Chapter 944 1033 Prisoners
The people in front naturally didn't know what the father and son of the Li family and Wang Gao were thinking.
In fact, the ceremony of surrendering captives was unfamiliar to everyone standing here.
In fact, during the Jiajing Dynasty, Yan Song and his followers had urged Emperor Jiajing to hold a ceremony of surrendering captives, and let Zhejiang and Fujian send the captured Japanese pirates to the capital to boast of their merits.
The main reason was that the governor in charge of the suppression of Japanese pirates in Jiangnan at that time was Hu Zongxian.
However, they met Emperor Jiajing who was not interested in politics and focused on cultivation.
Their suggestions were naturally rejected by the emperor.
"Your Majesty should have arrived at Huangji Gate."
Zhang Juzheng looked up at the sky and whispered to Wei Guangde, who was sitting on the left.
"It's been a while since the bells and drums were sounded. The people around your majesty should understand the rules. According to the etiquette, they should wait at Huangji Gate for the people from the Honglu Temple to greet them."
Wei Guangde whispered.
Wei Guangde did not read the notes on the etiquette of offering captives carefully at first. He just looked through them at home last night.
Strictly speaking, taking memorials home is actually against the rules.
However, as the second assistant, how many people in the world would find trouble to talk about him?
Gao Gong was said to have this at the beginning, but you are actually involved in political struggles, not the Kedao who is dedicated to the public.
You know, taking memorials or other things out of the palace is a private matter, how can the Kedao go to report things.
If it weren't for arranging people to watch Gao Gong, he wouldn't have caught his weakness.
As they were talking, two Honglu Temple rituals supervisors under the city gate turned back one after another and entered the palace from the side doors on both sides of the Meridian Gate.
Obviously, they went to Huangji Gate to ask His Majesty to go to the Meridian Gate.
At this time, on the tower of Huangji Gate, the twelve-year-old Emperor Wanli sat on the throne and looked at the empty square under the city gate.
In the past, when he arrived here, the court officials were already standing in the crowd below, and they would salute him when he sat down.
Two officials in green official uniforms walked in from the corner gate of the Meridian Gate in the distance. They quickly walked to the Huangji Gate and kowtowed to the Wanli Emperor on the tower.
The Wanli Emperor just raised his hand slightly, and the eunuch beside him shouted to the tower with full energy: "Your Majesty has an order, stand up."
Those who can stand in this position and issue orders on behalf of the emperor are not arranged casually. They are all carefully selected and are required to speak loudly and penetratingly.
After the two officials came, one of them took a step forward and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please go to the Meridian Gate for the ceremony of surrendering prisoners."
It was a conversation without any business, but this was the etiquette. The Wanli Emperor could not go directly to the Meridian Gate, but had to be invited by the court officials.
Generally speaking, the emperor would not walk out of the Huangji Gate, so he had to ask the court to leave the palace.
Yes, strictly speaking, the Huangji Gate is actually the palace gate. The boundary between the inner and outer palaces, the front and back palaces is here.
Emperor Wanli also wanted to see what the captive offering ceremony looked like, especially he wanted to see what Wang Gao, who dared to rebel against him, looked like. After the official's request, he immediately nodded and said, "Yes."
Soon, a shoulder was lifted up, and Emperor Wanli stood up, walked down the throne, and sat in the shoulder.
Four strong eunuchs lifted the shoulder at the same time amid the slogans of the person in charge next to them. A group of eunuchs in front of them opened the way with whisks and other things in their hands. Behind them, there was also a large group of eunuchs and palace maids. They went down the Huangji Gate tower and went to the Meridian Gate under the guidance of the officials of the Honglu Temple.
Go up the tower and lift the shoulder directly to the throne of the Meridian Gate.
Emperor Wanli got off the shoulder, but did not sit on the throne directly. Instead, he walked to the city wall and looked around. All he could see were heads.
The young emperor had sharp eyes and naturally recognized Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and other three cabinet ministers in front of the crowd.
After all, no matter when and where, the cabinet ministers would stand closest to the emperor.
Looking back, the crowd was so dense that he couldn't recognize them, but when his eyes saw Duanmen, the group of people under Duanmen attracted the attention of the young emperor Zhu Yijun again.
Although it was a bit far, the young emperor had good eyesight and could still see that some people were wearing Ming army armor, just like the imperial guards he usually saw.
Surrounded by them were nearly a hundred dirty prisoners.
They all knelt there. Some of them might not be able to hold on and wanted to fall down, so they would be kicked by the soldiers behind them, and then they could only kneel down obediently before they stopped beating.
The young emperor Zhu Yijun certainly knew who these kneeling people were. They were all Jurchens who were unwilling to rebel, so he didn't have any good feelings for them, and he wouldn't feel sympathy when he saw them being beaten by soldiers.
Thinking of what Wei Guangde had told him, the people were the most miserable in the world, and the emperor could only sympathize with them, but no one else needed to sympathize with them.
Thinking of this, the little emperor felt that he should be more hard-hearted.
Just like when he left the palace today, Empress Dowager Chen sent him out of the palace gate and warned him what to do today, and never forget it.
