Chapter 674: Monarch and minister contest
Chapter 674 Contest between Monarch and Subject
Zhenguan five years, Xinmao.
In February, Jiachen (14th), the emperor drove back to Beijing from Jiucheng Palace in Qizhou.
The emperor held a court meeting.
Changsun Wuji once again asked to hold a crowning ceremony for the crown prince, because the emperor came back late, and the originally planned auspicious day on February 18 has already been missed, and the auspicious day will be on February 24.
"Today, the East is booming. I'm afraid of farming. It should be changed to October." Li Shimin sat on the royal seat and replied expressionlessly.
Today, Xiao Yu, who worshiped three times and dismissed the prime minister three times, also participated in the court meeting. Xiao Yu, who is currently the crown prince and Taifu, stepped forward, "According to Yin and Yang, it is not as good as February!"
Li Shimin still directly refuted it, "Good fortune and bad fortune depend on people. If we rely on Yin and Yang at every turn and disregard etiquette and righteousness, can we get auspiciousness? Follow the principles, and there will be auspiciousness naturally. Farming is the busiest time, so don't lose the opportunity."
After rejecting the requests of several prime ministers, the emperor said slowly, "Speaking of ancient rituals, the emperor in ancient times went to the fields to plow in person every year, expressing his emphasis on agriculture. "Book of Rites · Jitong" says that the emperor personally plowed in the southern suburbs to share Qi Sheng. "Gu Liang Zhuan" the son of heaven plowed by himself, and he prospered together. The theory of salt and iron in the Han Dynasty also said, so spring plowed by himself to encourage farmers.
"I have read history books recently, and I often read that the ancient emperors farmed in person. The Zhou Li notes said that the ancient kings were the sons of heaven, rich in the world, but they must privately set aside fields. There are three reasons for covering them. One is to honor the ancestral temple. Filial piety, the second is to teach the people to be diligent, and there will be no shortage of diligence, and the third is to hear that the descendants know the hardships of farming and there is no escape."
"Zhou Tianzi, personally plowed thousands of acres of land."
"In the past, the emperor used to borrow a thousand acres, crowned Zhu Hong, and bowed to the lei; the princes borrowed a hundred acres, crowned the green, and bowed to the lei. To serve the world, mountains and rivers, and the country before the ancients... ".
"However, the Jin Dynasty moved to the south, and the later Wei Dynasty came from Yunshuo. The Central Plains was divided, and it was mixed with Rong Rong. The Zhou and Sui Dynasties lasted. This ceremony has been abolished for a long time."
Li Shimin said loudly, "Just now, all the ministers thought that we should restore the ancient rituals and crown the crown prince. I think this proposal is very good. Back then, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ended the 300-year split between the North and the South, got rid of the old Hu customs, and restored the Zhou Li Han system. The clothes of the Fuhan family are very well done. It’s just that some etiquettes have not been restored, such as the crown ceremony, and the ceremony of plowing the fields.”
The emperor talked for a long time, and finally expressed his plan. To restore the ancient rites, not only the crown rites, but also the rites of plowing the fields should be restored.
"Sinong Temple chose thousands of acres of land in the suburbs of the city, as a gift for the emperor to cultivate and borrow, and personally sacrificed to the ancestors of the farmers, and bowed to the emperor."
He also proposed that the princes and officials should also restore this ancient ritual. According to the Zhou ritual, the emperor himself cultivated a thousand acres, and the princes had a hundred acres. The rest of the first to ninth rank officials have 90 to 10 mu each.
The hall was full of astonishment, no one could have imagined that the emperor would restore such an ancient ritual.
But the problem is, originally everyone was going to discuss the crowning ceremony for the crown prince, but now the emperor said that February delayed the farming season and wanted to change it to October, but the emperor just proposed to restore the plowing ceremony. It was the time for the crown prince's coronation ceremony.
This inevitably makes people think about it.
