Jingshi, the ceremony of sacrificing prisoners gradually kicked off with the triumphant return of the army to Beijing.

Xia Chengming's system, the ceremony of sacrificing prisoners naturally also refers to the ceremonial procedures of the previous dynasty, and there is a simple description of the ceremony of "playing Kai to offer prisoners" in "The Military Rites of the History of the Ming Dynasty"——

"Where the family is recruited, the division is returned, and the emperor led the generals Chen Kaile to be captured outside the south gate of the temple and outside the north gate of the society. Tell the temple society, perform three offerings, and perform the same ceremony. After the sacrifice is over, the prisoners will be paid to the punishment department, and the co-ordinator will retreat."

The closest captive sacrifice ceremony of the previous Ming Dynasty since the Wu'an period was the defeat of the Japanese Kou Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 27th year of Wanli and the 28th year of Wanli to quell the rebellion of Yang Yinglong in Banzhou, especially the edict issued after the 27th year of Wanli The sentence "Righteousness and martial arts are raised, although the jumper is strong, he will be killed!" It is still talked about today, and this sentence has also been passed down to later generations and has become one of the deafening declarations in Chinese history.

As early as the day before the captives crossed the river, they were all tied with white ropes around their necks, and the prince personally crossed the river to comfort the temple and Sheji in Jiangbei.

And today, the Ministry of Rites and Taichang Temple have set up a throne in the middle of the main building of the noon gate, the eaves are covered with a yellow cover, and the ceremonial guards such as the halo book and the treasure elephant are set up under the tower of the noon gate city, arranged on both sides, and the guards corps fully armed with two-type rifles stand on both sides in an orderly manner, guarding the Son of Heaven.

Su Yan was dressed in a dragon robe and robe, and returned to the noon gate from Xiaguan by public opinion, and a group of princes and ministers, civil and military officials also came back together, and stood in shifts in order.

When he sat on the throne and looked down on the magnificent and wide Wumen Square, the officers of the military department had already led the generals to lead the prisoners of war.

The faces of the prisoners of war were full of Tessi characteristics, and the Ottoman Turks, Tatars, Greeks, Bosnians, Moldavians, Wallachians and many other nationalities gathered here, and they were brought to the noon gate with trepidation, and stood in this wide square, looking fearfully at the heavily armed Janissaries, and everyone's heart was filled with fear.

The prisoners of war were confused about their future, they did not know what their fate would be, and after their defeat, they thought that they would be released by the Xia people who agreed to pay a ransom, but the Xia people refused their request to redeem themselves and insisted on taking them to the East.

On the long journey from Persia and the Black Sea to the Central Plains, many of them fell on the long journey because of the harsh treatment of the captives, and they arrived here with anxiety and confusion about the future, and then learned that they were to be sacrificed to the Emperor of Bactria .

No matter how sad the prisoners of war were, Zhang Mingyang, the secretary of the military department, shouted: "Sacrifice the prisoners!"

As soon as his words fell, drums and salutes roared around the noon gate, and various deafening sounds suddenly echoed throughout the imperial city, and the roar of salutes like thunder in the middle of the day was like a sledgehammer smashed into the hearts of prisoners of war, making each of them tremble uncontrollably.

The Russian princess Sophia, the Ottoman prince Mustafa, and the envoys of the Tessi kingdom all looked at this magnificent pomp with horror, and they were amazed at the power of the Celestial Empire, which even the Holy Roman Emperor or the Ottoman Sultan could not support.

"Salute—"

In the sound of drums and salutes, the ceremonial officials shouted loudly, and the generals immediately dragged the prisoners in, ordered them to kneel on the ground, and saluted the Son of Heaven, the prisoners of war did not dare to resist, they knelt down on the hard bluestone slab ground, no one dared to look up at the emperor, although they were far away from the emperor, but they could still feel the deep pressure.

Many of them were breathless by the constant pressure overhead, their faces turned pale, and some of them were so poor that they almost fainted.

Immediately, Fu Xinghua, the newly promoted British Duke Fu Xinghua, who was elected as the representative of the generals of the expedition to the west, stepped forward, stood in front of the captive, and said to the Son of Heaven on the main floor of the noon gate:

"Fu Xinghua, the general of the Western Expedition, was ordered to conquer the Taixi Zhuyi, won a complete victory, and the prisoners he captured, I would like to offer your majesty, please order."

