weaving

Chapter 1006 Sad, Proud and Envious
The major event of the country lies in the sacrificial and military affairs!

This sentence comes from the record in "Zuo Zhuan Cheng Gong Cheng Gong 13 Years": "The Duke and the princes were kings, and then they conquered Qin from Liu Kanggong and Cheng Su Guild. Cheng Zi was humiliated by the society and disrespected.

Liu Zi said: "I have heard that the people live in the heaven and the earth, which is the so-called destiny."Therefore, there are rules of etiquette, righteousness and dignity in action, and destiny is also determined.Those who are capable are blessed with blessings, and those who are incapable are defeated with misfortune.That's why a gentleman is diligent and courteous, and a villain is doing his best.Respect in resting your mind, and be devoted to keeping your career.

The major events of the country lie in the sacrificial offerings and the Rong. The sacrifices have to be held, and the Rong has to be sacrificed. This is the great festival of the gods.Now that he has become a lazy child, he has abandoned his life, is he not against him?'”

Sacrifice and military administration have been one of the two most important events in the country since ancient times.

Throughout the dynasties, there have been strict regulations and systems for this, and a whole set of national sacrificial systems have been established. Generally, there are two. One is the central court sacrificial system, which is divided into major, middle and minor sacrificial rituals; Provincial, prefecture, state, county, township and other levels of worship.

And "the great affairs of the country are in the sacrifice and the army" The sacrifice and the army expressed here actually mean sacrifice.

Sacrifice refers to the ceremonial forms of worshiping ancestors, heaven, and land, etc., while Rong refers to the form of sacrificial rituals before and after going out for war, that is to say: the major events of the country are actually sacrifices.

In fact, there is a sentence in the "Book of Rites" that "there are five classics in rituals, and nothing is more important than sacrifices." From this, it can be seen that sacrifices are the most important part of my country's traditional ritual system.

Why did our ancestors pay so much attention to sacrifice?
To put it bluntly, sacrifice is actually just a way for our ancestors to communicate with the gods. By offering sacrifices to the gods to please and buy the gods, in order to obtain the blessings of the gods and ancestors.

Why do you say that?
We all know that our ancestors came from primitive tribal life where they drank blood and drilled wood to make fire. At that time, everything our ancestors had was heavily dependent on nature.

From hunting prey to living caves, to wind, rain, and thunder, nature was extremely mysterious to humans at that time. Severe heat and cold and plague would cause a large number of ancestors to die.

So at that time, people were extremely fearful and awed by this piece of heaven and earth, as well as the sun, moon and stars that revolved on it, and for this reason they imagined them all as gods in the sky.

Mystery and fear of nature have kept our ancestors in awe of nature, believing that "everything in the world has aura", and that even dead lives have their own souls, and they are still wandering in the world, causing trouble in the world. living.

Therefore, the ancients were particularly in awe of nature and all things, and they also had a great awe of the dead, which led to the saying "the dead are the greatest".

It is with this kind of awe that the ancient ancestors found the way of offering sacrifices, and used it to communicate with the gods of heaven and earth, and pray for their protection.

From this point of view, the matter of sacrifice has never been a matter of one person, but a matter of a country, a city, and a family!
When Zhang Cheng returned from going to Henan to help suppress the intruders, he had considered this matter, so he built this "Baozhong Temple" at the foot of Chicheng Mountain leaning on a stream to commemorate the fallen soldiers who followed him.

During the period when he led the army to Liaodong, the scale of the Baozhong Shrine expanded a lot. On the high slope on the front is the main building of the Baozhong Shrine. .

In front of the Baozhong Shrine, a square has been leveled out, enough for thousands of people to gather here to pay homage to the heroic souls of the fallen soldiers of the Xuanfu Army.

Back then, when the Baozhong Shrine was first built, it seemed a bit hasty due to impromptu intentions. Zhang Cheng only found some monks and Taoist priests to chant scriptures, in order to make the souls of the soldiers who died in the war in Henan Province peaceful.

Now, however, the Baozhong Temple has been completely completed, and a very complete ceremony has been formulated for it with reference to the sacrificial rituals of the country, offering sacrifices with the country's righteousness and great joy.

And also set up special priests, the priests of Baozhong Shrine enjoy the standard treatment of the commander of the guard, which is the highest treatment that Zhang Cheng can give at this time.

Although the priests of the Baozhong Shrine were not recorded in the military roster of the Xuanfu, and the benefits they received were all paid by Zhang Cheng himself, but if they exceeded this standard, they were afraid that they would be used by good people as a means of attacking him. talk handle.

…………

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the 14th year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, more than [-] soldiers of the Xuanfu army and thousands of civilians from military households gathered in the square in front of Baozhong Shrine, waiting for the start of the ceremony.

