The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

The scenes of regime change are often full of political symbols, etiquette norms and power games.

The core process includes four steps: offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, issuing imperial edicts, handing over the seals and ribbons, and the new emperor ascending the throne.

When Zhou Ziming and his men entered the palace, the palace gate had already been opened. Wu Yougui led the way, and the eunuchs and palace maids stood respectfully on both sides of the palace road waiting with their heads bowed.

The palace guards and imperial guards were also dressed in armor, holding red-tasseled spears in their hands, standing on both sides with solemn expressions.

The scene was silent for a moment.

When Zhou Ziming led his men through the palace corridor, all the imperial guards, palace maids and eunuchs bowed with their hands lowered and shouted "Greetings to the Holy Lord".

Seeing this, Zhou Ziming continued to ride his horse and lead his men inside with an expressionless face.

After walking a long way further in, passing the White Marble Bridge and reaching the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, you can see that the little emperor has already led hundreds of officials waiting there.

The whole place was silent, and the atmosphere was even more depressing than at the palace gate.

For a moment, the only sound you could hear was the whistling wind in the autumn morning.

The little emperor was dressed very neatly and solemnly today, wearing a crown on his head, a dragon robe, and perhaps with makeup on his face. He looked much better than when he was lying on the bed.

The Queen Mother was sitting next to him, expressionless and dressed very simply.

The first person to speak was the one who was the head of the four regent ministers. His surname was Cui and he came from a family of scholars.

The Cui family has experienced ups and downs for thousands of years, and has remained honored and favored, although some of the family members were killed by Bai Chao in the capital, causing great damage to the family's vitality.

However, after following the young emperor to move south to Lin'an, he quickly regained his foothold in the court and became quite influential in it.

"The will of heaven is not constant, it only belongs to those with virtue. Now that the will of heaven has been determined and the black snake has chosen its master, we ordinary people should obey the will of heaven and respectfully welcome the holy master!" Prime Minister Cui stepped out and raised his voice to speak solemnly word by word.

Then they took the lead in kneeling and bowing to Zhou Ziming who was riding on a horse.

Seeing this, other civil and military officials also followed suit and saluted.

At this time, the young emperor, who was sitting in the highest seat at the head, stood up according to procedure and said, "I am unworthy of the throne and have inherited it. I am worried that I will be disgraced and offend the heavens. However, Commander Zhou is virtuous and wise. The mandate of heaven is with you. The past generations have agreed to it. Now that the mandate of heaven has changed, how dare I not respect and obey it?"

What I mean is that I am not virtuous enough and I am unworthy of being the emperor. I am afraid of being punished by heaven. Since Commander Zhou is the one chosen by heaven, I dare not disobey heaven's will.

At this point, the young emperor's eyes were filled with sorrow. He paused before continuing, formally announcing his abdication: "Now, I will hand over the throne to Commander Zhou, so that you can serve the ancestral temple and take charge of it!"

After hearing this, Zhou Ziming dismounted from his horse.

The people and horses following behind also dismounted swiftly.

Zhou Ziming stepped forward immediately after dismounting, and calmly declined with a bow, saying, "I am a humble servant, yet I have been honored with your grace. I dare to remain humble and avoid the throne."

It means that I am too limited to accept it.

This is also an inherent rule of abdication in all dynasties. The person who receives the abdication must decline three times before he can succeed to the throne.

To show humility!

As soon as Zhou Ziming finished speaking, the ministers began to advise him.

Cui Shoufu took the lead and said, "The virtue of Xia has ended, and the prosperity of Zhou is about to begin. May the holy ruler follow the will of Heaven and the people, and follow the example of Yao and Shun."

It means that the Xia Dynasty has run out of luck and should follow the example of Yao and Shun and abdicate.

"Yes, the mandate of heaven has been given to us. We dare to beg for death!" All the civil and military officials knelt down and begged sincerely.

After refusing three times, Zhou Ziming finally accepted the throne and began his declaration: "I, with my humble body, am entrusted to the people. I respectfully accept the mandate of Heaven and am overwhelmed with fear."

It means that I am insignificant, but I have been entrusted with governing the people. I must fear the will of heaven and act prudently.

After saying this, Zhou Ziming stepped forward, climbed the stairs step by step, and went all the way to the highest position, where he took the abdication edict from the tray in the hands of Eunuch Wu Yougui.

