A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1043: White man's crime

There is the twelfth lunar month first and then there is the twelfth lunar month.

Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, December 8th has been the Laba Day, and it has become popular since the Laba Festival is the New Year.

For people in the Tang Dynasty, Laba is also a small year. The celebration of the small year on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month only started in the Song Dynasty.

Wu Huaiyu came back late this year, so the Wu family made twenty-four sacrifices to the ancestral temple and to the Kitchen God.

Fan Xuanfu and other women got up early that day to make sacrifices.

Even Lao Wu and his wife came to Beijing from Sanyuan Longqiao with their concubines and children.

Offering sacrifices to the family temple is a very solemn ceremony.

"Are you ready to sacrifice the three animals?" Lao Wu is still in good health. He arrived in Chang'an yesterday and still lives at Huaiyi's side of Yong'an Fang.

"Everything is ready. Will Brother come back?"

If it is too strong, it means cows, sheep, and pigs, all in one set.

But the Five Temples have to use Yi Tai Lao.

If Wu Huaiyi cannot come back today, Lao Wu will take Huaiyi's eldest son to the family temple to offer sacrifices.

"Brother is guarding the northern border, so we can't leave him lightly."

The establishment of a family temple must be strictly based on grade.

The brothers Huaiyi and Huaiyu each had their own temples, which was relatively rare in the Zhenguan Dynasty.

Fourth- and fifth-grade ministerial officials, two temples, and three temples with titles and titles.

Tailao, cattle, sheep and pigs, three animals, all of them, are called Tailao.

"The letter said that he would return to Beijing before the end of the year. It's already twenty-four years old and he hasn't seen anyone yet." Lao Wu complained.

But it is rare for two brothers in a family to have a family temple.

And depending on the number, there are one prison, seven prisons, nine prisons or even one hundred prisons.

In recent years, due to the gradual increase in the population of Chang'an, the imperial court has now issued new regulations. Taoist temples, temples, and family temples are no longer allowed to be built in Chang'an City. After reaching the qualifications to establish family temples and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Rites, they can only be built in the suburbs. .

What is even more special about Wu Huaiyu is that while others built four temples for the first and second grade officials, he had to build five temples.

Wu Huaiyu was a first-rank Sikong and Duke of Jin Dynasty, while Wu Huaiyi was also a third-rank Jin Ziguanglu doctor and Duke of Qushui County. Both brothers are qualified to establish a family temple, but they are biological brothers. Under normal circumstances, the Ministry of Rites only allows one person to establish a temple.

There are many famous families like the Zhang family in Chang'an. A few of them have three-grade or above gold and purple, and they all have halberds in the family, which is extremely glorious.

In addition to the four brothers of Samurai Yu, Samurai Yu also has a family temple.
The Wu family established three family temples in Chang'an, all of which were built in the south of the city, covering an area of ​​dozens of acres and were quite large in scale.

You must know that at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor only established five temples, and later it was changed to the Seven Temples of the Emperor.

But the Wu family got a special permission from the emperor to let both brothers build family temples.

Below the fifth temple, Shaolao is used for worship in family temples. Shaolao only has pigs, sheep and no cattle.

There are three temples for the third grade, and four temples for the second grade and above.

The family temple system of the Tang Dynasty was relatively strict. Those who were below the sixth rank and common people could not set up a family temple to offer sacrifices to their relatives.

This is a treatment that can only be enjoyed by ministers who own five temples. Although a whole cow, a pig, and a sheep are required for a sacrifice, which costs a lot, to the Wu family, this is nothing.

The family has already made arrangements.

"The cow is an old cow, right?" Wu Huaiyu asked the housekeeper.

Although the Wu family is qualified to use a Tailao to sacrifice the family temple, and the Wu family has no shortage of cattle, cattle are very special. The imperial legislation prohibits the private slaughter of farm cattle.

"Alang, Madam has already told me that Shao Te is not allowed to be slaughtered. The old ox in the village is chosen and can no longer plow the land," the steward replied.

