Han family achievements

Chapter 415 Taiyi
The first year of Jian'an, early February.

Chenliu County, where the Forbidden Army is stationed.

After several years of training, Huang Zhong has become more mature, and his every move is quite prudent and dignified.

He followed Liu Bian as he inspected the military camp and said, "Your Majesty, Ambassador Liu still obeyed the orders of the imperial court and did not interfere with the affairs of the imperial army. Except for occasionally borrowing troops to suppress bandits, he did nothing excessive."

Liu Bian looked at the soldiers training at Hengha not far away, pacing with one hand behind his back, and said: "Well, Liu Dai has always been cautious, never makes any big mistakes, and knows what can and cannot be done."

Huang Zhong held the saber in his hand, his eyes calm and following every step.

Beside Liu Bian there were Dian Wei, Zhao Yun, Huangfu Jianchang, Lu Yu and others.

"Your Majesty, do you want to meet Mr. Liu?" Lu Yu said from the side.

Chenliu County, or Chenliu Kingdom, is the fiefdom of Chenliu King Liu Xie. In theory, it is not under the control of Yanzhou Mu Liu Dai. However, in practice, Liu Xie is only nominally the king of Chenliu Kingdom. In fact, all major and minor affairs of Chenliu Kingdom are handled by Chen Liuguo. However, Chen Liu, the prime minister, was appointed by the imperial court. Therefore, it was still under the jurisdiction of Yanzhou Mu.

But Chen Liuguo's prime minister was Dong Cheng, Liu Xie's distant uncle. Dong Cheng paid little attention to Yanzhou Mu, so Chen Liuguo was somewhat semi-independent.

Liu Bian paced and said, "No. Is there anything exciting to see recently?"

Lu Yu thought for a moment and looked at Huangfu Jianchang.

Huangfu Jianchang thought about it carefully and said, "Your Majesty, not yet."

They all knew that the 'lively' Liu Bian talked about was definitely not the kind of lively they had in mind.

Liu Bian suddenly turned around, looked at a middle-aged man not far from Huang Zhong, and said with a smile: "Kuai Qing's family, do you have one?"

Kuai Liang stepped forward, thought deeply, and said, "Your Majesty, there is a ceremony in the county to offer sacrifices to pray for rain."

"Pray for rain?"

Liu Bian looked up at the sky and said, "It's only February and you're asking for rain?"

Kuai Liang said: "It is a local custom, said to be derived from Zhou rites."

Liu Bian suddenly became interested and said, "Zhou Rites? What's the point? Let's talk about it."

Kuai Liang said: "Your Majesty, it was originally a ceremony to pray for rain, but later it evolved into a family celebration. It is said that anyone who comes of age or is born will be blessed by their ancestors. Therefore, both high-ranking and small families attach great importance to it. Than Taiyi.”

"Oh?"

Liu Bian became interested and said enthusiastically: "How long will it take for the Kuai Qing family?"

Taiyi, or 'Taiyi God', was an important memorial ceremony in the Han Dynasty. It was on the 15th day of the first lunar month and overlapped with the Lantern Festival, which shows how much attention was paid to it.

Liu Bian touched his chin and said with bright eyes: "Okay! Second Young Master, you have a good identity, and we can sneak in and have a free meal."

"Yes." Huangfu Jianzhang responded.

He said, looking around, as if checking whether these people were trustworthy and whether they would leak information.

Huang Zhong and others were not surprised. His Majesty's trip to Beijing this time was unusual. It had a strong sense of 'inspection', and he was not really going to have a free banquet.

Early the next morning.

Liu Bian took Huangfu Jianchang, Zhao Yun, and Lu Yu, pretending to be young people from the Chen family in Yuzhou, and sneaked into the Ding family compound.

Lu Yu sat next to Liu Bian, looking at the people coming and going, and whispered to Liu Bian: "Master, we just need to sit here and wait for the banquet to start."

Liu Bian hummed, moved the jar from under the table to the side, and said calmly: "How much gift money did we pay?"

"Three hundred coins." Lu Yu said.

