Chapter 668 The Son of Heaven Sacrifice Heaven [2 More]
Zhu Houzhao, now dressed in fine attire and with a solemn expression, slowly boarded the imperial banquet surrounded by his chamberlains.
After bathing and fasting, Zhu Houzhao, dressed in fine clothes and showing no anger or authority, boarded the imperial banquet. With a loud shout, he saw a group of elite Imperial Guards surrounding the imperial banquet and slowly headed outside the Forbidden City.
And go.
On the square outside the palace gate, the civil and military officials who had rushed over early now looked a little solemn.
Everyone knows that the Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony is an extremely important matter. In the past, the Emperor would push forward the Heaven Sacrifice matter if he could, and would not participate if he could, so this time everyone paid great attention to it, and it can be said that it was treated seriously.
No one wants to offend the emperor on this matter, otherwise, who knows whether the emperor will give them little shoes to wear.
While a group of civil and military officials were waiting for the arrival of the emperor's imperial edict in the square outside the palace gate, many officials were talking in private.
Heaven knows the secrets known by one person, let alone so many people. Yesterday, Zhu Houzhao summoned Wang Yangming, Yang Yiqing, Han Kun, Zhang Lun and others to discuss matters. The emperor did not ask for confidentiality of the contents of the matters discussed, so he said it overnight
During this period, almost all officials who were concerned about the matter of worshiping heaven knew about the roster drawn up by Zhu Houzhao through their own channels.
Although some officials do not have prominent official positions in the court, they are very high on the list, while some officials, although they are in the court, do not even have their names on the list.
There are more than one officials excluded from the list, but there are also quite a few. Obviously these officials have some problems, otherwise Zhu Houzhao would not turn a blind eye at all.
Why those officials who obviously hold high positions but can't even get their names on the list behave like this? Others don't know, but these people know it very well.
As the saying goes, if people don't know what to do, they have to do it themselves. These officials knew exactly what they had done and why they were rejected by the emperor.
It can be seen that the expressions of those who have not been able to leave their names on the list are in a daze, and it can be seen that all of them are absent-minded.
Many officials who were usually very close to them also subconsciously distanced themselves from them at this time, as if they were afraid that the bad luck of the other party would be transmitted to themselves.
At this time, there was a sound of footsteps, and a group of officials raised their heads and looked towards the entrance of the palace.
At a glance, I could see groups of people walking out slowly at the entrance of the palace. The leaders were the Imperial Guards in shining armor. Surrounded by the Imperial Guards, an Imperial Guard drove slowly.
out.
The civil and military officials were led by Chief Assistant Yang Yiqing. Under the leadership of Yang Yiqing, all the officials bowed down to the imperial banquet on which Zhu Houzhao was riding, shouting long live the mountain.
Zhu Houzhao walked out of the imperial banquet, standing high above him. As far as he could see, except for the soldiers, everyone around him fell to the ground.
All I could hear was Zhu Houzhao saying in a long voice: "All the ministers are exempt from courtesy."
A group of civil and military officials stood up. The officials of the Ministry of Rites had already made preparations. According to the procedures prepared in advance, the civil and military officials followed the emperor's edict and set off towards the big altar outside the city.
On the long street, the people were crowded in darkness. If there were not soldiers to maintain order, I am afraid that the entire long street would have been tightly blocked by the people.
Among the crowd, everyone stretched their heads and looked into the distance.
Among the people, Zhu Houzhao's reputation was extremely good. The people called him the Holy Emperor.
It has to be said that the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty far exceeded that of previous dynasties. At least under Zhu Houzhao's governance, the Ming Dynasty almost prevented people from freezing to death or starving to death.
Of course, we dare not say anything absolutely. It is inevitable to say whether there are still people who freeze to death or starve to death, but relatively speaking, compared with the past, it is not an exaggeration to say that it will be eliminated.
Even if there is a natural disaster, the court will dispatch relief materials to the victims as soon as possible, and even allocate various materials to help people restore their homes.
In the past, such things would have been unthinkable, but now, they have become routine.
It is conceivable that under such circumstances, no matter how stupid the people are, they can really feel the changes in their lives.
Among the people, some of the scholars who were suppressed by Chu Yi and the Emperor continued to slander and slander the reputation of Chu Yi and the Emperor. However, these people are now horrified to find that their opinions have lost their reputation among the common people.
market.
It can even be said that if they had any words to slander the Emperor, once the people knew about it, they would definitely be tied up and sent to the government to accuse him of slandering the Holy Emperor.
Gradually, the sound of mountains shouting for long live came from the distance, and the sound came like ocean waves.
"Long live your Majesty, long live your Majesty..."
The sound of the mountain roaring is coming. If anyone looks down from the air, he will find that as the emperor's carriage comes slowly, wherever it passes, the people on both sides of the road are like waves moving towards the emperor's carriage.
He fell down in obeisance and shouted long live.
Countless people prostrated themselves before the emperor's carriage. From the loud noise, one could tell that the shouts of long live the mountains came from the hearts of the people, rather than just being gathered to show off.
