With the arrival of Zhao Junchen, dozens of carriages filled with congratulatory gifts made all the officials waiting outside the Meridian Gate gasp in amazement, pointing and talking. Many officials from the DPRK and the Central Government gathered at Zhao Junchen.
Junchen and others are deliberately trying to please him.
While Zhao Junchen was dealing with the greetings from the officials, he was marveling at Emperor Deqing's generosity.
Along the way, Zhao Junchen had already noticed that the capital had changed greatly because of the birthday of Emperor Deqing. From the west of Beijing to the Forbidden City, Qingyi was connected. Along the way, there were colorful squares one after another, and there were lantern shops and lantern towers.
There are countless lantern galleries and dragon tents; ordinary people's houses and various shops all have colorful incense tables, burning incense and praying for blessings; temples and temples along the way set up large celebration sutra altars; along the road, various ministries, temples, prisons and other government offices in the capital also built sutra booths and set up colorful sutra booths.
The square is very lively.
However, after arriving at the Meridian Gate, Zhao Junchen realized that compared with the changes in the palace, the lively celebrations in the capital were nothing.
At this time, the Meridian Gate opened early, and hundreds of officials entered one after another. Zhao Junchen was stunned by the luxury in the palace.
I saw that in the Forbidden City, craftsmen used colorful paintings, cloth, silk and other materials to make colorful walls and corridors, and decorated the palace corridors in a colorful way. There were also "Longevity without Boundaries" and "Emperor's Emperor" made of colorful silk.
Big characters such as "Ten Thousand Years" appear prominently on the colorful walls; everywhere you look, the trees in the palace are decorated with red and green silks, which are gorgeous and colorful; there are high sheds everywhere, and artists from the workshops are singing and dancing endlessly, and the palace is nearby, and people are having fun.
They played "Qianqiu Music", "Qianqiuzi" and other birthday celebration songs in unison. When they got tired, they would change to another one without interruption.
Emperor Deqing spent nearly 400,000 taels of silver from his internal treasury for his birthday. Zhao Junchen originally thought that some eunuchs in the palace had tampered with it, but with just a glimpse outside the Meridian Gate, Zhao Junchen already understood
, these 400,000 taels of silver were probably used without complaint. Even if the eunuchs in the palace tampered with it, the amount of money they spent was only a fraction.
Not to mention other things, just look at the colorful walls and colorful corridors made of silk and satin. If they were really all over the palace, they would cost tens of thousands of taels of silver, not to mention renovations inside the palace and purchases outside the palace.
"Is this singing and dancing to bring peace? Or is it whitewashing peace? Or is it extravagant and lustful?"
Thinking of the embarrassment of the people he saw in Lu'an Mansion, Zhao Junchen secretly shook his head.
While Zhao Junchen was thinking about it, the palace guards had already inspected the gift brought by Zhao Junchen. They were also a little stunned, but there was nothing prohibited, so they quickly let it go.
......... After entering the palace, all kinds of congratulatory gifts were arranged and carried by the people in the palace. Zhao Junchen came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to wait. Looking around, he found that the Hall of Supreme Harmony at this time was completely different from the usual morning court.
Rarely seen nobles from the clan can be seen everywhere, but there are not many officials in the court. The officials who are qualified to wait in the Hall of Supreme Harmony are all important ministers in the court.
In fact, so many people came to congratulate Emperor Deqing on his birthday that all officials in the court and below the third rank could only wait outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony to pay their respects.
Perhaps due to the poor reputation, although there were many unfamiliar noble clan members in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, few were interested in making friends with Zhao Junchen. Most of them were surrounded by the Crown Prince Zhu Heyu, the First Assistant Zhou Shangjing, the Pavilion Elder Huang Yourong, Shen Changmao and others.
, but the only person accompanying Zhao Junchen was Zuo Lanshan, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was chatting with each other.
Just when Zhao Junchen was feeling bored, the bells and drums rang, and Emperor Deqing, with his queen, concubines, and princes, finally arrived.
"My dear friends, please stand up quickly."