The system of plowing and clearing land began in the Zhou Dynasty. The original intention was to let the ruling group of slave owners know the difficulty of farming. Therefore, the system of plowing and clearing land was established at the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, and it will be regarded as a very grand ceremony of the country. Every year, nine days before the beginning of spring, the emperor will fast and bathe in advance to show respect and sincerity. On the day of plowing in the beginning of spring, a grand ceremony of plowing and clearing the field will be held. Nine strokes by the Qing, twenty-seven strokes by the doctor, and finally the common people plowed a thousand acres of land.
The original intention of this system is very good, which means that the ruling class pays great attention to agriculture.
Since the implementation of the system, the descendants have followed it. King Xuan of Zhou once caused some discussion because he did not borrow thousands of acres. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty issued an imperial edict saying, "I personally lead the world to farm for the harvest, and the queen personally mulberry to serve the sacrificial service." He also emphasized that it is the first in the world. .
Although there was great chaos in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Five Hus were in chaos, and they traveled southward in their clothes. Emperor Wen personally plowed the fields twice to encourage spring plowing.
But this is only a flash in the pan.
Today, Li Shimin wants to restore the ritual of clearing the fields that has been abandoned for hundreds of years, and the prime ministers have no reason to object. But when the crown prince was about to hold the coronation ceremony, he proposed that the crown prince's coronation ceremony should be postponed to October, which is intriguing.
The emperor not only had to hold the plowing ceremony himself, but even all the officials in the capital had to perform the plowing ceremony on the public or private fields or their own farms, and the local officials even had to bring the local officials to hold the plowing ceremony. , To lead the people to work **** the field.
Li Shimin easily took the wrong direction, turning the court discussion into a discussion on the restoration of farming and borrowing rituals, such as choosing whether to choose the southern suburbs or the eastern suburbs, such as offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, Sheji, and Shennong, or whether to build a viewing platform. It is convenient for the emperor to watch the princes and officials plowing the fields.
How many guards should be mobilized, and whether there should be some activities, such as playing a polo game or something. In addition, to hold such an important ceremony, who should be invited to attend, whether to amnesty the world, or to reward those seventy or eighty-year-old old people with clothes, and whether to confer birth to some nobles and relatives, etc.
Kong Yingda proposed that after the spring plowing, the world should be amnesty.
And Lu Deming suggested that after the spring plowing, you can consider changing the Yuan to celebrate.
······
A group of ministers including the Minister of the Six Departments of the Nine Ministers had a heated discussion, but the seven prime ministers were silent there.
Qin Lang has been scrutinizing Li Shimin's micro-expression all the time, always feeling that the emperor has been holding his breath today, returning to Beijing with emotions, and this court meeting is more like a rivalry with the prime ministers.
It is very likely that the Zhengshitang rejected the emperor's decree and slapped Li Shimin in the face. This made the emperor very unconvinced, so he came back this time to find trouble.
Li Shimin wanted to engage in a personal plowing ceremony, but he made a big show, just to sacrifice to Shennong, and then in the thousand-acre field, he helped the plow to copy one or two back and forth, and the rest of the field was not cultivated by royal slaves. His pro-cultivation ceremony is so grand, so there is no delay?
"Your Majesty!"
Uncle Guo's eldest grandson Wuji stood up, "I think the emperor's plowing ceremony and the crown prince's coronation ceremony are not in conflict, on the contrary, first perform the crowning ceremony for the prince, and then hold the emperor's plowing ceremony, which is unprecedented. A great event, the best is the best, and the best is the best!"
"I request that the double ceremony be held before and after!"
Li Shimin said slowly, "The farming borrowing ceremony has been abandoned for hundreds of years. Now that it is going to be restored, it must be grand and grand. Time is running out. If we want to hold the crown prince coronation ceremony again, I'm afraid it will be too late."
Shangshu Youpu shot, and the queen's uncle Xu Guogong Gao Shilian also stood up, "Your Majesty, I think I can do it well if I come in time. I am willing to personally supervise the preparations for the etiquette, and I will definitely be able to do it well."
Wei Zheng also stood up at this time, "Your Majesty, the left servant She Fanggong can be responsible for preparing the plowing ceremony, and the right servant She Gaogong can prepare for the crown prince's coronation ceremony. All the ministries and departments should cooperate with each other and work together. It should be in time. "
All the prime ministers believe that February is auspicious and suitable for crowning the crown prince, but October is an unlucky month, so it is not suitable for crowning the crown prince. Moreover, by October, the crown prince will be thirteen or fourteen years old.
