The coronation ceremony was one of the most important ceremonial systems in ancient times. It was the ceremony of crowning a man who had entered the ranks of adults. It was an important part of ancient social life.
The coronation ceremony was one of the Five Rites. The crown was a hat worn by an adult man in ancient times. The crowning of a man required a grand ceremony, so it gradually developed into the coronation ceremony.
People of this era attached great importance to the coronation ceremony. Moreover, this was the coronation ceremony for the emperor, so it was naturally more important.
The main contents and ceremonies of the emperor's coronation ceremony mainly included: proclaiming the sun, making the memorial, adding the number, entering the temple (entering the hall), furnishing, deacons, praising the guests, music, ceremony, speech, meeting the Empress Dowager, visiting the temple, and meeting the officials.
Zhu Yijun had already received the entire process of the coronation ceremony. The memorial from the Ministry of Rites was very detailed. Zhang Hong was in charge of the Department of Rites, so there must be no mistakes.
The Taishi Institute divined the sun, the Ministry of Works made the royal robes, the Hanlin Academy wrote the congratulatory message, and the Ministry of Rites made the notes.
The Hall of Governmental Affairs took over the system, and some officials were appointed as the Grand Preceptor and some as the Grand Commandant.
Once the sun was divined, officials were sent to heaven and earth, and the ancestral temple.
Zhu Yijun did not need to participate in this process, as his subordinates did it.
The position of the Grand Preceptor was naturally Zhang Juzheng, and no one could compete with him. As for the Grand Commandant, it was the British Duke Zhang Yong.
The day before the official coronation ceremony, the Internal Commissioner ordered Zhang Hong to set up a royal banquet in the center of Fengtian Hall. There were tables for the royal robes, incense, and treasures to the south.
The Imperial Preceptor and Grand Commandant's living quarters are located on the south side of the Wen Lou, facing west. The Imperial Chamber is located on the inner path of the Dan Pavilion. The Imperial Chamber is located on the west side of the Imperial Seat. The Imperial Chamber is located on the west side of the Dan Pavilion.
On the day of the official coronation ceremony, Zhu Yijun woke up early. He had to wake up early, as everyone was paying attention to the coronation ceremony.
Hearing the three drums outside, Zhu Yijun knew that it was time for the officials to come in.
The coronation ceremony was very complicated, and it lasted until late at night. Whether it was Zhu Yijun or the officials, they were all exhausted.
Fortunately, the "hundreds of officials in formal attire congratulating and bestowing a banquet in the Hall of Reverence" was on the second day. If it had been at night, Zhu Yijun was afraid that those old officials would not have been able to endure it.
The next day, hundreds of officials came to congratulate him, and a banquet was held in the Jingshen Palace. Only then did Zhu Yijun's coronation ceremony come to an end.
Originally, Zhu Yijun thought that the imperial court would be in an uproar because of the matter of him personally taking charge of the government. He didn't expect that the matter of him taking charge of the government would not be brought up at all. Instead, it was because of another matter that caused the imperial court to explode. The whole matter originated from a memorial.
The person who submitted this memorial was Guang Mao of the Department of Revenue. The content of this memorial was not complicated at all, and it did not refer to anyone. It only stated one thing, and this matter was a whip technique.
In the main hall, the civil and military officials were divided into two rows. Zhang Juzheng, dressed in a large red official robe, stood expressionlessly at the head of the civil officials. He quietly listened to Zhang Hong recite the memorial. His expression was calm, as if he would not change his expression even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him.
The memorial in Zhang Hong's hands was from Guang Mao of the Department of Revenue. This person could be considered somewhat famous recently. After all, he was one of the Imperial Censors that Zhang Juzheng thought very highly of, and was currently very popular.
"The law of taxation and servitude, taxation belongs to the land, and servitude belongs to the people.
Taxes in summer and autumn are based on the fertility of the land.
To the silver, it is the will of the Gu Servitude. To the strength, it is the way of Servitude.
Based on the number of people in the household, it is called Uniform Servitude. Records are recorded, and service is determined. It has nothing to do with the land. "
"In the last years of Jiajing, a whip technique was created. There was no distinction between the rich and the poor, and there was an apportionment.
Even the silver and strength, the household, and salt banknotes were combined into the land, and the Ding Li was not included.
The merchants enjoyed the profits of the end, and the farmers lost the desire to live. It was very inconvenient for the people. "
To put it bluntly, this memorial was advocating a whip technique, and it was obvious that it was going to be implemented.
Zhu Yijun looked at the calm Zhang Juzheng, and sighed in his heart. This matter had finally come.
After five years of planning and preparation, Zhang Juzheng felt that the time was ripe, and he was ready to go all out.
The part that Guang Mao emphasized was that the collection of taxes and servitude would be handled directly by the local officials. The original system of "collecting taxes from the people" was abolished, and "collecting taxes from the people" was changed to a system of "collecting taxes from the people".
In Zhu Yijun's view, this thing did not have much use whether it was changed or not. Collecting taxes from the officials might not be much better than collecting taxes from the people.
Of course, Zhu Yijun also understood Zhang Juzheng's thinking. He was working on two fronts, the whip technique and the test method, and both must be strong.
If taxes could not be collected, the test method would be waiting for you. But Zhang Juzheng forgot one thing, and that was absolute power would lead to absolute corruption.
Perhaps it was not that Zhang Juzheng forgot, but he simply did not think of this point.
As a civil official, Zhang Juzheng still thought of the civil officials, and he also had the persistence of a civil official in his heart.
When officials collected taxes, who would pay the taxes? It was not the gentry. Where did the officials come from? It was not the gentry.
Letting the officials collect their own taxes, it would be strange if they could collect it.
A whip technique was not that scary, and it did not stimulate the gentry's nerves.
At most, a whip technique would turn the payment of grain into a payment of silver. This was what the gentry was good at. They would use silver to collect grain and lower the price. If you did not sell, you would not have the money to pay the taxes.
The commoners would grit their teeth and sell their land. If they could not afford it, they could only sell their land. When the officials colluded with the gentry, the commoners would have no way to survive.
Selling their land to become tenants, and if there was a disaster, the commoners would not be able to fill their stomachs. This was how disaster victims and refugees came to be.
What really stimulated people was Zhang Juzheng's idea of clearing the land. In this era, it was normal for the gentry not to pay taxes.
They held up the banner of giving preferential treatment to the gentry, and brazenly did not pay taxes.
In reality, there was a limit to the gentry's tax exemption. It did not mean that they could be exempted from all taxes.
But the reality was that the gentry's land was not subject to taxes.
This led to the practice of giving money to the gentry. If a village or a town produced a High Scholar, everyone would transfer the land to his name and rent it back for farming.
The land did not need to be taxed, and they only needed to pay a small amount of rent to the High Scholar. This was much more cost-effective than farming.
It could be said that everyone in the world was enjoying this feast, and the ones who suffered losses were the country and the Emperor.
The amount of land that could be taxed was decreasing. Every three years, the Imperial Examinations would reduce the amount of land that could be taxed by the Daming.
A poor Elementary Scholar could become a High Scholar, but once he passed the High Scholar's exam, he would immediately become a landlord.
Zhang Juzheng's idea of clearing the land was obviously to take out the land that the gentry had hidden.
Other than the land that was exempt from taxes, the rest of the land had to be taxed. Regardless of whether it was the gentry or the officials, such a method would make them the enemy of the whole world.
Faced with Zhang Juzheng, it would be strange if the gentry did not want to kill him.
Such a method was to cut off the gentry's flesh and increase the income of the country. This was to achieve the goal of enriching the country.