Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 41: When a whale falls, everything comes alive
Before Wang Dewan could speak, Xie Tingzan said excitedly, "Everyone knows that the foundation of the country was established by Duke Guang'an!"

"…My contribution?"

Wang Dewan was stunned for a moment and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The emperor made a dictatorial decision, and suddenly a stroke occurred, which is how the country was determined. Even if I have made a contribution, it has nothing to do with me. Elder Shen's previous rejection of the imperial edict can be considered a contribution."

"Huh! Him?" Xie Tingzan disagreed. "If it weren't for Lord Guang'an's five petitions a day, his righteous advice, and his punishment, which caused the ministers to be hurt and cry to the Meridian Gate, how could he have moved the emperor and stabilized the country? Please accept my greeting!"

Xie Tingzan thanked him solemnly, but Wang Dewan shook his head a little seriously: "Yes, but be careful with your words!"

What do you mean by "I caused a series of events that excited the emperor?" This fellow said this, omitting the part about the sudden stroke in the middle, and made it seem that the emperor had a stroke because I excited him too much.

Isn't that a criminal?

Shaking his head, he helped Xie Tingzan stand up straight: "The foundation of the country has been settled, and a major matter has finally been resolved. Your Majesty has issued an order to abdicate, and the successor will take the throne. It will depend on you to correct the chaos and advise the emperor to work hard. I am just an ordinary citizen and will return home soon."

"No! If it weren't for Duke Guang'an speaking out about the palace ban first, and the ministers' bitter admonition, how could there be an imperial edict today? Duke Guang'an should not feel bad about himself! Even if he cannot be reinstated immediately, His Highness will definitely remember Duke Guang'an's contribution!"

In Ciqing Palace, Zhu Changluo actually happened to see the record of Wang Dewan's five memorials a day.

He thought about it, turned around and wrote down his name in a notebook.

The Ming Dynasty was in a state of decline. Although it was impossible to tell the character of these people for the time being, they were able to be so brave and courageous, which meant they had some courageous spirit in their hearts.

It needs steady veterans, and it also needs young and inexperienced people.

The decree gradually spread to various provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and wherever it reached, everyone was surprised and talked about it.

The emperor suddenly fell ill, but he actually decided on the foundation of the country and set a precedent in the Ming Dynasty by decreeing abdication?

All the interested people in the entire Ming Dynasty began to take action to find out the inside story.

But the students and candidates in various provinces did not care about this.

They had only one thing in mind: if they made the imperial examination next year, wouldn’t they be the new emperor’s first disciples?
A new emperor appoints new ministers. This year's provincial examination and next year's metropolitan examination suddenly become more important.

Xu Guangqi had just left Nanjing and boarded a ship, preparing to travel to Beijing for study.

It would be great if we could get to Tongzhou before the Caohe River freezes in winter.

At this time in Tongzhou, Matteo Ricci had just disembarked and heard the latest news.

He was a little apprehensive.

Originally, it was the emperor who ordered them to come. They came in such a hurry to present gifts before the emperor's birthday on August 17.

The emperor is seriously ill now. Will you still meet him?

……

On July 15th, the imperial guards cleared the road.

Xu Wenbi still wanted to offer sacrifices, together with Duke Chengguo Zhu Dingchen and Duke Yingguo Zhang Weixian.

The eldest prince offered sacrifices to the Temple of Heaven, then sent Xu Wenbi to offer sacrifices to the earth, sent Cheng Guogong to offer sacrifices to the country, and sent Zhang Weixian to offer sacrifices to the mountains and rivers. Finally, they accompanied the eldest prince to pay a visit to the Taimiao.

The sacrifice is very solemn and one must arrive at the sacrifice site in advance to fast.

Zhu Changluo had already performed the ceremony of coming of age, and was now wearing the ceremonial robes of an imperial prince, not the ceremonial robes of a crown prince.

The ceremony of enthroning the crown prince, the abdication and the accession to the throne will all be held within this year, and the Ministry of Travel has already sent a large number of people to various provinces.

All the princes had to send envoys to participate in the ceremony, and many of the officials who were sent had to return to the capital.

It won’t take long to go back and forth, and the date will be after the beginning of autumn.

Today is the day when the eldest prince leaves the palace to fast and prepare to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, the country, and the Imperial Ancestral Temple, to pray for the emperor and for rain after the severe drought.

This was Zhu Changluo's first time out of the palace.

The ceremonial procession was of the standard worthy of a crown prince.

There were six dragon flags leading the way, and each flag had six soldiers holding bows and crossbows.

The golden carriage is 12 feet 2 inches high and 8 feet 9 inches wide. The shaft is 19 feet 5 inches long. The carriage seat is 3 feet 2 inches high.

The construction ruler of the Ming Dynasty is approximately 31 centimeters equivalent to that of later generations.

The size of this golden carriage is not small, and the scale of the ceremonial guards in front and behind is even larger.

There are eighteen people in total on the left and right, and they are equipped with a golden chair, a golden footstool, a golden water pitcher, a golden water basin, a green silk round fan, a red round cover, a golden incense burner, a golden box, a spittoon, a spittoon, and a whisk.

The first thirty-six, each holding a red flag, etc.; the last forty-eight, all holding a staff, sword, etc.

It is not as majestic as the imperial procession, but it is also the most majestic ceremonial procession under the emperor.

