Father can be an enemy to the country

The plan was set, and the next day Zhu Zhen announced to the whole army that a ceremony would be held in a few days to seal the Wolf and abdicate in Guyan!

If it were any other ceremony, the soldiers would probably complain and think that the superiors were messing around again, but for this ceremony, everyone was fascinated and looked forward to it.

The so-called "sealing the Wolf and abdicate in Guyan" is actually Fengshan. "Sealing" means offering sacrifices to the sky, and a round altar is built on the top of the mountain to repay the merits of the sky; "abdicate" means offering sacrifices to the earth, and a square altar is built on the hill at the foot of the mountain to repay the kindness of the earth.

Back then, Huo Qubing built the Temple of Heaven on the highest peak of the Wolf and a Temple of Earth on the nearby Guyan Mountain to offer sacrifices to the earth, so it was called "sealing the Wolf and abdicate in Guyan".

But 1,500 years have passed, and the altar built by the Champion Marquis has long disappeared. The soldiers piled up earth and stones and rebuilt new altars on the two mountains.

Everything was ready. The whole army fasted for a day, washed their battle robes clean, and waited for the arrival of the Fengshan ceremony with an extremely pious attitude!

~~

In the 19th year of Hongwu, on the seventh day of the tenth month, the day of Fenglangjuxu arrived!

The weather was fine on this day, with no clouds in the sky. At noon, the sun was at its zenith, shining on the earth. The main peak of the entire Langjuxu Mountain was full of flags like a sea. More than 50,000 Ming army soldiers were in full military glory, standing on the mountain like javelins, with their eyes fixed on the nine-foot high platform on the top of the mountain.

The high platform was piled with battle flags and armor seized from the Yuan army and the Wala people, covered with a thick layer of firewood, and a layer of wooden boards was laid flat on the firewood.

Amid the sound of drums and music, Zhu Zhen led the princes and generals to kill one cow, one sheep, and one pig. This was a three-animal sacrifice, also known as Tailao, which was a sacrifice dedicated to heaven.

The sacrifice in the Fengshan ceremony was different from ordinary sacrifices. The soldiers carried three sacrificial animals and climbed up the ladder to the high platform, then climbed up the firewood pile and placed them upright on it.

The kings also offered jade and silk, which the soldiers also placed on the firewood pile. Zhu Zhen personally held a torch to light it, and a raging fire ignited on the top of the Wolf Mountain!

This is the "burning firewood ceremony" for offering sacrifices to heaven - Zheng Xuan's annotation to "Zhou Li" says: "Three sacrifices are all piled with firewood, and the bodies of animals are filled with them. Sometimes jade and silk are burned and smoke rises, so it is to report to the sun. '

The ancients believed that there was a group of gods who punished evil and rewarded good and had boundless magic power living in the sky. People could only be blessed by burning firewood and throwing in treasures such as sacrificial meat and jade and silk, and letting the thick smoke mixed with blood rise to the sky to offer sacrifices to the gods.

When offering sacrifices to the earth, the "burying blood ceremony" is used. "Burying" means burying sacrifices. That is, burying the blood of the sacrificial animals underground to offer sacrifices to the earth ghosts.

~~

Zhu Zhen personally lit it with a torch, and a raging fire ignited on the top of the Wolf Mountain! Thick smoke rushed straight into the sky, like a passage connecting to heaven!

The fire was blazing, the drums and trumpets were all muted, and the world was silent. Zhu Zhen then read the text of the heavenly sacrifice in front of the fire:

"In the 19th year of Hongwu, on the first day of the tenth month of the year Bingyin, the seventh day of the seventh month of the year Guiyi, the king of Chuhai Dian Zhen, the king of Qin, the king of Jin, the king of Yan, the king of Zhou, together with all the noble generals and all the soldiers, respectfully offered sacrifices to the heaven at the Wolf Mountain in the far north, saying——"

"Since ancient times, China has lived in the interior to control the barbarians, and the barbarians have lived outside to serve China. It has never been heard that the barbarians live in China to control the world. In the past, the Han Dynasty's general Huo Qubing went out of the border for more than 2,000 miles to fight the Xiongnu, and captured more than 70,000 Hu captives. The left wise kings all fled, and the generals were granted the title of Wolf Mountain, and returned to Linhanhai. Since then, the Xiongnu have fled far away, and there is no king's court in the south of the desert, and the Western Regions have all surrendered. The world began to know The might of the Han Dynasty!"

"However, since the loss of Youyan during the Five Dynasties, the Hu people have risen in the north of the desert, and the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty even ruled China with the northern barbarians. The beautiful rivers and mountains were occupied by the barbarians, and the land was full of blood and stench. The Yuan ruler was unjust and tyrannical, causing the Chinese people to die and their flesh and blood to be scattered. Therefore, the heaven was tired of his virtue and abandoned him!"