Liu Bian clicked his tongue and said, "It's a bit much. Let's eat more and then bring some more."

Lu Yu had long been accustomed to Liu Bian's occasional "irregularities" and whispered more and more softly: "Young Master... you still have to be careful, some people may recognize you."

Chenliu County was too close to Luoyang, and it was Liu Xie's fiefdom, with Dong Cheng as prime minister. It was not surprising that someone recognized Liu Bian.

Liu Bian nodded and said, "Try to sit as long as possible." Lu Yu bowed in response.

"Longer" is because I want to see more, not really eat more to get back my money.

Not long after, gongs and drums were roaring inside and outside the courtyard, and the singing continued.

And groups of people appeared in Ding's house, coming and going, congratulating each other, and the ceremony was so complicated that Liu Bian had a headache.

"When will the food be served?" Liu Bian shook his legs and tapped his chopsticks, speaking rather impatiently.

"Master, don't be anxious,"

At this time, a middle-aged man happened to pass by, holding his hands, looking at the nameplate on the table, and said with a smile: "It turns out that it is the Chen family's young masters. Is it the first time to participate in our Taiyi ceremony? Wait a moment. , coming soon."

Seeing that the middle-aged man was quite gentle, Liu Bian couldn't help but said: "This is my first time here. May I ask what the etiquette is outside?"

The middle-aged man looked outside and said with some pride: "These are actually welcome gifts, mainly for people close to our Ding family."

Liu Bian understood the intention instantly. It was related to walking around through this ritual.

At this time, the side door was opened, and a group of farmers came in pushing carts of things.

Needless to say, vegetables, pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, etc., you can’t see them all at a glance, and then there are bags of grain.

The middle-aged man became more and more proud, folded his hands and said with a smile: "This is a tenant in Zhuangzi outside the city. I guess Mr. Chen is not uncommon, right?"

Liu Bian remembered what he had seen a few days ago, and immediately shook his head and said: "This is not what our government does. It usually arrives at the end of December, and it won't be delayed until now."

The middle-aged man hurriedly explained: "It stands to reason that this is the case. Wasn't it that the imperial officer who controlled millets was investigating, so it was a little late. Chenliu is not closer to Sili than Yuzhou."

Liu Bian listened to the words, his eyes still on the side door.

I saw various oxcarts one after another, constantly heading towards the backyard, as if there was no end.

At this time, a large number of people came out of the atrium, more than thirty people, men and women, crowded and walked outside.

The middle-aged man seemed to be interested in staying at Liu Bian's place. When he saw Liu Bian's goal, he said, "This is for Beppu."

Liu Bian nodded. Every big family has more than one courtyard. The so-called distinction between direct descendants and concubines. There are not many families out there. The family head must be taken care of.

'How much does this cost...' Liu Bian looked at the boxes held in the hands of those people, feeling quite curious.

Dong dong dong

Before he could think about it for long, there was a sound of bells and drums, and someone not far away shouted: "Sacrifice to the ancestors!"

With a sound, dishes were passed one after another from both sides of the courtyard.

It was almost passed from person to person, and no one moved around until they reached the atrium.

Liu Bian sat a little far away and couldn't see clearly inside, but judging from the exquisite dishes, this ritual cost a lot.

Half an hour later, the bells and drums rang again, and someone shouted again: "Blessings!"

From the roads on both sides of the atrium, men in formal attire appeared one after another, of different ages, all solemn, walking over one after another and entering the atrium.

Liu Bian stretched out his head, but still couldn't see clearly. He turned to the middle-aged man and said, "Are you here to pay homage to your ancestor's birthday?"

The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said: "He is our ancestor. Although he is younger, he is really senior. Our master has to call us grandpa."

Liu Bian said oh, his eyes were still staring at the atrium like everyone else.

Huangfu Jian glanced at the young man with a long look, and calmly waved away three waves of his men.

Not long after, these middle-aged people came out, holding large plates with clothes, valuables, and things on them.

Almost everyone has the same three things, but they are completely different and seem to imply different identities.

(End of this chapter)