A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 254 Fengchan
"In ancient times, seventy-two families performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai and Mount Liangfu. They were granted the authority to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices after receiving the mandate."

Since the time of Emperor Yan, seventy-two kings, including Wu Huai, Fu Xi, Shen Nong, Huang Di, Yao, Shun, and Yu, have all performed the Fengshan ceremony.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi, who "united the feudal lords nine times and brought order to the world," wanted to perform the Fengshan ceremony, but was stopped by his famous prime minister Guan Zhong, who argued that the absence of auspicious omens meant that the Heavenly Emperor would not recognize him.

Ji Sun of Lu also made a trip to Mount Tai, but was ridiculed by Confucius for not being qualified.

It can be said that the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai was, at least in the minds of the scholars of Qi and Lu, a grand national ceremony performed by an emperor who unified the world.

In other words, the ruler who succeeds the Zhou dynasty must perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai in order to gain the approval of Heaven and become the new monarch of the world.

This theory became a consensus in the Qilu region and was recognized by the Qilu literati, embodying their political ambition and social ideal of unification and the rebirth of a universal monarch.

The reason why the Qin Dynasty was established by Qin Shi Huang was related to the fact that the Qin Dynasty had been looked down upon by the eastern states. After six generations of hard work and diligent governance, the Qin Dynasty gradually annexed the states and eventually unified the world. If the Qin Dynasty did not vent its personal grievances and show off its achievements after gaining control of the world, wouldn't the world have been conquered in vain?

After years of accumulation, by the time of Qin Shi Huang, the Qin court had placed ten times more emphasis on ostentatious displays of power. In addition, the principle that "the most important affairs of the state are sacrifice and war" meant that sacrifice and military affairs were the very things that Qin was doing to unify the world. Thus, the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, where Qin Shi Huang worshipped Heaven and Earth as the sovereign of the world, was naturally accepted by him.

"Your Majesty, the Han Dynasty has been established for over eighty years. The world is at peace, the nine provinces are unified, and all the people hope that the Crown Prince will perform the Fengshan ceremony to correct the old ways."

Zhang Tang's burning desire for progress is intense.

In the hearts of the Han people, the best era was always the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing. Although the northern border was occasionally harassed by the Xiongnu and Xianbei, these were local conflicts that had existed "since ancient times." Apart from that, the country was generally peaceful and prosperous, with harmonious people and good governance.

Unless faced with natural disasters or man-made calamities, an ordinary citizen can at least live out the rest of their life in peace. Under the rule of Huang-Lao Taoism, there is no need to worry about too many unexpected government orders or taxes.

Especially after Emperor Jing quelled the Rebellion of the Seven States, the conflict between the court and the local governments eased, and those decades were a rare period of peace and prosperity in the hundreds of years since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

The nation's power was rising steadily, and the people lived in peace and prosperity. Then, they encountered His Majesty the present.

Extravagance and reckless military expansion made the Han Dynasty's military might grow ever stronger, but the lives of ordinary people became increasingly miserable.

Now that a new ruler has come to power, the country's fortunes have resumed their upward trend, and the people are living in peace and prosperity again. It seems that there is no more opportune time to perform the Fengshan ceremony.

The emperor could use the Fengshan ceremony to proclaim the Mandate of Heaven to the people and change course, while they could use participation in the Fengshan ceremony to advance their careers.

Zhang Tang knew he was destined to never become the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, but if Gongsun Hong could set a precedent for "Chancellor of Bao" and "Grand Censor of Bao", could he set a precedent for "Grand Censor of Bao"?

Liu Ju neither nodded nor shook his head, his expression calm, and looked at Gongsun Hong, asking, "Old Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Gongsun Hong remained silent for a long time before saying, "The merits of the sovereign need not be celebrated with empty ceremonies. The Fengshan ceremony is not only wasteful of resources and manpower, but also prone to causing wicked thoughts among scholars. Furthermore, the rituals are lengthy and cumbersome. I believe it is unnecessary."

