On the 28th day of the 12th lunar month in the 19th year of Chongzhen, the capital was filled with joy and peace.
As the New Year approaches, there is a constant stream of people coming and going on Qianmen Street.
"Mutton, fresh mutton! They are all fat sheep from the Mongolian grasslands, just bought from the government troops who won the battle in Xuanfu and Datong, and they are slaughtered and sold right away!"
"Selling cattle, selling cattle, top-quality yellow cattle from the Mongolian grasslands, only twelve taels of silver per head!"
The vendors were shouting their wares hard on the street.
The people walking around the streets kept saying, "Oh my god, this is too expensive! It was sold at this price last year and it's still sold at this price this year! The imperial court won a great victory on the grassland and seized countless cattle and sheep. It should be cheaper, right?"
"Yeah, cheaper."
"It's all hard-earned money, so it can't be cheap."
While ordinary people were buying New Year's goods, officials in Beijing were busy giving gifts.
Officials lined up to meet the cabinet chief, Li Banghua.
Although he was not in Beijing, his power and influence were there, and the officials dared not refuse to send him gifts.
The door of the Li Mansion was tightly closed, and except for the occasional servants coming in to buy groceries, no one else was allowed in.
It’s not that the people in the Li family are aloof, but that Li Banghua himself is not in Beijing and it is inconvenient for him to accept gifts from officials.
After all, they didn't know whether there were political enemies among these officials who gave gifts. If Li Banghua fell into the trap of his political enemies, it would be a disaster for him.
After waiting for a long time, the officials realized that it was hopeless to send gifts, so they left and headed towards Fan's house.
Unlike Li’s Mansion, the door of Fan’s Mansion was wide open.
There was a constant stream of officials coming in and out.
Fan Jingwen's move was not corruption, but a reassurance to the officials below.
Treating guests and giving gifts has been a common practice since ancient times.
Regardless of whether the gift is valuable or not, the act of giving and receiving gifts has many profound meanings.
Just imagine this.
If you give your boss a gift during the Chinese New Year, how will your boss feel when he accepts it?
What will be the employees’ mentality if their boss refuses to accept the money?
Employees will feel at ease only if their boss accepts gifts.
Because accepting gifts represents recognition.
Recognition of work, recognition of behavior, or recognition of the employee himself.
If you don't accept gifts, employees will have suspicious thoughts.
His first thought was that his boss did not approve of him and he would be targeted in every way in the coming year.
Once this idea comes into being, there is a high probability that the subsequent work will be done perfunctorily or even deliberately disrupted.
Some even feel that they will be fired sooner or later, so they might as well set a trap for their boss in advance and hurt each other.
By the time the boss reacted, it was too late!
This shows the importance of giving and receiving gifts!
As one of the old foxes in the cabinet, Fan Jingwen would certainly not let this happen, so he simply opened the door to receive him.
Not all officials can see him, it depends on their rank.
Those with high ranks will be received personally by Fan Jingwen, while those with low ranks will be directly greeted by Mrs. Fan and the housekeeper.
"I won't accept any gifts this New Year. The only gifts I'll accept are cigarettes with filters, soap, fine salt and tea leaves! Nothing else!" Fan Jingwen, the Deputy Prime Minister, instructed his wife.
"Why, sir?"
"Cigarettes can be smoked, soap can be used up, fine salt can be eaten, and tea can be drunk! These things are consumables. Although they are expensive, they will not leave any evidence, and the court will not investigate further."
"Others are not acceptable, especially cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings. Not only will they leave evidence, but they may also be fakes."
When mentioning the word fake, Fan Jingwen showed a painful expression.
"I understand, sir."
"By the way, after receiving a gift, you must return a gift of similar value, and it must be registered."
"Don't worry, sir. I've remembered everything."
Inside the Qianqing Palace, Chongzhen was listening to Wang Chengen's report on the arrangements for the festival.
"After welcoming the God of Wealth on New Year's Eve, the inner court will give lucky money to all children of officials in Beijing according to the emperor's instructions. The lucky money is 100 copper coins strung together with red strings and woven into the shape of a dragon."
In the Ming Dynasty, people would welcome the God of Wealth on the morning of New Year's Eve and give children New Year's money after welcoming the God of Wealth.
The practice of lucky money can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. It evolved from the practice of giving money to suppress evil spirits, which means that the children would be protected from evil spirits in the new year.
Seeing that Chongzhen had no objection, Wang Chengen continued, "Before the night of New Year's Eve, the inner court will send the emperor's gifted dishes to the nobles and the six ministers. The main dishes are chicken, duck, fish and lamb, and the others are side dishes."
(After cooking the fish on New Year's Eve, try not to eat it to symbolize abundance every year.)
"Well," Chongzhen nodded and stopped listening.
The rest were all matters of the palace. Since the rules of the palace had long been established, and Wang Chengen was an "old man" in the palace, Chongzhen was very relieved.
Time quickly arrived and it was New Year's Eve on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month.
After eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, Chongzhen, the Queen and other concubines began to stay up all night.
A huge fire broke out in the courtyard of the Qianqing Palace.
In the Ming Dynasty, people would light a bonfire in the courtyard when they stayed up to see the New Year in. The brighter the fire burned, the better the coming year would be, including but not limited to fortune, longevity, and continuation of incense burning, so it was also called a prosperous fire.
Sometimes when it snows or rains and it is impossible to make a fire, people put pine, cypress and other firewood in a pot and light it. This is called burning pine pots.
In modern society, many families do not have space to make a fire, so people will keep the living room lights on all night to bring good luck and avoid bad luck.
In addition to this saying, there is also the saying of hiding from the poor.
(There is also a custom of lighting lanterns all night on the night of the Lantern Festival. Those who are interested can check it out for themselves.)
Looking at the bonfire in the courtyard, Chongzhen was filled with thoughts.
He is wondering who he will chop first next year?
The traitor of Nanjing?
Local gentry?
Or...Zheng Zhilong from Fujian?
As the bonfire in the yard burned more and more vigorously, the cheeks of the concubines were also reflected by the firelight, which made them look red and charming.
Chongzhen rushed into the crowd with a smile.
The fire in the yard burned brighter.
Shengjing, Liaodong.
A bonfire was also lit in the courtyard of Prince Su's mansion.
Hauge stared blankly at the not-so-bright bonfire.
This morning Dorgon personally sought him out for a detailed discussion.
The content of the conversation was only one: Dorgon wanted to be promoted and hoped to get his support.
Before, Hauge would have refused without hesitation.
But Dorgon's other words made him silent.
"Before, I was defeated and my position as leader of the Plain White Banner was taken away. Now that you have been defeated, will you also be taken away from your position as leader?"
"We are different! The troops I lost in the defeat were only 30% of yours." Hauge retorted.
"No matter how much we lose, the end result is defeat! If you don't help me, I will let Duoduo propose to abolish your position as the leader of the banner. Daishan and Jierhalang are not good people. They are eager for me to drag you down with them."
"Think about it."
Hauge fell into deep thought.
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