Chapter 90 The first chapter of the Zen ceremony

The revolution has been successful, rewards for meritorious deeds, great feasts for officers and men, and increased titles for meritorious officials are no problem. Deng Yu, Jia Fu and others knew that Liu Xiu intended to stop fighting and improve literature and morality.Liu Xiuxu made it clear, so he retired the meritorious officials, and they all took the title of Lieutenant Marquis, instead of using the current government to use affairs, they changed the country to govern the country with literary officials.Afterwards, the heroes may have minor faults, but Liu Xiu always exaggerated them and did not punish them.Throughout Liu Xiu's life, he never killed a hero, but he kept his blessings and died well, which is rare for emperors of all dynasties.

In terms of life, Liu Xiu is also a different kind of emperor. He neither likes to listen to music, nor does he like to drink, nor does he like luxury goods such as pearls and jade, and he is not even keen on female sex. Guo Shengtong, Xu Meiren and others are just a few people. Liu Xiu's only hobby is actually going to get off work. She goes to morning on time every day, and doesn't leave work until the sun is west.After get off work, I don't stay idle, and I call Gongqing, generals, Langguan and others to talk about Confucian classics and principles, and I don't go to bed until midnight.The emperor was so worried and tired that his sons couldn't stand it anymore, and persuaded their father: "Your Majesty has Yu and Tang Zhiming, but you will lose the blessing of Huang and old age. May you love your spirit and enjoy yourself in peace." Liu Xiu smiled. He replied: "I am happy with it, not tired."

The war is gone, the world is peaceful, the war is said goodbye, and the toss is said goodbye. The empire once again showed a strong self-healing ability and began a rapid revival. The issue of the heir to the empire was finally resolved in the 19th year of Jianwu (AD 43).In the winter and October of the seventeenth year of Jianwu, Liu Xiu abolished Queen Guo Shengtong as the Queen Mother of Zhongshan, and made the nobleman Yin Lihua the queen, and was expected to change the crown prince Zhang Ben.In June of the 19th year of Jianwu, Liu Qiang, the son of Guo Shengtong, was abolished as the crown prince, and he was named the king of the East China Sea, and Liu Zhuang, the son of Yin Lihua, was made the crown prince.

After the posthumous affairs are properly arranged, Liu Xiu has completed all major events in her life, and her meritorious deeds have been completed. If there is anything left to pursue, the only thing left is to hold a Zen ceremony. The so-called enshrining of Zen means building earth on Mount Tai as an altar to worship the heavens and repaying the merits of the heavens. Even for emperors, enshrining Zen is a supreme honor, not just any emperor is eligible for it. "If you don't have good morals, you can't talk about it; if you don't make great achievements, you can't seem to be polite." At the beginning, Duke Huan of Qi, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, planned to enshrine Zen, but Guan Zhong tactfully advised him, but the meaning was very clear. You are not worthy.Duke Huan of Qi stopped in shame.

The ancient times cannot be tested, but among the emperors of recent times, only Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi enjoyed this honor.Moreover, only these two deserved it. "Zuo Zhuan" said: "The major affairs of the country are only sacrifices (sacrifices) and Rong (wars)." He will no doubt officially stand shoulder to shoulder with Emperor Qin and Han Wu from now on. The emperor is not in a hurry, but the ministers are in a hurry.Participating in Fengchan is not only the honor of the emperor, but also the honor of the ministers.When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty enshrined Zen, he did not bring Ma Tan from the Taishi Company to accompany him. Sima Tan died of anger because of this. On his deathbed, he held his son Sima Qian's hand and complained about it, saying: "Today, I will be ruled by a thousand years old, and I will seal Mount Tai. And I can't follow the practice, it's my fate, my fate!" There is a lot of hatred for not being able to enshrine Zen, and dying without peace.

In February of the 30th year of Jianwu (AD 54), Taiwei Zhao Xi and Sikong Zhang Chun successively made speeches, asking Liu Xiu to enshrine Zen on Mount Tai on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his accession to the throne.Liu Xiu had no intention of making great achievements, so he immediately refused in a stern word, and issued an edict: "Thirty years after he ascended the throne, the people are full of resentment. At this time, if we enshrine Zen, who am I to deceive, or to deceive the sky?" The officials did not dare to reply. In the first month of the 32nd year of Jianwu (AD 56), Liu Xiuye ​​read the prophecy "Hetu Huichang Talisman", and suddenly saw the following text: "Chi Liu Zhijiu, will order Daizong. If you don't use it carefully, why don't you use it?" It is good for inheritance! Make good use of it with sincerity, and it will not be cute if you are treacherous." It means that the ninth emperor of the Liu family will enshrine Mount Tai (Daizong is another name for Mount Tai).If Zen is not enshrined, it is not enough to show that the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty has been obtained; but after enshrining Zen, it can ensure that all traces of treachery and falsehood will be wiped out, and the world will be safe.

