Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

There are three types of new emperors ascending the throne: founding of a country, succession and usurpation of power.

Since the old emperor had just passed away, the ceremony could not be too festive. Usually, the ceremony and music procession would be arranged, but the music would not be played according to the system.

Usurping power requires demonstrating legitimacy, and the process will be very cumbersome. The more grand, grand, and majestic the better.

As for the founding of the People's Republic of China, just be happy and that's all. The main thing is to highlight the universal celebration!

On the day of the ceremony, the troops were divided into two groups.

Zhu Guoxiang led a group of officials to Yuanqiu in the southern suburbs to worship heaven.

Ju Ming took another group of officials to the altar of earth in the northern suburbs.

Afterwards, the father and son will return to the city to meet up and go to the ancestral temple to worship Sheji.

Separating the sacrifices to heaven and earth is not to balance the power of father and son, but simply because the time is too long and I am afraid that it will be too late. If it had not been for the founding of the country, the process of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth would have been carried out by the new monarch without even having to be present in person.

Member Lao Bai felt very dignified. He was accompanying him as a special guest and could watch the sacrificial ceremony up close.

Of course, there were more than one or two special guests, such as the old Song Dynasty monarch Zhao Huan.

He even went to a nearby state or county to invite a centenarian to come over. This centenarian has been strictly screened and must be in good health. It would be funny if he died midway.

In addition, a centenarian was granted the title of baron, and 100 households were enfeoffed. Counting the false title salary, he could receive several coins per month (this title is not hereditary and will cease after his death).

Old Bai, whose legs were paralyzed, and the hundred-year-old baron followed him in a sedan chair the whole time.

His eyes glanced diagonally forward from time to time. There were Zhao Huan and Zhu Lian, and the emperor and queen of the previous dynasty were very close to him.

The procession set off, rituals and music were played, and people lined both sides of the imperial street.

Zhao Huan looked at the cheering crowd, everyone was so happy that it didn't look like they were pretending. He murmured: "Do all the people really hate the Zhao family for welcoming a new king?"

Zhu Lian reminded in a low voice: "Officials should be careful what they say."

The team soon passed by Dasheng Mansion, where Song Huizong used to raise his team of sycophants. Now it has been changed to the Wucheng Bingma Si Yamen, which is the police headquarters of the capital.

Local police from Sichuan and Tokyo, wearing linen canvas uniforms, are currently on duty on the two main north-south roads.

Zhao Huan stretched his neck and looked forward. There were officials and guards in front of him. He could only vaguely see the canopy of the royal chariot, but he could not see Zhu Guoxiang and Shen Yourong sitting on it.

A feeling of sadness arises spontaneously. I succeeded to the throne as emperor last year, and it was not so grand!

There was even an elephant dressed in red and green in the honor guard in front.

Elephants are usually kept in Yujin Garden. This time, the circle mound used to worship the heaven is also in Yujin Garden.

Last year, there were four elephants, but three were kidnapped by the Jin soldiers. Wanyan Zongwang planned to take them back to Wu for begging. This end belongs to the survivors. When the Jin soldiers arrested them, they ran away in fear and trampled several Jin soldiers to death. They fled all the way to the south and were discovered by Ju Ming's troops.

Exiting Nanxunmen, heading southwest is Yujin Garden.

Zhao Huan once again fell in love with the scene. Yujin Garden was not only a royal zoo, not only a place to worship heaven during the winter solstice, but also a place for leisure and entertainment for the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasties.

Since being established as the prince, Zhao Huan has been invited here every year to participate in the spring imperial archery conference held by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.

In the Royal Shooting Conference, there must be Liao envoys, but later they were replaced by Jin envoys.

Regardless of whether they were civil servants, generals, or members of the royal family, as long as they defeated the Liao and Jin envoys in archery, they would be heavily rewarded by the emperor.

Zhao Gou was also among the crowd watching the ceremony. He still remembered that in the early spring of last year, he was awarded a brocade robe for hitting the target with his archery. Among all the princes, his performance was the most outstanding. Although he did not surpass Jin Envoy, he also received praises from hundreds of officials.

Things are different and people are different!

Because Yujin Garden was plundered by the Jin soldiers, there were not many rare animals left in it, and some pavilions and pavilions were even burned down by the Jin soldiers.

Last winter, we used work-for-relief to repair the garden.

The burnt-out pavilions are difficult to restore quickly. They are filled with earth and planted with flowers and trees. The overall structure is not in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

The circle mound has also been repaired, and Taichang Temple has arranged it.

These special spectators, except Mr. Bai, are arranged outside the circle. He can continue to sit for the time being, and then stand up when the ceremony begins at an auspicious time.

Grandma Yan was not far away, smiling and sitting there looking around.

Zhu and his son compiled a set of ancestral pedigrees and did not rely on celebrities to identify relatives. It is only said that the ancestor was a merchant surnamed Zhu in the Southern Tang Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty's southern expedition, his family fled to Fujian, and then moved to Guangdong and Guangxi.

Zhu Guoxiang usually treats Grandma Yan as a foster mother, but now when it comes to the issue of Zhu's Ancestral Temple, a strict distinction must be made.

Bai Qi refused to change his surname, so Mrs. Yan could only incorporate it into the Bai family tree. She herself couldn't get used to living in the palace. Recently, she went to Daxiangguo Temple to worship Buddha. She felt very comfortable in the temple's monastery.

When the weather gets warmer, Grandma Yan will go south to live with her grandson and granddaughter-in-law. She keeps thinking that she has never met her great-grandson.

Suddenly, there was great ceremony and music.

If it was the Ming and Qing dynasties, it would be time to play Zhonghe Shao music, which was an adaptation and combination of ancient elegant music in the early Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, the Zhenghe music and songs compiled by Song Huizong himself are used.

