Chapter 477 Lord Yan joins the game himself!

Longevity Palace.

Following Lu Fang's shouting, from inside the hall to outside the hall, and then to outside the palace gate.

All civil and military officials, dukes and princes in the capital bowed in unison, and the scene was peaceful and lively.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the eleventh generation leader of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing, finally appeared in the sight of his ministers with a rosy face, and then slowly walked towards the dragon throne that symbolized the emperor's authority and the ruler of the world.

All officials bowed in.

Jiajing was already holding the wine glass lightly with one hand: "Today is the Lantern Festival, it is a good festival, we should celebrate together, I will drink it up, please!"

After speaking in a cheerful tone, the emperor picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

From what we can see so far, the emperor seems to be very enthusiastic and happy today.

Naturally, the civil and military officials did not want to spoil the emperor's fun, and they all drank the wine in their cups happily.

This is the end.

The Shangyuan Palace Banquet in the 45th year of Jiajing's reign had begun.

Now that the inner treasury had money, the banquets in the palace naturally became more sumptuous, and the flavors were more to people's taste than before.

In the Wanshou Palace, the pearl curtain in front of the emperor's throne was also removed to show that the emperor was having fun with his ministers today.

When the palace banquet began, the emperor did not say anything else. He only chatted with the cabinet ministers who were nearby, and talked about interesting stories in and outside the palace.

The emperor behaved like this.

This made Xu Jie's already tense nerves even more heavy.

Abnormal!

This was too abnormal and totally inconsistent with the emperor's previous behavior.

Gao Gong and Yuan Wei responded to the emperor's inquiries from time to time. Although the emperor did not lead the topic to court affairs, they only talked about interesting stories of the two families and whether Yuan Wei, the cabinet minister who was good at Qingci, had any new works recently.

But this is exactly the case, and both of them have to connect it to the fact that the Prime Minister and the former Second Prime Minister have successively submitted resignations since the beginning of this year.

It can't be said that today's Shangyuan Palace Banquet was held by the emperor to reassure the two old ministers.

There's no need to make such a big scene.

Especially today, the Prime Minister Yan Song entered the palace to attend the banquet in a visibly sick state, which seemed even more unreasonable.

However, the emperor never mentioned anything about the court affairs, and the two could only suppress their doubts.

The last cabinet minister, Li Chunfang, sat at the very end of the front, and from time to time he looked at Xu Jie, who was present today with the rank of Junior Teacher.

It stands to reason.

Since Xu Jie was expelled from the cabinet and only retained the title of Junior Tutor, the title of Second Assistant in the cabinet should be given to Gao Gong.

The rest of the people in the cabinet are himself and Yuan Wei, who joined the cabinet first.

There are only four people in the cabinet now. According to convention, it is time to recruit new cabinet ministers.

Then he would no longer be the person sitting in the last chair in the cabinet.

But what if Xu Jie returns to the cabinet?

Li Chunfang couldn't help but think more. If Xu Jie returned to the cabinet at this time, should he be ranked after himself, or should he directly regain the authority of the cabinet's second assistant?
The Prime Minister Yan Song repeatedly submitted petitions to resign, but the emperor refused repeatedly. In the end, Yan Song claimed to be ill and stopped submitting petitions. But this matter should have a conclusion. If the Prime Minister really left, would the next Prime Minister be the hot-tempered Gao Gong?
By then, I'm afraid the cabinet will not tolerate the voices of others.

Li Chunfang was thinking too much, so much so that he didn't even have much mood to eat or drink.

However, the youngest member of the cabinet couldn't eat, but it did not prevent others in and outside the hall from eating and drinking.

Soon, the entire Wanshou Palace was filled with the aroma of wine.

Wait until it's completely dark.

The night sky was already filled with stars, and the palace banquet had reached its climax.

Outside the Wanshou Palace, a eunuch came to report that the Lantern Festival fireworks purchased from Changping by the imperial court had been set up around the Taiye Lake. Jiajing, who was sitting on the throne, immediately stood up and waved his hand.

"My Lords, this time the Imperial Household has done its best and spent a lot of money to buy fireworks produced in Changping. I have heard that they are quite interesting. Would you like to come with me out of the palace to enjoy them together?"

The emperor was in a good mood and all the ministers dared not disobey him. They all stood up and gathered behind the emperor, then filed out of the hall.

The crowd walked all the way to the bank of Taiye Lake outside Wanshou Palace.

This place has been cleared a long time ago. It faces the Taiye Lake and there are no weeping willows on both sides. The view is extremely broad, and it can be regarded as an excellent place to watch fireworks in the West Garden.

The crowd surrounded the emperor, and the scene was extremely lively.

Not long after.

A calling voice came from the Jade Bridge in the distance.

The crowd outside the Wanshou Palace gradually quieted down.

Following a sharp whistle, people saw a brilliant light rising from the Jade Bridge across the Taiye Lake and rushing into the night sky.