Fu Xinghua's voice fell, and the singer opened his throat and repeated in a loud voice what he had just said, and then

There were several singers shouting loudly, all the way to Su Yan's ears.

Su Yan then opened his thin lips lightly, and said indifferently: "Spread my will, the officers and soldiers of the three armies will work together to break the Yi Di, and the upper and lower levels will be meritorious, and the household department will allocate funds to reward the officers and soldiers of the three armies, and the prisoners will be handed over to the criminal department for disposal."

The Emperor's order was immediately delivered, and the sound of shouting long live like a mountain rang out below, and the captives were taken away.

After the prisoner sacrifice ceremony, that night, the Son of Heaven held a grand celebration ceremony in the imperial city, in addition to the imperial city, the entire Jiangning Mansion City was also immersed in a celebratory atmosphere, Su Yan in order to express his willingness to enjoy with the people, he ordered a series of celebrations to be held in the city from the internal funds, so that the people of the whole city could also participate.

Under the night, the whole Jiangning Mansion City is like daylight, a large number of lanterns are hung high, illuminating the streets and alleys in the city are almost dim, the people walk on the street with their families, watching the performance activities organized by the government, the lion dance team from Guangdong is struggling to perform in the noisy gongs and drums, attracting the bursts of applause of the onlookers, in addition to the Guangdong Southern Lion, the Northern Lion from the Northern Wei Dynasty also performed in the city together.

The southern lion and the northern lion have always had a tradition of competition, in order to distinguish the high and low, both sides have done their best, all the housekeeping skills have been used, the streets from time to time resounded with the cheers of the people, and more and more people heard the news and came to see this rare scene.

After the establishment of the Great Xia, the folk atmosphere gradually relaxed from the shackles of the Ming Dynasty with the strength of the country, and the emperor strictly prohibited the people's foot binding through administrative means.

Therefore, folk women have successively canceled the bad habit of foot binding, and the habit of unmarried girls not to leave home to show their heads has also been canceled, on this day, many girls in the Beijing division have taken advantage of this time to run on the street together, they are curious to look at the folk artists performing along the street, some Huaichun girls are seizing the opportunity to find their sweethearts, taking advantage of their parents to take care of themselves when they have a tryst with their sweethearts.

The gongs and drums outside the imperial city are noisy and lively, and the imperial city is also brightly lit, and the melodious sound of silk and bamboo surrounds the beams endlessly, and the dancers in light gauze clothes dance in the center of the hall along with the court music played by the musicians, with a smile and a smile, and every move is fascinating, so that the civil and military officials and foreign envoys who sit in an orderly manner are fascinated.

At this moment, the Russian envoy led Princess Sophia out of their seat and came to the center of the main hall, their actions immediately attracted the sideways eyes of many people, Su Yan squinted his eyes and looked at the ambassador dressed in Russian costumes, and Princess Sophia, who was specially dressed up, before he could speak, the ambassador first stroked his chest and saluted, saying:

"The venerable Emperor of the Celestial Empire, whose contemptible name is Fyodor Ivan Ivanovich, was ordered by the King of Russia and the State Duma to send an envoy to the Celestial Empire with the eldest princess Sophia, asking the Celestial Empire to allow the marriage between the two countries in order to increase the relationship between the two countries."

Marriage?

As soon as the ambassador's voice fell, the ministers all began to talk, and they pointed at Fiodor and Sophia behind him, Sophia inherited her mother's beauty and her father's heroism, blonde hair and blue eyes, high nose bones, and a bit of heroism between her eyebrows, which was also in line with the aesthetics of the Orientals.

If it is placed in the future generations, everyone present will definitely appreciate her appearance very much, but this is in ancient times, and the current Xia people are becoming more and more confident under the influence of the prosperity of the imperial court, and there is still disdain in the eyes of Westerners.

Therefore, they don't quite agree with the marriage between the royal family and the Russian royal family, how can this Princess Sophia He De marry the prince of Great Xia as a wife, they are still a vassal state of Great Xia after all.

Su Yan didn't answer immediately, he still squinted his eyes, looking at the eldest princess Sophia who didn't say a word, Su Yan also had an impression of this strong woman in the early days of the Romanov Dynasty.