Most of them are the families of the soldiers who died in the battle against Liaodong this time, and there are also some survivors of the soldiers who died in the battle against bandits and aid in the suppression of Henan Province. Ordinary people can't go to the square here to participate in the sacrifice.

Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng and Xuanda Governor Zhang Fuzhen had already fasted for two days after returning to Chi Castle, and then they were accompanied by Xuanfu Governor Jiang Yuxu and other officials, as well as Xuanfu Deputy Chief Soldier Lin Dengyou, Counselor Liu Guangwu, Guo Yingxian and other generals , Come to Baozhong Temple to pay homage to the loyal souls of heroes who died in battle.

Even Wang Pu and Li Fuming, the two commanders-in-chief, came to Chicheng together to watch the Xuanfu army's ceremony of paying homage to the loyal souls of the fallen soldiers in the Liao Dynasty, and they also paid homage to the heroic souls of the soldiers. They are now standing around the governor Jiang Yuxu.

Prior to this, all the members of Zhang Cheng's shogunate also rushed to Chi Castle early, and the families of the soldiers who died in the battle also came to the outside of Chi Castle to pay homage to the heroic souls.

In addition to inviting the dead men of their families into the Baozhong Temple, they also came to Chi Castle to receive their own pensions, as well as the unique nameplates and certificates of the martyrs' families. In the future, they can directly receive routine pensions in various places in the future.

There are also young children in the family who study, work, join the army, etc., can receive priority care with this document, and the nameplates of the martyrs' families can be hung on the lintel, and they can get permission from the local government for paying taxes and serving in the army in the future. take care of.

All of this does not require Zhang Cheng to worry about it himself. Jin Xinpeng, Yan Qingrong, Wu Zhizhong and others are in charge of it. Zhang Cheng's capable generals.

With such trusted people like them, Zhang Cheng no longer needs to do these tedious matters by himself. He only needs to make decisions, and the specific matters are naturally completed by each of the subordinates.

After Zhang Cheng and Zhang Fuzhen returned to Chicheng together, there was no delay at all. Although most of the soldiers of the battalions returned to the flood area, the Chicheng Camp, Dushi Camp, Cavalry Camp, and Tiger Guard Camp all stayed outside Chicheng Castle.

In addition, the newly attached Guo Yingxian, He Zhenxiong, Kuang Yongzhong, and Tang Xiancheng also temporarily moved to station outside Chicheng Castle, and the soldiers who performed well in other battalions were also ordered to come to Chicheng.

They are all fighting heroes held up by Yongningbo Zhang Cheng, and they are role models of the times for the latecomers to worship and emulate. As a latecomer, Zhang Cheng is too aware of the power of role models!
Therefore, in the process of sending troops to Liaodong this time, he vigorously collected the outstanding heroic performances of the soldiers under his command, and prepared to vigorously publicize their bravery.

Let their deeds become legends in the land of Xuanfu, and give them the greatest reward, so as to inspire more soldiers under his command to follow suit.

In addition to staying in Chicheng Castle to wait for the award, they will also visit the main hall of Baozhong Shrine as representatives of the soldiers after the officials and generals of the Xuan Mansion pay homage.

On the second day after returning to Chicheng, Zhang Cheng buried the bones of the fallen soldiers in the large mound behind the Baozhong Shrine amidst the sound of mourning. He even shoveled the soil himself. Work together beside Zhang Cheng.

After the bones of the fallen soldiers were buried, the repair and erection of plaques and other matters were handled by the responsible officials of the Baozhong Shrine according to the regulations, and the grand worship ceremony began after all the spiritual plaques were invited into the temple.

After the priest appeared and took his place, the sacrificial ceremony began, and the sacrificial music was played at this time, and the entire sacrificial procedure was carried out meticulously.

As the ceremony proceeded, the sacrificial animals and sacrificial vessels were set up one after another, and the chief priest shouted loudly: "The worship begins, let's have fun!"

Another accompanying priest then shouted loudly: "Dance!"

Gold like a bell, stone like a pan, bamboo like a pipe, pao like a sheng, earth like a xun, leather like a drum, silk like a qin, wood like a wish, etc., are also sounded one by one. In the deep elegant music, music and dance are born, or Holding the pipe, or holding the sheng, or holding the drum, the music and dance are combined, and the dance is light.

Under the accompaniment of music and dance, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng and Xuanda Governor Zhang Fuzhen, as the officiant priests, followed the priest's singing orders, solemnly and solemnly followed the ritual process and recited the sacrificial text.

Although Zhang Cheng's thinking has improved a lot compared with people of this era, he still can't compare with today's scribes in terms of writing. Therefore, today's sacrificial article is written by Governor Zhang Fuzhen.