The ball of light simply exploded into a colorful firework in the night sky and did not cause any alarm.

But then, a bright ball of light suddenly appeared on the entire bank of Taiye Lake.

Countless fireworks exploded one after another on the waterside, the light curtain was dazzling, and the crackling sound continued.

Before the fireworks on the waterside stopped.

Another series of light balls shot up into the sky and returned into the night sky, as if they had disappeared.

The people gathered in Xiyuan held their breath for a moment.

Not long.

Everyone's face was illuminated by the strong light.

The entire night sky was forcibly occupied by overwhelming and dazzling fireworks.

"It's Ming!"

"It's the geomancy of the two capitals and thirteen provinces!"

Someone discovered the mystery of the dazzling fireworks in the night sky, and exclamations suddenly rang out.

It was only then that people discovered it.

The fireworks that suddenly exploded in the night sky were clearly a geomancy map of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

The entire Ming Dynasty was illuminated in the night sky by fireworks.

Outside the West Garden, in Yanfu Lane.

Lu Wenyan, the current boss of the inner court of the Yan family and the imperial eunuch of the imperial court, was also accompanied by Yunniang and others as he looked up at the sky above the West Garden, his face full of excitement.

"After tonight, the fireworks produced in Changping will probably be in short supply!"

Yunniang immediately agreed with a smile: "It's gorgeous and amazing. In the future, the princes and ministers in the capital will definitely flock to our Changping fireworks."

"Tell Changping to increase production and speed up manufacturing, but be sure to pay attention to safety and avoid accidents. There will definitely be a lot of orders this time. In addition to the Gyeonggi area, people from all over the country will probably rush to buy. Tell the guys to double their wages for the next three months. We must use this opportunity to make Changping fireworks famous."

Lu Gaoming's ambition was fully revealed at the moment, and he actually said that he wanted to completely monopolize the fireworks business of the entire Ming Dynasty.

Yunniang still agreed with a smile: "It should be heard throughout the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty!"

And at this moment in the West Garden.

Night sky.

The feng shui fireworks in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty have disappeared.

Instead, feng shui specific to the two capitals and thirteen provinces was performed one after another.

Now, it was the turn of officials from Northern Zhili, Shandong, Huguang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places to exclaim in surprise.

Naturally, such gorgeous and magical fireworks have also attracted the attention of these people.

Since the fireworks produced in Changping can have so many variations today, they must be able to create other shapes.

Compare.

It has appeared silently.

Everyone wanted to go to Changping after today and have the most amazing fireworks made there to show off their own uniqueness.

Of course, the majority of them are from families of meritorious officials.

Ordinary officials do not have the confidence and strength to compare like this.

But it is obvious that Changping fireworks will inevitably usher in a wave of buying sprees.

As the feng shui fireworks of the two capitals and thirteen provinces finished blooming in the night sky, it was finally the turn of the words of blessing for the Ming Dynasty and His Majesty the Emperor.

Flattering words like "May the Ming Dynasty last forever" and "May the Emperor live forever" bloomed in the night sky.

Every time it blooms, it will inevitably attract everyone to cheer in unison.

The atmosphere in Xiyuan reached its peak as the fireworks bloomed one after another.

at last.

When everything returns to peace and everything is silent.

After a long silence, people thought that the fireworks display that they had never seen enough of tonight was finally coming to an end.

Another loud noise rose from the ground.

An unprecedented huge ball of light attracted everyone's attention and rushed into the night sky. Its momentum seemed to never stop, and it continued to rise in the night sky.

Finally, after reaching a certain height, the ball of light flashed.

Then it was as if a loud thunder exploded in the night sky.

A magnificent and dazzling fairy palace suddenly appeared in the night sky, lying above the clouds, as if it was really a fairy palace from the sky that had descended.

This is something like a miracle.

For a moment, it completely shocked everyone's mind.

Many people couldn't help but feel their legs go weak and wanted to kneel down.

Even Jiajing was shocked by this scene.

It was really that the fairy palace in the night sky was too lifelike, and the wandering light was truly something that only the gods above the nine heavens could possess!

The word "imperial product" almost jumped out of Jiajing's mouth.

Such a magical thing should be enjoyed exclusively by the royal family.

But after a quick glance, Jiajing stopped this plan.

Because his prime minister, Yan Song, had already knelt on the ground silently while everyone was astonished.

Yan Song seemed to be really unwell, and he knelt on the ground tremblingly with the support of Yan Shifan.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say, please approve it!"

Yan Song coughed several times before he finally finished speaking.

His action finally drew the gaze and attention of all the civil and military officials who were looking up at the night sky where no fireworks had appeared.

Everyone was shocked when they saw the Prime Minister kneeling on the ground without knowing when.

Xu Jie felt even more nervous, fearing that Yan Song, his longtime rival, would do something strange at this time.

