The festival begins.

Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun walked out of the Chongde Hall and headed in the direction of the front palace.

This year, due to the construction of some courtyards in front of the Daqing Palace, which was occupied by the new department, the altar was changed to outside the Duanli Gate.

At this time, as the time approached the time of the celebration, hundreds of officials entered one after another in a line through the right door.

Under the command of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, including hundreds of civil and military officials, military generals and nobles, and children of the clan, they were divided into three large phalanxes and walked into the venue.

A large altar was built with wood outside the Duanli Gate, and Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun walked over and were each assigned a position.

There were three large squares under the stage, and Zhao Zhen stood at the front alone, and only after the Shangshu Wang of the Ministry of Rites on the stage finished the prelude to the sacrificial activities, the sacrifice finally officially began.

Then Zhao Zhen came to the stage, and according to the arrangement of Wang Luo and Yan Shu, he led the civil and military officials to kneel down one by one, pray, pray and other complex ritual activities.

The sacrificial rituals of the Song Dynasty were nothing more than heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, and ancestors, but each had a special ritual, so it was quite complicated.

At this moment, Zhao Jun is also in the crowd, and he is still in a relatively high position, at the head of the civil and military officials, next to Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others, and the status of the ceremony is very high.

He looked up, and in front of him was the altar.

There are many tablets on the altar, including Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Hao, Zhao Ting, Zhao Jing, Zhao Hongyin and other ancestors of the old Zhao family.

In addition to the civil and military officials, there are also a large number of other children of the Zhao family.

He didn't know any of these people.

Among them, the leader at the forefront of the clan's children was a middle-aged man with a serious face.

Lu Yijian told him in a low voice that it was Dazong Zheng Zhao Yunrang.

Zhao Yunrang's face was gloomy, expressionless at the moment, his whole eyes were drooping, as if he was looking down at the ground, his hands were wrapped in his sleeves, and he really couldn't see his attitude.

But apparently I guess I feel very uncomfortable.

Although Zhao Zongshi is still kept in the palace, after the queen mother became pregnant, she handed over the five-year-old Zhao Zongshi to the grandmother in the palace to raise, and no longer took it personally.

And it is very likely that once the queen or Zhang Meiren gives birth to a dragon son, the possibility of Zhao Zongshi being sent out of the palace is very high.

How can Zhao Yunrang be happy.

However, all this has nothing to do with Zhao Jun, as long as Zhao Yunrang doesn't make trouble, it has nothing to do with him, so he just glanced at the other party and continued the ritual process.

The civil official group stood in the middle under the altar, the children of the clan stood on the left, and the military generals and nobles stood on the right.

There are officials of the Ministry of Rites presiding over the ceremony, constantly singing praises.

The crowd below was standing.

From time to time, with the praise to a certain step, the officials, clans and nobles have to bow their hands, and sometimes even bow down.

During the ritual process for more than an hour, Zhao Jun was curiously looking around at the sacrificial celebration.

It was the first time he had participated in such a high-profile and grand event.

In the past, ancestor worship would be held every year in the village, but the problem was that he was a junior in the village at that time, and all the specifications were handled by those old people and elders, and those who could rank first were either rich and powerful, or highly respected, and had little to do with him.

Basically, he followed the crowd behind the crowd and followed the large army to kowtow to the ancestors of the old Zhao family in the ancestral hall, and then waited until noon and afternoon, hundreds of people in the village ate inside and outside the ancestral hall, and celebrated the New Year together.

Now not only to participate in the ceremony at the highest level of royal celebration, but also to stand at the front of the line, and directly worship Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Huan and others, this experience is really fresh.

The most interesting thing is that Zhao Zhen, who was originally in the tablet of the ancestral hall of the village, is now the main sacrificer, and he has become a secondary sacrificer.

I don't know if thousands of years later, if the small village called Zhaojiawan in the southern and central regions of the future is still there, will the ancestors and ancestors add their own names to the tablets?

"Rite over!"

By noon, with a shout from the Ministry of Rites, the lengthy ceremony was finally over.

Zhao Zhen walked down from the altar and often went to the Zichen Palace.

