In the Tang Dynasty, there was no word for New Year, and New Year's Eve was far less important than later generations. What was important to them was Yuanzheng on the first day of the first lunar month and Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
On the Shangyuan Festival of 937, the city of Liangzhou was decorated with red and colorful decorations. This was the fifth Shangyuan Festival that Zhang Zhao had celebrated in this era.
At this time, it was actually the second year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty, because in December 936 last year, after Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang, he continued to change the name to Yuan Tianfu.
But the news has not yet reached Liangzhou, so the land in Hexi still uses the Qingtai reign name of the late Tang Dynasty emperor Li Congke.
This year is different from the Shangyuan Festival in previous years. Zhang Zhao has stabilized the situation in Liangzhou and finally has his own territory.
Among the wives and concubines, the first wife Cao Jiuniang, who has not yet married, is still keeping filial piety for Cao Yijin in Dunhuang, Shazhou.
Cao family Cao Yanmian still stayed in Khotan because his eldest daughter Zhang Zhao, Zhang Xiuxin, was young.
Ayiguli is basically certain that she will not return eastward. The second son she gave birth to, Zhang Xianyu, will stay in Anxi and will be the master of the prairie west of Talos, including the Caspian Sea coast.
At the same time, Zhang Zhao's aunt, Princess Fengtian of Khotan, had already returned to Khotan after Cao Yijin's funeral. Ayiguli also shouldered the important task of fulfilling Zhang Zhao's filial piety to her aunt.
I believe that with her daughter-in-law and grandson accompanying her, as well as hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Ningyuan to take care of, Princess Fengtian will be busy enough.
The remaining Li Ruoliu did not come to Liangzhou. She and Zhang Zhao's eldest son Zhang Xianzhun were arranged to stay in Dunhuang to accompany Zhang Zhao's biological mother, the Song family.
The Song family had always lived alone in the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha, but Zhang Zhao still hoped that she could change this living habit a little.
After all, if one day he is pregnant and becomes a great treasure in the future, his aunt Princess Fengtian looks like a Scythian and is not suitable to be the Queen Mother. His biological mother Song will definitely have to go east to Luoyang or somewhere with him, and she needs to exercise first.
Therefore, the only ones following Zhang Zhao were Cao Sanniang, the little wild cat Guo Waner, and the Saman Persian princess Sephie who could only be regarded as a loli.
Among them, Mrs. Cao Sanniang had to treat her politely for a while. After all, it was still Cao Yijin's mourning period, and the little loli Saifeiye couldn't do anything at all. She only had the little wild cat Guo Wan'er by her side.
However, Guo Waner was trained to death by Zhang Zhao himself and became his personal secretary. With so many changes in Liangzhou, Guo Waner had to deal with no less things in a day than her cousin Guo Tiance who followed Zhang Zhao. She was so busy that she lost weight. , which makes it difficult for Zhang Zhao to tease others often.
Um! To sum up, while having a drink with everyone and seeing Murong Nobunaga surrounded by his beautiful concubines, Zhang Zhao suddenly discovered that he, the inspector general and the returning army envoy, was actually the simplest among them all. one.
. . . .
This year's Shangyuan Festival is particularly lively. In addition to being Zhang Zhao's first Shangyuan Festival when he took charge of Liangzhou, Zhang Zhao also restored two major rituals that had not been held since the Tubo army captured Hexi.
One is the rural drinking ceremony. The so-called rural drinking ceremony is a banquet custom passed down from the Zhou Dynasty.
The main purpose at the beginning was to recommend sages to the country, with the township officials hosting the banquet. Later, it evolved into the local officials hosting banquets to entertain the worthy candidates, which was called township drinking.
When he arrived at Zhang Zhao's place, he planned to change the drinking ceremony in the countryside from a drinking ceremony for local officials to entertain scribes who should be elected to a drinking ceremony for the leader of the party to entertain the elders of the township.
Currently in Zhang Zhao's Liangzhou, the Hexi Jiedushi Yamen is under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou. Of course, Ganzhou, Lanzhou and other states may be added soon.
Liangzhou governs six counties, namely Shenniao, Guzang, Fanhe, Jialin, Changsong and Minqin.
