Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Jiao Sacrifice, also known as Jiao Sacrifice, has been the most solemn ceremony since the Zhou Dynasty.

Because this is a national ceremony to worship heaven.

In the Tang Dynasty, festivals were held four times a year in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Zhao Kuangyin is worthy of being the founding monarch and has a pragmatic and good style. He believed that suburban festivals were too frequent and was a waste of manpower and material resources. During his seventeen years in office, there were only four suburban festivals.

Zhao Kuangyi carried forward this pragmatic style. During his twenty-three years in office, he only held five suburban sacrifices.

Song Zhenzong...well, everyone knows it.

This man liked sacrifices and auspiciousness, so he established the ancestral system to offer sacrifices once every three years in the suburbs.

The next person to appear was, of course, Song Huizong. He reigned for twenty-five years and held twenty-three suburban sacrifices.

Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming founded the country and established various etiquettes in the "Da Ming Law". Suburban festivals are held once every ten years. If major events occur, suburban festivals will be added from time to time - such as the new emperor's accession to the throne, the triumphal return of a general, etc.

Moreover, heaven and earth will no longer be worshiped separately in the northern and southern suburbs. From this year, they will be worshiped together in the southern suburbs.

Greatly save the cost of sacrifice!

In order to wait for the heroes to return to Beijing, the ceremony was postponed to the end of February.

On this day, envoys from various countries were waiting in line at Royal Street. In front of them were the civil and military ministers, generals, and troops waiting outside the Suzaku Gate.

Sacrifices to heaven and earth in the suburbs, triumphal ceremonies, and awards to heroes are all integrated into one.

"The emperor ascends the stairs!"

More and more people gathered in the streets everywhere, and finally heard a few bells ringing, and the emperor, queen, prince, and princess appeared at the Xuandemen Gate Tower.

In the sound of ceremonial music, the ceremonial officer directed the civil and military officials to come forward, and then the envoys from the foreign countries came forward.

The ceremony of kneeling and worshiping is usually cancelled, but it is retained on such important occasions.

The ministers knelt down and worshiped, shouting "Long Live the Mountain", and then danced to celebrate.

"Review the troops and horses!"

As the representative of the meritorious officials, Bai Qi led a group of meritorious soldiers, crossed the Zhouqiao from outside the Zhuque Gate, and came to the Imperial Street to march in formation.

At the front were a thousand heavy armored guards of the prince, followed by a thousand musketeers, then two hundred heavy cavalry, three hundred knights... The space was limited, so only a small number of teams were selected for review.

"Boom boom boom!"

The heavy armored infantrymen were selected from the best and were selected to participate in the military parade. Even their heights were very similar.

They were all wrapped in tin cans and moved forward slowly with neat steps.

They didn't shout any slogans, they just moved forward silently, but their feet stepped on the ground as if there were thousands of troops coming.

Li Boxiang, the Dali envoy, was subconsciously frightened and asked Li Renli, the Xixia envoy next to him, in a low voice: "How many such soldiers are there in the Ming Dynasty?"

Li Renli said: "I heard there are thousands."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Renli's pupils shrank, and he saw the musketeers following closely behind.

"What's wrong with Ambassador Li Gui?" Li Boxiang followed his gaze and asked puzzledly, "What kind of soldiers are these holding iron rods?"

Li Renli said: "Fire gun soldiers."

Li Boxiang still didn't understand: "Your envoy looked calm when he saw the heavy armor soldiers, but why did his expression suddenly change when he saw the fire gun soldiers?"

Li Renli didn't want to answer and watched the fire gun soldiers pass by.

Then there were two hundred heavy cavalry and three hundred valiant cavalry. For the first time, Li Boxiang knew that the cavalry could be fully armored, including both men and horses.

The two Zhenla envoys, Jiumosengge and Mojun Mingji, were already standing there dumbfounded.

They came to Kaifeng to pay tribute ten years ago, but there was no military parade at that time.