At noon, Zichen Hall and the surrounding palaces arranged a large number of banquets, Zhao Zhen feasted the ministers, and hundreds of officials celebrated together, and went to Donghua Gate to watch fireworks at night.

Zhao Jun, as a high-ranking and powerful prefect of the Constitutional Yuan, followed Zhao Zhen around, all the way to the Zichen Palace, and the banquet was officially opened.

Many high-ranking ministers are in the inner hall, and the rest of the officials, nobles, and clans are in the side hall and the outer hall.

According to the customs of previous years, the inner hall is a little more formal, and the outer hall is much more casual, and many literati and scholars write words to each other, and there is a sign of singing and dancing.

Therefore, in the outer hall, hundreds of middle- and lower-level scholars have already held a literary meeting and written poems one by one.

"Second brother, how do you say this?"

"Not bad, not bad, very well written."

"Brother Zichang, come and see my word and evaluate it."

"It's well written, but it's missing a bit of charm, and it's better if this green tree is changed to a green tree."

The outer hall is wide, hundreds of tables are placed, everyone sits on the ground, the ground is covered with bamboo mats, although it is the late winter season, the weather is still cold, but all kinds of charcoal fires in the room are lit, warm as spring.

Since there were no high-ranking officials or the emperor present, these middle- and lower-ranking officials in green robes were quite debauched and not very inhibited.

Don't look at the green robes above the fifth grade, but they are actually all members of the ministries, the knowledge of the system, the cabinet attendants, the Zhu Shilang, the imperial history, the officials and the like, after the current reform, they are all middle-level officials with real power in various departments, and they can go out to Zhizhou further.

Therefore, to a certain extent, in addition to the Constitutional Yuan and more than a dozen departments, they are the backbone of the following, and in a few years, they are all qualified to become Shangshu and even the prime minister.

For the rules of the court, it is naturally clear.

When the New Year comes, the official family celebrates with the officials, and naturally there is not so much attention and red tape, everyone drinks while lying down, or sitting, or leaning on three or five friends, chatting and chatting, writing poems and writing poems, so lively.

And the inner hall is another scene, the original privy council ministers, ministers, governors and military affairs, and Pingzhang military and state affairs, have now been changed to the departments of the book, the political system of the same knowledge.

More than 20 high-ranking officials in purple robes were seated, and Zhao Zhen sat on it, next to Empress Cao, who was more than two months pregnant.

Zhao Jun's position is next to Zhao Zhen.

After the banquet began, Zhao Zhen first raised his wine glass and said to the people below with a smile: "Zhuqing, at the time of the New Year, the whole world celebrates, I hope that the country and the people will be safe, and the world will be blessed, and I will cheer for everyone!" ”

Cheering appeared in the Tang and Song dynasties, and in the Tang Dynasty, it refers to the shouting and cheering when gambling. In the Song Dynasty, it gradually became a word of praise and praise, and it often appeared in the word.

Hearing Zhao Zhen's words, the ministers also raised their wine glasses, got up and said: "I wish the official family a healthy body, and the Great Song Dynasty will be blessed." ”

There is also a book of the Ministry of Rites that said: "Farewell to the twilight, fireworks every year." Morning and twilight, the years are safe. ”

"May Bao Zi be good, and it will be normal for a thousand years. Laughter and entertainment. ”

"May you be ten million years old, and there will be no spring."

"And on a good day, the time is right."

All kinds of blessings appeared in everyone's mouths, which made Zhao Jun quite embarrassed.

It is true that he does not know much about the ancient blessings.

After thinking about it, he said, "May Your Majesty be happy and victorious, and all things can be expected." May the mother look like a child, with flowers and branches on her head, year after year! ”

"Hahaha."

After some blessings, Zhao Zhen was very happy, raised his glass and said, "Come, drink!" ”

He said that he was dry.

The ministers drank the wine too, and when they were seated, the song and dance began.

A group of singers entered the hall, and musicians sat in the corner, and the room was soon filled with joyful Chinese New Year music and dancing.

Zhao Jun is actually very unaccustomed to this kind of environment, no mobile phone to play, no Spring Festival Gala to watch, no computer to use, just watching this song and dance is really not interesting, so he focused on dry rice, the Song Dynasty has appeared stir-fried vegetables, full of color, flavor, and taste, eat hard.

