Reborn Tang Emperor Li Chengqian

Chapter 340

Since then, Li Ke has devoted all his passion to investigating corruption and bending the law for personal gain, to the point where he basically forgot to sleep and eat.

After that, not long after, Changsun Wuji asked Li Chengqian to hold a ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven according to the usual practice.

According to the Zhou Ritual Sacrificial Etiquette, the sacrificial ritual of one suburb every three years is performed. The first year is to go to the suburbs to sacrifice to the sky, the second year to sacrifice to the earth, and the third year to sacrifice to the five gods. Every three years, one side is rotated.

The time of sacrifice is set in winter, and the place is set in the suburbs south of the capital, so it is also called suburb sacrifice.

The ancients believed that the great affairs of the country lay in sacrifices and military affairs, and sacrifices became the top priority of a dynasty, held every year, and presided over by the emperor himself.

The sacrifice to heaven is the head of the great sacrifice, and it must be presided over by the emperor himself. This is also a manifestation of the emperor's diligence to the sky and his subjects.

Thank God for his mercy and benefit the people, and also pray for good weather in the coming year.

Generally, at the later stage of a dynasty, if the emperor neglected his administration, he would let officials replace the priests, and a set of complicated etiquette would be simplified a lot.

After all, there are many ceremonies that need to be performed by the emperor himself, and officials cannot replace them. Often at this time, it indicates that the dynasty is about to fall.

Although this is an absurd statement, the ancients believed in it.

After all, worshiping God and sacrificing ancestors were the most basic values ​​in ancient society, and disrespecting God and ancestors would be condemned by God.

What is an emperor?
The official explanation is to be ordered by heaven, to be the representative of heaven in the world, to obey the will of heaven and rule the world.

The ancient ruling class consolidated its position and promoted one of the important theories of "divine right of kings", saying that being an emperor is to obey the will of heaven and accept the mandate of heaven.

When the emperor no longer respected the heaven, the dynasty basically came to an end, and God would not indulge those who did not respect the heaven.

God will re-select the spokesperson in the world. Anyway, there are so many people in the world, and they will always choose a suitable spokesperson.

The new dynasty will replace the old dynasty, and continue to rule the world on behalf of the heavens.

Therefore, sacrifice is the top priority of a dynasty.

Worshiping heaven is a complicated and long-term activity, but fortunately, officials from the Ministry of Rites handle it.

"How is the preparation for the ceremony?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Everything is ready, just wait a few days later, everyone will go to the southern suburbs and preside over the sacrifice to heaven in person!" Wang Quan said.

In addition to various preparations, before the sacrifice, the emperor and all the officials must fast and inspect the sacrifices and sacrificial vessels offered to the gods.

On the day of the sacrifice, the emperor led all the officials to the suburbs early in the morning.

Dajia Lubo is the highest and largest guard of honor dedicated to the emperor when he travels.

All the three major sacrifices of Circular Mound, Prayer Valley, and Changyu Suburb Sacrifice will use such a guard of honor in the military parade.

The Tang Dynasty emperor's Dajia Lubo consisted of several parts such as the guide, the guide, the car, the rear advocacy, and the rear guard.

Walking in the front is the guard of honor, whose main duty is to open and clear the road, so as to ensure the smooth travel of the emperor behind.

The guard of honor for the guide is followed by the guard of honor for the guide. The guard of honor is different from the guard of honor for the guide.

The leader of the guard of honor is a guard composed of 12 rows of cavalry holding horizontal knives, bows and arrows, and arranged at intervals.

Behind it is a huge advocacy band, and there are two advocacy orders in front of the band who are responsible for conducting the performance.The band has a wide variety of musical instruments, and the whole band consists of more than 750 people.

After the band is a flag array composed of various streamers, buildings, flags, etc.Some accompanying officials and the emperor's 24 royal horses were also mixed in the flag array.

After the flag array, there are Qinglong flags and Baihu flags on the left and right.Behind the two flags are the accompanying court officials.

In the middle of this team, cavalry and infantry soldiers with weapons were interspersed and mixed.

Next is the car driver, which is also the emperor's special car, Yuren.

The emperor's car is the core of the entire guard of honor, so the guards are also extremely strict.

Yu Ren is driven by Tai Puqing himself, surrounded by 41 drivers in front and behind, and escorted by left and right generals on both sides.

Following behind Yu Ren were the senior generals and eunuchs of the Tang Imperial Army.

On the periphery of these escort officials, there are many teams of imperial cavalry and infantry with helmets and armor, holding sharp knives, mainly to deal with any possible emergencies.

Behind the forbidden army is a guard of honor composed of peacock fans, small tuan fans, square fans, Huang Hui, Jiang Hui, and Xuanwu buildings.

Then there is a "rear advocacy" band behind the emperor's car. The musical instruments of the band are similar to the advocacy band in front of Yuren, but the scale is relatively small and the number of people is not as large as the front.

Behind the "rear advocacy" are all kinds of cars dedicated to the emperor, which are the so-called ten cars of the emperor.

Behind the car, there is a team of left and right Weiwei soldiers following the leopard-tailed car as a cover.

In this car driving team, there are also some officials from the imperial government office riding with the car.

Finally, there is the guard force walking behind the guard of honor. The left and right infantry teams led by two generals have a total of 48 teams, divided into two square formations, 30 people in each team, led by a flag.

The soldiers all wear pockets, armors, bows or knives, and shields. Each team's attire is the same color, and there are 5 colors in total, arranged alternately.

Finally, there is a flag formation composed of 24 cavalry teams and 12 flag teams.

The same legendary gods and monsters are painted on the flags held by each flag team, such as evil spirits, jade horses, yellow dragons, and unicorns...

Behind the flag array is a yellow battle array composed of infantry soldiers and guarded by cavalry.

The total number of the guard of honor is about 5000 or more.

The mighty guard of honor came to the altar of offering sacrifices to heaven in the southern suburbs.

The altar for offering sacrifices to heaven is generally round, also known as the Circular Mound, implying a round sky and a round place.

First, the god stick began to dance to the gods to welcome the gods to come to the world, and then the emperor led all the officials to salute.

Then enter a set of procedures such as zu, first offering, second offering, and final offering.

The entire process of offering sacrifices to heaven is over, and the time of this day is basically over!

After the sacrifice, the priests will also share the wine used for the sacrifice, which is called "Gu", and later generations will also call it "Drinking Fortune".

The emperor also donated the sacrificed meat to his clan ministers, which is commonly known as "gifting".

Only in this way can the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven be truly completed, and the emperor led all the officials back to the capital under the guard of mighty guards of honor.

Not long after returning, Li Chengqian found out that some officials from the capital and other states paid him some tribute, and he felt that this was very bad.

So he issued an edict: "In the future, officials in the DPRK and other states who offer dogs, horses, eagles and other playthings will be convicted."

First, his legs and feet are inconvenient, and even the best Maxima can't be ridden by him. It is better to use it for the cavalry, which can strengthen the strength of the cavalry.

Secondly, he is not the kind of person who boils eagles and walks dogs. It is really a waste to offer these things to him, not to mention that it costs money to transport everything along the way.

It's better to save this money and use it where it is needed.

It is a waste for him personally, it is better to use good steel on the blade.

(End of this chapter)