The preparatory work for the temple was in charge of Shen Congliang, the young secretary of Guanglu Temple, and after seven or eight days of preparation, it was almost over.

Xu Liang visited the Taimiao in person on this day to check Shen Shaoqing's preparations. Shen Congliang, the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, the director, the Taiguan, the delicacies, the wine, etc., the second bureau of the second bureau, the ambassador of the silver treasury and other subordinate officials of the Guanglu Temple accompanied Xu Liang to go up the white marble steps of the Taimiao, and Shen Congliang, the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, walked while carefully introducing Xu Liang.

“…… My lord, after Li Tengfang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, read out the memorial speech on behalf of His Majesty, hundreds of officials bowed three times, and then the courtiers above the fourth rank entered the main hall of the Taimiao Temple with His Majesty to worship the emperors of the past dynasties. Shen Congliang said slowly, "The utensils used in worship, the three animals, the fruits and other objects, the lower officials have already prepared them. After the end of the sacrifice, according to the custom, His Majesty will feast the courtiers here, and the tables, chairs, tea bowls used, and the lower officials will replace them with new ...... according to your wishes."

While the group was talking, they had already walked in front of the main hall of the Taimiao. In the main hall, the red carpet has already spread out outside the hall, and hundreds of seconded soldiers from the Beijing camp are doing the final cleaning of the main hall. Xu Liang stood outside the door of the main hall, looked at it for a while, turned around and instructed Shen Congliang: "The day after tomorrow is the auspicious day of the Taimiao, Lord Shen and all the adults should carefully check the things that should be done again, check and fill in the gaps, so as not to make mistakes." ”

All the subordinate officials of Guanglu Temple bowed to Xu Liang in unison: "The lower officials and others must obey the orders of the lords." ”

Xu Liang nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand to let all the subordinate officials disperse, and separately called Shen Congliang, the young secretary of Guanglu Temple, and Ji Zhong, the ambassador of the silver treasury, to the side, and asked softly: "Are all the expenses for purchasing and purchasing according to the will of this official?" ”

Shen Shaoqing said: "Your Excellency, rest assured, Xiaguan and Lord Ji strictly follow your wishes, and every account is signed and confirmed by the officials of the Yamen." ”

Ambassador Ji also nodded, admitting that what Shen Shaoqing said was true.

"How much money is spent on the book?"

Ambassador Ji arched his hand and said, "As of yesterday." The fifty-thousand taels of silver cost more than forty-five thousand. ”

Xu Liang nodded and ordered: "Adjust the number again, make the account forty-eight or nine thousand, and the remaining thousand two pieces of silver will be used as a surplus, and it will be returned to the household department after the sacrifice is over." ”

Ambassador Ji said yes.

Xu Liang waved his hand and said, "Okay." Go ahead and get busy. After Shen Congliang and Ji Zhong left, Xu Liang walked all the way down the steps to leave the Taimiao.

Two days later, the whole city of Beijing was clear and auspicious. Since the time of Chen, the streets from the palace to the Taimiao have been completely martial law by the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp, and ordinary people have restricted their access to the nine gates. Early in the morning, all the officials in the capital who were qualified to participate in the memorial ceremony lined up in a long line outside the noon gate.

Wait until the drum of the three-way in the palace sounds. The palace gate was opened, a team of glamorous Han generals slowly walked out of the palace gate, followed by the honor guard of the imperial chariot, until the imperial chariot of Emperor Chongzhen appeared outside the noon gate, two or three hundred officials in the square knelt down together, three shouts of long live, shouting like thunder.

Emperor Chongzhen was wearing an extremely formal dragon robe today, and he glanced at the courtiers lightly. Raised his hand and said: "Zhongqing is flat!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Another cry.

Then, the royal chariot slowly started. Heading in the direction of the Taimiao, the ministers got up separately, sorted according to their ranks, followed the honor guard of the imperial chariot, and joined the traveling procession.

