In the eighth month of autumn, on the first day of the lunar month, there is a birthday party for the Supreme Emperor.
After the sacrifice, the eunuchs rang bells and sang rituals, and held banquets for hundreds of officials to celebrate their birthdays according to civil and military standards.
This birthday banquet is huge and preparations have been started more than half a month ago.
In the early morning, all the civil and military officials in Beijing, including those with official positions and titles, were required to enter the palace in batches to meet and celebrate their birthdays.
The officials attended the Emperor's birthday banquet on behalf of the people, so they also had to give gifts on behalf of the people.
This gift-giving is also a matter of particular importance. It must be able to express your feelings, and it must not be seen everywhere, let alone appear too extravagant and extravagant.
For example, Xue Hong sent a normal version of a landscape painting without cats and mice that he painted. It adopts a modern realistic painting method and it looks pretty good.
After the gift giving is over, the birthday celebrations begin.
First, Emperor Longqing took his brothers, sisters, and children to wish the Supreme Emperor a birthday, and then it was the turn of the ministers.
The first people to enter the palace to celebrate his birthday were civil servants, headed by several cabinet elders and six ministers. Xue Hong was among the six ministers. Although Chen Chen had a marquis, he was a civil servant and a lay official, so he was behind Xue Hong.
"I wish your Majesty the Emperor a long and prosperous life!"
This is also the first time Xue Hong has seen the Supreme Emperor. He is obviously over eighty years old. His eyes are not as clear and kind as those of ordinary old people. Instead, they have a self-centered aura. When he was young, he seemed to be dictatorial and independent-minded.
The Supreme Emperor briefly glanced at the ministers, and suddenly his eyes rested on Xue Hong for a moment, but it was only fleeting, and then he smiled and said: "Everyone, please get up."
Next are the military officers and nobles, headed by Prince Yi Zhong and King Beijing, one of the only four kings in the capital, followed by a group of nobles and military commanders ranked according to their rank. This is a bit intriguing.
...A member of the royal family did not celebrate his birthday with Emperor Longqing, but actually mingled with the nobles...
After all the ministers paid their birthdays, it was time for the opening program.
I saw ten teams of children, arranged in an orderly manner, singing and dancing from outside the Meridian Gate. The children's team dance included more than 200 children of about twelve years old, red, purple, silver and green, colorful, wearing brocade coats and wide shirts, wearing jade crowns, and
People wearing turbans, dancing swords, holding brocade sticks, holding treasure trays, straddling carved arrows, pretending to be barbarians came to offer treasures to the court, and the scene was lively and spectacular.
The leading children held big flags, and the children behind them acted as barbarian leaders, holding jade pendants and jade ornaments to offer gifts.
Perhaps infected by the cute appearance of these children, the Supreme Emperor clapped his hands and laughed: "These children dance well! Kudos!"
Next, people pushed a flower wall over, and saw a big longevity character inlaid on the flower wall, which was quite festive.
The salutes were fired, the colorful flags were flying, the bands lined up on both sides, and the eunuchs sang salutes and blew the horns.
Emperor Longqing: "Father, my sons and I know that our father is lenient and benevolent, so we have decreed that all civil and military officials will have a three-day holiday starting from the birthday of our father.
Prisoners shall not be executed within three days in order to promote the saintliness of our father."
Although the Supreme Emperor was interested in fighting Emperor Longqing, at least he still wanted to make it clear. He helped Emperor Longqing up and said, "The Emperor is determined."
Next, the civil and military officials took their seats according to their rank. Xue Hong and Chen Chen did not sit on the military honors side, nor did they directly sit on the civil servants side, as Zhu Hui had instructed in advance.
Zhu Hui sat down directly behind the prince, and stretched out his hand to call Xue Hong over.
The location was chosen by Zhu Hui in advance, and he briefly discussed moral ideals with the people from the Ministry of Etiquette, and the other party agreed.
How do you say this position... the pure sixth position.
Because of its location at the front, the view is very good and everything in the hall can be seen at a glance.
