"Ahem......"

Smell of medicine, cough sound......

These existences that should not have appeared in the Qianqing Palace appeared at the tail of this wax moon.

Lying on the stepping bed, Zhu Yuanzhang's body was slightly thinner than more than half a month ago.

At this moment, he was looking at the imperial doctor who was diagnosing his pulse, and the old imperial doctor was also under his gaze, and he completed the pulse diagnosis under great pressure.

"Your Majesty's pulse is still the same as before, it is still the wind chill caused by the cold entering the body, as long as you continue to take about five pairs of medicines, you should be cured."

The imperial doctor truthfully reported the pulse he diagnosed, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a monk in Youfang in his early years, would also diagnose his pulse from time to time, so he knew that what the imperial doctor said was not wrong.

He waved his hand to signal the Imperial Physician to step aside, and then motioned for the military attache standing in the corner to step forward.

The imperial doctor quickly got up and left very sensibly, and when the military attache stepped forward, he had already walked out of the Heart Cultivation Palace.

"Your Majesty......" The military attache spoke softly, but Zhu Yuanzhang coughed a few times before saying, "What's wrong?" ”

"The King of Bohai did not disobey the yang and the yin, but selected craftsmen and guards according to the words promised to Your Majesty."

"In addition, among the guards and craftsmen, sixteen people have been bribed by the ministers, even if His Highness takes them to Jilinwei, as long as the people who wait in advance when passing through Liaodong give them carrier pigeons, they can also communicate with Nanjing, and the news will not be cut off."

The military attache said what Lao Zhu had ordered him these days, and Lao Zhu also nodded after hearing it, and his face showed a little comfort.

His grandson has never been against him, and this is the happiest moment he has experienced after the third child competes for the throne.

For more than half a month, he has been paying attention to Zhu Gaoxu, and what he wants to see is whether he will hide from himself to play stealing the sky and bring some craftsmen who are proficient in firearms into the team of the feudal domain.

Fortunately, he did not disappoint himself, and he did what he promised himself.

Seeing that he could do this, Lao Zhu was a little more relieved, so he explained to the military attaché:

"You send someone to spread a message, just say that Song Guogong is with his master and apprentice after all, and you can visit him before leaving."

"The minister orders ......" the military attache responded, and Zhu Yuanzhang also continued to ask:

"How is it in the Wuying Palace? What happened during my illness? ”

"No" The military attache shook his head and said: "The prince of Jin took the princess to the Yingguo Mansion to guard the spirit for seven days, and then returned to the Wuying Palace, but his will was much more depressed. ”

"Qin Shizi is still the same, Yan Shizi is silent, and all kinds of music in the hall have been handled by the grandson in an orderly manner."

After his words were spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak for a long time, and only after a word did he raise his hand and wave, signaling the military attache to retreat.

Seeing this, the military attache retreated, and then arranged for someone to send a message to Zhu Gaoxu.

It's just that because of yesterday's drunkenness and the night chat with Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan, Zhu Gaoxu didn't get the message as soon as possible, but fortunately, he woke up early and opened the door in time to answer the message.

By the time Zhu Gaoxu woke up and learned the news of Lao Zhu, it was already noon.

For this sudden good news, Zhu Gaoxu did not show much joy.

Not only that, but even for the next few days, he never went to the Song State Mansion.

This wait did not change until Chinese New Year's Eve.

"Crackling—"

"It's the holidays! It's a holiday! ”

"Mother, I'm going shopping!"

"I'll go back after eating!"

At dusk, with the sound of crackling firecrackers, the annual Chinese New Year's Eve has arrived.

Compared with the indifference of the New Year in later generations, although the Daming Dynasty of Wuhua Tianbao still had curfew rules, starting from Chinese New Year's Eve every year, the people who had been "banned" by curfews for a year all under the world were released from the festival for a fifteen-day festival.

This is not the first time Zhu Gaoxu has spent Chinese New Year's Eve and Spring Festival in Daming, but compared to last year, when he just arrived in Daming and felt confused about his future, this year, because he has experienced a lot and is about to go to the north, he especially cherishes and enjoys this Chinese New Year's Eve.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Hu Feng was very heavy, but due to the promotion of Zhu Yuanzhang and the imperial court, many activities in the Tang and Song dynasties were put back on the stage, and the people of Daming, who had experienced more than 20 years of festival baptism, also played flowers on Chinese New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and other festivals.

