prosperous age

The wheel of history rolls forward. Thousands of years ago, Chinese history was written on the basis of feudal autocracy. Looking forward, it was feudal, and looking backward, it was also feudal.

The feudal history lasted for thousands of years, and such a long period of time had not been broken. It depended on many factors, the most important of which was the support of the dictatorship.

Maintaining a dictatorship requires a huge and complex system that requires a lot of manpower and material resources to support it. A dynasty that lacks support or whose balance of power is broken will perish.

The occupation of high positions by non-orthodox ethnic minorities is a hidden danger to the continuation of the dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was a feudal dynasty in history and a dynasty unified by ethnic minorities.

There were countless rebels in the Yuan Dynasty who used the banner of orthodoxy and pretended to be descendants of Han aristocrats.

The banner of orthodoxy could resonate with the people. Zhu Yuanzhang, who called himself "King of Wu", gradually integrated the rebel army, eliminated the opposition groups, captured the Yuan Dynasty's capital, and established the Ming Dynasty, which was named Hongwu.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he learned from the lessons of the previous dynasty's demise, was very frugal, strengthened centralization, cracked down on corruption, reduced the tax burden on the people, and won the support of the people.

When the Ming Dynasty was first established, its foundation was unstable and it was plagued by internal and external troubles.

The internal system is imperfect and the vast territory cannot be managed well.

The outside world was divided. Although it had the support of most of the people, there were still some people who were loyal to the Yuan Dynasty and wanted to restore it.

Faced with internal troubles, the political system urgently needed to be reformed, and the most direct change was the improvement of the imperial examination system.

In the face of foreign threats, troops were sent to wipe out the remnants and stabilize the people's hearts.

Another system that came into being at the right time was the selection system, which was first created in the Ming Dynasty and achieved two goals at one stroke: to defend the country from foreign aggression and maintain domestic stability.

The royal families of all dynasties attached great importance to the theory of bloodline, and the emperor was a figure who was high above and difficult for ordinary people to reach.

Women of the royal family must also be of noble birth and be the mother of the country.

This theory of bloodline has been recognized by successive generations, but for a country like the Ming Dynasty, which was established by the lower class under the banner of aristocracy, it did more harm than good.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang was born into a commoner family and grew up in poverty. Many of the founding ministers of the Ming Dynasty were commoner warriors. They despised the aristocratic system from the bottom of their hearts, and the red tape gave them a headache.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang, who came to power from the common people, was well aware of the power of the people. Uniting the people was his means of victory. This was also the idea of ​​putting the people first that was instilled in successive Ming Dynasty rulers.

Various reasons created opportunities for Ming's talent shows to lean towards the general public, and the talent show system came into being.

Once this system was introduced, it increased the enthusiasm of the common people and helped to stabilize the rule.

Influenced by this, most of the empresses in the Ming Dynasty were of humble origins, which also reduced the behavior of the harem's monopoly of power, which was equivalent to weakening the power of the harem and the forces behind it in disguise, which was conducive to the emperor's centralization of power.

Zhu Yuanzhang established the ancestral precepts early on. The "Ming History: Biographies of Empresses and Concubines" records that Zhu Yuanzhang specially compiled the "Female Instructions" in the first year of Hongwu as a "family law" for managing concubines.

It was stipulated that when selecting empresses, "all the wives, consorts, and palace concubines of the emperor and princes should be carefully selected from girls of good families, and those who are not recommended will not be accepted. Therefore, concubines and empresses are mostly selected from the common people."

It is also for this reason that the phenomenon of the imperial harem interfering in politics appeared in the Ming and Joseon dynasties, and there was no situation of external relatives monopolizing power.

The empress chosen by Emperor Wanli, Wang Xijie, had a father who was also an official in the court, but he was only a low-ranking official, so naturally there was no possibility of forming an external relative's power.

Well, the present magnificent palace was actually the residence arranged by the palace after Emperor Wanli selected the empress.

