December passed quickly in everyone's expectations, and in a blink of an eye it was the end of the year, and the Chinese New Year's Eve was the day when every family sacrificed to their ancestors, and the Guo Song family was no exception, he now had four wives and five children, and his eldest sister Guo Ping was also going to come to sacrifice, although Guo Song was unwilling to spend too much thought on the sacrifice, but this matter was no longer up to him.

Early in the morning, Guo Ping took his son Zhou Junyu, prospective daughter-in-law Zhang Yuer and daughter Zhou Mingzhu to the Jin Palace, since last year, Guo Ping's husband's spirit card has also been temporarily placed in the Guo ancestral hall, her husband is an orphan, the Zhou family has only a few distant relatives, decades have not been in contact, since last year, Guo Ping decided that rather than let her husband be lonely, it is better to put it together with her parents' spirit card.

The preparation of the sacrifice at home is basically in charge of Xue Tao and Guo Ping, and the sacrifices have already been prepared, in fact, the main ones are the three animals and the four fresh fruits, because they are not a big family sacrifice of hundreds of people, so they do not use cattle, sheep and pigs, but use chickens, ducks, fish, and small three animals to sacrifice, and then incense, candles, paper money, and it is easy to say.

There is a small ancestral hall in the palace of the king of Jin, it is actually a part of the Jing'an Temple, the Jing'an Temple is a Taoist temple, the four disciples of Gongsun Auntie, Daoqing, Daofeng, Daoming, Daoyue four people and three old Taoist aunts practice here, the Taoist temple is not small, it is composed of an old monarch hall and a Sanqing Palace, the backyard is the ancestral hall, which enshrines the spiritual seat of Guo Song's parents, grandfather, grandmother and brother-in-law Zhou Liang.

The three old Taoist aunts were originally also the old palace maids of Xingqing Palace, all fifty or sixty years old, homeless, so they became monks and practiced in Jing'an Temple to support the elderly.

Daoming and the other four are strong in martial arts, and they are responsible for protecting the safety of Guo Song's family at night, of course, in addition to the four of them, there are more than 20 full-time female guards in the palace of King Jin, and the four of them are just extra protection at night.

And the Guo ancestral hall is also taken care of by the three old Taoist aunts, cleaning, to ensure that the incense is continuous at four o'clock, the oil lamp is not extinguished, Xue Tao took a few sisters and Guo Ping to the ancestral hall, the three old Taoist aunts have cleaned up the ancestral hall inside and out, and they saluted the princess together.

Xue Tao returned the salute and smiled: "It's hard work for the three Dao aunts, you go to rest, we will arrange it ourselves here!" ”

The three old Taoist aunts saluted, then turned around and went back to the front hall.

They put their hands together, laid offerings, lit two long incense sticks, and inserted three sticks of incense into the incense burner, and replaced the futon with a new one.

"Auntie, what are the sacrificial customs in my hometown?" Xue Tao asked with a smile.

Guo Ping smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, I don't know too much, I only vaguely remember that my father was going to kill a rooster and sacrifice it with fresh chicken blood, but I think the sacrifice is also a ritual, the key is sincerity, and it is not necessary to kill the chicken or not." ”

Dugu Youlan also smiled: "Auntie is right, this is a Taoist temple after all, it's better not to kill." ”

"Cai Chun, what are the rules of the sacrifice in Jiangnan?" Xue Tao asked Liu Caichun again.

Liu Caichun was already pregnant, her lower abdomen was slightly bulging, she smiled and shook her head, "The Jiangnan rule is that women can't participate in the sacrifice, they are only responsible for handling and cleaning up at the end, and they can only stand outside and wait during the sacrifice." ”

"This is a big family sacrifice! Isn't it okay to sacrifice your parents in your own home? ”

"It's okay at home, I remember that in addition to the three animals and five fruits, there are a lot of snacks and five grains of rice."

Xue Tao nodded, "Chang'an doesn't need dim sum and grains, but I also think that there are a little less things on the table, and it doesn't hurt to add some." ”

Min Qiu said, "Eldest sister, I'll go to the kitchen to ask for some." ”

"Don't forget to grab some more plates." Xue Tao instructed.

"Minqiu, I'll go with you." Liu Caichun followed.

The two left with a few maids, Guo Ping looked at their backs and asked in a low voice, "I heard that their relationship is not very smooth?" ”

Xue Tao said lightly: "At first, there was a little, but since Minqiu's brother and sister-in-law were sent to Taiyuan, Minqiu has restrained a lot, especially after Caichun became pregnant, the relationship between the two has improved significantly." ”

"I see, I mean why Zhang Daqi and his wife disappeared, they went to Taiyuan, but the two of them are really too public, the entire shop on Xi'anmen Street knows that Zhang Daqi's sister is married to the King of Jin, the two never walk with the right eyes to look at people, and use the King of Jin to press people at every turn, and send them away, saving them from listening to their troubles all day long."