The ministers were headed by Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, and then the other five cabinet ministers. Then there are the six books, Shilang and others. Xu Liang is from the Guanglu Siqing of the third grade, and walks with Fu Yu and others from the Taichang Siqing. In the direction of the side hand, it happened to be Sun Yuanhua, the squire of the military department. Xu Liang deliberately changed positions with the people around him, so that he and Sun Yuanhua walked parallelly.

Xu Liang hung his head slightly. His expression was serious, and his lips were slightly open and closed, making sure that his voice could be heard by Sun Yuanhua.

"Sun Chengzong has been back in Beijing for four or five days, how is the recruitment of troops in the capital?" Xu Liang asked softly.

Sun Yuanhua was taken aback, looked left and right nervously, and saw that no one was paying attention, so he got closer to Xu Liang, and said in a low voice: "Brother Xu's matter, how dare I not care." Sun Ge basically agreed to recruit troops in Beijing, and this matter happened to be in my responsibility. ”

Xu Liang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's fine." When does recruitment start? ”

"Sun Ge is in a hurry, and it will start in May and last for fifteen days." Sun Yuanhua said: "You ask your people to hurry up and rush to the capital, the time must be calculated, too early, too late, it is easy to make people suspicious." ”

Xu Liang nodded and said, "I know." Liang Jun's men have already begun to set off in batches. ”

"It's just...... Regarding Dai Feng, Sima Qiudao had some trouble in the placement of the two. Sun Yuanhua said: "I carefully proposed that Dai Feng and Sima Qiudao should make up for the shortage of recruiting generals, but Sun Ge Lao strongly disagreed. ”

Xu Liang was stunned, and his eyes glared at the back of Sun Chengzong, who was walking in front. Said helplessly: "Settle the soldiers first, there is a way to deal with the general's affairs." ”

Sun Yuanhua was not as optimistic as Xu Liang, and shook his head slightly: "Brother Xu, you don't understand, in terms of the role of military generals, Sun Ge's words are more effective than Lord Shoufu. If Sun Ge insisted on it, even if Dai Feng and Sima Qiudao arrived in Jingshi, it would be impossible to fill the gap. ”

"......" Xu Liang was speechless, he knew that Sun Yuanhua was not wrong. Since Sun Chengzong led his army to drive away the Houjin Tartars, Emperor Chongzhen's trust in Sun Ge Lao has risen to an unprecedented height. According to Xu Guangqi's private account, Emperor Chongzhen will approve the appointment and dismissal of military generals proposed by Sun Gelao, and every time Sun Chengzong returns to Beijing from Liaodong, he often has not yet arrived at the gate of the capital, and the carriage sent by Emperor Chongzhen to take him into the palace is guarded at the gate of the city.

Grace, for a while!

Xu Liang whispered to Sun Yuanhua all the way, and when the officials entered the Taimiao area, the two still didn't come up with a feasible way. There is no way, Sun Ge's old prestige is too prosperous, and one husband is a pass, and ten thousand people are not open.

Li Tengfang, the secretary of the front-end Ministry of Rites, held the scroll in his hand, and had already begun to chant in a subdued manner, Emperor Chongzhen, the emperor's relatives, the nobles of Beijing, and the ministers of the court all looked solemn, bowed their heads and lowered their hands, and put on a serious look.

Li Shangshu stood in front of a one-meter-square, simple and unpretentious quadrangular tripod, and the chanting of the sacrificial text floated above the silent Taimiao Square with the smoke rising from the curling smoke. Below, there are the ministers standing solemnly with their hands down, and the ministers happen to be wearing official uniforms.

This scene. Xu Liang couldn't help but recall the scene of the zombie Taoist who had acted on TV, the picture was too terrifying, Xu Liang couldn't bear to look at it directly.

In addition, although the sacrificial text read by Li Shangshu sounded very tonal, the words were really obscure, and Xu Liang was in a fog and didn't know what to do. After spending more than an hour with difficulty, Li Shangshu finished reading the stinky and long sacrificial text, and respectfully bowed to the main hall of the Taimiao Temple.

Immediately, Emperor Chongzhen slowly knelt down and bowed three times and bowed nine times. And all the ministers behind him also bowed down.