After waiting for more than half an hour, after the song and dance, the ministers cheered. At this time, Wang Shouzhong came in outside the door and reported to Zhao Zhen that this year's good poems appeared and were to be dedicated to the emperor.

It's a common practice.

The green-robed officials outside have written and written the best poems to offer, which can be regarded as New Year's blessings, and if the poems are well written, they will be in the eyes of the emperor and prime ministers, and they will be promoted quickly in the future.

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "Which great sage wrote a good poem this year?" ”

Wang Shouzhong said: "It's Song Zijing, a member of the Shangshu Labor Department. ”

Song Zijing is Song Qi, Song Zhen's younger brother.

It was not surprising to learn that it was him Zhao Zhen, the Song brothers were all famous, and the poems were well written, so he nodded and said, "Xuan." ”

"Xuan!"

Wang Shouzhong shouted.

Song Qi outside, walked in, stood under the central hall, and bowed to Zhao Zhen: "The minister has seen Your Majesty." ”

In the past, although these people were the backbone of various ministries, they were not qualified to go to the court except for the imperial history and counselors, so Song Qi actually rarely saw the emperor, and entered it at this moment, standing solemnly, hoping to get a good impression.

Zhao Zhen smiled: "I heard that Song Qing wrote good poems? ”

"It's just an improvisation."

Song Qi handed over the written words to Wang Shouzhong with both hands, and said with a smile: "Because I followed Your Majesty to sacrifice to the ancestors of heaven and earth, the minister felt something, so he wrote this poem." ”

"yes, okay."

Zhao Zhen took the poem handed by Wang Shouzhong, looked at it, and saw that the poem written was indeed a sacrificial good text, and the content was very exciting.

At that moment, he asked Wang Shouzhong to read it out.

Wang Shouzhong held up the poem and said loudly: "God has Mingde, and the altar is a grand ceremony." Seven miles of road in Nancheng, when he was three years old and a suburb. Yu moved the forest canopy, and the cadres were beautiful. Mountains and rivers are crowned, and Chen Xiang leans on the flag. Le Qi before the increase of tranquility, the emperor's spirit under the mercy, the secret capital of Russia to lay jade, the Qing temple all over the taste of the rice"

The content of this poem is majestic and magnificent, and although there is nothing special about it, it is basically a pile of rhetoric, but it is indeed appropriate for the situation.

"Good poetry!"

"It's a very well-written poem."

"There is a first-class sacrificial style."

Everyone commented and applauded.

Although there are no particularly outstanding sentences in it, it is difficult to come up with famous sentences for the ages.

It is often a pile of flowery rhetoric, not to mention that flowery rhetoric also has technical content.

It is not only required to be neatly written, but also to be agreeable.

Obviously, Song Qi's poem is a relatively standard good article.

Zhao Zhen also felt very good, looked around at the ministers, and said: "Song Qing's poem is very good, it should be rewarded, has anyone from Zhuqing come out to make peace?" ”

The poetry style of the Song Dynasty was very prosperous, and when the literary meeting was held, there was a saying that it should be harmonious.

This kind of play is actually from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, like Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, who often wrote Ying and poems at banquets.

The famous song "Thousands of sails on the side of the sunken boat, ten thousand trees in front of the sick tree." Listen to the song of Jun today, and temporarily rely on the spirit of a glass of wine". It was with Bai Juyi at the cocktail party.

Hearing Zhao Zhen's words, Yan Shu groaned, got up and said, "Come on, old man." ”

"Yan Xiangcai is eight buckets high, and Zijing is ashamed of himself."

Seeing Yan Shu get up, Song Qi was a little timid, after all, Yan Shu is a great poet, and his literary names are all over the Great Song Dynasty, if he writes a poem that is better than him, won't he be suppressed by his literary name?

So Song Qi hurriedly softened and said: "If Yan Xiang writes words, then Zijing may have to hide his face and go." ”

"Hahaha."

Seeing Song Qi soft, Yan Shu was very happy, so he sat back again.

