Chapter 414 413 Solar Eclipse

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, all government offices in the Ming Dynasty held a seal-opening ceremony, which represented the arrival of the 40th year of Jiajing, and all officials began to work normally again.

It was also on this day that Wu Shan, the Minister of Rites, submitted a memorial to the Tongzhengshisi requesting the King of Jing to be enfeoffed, which shocked the court and the public.

The reason why it caused such a big impact was that all the ministers in the court knew that the renovation project of the King of Jing's mansion had not been completed, and the Minister of Rites was so anxious to submit a memorial requesting to determine the time of enfeoffment, which was a bit too much.

However, think about it, on the fourth and fifth days of the first lunar month, many officials came to visit Yin Shizan, Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde, and the most exaggerated was Gao Gong's family. People who came to visit had lined up in a long queue outside Gao's mansion, and their posture was no less than that of the cabinet prime minister's family.

Because at this time, a piece of gossip was also spreading in the capital, that is, everything that happened in the Yongshou Palace in the Western Garden on the first day of the first lunar month.

Those who believe this gossip know that King Jing has become a thing of the past. Even though he may have been very close to that position in the past, Emperor Jiajing finally chose to follow the ancestral system.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the cabinet once again issued an imperial edict, which was quickly sent to Nanjing after being stamped by the six departments. That is, Emperor Jiajing summoned Qu Jingchun, the president of Nanjing Hanlin Academy and the chief wine of the Imperial College, to return to Beijing to be promoted to the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Although Wei Guangde had learned about this from Zhang Juzheng before, he was a little confused when analyzing the current court situation at this time.

Now a bunch of officials have been arranged in the positions of assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, including Yuan Wei, Yan Ne, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong, and now Qu Jingchun has been added.

Gao Gong has been holding the position for two months. It is said that Yuan Wei will also be officially transferred from the Hanlin Academy to the Ministry of Rites. At that time, there will inevitably be a conflict with Gao Gong's position. There is also Wu Shan, who has served as the Minister of Rites for many years. So many ministers favored by Emperor Jiajing are crowded on this road. Don't you think it's crowded?

The reason why Wei Guangde thought about this was because Lü Ben, one of the three ministers of the cabinet, had asked for leave before the grand court meeting. It was said that he was in poor health, but he had repeatedly requested to retire but was delayed by Emperor Jiajing.

Everyone knew that Lü Ben only had one or two years left. Once he left, the cabinet might add a minister. After the position of the crown prince was settled, many people began to pay attention to who would be the next person to enter the cabinet.

Among these people who were most likely to enter the cabinet, perhaps only Wu Shan's house was deserted these days, because this person had a bad temper. If you went to visit him for no reason, you might be turned away. With more visits and longer time, fewer people wanted to get along with Wu Shan by visiting him.

And Yuan Wei, Yan Ne, and Li Chunfang's houses began to become lively. Gao Gong himself had always been sought after by Beijing officials.

At this time, although the residence of Lord Yan was basically the same as before, everyone with a discerning eye could see that, with the King of Jing's enfeoffment already a foregone conclusion, Lord Yan's health could not support him for a few more years. Although no one dared to push the wall at this time, the anti-Yan faction was still secretly colluding in secret.

Amidst the turmoil, ten days passed in a flash. The Aoshan Lantern Festival had ended, and the officials in Beijing began to collect their minds and return to their official duties.

With the auspicious time calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, the departure and arrival times of King Jing's enfeoffment were submitted in the form of a memorial. After obtaining the permission of Emperor Jiajing, the Silijian approved it and returned it to the Ministry of Rites. For a time, Wu Shan's work increased sharply.

The lectures in Prince Yu's residence had returned to normal, but the minds of the people in Prince Yu's residence were all on Prince Jing's trip.

There was a system for the prince to leave Beijing for enfeoffment. It was not that King Jing could leave when the time came to pay farewell to the emperor and his mother. There were many rules during the period, and Prince Yu, as the elder brother, and all the officials in Beijing had to participate.

"Brother Suqing."

"Suqing, you are here."

That afternoon, Wei Guangde, Yin Shizhan and Zhang Juzheng were chatting in the room. When the door curtain was opened, they saw Gao Gong walking in. Everyone stood up and saluted.

"Everyone sit down. I just came back to do some official business."

Gao Gong waved his hand, indicating that everyone should be polite, and then asked, "Your Highness is not here?"

"Your Highness caught a cold last night and is feeling a little unwell. He is resting."

Yin Shizhan said somewhat embarrassedly.

Seeing that Yin Shizhan and others looked unhappy, Gao Gong immediately understood. He knew the character of Prince Yu. When he was still in the palace, he was not surprised by absurd things.

"Then I will handle the handover with you in the same way. Take the time to explain the matter to Prince Yu. There must be no mistakes."