Under each county, there are also basic-level arrangements such as townships. Ten households are one neighborhood, one hundred households are one mile, and five hundred households are one township. Each county has at least five townships.
However, in terms of the establishment of officials, except for county magistrates, county lieutenants and other official positions, it is impossible to set up official positions in townships and villages. There are only township elders and village chiefs who are responsible for assisting in taxation, catching theft, interrogation, and collecting corvees.
Governing power without going to the countryside has always been an important feature of ancient Chinese social governance.
Because there were only tens of thousands of people in a county at this time, the population was extremely dispersed, and productivity was limited, it was impossible to provide a large-scale civil service team. Therefore, the rule of the countryside was basically controlled by the local elders.
But Zhang Zhao's situation is still a bit special. Except for Guzang County, which is mostly Han Chinese in Liangzhou, the people under his control in these counties are all separated from the Fumo Liugu tribe.
The magistrates of each county are also the original leaders of each tribe. This does not mean that power does not go to the countryside. It simply means that power does not go to the county.
In order to break the situation where tribal leaders are like local emperors, the most important means for Zhang Zhao to communicate with the grassroots is the virtuous elders of the countryside.
So he quickly restored the system of village elders and village chiefs in the six counties of Liangzhou, although these village elders still had to listen to tribal leaders in many cases.
But as long as Zhang Zhao gives certain support, they can continue to share the power of stripping off tribal leaders, which will be more conducive to Zhang Zhao's complete control of the six tribes.
And this time the village drinking ceremony is Zhang Zhao's opportunity to give these low-level local tycoons a good opportunity to "face the saint" and "bathe in the emperor's grace".
So Zhang Zhao directly moved the drinking venue to the Macheng River outside Liangzhou City. Two hundred and thirty young local tyrants and their children from six counties, thirty-seven townships, and one hundred and eighty-five villages came to the party. , more than five hundred people.
With the addition of Liangzhou Han and Sogdian officials, a village drinking ceremony for nearly 700 people began.
Guo Waner, who transformed into Zhang Zhao's housekeeper, was almost in tears.
This is not a country drinking ceremony! She suddenly felt as she looked at the strong men who opened their mouths and the fist-sized lamb and scallion buns disappeared, and when they moved their heads, only the bones were left in a roasted leg of lamb with honey sauce.
These people are here to dine with wealthy people. This wine and meat ceremony is simply not worth a thousand dollars.
'Dongdongdong! 'The big drums were beaten one by one, and the crowd who were eating and drinking suddenly became quiet.
It turned out that Sikong, the inspector of the school, Zhang Zhao, the queen of Hexi Jieduli (self-proclaimed), the envoy of the Guiyi army, and the Dharma King Bodhisattva, stood on the high platform.
"In ancient times, the emperor of Zhou held a drinking ceremony in the countryside, and used the Xia ruler and barbarian people to expand the territory where we and other Han people lived.
The country of the great dynasty held a drinking ceremony in the countryside, and with the surrender of all barbarians, it granted us, the children of the Tang Dynasty, a hundred years of glory.
Today, a certain Zhang Erlang, imitating the ancient sage emperors, laid down the fat sheep wine and drank it with all the wise elders in the countryside. Please pick up the bowl of mysterious wine! "
Dachao refers to the Tang Dynasty, and Xuanjiu refers to wine mixed with water.
It is said that in ancient times there was no wine, so water was used as a salute. Later kings respected the ancient times and respected it as Xuanjiu.
This thing has strict regulations on the utensils for mixing and serving drinks, as well as the etiquette used.
But it was gradually simplified later. By Zhang Zhao's point, it had been simplified to the point where it was basically simplified except for the fact that Xuanjiu needs to be mixed with water.
Every time Zhang Zhao said something on the high platform, the dozens of young volunteer soldiers surrounding him would read it loudly at the same time. Therefore, even if hundreds of people were having a banquet around him, they could all hear it clearly.
"Here!" hundreds of people shouted, raising their wine bottles at the same time.
