Chapter 596: Gifts for the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration

There are countless festivals throughout the year—ranging from the three major holidays of New Year’s Day, Lantern Festival, and Winter Solstice to lesser-known ones like Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival. For the common people, these major festivals are rare times of joy and rest, while for officials, they represent rare opportunities for leave. As for the poor officials living alone in the capital, even having a family reunion meal is difficult; after all, with their meager salaries, it’s already hard enough to make ends meet in the city, let alone bring their families together.

Yet, the Emperor’s Birthday Celebration is different from all these other festivals. Although Emperor Zhu Di had not properly celebrated his birthday since moving the capital to Beijing, it remains the most important festival of the year in the Ming Dynasty. A few days before the celebration, all officials were summoned to Lingji Palace to practice the rituals. After all, any mistake during the grand ceremony attended by envoys from various nations would be a far more serious offense than a lapse in routine court meetings. Starting three days before the festival, the officials who usually wore official robes to court had to don the ceremonial robes they wore only a few times a year.

These ceremonial robes, also known as grand court robes, consisted of a complete set of clothing that was twice as elaborate as ordinary official robes. Early that morning, with the help of his maids, Zhang Yue began putting on the outfit. His usual black gauze hat was replaced by a three-beam crown, and he wore a top and bottom garment. Underneath was a white gauze shirt, covered by a red silk robe with blue trim at the collar, along with a red silk skirt and red silk knee guards. He also wore large belts made of red and white silk, a leather belt with silver inlays, brocade sashes in yellow, green, red, and purple, silver and gold-plated rings, along with white socks and black shoes. Although he had worn this outfit several times during the rehearsals at Lingji Palace and even before, he still felt constrained as he stepped outside.

“Brother, you look so handsome in these clothes!”
Hearing Zhang Jing’s joyful exclamation, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but bend down, gently rub her head, and remind her to behave well at the Duke of Ying’s residence. Seeing her nod obediently, he stood up again. Turning around, he saw Du Wan holding San San at the door. Seeing his son standing quietly there, blinking at him, he smiled and waved.

This festive attire could be worn for seven days, starting from today and ending three days after the Imperial Birthday. To prepare for the birthday, the Department of State Affairs would cease submitting reports starting today, and court meetings would also stop; all matters would be handled by the respective department heads, with urgent matters to be reported directly to the Qianqing Palace. Thus, aside from a full day of work on the birthday itself, those who were not officials from the Ministry of Rites or the Imperial Sacrificial Office would have rare opportunities for rest during these days, and he was no exception.

Wearing such festive clothes, he naturally had to ride in a carriage. Fortunately, since his return to the capital, he had used carriages much more often than before, and his official green-curtained carriage had already been cleaned thoroughly. Sitting in the carriage, he couldn’t help but think about the gifts for this occasion.

It had been over fifty years since the founding of the Hongwu era. Although the court repeatedly issued edicts urging frugality, folk customs had changed significantly compared to before, and birthday gifts had become much more lavish. Many people even went to great lengths to prepare them starting from the beginning of the year, including military generals and nobles. Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, prepared a hundred exquisitely crafted red porcelain birthday peaches, while Liu Sheng, the Marquis of Anyuan, prepared a Suzhou-style birthday embroidery. Zhang Fu, who was currently leading troops abroad, simply sent two fine horses and two sets of harnesses—the simplest solution. Of course, these individuals were all related to the Zhang family, so he was aware of their gifts; as for those who kept their gifts secret, he had no idea.

As for himself, he had initially planned to give a set of purple clay teapots as a birthday gift. But ten days ago, Liu Da in Nanjing sent a batch of various trinkets to the capital, including a pair of copper-tubed cloisonné vases he had mentioned in previous letters—precisely the treasures later known as cloisonné. At that time, there was no such name for it, and such items were rarely available in the market. However, he knew that the imperial workshop had craftsmen specialized in making small enamel objects, so he didn’t dare rashly replace his gift with that.

Still, having such skilled craftsmen as a backup was extremely convenient. Although he didn’t know all the various formulas, he had at least seen many things from later generations and knew roughly what the materials were, so he simply listed them all and left it to Liu Da to figure out how to handle them. In the letter sent back to Nanjing, he also instructed Liu Da to inquire through the merchant ships traveling overseas about the technologies available in different countries and see if it was possible to hire some skilled craftsmen from abroad.

In the past, officials entering and leaving the palace used the side gates of the Meridian Gate. However, officials from the Eastern Palace and those summoned specially could use the Dong’an Gate and Donghua Gate. Although Zhang Yue was still an official in the Ministry of War, he did not fall into this category, but no one bothered to argue with him. Familiar with the route, he arrived at the Crown Prince’s palace, and eunuchs immediately announced his arrival, so he only had to wait a short while before being led to the Mingde Studio. As soon as he reached the door, he heard Zhu Zhanji’s familiar voice from inside.

“The Imperial Birthday is in three days. How could such an irreparable mistake happen? What on earth are you doing…”

The attendant who guided him was Chen Wu, whom Zhang Yue had met several times before. He was puzzled. Zhu Zhanji had seemed in a good mood when he left just now—why was he suddenly so furious? Glancing at Zhang Yue behind him, he decided to bring him in first; after all, with Zhang Yue around, he might be able to persuade Zhu Zhanji. With that thought, he carefully announced Zhang Yue’s arrival from outside before lifting the curtain.

As soon as Zhang Yue entered the Mingde Studio, he saw people kneeling all over the place. Among them were prominent eunuchs he recognized, as well as many smaller eunuchs bowing in fear, some even trembling violently. Seeing Zhu Zhanji standing behind the desk with a pale face and a box on it, he felt uneasy and quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.

