Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1096

The Zhongyuan Festival, commonly known as the Ghost Festival, is half of the seventh month and is called the Ullambana Festival in Buddhism.

On the [-]th of the first lunar month, the Han people call it the Shangyuan Festival, which is to celebrate the Lantern Festival, which has existed in ancient times; on the [-]th of July, the Han people call it the Zhongyuan Festival, and worship their ancestors; sage.

The upper, middle and lower Sanyuan Festival is the most important festival in ancient China, with a higher status than Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and other festivals.

The Hungry Ghost Festival falls on the [-]th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and partly falls on the [-]th day of the seventh month.It was originally Xiaoqiu, and some crops were ripe, and the folks had to sacrifice to their ancestors as usual, using new rice and other offerings, and reporting the harvest to their ancestors.Therefore, every Hungry Ghost Festival, every family worships their ancestors and makes offerings.

On the [-]th of July, people visit graves and worship ancestors. Later, martyrs were also worshiped. In some places, it gradually evolved into a festival centered on ghost sacrifices. It is one of the largest folk festivals in China.

The king of Lu wanted to gather the officials of Zhejiang, and needed a name. It was reasonable for the government to hold a large-scale sacrificial event during the Ghost Festival.

To be able to call all the main officials in Hangzhou, the person who sacrificed must not be low-status, just located at the southern foot of Qixialing in West Lake, there is such a person.

Following King Lu's wishes, Xiao Qihui then sent a letter to the officials in Zhejiang, asking them to participate in the sacrifice held at the Yuewang Temple on the Hungry Ghost Festival to pay homage to the Chinese hero Yue Wangye.

Yuewang Temple is located on the bank of Xizi Lake. It was first built in the 14th year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was called "Baozhong Yanfu Temple" at the beginning, and it will be changed to "Zhonglie Temple" in the next year. It is divided into three parts: the cemetery, the martyr's temple, and the Qizhong temple.

The cemetery sits west to east, and the Martyrs’ Shrine and Qizhong Shrine face south. The gate of Yuewang Temple faces Yuehu Lake, one of the five major water surfaces of the West Lake. The admiration of the descendants of Yan and Huang for Lord Yue.

These days, the undercurrents in Zhejiang are surging, and the people of King Lu are running around to connect with each other. The officials in Zhejiang are more or less aware that the sky may be about to change.

For some old people who followed the King of Lu, they were naturally dissatisfied with the court, but for other people who were not deeply imprinted with the Lu sect, or those who had already joined the court, they were very dissatisfied with the current political situation of the court. In fact, it is quite satisfactory.

After all, the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil for too long, and the people of the world were determined, especially when the Qing army went south, killing people like hemp, and Jiangnan suffered heavy losses, which made people afraid of war, no longer want to fight, and hope to live a stable life, and the Nanjing court has already done it On this point, they are doing a good job as officials now, there is no need to mess up the world again, so when Xiao Qihui sent people to contact, although many people supported it in words, they didn't think so in their hearts.

However, although they are not very supportive, they will not stand up against it, because it is a verbal promise anyway. If King Lu loses, they will deny it and continue to be officials. If King Lu wins, then they will be able to stick to Conglong's position credit.

These people thought very well, but who knew that King Lu would not allow them to water ski and force them to express their views.

Xiao Qi would invite them to come to Yuewang Temple to participate in the sacrificial activities. Many people have realized that the matter is not easy, but they dare not not come. Not coming is tantamount to declaring that they are standing on the opposite side of King Lu.

The king of Lu is very powerful in Zhejiang, and he can't fight against the kings of Chu and Tang. In other words, there is no problem in ruling them.

Therefore, although the officials in Zhejiang realized that there was a problem and that Xiao Qihui might have something to say, they still rushed to the meeting one by one.

On July [-]th, West Lake was blocked by the army early in the morning. Zhejiang soldiers holding spears and sabers stood on both sides of the road, and there were warships on the lake.

Many officials came out of Hangzhou City in carriages or sedan chairs. Seeing soldiers lined up on both sides of the road and banners flying, their hearts tensed up.

Xie Kuang, the inspector of Zhejiang Province, was also invited. He came in a carriage, raised the curtains and saw the scene outside, and immediately frowned.

Originally, King Lu's lineage had more than [-] troops, and the subordinate township braves and militia groups also had tens of thousands of horses. However, in the past four years, Wang Yan has used various methods to continuously divide and disintegrate. Some of King Lu's troops were left in Jiangbei, and some Being sent to North Korea, King Lu's troops were gradually dispersed and gradually infiltrated by the court.

In addition, the imperial court continued to compress local finances, reduce the tax withheld by local governments, and strictly control the number of troops in each town, which made it impossible for Zhejiang to raise troops and also limited the size of Zhejiang troops.

Although King Lu wrote a secret letter to Zhang Mingzhen and Xie Qian, asking them to act according to circumstances, but there are a large number of central troops in Jiangbei, and North Korea is far away, so these two people may not be able to help.

Of the original more than [-] Zhejiang troops, only [-] can be mobilized by the King of Lu at any time, of which [-] are naval forces and [-] infantry troops have been mobilized by him.

The dispersal and reduction of the Zhejiang Army's military strength proves that Wang Yan's policies over the years are still somewhat effective. As long as there is enough time, the central government can gradually dissolve the separatist forces step by step. Unfortunately, King Lu also saw this. Therefore, he chose to make chaos in advance before being subdued by the central government.

On Qixia Ridge, His Royal Highness the King of Lu, wearing a mighty golden armor and a scarlet cloak, stood on a high place, overlooking the tens of thousands of troops gathered at the Yuewang Miaozhou, his heart suddenly stirred.

At this time, the red sun was rising in the east, the sun was shining on the earth, the flags were flying all over the mountains and plains, and the forest of guns was intertwined, and the sharp gun heads reflected the bursts of sunlight, shaking people's eyes.

After being trapped for four years, he was like a giant dragon trapped in a pond, depressed and hopeless, and today he will finally soar into the sky.

At this time, he couldn't help but think of the heroism of the year. He fought in the eastern part of Zhejiang and fought for orthodoxy with Emperor Longwu; , approaching Jinling, blowing the strongest voice of Ming Dynasty's counterattack!

Each of these things is vigorous and vigorous, and the aura moves the mountains and rivers!
How heroic and majestic he was back then.

Standing on Qixia Ridge, King Lu looked down at the Yuewang Temple and saw the tens of thousands of troops lined up in a strict formation. He felt a sense of pride to conquer the world. If you don’t shoot, I’ll be scared to death if you shoot. If you want to fight West Wind, you’ll wear golden armor all over your body.”

After hearing this, all the generals around him felt pride in their hearts. They wanted to compete with the court and the king of Tang. Ruan Jun immediately echoed loudly: "Your Highness must be able to wear golden armor!"

"Three thousand Yuejia can swallow Wu. Your Highness now has tens of thousands of people. Great things will happen!" All the generals echoed one after another.

Seeing that the soldiers were gearing up and their morale was available, the King of Lu was also very happy. Xiao Qihui who was on the side also laughed and said: "Your Highness is really wise. He chose to sacrifice to the Yuewang Temple on the Ghost Festival and gathered the army here. See you in Zhejiang like this The situation must be followed by His Highness!"

King Lu smiled slightly when he heard the words. This was exactly the effect he wanted. After unifying Zhejiang's thinking, he set up troops to go north. That idiot King Tang was still waiting for him to cooperate with others, but he didn't know that he wanted to get rid of him too.

(End of this chapter)