Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 89: Festival (Part )
"dimension!

In the two hundred and seventy-seventh year of the Ming Dynasty, in the year of Yiyou, the first day of the fifth month was Gengchen, and the twenty-fourth day was Jiachen.

Zhu Cilang, son of the Ming Emperor Shao Tian Yi Dao Gang Ming Ke Jian Kui Wen Fen Wu Dun Ren Mao Xiao Lie, offered sacrifices to the fallen soldiers in front of Taizu's mausoleum.

Following Qian Qianyi's call, Zhu Cilang slowly climbed onto the earthen platform.

In fact, Zhu Guobi was right. If it was just to bury the fallen soldiers, why would he make such a big fuss?

But at the same time, Zhu Guobi's idea was extremely wrong.

If it was just to win people's hearts, the system of providing free food and clothing and clearly distinguishing rewards and punishments would be enough to give him supreme prestige in the army. There was really no need to make such a big fuss.

"The barbarians invaded, the Chinese land sank, the people lost their homes, the country was in danger, fortunately the soldiers fought to the death to save the country from danger."

Originally, Zhu Cilang was quite impatient with these complicated regulations. If he did not want to achieve some other purpose, he would never have made such a fuss, and would not have followed the head of the Ministry of Rites to learn for so many days.

But then again, humans are animals that are easily affected by the environment.

As he stood on the stage, reciting the eulogy he had written in advance and looking at the endless number of soldiers, the people who had died before him could not help but emerge in his mind.

"Today, my unworthy descendants who died in battle are buried here. I hope our heroic ancestors will protect our Ming Dynasty!"

After saying this, Zhu Cilang stepped forward to burn incense, and then knelt directly in front of the incense table.

"Your Highness, this is against etiquette."

Seeing this, Qian Qianyi was naturally frightened, but in such a situation he could do nothing but give a quiet reminder.

When discussing the rituals earlier, although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not raise any objections to the rules, his words seemed to reveal some unclear implications.

Originally, Qian Qianyi was a little absent-minded because of what happened in the previous few days and did not take this meaning seriously, but Zhu Cilang's kneeling suddenly woke him up, and he also understood the true intention of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

But it seems a little too late to understand it now. The beginning has already been made, and I am afraid that even if Jiefu and Shuda were alive again, they would be powerless to change it.

"Wow!"

I don't know whether it was because they had rehearsed in advance or because Zhu Cilang's prestige in the army had reached an extremely high level.

As he knelt, nearly ten thousand soldiers on one side of the earthen platform also knelt on the ground. The sound of armor colliding actually made people feel fear.

Looking at the scene again, apart from Qian Qianyi, the master of ceremonies, only the noble officials and civil officials standing on both sides of the road were still standing.

To be fair, if only Zhu Cilang knelt, they could pretend not to know; if only the soldiers knelt, they could stand there with peace of mind.

But now the prince was kneeling, the soldiers were kneeling, and they were so conspicuous in this huge venue.

Even though in the minds of the noble civil officials these killers were not worthy of their kneeling even if they were dead, for some reason there was always an awkward atmosphere spreading among these more than a hundred people.

In this situation, the role of the "traitor" is finally revealed.

Xu Yinjue sighed in his heart and knelt down first, followed by Zhu Guobi who was beside him.

In a short while, all the nobles on one side of the road knelt on the ground.

At this time, all the pressure fell on the civil servants on the other side, and Yue Qijie, who stood in front of the civil servants, had to bear even greater pressure.

Yue Qijie is different from Xu Yu and Xu Yinjue. One of them has been in the Imperial College, a place away from worldly affairs, for many years, while the other is mostly busy with the rise and fall of his family.

After all, although these two people hold high positions, they are not very well versed in court struggles, intrigues and schemes.

On the other hand, Yue Qijie was very sensitive to the abnormality when Xu Dingguo wanted to murder Gao Jie. Now that he has experienced many ups and downs, he can see Zhu Cilang's mind more clearly.

To be honest, although he was a civil official, he was extremely disgusted with the ways of civil officials due to his background. He also did not think that using civil officials to control military officials was a good way to govern the world. Otherwise, how could he get along so well with Gao Jie, who was born a bandit?

But then again, given the current situation, the imperial court has no means of checks and balances on the military. If this precedent is really set, then wouldn't the military be able to do whatever they want?
"Pfft."

Just when all the civil servants' attention was focused on Yue Qijie, he finally figured it out.

The generals cannot be suppressed?

Then why not stop suppressing him and let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince become the most powerful general in the world?

A strong rebound from civil servants?

How could these pieces of information in Yingtian City pose any obstacle to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?

"continue."

Hearing the noise coming from not far behind him, Zhu Cilang knew that the situation was already decided, so he lowered his voice and said something. Qian Qianyi, who was standing next to him, also knew that he could not change anything, so he just proceeded according to the procedures.

"Shang Xiang!"

According to normal customs, this sound means that the main ritual of the sacrifice is complete, and the rest is just a little bit of artistic performance.

But before the noble officials could stand up, they saw a large number of soldiers coming in one after another, and these soldiers seemed to be holding something white in their hands.

"Nephew, what are they carrying?"

Zhu Guobi asked quietly, and then heard Xu Yinjue utter two words.

"Heads."

Hearing this, he looked at the soldier intently, but after seeing clearly, he lowered his head again.

At this time, Zhu Cilang asked the soldiers to bring this thing here for use as a sacrifice!
The practice of burying people alive with their dead has been abolished for a hundred years, and human sacrifice has not been heard of for a thousand years.
Zhu Guobi could not hide his shock, but when his eyes passed over the earthen platform and fell on the soldiers on the opposite side, he seemed to have thought of something.

He was quite close to the platform and could only barely hear what was being said on the platform, let alone the nearly ten thousand soldiers.
If he were in the other's shoes, and Zhu Guobi was just a soldier standing far away, how would he feel if he couldn't hear clearly what the Crown Prince said?
The benevolent see benevolence, and the wise see wisdom.

In Yue Qijie's mind, everything can be compromised for the revival of the Ming Dynasty, so in his opinion, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is always working hard for the revival of the Ming Dynasty.

But Zhu Guobi had always focused on military power from the very beginning, so in his mind, Zhu Cilang's every move was to keep the military power firmly in his hands.

As for how ordinary soldiers view it.
"Uncle, get up."

Just as Zhu Guobi was wondering what other tricks the Crown Prince would come up with, Zhu Cilang and Qian Qianyi had already walked down from the platform.

If Xu Yinjue beside him hadn't reminded him, he didn't know how long he would have to kneel.

"I would like to thank you all on behalf of the fallen soldiers for what happened today."

"The hereditary centurion of Gaoqiaowei in the Eastern Jin Dynasty of the Li Dynasty, and the hereditary general flag of Gaoqiaowei in the Jin Dynasty of Wu Changrui"

In response to the shouts of the officials from the Ministry of Rites on the stage, Zhu Cilang bowed to the noble civil officials with gratitude.

But at this moment, Xiang Rensheng ran over quickly from an inconspicuous place, and then whispered a few words in Zhu Cilang's ear.

"Make them wait!"

(End of this chapter)