The sacrificial ritual did not take too long.

When I entered the door of the chapel, I saw the seated statue of Brother Tian.

Guo Kang has heard people explain, saying that according to the rules of the etiquette system, ordinary people are not allowed to directly worship the Heavenly Father. Even the highest sacrifice is performed on a specific festival every year, when the Heavenly Father is sacrificed, so as to highlight the supremacy of the Heavenly Father and ensure the dignity and grandeur of the ceremony.

Moreover, these sacrifices were not held in the Niangniang Temple, which is the highest level of worship in the country, but in the first church in Romania, where Patriarch Zhang was commissioned by Boyan Timur Khan. If the Great Khan goes out on a campaign, he will imitate the arrangement there and perform sacrifices in the army; And if there was no war, according to the traditional Roman principle of "sacrifice and war are the most important", the Great Khan would have gone there and held ceremonies.

This is also because, compared to other churches, it has a special significance for the worship of God and the Purple Horde. Before Patriarch Zhang came here, the religion in Romania was quite confused. The Great Khan and the nobles brought with them the beliefs of the East, and some influence from the Celestial Sect came from the Golden Horde. Add to this the Roman Catholic Church spread by the North and the West, the Polish and Hungarian people, and the Greek Orthodoxy in the East and the South, and the region is essentially a hodgepodge.

At that time, the leaders of the Purple Horde lacked sufficient religious knowledge. Guo Gai, who presided over the day-to-day affairs, realized the importance of the religious order here and supported everyone to establish an independent church. But he would only teach everyone the Four Books and the Five Classics, and then he would try to force those teachings with the various teachings that were popular in the local area.

Later, Patriarch Zhang came here, and after a few days of detailed discussions with Guo Gai and others, he persuaded them to take over the church. When I first took over, the doctrine within the church was very confused, and there was even a claim that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother would be reincarnated to save all beings. In this environment, Patriarch Zhang single-handedly established a new management organization, reorganized a set of doctrines, and standardized all affairs. As a result, he gained a status far superior to other patriarchs throughout the ages, and was widely respected. The various institutions he left behind have also been inherited.

Although not the actual founder of the church, after the head of Patriarch Zhang, the church has been completely different from the various churches in Taixi and the chaotic times of the early khanate. Therefore, to this day, the Romanian Church has referred to Patriarch Zhang's title as "the return of the real person", rather than the ordinary inauguration of the church.

After Patriarch Zhang's inauguration, this date of inauguration also became a commemorative day, on which the church would hold activities to recall history, examine insiders, and warn everyone to maintain their faith.

According to the rules handed down at that time, in addition to worshipping the heavens, the Khan would also preside over the worship of the ancestors of Rome. These ceremonies were held at the Niangniang Temple. As for the Heavenly Brother sacrifice, it is even more relaxed, and it is available in many churches.

Of course, ordinary people don't have much of an opinion on this. People don't like to worship their Heavenly Father and Brother very much, and they generally worship the saints of their own region or industry. So, there isn't much conflict either.

In this room, everyone bowed twice, prayed to the Father and Brother to bless the country and the family, and then continued to enter the next entrance, where they worshiped the portraits and tablets of Guo Gai and other ancestors.

Guo Kang is familiar with these steps. It's just that today, the old priest who presided over the ceremony looked a little tired, and I don't know if he was tired from preparing for this event. However, these processes are not complicated, and by noon, everyone has completed the sacrifice.

Before leaving, Guo Ru took a bag from the hands of his entourage, walked to a spiritual seat on the side, took out two dried heads, and placed them on the offering table seriously.

"Little brother, the fifth brother has made it up for you this time." He muttered, "You can rest assured that you are in heaven." ”

After speaking, he turned his head and saw Guo Kang's curious expression, so he explained, "Oh, the eldest nephew hasn't come with me before." This is a wish made by me and your third uncle in front of your brother after the Poles killed your uncle. We said that we would kill 108 Polish armorers and sacrifice their heads to him, hoping to appease his soul, let Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother see this, and bless him with a peaceful life in heaven. ”

"Last year, your third uncle had enough of them. I didn't fight as well as him, two years slower, and I didn't get it together until this year. He sighed and said, "But in this way, revenge will be completed after all." ”

"How do you feel? How do you feel after your revenge? Guo Kang asked curiously.