After shouting "Long Live the Mountain", Emperor Deqing asked everyone to stand up with a loud voice.
Zhao Junchen stood behind the queue. When he stood up, he secretly looked up and saw that Emperor Deqing was in a very good mood, with a rosy face and a radiant face. His three beautiful beards had been deliberately trimmed, making him look much younger.
After everyone in the palace stood up, Emperor Deqing then raised his voice and said: "I am very happy today, not because it is my fifty-fifth birthday, but because everything that everyone has done before and after this birthday ceremony has made me see
The prosperity of the Ming Dynasty has allowed me to see the loyalty and filial piety of the officials and people all over the world towards me, and has allowed me to see the harmony between the kings and ministers in the court! In this way, why should I worry about the Ming Dynasty not being able to be passed down for hundreds of thousands of years?"
As Emperor Deqing finished speaking, all the officials in the palace honored the clan and shouted "Your Majesty is wise".
Emperor Deqing continued: "To express the universal celebration, I decree today to grant amnesty to all officials in the court. Officials of the second rank and above will be given pearls, gold and silk, officials of the fourth rank and above will be given gold mirrors, and officials below the fifth rank will be given
I will give you a bag of pearls and silk, and all the states in the world will give you a three-day holiday for feasting!"
When Zhao Junchen was shouting "Your Majesty is wise" along with the crowd, another eunuch screamed: "The longevity ceremony has begun, let's have fun!"
In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's birthday was also called the "Wanshou Festival". It was juxtaposed with the two major festivals of "Chao Sui" and "Sacrifice to Heaven", which added to the solemn atmosphere and gave it a more noble meaning.
First of all, the rules and etiquette are naturally extremely complicated.
First of all, all the officials, nobles, and clan members saluted Emperor Deqing. It was not an ordinary salute, but a thirty-three salute. Zhao Junchen only had to follow suit. After the salute, he saw many older people
The officials and nobles were already trembling and their faces were pale, but Emperor Deqing was not aware of it and just looked at it with a smile.
Then, the famous officials, nobles, scholars, and princes from the government and the public presented congratulations to Emperor Deqing in turn. Although Zhao Junchen was the number one scholar in the 29th year of Deqing, he did not have enough prestige and qualifications for such a ceremony.
He still had nothing to do, just listen to those acid Confucians reciting long essays mostly composed of parallel prose and Li sentences.
To be honest, Zhao Junchen didn't understand most of the words and sentences in these articles, but he still looked like he was intoxicated by them and deeply convinced of them.
During this period, there were all kinds of elegant music, not to mention singing and dancing.
When all the ceremonies were over, it was finally time for everyone to present congratulatory gifts and birthday messages to Emperor Deqing, and it was finally time for Zhao Junchen to steal the show.
As expected by Zhao Junchen, the congratulatory gifts given to Emperor Deqing by the officials and nobles in the palace were relatively ordinary. Most of them were calligraphy, famous paintings, antiques and other elegant items. They seemed precious, but compared with the net worth of everyone in the palace,
But it was a drop in the bucket, and the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhou Shangjing, only presented Emperor Deqing with a birthday poem written by himself.
In the face of these congratulatory gifts, Emperor Deqing also responded with many words of thanks and comfort, but there were fewer surprises and the process was a little dull. Emperor Deqing was a little enthusiastic at the beginning, but later he became a little dull.
Already.
Just when everyone was bored, a eunuch called out sharply: "The Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the general manager of the internal transportation warehouse, Zhao Junchen, would like to send you a congratulatory gift and a birthday message!"
As the eunuch's voice fell, everyone in the palace focused their attention on Zhao Junchen. Even Emperor Deqing was refreshed.
Obviously, without knowing it, everyone regarded Zhao Junchen's gift as the highlight of the Longevity Festival.
"Oh? It's Zhao Aiqing's turn to present birthday gifts?" Emperor Deqing rarely spoke before the birthday gifts appeared, with a look full of anticipation: "I heard about Zhao Aiqing before coming to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
In order to carry the gifts, a total of thirty-seven carriages were used. In previous years, the gifts sent by Zhao Aiqing were unique. I don’t think this year’s gift will disappoint me, so I will send it to you as soon as possible.”
