Zhu Zaiyi's wedding started long before Zhu Houzhao's death.
At that time, Wang Yuan, as the Minister of Rites, personally decided that the wedding expenses should not exceed 300,000 taels of silver!
Although this wedding budget is not extravagant, it is not shabby either.
First of all, a house must be given to the quasi-governor and the future queen, and a natal residence must be built in the capital. It will cost money to decorate the house and hire servants.
After the quasi-governor came to live in Beijing, he gradually performed six wedding ceremonies, each of which required a large amount of expenditure.
Among them, Nacai (Xiapin) started to make small moves, and Naji (divorce marriage) started to make big moves. When the wedding date was set, not only the Guizhang's house was decorated with lanterns and decorations, but even the neighbors next door were beaming because the edict had been issued at this time.
Appoint a queen.
On the day of the emperor's real wedding, people inside and outside the imperial city celebrated and rejoiced together.
The red carpets, red silks, and red lanterns all over the capital require money from the imperial court to purchase, and even local and state capitals have to celebrate them. It is normal for the emperor's wedding to cost tens of thousands of taels of silver only for weaving costs, and it is a grand event.
More than 100,000 taels can be scattered.
Previously, Yan Song was in charge of the etiquette department, and he was also responsible for organizing the wedding.
No one had any experience in this matter, so they could only read relevant classics and documents, mainly imitating Zhu Houzhao's wedding. Then Yan Song was frightened. At Zhu Houzhao's wedding, he sacrificed a minister of the Ministry of Etiquette.
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Zhang Sheng, the number one scholar in the fifth year of Chenghua, was the official minister of the Ministry of Rites. "History of the Ming Dynasty" records that he was dismissed from office because he offended Liu Jin. He can be called upright and strong, but in fact, something went wrong with the emperor's wedding!
Before the wedding, when the imperial edict was issued to select palace maids, Zhang Sheng changed the "forbidden elites to be sent to the soldiers' families" to "forbid the elite officials to be sent to the soldiers' families".
Li, specifically refers to the official.
Officials include civil servants.
The difference between "Zhang Sheng" and "Zhang Sheng" means that the daughters of civil servants are prohibited from entering the palace, and the civil servants are treated in the same breath as promoting excellence.
This immediately aroused public outrage, and more than a thousand people from various government offices in Beijing took to the streets to protest. When the news reached the palace, Zhu Houzhao burst out laughing, thinking this was so hilarious.
More nonsense is to come.
Zhu Houzhao asked the accompanying eunuch and learned that this person was still the number one scholar. He immediately sneered: "Our dynasty actually has civil servants and the number one scholar is not divided among officials. It is really a shame and a great humiliation. I issued an edict and changed the name of "Li Bu" to "Li Bu". Look at the big turban
What did they say?"
Zhu Houzhao's imperial edict not only angered the Minister of Civil Affairs, but also stepped on the tail of all the civil servants in the dynasty, so they wrote letters one after another to impeach Zhang Sheng.
The Minister of Rites, who was born in the imperial examination, dismissed his official position and went home never to use it again because he wrote a wrong word. In the "History of the Ming Dynasty", he actually resigned because he had offended an eunuch.
There were a lot of things that happened at that time, and the most serious thing was the reign name of Zhu Houzhao. "Zhengde" was used by the small court of Xixia. Liu Jian, the first assistant, probably had not read "History of the Song Dynasty", and it was hard to criticize other officials. If he really wanted to pursue it, he could directly
Stop looking.
Because Yan Song discovered this kind of thing while browsing the information, Yan Song had to check it several times every time when he was writing relevant documents, and even asked his left and right ministers to check them, for fear that he would make any omissions again.
Fortunately, before the emperor's wedding, Yan Song was transferred to the position of Minister of Household Affairs, and the rest of the affairs were left to Luo Qinshun.
On this day, Huang E was not idle either, and was quite busy.
As the wife of the chief minister, Huang E was a dignified first-class wife, so she went to practice etiquette several days in advance. On the day of the wedding, Huang E arrived at the gate of Qianqing very early. She wanted to lead her married woman to escort the queen to worship heaven and earth.
Because he was wearing a formal dress today, Huang Efu immediately became the focus of the audience as soon as he appeared.
Although a woman's imperial rank follows her husband's (or son's) official position, the two cannot always be the same.
Yang Tinghe has been in power for twenty years and has been promoted to official position with the title of Taifu. However, his two wives have not been given the title of first-grade imperial concubine. In fact, in the entire capital, only Huang E and Song Ling'er are now granted the title of first-grade imperial concubine.
Because Wang Yuan's achievements were too many and too great, Zhu Houzhao had been suppressing rewards, so he could only compensate by conferring titles on his wife. Not only Huang E, Song Ling'er was a first-class imperial concubine, but several of Wang Yuan's concubines also had imperial titles.
, Wang Yuan's mother was also named a first-grade concubine.
Especially Huang E's crown decoration at this time seemed to be blooming with infinite light.
Qizhai crown!
Imperial concubines and princesses wear nine Zhai crowns, first-grade wives wear five Zhai crowns, second-, third-, and fourth-grade imperial concubines wear four Zhai crowns, and fifth-grade Yiren can only wear three Zhai crowns.
Huang E and Song Ling'er, two first-class ladies, were specially allowed to wear Qizhai crowns. If they continued to be granted the title, they could only be given Phoenix crowns. Phoenix crowns and Xiapei were originally exclusive to the queen, and were occasionally given to concubines (wives of nobles in the clan), but there were also extreme cases.
In rare cases, he will be given to a foreigner (the wife of a civil and military official).
