Chai Yan came to a place with few people, dismounted and tied his horse to a tree, and then quietly waited for the city gate to open.
It was already past half hour, but the city gate still hadn't opened.
Chai Yan couldn't help but feel a little strange, so he asked a middle-aged scholar next to him: "Brother, it's this time, why haven't you opened the city gate yet?"
The city gate usually opens at three quarters of the Yin hour, which is almost five o'clock in the morning.
After the middle-aged scholar heard the voice, he turned around and looked at Chai Yan and said, "Young Master, don't you know?"
"What do you know?" Chai Yan asked.
The middle-aged scholar said: "Today is the grand day for the new emperor of our Sheng Kingdom to ascend the throne!"
"I know this. I'm asking why the city gate hasn't been opened yet. It usually opens long ago," Chai Yan said.
The middle-aged scholar smiled and said: "You are right, but the day when you ascend the throne is quite special. On this day, the city gates in all directions must be opened at an auspicious time in the morning, and today's auspicious time in the morning will have to wait a little longer.
..."
Having said this, the middle-aged scholar suddenly raised his hand and pointed at a big drum on the tower and said: "Sir, have you seen that drum?"
"Ah, I saw it." Chai Yan took a look and nodded.
The middle-aged scholar retracted his hand and explained: "Before the city gate is about to open, someone will go up and beat the drum. If you hear the sound of the drum, it means that the auspicious time is coming!"
"Oh! So that's it..."
Chai Yan nodded repeatedly. He really didn't know there were so many rules on the day of the enthronement ceremony.
The middle-aged scholar smiled and said: "Sir, are you from other places?"
Chai Yan hesitated for a moment, smiled and nodded: "Yes, I'm from out of town."
"You came here to admire Tianyan, right?" the middle-aged scholar said.
Chai Yan replied: "Ah, that's right..."
Chai Yan rushed back to see Liu Lang and said that it was okay to pay homage to Tianyan.
The middle-aged scholar said: "So, the young master is preparing to take the scientific examination?"
Chai Yan was puzzled, thinking that it was already May and spring had just passed.
Seeing Chai Yan's confused look, the middle-aged scholar immediately frowned and said, "Sir, don't you know there will be another Enko in three months?"
The so-called Enke means that in addition to the regular subjects in the imperial examination system, the emperor opens special subjects to obtain scholars. Usually when the new emperor succeeds to the throne, he will open Enke in order to recruit more students for the use of the court.
"Ah, I know..." Chai Yan nodded hurriedly in agreement.
Chai Yan did know it, he just knew it.
The middle-aged scholar felt that Chai Yan was a little strange, so he glanced at Chai Yan with a strange look, then moved away and stopped talking to Chai Yan.
Chai Yan had no choice but to lean under the tree and look up at the big drum on the tower, waiting for someone to beat it.
I don't know how long it took, Chai Yan started to take a nap, and suddenly he heard a commotion among the people in front of the city.
When Chai Yan opened his eyes, he found that everyone was looking up at the tower, and most of them were pointing and looking very excited.
Chai Yan immediately looked up and saw someone standing beside the big drum on the tower. The man was dressed very formally and held two drumsticks in his hand. He was obviously the drummer.
After a while, a deep and powerful voice was heard from the city tower: "The auspicious time is coming, beat the drum and open the city gate!"
As soon as the voice fell, the drums began to sound, one after another, neither fast nor slow, and the rhythm was just right.
Strangely enough, as soon as the drums on the city tower sounded, the people below the city stopped talking loudly, and the order of the crowd naturally improved a lot.
Chai Yan knew that the city gate was about to open, so he quickly unbridled his horse and followed the crowd, preparing to enter the city in order.
The drums on the city tower rang for a while and then stopped. Then the city gate suddenly opened, and the people were more excited and looking forward to it than before.
After the city gate was fully opened, the soldiers from the Beijing camp and the city gate officers began to let people go. People entering the city had to undergo strict inspections and were not allowed to bring dangerous weapons and items. Therefore, the speed of entering the city was very slow.
There was no way to jump in line at this time, so Chai Yan could only line up obediently and follow the line step by step towards the city gate.
Unexpectedly, the queue lasted for more than an hour. By the time Chai Yan led his horse into the city, it was almost past the hour.
At this time, the atmosphere in the city is very festive, and the streets are lined with red lanterns and red ribbons.
Chai Yan led the horse and walked towards the palace. Along the way, he saw many soldiers and officers patrolling the streets. It was obvious that the court attached great importance to security issues during the enthronement ceremony.
Half an hour later, Chai Yan arrived near the palace, but by this time the streets near the palace were heavily guarded, and ordinary people were not allowed to approach.
As soon as Chai Yan approached with his horse, soldiers came forward to stop him, saying that the time had not come yet and he could not approach the palace yet.
Chai Yan took out his badge and handed it over, explaining his reasons.
The soldier was a little surprised when he saw the badge. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "My lord, please wait a moment. I'll go in and ask."
After the soldier finished speaking, he ran away. Not long after, the soldier came back with a man wearing the uniform of a military officer.
Chai Yan smiled as soon as he saw it. He knew this person. He was Zhao Delong who we went to compete with in the Western Regions Arena outside the city!
"Brother Zhao!" Chai Yan shouted from a few feet away.
Zhao Delong also recognized Chai Yan, and immediately said "Chai Yan" in a hurry, and at the same time quickened his pace and greeted him with a joyful expression.
When the soldier saw that the two of them knew each other, he knew that Chai Yan's identity was indeed true. He immediately returned the badge to Chai Yan and said no more.
Zhao Delong looked Chai Yan up and down and said, "Sir Chai, I haven't seen you for a long time. You are much darker than before!"
Chai Yan smiled and said: "There is nothing we can do, it will be exposed to the wind and the sun..."
After a brief exchange of greetings with Chai Yan, Zhao Delong asked: "Secretary Chai, why are you here?"
Chai Yan said: "I came back all night following His Highness's instructions and was about to see His Highness."
"No, no, from today on, don't call me Your Highness anymore, you have to change your name to Your Majesty!" Zhao Delong reminded.
"Yes, yes, it's time to call the emperor." Chai Yan nodded immediately.
When Zhao Delong heard that Chai Yan came back on the emperor's order, he said with a flattering tone: "Secretary Chai, I'll go with you to the imperial guard. Let's go..."
It was good to have an acquaintance to lead the way. Chai Yan immediately nodded, took the horse and started to move forward.
Zhao Delong frowned and said: "Secretary Chai, please don't hold the horse. This is entering the palace, so holding a horse is not the way to go."
So, Zhao Delong found a family nearby, stored the horses there, and then strode to the palace with Chai Yan.
While walking to the palace, Zhao Delong talked about the process of the enthronement ceremony: "Sir Chai, the enthronement ceremony has just begun. The emperor and the ministers went to the altar to worship the heaven. They should start to worship the heaven now. After the heaven sacrifice is finished,
, it is the place of sacrifice..."
Chai Yan didn't know much about the various procedures and contents of the enthronement ceremony, so he listened to Zhao Delong's explanation very carefully.
Zhao Delong told Chai Yan that when the emperor ascends the throne, he must first offer sacrifices to heaven, then to earth, then to the Ancestral Temple, and to the country. Only after these steps are completed, will he accept the congratulations of the courtiers, and then the envoys of various countries.
Congratulations, and after a banquet with all the ministers, they will go up to the tower of the imperial city, accept the kneeling of the people, and have a universal celebration.
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