In fact, he knew very well why, just because he was afraid that he would be too sympathetic and spare these rebels.
Those who were brought in today were the lowest in status and position, and they were all small leaders in the Jurchen tribe, and their hands were stained with the blood of the Han people.
And he was the master of the Han people in the world, and he would punish them on behalf of the Han people who died at their hands.
Retracting his gaze, the little emperor Zhu Yijun sat on the throne.
When he sat down, he didn't know what tricks were arranged in the palace, and the sound of music stopped almost instantly, making the sound of the square outside the Meridian Gate, which was originally a little noisy, suddenly much quieter.
“Pa pa pa”
In the Meridian Gate Square, four eunuchs waved their whips and whipped the ground, making a harsh sound.
In just a moment, the huge square was silent, and you could almost hear a pin drop.
The whips were blown to quiet the place, and the whole place was solemn.
At this time, the ceremonial officer who had previously invited the emperor to the Meridian Gate sang loudly: "Enter!"
As his voice fell, the Minister of War Tan Lun walked out of the civil service queue and took a few steps towards the Meridian Gate.
At the same time, two green-robed officials next to him carried a huge louboutin and followed him to the Meridian Gate tower to salute.
As Tan Lun knelt down, the sound of music started again, and the familiar music of "Chao Tianzi" resounded throughout the square. The Minister of War Tan Lun led the officials who presented the louboutin to perform four bows facing the Meridian Gate.
"My dear minister, please stand up. "
The slightly childish voice of the young emperor Zhu Yijun sounded, and the music stopped behind Tan Lunping.
"Your Majesty, in August of the second year of Wanli, our Liaodong Governor Zhang Xueyan was ordered to capture the rebel Wang Gao and won a great victory."
Next, Tan Lun reported the victory report from Liaodong.
The victory report from Liaodong had actually been spread long ago, and anyone who paid a little attention could get a copy from the Tongzhengshisi.
However, this victory report was polished after it arrived at the Ministry of War, and it was slightly different from the original version.
Old officials were fine, and they were not affected by the victory report, while many young officials were already excited and eager to try.
The victory report is the easiest to stimulate the secretion of adrenaline in people, and many people can't help but get excited, which is actually very normal.
After Tan Lun finished reporting, the Lizanguan sang again: "Enter the Lubu. "
As he shouted, the musicians played the "Taiping Order" again. In the music, two military officials unfolded the proclamation for the Emperor Wanli on the tower to read.
After a piece of music, the music stopped.
The ceremonial officer downstairs sang again: "Announce the proclamation."
The proclamation officer knelt, and the proclamation officer of the Ministry of Rites walked to the proclamation money and knelt to announce the proclamation.
Wei Guangde listened attentively and nodded. This proclamation was submitted two days ago and was returned to the Ministry of War from the palace yesterday.
After reading it, the proclamation officer and the proclamation officer held Lu Bu walked out of the crowd and came to the large table that had been set up beside the Meridian Gate and placed Lu Bu on it.
After returning to his position, he prostrated himself, started the music, performed four bows, and then the music stopped after he lay down.
According to the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, music was indispensable in various ceremonial activities of the court.
For this reason, the court of the Ming Dynasty had special sacrificial bands, congratulatory bands, banquet music and dance, etc., which were used in different occasions and had their own music.
The sacrificial music and dance of the Ming Dynasty "mostly collected the old ones of the Han, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, but slightly changed their names. ”
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to sacrificial music and dance, and revised the music and dance system many times. For example, in the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Sheng and Fan Quan were ordered to write the music of Circular Mound and Square Mound; in the twelfth year of Hongwu, the music of heaven and earth was determined; in the ninth year of Jiajing, the music of Sunset Moon was determined.
The so-called music of heaven and earth refers to the music of heaven and earth or the land and grain that only appeared in the Ming Dynasty. Because the early Ming Dynasty inherited the Confucian tradition, the heaven and earth and the land and grain were originally worshipped separately, but the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on worshipping the two together.
Chaohe The band plays a lot of music, and the application occasions are divided into the court greeting ceremony, court meeting ceremony, school inspection ceremony and the ceremony of announcing the emperor's death.
In the fourth year of Hongwu, the "Course Meeting Music" was formulated. There are music in the five links of the ceremony of ascending the throne, entering the door of the ministers, offering birthdays, raising wine, and returning to the palace, with a total of 26 music.
Among them, the music played during the "ascending the throne" and "the emperor's worship" and the music played during the "officials' ceremony" in the "Course of Celebrating the Emperor's Death" can be used in occasions such as court greeting ceremony, court meeting ceremony, school inspection ceremony and the ceremony of announcing the emperor's death. The band is Danbi Grand Music.
In addition, the palace will hold banquets and prepare banquet music and dance.
The dance band in the banquet music includes the two civil and military dances, the four barbarian dances and the team dance.
The nine-piece music of the banquet was originally established as the system of nine pieces and three dances. The military dance is the "Dance of Peace and Peace in the World"; the civil dance is the "Dance of the Chariot and Book Meeting"; the four barbarian dance is the "Dance of Comforting the Four Barbarians".