Although the Chenla-Angkor Dynasty was in its heyday, its political system was too loose, most of the land was not developed enough, and a large amount of money was spent on building Buddhist temples and statues. It looks like it has a huge territory and seems to be powerful, but in fact the army is very bad.

Have they ever seen heavy armored cavalry or heavy infantry?

Mojun Mingji whispered: "This Ming Dynasty is more powerful than the previous Song Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's army is invincible. I should tell Your Majesty when I go back. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty asked us to send young people to come to Kaifeng to study Confucian classics. The emperor's wishes must not be violated.

Brother Jiumoni said: "Of course I know...are their armors all made of iron?"

"It should be so." Mojun Mingji couldn't figure it out either.

On behalf of the soldiers, Bai Qi knelt down and worshiped at Fu Que, while the other soldiers all stood up and saluted because they were in armor and could not move easily.

Zhao Yu, the Minister of War, began to read out the military exploits, starting from Yang Zhi's defeat of Xixia to last year's victory.

Ceremonial music was played loudly, and civil servants and military generals danced again to celebrate.

"Present prisoners!"

War drums beat and trumpets sound.

Several teams of light cavalry escorted the Jin prisoners from outside Zhuque Gate to Xuande Gate.

People along the street cheered and shouted, and some threw rotten vegetable leaves at the prisoners.

Tokyo was besieged and many people starved to death. Of course they could not blame Prince Zhu, so they vented their anger at the death of their relatives on the heads of these golden soldiers.

Wanyan Huonv limped in front because he had the highest status among the prisoners.

When she was captured last year, Wanyanhuo's legs and tibias were broken. She only had to bandage the bones and that was all. After she recovered, she became a lame.

Zhang Guangdao stepped forward to introduce: "This person's name is Wanyan Huonv, and he is the son of Wanyan Loushi. Wanyan Loushi was the second most powerful general under the command of the Golden Chief Aguda, and his son Wanyan Huonv also made many military exploits in the Jin Kingdom. , with the most elite troops of the Jin Kingdom under his command, he joined Meng'an... When this man destroyed the Liao Dynasty and attacked the Song Dynasty, he was brutal and murderous, and countless people died at his hands..."

An official from the Ministry of War went to verify his identity.

One after another, more than thirty Jin generals, officers, and soldiers were brought up.

Zhao Yu ran to the gate and asked for instructions: "All the prisoners have been identified. Please give instructions from your majesty."

"Fa-rectification!" Zhu Guoxiang said.

"Dharma!"

"Dharma!"

"Dharma!"

One after another, they spread from the tower to the outside of the city gate.

Several generals with broad shoulders and round waists temporarily served as executioners, dragging the prisoners to the south end of Imperial Street and beheading them.

At the end of the prisoner presentation ceremony, Meng Zhao, the Minister of Rites, came out and began to read out the contents of the reward.

The first person to be granted the title was Zhang Gen, who was about to retire: he was granted the title of Duke of Gan, Grand Master, Shangzhu, and Doctor Jin Ziguanglu.

When the ministers heard about these officials, they immediately understood that Zhang Gen was leaving the court, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to carry out a large-scale wholesale of rewards.

"My lord, thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhang Gen was extremely excited.

Even if he is about to retire, having this honor while still alive is enough to honor his ancestors.

The second person to be awarded the title was Li Bao, who was credited with destroying the country and destroying the small imperial court in the southeast. He was granted the title of Duke of Puyang County, with a settlement of 1,500 households, and a real grant of 800 households.

Next is——

Zhang Guangdao, the Duke of Yangchuan County, had a settlement of 1,400 households and a real seal of 700 households.

Yang Zhi, the Duke of Jiyin County, has a settlement of 1,400 households and a real seal of 700 households.

Six people including Chen Ziyi and Hua Rong were granted the title of marquis, and 27 people including Han Shizhong and Yao Pingzhong were granted the title of uncle.

Nearly a hundred people were granted the title of viscount or baron. They did not return to Beijing, but were all leading troops at their respective stations.

