Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

In front of the Zichen Palace, there would naturally be maids guiding the princess to the royal seat under the eaves of the main hall, and it would be inappropriate for Shang Bo to follow her up.

All I saw was that Princess Yanguang gave Shang Bo a sorry look, and then walked up to the hall with her servants.

After the princess left, Shang Bo felt a lot more at ease. He followed the officials of the capital to the temporary seats and saw the Nuo opera being performed on the stage.

Nuo opera is said to be an exorcism ritual inherited from ancient times. Nuo dancers wear strange four-sided masks and dance on the stage.

Accompanying musicians played the ancient sheng, and the melodious sound resounded throughout the square.

Shangbo quickly turned on the video function, and the masks worn by these Nuo dancers are simple and funny, just like those strange bronze heads unearthed in Sanxingdui.

The officials present watched the Nuo opera with great interest. This was the only time in a year that they could bring their families into the palace for fun.

After watching it for a while, Shang Bo felt a little bored. The movements of the Nuo dancers were like dancing gods, just a few times of tossing and turning.

Occasionally, there is a somersault, and the audience will burst into applause.

For Shang Bo, who has seen various acrobatic performances, this show is indeed a bit monotonous.

Shang Bo looked at the seat on the steps of the main hall.

Those who can sit on the steps are the royal family members and ministers, and the seats on both sides of the main hall belong to the two most beloved princes.

Qi Wang Li Xi sat on the right side. He was wearing a blue prince's python robe, surrounded by a group of servants.

Although King Qi was younger than the prince, he was taller and older than the prince, and he looked more mature. He looked at the Nuo opera stage in the Zichen Palace and cheered from time to time.

And as he yelled, the servants around him also joined in the fun, making the imperial steps very lively.

In contrast, Prince Chu King Li Chu's side is much calmer.

Li Chu was also wearing a python robe. His appearance was similar to that of King Yue, but more feminine.

In fact, Li Chu is already 31 years old this year, but he looks like he is only in his 20s, younger than his younger brother Li Xi.

Next to the two one-character princes are the rest of the emperor's sons.

In fact, the fertility of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty was quite terrifying. Although Li Heng was suppressed by the emperor, he still gave birth to children in the East Palace. He had fourteen sons. Although the ancient royal family could not avoid the death of babies, now There are also seven sitting in front of Zichen Hall.

In addition, the emperor has eight daughters, all of whom are sitting under His Royal Highness Zichen now.

In addition to the emperor's son-in-law, His Royal Highness Zichen also sat in the clan, and important officials of the clan such as Guang Luxun and Li Tan also sat in the row.

However, most of Li Tang's clan has no rights, similar to the mascot of the royal family, Shang Bo quickly looked away.

Next to it are nobles and ministers, but the titles of the Tang Dynasty are surprisingly difficult to obtain, and the emperor has conferred a total of three princes during his reign.

Prime Minister Zhang Shuo was granted the title of Duke of the State, but Zhang Shuo's son surrendered to the puppet Yan, and the title of Duke of the State was also deprived.

Prime Minister Li Linfu was also the same. After Li Linfu's death, Yang Guozhong liquidated him. Even Li Linfu's family was executed, and the title of Duke was taken back.

The other Duke is Gao Lishi, but Gao Lishi served the emperor in Xingqing Palace and did not participate in today's National Nuo Ceremony.

At present, there is only one Dai Guogong named Guo Ziyi, and Guo Ziyi's old wife has been appointed and is also sitting under the palace today.

Shang Bo looked at the old lady. Although Guo Ziyi is a model of a loyal minister, the means to seek her own are not low.

There is a very classic section in Peking Opera called "Wat on the Bed", which is the scene of paying homage to Guo Ziyi's birthday.

The wat is the wat board held by the ministers in the upper court. Sometimes the officials will write the outline of the preparation on the wat. The wat represents the status of a senior official.

"Wat on the Bed" is a scene in which Guo Ziyi's son and son-in-law go to pay homage to their birthdays, and all the children in the family hold wat boards.

This is also the favorite excerpt of wealthy families, implying that the children of a prosperous family can have a bright future.

But this is about what happened after Guo Ziyi became the king of Fenyang County. Now Guo Ziyi is only the Duke of Dai, and his family has not yet reached this level of ostentation.

As for the princes in the early Tang Dynasty, they were basically the same.

Although Taizong didn't kill meritorious officials, Gaozong didn't kill meritorious officials without blinking an eye. After all, even his own uncle killed fierce people.

Those who survived Gaozong's period by chance were almost cleaned up in the Wu Zhou Dynasty.

The brothers of the Wu family who were granted by the Wu Zhou Dynasty were killed by the old Li family in the Shenlong coup.

Next to the ministers are the prime ministers. Although the prime ministers and ministers are sitting next to each other, they attract the most attention.

After all, these clan ministers may not necessarily have power, and the prime ministers are the proper core of imperial power.

At this time Li Fuguo came out from the Zichen Hall, holding two black masks in his hands, and declared to the ministers:
"Qi King Li Xi, Chu King Li Chu."

