.On New Year's Eve, Beijingers commonly call it "New Year's Eve...039. Most Spring Festival ceremonies must be completed on this day, so the New Year atmosphere is the strongest on this day.
In order to embellish the New Year and welcome good fortune. When we wake up in the morning, even the men and women of hard-working families dress up neatly. Women arrange flowers on their heads, paste red Spring Festival couplets in front of the door, big blessing characters, and stickers on windows to symbolize good fortune, creating a prosperous New Year atmosphere.
However, some palace doors or larger house doors often do not need these decorations. They only hang up the big red velvet lanterns marked with their own hall names, which shows a sense of wealth, but they are beyond the reach of ordinary people.
However, although there are differences in the quality of the people, the procedures for the New Year are quite different. For example, those major events are always cautious and far away, and worship their ancestors. If there is a ancestral hall, all the main signs of the three generations of clan relatives must be opened, and the portraits of the ancestors must be hung. Those without a ancestral hall must also set up a seat in the main house, so that the ancestors who come back to celebrate the New Year cannot be left homeless.
As soon as Yao turned dark, the crackling sound of firecrackers rang out in every corner of the capital. The wealthy families even ignited gorgeous fireworks, making the night sky of Beijing particularly enchanting. However, midnight, the firecrackers and fireworks will be set off continuously, creating a lively and festive atmosphere.
At this time, after every household has put down dumplings and provided for their ancestors, the whole family will sit around the table and have a New Year’s Eve dinner together. The so-called New Year’s Eve dinner and reunion dinner, the first family members must be together, and the meals must be rich, making people feel happy, so that they can have a happy life in the coming year.
In the entire city of Beijing, no matter how rich or poor, no matter how difficult it is for more than a year, the whole family is reunited and lively, enjoying this rare happy time. It is really a fire tree and silver flowers that never sleep. I only love the world but not envy the immortals.
But in the center of this city, the imperial palace and forbidden gardens of the Ming Dynasty seemed particularly deserted. This is because my city is Xiu Xuan, who emphasizes ruthlessness and dispels worldly concerns. This Spring Festival, which is intimate with family affection, is of course the most taboo.
The emperor was only in the New Year, and the eunuchs and palace maids could only enjoy themselves secretly. Except for those who had to be on duty at the Holy Shou Palace, the palace people all hid far away and went to eat, drink and have fun. As for personal eunuchs like Huang Jin, they were not so lucky and had to accompany the emperor to perform rituals in the hall with a very ghostly aura.
The empty Wanshou Palace main hall was very quiet, with only a crisp sound from the candlelight, which further highlighted the silence that made people dare not breathe...
Around the white jade platform in the middle of the main hall, according to Tiangang and Earthly Demons, there were 100 single and eight candlesticks, plus three candlesticks representing Sancai on the platform, a total of 999 white candles were lit.
Emperor Jiajing was wearing a black Taoist robe embroidered golden dragon silk, holding a neat Taoist bun, and sitting cross-legged on the platform. The candlelight was shining and the smoke was floating. Sitting in it, his figure also floated and seemed to have really entered the mysterious realm of immortals.
At the age of 30, there is a custom of inviting gods, and Jiajing is also inviting gods. Of course, the emperor's standard for treating guests is relatively high. The god of wealth, blessing, etc. that are invited by idle people cannot reach his eye. What Jiajing invited was the Taishang Laojun who was in the Three Pure Heaven.
Jiajing has always devoted himself to this Taoist ancestor. He firmly believed that the Supreme Lord has been protecting his country and country with many disasters and difficulties. He protected his weak and sick body from being attacked by the wind and was able to live long until now. In the past, when he entered such a state of ritual, he would reach a wonderful state... as if the room was filled with a strange fragrance, all the filth and noise in the world disappeared without a trace, his heart was empty and clear, just like the ancestor Laojun came and blessed him.
But what happened today? What a noise in his ears, and his heart couldn't calm down for a moment? This way, I couldn't invite Laojun. But the more I care, the more I became more upset. Gradually, his heart seemed to be blocked with firewood in his chest. Finally, he gave up and sighed quietly: "I feel restless, there is a demon in my heart..."