As for the phoenix crown and Xiapei worn by folk brides, they are just auspicious words for the Zhai crown and Xiapei, and there are many kinds of Xiapei decorations. Seven Zhai crowns often appear in portraits or funerary objects after the death of women, but they are all over-the-counter. Bride
If a son or a dead person violates the rules, the court will generally not take care of it, unless the political struggle is so intense that the graves of ancestors are dug up.
In addition, the dresses of first-class ladies in the Ming Dynasty did not have wild patterns, which started to appear randomly in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.
A few days ago, Huang E studied etiquette with other married women, and there was not much difference in wearing regular clothes. At this moment, when Qizhai Guan came out, dozens of married women saluted in unison: "Happy Madam!"
Huang E smiled and returned the greeting: "Madams, please make your arrangements."
After Huang E finished speaking, she stood there, with dozens of women lining up behind her, looking at her with eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
He was only in his thirties. Not only was he awarded a first-class imperial title, but he was also given a special reward of the Qizhai Crown. There was no need to show off or put on any airs. The Qizhai Crown alone was enough to make the married women dare not breathe.
I don’t know how long it took, but the queen’s carriage and dragon pavilion were carried in by the royal guards and eunuchs. They followed the Imperial Road through Daming Gate, Duan Gate, and Meridian Gate into the Forbidden City, and then passed through Taihe Gate to Qianqing Gate. The eunuchs and maids joined them.
to welcome.
Amidst the sound of ritual music, Luo Qinshun, the Minister of Rites, presented the Queen's gold book and seal to the internal officials and took them to the Jiaotai Hall behind the Qianqing Palace for display.
After the ceremony, Huang E led his wife over, supported the queen and said, "My queen, please come in."
"Thank you, madam." The queen whispered.
The eunuch immediately shouted: "Get up!"
The sedan chair was empty, and the queen did not continue to ride in it. Instead, she was supported by Huang E and walked inside.
There was a female official from the palace leading the way, and Huang E was responsible for supporting the queen. The concubine, eunuchs and maids followed, and together they escorted the queen to Kunning Palace to worship heaven and earth.
After a lot of trouble, Huang E finally completed the task and went to a banquet with the married women. During the banquet, he was fawned over. One of the married women even asked about the marriage of Huang E's legitimate son, Wang Zheng, who was only four years old.
They were all targeted.
But it was said that in Kunning Palace, Zhu Zaiyi finally saw the queen's true appearance, and he was quite satisfied with her charming appearance.
After kicking out all the palace maids and eunuchs, Zhu Zaiyi asked: "Your name is Zhang Xiyan?"
Empress Zhang timidly said: "Your Majesty, my concubine's name is Zhang Xiyan. My grandfather suffered from facial paralysis back then. On the day I was born, my grandfather was so happy that his facial paralysis healed with a smile, so I gave her this name."
Zhu Zaiyi smiled and said: "What a good name, what a blessing."
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty," Queen Zhang said.
"There is no need to be constrained," Zhu Zaiyi said. "You and I are now husband and wife, so we can be free. Have you ever read poetry?"
Empress Zhang said: "I have read "Four Books on Women"."
"What else?" Zhu Zaiyi asked again.
Queen Zhang said: "I have read some Tang poetry, Song lyrics and Yuan music."
Zhu Zaiyi asked: "You are from a military family, where are your military books?"
Empress Zhang said: "My father asked his concubines to abide by the ways of women and never learned the art of war."
Zhu Zaiyi was a little disappointed: "Then do you know arithmetic?"
Empress Zhang said: "I know that there is a study of the Ten Classics, and I have studied some of them, but I have not studied them in depth."
Zhu Zaiyi asked again: "What about new arithmetic and physics?"
Queen Zhang shook her head: "I don't know."
Zhu Zaiyi continued to ask: "What do you know?"
Empress Zhang said: "I know how to be a female worker, play the piano, go, and my calligraphy is quite good."
According to the traditional concept, the queen was known to play chess, calligraphy and painting, as well as arithmetic and female workers, so she was already considered a lady.
But Zhu Zaiyi was very disappointed because the reference target was too high and he judged the queen based on her biological mother's appearance.
Empress Dowager Gu could ride a horse, dance with a sword, read military books, and knew formations. In order to cater to Zhu Houzhao, she even learned to play with muskets and dabbled in new arithmetic and physics.
How can the queen compare?
It’s not that I hate them, it’s just that they don’t have a common language.
In the following days, Zhu Zaiyi visited Concubine Lu Hui, the daughter of the supervisor, and Concubine Song Shu, the daughter of a merchant.
In terms of appearance, Concubine Lu Hui is the most beautiful, but she is also the most rigid and rigid, and is more boring to deal with than the Queen.
Concubine Song Shu was very popular with the emperor. Her father was a scholar, but he turned to business in the middle. The family business was not big or small. Of course, Concubine Song Shu did not read military books, she did not even know how to be a female worker, and her poetry and calligraphy were not as good as those of the empress. But she was generous in conversation and could tease people.
The emperor was so happy that he even followed his brother and did some small physics experiments according to the books.
Half a month later, the Ministry of Rites decided to confer the title of uncle to the head of state, and the fathers of the two imperial concubines were appointed to guard thousands of households in royal robes.
This is normal treatment. The head of the state is usually granted the title of marquis after three to five years, and the official position of the father of the imperial concubine is also gradually promoted.
Zhu Zaiyi said to Luo Qinshun, the Minister of Rites, "The father of a concubine Shu can also be granted the title of uncle."
Luo Qinshun was obviously taken aback, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, this matter needs to be discussed again."
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty soon learned that the emperor seemed to favor Concubine Shu more, and the ministers in the cabinet were even more afraid of any harem disputes.