I

In the second month of the lunar calendar, people of rank three or above start fasting (no eating spicy foods such as ginger, garlic).

On the second day of fasting, Zhao Han read the sacrificial inscriptions at Yingmin Hall and went to inspect the rice seeds and farm tools in person.

The Minister of Taichang Temple and the Governor of Jinling sent seeds and farm tools to the Xiannong Altar together.

On the third day of fasting, Zhao Han set off in an imperial chariot.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The bell at the Meridian Gate rang, and the charioteer came out.

After repeated considerations, Zhao Han resumed most of the sacrifices and at the same time restored Taichang Temple, which hosted the sacrifices.

However, the ritual reform was more simplified.

Restoring various sacrificial rituals does not engage in feudal superstition, nor does it demonstrate the majesty of the emperor. But Zhao Han understands a truth. The core values ​​of the ancient Chinese people can be summed up in four words: respect the heaven and the ancestor!

These four words cannot be discarded, otherwise social thinking will fall into chaos.

Before the Lantern Festival, he had already gone to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and what he was going to hold today was the Cultivating Ceremony. In other words, the emperor encouraged farming and farmed the fields himself to express the court's emphasis on farming.

When the charioteer left the Forbidden City, officials of third rank and above had been waiting in line outside the Forbidden City for a long time.

This is also simplified. In the Ming Dynasty's farming ceremony, all civil servants of the fourth rank and above and military officers of the third rank and above had to go. Nowadays, regardless of civil or military status, all must be above the third rank (Taichang Temple is an exception), and Zhao Han does not want so many officials to follow him.

Raising the standard for participating in sacrifices by one level immediately reduced the number of officials by more than half.

When the monarch and ministers' sacrificial procession passed by, many Nanjing people gathered around, obviously wanting to follow and watch the fun.

Henry and Charles, two Frenchmen, were also quite curious about this and didn't know why the emperor was leaving the city.

Are you going hunting?

Or organizing a knightly contest?

The team went all the way to the southeast outside Nanjing City, where the Nanjing Temple of Heaven and Earth is located.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang followed ancient rituals and worshiped heaven and earth separately in the south and north of Zijin Mountain at the summer solstice and winter solstice.

Etiquette is extremely cumbersome and goes far beyond that.

So Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Heaven and earth are like parents. How can they be separated by offering sacrifices to parents?"

So the sacrifices to heaven and earth were changed from separate sacrifices to joint sacrifices, and the location of sacrifices was also changed. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's intention was to reduce the number of sacrifices and the distance traveled, so as to avoid wasting people and money.

Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, and all etiquette followed Nanjing's old practices.

It wasn’t until Emperor Jiajing held a grand ceremony and instituted a series of etiquette reforms. One of them is to change the altar of heaven and earth into the altar of heaven and the altar of earth, and worship them separately according to ancient rituals.

Now, Zhao Han has changed again.

He had the same idea as Zhu Yuanzhang, and he did whatever it took to save trouble.

The altar of heaven and earth has a large sacrificial hall, where the yin and yang of heaven and earth, sun, moon and stars, mountains and rivers, and various natural gods are all enshrined here.

Xiannong Altar is located near the Great Sacrifice Hall and is dedicated to one of the ancestors of China: Shennong!

The sacrificial officer of Taichang Temple serves as the master of ceremonies and arranges the process.

Chen Maosheng, the Minister of Rites, stood in front and recited the sacrificial inscriptions, and then Zhao Han led the officials to kneel down to worship Shennong.

According to ancient rituals, sacrifices to Shen Nong should be carried out, that is, pigs, cattle and sheep are all available.

Zhao Han thought it was too wasteful and could just kill a pig.

After the worship, Zhao Han put the hem of his dragon robe on his belt, took off his boots, and rolled up his trouser legs.

The ministers of Taichang Temple waved red flags, the Minister of Rites invited the emperor to come out of the altar, the Minister of Household Affairs offered the grass, and the Yin of Jinling Prefecture offered whips. Lei is the most primitive plow, and Shennong's portrait often carried it.

Zhao Han walked out of the Xiannong altar, holding a grass in his right hand and a whip in his left hand.

Two local old farmers followed with their oxen, and officials from Honglu Temple announced that the emperor would do the plowing himself.

Today, the concubines are not here.

Men farmed and women weaved. Farming was a man's business, although there were definitely women farming among the people.

The land of the emperor is one-third of an acre.

One-third of an acre of land is derived from here.

Unlike other emperors, Zhao Han's Tianzi Tian was not framed within the altar, but was next to the people's paddy fields.

There were many people standing on the field ridge in the distance.

There were even gentry, holding civilian telescopes, standing far away and happily peeping. After Zhao Han came to Nanjing, this was the first time he had personally plowed the fields. The people inside and outside Nanjing had not seen the emperor plowing the fields for more than two hundred years.

"Your Majesty, please dig the ground!" the old morning cow farmer said with a smile.

Old farmers are not invited randomly, they must be senior citizens. The person must be over sixty years old, must be highly respected, and must be able to farm.

Zhao Han only needs to take the hoe and go to the fields to plow a few times, and the rest is left to the old farmers to plow with their oxen.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Han actually planted the grass on the edge of the field and took the rope of the cow from the old farmer's hand. In the astonished eyes of everyone, the emperor led the oxen to the fields, inserted the plowshare into the soil, and whipped the buffaloes to plow the fields.

That action was actually quite skillful.