"It is estimated that there are many people on the street today, so you should be careful to put your money bags."

Before going out, listening to the sound of firecrackers around and smelling the sulfur in the air, Zhu Gaoxu, who was wearing a scarlet round-necked robe, explained to everyone in the courtyard while putting on his shoes.

In the courtyard, Yishaha, Yang Zhan, and Wang Xuan sorted each other's clothes, and the three of them lived in this courtyard these days, because not only Zhu Gaoxu and Yishaha had to leave Nanjing before the Lantern Festival, but Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan also had to leave Beijing before the Lantern Festival to take up their posts.

The three of them wore ordinary silk robes and had nets on their heads, which were more cumbersome than Zhu Gaoxu.

finally put on his shoes, and before leaving, Zhu Gaoxu touched his arms again, and after feeling the existence of the money bag, he took the three of them out of the alley.

As soon as you get out of the alley, you can see some small dolls running back and forth with windmills, wearing fat jackets.

They scurried around the alleys in groups of threes and fives, and some poked with sticks in the piles of firecracker debris in front of other people's homes, trying to find a few that had not been lit.

This was a bit dangerous, Zhu Gaoxu made a noise to disperse them, and they were also startled by Zhu Gaoxu's voice, but after coming to their senses, they made a grimace towards Zhu Gaoxu and ran away.

"These dolls ......"

Looking at this group of dolls with blush on their faces and flowers on their eyebrows, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and talked with Yishuha and walked out of the alley.

When you come to the long street, you can see many shops with colorful lights, many lanterns hanging on their doors, and the wide road of five or six feet is lined with people coming and going for festivals, all of whom have taken out their best clothes and put them on.

In such a festival, you can hardly tell who is engaged in what trade, as if everyone is a squire.

In the center of the road, there are many performers with painted faces on the floats, and they are carrying out the most joyful and lively activities...... Expelled swagger.

This is a traditional Chinese activity to exorcise ghosts and welcome the gods.

In Chinese folklore, "Nian" is a kind of ferocious monster, and the so-called "New Year" is to beat the monster away.

Then since it is "fighting monsters", it is natural to form a group.

Therefore, the people have a long history of "expelling the people".

This activity was interrupted in the Yuan Dynasty, but was later vigorously promoted by Zhu Yuanzhang and the imperial court, and then reappeared among the people, and in the course of more than 20 years, gradually derived a variety of exorcism performances.

Zhu Gaoxu stood in the crowd, and because of his tall stature, he could easily see a pair of men and women and an orchestra standing on the floats.

The woman wears the mask of an old woman and the man wears the mask of an old gentleman, and the two of them lead the dance in the front float, accompanied by the orchestra behind them, playing and singing some popular folk songs.

"Bell ......"

Suddenly, the gong sounded, and many dolls on both sides of the street put on masks and followed the floats, and the pair of masked men and women on the floats also began to hand candy to the dolls.

These dolls wear strange masks and are bouncing around very happily.

Some dolls were too shy to go up, and they would be pushed up by their parents with a smile and encouragement, and then put on a mask and followed into the line.

"Your Highness, the pair of men and women in front of the car are the maid and the mother, these dolls who go in are the dolls of the people, and after following the car, they become part of the performance, also called the servant guard."

Yang Zhan knew that His Royal Highness had little understanding of folk customs, so he deliberately explained it to him.

Zhu Gaoxu was also happy to see that scene, but he was still worried: "This doll is wearing a mask, what if it gets separated?" ”

"Your Highness, don't worry......" Yizha explained with a smile: "Chinese New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival, everyone in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and the Soldiers and Horses of the Five Cities will be on duty, and you can see that there is ......"

Yisha pointed in a direction, Zhu Gaoxu looked over, and sure enough, he saw a team of neatly dressed soldiers and horses.

They patrol back and forth in the alleys, there are as many as three teams in one street alone, and the city gates are closed, so even if the traffickers want to commit crimes, they dare not pick on them today.

