On a full moon night, when the lanterns are lit, the people in Sijiu City are busy and bustling side by side, enjoying this rare festival in more than ten years. Although the Mid-Autumn Festival happens every year, there are really not many years where it is as lively and peaceful as this year. Passed.
The Forbidden City was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and all the officials outside the Qianqing Gate returned to their seats and sat in complete silence.
"Your Majesty, can we start now?" Wang Chengen asked in a low voice behind Emperor Chongzhen inside the Qianqing Gate.
Emperor Chongzhen looked around and frowned: "We haven't all gathered yet, so why worry?"
This casual sentence really made all the elders in the hall startled: Is there anyone else? Who would let the emperor wait for such a big score?
Even Chang Yu was a little curious.
Wang Chengen reacted quickly and gave himself a gentle slap: "Your Majesty, forgive me, it was a small oversight." After saying that, he quickly turned around and made a gesture to the eunuch waiting outside the door of Qianqing Palace, and the eunuch flew away. go.
After a while, a palace maid led a woman to the door of Qianqing in a hurry. The officials stretched their necks to look and whispered, "Who is that?"
Even the elders in the Qianqing Sect were very curious, who was this woman? She didn't look like a concubine in the palace.
In the blink of an eye, the woman went up to the palace and prostrated herself outside the door: "I am late, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Everyone took a closer look, hey, this woman was actually wearing an official uniform. They looked again, hey, isn’t this Li Yan’s wife, the Red Lady?
It turned out to be the red lady. After Chang Yu saw it clearly, he smiled indifferently and turned his head to look at Li Yan and saw that he had a surprised look on his face. It was obvious that he did not know beforehand that his wife was also coming to the banquet, and because of that, official status.
Many people wonder whether there were female officials in the Ming Dynasty?
have!
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lao Zhu established female officials, but they were only responsible for managing the harem, and they were abolished over time.
I don’t know if it existed after that, but at the time of Emperor Chongzhen, there was Qin Liangyu.
Now there is another red lady.
The Red Lady was originally a female general. After surrendering to Li Yan, she also participated in several battles. Later, under the encouragement of Chang Yu, she became the director of the military hospital. This was an official yamen and it had an official status.
The management of which department a hospital belongs to varies from dynasty to dynasty. In one dynasty, medical practitioners belonged to the Ministry of Works, because doctors were also craftsmen. In the Ming Dynasty, imperial hospitals fell under the Ministry of Household Affairs, while folk medical hospitals did not belong to them. In the Qing Dynasty, hospitals belonged to the Ministry of Rites.
But this military hospital was newly built by Chang Yu. It only serves military personnel, so it is neither a medical hospital nor a civilian. It is under the name of the Ministry of War. Under the Ministry of War, there are Treasury Department, Driving Department, etc. Now there is a medical department. The Red Lady is the head of the Medical Department and is a sixth-grade official. Her official title is not high, but she has a military rank and is a fourth-grade general. More importantly, she has a husband, Li Yan, who is more than a first-grade officer, so the Red Lady is still a first-grade general. lady!
The Ming Dynasty had a very complete system of imperial titles. Officials of the first to fifth grades were granted imperial titles, and officials of the sixth to ninth grade were granted imperial titles. The wives followed the husband's rank. In the old days, there was a saying of "the imperial titles wife". The imperial wives were related to their husbands' official positions. There was a salary. , no real power.
As a first-class wife, she can enjoy some privileges, such as being able to attend banquets hosted by the queen in the harem during major festivals.
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet of Hundreds of Officials. Although it is not a banquet hosted by the Queen, the Red Lady is not attending as a royal wife. She is here as an official. Of course, the sixth-rank official of the Ministry of War can enter the Qianqing Sect, then The emperor's grace is absolutely indispensable.
As for why he wanted to be mighty, it was not because he favored Li Yan.
