Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 193 The kings kneel and the officials bow their heads!

It's day and night.

A banquet was held at Yuxi Palace.

His Majesty specially permitted court officials to attend the banquet.

It was still a quarter of an hour before the hour of Xu. At this moment, the vast parade ground at the Forbidden Gate was filled with officials from various departments who had rushed to the royal banquet.

To the south of the stone tablet with the inscription "Civil officials get off their sedan chairs here, military officials get off their horses here" there was also a large area of ​​sedan chairs parked in an orderly manner.

The officials on the parade ground were either those who passed the imperial examinations in the same year but were employed by different government offices, or those who were from the same hometown or year as the same teacher, or those who found officials from other government offices and brought them to their side to talk about their experiences and recommend people. They gathered in groups of three, two, five or seven.

Some were talking and laughing loudly, some were whispering, some were gazing at the palace in deep thought, and some were looking around for friends. There were officials with brilliant hair and feathers everywhere, running around here and there, there were at least a thousand of them.

Cabinet members Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang rushed to the forbidden gate and looked for a while before they saw a row of people kneeling beside the Yuxi Palace.

The leader seemed to be the King of Liao. Gao Gongji walked over to take a look and saw that it was indeed the King of Liao who was in the lead, with the King of Chu, the King of Qin, the King of Jin and other princes kneeling side by side.

Among all the officials, both great and small, the thirty-six most honorable ones were the only ones who were ordered to "kneel and wait", while the smaller officials in the ministries and agencies could move around freely, so all the princes looked annoyed.

After Chen Yiqin finished arranging the venue for the royal banquet, he saw his peers coming from afar, so he walked over and said, "Yuan Fu, Ru Zhen, Zi Shi."

Gao Gong tried to pout towards the kneeling princes and said, "Yi Fu, what's going on?"

"It's still about what happened in front of the city gate. The kings violated the Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions of Emperor Taizu Gao. His Majesty issued a special decree, ordering the princes to kneel until the banquet begins." Chen Yiqin replied.

Gao Gong suddenly realized.

Without any mistakes or special orders, the princes would at most kowtow to the gate of Yuxi Palace when they arrived. How could they be so serious and honest?

Li Chunfang came forward and lowered his voice to ask, "What is the emperor's order? Why did he order thousands of officials to attend the banquet?"

"There is no decree, and I don't know why." Chen Yiqin felt so confused for a rare time.

What he feared most now was that these thousands of officials would rise up at the royal banquet to oppose the unified payment of taxes and service by the officials and gentry, and the government-run operation of all industries. This would disrupt the emperor's intention to entertain the kings and make him furious, and the cabinet would be in trouble.

It is misfortune for the cabinet to have a foolish and incompetent king, but it will also be difficult for the cabinet to deal with a wise and powerful king.

The Holy Heart is like the sea, hard to fathom.

Especially Gao Gong, without Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, to take the blame, if there was a big fallout between the emperor and his ministers, he, the second-in-command of the dynasty, would be struck by lightning.

Before Li Chunfang could continue speaking, they heard the sound of bells and drums from inside the Forbidden Gate. Chen Hong, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, and Huang Jin, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, each led a team of eunuchs and trotted out of the Forbidden Gate to the left and right.

Then I heard a voice saying "The banquet is about to start——" from inside.

The square suddenly fell silent. The officials who had left their posts returned to their posts and knelt down in silence. Now, the princes who were kneeling in waiting were no longer conspicuous.

Gao Gong saw the eunuch Lu Fang, the seal-holder of the Imperial Household Department, coming out of the forbidden gate, surrounded by eunuchs, holding a bright yellow silk in his hand, and called out, "Kneel down, everyone."

All the kings and officials knelt, but the cabinet felt it was inappropriate for the cabinet to stand alone, so Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin also knelt.

Lu Fang walked to the middle of the forbidden gate and stood still, looking at the crowd of people, and said loudly: "There is an imperial decree!"

"Long live, long live!"

All the princes and officials prostrated themselves and cheered.

"Your Majesty has already given a banquet."

