As the eunuch Wang Gui said, recently, Honglu Temple, Hanlin Academy, Ministry of Rites, and various institutions in the palace are preparing for the queen's canonization ceremony.

Not only are the officials busy, but Zhu Gaoxu and Guo Wei also have to prepare, and they have to bathe and fast three days in advance. Zhu Gaoxu has slept alone for three consecutive days, not approaching women, and not eating meat.

The canonization ceremony is more complicated than the enthronement ceremony. spent countless manpower and material resources, and this one thing is actually very simple: to establish Guo Wei's status as the queen.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not look at this matter with the arrogance of modern thinking, nor did he feel that it was purely extravagant and wasteful.

After he suddenly became the ruler of the country, he also tried his best to understand the order at this time with his own thinking.

From the philosophical height of governing the country, the Ming Dynasty absorbed a large number of Confucianism and things from various dynasties. Emphasizing courtesy and morality should be for the purpose of solemnly establishing some so-called justifiable rules of power and dignity.

And from ministers to common people, they have recognized and believed in this idea for thousands of years; The determination of the concept has stabilized the legal theory of power in the whole world. Only when there is a whole social system with mature thinking as the cornerstone will there be no war, crime, and discontent protests.

(Therefore, in the future, Zhu Gaoxu admits that the system of democratic elections is a more advanced power structure, but does not think that it will only rely on the rules of the system; Those things must have universal ideas and concepts as the cornerstone, equality, freedom, civil rights, and so on. And whoever does that kind of thing right now is completely creating chaos and crime in the world. ）

Under the arrangement of the ministers, Zhu Gaoxu first went to the two altars of heaven and earth to worship, and then went to the Taimiao Temple to worship his ancestors.

It seems that the emperor has to tell two kinds of empty and mysterious things when he does every major thing, and fully interprets the idea of "divine authority of the monarch" with actions. Moreover, the people of the Ming Dynasty never believed in the only god, but the people of the world had faith and really believed in heaven and earth and ancestors.

Early the next morning, the ceremony was held in the Temple of Heaven and the canonization ceremony began. The clan relatives and nobles, civil and military officials, came to the outside of the Fengtian Palace, and Zhu Gaoxu led everyone to bow to the incense case. After the bells and drums sounded three times, everyone entered the main hall.

At this time, Guo Wei hadn't come over yet, she was waiting in Kunning Palace.

Zhu Gaoxu and the ministers answered each other in a serious manner according to the rehearsed lines. Wait until the officials of Honglu Temple shouted: "Canonize Guo as the queen, and order you to wait for the festival to show the ceremony!" Then the second envoy and the palace maid eunuch took the canonization document written by the Hanlin Academy and the queen's treasure seal, and went to the harem.

Ritual music was played in the Fengtian Temple, and I waited for a long time. When the envoy who went to the harem returned, he reported that the queen had accepted the canonization.

At this time, Hu Hu, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, took a few officials to take the edict on the table on the side, and Hu Guang of the Hanlin Academy had already written it. Several officials bid farewell to Zhu Gaoxu and went to Chengtianmen to announce the decree to the world, and Guo was the queen of the Ming Dynasty.

After a while, Guo Wei was also led by the female official to the Fengtian Palace. She was wearing a dress, and under the attention of everyone, she slowly walked into the main hall and bowed to Zhu Gaoxu to thank her.

The ministers congratulated one after another. And those officials and women who failed to attend the ceremony in Fengtian Hall had already written congratulatory sheets and sent them to the Wenlou to congratulate the queen. (In a few days, the family members of the ministers and nobles will come to the palace to meet the queen and congratulate them in person.) Because the ladies also have a fortune and receive the royal food; The queen is also their boss in terms of title. ）

The ceremony was largely over. When Zhu Gaoxu got up, the civil officials made a big salute. He took Guo Wei out of the Fengtian Temple, and the couple went to the family temple to worship the ancestors and then pay tribute to the ancestors, and the canonization ceremony was officially completed......

Guo Wei wears a crown of nine dragons and four phoenixes, colorful and shiny, and has two ears, which looks very luxurious; He was wearing a dark blue Zhai robe, embroidered with various patterns, and decorated with red, yellow, and white pearls and jade. Such a complicated outfit on her body made her slightly thin figure even more incongruous.

Her pure jade-white face, under the jeweled phoenix crown, seems to have a better luster, like jade and porcelain, beautiful and bright. It's no wonder that women love jewelry, and the expensive decoration can indeed add a sense of femininity.

Guo Wei's face was red, looking like a bride nervous, novel, and a little shy. However, her and Zhu Gaoxu's sons are already a few years old.

When the group walked to the courtyard of the Fengxian Palace, Zhu Gaoxu stood still and turned to look at Guo Wei.

Guo Wei's eyelashes trembled, her cheeks were as red as peach blossoms, and she lowered her eyes and whispered: "Thank you for the grace of the saint, today's concubine is like a dream." ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Wei'er is my wife. As long as I have it, these are what you deserve. Things will be old, but they will always be new; I remember those heart-warming fond memories, and that affection has always been there. ”

When Guo Wei heard this, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Zhu Gaoxu movingly. She seemed to remember what Zhu Gaoxu said on her wedding night.

That was nearly a decade ago; In the past, Zhu Gaoxu said that he would not forget, far less than saying it again ten years later. Guo Wei's eyes flashed with water, she smiled with tears, and whispered in a strange voice: "As long as the saint doesn't dislike it." ”

That's what she said back then.

