We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 981 The Emperor's New Year Day 1 (Part 1)

Time flies, and the New Year is here in the blink of an eye.

As the midnight drum struck, the capital city sank into the deepest night of the year, but the palace began to bustle with activity.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation was brightly lit with candles. Li Che was gently awakened by Huai En and crawled out of bed with a yawn.

Knowing that things wouldn't be peaceful today, Li Che didn't return to the inner palace. Instead, he slept in the Hall of Mental Cultivation to avoid waking up his partner.

After washing his hands with the help of palace servants, Li Che changed into his solemn court robes, and the imperial desk was already set up.

The first ceremony of the new year is called the "Opening Ceremony".

On the imperial desk lay a golden wine cup, its walls inlaid with pearls and gemstones, with a gentle ripple of Tusu wine inside, symbolizing the eternal stability of the imperial court.

The candlelight illuminated the three characters "Evergreen" engraved on the imperial brush, symbolizing the enduring legacy of the emperor.

Li Che took a deep breath, picked up a small golden tinder, and flicked the flame of the jade candle to make it burn brighter.

The flickering candlelight cast interplay of light and shadow.

Then, Li Che picked up the Golden Cup of Eternal Stability and drank the Tusu wine, which symbolized warding off evil spirits and disease and wishing for lasting peace and health, in one gulp.

The warm liquor, with its slightly spicy herbal flavor, slid down my throat, dispelling the last trace of drowsiness.

He then grasped the 'Evergreen' imperial brush, its tip dipped in vermilion, and on the spread-out gold-flecked vermilion paper, he wrote the first stroke of the new year:

May the weather be favorable and the crops abundant!

In the writing instrument, everything was fixed, so Li Che didn't bother to improvise.

He dipped his brush in ink and continued writing:

May the country be prosperous and the people at peace!

Then I began to write:

The world is at peace!

The final stroke concludes the movement with a restrained sharpness.

With the pen in hand, the ceremony was complete.

Huai En bowed and took the red paper, carefully letting the ink dry. This would become the first auspicious omen for the New Year to be archived in the palace.

If it could be preserved until the time of Emperor Li Che in later generations, this calligraphy personally written by the emperor would be priceless, and anyone who dared to trade it would be imprisoned for life.

Li Che looked at the three lines of text, but did not have much of a profound feeling about them.

I don't know where all those emperors of past dynasties got their 'divine connection' from; it's probably just a bunch of people talking nonsense. Anyway, I didn't feel anything.

He felt the weight of the word 'responsibility' pressing heavily on his heart.

He rubbed his temples and whispered to Huai En, "I'll rest for half an hour."

Huai En hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, please don't sleep too soundly, otherwise you'll feel even more uncomfortable when you wake up."

Li Che nodded helplessly, found a soft couch, and fell asleep immediately.

Li Che had barely closed his eyes for a moment before Huai En woke him up again and made him change into an even more elaborate imperial robe.

Wearing a black robe and a crimson skirt, adorned with the twelve imperial symbols and adorned with jade beads, it was incredibly heavy, almost like wearing armor.

Next comes the second ritual of the New Year: ancestor worship.

The Imperial Ancestral Temple stands majestically in the darkness of the imperial city, with only the lights inside the hall burning eternally, illuminating the ancestral tablets.

A long, rhythmic voice rang out; it was the master of rites from the Ministry of Rites, who was responsible for guiding Li Che in the sacrificial ceremony.

Li Che glanced at the gray-haired official in charge of ceremonies and felt a little guilty.

This old man is so old, yet he still managed to get himself involved in the sacrificial ceremony. Feudal society really did a lot of harm!

But soon, Li Che's sympathy for the master of ceremonies vanished.

This etiquette is far too cumbersome, tedious, and long-winded!

One must act according to etiquette and be meticulous in every detail; if one slacks off even slightly, the old man will remind one of his duty.

Incense is lit, and the smoke rises in wisps, carrying reverence to the heavens.