For Liu Xiu, the minister's words can be ignored, but the words in the prophecy are worth ten thousand sentences, and he has to listen to them.Liu Xiu was worried that it would be difficult to establish a single evidence, so he ordered Huben Zhonglang to search all the prophecy books with Liang Song and others to find other evidences for Fengchan.Liang Song and others found as many as thirty-six places after their investigation, all of which mentioned the matter of the Ninth World Entrustment to Zen. The prophecy is God's will, and God's will cannot be violated, so Liu Xiu "had no choice but to" enshrine Zen.On the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month of this year, he set off from Luoyang, accompanied by all the kings, princes, civil and military officials, county guards and state herdsmen, etc., all the powerful elites of the empire; on February 9th, arrived in Lu; On the 12th, stay in Fenggao; on the 15th of February, fast.

After seven days of fasting, on February 22, the ceremony of enshrining Zen began.In the early morning of this day, first set fire to sacrifice to the heavens under Mount Tai, and the smoke of the wolves went straight to the sky, which is equivalent to saying hello to the heavens in advance, we are coming, please wait at home first. At the end of the matter, Liu Xiu took the lead to climb the mountain on the imperial chariot, and the rest followed.This time, Taishan County, who was in charge of the reception, had prepared a total of 300 chariots, which was far from enough. Although all the leaders came, there was no other way. , Wang, Hou), as for the smaller leaders (Qing, Dafu, Baiguan), they have to be wronged and walk on their legs.

In ancient times, the traffic of Mount Tai was not as good as today, and it was extremely steep and difficult to climb.Although 1,500 civilians have been sent to repair the road in advance, it is still rough and difficult.At first, rest every ten steps or so; afterward, with dry mouth and lack of physical strength, rest every five or six steps.Some old leaders, used to being pampered, passed out on the side of the road after walking for a while, but no one answered, and they woke up after a while, and then climbed up again.In today's situation, no matter how big an official is, no one can enjoy special treatment, and can only rely on themselves.

At noon, when we reached the top of the mountain, the stone steles and gates erected by Emperor Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were still there, one south and one north, looking at each other silently.Liu Xiu's circular altar is set between the two of them, nine feet high and three feet in radius, with steps on the east and west sides.A square altar is built on the round altar, with a square of one foot and two feet, and there are huge stones stacked on the altar, with a square of five feet. The officials consciously stopped in front of the altar, which was a stage that belonged only to Liu Xiu.The guards of the tiger and cardinals stood under the stage with their halberds. Liu Xiu climbed up the steps from the east. Seal it.After the seal was completed, Taichang led more than 30 people to pry open the huge stone on the altar. The Shangshu ordered the jade document to be hidden under the stone, and then the huge stone was replaced. The Shangshu ordered to seal the stone inspection with a five-inch seal.

After the event, Liu Xiu bowed to the sky, and after the worship, he stood facing the north.The officials worshiped Liu Xiu again, shouted long live, and the voice moved the valley. The sacred ceremony reached its climax at this moment.Many ministers have already shed tears for this unprecedented grand ceremony and this eternal glory. On the top of Mount Tai, the King of the Five Sacred Mountains, Liu Xiu and his officials reported the strength of the empire to the heavens. They had every reason to be proud and proud. They rebuilt the building of the empire on the ruins, and it was even stronger than before. magnificent. This is the most glorious moment, and everyone is excited to be in it.I watched their joy and yet felt sad. The Empire State Building was built neither in a day nor by a single person.The Empire State Building is based on a long history of blood and sacrifices, corpses and cries, and the separation of countless families. These foundations have been buried deep in the ground and quickly forgotten until no one mentions them.The workers who built the Empire State Building were the common people who accounted for the vast majority of the population. However, they were like scaffolding used for construction. Once the building was completed, it was immediately dismantled and abandoned.They build this mansion, but they will never live in it, let alone own a room in it.The group of people on the top of Mount Tai are the real owners of the building. Look, they are setting up an owners' committee. "Those who are all covered with silk are not silkworm farmers", which was touted by Confucianism as miraculously.They were ruthlessly turned away without even a single representative present, or rather, they were represented without their knowledge. When the stone stele tree was erected on the top of Mount Tai and the ceremony of enshrining Zen was declared over, it was already dusk. Everyone set off down the mountain, each holding a torch, and walked slowly, more cautiously than when they went up the mountain. The team stretched for more than 20 miles.In the middle of the night, when we finally returned to the mountain, no one was injured or fell ill, which is no small miracle.