The sacrificial celebration begins.
Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun left Chongde Hall and headed towards the front palace.
This year, because some courtyards were built in front of Daqing Hall and occupied by new departments, the altar was moved outside Duanli Gate.
At this time, as the time approached the celebration time, officials lined up one after another to enter through the right door.
Under the command of officials from the Ministry of Rites, including various civil and military officials, military generals and nobles, as well as clan members, they were divided into three large square formations and entered the venue.
A large altar was built with wood outside Duanli Gate. Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun walked over and were assigned their positions.
There were three large square formations under the stage, and Zhao Zhen stood alone at the front. After Wang Guan, the Minister of Rites, completed the prelude to the sacrificial activities, the sacrificial ceremony finally officially began.
Then Zhao Zhen came to the stage and, according to the arrangements of Wang Juan and Yan Shu, led the civil and military officials to kneel down, pray, supplicate and other complex ritual activities one by one.
The sacrificial rituals of the Song Dynasty were nothing more than heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, and ancestors, but each one had its own special ritual, so it was quite complicated.
At this moment, Zhao Jun was also among the crowd, and he was in a relatively forward position, at the forefront of the civil and military officials. Next to him were Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others, and his ceremonial status was very high.
He raised his head and saw the altar in front of him.
There are many tablets placed on the altar, including Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Tiao, Zhao Jue, Zhao Jing, Zhao Hongyin and other ancestors of the Zhao family.
In addition to the civil and military officials below, there are also a large number of other clan members surnamed Zhao.
He didn't know any of these people.
Among the clan members, the one leading the front was a middle-aged man with a serious face.
Lu Yijian told him in a low voice that it was Da Zongzheng Zhao Yunrang.
Zhao Yunrang's face was gloomy, expressionless at the moment, his eyes were downcast, as if he was looking down at the ground, his hands were in his sleeves, and his attitude was really hard to tell.
But obviously I feel very uncomfortable.
Although Zhao Zongshi is still raised in the palace, after the empress became pregnant, she handed over the five-year-old Zhao Zongshi to the nuns in the palace to raise him and no longer took care of him personally.
And it is very likely that once the queen or Zhang Meiren gives birth to a dragon son, the possibility of Zhao Zongshi being sent out of the palace is very high.
How could Zhao Yunrang be happy?
But all this has nothing to do with Zhao Jun. As long as Zhao Yunrang doesn't make trouble, it has nothing to do with him, so he just glanced at the other party and continued the ceremony.
The civil servants stood in the middle under the altar, the clan members stood on the left, and the military officers and nobles stood on the right.
Officials from the Ministry of Rites presided over the ceremony and sang praises continuously.
Everyone was standing below.
From time to time, as the praise reaches a certain stage, all officials, clans and nobles will bow their hands in salute, and sometimes even kneel down.
During the ceremony that lasted for more than an hour, Zhao Jun looked around curiously at the sacrificial ceremony.
This was his first time to participate in such a high-profile and grand event.
In the past, ancestor worship was held every year in the village. The problem was that he was a junior in the village at that time, and all the specifications were handled by the old people and elders. Those who could be ranked first were either rich and powerful, or had high moral standards, and with him It doesn't matter much.
Basically, he followed the crowd to kowtow to the ancestors of the old Zhao family at the ancestral hall. Then at noon and afternoon, hundreds or even thousands of people in the village ate banquets inside and outside the ancestral hall and celebrated the New Year together.
Now, not only are they participating in the highest-level royal ceremony, but they are also standing at the front of the queue and directly offering sacrifices to Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Huan and others. This experience is really new.
The most interesting thing is that Zhao Zhen, Song Renzong, who was originally in the village ancestral hall, is now the main worshiper, and he has become the secondary worshipper.
I wonder if thousands of years later, if the small village called Zhaojiawan in the central region of the south still exists, will my name be added to the tablets of the ancestors?
"The ceremony is over!"
At noon, with a shout from the Minister of Rites, the lengthy ceremony finally came to an end.
Zhao Zhen walked down from the altar and went to Zichen Hall.
