Hearing that the emperor sent Xun, Zhao Wuxi was not as concerned and excited as Gong Xichi. Instead, he first sent someone to rule Zongbo Shi Zhao and asked him to come over to discuss how to prepare for the ceremony, and at the same time, he also learned about the reason for "the emperor divides Xun". implied meaning.

As the suzerain of the Zhao clan, Zhao Wuxi naturally knew that zuo (zuo) means offering meat, generally speaking, it is a tribute to ancestors during the winter solstice or sacrificial offerings.

The Spring and Autumn Period was a patriarchal era, and the core of maintaining the clan was the ancestors. As far as Zhao Wuxi can see, it goes up to the princes of the emperor, down to the homes of the common people. Every festival, every family should slaughter specially kept sacrifices to sacrifice ancestor spirits according to their surnames and clans. When praying for blessings, the body of the animal is used to connect the gods. After the ancestors enjoy the sacrificed meat, they will place their well-being in the sacrificed meat. Therefore, after the sacrifice, the sacrificed meat is divided, which is called "dividing". It is said that those who receive the meat can get the gift of the gods. Therefore, the distribution of the meat is often the first part of a clan ritual.

For ordinary families, dividing the clan is conducive to strengthening the blood relationship of the clan and consolidating the status of the clan. The person who divides the clan is often a person of high moral character, called a "family leader". exercise power.

For the emperor, the meaning of dividing the corps is even more important. The person who divides the flesh becomes the "Taizai" and "prime minister", and the objects of dividing the corpse are the officials and feudal lords. It can not only clarify the superiority and inferiority of the monarch and the subject, but also attract people with the same surname. One way of the country, just as Zhou Gongdan emphasized when formulating the Zhou Rites, "With the rituals of the old and the old, the kingdom of brothers!"

"That's why the division of the emperor was initially carried out within the clan, and the recipients were limited to the same surname. Later, the scope was gradually expanded, and extended to Jiang, Gui and other countries that have marriage relationships with the emperor of Zhou." Gong Xichi said this. Very understanding, can not help but talk.

This is because with the weakening of the Zhou royal family, in order to form alliances and protect the interests of the royal family, they had to show affection to the non-Ji princes with meat.

The one who set this precedent was King Hui of Zhou, because he was worried about whether Duke Huan of Qi would have the will to replace the Zhou family, and wanted to win over the state of Chu and others to fight against Qi, but he ignored that the state of Chu was still regarded as a "barbarian" at that time, and gave King Chu Cheng. Xun: "The rebellion in the south of Zhen'er did not invade China."

So from this time on, the meaning of this meat has changed and become messed up.

When the state of Qi was hegemony, King Xiang of Zhou, who had just ascended the throne, also repeated his tricks in order to please the state of Qi, and asked "Zai Kong" to give Duke Huan of Qi meat. This Duke Huan of Qi has married Wang Ji, and there have always been women married to the Zhou royal family in the ancestors of the surname Jiang.

After that, due to the rise of the Jin state, the national power was even greater than that of Qi, and the successive Jinhou began to monopolize the honor of the emperor's subordinates, and each time he could get the best position.

In a word, in Gong Xichi and Shi Zhao’s view, whoever can get the meat used by the emperor to sacrifice to his ancestors is the supreme honor. This time, the emperor sent Liu Gong to give the corpse, which is equivalent to admitting that Zhao Wuxi defended the state of Wu and defended the Central Plains. The achievements of the Zhao State recognized the inheritance of the State of Jin by Zhao State.

Seeing the inexplicable excitement of the two, Zhao Wuqi said lightly: "The widow also said that the surname Ying and the emperor are not related by marriage, why did you come to Xun?"

But he still didn't care much in his heart. You must know that in the Warring States Period, this meat has become the only thing that the Zhou royal family can handle. When Duke Xiaogong of Qin was strong, the emperor gave him, and when King Qin Huiwen was strong, he gave him Wenwu. It seems that he hopes to use Qin as a new backer.

This meat is not Chinese cabbage, but after sending too much, it is as worthless as Chinese cabbage.

Although he was not interested in this, Zhao Wuxi was not sloppy at all in the pomp and ceremony to welcome Duke Liu. He also let people publicize this matter in Yecheng and the counties of Zhao State, and even in the vassals of the Allied countries. .

On the third day after the winter solstice, that is, the day of the sacrificial offering, the envoy of the Son of Heaven arrived...

...

Along the way, Liu Cheng was in a complicated mood.

After Shan Ping died in an accidental crash last year, he became the official minister of the King of Zhou, and he had to undertake the task of "The Son of Heaven to Xun". A month before the incident, Liu Cheng bathed and changed clothes every day, and fasted only on vegetarian food.

On the day of the sacrifice to King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou, just after the ceremony was completed, Liu Cheng, who was the "slaughterer", cut up the meat with a very skillful technique: it must be cut squarely. .

After coming out of Chengzhou Wangcheng, it was already a cold winter wrapped in silver, and Mengjin could hardly travel, but only in this season, the meat would not go bad. The boat broke through the ice, and Liu Cheng carefully held the beautifully decorated lacquer box on the boat. Inside was the piece of meat that was carefully selected by Zhou Tianzi himself. For some reason, when he reached the center of the river, he suddenly remembered that when King Wu of Zhou attacked Yin and Shang, it was on the boat here that a white carp jumped into his arms...