The Fengshan ceremony itself is an extremely simple matter. "Feng" refers to sealing the top of the mountain with earth to worship the gods of heaven, and "Shan" refers to building an altar at the foot of the mountain to worship the gods of earth. Both the ceremony is performed on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain.

In reality, this is not the case. Mount Tai is located in the Qi-Lu region, while Chang'an is in the Guanzhong Plain. The two places are thousands of miles apart. Traveling to worship there would be equivalent to an emperor's tour. Since it was to demonstrate military achievements, it would inevitably involve civil and military officials from both the central and foreign dynasties, and even the troops from the southern and northern campaigns. The back-and-forth journey would be no less arduous than the emperor personally leading a military expedition, which would be too wasteful.

The Fengshan ceremony was a grand ceremony that "adopted Confucianism to embellish it." Given the relationship between the emperor and Confucianism, it was hard to guarantee that Confucian scholars would not obstruct or do evil.

Furthermore, the Fengshan ceremony was cumbersome and lacked consensus. There were many points worth considering regarding whether certain details should be retained or discarded. During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, the Qin court debated the rituals for several years. For the emperor who unified China, the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai was merely adding to Mount Tai's glory. The emperor's legitimacy and status were unshakeable. The Liu family rulers had no lingering attachment to the Guandong region, and Emperor Gaozu himself hailed from Guandong; there was no reason for revenge. Mount Tai offered the emperor nothing.

"Prime Minister, you are mistaken..."

Zhang Tang immediately tried to argue that Mount Tai could not give the emperor anything, but the emperor who performed the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai could give them a lot.

Before he could finish speaking, Gongsun Hong interrupted him, saying meaningfully, "You've gotten enough."

Hear the words.

Zhang Tang was startled and subconsciously lowered his head.

The Han dynasty's court and military systems were changing, but this was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Many drawbacks were still being corrected, and the situation of merit going unrewarded did indeed exist.

However, the ruler compensated in other ways, often by "over-rewarding".

Rewards and punishments are the power of a ruler; too much or too little will cause his subjects to harbor disloyal thoughts.

If the rewards are too few and the punishments too many, the subject fears that the ruler will become estranged.

If rewards are too high and punishments are too low, the subject will deceive the ruler and become greedy.

The way to balance lies in one's own mind.

The emperor considered punishment a pitiful means and was not used to it. Therefore, in the Han Dynasty court, officials received far more rewards than punishments. Simply put, the status and rewards of the vast majority of court officials exceeded what they should have received.

The Prime Minister's office noticed that officials from both dynasties, including the Crown Prince's palace ministers, were becoming increasingly "arrogant and spoiled."

Even on the side of the Northern and Southern armies, some generals showed an arrogant attitude, but under the suppression of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, they dared not do anything too outrageous.

Huo Qubing, who became the Grand Marshal and General of the Han Dynasty, had the power and the courage to personally kill lawless officers and soldiers, showing absolutely no mercy.

With just one man and one sword, his mere presence commanded the reverence of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the entire Han Empire, who treated him with the utmost respect.

There was no one like that in the court. Gongsun Hong thought he might be able to do it if he were twenty years younger, but now he really couldn't. As for Zhang Tang, who seemed fierce, and the embroidered-robed censor who pointed directly at the imperial censor, he was, to put it bluntly, just a knife. He could scare ordinary court officials, but he couldn't intimidate the princes and ministers of two dynasties and prevent them from moving. Moreover, Zhang Tang, who was used to employing cruel officials, never used the power in his hands to completely clean himself up.

Among the censors, there was a group of ruthless officials whom Zhang Tang favored and who were capable of ruthless corruption.

How could a legal official, unaware of the stench of blood on his body, possibly rise to a high position as a minister?

Even a knife needs a heart.

Gongsun Hong shook his head, then turned to Liu Ju and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I will return to the Prime Minister's residence to arrange the ancestral worship at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. As for the other matters, I will handle them as well and will certainly not fail Your Majesty's expectations!"

(End of this chapter)