Chapter 259 Sitting in the Palace

September 15 is an auspicious day.

The light rain represents the mood of everyone.

As a filial son, Zhu Pingjin naturally wears linen and filial piety to support the coffin.

From the palace of the king of Shu to the tomb of the king of Shu on the left, it is more than 20 miles. Zhu Pingjin followed the big spirit card raised by the four people and walked on the wet and soft road. Along the way, the funeral procession was mighty, and the mourning team shook for nine days.

A clan with status in the Shu Domain, Liao, Liu and other Shu dignitaries, all wrapped in white belts and dressed in plain clothes, marched in procession in the funeral procession. Even Zhu Pingjian, the second brother of Zhu Pingjinshu, who had been ill for a long time, also wore linen and filial piety and sat in a sedan chair to attend the funeral.

The heavy and huge coffin was on the coffin bed, and dozens of large vermilion lacquer boxes with heavy artifacts were piled up in the tomb passage. A pair of large dragon jars filled with lamp oil and faintly dancing flames illuminate the walls and arches of the tomb (Note 2). In the side room next to the tomb, there are already more than a dozen thin-skinned coffins, which are eunuchs who were forced to be buried. They and them not only have to serve Zhu Pingjin's father in the yang world, but also continue to do this promising profession in the underworld.

"The lantern of ten thousand years has been lit, and the prince can find the direction on Huangquan Road!" Cao Sanbao stood behind Zhu Pingjian, and his voice was low: "This is the underworld, the prince is from the yang world, and he will hurt his body if he stays for a long time." Lord Shizi, please go out! ”

"The jade cicada enters the body, and it will be reborn in ten directions!" Zhu Pingjin prayed silently at the coffin. He didn't speak, just nodded slowly and heavily, and turned to walk out.

The dark and cold tomb and the tall and vague coffin have become the last impression left by his father in this world.

The stone door of the tomb was slammed shut, which meant that Shu had a new owner. But whether it is a new era, Zhu Pingjin and the people who attended the funeral have countless hearts.

……

The day after the burial of the king of Shu, it was another auspicious day. The sun is shining brightly, and the golden light is shining.

Zhu Pingjian, the son of Shu who was ordered to take charge of the affairs of the Shu king's mansion, finally took off the filial piety clothes he had worn for four months and put on a new crown dress. After he went to the temple to announce his ancestors, he officially ascended to the main hall of the Shu Palace-the Carrier Palace.

The Carrier Hall was built one level smaller than the scale of the original Nanjing Chengtian Temple, and in Zhu Pingjin's eyes, it was not shorter than the small Chengtian Hall that was later rebuilt after the Yongle fire in Beijing. Standing on the high platform in the hall, the platform is very clear from the clans and officials standing with His Majesty Dan. They are like Zhu Pingjian, all dressed in crowns and holding fluorene boards.

After the ministers bowed, Zhu Pingjin delivered his first official public speech in this life. Early tomorrow morning, this important speech will make the headlines on the second page of the "Fuxing Daily." On the front page of the "Fuxing Daily", the entire page will be devoted to the entire page of Zhu Pingjian's official portrait.

Zhu Pingjian's speech was not long, but unlike the common articles of the Four and Six Scholars, this speech was full of vernacular and very informative.

Two points were highlighted in the speech.

The first is to take the people as the sky, govern the country with benevolence, and attach great importance to the people's livelihood in Shudi.

It is necessary to reduce rents and burdens, and rest with the people; It is necessary to prevent and control plagues and reduce diseases; It is necessary to encourage land reclamation and increase arable land; It is necessary to dredge the weir mouth to ensure water for spring plowing next year; It is necessary to promote agricultural machinery and improve production efficiency; It is necessary to do a good job in grain reserves to cope with disasters and famines. It is necessary to promote immigration and balance land and population; It is necessary to unite the ethnic minorities in the southwest, treat each other as equals, and be naked from all over the world; It is necessary to unite the Shu clan clan, sacrifice the small self, and achieve the big self......

The second is to attach great importance to the local tyrants in Shu.