Only veterans like Chen Maosheng stood nearby with smiles on their faces. When they only had half a county, they helped the common people farm during the busy farming season.

"The emperor really knows how to farm!"

"My hands and feet are still a bit raw, it doesn't look like an old skill."

"It's been a long time since I've plowed the fields. I'll get better at plowing a few times."

"It's good that the emperor knows how to farm. He knows that it's not easy for farmers, so the land tax won't be heavy."

"Long live your Majesty!"

"..."

The farmers who were watching the emperor plowing the fields from a distance began to whisper there, and then they burst into shouts of long live the mountain.

The two French nobles were stunned at this time.

Henry said in disbelief: "Only lowly farmers can do such things as plowing the land. Why would the Chinese emperor plow the land himself? This would bring down the emperor's majesty! And those officials, no one stopped them, and they all stood there laughing. .God, what did I see?"

Charlie smiled and said: "Maybe the emperor and ministers of China regard this as a game. Listen, there is a band playing music beside the fields. The emperor must be playing the role of a farmer. This is probably his interest and hobby. I listen People say that Chinese emperors all have hobbies, and there is also a carpenter emperor. European monarchs also have weird hobbies."

"No, why do all the farmers near us kneel down before the emperor?" Henry looked around and became more and more puzzled. "The farmers knelt down very devoutly. It seemed that the Chinese emperor plowed the fields himself and gained their support all of a sudden. .”

Charlie said: "The emperor is engaged in menial farming, and of course these menial people will be very happy. You see those officials are laughing, they must be mocking the emperor in their hearts. The Chinese emperor has lost his majesty in front of the ministers."

Ajulius came over at some point and said in French: "You two are wrong. Farming food is a very sacred thing in China. The emperor personally farming the fields means that he is kind and knows how to govern the country. Officials do not will laugh at them, but will support their monarch all the more.”

Henry couldn't understand: "Aren't people who farm the land despicable?"

Ai Julius shook his head and said: "China has a theory of scholars, agriculture, industry and commerce. Scholars are ranked first, which can be understood as scholars and officials. Farmers are ranked second, and craftsmen and businessmen are ranked behind farmers. Chinese officials and scholars, Many people will farm their own land. They may grow vegetables in the garden or grow food in the fields. They think this is a very elegant thing.”

Henry spread his hands: "Weird Chinese customs, strange Chinese ideas. If the European aristocrats knew that this Chinese emperor actually farmed his own land, his image would definitely plummet in Europe. There are also farmers, whose status is actually ranked higher than that of craftsmen and merchants. In front. Peasants are the lowest, and the meaning of their existence is to provide food for the nobles."

Ajulius sarcastically said: "So in the past twenty years, France contributed to the largest number of peasant riots in Europe. Because the French prime minister had exactly the same idea as you."

Henry smiled and said: "Father Richelieu was a great prime minister. Although most nobles and peasants hated him, he made France stronger. He allowed the king to truly control the land across the country."

This is where the butt determines the head. Henry is a noble who lost his fiefdom. The harder Richelieu screws the nobles, the more he will take pleasure in their misfortune.

Charlie didn't speak anymore, but he remembered what he saw and heard in China firmly in his mind, and planned to return to Paris to use it as a conversation piece, and maybe he could seduce a few wealthy ladies.

Word of the Chinese emperor plowing the fields himself would surely spread in Paris.

While the nobles despised and ridiculed him, some open-minded scholars would definitely reflect on the systems of European countries. This phenomenon has been popular since the beginning of the Renaissance. Based on fragments of Chinese thoughts and customs, various reflections on the current Europe: What is this country like? Let’s ask the question!

A famous scholar even raised a very serious thought after reading travel notes on China: Since China already existed before the birth of Jesus, was the world really created by God? In other words, were the Chinese created by God? If Chinese people were not created by God, then is God still the only supreme being?

The news of Zhao Han's plowing spread to Europe, and it is estimated that some scholars rushed to shout: The Chinese emperor attaches great importance to agriculture and treats farmers well. European monarchs only know how to oppress peasants. This is why China is stronger than other European countries! European monarchs, stop and wait for your people!

Zhao Han did not plow all of the emperor's one-third-acre field, and only plowed it back and forth three times to show off.

This is also etiquette, push three times and return three times.

Then another piece was smoothed out. The governor of Jinling held a green box, and the minister of household affairs held the seeds and sown them. This is breeding, where rice seeds are sown intensively, and after they grow into seedlings, they are pulled out and transplanted to the fields.

According to ancient rituals, grains should be sown.

Zhao Han said to the Minister of Taichang Temple last month: "You can plant whatever you want. How can you sow the grains together? Wait for other seeds to rot?"

After the emperor finished plowing, the Minister of Household Affairs and the governor of Jinling went back with the grass and whip.

Zhao Han climbed up to the viewing platform, and the three princes and nine ministers went to get whips and plows one by one. The three men pushed five times and returned five times, and the nine ministers pushed nine times and returned nine times. In the end, one-third of an acre of land was plowed.

"The plowing ceremony is completed!" Chen Maosheng shouted.

"Get up and play "You Ping Zhang"!"

"The emperor is driving back to the palace!"

The royal band began to play accompaniment again. Pingzhang means peace in the world and outstanding political achievements. "Youpingzhang" means God bless the country and the people.

A few farmers stood at the edge of the field and had a lot of fun. This three-thirds of an acre of land had been leased to them. They only collected some token rent and handed it over to the palace.

This is the emperor's field. If they can cultivate it, they may be able to imbibe the emperor's spirit.