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his fingers on the battle array, wiped away the tears from her eyes with the back of his fingers, and said, "Wei'er, calm down, let's go in and give a word to the ancestors." ”

"Hmm!" Guo Wei pursed her lips and said.

In the Fengxian Palace, in front of the portrait of Taizu, the bricks and stones under the incense case have been repaired completely. The tunnels below were also filled in, and they were repaired during the reign of the deposed prince. However, when Zhu Gaoxu came here again, he was still quite impressed.

Zhu Gaoxu thought of Ma Enhui and Miaojin for a while, if it weren't for them, would he be where he is today? He said in his heart: The so-called moral sentiment should not exclude women?

…… A few days later, Zhu Gaoxu issued an edict: from this dynasty, the harem funeral system will be abolished. Then he began to canonize concubines one after another.

The harem of the Ming Dynasty did not follow the Zhou etiquette, so Zhu Gaoxu first added the title of "imperial concubine"; He also sent an envoy to the Mu Mansion to arrange etiquette and canonize Mu Shi, the eldest daughter of Mu Sheng, the Duke of Qianguo, as the imperial concubine.

Then he immediately canonized Miao Jin as a concubine, Yao Ji as a virtuous concubine, and Du Qianrui as a concubine; All three were given gold seals and gilded books.

and canonized Duan Xue as a concubine; The Xianguo woman Park is a virtuous concubine. The dozens of palace maids who served and slept a while ago were all named various beauties, talents, and elected servants, replacing the original female officials and taking charge of the power of various institutions in the palace.

The canonization of the harem is like rewarding the heroes and generals, and the parties involved are very satisfied. Zhu Gaoxu gave the harem woman a thick seal to the maximum extent allowed by the system, and did not hesitate to add the title of imperial concubine to Mu Mansion.

Only Miaojin seemed a little resistant, but not dissatisfied with the canonization. When Zhu Gaoxu directly issued an edict and prepared a crown dress, seal book and other things for her, she couldn't strongly refuse anymore.

Zhu Gaoxu first made clear the identity of Miaojin in the official newspaper, when he told about the death of the first emperor: after the loyal martyr Jinggong, the righteous daughter of Empress Renxiao Xu.

Then he canonized Miaojin as a concubine, so that he could justify his public morality and reputation, and no longer hide and be difficult to see. As for those rumors and wild histories that are not recognized by the imperial court, they cannot be used as topics on the table, and in the end they just add some talking points for future generations.

According to rumors, Emperor Taizong promised to canonize Miaojin as a concubine; And Zhu Gaoxu, in order to further reward the meritorious Mu family, wanted to canonize the Mu family as the imperial concubine, is it for the Mu family, or for the sake of giving the concubine to Miaojin...... These secret matters can probably also make the world quietly argue after tea and dinner.

And these things, of course, cannot be used as a topic of discussion in the court; Who would use false rumors as arguments and reason with others in the open......

Those who were dissatisfied with the canonization of the harem were mostly civil officials of the imperial court. When the ministers met at the Imperial Gate, they discussed a different truth: it was against the ancestral system.

In order to prevent the harem from interfering in politics, Emperor Taizu set the rules that the queens and concubines of the Ming Emperor must be selected from the people, and the women of the ministers and nobles cannot be selected; In order to prevent the strength of foreign relatives from being too strong and interfering in the government affairs.

Zhu Gaoxu's mother, Empress Renxiao is the daughter of the Xu family, the king of Zhongshan, and is from a noble background; However, because Emperor Taizong was a vassal king, he had already married Xu, so he did not have to follow this system. Zhu Gaoxu also ascended the throne as a vassal king, so the queen is the granddaughter of the Marquis of Wuding, there is a precedent to follow, and no one mentions this matter again.

However, the advice of the ministers was: after the Holy Lord is proclaimed emperor, it is not appropriate to canonize concubines from the noble family. In addition, at this time, the etiquette of the Mu family's canonization of the "imperial concubine" had not yet been carried out, so the officials asked for reconsideration.

Zhu Gaoxu defended himself.

He was originally the king of Yunnan Domain, and he only wanted to guard the border for his father, and he had no intention of taking the throne; However, the party in the East Palace plotted to kill the monarch's father, so he had no choice but to raise troops, and was finally persuaded by his subjects to enter and join the succession.

Zhu Gaoxu said that when he was the king of the domain, he had begged his father and queen mother in person, wanted to accept Mu as his wife, and had told Mu Fu; Later, the "battle to cut down crimes" broke out, and there was no opportunity to do it. But this promise has made Mu wait in the boudoir so far.

If this time he tore up the agreement because he inherited the throne; It hurts the face of the heroes and damages the reputation of the Mu family, which is not a righteous act and is not conducive to setting an example for the world. The ancestral system of Taizu can only be adapted to those who succeed to the throne with the crown prince, and the vassal king is pushed to grow up due to the difficulties of the country, and it is difficult to follow the old.

Among the civil officials, Qi Tai, Hu Hui, Gao Xianning and others all seconded Zhu Gaoxu's remarks, and other civil officials had no choice but to give up.

So Zhu Gaoxu did not accept the minister's advice, but still sent someone to Mu Mansion to accept the ceremony.

…… Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu's things were done quickly, and when he had almost done the matter of canonizing the Mu family, Xie Jin returned to Beijing. If it was a few days late, Xie Jin was afraid that he would hold on to the matter of the emperor's concubine and say that it would not be so easy to compromise with the emperor.

When Zhu Gaoxu heard that Xie Jin had returned to Beijing from Jiaozhi Province to report on his work, he immediately felt a slight headache.