Jiajing, on the other hand, looked long and deeply at his Prime Minister.

He seemed to sense something, his lips trembled twice, and finally he sighed silently and spoke softly: "The Prime Minister is an important minister of the country. Even if you have any advice, please stand up first and then speak."

Jiajing gave Yan Song enough honor.

But Yan Song did not stand up as ordered, but continued to kneel on the ground with the support of Yan Shifan.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to make my suggestion first."

Jiajing's eyes flickered, he took a few breaths, and finally nodded and said, "I agree to your report."

Yan Song looked up at the emperor and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your approval."

Even though the Prime Minister is in poor health now, his ministerial etiquette is still maintained in excellent condition.

Everyone was also confused, wondering what the prime minister, who had been in charge of the government for decades, would say tonight.

But everyone knew that Yan Song would make a report at this moment, which must be a huge event.

Under the spotlight.

Yan Song finally spoke again, "Your Majesty is wise. In the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, I passed the imperial examination and was selected as a Hanlin Academy scholar, and was appointed as a Hanlin editor. However, at that time, I was seriously ill and requested to return home. It was not until the tenth year of the Zhengde reign that I was ordered to return to the court. The late emperor promoted me to be the prefect of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy. In addition, Your Majesty has been on the throne for four years and summoned me to be the chief priest of the Imperial College. In the eleventh year, I was promoted to the head of the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, and two years later, I was transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel."

"In the fifteenth year of Jiajing, I went to Beijing to pay homage to the emperor. The emperor appreciated me and kept me in the capital, serving as the Minister of Rites and Imperial Academy. Since then, I have always accompanied the emperor to serve the state. The emperor and his ministers often summon me to discuss matters, which may be three times a day, or until midnight. Until today, I am one of the three highest officials in the court, with unparalleled honors. It can be said that I have reached the highest position among all the officials, and there is no one who can be promoted. The emperor has shown great favor to me, and there is no one else in the court. I am really worried."

There was silence beside the Taiye Lake, except for the recollections of Yan Song, accompanied by occasional coughs.

Everyone was silent.

If we talk about who is the most favored by the emperor in the court, it is naturally him as the prime minister said.

Reminiscing about the past always makes people sigh.

Yan Song changed the subject at this time: "Your Majesty started out as a hidden mansion in Anlu, and came to Beijing in the past to inherit the family lineage. This was a difficult matter for the country, and it was all caused by your Majesty alone. I still remember that time, all the ministers in the court were caught up in the dispute over the great ceremony. However, your Majesty was wise and sage, and he reformed the old abuses, revitalized the rules, returned the occupied land, and eliminated more than 100,000 military school craftsmen. At that time, everyone said that this was the new policy of the Jiajing period of our dynasty."

When Jiajing looked at Yan Song, a trace of reminiscence and pride appeared on his face.

At that time, I also had fighting spirit, I also wanted to reform the world, and I did what a wise monarch should do!
At this time, Yan Song sighed deeply: "However, the weather is not always good. In the 21st year of Jiajing, the Emperor almost died in the hands of a palace maid during the Renyin Palace Rebellion. In the 29th year of Jiajing, during the Gengwu Rebellion, Altan Khan's army was at the gates of the city. The Japanese invasion was rampant along the southeast coast. The Japanese in the south and the barbarians in the north invaded the country, causing many troubles. The country became increasingly difficult, and the livelihood of the people was difficult to continue."

When these difficult national affairs came out of the mouth of Prime Minister Yan Song, the faces of the civil and military officials present became solemn and gloomy.

That's when.

Yan Song took a deep breath and said, "This is truly a matter of the world. How can the emperor be blamed for all the talk of this old minister? The country's hardships over the past decade are the responsibility of this old minister, and there are more than ten thousand civil and military officials in the court!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Taiye was in an uproar.

Everyone heard it.

Yan Song is going to take the blame for the emperor!

He wants to take responsibility for all the faults and charges that have been leveled at the emperor in the past!
Jiajing's eyes were also flickering and his heart was excited.

No matter how hard he tried, he never expected that Yan Song would do such a thing today.

Regardless of what Yan Song said about the difficulties the country had experienced over the years, the fault lies with the prime minister and the officials in the court.

It was this act of taking responsibility that moved Jiajing deeply. His Prime Minister was willing to join the game himself and use him to help him one last time!
He immediately took a step forward and was about to speak.

However, Yan Song was faster.

A heavy cough.

Yan Song clasped his hands together, bowed his head and saluted: "How can you blame the emperor for the difficulties of the country? Even if it is the fault of the powerful ministers, we should be blamed for the difficulties of the country!"

"I am old and it is difficult for me to make further achievements, but I will never forget the grace of the emperor in promoting me."

"Today, the country is plagued by many problems and the people are having a hard time making a living. If old officials occupy high positions in government, it will hinder the country's progress."

"I am incompetent, so I beg for my life!"

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(End of this chapter)