Rise From the Humble

"Lord Zhu, this Sheji Field was opened by the Holy Emperor at the beginning of the 10th year of the Holy Calendar. In the middle of the rice field are the Xiancan and Tugu Altars. Oh, by the way, the Tugu Altar was renamed the Emperor Sheji Altar at the beginning of this year."

Eunuch Zhang saw that Zhu Pingan was very interested in the Shejitian in front of him, and that he now had enough time, so he explained the causes and consequences to Zhu Pingan.

"At the beginning of the ninth year of the Holy Calendar, Xia Yan, the former Chief Assistant, wrote to the Empress to hold a silkworm kissing ceremony. The Holy Emperor approved the decree and abided by the ancient system of 'the emperor plowed the soil in the southern suburbs and the queen planted silkworms in the northern suburbs', and established a silkworm ceremony outside Andingmen. The next year, the Holy Emperor considered that it was inconvenient for the Queen to leave the city, and there was no water source outside Andingmen for bathing silkworms. He also found out that since the Tang and Song Dynasties, silkworm kissing ceremonies had been held in the inner garden, and there was Taiye pool water in the Xiyuan. In order to wash silkworms and irrigate silkworms, the Holy Emperor built two altars here, namely, the altars of the ancestors of silkworms and the emperors of emperors, opened the fields of the emperors, held the ceremony of cultivating the silkworms and kissing the silkworms, and promoted both farming and mulberry cultivation to educate the world."

"If Mr. Zhu is interested, there is the "Xiyuan Shigu Zhixian Silkworm Altar Ode" written by the emperor in the Wuyi Hall. The record is more detailed. Mr. Zhu can take a look at his leisure."

Eunuch Zhang explained the ins and outs of Shejitian so clearly that Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but take a second look at him while saying thanks. Such caring people always have a chance to stand out in the palace.

Shejitian is located in front of Renshou Palace and Wuyi Palace. Eunuch Zhang led Zhu Ping'an to continue along the royal road and soon arrived in front of Wuyi Palace.

From the outside, Wuyi Palace looks much simpler than the Yuxi Palace, Shenyingxuan Palace and other palaces we just passed by.

"Master Zhu, this is the Wuyi Hall where the cabinet office is located. The servants are not allowed to enter the cabinet office without a summons, so the miscellaneous family members are sent here." Eunuch Zhang pointed to the Wuyi Hall and said to Zhu Ping'an.

"Thank you, Eunuch Zhang, for leading the way." Zhu Pingan thanked him with his hands.

"You're welcome, Mr. Zhu." Eunuch Zhang replied with a smile, then said goodbye and left.

Zhu Pingan came not too early. At this time, there were already many people in Wuyi Palace, entering and exiting the main hall and side halls in an orderly manner. Zhu Pingan was delayed for a while at the entrance of the palace, but he was not late.

Entering the Wuyidian courtyard, Zhu Ping'an had a more intuitive understanding of the location of the cabinet office.

The main hall of Wuyi Hall has three rooms, which are simple and simple in shape. There are also two rows of low wing rooms on the east and west walls of the courtyard, which serve as the side halls of Wuyi Hall.

There are two stele pavilions on the left and right sides of the main hall, named "Imperial Wuyi Hall Left Stele Pavilion" and "Imperial Wuyi Hall Right Stele Pavilion". The style of the left and right stele pavilions is similar to the Jingyi Pavilion of the Imperial College, which is small. Palace-style building.

There is also a pavilion in front of the main hall, named "Bin Feng". Bin (sound bīn) wind is one of the fifteen national styles in the "Book of Songs". Bin is an ancient place name in the pre-Qin Dynasty and the birthplace of the Zhou tribe.

This pavilion is the closest to the main entrance of the Wuyi Hall courtyard. Zhu Pingan walked closer and was immediately attracted by the gold brick wall on the north wall of the pavilion. Gee, it was really a wall paved with gold bricks. Zhu Pingan was a little bit speechless. , from the outside of the pavilion, we can see that the gold bricks are engraved with "Poems on Bin Feng Pictures" engraved by the imperial system. The title is relatively large and can be seen clearly, but the specific verses are not clear.

"Zihou, you're here."

