[[[CP|W:250|H:190|A:L]]] Chapter Seventy-Eight: Sacrifice to Heaven (insert Xie Xiangcun's illustration)

In the blink of an eye, in the autumn, this year the treasury was very abundant because of the huge dirty silver of Dai Yun and others. Qian Hongzoen's Acting Director of the Quasi-Household Department Yuan Banmeng's advice, in the previous year, when the autumn tax had been reduced, issued a decree to continue to reduce taxes, and the intensity was greater, so that the poor people could recuperate.

In the case of the reduction of military spending, due to the effectiveness of Tuntian, not only the military salary of the current year, but also the soldiers received enough this year, and the garrisons of many states even began to pay the military salaries owed in previous years, and the soldiers sent the military salaries home, so that the life of the family was more prosperous. All industries prospered, the whole country was thriving, in the turmoil of the five dynasties and ten countries, Wu Yue Kingdom appeared in the atmosphere of peace and prosperity.

The Tang State (known as the Southern Tang Dynasty), which was originally more powerful than Wu Yueguo, became more and more arrogant and lascivious in the royal family and even the aristocracy, although there were many soldiers, but the military supply was insufficient; Although the people are numerous, life is difficult. The lord of the country is far more interested in the wind and the moon and the beautiful women than in the lives of the people. Wu Yue sent troops to Fujian, and the soldiers were bloodless and profitable; The Tang state, however, lost a powerful force in vain, almost triggering a civil war. The contrast between the two made Tang's ambition to annex Wu Yue finally come to naught.

During the reign of Qian Hongzuo, Wu Yueguo became rich in the world, and it became a real reality, which is a later story.

The harsh winter has passed, spring is coming, and this year's sacrifice ceremony, Qian Hongzuo designated Xie Xiangcun, the director of the military department, as the co-ordinator. In the past, this position was held by the chief farmer or the head of the household department, and the head of the military department has always been only a spectator. Moreover, the soldiers are ominous, and it was difficult to imagine in the past to use the officials of the military department as a co-ceremony to sacrifice to the heavens. But Qian Hongzuo said: "Without the hard work of the soldiers in Tuntian, there will be no rich life for the people, and the sacrifice with the theme of praying for a good harvest is very suitable for Xie Xiangcun, who has made meritorious contributions to Tuntian." ”

The place where Wu Yueguo sacrificed to heaven and earth was located on the north peak of Hangzhou City, called Tianentai. It is composed of two parts, the altar and the altar, the altar is the place where the officials kneel and worship, and the altar can only be ascended by the lord of the country and the co-worshippers and their retinue. Qian Hongzuo wore the most solemn crown on his head, held a staff and walked up the forty-nine steps, wearing a dress symbolizing the sky, the dress was blue as the base color, and the upper body was embroidered with cloud patterns; Xie Xiangcun wore a silver crown on his head, inlaid with eight treasures, and wore a dress that symbolized the earth, the dress was based on dark colors, the upper body was embroidered with grain patterns, and he held a huge ear of wheat with full grains, and followed behind Qian Hongzuo.

After the ceremonies such as burning incense, playing music, singing and dancing, Qian Hongzuo raised his staff high, Xie Xiangcun held the wheat ears above his head, Qian Hongzuo said loudly: "Heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, Buddhas and gods, bless me Wu Yue, peace and prosperity", hundreds of officials chanted three times with him, and for a while, the shout of "Bless me Wu Yue" resounded throughout the world.

Qian Hongzuo has experienced the ceremony many times, but this time he has the most confidence. If the original sacrifice was just a muttered prayer, now it has become an oath to forge ahead. Qian Hongzuo looked at Xie Xiangcun who was holding the ear of wheat, the corners of his mouth pursed, revealing a comfortable smile, he has never forgotten jì, Xie Xiangcun once said: As long as the green seedlings can grow into ears of wheat, all the efforts are worth it. The scenes of Xie Xiangcun's acquaintance so far, passing by one by one, how many hardships, how many dangers, how much fatigue, did not stop the footsteps of this young monarch and minister, they ignored the stormy waves and crashed on the shore, survived the rapids and rapids, and brought Wu Yueguo on a smooth voyage, Qian Hongzuo said silently in his heart: "For today, all the efforts are worth it." And I will continue my mission to preserve this hard-won fruit. ”

In the following year, there was a problem with the soldiers in Tuntian, and there was a noise incident in the Wenzhou garrison, and Xie Xiangcun only brought a few officials from the military department to investigate. Qian Hongzuo was very worried about his safety, but Xie Xiangcun said: "Weichen went to Wenzhou to garrison the army, not to suppress the noise, but to find out the reason for the noise. Bringing more people will easily aggravate the situation. Qian Hongzuo had no choice but to rely on him.

