Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1226 Epilogue Christmas Day Assembly

Xie Yan was woken up in the middle of the night.

He has to go to court today.

The regular court sessions of the Ming Dynasty had been reduced to three days a month, held on the day after the ten-day holiday. Moreover, the number of officials who attended the court sessions was limited, with only about fifty or sixty people at most.

The prince consort is not allowed to participate in political affairs, so he is not qualified to attend regular court meetings!
Today, Xie Yan is going to attend a grand court meeting.

There are only three fixed grand court meetings every year, namely: New Year's Day (the first day of the first lunar month), May Day (the first day of the fifth lunar month), and Winter Solstice.

But it is often suspended.

For example, during the Northern Song Dynasty, there should have been nearly 500 grand court meetings during the 50 years, but in reality only were held.

There are many reasons for suspension: solar eclipse, war, national mourning, rain and snow, famine, sacrifice, emperor’s illness, etc.

Xie Yan wore a seven-beam Diao Chan crown on his head, a white silk undershirt underneath, a purple silk robe outside, purple knee-length guards on his lower body, and various belts including a large belt and a leather belt.

Even though Emperor Taizong shortened the length of his court robes, they were far less wide and sleeved than those of previous dynasties. But overall, they still looked a bit cumbersome.

"Pay attention to etiquette and don't make a fool of yourself." Zhu Tangxi sent her husband out of the house and repeatedly reminded him with concern.

Xie Yan smiled and said, "I have practiced it in the Ministry of Rites."

It was getting dark and the carriage was moving forward.

This is not a commercial area, and there are no extra lights along the way, only lanterns hanging in front of each house.

The regular court meetings were held three times a month and started very late, so there was no need to get up late at night.

As there were so many people attending the grand court meeting, preparations had to be made in the dark, otherwise the queues would take until noon.

Xie Yan sat in the carriage, yawning all the way.

When we got off the bus outside Donghua Gate, many officials had already gathered there, queuing up to show their official badges to the gatekeepers of the imperial city.

Xie Yan stood at the end of the queue. The official in front of him said quickly, "Prince Consort Xie is wearing a purple robe, so you can go to the front."

"Thanks for the reminder." Only then did Xie Yan realize that he had some preferential treatment.

It was his first time attending a court meeting and he understood nothing.

Walking quickly to the front of the team, many purple-robed officials were chatting and laughing as they walked inside.

Xie Yan quickly came to the back of the purple-robed officials, and the red-robed officials stopped for a moment to let him in.

"Thank you, Prince Consort, you are here too?" The man in purple robe standing in front of him greeted him in a familiar manner.

Xie Yan vaguely remembered that this was a military official whom he had seen while hunting that day, but he really couldn't remember his name, so he bowed and said, "I slept too late yesterday and almost couldn't get up."

The purple-robed military official smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you come late. You still have to wait for your turn. But today is Christmas, so it would be more respectful to come early."

In addition to the three fixed grand court meetings each year, additional meetings can be held temporarily, such as Christmas!
That is, the birthdays of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Christmas has many nicknames, such as: Wanshou, Tianchang, Tianxing, Jiangsheng, etc.

Today is Empress Dowager Ye’s birthday, so a grand Christmas court meeting was added temporarily, and even the prince living in Luoyang had to attend.

The important officials in the cabinet and the ministries had many speculations about this.

Because this was the first time that Empress Dowager Ye had held a grand court meeting for the young emperor's birthday since he ascended the throne. What political signal was she sending?

Maybe, I just want to increase my presence.

After all, Empress Dowager Ye did not interfere much in the cabinet, but she had to maintain her own authority, so holding a Christmas court meeting became a cost-effective option.

However, the important ministers were still somewhat worried, fearing that Empress Dowager Ye would gradually seize power.

Just two months ago, one of Empress Dowager Ye's cousins ​​was transferred to Kaifeng to serve as a general. And one of Empress Dowager Ye's uncles was promoted to the right governor of Hunan at the beginning of this year.

