I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 149 Winter Solstice Suburban Festival, Beizhou Mutiny

After Zhao Zhen issued an edict to abolish elephant taming performances and ban foreign tribute elephants, no one among the ministers raised any objections.

Because Su Liang's reasons are really irrefutable.

Chen Zhizhong took leave due to illness.

The burden of the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival falls entirely on Zhang Fangping, Xia Song and Ding Du.

The night of the tenth day of November.

Zhao Zhen took Xia Song, Zhang Fangping, Wu Yu, Ding Du and others to visit Chen Zhizhong and sent many supplements.

While Chen Zhizhong was grateful, he said that his inability to continue hosting the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival drill was a real letdown of His grace.

The old man burst into tears and talked a lot.

Beside, Xia Song and others rolled their eyes when they heard this.

This crying scene is really impossible to perform without a certain amount of physical strength.

Zhao Zhen was soft-hearted and kept comforting Chen Zhizhong, asking him to take good care of his health. Chen Zhizhong still needed to host the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival.

Now, if the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival is held successfully, Chen Zhizhong takes the lead.

If there is a problem, it is because Xia Song, Ding Du, Zhang Fangping and others failed to execute.

As the old saying goes, a child who cries gets milk.

These words still apply to this group of court ministers.

Meeting Zhao Zhen, a kind-hearted official, the husband who can cry will undoubtedly have a more stable status.

……

Two days later.

Bao Zheng also concluded the case of taming an elephant and injuring people.

The elephant is originally docile, but he gets angry and loses control.

The main reason is that the mahout used a sharp knife and stabbed several long and narrow wounds under the elephant's legs.

An official in charge of the Xiang Office was seriously derelict in his duties due to lax jurisdiction. He had a staff of thirteen and was in charge of a thousand miles.

Two mahouts who abused elephants and caused casualties to the people had twenty canes and two thousand miles of thorns in the military prison city.

Zhao Zhen's abolition of the edict to tame elephants and the outcome of Bao Zheng's trial attracted high praise from many people.

The elephant taming show is nice to watch.

But if it sacrifices the interests of the court and the people, or even brings hidden dangers of casualties to the people, then it is not worth it.

……

At night, the moon is as round as a disk.

Meishan, Meizhou, inside Su's house.

11-year-old Su Shi and nine-year-old Su Che have just finished memorizing Su Jingming's "Hundred Schools of Learning".

The two of them were gnawing on the chicken drumsticks in their hands while watching the moon.

Su Shi said: "Brother, Mr. Jing Ming's remarks have broken my impression of him again. Sometimes he is a scholar, sometimes he seems not. I really want to meet him."

"Yeah, well, I like the most when he praised Mr. Liu Qi, 'Mr. Liu Qi's words can be eaten with rice.' Although my father didn't let us read Liu Qi, Mr. Liu Qi's words were so well written that I loved it. I want to go to Qiantang!" Su Che looked at the moon with a look of anticipation.

Su Shi gnawed off a chicken leg and said confidently: "Brother Wei will definitely not be lower than Mr. Liu Qi in the realm of Ci in the future."

"Brother, you can brag! You can just make a chicken drumstick. Mr. Liu Qi said it can be used with rice, and you can be used as a meal."

"See if I don't beat you up! Your brother, I am a perfect talent."

……

Under the moonlight, the two brothers chased and quarreled in the courtyard.

……

On November 26, there are still two days before the Winter Solstice, and the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival has begun.

Five watch.

Under the protection of Zhao Zhen's honor guard, he left Xuandemen, passed through Jingling Palace, and went to the Ancestral Temple.

All civil and military officials, as well as relatives of the royal family, all need to be accompanied. Even the prince Ying'er, who is less than two months old, also needs to accompany him.

That night, Zhao Zhen stayed at the Ancestral Temple.

at the same time.

In front of the Ancestral Temple, Zhao Zhen gave the prince Ying'er a proper name: Zhao Lin.

Lin, the brilliance of jade.

You need to know.

The rectification of the name given by the prince is not chosen randomly and requires repeated research by the minister in charge of the ceremony.

It should not be too vulgar and cause taboos in people's daily speech, but it should not be elegance and upright enough.

Zhao Zhen, formerly known as Zhao Yiyi, changed his name to Zhao Zhen when he was appointed as the crown prince.

Many princes have their official names after they are three years old.

The prince was named Zhao Lin in less than two months, which shows that Zhao Zhen expected him to be his eldest son after all.

The next day, the winter solstice.

It was not yet midnight and the sky was pitch black.

Zhao Zhen, civil and military officials, royal clan members, etc. rushed from the Ancestral Temple to the suburban altar outside Nanxun Gate.

The soldiers of Sanya were wearing purple embroidered war robes and riding horses to lead the way.

Behind them are the emperor's personal attendants, various squads of the imperial army, musicians, civil and military officials, royal family members, etc.

It is vast and stretches for more than ten miles.

Su Liang sat in the carriage, tilted his head and fell asleep. He could go to bed late, but it was difficult to get up early.

After arriving at the altar, Zhao Zhen changed into the more solemn emperor's sacrificial robes.At this time, Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong stood up energetically.

He is the chief ceremonial officer of the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival.

Two days ago, after all preparations were completed, Chen Zhizhong said that he was in good health and immediately took over the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival.