As if to prove his words, a gust of evil wind blew out more than a dozen candles in a "puff, puff, puff..." and countless more were blown out. The light and shadow in the hall were shaking, making it more and more gloomy and suffocating.
Jiajing had no time to pay attention, and just looked ahead calmly. Standing at the top of the world, watching the turbulent life, many people made their debut, and many people died, but they could no longer let the emperor's heart have a hint of turbulence. Emperor Jiajing, who was deeply grasped by bone-wrenching loneliness and boredom, is now only seeking immortality! But becoming an immortal is extremely slim, but his body may collapse at any time. Just as the candle fire was extinguished, he almost smelled the air of the air of disillusionment. He was afraid, anxious and helpless, and could not calm down!
The way of heaven cannot be dependent on, and the way of immortality cannot be proved! For the sake of this illusory way of immortality, I have abandoned the country, given up all my feelings, and devoted my decades to cultivation. Is this... really worth it?
Jiajing clearly saw that several shadows appeared in the void, which appeared in the first place and gradually became clear. Suddenly, Empress Chen, Empress Zhang, Empress Fang, Concubine Cao Duan and Concubine Lu Jing, these five noble and beautiful women, although they did not have a good result in the end, but the harem was three thousand pink and beautiful, and the only ones who could leave an impression on the heart of Emperor Jiajing, who was naturally cold-hearted, were the five of them.
I saw their eyes sorrowful, floating like shadows, and sometimes far away.
Recently, he suddenly turned into Prince Ai Chong and Prince Zhuang Jing. These two princes who had obtained his father had made Jiajing anxious at this moment. He flipped his sleeves and roared, "Get out!"
But the next moment, his movements froze because the women and children turned into Emperor Xingxian and Empress Dowager Zhang Sheng, standing in the void and looking at him. Jiajing finally couldn't help but shed tears, stretched out his hand, murmured in his heart: "Father, Queen Mother, do you know that the child is lonely, do you come to accompany me for the New Year?"
"Master, Master..." Jiajing was called back to his senses by a duck's throat, and the illusion disappeared, leaving only a fat face in front of him... However, Huang Jin looked at him as he was crazy and walked forward carefully to investigate.
Deeply hated that this guy interrupted his meeting with his parents, but was unable to speak, Jiajing could only glar at him in anger and said, "What are you doing?"
"The emperor has finished treating the gods." Huang Jin just smiled and said, "It's time to eat dumplings." After saying that, a little eunuch came up with a food box.
"Not eating..." Jiajing refused without thinking.
Huang Jin took the food box and asked the little eunuch to go down. He took a small table and put it next to Jiajing. Then he opened the food box, brought out a plate of hot dumplings, and sang a small song in a Beijing film: "This is the noodles that Empress Houtu is mixed with. Emperor Donghua is filled with filling, Laojun of Taishang is burned, and Queen Mother of the Queen Mother is put into the pot." Then he put the plate in front of him, pretended to smell it, and then sang: "It will be so fragrant that you will be so fragrant; eat one and eat two to eliminate all diseases. If you eat this plate, you will be old... and live a hundred years old..." Don't rap with a good tone, it's really like that.
Jiajing was so funny that he couldn't hold back and cursed, "You servant, have you learned to speak fancy?" After Huang Jin made such a joke, the emperor felt much better and his stomach roared. He remembered that he hadn't eaten for a day. He asked, "What stuffing?"
"Mushrooms, fungus, carrot ingredients, peppercorns, sesame oil; vermicelli, tofu, daylily, onions, garlic, and vinegar. Our vegetarian dumplings are much more fragrant than the meat filling." Seeing that the emperor had appetite, Huang Jin shouted harder and his hands were not slow at all. He arranged a small bowl and plate and presented ivory chopsticks to Jiajing's hands.
"Then eat two?" Jiajing took the chopsticks and said with a rare smile.
"It's up to you." Huang Jin felt relieved and smiled, "You have to eat two more."