While speaking, Gao Gong took out a document from his arms and handed it to Yin Shizhan, saying: "This is the "Ceremony of Farewell to the Emperor" set by Wu Shangshu. Although most of it is handled by my officials from the Ministry of Rites, the day before Prince Jing leaves Beijing, Prince Jing and his wife will go to the palace to bid farewell and then go to Prince Yu's mansion to pay farewell, and then His Highness will return the greeting.

Then all the officials in Beijing must participate and go to Prince Jing's mansion to pay homage to Prince Jing. The next day, Prince Jing leaves Beijing, and all the civil and military officials in Beijing must wait for Prince Jing to bid farewell at the palace gate, and then stand in line at the bridge outside the left gate of Chang'an, waiting for Prince Jing's carriage to pass."

The "Ceremony of Farewell to the Emperor" was set by Wu Shan and the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites after reviewing the ceremony of the prince's enfeoffment in the previous dynasty. The entire procedure follows the previous model, and there will be no additions or deletions.

However, for the people in Prince Yu's mansion, what they actually have to participate in is what he said.

Yin Shizhen quickly flipped through the document in his hand and then handed it to Wei Guangde. Wei Guangde held the document with his right hand so that Zhang Juzheng could read it together.

Wei Guangde didn't know what other people thought. Anyway, he was very curious about the ceremony of the Ming Dynasty prince leaving Beijing and becoming a feudal lord.

The day before the ceremony, I paid my respects to the emperor and delivered his speeches. In advance, the internal officials set up the scene outside the gate of the Shangyu Palace. On the solstice, the king's crowned concubine Zhai Yi entered from the Donghua Gate and entered the scene outside the gate of the Shangyu Palace. The ceremony was held The eunuch led the imperial concubine to the imperial court. The king and his concubine stood side by side, with the king on his left and the concubine on his right. They performed five bows and three kowtows. Both the king and his concubine knelt down to listen to the instruction. After the order was given, a fruit box of wine was given to the king. The king knelt down to drink. After kowtowing, he left. At the end of the act, he and his concubine went to the front of their mother and concubine, bowed four times and then left. The concubine returned to the palace first. King Jing went to Prince Yu's palace and bowed four times. King Yu still went to Prince Jing's palace and bowed two times. Each returned to the palace, and all the civil and military officials were in their respective roles. Jifu went to Prince Yijing's Mansion and paid four obeisances.

The next day, all the civil and military officials were assigned to serve in court. King Jing, in his royal robes, entered from the Donghua Gate to the Great Chao Gate and performed five bows and three kowtows in front of the throne. The king was led out of the Chengtian Gate from the east steps to the palace to change his clothes. The king himself offered sacrifices to Cheng. After the ceremony of the God of Tianmen, Wang Chengyu left the left gate of Chang'an to the mansion and set out with his concubine. From Chaoyang Gate, all the officials changed their auspicious clothes and went to the east of the bridge to stand in sequence and wait for the king's chariot to pass by.

Wei Guangde read the "Ci Chao Yi" drafted by Wu Shan and had a general understanding of the procedure for the Ming Dynasty vassal king to leave Beijing and join the vassal state. However, at this moment, he heard Yin Shizhen asking Gao Gong: "Has the document passed the cabinet? ?”

"Of course, the cabinet that was delivered to the cabinet this morning has now been sent to the palace."

Gao Gong stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I know what you are thinking. Mr. Yan Ge has maintained his consistent style and acted impartially."

"Haha. By this time, it will be too late even if he wants to do anything."

Yin Shizhen smiled and said, "I'll write a letter to Chen Yifu later to make him happy."

"No, he will know it by reading the newspaper. If you really wrote the letter, it would be bad for His Highness if it spread."

Gao Gong hurriedly spoke to stop him.

"Brother Suqing."

When Wei Guangde heard them talking about the official document being delivered to the palace, he couldn't help but feel moved in his heart and shouted.

After Gao Gong, Yin Shizhen and others turned their attention, Wei Guangde asked: "I saw that the "Court Ceremony" prescribed by Wu Shangshu is so complicated. Will your Majesty handle it?"

Okay, let’s not talk about the usual court gatherings. The Jiajing Emperor will issue an order in advance to exempt the three major court gatherings of Zhengdan, Winter Solstice and Wanshou Festival. He will only arrange for a Duke to lead the civil and military salutes of the court. The only one that will appear in public That is, the palace examination takes place every three years.

If he follows the "Ci Zhao Rituals" listed by Wu Shan, he will have to show up two days before King Jing leaves the capital, and he will also have to face King Jing and Princess Jing. Will Emperor Jiajing do it?

Although most of the courtiers believed that Emperor Jiajing did not go to court and was unwilling to meet the two kings, the main reason was that, like the previous Emperor Zhengde, he was busy cultivating immortals all day long, which delayed government affairs and family relationships.

Emperor Zhengde was busy having fun, Emperor Jiajing was busy cultivating immortality, but Wei Guangde held a different opinion.

In fact, this is also the more common view of later generations. Emperor Jiajing was not lazy in politics, but because he was afraid of being punished.

After meeting his two sons, his son died soon after, so he believed Tao Zhongwen's statement, and the motto "Two dragons never meet" has been deeply ingrained in his bones.

