"Feng Chang fell?"
"Your Majesty, when Feng Chang was walking on the mountain road, he missed his footing and fell down the stairs. Although his life was safe, his legs seemed to be broken and he no longer had the strength to climb to the top."
After Qin Shihuang heard the news, his face instantly darkened.
Because Fengchang was the minister in charge of etiquette and sacrifice of the Qin State, this time the great ceremony of conferring Zen on Mount Tai, after denigrating the Confucian scholars and announcing the use of Qin rites, naturally Fengchang had to preside over the entire ceremony.
Just at the critical moment when the emperor was about to climb Mount Tai and be granted Zen status, something went wrong with Feng Chang. This was not a good sign.
The First Emperor did not force Lang Wei to carry Feng Chang, who had broken his leg, to the top of the mountain. Instead, he waved his hand to indicate that he understood and continued to move forward.
After the Qin ceremony was agreed upon a few days ago, the ministers in the court rehearsed the process several times, and generally speaking there would be no trouble. Moreover, there are many courtesy officers under Fengchang who can be used instead. The impact should not be big, but it will just make people feel a little uncomfortable.
The team continued to move towards the top of Mount Tai.
Zhao Tuo also heard about Feng Chang's fall at this time, and couldn't help but secretly sighed. He felt that this thing was really strange. It was not good who fell, but Feng Chang, who was presiding over the sacrifice, happened to fall.
Zhao Tuo looked up at the sky.
He remembered that in history, Qin Shihuang was granted Zen status and suffered a heavy rainstorm.
The First Emperor hid under a big tree to take shelter from the rain. After the rain stopped, he used the big tree as a protector and conferred the title of "Five Doctors" on it. Later, the Five Doctors tree became a scene in Mount Tai.
But at this moment, the sky was cloudless, the sun was shining brightly, it was very hot, and there was no trace of rain.
"That's right. It took so long for me to be granted Zen status. How could it happen to be caught in a storm? There are no such coincidences in the world. Fengchang's fall seems to be an accident."
Zhao Tuo shook his head, thought no more, and continued his mountain climbing journey.
They still have a long way to go.
It was not until the afternoon that Feng Chan's team arrived at the top of the mountain.
Because it was midsummer, even though it was already in the afternoon, the scorching sun was still shining in the sky, and it was very sultry when there was no wind on the top of the mountain.
Ziying gasped and said, "We finally went up the mountain. Mount Tai is really majestic and difficult to climb. No wonder the people of Qilu are always proud of this mountain."
Zhao Tuo smiled and said: "Of course, it is a famous mountain in the world. After the emperor enshrines it, you can still enjoy the mountain scenery."
With that said, he waved to Lang Wei to bring two water bags, gave one to Ziying, and then drank heavily.
Everyone was already exhausted from crawling from morning to afternoon, and they were panting when they spoke.
Especially the old ministers like Li Si and Wei Zhuang were all sweating, their legs were trembling, and they were sitting on the ground panting.
The First Emperor was calm and relaxed. After all, he climbed to the top on a chariot and had to endure several groups of guards along the way, but he was still in good spirits.
He ignored the courtiers behind him and walked to the edge of the top of the mountain with Hu Hai, who was also energetic, and looked into the distance.
The green mountains are continuous, as if a giant green dragon is crawling. Everywhere you see is majestic and majestic. The scene is so magnificent that it makes people feel open-minded when they look at it.
In the sky, although the sun has set towards the west, it is still releasing its power.
"Hu Hai, what did you see?" asked the First Emperor.
Hu Hai rolled his eyes and said, "This is my father's world."
The First Emperor laughed and said: "You don't know who you learned it from at a young age, but you are already good at flattering."
Hu Hai chuckled, turned around quietly, and looked at Zhao Gao, the commander of CRRC, who was sitting on the ground drinking water in the distance. Zhao Gao saw him and gave him a smile.
