There were no major events in Chang'an for several days. Emperor Gao Liu Bang talked to the ministers a few days ago about leading the ministers to plough the southern suburbs, and the ministers all agreed, saying that it should have been done a long time ago. Since Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor on February 28 of the fifth year of the Han Dynasty in Dingtao, Shandong, such a ceremony has not been held once. Liu Bang went out every year to crusade against the rebellious princes, the domestic political situation was not stable, the foreign Xiongnu and South Vietnam were all strong momentum, there was no good environment to allow him to hold such a ceremony, this year seemed to be relatively stable and calm, so he hurriedly chose an auspicious day. specially summoned the crown prince Liu Ying to follow him to the southern suburbs. (In fact, the most accurate emperor cultivation ceremony was held during the time of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, but it is not excluded that Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty had not held it before Liu Bang or Emperor Hui Liu Ying, perhaps they were only symbolically held and did not go down in history).

On this day, the spring breeze is gentle, and it is a good scene. All the ministers have been waiting in the southern suburbs, hunting with flags, and the sky is shaking. Prior to this, Prime Minister Xiao He had already instructed everyone to practice the ritual of ploughing with the emperor at home, so as not to be embarrassed at that time. The prime minister also ordered people to find gentle and easy-going cattle for the emperor's use, and Liu Bang specially called the crown prince and uncle Sun Tong to learn from him about the mountains and rivers that need to be sacrificed when ploughing, the ancestors and the procedures before and after ploughing.

The whole process is instructed by Shusun Tong as a counselor, Liu Bang, who is wearing a majestic and majestic imperial robe, stands on the god platform, is too fast, first sacrificed to heaven and earth, and then sacrificed to the first farmer and then Ji, the chief priest of the official performed the sacrificial ceremony, the mouth recited the sacrificial text, the emperor led the kneeling to the heaven and earth to salute, the ministers all followed, after a ritual the emperor led everyone to the southern suburbs of the home field. When he arrived in the southern suburbs, the ceremonial official read the rite with an open voice: "Fu Nong, the foundation of the world, his family opened the field, and I took the lead in ploughing, so as to give the temple a prosperous life, in order to persuade the people to farm, and I hope that the first farmer and then the one will protect the people of the Han Dynasty." "After the text is the emperor led everyone to plough, the spring season, it is a good time to plough, the ritual of ploughing should be the Son of Heaven symbolic three push ceremony, three dukes and five pushes, Qing, the princes nine push, as long as the emperor lightly holds the plough symbolic push three times, Emperor Liu Bang came to be interested, looking at the fertile fields for thousands of miles, as if he had already seen the good harvest next year, Liu Bang will work sincerely, personally plough in the field to plough, the prince followed, and some of the ministers took seeds and planted them in the land that the emperor had plowed on. Some other ministers also pushed the plough in twos and threes, and followed the emperor's example and began to cultivate. These officials are all out of the field, take the plough is no problem, but since the army against Qin, they have never taken these farm tools, today to take these farm tools again as if there is no strength back then, a few times to feel the backache, watching the emperor is very interested in pushing the plough over and over again over the plough to plough, they do not dare to rest and push up, slowly push the ripe did not feel so tired.

"Now it is the spring season, and it is the time when the agricultural work is busy, and the public and the decree is that no large-scale construction shall be carried out on the day of the busy farming, and no levy shall be levied on the day of the busy farming; At that time, agriculture was not seen in the country, so that the people respected the land, respected the time and loved the day, not the old and the old, not the disease, not the death. Liu Bang said to the officials around him while pushing the plow.

Xiao He also pushed the plow and echoed the emperor, "In this way, one person can rule it, and ten people can eat it." ”

Liu Bang said yes, and Xiao He pushed the plow back and forth in the field several times.

The red wheel gradually fell westward, in the red glow on the Weichuan Plain, the Han monarchs and ministers were bending down and plowing the fields, setting an example for the peasants of the world, the emperor's pro-ploughing ceremony ended in the dusk, and the smoke of cooking in the chimneys of the people on the hills in the distance was everywhere, as if the aroma of food was transmitted. The sky turned from red to blue, the emperor dismissed the ministers, tired for a day, the ministers dragged their tired bodies back to the mansion, Liu Bang was supported by the prince, he wanted to go to the Yuzao Palace, seeing the prince with him, he said that the prince was tired for a day and should go back to rest. Liu Bang ordered others to send him back to the Yuzao Palace, Qi Ji was already waiting for him, Liu Bang was busy for a day, Qi Ji first handed him wash the toiletry water and told him to wipe his face, and then helped him to the couch, took off his boots, personally washed his feet, pinched his feet, beat his back, and asked him what he wanted to eat, Liu Bang shook his head, and he didn't want to say a word when he was tired. Qi Ji knew that he was tired and didn't want to eat anything, so he untied his clothes and asked Liu Bang to go to bed early in the morning. Mrs. Qi herself went to Ruyi's palace to play with him for a while, coaxed Ruyi to sleep, and then came back again, and saw that the emperor had snoring and fell asleep, but the quilt still only covered his stomach, and his limbs were exposed outside, so Qi Ji covered him again, blew the lamp and pulled out the wax and fell asleep.

