The ninth chapter: King Yan takes the oath of brotherhood
This Murong Han is eight feet long, has unusually long arms, and has a majestic appearance. He looks even taller now as he rides on the snow of Yinshan Mountain.
The King of Yan specially ordered the Minister of Internal Affairs to make a brand-new armor of General Jianwei, which has been sent to Liucheng with Murong Ke. The spring is bright at this moment, and the golden armor is shining brightly in the spring light, and it also serves as a breastplate on the chest, which is dazzling.
With his scarlet cloak and the snow-white mountain snow, Murong Han was like a divine soldier descended from heaven.
Murong Ke, who was accompanying him, was at his side and behind him, and the cavalry behind him was the farewell guard arranged by Liucheng City Chief.
Seeing Uncle Wang coming from a distance, Murong Ba stepped forward to greet him and said: "My lord, I sincerely welcome Uncle Wang back to the country. Uncle Wang has been wandering abroad for many years and has been very hard. My father specially ordered his son to go to meet Uncle Wang first. My nephew is still young.
If there is anything inappropriate, please ask Uncle Wang for advice." After saying this, he cupped his hands and leaned down.
At the same time, Gao Xu ordered people to play music. Suddenly, the ritual music was playing in unison and the drums were beating. It was very lively.
I saw Murong Han dismounting from his horse, helping Murong Ba and saying: "I have heard that our Murong royal family has a new young hero, and now that I see him, he is truly worthy of his reputation."
Murong Han took advantage of the situation and firmly grasped Murong Ba's shoulders with both hands, but suddenly saw Murong Ba's left shoulder flash. It was strange, and Murong Han was very suspicious.
But he saw Murong Ke next to him giggling and saying: "Uncle Wang's arrow is very powerful. Ah Liu Dun has been resting in the mansion for many days."
Murong Han carefully stepped forward to check the injury on Murong Ba's left arm, but he saw Murong Ba cupping his hands and saying: "If this arrow can exchange for my uncle Wang's return to the country, it will be worth it. It is a great blessing for our country of Yan to have uncle Wang like this."
After saying this, he took Murong Han's hand and said, "My father has been waiting in Wende Hall for a long time. I would like to share my filial piety with you. Please."
Not long after, the group of people arrived outside the south gate of Jicheng City. They saw that from the city gate order to the guards, all dressed in rich uniforms, holding swords, shining in the sun. The Suzaku Street in the middle had been completely cleaned, and all directions were covered.
Thousands of people gathered on both sides of the road to witness this grand event. On both sides of the road, the royal city guards, one man every ten feet, lined up on both sides.
The people in the crowd whispered, "After half of my life, even King Yan came back from a victorious battle without such a battle." Another person said: "The Yan Kingdom won Murong Han, and he won the Great Wall."
The three of them rode tall horses and rode slowly along Suzaku Street towards the Royal City, enjoying the glory of the crowd's attention.
In the royal city, princes and ministers lined up on both sides, and the official on duty shouted: "Brother Wang has returned home, everyone salutes." The ministers knelt down and bowed to the ground, and the princes and princes also stood with their hands clasped.
In the royal team, Murong Ping stepped forward and said to the Crown Prince: "Your Majesty, is this going too far?"
"Uncle Wang, this is your father's order, you and I just follow it." The others said nothing more and continued to welcome him with their hands. When Murong Ping saw this, he was speechless and just followed it.
Princess Yan's concubines were also waiting in the royal city in their rich attires. In the queue, Concubine Lan and Concubine Gao showed joy on their faces. They were very happy to see their sons riding tall horses in the royal city. Except for Duan
The latter's face looked slightly depressed, while the rest of the concubines were just doing routine things and were very expressionless.
However, Mrs. Gongsun's eyes were a little blurry. She only looked at Murong Han's figure from a distance. She didn't want to leave her eyes for a long time, and there were faint traces of tears in her eyes. Seeing this, Concubine Lan comforted her in a low voice: "Sister Gongsun, although Murong Han has returned now,
The country has been established, but now things have changed and people have changed. There is a difference between the ruler and his ministers. Please remember this."
