April.

The weather this spring was good, although it cannot be said that the wind and rain were smooth, but there was no widespread spring drought.

After the recovery of the first and second years of Hongwu, the city of Tokyo became more and more lively.

The life of the people in the suburbs is far beyond that of the former Song Dynasty.

The slums on both sides of the canal disappeared, and when the Jin soldiers went south, most of them fled and were resettled as displaced people by the new Ming Dynasty, and all of them were allocated land in the Gyeonggi area (bought on credit in installments without interest and at a low price). There were also a small number of poor people who did not want to buy land on credit, so they were placed in unowned houses outside the city, and served as cheap labor for the operation of the city.

At dusk, most of the farmers in the suburbs go home, and eating before dark can save money on lamp oil.

There were also some extremely industrious peasants who had eaten in the middle of the afternoon and continued to work in the fields before the sun set.

Wu Song leaned against the tree with his empty rice bowl and listened to the neighbors gather to brag and chat.

The wife held her son under the age of one and exchanged information in the village with a group of big girls and little daughters-in-law.

Although these days are tiring, they are full and hopeful, but Wu Song is a little idle.

He followed Song Jiangliu for several years, and was tired of it at that time, so he accepted Prince Zhu's conditions of dividing the land and planned to be a small landowner in the suburbs of Tokyo.

begged for a wife, gave birth to a son, and life became smoother, but Wu Song began to miss the days of fighting and killing.

He felt that he was not suitable to be a farmer, especially last year, when good news was frequent, Wu Song wanted to join the army and serve the country, and he would fight for a wife and son with his ability.

It's a pity that he already has a wife and children at this time, and he has no other family to help take care of him, so he can't travel far away for two or three years.

"Samsung...... Four-star alignment? ”

Wu Jialiang, who was telling the children in the village about the past, looked at the sky in the west and suddenly stood up.

I saw Venus, Mars, and Saturn appear on the horizon. Jupiter, on the other hand, hangs in the sky at an angle of 30 degrees to the horizon.

When the children saw the teacher looking at the sky, they also stood and looked at it.

It was almost dark, and Mercury was drawing closer.

Wu Jialiang said excitedly: "Five-star alignment, great auspiciousness!" ”

In fact, this year belongs to the "Eight Stars Alignment".

It's just that Uranus and Neptune can't be seen with the naked eye, and the Earth as a planet is not counted by Wu Jialiang.

"What is the gentleman looking at?" Wu Song handed over the rice bowl to his wife and walked to Wu Jialiang's side curiously.

Wu Jialiang pointed to the western sky: "Five stars aligned, this is the Holy Son of Heaven in the world, Haotian God descended auspicious!" ”

The more Wu Song looked at it, the more confused he became: "How can there be five stars connected?" ”

Wu Jialiang said: "At the junction of heaven and earth in the west, the three are Venus, Mars, and Saturn in turn. Further up, the brightest one is Jupiter. Mercury is slowly moving closer and will soon be in a line. ”

Wu Song finally understood it for a long time, and said solemnly: "Such auspicious, the Ming Emperor must be blessed by heaven." ”

Not only were they observing the celestial phenomena, but there were also many people in the city, looking at the starry sky with all their attention.

The officials of the Astronomical Academy were even more collectively dispatched.

At this time in history, the Jin soldiers were sweeping Hebei and Shanxi.

Zong Ze, Ma Kuo, Han Shizhong, Zhai Jin and others took the lead in fighting against Jin.

Ma Kuo also played the signboard of Zhao Zhen, the king of letters, saying that the king of letters had escaped from the Jin camp, and gathered volunteers in Wuma Mountain to raise the banner of resistance to Jin.

Ma Kuo led 500 people to cross the Yellow River, first to see Zong Ze in Tokyo, and then to see Zhao Gou.

And the civil and military officials around Zhao Gou are less than a hundred, and the Great Song Dynasty is at the most critical moment - what's the use of the five-star alignment?

A carriage drove to Donghua Gate, and Li Hanzhang took his wife inside.