At noon, a large number of banquets were arranged in Zichen Hall and surrounding palaces. Zhao Zhen held a banquet for all ministers and all officials celebrated together. In the evening, they also went to Donghua Gate to watch the fireworks.
As the powerful magistrate of the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Jun followed Zhao Zhen all the way to the Zichen Hall and officially opened the banquet.
Many senior ministers are in the inner hall, while the remaining officials, nobles, and clan members are in the side halls and outer halls.
According to the custom in previous years, the inner hall is more formal, while the outer hall is more casual. Many literati wrote poems to each other to invite each other, and there were signs of singing and dancing.
So now in the outer hall, hundreds of middle and lower-level civil servants have held literary gatherings and written poems one by one.
"Brother, what do you think of my words?"
"Not bad, well written."
"Brother Zichang, come and look at my words and comment on them."
"The writing is good, but it lacks a bit of charm. It would be better if the green trees were changed to green trees."
The outer hall is spacious and has hundreds of tables. Everyone sits on the floor, which is covered with bamboo mats. Although it is late winter and the weather is still cold, various charcoal fires are lit indoors, making it as warm as spring.
Since there are no senior officials or the emperor present, these middle and lower-level officials in green robes are quite loose and not very restrained.
Even though they are all green robes of fifth rank or above, they are actually Yuanwailang, Zhizhigao, Pavilion Minister, various ministers, censors, admonishers, etc. of various ministries. After the current restructuring, they all have real power in each department. Intermediate officials can go further to know the state.
Therefore, to a certain extent, in addition to the ministers and ministers of the Constitutional Yuan and more than ten departments, they are the backbone of the people below. In a few years, they will all be qualified to become ministers, ministers and even prime ministers.
Naturally, he knows everything about the rules of the court.
When the New Year comes, the official family celebrates with all the officials, so naturally there is not so much fuss and red tape. While drinking, everyone lies, sits, or leans with their friends, chatting casually, writing poems, and so on. A lot of fun.
The inner hall is a different scene. The original Privy Council Privy Council, Prime Minister, Counselor for Political Affairs, and Pingzhang Army State Affairs have now been changed to ministers of various departments and Tongzhi of the Political Council.
More than twenty senior officials in purple robes were sitting at attention. Zhao Zhen was sitting on them, and next to him was Queen Cao, who was more than two months pregnant.
Zhao Jun's position is next to Zhao Zhen.
After the banquet began, Zhao Zhen first raised his wine glass and said to the people below with a smile: "My dear friends, on the occasion of the New Year, the whole world celebrates. I hope that the country and the people are safe, and the world will be blessed. I cheer for everyone!"
Cheering appeared during the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, it referred to cheering during gambling. By the Song Dynasty, it gradually became a word of praise and praise, often appearing in poetry.
After hearing Zhao Zhen's words, the ministers also raised their wine glasses, stood up and said one after another: "I wish the official family good health and continuous blessings in the Song Dynasty."
Another minister of the Ministry of Rites said: "If you bid farewell to Mu'er, there will be fireworks every year. Morning and evening, there will be peace every year."
"May your good deeds be preserved for thousands of years. Laughter is enough to keep you entertained, but the joy is still there."
"May you live thousands of years, never without spring."
"When the time comes, let's praise the opportune time."
Various blessing words appeared in everyone's mouth, making Zhao Jun quite embarrassed.
He really didn't know much about ancient blessings.
After thinking for a while, he said: "May your Majesty be happy and victorious, and everything goes well. May your empress be as beautiful as ever, with flowers on her head, year after year!"
"Hahahahaha."
After some blessings, Zhao Zhen was very happy, raised his glass and said: "Come, drink!"
As he spoke, he drank it all in one gulp.
The ministers also drank the wine, and after they sat down, the singing and dancing began.
A group of singers walked into the hall, and musicians sat in the corner. The cheerful New Year music and dance quickly filled the room with joy.
Zhao Jun was actually very unaccustomed to this kind of environment. He didn't have a mobile phone to play with, no Spring Festival Gala to watch, and no computer to use. Just watching the songs and dances was really not interesting, so he focused on cooking. In the Song Dynasty, stir-fry dishes had appeared, which were full of color, flavor and flavor. He ate them with all his heart.