Now that the queen has returned home, we can’t let the queen continue to live in that small courtyard with two entrances.

Therefore, the palace specially selected a large mansion, which not only had five courtyards, but also had side courtyards on the left and right. It was quite impressive in any case.

Today is not a regular court meeting, but a regular court meeting. The regular meeting here means a court meeting on a specific date, not the first or fifteenth day of the lunar month.

Wei Guangde was woken up early in the morning. He yawned, washed up, had a simple breakfast, and went out to the palace.

Outside Chengtian Gate, Wei Guangde met with Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi and Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo.

This time, the three of them walked together and did not gather with other ministers such as Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei to wait for the court meeting to begin.

As the bells and drums on the city wall rang, all officials passed through the Huangji Gate and arrived outside the Huangji Hall. It was not until Emperor Wanli ascended the hall that officials of the third rank and above entered.

Today's court meeting actually only had one thing in mind, which was that the Emperor bestowed the edict of enthroning the Queen, as well as the Queen's golden book, imperial seal, crown and robes, ritual vessels, etc., and gave them to the envoys with imperial seals, who would take them to the palace to welcome the bride.

Soon, the imperial edict was handed to Xu Wenbi, the empress's golden book was held by Wei Guangde, and the imperial seal was held by Xu Xuemo. Behind them, a group of eunuchs carrying boxes of crowns, robes, and ceremonial vessels followed them out of the Forbidden City to welcome the bride.

Outside the Huangji Hall, in addition to officials below the fourth rank, there were also a number of foreign envoys waiting there.

Wei Guangde had no control over how the palace would survive this period. His and Xu Wenbi's current mission was to go to the prince's mansion and marry the queen into the palace.

When we arrived at the palace, everything was already prepared.

In fact, the joy of the royal daughter becoming the queen had long been diluted. After all, it had been decided two years ago, but it was delayed until now because she was too young.

Xu Wenbi and Wei Guangde brought a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites into the palace. Xu Wenbi read out the index in front of the incense table that had been prepared long ago, and then Wei Guangde read out the golden book of the empress. Xu Xuemo presented the empress's seal to Wang Xijie.

When the ceremony was over, the second wave of the wedding procession, which included the music, ceremonial guards, procession, and guards led by the Jinyiwei and other royal guards and the Jiaofangsi, also arrived outside the palace.

This team has over a thousand people, which is the limit of etiquette except for the vassal states.

However, they couldn't leave at this time and could only make preparations because the palace ladies and eunuchs had not arrived yet.

The eunuchs in this team are mainly from the Silijian, Sishejian and Duzhijian. Most of the female officials in the inner court will become the initial "team" after the empress enters the palace. They are mainly responsible for serving the empress closely during the entire wedding period and reminding her of relevant etiquette.

The reason why they arrived a little later was that the eunuchs in charge of the Duzhijian were scattering dirt along the way to clean the streets, and the soldiers of the Bingmasi began to impose martial law on the roads.

According to the division of labor, the Sishejian was in charge of the grand music, the empress's procession and ceremonial guards, while the Silijian was in charge of keeping the books, treasures and other items on behalf of the empress and supervising the entire welcoming ceremony.

When the female officials of the inner court arrived at the palace, they delivered the queen's book, treasures, crown and clothes to the rear residence and helped her change clothes, which also meant that she officially became the queen who ruled the country.

Wei Guangde, Xu Wenbi and Wang Wei were waiting in the front yard, jumping out happily without paying.

In any case, although Wang Wei has not yet been granted a title, according to the old system of the previous dynasty, a few days after the emperor's wedding, the palace would let the cabinet be responsible for this matter and confer a title on the Wang family, thus officially becoming a family of nobles.

"Be vigilant and respectful day and night without violating the rules. Be diligent and respectful day and night without violating the rules."

In the main hall, Wang Wei admonished his daughter for the last time as a father. In fact, everything he said was decided by the Ministry of Rites. What should be said and what should not be said had been clearly written in the ritual notes by the Ministry of Rites, and everyone just followed the procedures set by the Ministry of Rites.

