Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 122: The Ceremony of Crowning and Adding the Xuan Crown

The ninth day of the third month in the spring of the seventh year of Guanghe, Qingming Festival

All things growing at this time are clean and bright, so it is called Qingming, which means good luck!
Inside the Jiade Hall, two rows of nine copper lamps swayed freely, and four bronze Boshan censers stood quietly in the corners of the hall. Wisps of green smoke emerged from the censers, floating in the air like soft gauze curtains. Black curtains cascaded down from the ceiling of the hall like waterfalls, exuding solemnity.

The crown prince stood in the hall in colorful robes, with a jade belt hanging lightly around his waist. His hair was not tied up, with a few strands of hair blowing gently in the wind. There was still a bit of youthful childishness between his brows. However, none of the guests participating in the ceremony on both sides of the hall dared to look down on the current true ruler of the Han Empire.

In front of the prince, the emperor in imperial robes and the empress in a red phoenix robe both stood in front of the hall as the "masters".

The bells inside and outside the hall rang three times, and all the guests in formal attire stood still and looked at the prince in the center of the hall.

"The auspicious time has arrived, let's proceed with the crowning ceremony!"

Xun Shuang, the master of ceremonies, stood solemnly in front of the hall with a serious expression. He raised his hands slightly, palms facing each other, and chanted the words of the title loudly, his voice echoing in the hall.

Lu Zhi, who served as the guest of honor at the ceremony, wore a black formal suit and walked slowly, pausing with each step, showing his solemnity. He was serious and had a majestic air without even being angry.

Usually, the person who serves as the Grand Guest must be highly respected and virtuous. The Grand Guest is also equivalent to the life guide and social role model of the crowned person, and must also have a close relationship with the crowned person. Therefore, the person who serves as the Main Guest is usually either the crowned person's grandfather or the crowned person's highly respected teacher.

And Lu Zhi is the most suitable candidate.

Liu Fan, Guo Tu and Xun Yu, dressed in Xuanduan formal attire, served as escorts. Each of them held a lacquer tray, on which were placed three crowns: a black cloth, a leather hat, and the prince's nine-tassel crown. Each crown was embroidered with patterns in gold thread. In the slanting sunlight, the patterns flowed like a galaxy.

Among the three, Liu Fan was Liu Yan's eldest son, Guo Tu was the prince's minion, and Xun Yu was the representative of the gentry. They represented the three backbone forces under the prince's command. They held the three crowns in turn and walked to Lu Zhi's side with the lacquer tray at Xun Shuang's command.

"A plus cloth crown!"

As Xun Shuang chanted the crown poem, Lu Zhi leaned forward slightly, slowly picked up the black cloth crown from the lacquer tray with both hands, covered the crown over the prince's already tied bun, fixed it with the missing neckline, and added a green tassel.

After Lu Zhi put on the black cloth crown for the prince, Liu Fan immediately took another lacquer tray from the hand of the eunuch behind him and helped the prince, who stood up, to change into a black formal dress, black shoes, and blue silk with a half-inch border.

After changing clothes, Xun Shuang sang in praise: "On this auspicious day of the month, I put on my first clothes. I will abandon your childish ambitions and follow your virtues. May you live a long and healthy life and enjoy great happiness!"

Lu Zhi nodded slightly. Although he tried his best to remain dignified and solemn, a smile of satisfaction could not help but appear at the corner of his mouth.

The prince bowed to Liu Hong and Empress He respectively, and then bowed to Lu Zhi, who was the guest of honor. Then he turned around and bowed to the guests on both sides to express his gratitude. The guests on both sides also returned the same bow to express their gratitude.

The gabun symbolizes that the prince is now legitimately involved in personnel management, that is, he has the power to govern people, and the prince's salute is also to show everyone that he has not forgotten his original intention.

"Erjiapibian!"

As Xun Shuang's loud shout fell, the musicians on both sides started playing music. Guo Tu slowly walked forward holding the lacquer tray, and to everyone's surprise, he knelt down and held the leather hat.

