The Lantern Festival Lantern Festival in the Ming Dynasty lasted for ten full days. This was the ancestral system established by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di.
Among them, from the Yongle Dynasty to the Xuande Dynasty, due to the prosperity of the society and the happiness of the people, they often "lighted the lanterns for twenty days", which lasted from the fifteenth of the first lunar month to the fifth of the second lunar month.
And from the beginning to the end, not only was the curfew open, but people could also enter the Imperial City to watch the lanterns for three days. In addition to not being able to break into the Forbidden City, ordinary people could wander around at will. If they had the strength to avoid the Imperial City guards, it was possible to sneak into Zhu Houzhao's leopard room quietly.
When going out, Wang Yuan took the initiative to hold Song Ling'er's hand.
Song Ling'er only struggled a little and then let him lead her. Her heart felt as if she was eating honey, and the smile on her face never faded.
The four grown men, Yu Ben, Xu Chengming, Zhang Bi and Zhang Chao, who lived in the same courtyard, could only travel together, but they were caught off guard by Wang Yuan's wave of dog food.
Some of them are already married, some are not yet married, but they have just entered the Hanlin Academy and are still living in a dormitory. They can only live a single life for three years. Think about it this way, it is easy to understand that young scholars visit brothels. After three years
It's hard to hold back the time.
Just outside the door is East Chang'an Avenue, with bright lights everywhere, as if it were daytime.
Xu Chengming said: "I have long heard that the lantern markets in the north and south of Beijing look like the stars in the sky. Today I finally saw their grand event with my own eyes."
"We are so lucky to have such a prosperous life." Yu Ben said with a smile.
Zhang Chao said: "It would be better if the world could be at peace."
Everyone was silent.
Song Ling'er was also curious about everything she saw, and she dragged Wang Yuan around. In fact, there was a lighting test on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. She had already watched it last night, but it was not as big as tonight.
Everyone headed north and soon arrived at Dong'anmen Street.
Among the Lantern Festival lantern markets in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty, the most prosperous ones were from Donghuamen to Dong'anmen, and there were three other prosperous lantern markets beyond Dong'anmen.
It is hard for you to imagine that the imperial city, which is usually heavily guarded, actually allowed merchants to come in and set up stalls to sell goods during the Lantern Festival. This is really the emperor enjoying himself with the people, and there is no serious precaution against the common people. If it were the Qing Dynasty, haha
, let alone entering the imperial city, the Han people could not even enter the inner city.
"Wow, Wang Yuan, look, the lanterns over there are so beautiful!" Song Ling'er pointed to the front and said.
This is a huge lantern that can continuously rotate by itself through the heat generated by burning. Moreover, there are little figures inside the lantern. As the lantern rotates, a shadow play of the Three Heroes fighting Lu Bu is performed inside.
Wang Yuan took Song Ling'er and walked there, where they were surrounded by people watching the lanterns.
A rich man wearing a silk robe said: "Are you a Fujian lantern or a Cantonese lantern?"
The boss said with great pride: "This is Suzhou style, made by Guangzhou craftsmen!"
"It's really a good lamp!" Everyone praised it.
Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, there has been a saying that "Suzhou style, Guangzhou craftsmanship" has become a common saying.
That is to say, Suzhou's product styles are the best in the world and lead the fashion trend. Suzhou is the fashion capital of the Ming Dynasty. People at that time called it "Su Yi", which is equivalent to the "foreign style" of later generations!
According to historical records, an official went to Hangzhou and tried a criminal who was wearing narrow socks and shallow shoes. This was a trendy and fashionable dress at the time. The official couldn't figure out how to close the case and sealed the case. Finally, he had an idea and described the criminal as a "Su Yi prisoner".
", he is a prisoner dressed very fashionably.
The goods in Guangzhou are extremely exquisite, and there are endless skilled craftsmen. Once a product is marked as "Made in Guangzhou", it will be immediately trusted by customers, and the price can be greatly increased.
Correspondingly, there is another term called "Hangzhou style": tacky, exaggerated, ugly, bragging, spreading rumors, and neither good nor useful.
People at that time used proverbs to sarcastically say: "The wind in Hangzhou is like a handful of green onions and flowers, but there is nothing inside."
Products from Hangzhou in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty are roughly equivalent to those from Wenzhou at the beginning of reform and opening up, and are synonymous with fake products.
The above is by no means a geographical attack, but purely a description of historical facts.
Song Ling'er asked: "How much do you sell this lantern for?"
The boss held out three fingers: "Three hundred taels!"
Wang Yuan was speechless: "Why don't you go and rob the Tao?"
The boss said contemptuously: "If you can't afford it, don't talk nonsense. I will first ask a Suzhou master to decide on the style, and then invite Guangzhou craftsmen to come to the capital to make it. This lamp will take at least half a year. If it doesn't sell for three hundred taels, I'll give it back."
Don’t lose money?”
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "If you invite Guangzhou craftsmen to the capital, you can't just make a lamp, right? In fact, the cost is not that expensive."
