If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Chapter 109

The night of the Mid-Autumn Festival is supposed to be a month filled with stars and endless splendor, and it should also be a festive day for family reunions.

But tonight, the sky was full of overcast clouds, covering the stars and the moon, leaving only a hazy and dim atmosphere. The autumn wind that blew up from time to time even made people feel a bleak chill.

But even so, the Mid-Autumn Night Banquet held in the palace was still held as usual. No matter whether it was the vassal king who came from afar or the nobles and officials invited to the banquet, they would not give up coming because of the bad weather tonight.

Don't say it's just clouds, even if there is a knife from the sky, the person who is supposed to come tonight will still come.

According to the Ming system, the banquets given by the emperor can be divided into large banquets, medium banquets, regular banquets and small banquets.

Generally, only festivals, such as the Beginning of Spring, Lantern Festival, April [-]th, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Laba Eighth Day, or during suburban sacrifices or when ancestral temples and palaces are built, are there opportunities to hold "big banquets".

But if the emperor feels that there is something particularly important or festive, it does not mean that he cannot hold a banquet. As long as the emperor is happy, he can just find an excuse.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" records that in the winter of the fifth year of Xuande's reign, "it has not snowed for a long time, but it snowed heavily in December." The emperor gave the ministers a poem "Happy Snow" and rewarded them with a snow banquet. The ministers entered the Hezhang, and the emperor chose the person who lived in the place to be on guard to record it. And for the sake of order.”

After all, in the final analysis, this matter is about the emperor's invitation to dinner. Although rules are important, when the emperor really invites him to dinner, most ministers will not cause trouble for the emperor.

As for the specifications below the big banquet, "Rice will be given to those who offer sacrifices to Yuanqiu, Fangze, pray for valleys, morning sun and evening moon, plowing, lectures on sutras, and lectures in the East Palace. Kiss silkworms, and give rice to women inside and outside. Compiled and repaired A banquet will be given to everyone who collates the books, opens the library and completes the book."

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, there were actually not many opportunities to eat banquets from the emperor.

Just having the opportunity to eat the banquet given by the emperor, and being qualified to eat the banquet given by the emperor, are two completely different concepts.

Although the emperor would give banquets when he was in the mood, being able to attend the banquets ultimately required status and status.

Generally speaking, all civil and military officials in Beijing are eligible to attend the banquet, but only third-grade officials are eligible to be promoted to the palace. Officials of fourth-grade and above can have seats in Fengtian Hall, while those below fifth-grade can only sit in the corridor outside the palace.

Therefore, if someone wants to take the opportunity to make trouble tonight, there must be officials above the fourth rank involved.

After all, if he was just a fifth-rank official sitting outside the palace and didn't even have a chance to speak in front of the emperor, how could he be qualified to cause trouble?
Because of this, when Zhu Zhanquan passed through the Fengtian Gate, walked through the huge square and entered the Fengtian Hall, he received a lot of malicious looks. Even in the Fengtian Hall, there were still people with hidden eyes. dissatisfaction and malice.

But these are nothing to Zhu Zhanqi.

This is not a world of immortality. These people don't know how to kill people with their eyes or how to curse. They can only see with their eyes and cannot have any impact on Zhu Zhanyu.

When he passed through the Fengtian Gate just now, he had already seen the completed luck compass. Zhu Zhanji supervised the construction really well, and Xia Yuanji was also willing to spend the money. There were white marble pillars and gilt copper frames, as well as a compass carved from sapphire. , all show the style of a heavenly kingdom.

It's just that the compass has not been consecrated and enlightened, and it is not connected to the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, it looks like a dead object with a gorgeous shape and nothing magical about it.

However, according to Zhu Zhanjun's calculation, after tonight, the destiny compass should play its due role.Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Zhu Zhanchun's lips. He stood next to Zhu Gaochi and looked at the courtiers who came to greet the prince, as well as the vassal kings he had never seen before.

There was nothing interesting about the courtiers. Most of the people who could get in front of the prince were princelings. Zhu Zhanquan had met many of them since he woke up. The six ministers and cabinet bachelors constituted his family. The father and the prince are the main members of the civil service team.

From these people, it can be seen that the position of the prince of his fat father is as stable as his fat body, and his second uncle has no capital to fight with him.

That is to say, the Yongle Dynasty was still using troops externally, and the military men in the court could still compete with the civil servants. However, with the death of Qi Guogong Qiu Fu of the Wu Xun faction in the battle, he was reduced to one of the four princes, and the emperor personally led the troops, and the Wu Xun faction His strength has been greatly suppressed.

After all, when the emperor is in power, he can balance the civil and military affairs, allowing the eldest and second eldest son to each obtain the support of civil servants and generals to fight and balance the court.

But when the emperor personally leads the troops outside, the country must be stable, so there can only be the voice of the prince who supervises the country in the court, instead of letting the two sons seize the throne.

This is why when Zhu Di returned with his troops, he began to suppress the King of Han.

Speaking of the King of Han, Zhu Zhanyu couldn't help but glance at the throne in the center of Fengtian Hall, and then sighed slightly.

I have to say that my grandfather was really ruthless. At the Mid-Autumn Festival Night Banquet, all the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were present, except for the King of Han and King Zhao.

As for where are the two of them?You should be eating five-nut mooncakes with the soldiers of the Jade Guard right now, right?As the commander of the Jade Guard, Zhu Zhanquan treated his soldiers well. He arranged wine and meat on festival days like this, and mooncakes were also arranged for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Of course, it was still the early Ming Dynasty, and there was no custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The so-called five-nut mooncakes were just snacks that he asked some businessmen who opened restaurants in Beijing to make according to the recipes he gave. .

"But it's okay to eat moon cakes. This banquet in the palace is not necessarily as good as eating a large piece of meat and drinking in a big bowl." Zhu Zhanquan secretly laughed in his heart. Although the banquet was a royal banquet of extremely high standards, it was Speaking of how good and comfortable the food can be, it is not necessarily comparable to eating meat and drinking wine with the soldiers in the military camp.

Not to mention anything else, the banquet alone involves nine rounds of toasts from the time the emperor takes his seat to the time when the banquet begins. The music alone includes the Song of the Flame Spirit, the Song of the Imperial Wind, the Song of the Ming Dynasty, and the Song of the Legend of Heaven. Nine different kinds of music, including the Song of Zhenhuanggang, the Song of Jinling, the Song of Changyang, the Song of Fanglin, and the Song of Riding the Six Dragons, correspond to the nine rounds of toasting.

There are also different dance music in the middle, and the whole ritual process is quite complicated and has to be repeated nine times, which is clearly a toss-up.

As for what can be eaten at the banquet, it also depends on the status, which is divided into four categories: upper, upper, middle, middle and lower. The side dishes on the upper table include candied fruits and melons, five kinds of fried snacks, and the main dishes include phoenix chicken and double stick bones. , five kinds of wine, four kinds of dishes, three kinds of soups, and horse, beef and mutton.

It sounds quite rich, but it is eaten by princes, emperors and courtiers who are qualified to sit in Fengtian Hall.

As for the civil and military officials outside the Fengtian Hall, the dishes on the different tables on the three floors of the imperial palace they sit on will be reduced in order. The worst ones only have some fine powder soup, pepper and vinegar pork with head and hoof, pork rice, steamed buns and A few bottles of wine.

Just when Zhu Zhanjun's thoughts were wandering and he was considering whether to let someone cook him another meal after returning, the etiquette department had already announced the banquet and invited the emperor to ascend to the palace.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhanjun gathered his thoughts and followed his fat father, waiting for the big banquet to begin.

(End of this chapter)