After waiting for about half an hour, the song and dance ended, and all the officials cheered. At this time, Wang Shouzhong came in and reported to Zhao Zhen that this year's best poems had appeared and were to be dedicated to the emperor.
This is also a common practice.
The officials in green robes outside were competing with each other to write the best poems as tributes, which could be considered as New Year blessings. At the same time, if the poems were well written and caught the eyes of the emperor and prime ministers, they would be promoted quickly in the future.
Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "Which great sage wrote a good poem this year?"
Wang Shouzhong said: "It's Song Zijing, a member of the Ministry of Industry and Industry."
Song Zijing is Song Qi, Song Xiang's younger brother.
It wasn't surprising to learn that it was him, Zhao Zhen. The Song brothers were all talented and well-written poems, so he nodded and said, "Xuan."
"Xuan!"
Wang Shouzhong shouted.
Song Qi, who was outside, walked in, stood under the central hall, bowed his hands to Zhao Zhen and said, "I have met your Majesty."
Although these people were usually the backbone of various ministries, except for the censors and admonishers, they were not qualified to go to court. Therefore, Song Qi rarely saw the emperor. Now he entered and stood solemnly, hoping to get a good impression.
Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "I heard that Song Qing wrote good poems?"
"It was just an improvisation."
Song Qi handed the written poem to Wang Shouzhong with both hands and said with a smile: "Because I followed His Majesty to worship the ancestors of heaven and earth, I felt something in my heart, so I wrote this poem."
"okay."
Zhao Zhen took the poem from Wang Shouzhong, looked at it, and saw that the poem was indeed a good sacrificial article, and the content was very exciting.
At that moment, he asked Wang Shouzhong to read it out.
Wang Shouzhong held up the poem and said loudly: "God has a bright virtue, and the round altar displays grand ceremonies. Seven miles away from the south city, when I was three years old and one suburb. Yu moved the forest canopy, and the dragons walked. The mountains and rivers faced each other, and the stars leaned against them. Banner. Silence increased in front of Yue'er, the emperor's spirit came down to express mercy, jade was laid in the capital of Midu, and rice was tasted in the temples of Qing Dynasty."
The content of this poem is majestic and the words are gorgeous. Although there is nothing special about it, it is basically just a pile of rhetoric, but it does fit the situation.
"What a poem!"
"This poem is very well written."
"It has the style of a first-class sacrificial scholar."
Everyone commented and applauded.
Although there are no particularly outstanding sentences in it, it is difficult for sacrificial texts to produce famous sentences throughout the ages.
They are often filled with gorgeous rhetoric, not to mention that gorgeous rhetoric also requires technical content.
Not only is the writing required to be neat, but it must also be smooth and consistent.
Obviously, this poem by Song Qi is a relatively standard piece of poetry.
Zhao Zhen also thought it was very good. He looked around at the ministers and said, "Song Qing's poem is very good and should be rewarded. Can any of you respond to it?"
The style of poetry and writing in the Song Dynasty was very prosperous, and when literary gatherings were held, there were corresponding sayings.
This kind of play actually started in the Tang Dynasty, when Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen often wrote corresponding poems at banquets.
The famous song "Thousands of sails are passing by the side of the sinking boat, and thousands of spring trees are growing in front of the diseased trees. Listen to a song today, and I will be refreshed with a glass of wine for now." He came here to meet Bai Juyi at the cocktail party.
After hearing Zhao Zhen's words, Yan Shu pondered for a moment, stood up and said, "Come on, I am."
"Prime Minister Yan is eight times more talented than Zijing."
Seeing Yan Shu stand up, Song Qi was a little timid. After all, Yan Shu was a great poet with literary names all over the Song Dynasty. If he wrote a better poem for the occasion than him, wouldn't he be suppressed by his literary reputation?
So Song Qi quickly surrendered and said: "If Yan Xiang wrote the lyrics, then Zijing would probably have to hide his face and go away."
"Hahahahaha."
Yan Shu was very happy to see Song Qi relenting and sat back down again.
