Man Tanghong

Chapter 787 Western White Emperor
Li Yuanji saw that everyone had doubts in their hearts, but he didn't explain. He just asked Su Dingfang and Shi Wanbao to go down and prepare with the others.

Conquering Liang State is not a big event.

Compared with the countries that the Tang Dynasty conquered in the past, Liang Guo is really too small, and the small one is not as big as one, so Su Dingfang, Shi Wanbao, Xie Shufang, Hou Junji, Li Daozong and others are enough to fight.

What's more, he also equipped Su Dingfang and others with Yu Chigong, Cheng Yaojin and other veterans on the battlefield as assistants.

So Su Dingfang and the others didn't dare to say that they were easy to catch on this trip, but at the very least they were sure.

There is nothing worthy of attention in the latter part. We only need to supervise the food and grass to ensure that Su Dingfang and others will not be hungry, and then we can wait for the good news.

In terms of food and grass, with the help of Chen Shuda, the big housekeeper who "manages the house well", I believe there will be no problems.

After Su Dingfang and Shi Wanbao left, Li Yuanji said to Li Gang, Pei Ju, and Xiao Yu: "Since the news we want to set up has already been set up, there is no need to talk to the Turkic people any more, and let the people from Honglu Temple On the basis of the list given by Tang Jian, press another [-]%, and then pay them."

This was also done to restrain the Turks from advancing.

After all, if the Turks are paid in full every time, or if the Turks are paid in full after the Turks secretly increase their stake, then the Turks will definitely make progress, and the next time they come to ask for benefits, they will inevitably be mixed with more smuggled goods.

So it is necessary to beat the Turkic people and let the Turkic people take it easy.

Li Gang and the others also knew the truth of this, so they nodded and agreed without hesitation.

This time the discussion is over.

In order not to arouse the panic of the people inside and outside Chang'an City, and in order not to attract the attention of the Turks, the preparations by Su Dingfang, Shi Wanbao, Xie Shufang, Hou Junji and others were all carried out in secret.

After Su Dingfang, Shi Wanbao, Xie Shufang and others met, and told Xie Shufang and others that Datang was going to take advantage of the Turkic and Liang Kingdom's struggle to recover the Liang Kingdom, they began to use various reasons and excuses. Ask the court for soldiers and horses.

Those who knew the inside story kept silent on this matter, and those who didn't know the inside story kept impeaching Su Dingfang and others for their dissent.

However, if the big bosses who knew the inside story didn't speak up, and Li Yuanji didn't speak up, no matter how fierce the impeachment was, it wouldn't affect Su Dingfang and the others in the slightest.

At the end of November, Hou Junji borrowed [-] elite soldiers from the Twelve Guards under the pretext that someone in Youzhou gathered a crowd to rebel under Luo Yi's banner, and together with Fan Shixing's [-] elite soldiers, hurriedly left Chang'an City.

On the third day of December, Xie Shufang borrowed [-] elite soldiers from the Twelve Guards in the name of suppressing the rebellious people in Duji Province. Together with Cheng Yaojin's more than [-] elite soldiers, he left Chang'an City in a hurry.

On the fifth day of December, Li Daozong also borrowed [-] elite soldiers from the Twelve Guards in the name of suppressing the bandits in the Southeast Road, plus [-] of his bodyguards, and [-] elite soldiers led by Li Junxian, rushed to the Southeast Road.

It's just that after leaving Hangu Pass, this army went straight to Daizhou, and didn't rush to Dongnan Road as mentioned in the memorial.

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Turkic prince Yugu brought his envoys and returned with a full load. Now the Tang Dynasty did not need to find all kinds of lame excuses to secretly transfer troops. Li Yuanji believed that there were still dissidents in Hebei Road, and they were making trouble. For the sake of name, he ordered Su Dingfang to be the commander, led Shi Wanbao, Yuchi Gong, and [-] elite soldiers to Hebei Road.

The use of troops this time was not done with great fanfare, nor did it cause much commotion, and it was in the name of exterminating disobedient ministers within the Hebei Road, so it did not cause much disturbance in Chang'an City.

Not long after Su Dingfang and others left, everyone in the Tang Dynasty happily prepared for the New Year. The aftermath left by Su Dingfang and others was also washed away by the upcoming New Year's Eve.

Everyone is ready with a smile on their face, those who wear red, those who hang colors, those who celebrate the harvest, those who pull cloth to make new clothes, those who make new furniture, those who buy a new house, those who buy a new maid, and so on.

Everyone is looking forward to using the joy of the new year to send away all the unknowns of the old year and usher in all the well-being of the new year.

The people in the palace are no exception.

Since December [-]th, various preparations have been made, such as wearing red and hanging colors, paying homage to the sages, and preparing new things.

There are also some people who are preparing for the Nuo Opera Festival that will be staged at the end of each year.

Since Li Yuan has lost his pick this year and is unwilling to serve as the officiant, Li Yuanji can only pull Li Jiancheng out to fill the number.

Although Li Jiancheng's life is no different from Li Shimin's now, he belongs to the kind of person who wears the name of a prince and lives a common life.

But he is a prince anyway, in this very important sacrifice, if Li Yuan does not show up, he must be invited to act as the chief priest.