Han Shizhong was among the conferred ranks, and he was excited but also a little guilty, because based on his qualifications and military exploits, being conferred the title of earl this time was really reluctant.

After much calculation, he only led troops to capture Zhijiang County in a surprise attack, participated in the confrontation with the Jin soldiers in Gyeonggi Province, and participated in the recovery of Shouyang County in Shanxi. He was soon transferred to Shandong to train troops. Facing the puppet army who surrendered in vain, he managed to recover more than a dozen cities in a daze, and he was only a deputy general.

The only explanation is that His Highness the Crown Prince attaches great importance to it.

Not only that, he was also appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province, completely taking over the Zhejia's territory, which was even much larger than the Zhejia's.

Han Shizhong looked up at Xuandemen Gate Tower, but it was too far away to see clearly. He felt that the prince was too kind to him, and selling his life to the prince was worth it. A scholar should die for his confidant.

Zhe Keqiu, Yao Gu, Liu Yanqing, Liu Guangguo and others were standing in the ranks of the military officials.

They have returned to Beijing one after another these days, and soon received their appointments, and they all stayed in the Privy Council and the Grand Marshal's Palace.

Because Yao Gu was the first to submit, he also had the largest official position and had certain real power.

As for Liu Yanqing, Zhe Keqiu, and Liu Guangguo, their positions are neither high nor low. They seem to have reasonable arrangements, but in fact they have no real power. They basically stay in the capital to retire.

Their focus was not on Han Shizhong, but on Yang Weizhong and Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan was granted the title of Marquis this time, and he had a lot of credit: quelling the Huainan rebellion, organizing and training the Huainan New Army, organizing and training the Zhejiang New Army, and participating in the destruction of Zhong Xiang.

Yang Weizhong was awarded the title of earl and had more towns than Han Shizhong. His contribution was to defend Taiyuan twice.

The once famous Western Army of the Song Dynasty was now obviously headed by Wang Yuan.

But Yao Gu didn't care. His son Yao Pingzhong was also awarded the title of uncle this time - Yao Pingzhong didn't have high military exploits, but his generals were awesome, so they also gave him a part of the military exploits.

Among the current Ming Dynasty's armies, the most powerful is the Sichuan faction, followed by the Gyeonggi faction, then the Shandong faction, and then the Western military faction.

The Hebei faction has not yet grown up, and the southern generals are just soy sauce.

The title does not represent everything, such as Li Cheng and Zhao Li. The former only became a baron, but was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong. Zhao Li is also a baron and has always been the commander-in-chief of Denglai, under the direct command of Li Bao.

Everyone kowtowed and presented the reward, and then the emperor and the prince went downstairs and led the civil and military ministers to the southern suburbs to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

Ju Ming rode forward slowly, and countless pairs of eyes fell on him.

As the head coach who won the great victory in Hebei, the prince did not receive any reward. Some people even suspected that the emperor and the prince were not getting along...

Of course, those who think this way are definitely not in the core power circle.

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

"Long live the official family!"

Among the onlookers, a scholar shouted excitedly, and the people around him also shouted.

The accompanying soldiers and horses are brightly armored, mighty and majestic, and the military discipline is excellent, so the people will naturally feel proud.

Li Hanzhang turned to look at the cheering people and thought: "It would be great if Bai Sanlang was here. I met the prince in the countryside of Yangzhou that day. How could he have expected the grand event today?"

Bai Chongyan is still serving as the prefect of Hangzhou and is expected to be promoted to the prefect of Kaifeng next year.

Li Renli turned his head to look at the fire gun soldiers from time to time, always thinking that it was a monster. He wanted to steal a few fire gun soldiers and take them back to Xixia.

After all, he was hurt by the firearm, and Xixia was also quietly studying it, and had already developed a primitive fire door gun.

It requires the use of fuses (not match ropes), is not very powerful, and its accuracy depends entirely on luck, and is extremely slow to build.

Li Qianshun mobilized craftsmen last autumn, and only now have he hammered out more than a dozen.

After much fussing, Li Qianshun decided to build artillery first.