If Zhang Ping'an were here and saw this scene, he would probably only sigh that this world is just a huge makeshift team.

It’s the time and the fate, and it’s in accordance with the will of heaven!

Nothing is possible, and nothing is impossible!

After receiving the abdication edict, the young emperor handed over the imperial seal, imperial seal, and imperial tokens engraved with "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper Eternally" to Zhou Ziming.

It implies the transfer of power!

Then, together with the other ministers, he began to kowtow again: "Long live the emperor!"

"Everyone, please stand up!" Zhou Ziming raised his hand and said loudly.

At this moment, looking at the sky, he felt extremely calm.

It is true that the higher you stand, the farther you can see!

"Now let Censor Li read out the abdication edict!!!" Wu Yougui stood aside and shrilly said, his voice drawn out so long that it echoed throughout the Taihe Hall Square.

After Censor Li finished reading the abdication edict, the little emperor needed to take off his dragon robe and crown at the same time.

The new emperor Zhou Ziming led all the civil and military officials to offer sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestral temples.

Members of the royal family surnamed Xia helped him straighten his clothes and put on the dragon crown and sash that belonged exclusively to the emperor.

Zhou Ziming changed the imperial dynasty to Zhou Dynasty and the reign title to "Jianxin", and was known in history as Zhou Taizu.

At this point, the abdication ceremony was officially declared over!

The ministers once again kowtowed in front of the ancestral temple, "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor!"

The scene is spectacular and grand!

…………

After ascending the throne, the first thing Zhou Ziming did was to implement a series of measures, including granting amnesty to the whole country, opening special examinations, and rewarding meritorious officials.

He also gave preferential treatment to the former monarch and surviving members of the royal family, named the young emperor Duke Anle, and allowed him to retain some of the emperor's ceremonial guards.

He allowed the eunuch Wu Yougui to accompany him and serve him.

However, the little emperor committed suicide on the first day of going to the villa!

Did not accept this offer.

His last words before his death were: "A king dies for his country. This is the monarch's duty. Don't worry, mother. I feel relieved now. You can take care of yourself from now on!"

After saying this, he closed his eyes peacefully.

He has lived such a tiring life and really wants to have a good rest!

If it weren't for the fact that his mother, the Queen Mother, had a place to live, he might have died for his country the day the army entered the city!

At least it can still appear to have some backbone and be praised in history books!

The Queen Mother held her son's gradually cooling body in her arms and cried bitterly.

Wu Youguiren was an old and experienced man, and had actually sensed something about it long ago.

However, the abdication ceremony has been successfully completed, and whether he is alive or dead is no longer important.

He plans to live out his retirement in this villa, which can be considered a good ending, which is great!

After sighing, he ordered people to quietly dispose of the little emperor's body and keep the Queen Mother under surveillance.

The news of the little emperor’s death cannot be announced to the public for the time being. We will do so after everything stabilizes!

When Zhang Ping'an received the news of the change of dynasty, it was eight days after he received the conscription notice.

At this time, people had already made legends about the black snake choosing its master and the white tiger flying on the clouds.

Zhang Pingan and others naturally heard about it as well.

But if you really ask someone, no one can tell exactly who said this, on which day or at which moment.

Anyway, we know that this happened, and the person chosen by the Black Snake as its master is the one destined by heaven, who will be able to unify the world and save the people from danger in the future.

The person who delivered the message was very confident and sure!

At this time, all the sweet potatoes have been successfully harvested.

This year is another year of good weather and autumn harvest.

When he learned that Lin'an had changed dynasties and was now ruled by Emperor Zhou.

Liu Sanlang and Ruan San were so shocked that they accidentally broke the cups again.

No matter how hard I try, I never thought that changing dynasties would be so easy.

The world changes in an instant!

The new emperor is still Mr. Zhou who had dinner with me!!!

"What should we do next?" Ruan San asked.

"We are not among the meritorious officials who will be rewarded. According to the court bulletin, our positions will remain unchanged. We will do what we have to do," Zhang Pingan said calmly.

"Then we'll just ignore everything?" Liu Sanlang asked nervously.

"The matter is a foregone conclusion, so why bother? The world will eventually divide after being united for a long time, and will eventually unite after being divided for a long time. This is the general trend. We can't do anything about it, so let's just follow the will of heaven!" Zhang Ping'an said in a deep voice.