The First Emperor turned his head and looked at the magnificent mountain scenery ahead again.
"My world..."
Zhao Tuo saw all this in his eyes, thoughtfully.
After a while, after all the ministers had finished resting and tidied up their clothes, the ceremony of consecration officially began. 33
The guards first brought up three big cauldrons.
Then the cattle, sheep, and hogs were carried into the cauldron. This is called three prisons.
This was the etiquette used when Duke Wen of Qin was making a memorial ceremony for the White Emperor.
After three prisons, the sealing of Mount Tai began. The so-called Feng Chan refers to two things.
Feng means building an altar on the top of Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven. Zen refers to using Liang Fu as an altar to worship the earth.
The combination of the two, sealing the heaven and the Zen earth, is called Feng Chan. Now, the First Emperor is planning to build an altar on Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven.
The emperor, who was dressed in Xuanxuan and wore a crown that reached the sky, personally led his ministers, holding a wooden shovel in his hand and began to shovel the soil and pile it up.
Zhao Tuo noticed that Shang Shu Pu She Li You worked very hard in this activity. He pursed his lips and did the work of two people by himself, as if he was helping Feng Chang, who had broken his leg, shovel his soil together. Seems like it.
Finally, the sealing soil was piled up.
It is one foot or two feet wide and nine feet high.
It looks like a rather large dirt bag.
The First Emperor also ordered someone to get a jade ultimatum and write down what he wanted to say to heaven on it.
This is what is called telling heaven.
While the First Emperor was writing in his own hand, all the ministers stood silently with their hands down, not daring to make a sound. Even Hu Hai, who had always been restless, kept his head down obediently.
But everyone imagined in their minds what the First Emperor would say to God in the Jade Book.
“Is the emperor showing off his achievements to heaven?
"Or do you want his Da Qin empire to last forever and be passed on to all generations?"
"Or is he praying to God to grant him immortality and rule the world forever?"
Zhao Tuo secretly guessed, very curious. But that's just conjecture.
Because this book will not be made public, after it was written, the emperor personally buried it under the seal and kept it secret.
That was the conversation between the First Emperor, as the Son of Heaven, and "Heaven", and no one can know the details.
Zhao Tuo noticed that when the First Emperor was halfway through writing the jade ultimatum, he suddenly paused and looked back in the direction where he and Hu Hai were.
He moved quickly, with a seemingly casual glance, and then returned to normal.
Zhao Gao, the commander of the CRRC who had been paying attention to the First Emperor, also saw this scene.
Zhao Gao was overjoyed: "The emperor is looking at Hu Hai!" On the other side, Tingwei Li Si frowned slightly.
All the ministers are thoughtful.
Only Zhao Tuo knew that although Hu Hai was standing next to him, it was Zhao Tuo who the First Emperor glanced at just now.
Of course, this is most likely just a random action by the First Emperor and has no meaning.
In short, after the First Emperor finished writing the jade ultimatum and buried it in the sealing soil, the ceremony of sealing Mount Tai entered the second half.
The First Emperor and his ministers stood in front of the mound of earth and began to bow down and worship with sincerity.
There were no surprises in the entire process of sealing Mount Tai.
No clouds, no rain, everything went well.
Li You, who was standing behind, breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw that the ceremony of sealing Mount Tai was successfully completed.
"It seems that Feng Chang's matter has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with it."
At the same time, the inscription stone written by Tingwei Li Si and made by craftsmen has been set up.
"When the emperor comes to power, he makes laws and regulations, and his subordinates revise them..."
···The emperor listened, and since he had brought peace to the world, he worked tirelessly to govern it. Work hard and sleep day and night, build long-term benefits, specialize in teaching... Distinguish between noble and humble, be courteous between men and women, and carefully abide by duties..."
It is also a stone tablet praising the emperor's merits.
