According to the Tang calendar, there was originally only one Qingming Festival in March, and ordinary people only celebrated this festival.

But in the eyes of the Ministry of Rites, the anniversary of the death of the late emperor is more important than Qingming Festival.

After the beginning of the new year, the biggest thing prepared by the Ministry of Rites is the sacrifice on March 12th.

However, among the people, not many people even know that March 12 is the memorial day of the late emperor, so it is a very ordinary day.

But this day is extremely important for Xuzhou City this year.

Ye Chaoxuan had issued an order many days ago to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony on this day to commemorate the late emperor, and the person in charge of this matter was Xuzhou Biejia Liang Fu.

Liang Fu was promoted by Ye Chaoxuan, and he was even a fellow villager of Ye Chaoxuan. He worked hard and did not dare to be careless in the matters that Ye Chaoxuan told him.

A few days ago, Liang Fu ordered his men to build an altar in the east of the city, prepared three animals and five animals, and made all preparations for the sacrifice.

The altar was built in an open space at the top of the city. Because of the rush of time, the altar was built with earth and wood. The scale was actually not grand. Compared with the scale of the sacrifices of the Ministry of Rites, it was a world of difference. According to Ye Chaoxuan, it was very

At this time, keep everything simple.

In recent months, the people of Xuzhou City have been in panic.

Everyone knows that the governor has raised an army to become an enemy of the imperial court. The city of Xuzhou was even surrounded by people before. Everyone was worried that the city would suffer a disaster when the city was breached. However, the situation suddenly changed and the princess of the Tang Dynasty came to Xuzhou.

, personally took charge and raised the banner of reviving Li Tang.

In fact, for ordinary people, it doesn't really matter who is the emperor. What matters is that the world is peaceful and they can live with enough food and clothing.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the city are strengthening defenses day and night, and it is clear that a war is imminent.

However, the enemy troops have not yet arrived, and the waiting makes people feel even more tortured.

The mood of the people was extremely depressed. When they learned that the late emperor would be sacrificed in the city, people were not interested in who to sacrifice, but it was not a bad thing after all to watch the excitement.

After being depressed for a long time, it would be a good thing to relax and watch the excitement.

Moreover, the governor's office also issued an order that on the day of the sacrifice, the people could come and watch.

However, there are many people and many hands, so preparations must be made in advance to maintain order.

Before dawn, Qiao Ji, the commander of the Xuzhou Battalion, mobilized 500 sergeants to maintain order.

A large area of ​​​​field was opened around the altar. A simple fence was pulled up with thick ropes on the outside of the open space. All the people could only watch from outside the thick rope fence.

In fact, the fence is quite far away from the altar, but the altar rises from the ground, so you can still see roughly it from a distance.

There are many people participating in the sacrifice today. In addition to Xuzhou officials, the Yanzhou Camp, Yuzhou Camp and the Jiangnan Army all mobilized soldiers and horses to participate.

The Yanzhou Battalion and the Yuzhou Battalion each deployed 300 sergeants, while the Jiangnan Third Battalion deployed 800 soldiers. In addition to the Xuzhou Battalion sergeants who maintained order at the scene, the number of soldiers arriving at the scene today was nearly 2,000. For a sacrifice

, the momentum cannot be said to be grand.

The sergeants from each battalion have not yet arrived, but some ordinary people watching the excitement came here early in order to get a good seat.

Before dawn, there were scattered people around the fence coming to join in the fun.

The sacrificial ceremony was to be held at noon, and some people even brought dry food directly.

The sacrificial platform is actually very simple. At dawn, a Tang Dynasty flag is erected, along with snacks and drinks.

Liang Fu, who was in charge of the sacrificial ceremony, led the people to make the final preparations.

The first to arrive at the scene were the 800 sergeants of the Jiangnan Army.

Xuzhou raised troops, and Kyoto ordered the three battalions south of the Yangtze River to be commanded by Chang Sun Yuanxin to send troops to quell the rebellion. Naturally, Chai Xuan and Wang Zhuo were the deputy generals under Chang Sun Yuanxin, and all the troops and horses of the three battalions were commanded by Chang Sun Yuanxin.

However, the eldest grandson Yuanxin was assassinated, Chai Xuan was seriously injured, and Wang Zhuo was killed by Li Chengqing himself. The Jiangnan army was leaderless.

Li Chengqing asked Ye Chaoxuan to promote several generals from the Jiangnan Army in the name of She Yue. The leader of the Jiangnan Army would be temporarily replaced by Ye Chaoxuan himself, but the specific affairs of the army were left to Jiang Ke, the commander of the Suzhou Battalion.

Among the three Jiangnan battalions, Sun Yuanxin, the commander of the Hangzhou battalion, and Xiao Buwei, the commander of the Yangzhou battalion, were both dead. Jiang Ke, the commander of the Suzhou battalion, naturally became the leader of the entire army.

But this time, compared with the three Jiangnan battalions, the Suzhou battalion had the smallest number of troops. Jiang Ke was originally a general of the Huainan battalion. He was transferred to Suzhou to serve after the Jiangnan Rebellion. He did not have much time left and was not yet able to fully convince the public.

So I have always kept a low profile and just immersed myself in doing things.

For today's sacrificial ceremony, Jiang Ke dispatched 800 sergeants from the Jiangnan Third Battalion early to lead the team himself.

The location of the sergeants of each unit was also marked on the site in advance. After Jiang Ke found the location of the Jiangnan Army, he led the sergeants there and stood there obediently.