Zhang Fangping, Ding Du and Xia Song were so angry that they expected Su Liang to make him angry twice more.

Subsequently.

Zhao Zhen ascended the altar and first knelt down to the God of Haotian, that is, Heaven, and then worshiped Taizu...

The palace rituals and music began.

Afterwards, they recited sacrificial inscriptions, drank blessing wine, and burned ghost coins, paper, jade albums, etc.

All civil and military officials, as well as members of the royal family, all bowed down in unison when they heard the command. No mistake was made.

In addition to participating in sacrifices, officials at Yushitai also have supervisory responsibilities and are busier than other officials.

In this situation, whoever dares to make a mistake will definitely be severely punished.

After the sacrifice to heaven is completed.

Zhao Zhen gave tea and wine, and watched rituals and music with the clan and officials.

Then, the emperor's guard of honor began to be returned.

But that's not the end of it.

Zhao Zhen entered Nanxun Gate, passed Yu Street, and then climbed to Xuande Tower.

At this moment, it is already afternoon.

In addition to the common people standing downstairs in Xuande, there were also prisoners arranged by Kaifeng Mansion and Dali Temple.

Immediately, Zhao Zhen personally issued an edict to release the prisoners. The prisoners knelt down and thanked them. Then the imperial army returned to the camp in an organized manner, and the Winter Solstice Suburban Festival was finally over.

At this time, it was already the afternoon application time.

After the officials finished their work.

Except for a few officials who need to be on duty, most officials can begin to enjoy the seven-day winter solstice holiday.

For the people of the Song Dynasty, the importance of the winter solstice is second only to the Chinese New Year.

People need to buy new clothes and worship their ancestors, and the government will open all markets.

After Su Liang finished his work, he returned home and fell asleep. Such a large-scale event was really tiring!

……

Two days later, near noon.

Su Liang was sitting in the courtyard playing with Su Zimu in his arms, and was thinking about how the next vacation would go, when the official at the Yushitai suddenly sent news.

"On the winter solstice, Beizhou mutiny occurred."

Wang Ze, a junior colonel of Xuanyi Army in Hebei Province, rebelled and took control of Beizhou City.

Beizhou magistrate Zhang Deyi was captured, Beizhou general magistrate Dong Yuanheng was killed, and the entire Beizhou fell in one day.

This is not a rebellion by the people, but a rebellion by the army and thieves.

Beizhou is located on the border of Hebei Province in the Song Dynasty, and its location is very important.

Once handled improperly, greater civil strife is likely to break out.

Moreover, this king is also the leader of the cult White Lotus Sect. In addition to Beizhou, there are also many believers who follow him in other places.

Immediately, Su Liang rushed to the Yushitai.

After Su Liang went to the Yushitai, he realized that things were worse than he imagined.

The king of military thieves has established his kingdom in Beizhou City and proclaimed himself king.

He proclaimed himself the "King of Dongping County", and also granted relatives to follow Zhang Luan and Bu Ji as prime minister and privy envoy respectively.

Each building in the city is a state, and his loyal followers are appointed as magistrates.

All the people in the city, who were twelve years old and under seventy, were all soldiers, and many people had their faces tattooed with the words "Rebels defeat Zhao and win".

This information was passed on by Zeng Gongliang, who was currently in charge of Daming Mansion, and it was indeed correct.

Immediately, Zhao Zhen issued an edict to the Zhongshu Province and the Privy Council, ordering the surrounding officials of Chanzhou, Mengzhou, Dingzhou, etc. to strictly guard the city.

Also.

Zhao Zhen sent the palace envoy, the Xiangzhou regiment training envoy, and the internal escort Mai Yunyan, the Xijing workshop envoy, the Zizhou regiment training envoy Wang Kai, Gaoyang Guandu deployment, Ma Jundu Yuhou, and Xiangzhou defense envoy Wang Xin to lead The imperial army went to Beizhou to encircle and suppress the bandits.

These edicts were issued on the same day, which was extremely efficient.

Dusk is approaching.

A suggestion from Chen Zhizhong and Xia Song caused the two houses to quarrel again.

The admonishing officials also rushed to Chui Gong Hall.

These two people suggested that while sending generals to quell the rebellion in Beizhou, they should also send He Cheng, the chamberlain, with the imperial edict to recruit Beizhou army thieves.

Recruiting for peace is a commonly used routine in the Song Dynasty.

There are two main reasons for this.

First, the literati and officials of the Song Dynasty generally believed that people's rebellion was caused by poverty, natural disasters, or civil unrest.

If they are all caught in prison, it will easily arouse public anger. It is better to turn thieves into soldiers and let them become soldiers and work for the court.

Secondly, war consumes a lot of money. When people rebel, they often suppress one person, and then the other end starts to rebel again, suppressing them repeatedly, which is extremely troublesome. It is better to keep the thorns for your own use.

Chen Zhizhong, Xia Song, and Pang Ji all believed that Beizhou should be pacified while recruiting peace troops, while Wu Yu, Zhang Fangping, and Wen Yanbo strongly opposed it.

As for the Third Secretary Wang Yaochen, he did not express his views clearly.

Ouyang Xiu, Tang Jie, Gao Ruona, He Tan, and Su Liang had just walked to the door of Chui Gong Hall when they heard a commotion inside.

(End of this chapter)