"Thank you, Sister Lan. From the moment I entered the palace of King Yan, I have no relationship with Murong Han. My sister will not lose her sense of proportion." Mrs. Gongsun only said.
The three of them rode horses to the steps of Wende Hall, dismounted and waited. They saw Murong Huang standing outside the palace gate. When Murong Han returned, they were helped by the servants and walked down the steps. Murong Han was about to salute, but was stopped by Yan.
The king hurriedly held his hand, and King Yan held his hand and went up the steps. As he walked, he said: "There is no need to be polite. My brother has a good heart. He has made military exploits many times and is loyal to his country. However, he has stayed in another country for a long time and cannot return. It is my fault."
But when Murong Han was about to hold up his hands and apologize, the King of Yan continued: "However, the horse is leaning against the north wind, and the tired bird is nostalgic for the old forest. Now I have a brother again in the Yan Kingdom, just like Guan Zhong was to Qi Huan, and Zifang was to Qi Huan.
Liu Bang. Heaven loves the country of Yan, and I will live up to my brother." After King Yan said this, the two of them climbed up the stairs to the main hall.
In the main hall, a desk has been arranged. The top was too secure, and a tripod was placed on it. At this time, there were chimes, drums, and zheng on both sides. Bi, Zhang, and Cong were also placed.
The two of them picked up the jue, drank with each other, and then knelt down behind the table. During this time, King Yan looked up to the sky and shouted: "The destiny is clear, bless me, Yan. I am Murong Huang."
"Murong Han."
"Live up to the alliance of brothers, the emperor will be the emperor, the emperor will be the queen of the country, and people and gods will learn from each other."
After saying this, he knelt down three times and kowtowed three times, and burned incense and swore an oath.
All the ministers shouted long live the mountain, and King Yan issued a summons to grant amnesty to the whole world.
That night, there was a grand banquet for all the ministers in the Wenchang Hall. Envoys from various ministries and ministers were all present.
Now the Murong family has been living in Jicheng for a long time, and they have gradually learned the dances and banquets of the Central Plains.
Music, the joy of saints, can bring good people to their hearts. Therefore, in ancient times, the emperor, princes, ministers and officials did not play music for no reason, and scholars did not play the harp and harp for no reason. In order to calm their minds and smooth their aspirations, the harmonious energy will not dissipate and the evil spirits will not dissipate.
Don't do it.
By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a Yuefu was established to specialize in dance music. By the end of Emperor Huai's reign in Yongjia, all the musical instruments of the Lingguan officials were gone and scattered in all directions. There were also many musicians who had fled from the Yan State. In addition, with the great development of culture and education in the Yan State, today
Tai Leling was established to take charge of singing and dancing.
Although since Emperor Wu received Zen, Sima Yan was ordered to compose twenty-two pieces of music, describing the merits of the Wei Dynasty. But now that the Liang Dynasty has been in chaos, the old canon no longer exists, and most of these musicians still use the old Yuefu titles of the pre-Han Dynasty.
.On this night, Li Yannian, the former Xielu Captain during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, wrote "There is a Beautiful Woman in the North".
"There is a beautiful woman in the north, peerless and independent. Once you look at the beautiful city, you will look at the beautiful country. Would you rather not know the beautiful city and the beautiful country? It is hard to find a beautiful woman again."
Along with silk and bamboo wind music, the dancers in the hall danced gracefully, and everyone watched mesmerized.
After all, they are from the Xianbei nomadic tribe. Murong Ping, who was in the audience, took advantage of the wine and said, "I think all the concubines of King Yan are very beautiful." His expression was disrespectful.
The prince said angrily: "Uncle Ping, you are drunk and confused. You are good at discussing concubines. How many heads can you chop off?"
After hearing this, Murong Ping sobered up for a while, got up and knelt down in the hall, kowtowed and apologized: "I deserve to die, I drank a few sips of yellow soup and talked nonsense. I deserve to die, I deserve to die." After saying that, he started to slap himself.