After that, Xu Wenbi brought Wei Guangde and Xu Xuemo to pay homage to the queen. It was at this time that Wei Guangde took a close look at Sister Wang Xi for the first time.

But it was only a glance. After all, he was staring at the empress, so he was not afraid of impeachment from the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the accompanying censors behind him.

Well, at least Sister Wang Xi is no longer the little girl I saw two years ago. She has grown into a big girl.

Near Zhengyangmen, the central axis of Beijing, there used to be a brick and stone building with a single-eaved hip roof. It was called Daming Gate in the Ming Dynasty, Daqing Gate in the Qing Dynasty, and Zhonghua Gate in the Republic of China.

It is said that when Li Zicheng captured the capital, this place was briefly renamed Dashun Gate. Daming Gate was first built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. Its design was based on the Hongwu Gate of the Nanjing Imperial Palace. As the south gate of the imperial city, it was also the symbolic national gate of the Ming Dynasty. This gate was the main road leading directly to the royal family.

The Daming Gate has three doors in total, which are usually closed and only opened during major national celebrations.

Among them, only the emperor can pass through the middle door, while royal relatives and civil and military officials can only go through the doors on both sides.

Another exception is that when the emperor gets married, the phoenix chariot that carries the empress also enters the Forbidden City through the middle door of the Daming Gate, symbolizing that the empress is the mother of the country.

However, the queen could only walk this way once in her life. If she wanted to enter or leave the Forbidden City again, she could only go through the Shenwu Gate on the north side.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty, a total of six empresses passed through here. The first was Empress Qian of Emperor Yingzong, followed by Empress Wu of Emperor Xianzong, Empress Xia of Emperor Wuzong, Empress Chen of Emperor Muzong, and the last two were Wang chosen by Emperor Wanli and Empress Zhang of Emperor Tianqi.

And today, the Daming Gate opened, welcoming the fifth queen who passed through here and married into the palace.

After coming out of the palace, the phoenix carriage came all the way here.

The phoenix sedan passed through the door, which was more of a ritual than a reality.

Regardless of whether it was Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi or cabinet minister Wei Guangde, they could only get out of the sedan chair and walk through the side door.

Well, he had actually walked here once. During the palace examination, new scholars could walk in from here because they were disciples of the emperor, and walking through the Daming Gate also symbolized that they had made the leap from a fish to a dragon.

Outside Chengtian Gate, all the civil and military officials who were originally outside Fengtian Hall had gathered here. After the empress's carriage arrived, all the nobles and officials in the capital wore ceremonial court robes and knelt on both sides of the imperial road at Chengtian Gate to welcome the empress into the palace.

This was the queen’s highlight moment. A little girl became the queen who ruled the country after this major event in her life. Everyone who saw her had to kneel down and kowtow to her, including high-ranking officials and nobles in power in the capital.

There is no doubt that this is a major turning point in her life.

After arriving at the Meridian Gate, the team paused for a while, and the envoys Xu Wenbi, Wei Guangde, and the eunuch Chen Ju of the Imperial Household Department entered the palace to report.

After that, the emperor issued an order to welcome the empress. After the news came, the attendants in the inner palace continued to escort the empress forward, and the empress's carriage passed through the Huangji Gate and the Qianqing Gate to arrive at the Kunning Palace.

Wei Guangde, Xu Wenbi and others left the inner court and went outside the Huangji Gate to wait there with other officials, nobles and foreign envoys.

In the Kunning Palace, the emperor and the empress would stay for a while. Of course, they would not perform the Zhougong etiquette, but just exchange a few simple greetings. Then, after bathing and changing clothes, they would move to the Huangji Palace. The emperor would change into the imperial crown and the empress would wear formal attire and make their first public appearance in front of civil and military officials and foreign envoys.

Outside the Huangji Hall, nobles, officials and foreign envoys once again paid their respects to the Emperor and Empress of the Ming Dynasty and congratulated them, after which the Emperor gave a banquet.

