When it comes to the pilgrimage ceremony on the day of the Wanshou Festival, the cost is even more - the Ming Dynasty has a set of red tape festivals that have been used for more than 200 years. On the day of the Wanshou Festival, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty will gather on the Taiji Hall to bow down to the emperor and congratulate him.

Every detail of this set of rituals is very elaborate and trivial, and the process is very lengthy.

The important thing is that the cost of this set of ceremonies can pay all the border troops of the Ming Dynasty on the nine sides for a month......

If the court has no money, the longevity festival is also a cliff that cannot be saved, otherwise wouldn't it damage the face of the Lord of Long Live? ! Even though the military and civilians of the whole country were dying of starvation because of poverty, not a single minister suggested that the ceremony should be halted or cut back on part of the funds, which was only superficial and had no real meaning.

What's more, Emperor Chongzhen himself was very keen to hold this kind of ceremony that allowed him to accept others to bow down from above.

The ceremony is held for several hours at a time, the emperor ascends to the palace, beats the drum and rings the bell, plays music, and the ceremonial officials sing various praises, and then the civil and military officials kneel and worship, and the mountain shouts long live.

From beginning to end, Emperor Chongzhen had to wear a crown with a gorgeous appearance and a weight of more than ten catties, wear a heavy and hard dragon robe woven with gold wire, and sit on the dragon chair without moving, maintaining a "noble" appearance.

At this moment, Wen Tiren, the first assistant of the cabinet, was looking at Chongzhen with a smile, and his face was filled with infinite pride......

This time on the Wanshou Festival, the biggest winner was not Emperor Chongzhen, but Shoufu Wen Tiren.

Wen Tiren didn't know how much silver the emperor's internal money was, but the emperor had been forced to "send internal money" again and again over the years. Not to mention that the warehouse is empty, there is not much left anyway.

Chongzhen went crazy and generally wanted to make money. However, his methods are far inferior to his grandfather Wanli, and even more so that Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren, the successive first assistants of this dynasty, are all old treacherous and cunning people. Chongzhen was played around, and the inside was shot again and again.

For example, before this Halloween Festival, the emperor, who wanted the most face, was so shy that he didn't go to court for three days. The ministers all knew that the emperor asked the household department for money to hold a "birthday party", but unfortunately the household department Shangshu Hou Sui said that there was nothing in the household warehouse except rat feces......

The emperor was furious at that time, but unfortunately he didn't die. No one paid any attention to him. At a time when the emperor was in dire straits, Lord Shoufu Wen made a move.

Wen Tiren decided to send a big red envelope to the emperor so that he could "die in office......

However, it is always a little difficult for the minister to send red envelopes to the emperor, and some special "channels" are needed.

The closest thing to the emperor is the eunuch and the favorite concubine, which is a truth that is not easy for the ages, and the eunuch's pipeline, Lord Wen, has already been established and can be used freely. However, it is inconvenient to use the channel of eunuchs for "gift-giving" on the Wanshou Festival, because the eunuch Cao Huachun, who is the master of ceremonies, has a more important role. The most important thing is that Gonggong Cao's cunning is not weaker than Wen Tiren, and Lord Wen is not at ease to entrust him with the red envelope.

But isn't it, it is common for Lord Wen to collect money and not do anything, and he has to hand it over to the emperor. The eunuch is too treacherous to believe it.

The other remaining channel is the favored concubine, although this channel is more difficult, but it is not impossible. Lord Wen naturally thought of a shortcut to the south, that is, to start with a relative.

"Start with Zhou Kui and Tian Hongyu, the two old guys. It was very ......"

Zhou Kui is the father of Empress Zhou, and Tian Hongyu is the father of Tian Guifei. The most important thing is that these two are basically equivalent to "nouveau riche", and they can't compare to Cao's father-in-law, so Wen Tiren feels that he can control them.

Empress Zhou is in the middle palace, and the son she gave birth to has been made the crown prince, and Zhou Kui's identity is not only the father-in-law of the current emperor, but also the grandfather of the future emperor, no matter how you look at it, it is "unspeakably expensive". Although as far as the system of the Ming Dynasty is concerned, the relatives have no real political power, but the system is dead after all, but people are alive...... What's more, what Wen Tiren wants to use Zhou Kui is not a substantive political operation, but just a way to send red envelopes to the "emperor's house".

Playing politics, who is Lord Wen afraid of? Now it's time to play "family affection......

And the use value of Tian Guifei's father, Tian Hongyu, is also similar to Zhou Kui. Empress Zhou is dignified, and Concubine Tian is charming, which is well known. The so-called "marrying a wife with virtue and marrying a concubine with sex", Tian Guifei is better than Queen Zhou in appearance. The emperor is also a man, and of course he loves beautiful women even more......

Although from a long-term point of view, the value of the existence of the favorite concubine is limited to the reign of the current emperor, and is inferior to the empress. Because the empress is the biological mother of the prince, the value of existence can be extended to the next emperor. But in the short term, the influence of the favorite concubine on the emperor is much higher than that of the queen. What's more, His Majesty's "Spring and Autumn Period" is not a short-lived ghost like the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and he may not have reigned for forty or fifty years.

Therefore, Tian Hongyu's value is now more than Zhou Kui's.

Of course, Wen Tiren knew very well in his heart that in the past, many officials wanted to take these two paths. But even if those people sent a large amount of gold and silver treasures, these two ways have not yet been passed - obviously those officials are too "middle two", and the too young, too simple Tucson is broken!

The celebration was still going on as usual, and Lord Wen naturally looked solemn and continued to think about his thoughts.

"It's all brains! The money was only sent to the relatives, and the relatives had no real power, and the amount of silver sent was not all fed to the dogs, but only the two guys who gave birth to "good daughters" for nothing......"

Wen Tiren couldn't help but feel a little unhappy, he also gave birth to a daughter, why didn't he choose the queen and concubine?

If you are selected, do you still need to do such a troublesome job, jumping up and down for decades, and being an official for thousands of miles......

In view of the fact that the money cannot be sent to the emperor, the old and spicy Wen Tiren understands very well that relatives are just channels, not goals.

However, since these two relatives have the same use value and are usually sworn enemies, they must not "favor one over the other", but must "take a two-pronged approach". Otherwise, if one side is co-opted and the other side is offended, the strength of the two sides will be offset, and the silver sent will also be "fed to the dog".

After figuring out these key points, Master Wen developed a complete set of strategies.

These two relatives, he each gave a generous gift of two million taels of silver, and then through their channel that could go straight to the harem, under the witness of his confidants, he sent three million taels of silver jewelry to Queen Zhou and Tian Guifei. And the crown prince and the two princesses Changping and Zhaoren also gave two million taels of gifts each...... The final target, Emperor Chongzhen, the number prepared by Lord Wen is as high as 10 million taels! (To be continued.) )