of titles, official positions, and military ranks, but Wu Sangui is obviously inferior. , he only has a chief military officer by his side, but he is ranked in the Qianqing sect. What does the group of Hou Boshi and nobles outside the sect think?
Just look with your eyes!
Chang Yu didn't have time to think about anything else, he was busy greeting everyone, starting with the Duke of the Three Kingdoms and then the cabinet boss. Some people greeted him with a smile, some were polite, some were indifferent to him, and some even teased Zhou Yuji and the others in a low voice. He surrendered himself to welcome him and forgot his own identity...
Chang Yu and Zhou Yuji all smiled indifferently and didn't care. After all, in his eyes, the cabinet boss or the Duke of the Three Kingdoms would say hello to you if he gave you face. If he didn't give you face, he wouldn't even bother to talk to you. Only Zhou Yuji Talents are good buddies!
Wu Sangui didn't speak much, but his eyes were eager: "I haven't seen the Governor for a long time." He was the only one in the Qianqing sect who was not qualified to call Eunuch Chang, but only the Governor. Chang Yu smiled slightly: "Indeed, If you have time tomorrow, we can go to General Wu's house for a drink and let's catch up on old times and listen to Mr. Chen's wonderful music. I feel nervous after not listening to it for a long time."
Wu Sangui was overjoyed: "I will sweep the couch to wait..."
Over there, Wu Sheng began to pout again, but others seemed to take it as a matter of course.
In the past two years, the great eunuch and the generals have maintained close personal relations at home and abroad. It is known to both the government and the public. It is also known to both the government and the public that the great eunuch loves watching plays and listening to music. The good songs sung by Wu Sangui's concubine Chen Yuanyuan are also obvious to everyone in the circle. , it’s normal for him to go to his house to drink and listen to music.
See, this is because times are different, and people’s values and world views are also different.
If in the future, you tell your friend that your wife dances very wildly and sings very well, I will go over and ask her to sing and dance for me... I guess he will smash the bottle before you finish saying this. coming.
But these days, it's very honorable for someone to praise you so much.
Of course, then again, concubines these days, especially those from such a wealthy family, are not wives at all. They are slightly better than prostitutes, but they are not used casually to entertain guests.
What's more, Chen Yuanyuan was born as a young lady. During her time in Huachuan, she was committed to many people. Before entering Beijing, there were several famous people. She was sent to the palace for a while, and then she became a prostitute of Tian Hongyu's family. , he was attracted by Wu Sangui when he entertained her for a banquet, and then gave it to Wu Sangui. To put it bluntly, even if she became a good person, she would still be a miserable woman who was treated as a prostitute.
When I write this, I suddenly feel that they are in such a mess. You see, Tian Hongyu is the father-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen. After Concubine Tian died of illness, he was afraid of falling out of favor, so he went to the south of the Yangtze River to look for the beautiful woman Chen Yuanyuan to bring to the palace. After staying in the palace for several months, Emperor Chongzhen even No matter how unintentional a woman is, it is impossible that she has never had sex with a woman. At most, she is not addicted to it. Later, Chen Yuanyuan was sent back to Tian Hongyu's house and was treated as a prostitute. Do you think such a beautiful woman was the boss of the house and the old man did it? Later, in order to curry favor with him, Wu Sangui gave Chen Yuanyuan to Wu Sangui again, and recognized Chen Yuanyuan as his goddaughter, as his father-in-law...