Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 90 Duke Wei's New Year Greetings and the Change of Era Name by Emperor Chongzhen (Part 2)

As the New Year approaches, the capital city is gradually becoming lively.

The streets and alleys of the inner city were teeming with people, with countless ordinary citizens joyfully shopping for New Year's goods.

The imperial city was also decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers in preparation for the New Year.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., Zhu Jue had just arrived at the main hall of Yuxi Palace and was about to review memorials when a voice suddenly announced: "Wei Zhongxian requests an audience."

Is there some great news again?

It seems like this guy won't bother me unless there's something really good happening to him.

The problem is, all the money lost by Xinglonghao went into the internal treasury, and he didn't send this guy to catch corrupt officials and seize their ill-gotten gains during holidays. What great things could there be?
Zhu Jue was taken aback for a moment before loudly announcing, "Summon them."

Wei Zhongxian actually carried in a sandalwood box almost as tall as himself, which was tied with a bright red ribbon, making it seem quite pleasing.

The man bowed with a beaming smile and said, "This servant greets Your Majesty. This servant wishes Your Majesty a Happy New Year and good health."

pay a New Year call?

Those are such distant memories.

When he was president, some subordinates would come to wish him a Happy New Year in advance, but they were all there to discuss the matter of giving out year-end bonuses ahead of time.

Perhaps he should give the palace officials some early rewards.

The officials in the inner court have been extremely busy these past few months and have achieved quite remarkable results. It's time to give them some year-end bonuses so they can have a good New Year.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then nodded warmly and said, "Yes, Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Zhongxian, what are you carrying?"

I came here to please you precisely because I received this gift.

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly presented the treasure, saying, "Your Majesty, this is the largest wild ginseng that Wenlong found this year, weighing a full nine taels and nine mace. This servant has brought it here especially to congratulate you on the New Year."

This turned out to be a wild ginseng!

These days, this stuff is being hyped up to the sky. A single ginseng weighing one tael can sell for thousands of taels, an eight-tael ginseng weighing eight taels can sell for tens of thousands of taels, and a nine-tael ginseng weighing nine taels can sell for at least tens of thousands of taels. The key is that such a large ginseng king is not easy to find, and there is no stock anywhere you want to buy it.

This guy really put his heart into it.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said, "Cheng'en, accept this for me. Ruoyu, issue a receipt for withdrawing money from the Imperial Treasury. Reward Zhongxian with eight thousand taels of silver, and put it in a red envelope."

There are even red envelopes here.

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly handed the large sandalwood box to Wang Chengen, repeatedly bowing and saying, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Seeing that Liu Ruoyu had finished writing the invoice and Wang Chengen had stamped it with his official seal and wrapped it in a red envelope, Zhu Jue picked it up and handed it over solemnly, saying, "Zhongxian, you've done a good job this year. Keep it up next year."

Oh, that's the kind of thing I love to hear.

You can continue using me.

Wei Zhongxian quickly bowed and accepted the red envelope with both hands, saying happily, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. This servant will do my best to serve Your Majesty."

Okay, that's enough.

Zhu Jue waved his hand and said to Liu Ruoyu, "Ruoyu, issue more receipts and give more red envelopes, all of them are eight thousand taels each, give me twenty first."

He thought Wei Zhongxian would resign.

Unexpectedly, Wei Zhongxian bowed and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, this wild ginseng is very nourishing, so I dare not eat too much. One qian a day is best, and it is even better to drink it with one qian of Ophiopogon japonicus soaked in water. It can greatly replenish qi and blood and prolong life. That's how I eat it."

Yes, you really put your heart into it.

Perfect timing! With the New Year approaching, all government offices should be on holiday. There won't be many memorials to report each day, so it's a good time to relax and have some fun with the kids.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I will give it a try." Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian quickly bowed and took his leave.

Seeing that Liu Ruoyu and Wang Chengen had already wrapped the red envelopes, Zhu Jue gave one to each of them and then ordered Fang Zhenghua to send the red envelopes to all the officials in the inner court. Only then did he pick up the memorials to review.

