Jing Hua only knew about the Chu State nine years ago, and Xia Yang knew about the Chu State in the past few years - after Xuanjun, he lived in Yingdu for several years before returning to the Qin State, and Jing Hua asked him to come for this reason. Sympathy makes people feel cordial, plus the other party is from Yingdu, three speak Chu language, one speaks Qi language, and has nothing to do with the Qin people, and the Zhou people are no longer vigilant.

When night fell, the chai pagoda on the court began to ignite, the light oil refined from coal tar ignited a little, the flame instantly engulfed the entire chai pagoda at a speed that could be seen, and the temple people who were frightened to light the fire retreated again and again, and when they saw the flame so fast, they cheered loudly - it is very unlucky to not light a fire for the wax sacrifice, and the bigger the fire, the more prosperous the country will be.

The court was full of fires, because the sacrifice had not yet begun, and people could only look around on both sides of the court. In the crowd of people, Qian Yue, who was encircled in her arms, pointed to the tallest fire and shouted, while Xiang Chao on the side of Fei Qu could only look at it. He was not looking at a fire, but a moon. The beauty, or the world-famous Zhao Guomei, how can she not help but look at it.

"It is rumored that the king will officiate at the priesthood?" Zeng Jue, who rushed back from Chengyang together, asked, as the eldest son of Yin Zengfang in Xiyangyi, he also presided over a small sacrifice, but how grand is a country's wax sacrifice, the king presided over it at a young age, and everyone who heard it thought they didn't believe it.

"When the king was born, the five stars were connected to the sky, and Sikong said: This saint is a sign of his incarnation. Again, he said: Establish it as the king of Chu Bichang. "Fei is indeed a beauty, and he did not notice Xiang Chao's envy, he was born in Yingdu, and he heard many more rumors than Zeng Jue and Xiang Chao.

"Huh?" Xiang Chao was also dumbfounded, "Is there really such a thing?" ”

"It's true, everyone in Yingdu knows about it." He was convinced of this, and he would not have been able to comprehend the impossible. When he rushed to the Qin cavalry that day, he didn't think much about it, and when he fell off his horse and fought again, he saw the Qin people going straight to the camp, and his heart was cold: the Chu army was about to be defeated, but the final result was that the Chu army won!

How the Chu army won in the end, there are different opinions in the army. Some say that Xiang Shi hooked the Qin army and won the back, some said that the left army broke the right army of the Qin army in front of him and won, and some said that the right army crossed the middle army of the Qin army and won. At that time, how to shoot crossbows, how to throw fire bombs, and how to break the enemy in palace armor were all prepared in detail.

At this time, the two armies of Chu and Qin temporarily ceased and retreated, and the meritorious soldiers in the army all went to Yingdu and were rewarded by the king himself. When the group came to Ying, she did see the meritorious soldiers of the Chen and Sleep divisions of the Left Army, and also saw the meritorious soldiers of the Xiang division, as well as the Wu and Yue divisions.

"Why can't you see the king?" On the other side of the court, Chen Heji, who was holding the treasure knife in his arms, looked around, but did not find the king at all. Not only did he hold the knife tightly, but he also had to move it when he met someone, for fear that others would not know that he was holding a five-foot sword.

"The king must be in the palace." The honest Chen Ao also holds a treasure knife in his arms like him, but he will not show off, he came to Yingdu for the first time in his life, and he only feels that Yingdu is more prosperous and lively than Chen County.

"Two strong men, today's sacrifice, the king of your country should be at the altar." The gentle Xia Yang also looked at the Chu people's sacrifice on the side of the court, and the bodyguard Evil Lai was standing next to him, and Evil Lai's eyes only stared at the treasure knife in the arms of the two people, eager to snatch the treasure knife over.

"Your country?" Although Chen He is a commoner, he is a commoner of Chen County. Chen County has many important transportation places and merchants, and he is more knowledgeable than ordinary scholars. said that the people of your country are definitely not from Chu, and then look at Xia Yang's dress: scholars are not like scholars, and businessmen are not like businessmen, he scratched his head, "You are...... Wei people? ”

"Haha, it's not far away." As a Qin person, Xia Yang likes to let others guess which of his own nationalities he is, so that he can find those imperceptible traces of the Qin State on his body. "Guess again."

"I am not a strong man, I am a proud soldier of the Chu army." Chen Hewen said a word, and patted the treasure knife in his arms, quite complacent. "If it's not Han or Wei, then you must be a Korean."

"Haha." Xia Yang laughed again, he pretended to be curious: "A strong man is a honored man, dare to ask what an honorary man is?" ”

"You don't know?!" Chen Ji looked at him in shock, and then thought that he was a foreigner, and said with a sigh of relief: "You are a Korean, so you don't know." He was about to elaborate on what a good man was, when someone in the crowd shouted, "The king is here." ”

The court is very wide, although there is a fire, but the king is hundreds of steps away, the people on both sides only see that surrounded by nobles and officials, a person who looks like a king and many witches walk out of the thatched door together, pass through the court, and enter the social arena. The drums in the community were played, and after a while, there was singing. The scholars who had read the books knew that they were singing a sacrificial song, and the common people who had not read the books could only listen to the sound.

Outside the altar, there was a lot of excitement, and the bears in the altar were engrossed in the sacrifice under the attention of many witches. Not wrong at all, this is his admonition to himself. If you are wrong and neglect the gods, it will not bring disaster to the Chu State, but if the sacrifice is not completed well, the nobles of the counties below will definitely blame it.

"The earth is against its house,

The water goes to its ravine.

Don't be an insect to be a fool,

The grass and trees return to their own ze."

