Chapter 1359 - 1286: Coronation Ceremony 3
All the officials turned their heads to look and saw Zeng Yue escorting the imperial carriage forward. Zhao Hanzhang sat gracefully atop the carriage, raising her eyes to look directly at them.
Everyone bowed their heads to show submission; only Fu Tinghan smiled at her and then also bowed his head.
Zhao Hanzhang stepped down from the imperial carriage, glanced up at the Taiji Palace at the end of the steps, smiled slightly, and walked up the center.
The civil and military officials lined up on both sides, following her from the left and right after she ascended nine steps.
Entering the main hall, of course, more officials were left outside in the square. Generally, only officials of the third rank or above were allowed to enter the hall and witness Zhao Hanzhang sit on the dragon throne.
The Little Emperor and Xun Fan had already been waiting inside the hall.
Besides them, Guo Pu stood to one side.
As Zhao Hanzhang approached the dragon steps, Guo Pu stepped forward to announce the divine mandate.
Indeed, it was the divine mandate, signifying that Zhao Hanzhang’s inheritance of the throne was agreed upon by Heaven. His three divinations all resulted in great auspiciousness, indicating Heaven’s favor upon Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang listened quietly, only speaking once he finished, "I am grateful for Heaven’s choice. Having received the great treasure, I must first thank the people’s trust; secondly, thank the soldiers’ support; thirdly, thank all of you. This vast realm cannot be governed by my power alone."
"A ruler is like a parent to the people, instructing, caring for, and managing them; officials serve the ruler and the people. This realm is co-governed by the ruler and the people, and by all of you! Only with harmony between ruler and ministers, and mutual affinity between ruler and people, and love between officials and people, can we achieve great endeavors, and the realm flourish!"
The officials bowed and kneeled, expressing, "We obey your command!"
Guo Pu said, "Please, the new emperor, receive the seal."
The awestruck Little Emperor quickly held up the Jade Seal, stepped forward, and bowed to present it to Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang accepted it, then he and Xun Fan both kneeled, saluting, "Ministers, Sima Ye pay respects to Your Majesty."
The officials then rose, following Guo Pu’s order to perform three prostrations and nine bows, shouting in unison, "We pay respects to Your Majesty, we pay respects to Your Majesty..."
Outside in the square, thousands followed suit by kneeling and kowtowing, their voices echoing skyward, even reaching the avenues of the inner city.
Early in the morning, citizens crowded in the inner city listened for the commotion. Upon hearing the call, they kneeled and kowtowed along.
The people behind on the streets couldn’t hear the voice but seeing those in front kneel, they followed by kneeling and kowtowing.
From the inner city to the outer city, everyone knew today was Zhao Hanzhang’s coronation day. Seeing those in front kneel, they all followed suit.
Street vendors abandoned their stalls, even shopkeepers and owners ran out of their shops, joining the citizens, raising their robes and kneeling.
Holding the Jade Seal, Zhao Hanzhang walked to the dragon throne, sat down, and gazed into the distance as if her vision passed through the palace, square, and Imperial Palace, meeting the eyes of the people in the inner and outer city of Luoyang.
Heaven’s will and the people’s will, she chose the people’s will;
Heaven’s mandate and the people’s mandate, she also chose the people’s mandate.
Since the Shang and Zhou eras considered emperors as Heaven’s children, the concept of the divine mandate persisted until Dong Zhongshu explicitly proposed the notion of "divine conferment of monarchal power," becoming a universal belief.
Thus, the populace upheld and respected emperors like they did deities.
However, after Cao Mao was killed in the street by the Sima Family, this consensus collapsed, with the legitimacy and rationality of Heaven’s mandate questioned.
If the emperor was Heaven’s child, a deity-chosen leader, how could he be killed in the street?
Yet those who killed him became emperors.
If Heaven’s child lacked divine protection, could they still be called Heaven’s child?
This collapse in belief accelerated dynastic changes, as no new theory emerged to replace it, questioning the legitimacy and rationality of emperor succession, intensifying the power struggle until the Ming Dynasty, when the concept of emperor bestowed by popular will officially replaced Heaven’s mandate.
Zhao Hanzhang was, of course, willing to accept the divine mandate; she desired both Heaven’s and the people’s mandate, hoping for a more accurate recognition in the realm.
The people’s will is Heaven’s will; heaven establishes the king for the people.
Heaven’s will evolves with the people’s will.
Reasserting Mencius’s view that "people are precious, state affairs come second, rulers are minor."
Only uncertain how many civil and military officials present grasped her hint, but she would only allude to it, not teach.
After the officials completed the three prostrations and nine bows, Zhao Hanzhang officially determined the era name, "The country is named Hua, the year name is Yuanzhen."
This era name was decided after lengthy discussions between Zhao Hanzhang and ministers, derived from the first hexagram in "The Book of Changes," Qian hexagram, significance in "Initiation, smooth progression, beneficial, firm persistence."
All characters are extremely auspicious.
Zhao Hanzhang stated, "Since the characters used in my name are quite common, there’s no need for evasion."
Previously considering avoidance, the officials opposed her using "Zhen" for the era name; one certainly couldn’t omit strokes or replace it when writing documents in "Yuanzhen" X year.
But counting her name, all four characters are common, making widespread avoidance impractical for the people.
So Zhao Hanzhang straightforwardly decided no avoidance was necessary for her name.
Only then did the officials agree to her using the era name Yuanzhen.
Zhao Hanzhang generously stated that since the year was mostly over, she only decided on the era name, with formal change occurring after the start of the year, thus this year remained under the Little Emperor’s era name, Jianxing.
The Little Emperor was still somewhat moved; no, from now, he should be called Prince An.