Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1346: Seal the Wolf as Xu
The plan was finalized, and the next day Zhu Zhen announced to the entire army that a ceremony would be held in a few days to seal the Wolf's Lair and abdicate in Guyan!

If it were any other ceremony, the soldiers would probably complain, thinking that their superiors were messing around again, but with this ceremony, everyone was fascinated and looked forward to it taking place.

The so-called "fenglangjuxu, chanyuguyan" is actually fengshan. "Feng" means offering sacrifice to heaven, building a round altar on the top of the mountain to repay the heaven's merits; "chan" means offering sacrifice to the earth, building a square altar on the hill at the foot of the mountain to repay the earth's kindness.

In those days, Huo Qubing built the Temple of Heaven on the highest peak of Langjuxu Mountain to worship the sky, and built the Temple of Earth on the nearby Guyan Mountain to worship the earth, so it was called "sealing the Langjuxu and abdicating at Guyan".

But 1,500 years had passed, and the altar built by the Champion Marquis had long since disappeared. The soldiers then piled up earth and laid stones to rebuild a new altar on the two mountains.

Everything was ready. The entire army fasted for a day, washed their battle robes clean, and waited for the Fengshan Ceremony with an extremely pious attitude!

~~
In the nineteenth year of Hongwu, on the seventh day of October, the day of Fenglangjuxu has arrived!

The weather was fine that day, with clear blue skies. At noon, the sun was at its zenith, illuminating the earth. The main peak of the Wolf Mountain was covered with flags like the sea. More than 50,000 Ming army soldiers were in full military glory, standing like javelins on the mountain and below, staring intently at the nine-foot-high platform on the top of the mountain.

The high platform was piled with battle flags and armor captured from the Yuan army and the Oirat people, covered with a thick layer of firewood, and a layer of wooden boards was laid flat on the firewood.

Amid the sound of drums and music, Zhu Zhen led the princes and generals to kill one cow, one sheep and one pig. This was a three-animal sacrifice, also known as Tailao, which was a sacrifice offered to heaven.

The sacrifices in the Fengshan ceremony were different from ordinary sacrifices. Soldiers carried three sacrificial animals, climbed up the ladder to the high platform, climbed onto the pile of firewood, and placed them upright on top.

The kings also offered jade and silk, and the soldiers also placed them on the firewood pile. Zhu Zhen personally held a torch to light it, and a raging fire broke out on the top of the Wolf Mountain!
This is the "burning wood ceremony" for offering sacrifices to heaven. Zheng Xuan's commentary on "Zhou Li" says: "For the three sacrifices, wood is piled up and the bodies of animals are placed on them. Sometimes jade and silk are burned to raise smoke, so as to repay the yang."

Our ancestors believed that there lived in heaven a group of gods who punished evil and rewarded good and had infinite magical powers. People could only get blessings by burning firewood and throwing in sacrificial meat, jade and other treasures, letting thick smoke mixed with the smell of blood rise into the sky to entertain the gods.

When offering sacrifices to the earth, the "blood burial ceremony" is used. "Burial" means burying the blood of the sacrificial animal in the ground to feed the earth ghosts.

~~
Zhu Zhen personally held a torch and lit it, and a raging fire ignited on the top of the Wolf Mountain! Thick smoke rushed straight into the sky, like a passage connecting to heaven!

The fire was blazing, the drums and trumpets were silent, and the heaven and earth were silent. Zhu Zhen read the text of the Heavenly Sacrifice in front of the fire:

"In the 19th year of Hongwu, on the first day of the tenth month of the year Bingyin, on the seventh day of the month Guiyi, King Zhen of Chuhaidian, King Qin, King Jin, King Yan, and King Zhou, along with all the noble generals and all the soldiers, offered sacrifices to the heavens at the Wolf Mountain in the far north, saying—"

"Since ancient times, China has been in the interior to control the barbarians, and the barbarians have been in the exterior to serve China. I have never heard of the barbarians living in China controlling the world. In the past, the Han Dynasty's General Huo Qubing went out of the border for more than 2,000 miles to fight the Xiongnu, and captured more than 70,000 Huns. The Left Wise Kings all fled. The General Huo Qubing was granted the title of Langjuxu Mountain, Zenguyan, and Linhanhai before returning. Since then, the Xiongnu has fled far away, and there is no king's court in the south of the desert. The Western Regions have all submitted. The world has begun to know the power of the Han Dynasty!"

"However, since the loss of Youyan in the Five Dynasties, the Hu people have risen up in the northern desert, and the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty even used the northern barbarians to rule China. The beautiful rivers and mountains were occupied by the barbarians, and the land was full of blood and stench. The Yuan ruler was unjust and tyrannical, causing the Chinese people to die and their flesh and blood to be scattered on the ground, and the living could not protect their flesh and blood. Therefore, God was disgusted with his virtue and abandoned him!"