The sacrificial ceremony is complicated and lengthy, and there is no top. After Emperor Chongzhen bowed three times and bowed nine times, officials above the fourth rank in the court. He also entered the main hall of the Taimiao with Emperor Chongzhen, knelt respectfully in front of the portrait of the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, kept his upper body straight, folded his hands, closed his eyes, and carried out the so-called sacrifice for two hours.

The floor of the main hall is made of the same material as the square outside, which is made of cold and hard white marble bricks. Even if Xu Liang got the first opportunity from Shen Shaoqing's mouth, he put a thick layer of cotton cushion on his knees in advance. But after kneeling straight for two hours, Xu Liang felt that there were thousands of ants crawling on these two legs. That kind of sourness made Xu Liang miserable.

Looking at Emperor Chongzhen again, although he couldn't stand it well, he still had to stagger to stand up, and reverently recounted to the portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang and asked his ancestors to bless the Ming Dynasty for eternity.

The whole sacrificial ceremony made Xu Liang happy. There is only the last feast. Because the household department allocated a budget of 50,000 taels of silver, Xu Liang didn't dare to play tricks for this banquet, so Shen Congliang prepared a very large and real banquet.

Although no liquor is allowed during the ceremony, the dishes are mainly light and plain. However, because the quality of the ingredients is guaranteed, the officials are very happy to eat.

Xu Liang saw that even Emperor Chongzhen ate with relish. When the banquet was about to disperse, Emperor Chongzhen's Ministry of Rites Li Tengfang said with appreciation: "This sacrifice is going so smoothly, Li Aiqing and Taichang, Guanglu and the two temples have made great contributions. Especially this vegetarian banquet, I tasted quite novel, which shows that Li Aiqing has put a lot of effort into it, and I am very relieved. ”

When Li Tengfang heard this, his face turned red with excitement, and he stepped out of the column tremblingly, and bowed his hand and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise." It is the duty of the old minister to prepare for every sacrificial ceremony. ”

When Emperor Chongzhen spoke, the ministers had already received the news, stopped eating, and set their eyes on Emperor Chongzhen. Xu Liang saw that Li Tengfang, the old guy, actually took the credit on himself, and didn't mention himself and Taichang Siqing Fu Yu, and couldn't help but scold the old fox secretly.

The emperor opened his mouth to praise, and the officials under him echoed, and when even if there was a Ministry of Rites, he bowed his hand to Emperor Chongzhen and said: "My emperor is Shengming." The memorial to the temple, whether from the etiquette, the degree, the pomp and arrangement, are extremely outstanding, the minister for the preparation of the ritual department, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple to His Majesty for merit! ”

The ministers' expressions moved, and when they looked at this Ministry of Rites, their expressions began to become strange. Xu Liang carefully looked at the expression of Li Tengfang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and saw that he nodded secretly towards Na Langzhong. Xu Liang exclaimed in his heart: I didn't expect this Li Tengfang to arrange this hand! Following Emperor Chongzhen's appreciative words, he asked his subordinates who had already been arranged to ask for credit for himself.

Sure enough, Emperor Chongzhen listened, looked stunned, and then nodded slowly, just about to open his mouth to reward.

At this time, a sudden change abruptly, a cold snort came from above, Xu Liang and the ministers followed the sound, only to see Sun Chengzong, a scholar of Wuyingdian University, coming out of the queue with an angry face, glaring angrily at the Ministry of Rites, snorting coldly, and reprimanding: "What a person to ask for merit!" Tu Langzhong, as a Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, should know that the ceremony of sacrificing the Taimiao Temple is to tell the ancestors and ancestors, which is to talk about sincerity, fasting and bathing in advance, and the whole ceremony is strictly forbidden to be luxurious! As he spoke, he turned around and said angrily: "If you open your eyes and look at the surrounding arrangements, the flowers are full of flowers, flashy and unreal, how can there be a little bit of sincerity to show the sincerity of my monarch and minister!" What's even more infuriating is that now that the treasury is empty, the war situation in Liaodong is tense, and it is the time when the money is used, and the official heard about this sacrifice, and the amount of silver is as high as 100,000 taels! is so extravagant and wasteful, His Majesty is already a great favor if he does not punish him severely, and you still want to ask for credit?! ”