Zhao Zhen said with great interest: "Which of the husband's poems does Song Qing think can match Song Qing's?"
Song Qi looked around.
Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Li Di and others are not good people.
Although they don't have great literary names, they actually all have good lyrics writing skills, and it's a bit difficult to put them together.
The rest of the people are not bad either. If the boat capsizes and they are pushed down, it would be a bit embarrassing.
For literati, the title of a novel still has to be fought over.
After thinking for a while, Song Qi had no choice but to smile bitterly and said: "Except for Mr. Yan, if you want to write, you can."
In fact, he wanted to pick the weak persimmon and targeted Zhao Jun, who was doing the job.
But I heard that our Zhao Zhiyuan is petty and will probably have a hard time if he offends Zhiyuan, so he is not so bold to tease the tiger's beard.
But when he glanced around and finally took a deep look at Zhao Jun, who was immersed in cooking, he was noticed by Zhao Zhen above.
Zhao Zhen happily wanted to watch the play, so he waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter, all the gentlemen present are reasonable people, and they won't blame you if you can't write a poem. Hanlong, if you can't write a poem, will you blame Song Qing?" ?”
Zhao Jun raised his head, glanced at Song Qi, and said happily: "I don't blame him, but are you sure I can't write poetry?"
"Hahahahaha."
Many of the leaders laughed.
The other ministers from various departments who did not know the inside story were completely confused.
Do the prime ministers and the emperor all know that our magistrate has a superb level of poetry?
"If that's the case, then I choose Zhiyuan to write a poem that matches my poem!"
Zhao Jun's words only aroused Song Qi's displeasure.
Everyone knows that the Zhiyuan Zhiyuan did not enter the official position through the imperial examination, but was promoted to the Zhizhiyuan from the imperial city's Zhisi Si, and only took this position with the support of officials and prime ministers.
Due to incorrect procedures, the officials below were quite critical. They believed that Zhao Jun was not a normal selection and was not qualified to become a magistrate. There was a constant stream of objections.
It's just that Zhao Jun's authority was at its peak. He had beheaded so many people and arrested so many corrupt officials that no one dared to come directly to trouble him.
But writing poetry is a matter of hard power and a matter of literary reputation, so Song Qi felt insulted when he heard Zhao Jun's words.
How could a person who didn't even pass the imperial examination write poems that surpassed his own?
It doesn't make sense.
I must teach this Zhiyuan master a hard lesson.
However, Zhao Jun asked again and again: "Are you sure you want me to write it? Don't you regret it?"
"Sure."
Song Qi said firmly: "I will never regret it."
"That's a poem for the occasion, right?"
Zhao Jun asked again.
"Yes."
Song Qi responded: "It doesn't matter whether it's for worship today or for good luck in the New Year."
"Crack!"
At this time, firecrackers were set off everywhere in Bianliang City.
The sound is getting louder and louder, and the excitement is getting louder and louder.
Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "This poem is suitable for the occasion. The sound of firecrackers marks the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. Thousands of households always replace old talisman with new peaches."
"What a poem!"
"Yes, it's true that the firecrackers went off just in time for the occasion."
"Hahaha, I didn't expect Zhiyuan to be so talented. This poem should be the number one New Year poem!"
After hearing this, all the ministers were stunned for a moment, and then they all cheered.
Song Qi silently handed over his hands and exited the hall.
Zhao Zhen waved to Zhao Jun on the stage, and Zhao Jun walked up to Zhao Zhen's side.
Zhao Zhen whispered in his ear: "Whose copy did this belong to?"
"Wang Anshi's."
Zhao Jun glanced at Queen Cao, who was sitting upright not far away, and answered in a low voice as well.
"Your poems are so good that they scare people away."
"Isn't that why you are going to the fire?"
"I am also doing it for your own good. You lack nothing but a literary reputation. Everyone says that you have no literary talent and that your morals are not worthy of your place. After today, there will be a lot less gossip."
"Then I have to thank you."
"You're welcome, it's all what I should do."
Zhao Zhen said happily.
Zhao Jun rolled his eyes and returned to his seat.
(End of chapter)