Afterwards, on the large square in front of the Baozhong Shrine, all the officials, including Yongning Bo and Zhang Cheng, saluted with arms.

The officers and generals in the front row all raised their swords at the same time, followed by the erection of Yunzhou blunderbusses, and then the tiger guns of the cavalry. They were all dressed in official uniforms and armor, solemn and solemn.

Everyone chanted in unison: "The general raises the sword, rides the horse to fix the world, the general stars circle around, the warrior moon bends...the loyal and brave generals, who will never die through the eons, the heaven and the earth are dark and yellow, and the true spirit exists forever..."

The sound of gold and jade, the sound of elegant music is elegant and melodious, the dancers in front of the temple are magnificent, and nearly ten thousand people sing together in the square. The appeal of the human heart!
Amidst the chants, not to mention the officials and soldiers in the field, even the people watching behind and around were all weeping. There were even many merchants, scholars, The common people were also weeping uncontrollably.

Many people even choked up and said: "If you have to accept this sacrifice, even if you die in battle, you will not be wronged..."

As the ceremony progressed, the dance stopped, the music stopped, and the sound stopped.

Under the leadership of the priests, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng and Xuanda Governor Zhang Fuzhen led all the officials into the hall of Baozhong Shrine, worshiped in front of the gods, and the priests brought a group of accompanying priests to represent all the fallen soldiers His family members saluted beside the altar.

After the worship, the officials and generals retreated, and then the generals of the Xuanfu Army's battalions and the families of the fallen soldiers went to the temple to offer sacrifices in sequence.

The expressions on their faces are extremely complicated, there are sadness, pride, and envy. The men in each family followed the general to fight and die, how could they not be sad?
However, their spirit cards and gods can live in the Baozhong Temple to accept the four seasons of worship, and they are even more admired by the people. The hearts of the families are also warm and proud. The man of the family, he did not die in vain!
But the other soldiers in the Xuanfu army envied him very much. They were all from military households, and they were born to serve as soldiers.

Previously, apart from being ordered around by the superiors, planting crops and doing housework for them, he was like a slave under the subordinates of the superiors, but even so, the fate of going to the battlefield was still unavoidable.

But at that time, when there was a war, these ordinary soldiers were just cannon fodder. Not only did they have no salary, grain, and even decent armor and armaments, they were still sent to charge at the head, or to serve the superiors and their servants. after the break.

Today, they are fully paid, equipped with first-class armor and military equipment, and there are real military merit rewards every time they go to battle. What an honor is this?

This is a treatment they never dared to imagine in their dreams before, even in their dreams!

They all thought of Yongning Bo's goodness in their hearts. Didn't all these changes happen after Yongning Bo came to Beilu?
On the other hand, the officers and soldiers in other places in Ming Dynasty are still the same as before, and even the Xuan Mansion was only under Yongning Bo's rule to have such changes.

Many soldiers hoped that Uncle Yongning could live a long life. Only in this way could their glory as soldiers last forever. In the hearts of the soldiers of the Xuanfu army, Zhang Cheng was like a lamp Buddha of thousands of families, shining on everything about them.

…………

Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng came to the spirit tablet of Yang Guozhu, the former general of the Xuanfu, and respectfully offered him three sticks of incense. Yang Guozhu's body was left in front of the Liaodong battle, and was buried in Liaodong according to his last wish to accompany his father, brother, son and nephew.

However, Zhang Cheng was grateful for Yang Guozhu's care for him, and in order to pay tribute to this comrade-in-arms who had killed slaves side by side twice, he specially set up a spiritual tablet for him in Baozhong Temple.

Standing in front of Yang Guozhu's altar, Wang Pu felt infinite emotion in his heart. He was also very familiar with Yang Guozhu. He was transferred back to Datong and failed to participate in the Battle of Julu.

At that time, he was still extremely grateful, but with Zhang Cheng's prosperity, he also secretly regretted it. If he had the friendship of the bloody battle of Julu back then, he would not have become Yongningbo's closest comrade-in-arms today.

But at this moment, watching Zhang Fuzhen, the governor of Xuanda, offering incense to Yang Guozhu's altar, I couldn't help but feel in my heart: No matter what fame and wealth, it's better to live than his mother!

But Li Fuming next to him held another view. He felt that if his life could be as beautiful as Yang Guozhu's, even death would be worth it.

He thought more about his wife and children, and his status in the family. If he died in battle in the future, as long as Yongningbo was still around, he would be able to treat him like he did to Yang Guozhu today.

If you fight to the death, you can win him a wife and son, so that your name can be written down in the genealogy, and passed down through the ages.

Even if you die, it's worth it!

(End of this chapter)