Zhu Pingjin pointed out that the local tyrants have wandered through Sichuan and Shaanxi, occupied prefectures and counties, and entrenched themselves in Bashan, and have become a force of thieves that cannot be ignored. The local tyrants make a living by looting, killing the people and poisoning the locality. If the local rioters are not eliminated for a day, Sichuan will not be peaceful for a day, and the people's livelihood will not be improved for a day. Zhu Pingjin demanded that the Sichuan government conscientiously follow the spirit of the emperor's important will, complete the task of eliminating the bandits, and recapture the two counties of Bazhou as soon as possible.

Zhu Pingjin broke the speech of the vassal king who only talked about the concept and did not talk about the current situation; The tradition of only talking about empty words and not talking about practice has criticized some local tyrants and shoddy gentry in Sichuan who are short-sighted, lustful for profit, and lawless. to point out that they brutally exploit the tenants, which is self-defeating; He criticized some of the officers and troops in Sichuan, pointing out that their troops had no fighting spirit, sat on food and wages, feared the enemy like tigers, and harassed the people more than thieves.

Zhu Pingjin announced that in order to celebrate his victory in ascending the carrier hall, he decided to reward Sichuan officials and citizens with 20,000 yuan in silver. The officials, sergeants, Zhuang households and other personnel belonging to the palace system of the Shu royal palace, regardless of their positions, men, women and children, all of them will be issued one or two silver bills. In addition, the officials and gentry who paid tribute to the funeral of the king of Shu all returned the salute.

After listening to the speech of the prince, Huang Jin, the king of Shiquan County, Zhu Xuanyan, the governor of Sichuan, and Liao Daheng, the governor of Sichuan, respectively expressed their warmest congratulations and support for Zhu Pingjin's new administration of the Shu king's mansion on behalf of the emperor, the Shu clan and the people of Sichuan. Liao Daheng assured His Royal Highness that under the correct leadership of the Emperor and the kind care of His Royal Highness the Prince, the Sichuan government had the determination, confidence, and ability to fulfill the sacred mission entrusted by the imperial court to recover the lost land in Sichuan, exterminate the local tyrants, or drive them to Shaanxi within the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Chongzhen's reign.

At the end of the ceremony, all the participants once again praised God with emotional language, so that the heavenly family gave birth to such a smart and wise Zongfan, and let the officials and gentry of Shu have such a benevolent, righteous and virtuous son.

At the end of the ceremony, the officials present did not disperse. They will also participate in the unveiling ceremony of the portrait of Emperor Taizu Gao on the tower of Duanli Gate under the leadership of Shu Shizi.

This ceremony is different from the sitting ceremony because it is open to the people of Sichuan.

……

Early in the morning, the people of the provincial capital who learned the news gathered on the wide imperial city dam. Martial law royal guards and officers and troops stood on both sides of the royal road, dividing tens of thousands of people into two roughly even piles.

Everyone was dressed in bright clothes at the bottom of the box, and the black pressed human heads densely filled all the corners of the Imperial City Dam. The rows of pines and cypresses on the streets are full of strange children, as if they have borne thick fruits. The most upscale viewing seat is the upstairs private room of dozens of teahouses around Huangchengba. Through the windows of the private rooms, the gentry and their families can avoid showing their heads, avoid the sun and rain, drink tea and gossip and dress up, and enjoy all the details of the appraisal ceremony. So even though the price of tea has risen more than ten times, the upstairs private room of the teahouse is still snatched up by large households.

In an elegant room on the third floor of the teahouse, several gorgeously dressed young ladies sat around. The gossip revolves around the upcoming prince Zhu Pingjin.

"It's out! The son of the world is out! The maidservant who was standing by the window and was in charge of monitoring suddenly shouted: "Miss, come and see!" Come and see! ”

A young lady in the prime of her life got up when she heard the sound and walked over. She stretched out her small white hands and asked the maid, "Where is the clairvoyant mirror?" ”

"It's coming! Here it comes! ”

The clairvoyant mirror has a shiny copper shell, and it is very difficult to hold it in the palm of your hand. This thing comes from Xiyi and is worth a lot of money. Resold to Sichuan through merchants in Nanjing, it is definitely a unique and rare commodity in the remote Shu region.