The three kneelings and nine kowtows ceremony requires utmost respect in every bow and rise.

Then, jade and silk and fine wine were offered to complete the communication between man and heaven and ancestors.

That's not all. Finally, one must face the memorial tablet and personally recite the prayer that one has already memorized.

"With our ancestors above, your unworthy descendant Li Che respectfully offers this sacrifice to our imperial grandparents... Since last year, thanks to the blessings of our ancestors and the valiant efforts of our soldiers, we have finally quelled the southern rebellion, pacified Sichuan, unified the land, and restored our territory... Now we offer this complete empire to our ancestral temple, humbly requesting your acceptance and blessing upon our great prosperity, which will last forever!"

When Li Che first started reciting it, he was somewhat disdainful.

Forget about the blessings of our ancestors; it was clearly the soldiers' bravery in fighting the enemy and the generals' skillful command that made it possible.

Their ancestors were a prominent family, and they were among those who oppressed the people in the past. Their role in this war was entirely negative.

However, after reading the entire text, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

The so-called "consolation to our ancestors" is not actually a way to comfort specific individuals, but rather a symbolic gesture.

It is a declaration to history, announcing the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

The Daqing family has only been in power for two generations, but there are still quite a few memorial tablets in the ancestral hall.

Emperor Qing valued family, so after ascending the throne, he not only bestowed honorific titles upon his father and grandfather, but also enshrined other elders in the ancestral hall.

In addition, there are ancestors who have been claimed to be ancestors, namely Laozi, who is recognized as a distant ancestor.

Upon seeing Lao Tzu's memorial tablet, Li Che's face remained incredibly devout and solemn, yet he couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity.

It's exactly the same choice as Li Yuan's. It's really not easy to choose an ancestor with the surname 'Li'. My father is already the one with the highest prestige.

Does Li Jiazhen have any connection with Laozi? Nobody knows, and nobody cares.

This is the game of power, and even ancestral lineage is part of it.

Thus, the ancestral worship ceremony finally came to an end.

Li Che walked out of the Imperial Ancestral Temple with an indifferent expression, and looked at the smelly and stubborn old master of ceremonies beside him, feeling even more irritated.

But seeing the other person shivering in the cold wind, he finally sighed and reached out to pat him on the shoulder:

"Someone, go and put a robe on my beloved minister and find a place to warm himself by the charcoal fire."

The old master of ceremonies was taken aback at first, then his eyes filled with tears: "Your Majesty, I thank you..."

. . . . . .

The first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds, illuminating the vast capital city.

The scene in front of Xuanzheng Hall was quite different.

The royal procession stretched from inside the palace all the way to the end of the square, with banners obscuring the sun and axes gleaming.

Princes, officials, members of the royal family, nobles, and envoys from various countries were arranged according to their rank and title.

Everyone was dressed in their most formal attire, standing solemnly and waiting in the cold wind.

The next moment, bells and drums rang out in unison, and music filled the air.

Dressed in a black dragon robe, Li Che, surrounded by guards and eunuchs, slowly ascended the high throne.

The moment he turned to face Wan Chen, all eyes in the square were focused on him.

This was the time for the envoys to hold a grand court assembly, the most magnificent public ceremony of the New Year, and a manifestation of the supreme imperial power.

At this time, all officials must perform the most solemn "three kneelings and nine kowtows" ceremony, which is the only time of the year when all officials must perform the full ceremony before the emperor.

Li Che had tried many times to abolish the kneeling ceremony, but faced numerous difficulties, especially on such important occasions.

In the end, the three bows and nine kowtows steps could only be simplified into one kneeling.

The master of ceremonies drawled, "Kneel—"

Like waves of wheat swaying in the wind, thousands of civil and military officials knelt down in unison, from inside the palace to the plaza outside.

The master of ceremonies called out again, "Rise—"

The crowd roared in a thunderous cry: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"