Sophia showed a great enthusiasm for politics from an early age, after the death of her father, her brother was young, Sophia relied on the rebellion of the shooting army to become the regent and de facto ruler of the entire country, and the Sino-Russian Treaty of Yaksa was also signed with the Kangxi Emperor at her behest

After Peter I ascended the throne, she once again instigated a rebellion of the shooting army, tried to overthrow her brother's rule, and coveted the throne, but was defeated twice and was imprisoned in a monastery to death.

Let such an ambitious princess marry into his own family, Su Yan didn't know whether to agree for a while, his princes will all be divided into Tessie in the future, if Sophia encourages which of her princes to covet the throne, it will be funny.

However, Su Yan is also a generation of founding heroes, how can he be afraid of Sophia a yellow-haired girl because of this, and the necessary marriage can gain the loyalty of the subject country and play a role in stabilizing people's hearts.

Although Su Yan doesn't need it now, but his sons need it, he still has to pave the way for his princes in advance, relying on marriage to gain the loyalty of his subjects, and it is completely necessary to appease people's hearts.

Moreover, as far as he knew, the current Russian king Fyodor III was young and unmarried, and he could also marry his princess, taking this opportunity to install more people in the Russian court and cultivate a pro-Xia faction.

Thinking of this, Su Yan had an idea in his heart, he smiled lightly, and said, "Ambassador Fiodoro, the marriage between the two countries is a major event that needs to be discussed in detail, but my second son, King Qin, is now seventeen years old, which is the same age as the eldest princess of your country, if the eldest princess can marry my King Qin, I think it is a good marriage."

Hearing Su Yan say this, the ambassador's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said: "Back to His Majesty the Emperor of the Heavenly Dynasty, the contemptible people came this time, mainly for the marriage of the eldest princess, His Royal Highness the King of Qin is a talent, known as a virtuous name, if the eldest princess can marry the King of Qin, this is a good thing for both the eldest princess and Russia."

Su Yan laughed, and he said, "In that case, King Qin, what do you think?"

Saying that, his eyes fell on Su Chen'an, who was sitting at the table, Su Chen'an and Su Ci both returned to Beijing with the army that passed through Xijing, and participated in the feast.

The third prince sitting next to him saw him stunned on the table, and did not respond to his father's inquiry, so he hurriedly touched him with his elbow before pulling Su Chen'an's attention back to reality.

He hurriedly stood up, his face flushed a little, and said, "Father, father, son, son, son, no opinion."

Where does he dare to say that he has an opinion, he also knows that as a prince, he does not have the right to marry freely, and now that his father intends to marry Russia, as the most suitable prince, he can only agree to it regardless of whether he has an opinion in his heart.

But in fact, he didn't have too much of an idea, although Sophia was the princess of Xiyi, her appearance was just on the aesthetic point of the Han people, and her figure was bumpy and convex, and she would not treat her eyes badly if she married.

Seeing that Su Chen'an had no opinion, Su Yan said, "Since King Qin has no opinion, then Ambassador Fyodoro, I agree to the marriage of your eldest princess and King Qin."

Fyodor hurriedly saluted again, thanking her again and again, and the expression on Sophia's face did not fluctuate in the slightest, and she followed the ambassador to salute, and then returned to her seat.

After she returned to her seat, she found that Su Chen'an, who was sitting diagonally opposite her, looked at her from time to time, Su Chen'an was not a little white who didn't understand anything about the relationship between men and women, as a member of the royal family, he had relevant education after he entered puberty.

But having said that, Su Chen'an saw his future princess for the first time, and it was impossible not to say that novelty was in his heart, he looked at Sophia again and again, and began to muttered in his heart, he didn't know what his wife's character was, I heard that Xiyi women were bold and bold, and he didn't like this.

After Sophia and the Russian ambassador returned to their seats, the atmosphere of the banquet became more festive, and the ministers got up from their seats one after another to congratulate Su Yan on the emperor's successful choice of a beloved person for His Royal Highness King Qin.

Although they don't know whether Sophia is a good person or not, who would choose not to say nice things on such an occasion, but to say what they really mean?

The agreement at the banquet can only be regarded as verbal, and more details will have to be determined by the two parties in the following detailed talks, in addition to Sophia's marriage contract, Fiodor is also hopeful

Hoping to find a princess of Bactria to marry their king, this is the main reason why they came here, trying to ensure the stability of Ferdo III's throne through marriage with the royal family of Bactria .

In their opinion, if the Emperor of Bactria married his daughter to the king of Russia, then Russia would be very safe in the future, and there was no need to worry that Bactria would attack them again, or even annex their vassal state.