"Try it first if it tastes good or not." Jiajing picked up a dumpling, then put it in a small plate, and then put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly. After a while, he nodded and said, "It's not bad, it's this taste." After eating half a bowl one after another, he felt full. He put down the chopsticks and wiped his mouth, and praised, "I am worthy of being the old man in Qiandi, and I still remember the taste of Zhongxiang."
Huang Jin said embarrassedly: "I was only four years old when Zhong Xiang came to the capital. How could I remember this... This was what the Empress Dowager taught me later. You said that you like to eat such vegetarian dumplings the most. During the Chinese New Year, don't forget to make them for the emperor."
When Jiajing heard this, his eyes became a little wet again, and he sighed: "My mother has always been worried about me! But you don't know that this is also the Queen Mother's favorite food during her lifetime." He sighed and said, "I have been in poor health in the past few years, and I have been lazy in paying New Year's offerings. Please ask the kitchen to offer some more to my father, mother and mother.
"Master Renxiao, the spirit of the late emperor and the queen mother in heaven will definitely be relieved." Huang Jin wiped her tears and said, "But just now, I have already offered the dumplings and plows to the two saints first, and I can't offer the other tragedies."
"You are intent." Jiajing nodded in praise, was silent for a while, and suddenly asked Huang Jin: "You said that I can succeed in cultivating immortals?"
Huang Jin didn't think about it and quickly said, "What the master said is that you are very talented, have unique talents, and have unique conditions. With Taoist priests from all over the world, if you can't become an immortal in the end, who can become an immortal?" He said with a smile: "It's the New Year, the master cannot say despicable words." He knew that the emperor could not give up cultivating, so he simply didn't even persuade him.
Jiajing agreed and nodded, "Yes, folk monks, how can I have such conditions as me? I can't practice it without reason." As he said that, he explained, "More than ten years ago, Shao Zhenren said that practicing Taoism is about being quiet and inaction, not being involved in the world. As the king of a country, I have been worried about national affairs all day long, how can I be quiet and unobstructed?" So he re-established his confidence and said, "When I have passed my 60th birthday, Master Tao Tian's Nine-Turn Golden Elixir has been refined, and then my Xuandu Temple and Chaotian Temple have been cultivated. I have already thought about it, so I will let King Yu take over the throne. I will go to Xuandu Temple to practice immortality with peace of mind and no longer ask about national affairs and civil affairs, so that I can ascend in the daytime."
When the emperor said that the throne was inherited, Huang Jin did not dare to breathe for a moment, for fear of saying something wrong and losing his life. But Jiajing was talking for so long, he could not say a word, so he had to be careful: "Master think twice, the Ming Dynasty cannot live without you, and King Yu cannot live without you, and it is even more impossible for all the ministers and ministers in the court to agree."
"You are wrong." Jiajing sneered on his face and said, "This Ming Dynasty is the same as everyone else. Taizu, who is wise and divine, Chengzu, can be the emperor, Yingzong and Wuzong, who are in trouble with the country, can also be." At this moment, the emperor's tone became louder and said, "As for King Yu, he hopes that I will give up my throne as soon as possible, for many years.
The daughter-in-law became a mother-in-law. Not to mention the officials who "eat the king's fortune and stab the king" never thought to me, and I wish I could return to the west early so that I could flatter their new master."
The emperor suddenly became murderous again, which made Huang Jin very surprised and said, "No, no, Prince Yu is kind and filial. You all are arrogant and do not pray to the emperor for a long life. The master is too concerned.
"Hmph..." Jiajing snorted coldly, "I originally thought they would make trouble again a hundred years later, but now I realize that some people have long been unable to wait to snatch the ranks and power for their master!" After speaking, his voice temple became hoarse and terrifying, with great anger.
After a few words, the emperor's contradictory mentality that he wanted to let go and never wanted to let go was fully demonstrated.
"Master, calm down..." Huang Jin quickly knelt down and said, "No one would think so, no one would think so.
I know that as long as there is a master in one day, the Ming Dynasty will not be able to make a comeback."