Li Jiancheng was unwilling to serve as the officiant in name only, so Ma Zhou and other old ministries of the Qi Palace began to ask Li Yuanji to be the officiant.

With Li Yuanji's current status and the authority he possessed, no one would make irresponsible remarks if he replaced Li Yuan as the officiant.

But Li Yuanji refused the request of Ma Zhou and others without hesitation.

Because in the Nuo Opera Festival at the end of each year, the person who plays Donghuang Taiyi is the most tiring person.

Not only do you have to prepare your face and clothes in advance, but you also have to go through seven or eight rehearsals in advance. Every rehearsal, where you stop, you have to stand for several hours without moving.

It seems that it does not require much effort, but in fact it is not only tiring, but also suffering.

Because the weight of the face and clothes is not light, especially the face, it is carved out of willow wood, a face carved from a large piece of willow wood four inches thick, one foot long, and one foot wide, the weight can be imagined.

Putting it on and standing there for several hours without moving will make your neck tired and crooked.

In addition, the time of sacrifice is at night and in the middle of winter, the wind that looks like a knife wrapped in a knife will keep piercing into people's clothes, but the costumes used for sacrifice are very large, and the places with holes are ventilated.

After a sacrifice, even if the face is not tired and the neck is not tired, the cold wind can kill half of the person.

And this process will continue seven or eight times.

So Li Yuanji would not be the officiant at all.

Therefore, after Li Yuanji rejected the proposal of Ma Zhou and others, he did not hesitate to use coercion and inducement to get Li Jiancheng out of the East Palace and let Li Jiancheng be the chief priest.

Li Jiancheng seemed to have guessed that Li Yuanji asked him to be the officiant in order to suffer for him, so he played a trick when he was out of the palace and asked someone to go to the Liangyi Hall to say something to Li Yuan.

Then Li Yuan's will came down.

Although Li Yuanji escaped the fate of playing the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, he did not escape the fate of playing the Western White Emperor among the five emperors under the command of the Eastern Emperor Taiyi.

Early in the morning, Li Yuanji was pulled up by Yang Miaoyan, and began to try on Baidi's face and Baidi's clothes.

"This face was left over from last year. You were not in Chang'an last year, but Uncle Huai'an was wearing it. Now it seems that Uncle Huai'an's face doesn't match yours. We'll have to wait for someone to make a new one."

Li Yuanji stood there, at the mercy of Yang Miaoyan like a wood carving and clay sculpture.

Yang Miaoyan gestured at Li Yuanji's face with her face, and began to chatter.

After speaking, he picked up Baidi's clothes and tried them on for Li Yuanji.

Although Baidi's clothes were not as roomy as Donghuang Taiyi's, they still leaked air everywhere. If he stood on a high platform wearing such a dress for several hours, he would definitely be frozen stiff.

So when Li Yuanji was fiddling with Yang Miaoyan's clothes, he couldn't help but said, "Why don't you let Huai'an Uncle Wang come this year?"

Yang Miaoyan was stunned for a moment, then said angrily and amusedly: "This is a supreme honor, others can't ask for it, but you abandon it like a shoe."

Li Yuanji didn't care about the honor of playing a god, he cared more about whether he would be frozen.

Compared with these ghostly things, one's own health is obviously more important.

"Just say yes!"

Li Yuanji stared at Yang Miaoyan and asked.

Yang Miaoyan rolled her eyes and said: "If father didn't make an order, you can still refuse, but now that father has made an order, if you refuse again, you can only talk to father."

"Then I'll go tell my father."

Li Yuanji went to find Li Yuan without hesitation.

Yang Miaoyan hurriedly stopped him, and said angrily: "Is it worth it to annoy father and have a conflict with father over this matter?"

How is it not worth it?

It's not really competing for the god position, it's just a performance. After the performance is over, there is no benefit other than a little cold pork.

Why do you still have to act?

Do you want to put your own health on the line?

Isn't that a death penalty?
If it wasn't for the people of this era who recognized this way of sacrifice, and cared very much about Zai Zairong's statement, he would want to change the way of sacrifice.

For example, laying a wreath to the ancestors, to the ghosts and gods in the heavens and so on.

Li Yuanji muttered in his heart.

Yang Miaoyan tugged at his clothes, tidied them up, and said angrily, "Now you have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders, you can't escape this kind of thing, you can't escape the first time, you can't escape the second time, escape After the second time, there is no escape from the third time.

One day, you still have to face it.

You might as well get used to it now. "

That's the reason, but if there is a chance to be lazy, who would be willing to suffer?
Li Yuanji asked himself in his heart.

Yang Miaoyan seemed to see his thoughts, and said quietly: "If you don't go, I can only go with Chengde in my arms. After all, my father has already ordered that if you don't go, you can only let your eldest son go." on top."

This can be said to be a lore.

Li Yuanji lost his temper in an instant.

Let Li Chengde, a little guy who has not yet turned one year old, participate in this kind of tossing sacrifice, then Li Chengde must die on the spot.

How can a father let his son risk his life to help him fill the vacancy just to be lazy?

So even if he was reluctant, upon hearing this, Li Yuanji could only bite the bullet.

Seeing that her husband was persuaded by herself, Yang Miaoyan tidied up her husband's clothes with a smile. After tidying up and rehearsing with her husband for a while, she hurriedly went to let the prisoner prepare his face again.

(End of this chapter)