"For the Chinese people, Heaven must have ordered us Chinese to bring peace to them. How can the barbarians be governed?! Thus, the cycle of Heaven's will came, the Central Plains was prosperous, and a saint was born among the billions of people. Our emperor succeeded Heaven to establish the throne, set down the rule and protect the people. Respectfully accepting Heaven's will, he sent troops to the north to drive out the barbarians, recover our Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, and restore China's territory. He cleaned up the world, saved the people from suffering, and restored the majesty of China! It has been nineteen years so far!" "In the past nineteen years, all the barbarians and savages at home and abroad have changed their hearts and turned to civilization. Only the Yuan Dynasty went against Heaven's will and moved to the outside of the Great Wall. They gathered troops to resist stubbornly, disturbed our borders, and killed our soldiers and civilians. Our emperor is compassionate and intends to recruit them. However, the ugly barbarians are the remnants of felt and fur, the lowly captives of a fallen country, who have failed the grace of Heaven and Earth to save them, and have the greedy and cruel nature of tigers and wolves. They killed our messengers and invaded our borders. They rebelled against Heaven's will and obstructed our teachings."

"The Sanmiao rebelled, and Dayu led an army to fight against them; the Xianyun invaded, and Xuanwei launched a northern expedition. My emperor has specially ordered me to lead an army to the north to eliminate cruelty and violence, and to raise an army to punish the culprits!"

"Since the beginning of the year, the general Xu Da has been in charge of the strategy, the left deputy general Fu Youde has been in command, and the right deputy general Lan Yu has been in the forefront, leading the generals and subordinates to be loyal and dedicated, and the soldiers have been brave to compete for the lead. The army's prestige has shocked the enemy court, and its spirits have soared across the vast sea! As a result, the soldiers have won without fighting, and the enemy has no worries about fighting. Nahachu immediately went to the military gate, surrendered, surrendered, and confessed the whereabouts of the Yuan court!"

"After finding the enemy, Lan Yu and his generals hurried north, led the army on a thousand-mile expedition, and defeated the Yuan court at Buir Lake, capturing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and more than a hundred mules and horses. They also captured thousands of concubines, princesses, and high-ranking officials, and wiped out the remaining Yuan officials. From then on, the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed!"

"Although the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed, only the Yuan ruler fled west with the imperial seal and his two sons. Fortunately, Yan Wang Di led the Ping'an army to pursue them relentlessly, and finally captured the Yuan ruler by the Hanhai Lake and obtained his imperial seal. They also fought hard against the 80,000 elite soldiers of the Oirat and led them into the Wolf Mountain, where they were completely annihilated!"

"From now on, the evil spirits and remnants are wiped out. The sky is clean and the earth is peaceful, and the dust of the barbarians does not fly! Looking from north to south, all is under the rule of the king! Wherever the sun and the moon shine, it is all the king's land, and there is no limit to it. The power of the Han and Tang dynasties has been restored!"

"All this is due to the blessing of heaven and the protection of the gods; thanks to the divine plan of our emperor, who is tolerant and wise, and who can plan everything in advance, so he can achieve success beyond our predictions. We, the ministers, have followed the will of heaven and have been rewarded with our hard work and dedication."

"Today, our army has returned to Mount Langjuxu, following the example of our predecessors in offering sacrifices and praying at the Temple of Heaven, thanking the gods for their favor. With the help of the gods, we have been able to quell the chaos, control the barbarians, and rule the people of China. I only wish that China will be healthy and peaceful, and the people will enjoy prosperity forever in the Ming Dynasty. I, your servants, respectfully offer this poem on behalf of our emperor, and I hope the gods will witness it. Enjoy!"

~~
After the sacrificial text was read, Zhu Zhen wrapped it with a golden rope, sealed it with gold mud, placed it in a jade box, and buried it under the altar.

The last item of Fengshan is to "carve stones to record merits", so that the political achievements and merits of the worshipper can be "carved on gold and stone, passed down forever and immortalized."

This is also the main reason why the emperor did not have enough merit and was embarrassed to offer sacrifices to the gods. Otherwise, there would be nothing to record in the "merit book".

Zhu Zhen did not have this concern, because their contributions were enough to go down in history!

They erected an eight-foot-high boulder on the top of the Wolf Mountain, on which were inscribed sixteen powerful and vigorous characters inscribed with silver hooks and iron strokes:

"With the vast sea as the hilt and the Tianshan Mountains as the blade, we will sweep away the barbarian dust and clear the desert forever!"

【End of this volume】

ps: It took me a whole afternoon to write this chapter, and I finally brought this great journey to a fairly satisfactory end.

At this point, the Northern Expedition is over, and the story that this book is about to tell is basically finished. Now we enter the final volume, the finale.

(End of this chapter)