"Master Zhu, this piece of rice field was opened up by the emperor at the beginning of the tenth year of the Shengli calendar. In the middle of the rice field are the Xiancan and Tugu altars. Oh, by the way, the Tugu altar was renamed the Dishe Diji altar at the beginning of this year."
Seeing that Zhu Ping'an was very interested in the land in front of him and that there was still plenty of time, Eunuch Zhang explained the whole story to Zhu Ping'an.
"At the beginning of the ninth year of the Shengli calendar, the former Prime Minister Xia Yan wrote to the emperor and requested the Empress to hold a silkworm ceremony. The emperor approved the order and built the Xiancan Altar outside Anding Gate in accordance with the ancient system of 'the emperor personally ploughing in the southern suburbs and the Empress personally raising silkworms in the northern suburbs'. In the second year, the emperor considered that it was inconvenient for the Empress to leave the city and there was no water source outside Anding Gate for bathing silkworms. He also found that the silkworm ceremony had been held in the inner garden since the Tang and Song dynasties, and the West Garden had the water of Taiye Pond for washing silkworms and irrigation. Therefore, the emperor built the Xiancan Altar and the Dishe Altar here, opened up the Sheji field, held the ploughing and silkworm ceremony, and promoted agriculture and sericulture to educate the world."
"If Lord Zhu is interested, there is a poem written by His Majesty in Wuyi Palace titled "Xiyuan Shigu Zhixiancantanwei Fu", which records the details in more detail. Lord Zhu can take a look at it in his spare time."
Eunuch Zhang explained the causes and consequences of the Sheji field very clearly, which made Zhu Ping'an look at him more after bowing and thanking him. People with such ambitions will always have a chance to come to the fore in the palace.
The Sheji Field is located in front of the Renshou Palace and the Wuyi Palace. Eunuch Zhang led Zhu Ping'an along the Imperial Road and they soon arrived in front of the Wuyi Palace.
From the outside, Wuyi Palace looks much simpler than the Yuxi Palace, Shenyingxuan and other palaces we just passed by.
"Sir Zhu, this is the Wuyi Palace where the cabinet works. Eunuchs are not allowed to enter the cabinet office without being summoned, so I'll send you here." Eunuch Zhang said to Zhu Ping'an, pointing at the Wuyi Palace.
"Thank you, Eunuch Zhang, for leading the way." Zhu Ping'an bowed to express his gratitude.
"You're too polite, Lord Zhu." Eunuch Zhang replied with a smile, then said goodbye and left.
Zhu Ping'an didn't arrive early. At this time, many people had already come to Wuyi Palace, and they were going in and out of the main hall and the side halls to work in an orderly manner. Zhu Ping'an was delayed for some time at the palace gate, but was not late.
After entering the Wuyi Palace courtyard, Zhu Ping'an had a more intuitive understanding of the cabinet's office location.
The main hall of Wuyi Hall has three rooms with a simple and ancient structure. There are two rows of low side rooms on the east and west courtyard walls as auxiliary halls of Wuyi Hall.
There are two stele pavilions on the left and right sides of the main hall, named "The Left Stele Pavilion of Wuyi Hall Made by the Emperor" and "The Right Stele Pavilion of Wuyi Hall Made by the Emperor". The styles of the left and right stele pavilions are similar to the Jingyi Pavilion of the Imperial College, and they are small palace-style buildings.
There is also a pavilion in front of the main hall, named "Binfeng". Binfeng is one of the fifteen national styles in "The Book of Songs". Bin is an ancient place name before the Qin Dynasty and the birthplace of the Zhou tribe.
This pavilion is closest to the main entrance of Wuyi Palace. When Zhu Ping'an approached, he was immediately attracted by the golden brick wall on the north wall of the pavilion. Wow, there really is a wall paved with golden bricks. Zhu Ping'an was a little amazed. From outside the pavilion, one can see that the golden bricks are engraved with "Imperial Poem on the Picture of Binfeng". The title is relatively large and can be seen clearly, but the specific verses are not so clear.
"Zihou, you are here."