Although Zhu Houzhao said that he could learn some civilian affairs through intelligence agencies such as Jinyiwei and Dongchang, he also knew what kind of reputation he had among the people.
However, Zhu Houzhao subconsciously thought that the situation reported by Dongchang and Jinyi Guards was a bit exaggerated and seemed to be a compliment to him, so Zhu Houzhao did not take it to heart.
However, this time Zhu Houzhao came out of the palace and showed his royal chariot openly, but he truly felt the people's heartfelt support and respect for him.
"Your Majesty, in fact, the people ask for very little. They just hope to be able to avoid severe cold and hunger. Anyone who can achieve these will be regarded as heaven..."
Suddenly, something Chu Yi had said to him back then emerged in his mind. At that time, Zhu Houzhao didn't quite understand what Chu Yi said, because in Zhu Houzhao's view, according to what Chu Yi said, the people of this world
The requirements are really too low and too easy to achieve.
But now it seems that Zhu Houzhao understands that the requirements of the people of the world are indeed very easy and simple, but he does not know why throughout the dynasties, few sage kings have achieved it?
Looking down at the people on both sides of the road who bowed down to him with great piety, Zhu Houzhao felt extremely emotional.
"Slow down!"
Zhu Houzhao spoke slowly.
The speed of the carriage slowed down, and Zhu Houzhao was seen walking out of Yuhu and standing on Yuhu. The people in front who had not yet bowed down noticed at a glance that above Yuhu, he was dressed in fine clothes and exuding endless energy.
The majestic emperor.
After just one glance, many people hurriedly lowered their heads, grateful, and worshiped with great piety. While shouting long live the mountain, they also shouted in their hearts: "I see your majesty's true face, I see your majesty's true face..."
"Your Majesty, please excuse me as soon as possible..."
Zhu Houzhao said loudly to the people on both sides.
Zhu Houzhao lived up to his diligent practice of Taoist health-preserving methods over the years. It can be said that he is physically strong and full of energy. When he opens his mouth, his voice can be heard in a radius of more than a hundred feet.
Hearing Zhu Houzhao's voice, many people couldn't help but excitedly shouted long live, and became more and more devoted to Zhu Houzhao.
Along the way, Zhu Houzhao stood on top of the chariot, and the whole capital was filled with the sound of shouting "Long Live the Mountains". Even the civil and military officials who followed the chariot were stunned by such a momentum.
, they really did not expect that Zhu Houzhao had such a high prestige among the people.
The altar with a height of 100 feet is in sight, and it is also surrounded by darkness. At this moment, around the altar, the heads of the princes and kingdoms who arrived here first and were waiting for the emperor under the arrangement of the Ministry of Rites only heard a tsunami-like sound from the mountains.
A shout came.
Many people were stunned, and looked over subconsciously, and saw the emperor's imperial edict slowly approaching, surrounded by civil and military officials.
Just when many people were lost in thought, an official from the Ministry of Rites immediately sang a salute: "Your Majesty has arrived, and I welcome you!"
"We pay our respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"
The heads of the various princes and kingdoms bowed to Zhu Houzhao with great respect, no matter what they thought in their hearts, but facing Zhu Houzhao, who had already reached the peak of his prestige and popularity, they seemed to have no other choice but to bow down respectfully.
Zhu Houzhao looked over and saw hundreds of heads of vassal states and envoys from many overseas countries bowing to him.
When everyone bowed down, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said with a solemn expression: "I am free of courtesy!"
Officials from the Ministry of Rites came forward and saluted the emperor: "Your Majesty, the auspicious time has come. Please wait for the altar to offer sacrifices to heaven!"
Zhu Houzhao was seen wearing a large fur coat and a robe. The robe was embroidered with sun, moon, mountains, rivers, dragons and other patterns by the most skillful embroiderers in the south of the Yangtze River.
Gui, holding Zhen Gui in his hand, walked step by step towards the high altar.
The altar is a hundred feet high, and there are steps one after another. Just climbing these steps from the bottom to the top of the altar is not an easy task.
If this is a weak scholar, he may not be able to hold on even halfway.
Zhu Houzhao, however, was full of energy and stepped steadily over the steps, slowly climbing onto the altar.
The top of the altar is a hundred feet high, and is surrounded by a fence carved from white jade. It is a flat surface that is almost several feet in diameter. It can be big or small.
The emperor climbed to the top of the altar step by step, and the civil and military officials who came with the emperor followed closely.
Standing on a step below the top of the altar were Yang Yiqing, Wang Yangming and other cabinet ministers. A step further down, they were arranged in order according to their respective official positions.
The space above the altar is large enough to accommodate all civil and military officials, including the heads of state, and envoys from various countries are separated on the altar, so it does not seem crowded.
"Huhu..."
The hundred-foot-high altar has thousands of steps alone. Many officials kept climbing up and almost died of exhaustion on the way up. However, for those generals, such a height was nothing more than this. Each and every one of them was angry.