Chapter 947: Sacrifice to Heaven or Man?

The altar to worship the gods has been built. There was no time to compact it with soil, so it was built with wooden frames. Although it is not very high, the upper, middle and lower floors are covered with flags, and then wrapped with cloth and silk yarn, it looks full. Like the same thing.

"...The spirit's chariot is formed by black clouds, riding a flying dragon, and its feathers are flying. Under the spirit, it is like a wind horse, with a dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right. When the spirit comes, it is full of gods. It rains first and descends from the spirit. When it comes, we celebrate the yin and yin, let go of each other's fear, and our hearts are shaken..."

The musicians neatly wore their crowns and wore silk gauze over their Gebu robes. They sat on the thin reed mat and played the suburban sacrificial song in a precise manner, announcing the beginning of the entire sacrificial activity.

Although the song of the Suburban Sacrifice is a bit beyond the standard for a ritual to worship the gods, it is not a big deal, because it actually belongs to the same level of songs...

The Song of Suburban Sacrifice was formulated by the great Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and such a movement was listed separately in the Yuefu. The music was composed by Li Yannian and the lyrics were written by Sima Xiangru. Thinking about it, it seems that some of the later kings and empresses will share it. The feeling of performing on stage...

Chiyang is located in the north of Jingshui River, so some people call it Jingyang. Because the Jingshui River is clear and it is close to Gaoling in the north, it is more in line with the ancient academic view of Wangqi. Therefore, it became an area that Li Jue took into his arms as his own fiefdom, and now it stretches from Chiyang City Gate all the way. To the altar ten miles away, some simple straw sheds were built all the way, and some expensive silk was wrapped around the straw sheds. It can be said that this alone cost a lot of money.

The Han Dynasty has to be said to be a relatively older dynasty. From Liu Bang to Liu Xie now, it has lasted for more than 400 years. This can be regarded as the first time in Chinese history that long-term peace and stability have been achieved under the premise of unification. , naturally the so-called gods, or the spirits of ancestors, have developed to a greater extent, and the amount of money consumed far exceeded that of the Zhou Dynasty or the Qin Dynasty.

Sacrifice is the most direct manifestation of this kind of culture. If you can get God's favor, money and other things will be nothing...

When people live in the world, they always struggle hard and strive for survival, and they always have good hopes. Therefore, rulers also take advantage of this and use mysterious and solemn rituals to show that they are the spokesperson of the will of heaven and earth or gods. , possessing the power to govern all peoples.

This may also be the most fundamental reason why Guo Bang is willing to hold such a ceremony to worship heaven. In Guo Bang's concept, it is better to say that it is a sacrifice to heaven than to sacrifice people, because he also wants to use such a model to tell everyone The people from Xiliang, or Guo Si himself, are definitely God's favorites and have supreme power.

In fact, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven was not the highest-end sacrificial activity in the Han Dynasty. The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods was the highest level.

"Build an altar of earth on Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven, and repay the merits of heaven, so it is called Feng. The hills below Mount Tai are to remove the earth, and repay the merits of earth, so it is called Zen. Those who talk about Zen are like gods." However, the ceremony of Feng Chan is too much after all. The ceremony was grand, and according to tradition, it had to be held at Mount Tai, so we could only settle for a second-rate sacrifice.

Second-level sacrificial activities are divided into three types, namely suburban sacrifices, kitchen sacrifices, and other sacrifices. Unfortunately, perhaps unlike most dynasties in later generations, in the Han Dynasty, the sacrificial activity of offering sacrifices to heaven belonged to other sacrifices. .

As a suburban sacrifice, it was very popular during the Western Han Dynasty, especially during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was held once every three years and was grand in scale. Many etiquette regulations were set during that time. But what is very interesting is that Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, only conducted suburban sacrifices once in his life, and I don’t know if he was influenced by Emperor Guangwu. The subsequent emperors of the Western Han Dynasty did not conduct any special suburban sacrifices.

The Kitchen Sacrifice is also more advanced than the simple ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky. Not only the official sacrifices, but also the folk sacrifices. Sacrifice to the God of Taishe in February is a national activity, and the "February 2" festival in later generations is also That’s where it comes from.

And just the ceremony of worshiping the sky, that is, worshiping the gods, is ranked with the gods of the earth, sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, thunder and lightning. Of course, among all the gods, the position of the gods is the highest. Whether it is the emperor's accession to the throne, oaths of alliance, worship, etc., they are all inseparable from the worship of gods.

But it is obvious that for the gods, the things in the world are too insignificant, so they have almost no time to care about it, just like humans generally do not pay attention to what the ants are worshiping. If the ants also If you know how to offer sacrifices.