Lu Fang's long and steady words resounded throughout the square in front of the forbidden gate. "Order the six ministries and nine officials to lead their staff, led by Prince Yu Zhu Zaihou and the other kings of Fengtian, to enter the palace through the forbidden gate for a banquet, and the rest of the people will have a banquet outside the palace. This is my decree!"

"Long live!"

There was another roar. After Lu Fang finished announcing the decree, he glanced at the crowd and did not find Prince Yu in the crowd. At this moment, footsteps were heard at the end of the silent square.

Prince Yu walked towards him steadily. The master and the servant made eye contact, and Lu Fang lowered his head.

Prince Yu said nothing and led the other princes into the Forbidden Gate. Two rows of officials, arranged in order from east to west, walked in orderly steps as they passed through the Forbidden Gate.

On the road from the corridor to the gate of Yuxi Palace, every three steps there was a sword-carrying imperial guard in brand new military officer uniforms, standing at their posts like nails.

In front of the majestic Yuxi Palace, incense was burned on the bronze tripod, bronze turtle, bronze crane and Bixi. The curling imperial incense slowly dissipated from the mouths of the turtle and crane, and purple light and mist added a bit of sacred atmosphere to this dragon tower and phoenix palace.

The princes walked along, sighing all the way, about what it meant to be a king of a place, to be a frontier official, to be a high-ranking official, to go out on patrol, to enter the imperial carriage, and to ring the bells for daily routines!

Only when you get here will you understand the power of the world.

Thousands of officials stopped here.

Prince Yu and 37 other princes, four cabinet elders, and the chief and deputy chief officials of the six ministries went straight into the spacious Yuxi Palace. The officials of the Ministry of Rites asked them to kneel on the left and right sides of the emperor's throne.

On both sides of the throne were dozens of tables and small chairs lined up, which were probably seats reserved for princes, ministers and officials from the six ministries.

There was another one just below the imperial throne. Looking at that brocade stool, everyone had their own guesses in their minds.

Prince Yu knew that was his position, and the chill in his heart was dispelled a lot.

After about a cup of tea, the door of the monastery suddenly opened silently, and the curtain separating the main hall and the monastery was drawn up by Lu Fang and Huang Jin themselves.

Chen Hong stood outside the palace gate, estimating the time. He snapped the whip in his hand three times, and more than a hundred musicians from Shufangzhai under the veranda immediately beat drums, struck chimes, and played harps, zithers, shengs, reeds, flutes, Huangzhong, Dalu, and chimes. The music became loud.

The musicians murmured slowly, "All nations look up to the sky, celebrating the good harvest and prosperity. The auspicious clouds are shining, and the sun of Shun is shining in the center. The rivers and mountains are recorded in poems, and the carriage is attached to the stars... The time is celebrated, the year welcomes auspiciousness, the grace is abundant, and the king listens to the clanging, the wine is drunk, the flute is played, and the song of Shun is sung..."

Amid the grand and steady singing, Zhu Houcong, dressed in a dragon robe, walked out of the temple and slowly walked towards the throne in the center of the hall.

Prince Yu, who was kneeling on the ground, had a smile on his face that seemed to be frozen when he caught sight of the auspicious cloud boots.

My father is not dead!

Prince Yu couldn't tell whether he was happy or sad. It seemed that his ascension to the throne would not be possible. Next he would have to rely on the arrangements outside to purge the emperor's followers.

Zhu Houcong stood in front of the throne and listened quietly for a moment, and vaguely heard the sound of marching troops coming from outside the forbidden gate.

A commander, holding a sword, led thousands of soldiers with red silk wrapped around their arms towards the forbidden gate.

Zhu Houcong sat down upright.

The princes, ministers, and officials in the hall lowered their heads and knelt, but as if they were sensing something, they suddenly lowered their heads to the ground.

His Majesty has ascended the throne.

On the forbidden gate, cannons adjusted their positions and fired loudly at the military order.

"rumble!"

"rumble!"

"rumble!"

"..."

The rumbling sound of cannons gently struck everyone's heart. Did the sound of the salute seem a bit too loud?

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

(End of this chapter)