.
The King of Yan was also drunk now, so he said: "I have no evil intentions in criticizing my brother. I forgive you for not being guilty. Then I ask you, among these concubines, who is the beauty?"
King Yan's question made Murong Ping feel embarrassed and refused to respond for a long time. King Yan only heard King Yan say: "Oh, Brother Ping, I have said that I will forgive you, but it doesn't matter."
"I feel that since Brother Wang is in his prime now, this beauty will always be next."
"Haha." Everyone was joking, and everyone in the harem was embarrassed. The most embarrassing one was the youngest concubine, Mrs. Gongsun.
I saw Murong Han coming out and saying: "King Yan, the military music of the Yuefu is powerful and long. Please perform a sword dance to promote elegance."
"Okay, I haven't seen Brother Han for ten years. In that case, let's play military music."
I could only see the musicians playing short flute and cymbal songs from the Han Dynasty, such as "Jiangjinjiu", "Junmahuang", "Linggaotai", etc., which were listed in the propaganda and multiple sequences of battle formations.
King Yan took off his sword and handed it to Murong Han. He saw Murong Han swaying his sword in the music, dancing gracefully with the music, sometimes stabbing with great force, and sometimes slashing with majesty. He was really as elegant as before.
At the moment of the sword dance, Murong Han's eyes met with Madam Gongsun's, only for a fleeting moment. Murong Han avoided it, but Madam Gongsun's bright eyes looked straight at him, and she gradually fell into a trance.
If it hadn't been for Concubine Gao's push, the accumulated tears would have filled her eyes and flowed out.
After Murong Han finished dancing, he bowed deeply to express his gratitude to King Yan on the throne, to all the ministers, and to all the concubines in the direction of Mrs. Gongsun.
The banquet only ends late at night.
The next day at court, Murong Huang sent his servants to issue an edict: He wanted to make Murong Han the governor of Pingzhou and the Duke of Liaodong. The ministers sighed, but Murong Ping took the lead and said: "My king wants to make Brother Han the Duke of Liaodong. How will our Yan country deal with it?" ?And our country of Yan only has one place, Pingzhou, so we can seal it here and have no other place."
Mu Yugen also followed closely and said: "Is this too much to grant the title of Duke of Liaodong before King Yan arrives?"
Han Huan stepped forward and said: "If our country, Yan, asked for the title of King of Yan but failed to get it, now we get the Duke of Liaodong again. How strange is it?"
This Han Huan was originally an opponent of the self-proclaimed Duke of Liaodong during the former king's time, and was demoted to Xinchang Ling. Now Murong Huang succeeded to the throne, was pardoned and released, resumed joining the army, and rejoined the central government.
"Father, I have something to report, do you want me to shield you?" The prince Murong Jun also stepped forward.
"Jun'er, this is a state matter. There is no need to whisper. Just say it." Murong Huang said.
"Father, it is true, but this matter concerns my face, Murong, so..."
"Just say it." King Yan was a little angry.
"Father, have you ever forgotten that those who rebelled first, Murong Ren used this title to control Liaodong, and I was worried that this title would make others uneasy." Murong Jun kowtowed, "Uncle Wang used to guard Liaodong, and those who rebelled before, There are many people who have entered Goguryeo. If anyone takes this... I have made a mistake and hope that my father will atone for my sins."
Hearing this, Murong Han knelt down and kowtowed: "The King of Yan is above, and I, Murong Han, only wish to be a soldier of the Yan Kingdom. I have no other wish than that."
There was silence in the court, but what the prince said was an old scar of the Yan Kingdom. This king resisted the barbarians, but still ceded territory to stand on his own feet. In these troubled times, who knows the difference. Although the two generations of Yan Lords were canonized by the Jin Dynasty, but the noble families in the country Everyone, especially the Liaodong nobles, still feel that Xianbei and Murong Nai usurped Liaodong.