"Therefore, Xuanjiu is in the house, wine is in the household, rice and glutinous rice are in the hall, and pure wine is in the house. ... To rectify the monarch and his ministers, to be loyal to father and son, to harmonize brothers, to bring unity to the superiors and subordinates, and the husband and wife have their own affairs, this is called Chengtian Zhihu."
Zhang Zhao also held the wine bottle high and loudly chanted the words about Xuanjiu in the "Book of Rites. Liyun".
"This ancient wine of virtue is a tribute to the ancestors of heaven and earth. I thank them for the blood and culture they passed on to us, so that today, we can recognize each other and trust each other just by relying on this written etiquette!
Respect ourselves again, Anxi, Hexi, and Longyou fell to Hu Chen for a hundred and fifty years, but we have not forgotten our ancestors and still know our integrity. Therefore, after going through hardships, we can still return to our motherland.
This is the common ambition of Zhang Erlang and you, to recover the twelve states of Lanzhou, Gansu, Minhe, Taowei, and Liangguashasu, and return the Nine Bends of the Yellow River and the Hehuang Valley to the country! Please drink up this bottle! "
"Here!" Hundreds of people responded loudly again, drinking all the Xuanjiu in the wine bottles, and then the atmosphere reached its highest point.
"I would like to follow Sikong (Bodhisattva) and return to the country!"
After drinking, some people cried bitterly, some had mixed feelings, some even drank and sang, and some were excited.
It took Zhang Zhao four months, and with the help of the strong centripetal force of Han culture, he finally achieved the first step of guiding hundreds of thousands of people from the Nine Bends of the Yellow River and the Hehuang Valley back to the right path.
"Your Excellency! The Zhang Family of Baishui Army, the Ma Family of Xuanwei Army, and the Zhu Family of Heyuan Army in Shanzhou are grateful for the great righteousness of your return to the country. They are also aware of the benevolence and majesty of the Bodhisattva. They are willing to surrender to you with the three cities of Baishui, Xuanwei, and Shancheng in Shanzhou. !”
As soon as Zhang Zhao came down from the high platform, Murong Nobunaga came to Zhang Zhao dressed in elegant clothes and led three leaders in black leather robes.
As soon as the three of them saw Zhang Zhao, they immediately knelt down on one knee and said, "Three tribes in Shanxi, we are willing to listen to the instructions of Dharma King Bodhisattva and follow us in life and death!"
The so-called Zhang family of Baishui army, Ma family of Xuanwei army, and Zhu family of Heyuan army sound like Han people, but they are not actually Han people.
They are the Tuyuhun Zhangmi, Mabo and Zhulu tribes that Murong Guiying told Zhang Zhao were conquered by the Tubo people in the past.
They were originally subordinate to the Dongdahe tribe among the Ammo Liugu tribe due to trade relations, but this affiliation was only in name, and the Dongdahe tribe had no control over them at all.
Among the territories of these three armies, the Zhang family of the Baishui army, the Ma family of the Xuanwei army were in Datong County, Qinghai in later generations, and the Zhu family of the Heyuan army was directly in Xining City, the capital of Qinghai Province.
In the Tang Dynasty, Shanzhou was the residence of the Longyou Jiedu Envoy, so it was relatively large. The three tribes were located to the west of Shanzhou, and were sometimes called the Shanxi Three Divisions.
After Zhang Zhao basically controlled Liangzhou, he sent Murong Nobunaga to lead the Murong family's 300 cavalry, and Zhang Zhao himself led 300 Ximi cavalry to march westward to Shanzhou.
Relying on the status of the Murong family as a member of the Tuyuhun royal family and the reputation of Zhang Zhao Dharma King and Bodhisattva, they directly recovered the three tribes of Shanxi.
Just seeing that they have changed Zhang Mi to Zhang, Ma Bo to Ma, and Zhu Lu to Zhu, you can tell that they don't even want to be Tuyuhun people, but directly want to be Han people.
Of course Zhang Zhao would not refuse. After the three Shanxi tribes surrendered, he could use the power of the three tribes to mobilize a small number of elite troops to cooperate, make a forced landing in Huangshui City where the former Longyou Jiedushi was located, and completely capture the entire Shanzhou.
"Guo Tiance, set up three more tables and welcome the three leaders Zhang, Ma, and Zhu to take their seats!"