"It's very refreshing." Guo Ru smiled: "I feel that the burden on my shoulders is much looser." ”

"If the goal of revenge is achieved, will there be any sense of emptiness? What are you going to do in the future? On a whim, Guo Kang wanted to see what they thought.

"I really don't know what to do, and I didn't think about the follow-up goal at that time......" Guo Ru nodded and admitted, and then said with some doubts: "Why don't I go to kill again?" If you make up another 108, the merit should be higher, right? ”

"Uh...... Ask the clergy. Guo Kang didn't know how to answer.

Everyone else around me agreed, but everyone probably took it for granted and didn't take it seriously. They then went to the nearest farmstead. There, the Guo clan would hold a banquet to entertain the nearby villagers.

The reason why I went there deliberately was because the Guo family also had a symbolic industry in the village. Theoretically, including the father-in-law and Guo Kang, their household registration belongs to the village next to the ancestral tomb and the family temple, and they are citizens of hundreds of local households. Usually in Dadu, just to perform public duties, and take up a job in a different place.

Here, too, they keep an empty dwelling. However, it is usually only during festivals and festivals that people come to live. The field next to it was also given to the surrounding villagers by Guo Di on the grounds that he couldn't use it, and the house itself remained.

The residence is also not too big, and the inside has been remodeled to serve as a temporary hostel. Because of Guo's ancestral teachings, they have always maintained a simple appearance and have not been decorated much. Except for a few more rows of guest rooms, it looks similar to the small rich families in the countryside. The only thing used to mark the difference is the two pillars at the entrance.

These two things, the one on the left is called "valve" and the one on the right is called "reading", which is a symbol of family status. According to custom, meritorious deeds are written down and posted on these two pillars for everyone to see. The so-called "gate valve" is hence the name. And without them, even like those Greek merchants, no matter how luxurious the house is, no matter how poor and luxurious the life is, it is not a high status.

Therefore, the Guo family, even if they are vain and like to save face, they don't care much about the decoration itself. After all, the essence of this abode lies in these two pillars.

The chef had been prepared in advance, and the Guo family immediately set up a banquet at the door of the residence to entertain all the guests who came. In addition to the officials, the local elders, priests, gentlemen, and even ordinary villagers all came to send blessings, and the host's family also brought out food to entertain them.

It was so lively all day long, and everyone was very happy.

"Remember, all the bells and whistles in the city are false, don't take it too seriously. These people in the countryside are the foundation of Rome. The father-in-law also specially ordered several children and nephews.

After the banquet, the villagers invited them to take advantage of the situation to visit.

There is a courtyard at the head of the village, with the office of the hundred households on one side and the village school on the other, and the tall main house used as a church, which displays various souvenirs of their family. The incumbent Zhang Baihu, the retired Yang Lao Baihu and others, as well as the representatives of the nearby hundreds of households, were waiting at the door.

Yang Baihu is Yang Wenxian's grandfather, who is now sixty years old, still in good spirits and looks very energetic. When Guo Tu led two hundred-man teams north to Novgorod, he was the youngest ten-captain among them. Later, Guo Di established a new war group, and he was the second chief Baihu.

Basil III and Guo Tuo hoped to promote him, and during the conquest of Hungary, they ordered him to lead a brigade and a half, fight alone, and destroy the local aristocracy. But Yang Baihu is only good at leading some people to cut people and command a larger army, so he can't take care of it.

After receiving the order, he pondered for an afternoon, selected more than a hundred brave soldiers from his men, and set out overnight to attack the camp of the noble army, and the rest were left behind. After two days, the other soldiers could not get the news, so they reported to the legion, and the legion hurriedly sent people to investigate, only to find that he had directly destroyed the enemy's camp, and chased the deserter for more than a hundred miles, until he caught up with the fleeing nobles and killed them, and then remembered to come back.