All these actions show that Empress Dowager Ye is increasing the local power of her natal family.

Xie Yan gradually walked to the gate of Donghua. He showed his official badge and the guards at the gate let him in without even looking at it.

The dignitaries who frequently enter and leave the imperial city can just use facial recognition.

Xie Yan followed the crowd to the waiting room of Dongkuo City. There were a lot of carriages in the parking lot today.

"Sir, please have some tea." A waiter brought the tea.

The waiters in Dongkuo City were not eunuchs or palace maids. Instead, they were all regular servants who had undergone strict political review.

In other words, there were no eunuchs or palace maids in the imperial city area outside the Inner East Gate.

There are already more than a dozen people in this waiting room.

Xie Yan took a quick glance and found that they were all people he had seen before but he couldn't remember their names.

"Greetings to His Majesty King Qi!"

Suddenly, the dignitaries in the waiting room stood up.

Xie Yan also quickly stood up and bowed, looking at the King of Qi in front of him curiously.

The King of Qi was very rude, and he didn't even bother to return the greeting. He just walked over and sat down. He didn't know how to sit properly, occupying the seats for two people, and lying on the bench with his nose in the air.

Although they were ignored by King Qi, they were not angry.

Because they all knew that Prince Qi did this on purpose: the more rude and disrespectful he behaved, and the more disrespectful he was to others, the more at ease the Queen Mother and the Emperor would be.

This is the little emperor’s uncle.

The nobles and officials also had to avoid suspicion. After paying their respects to King Qi, they did not speak much and even did not sit on the same chair with King Qi.

"puff!"

King Qi spat out a mouthful of tea: "This tea is not as good as the one in my palace. I won't drink it!"

Everyone thought: Your Highness Prince Qi, your acting is a bit over the top.

Soon three more men in purple robes came, a cabinet minister and two chancellors.

When they saw King Qi, they were stunned for a moment, then hurried forward to greet him, and then left to find another waiting room, because there was no empty seat except the bench where King Qi sat.

Then someone else came in, it turned out to be Xie Yan’s student Xia Gongchen.

This guy is the grandson of the King of Ceylon. Since there are no other Ceylon envoys in Luoyang, he will represent the King of Ceylon to celebrate the birthday of Queen Mother Ye today.

Xia Gongchen's identity was not that sensitive. After bowing to everyone, he went to sit next to King Qi.

The King of Qi looked down on everyone and asked, "Just now, you claimed to be the grandson of the prince of Ceylon?"

"That's right." Xia Gongchen replied.

Prince Qi said, "I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty. Why don't you bow to me when you see me?"

Xia Gongchen said: "Bowing is forbidden in the capital."

The King of Qi said, "No matter how much I try to stop you, you can't stop me. Please bow to me immediately."

Xia Gongchen felt extremely aggrieved and could only stand up and bow to King Qi.

King Qi threw a silver dollar on the ground and said, "Very good, here's the reward."

Xia Gongchen picked up the silver dollar to express his gratitude, then sat down silently.

King Qi was satisfied then. He had finally offended the royal family of Ceylon.

If people despise dogs and abandon them, then he is a wise king.

Not long after, another prince came in.

Prince Zeng ignored everyone's greetings and walked straight to Prince Qi and sat down, saying with a smile, "I heard that Third Brother was here, so I hurried over. How about we go to Lanruoyuan to play mahjong tonight?"

"Just the two of us?" asked King Qi.

Prince Zeng said with a smile, "Don't say you don't have a lover in Lanruo Courtyard. Let's play cards to our heart's content, two men and two women!"

King Qi sighed, "Alas, I am old now, and I haven't been to Lanruoyuan for several years."

"Hahahaha," Prince Zeng laughed and said with a wink, "I'll get some Tibetan medicine for Third Brother some other day."

King Qi asked, "Is it really effective?"