"Well said!" Jiajing showed abnormal Yin Hong in his face: "As long as I live one day, this Ming Dynasty will always be my country!" As he said that, he grabbed his skinny palm and almost jumped out of his teeth, saying, "I can give it, but no one can take it!"
Looking at the crazy emperor, Huang Jinxin had a haze again, not knowing what was going to happen
Is it?
·Dang...dang...’ At this time, the swan bells and bells were ringing on the bells and drum tower in the north. Immediately afterwards, famous temples and ancient temples such as Dazhong Temple, Jietai Temple, Guangji Temple also ringed. The New Year is here! The celebration atmosphere in Beijing has reached its highest point.
Hearing the call of the bell, the officials who had been waiting for the moment held the memorial, resolutely left the house, gathered on Chang'an Street, and walked towards the Xiyuan Gate...
The bell sounded as if it had injected strength into Jiajing, which made the emperor feel energetic all of a sudden. He suddenly said lightly: "It's coming."
"Ah." Huang Jin couldn't help but feel creepy and looked around and said, "What's coming."
"Those people." Jiajing's eyes passed through the palaces and kept falling in front of the Xiyuan Gate.
The eyes without any spirit seem to be able to get into trouble with everything.
Huang Jin was completely confused by Jiajing and whispered: "Who are those people?"
Jiajing actually smiled nervously and said, "It is my censor of the Ming Dynasty and a clean and righteous minister." "They made an appointment to congratulate me on this New Year's Eve with the New Year bell as a chant!"
As if to prove the emperor's words, an eunuch rushed in and knelt on the ground and said, "Emperor Qi, there are officials of the 100, 50, and 6th ranks, all running to the gate and slaughter!"
"They want me to see how powerful they are." Jiajing ignored the little eunuch and continued to speak on his own: "But I forgot about how powerful I am...
Immediately afterwards, another eunuch rushed in and knelt down and said, "Emperor, among the six affairs, there are more than 100 censors in the Censorate, each holding this memorial in his hand, and they are all kneeling outside the palace gate!" These eunuchs on duty at Xiyuan Gate are not 039 years old. They only think that the officials of the Ming Dynasty are all pugs who wag their tails and beg for mercy, but have never seen such a scene of ministers fighting against the emperor.
"It's been more than 40 years, and it's been long enough." Jiajing fell into his memories and murmured: "It's enough for people to heal their scars and forget the pain."
"Your Majesty, what should I do?" Huang Jin was anxious, and it was not the attitude of submitting a congratulations.
It seems like I'm here to fight to the death!
"Do you still remember the incident of Jiajing in three years?" Jiajing asked him.
"I was only six years old at that time, and I still don't remember anything." Huang Jin whispered. This is not the truth. How could he forget that the biggest incident that year was that more than 200 officials were collectively slaughtered outside Zuoshun Gate. That time, the emperor was furious and killed more than a dozen people on the spot, crippled dozens of people, and arrested more than 100 people. Once, the backbone of the Ming Dynasty was broken. From then on, although some officials also submitted memorials, they usually acted alone, at most a few people. In more than 40 years, such a scene had never happened.
But today, during the 45th year of the Spring Festival in Jiajing, at such a sensitive moment, more than a hundred officials gathered outside the ban. How can people not remind people of Zuoshun's sect back then?
Obviously Jiajing connected the two things. His eyes flashed, and his tone became excited and said, "This time they were all officials of the fifth and sixth rank? That was far worse than the Zuoshun Sect. At that time, there were 200 or three hundred people, all of them were high-ranking officials. Five of the six ministers came, and all the censors of the chief censors arrived. There were 30 senior officials of the third rank or above. As for the fourth and fifth rank, there were countless officials of the fourth and fifth ranks!" As he said, he said proudly, "I was only seventeen years old at that time, and there was not even a helper around me, and I killed them all by myself! Unfortunately, you were too young at that time and didn't see my prestige. Although this time I was not good enough, I was better than nothing..."
Hearing that the emperor was so proud that Huang Jin was almost at the sight of his throat, he was confused. He didn't understand why the half-dead Emperor Jiajing said that he was twenty years younger when he mentioned fighting with the ministers.
Chapter completed!