"My son is here!"

All I saw was Li Fuguo handing the two Nuo opera masks to the two princes and saying, "Your Majesty has an order to ask the two princes to perform the Nuo dance on behalf of the emperor!"

The officials present gasped.

According to the usual practice, the emperor will also wear a mask in the final stage of the national Nuo, step onto the stage to participate in the Nuo dance, and pray for the common people of the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor Li Longji especially loved dancing. Before the rebels captured Chang'an, Li Longji personally participated in the Nuo dance as the emperor.

This kind of large-scale sacrificial activity, unless the emperor has a physical problem, otherwise he would not entrust his son to participate on his behalf.

This also shows that the emperor's health is really bad, and he can't even participate in the national Nuo sacrifice.

However, the emperor was unwell and asked the prince to participate in the sacrificial activities on his behalf. This is also a normal thing in all dynasties.

But what is abnormal is that there is a prince in the Tang Dynasty, and the emperor asked two princes to take part in the Nuo dance instead.

The meaning of this is thought-provoking.

Many of the officials in Beijing are smart people, and the way they looked at the two princes immediately changed.

The expression on Li Xi's face was naturally ecstatic. His father entrusted him with such an important matter, which showed that he had the same position as the crown prince in his heart.

And Li Chu was deep in thought, and also felt a huge humiliation.

Even though he was the crown prince of a country, he let himself sacrifice with King Qi. This humiliation almost made Li Chu walk away.

However, he also understood that this was not the time for an attack. Li Chu took over the black mask, then walked directly down the imperial steps and onto the Nuo dance stage.

After the prince took the stage, King Qi also quickly stepped onto the stage, and the two wore masks and began to dance.

But right now the stage was also full of swords and swords. Li Chu wore a mask and danced to Li Xi. Both of them stepped on the drums and danced face to face on the stage. Doing exorcism movements of Nuo dance.

Shang Bo only felt that there was a dark cloud hanging over Chang'an, and this dark cloud was getting bigger and bigger, almost to the point of thunder and lightning.

After the Nuo dance sacrifice is over, officials from the sixth grade and above can stay in front of the Zichen Hall and wait for the New Year's Eve banquet that begins in the evening.

Officials below the sixth rank had to leave the Daming Palace before dark, only to see a dense crowd starting to walk outside the palace gate.

Although Shang Bo has no rank, but as the envoy of the Longyou Governor's Mansion, he represented the King of Yue to participate in this New Year's Eve banquet.

Like Shangbo, the envoys of various festivals stayed behind, envoys of various vassal states, and honorable clansmen also stayed in Zichen Hall, waiting to enter the hall to participate in the royal banquet on New Year's Eve.

The maids held the palace lanterns and lit the candles in the Zichen Hall.

In winter, the sun goes down early, and the sky gradually gets late, but the inside of the Zichen Hall is lit up with candlelight as bright as day.

The prince and the king of Qi were sweating from the Nuo dance. They each changed a piece of clothes and stood at the gate of Zichen Hall again.

Li Fuguo walked to the door again and shouted: "Your Majesty Xuan, clan relatives, ministers, and envoys of all vassal states, give a banquet to Zichen Hall!"

"Enter the palace!"

Although Liu Houyuan represented the King of Yue, after all, Shang Bo had no rank, so he stood at the end with a group of Jiedu envoys and envoys from the vassal state.

As the top dignitaries of the Tang Dynasty entered the Zichen Palace, Shang Bo saw the emperor on the throne.

Although Li Heng looks pretty good, but from his vain body, it can be seen that the body of the Great Tang Emperor is really not in good shape.

Sitting next to the emperor was the newly conferred Empress Zhang.

The rest of the emperor's concubines sat on both sides of the emperor, and the two underage princes and princesses were also held by the wet nurse and sat on the chairs on the emperor's wing.

Shang Bo took a look and found that one of the babies was Li Tong, the prince born this year to Empress Zhang.

In fact, among the one-character princes who canonized this time, there are four people in total.

King Li of Qi, King Li Chu of Chu and Li Tan, King of Yue, and the other was the newly born little prince Li Tong, who was canonized as King Ding.

It was rumored that the emperor liked this little prince who was born in Fengxiang Mansion very much, and even wanted to make him a prince.

But Empress Zhang advised the emperor that "the country cannot have a young master", and the emperor gave up this idea.

It's just that Shangbo is skeptical about this version of the rumor, and he believes in another version of the rumor.

That is, Empress Zhang actually wanted her own son to succeed to the throne, but she also knew that it was impossible for the court ministers to agree to support an infant prince in the current turmoil in the Tang Dynasty.

That's why Empress Zhang decided to adopt Li Xi and help Li Xi seize the heir.

The Tang Dynasty still practiced the meal sharing system, especially at royal banquets. The ladies in the court held the plates and delivered them to the table. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty finally stood up from the throne and said a scene of praying for good weather in the coming year.

Only then did Li Heng raise his wine glass and said, "Drink it all up, congratulations to Datang!"

"Congratulations to the Great Tang! Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"