Tonight, the prince set up wine in the East Palace, and only invited Li Hanzhang, Qian Chen, Chen Dong, Meng Zhao and his wife.

The four of them are the most powerful officials in the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Ming was in charge of the military, Li Hanzhang was in charge of personnel, Qian Chen was in charge of finance, Chen Dong was in charge of supervision, and Meng Zhao was in charge of education and public opinion.

The group of cabinet officials has no executive power at all.

Even the transmission of cabinet decisions up and down is in the hands of Liang Yi, Zhu Guoxiang's personal disciple. made Liang Yi unhappy, and he had to give some eye medicine to the ministers.

The paper-paste Qige old seems to be in a high position, but in fact, he is miserable.

Li Hanzhang and his wife came to the waiting room in Donghua Gate, and Chen Dong and Qian Chen had already taken their wives to drink tea there and wait.

The three families sat together drinking tea and chatting, waiting left and right, but Meng Zhao did not appear.

Just when they were waiting impatiently, Meng Zhao and his wife Yu Shanwei finally appeared.

Without waiting for everyone to speak, Meng Zhao said happily: "Five stars are aligned, and the sky is auspicious!" I was delayed just now when I went upstairs to see the stars. ”

"Is there really a five-star alignment?" Li Hanzhang, Qian Chen, and Chen Dongju were delighted.

Although Zhu Guoxiang insisted on not engaging in auspiciousness and has always denied the theory of heaven and man induction, Song Huizong has played this set for more than 20 years, and he still re-made the relevant ideas deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Even Chen Dong is convinced of Xiangrui.

Of course, this belief is selective. He didn't believe in the auspiciousness of the former Song Dynasty, but he believed that the new Ming Dynasty was blessed by God.

Li Hanzhang said excitedly: "Go and report to His Highness, and go to the city to watch the stars together!" ”

Chen Dong said: "I'm afraid it's too late. ”

Due to the orbital positions of the planets, Mercury and Venus are about to disappear from the sky, and the five-star alignment that can be observed with the naked eye is very short.

The four families got into the carriage in the palace, chatting happily and laughing and headed to the East Palace.

The crown princess Zhang Jinping and the side concubine Zheng Yuanyi are all there, Zhang Jinping belongs to the main wife and should appear, but Zheng Yuanyi has a good relationship with Yu Shanwei and others.

The dining table was set up in the courtyard, and several lanterns were hung around it.

Zhu Ming beckoned and smiled: "Take your seats!" When I returned to Beijing this year, I have been very busy, and now I invite you to eat and drink. ”

Everyone sat down, and Meng Zhao first arched his hand and said: "Congratulations to the official family and His Royal Highness, when the minister entered the palace just now, I heard that someone saw the five-star beads. The minister hurriedly climbed the Fan Tower to observe, and there was no doubt that it was really a five-star succession. ”

Zhu Ming listened strangely, and said with great interest: "Take me to see it." ”

Meng Zhao said: "If you look at it again at this time, I am afraid that you can only see the three-star alignment, and Mercury and Venus have set from the sky. ”

"Then forget it," Zhu Ming asked with a smile, "According to the previous statement, this five-star alignment is a good thing, right?" ”

After Meng Zhao became a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, he was crazy about making up for the ritual system and astronomical knowledge, and immediately replied: "Good luck." Liu Bang is the king, and Wu Cao is the emperor, both of which are set at the time of the five-star alignment. ”

Zhu Ming reminded: "It's okay to drink and chat, such a thing that is inducted by heaven and man, don't talk about it in the court in the future." ”

"Yes!" Meng Zhao hurriedly agreed, and he planned to praise the saints tomorrow.

Since one table could not sit down, men and women ate at separate tables at the moment.

Yu Shanwei sat at the adjacent table and said with a smile: "If calculated according to the heliocentrism of the official family, the connection of these five stars is a once-in-a-century event. However, if the angle is widened, within 60 degrees is considered a continuous bead, then in fact, it can be once in 20 years. The concubine body just observed its angle, which is a once-in-a-century event. ”

Chen Dong was greatly impressed when he heard this, and arched his hand and said: "I often heard that Mrs. Yu is a talented woman in the world, and today I finally saw it, and even astronomy is so proficient." ”

Yu Shanwei has a fate, and she can indeed be called a lady.