The location of Yecheng is similar to that of the Shang Dynasty, and the season of King Wu's attack on the Shang Dynasty is a winter. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but sigh, he just asked King Wu of Zhou to bless him, that this mission could be completed smoothly, that Zhao Hou could be satisfied, and he could also pay attention to the emperor's love for him.

Because of Zhao's attention to road repairs and attention, after crossing the river, the road was smooth. Liu Cheng soon arrived in Yecheng, and was escorted by a team of heroic Yulin troops into Waiguo.

Although he had heard of the prosperity of Yecheng, Liu Cheng was still shocked when he saw the city's scenery with his own eyes.

First of all, the size of the city of Ye is beyond his imagination. Since Cheng Tuan ruled Ye County, after more than ten years of operation, Ye City has grown from a small town of a thousand households to a large city with a population of nearly 100,000. Neighboring Lilu has been running continuously from a hundred miles away. The frozen Zhangshui River, waterwheels and various ditches have stopped running, but you can still see the busy farming scene here in the beginning of spring. The farmland full of winter wheat is covered with white snow. Covering corresponds to the popular saying in Zhao State: "Wheat covers three layers of quilt and sleeps with steamed buns" - because of the large-scale cultivation of wheat, as well as the water and animal power mills everywhere, this kind of thing still belongs to the Qing Dynasty in Chengzhou and Zhou. The fine staple food of the doctor's privilege to eat, but almost everyone in Yecheng can eat it, it is only the difference in the degree of fineness.

Sufficient food was enough to feed the merchants and craftsmen in the city. Although it was a snowy winter day, the markets around Ye City were still overcrowded, and there was a layer of black charcoal residue on the anti-skid roads. The same book and the same text, Taihang things, and even the ruts of Wei and Lu have a unified standard, so the traffic is unobstructed, and there are many horses, carts, and oxcars.

Considering the importance of Liu Cheng's mission, Zhao Wuxi had already cleared the scene in the city, so that the Emperor Gongqing could reach his destination along the avenue unimpeded. Liu Cheng lifted the curtain and saw the city wall from a distance. As the rumor said, the city wall was covered with several layers of blue bricks, which was not only hard and beautiful, but Liu Cheng was worried that the height of the wall was obviously overstepped.

"I don't know how much the palace inside the wall has overstepped..."

Just thinking about it, seeing that the temporary altar at the gate of the inner city has arrived, Zhao Wuxi has been waiting for a long time in a mysterious dress, and Liu Cheng quickly put away the worry on his face.

In any case, even the three Huan of the state of Lu have overstepped, and it is not surprising that Zhaohou has overstepped one or two times.

So Liu Cheng got off the car with a smile on his face and greeted Zhao Hou, explaining his purpose.

"The Son of Heaven has something to do with civil and military affairs, and the rituals have been completed. The ancestors tested Jiaxuan. The Son of Heaven sent me to give Zhao Houxun, saying: I will give one person a vow to Zhao Hou, prepare five blessings, and protect the family's surname Ji..."

After the congratulatory speech, Liu Cheng held up the beautifully decorated lacquer box and wanted Zhao Wuxi, who was standing opposite him, to take it.

Zhao Wuxie undressed, and the jade general stood on the altar of falling snow, his eyes stayed on the lacquer box, he couldn't tell his anger or anger, he just showed his sleeves, and made a gesture of salute and thanks.

According to the rules, Liu Cheng said slowly: "Marquis Zhao, wait, there is an order behind the emperor. Order me to tell you: Marquis Zhao has worked **** horseback and has contributed to the royal family, and he will be granted a first-rank rank, so there is no need to go down to thank you."

He knew, as did Zhao Wuxi, that this was actually a polite remark, and Zai Kong, who was sent to deliver meat sacrifices when King Xiang of Zhou gave Xun to Duke Huan of Qi, said the same.

At that time, Duke Huan of Qi was also very uneasy. He didn't know what to do. He summoned Guan Zhong to discuss how to deal with this matter. Guan Zhong replied: "Those who serve as monarchs do not speak of monarchy~lightnovelpub.net~ those who serve as ministers do not speak of etiquette, this is the result of The source of chaos, you should worship it."

So Duke Huan of Qi was very frightened and came out to meet Zai Kong and said, "The majesty of the Son of Heaven is not far away from me, how could Xiao Bai dare to accept the order of the Son of Heaven 'don't bow down'? I can't be so rude." Zai Kong bowed to the head again, and then went to the hall to accept the meat.

Afterwards, the princes praised Duke Huan of Qi's behavior for following the etiquette. Therefore, in the subsequent ceremonies for the emperor to send the ministers to give meat to the Marquis of Jin, the giver said, "There is no need to bow down" and the recipient insisted." "must bow down" hypocritical retreat.

According to the usual practice, Liu Cheng also came here today, and then he maintained the majesty of the emperor's messenger, waiting for Zhao Wuxi to give in in panic, and bowed down to receive the gift of the emperor.

However, after waiting for a while, there was no movement. Liu Cheng was startled, and the secret was not good. He quickly looked at it, but saw Zhao Wuxi still standing opposite him with a smile. Be considerate, if you don't have a shirt, you won't be able to bow down!"

After saying that, Zhao Hou actually stretched out his hand and took the gift box containing the meat from the stunned Liu Cheng!

ps: The second chapter is at night (to be continued.)