It was still early at noon, so Jiang Ke asked the sergeants to sit down and rest. He also found a pony stool and sat at the front of the team, looking very polite and honest.

After more than half an hour, Dong Chengcai, the commander of the Yuzhou Battalion, led three hundred sergeants over. At this moment, the outside of the fence was already crowded with people, bustling and chattering, and it was quite lively.

Officials from Xuzhou, big and small, also rushed over, all wearing official uniforms.

The position of officials is in the middle of the troops and horses of each department, from front to back according to their rank.

It's just that the venue is empty, so the officials naturally don't sit in the Taishi chairs as usual when discussing matters. When they arrive at the scene, those who care about face can only stand, those who are not strong enough sit on the floor, and most of them are in groups, whispering in low voices.

.

However, Hu Haibiao's Yanzhou camp arrived late, arriving near noon.

The people who came forward gathered in a semi-arc shape to the south of the altar. At the front of the team were the flags of their respective camps. There were also clear roads between the camps, and the formations were all in order.

The soldiers were silent, but the people were laughing and laughing.

Seeing that the sun was approaching noon, I heard a sudden drum sound on the altar, and the big drums prepared above sounded "dong dong dong".

The soldiers and officials in the audience immediately stood up and lined up.

Soon, Xuzhou Governor Ye Chaoxuan appeared from the background, followed by several Taoist priests. Ye Chaoxuan actually held a tablet in his hand. Although he could not see clearly what was written on the tablet, everyone knew in their hearts that, as expected, it was

It is the spiritual tablet of the late Emperor Dezong.

Logically speaking, the emperor's spiritual tablets of the Tang Dynasty were enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. It would be treason to create a spiritual tablet in such a grand place.

But Xuzhou had already rebelled, and its banner was to revive Li Tang, so it was reasonable and reasonable for Ye Chaoxuan to come out holding Emperor Dezong's spiritual throne at this moment.

Surrounded by the Taoist priests, Ye Chaoxuan placed his memorial tablet in the middle of the row of incense tables, then took two steps back and knelt on the ground. Everyone on the altar also knelt down.

When the soldiers in the audience saw this, they all knelt down towards the altar, while the people outside the fence looked at each other, some immediately knelt down, some were still hesitant, and many people just came to watch the fun and had no intention of kneeling down.

.

After Ye Chaoxuan led everyone to bow nine times, he stood up, turned and walked to the altar, facing the soldiers under the stage, and slowly swept over them.

The soldiers were naturally silent, but the people outside the fence were still noisy. However, when Ye Chaoxuan glanced over, the voices gradually calmed down, and finally the huge square became silent.

"Today is March 12th, which is the anniversary of the death of the late Emperor Dezong." Ye Chaoxuan cupped his hands in the sky before continuing: "Many people will wonder, the late Emperor is in the Ancestral Temple, and worshiping the late Emperor is also a matter of the Ministry of Rites, why should I go there today?

Xuzhou sacrifice?”

He was very energetic and spoke as loudly as he could, but the venue was too big and most of the soldiers in the audience could hear him, but not many people outside the fence could hear him.

"The reason is very simple, because the late emperor is in the Ancestral Temple, and the dragon soul is restless." Ye Chaoxuan said loudly: "The Demon Queen Xiahou conspired to murder the late emperor and usurp the throne, which shocked the world. At that time, loyal ministers and righteous men from three states and seven counties rose up to kill Xiahou.

He rebelled against the Party, but ended up regretting it due to the disparity in power."

In fact, most of the sergeants present had no feelings about this. Ye Chaoxuan was impassioned, but the sergeants just came over and nodded, and not many people cared.

"I was honored by the late emperor, and I knew that in order to avenge the late emperor, I could not show off my courage, so I have been working hard for twenty years. I only hope that one day I will have the opportunity to go to Kyoto and revive Li Tang." Ye Chaoxuan said loudly: "The Demon Queen has brought disaster to the country and the people, which is great.

The country is gradually weakening in the hands of the Demon Queen, and the people are in dire straits. I, Ye Chaoxuan, have been unable to sleep at night for many years, suffering from my lack of strength. I have been thinking, when the Tang Dynasty is in danger, is there any great hero who can stand up? Ye knows that he is not extraordinary.

People, but they thought that if an extraordinary person appeared, they would ride on horseback and kill the national traitors together!"

He raised his hand to stroke his beard and continued: "I know that countless righteous people in the world also dream of such a day. Seeing that the Tang Dynasty has been ruined by the Demon Queen, Ye Mou felt sad and angry, and thought that he could not wait until the great hero appeared.

But I never expected that at this critical moment, someone finally stood up. If there is one person in the world who can turn things around and show the glory of the Tang Dynasty, it can only be this person. When I saw this person,

I am so excited that I have made an oath that even if my body is broken into pieces, I will follow him to kill the traitors and revive the Tang Dynasty!"

As soon as this statement came out, many sergeants who had not cared about it were surprised.

Ye Chao

Can the governor be so respected and admired?

But he saw Ye Chaoxuan suddenly turned around, rushed to the east, knelt down, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Ye Chaoxuan, welcome His Highness Prince Qing!"

He suddenly knelt down and everyone was surprised. Although many people heard him say a few words, they failed to understand them. Some people heard clearly but did not react for a while, but soon they saw someone coming from the left.

One person slowly walked up to the altar.
Chapter completed!