Wu Huaiyu nodded,
Some things are careless, and some people will keep an eye on them. Wu Huaiyu also knows that some nobles and nobles will not pay attention to the court's orders. They still often eat beef, and there are many ways to do it.

First, the imperial court prohibited the private slaughter of farm cattle, but old, weak, sick and disabled cattle also had to be killed, but the common people were not allowed to kill them. They had to be killed by butchers designated by the government, and the skin, tendons, horns, bones and meat would be purchased. These beefs were generally not available to the common people. Naturally, it was supplied to the upper-class noble officials.

Of course, many nobles and nobles have raised a lot of cattle at home. If they want to eat beef, they don't have to wait for the old, weak, sick and disabled. They can just slaughter it themselves. They can find any reason, such as a broken leg or drowning. They drowned or died of heat stroke in the sun. Anyway, they have plenty of solutions, and no one really cares about the rich and powerful eating some beef, as long as they don't openly slaughter cattle and sell beef.

With a wisp of tea and a wisp of smoke, Emperor Zaojun ascends to the sky.

The Wu family also prepared rich sacrifices for the Kitchen God, but the sacrifices were not too tight.

But a large piece of cooked pork, a whole cooked chicken, and a whole fried fish, then a pot of wine and a pot of tea, and three incense sticks.

Wu Huaiyu took his sons to worship the Kitchen God.

The wives, concubines, and daughters could only watch from the side.

There is a painting on the wall of the stove at home. This painting was painted by Wu Huaiyu. There is an old man and an old woman. These are the Kitchen God and the Kitchen God and her mother-in-law.

"What's the name of the Kitchen God?" an unknown boy asked.

Huaiyu smiled and said, "The Kitchen God's surname is Su Mingli, and the woman's name is Bojia." The Kitchen God is the same as the Door God. His names are different in different periods. He may also have terms of office. Anyway, the Kitchen God in the Tang Dynasty was named Su Li and his wife was called Bojia.

But despite the kind faces of the two old men and women in the portraits, in actual folklore, these old men are not easy to mess with.

Because the Kitchen God returns to heaven at dusk, white people are guilty.

This means that the Kitchen God will go to heaven at dusk every month to report the shortcomings of people to the Emperor of Heaven.

In order to fear that the Kitchen God would reveal his shortcomings and accuse him of crimes, everyone used to sacrifice to the Kitchen God every month and give him delicious food and drink, hoping that he would be short-tongued and would be less guilty.

God says good things and brings good luck to the lower world.
This is everyone’s good expectation. "Invite the Stove Horse," Wu Huaiyu ordered, and Dalang Chengsi brought a painting, but it showed a horse. This is the Kitchen God's mount, also called the Stove Horse. Today, the Wu family will replace the Kitchen God with a new mount. This was also painted by Wu Huaiyu himself, and it is quite a magnificent horse.

The stove horse is attached,

Erlang took the wine lees and smeared it on the stove door.

This is called drunken command. If the Kitchen God gets drunk and goes to heaven, he will not be able to tell the Emperor of Heaven. The Wu family is not afraid that the Kitchen God will get into an accident while driving drunk.

Then, stove sugar is offered, which is called sticky to the mouth of the Kitchen God, and also sweetens his mouth.

Then put the fruits and burn some paper.
Finally, I have to light a lamp under the bed at night.

Women can also bring a bronze mirror to the Kitchen God Statue at night. It is said that this has magical effects. It is said that on this day, they will hold the mirror and kneel before the Kitchen God. Then they will stand at the door holding the mirror and listen carefully to the words of passers-by. In one sentence, you can get the good or bad luck of what you want to know.

Very mysterious.

In fact, for ordinary people, offering sacrifices to the stove is not only a solemn sacrifice and prayer, but also a rare and lively reunion at the end of the year, and even a day to improve their lives. After all, after giving chickens, ducks, fish, meat, stove candies, etc. to the Kitchen God, you still have to enjoy them first. Shared as a family.