It can be said that at this point, Wei Guangde, the official in charge of the imperial seal, had only finished his work for the day.

Wei Guangde is young and has a high position, so he is more suitable to serve in the cabinet than Zhang Juzheng.

However, according to etiquette, there are various activities a few days after the emperor's wedding, such as worshiping ancestors on the first day, and then returning to Kunning Palace to change clothes and perform the "Heqin" ceremony.

To put it simply, the emperor and the empress drank and ate together, which is similar to the folk custom of drinking wine from each other's cups.

However, the emperor and empress did not have to finish eating and drinking. They only needed to express their feelings, and their respective attendants would take over the rest of the food and drink.

On the second day after the wedding, "the queen wore the crown and formal attire and went to the palace of the Empress Dowager." On the third day, an imperial decree was issued to formally enthrone the queen.

"I, according to the order of heaven, have inherited the great throne, and rule over the world. I have appointed Wang as the Empress, and placed her in the position of the Central Consort, so that we can share the ancestral worship and help promote the rule of the world. I have announced this to everyone at home and abroad."

On the fourth day after his wedding, the emperor accepted congratulations from all civil and military officials in the Huangji Hall. The royal family members in Beijing also had to go to the inner palace to meet and congratulate the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager and the Empress. On the same day, Empress Qian would receive congratulations from the ladies of the inner and outer palaces in the Kunning Palace.

At this point, the wedding celebration was officially over.

"Sir, this is the document sent by the Ministry of Rites. It contains copies of the letters of credence submitted by the three European countries and their requests."

Wei Guangde returned to the Cabinet duty room after two days' rest and was immediately overwhelmed by memorials sent in by Lubu.

Well, looking at the piles of memorials on the desk, Wei Guangde had a headache and before he had time to deal with them, another one was taken out and given to him.

These days, except for urgent military matters, most other state affairs have been delayed.

All officials were not interested in state affairs and were all cheating and slacking off. The cabinet was naturally the same, including Zhang Juzheng, who did not handle any official business.

"When was it delivered?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"Yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Rites had already started negotiations with the three European countries' envoys the day before, and this document was a priority for the negotiations."

Lu Bu whispered, "Because the Prime Minister asked you to be fully responsible for this matter, the Ministry of Rites sent it directly here."

Wei Guangde took it and looked through it. No new issues came up, except for the establishment of diplomatic relations and the dispatch of representatives.

"Is Minister Xu in the palace?"

Wei Guangde asked.

Although the wedding was over, the Ministry of Rites still had many things to communicate and hand over with the inner court, so Wei Guangde asked directly.

"It should be at the Silijian."

Lu Bu said that he had heard about it from the eunuchs before, and it was actually just about reconciling accounts.

The expenses of the wedding had to be reconciled and verified by the inner court, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Revenue and other government offices to ensure they were correct.

The expenses were complicated and huge, so Feng Bao, Xu Xuemo and Zhang Xueyan all went to the Imperial Household Department to calculate the expenses in person. However, Xu Wenbi and Wei Guangde did not have to worry about the subsequent matters.

"Please ask Minister Xu to come over after the meeting."

Wei Guangde ordered.

After taking two sips of tea, Wei Guangde began to deal with the memorials.

There are several piles of time left today, and I have to hurry up and get rid of them, otherwise they are just an eyesore.

When Xu Xuemo came in, Wei Guangde put down his official business and came over to say, "I've read the report from the Ministry of Rites. It's exactly as we agreed upon. But has the Ministry of Rites informed the three countries that the imperial court will send an envoy to Europe?"

"Lord Wei, this matter has already been discussed during the negotiations, and the three countries have no objection."

Xu Xuemo didn't know that Wei Guangde had called him here for this matter, and he couldn't help but complain that Wei Guangde was making a fuss out of nothing.

However, Wei Guangde lowered his head and began to think. (End of this chapter)