Zheng Yuanyi said with a smile: "When Sister Yu was in Daming Village, she was the right-hand man of the official family. When she arrived in the capital, the official family was going to give her an official title, but Sister Yu was willing to teach her husband and children. ”

Li Hanzhang pointed at Meng Zhao and joked: "I'm afraid it's not a husband and a child, but a plan for her husband." ”

Meng Zhao was not ashamed, and proudly raised his glass and said: "I have the help of the virtuous inside, and I can assist the Holy Monarch!" ”

The crowd laughed and stopped revealing their shortcomings.

The dignified Ministry of Etiquette is still a scholar, and he has not dared to take a concubine so far, and he has been able to keep pace with Fang Xuanling.

Zhu Ming said: "Yu Niangzi can actually enter the Astronomical Academy, if she really can't let go of her home, she doesn't have to observe it in person every night, just use other people's observation data to do research." ”

Yu Shanwei was a little moved, she really wanted to be an official.

Li Qingzhao can be the edict of the Hanlin Academy, why can't she be an astronomical officer?

However, she still has to give her husband face, Yu Shanwei said: "The concubine is already a wife, and she must get her husband's permission to go out to do things." ”

How dare Meng Zhao stop it, and hurriedly said: "The lady can rely on her own heart." ”

Yu Shanwei then got up and waved at Zhu Ming: "Thank you Your Highness for giving the official!" ”

Not to mention that in the Northern Song Dynasty, which was open, even the increasingly conservative Southern Song Dynasty also had two women participate in the imperial examination.

One is Lin Youyu during the reign of Song Xiaozong, because he was nine years old at the time, he was admitted to the Tongzi Department (prodigy test). After winning the list, Song Xiaozong did not let her be an official, but named her a widow (the title of the wife of a sixth-seven-rank official).

This is very awesome, a nine-year-old girl actually brought her own fate, and the matchmaker trampled on the threshold of her house.

Another girl, Wu Zhiduan, was born at the wrong time, during the more conservative Song Ningzong period.

Wu Zhiduan passed the preliminary examination of the children's department, and when he was about to take the re-examination, a minister jumped out and sternly objected. The reason is that if this woman becomes an official in the future, she will meet with the courtiers every day in a strange costume, and she will attract onlookers wherever she goes, and the ministers will be frightened.

The qualification for the re-examination will be cancelled.

Meng Zhao is actually a little worried, he himself is a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, but his wife is going to be an official, I'm afraid ...... It's not that I'm afraid, but it's definitely going to be criticized!

But Meng Zhao was afraid of his wife, the prince gave him an official, and his wife agreed, so he didn't dare to object at all.

Zhu Ming's move is actually setting a precedent.

Directly letting a woman be a political officer is most likely unacceptable to scholars, but the resistance to being a trick officer is not so great.

Trick officers, also known as technical officers, medical officers, and astronomical officers all belong to this category.

Official printing house, armory yard, mint...... Most of these institutions, except for the chief officer and the assistant officer, are all trick officers.

Including the painters, writers, calligraphers, and musicians around the emperor, all of them belong to the trick officials, such as Li Qingzhao's Hanlin Academy.

Let's make an opening first, and it will be easy to do in the future.

If there are still women participating in the imperial examination in the next one or two hundred years, then when they encounter opposition from officials, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty has a precedent for opening the country. A woman can be a trickster, and she doesn't have to stir up trouble in the court all day long.

Zhu Ming raised his glass and said: "My new dynasty of the Ming Dynasty has its own new atmosphere, there are Yi'an monks to wait for the edict, and now there is Mrs. Shangshu as an astronomical official." This is also worth celebrating, all of you, and drink this cup to your heart's content! ”

"Congratulations to Daming!"

Everyone raised their glasses and shouted.

(End of chapter)