Unexpectedly, this first memorial was quite important.

This matter concerns the change of reign title, or the change of era name.

Minister of Rites He Ruchong submitted a memorial stating that with the New Year approaching, it was appropriate to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony and announce to the world that the reign title would be changed to Chongzhen on the first day of the first month of the Wuchen year.

The cabinet also submitted a draft proposal, suggesting that the Ministry of Rites be promoted to set up sacrifices for the emperor at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Altar of Earth and Grain, the Altar of Mountains and Rivers, and the Temple of Heaven, to show solemnity.

Changing the reign title was extremely important in those days. The most important reason was to let all the people of the world, including those of vassal states, know that the new emperor had ascended the throne and succeeded to the rightful heir, thus legitimizing imperial power.

Therefore, since Emperor Wu of Han established the reign title, no emperor has ever ascended the throne without changing the reign title.

Another point is that the reign title is an important supplement to the sexagenary cycle for recording years.

The sexagenary cycle, also known as the sexagenary cycle, determines years based on the sixty combinations of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

The problem is that another sixty years is another sexagenary cycle, and another sixty years is still another sexagenary cycle. If there is no year number in front of the sexagenary cycle to distinguish them, then it will be a bit difficult to distinguish them.

For example, the current year is Dingmao year according to the sexagenary cycle. The previous Dingmao year was 60 years ago. If there is no year number in front, it is Dingmao year. Including this Dingmao year, there have been five Dingmao years in the Ming Dynasty.

If there were no reign titles to distinguish them, then all five Dingmao years would be Dingmao years of the Ming Dynasty. Who could tell them apart?

Therefore, changing the year name is also an important supplement to the sexagenary cycle. For example, if we add the year Dingmao of the Tianqi era, we know that this Dingmao year is the seventh year of the Tianqi era. The previous Jiazi, Dingmao of the Longqing era, is the first year of the Longqing era.

For example, Shen Shixing and Wen Zhenmeng were both top scholars in the Renxu year. If there were no distinction based on the year, it would be chaotic. How could there be several top scholars in the Renxu year?

If we add the reign title, it becomes very clear: Shen Shixing was the top scholar in the Renxu year of the Jiajing reign (1552), and Wen Zhenmeng was the top scholar in the Renxu year of the Tianqi reign (1623).

In short, changing the era name is a very important event for a dynasty and an emperor, as it involves offering sacrifices to ancestors and to heaven and earth.

Furthermore, the change of reign title must be announced to the world before the eve of the Lunar New Year the year before the new reign title is adopted.

Of course, there are special circumstances.

For example, Emperor Taichang died in just one month, before he could even announce the change of reign title to the world.

After Tianqi ascended the throne, he also had to change the era name, which caused a lot of headaches for many people.

It is unknown how long it took to finalize the decision: the period from January to August of the Gengshen year of the Wanli reign was designated as the 48th year of the Wanli reign, the period from August to December was designated as the first year of the Taichang reign, and the subsequent Xinyou year was designated as the first year of the Tianqi reign.

The last time the era name was changed, it probably upset his older brother, Emperor Tianqi.

This time, the Minister of Rites and the cabinet's draft proposal seemed to be a grand gesture, but in reality, it also had the intention of deliberately making things difficult for him.

This is all because after his elder brother, the Emperor Tianqi, changed the era name, no matter what grand ceremony it was, whether it was to offer sacrifices to ancestors or to worship heaven and earth, it was always done by dukes, marquises, and nobles on his behalf, and this guy would never show up!

The officials in the outer court generally thought that he was a trouble-averse emperor, or a cowardly one, just like Tianqi, so they deliberately set up sacrifices in four places to make things difficult for him.

He was neither afraid of trouble nor cowardly.

The reason he ignored the officials in the outer court was simply because he didn't want to waste time on these useless people.

Since he was already planning to wipe out all the cronies in the outer court, why waste time dealing with these guys?

However, he still had to make an appearance for such an important event as the change of reign title.

He wanted to tell the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty that he had accepted the throne and that the Ming Dynasty would surely be restored in his hands!

(End of this chapter)