According to the rituals of the Zhou Dynasty, the crown prince will be crowned at twelve.
For a while, the prime ministers came to admonish and demanded that the two ceremonies should be performed together, and that the prince's coronation ceremony should be performed first, the emperor's plowing ceremony should be followed, and then the empress's silkworm ceremony should be held.
The three ceremonies followed in turn, followed by this year's special science and technology competition.
Although the emperor tried to make excuses, the prime ministers insisted on it.
When encountering such a group of stubborn prime ministers, especially when they were very unanimous, Li Shimin had no choice. In the past, Fang Xuanling must have always comprehended the emperor's will, not to mention that his brother-in-law and eldest grandson Wuji followed him. He was like a roundworm in his stomach, but this time.
The emperor returned to Beijing in a hurry, and fought with the prime ministers in anger. This round was obviously lost.
Although Xiao Yu, Yang Shidao, Wen Yanbo, etc. are not prime ministers anymore, their attitudes are surprisingly unanimous. They all believe that since the ancient rituals are to be restored, the coronation ceremony is also a grand ceremony that cannot be ignored.
"I have thought about it carefully, and I feel that what you said is reasonable."
Facing the surprisingly unanimous attitude of the ministers, Li Shimin, after being silent for a long time, unexpectedly expressed a rare compromise. Qin Lang also admired it a lot. This is Li Shimin's excellence.
Although he was angry and dissatisfied, he was able to weigh the pros and cons, and he was able to compromise and bow his head. He was by no means the stubborn and conceited man like Yang Guang who went straight to the dark.
"Then Zuo Pushe will be in charge of the preparations for the plowing ceremony, and You Pushe will be in charge of the ceremony for crowning the crown prince."
Xiao Yu played again at this time, saying that the twenty-fourth day of February is auspicious, suitable for crowning the crown prince, and the twenty-seventh day of February is also auspicious, suitable for plowing ceremony.
The emperor figured it out, and then the court meeting entered the specific discussion of two etiquettes.
Regarding the Crown Prince's Crown Ceremony, Li Shimin appointed Kaifuyi and Li Jing, the third minister, to crown the crown prince's guest of honor, the left servant of the Shangshu shot Fang Xuanling's praise crown, the right servant of the Shangshu shot Sikong Gao Shilian, Kaifuyi and the third Situ official minister Pingzhang Chief Sun Wuji, Kaifu Yisi Third Division Hussar General Military Department Shangshu Donggong Zhan Shishe Sikong Pingzhang Shi Qin Lang were responsible for the three crowns, and finally Wei Zheng announced the imperial edict.
Li Shimin originally wanted Taiwei Qin Qiong to crown Chengqian, but Qin Qiong didn't enter Beijing this year and is still in Songzhou, Jiannan, and it was too late, so he had to ask Li Jing, another great hero, to crown Chengqian It just happened that although Li Jing had to confer the fiefdom, he hadn't gone to the fiefdom yet.
Fang Xuanling stepped forward and asked the emperor to give the crown prince a letter.
Teachers and elders bestowed the title of the crowned person, and the name will be replaced by the name in the future, and the corresponding words of the same generation will not be called. For example, Li Yuan has the word Shude. No one dared to call the emperor's name, because no one could be more noble than the emperor.
Li Shimin has no words, because he has never held a crown ceremony. He has led the army to fight since the age of sixteen.
Qin Qiong's nickname is Shubao, which means that the Qin family also had the tradition of the gentry, and a crowning ceremony was held for him. Qin Lang's nickname is Huailiang, and he has not held a crowning ceremony, but because he entered the official position early, he has not yet been crowned. age, but because he has already entered the official position, he took the title in advance. Later, Qin Lang went straight up, just like Li Shimin, and did not go to the coronation ceremony again.
"Great!"
The emperor pondered for a long time, and finally gave Cheng Qian a name.
Emperor Crown Prince Chengqian, with brilliant words!
(end of this chapter)