Chapter 509: Changes to the clothing system
In March of the 23rd year of Yonghui, a solar eclipse appeared in the sky, and people thought it was a bad omen.
Coincidentally, a severe drought broke out again in Guanzhong, and floods occurred again in other areas.
Fortunately, the court had experienced several floods and droughts and was well prepared. In order to solve the problem of disaster relief as soon as possible, many emergency stations were built in various places.
A large amount of food and supplies were stored in them, which could be quickly transported to the disaster-stricken areas and provide disaster relief at the fastest speed.
There would be no more hunger and hardship for the disaster victims, no more people who could not survive and had to sell their children, and no more cannibalism.
The Tang Dynasty also allowed the victims of the disaster-stricken areas to leave their homeland and go to other places to make a living.
With the development of the Maritime Silk Road, overseas trade became more and more prosperous, and the coastal areas became more and more prosperous, which attracted many outsiders to work.
In Chang'an, Daming Palace, Xuanzheng Hall, Li Chengqian held a meeting as usual and announced some new indicators.
"In order to better distinguish the ranks, I decided to change the clothing system and change the clothing system from me to the common people." At the meeting, Li Chengqian raised the issue of changing clothing.
Li Chengqian found that the clothing of the Tang Dynasty was a mess, and no matter what kind of people could wear the same clothing, it was easy to confuse.
For example, a sixth-rank official and a second-rank official wear the same clothing in the same color and style. Not only are they likely to wear the same clothes, but people may also mistake the sixth-rank official for a second-rank official.
This is not very convenient. People who were originally going to find the second-rank official ended up finding the sixth-rank official because of the same clothes.
There were even people wearing similar clothes to him. How could this work?
Therefore, he decided to change the system of official clothing to distinguish identities and status.
"Your Majesty! The official clothing system of our Tang Dynasty is modeled after the Zhou rituals. Everything is in accordance with the ritual system. How can it be changed at will?" The Minister of Rites stepped out and saluted.
"Although it is right to follow the Zhou rituals, now that our Tang Dynasty has integrated various cultures, the old rituals are no longer in line with the current situation, so I decided to change the Zhangfu system. Not only that, in the future, we must keep pace with the times, and many aspects need to be reformed." Li Chengqian said.
"But Your Majesty! This will violate the ancestral system, which is not appropriate." The Minister of Rites continued.
He just didn't agree with Li Chengqian's arbitrary change of the ritual system. This was his duty, so he brought up the ancestral system, hoping to suppress the emperor.
"I have already reported this matter to the two former emperors Gaozu and Taizong in the Taimiao yesterday."
"The two former emperors also told me in their dreams that they agreed with me very much. Otherwise, I would not have made up my mind to change the Zhangfu system so quickly." Li Chengqian said.
You, the Minister of Rites, dare to bring up the ancestral system. I will directly bring up the two previous emperors to fight back against you. Let's see what you can do!
The Minister of Rites was immediately speechless. The previous emperor had been brought up. If he continued to interfere, it would be a great disrespect to the previous emperor. This crime was not small, and he, as the Minister of Rites, could not bear it.
"I wonder if you have any objections to this? If so, please speak freely." Li Chengqian asked. He knew that no one among these people would stand up to oppose.
"We have no objection!" The ministers looked at each other, and finally had to agree with the emperor's approach.
"Since all of you have no objection, then let me start with you. During the Wude years of Emperor Gaozu, I ordered that subjects should not wear yellow, and non-royal clans should not wear yellow robes." "
I have already consulted Emperor Gaozu. From today on, the emperor will wear a bright yellow dragon robe, the crown prince will wear a light yellow dragon robe, and other royal clans should not wear yellow clothing."
"The ranks of civil and military officials are determined by the patterns on their robes. Civil and military officials of the third rank and above wear purple and wear a gold jade belt. Officials of the fourth rank wear dark scarf and wear a gold belt. Officials of the fifth rank wear light scarf and wear a gold belt. Officials of the sixth rank wear dark green, and officials of the seventh rank wear light green, and all wear silver belts around their waists."
"Officials of the eighth rank wear dark blue, and officials of the ninth rank wear light blue, and all wear a stone belt around their waists. As for common people, except for the above colors, they can wear whatever they want."
"Civil officials below the first rank can carry handkerchiefs, abacus bags, knives, and whetstones. Military officials can also wear fish bags as usual, just like civil officials." Li Chengqian said.
From this moment on, the system of official uniforms began to be reformed.
Except for the emperor, the crown prince, the empress, the concubine, and the empress dowager, no one else was allowed to wear the same yellow clothes as the emperor. Otherwise, it could be defined as treason.
In particular, the emperor's daily clothes were changed the most. The emperor's daily clothes were mainly yellow silk and satin, and the dragon robe was embroidered with dragons, pheasant patterns, and twelve official patterns.
After Li Chengqian's modification, the image of the dragon was exactly the same as the dragon of later generations. It concentrated the partial characteristics of various animals, with a head like an ox's head, a body like a snake's body, horns like deer's horns, eyes like shrimp's eyes, nose like a lion's nose, mouth like a donkey's mouth, ears like cat's ears, claws like eagle's claws, tail like a fish's tail, etc.
The structure and organization of the pattern are also very distinctive. In addition to the traditional walking dragon and cloud dragon, there are also round dragons, upright dragons, sitting dragons, ascending dragons, and descending dragons.
Among the round dragons embroidered on the dragon robe after the modification, there are two types: ascending dragons and descending dragons.
At the same time, it is stipulated that the first-rank princes should have one five-clawed upright dragon embroidered on the front and back of their bodies, and one walking dragon on each shoulder.
The first-rank princes had a five-clawed dragon on both shoulders.
Dukes were all given nine-clawed dragon robes, and those with outstanding achievements were given yellow clothes to show favor.
Li Chengqian also imitated the Ming Dynasty officials' supplementary clothing, letting civil officials embroider birds to show civilization, and military officials embroider beasts to show power.
The first-rank civil officials were cranes, the second-rank golden pheasants, the third-rank peacocks, the fourth-rank cloud geese, the fifth-rank white pheasants, the sixth-rank herons, the seventh-rank egrets, the eighth-rank orioles, and the ninth-rank quails. The first-rank
military officials were unicorns, the second-rank lions, the third-rank and fourth-rank tigers and leopards, the fifth-rank bears, the sixth-rank and seventh-rank leopards, the eighth-rank rhinoceroses, and the ninth-rank seahorses.
Those who are not good enough are all trained to distinguish the ranks and status of officials.
Naturally, no one among the ministers objected to this. This way, they could tell the identity of the other party at a glance, so that they would not make jokes in the future because of wearing the same clothes.
"Let's stop here today. Do you have other opinions? If not, then let's leave the court!" Li Chengqian said.
"Your Majesty! I have been ordered to investigate Xu Jingzong's corruption and bribery. I have found out that this was what he did when he was alive. Please take a look at it." Long Zhi, the commander of the Jinyiwei, said and handed the investigation report to the emperor.
Li Chengqian took it and read it carefully. It clearly described how greedy and lustful Xu Jingzong was during his lifetime, how much money he had amassed, and how many good families he had harmed.
"What a wicked Xu Jingzong, relying on my favor, he actually did so many evil things during his lifetime. It's simply abominable."
"Long Zhi, I order you to confiscate Xu Jingzong's property and put it into the national treasury, and issue an imperial decree to deprive Xu Jingzong of all the official positions and posthumous titles that were bestowed upon him. A person like him is not worthy of being buried with the emperor." Li Chengqian said.
"I obey your order!" Long Zhi saluted.
Li Chengqian nodded and left.