After the funeral of Hong Juncheng, Hong Zhenji officially ascended the throne and was named Jianshi, the divine king of Jianshi.
On the matter of determining the year name, the Ministry of Rites has put forward many suggestions, including Yuan Yan, Yuan He, Zhang He...
In Hong Zhenji's opinion, these era names are actually a bit mediocre.
He wanted to show what made him unique, but Hong Zhenji himself couldn't explain exactly how he was different.
Qin Yan told Xu Zhiqiong the matter, and Xu Zhiqiong knew what Hong Zhenji was thinking.
What he calls different is the difference from Hong Juncheng. He wants people to forget Hong Juncheng as soon as possible, along with Hong Juncheng's heirs.
Xu Zhiqiong asked Qin Yan to provide the year of Jianshi. Hong Zhenji felt the magnanimity of establishing a new era in the year and chose it immediately.
For the enthronement ceremony, Hong Zhenji wanted to make it grand, but Qin Yan suggested that Hong Zhenji keep it simple.
"The funeral ceremony of the late emperor should be simple. If the ceremony for the divine monarch's enthronement is too extravagant, he is afraid of attracting criticism."
Hong Zhenji was very dissatisfied: "Since I am a divine king and have ascended to the great treasure according to ancient rituals, what's the point of criticism?"
Hong Juncheng's funeral was not held according to ancient rituals, but Hong Zhenji's enthronement ceremony was reminded of ancient rituals.
To put it bluntly, ascending to the throne is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and Hong Jin-ki wanted to do it in a more glamorous way.
Qin Yan replied: "God Lord, if we plan according to ancient rituals, we must rebuild the palace, build new gardens, prepare pavilions, pavilions, verandahs and various furnishings, summon officials from all over the country to come to congratulate us, and spend money on travel, banquets, and grass."
According to a rough estimate, it cost about eight million taels of silver."
Hong Zhenji frowned and said, "Are you arguing with me about silver? I have a thousand silver coins, but I can't afford these eight million coins?"
Qin Yan hit the key point again: "The matter of money is a small matter, but the preparation of the grand ceremony will take at least three months. Lord God, during these three months, the changes are unpredictable."
In the final analysis, it is still an issue of Hong Zhenji’s identity.
Qin Yan's main intention is to ascend the throne as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams.
Hong Zhenji also felt that what Qin Yan said was reasonable, but he was quite unhappy and reluctantly agreed.
"The matters related to the grand ceremony should be handled simply, and the selection of palace officials must not be perfunctory."
Qin Yan repeatedly said yes, and then helped Hong Zhenji handle the memorial.
Hong Zhenji glanced at Qin Yan with a cold look in his eyes.
Qin Yan is a thoughtful and experienced person.
I have a lot of trust in him, but his hands stretch out longer and longer, and he doesn't know how to measure or how to advance or retreat.
After all, a chamberlain's interference in politics is a hidden danger. He must be punished more in the future. In a few days, another chamberlain should be found to replace this person.
…
In fact, Qin Yan is not to blame for this, it was all Xu Zhiqiong's order.
Xu Zhiqiong did hope that Hong Zhenji would ascend the throne from Jane, but what he was worried about was not that Hong Huaheng and Hong Huayun threatened Hong Zhenji's throne. These two saints were in Xu Zhiqiong's hands.
What Xu Zhiqiong really felt distressed about was the eight million silver.
In addition to the dignity and luxury of the nobles, all other areas of Qiancheng Kingdom have reached a miserable state, and there are many places where money needs to be spent.
And Shenjun is very good at spending money. Don't underestimate Shenjun's spending power. A country may not be able to tolerate his squandering alone.
Therefore, Xu Zhiqiong decided to ask Hong Zhenji to change the bad habits of his predecessor and learn to be frugal first.
"No need to hold grand ceremonies, no need to build palaces. The palace is so big, isn't it big enough for him to live in?
In the future, we will need to free up some space from the palace for other uses."
Qin Yan said: "How should we handle the matter of selecting palace servants?"
Xu Zhiqiong was stunned: "What do you do when choosing someone for the palace?"
Chang Decai reminded him: "Now that Hong Zhenji is the emperor, he must select a group of concubines."
Xu Zhiqiong thought for a moment and said, "Didn't he have many princesses when he was King Shu?"
Qin Yan replied: "According to the ritual system, King Shu can have one hundred and three dependents, but the number may not be enough."
Xu Zhiqiong asked in surprise: "How many concubines should the divine king have?"