Even though King Jing left Beijing to join the vassal state, Emperor Jiajing might not receive him, otherwise he would have met King Jing on the first day of the new year.

From the perspective of later generations, during the forty-five years of Emperor Jiajing's reign, except for the first few years when the government fell into the hands of Yang Tinghe and others, in the subsequent years, the power of the government was firmly in his own hands, and he never lost it for a moment.

The reason for this is that although Emperor Jiajing was busy practicing Taoist secrets, he was never lazy every day and insisted on processing official documents and memorials sent from the cabinet.

Emperor Jiajing never blindly followed the cabinet's votes, but would make his own judgment. This was also the reason why he established Zhilu after the cabinet was established.

If you don't understand or don't know anything about the memorial, you will immediately summon the ministers to inquire and then deal with it.

The decision-making power is always firmly in their hands, so that although cabinet ministers can gain power, they dare not act arbitrarily.

"This is the system, Your Majesty should"

Gao Gong didn't pay much attention at first, but then he understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words.

Emperor Jiajing had already broken quite a few rules. Even Emperor Zhengde, who was considered completely ridiculous back then, did not stay away from court for more than ten years like he does today.

"You mean, His Majesty might reject it?"

Gao Gong's expression suddenly changed.

"I don't know, the Sacred Heart is unpredictable."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said, "But even if it is rejected, it will probably only greatly delete the farewell ceremony. It is possible that the ones entering the palace will be deleted. After all, the Qintian Supervisor has already calculated the time. If it is really direct Rejection, this back-and-forth, is a bad time.”

In fact, there is one thing that Wei Guangde has not said, that is, Emperor Jiajing may really resist seeing his two sons, fearing that they will have an accident because of seeing him.

Gao Gong had already stood up at this time, rubbing his hands and walking around the room.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Gao Gong walked back and forth and whispered in his mouth.

"Ci Chao Yi" had passed through his hands before being handed over. At that time, he felt that Wu Shan's work was smooth and in full compliance with the rituals. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. However, he forgot that people nowadays do not act according to common sense. of the emperor.

Although they abide by the ancestral system on the issue of choosing the prince, it is just a matter of a prince to establish a vassal. Even if Emperor Jiajing really violated the system of the previous dynasty, except for some people in the civil and military circles of the Manchu dynasty, most of the others are eager for King Jing. If you leave early, there won't be much trouble.

Thinking of this, Gao Gong stood still and said to the three of them: "I was careless about this matter. If the official document is really rejected by Your Majesty, then I will propose to Wu Shangshu to delete the ceremony of King Jing entering the palace and replace it with the ceremony of King Jing's entry into the palace. The princess paid her respects to the emperor and said goodbye, and all the officials were waiting. "

Not only was Emperor Jiajing unwilling to receive them, but the usual visits to the palace by hundreds of official and female family members were also cancelled. However, Gao Gong was still a little hesitant when he said this. After all, Princess Jing's mother-in-law, Concubine Lu Jing, was still there, so it seemed that the mother and son would not be arranged to meet. It's a bit unreasonable.

"That's how it should be."

Wei Guangde said, "I have seen the memorials reviewed by His Majesty in the Yan Mansion before, and I see that many of them have been changed in red letters."

"Yes, if His Majesty thinks it is inappropriate, he will revise it."

Although most of these changes were actually written by the eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Liturgy, they were all changed according to the wishes of Emperor Jiajing. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were written by the emperor.

Wei Guangde had seen the returned memorials when he visited the Yan Mansion before. According to Wei Guangde's view at the time, some of these changes were actually insignificant words, and it didn't matter whether they should be changed or not.

However, Emperor Jiajing still made changes in the memorial. Later, Wei Guangde thought of a possibility, that is, he was reminding officials and cabinet ministers that I have read your memorial, so don't try to fool me.

Of course, Wei Guangde never said anything about his thoughts. As for whether other people thought the same, Wei Guangde didn't bother to ask.

However, what Wei Guangde, Gao Gong and others did not expect was that the instructions on "Ci Chaoyi" had not yet come down, and only two days later, a major event happened.

On February 7, the 40th year of Jiajing's reign, the red sun was high in the sky, the sky was clear, and white clouds were passing by. Although it was still a bit cold, it was a rare sunny day.

At three o'clock in the morning, the sky suddenly gradually became dark, as if it was about to fall into the night, and the stars in the sky were vaguely visible.

"eclipse."

When the vision in the sky happened, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng shouted in unison.

The people who were chatting in the room, including King Yu, all ran out of the room and looked up at the dark sky. The red sun should have been hanging high, but only half of it was left.

"Qin Tian Jian deserves to die."

Seeing such a scene, King Yu couldn't help but cursed angrily.

Under the Ming system, whenever a solar or lunar eclipse occurs, Qintian will first monitor and calculate the date and duration of the solar or lunar eclipse.

But this time the solar eclipse was not calculated by Qin Tian Jian.