In the ancient tune, the sacrificial songs sung in children's voices are full of hope, because through the curtain, it is impossible to see who is singing the aristocratic officials who are petrified instantly. Sacrifices are always supported by the crowned person, and the uncrowned person is the most spectator to understand the procedure of the sacrifice. The first king fell, the new king was young, this time the sacrifice should have been presided over by the three Lu doctors, but now it is the king who is presiding, and it is actually the king!

In the underground palace, only Ying and Xiong Jing danced together, at this time there were still more than a dozen children and many witches selected from the nobility who danced around the two, and the people who sacrificed did not feel any difference, and the onlookers all stared at the person with a mask on his face, his body, manners, and voice, all of which were kings. They were horrified by the royal priesthood, but what was even more shocking was the political significance of the move:

The major affairs of the country are only worship and Rong. The battle of Qingshui means that the king does not lose to any crowned person, and he has been able to engage in military affairs, so does presiding over the wax sacrifice mean that the king can also engage in rituals? Since both worship and Rong can bear it, the king ......

The result of pushing like this is very scary, scary and unprecedented, and it is not in accordance with the etiquette law.

The sacrifice was going on, and there was no mistake. When the sacrifice was completed, the horror of the nobles and officials had been deeply hidden in their hearts, and when they bowed down to Xiong Jing again, everyone had a little more piety in their hearts.

"Call! The Ouyue envoy was presented; Summon! Minyue envoys were interviewed; Summon! Envoys from the South China Sea; Summon! The envoys of the Yue Yue were presented; Summon! The envoys of the West Ou came to the audience; Summon! Audience of Miao envoys; Summon! Gui envoys to the audience; Summon! The fowl envoys came to the audience; Summon! The Messenger of the Depths ......"

After the sacrifice was completed, a series of summons came out of the mouth of the servant, and a total of forty-eight envoys from small countries and tribes attached to the Chu State were all summoned into the Taishe. Except for Ouyue, Minyue, Nanhai, and Luoyue, which were four small countries established by the heirs of King Wujiang of Yue, most of these people were Baiyue barbarians. As a rule, every year during the wax sacrifice, each ethnic group will send envoys to the Chu State with tribute. The tributes are many and complicated, some are specialties of the tribe, and some are designated by the Chu State.

In the battle of Chu and Qin, Chu won and Qin lost. Some of the nearby barbarians hurriedly increased their tribute as a sign of respect. Some of those who were far away had already set off before they heard of the defeat of the Chu State in the Battle of Jiangyi, so they didn't care about reducing the tribute. On the whole, this year's tribute is greater than last year's, and the lowliness of the messenger is greater than last year's.

"Excuse me!" After more than 30 envoys visited Xiong Jing, they presented a gift list to Yin in turn, and the Miao envoys were the most special, in addition to the tribute, they also offered the wind that fled back to the tribe.

Xiong Jing couldn't understand the words of the Miao people, and after the envoy chirped, Yin Yin said: "Tell the king: The Miao people said that the wind offended the king, and their own clan did not know it, and those Miao soldiers were deceived by the wind. ”

The population of Chu is about three million, but how many people are there south of Chu? Nobody knows. The historical materials known to later generations are: 'Envoy Tu Sui died 500,000...... (Baiyue) attacked the Qin people at night and broke it. Kill the captain and slaughter the Sui, and the corpse will shed hundreds of thousands'.

"How many dingkous do you have?" Xiong Jing didn't want to talk about the wind, what he was concerned about now was how many people there were in the south of the Chu State.

"My tribe," the Miao people are adjacent to Guiguo and Xiou, and there are attacks between tribes from time to time. How many people couldn't hide it at all, and the messenger stood for a long time and said a number: "20,000 people." Fu Youdao: "Twenty-six thousand." ”

"How many warriors are there?" Xiong Jing asked again.

"Tell the king, the Miao people say that the men, women, and children of their tribe are all warriors." Yin replied.

"The world is in turmoil, and this king is worried that you and others will not be able to protect themselves if they are also involved, so I want to ......" Xiong Jing said what the Yan Dynasty had discussed, with a smile on his face. First, from next year, military armor and copper and iron tools will be allowed to be sold to all ethnic groups; ”

Some of the messengers understood the language, and some did not, but the majority of the messengers who understood the language. Armor and copper and iron tools were originally controlled materials, with only a small amount of rewards, and they were never sold to barbarians, but now the new king of Chu actually agreed to sell them.

The messengers were astonished, thinking that they had misheard. Xiong Jing said again: "It is not enough to have armor in war, and the art of war is still needed, so the second: this king allows all ethnic groups to send their sons into Chu to learn the art of war; Third, each ethnic group may or may not have the art of a hundred crafts, and all ethnic groups are allowed to send craftsmen to Chu to learn the art of a hundred crafts. ”

The envoys were so shocked that they were speechless, and before they could thank them, an old minister rushed out, "The king must not be! ”

"Yes, the king must not!" There are nobles and officials, and they all advise Xiong Jing not to.

"Great king, teach the barbarians the art of battle and war, and he will bring disaster to the day." An Lingjun is self-proclaimed as the Jing Party, and shouted the loudest among the many opposing voices. He has no fiefdom, but he also has a share in the entire Chu State.

"Big fallacy!" Xiong Jing said. "All ethnic groups pay tribute every year, and they are all loyal to my Chu country, why is there any chaos?" Seeing that An Lingjun still wanted to say more, he said: "This discussion of the Yan Dynasty has been decided, it must be done, retreat!" ”

The discussion of the Yan Dynasty was the discussion of the important ministers, and the people present couldn't help but consider it in their hearts after hearing the words, although An Lingjun was unwilling, he had to retreat.