“No need for formalities on the Imperial Birthday,” Zhu Zhanji said, glancing at the box. His anger grew even more, and he snapped at the eunuchs, “Get out! Stop blocking my sight. All of you, go kneel in the corridor!”

Only after they left dejectedly did he turn to Zhang Yue and say, “Yuanjie, come and take a look. These are a pair of vases I had specially designed to be made by the Imperial Workshop. They were fine when I got them back, but now they’re in such a mess!”

Seeing Zhu Zhanji’s face red with anger, Zhang Yue stepped forward and noticed a crack at the bottom of one of the vases, causing him to frown. The paintings and inscriptions on the vases were clearly written by Zhu Zhanji himself, showing evident effort. It was unfortunate that everything had gone wrong, but more importantly, the Imperial Birthday was in just three days. If there was no way to fix it, they would have to find another gift. No wonder the usually calm Crown Prince was suddenly so enraged.

“If it weren’t for Grandfather the Emperor’s birthday approaching soon, and the fact that killing them all wouldn’t bring back what’s lost, I would definitely deal with them thoroughly!” Zhu Zhanji slammed his fist hard on the desk, his pale face filled with fierce anger. “Or perhaps the craftsmen who made this item weren’t thorough enough, which is why such a flaw appeared… Damn it! If they can’t even prepare a proper gift, isn’t that a huge embarrassment?”
“Your Highness, calm down!” Zhang Yue, thinking of the item he had originally struggled to decide on, stepped forward and tried to persuade him gently. “With things as they stand, no matter how much Your Highness presses for answers, nothing will be resolved in three days. It might be better to put it aside for now. Speaking of gifts, I happened to get something a few days ago that I originally intended as a gift; perhaps it can help you out in an emergency.”
Although he knew Zhang Yue was not one to lie, given the urgency of the situation, Zhu Zhanji had to be cautious and quickly sent him back to fetch it. Fortunately, he didn’t need to teach classes these days, so he had plenty of time. By the time the item arrived, it was already noon. He watched eagerly as Zhang Yue opened the box and froze upon seeing its contents.
The deep blue color, like that of a sapphire, was something he had seen in the utensils submitted to the Imperial Workshop before, but those were just small items like wine cups—how could this one be so large? More importantly, its color was far more beautiful than anything he had seen before, perfectly fitting the festive atmosphere of the Emperor’s birthday. After playing with it for a while, he found its craftsmanship elegant and graceful, and his expression gradually softened.
“This is… um, the people from the Imperial Workshop mentioned last time—it seems to be called ‘Ghost Country Inlaid’.”
Seeing Zhu Zhanji’s anger completely dissipate, Zhang Yue knew the item probably met his expectations. However, he didn’t want Liu Da to end up in the Imperial Workshop just because of this item, so he simply said casually, “It was made by skilled craftsmen from the south. I heard the blue glaze was newly formulated, which is why it’s more beautiful than the previous ones. My father’s manager happened to see it and, knowing it was the Emperor’s birthday, bought it at a high price and rushed it over. Since such an accident happened today, Your Highness might as well give this to the Emperor as a birthday gift.”
“This item does seem suitable. What about your family’s gift?”
“Your Highness, though my family’s manager had good intentions, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to give this. Besides, my gift was already prepared long ago.”

What did “inappropriate” mean? Zhu Zhanji understood it all too well. He had also heard vaguely that Zhang Yue’s father, Zhang Zhuo, had engaged in joint business ventures with some high-ranking nobles. So, he no longer hesitated and readily accepted it. Now that the birthday gift was settled, he decided to put the matter aside for now. He sent Chen Wu out to call everyone in, scolded the eunuchs present, then dismissed them except for the leading ones.

“If it weren’t for the Imperial New Year, I would have had to summon the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot to investigate. This isn’t over yet. You must investigate thoroughly later. I want an explanation—don’t think you can just brush this off!”

When Zhu Zhanji was furious earlier, these senior eunuchs even thought the crown prince might use a paddle to beat them. Hearing his words now, they felt as if they had been pardoned and secretly thanked Zhang Yue for solving their big problem.

Zhang Yue was also very satisfied. After all, cloisonné was extremely costly and not suitable for widespread use among the common people. Even if his gift turned out well this time, it wouldn’t mean much and might instead make him a target of criticism. It was far more worthwhile to gain gratitude by using something that would eventually become an imperial exclusive.

Having resolved such a troublesome issue, Zhu Zhanji felt much more relaxed. He ordered everyone else to leave, keeping only Chen Wu. Then he said to Zhang Yue, “At the beginning of the year, Princess Zhao passed away. She was the legitimate daughter of Duke Mu Sheng of Qian. To appease Duke Mu Sheng, who governs Yunnan, Prince Zhao will likely be released for this birthday celebration. Still, rest assured—your merit for eliminating the villains was never properly recognized by your grandfather, but I have always remembered it. Not pursuing it now doesn’t mean I won’t ever do so; it’s just that the time isn’t right yet!”

Seeing Zhu Zhanji’s fierce expression, Zhang Yue’s heart skipped a beat as he recalled the request from Marquis Meng Ying of Baoding back then. It seemed Meng Ying had underestimated the situation. Zhu Di had spared the Meng family out of respect for Meng Shan, the first Marquis of Baoding, but Zhu Zhanji would surely not hold back out of such sentiment. If things went wrong, even the Marquis of Baoding’s family could suffer. To protect the Meng family, precautions must be taken now.