In less than a cup of tea, Zhou Bai wrote a eloquent and concise memorial text.
Ji Hongzhe had been an official for many years and was a Jinshi scholar, but he had never seen such a thing before. He was absolutely shocked.
"There must have been research before, but he is only fifteen, so there are omissions in the content of the memorial text." Ji Hongzhe was looking for a reasonable explanation in his heart, while picking up the manuscript Zhou Baigang had just written and reading it.
"Good nephew, it's not that easy to write a memorial to the gods. If you don't have enough background, it will definitely be nondescript. I also tried it before..."
As he watched, the words of admonishment and persuasion in Ji Hongzhe's mouth stopped. He seemed to be caught up in the emotions described in the memorial text, his face changed from time to time, and his hands were a little unsteady.
In the end, Zhou Bai's memorial poem to the City God to pray for rain succeeded in being chosen by Ji Hongzhe over those other memorial poems written by famous celebrities.
This is not a favoritism, but the content of the memorial text really moved him, and it can be used in tomorrow's rain praying ceremony.
…
The next day, Pingcang County became lively early in the morning. Even the children who were snoozing were woken up by their parents. They all wore new clothes that they were usually reluctant to wear and merged into the crowd of people on the street.
The flow of people is all flowing in one direction. There is the Chenghuang Temple, located in the center of the city, not far from the government office.
Everyone's face is full of piety and solemnity. The incense sticks in their hands or the new clothes they wear are a way for these simple people to express their respect.
Because it has not rained in Pingcang County for more than a month, the ground is parched and the paddy fields are drying up.
Even after establishing a foothold here, the entire county has built complete water storage facilities. Many ponds have been dug in various townships and villages, and wells can be seen everywhere. However, without rainwater, it is still difficult to grow the food that hundreds of thousands of people hope for. reward.
Therefore, it is crucial for everyone whether the City God can hear their prayers and whether he can send nectar today.
The city god of Pingcang County is closely involved with this place, and even the origin of Pingcang has a lot to do with it.
Because he was the general who opened the border, his main achievement during his lifetime was the opening of Bei'an County.
In recognition of his merits, after his death, Emperor Gaozong of Daxu made him the City God of Pingcang County by decree of dynasty destiny, to protect the lives of the county and the borders of the country.
The status of this kind of City God is of course very high in Pingcang County. The City God's Temple built for him by the government is also in the middle of the city. It occupies a large area and there is no crowd at all when people go to pay incense.
Of course, it is different today. Those who can enter the front row of the temple square are celebrities, talented people, wealthy businessmen, in short, they are all people with good luck.
In addition, only a small number of people who came early were able to occupy the back row seats in the square, while most people had to stand in the streets and alleys outside the Chenghuang Temple.
In the square, dozens of sacrificial seats were placed in front of the main hall of the temple.
Miao Zhu of the City God's Temple stood on the top step as the master of ceremonies, while the county magistrates Ji Hongze and Shi Yu stood below the sacrificial mat as the officiants.
On both sides of the steps stood several servants and deacons from the original Chenghuang Temple, who would guide the ceremony.
The county magistrate, chief registrar, and edict of the county government, as well as several county magnates and representatives of many township clans, stood at the front of the square as attendants, closest to the sacred incense burner case.
As for Zhou Bai, he was sitting next to the three chief priests. He didn't have to do anything else but recite the sacrificial inscriptions he had written.
It turned out that Ji Hongze was worried that he would not be able to recite the true feelings in the memorial text and that the effect of the sacrifice would not be maximized, so he simply asked Zhou Bai to read it himself.
On the sacrificial banquet, there are whole pigs and whole sheep with red flowers in their mouths, fan cakes stacked in the shape of a tower, five-animal wine ceremony, fruits and vegetables, cooked rice, as well as ingots, money and silk, etc. The sacrifices are extremely rich. It can be said that for this event Yu, the Yamen has put a lot of thought and energy into it.
When everything was ready, the emcee glanced at the solemn crowd and began to sing, while drums, trumpets, and applause sounded at the same time.
"Kneel down, kowtow, kowtow again, kowtow three times, Xing, kneel down!" The chief priest took the lead in kneeling, and from the square to the people waiting outside, a crowd of people knelt down devoutly.
Then the deacon passes the incense, offers the first incense, the second incense, and the third incense.
Offering silk, entering a noble house, offering sacrifices and drinking wine... Offering five animals, offering food and delicacies.
The incense burner in the square was burning with a dense aroma. Suddenly, a breeze came, and the thick white aroma covered all the sacrificial mats.
"The congratulators will take their seats and read out the memorial text!" Finally, in the passionate voice of the master of ceremonies, Zhou Bai realized what he was doing.
"On April 20, the forty-sixth year of Wei Xiangxing, county man Zhou Baijin offered a drink of wine to the common people, fasted and bathed, and offered sacrifices to the county god, saying: Wuhu! Gods and men have their own affairs to take care of. , those who should fulfill their righteousness...
If the gods know something, they will appeal to heaven to pray for the people. They will feel the benevolence of heaven and earth. Spirit! If it doesn't rain for three days, it will be five days; if it doesn't rain for five days, it will be seven days. If it is not the case, the disaster will be severe in three days, then in five days, and in seven days...
If God is ignorant, it will be useless to pray, and it will be useless to complain. Bai E knows whether there is any fruit of God, and he can predict it by whether it rains or not. Respect for the advice, but God is wise. Shang Xiang! "
Zhou Bai's voice was clear and resonant, and as the wind drifted farther and farther, he poured out all the emotions contained in the memorial text.
The principle of the coexistence of gods and humans, and the difficulties faced by us mortals due to lack of rain, you are the one who is deeply respected by the public, and all good and evil deeds are within the thought of your city god.
Of course, the most important thing is that everyone sincerely prays for rain, kowtows and kneels twice. No one is dishonest at this time.
Including Zhou Bai himself, he also wants rain. If there is no rain, what will the Zhou family do to open up wasteland? There must be corn, sweet potatoes, etc. even if there is no shortage of water.
At the same time, he also thought of the difficulties in the development of Pingcang County. It was constantly experiencing water shortages and droughts, and there was no real big river to rely on.
That day he promised the Mountain God of Tingshan to divert water from the Ningjiang River to activate the Canglan Water Veins, not only for the Canglan Water God, but also for his hometown.
After I finished reading the article, there was another series of procedures.
Open the wine, then offer wine and then food... kowtow three times, get excited, eat food, turn the treasure into treasure, and burn the ritual inscriptions.
At this time, many people actually felt that something was wrong, especially the county magistrate Dong Yi, who immediately whispered in Ji Hongzhe's ear.
He has been an official in Pingcang County for twenty years and has seen many sacrifices to gods and prayers for rain, but he has never seen the celestial phenomena remain unchanged until now.
It's broken, it won't fail, right? The officials, powerful representatives, including some common people all felt a thump in their hearts.
Countless people stared at the sky with tears in their eyes, but it was still cloudless!
Many old people who had experienced the disaster years began to kowtow in pain and begged the city god to look at them.
Yu Yueyun, who was mixed in the crowd below, also clenched his fists, wondering if he was scolding the city god for his inaction in his heart.
She stared at Zhou Bai, feeling a little regretful and angry. He obviously did so well, why was it still not enough?
"You can find a way, right?" For some reason, Yu Yueyun suddenly had such an idea.