But similarly, it would be a bit difficult for others to see the three of them clearly, because there were five princes blocking them in front of them.
As for whether anyone would dare to cause trouble because of Zhu Hui's random change of positions, Zhu Hui said: I have never fought against officials from the six ministries and the Imperial Academy. Who dares to cause trouble for me?
As soon as Xue Hong and Chen Chen sat down, Zhu Hui brought out a large plate of peanuts out of nowhere: "We have drinks here, but melon seeds are not convenient. Let's just eat peanuts. We will have some fun later."
Zhu Hui originally wanted to get melon seeds, but after thinking about it, Emperor Longqing might punish him for leading Xue Hong and Chen Chen to eat melon seeds in the palace, so he gave up.
Next, desserts were given to all the civil and military officials, and they were also given to the ten ministers in the palace according to their rank.
Officials of the fourth to fifth grades have seven levels, and those below the fifth level have three levels sitting near the fifth level.
Jia Zheng sat next to the Meridian Gate with a depressed expression, sitting with several petty officials who had not bothered to talk to him in the past.
Even Jia Lian and Jia Rong, who had donated a fifth-grade co-intellect, and Jia Rong, a candidate guard of the Dragon Imperial Guard, were seated in front of Jia Zheng.
These officials all came from serious imperial examinations and entered the Hanlin, and they also have arrogance in their hearts: You have become a sixth-grade official by relying on your father. Why are you a good-for-nothing who has been sitting in the imperial examination for more than ten years? You look down on us, and we still look down on you. Woolen cloth!
Therefore, a group of officials chatted animatedly, but Jia Zheng was ignored.
Jia Zheng looked at the hall in the distance, his eyes full of yearning. His father obviously liked him so much, why didn't he pass on the title to him?
Among the twelve snacks served to the ministers in the hall, one was peach blossom cake.
When Zhu Hui saw Peach Blossom Cake, he seemed to be reminded of some not-so-good memories. Xue Hong clearly saw that Zhu Hui's hair stood on end, as if he had seen something terrible.
Xue Hong was so amused that she picked up a piece of peach blossom pastry and stuffed it into her mouth, then handed one to Chen Chen and Zhu Hui each.
Chen Chen directly took it and threw it into his mouth, while Zhu Hui's face turned pale in an instant and he waved his hand quickly: "Junchen, hurry up, take it away, I feel sick to my stomach when I see this thing."
Xue Hong was a little surprised. Is Zhu Hui's psychological shadow on Taohuasu so serious now?
In the front, hundreds of civil and military officials entertained the ministers. In the harem, Queen Yin was also responsible for entertaining the royal wives, princesses, princesses, etc. in the capital.
As for Mrs. Jia, the older generation's royal wives, Mrs. Zhen was responsible for receiving them.
Because Baochai was granted the status of a county prince by Emperor Longqing and was given the same treatment as the royal family, he was able to follow all the princesses. The princesses sat together, and the position was among the best.
As for Aunt Xue, because Duke Xue was posthumously granted the title of fourth-grade doctor, she managed to become a fourth-grade wife, and her position was not bad.
What's interesting about Mrs. Wang is that although she is the biological mother of Concubine Lan Yuanchun, Queen Yin has no intention of giving special treatment to Mrs. Wang, so she sits not far from the gate with a group of wives of sixth-rank officials.
Mrs. Wang, who is as pretentious and high-minded as Jia Zheng, naturally no one is willing to talk to her. What if it is not that one family does not enter the same house? She and Jia Zheng have exactly the same mentality now, and they have been affected by it. Exactly the same treatment.
After Empress Yin received all the ladies one by one according to etiquette, the next step was the stage of acknowledgment and politeness.
After chatting with the princesses, princesses, and county lords, it was naturally Baochai's turn.
Baochai was wearing the clothes of a county monarch today. She was neither humble nor overbearing in front of the princesses and even the queen. Her slim figure and fair face immediately won the first favor of Queen Yin.