"The Chinese people must be ordered by the heaven to be safe, how can the barbarians be governed? ! So the cycle of heaven's destiny, the Central Plains is prosperous, and a saint is born among the billions of people. My emperor succeeded the heaven to establish the throne, and ruled to protect the people. Respectfully accepting the will of heaven, he sent troops to the north to drive out the barbarians, recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, and restore the territory of China. Clear the world, save the people from suffering, and restore the majesty of China! It has been nineteen years so far!"

"In the past nineteen years, At home and abroad, the nine barbarians and eight savages have all changed their hearts and turned to civilization, but the old Yuan went against the will of heaven and migrated to the outside of the Great Wall. They gathered troops to resist stubbornly, disturbed our borders, and killed our soldiers and civilians. My emperor is compassionate and intends to recruit them. However, the ugly captives are the remnants of felt and fur, the lowly captives of a fallen country, who have betrayed the grace of heaven and earth, and have the greedy and cruel nature of tigers and wolves. They killed our messengers and invaded our borders, defying the will of heaven and obstructing the teachings of the people below. "

"The Sanmiao rebelled, and Dayu had an army to conquer; the Xianyun invaded, and Xuanwei had a northern expedition. My emperor specially ordered me to lead the army to the north to eliminate cruelty and violence, and to raise an army to punish the crimes! "

"Since the beginning of the year, General Xu Da has been strategizing, the left deputy general Fu Youde has been commanding, and the right deputy general Lan Yu has been fighting in the front, leading the generals and subordinates to be loyal and dedicated, and the soldiers have been fighting bravely. Courage to be the first. The army's prestige shocked the enemy's court, and its spirit soared across the vast sea! As a result, the soldiers won without fighting, and the enemy had no worries about fighting. Nahachu immediately went to the army, surrendered, and confessed the whereabouts of the Yuan court! "

"After finding the enemy's whereabouts, Lan Yu and his generals rushed north and led the army to a thousand-mile expedition. They defeated the Yuan court in Buyuer Lake and captured hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and more than a hundred mules and horses. They captured thousands of concubines, princesses, and dignitaries, and wiped out the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty. From then on, the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed! "

"Although the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed, only the Yuan ruler fled west with the imperial seal and his two sons. Fortunately, Yan Wang Di led the Ping'an generals to pursue him relentlessly, and finally captured the Yuan ruler on the shore of the vast sea and obtained his imperial seal. He also fought hard against the 80,000 elite soldiers of the Wala and led them into the Wolf Mountain, where the army was able to annihilate them completely! "

"Since then, the evil atmosphere has been cleared up. The sky is pure and the earth is quiet, and dust does not fly! Looking north and south, everything has returned to the king! The sun and the moon shine on everything, it is the king's land, nothing is outside, the majesty of the Han and Tang Dynasties has been restored !”

"Everyone looks up to God for protection and protection from the gods. Thanks to the God of the Emperor, You Mi, for his wisdom and wisdom, he is able to predict and control everything, so his success is unpredictable. I, the ministers, follow the calculations and only rely on heaven. With great power, you will be driven by dogs and horses, but you will be rewarded with little money."

"Today, my army returns to Langjuxu Mountain. I follow the example of our predecessors and offer sacrifices and blessings of silk to the Temple of Heaven to thank the Queen of Heaven for her support. With the help of the gods, we have calmed down the chaos, brought the barbarians under control, and established the ruler of Guizhou and Li in China. I hope that China will be prosperous, the country will be peaceful, and the people will enjoy prosperity forever in the Ming Dynasty. I would like to pay my respects to the Emperor in my honor!"

~~

After the memorial text was read out, Zhu Zhen tied it with a gold rope, sealed it with gold clay, put it in a jade box, and buried it under the altar.

The last item of the Zen ceremony is to 'carve stones to record merits', so that the political achievements and merits of the sacrificer can be 'engraved in gold and stone, passed on to infinity and immortalized forever'.

This is also the main reason why the emperor was embarrassed to be granted Zen status because he did not have enough merit. Otherwise, there would be nothing to write in the ‘merit book’.

Zhu Zhen has no such worries, because their contributions are enough to shine in the annals of history!

They erected an eight-foot-tall boulder on the top of Langjuxu Mountain, on which were written sixteen powerful characters with silver hooks and iron strokes -

‘The vast sea is a turret, and the Tianshan Mountains are a ridge. Sweep away the dust and clear the desert forever! ’

【End of this volume】

ps: This chapter took me a whole afternoon to write, and it finally brings a satisfactory conclusion to this great journey.

At this point, the Northern Expedition is over, and the story to be told in this book is basically finished. Let’s enter the last volume, the closing stage.