"All the people in the palace belong to the divine monarch, and the number is uncertain. The number of people in the palace of the previous emperor was 11,268 in total."
From concubines, concubines, Jieyu, Ronghua, beauties, talented people, lovers, maidens, to the lowest level of maidservants and Xiaohuan.
Hong Juncheng has more than 10,000 women in total.
Hong Zhenji only has more than 100 people, so the difference in numbers is indeed quite large.
Xu Zhiqiong thought for a moment and said: "How should the concubine left behind by Hong Juncheng be dealt with according to the rules of Qiancheng Kingdom?"
"All the people in the palace of the gods in past dynasties were buried with the gods." Qin Yan answered briefly.
Burial?
"This is not possible!" Xu Zhiqiong shook his head repeatedly, "Hong Juncheng left a legacy, and his palace servants cannot be buried as sacrifices."
Xu Zhiqiong said that there is such a thing as a posthumous edict.
Qin Yan nodded and said: "When my subordinates return to the palace, I will immediately draft a legacy for the late emperor."
"What are you talking about drafting?" Xu Zhiqiong glared at Qin Yan, "This edict was left by Hong Juncheng when he was alive. I saw it with my own eyes."
Qin Yan quickly changed her words: "It was indeed left by the Lord God, and it was left in the Yuxing Pavilion. My subordinates were negligent for a while, but they didn't find it before."
Xu Zhiqiong added: "The edict also said that all the palace residents should be handed over to the new king Hong Zhenji."
Qin Yan blinked her eyes and remained silent.
Chang Decai said from the side: "Master, this is unreasonable. No one is willing to let his woman out."
"Superficial!" Xu Zhiqiong shouted, "Hong Juncheng is a generous man! You don't understand the heart and mind of a generation of divine kings!"
Chang Decai pursed his lips and said, "I'm afraid Hong Zhenji will never agree to this. This is a bit humiliating to him..."
Xu Zhiqiong shook his head and said: "How can you say it is an insult? These are his sister-in-law and his own family members. Hong Zhenji has a kind and generous temperament. How can he be willing to let his wife be buried as a sacrifice?"
Qin Yan muttered: "But this is so unethical..."
Xu Zhiqiong raised his head and said: "How can it be called unethical? Many countries in the north are like this."
In the north, many countries maintain the tradition of step marriage, that is, when an elder brother dies, the younger brother adopts his brother-in-law.
Qin Yan lowered his head and said: "This is what barbarians do..."
"Don't worry about what anyone does, as long as the number is enough,
You and Hong Zhenji discuss it. If you want, he will accept all the wives.
If you don’t want them, the sisters-in-law will all be sent back to the private sector and they will get married separately, and Hong Zhenji will not be able to recruit anyone from the palace in the future.”
Qin Yan sighed and said: "I obey my orders."
Chang Decai said from the side: "Master, if everything is kept simple, Hong Zhenji's identity will not be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the throne will not be stable."
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said, "Just sit still if you can't sit still."
Qin Yan added: "Today, my subordinates sent people to the streets to inquire. The people only know that a new king has ascended the throne, but they don't know who the new king is. In the long run, the people will not miss the divine king."
Xu Zhiqiong said with a smile: "You can't even worry about daily necessities, but why are you still thinking about the Lord God? What's the point of worrying about a bad old man? Just forget about him!"
Qin Yan didn't quite understand Xu Zhiqiong's meaning, so he just wanted to get the final edict done: "I will try my best to read out the late emperor's edict at the court meeting tomorrow."
Xu Zhiqiong asked in surprise: "Didn't you just have the court meeting today? Why is there another court meeting tomorrow?"
Qin Yan didn't know how to answer, so Chang Decai smiled and said: "Master, you have forgotten that Qiancheng Kingdom is not our Daxuan, they have court meetings every day."
Xu Zhiqiong still shook his head: "The rules of this court meeting must also be changed. No more than three times a month."
Qin Yan was in trouble. The court meeting was an old practice that could not be changed.
Chang Decai reminded him: "Discuss with Li Quangen more, and we can work out a solution together."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "If you really can't think of a good way, there's no need to force it. I'll just go and have a good chat with Hong Zhenji."
Qin Yan did not want Xu Zhiqiong to intervene prematurely. Xu Zhiqiong's methods were a bit rough and would intensify the conflicts in the palace in advance.
"Please leave this matter to your subordinates."
Qin Yan left, and Xu Zhiqiong took out the map and looked at it carefully.
He is looking for Yuan Chengfeng's belongings, and there are three good things, two in Tunu and one in the sea.
