Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Why are you two back?" Zhang Shikang asked with a smile.

According to the plan, the Beijing Camp Army should arrive in the capital around the Lantern Festival next year, mainly because the Beijing Camp is mostly composed of infantry.

They were also escorting a large number of prisoners of war and some stolen goods from house searches, so it took several days to cross the river from Nanjing.

"Hehe, there's nothing to do. It's too torturous to march with them, so Second Brother Xu asked to come back early on horseback, saying he wanted to go home to pay New Year's greetings to his parents." Sun Dasheng grinned.

"What about you?" Zhang Shikang glanced at Sun Dasheng and asked.

Sun Dasheng only had his father, Sun Weifan, in his family, and Sun Weifan was in the army in the Beijing camp. It was very convenient for him to pay New Year's greetings. If he did not do it well, Sun Weifan would slap him in the face.

"I just... came back with them." Sun Dasheng avoided the question.

"Don't tell the truth to Big Brother. He just ran away secretly." Xu Wenyuan smiled and exposed Sun Dasheng.

"You guy, if you put it seriously, this is considered a deserter. You will definitely be beaten when your father comes back." Zhang Shikang said speechlessly.

"Hehe, it's just a beating. If we don't come back, we won't be able to participate in this grand event organized by our brother." Sun Dasheng said indifferently.

Sun Dasheng and Xu Wenyuan were both wearing formal attire. Zhang Shikang was used to seeing them wearing armor on weekdays, and he almost burst out laughing when he saw them in formal attire.

Especially since Sun Dasheng looks tough, the dress looks awkward on him.

The three brothers exchanged greetings for a while, and with the arrival of Emperor Chongzhen, everyone fell silent.

Emperor Chongzhen was wearing a black crown today and a crown tassel on his head. The crown was embroidered with a five-clawed dragon. The black robe and the solemn expression of Emperor Chongzhen made him look particularly majestic.

At this time, an official from the Honglu Temple hurried over and took Zhang Shikang to a small house next door and changed into a specially made dress.

Zhang Shikang had tried on all the formal dresses yesterday but didn't use any of them. The one prepared for him by Emperor Chongzhen was a dragon robe with four claws. This dragon robe was different from the ones given to Zhang Shikang by Emperor Chongzhen and was also black.

After Zhang Shikang came out of the house in his dragon robe on the boat, the Minister of the Honglu Temple sang the etiquette loudly, and Emperor Chongzhen, holding three incense sticks in his hands, first bowed three times to the main hall, and then bowed to the east and west halls.

The others knelt down on the ground one after another, and Zhang Shikang had no choice but to do the same.

The three halls of the Taimiao enshrine not only the tablets of emperors of all dynasties of the Ming Dynasty, but also the tablets of meritorious officials of all dynasties of the Ming Dynasty, such as Zhang Yu, King of Hejian, and Zhang Fu, the first Duke of Yingguo.

Theoretically speaking, although the ceremony was held in the Taimiao, the ancestors of the Zhang family were also in the Taimiao, so it was not considered to be against the rules.

Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be muttering to himself while holding incense and candles to his ancestors, but no one knew what he was saying.

The nobles and relatives around as well as Zhang family members all knelt down with solemn expressions, especially the latter. It was not only the first time for them to see the emperor, but also the first time for them to enter the palace and see the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty.

The altar in front of the tablet was filled with offerings, including cattle, sheep, fruits, and snacks.

Zhang Shikang was bored. He just drank a few mouthfuls of porridge in the morning and felt a little hungry when looking at the tribute.

After half a cup of tea, Emperor Chongzhen finally finished his muttering, and then asked everyone to stand up. His expression changed from solemn to amiable.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites ordered the nobles and members of the Zhang family to stand on both sides of the main hall, and then called Zhang Shikang and his family to come forward.

Zhang Shikang followed the instructions of the Honglu Temple official and knelt down with his hands clasped in front of the tablets of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty in the main hall.

Three eunuchs were kneeling sideways, each holding a tray. On the three trays were placed three ceremonial crowns, namely a black cloth crown, a leather crown, and a jug crown.