In the 18th year of Yongle, the number of music and dance increased, but the number of team dances was different from before, with the addition of "Dance of Showing the Correction of All Nations" and "Dance of Heaven's Mandate and Virtue".
In the Jiajing period, the two civil and military dances and the four barbarian dances remained unchanged, but only one team dance, the "Taper Whip Victory Team Dance", was still in use.
It can be seen that the various ceremonial activities of the Ming Dynasty were inseparable from the participation of musicians, and they kept playing different repertoires throughout the ceremony.
After so long, we finally came to the point, and the real ceremony of offering captives began.
As the official of the Honglu Temple sang again: "Offer captives".
"Offer captives. "
"Present the prisoners."
This time, after the ceremonial officer shouted, the ceremonial guards and the generals in brocade clothes behind him began to relay, from ten to a hundred people, and spread the voice of "Present the prisoners".
"Hurry up, follow up."
The ceremonial officer under the Duanmen turned around and whispered to Li Chengliang, and then led them to the Meridian Gate without looking back.
Two lieutenants escorted a prisoner of war forward, and the prisoners had difficulty walking. If it were in the past, they would have been pushed and shoved by the soldiers behind them.
But here, naturally no one would do this, just escort them away.
Those who were brought to the capital were actually lucky.
You should know that Li Chengliang left hundreds of people to prepare for the prisoners of war, but many people died along the way, and only more than a hundred people arrived in the capital.
They were selected again, and finally these dozens of people were allowed to enter the palace to "die".
From ancient times to the present, every time there was a war, when the three armies returned victoriously, they often presented prisoners of war to the king, which was called "presenting prisoners after victory."
This ancient system can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty. "Book of Rites: King System No. 5" contains: "The emperor will go on an expedition, similar to God, suitable for society, created by you, and dedicated to the place where he conquers. He is ordered by the ancestors and is accomplished by the ancestors. Study. If you are guilty of going to war, you will be punished by Xie Li. "
That is to say, before the emperor of Zhou went to war, he had to offer sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestors; after victory, he sent prisoners of war to the academy for sacrifice, in order to boost the morale of the soldiers and declare the divine right of kings, etc. This can be called the origin of the "prisoner offering ceremony".
By the Ming Dynasty, prisoner presentation ceremonies were very grand, with strict procedures and a large scale.
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Li Zhi Military Etiquette" contains: "When the army returned from the expedition, the emperor led the generals Chen Kaile to capture the people outside the south gate of the temple and outside the north gate of the society. He told the temple to offer sacrifices, performed three tributes, and went out with the teacher. After the sacrifice, , use prisoners to pay to the Ministry of Punishment, and help Lu Lang to retreat."
All civil and military officials in Beijing were present at the prisoner presentation ceremony.
From the officials in the front, who were all dressed in scarlet robes, to the back, in blue and green robes, it's no wonder that when Emperor Wanli looked down from the city, he saw only heads.
In addition, envoys from foreign vassals temporarily staying in the capital were also brought here to watch the ceremony.
However, the only courtiers from foreign vassals who lived in the same pavilion at this time were envoys from Korea and Ryukyu.
Due to many years of non-interference with the outside world, the Ming Dynasty's external deterrent power has been greatly reduced. In the past, surrounding foreign countries flocked to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage, but now most of them have stopped. If it were not for the tribute paid by the Ministry of Transport, I am afraid that no other foreign countries would send people. Come to Ming Dynasty.
However, Wei Guangde also heard that envoys from North Korea and Ryukyu came to the Ming Dynasty to pay homage to the emperor, and secondly, there would also be some trade and exchanges between the two countries.
You know, although Ryukyu and North Korea are only separated by the sea, there is a Japanese country in the middle. Direct trade between the two countries is inconvenient, so most of them will first go to the Ming Dynasty to trade, and then return to their respective countries.
Finally, the prisoner-presenting general escorted Wang Gao and others to the Meridian Gate. Li Chengliang came out and led the Liaodong generals to kowtow four times to Emperor Wanli on the gate tower. After lying flat, they stepped aside so that the emperor could see the prisoners they had brought. .
"Who is Wang Gao?"
Zhu Yijun was sitting on the dragon chair, leaning forward and asking in a childlike voice.
Wang Gao raised his head after hearing this and met Emperor Wanli's eyes.
Seeing the little emperor on the throne, Wang Gao's mood collapsed. He could not accept losing to such a little baby.
In fact, let alone him, the Liaodong generals even glanced at the little emperor on the throne in surprise.
Although Li Chengliang knew that Emperor Longqing died young and was now a teenage boy on the throne, it was a different feeling to actually see it.
"You are Wang Gao."
Only one of the prisoners raised his head, so the little emperor easily knew who he was, and immediately asked: "You are the one who keeps sending troops to invade my Liaodong border town and slaughter the people of the Ming Dynasty. Why?
Back then, my Ming Dynasty kindly accepted you and others to live outside the customs, but I didn't expect that they were all a bunch of ambitious people.
Don't even say that I, the Ming Dynasty, treat you poorly. If you don't accept Wang Hua, you can go back to your hometown in the north. I think you are a group of people who don't know etiquette. "