In August of the seventh year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, after about three months of repeated measures, revisions, and discussions, the result was finally achieved.
On August 16th, the day Zhao Zhen returned to work after the Mid-Autumn Festival, he officially issued an edict announcing several major events.
The first thing to do was to declare that the Song Dynasty would be renamed the Song Empire of Chinese Citizenship.
From then on, the Great Song Dynasty had its full name, and its abbreviation could be either the Great Song Dynasty or China.
Next, February 26th was designated as National Day, and the whole country will have a seven-day holiday.
The whole country celebrated on this day to celebrate the return of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that had been lost for a hundred years, and the unification of the ancient Chinese land.
Because that day was the day when Fan Zhongyan led his troops north to recapture Yanyun after defeating Yelu Zongzhen.
On January 24, Fan Zhongyan only defeated Yelu Zongzhen and recovered the Youyan area. At this time, Yunzhou and Shenzhou were still in the hands of the Liao Kingdom, and it could not be considered truly unified.
It was not until a few days later that Fan Zhongyan divided his troops into two groups, one heading north and the other heading east.
Because eighty-seven years ago, the third day of the first lunar month was the day when Zhao Kuang was crowned emperor, and the fourth day of the first lunar month was the day when Zhao Kuang led his army back to Kaifeng, took control of the city of Bianliang, and officially ascended the throne as emperor.
The founding day of the Song Dynasty was on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, which was still the Tiansheng Festival holiday. If we add the National Day and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, we really don’t have to go to work for the whole month.
After all, he is a member of the graceful and elegant school, and his style of writing is more gentle and implicit, while the national anthem requires something heroic and majestic, so it naturally cannot be written in a soft and gentle style, so he had to find someone else.
So, combining these three points, and adding that Fan Zhongyan recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun at the end of February, it is just right to regard this day as National Day.
And what was being celebrated was not the founding of the nation, but the Song Dynasty's entry into the ranks of a unified country.
Therefore, it is also a subtle mention that the Constitutional Council and the various departments of the court are the core of the country and the place where government orders are issued.
Because Xuande Gate is the south gate, the Nangong is right after entering. Although the Nangong is also part of the imperial palace, it is the office space of the Constitutional Council and some important departments.
Originally, Yan Shu wanted to write the lyrics, but Zhao Jun was not satisfied with him no matter how many times he wrote.
The emperor had neither a residence nor a study here, and even the Chuigong Hall where he held court was in the North Palace.
There's obviously a touch of royalty, but not much.
Therefore, we can only choose the end of February as National Day.
The next step is to determine the national flag, national emblem and national anthem.
So in the end, they found a famous composer in Bianliang, and asked someone to write the lyrics. After several revisions, a song with a grand melody and majestic momentum was produced.
Because February and March are busy farming seasons, having a holiday would delay farm work.
The national anthem is relatively simple.
For example, in the Northern Song Dynasty, there were only three days of holidays in February and March for Easter, the 15th day of the second month. Other holidays were mainly concentrated in the second half of the year and the beginning of the year.
In fact, today's absolute monarchy can be regarded as a dual monarchy under a constitutional monarchy, but it is not yet a completely constitutional monarchy.
Nothing major happened on other days. Even Zhao Zhen’s birthday was nothing compared to the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
First, in ancient times, January had the most holidays. Just the New Year holiday, Tiansheng Festival holiday and Lantern Festival holiday meant that people didn't have to go to work for more than 20 days.
Even during important festivals such as the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, farm work still needs to be done, so it is not a big deal and will not delay work for a few days.
Then there are the holidays for the 24 solar terms. There are so many of them. In the second half of the year and the beginning of the year, there are holidays almost every month. Only February and March have the least holidays because we have to deal with spring plowing during this period.
But Zhao Jun had no choice.
There are also two one-day holidays during the Beginning of Spring and Human Day. If you add National Day, you don’t have to work for that whole month.
There must be a reason for National Day, and it must be an important reason.
Fortunately, the productivity of the Song Dynasty is now strong, and farmers follow the laws of nature rather than national holidays.
It should be emphasized that the dragon above does not refer to the royal family, but refers to the ancient time when "dragon" was the totem of China and the symbol of Chinese spirit. Therefore, the national flag of the Song Dynasty is collectively called the Three Stars Dragon Flag.
What followed was a series of constitutions, new regulations, and charters, which laid the foundation for the Song Dynasty's transition from a feudal state to the modern autocratic monarchy it is today.
Starting from April, there are more than ten traditional festivals and holidays including Tianqi, Cold Food Festival, Qingming Festival, Qianyuan Festival (the festival of Zhao Zhen’s birthday in May), Dragon Boat Festival, Tianfu Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Qixi Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Shuyi Festival.
The design of the national emblem finally had a bit of royal influence, with the Three-Star Dragon Flag on top and the Xuande Gate Tower of the Bianliang Imperial Palace below.
The background color of the national flag of the Song Dynasty is red, symbolizing the fire virtue of the Song Dynasty; there is a dragon on each side, symbolizing the descendants of Yan and Huang, the descendants of the dragon; in the middle are the sun, moon and stars, which means "the three stars in the flag show its brightness" in "Zuo Zhuan".
Originally, Zhao Zhen suggested choosing the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year as National Day.
Secondly, there is already Tiansheng Festival on the third day of the first lunar month, so there is naturally no need to add a National Day.
Zhao Jun did not copy songs from later generations, but let the Song people write them themselves.
Therefore, on February 26th, after the return of Yunzhou and Shenzhou, the mission of recovering the lost territory was completely completed.
Finally, on February 26, the Song army completely wiped out the Liao army in Yunzhou and Shenzhou, and took back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and Liaoyang Prefecture outside the Great Wall.
Second, it is not a glorious thing for Zhao Kuang to bully orphans and widows, so it is best to handle it in a low-key manner.
It is a pity that the recognized founder of the Haofang School is only a ten-year-old child, otherwise Su Shi would have had to make a contribution.
However, there are still differences of opinion on this point. Some people think that even if National Day is not placed in the first month of the lunar calendar, it cannot be placed in February or March.
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