There was a sound of golden drums at the gate of Chiyang County. Several bright banners first appeared in the crowd's sight from the city gate, followed by colorful canopies and the mighty knights... …

At this moment, Guo Bang was sitting on a canopy car under the escort of the personal guards, trying to control the stability of his body while swaying, and slowly walked to the altar. For Guo Si, this sacrifice can naturally be said to be a very important matter...

Although the location in Chiyang made Guo Bang feel a little uncomfortable, it was just to give Li Jue a face. More importantly, this time the sacrifice was hosted by Guo Bang. The emperor was still young and was staying in Chang'an. That's good, and as a royal nobleman, naturally he can't do anything lightly. Of course, he, as an "important" minister, can do such "hard" things for him.

The emperor, the emperor, and the queen of earth are very important existences in the eyes of ordinary people. If Guo Bin performs the sacrifice to the gods, it means that he plays an important role in the government and the public, which naturally becomes the "legitimacy" of his current status. The best footnote is that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was keen to go to Mount Tai once every five years to perform the Zen ceremony.

As a newly appointed empress general of the current dynasty, this guard of honor is naturally not too shabby. As a formal occasion, Guo Bang could not ride a horse, but rode a car, which was a kind of canopy car, and it was not one, but four, that is, four canopy cars pulled by four horses.

Of course Guo Bang can't ride in four cars at the same time, but what he wants is this kind of style and this tone, which has the same meaning as the long series of wedding cars in later generations.

The one at the front is called the golden chariot. In fact, it is the guide car of the honor guard convoy. The car is usually equipped with gold tantalum or gold cymbals, which are used to hit and make a loud sound. Behind the golden car is the drum car. There is a Yinggu drum on the car. There are drummers on both sides of the Yinggu drum. They are holding drumsticks and are beating hard, mixing the dull drum sound with the crisp sound of gold. , passed very far.

Naturally, the third canopy car was occupied by Guo Si. Decorated in a gorgeous broad robe and long sleeves, this horse thief in the past seemed to be a little more refined today...

Of course, in addition to the last carriage with flags on it, there were also knights advancing slowly on both sides, fighting in pairs on the left and right, holding spears, swords, halberds, axes, spears, and shields, exactly twelve of them. Behind the motorcade, there were soldiers, servants, servants, and field servants who were also moving forward with the carriages. They were holding various utensils, dragging the whole queue into a long queue.

Horseman.

Flag utensils.

Swinging across the long street.

It's just that the scenery is endless.

As the crowds on both sides of the road bowed down, looking from the angle of the canopy car, one could only see the lowered heads and raised buttocks. Such a situation naturally made Guo Bang, who was sitting in the canopy car, , became complacent, feeling that at this moment, the glory of the whole world was gathered in oneself, he couldn't help twirling his beard, just like the bride following the sedan chair, although she tried her best to maintain her restraint, but it was still exposed to a certain extent. A hint of a smile…

The ten-mile journey was neither long nor short, and we soon arrived in front of the altar. The ceremonial staff and martial arts performers who had been waiting under the altar for a long time also bowed down on both sides of the road amidst the loud chants of the ceremonial officers.

Guo Bin, who was sitting on the canopy car, walked slowly forward without squinting, maintaining a majestic posture. However, this posture did not last long...

For some unknown reason, a puff of black smoke suddenly appeared from the temporary colorful sheds on both sides of the road, and soon flames emerged and began to burn!

The flames spread on the silk yarn and burned very quickly, quickly igniting the hay on the grass shed. Coupled with the wind blowing in the field, the wind immediately helped the fire, and the fire took advantage of the power of the wind. In the blink of an eye, There was smoke billowing and sparks flying!

"It's flooded! It's flooded! Someone is coming, someone is coming, someone is coming!" Suddenly someone shouted, calling for people to put out the fire. The people who were originally watching the ceremony on both sides of the road were in chaos, running around in a chaotic mess, disrupting the originally orderly queue...

Under the look of the leader, the shirtless martial arts dancers who were lying on the ground got up silently one by one, and then gradually approached the canopy convoy where Guo Si was.

"This is the moment!" Someone in the motorcade shouted loudly, "Punish the traitors and eradicate the evil! Eliminate the national traitors! Act quickly!"

Immediately, many people among the crowd also shouted in unison: "Punish the traitors and eradicate the evil! Get rid of the national traitors!"

The crowd immediately "boomed" and became chaotic.

Guo Bunteng stood up from the canopy car. He never thought that such a situation would happen!

After learning that Ma Teng led his troops to Xinfeng through Chang'an, Guo Bang basically felt a lot more relaxed and even began to be a little optimistic, because as long as he joined forces with Ma Teng and Han Sui, it could truly be said that in the Guanzhong area, Xiliang's strength has become an absolute advantage!