The young lady got the clairmind and was not in a hurry to watch it. She asked the maidservant in a reserved manner: "Did Miss Naluo come out with the prince?" ”

"No, miss!" The handmaid shouted excitedly.

……

The noise on the dam of the imperial city is like the surge of the sea, releasing noise all the time.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The wide Huangcheng Dam is as quiet as a long-standing wasteland.

Both adults and children touch their heads to the ground and their buttocks to express their awe of imperial power. It wasn't until the eunuchs on the walls of the Duanli Gate screamed that they stood up again.

Zhu Pingjin climbed onto a wooden platform on the edge of the city wall, two heads higher than the surrounding county kings and ministers, exposing most of his body to the sight of the spectators. He took out a manuscript from his sleeve and read it out unhurriedly.

The people on the dam of the imperial city, the closest people are also separated by the city wall, the golden river, and the road that surrounds the root of the royal wall, where can they hear the voice of the prince?

But many people still heard the content of Shizi's speech clearly. Because on the main road of the royal road and the root of the city wall, the palace arranged a scholar or eunuch to act as a body horn every ten zhang. They stood on stools with manuscripts in hand. When the prince began to speak, they began to read, and the content of Zhu Pingjian's speech was transmitted to the ears of the audience word for word.

The prince opened the sect and said that his family, as the descendants of Emperor Taizu Gao, had been divided into Sichuan for almost three hundred years. In the past three hundred years, his Shu clan and the people of Shu have breathed and shared the same fate, shared weal and woe, life and death, and sat in the same boat.

His father was killed by a traitor, and as the eldest son of the Shu Domain, he should shoulder the responsibility of the Shu Domain to the people of Sichuan. A few days ago, the emperor sent a messenger to approve his right to manage the affairs of the Shu king's palace. Fang Cai, in the Sichuan clan civil and military held a ceremony in the carrier hall. He was still young, and when he took over the Shu domain, he had arduous responsibilities and great pressure. lest I do not do it well, offend God, offend my ancestors, and suffer the people of a province.

Therefore, he is determined to learn from his ancestor, Emperor Taizu Gao, the founder of the Ming Dynasty selected by God, supported by the people of the whole country, and the founder of the Ming Dynasty, to learn his style of solidarity with the people, to learn his indomitable spirit, to learn his true character of being the master of the people, to learn his demeanor of loving his job and dedication, and to be a good vassal king who is supported by the people and reassured by the emperor. In order to motivate himself to learn from Taizu, and also to let the people of Sichuan learn Taizu together, so he ordered people to copy the true face of Emperor Taizu Gao enshrined in the ancestral temple and hang it in the Duanli Gate Tower, so that Emperor Taizu Gao looked at the mountains and rivers of Shu every day, looked at the gentry who were rich and unkind, looked at those corrupt officials, looked at those officials and soldiers who killed good and made meritorious contributions, and looked at those people who worked all day long and could not eat and wear.

In the end, the prince announced that there was a great drought in Nanzhi, Shandong, and Henan, and countless people died of starvation. The court was in difficulty and could not come up with money for relief; Thieves were rampant and robbed the people of their life-saving food. As the vassal king of Shudi, he has the responsibility to share the worries of the court; As a son of a sage, I have the obligation to save the common people. With the consent of the government, he decided to transport all the 100,000 stone Changcun rice for disaster preparedness and emergency in the Shu Wangfu to the disaster area in Jiangnan for disaster relief. In order to save food and expenses, from today onwards, he himself took the lead in reducing meals. I hope that the gentry and people of the Sichuan government will join him in putting an end to all extravagance, tighten their belts, grit their teeth and persevere, and go to the difficulties together. After the storm comes the rainbow. He firmly believes that as long as the people of Sichuan are closely united around the Sichuan government with the Shu Wangfu as the core, they will eventually usher in a glorious and prosperous era of peace in the world like the people of the whole world!

Zhu Pingjian's speech on the Duanli Gate was not written in literary language, but in not very solemn market slang, the purpose of which was to make the common people on the Imperial City Dam understand. The old fox Liao Tycoon understood this as soon as he heard this. Looking at the attentive eyes of the people under the city and listening to the cheers of the people under the city from time to time, Liao Daheng suddenly understood why the young man next to him suddenly became a very weighty figure in Shu in just less than a year.