Just when Zhu Pingan was about to walk into Binfeng Pavilion and take a look at the inscription, he heard a gentle greeting from behind him.

Zhu Ping'an turned around and saw Li Chunfang, a colleague of his superior at the Hanlin Academy. He then turned around and greeted Li Chunfang with a smile and said, "I've met Mr. Li."

Zhu Pingan was not surprised to meet Li Chunfang in Wuyi Hall. In the Ming Dynasty, most of the cabinet bosses were from the Hanlin Academy, so it was reasonable for the auxiliary officials who assisted the cabinet bosses to come from the Hanlin Academy. Li Chunfang is a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. She is older than herself and one of the future pavilion elders. It is normal for her to be appointed to the imperial court at an early age.

In addition, Li Chunfang is the famous "Prime Minister of Qingci". It is not only the ministers of the cabinet who stay in Wuyi Palace. Emperor Jiajing has many fasting and festival activities, and the demand for Qingci is increasing day by day. The ministers who serve Qingci are also stationed in Wuyi Palace in Xiyuan. temple.

"Zihou, there is no need to be polite." Li Chunfang replied with a gentle smile, and then motioned to Zhu Pingan to go with him to meet the elders, "Follow me, I will take you to meet the next three elders first. This Binfeng Pavilion, Zihou will watch it later when he has time."

"Thank you, Mr. Li, for reminding me."

Zhu Ping'an cupped his hands and thanked him. Li Chunfang was right to remind him that when he first arrived, he had to pay his respects to the pier first.

"You and I came out of the Hanlin Academy together, why should we be so polite." Li Chunfang smiled and waved her hand, and then led Zhu Ping'an towards the main hall.

Zhu Ping'an arranged his official uniform and fragrant leaf crown, and followed Li Chunfang towards the main hall.

"The main hall in front is where Mr. Pavilion's office is." Li Chunfang led Zhu Pingan forward and briefly introduced Zhu Pingan. After talking about the main hall, he pointed to the side hall on the way and continued to introduce Zhu Pingan, "These two Each of the pavilions has more than ten rooms, which are places for ministers on duty to rest, and you will also be assigned a room."

"Haha, Zihou will definitely remember this place deeply in the future." Li Chunfang laughed.

Zhu Ping'an took a closer look at the side hall pointed by Li Chunfang and understood clearly. The side hall was low and simple, running from east to west. It looked like small toilets. He could imagine the refreshing feeling of being exposed to the sun in summer and the severe cold in winter.

"Of course, the pavilion elders don't rest here. On the left side of the official road to the east of Wuyi Hall, there is another duty house in the southwest. Well, it is the building with sixteen rooms in the courtyard and four rooms. There are five rooms in it. The hall. The rooms are all facing south, where the elders rest, and the largest one is where elder Yan rests." Li Chunfang pointed enviously at the four-row courtyard outside the side hall and said to Zhu Ping'an.

Zhu Ping'an nodded, he already knew about this, and also knew that this row of duty houses was specially built by Emperor Jiajing as a sign of favor after Yan Song entered Xiyuan.

Soon he entered the main hall.

After entering the main hall, Li Chunfang asked Zhu Pingan to wait a moment while he went to inform the elders.

Zhu Ping'an stood in the main hall and observed when Li Chunfang made the announcement. The main hall was very spacious. In addition to the throne hall in the middle, it was divided into several single rooms on the left and right sides. The largest room should be Yan Song, the chief minister. The office room, this is the room Li Chunfang entered when reporting.

There is a plaque hanging above and behind the throne in the main hall, inscribed with the word "Wuyi". The word "Wuyi" was written by Emperor Jiajing and was taken from the "meaning to abstain from yi" in the words of Zhou Gong's admonishment to King Cheng. Behind the throne is another wall paved with gold bricks, engraved with the capital "Poetry of a Farmer". From the poetry notes after the poem, we can know that this poem was written by Ruizong, the father of Emperor Jiajing, and the poetry notes were written by Emperor Jiajing. Made.

"Zihou, the chief assistant calls you in."

Zhu Ping'an had just finished reading the poems and essays when he saw Li Chunfang pushing the door out of Yan Song's office room and waving.