Following them were the eunuchs led by Chen Ju.

His appearance before the officials and citizens of the capital officially announced one thing: the Ming Dynasty was about to enter the era of a new monarch.

The reign will be changed next year and Wanli will become a thing of the past.

Zhu Changluo sat on the golden carriage, which had quite a lot of space inside.

The "chariot" on the golden carriage is called the chariot pavilion. It is square, 5 feet 4 inches long and wide, and 6 feet 4 inches high.

Inside the Lu Pavilion, there are red-lacquered soft seats and red-lacquered chairs.

There are doors in front and on both sides of the pavilion. On either side of the door are two windows, each covered by twelve red curtains in front, left and right.

Zhu Changluo could stand upright in the pavilion, and even though there were some decorations on the top, he was still about two meters tall. Although he was not well-received when he was a child, he was still a prince, and his diet was much better than that of ordinary people. His height was about 1.7 meters.

Now Zhu Changluo was standing in the Lu Pavilion, lifting a red curtain in front of him and looking outside.

Seeing the street scenes of Beijing at that time with his own eyes, Zhu Changluo's eyes were curious and solemn.

He didn't look much when he passed by Tianjie before.

After passing Tianjie, you will exit Zhengyang Gate and arrive at Nankou City.

In the 32nd year of Jiajing's reign, Emperor Daojun prepared to expand Beijing. The original plan was for the outer city to be 17 li from east to west and 18 li from north to south.

But the money is not enough.

At Yan Song's suggestion, only the southern outer city was built first.

The former residents of the neighborhood outside Zhengyang Gate have since become "city people".

Zhengyangmen Street, which leads to Yongdingmen in the south, passes through several intersections, the most important intersection being the intersection with Guangningmen and Guangqumen.

Zhu Changluo moved to the right side, lifted the curtain over there and looked over.

He had never seen the Ming Dynasty that he was going to face.

Those are the "bustling" Mule and Horse Market Street and Vegetable Market Street.

The city of Beijing already has a quadruple structure.

The innermost is naturally the Forbidden City.

Then there is the Imperial City which surrounds the Forbidden City, which is basically inhabited by eunuchs who directly serve the emperor and some ceremonial buildings.

In the middle is the old city, where various government offices, warehouses, factories and many official residences are distributed. Although there are also civilians and commercial places, the outermost area is obviously more relaxed and active.

The outermost area is the Nankou City with built city walls and the blocks in the other three directions.

Now, everything Zhu Changluo sees seems old and dilapidated.

The tiles on many houses are not maintained regularly and many are broken.

Although the building looks grand, the pillars are covered with peeling paint and are mottled.

When arriving at Nankou City, it is naturally impossible and unnecessary to completely prohibit the people from going out and disturb the emperor.

The people of the Ming Dynasty were generally obedient.

Zhu Changluo looked at the people kneeling in the distance when they saw the ceremonial guard arriving.

Very few of them dared to look up, but their clothes, skin color, and height allowed Zhu Changluo to draw a conclusion after observing them from afar.

As citizens of the Ming Dynasty, only a very small number of people are decent.

Zhu Changluo was greatly surprised by the cleanliness of the streets, but after thinking about it, he felt it was reasonable.

There were so many eunuchs and maids in the palace who were diligent in sweeping the streets. Even though this street had been swept in advance because the emperor was about to travel, it still had to be like this.

You know, most of the roads in this capital are still dirt roads.

Except for a few sections of gravel roads and the Tianjie area which is a brick road, the rest of the roads are usually bumpy and covered with dust and garbage.

Once it rains, the road conditions become even more touching.

Nowadays, when the crown prince or heir to the throne travels, clean water is poured on the streets and yellow earth is used as the ground, which is considered to be flat and clean.

As far as the eye can see, in the middle of summer, there is a severe drought. Zhu Changluo even feels that there may be a sandstorm today.

Beijing is such a big city, and I don’t know how much fuel is consumed in a year.

The mountain factories of the Ministry of Industry supplied firewood and charcoal to the inner palace and many government offices. The people of the capital also needed these.

The huge demand for firewood and charcoal has almost made the mountains around Beijing bald, and now coal is being used more and more.

The whole city of Beijing is now full of the atmosphere of life.

But in Zhu Changluo's eyes, the scene he saw made his head buzz.

This is the Ming Dynasty, which was not backward but lifeless.

The magnificent capital is dirty, messy and depressing.

This is not even the area outside the city wall. The scene there is probably even uglier. It can perhaps be called a refugee camp.

Zhu Changluo sighed inwardly and let down the red curtain.

The magnificent procession of the crown prince marched through the capital of the Ming Dynasty. The royal luxury built up with the financial and material resources of the people was intuitive and concrete.

The golden carriage was shaking a little, and Zhu Changluo's heart was also unsettled.

If he wants to change all this, he will definitely face greater waves in the future, waves from the powerful and officials.

He did not speak directly in front of Empress Dowager Li, but Zhu Changluo knew that there was only one way to continue the country's destiny and recreate vitality.

At least a large-scale redistribution will have to take place.

At least make the Ming Dynasty more fair than before!
It was only a matter of time before he ascended the throne, but in the months before that, he had to gain the full trust of Empress Dowager Li so that he could suppress the cabinet and several important ministers.

Zhu Yijun retreated back into the palace, he was about to take a step forward!
(End of this chapter)