"They made a mistake. It has nothing to do with you. Come in quickly." Emperor Chongzhen smiled faintly. The red lady thanked her and stood up and walked in. I really don't blame her for being late this time. After all, it would be better for a woman to wait with all the officials.
If there was any inconvenience, he was arranged to wait in a hall outside the inner court until the emperor came out.
Unexpectedly, the eunuch below was busy and missed something and did not notify him in time.
In normal times, Emperor Chongzhen would have been furious about this matter, but at this moment, when he saw the expressions on the ministers' faces, it had an unexpected effect, he became secretly happy, unintentionally inserting willows and willows into the shade, and the ministers thought that she had done this intentionally and gave it to Li
Rock pavilion.
Wang Chengen introduced the red lady to his seat, which instantly surprised all the ministers.
Dinner with the Crown Prince and King Deok!
this……
Okay, after all, the red lady is a civil servant now, and it is not appropriate to sit with a group of military generals, but she definitely does not want to sit with Li Banghua and his gang, and those civil servants also feel good about themselves and do not want to sit with a woman.
But he was not allowed to sit at the same table with the concubines in the harem, so he was directly arranged to sit at the same table with the prince and the prince.
It seems like a makeshift move, but it’s actually a blessing!
It can be said that for a sixth-grade official, the treatment is better than that of a first-grade official!
At this moment, the ministers could no longer remain calm and looked strange, but no one stood up to protest. However, all kinds of sadness were unavoidable afterwards. Emperor Chongzhen took in all the expressions of everyone, and a faint smile escaped from the corner of his mouth.
He nodded slightly to Wang Chengen next to him.
Then Wang Chengen walked out of the Qianqing Gate and called in front of the palace. The imperial moon appreciation banquet began. Hundreds of eunuchs and palace ladies filed out. Fine wine and delicacies were served one after another. All the officials were beaming with joy. Whether the food was delicious or not was not important. What was important was that this was a palace banquet.
Ah, eating is a feast for the eyes and an honor.
Wine is the favorite of officials. Not to mention the current ban on alcohol. For ordinary officials, if they want to drink, they really can't get it. What's more, this is a tribute wine. Everyone's eyes are green and their mouths are watering. The dishes are all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas.
It’s not important that it’s delicious, it’s that the exquisitely made food and the unique look make people’s appetites whet their appetites.
Of course, this is Baiguan's thoughts, but it does not represent Chang Yu's thoughts. For him, eating this royal banquet is really not as comfortable as eating a bowl of wontons on the street.
Because there are too many rules in the palace, even this hundred-official banquet has a lot of rules. If you go beyond the rules, you will be scolded or made fun of by your colleagues. When the food and wine are served, you can’t move quickly. Even if the wine bug is violent, you have to endure it first.
Because the first three cups must be made to the Emperor, the Queen, and the Queen.
Emperor Chongzhen raised his glass and walked out of the Qianqing Gate and stood in front of the palace. All the officials raised their glasses and went out. Following the emperor's movements, they spread wine to worship the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth before returning to their seats. Then the eunuchs and maids around him filled the cups. Yes, I didn't think so.
Just pour the wine. There is a eunuch and a palace maid serving next to each seat, who are dedicated to pouring the wine and passing the dishes. He will pour it after you finish your drink.
After offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, all the ministers paid tribute to the emperor. They first uttered a long list of praises, whether they were true or false, but the emperor was happy. Then he drank with the ministers, and then the emperor returned to the Qianqing Gate to sit down, and then had a banquet.
That’s just the beginning.
Some people may be curious about what people talk about at a big banquet. You can't just stare and drink and eat food.
There was a lot to talk about, but one thing is for sure, government affairs will never be mentioned.
You can just chat casually, folk rumors, street gossip, legends about gods and ghosts, anecdotes and fun things. You can chat with the emperor inside the Qianqing Gate, and chat with the people outside. Anyway, no one can hear anyone else. Of course, you can't just drink and chat.
, a real banquet always has a program.