The music and songs of the Northern Song Dynasty have been revised many times. Song Huizong's "Zhenghe Five Rites and New Rituals" is a masterpiece of the music and songs of the two Song Dynasties. This foolish emperor could not do anything else, and his artistic attainments must be affirmed. The Zhu family and his son did not bother much, and most of them adopted Song Huizong's Zhenghe Xinyi.

The musicians are playing, the singers are praising the gods, and the dancers are dancing to invite the gods.

But when it comes to dance, it can be divided into literary dance and martial dance, both of which originate from ancient sacrificial rituals.

The music begins with the music of "Xing'an" used to invite the gods to come, and then comes the group songs and dances to communicate with God Haotian.

Accompanied by the music of "Jia'an", the dancers danced slightly, the singers sang hymns to welcome God, and Zhu Guoxiang led hundreds of officials to give gifts to God.

Then he played the music of "Feng'an" and dedicated the grains to Haotian God. He promised that he would lead all the people to cultivate hard, and also asked God to bless the country's food harvest.

This time, corn and sweet potatoes were specially offered to express the hope that God would accept and protect them as he brought new crops to China.

Immediately, the music of "Xi'an" played, the cultural dancers retired, and the martial arts dancers came on.

The music became more cheerful, the dance became more intense, and Zhu Guoxiang offered wine to God, inviting God to drink and celebrate with him.

After the officials toasted and drank together, they also followed the dance and looked at the sky from time to time, as if God Haotian was watching them.

This kind of atmosphere is very mysterious. The music, singing, dancing, venue...the combined influence of many factors makes it appear so solemn, solemn and pious. Even Zhu Guoxiang was unknowingly infected and couldn't help but look to the sky to try to see something.

After two more songs and dances, this set of sacrificial songs finally came to an end.

After the Haotian God was sent away, the ceremony of worshiping the heaven was almost completed. Zhu Guoxiang gave a speech on behalf of the Haotian God.

"It's a worthwhile trip, it's a worthwhile trip," Lao Bai said to his son in high spirits. "It's worth coming to Tokyo just to worship heaven. Not to mention Yangzhou, how can we see it in Hanzhong?" It’s a pity that my legs are disabled and I can’t dance for God.”

Bai Chongwen danced along and said happily: "I dance for God, and I will definitely be blessed."

Grand Po Yan wanted to put her hands together, but almost blurted out "Amitabha". I suddenly thought that something was wrong with this god, so I knelt down and held my hands, and said silently: "God bless the Zhu family for thousands of years, and bless the Bai family for generations to come. This old lady kowtows to the Lord."

Compared with the title of God, people prefer to call God God or God.

Shen Yourong was in a state of confusion the whole time, following the etiquette officer in various actions. Although she had been mentally prepared, accompanying Zhu Guoxiang to worship heaven was still a bit awkward because too many people were paying attention.

Standing in front of the circle, it feels like life is a big dream.

How could she, a widow, become the founding queen?

After the heaven-sacrifice ceremony was over, Zhu Guoxiang led everyone back to the city and to the Ancestral Temple in the southeast of the inner city.

The earth-sacrifice ceremony led by Ju Ming in the north of the city was slightly later than the heaven-sacrifice ceremony. But it was also closer to the Ancestral Temple. The father and son returned to the city one after the other. The time was calculated in advance and they arrived almost at the same time.

As soon as Zhu Guoxiang lined up, Zhu Ming brought people over to join them.

The music for worshiping the Ancestral Temple follows Song Huizong's Zhenghe Xinyi, but most of the lyrics have been changed, because many of the previous lyrics were in praise of Zhao Kuangyin.

There are four tablets placed on the Ancestral Temple, and the names of the four generations of ancestors are all made up!

After the ceremony was completed, the father and son took hundreds of officials and entered the imperial city from Xuande Gate. They read out the imperial edict on the city tower and accepted the congratulations and worship of the officials and people.

Then a general amnesty was granted to the whole country, except for the death penalty and exiled prisoners, and the prison sentence was reduced to five years at most.

Then announced the change of administrative division——

Hebei Lianglu was changed to Hebei Province.

Jingdong Road was changed to Shandong Province.

Hedong Road was changed to Shanxi Province.

Yongxing Military Road and Qinfeng Road were changed to Shaanxi Province.

Chuanxia 4th Road and Jingnan Road (excluding Dengzhou and Tangzhou) were changed to Sichuan Province.

Beijing North Road, plus Dengzhou and Tangzhou, were changed to Henan Province.

Huainan Road was changed to Huainan Province.

The scope of jurisdiction is roughly the same as that of later generations, but there are many differences for the time being, which will need to be changed in the future when the whole country is unified.

For example, Xuzhou now belongs to Shandong.

For example, Hanzhong and Hubei now belong to Sichuan.

These must be adjusted to prevent local governments from becoming larger and possessing separatist power.

After Xixia is destroyed and the rule of the Hexi Corridor is consolidated, another Gansu will be created.

Each province has the left chief envoy as the chief and the right chief envoy as the deputy. This makes the powers and responsibilities more clear and the autonomy of local civil servants strengthened.

Unlike those transfer envoys in the Song Dynasty, they were originally dispatched officials from the Third Division and were not considered officials in charge of local government from the beginning. Later, power was continuously expanded and then weakened, creating a mess of checks and balances. There are many practical government affairs that the transfer envoy can manage or not. He can manage but cannot fully manage them. He wants to but cannot.

Unclear authority and unclear responsibilities!

This set of reform plans shocked old Song officials, and even Sichuan officials were surprised.

The person who was appointed as the chief envoy seemed to be struck by lightning of happiness.