The next day, Liu Bang went to the front hall after having dinner in the Yuzao Palace. Yesterday, when ploughing the southern suburbs, some people said that the world should be amnesty after ploughing, and this morning someone from the Tingwei Mansion had sent a list of all the criminals except for the death penalty felons, Liu Bang felt that there was no big problem, so he waved his pen to carry out a general amnesty after the ploughing ceremony, and said that the emperor who inherited the throne in the future would hold an amnesty after ploughing, so that this would become a custom for future generations. In the past few days, Liu Bang's mood has gradually improved, and he has also cultivated and amnesty the world, and suddenly Chang'an City has become really lively. It is not that there is no amnesty, but it is never heard of that it is performed after the ritual of ploughing.

The second half of March has passed, the mulberry leaves in Chang'an have basically grown, and the people have already picked mulberry leaves to prepare for silkworm raising. Empress Lu had earlier told the emperor that he would carry out a silkworm ceremony to set an example for the women of the world, and he mentioned it to him in recent days, and the emperor asked someone to divinate on an auspicious day. The auspicious day is set on March 25, more than half a month after the emperor's ploughing of the southern suburbs. These days, Empress Lu asked people to prepare meticulous work, preparing golden hooks, gold frames, selecting mulberry picking sites, memorizing the words of the palace, and explaining the procedures of the harem concubines about the silkworm ceremony. The silkworm ceremony was presided over by the queen, so Liu Bang no longer cared about these. The harem concubines have learned the ancestor of the silkworm god throughout the winter, after all, it is a matter of course for women to raise silkworms, and the ancestor is the silkworm god, and I don't know who the ancestor is, so I am not worthy of being a weaver girl.

On March 25, swallows hooked their nests on the corner of the roof of Changxin Palace, chirping. The sunny breeze all day long, warm but not hot, hunting with flags, the mountains and flowers in the distance are full of life. The concubines followed the queen to the northern suburbs, and Empress Lu first sacrificed to the ancestor of the silkworm Xiling clan. By the ceremonial officer to offer three sticks of incense to the queen of Lu, there is a portrait of the ancestor of silk silk hanging on the altar, the portrait is under the rich prison tool, the solemn face of the queen of Lu knelt on the mat, holding high the incense and respectfully said, "The poor concubine Lu Pheasant is the queen of Liu Bang, the founding monarch of the Han Dynasty, today I came to worship the ancestor of the silkworm Xiling clan, the concubine heard that the ancestor of the silkworm Xiling clan is the ancestor of silkworm clothing, Zeng Zuo Xuanyuan clan and the hundred tribes, the mother of the world, the well-being of all the people, and Shennong, Xuanyuan Emperor opened up Hongmeng, the ancestor of the mother Niangniang Gong high sun and moon. After the concubine is the country, she should learn the skills of raising silkworms and reeling silk, and the real motherhood of the people of the country is the world, and I hope that the ancestors of the silkworms will protect the people of the Han Dynasty, so that we and other women have the essence of silk reeling and silkworm raising. "After that, it is three kneels and nine bows. After the Empress Lu worshiped the ancestors, he came to a mulberry field in the royal family accompanied by many concubines with a golden hook and gold frame, the eunuchs sounded the golden drum, sang the song of picking mulberry, and the Empress Lu personally picked three mulberry leaves, and then went up to the mulberry platform to watch the concubines pick mulberry leaves. The queen's mulberry leaf picking is only symbolically picking three pieces, to show that the queen has set an example for the weaver women in the world. The concubines hurriedly entered the mulberry field to pick mulberry leaves, handed over the picked mulberry leaves to the palace maids and put them in the silkworm room, and waited for the silkworm king to feed the mulberry leaves to the silkworm baby.

All the concubines gathered around the queen and praised the queen's mother's honor in the world. Mrs. Guan usually doesn't read, she doesn't know who the ancestor is, everyone is talking about the ancestor, Mrs. Guan asked inexplicably, "Who is the ancestor?" ”

Everyone looked at the queen in amazement, and Empress Lu's originally happy face was gloomy by Mrs. Guan, and she glanced at Mrs. Guan seriously, and threw her a sentence with a slight reproach, "Flashy!" I don't know what it can do. ”

Mrs. Guan understood this, and when she was scolded by the queen, she quickly lowered her head and said no more. Lv Hou said to everyone, "Sericulture is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and the emperors of the past dynasties must pay attention to the cause of sericulture if they want to make their reign stable." Since the Yellow Emperor and the ancestor have established the foundation of the country, the three kings must regard the sericulture as a major event of the country......"

The silkworm ceremony was held, which was a good time for sericulture.