"When I came to the palace gate from afar, I saw a group of devils, and there was a black man in the middle of it, and he squatted straight up and ...... his head."

Suddenly, the orchestra of the floats began to play while singing the folk songs of the floats in Mandarin.

Perhaps the ballad spread so widely that when they sang, the dolls at the float sang along.

The flow of people followed the float forward, and from time to time you could see many pedestrians walking to both sides of the float, one person dancing at the head, and the people behind also followed his pace and danced with the float.

Zhu Gaoxu also wanted to experience it, but he couldn't dance the dance of driving the succumbing, so he could only applaud on the side.

Just clapping his hands, he thought of a joke in the later life.

"Ethnic minorities are dancing, only Han people are shooting small videos next to ......"

Now it seems that the Han people are just as good at singing and dancing, but many dances and music have gradually disappeared in the long history.

"The south must be thousands of miles away, and the north is far away without talking about the ......"

The songs of the expulsion are long, but with Yang Zhan by their side, Zhu Gaoxu can often get a specific translation after the lyrics are sung.

"Your Highness, the meaning of this song is that a group of monsters are ahead, and one of the black guys is lying on the eaves, let's kick this guy out thousands of miles away and catch the army in the north!"

In the stirring music, Yang Zhan clapped his hands and explained to Zhu Gaoxu, and the group of orchestras on the float started singing, and the people along the street also began to bring the rhythm.

Accompanied by music and the sound of gongs and drums, many people on both sides of the street joined the float procession, sang and danced happily, and happily went back to the wilderness.

Of course, what really makes them happy is not the imaginary monster, but the hard work of the past year.

No matter how many unpleasant memories of the past year have been remembered by them, taking advantage of this Chinese New Year's Eve night, they are heartily sprinkled and thrown in this upcoming year!

It was getting dark, but there were more and more people following behind the convoy, and Zhu Gaoxu was also pulled into it by the enthusiastic people, singing and dancing hand in arm with the three of them and those people who didn't know each other.

They sang and danced from the streets of the avant-garde square of the government army to the west street of the imperial city, even though the sun had completely set and the night had risen, they still could not stop the enthusiasm of the people.

In the past, it was impossible to build things in Huangcheng Street, and lantern booths were erected early, and various colored lanterns were lit up.

The Imperial City is not lively, so all the floats are heading towards Xihua Street.

Zhu Gaoxu and the others were carried and followed the flow of people for several miles, and when they could no longer jump, they came out of the float procession and sat on the promenade on both sides of a stone bridge.

Zhu Gaoxu thought that he would miss the show when he sat down, but he didn't want the real show to be coming towards them in the mode of a convoy.

Sitting in the corridor, you can see many wide and long carriages appearing, there are eight-wheeled, twelve-wheeled, sixteen-wheeled, all kinds of carriages pulling a large stage.

On the stage, there are acrobats, singers and dancers, storytellers, and operas...... In short, one is more lively than the other.

When the sky is completely dark, hundreds of fireworks point to the sky, and grains of "golden sand" shoot out and bloom proudly in the air.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, all of them, purple and red, decorate the night sky beautifully and gracefully, and illuminate the earth as if it were day.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a large red fireball rose from the street in the distance.

It flew into the air, "snapped", turned into thousands of small sparks splashed away, dragging a long, shining tail and slowly falling, like a flying butterfly, swirling from the air, and like a dandelion blown away by the wind, scattering thousands of fluttering flotsam.

"Bang bang bang-"

I haven't finished reading one by one, but the colorful flames are dragging their long tails, scrambling to be the first, jumping into the night sky one after another.

For a while, Rao is Zhu Gaoxu was also dazzled, often the fireworks here have not been finished, but the fireworks over there have appeared, and suddenly the sky has become a garden of fireworks, full of their own oceans.

"Your Highness, hurry! Look! ”

Wang Xuan's anxious voice sounded in Zhu Gaoxu's ears, and when he was pulled by Wang Xuan to look ahead, he saw that the stone bridge in front of him had been evacuated, and two shirtless and sturdy men wearing gourd scoops walked to the bridge.

They erected a three-foot-high furnace on the three-foot-wide bridge, and turned the pig iron they had prepared in advance into iron liquid with a large wind box.