Just as Zhu Ping'an was about to walk into the Binfeng Pavilion to look at the inscriptions, he heard a gentle greeting from behind him.
Zhu Pingan turned around and saw his superior colleague in the Hanlin Academy, Li Chunfang, the Imperial Scholar of the Hanlin Academy. He turned around and bowed to Li Chunfang with a smile, "Greetings, Lord Li."
Zhu Ping'an was not surprised to meet Li Chunfang in Wuyi Palace. In the Ming Dynasty, most of the cabinet ministers came from the Hanlin Academy, so it was reasonable that the assistant officials who assisted the cabinet ministers in the cabinet came from the Hanlin Academy. Li Chunfang was a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, with more seniority than himself, and was one of the future cabinet ministers. It was normal for him to be the Sizhi Wuyi Palace at an early age.
In addition, Li Chunfang was a famous "Qingci Prime Minister". It was not only the cabinet ministers who stayed in Wuyi Hall. Emperor Jiajing held many fasting and sacrificial activities, and the demand for Qingci was increasing day by day. The ministers who served Qingci also stayed in Wuyi Hall in Xiyuan.
"Zihou, no need to be polite." Li Chunfang replied with a gentle smile, and then motioned Zhu Ping'an to go with him to pay respect to the elders. "Follow me, I will take you to pay respect to the next three elders. Zihou, you can come and see this Binfeng Pavilion when you have time in the future."
"Thank you for the reminder, Master Li."
Zhu Ping'an bowed and thanked him. Li Chunfang's reminder was right. He had just arrived and should pay his respects first.
"You and I are from the same Hanlin Academy, so there is no need to be so polite." Li Chunfang smiled and waved his hand, then took Zhu Ping'an to the main hall.
Zhu Ping'an adjusted his official uniform and scented leaf crown, then walked towards the main hall with Li Chunfang.
"The main hall in front is where the minister works." Li Chunfang led Zhu Ping'an forward and briefly introduced it to Zhu Ping'an. After talking about the main hall, he pointed to the side halls along the way and continued to introduce them to Zhu Ping'an, "These two rows of side halls each have more than ten rooms. They are places for officials on duty to rest. You will also be allocated a room."
"Haha, Zihou will definitely remember this place deeply in the future..." Li Chunfang laughed as he spoke.
Zhu Ping'an took a closer look at the side hall that Li Chunfang pointed out, and he understood what was going on. This side hall was low and simple, oriented from east to west, and looked like a small toilet. One could imagine how comfortable it would feel in the hot summer sun or the cold winter.
"Of course, the ministers don't rest here. On the left side of the official road east of Wuyi Palace, there is another duty station in the southwest. Well, that's the building with four courtyards and sixteen rooms, with five complete rooms inside. The halls and rooms all face south. That's where the ministers rest. The largest one is where Minister Yan rests." Li Chunfang pointed to the row of four courtyards outside the side hall with envy and said to Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Ping'an nodded. He had known about this for a long time. He also knew that this row of guard houses was specially built by Emperor Jiajing as a token of favor after Yan Song entered the Western Garden.
Soon they entered the main hall.
After entering the main hall, Li Chunfang asked Zhu Ping'an to wait for a moment while he went to inform the elders first.
When Li Chunfang was reporting, Zhu Ping'an was standing in the main hall and observing. The main hall was very wide. In addition to the throne hall in the middle, the left and right sides were divided into several single rooms. The largest one should be the office of Prime Minister Yan Song. This was the room where Li Chunfang entered when he made his report.
There is a plaque hanging above the throne in the main hall, with the words "Wu Yi" inscribed on it. These words were written by Emperor Jiajing, and were taken from the words of Zhou Gong admonishing King Cheng to "beware of leisure". Behind the throne is a wall paved with gold bricks, with the capital "Busy Farmer's Poem" engraved on it. From the poem notes after the poem, we can know that this poem was written by Emperor Jiajing's father, Emperor Ruizong, and the poem notes were written by Emperor Jiajing himself.
"Zihou, the Prime Minister wants you to come in."
Zhu Ping'an had just finished reading the collection of poems and essays when he saw Li Chunfang push the door open from Yan Song's office and waved.