Not long after, Minqiu and Liu Caichun took the maids to bring five or six food boxes, which were all kinds of snacks and grains, and put five or six plates, and a pot of good wine, and finally a full table.

The Chinese New Year's Eve sacrifice generally starts at night, that is, at three o'clock in the middle of the night, everyone has to go to bed early, and then get up an hour early, bathe and change clothes, change into special sacrificial robes, and half an hour, a large family of people under the leadership of Guo Song went to the ancestral hall.

There was a faint chanting sound in the ancestral hall, the three old Taoist aunts recited the sacrificial scriptures in a low voice, the whole family lined up in the courtyard, Guo Song walked into the ancestral hall, bowed, inserted three incense sticks into the incense burner, and turned out.

followed by the princess Xue Tao, then the aunt Guo Ping, and the second wife Dugu Youlan, according to the generation and order, after the elders finished the incense, and then the juniors entered the ancestral hall to offer incense.

The first junior to incense is Guo Song's eldest son Guo Jincheng, he will be thirteen years old after the New Year, and his height has surpassed his mother, but he is still a little immature.

Under the careful tutelage of his master, Li Mi, he had completed his basic studies, read the scriptures and wrote a beautiful calligraphy, and Guo Song was ready to let him go to Taixue to study the law for two years after the beginning of spring.

Guo Jincheng is more serious and meticulous than his father, he doesn't like to laugh much, he looks serious all day long, and he does things seriously, much like his grandfather Xue Xun, Xue Tao can't do anything about him, so he has to leave it to him.

Below is the eldest daughter Guo Weiwei, Guo Weiwei will be fifteen years old after the New Year, and she has grown into a big girl like a flower, her eyebrows and eyes are very similar to her father Guo Song, she is outgoing, lively and cheerful, and her brother is diametrically opposed.

Next down is Guo Yan'er, Guo Yan'er is ten years old, a very quiet and beautiful little girl, and she looks very much like her father Guo Song.

At this time, Guo Song suddenly realized that time is like an arrow, has Dugu Youlan been married to him for ten years?

He looked sideways at Dugu Youlan, only to see her staring at her daughter intently, her eyes were full of love, Guo Song couldn't remember how long he hadn't had sex with Dugu Youlan, about half a year! It has been three months since she gave birth to Jinxiu.

A trace of apology rose in Guo Song's heart, he really treated Dugu Youlan a little too much.

The next day was the first day of the first lunar month, and according to the custom, the palace of the king of Jin would hold a New Year's banquet to entertain all the officials and generals in Chang'an, and there were more than 1,400 people in total.

The square in front of the palace of the Jin Dynasty was full of more than 100 tables, Guo Song stood up with his wine glass, and laughed loudly: "It's a new year, according to the convention, I should say something, a lot happened last year, first of all, we captured Hanzhong, captured most of Hebei, not far from the north of the unified Yellow River, and our cause is moving towards victory step by step."

The military victory is the most important thing, and the second thing is that we finally got the seaside salt works, and many people may not understand what that means, but I tell you, it means that our fiscal and tax revenues have increased by 40%, and our finances will be rich, and everyone's income will also increase, and our welfare will also increase, and we will have more money to take care of the lonely and widowed, and take care of the homeless orphans.

The third major event is about the lives of the people, we approved the publication of the "Chang'an Express" and the "Tianxia Xinbao", their emergence has greatly changed the lives of all people, and promoted the development of education, only last year the number of children enrolled in Chang'an increased by three times compared with the year before, the number of government-run literacy clubs has surged, and the girls' school has also appeared. ”

.........

Guo Song spoke for a quarter of an hour, summing up last year's successes and shortcomings, and finally he raised his glass and said: "According to the custom, our first glass of wine is given to the 3,000 soldiers who died on the battlefield. ”

He slowly spilled the first glass of wine on the ground, and the ministers and generals also spilled the wine on the ground.

Guo Song poured another glass of wine and said loudly: "A new year is about to be ushered in, I believe this year will also be an extraordinary year, come!" Let's toast to the arrival of the new year, for more brilliant victories in the new year! ”

"Cheers!"

Nearly 1,500 officials and ministers raised their glasses and shouted in unison, drinking all the wine in their glasses.

"Let's get started! Eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want, and we'll get drunk. ”

Everyone sat down and began to drink and chat with laughter, at this time, a guard walked by Guo Song and whispered a few words to him in his ear, Guo Song's face changed slightly, and nodded, "I'll be here soon!" ”

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Pan Liao asked in a low voice.

"I don't know, Shi Yan has an urgent matter to see me, it is estimated that there is an accident on the side of the broken leaf, you call Qiu An and come over together."

After saying that, he got up and walked quickly to the official room.