"What's the big deal?" Xia Yuanlong asked.
"I want to gather the famous scholars and scholars in Nanjing to hold a grand ceremony at the Confucius Temple, in order to gather people's hearts and make the literary world share the same hatred and support the New Deal."
"This is in line with Brother Zhong Fang's wishes!" Xia Yuanlong looked at Yang Huaisheng and said.
"You can use this to rectify the ancient rituals and music and return to the meaning of the ancient times. This is a truly good thing." Yang Huaisheng nodded towards Yuanlong and said with a smile.
"This musical instrument used in sacrifices is a must-buy." Wei Huai said.
Xia Yuanlong said: "If you are going to hold a ceremony and need a lot of things, why not write down the number of things and then buy them one by one? In order to avoid missing anything and losing precision."
"Okay! I'll get a pen and paper." Yang Huaisheng immediately went to the table to grind the ink, soaked the pen in the inkstone, reached for a piece of white paper, and wrote out one by one according to Xia Yuanlong's words:
Twelve pieces of piano and twelve pieces of Xiao
Two chime bells and eight harems
Two pans and three drums
Six flutes, six xuns
Six pieces of Sheng and six pieces of Sheng
Six pieces of pipes and six branches of tubes
A total of seventy-five pieces
After Yang Huaisheng finished writing, he handed it to the three of them. The three of them read the list and found that there were no mistakes. When everything was ready, Wei Huai began to make arrangements: he asked Yang Huaisheng to buy utensils;
Within a few days, everything was ready. Xia Yuanlong led thirty-six Confucian boys to perform music and dance. Yang Huaisheng volunteered to teach them how to practice rituals and music. Wei Huai invited many famous Confucians to set a date for the ceremony.
Xia Yuanlong saw that it was still early before the day of the ceremony, so he suggested to Wei Huai: "Since it is still early, why not take advantage of this to build an altar and a room in a crowded place. If you need to call on the people and preach about important events, , I only go to the altar to give orders, so I don't have to come here and go there every day, and I have no fixed place to live. Isn't it inconvenient?"
Wei Huai said: "Renying's plan is very clever! I wonder if the altar is famous?"
Xia Yuanlong frowned and then said with a smile: "How about taking the meaning of 'brainstorming' to show my desire to be friendly with the people, and call it 'brainstorming forum'?"
"The word 'collection' seems to mean that we only collect other people's words and say nothing ourselves. Why not name it 'Guangsi Forum', which not only allows us to listen to advice, but also has the ability to call on others." What do you think is good but not good?"
Xia Yuanlong quickly handed over to Wei Huai: "Brother Wei is the most knowledgeable, Yuanlong is really willing to be the inferior!" After saying that, the two of them laughed.
"I wonder where to choose the altar?" Wei Huai asked again.
"I think the old stage on the street can be used as an altar!" Xia Yuanlong replied.
The stage is located on the east side of a wide street. In the past, Wei Huai used it as a place to talk about the New Deal, but he has not been there for many days. This stage has been abandoned for a long time. It used to have two floors. The upper stage has completely collapsed and is covered with cobwebs. Only the foundation below is still intact. Wei Huai then funded the demolition of the old stage, leaving an empty wasteland, which was covered with white bricks, and a bamboo house was built on it, with a plaque inscribed "Guangsi Tan" hanging on the house. It is a coincidence that as soon as the altar was built, it happened to be the day of the festival.
Wei Huai didn't even have time to see what the altar looked like, so he was dragged by Xia and Yang, together with a group of famous scholars, to the Confucius Temple.
This Confucius Temple stands high on a hillside. They only had a few people to carry their musical instruments and carefully climbed the stone steps step by step. They didn't want to go fast, but wanted to be safe, so they walked slowly to the front of the temple. When they walked to the door, they saw a pine tree planted on both sides, and flowers and plants planted beside it, covering the winding path, and surrounded by trees on all sides, as if to isolate the place from the world, like a paradise. Feel the shade and tranquility. Pushing the temple door gently, I immediately saw the image of the Holy Master in front of me. There was a cauldron of incense in front of me, and a large hall behind me. There are two study rooms on both sides, which are quite spacious.
Wei Huai asked the temple attendants to clean up the study, and then moved in the bells, pans, drums and other heavy objects first, and then brought up the light objects such as harps and harps, and piled them together in the study. Yang Huaisheng carried more livestock down below, opened the palace door, placed the cattle and sheep covered in red satin in the divine kitchen to the east, ordered the kitchen servants to wash them, and then slaughtered them as sacrifices when the ceremony began tomorrow. things.
After everyone finished their work, they came out of the temple and saw that it was getting dark. A group of people took a rest in a nearby hotel.
The next morning, Yang Huaisheng woke up, hurriedly patted Wei Huai and Xia Yuanlong, and called out: "You two worthy brothers, don't sleep now! We still need to prepare for the ceremony." Wei Huai nodded. Agreeing, he yawned and stood up lazily; then, all the Confucian scholars slowly fell asleep and went to the temple to perform sacrifices together.
The musicians and dancers have been arranged and the musical instruments are in their proper positions. Wei Huai has changed into his official uniform and is waiting outside the temple, waiting for the sound of the bell to sound and everything is ready.
As noon approached, more and more people came to watch the grand ceremony. They gathered outside the temple and stared curiously at Wei Huai, who was standing solemnly.
"The chief priest comes to the hall to salute——"
The bell rang loudly, and Wei Huai took a breath, stepped lightly, crossed the threshold of the temple, and saw dancers standing by the road, holding blue-red pheasant feathers. The feathers were gently swayed by the refreshing breeze, and they watched intently. Ahead, undisturbed. Wei Huai walked along the path on the west side and reached the washroom. There were two people waiting there. One of them was carrying a copper basin filled with water. They walked to Wei Huai and put his cane aside. He supported him a little; another person held a copper spoon and scooped out the water. Wei Huai scooped up the water with both hands, and the poured water gathered in the palm of his hand. At this moment, everything was quiet, the music and dancing had not started, and the whole temple could only Hear the soft gurgling sound of clear water.
He immediately washed it with water, took a towel and dried it, then turned to the front of the temple, climbed the steps, and walked to the east gate. Musicians lined up on both sides and knelt down in front of the bells and pans.
As soon as Wei Huai stepped in, he heard the musician ringing the chimes, followed by the sheng, flute, harp and zither playing in unison. The tune was peaceful. The dancers immediately got up when they heard the music, showing a classical atmosphere.
"kneel!"
Wei Huai stopped in front of the tablet of the Holy Master and knelt down, facing the incense table wrapped in yellow cloth in front of the tablet. Fruits, vegetables and livestock were arranged on the table.
"Offer incense——"
The people standing around took incense and gave it to him.
"Kowtow!"
Wei Huai paused and put the incense on the tripod.
"Offer wine——"
Si Zun Yang Huaisheng stood nearby, bringing the wine bottle and handing it to Wei Huai. Wei Huai slowly placed the wine bottle on the incense table and paused again.
"Presenting silk——"
Sibo Xia Yuanlong put the silk in Wei Huai's hand. Wei Huai held the silk and handed it to the incense table.
…
No one would have thought that the people would also be very interested in this. They watched it with gusto and talked about how grand the ceremony was. However, as soon as they saw Wei Huai come out, everyone immediately became silent. No one dared to speak. Thousands of pairs of eyes followed him forward until Wei Huai disappeared. Only when there was no trace of Huai did they return to their original state.
"Squeeze."
The people standing at the front were chatting happily when they heard someone behind them suddenly making this sound. When they followed the sound and looked back, it was the actor Cai Xianqing standing there, smiling politely.