It is precisely because of this that Guo Bang wanted to hold such a ceremony to sacrifice to heaven before Fan Chou and Han Sui, or even Li Jue and Ma Teng, to add some weight to his words, but he did not expect I encountered something like this!

"Protect the general!"

Several approaching cavalry guards approached Guo Bang's canopy car!

"Death to the national traitor!"

A servant holding a copper basin turned around and slammed the copper basin into the face of the knight on the side. Then he rushed forward regardless, grabbed the knight's waist, and dragged him aside, trying to pull him away. The cavalrymen pulled off their horses...

A dancer silently waved his sword and hit a Guo Si soldier in the face. Although the ax used in the dance ceremony is not edged and is made of wood, it is still a heavy blunt weapon. It also has a shield, which can be used to withstand the counterattacks of some Guo Si's cavalry...

"Dad! Mom!"

"Lady!"

"Mr. Lang!"

The people watching the excitement on both sides of the road, who had no idea what was going on, were frightened out of their wits by what they saw in front of them. They immediately ran away in confusion, pushing and trampling each other, crying and shouting...

In a valley in the distance, Fei Qian was ambushing here with his men.

With the help of local snakes, the lurking work is actually not as difficult as imagined. Otherwise, the Han Dynasty would not be known as the era with the most fugitives. Even those imperial prisoners could openly become guests of county governors from various places. Therefore, Fei lurking Under the cover of the Pangs, Shi Shiran broke into pieces, and then came to the vicinity of Chiyang.

Of course, the so-called "reconciliation" is actually not much. Even if the hundred cavalry that Zhao Yun detoured are combined, it is only six hundred cavalry, which is not much, but if you want to cause trouble, a few are still enough.

The few scouts who stayed on the top of the mountain saw the black smoke and fire on the other side of the altar. They immediately turned their heads and shouted into the valley: "The fire is on! I saw the fire!"

"Let's go!" Fei Qian got on his horse, waved his hand, and without any unnecessary nonsense, he went directly to the altar with Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun.

Amidst the chaotic noise of the fire scene, Fei Qian's 600 cavalry did not attract the attention of Guo Si and others at first.

Guo Bang even angrily tore off his neatly dressed brocade robe, took the spear handed over by the cavalry guard beside him, stood condescendingly on the canopy, and assassinated several people who dared to challenge his majesty. He commanded the cavalry to start killing these ceremonial personnel who did not have many sharp weapons in their hands...

Guo Si did not expect that these people would dare to do such a thing. Of course, he also brought some cavalry and infantry as guards. However, due to etiquette, ordinary soldiers could not follow him to the altar. So now most of the infantry are on the periphery, hastily separated by these common people and the ceremonial personnel who risked their lives to rush forward. However, as long as these personnel who are trying to stand in front of them are killed, they will be Gathered in one place...

At this moment, a muffled sound and vibration that was much smaller than the crazy shouts near the altar slowly spread...

The dull sound of horse hooves, at first, kicked slowly, then gradually accelerated the speed of rising and falling, and then in the blink of an eye, it turned into a continuous and intensive dull sound of tapping the ground, like a whirlwind, towards the altar. Sweeping in!

The 600 cavalry brought by Fei Qian were all elite soldiers who had gone through the battle formation. Each of them was an elite soldier in his prime. In addition, there were 300 cavalry among them. Both men and horses were covered with a layer of battle armor. Although For weight reasons, the war horses were only equipped with leather armor, but when these three hundred heavy riders galloped ahead, they still felt an unstoppable and powerful force!

According to Fei Qian's old habit, these cavalrymen not only have iron armor and helmets, but also naturally have masks with ghost faces painted on them as standard. At this moment, the masks have been put down, revealing the ferocious pattern, and only two eyes are exposed in the dark eyes. There is a light shining in the hole...

When these cavalry are pressing forward like moving armored fortresses; when the manes of the war horses are fluttering and dancing in the wind; when the breath is gushing out from under these ghost faces; when the swords and spears are raised When the cold light flickered under the sun, the six hundred cavalrymen who lined up in order unexpectedly burst out with an overwhelming majesty!

Six hundred armored cavalry are getting closer and closer!

The peripheral soldiers who were gathering towards Guo Bang felt something was wrong. When they turned around to check, they suddenly discovered a group of Fei Qian men who had come out of the oblique stab. They had just shouted the word "enemy attack" when they saw it. A wave of arrows shot from the sky, and then everything went dark...

"Kill the national traitors!"

Six hundred armored cavalry crashed into Guo Si's guard soldiers!