Mr. Liu said it well, Jiangshan Sheji is nothing more than a worldly people's heart! And the hearts of the people in the world are the number of people who rule the world!

……

After the prince finished speaking, Cao Sanbao shook the dust and sang "The auspicious time has come!" ”

In an instant, a long golden horn hoisted the Shu word swallowtail flag, and blew a high-pitched and passionate horn on the west wall of the city tower to the people in the square. Then a rapid drum shook the heavens and the earth to change color. The drums stopped abruptly, and a loud burst of music began. A blonde man, sitting next to a large floor-to-ceiling instrument that no one recognizes, skillfully and exaggeratedly tapping on the keyboard. Three hundred palace guards stood on the east wall of the city tower, accompanied by music, and sang "God Bless the Great Ming" in unison.

The long and grand ode is coming to an end.

In the elongated end of the carol, Zhu Pingjin leaned over and picked up a red-wrapped object from the platform, with a rope attached to it. Zhu Pingjin held this heavy red silk object high above his head, so that everyone's eyes were focused on the red silk.

When the music ended, Zhu Pingjin threw it down violently. The red silk wrapped in a seven-and-a-half-pound solid cannonball fell down the city gate, straightening the rope attached to it. The force of the falling weight was transmitted to the white cloth covered by the huge portrait on the hole in the middle of the Duanli Gate. The white cloth is torn from top to bottom, revealing an old man in the portrait. The old man wore a crown of wings, a narrow-sleeved dragon robe, a white beard, a kind complexion, earnest and wise eyes, and a friendly and solemn expression.

The people below the city tower were in an uproar. People's eyes fell with the red silk, and then with the torn white cloth, condensed on the old man on the portrait.

In the front row of the crowd was an old farmer with a hat. He is the second uncle Yang of Chongyi Village, the owner of Chongyi Village, who was ordered to enter the city to watch the ceremony. These newly elected small and medium-sized village owners came from low backgrounds, their status was too low, and they did not know etiquette, so they had to form a team to watch the ceremony on the imperial city dam.

Second Uncle Yang is one of the few people who has been personally received twice by the prince, which makes him quite proud. The other owners around him, not to mention that they had seen the prince, many of them even came to the provincial capital Chengdu Mansion for the first time. When the true face of Taizu on the portrait was revealed, Second Uncle Yang's hat instantly fell to the ground. He pointed to the portrait with a trembling hand and shouted in a shrieked voice, "Shizi! That's the son, that's the son with a white beard! ”

Second Uncle Yang's gaffe was just one of the many stories on the Imperial City Dam that day. Subsequently, a rumor spread: the son of the world is the true reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao!

The grand ceremony continued, with wave after wave of climaxes.

On the teahouse, the clairvoyant mirror is always facing the tall Duanli Gate City Tower, and facing the prince Zhu Pingjian, whose figure is highlighted above the city plate on the city tower.

Three hundred iron horses with black helmets and red armor, three hundred red cherry horses with two zhang lengths, led by the arrogant Shu character banner, trotted through the Duanli Gate. In the boiling cheers, the iron hooves stepped on the bluestone, and the ticking was heard very clearly; The vigorous and upright undulating posture, in the sea of moving arms and human heads, can be seen very clearly. The prince on the top of the castle tower, with his right arm raised high, waved gently, greeting all the people under the city.

Miss's eyes finally left the clairhand. She wiped her dry and swollen eyes with a moistened handkerchief, and resented her father and mother in her heart. If my father and mother hadn't asked Princess Fushun, who had suffered a thousand cuts, to talk to the matchmaker, maybe my good deeds would have come true. She put her eyes back into the eyepieces, and secretly made up her mind that she must find a new reason to send herself to the Shu Palace, to Zhu Pingjian's side!

Where is the entry point?

Princess Niangniang! The first spark popped into her head.

Thousand Miles Treasure Mirror! A second spark popped up in her head.

Note 1: This is the so-called 10,000-year-old lantern. There is also a pair in the tomb of Emperor Wanli.

Note 2: Xiangmu went down to the tomb of the King of Shu and stepped on the coffin bed. These words are realistic descriptions.