After a few words, under the curiosity of Zhu Gaoxu and the people, a man took out a fresh willow stick with the thickness of a fist and a length of a foot.

Seeing that they were ready, more than a dozen men dressed in the same clothes as them were squeezed out of the people.

After the dozen or so men lined up in pairs, the two men in the center of the bridge began their own performances.

They took the upper rod in one hand to hold the iron in the iron furnace, and the lower rod in the other hand to hold the unhot iron.

In front of all the onlookers, they quickly ran under the flower trellis and struck the upper rod with the iron juice with their lower sticks......

"Bang-"

For a while, the fire tree and silver flower rose to the sky, and before it could completely dissipate, the dozen or so men rushed up one stick after another, one after another, going back and forth between the furnace and the flower shed.

Under their relay, this fire tree and silver flower stick are connected, endless, dazzling.

They watched this for a long time, and it was not until a quarter of an hour later that they withdrew.

Zhu Gaoxu thought that there would be some program, but unfortunately it was the magistrate of Shangyuan County who was waiting for him.

In front of the people, the officials of Shangyuan County brought pine firewood and erected them as high as houses.

After a while, Shangyuan Zhixian stepped forward with torches, prayed to heaven on behalf of the people, and finally lit a fire.

Under Yang Zhan's explanation, Zhu Gaoxu learned that this was a custom called "burning a brazier".

Originally, Zhu Gaoxu thought that this Shangyuan Zhixian would stay and say some poisonous chicken soup after he was busy with this matter, but he didn't want him to leave directly with the officials.

Zhu Gaoxu was a little stunned, but he explained with a smile: "That official is probably busy going back to celebrate the New Year, as has been the case in previous years." ”

"That's good." Hearing that there was no interference from the yamen, Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and continued to watch the show on the bridge.

As he expected, after the official left, the eighteen-wheeled carriage began to pull the stage one by one to stop the performance.

The opera of the Yuan and Ming dynasties was more developed than that of the Song Dynasty, so the activity of watching opera was the highlight of the Ming Dynasty people in the more than half a month from Chinese New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival.

Including but not limited to "Dou E's Injustice", "Wangjiang Pavilion", "Song General Yue Fei Jingzhong", "Single Knife Meeting" and other Song and Yuan operas.

In addition to these, there are also many opera themes that have been lost in later generations, and among these opera themes, several gods and demons operas are large-scale productions.

Mythological operas require the use of various "special effects" scenes, such as fire-breathing, explosions, retreats, flying and other special effects.

The people in the audience didn't understand it, but Zhu Gaoxu laughed heartily.

The fire breath is relatively simple, it is just a spitting of oil and ignition, but the explosion is used to stuff gunpowder in advance in the bamboo forest of the set, and it will be detonated one by one when the actor swings his sword.

There is also the flying sky, but there is a mechanism hidden under the stage, giving people the illusion of jumping up and disappearing into the ground.

Feitian also used some ropes of the same color as the curtain to hang the actor up, although it could be seen, but this still did not affect Zhu Gaoxu's relish.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu was happy to see it, Yishuha also walked to the bridge, walked onto the carriage stage with a hanging of money the size of his thumb, and put the money on the hats of the corners.

When Yisha came back, the play was almost done.

The stage of gods and demons was pulled away by a carriage and replaced by the historical drama "Yue Wang Xingbang Death Prison".

Yue Fei's story was widely circulated in the early Ming Dynasty, so there were more spectators than the gods and demons in the previous opera.

Although many people have watched this play many times, when this opera is staged, some people still can't help but sob.

"Qin juniper dog thief!"

Suddenly, there was a loud roar in the crowd, and a person watching the play suddenly rushed to the stage and grabbed the actor who played Qin Hui and beat him violently.

"That's an actor!"

"Hit the wrong person!"

"Hahahaha......"

Zhu Gaoxu was dumbfounded, and some of the people around him cried and laughed, and persuaded the man that this was an actor.

After a few punches, the man also touched his head after reacting, and knelt down at the actor of Qin Hui with some embarrassment.

The "Qin Hui" was punched a few times, and after reacting, he still wanted to get angry, but when he saw the man kneeling, he could only step forward to help him up, invite him off the stage, and continue to perform with a beaten face.