Zhao Zhen said with interest: "Then Song Qing thinks that the poetry of which prime minister can be reconciled with Song Qing?" ”

Song Qi looked around.

Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Li Di and others are not good at stubble.

Although they don't have a big literary name, they actually have a good level of writing, and it's a bit hard to spell.

The rest of the people are not bad, in case the boat capsizes and is pressed down by others, it is a bit embarrassing.

For literati, the name of the text still has to be fought for.

After thinking about it for a while, Song Qi had no choice but to smile bitterly: "Except for Yan Xianggong, if you want to write, you can do it." ”

He actually wanted to pick soft persimmons and aimed at Zhao Jun, who was cooking.

But I heard that our Zhao Zhiyuan is cautious, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to have a bad life after offending the Zhiyuan, so he is not so bold to tease the tiger's beard.

It's just that he glanced around, and finally took a deep look at Zhao Jun, who was immersed in cooking, but was noticed by Zhao Zhen above.

Zhao Zhen wanted to watch the play happily, so he waved his hand and said: "It's okay, all the ministers present are reasonable people, and they won't blame you if you can't write it." Han Long, if you can't write poetry, will you blame Song Qing? ”

Zhao Jun raised his head, glanced at Song Qi, and said happily: "I don't blame him, but are you sure I can't write poetry?" ”

"Hahaha."

Many of the deacons laughed.

The rest of the departments who didn't know the inside story were confused.

Do the prime ministers and emperors know that our prefect has a high level of poetry?

"If that's the case, then I'll choose the Zhiyuan to make a poem with my poems!"

Zhao Jun's words aroused Song Qi's displeasure.

Everyone in the world knows that the Governor of the Politics and Politics Academy was not admitted to the imperial examination, but was promoted from the Imperial City Governor to the Constitutional Academy, and was supported by the officials and prime ministers to sit in this position.

Due to the wrong procedure, the officials below all complained that Zhao Jun was not a normal selection and was not qualified to become a prefect, and there was an endless stream of opposing voices.

It's just that Zhao Jun's authority is flourishing, he has cut off so many heads and arrested so many corrupt officials, so that no one dares to come to him to trouble him directly.

But writing poetry is hard power, and it is related to the name of the text, so when Song Qi heard Zhao Jun's words, he felt insulted.

Why can a person who has not even been admitted to the imperial examination be able to write poems that surpass him?

It doesn't make sense.

I have to teach this prefect a hard lesson.

However, Zhao Jun asked again and again: "Are you sure you want me to write it?" Don't regret it? ”

"Sure."

Song Qi said firmly: "I will never regret it." ”

"That's writing a poem for the occasion, isn't it?"

Zhao Jun asked again.

"Yes."

Song Qi responded: "Whether it's today's sacrifice or the New Year's auspiciousness, it's okay." ”

"Crackling!"

At this time, firecrackers were set off everywhere in Bianliang City.

The sound is getting louder and louder, and the excitement is getting louder.

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said: "This poem is in line with the occasion, the sound of firecrackers is one year old, and the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu. Thousands of households always replace the new peach with the old one. ”

"What a poem!"

"Yes, it did happen to be the right time, just when the firecrackers went off."

"Hahaha, I didn't expect the Zhiyuan to have such talent, this poem should be the first New Year poem!"

The ministers were stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then cheered one after another.

Song Qi silently bowed his hand and withdrew from the hall.

Zhao Zhen beckoned to Zhao Jun on the stage, and Zhao Jun walked up and came to Zhao Zhen's side.

Zhao Zhen whispered in his ear and asked, "Who is this copying?" ”

"Wang Anshi's."

Zhao Jun glanced at Empress Cao, who was sitting not far away, and replied in a low voice.

"Your poems are so good, they have scared people away."

"Isn't that your archfire?"

"I am also for your good, you don't lack anything, but you lack a literary name, everyone says that you have no literary talent, and your virtue is not worthy, and after today, this kind of gossip will be much less."

"Then I have to thank you."

"No thanks, it's all what I should do."

Zhao Zhenle said.

Zhao Jun rolled his eyes and returned to his seat.

(End of chapter)