As Emperor Deqing finished speaking, there was an uproar in the palace. Some people came early, but they didn't know that Zhao Junchen's gifts this year would require dozens of carriages to carry them.
Under the attention of everyone, Zhao Junchen quickly stepped out of the queue, saluted Emperor Deqing with a smile and said: "Your Majesty, this year's gift is somewhat different from previous years. There are three items in total, one of which was given to Your Majesty by someone else on behalf of the minister.
of."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, everyone in the palace was stunned. In so many years of Wanshou Festival, this was the first time that someone had given gifts to the emperor on behalf of others.
Emperor Deqing, however, became even more interested. He raised his voice and urged: "Oh? There are three gifts? Zhao Aiqing really took the trouble. Quickly bring them over for me to enjoy."
Following Emperor Deqing's urging, the eunuchs in the palace quickly presented the congratulatory gifts.
With the joint efforts of four famous eunuchs to carry it, Zhao Junchen's first congratulatory gift finally appeared in the eyes of everyone.
It is a floor-standing single-pendulum mechanical clock. Not only is it as tall as a person, it is also extremely exquisite and luxurious. It is decorated with dragons and phoenixes on the outside, with gold and jade as the base, dragon needles and jade carvings, and gold threads connecting it.
"Oh? It's a pendulum? But it's much taller than ordinary pendulums. It's also more refined and luxurious. It looks luxurious and grand. Compared with ordinary pendulum clocks, it also has a more royal look. Zhao Aiqing is really interested."
Seeing the pendulum mechanical clock brought by the eunuchs, Emperor Deqing liked it very much and nodded repeatedly.
As early as the Wanli period, foreign envoys presented mechanical clocks. After receiving the gift, Emperor Wanli admired it very much. He watched it almost every day and stroked it every night. He also issued an order to establish a palace manufacturing office specializing in the production of mechanical clocks.
The workshop was exclusively for the use of him, his relatives and close ministers.
However, although there were palace manufacturing workshops, most of the mechanical clocks they produced were imitations with no innovation, and they were all small mechanical clocks placed on tables.
As for the mechanical clock presented by Zhao Junchen, the manufacturing process is actually not difficult, at least it can be made in palace workshops. However, it is seven feet tall, decorated with gold and jade, and has dragon and phoenix carvings, but it is much more majestic and luxurious. Emperor Deqing naturally liked it.
.
Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I have made a total of fifty-five large pendulums similar to this to celebrate your Majesty's fifty-fifth birthday. They are not only sent to Your Majesty, but also to all the empresses in the palace. In this way,
Come, with the popularity in the palace, Your Majesty can be seen not only wherever he goes."
Emperor Deqing looked surprised and laughed: "Oh? There are actually fifty-five? Zhao Aiqing took the trouble, and I am very relieved. However, such a congratulatory gift is only the first gift. With Zhao Aiqing's temperament,
The next two gifts will definitely be more novel and rare, so please bring them over quickly."
Zhao Junchen nodded with a smile and said to Emperor Deqing: "Your Majesty, this second congratulatory gift was borrowed by me to offer flowers to the Buddha. It was not prepared deliberately by me, but someone asked me to give it to your majesty. It's just that the quantity is too large and it's not enough."
Just like this pendulum, I only brought one piece for Your Majesty to see, and I also asked Your Majesty to move to the outside of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to watch it with all the ministers."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Emperor Deqing became more and more curious. Although Zhao Junchen's request was a bit unruly, Emperor Deqing was very interested and said with a smile: "Oh? What kind of gift is it? You need to let me come.
Watch it outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony? That’s fine, just follow Zhao Aiqing’s wishes. Dear friends, would you like to go with me to observe Zhao Aiqing’s congratulatory gift?”
In response to Emperor Deqing's inquiry, everyone in the palace was naturally unwilling. Under the leadership of Emperor Deqing, they came outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony one after another.
Then, both Emperor Deqing and all the officials were shocked by the scene outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony...