Xu Liang listened, there was something bad in the secret! Looking at Tu Langzhong again, he was already so frightened that his face was pale, kneeling on the ground, trembling. Li Tengfang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, heard this, his face changed drastically, and he said to Emperor Chongzhen in fear: "Your Majesty...... This, the old minister, the old minister is afraid! ”

The situation took a turn for the worse, and Xu Liang was secretly anxious. I hate Li Tengfang even more for making a stinky move. The sacrifice ended smoothly, and his old man had to fix this drama of asking for merit, but the result was good, so that Sun Chengzong caught the reason. Looking at the layout of the entire Taimiao Temple again, Xu Liang frowned secretly, it seemed that it was indeed a little fancy. Xu Liang turned around and glared dissatisfiedly at Shen Congliang, the young master of Guanglu Temple, who was sitting behind.

Shen Congliang met Xu Liang's gaze, his face was bitter, and he smiled helplessly.

What's even more annoying is the surrounding officials, especially the nobles in Beijing, these people rely on the merits of their ancestors, enjoy the court's offerings, and have nothing to do all day long, and they are hoping that the ministers of the court will make a fool of themselves, so as to add some talking points to their ordinary lives.

Sun Ge Lao deserved to be the most murderous cabinet minister in the court, his anger had not yet been vented, but he swept his gaze towards the ministers, fell on Xu Liang's head, pointed at Xu Liang, and shouted angrily: "Xu Liang, the Qing of Guanglu Temple, is young, does not think about temple affairs, does not understand the ritual of sacrifice, and spends 50,000 taels of silver in the court, but makes the entire sacrifice indecent, and his crime should be punished!" After that, Sun Ge Lao faced Emperor Chongzhen and solemnly bowed his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister asks for an order, and the criminal minister Xu Liang will be dismissed and imprisoned, and he will be severely punished!" ”

When Xu Liang heard this, his nose suddenly turned crooked. Sun Chengzong has always looked down on himself as a local official from a high background, since entering Beijing, he has been embarrassed in many ways, Xu Liangjing is a pillar of the court, thanks to the community, only to avoid it, not to conflict with him, I don't want this old man to be so vicious, he actually wants to kill himself!

Xu Liang screamed, rushed forward, and fell to the ground beside the kneeling Libu Langzhong, his face was sad, and his voice was terrified: "Your Majesty! Ministers, ministers are also afraid! ”

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but see this scene and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. A quarter of an hour ago, Emperor Chongzhen ate the banquet prepared by Guanglu Temple, and felt refreshing and delicious, and was very satisfied. At this moment, I heard Sun Ge Lao mention this, and then look at this temple, it is indeed a little fancy, not solemn enough...... How good is that? Do you really want to put Xu Liangsuo in prison for this matter?

"This ......" Emperor Chongzhen looked confused.

"Your Majesty!" Xu Guangqi, a scholar of Dongge University, came out of the ranks, bowed his hand, and said, "The old minister has something to say." ”

Emperor Chongzhen looked overjoyed, and hurriedly said, "Xu Aiqing speak quickly." ”

Xu Guangqi's gaze stayed on Xu Liang and Sun Chengzong for a moment, and said: "Your Majesty, today is the day of Your Majesty's sacrifice to the Taimiao, and the old minister thinks that it is not appropriate to kill the minister. ”

"Hmm, Xu Aiqing is right." Emperor Chongzhen's eyes lit up and said.

Sun Chengzong listened, quit, and was about to open his mouth, only to see Xu Guangqi take the first step, and then said: "However, what Lord Sun said is also reasonable, the old minister thinks that Xu Liang, the Qing of Guanglu Temple, is indeed negligent, but the crime does not lead to death, and a little punishment is enough." ”

Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly said: "Then Xu Aiqing thinks how to punish it?" ”

"The old minister thinks that Lord Xu is too wasteful, so he will be fined for a year."

"Your Majesty, don't ......" Sun Chengzong was anxious.

"Accurate!" Emperor Chongzhen said loudly. (To be continued......)