Looking out, you see the white earth and snow-covered roofs, and looking up, you see the clear night sky.

Zhu Youxiao took his seat at the Meridian Gate, ready to join the people in enjoying the fireworks display and the magnificent lantern trees on Mount Aoshan.

Aoshan Lantern is a large lantern in ancient times. Its scale and momentum are no less than those of magnificent buildings and palaces. It can be said to be the king of lanterns and is also a large lantern group that was popular in ancient times.

The name "Aoshan" comes from "Tangwen" in Liezi. According to legend, there is an unfathomable ravine called "Guixu" millions of miles east of the Bohai Sea, above which float five immortal mountains: "Daiyu", "Yuanjiao", "Fanghu", "Yingzhou" and "Penglai".

On these five mountains are palaces of gold and jade, rare animals and birds, and fruits and plants that grant immortality. In the mountains, there are also many immortals who travel back and forth between heaven and earth.

However, these five sacred mountains had no foundations and drifted with the waves. The Emperor of Heaven ordered the Sea God Yujiang to lead fifteen giant turtles to stabilize them, and the sacred mountains finally stopped moving.

Unexpectedly, a giant from the Longbo Kingdom came to the sacred mountain to fish and caught six giant turtles, causing "Daiyu" and "Yuanjiao" to drift to the North Pole and sink into the sea, leaving only three sacred mountains.

Because of this legend, Aoshan Lanterns usually try to reproduce the mythical fairy scenes in the form of lanterns, representing the transformation function of lantern culture.

As early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the rise of the Lantern Festival, Aoshan became one of the main lantern scenes.

During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, Mount Ao was over a hundred feet high. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the skilled craftsman Mao Shun made a lantern tower on Mount Ao with twenty rooms, a hundred and fifty feet high, and hung them with all kinds of colorful lanterns in the shapes of pearls, jade, gold, silver, dragons, phoenixes, tigers and leopards, which made for a melodious sound.

After Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established Nanjing as the capital, he ordered the construction of a high lantern shed on Aoshan Mountain in order to attract wealthy businessmen from all over the world and prosper the economy. The Ming people painted "Nandu Fanhuitu" to record this grand occasion.

As the saying goes, "A lamp on Aoshan Mountain is worth a thousand gold coins." Ordinary people could not afford it. Only the royal family would often build one at the palace gate for the people to come and enjoy for a few days.

Of course, there are also people among the people who raise money to build smaller-scale and simpler-made Aoshan lanterns, such as the Qinhuai River light boat, which is very famous.

The huge Aoshan Lantern was lit up. The layers of stacked objects represented the mountains, the silks and colored patterns represented the lush forests, and the pavilions and colored figures represented the legendary gods and palaces.

This is not a matter of how much money is spent, but about creating a stable and peaceful atmosphere, demonstrating the strength of the country, and bringing the people pride and honor of being Ming people.

Of course, this was only a superficial effect. Zhu Youxiao certainly knew that it would be a long and arduous journey for him to make the Ming Dynasty truly strong and prosperous and the people truly stable and prosperous.

Except for Zhang Yuer, one queen and two concubines were with the emperor.

It was not that Zhu Youxiao did not allow Zhang Yu'er to come, but Zhang Yu'er knew the reason why she was promoted to concubine, and she also knew the impact of the safety of the baby in her belly on her.

Although Zhu Youxiao believed that he was not such a heartless and ungrateful scumbag, his emphasis on the child in Zhang Yuer's belly also invisibly brought a lot of pressure to Zhang Yuer.

The royal grace allowed common people to come and watch, but they were not allowed to get too close. Without a telescope, the common people would only see the lights and figures on the Meridian Gate, but would not know that it was the emperor himself.

"How about I take Baozhu to the streets to watch the lanterns on the Lantern Festival?" Zhu Youxiao turned his head slightly and said to Queen Zhang Yan with a smile.

Zhang Yan frowned slightly and gently advised, "Your Majesty, your body is worth millions of gold, and it's not appropriate for you to wear a white dragon fish costume and swim in the market."

Zhu Youxiao chuckled twice, having anticipated Zhang Yan's answer. If it were another concubine, she would have happily agreed.

Concubine Wang Liang listened attentively and was quite moved, but she opened her mouth but ultimately did not express her thoughts in front of the Queen.

"Is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva riding a six-tusked white elephant?" Duan Chunfei seemed unable to see the Aoshan Lantern clearly and asked.

Concubine Wang Liang blinked her eyes and said perfunctorily, "The one riding the white elephant must be Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, but I can't tell whether it is Liu Tusk or not."

Zhu Youxiao snorted and said, "Monks are bad. Next year, craftsmen are not allowed to make Buddhist products."

Zhang Yan glanced at the emperor and said with a smile, "There are so many gods in heaven, it's okay if we don't use Buddhist ones."

Concubine Wang Liang echoed, "It would be interesting if there were both gods and immortals and a story! Like the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea or Chang'e Flying to the Moon."

Concubine Duan Chun had a slight preference for Buddhism, but the emperor did not like it, so she did not want to be stubborn and just smiled and nodded in agreement.

Zhu Youxiao did not like Buddhism very much, but he was just saying it casually and had no intention or plan to suppress Buddhism.

"It's time to set off fireworks." Zhang Yan pointed, changing the subject and drawing everyone's attention away.

Everyone looked intently and saw a colorful ball of light leap into the air and bloom like a blooming flower, shining with colorful brilliance.

In the night sky, red, yellow, green... colorful flowers continue to bloom and turn into sparkling stars, from bright to dark, and finally disappear.

Suddenly, large clusters of flowers bloomed in the night, with red flowers, green grass, and seemingly dotted purple and blue flowers, as if a flower garden appeared before our eyes!

Petals were scattered from the sky, floating down slowly and colorfully, while little colorful stars were scattered around.

Even from a distance, one could faintly hear the voices of the people. Zhu Youxiao and his concubines were also attracted by the beautiful scenery, as if they were in a colorful fantasy.

Life is so short, it only blooms for a moment, but it radiates all its splendor.

Zhu Youxiao narrowed his eyes, and in his dreamlike state, he felt that he had some kind of understanding.

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