Since Xie Xiangcun left the dynasty, some slanderous words about him have begun to be very loud, saying that he was from a humble background, that he flattered the lord to invite pets, that he was incompetent and immoral, and that even the killing of Dai Yun's grandson was mentioned again by the old saying, saying that his heart was like a snake and scorpion, cruel and vicious. As the Leopard Army soldiers secretly passed on several secret pieces about this matter to Qian Hongzuo, Qian Hongzuo clearly saw that Dai Yun's forces were still tenaciously surviving under his repeated cutoffs, and the focus of their hatred was Xie Xiangcun, the person who completely cut off all possibilities for them to reverse the situation. When Xie Xiangcun is in order, they will restrain somewhat, but as long as there is a little problem, they will use the topic to play and expand the situation, so as to bring down Xie Xiangcun. But the more this is the case, the more Qian Hongzuo wants to protect Xie Xiangcun, even if he kills all the people who oppose him, Qian Hongzuo will not hesitate to do so.

In order to Xie Xiangcun's safe return as soon as possible, Qian Hongzuo not only went to the Huguo Temple in the palace to pray for Xie Xiangcun, but also went to the Golden Thread Nunnery, which was already full of incense at that time, and told the Empress Dowager Xu what he said in his heart. Empress Dowager Xu said: "It is not a good thing that the court is dominated by one person. Some people are grateful to Xiangcun, as long as you don't fight to the death, the saint doesn't have to pay attention to it. As a king, in the face of the ministers, the most important thing is to be able to balance various forces. The same is true for Xie Xiangcun, only by attaching equal importance to grace and power, and having both rewards and punishments, is the way of the monarch and the minister. Those slanderous words against Xie Xiangcun, although there are deliberate slanders, are not groundless. ”

Maybe it was because I hadn't discussed political affairs with the Empress Dowager Xu for too long, but the words of the Empress Dowager Xu on this day were particularly harsh to Qian Hongzuo. Others don't know, but he Qian Hongzuo knows that Xie Xiangcun has become a thorn in the side of the Dai family's faction, and how much of it is due to the manipulation and layout of the Empress Dowager Xu. Qian Hongzuo cherishes Xie Xiangcun from the bottom of his heart, and he also believes that Xie Xiangcun is sincere to him, if a monarch and a minister like them who have been through hardships together only think about using the clamp, then the so-called way of the monarch and the minister is really too hypocritical to be hypocritical.

In Qian Hongzuo's anxious waiting, Xie Xiangcun finally returned to the DPRK safely, and the cause of the Wenzhou garrison noise incident was basically ascertained. Above the court, Xie Xiangcun made the results of the investigation public: Meng Zhihuan, the commander of Wenzhou, took the opportunity of Tuntian to use soldiers as cheap labor, and the accounts were chaotic, and most of the income from Tuntian was embezzled by him personally, while the soldiers were tired and tired but received very little, which was far from the soldiers in other states. After this was reported by his cronies, the soldiers boycotted the tuntian and were unwilling to continue working. Meng Zhihuan did not try to appease, but on the grounds that the soldiers did not respect the order, he indiscriminately used military law to kill and injure many people, which eventually led to the occurrence of the incident.

After Xie Xiangcun found out the reason, he ordered Meng Zhihuan not to arrest and kill people because of the noise incident, and he promised the soldiers involved in the matter that after returning to the court, Meng Zhihuan would be impeached, and justice would be administered to them, so that the soldiers could wait for the ruling of the saint, and the noise incident could be temporarily quelled. The resolute Xie Xiangcun handled this incident unusually smoothly, and did not use the Shang Fang sword that he carried with him, which could be cut first and then played.