The ceremony of sealing Zen is finally about to begin, according to the rules left by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, on the first day of the father ascended the Liangfu Mountain sacrifice ground, and on the top of the Liangfu Mountain, a square altar has been built, surrounded by water, because according to the understanding of the ancients, the earth is square, so the square altar also represents the earth.

Li Shimin began to be pure in heart and few desires three days ago, and forbidden all meat, bathed in fragrant soup every day, early this morning, he changed into the crown clothes that he only wore when the ceremony was held, and then led the civil and military officials to climb Liangfu Mountain, Li Xiu and others were also dressed in court clothes, watching Li Shimin ascend the altar, and then began the ceremony of sacrificing the land.

Although the whole ceremony was very solemn and solemn, it was actually very boring, the whole scene was Li Shimin's one-man show, Li Xiu and others also cooperated with a few visits at most, and the whole ceremony was very long, Li Xiu was very interested at first, but after a long time, he finally felt a little drowsy.

The whole festival lasted from morning to afternoon, and Li Shimin on the stage maintained a high mood from beginning to end, after all, he had been looking forward to this day for a long time, and he didn't feel tired of doing anything, but Li Xiu and others in the audience couldn't stand it one by one, especially after noon, everyone was tired and hungry, and finally survived until the end of the ceremony, and Li Xiu and they also felt like they were relieved.

After the ceremony, Li Shimin and the ministers rested for a while, at this time someone brought some simple food, and after eating, Li Shimin immediately took people down the mountain with great interest, because according to the rules of the ceremony, they must arrive at Mount Tai today, because tomorrow morning will be held a ceremony to worship the sky.

Li Xiu is in the prime of life, but he also feels that he is tired to toss for most of the day, but in order to cooperate with the ceremony, he also had to go down the mountain with Li Shimin, fortunately, the officials of the Ministry of Rites still have a conscience, and they actually prepared a carriage for the ministers, mainly because of the founding heroes brought by Li Shimin, many of them are very old, and they have been tossed lightly today.

Li Xiu and the eldest grandson Wuji squeezed into a carriage, and then hurried to Mount Tai, two hundred miles of distance said that it was not far, said that it was not close, if it was placed in the later generations, it would take an hour to drive a car, but in this era of backward transportation, it was necessary to let the carriage run for half a day, so when Li Xiu and they arrived at Mount Tai, the sky was already dark.

When he got out of the carriage, Li Xiu felt that his whole body was about to fall apart, and the accommodation had already prepared a meal, and after he had eaten a little, he immediately lay down on his bed and fell asleep, but the next day before dawn, Li Xiu was woken up, because they had to rush to the top of Mount Tai before the auspicious time.

Although after a night's rest, Li Xiu still felt a little sleepy, not to mention those old ministers, and Mount Tai can not drive, can only be walked, although Mount Tai is not as steep as Mount Hua, but from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain there are thousands of stone steps, this way up, even a prime of life will take about two hours.

However, if you want to seal the Zen, you naturally can't be afraid of hardship, not to mention that in order to show your awe of heaven and earth, even Li Shimin has to climb Mount Tai in person, so Li Xiu and these ministers are naturally no exception, one by one they follow Li Shimin along the stone steps, although it is very dark, but there are guards on both sides of the street with torches, but there is no need to worry about stepping on the air and falling under the cliff.

Li Xiu and Eldest Sun Wuji are relatively young among the ministers, so they have always been at the forefront, but Fang Xuanling and others next to them are not young, and the long-term sitting on the desk also makes their physical condition worrying.

Li Xiu saw Fang Xuanling's embarrassed appearance, and immediately reached out to help, reaching out to help him climb the mountain together, which made Fang Xuanling also very grateful, and at the same time said with a wry smile: "Fortunately, Brother Keming didn't come, otherwise with his physical condition, I'm afraid he will be tired and sick." ”

Keming is Du Ruhui's word, this time did not come to Mount Tai with Li Shimin, speaking of which Du Ruhui should have died a long time ago, thanks to Li Xiu's reminder, this has been alive until now, but in recent years, his physical condition is not optimistic, and sometimes he can not even go to the court, for which Li Shimin also specially approved him to handle official business at home, with his physical condition, naturally there is no way to come to Mount Tai, and Chang'an also needs someone to assist Li Chengqian, so Du Ruhui stayed in Chang'an.

"Du Xiang's physical condition is also worrying, although it is a pity that he did not come this time, but after all, his body is important." Li Xiu also said at the moment, he is actually very tired, but he is young, and he usually keeps exercising, so his physical fitness is not bad, and he can support it at this time.

"Yes, in fact, Keming's body has long been dead, and I have been persuading him to take more rest, but he is very stubborn, and he is bent on government affairs and does not listen to anyone's words, fortunately, his attitude has loosened in the past two years, and the last time I went to visit him, he also said that he would resign from His Majesty next year, so that he could rest for a few years." Fang Xuanling also gasped at this time, his gray hair fluttered around under the blowing of the mountain wind, and his eyes also showed a little sad look.

Speaking of which, Fang Xuanling is a few years older than Du Ruhui, he is over sixty years old this year, and Du Ruhui is only in his fifties, but Du Ruhui's body is much worse than him, and the two have been friends for many years, and even Du Ruhui was recommended by Fang Xuanling to Li Shimin at the beginning, the two jointly assisted Li Shimin, and got the reputation of Fang Mou Duan, but now Du Ruhui's physical condition is too bad, Fang Xuanling can't help but feel sad every time he thinks about it.

"It's okay to resign, Du Xiang's physical condition is indeed not too tiring, and I heard Sun Daochang say that Du Xiang's body can only be slowly recuperated, so after he resigns, it is better to live in Nanshan, Sun Daochang's medicine concept is also there, and then Sun Daochang can be taken care of nearby, saying that if he doesn't recuperate for a few more years, his body will slowly recover his health." Li Xiu also nodded when he heard Fang Xuanling's words, in fact, he had also persuaded Du Ruhui to let him recuperate more, but the other party did not listen.

Li Xiu supported Fang Xuanling while walking and chatting, Li Shimin in front of him estimated that he also found that some old ministers were physically exhausted, so he also ordered the soldiers to support the ministers to climb the mountain, and finally when a round of red sun jumped out of the eastern sky, they finally climbed to the top of Mount Tai, and the altar of the sacrifice to the sky also appeared in front of Li Xiu and them.