Hearing that the Son of Heaven was sending a tribute, Zhao Wuxian did not care and be as excited as Gong Xichi, but first sent someone to rule Zong Bo Shi Zhao, and asked him to come over to discuss how to prepare for the ceremony, and at the same time to understand the meaning of this "Son of Heaven Division". Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

As the suzerain of the Zhao family, Zhao Wuxian naturally knew that 胙 (zuo) is the meaning of sacrificing meat, and generally speaking, it is a tribute to the ancestors during the winter solstice or wax sacrifice.

The Spring and Autumn Period was a patriarchal era, and the core of maintaining the clan was the ancestors. As far as Zhao Wuxian can see, from the princes of the Son of Heaven to the homes of the common people, every festival, every family has to slaughter the specially stored sacrifices and sacrifice the ancestral spirits according to their surnames and clans. When praying for blessings, the animal body is used to communicate with the gods, and the ancestral spirits will live in the sacrificial meat after enjoying the sacrificial meat, so the sacrificial meat is divided after the sacrifice, which is called "dividing the gizzard". It is said that those who receive a portion of the gizzard are able to receive a gift from the gods, so it is often the climax of a clan ritual.

For ordinary families, the division of the gizzard is not only conducive to strengthening the blood relationship of the clan, and consolidating the status of the clan, but also the division of the flesh is often the highly respectable, called the "family slaughter", is the head of the minister's family, on behalf of the head of the family to exercise power.

And for the Son of Heaven, the significance of dividing the gizzard is even more significant, the person who divides the gizzard has become a "Dazai" and "prime minister", and the object of the gizzard is the courtiers and princes, which can not only clarify the dignity of the monarch and the minister, but also a way to win over the country with the same surname, just as Zhou Gongdan emphasized when formulating the Zhou rites, "With the gift of the body, the country of brothers!" ”

"Therefore, the division of the Son of Heaven was originally carried out within the clan, and the recipients were limited to the same surname, and then gradually expanded the scope to include Jiang, Yuan and other countries who were in-laws with Zhou Tianzi." Gong Xichi knew this very well and couldn't help but talk about it.

This is because with the weakening of the Zhou royal family, in order to form an alliance and protect the interests of the royal family, they had to use the gizzard meat to show favor to the princes surnamed non-Ji.

It was King Hui of Zhou who set this precedent, because he was afraid that the Qi Huan Guild would not have the heart to replace the Zhou family, and wanted to win over the Chu State and others to confront Qi, but he ignored that the Chu State was still regarded as a "barbarian" at that time, and gave Chu Cheng Wang Yin: "The rebellion of Yiyue in the south of Zhener has not invaded China." ”

So from this time on, the meaning of this gizzard has changed and it has become messy.

When the Qi State was hegemonic, the King of Zhou Xiang, who had just ascended the throne, in order to curry favor with the Qi State, also repeated his old tricks and asked "Zai Kong" to give Qi Huan Gong meat. This Duke Qi Huan has married Wang Ji, and the ancestor surnamed Jiang has always had women marry into the Zhou royal family.

After that, because of the rise of the Jin Kingdom, the power of the country was even greater than that of Qi, and the successive Jin marquis began to monopolize the honor of the Son of Heaven, and they could get the best parts every time.

In short, in the eyes of Gong Xichi and Shi Zhao, whoever can get the meat used by the Son of Heaven to sacrifice to the ancestors is the supreme honor, and this time the Son of Heaven sent Liu Gong to give the gloss, which is equivalent to recognizing Zhao Wuxian's merits in resisting Wu and defending the Central Plains, and acknowledging Zhao's inheritance of Jin.

Seeing that the two of them were inexplicably excited, Zhao Wuxian said lightly: "The widow still said that the surname Ying and the Son of Heaven have no in-laws, why did they come to the cause?" ”

He still doesn't care too much in his heart, you know, in the Warring States Period, this gizzard has become the only thing that the Zhou royal family can handle, when Qin Xiaogong is strong, the Son of Heaven gives him, and when King Qin Huiwen is strong, the Son of Heaven gives him Wenwu, as if he hopes to use Qin as a new backer.

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

Although he was not interested in this, in the pomp and ceremony to welcome Liu Gong, Zhao Wuxian was not sloppy at all, and he also asked people to publicize this matter in Yecheng and the counties of Zhao State, and even among the vassals of the allies.

On the third day after the winter solstice, that is, on the day of the Lunar Sacrifice, the Son of Heaven's delegation arrived......

……

Along the way, Liu Cheng had mixed feelings.

After Shan Ping died in an accidental car crash last year, he became the Zhengqing of King Zhou, and this task of "the Son of Heaven to the Emperor" had to be undertaken by him. A month before, Liu Cheng bathed and changed clothes every day, and only ate vegetarian food for fasting.

On the day of the sacrifice to King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou, the ceremony had just been completed, and Liu Cheng, who served as the "slaughterer", divided the flesh with a very skillful technique: it must be cut squarely, if the incision is not neat, it will be difficult for Zhao Hou to misunderstand.