The boss was exposed on the spot and immediately said in disgust: "If you don't buy it, don't stop me from doing business."
Someone nearby recognized Wang Yuan and reminded the boss: "This is Wang Erlang from the Hanlin Academy. Be careful what you say, or your business will be overthrown!"
The boss was stunned for a moment, then put on a smile and took out two small lamps and handed them over: "It turns out to be Wang Erlang. These two lamps are given to you two for free."
"How much?" Wang Yuandao said, "I never accept people's property."
The boss was not comfortable telling the cost price, so he just smiled and said, "You can give it as long as you like."
Wang Yuan threw out a piece of broken silver, which was probably worth a hundred dollars.
The boss smiled and handed over the two small lamps. Wang Yuan took the lamps but did not leave. Instead, he got closer and looked at the big lamp worth five hundred taels.
"What is this?" Wang Yuan asked, staring at a bead.
The boss explained: "These are called burnt beads, also called colored glaze beads. This lamp is worth three hundred taels. The materials used are very exquisite. In addition to burnt beads, there are also silk, yarn, and bright horns, all of which are valuable.
Good material!"
The burnt beads in the Ming Dynasty were actually low-temperature glass beads, which were called "five-color burnt beads" or "glass beads" in the Song Dynasty.
Wang Yuan was thoughtful.
It seems that quartz ore was used to burn the glass. Unfortunately, I don’t know the firing process. I can only ask the bead-burning craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty and slowly explore and improve it myself.
If you want to make glass, you should first make glasses, glasses, etc. to sell for money, and then make a telescope for the emperor to see the moon. This will definitely make Zhu Houzhao so funny that he can't sleep.
Suddenly, the people watching the lanterns fled one after another, but someone came over in a sedan and drove straight towards the big lantern in front of Wang Yuan.
"How much?" asked a servant dressed in silk.
The boss sat down and raised the price: "Five hundred taels."
"Take the lamp away!" The slave waved directly to the back, and two more slaves carried the box, which was full of silver.
Wang Yuan narrowed his eyes and sneered.
Just a few days after the thieves in the suburbs of Beijing were captured, people in the capital were buying lamps to fight for their wealth.
This belongs to the tradition of watching lanterns. It probably started during the Hongzhi period. Due to the continuous development of the commodity economy and the increasingly extravagant social atmosphere, the phenomenon of fighting for the rich began to reappear in the land of China.
Every year at the North and South Beijing Lantern Markets, there must be officials or businessmen competing for wealth. They will buy a lot of lanterns with different prices. They will compare the 10 taels with the 10 taels, and the 100 taels with the 100 taels to see who can buy more.
More sophisticated.
Just one lamp is enough to feed a small person for several years.
There are very few civil servants who fight for wealth. After all, they have to pay attention to the reputation. Those who really like to fight for wealth are those nobles and relatives who have nothing to do and eat all day long, so they rely on this to pass the boring and boring life.
Song Ling'er held the lantern she had just bought, took Wang Yuan's hand and said, "Let's go and see the imperial lantern."
Yudeng is within the Imperial City. There is no need to buy tickets or even check your identity. You can enter directly from Dong'an Gate.
Wang Yuan saw many acquaintances along the way, such as Yang Tinghe and his family, who came to visit the lantern market. When they passed each other, Yang Tinghe nodded and smiled at Wang Yuan, while Yang Shen clasped his fists and saluted. The one carrying lanterns next to him was Yang Shen's
wife.
"Ruoxu!" Jin Lei suddenly waved to Wang Yuan from the front.
Wang Yuan led Song Ling'er and walked over. After nodding and saying hello to Jin Lei, he cupped his fists and said to Jin Gui: "Scholar Jin, this junior is polite!"
Jin Gui clasped his fists in return and said with a smile: "It's a rare encounter, why not travel together?"
Although Jin Gui was no longer in charge of the Hanlin Academy due to the imperial examination fraud case, he was still responsible for formulating imperial edicts. It was Jin Gui who wrote Wang Yuan's imperial edict.
Looking at it like this, Jin Lan and Jin Lei should be getting married, and they actually enjoy lanterns together during the Lantern Festival.
This was all thanks to Wang Yuan, otherwise Jin Gui would look down on Jin Lei, a third-ranked Jinshi who had no background. Just because Jin Lei was a good friend of Wang Yuan, he was not only summoned by the emperor, but also fell into Jin Gui's eyes.
Jin Lei pointed to the front and said: "Brother Mingqing (Chang Lun) and the others are also in front, and we have made an appointment to enjoy the imperial lanterns and watch the fireworks together! Judging from the time, the fireworks should be set off soon."
Firecrackers are fireworks. Only when the emperor comes out to watch the lanterns will they start setting off.
Everyone continued to walk forward, and Song Ling'er suddenly waved and shouted: "Sister Huang, come and watch the lanterns too!"
(I finally finished that chapter. It’s a little late, so don’t be surprised.)