There is a word called singing and dancing to bring peace!
Yes, this kind of occasion must have singing and dancing, so the banquet began, singing and dancing came on stage, and the palace musicians took turns playing, playing and singing outside the Qianqing Gate, and dancing gracefully pushed the banquet to its peak. This is what all the officials love to see. The program is the most enjoyable process. While I exchange glasses with my colleagues and chat all over the world, I watch the dancers having sex. It is always exciting and refreshing.
But for Chang Yu, the days are as difficult as years. He stands while others are sitting and drinking, and he has to wait on others. There are only a few maids and eunuchs in the Qianqing Gate, but they are all big ones. The eunuch serves in person. After all, the people sitting here are all elders, and they have been assigned their respective duties. For example, Wang Chengen takes care of the row of elders in the cabinet. Of course, he does not have to pour the wine and serve the dishes himself, but is only responsible for commanding there. Wang Dehua, the palace maid, was in charge of Zhou Yuji's row of generals, while Chang Yu had to personally serve the emperor's family, help pour wine, and pick up food when necessary.
He also knew Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts in his heart. This was the second signal he conveyed. Did you see how he was showing off his power outside? No matter how powerful he was, even though he was wearing a bullfight suit, he was still just a slave serving me. You can both use him and command him.
This signal was conveyed to both parties, both to the cabinet elders and ministers, and to Chang Yu.
This signal was conveyed very successfully. Some people ate, drank, listened to music and danced, and even glanced at Chang Yu secretly, with a playful smile on their lips.
But Chang Yu, who has a strong psychological quality, doesn't actually care about this. Really, he doesn't care.
However, Nima asked me to wait for you to eat and drink while I was hungry, but I felt very angry!
You must know that Chang Yu and Kuang Ren drank a bowl of mutton soup at noon in a street restaurant. Before they finished drinking, they went to catch the thief. Being hungry can be tolerated in normal times, but when a person is hungry, he will always look at the delicacies in front of him, so he will be even hungrier.
"Thank you, Eunuch Chang." Every time Chang Yu helped King De to refill his drink, Zhu Youli thanked him in a low voice, which was quite polite. On the other hand, the prince was very naughty, "Are you hungry... are you really thinking about it?" Eat, your mouth will be watering..."
Chang Yu always pokes him or pinches him secretly when no one is paying attention, but these small actions cannot escape the eyes of Princess Kunxing who has been paying attention to him, causing Princess Kunxing to snicker in a low voice, without knowing it. Queen Yi'an thought that her eldest niece liked this occasion. Otherwise, why would she be so happy today if she was not usually deserted.
Emperor Chongzhen was enjoying the singing and dancing while chatting with his concubines and civil and military ministers. It was obvious that he was in high spirits. The emperor and his ministers laughed cheerfully from time to time, and toasted each other from time to time. Chang Yu was busy serving his family, but Zhou The queen was considerate of him and secretly stuffed a snack for him, which moved Chang Yu very much. He said that the people in the palace were ruthless, but Queen Zhou was absolutely sincere to him.
It was this piece of snack that made Chang Yu feel less angry, and he waited patiently beside him. He knew that this was just the beginning. After three rounds of drinking and singing and dancing, when the moon was in the sky, the emperor would once again be arty with a bunch of monarchs and ministers. Let's enjoy the moon together, and if the mood strikes, we'll write poems and lyrics... Hehe, how can it be as fun as playing skewers on the street... Looking at the scenes in front of him, Chang Yu really felt bored.
Before entering the palace, he had already prepared in his mind that he would never be too peaceful today and would be given eye drops. However, he did not expect that he would be serving tea and pouring wine from beginning to end, without even having a chance to sit down!
Hey, the news about him today will be spread all over the capital tomorrow. After adding more fuel and jealousy, it will definitely be the number one hot search topic.
This may be the effect the emperor wanted.
I praise him from time to time and hit him from time to time. Are you tired?