My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 41
The yield of early cotton was not high, and the cotton fibers were small and easy to break, so it had no advantages compared to silk.

You should know that mulberry planting and silkworm breeding in the Jiangnan region has a history of thousands of years, but cotton planting has only been around for a few years.

Of course, cotton also has its advantages. It is not picky about soil and can be intercropped in the fields. Spinning and weaving it is easier than spinning linen, so cotton actually replaces the ecological niche of linen.

But Su Ze knew that cotton had much more potential than that.

Cotton would quickly become a globally cultivated plant over the next century or two.

The cotton trade will quickly replace the spice trade and become the overlord of the overlords in global trade.

In the era before Su Ze traveled through time, there were still countless backward countries that were trying to complete their national industrialization through the cotton planting industry and light textile industry.

Su Ze broke open the flowers that were full of cotton wool, took out the cotton seeds, then harvested the remaining cotton and planted the next wave of cotton seeds.

Modern breeding is naturally a complex science, but the principles of breeding are very simple. Our ancestors left behind grain seeds and improved crops thousands of years ago. This is the most primitive breeding.

Su Ze doesn't know modern breeding, so he can only use this stupid method.

Natural breeding efficiency is not high, but Su Ze has a [home-sized planting blanket], which has a planting efficiency more than ten times higher, which is an exponential increase in breeding efficiency.
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In the following days, Su Ze's time in the History Museum was uneventful, and time soon came to July 20th, the day of the ceremony to enthrone the Crown Prince.

Before dawn, Su Ze reluctantly got out of bed.

Although it was the morning court session, he still had to attend the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince. Su Ze splashed his face with cold water and finally woke up. After washing up, he changed into official clothes and left the house.

The Ming Dynasty had not appointed a crown prince for decades, which was a rare thing for the well-informed people in the capital.

Su Ze secretly complained that the people in the capital might not know that the birth of the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty was really difficult. If history did not change, the people in the capital would have to wait for decades for the next crown prince to be enthroned.

However, such a grand ceremony was subject to prohibition, and the people had to stay at home. Su Ze and other officials gathered into a crowd and headed towards the imperial palace.

This is also the first time that Su Ze has participated in a national ceremony after traveling through time. It can only be said that the Ministry of Rites’ busy work these days has paid off.

Both sides of the imperial road leading to Chengtian Gate were lined with tables and desks, which were gifts presented to the Ming Dynasty by tribute envoys from all over the world.

As the crowd entered the palace, the neat royal procession followed.

Su Ze saw several familiar officials from the Ministry of Rites, all of whom looked exhausted but were trying to appear happy. If they behaved inappropriately at such a national ceremony, they would be impeached by the censors.

Su Ze felt an unfriendly gaze and saw a supervisory official looking at him, so Su Ze also became serious.

He remembered that he was now the public enemy of Kedao, so he could only reluctantly retract his wandering gaze.

The most important thing about enthronement is the enthronement.

The book is the imperial edict that enthrone the prince. As the crown prince of a country, a gold-plated silver book is required.

In addition, a "treasure" is also needed, which is the prince's golden seal. This golden seal is inscribed with "Crown Prince's Treasure" and the gold-plated silver book are both placed in the Huangji Hall.

Huangji Hall is the largest of the three main halls. It was called Fengtian Hall in the early Ming Dynasty. It was rebuilt and renamed Huangji Hall after a fire during the Jiajing period. Later generations called it Taihe Hall, which is the Golden Palace in folk operas.

This palace was only used to hold ceremonies for the emperor's succession to the throne and the enthronement of the empress and the crown prince. This was Su Ze's first visit to this palace. It must be said that "the great ceremonies of a country are in war and sacrifice", which is very reasonable. Standing outside the Huangji Palace, Su Ze also felt a sense of sacredness.

The emperor put on his crown and ascended the throne in the Huangji Hall, and all officials bowed to him in turn.

When the official from the Honglu Temple read out the imperial edict of enthronement, Su Ze saw a little fat man wearing the same crown and robes, supported by several eunuchs from the Silijian, ascending from the east steps and bowing four times in front of the throne.

Emperor Longqing personally presented the golden book and golden seal to the prince.

The little fat boy Zhu Yijun knelt down in a serious manner to receive the imperial edict, kowtowed to thank the emperor, accepted the officials' worship again, and then retreated to the East Palace under the guidance of the ceremonial guard.

Su Ze glanced at Emperor Longqing on the throne. The newly crowned emperor was indeed not in good health. His weakness was evident in today's enthronement ceremony. After the ceremony was completed, he needed the help of eunuchs to sit down.

Fortunately, the following process had nothing to do with the emperor. Led by the crown prince, all the officials went to the Taimiao to report to the temple, thus completing the enthronement ceremony.

Su Ze watched the six-year-old Zhu Yijun, under the guidance of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, complete the temple sacrifice in a very methodical manner. The bigwigs present all showed expressions of satisfaction.

Su Ze secretly complained that if they knew that in history, Wanli did not hold suburban sacrifices or offer sacrifices after he took power, and always sent the high priest, Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi, to offer sacrifices on his behalf, he didn't know how they would react.

By the way, Duke Dingguo, Su Ze saw this "high priest" among the nobles. The old Duke Dingguo passed away in March this year, which means that Xu Wenbi inherited the title.

As a noble, Xu Wenbi also had to accompany the sacrifice, but seeing Xu Wenbi's unskilled movements, Su Ze shook his head. It seemed that the current high priest was not yet proficient in his duties! He was not born with the sacrament of red and white affairs.

That’s right, talents are cultivated.

The current chief minister is still Duke Chengguo Zhu Xizhong, and the emperor always sends officials to offer sacrifices on his behalf. Xu Wenbi has to wait until Wanli ascends the throne and Zhu Xizhong dies before he can have a chance to come forward.

By the time the ceremony was over, it was almost noon. Su Ze was so hungry that his eyes were blurry. Other officials could go home at this time, but as an official of the Zhanshi Mansion, Su Ze had to return to the East Palace to complete the Zhanshi Mansion ceremony.

Looking at Shen Yikuan and Luo Wanhua who were equally hungry, Su Ze saw that Shen Shixing, who was also a horse groomer in the Ministry of Finance, walked calmly.

Shen Shixing met Su Ze's gaze and quietly stuffed a round cake the size of a copper coin into Su Ze's hand.

What is this? Pancake?

Only then did Su Ze see that Shen Shixing actually took the opportunity of waving his sleeves to stuff this round cake into his mouth.

Good job, Shen Shixing, you with thick eyebrows and big eyes, have also learned to cheat!

Su Ze looked around again and found that all the officials in the Zhanshi Mansion seemed to be doing the same thing.

Looking around, Su Ze realized that those who were dizzy and hungry were young officials like himself and Shen Yikuan who had not yet started a family in the capital!

No, Shen Yikuan had already gotten married, but his wife was still in her hometown and had not been brought to the capital.

Su Ze could only follow Shen Shixing's example and stuff the small biscuit into his mouth.

The biscuit can be chewed and has the aroma of honey. Su Ze then remembered that Shen Shixing often showed off his wife Wu's virtuousness. This biscuit was probably made by Wu herself.

Damn it! What I'm eating is not a biscuit, it's clearly dog ​​food!
(End of this chapter)