…
Back at the palace, Qin Yan found Li Quangen and told the story.
Li Quangen thought for a long time and came up with a rough solution: "These two things can be done at the same time, but we have to ask the boss to help us get something."
…
Hong Zhenji lay half-lying in the Yingwen Pavilion, reading the memorials one after another.
He didn't have Hong Juncheng's energy, nor Hong Juncheng's physical strength. When he read around Xu Shi, Hong Zhenji was exhausted and lost his memorial. He picked up the tea cup and asked Qin Yan: "When the emperor was alive, he had to read this book every day."
Do you want more memorials?"
Qin Yan shook her head and said: "When the late Emperor was still alive, all the memorials were first screened by the Chief of Ceremonies. After eliminating the trivial matters, only important matters were left to the late Emperor for decision-making."
There are indeed many details in the memorial. There are many potholes on a certain road in Shenlin City. How much should it cost to repair it?
There is a lot of moldy food in the market. Should it be discarded or sold at a low price?
The trend of bartering among people has started again. Should it be strictly investigated and dealt with?
Hong Juncheng did not trust anyone, so he had to report every detail to him, and had to deal with hundreds of reports every day.
Among these mostly insignificant memorials, there was one that specifically introduced the civil uprising in Jizhou. Such an important memorial was almost skipped due to Hong Zhenji's lack of funds.
It sounds like a good idea to have the Chief of Ceremonies screen them in advance.
But has the emperor really done this?
How to ensure that the Supervisor of Ceremonies does not hide important memorials or not report them?
What will happen to those unimportant memorials?
Hong Zhenji looked at Qin Yan with suspicion.
Qin Yan's words are indeed untrue. Hong Juncheng would never allow the chamberlain to screen the memorial.
Allowing chamberlains to screen memorials was a practice adopted by successive emperors of Daxuan. During the reign of Emperor Changle, this practice was abolished.
Emperor Changle handed over most of his power to various ministries and yamen, which were usually supervised by the cabinet. Only when urgent matters were encountered, he would handle them personally. The court was very efficient, and he, the emperor, did it easily.
Qiancheng Kingdom obviously did not have such conditions, so Xu Zhiqiong gave Qin Yan an idea to continue the old system of Xuan Kingdom.
But Hong Zhenji was not fooled. After drinking two cups of tea, he insisted on reading all the memorials.
He stretched, walked to the door of Yingwen Pavilion, and blew in the night breeze.
The cool night breeze slowly relieved the heat on Hong Zhenji's body.
Why is it so hot tonight?
Hong Zhenji turned back to Qin Yan and said: "How is the progress of the selection of palace servants?"
Qin Yan replied: "It's still under preparation."
"Prepare, prepare, I don't know how long you have to prepare!" Hong Zhenji was very angry, scolded Qin Yan a few words, and paced back and forth in the library.
After returning to the seat, Qin Yan stepped forward and whispered: "The old slave has recruited some new singers and will perform a song for the Lord God to relieve his fatigue."
Hong Zhenji looked at Qin Yan, smiled and said: "For this matter, I did it quite thoughtfully."
Qin Yan called four dancers and one singer to perform music for Hong Zhenji.
Seeing these five beauties, Hong Zhenji's eyes immediately straightened.
He used to be the prince of Qiancheng Kingdom, and he met countless beauties of all kinds.
But after all, he had never seen the private collection of Hong Juncheng, who was not a divine king.
These five women were carefully selected by Qin Yan from Hong Juncheng's Red Palace.
In one song, the five women tried their best to save Hong Zhenji tonight, and they could escape the disaster of being buried.
Hong Zhenji felt increasingly hot and sweaty.
"I'm a little tired and it's time to rest."
Qin Yan whispered: "Which Shuli should I leave to accompany you to bed?"
Hong Zhenji frowned and said, "I'm not a picky person, so I'll just send them to the dormitory together."
Qin Yan nodded gently towards the five beauties.
The beauties looked excited and hurriedly followed Hong Zhenji to the bedroom.
…
At Yin o'clock the next day, Qin Yan came to the door of the dormitory and reminded Hong Zhenji that it was time to go to court in the morning.
Hong Zhenji got up in a daze and was about to look for clothes, but he caught the beauty's conscience.
The beauties also woke up and followed Qin Yan's previous instructions and used their own methods to fight for the emperor's inheritance.
Qin Yan called outside the door for a long time, and finally got a response:
"I am not feeling well today, so the court meeting will be postponed."
"According to the order." Qin Yan stood outside the door, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.