There was some dissatisfaction in the legion, so although he made some gains, he was not able to continue to improve. After that, he worked among the various war regiments, serving as a cavalry instructor until his retirement. However, he was quite satisfied with his situation, and after retiring, he simply returned to his hometown to teach, and has been until now.

This time, it was he who came to greet him, and the current Zhang Baihu only followed behind. After a routine greeting, the father-in-law asked them to stop being polite, and then dragged Guo Kang out and said, "Come, boy, say hello to Grandpa Yang." ”

Guo Kang honestly bowed and saluted. Yang Baihu hurriedly supported him, saying that he couldn't afford it, and then praised him a few words and praised him. Others are not surprised, because this is also tradition. Theoretically speaking, according to the weekly etiquette, even if it is a happy come, you should greet the elderly politely when you see the elderly. It's just that the people of the Central Plains in later generations basically don't pay attention to this. The environment on their side is closer to ancient times, and these customs are still continuing.

"This is your Uncle Zhang. This time, I'll have to ask him to help you get some people. The stepfather continued.

"It's all lowly and deserved." Zhang Baihu also replied politely.

Guo Kang didn't care so much, he also went to greet him.

In this way, when he and everyone met, Yang Lao Baihu took the initiative to say: "We heard the news that there was another war before, and everyone was very happy. This time, it's still a good boy from the family, and we can't wait. ”

"These Zhuangzi near us, if we get together, we can still save up 800 Ding Zhuang who have fought in battle." As he spoke, he turned his head and appealed to the hundred households: "The little general is also our son of Henan, let's go into battle together and help him well." ”

The crowd responded.

"The old man is old and frail, and going over there is also a drag on you. This time, let Lu Laosan lead the team. Yang Lao Baihu suggested again: "Didn't he come back from the front line last year, he should have rested enough." Lao Lu, do you say it? ”

"Chenghao, Brother Yang." A strong man with gray hair replied with a smile next to him: "After this bear child comes back, he will be idle every day, so send him away quickly." ”

The crowd laughed too.

"Eight hundred people are too many, and there is no need to work so hard." The father-in-law waved his hand: "Three hundred people, it's enough." ”

"That's fine, that's too little. People in Hebei have to look down on us when they turn around, saying that we don't dare to fight. Yang Lao Baihu shook his head: "I have told everyone, even for the sake of my old face, bring everyone over and give you a chance to make meritorious contributions." ”

However, the stepfather did feel that it was too much. The two sides bargained in this way, and finally agreed to send 500 men. The hundred households were very happy and cheered loudly.

"Then, whoever can't go, the old man doesn't care." Yang Lao Baihu reminded: "You organize a competition by yourself and pick out the best offspring." ”

Everyone responded one after another, and invited the Guo family to sit inside. They scattered to both sides, surrounded Guo Kang and others, and entered the church gate.

There was a rather large hall, and one wall was covered with wolf skins, some of which were largely intact and some of which were mutilated. Guo Kang counted and found that there were fifteen of them.

"We, Zhuangzi, in the past few decades, have produced fifteen legion standard-bearers. These are the things on the wall that they have acquired. Yang Laobaihu introduced: "Oh, the last one is Lu Laosan's." But he's not a conductor like me, so I'll tell him to listen to you when the time comes. ”

Guo Kang actually began to feel weak himself, but he also nodded quickly, and then thanked him.

And on the opposite wall, there are also proofs of various merits and awards. There is a special tax-free sign hanging at the top, according to Yang Laobaihu, because there are too many people who have joined the army, and the imperial court has specially approved that there is no longer need to pay field tax. In addition, there are some commendation documents for people from the village who have been rewarded for their military merits. Guo Kang took a look and found that there was at least one war group leader and a large number of large and small military officials.

"We are not the most in this regard, there are more Majia Zhuangzi in the west than us, and they are also the most talented this time." Yang Lao Baihu introduced: "But it's also so-called. This time, we must get it back. ”

The crowd laughed again.

(End of chapter)