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

The location of Yecheng is similar to that of Yin Shang, and the season of King Wu is a winter. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but sigh, he only asked King Wu of Zhou for his blessing, this mission could be successfully completed, Zhao Hou could be satisfied, and he could also pay attention to the love of the Son of Heaven for him.

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

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

First of all, Yecheng is beyond his imagination, starting from the beginning of Chengzhi Yexian, after more than 10 years of operation, Yecheng has grown from a thousand small towns, growing into a large city with nearly 100,000 people, and the adjacent Lilu has begun to stretch from a hundred miles away, the frozen Zhangshui River, the waterwheel and the ditches have stopped running, but you can still see the busy farming scenery here in the spring, and the farmland full of winter wheat is covered with snow, which is in response to the more popular saying in Zhao State: Mai Gai three-layer quilt, sleeping with steamed buns on the pillow"—— Because of the large cultivation of wheat and the water-powered and animal-powered mills everywhere, this fine staple food, which was still the privilege of Dr. Qing in Chengzhou, can be eaten by almost everyone in Yecheng, but it is just a difference in fineness.

Sufficient food to feed the merchants and craftsmen in the city, although it is a snowy winter, but the markets outside the city are still overcrowded, sprinkled with a layer of black cinder anti-slip road cars come and go, Zhao all over the implementation of the same track book and the same text, Taihang things, and even the ruts of Wei and Lu have a unified standard, so the traffic is unimpeded, there are many carriages and ox carts, and one will be involved under the wheels if you are not careful, or blocked in the alley.

Considering the importance of Liu Cheng's mission, Zhao Wuxian had already cleared the scene in the city, so that the Son of Heaven could reach his destination along the avenue unimpeded. Liu Cheng lifted the curtain and saw the city wall from a distance, and sure enough, as the rumors said, the city wall was covered with several layers of green bricks, which were not only hard but also beautiful, but Liu Cheng was worried that the height of the wall was obviously encroached upon.

"I don't know how many ...... have been trespassed on the palace room inside the wall."

Just thinking about it, seeing that the temporary altar at the gate of the inner city had arrived, Zhao Wuxian was wearing a Xuanduan dress, and he had been waiting for a long time, Liu Cheng hurriedly put away the worry on his face.

Anyway, even the three Huan of the Lu State have transgressed, and it is not surprising that Zhao Hou has transgressed one or two.

So Liu Cheng got out of the car with a smile on his face and greeted Zhao Hou and explained his intention.

"The Son of Heaven has something to do with the civil and military, the ritual is completed, the ancestor Kao Jiafang, the Son of Heaven made me give Zhao Hou Yin, saying: Give a person a wish to Zhao Hou, prepare for the five blessings, and protect the surname Ji ......"

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

Zhao Wuxian was dressed in wide clothes and belts, and the jade pendant was a general, standing on the snowy altar, his eyes stayed on the lacquer box, and he couldn't see his joy or anger, but he just stretched his sleeves and made a posture of wanting to salute and thank you.

Liu Cheng followed the rules and said slowly: "Zhao Hou is slow, there is still an order behind the Son of Heaven." I will tell you: Marquis Zhao saddles his horse and works hard, and he has meritorious service to the royal family, so he is specially given a knighthood, and there is no need to go down to thank him. ”

He knew, and Zhao Wuxian also knew, that this was actually a polite remark, and that King Xiang of Zhou had given him to Duke Qi Huan, and Zai Kong, who was sent to deliver sacrificial meat, also said so.

At that time, Duke Qi Huan was also very worried, and he didn't know what to do, so he summoned Guan Zhong to discuss how to deal with this matter, and Guan Zhong replied: "Those who are monarchs do not talk about royal authority, and those who are ministers do not pay attention to courtesy, this is the source of trouble, and the king should worship him." ”

So Qi Huan Gong was very frightened, and came out to meet Zai Kong and said: "The majesty of the Son of Heaven is less than a stone's throw away from me, how dare Xiaobai accept the order of the Son of Heaven 'no need to bow down'?" I can't be so rude. So Gong Qi Huan went down the steps to worship Zai Kong again, and then went to the hall to accept the meat.

Afterwards, the princes praised the demeanor of the Duke of Qi Huan for conforming to etiquette, so in the subsequent ceremonies when the Son of Heaven sent the minister to give the Marquis of Jin meat, there was a false concession that the giver said "there is no need to bow" and the recipient insisted on "must bow".

According to the usual practice, Liu Cheng also came out like this today, and then he maintained the prestige of the messenger of the Son of Heaven, waited for Zhao Wuxian to give in fear, and bowed down to receive the gift of the Son of Heaven.

However, after waiting for a while, but there was no movement, Liu Cheng was shocked, and secretly said that it was not good, and hurriedly looked at it, but saw that Zhao Wuxian was still standing opposite him with a smile, and he said with a golden sword: "Since the Son of Heaven is considerate, then Wuxian will not bow down!" ”

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

PS: Chapter 2 in the evening (to be continued.) )