Although this scene is a bit of a farce, it does make people cry and laugh, even Zhu Gaoxu also slapped his thighs with laughter.

It's a pity that this play is the last one, and when the stage curtain is closed, the people on both sides of the stone bridge and the river have dispersed.

Yishu pulled Zhu Gaoxu, who was still unsatisfied, and then said to him:

"Your Highness, it's time to keep the New Year, you have to enter the palace to greet Your Majesty."

"Yes, yes! I forgot about it. Zhu Gaoxu was reminded by Yi Shuha, and then he remembered that he was going to enter the palace in time.

"Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan, let's go shopping separately, and when I am ugly, I will go to the restaurant at the entrance of the courtyard to order food and wait for me."

Zhu Gaoxu explained to Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan, and then walked to the imperial city with Yishuha.

Wang Xuan and Yang Zhan continued to play in the city of Nanjing, while Zhu Gaoxu and Yishuha called a donkey cart and drove them to Xihuamen.

Although Zhu Gaoxu did not want to see Lao Zhu, he did not go to worship Lao Zhu on Chinese New Year's Eve, which was heard by the imperial history of the Metropolitan Inspectorate, and I am afraid that he would be severely impeached.

Thinking so, Zhu Gaoxu and the others were also sent to Xihuamen by donkey cart.

Because he is a eunuch in the palace, Yishu can naturally follow Zhu Gaoxu into the palace in this year.

On this Chinese New Year's Eve, the entire Forbidden City is also lit up.

Since many of the emperors and grandchildren have reached adulthood, in order to avoid disturbing the palace, the Forbidden City has set up two family banquets in the Jinshen Hall and the Huagai Hall respectively.

The concubines and underage princesses of the harem had a family banquet in the Jinshen Palace, and many royal grandchildren and adult princesses, princes, and concubines had a family banquet in the Huagai Palace.

Compared with normal days, tonight's Forbidden City can be said to be full of lights, with dozens of stacks of pine firewood piled up in the square in front of the Fengtian Temple, and thousands of lanterns of various colors tied to ropes.

Walking under this lantern is like walking in the Starlight Night Market.

It's a pity that time is pressing, Zhu Gaoxu didn't delay here, but went to the Huagai Hall through the left gate.

As soon as he crossed the middle left gate, what appeared in front of him was dozens of Huangsun County Lords who were playing in the Huagai Hall Square, chasing and fighting, followed by hundreds of palace people.

A banquet was set up in the square, and some naughty emperors and grandsons wanted to poke the lanterns with sticks, which frightened some palace maids to come forward to stop them.

Not long after Zhu Gaoxu walked into the square, some people's eyes were on him.

No way, after all, Zhu Gaoxu is the most eye-catching emperor and grandson in Nanjing City this year, whether it is a personal talent or those things he has done, it is difficult for others not to know him, not to mention the many emperors and grandsons who studied together in the main hall at the beginning.

It's a pity that although he came, there weren't too many people to greet him.

The emperors and grandsons of the Great Hontang were afraid of provoking him, the 'fierce god', and the princes who stayed in Beijing felt that there was no need to welcome Zhu Gaoxu.

At this time, a figure got up with difficulty and walked towards Zhu Gaoxu with a wine glass.

"Second child, you're here......"

Zhu Gaochi held the wine glass and handed it to Zhu Gaochu with an embarrassed face, twisting it, and seemed very uncomfortable.

Since he took the throne of the world, he felt very sorry for Zhu Gaoxu, even if he felt that this throne should belong to him, but he knew better that he was not as good as Zhu Gaoxu, which is why he was embarrassed.

"Here we are." Zhu Gaoxu didn't have so many twists and turns, he took the wine glass and drank it all, not caring about the issue of the throne.

Although the throne of this world was canonized by Lao Zhu, what Zhu Gaoxu wanted was not the position of King Yan, but the future East Palace and the future throne!

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the host of the banquet, and Zhu Yunwen, who was sitting there, had already gotten up with a normal smile on his face.

Looking at his polite expression, Zhu Gaoxu also showed a smirk.

"Son of Heaven, those who are strong and strong should do it, and they would rather have a kind of ......"

(End of chapter)