The corner of Lu Zhi's eye twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything. He took off the black cloth crown for the prince and replaced it with a white leather cap made of white deerskin and a white hairpin.

Guo Tu quickly rose and dressed the prince in a white plain robe, white sandals, and a black silk brocade with a half-inch border. He then held a jade sword high in front of the guests, knelt on the ground, and placed it around the prince's waist. The sword was three feet four inches long, with the inscription "Yuanzhi" on the blade. It was meticulously forged by the imperial court, hence the name "Yuanzhi Sword."

The leather cap is a symbol of martial virtue. Wearing a leather cap symbolizes that the person wearing it will be involved in military affairs and can hold military power, so he should be equipped with a sword.

"In this auspicious month and on this day, I will present you with my proper attire and respect your dignity. May you be virtuous and prudent, and may you live a long and prosperous life, forever blessed by the gods!"

After Xun Shuang finished his praise, the prince bowed to everyone again to express his gratitude.

"Three-fold crown!"

Xun Yu walked forward slowly and handed over the lacquer tray in his hand, on which was placed the Crown Prince's nine-tasseled crown. Each of the nine-tasseled crowns had nine tassels, and each tassel was hung with twelve colorful jade beads, a total of 216 jade beads, which was extremely luxurious.

Lu Zhi held up the nine-feathered crown and slowly put on this most noble nine-feathered crown for the prince, adding a hairpin to secure it and attaching a black ribbon with a purple border. Xun Yu then helped the prince change into the crown of the prince with a black robe and purple skirt, purple sandals, black silk lace and a half-inch border.

"In the right year, in the order of the month, all are blessed. Parents are present, fulfilling their virtue. The yellow ox has no boundaries, receiving the blessing of heaven."

In Zhou Li, the crown was called "juebian". Adding "juebian" meant that the prince had the most important sacrificial right in the ritual system. Adding the crown three times, each time it was added, the prince became more honorable, which also implied that the virtue of the person wearing the crown would increase day by day.

After the crowning of the crown prince, all the instruments in the hands of the musicians began to play. The huge chimes, accompanied by jade chimes and bronze drums, played solemn and dignified tunes.

The music and rituals gradually subsided, and the coming-of-age ceremony was over. The guests thought that the prince would finally announce a general amnesty on behalf of the emperor to demonstrate his benevolence.

This was a common occurrence in the Later Han Dynasty. When the emperor came of age or the crown prince was crowned, they would grant amnesty to show their grace, accumulate merit for themselves, and pray for blessings from God.

However, Liu Bian went against the old rules and did not announce an amnesty.

The amnesty can pardon all but the ten most heinous crimes, including murder and corruption. Since his foolish ruler took power, he has almost maintained a frequency of amnesty once a year.

Although it seemed like a benevolent policy, it was actually destroying the existing legal system time and time again, which was not conducive to his subsequent policy of deciding cases by law instead of citing scriptures.

However, according to the files he read after he became regent, he realized that it was not entirely because Liu Hong was confused, but because there were too many criminals in the late dynasty.

Case files in the Supreme Court and local government offices were piled up like mountains, and there were countless old cases in the government treasuries. The wealthy families in various places liked to shelter criminals to improve their reputations, which led to an increasing number of case files. Coupled with the extremely low office efficiency, the prisons were unable to accommodate the criminals.

Either expand the prisons or grant amnesty.

So everything fell into a vicious cycle. The more prisoners there were, the more amnesties there were. The more amnesties there were, the more people dared to commit crimes, and some even committed crimes at the approximate time of amnesty.

However, as Liu Bian's power grew, the office efficiency of the Secretariat and the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers gradually improved. The improved office efficiency of the central agencies also indirectly urged the office efficiency of local prefectures, counties and districts. At least these positive changes were visible to the naked eye.

Moreover, Liu Bian not only did not plan to grant amnesty to the whole country, but also wanted to deal with a person who had a close relationship with Liu Hong.

The emperor's wet nurse, Zhao Rao!
(End of this chapter)