Prince Zeng said: "I promise that Third Brother will remain as powerful as he was in the past!"

The two princes began to discuss the miracle medicine as if they were alone, as obscene and greasy as they could be.

Xie Yan couldn't help but sigh, these princes also have a hard life... bullshit, I just like this kind of life of lying down all day. No matter how absurd your words and deeds are, they can be understood by everyone, and even sympathized with, without having to worry about moral etiquette.

After waiting for a while, a ceremonial officer came to deliver a message saying that nobles and officials of the third rank and above (purple robes) could get on the car.

Xie Yan stood up along with everyone else and ran outside to randomly choose a carriage.

After getting off the bus at Rihua Gate, Xie Yan followed the crowd on foot and lined up in the square between Rihua and Yuehua Gates.

After a while, officials in red robes also came to line up.

After batches of civil and military officials lined up, the envoys from vassal states were next in line.

The Kingdoms of Dayuan and Nanyu had permanent envoys in Luoyang, and the imperial court provided them with basic food and accommodation free of charge, as well as consumables such as ink sticks and paper free of charge every month.

Of course, if the envoys of the two countries want to enjoy themselves, they have to pay for it themselves.

Japan, Chola, and Sina, like Ceylon, had no permanent envoys, but they often had students studying abroad, usually on a temporary basis.

There is no such thing as tribute from all nations.

Almost all the countries in Southeast Asia were destroyed, and the few that were not destroyed became puppet regimes.

The reason why some small countries in Southeast Asia have not been destroyed is that it is not profitable for the Ming Dynasty to rule directly, and it is easier to exploit the natives through a puppet regime.

By the way, the Kingdom of Pagan (Myanmar) in Southeast Asia still exists, but its territory is not as large as it was in history.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong Zhu Ming of the Ming Dynasty, the Pagan Dynasty reached its peak. The king of Pagan at that time vigorously promoted Burmese, suppressed Pali and Mon, formulated a national code of law, and unified weights and measures.

After the death of the old king of Pagan, the country began to decline.

The young king did not have enough prestige and power, and the other four uncles were also wary of each other. So the four uncles formed a privy council to handle state affairs with the young king, and the dispersion of power led to nothing being accomplished.

Faced with the Ming Dynasty's increasing encroachment, the ruler and his ministers of Pagan dared not speak out but remained obedient vassals of the Ming Dynasty.

Even some of the powerful royal family members in the Privy Council have been working like dogs for the Ming Dynasty, relying on selling out the interests of coastal ports in exchange for the Ming Dynasty's support.

Just this year, a new king ascended the throne and was eager to take back the power of the Privy Council.

As a result, Myanmar was in civil strife, and the fighting is now raging.

The Shan people, who had been bullied by the descendants of Bai Qi, took the opportunity to go south to cause chaos, killing the Pagan army in the civil war and forcing them to retreat step by step.

The King of Pagan had asked for help from the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty officials ignored it. This was because the new king lured and killed the Ming Dynasty lackeys in the Privy Council as soon as he came to power!

It was Bai Qi's descendants who took advantage of the situation. After learning that the Shan people were moving south, the Yunnan army immediately attacked the Shan mountainous areas where the troops were under-manned.

Coco Kaba stood among many envoys and unsurprisingly attracted a crowd of onlookers.

The envoys looked at Coco Kaba curiously and even wanted to touch the material of his clothes - except for the leather skirt, his clothes and pants were made of cotton.

The Mayans already had cotton weaving technology.

"Woooooo~~~"

“Pa bang bang~~~”

The horns blew and the whips cracked.

The sound of ritual music came from the direction of the main hall.

Coco Kaba didn't understand what was going on, but he saw many officials in front of him moving forward in batches.

He was shocked by the grand etiquette and strict order, and thought it could be transplanted into the ceremony where the leaders of the city-states paid homage to the Mayan king.

(End of this chapter)