After Lao Wu followed him here to offer sacrifices to the stove, he returned to Yong'anfang. His eldest grandson was still young, and offering sacrifices to the family temple was a big deal. He couldn't be careless. If he didn't go home because of his righteousness, he, as a father, had to help, even though he was the main priest. He is still the eldest grandson.

Prepare a lot of sacrifices and wait for them.
The Duke of Jin's Mansion also left the house with great force and headed towards the family temple in Nancheng.

The ancestor worship ceremony was very grand years ago.
Wu Huaiyu can now be considered a prosperous family. He now has twenty-three sons and twenty daughters, and he is still so young.

Dalang Chengsi led a group of younger brothers on horseback, wearing brocade robes and fur robes, attracting attention.

This time, the family temple was not only held by Wu Huaiyu, although his eldest brother Huaiyi also established a family temple. Even Lao Wu and his other sons now live with the big family and worship their ancestors there.

But there are many people from the Wu clan in Chang'an.
Now the ancestor worship is divided into three branches, one is closer to the warrior Yu and the others, and is attached to worship behind them, while the rest of the tribe basically follows Wu Huaiyu to worship.

Being able to worship the family temple in these three rooms is still better than worshiping ancestors at home. This is also close to the relationship with Wu Huaiyu.

With such a strong family backer like Wu Huaiyu, who wouldn’t stay close to him?

Even some tribesmen who worshiped with the warrior Yu family in the past have died of illness due to warrior Yu, the old patriarch warrior Leng has died of illness, warrior Rang has also died of illness, and among the four brothers warrior Yu, only one warrior Yi is left.
Far less powerful than the brothers Wu Huaiyu and Wu Huaiyi, some tribesmen directly attached themselves to Wu Huaiyu, and attached themselves to the family temple to worship Huaiyu.

Wu Huaiyu didn't care about this.

He is also willing to accept these tribesmen,

These days, the role of the family cannot be compared to that of later generations. This kind of blood and clan relationship means one prospers and one loses.

southern suburbs,

The family temple of Wu Huaiyu's family covers an area of ​​dozens of acres. It is built in a very grand style and has special personnel to look after it.

The family temple houses the Five Temples, that is, the five ancestors.

Under the first ancestor are the fourth ancestors Zuo Zhao and You Mu.

Wu Huaiyu can only offer sacrifices to five temples. In the future, if one person enters, one person will be removed.

Although the nobles compiled family trees and histories, they did not sacrifice all their ancestors at once.

A prisoner was carried up,

Head towards the god card.

One family and five generations,
The ancestors of the fifth generation lived in the middle, with Zhao on the east and Mu on the west.

There are also images painted by Wu Huaiyu based on the contents of the ancestors recorded in the family tree and family history.

Wu Huaiyu presided over the ceremony, and his eldest son Chengsi accompanied him.

Family temples offer sacrifices at four seasons, New Year's Day, Summer Solstice, Mid-Autumn Festival and Winter Solstice, with Winter Solstice being the most important.

Because Wu Huaiyu has been away this year, he now leads his disciples and clansmen to offer sacrifices.

Leading the clan members to worship their ancestors is also a way to report the family situation to their ancestors and pray for their protection.

The sacrifice is completed,

As soon as I got home, I found that my brother Huaiyi had come.

"just came back?"

"I've been back for a long time. I went to the family temple to worship my ancestors. I also came back from Nancheng."

Wu Huaiyi looked at his brother and said, "It's dark."

"The sun is strong in Luzon. I stayed there for half a year this year and got tanned. It's still like summer there now." Huaiyu said with a smile, "Brother, your face has become rough from the north wind."

"There is nothing we can do. The wind at the frontier is strong. The wind is like a knife. I smear butter on my face every day and I still can't bear it."

"Let's go drink tea and chat while we drink."

The brothers entered the study,
Cooking tea around the stove,

"The imperial court has made major adjustments to its policy in the north. Your Majesty wants to restore DTZ to the country."

"Ah?" Wu Huaiyi was a little surprised.

"Li Simo, Prince of Huaihua County, may be canonized as Khan."

Wu Huaiyi was shocked again.

(End of this chapter)