Zhang Shize first respectfully bowed to the tablets of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty again, and then walked to the three eunuchs.

Zhang Shize was the sponsor of the ceremony. However, if Emperor Chongzhen had not intervened, as the eldest son of the Zhang clan, he should have been the guest of honor.

The eldest son of the clan is usually the legitimate son of the clan's main branch. He has a very high right of inheritance to the clan's titles, receives official positions through inheritance, and can get at least half of the family property when it is divided.

Zhang Shikang's father, Zhang Zhiji, was still the host of the coming-of-age ceremony.

Generally speaking, according to the Ming Dynasty's system of capping ceremony, before performing the capping ceremony for his son, the host should visit the home of the guest of honor three days before the ceremony to perform the ceremony of admonishing the guest.

The host will bring gifts to the guest's home, and the guest will drink a cup of tea and say, "I have a son named Shikang, and I will crown him in three days. I hope my son will teach him."

The great guest humbly declined, saying, "I am not smart enough to serve, so I dare to decline."

The host invited him again, saying, "I hope my son will teach me in the end."

However, no matter how humble the guest was, he finally got the deal done after he declined and requested three times.

However, since the chief guest was the emperor, this process was omitted due to time and status constraints.

After everyone was in their seats, the Minister of the Honglu Temple shouted for the ceremony to begin, while Emperor Chongzhen washed and dried his hands in a copper basin at the side.

Then he walked behind Zhang Shikang and tied his hair.

When Emperor Chongzhen was in the palace, he usually had palace maids and eunuchs tie his hair. This was the first time he tied someone's hair for them.

But he had obviously done his homework in advance. In a short while, he had tied Zhang Shikang's long hair into a bun and put a net scarf on his head.

Then the Minister of the Honglu Temple said, "Perform the initial ceremony." Zhang Shize respectfully held up the black cloth cap used for the initial ceremony and walked to his brother's side.

Emperor Chongzhen took the black cloth crown from Zhang Shize and put it on Zhang Shikang's bun.

According to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, when putting on the black cloth cap, the person receiving the cap should wear a deep robe and a wide scarf. The deep robe was the formal dress of the scholar class in the Ming Dynasty. Together with the black cloth cap, it represented that the person receiving the cap had reached adulthood and had initially acquired the identity of a traditional Chinese literati.

According to the records of the Ming Dynasty Code, scholars who had not yet become officials wore a wide scarf and a long robe.

However, Emperor Chongzhen omitted this part because he thought it would be troublesome for Zhang Shikang to change clothes back and forth.

After Emperor Chongzhen put a black cloth cap on Zhang Shikang, as a distinguished guest, he was supposed to read a congratulatory speech to the person being capped after each capping ceremony.

The congratulatory speeches were basically the expectations and blessings of the distinguished guest to the person being crowned. The Minister of the Honglu Temple had already prepared a congratulatory speech for Emperor Chongzhen, but Emperor Chongzhen did not even read it.

Instead, he said to Zhang Shikang:

"It is an auspicious month and a good day, and I am here to serve you. I hope that from now on, you will be modest and calm, read books and practice calligraphy often, and cultivate the character of a scholar, and be a role model for the nobles and relatives of the world."

Emperor Chongzhen may have been influenced by Zhang Shikang and felt that those empty speeches were meaningless. Also, they were all in classical Chinese, which Zhang Shikang could hardly understand, so he chose his own words to express his expectations for him.

For example, Zhang Shikang himself did not read books, but he often criticized the bad aspects of classics. Emperor Chongzhen felt that although classics contained some bad aspects, they also had their essence and should still be read.

For example, Zhang Shikang's handwriting was so ugly that even though the court officials didn't say anything, it was still bad.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, Zhang Shikang was a little confused. He had not listened carefully to the procedures explained by the official from the Honglu Temple and only remembered the general idea.

Now Brother Chongzhen didn't play by the rules, and the scene suddenly became a little dull after he finished speaking.

Zhang Shikang was considering whether he should say something, so he gave Brother Chongzhen an awkward but polite smile.

"Oh."

……