Different from the Yishan stone carvings which focus on describing the emperor's achievements in conquering the six kingdoms, the Taishan stone focuses on the emperor's formulation of laws after unifying the world and his unremitting efforts to govern. The so-called "working hard and sleeping nightly, building and making profits" will ultimately be achieved under the emperor's control. Under the rule, men and women in the world will be polite and obey their duties, and the society will be peaceful and stable.
Zhao Tuo secretly marveled.
It seems that the emperor has formalized the ideological war. He promoted the Qin Kingdom's destiny through consecration, and erected monuments and carved stones to praise Qin's merits and virtues. The two were combined to brainwash and propagandize the scholars of the Six Kingdoms.
But, is this really useful?
The ceremony of sealing Mount Tai has been completed. Next, they only need to go to the temporary palace built on the mountain to stay overnight, and then go down the mountain after sunrise tomorrow.
However, the First Emperor did not leave immediately. He walked to the top of the mountain again and looked at the distant mountain scenery.
This time, he called Zhao Tuo to his side. "His Majesty."
Zhao Tuo spoke softly, stood beside the emperor, and looked at the distant scene.
"What do you see?"
The First Emperor spoke and asked the question he had just asked Hu Hai.
Zhao Tuo looked at the scene of vast fields and undulating mountains under Mount Tai.
He said softly: "We will be at the top of the mountain and see all the mountains at a glance."
The First Emperor raised his eyebrows.
Zhao Tuo's two sentences sounded a bit strange at first, but after careful consideration, these strange two five-character sentences were quite subtle. They were exactly what they saw when they were standing on the top of Mount Tai, looking at the mountains in the distance. and artistic conception.
"Yes, it is quite similar to what Meng Ke said about climbing Mount Tai and minimizing the world. His momentum is generous and majestic. He is worthy of being a martial lord who conquers the world for me."
The First Emperor praised him.
But his eyes were looking at the sun in the sky.
Hu Hai talks about the world.
What Zhao Tuo said is that you can see all the mountains and small ones at a glance.
What they saw was only the place under Mount Tai, but what the First Emperor always looked at was the sky.
It is the sun that shines brightly in the sky. When I climbed the mountain in the early morning, I saw the rising sun. When we were halfway up the mountain, we could see the blazing sun in the sky.
And now standing on the top of the mountain, I see the sun setting.
The First Emperor silently looked at the brightest star in the sky.
"Zhao Tuo, do you think there is a sun that never sets in this world?
The sun never sets?
Zhao Tuo was stunned for a moment and looked up at the sky.
Because it is summer now and the sun sets very late, so even though it is already afternoon, the sun still has great power, making it difficult to look directly at it.
But if you look carefully, you can see that it is already clearly showing the trend of falling in the west.
Zhao Tuo immediately realized that the First Emperor was comparing the sun to himself.
It's just that the First Emperor is now in his prime, only forty-one years old. He is thinking about this kind of problem at this time. Is he thinking too far?
Zhao Tuo thought for a while and replied: "I heard that Xun Qing said that the stars are spinning, the sun and the moon are shining brightly, the four eras are governed, the yin and yang are changing, the wind and rain are spreading, all things are harmonious and prosperous, and each is nourished. It’s done, this is the way of heaven and earth.”
"The sun rises, the moon sets, the moon sets and the sun rises. Only the alternation of yin and yang can nourish all things. If the sun has been hanging high in the sky, I am afraid that everything in the world will be burned and destroyed under the scorching sun. At that time, nothing will exist, and the world will be dead. .So since the beginning of the world, the sun has always set."
"I feel that there is no sun that never sets in the world."
The First Emperor turned his head and looked at Zhao Tuo deeply. Zhao Tuo looked calm and did not avoid the emperor's gaze.
The First Emperor was speaking metaphorically. Zhao Tuo is also making metaphors.
The First Emperor was silent and looked at the sun in the sky again.
He whispered in his mind.
"God, I just want to be the sun that never sets and rule this world forever."
Some people died, but not completely...