Seeing that all the ministers were silent, Murong Han slowly straightened up and said: "The king has already granted me the title of General Jianwei, and I am no longer very frightened. If I want to reward him now, I can only grant him the title of General. I have nothing else to ask for." ."
"This..." King Yan hesitated. The edict had been issued, but he wanted to take it back. He was seriously joking.
Sili Yangqu stepped forward and said: "King Yan, Murong Han's proposal is very good. If you suddenly grant a reward, I am afraid that all the ministers will not obey. At the beginning of the feudal period, I will make a powerful general. Wait until he performs more meritorious deeds. It will not be too late to grant him another reward at that time."
Feng Yi also followed up and said: "The original intention of being a prince and prince is to reward people after they have made great achievements. Now I am a general. I hope that General Murong Han will make great contributions to the Yan State again. We, the Yan State, don't cherish such a mere name."
"In that case, Brother Han has wronged you and condescended to the title of General Jianwei."
"I accept the order and thank you for your kindness." Murong Han bowed.
"I am the King Shengming" all the ministers responded.
Although Murong Yan's country only occupies a corner, the regulations in the palace are also closer to those in Zhongzhou.
The harem of King Yan is not as complicated as that of the Central Plains Dynasty. There are not so many ladies, Zhaoyi, Jieyu, Ronghua, Meiren, etc. But in addition to the Queen Duan in the main palace, there are also several concubines, concubines, and ladies. In addition, in recent years
During the war, more and more tribes were surrendered, either through marriage or surrender, and the number of people in the inner court and harem also increased, and now it is quite lively.
The spring breeze was warm that day, and with the excitement of Murong Han's return home, the concubines in the inner court were also walking around a lot. Queen Duan convened everyone to hold a garden party today.
After sitting down at the banquet, the queen was the first to speak, "Now that our country, Yan, is becoming more and more powerful, and now that Brother Han has returned to the country, our country, Yan, has a prosperous national destiny."
Everyone said: "Sister Duan assisted in managing the harem, and her contribution was indispensable, so that King Yan could concentrate on the government without any distractions."
Queen Duan changed the topic and said, "Everyone in my harem should serve King Yan as their priority and not to be confined within the palace." During the dinner, Queen Duan looked at Concubine Lan and said, "I am lucky that my sister has a son like this.
Our country, Yan, has gained another capable minister."
Concubine Lan leaned over in fear and said: "Sister, you are too flattering. I am just lucky. My son will do his best to help King Yan and be filial to his brother."
"It's so good. I heard that at yesterday's welcome ceremony, Ke'er, Ba'er was so majestic that everyone worshiped him."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone fell silent, and those who didn't know the details were full of doubts and fears.
I saw Concubine Lan and Concubine Gao both kneeling down. Concubine Gao said: "Sister Miao Zan, sister is very frightened. This welcome ceremony was originally discussed in the court, I don't know." Then she stood up slowly, "My inner palace concubines are not allowed."
Interfering with political affairs is an ancestral system, how dare my sister violate the prohibition?"
The youngest Mrs. Gongsun next to her stepped forward and advised her: "Sister, I am of noble birth. The Duan family and the Murong family have been friends for several generations. The Murong family's ability to establish themselves in this thorny city depends largely on the Duan family. Moreover, the late king and the current king's mother-in-law and concubine are all descendants of her.
Mr. Duan, we Han people, Hu Di, are lucky enough to survive in these troubled times. How dare we look at the bright moon? We are just the light of fireflies."
"Sister, what are you talking about?" Queen Duan was quite proud, and then she said, "I know that Murong Han knew Mrs. Gongsun before he left for another country. Now that Murong Han has returned to the Yan Kingdom, sister, please don't lose your sense."
"They are all rumors that have disappeared. Sister, please don't take them to heart. We all want to assist King Yan." Mrs. Gongsun hurriedly bowed down and bowed.
"In that case, concubines, please get up quickly." Empress Duan asked her maid to help the three concubines quickly, but they did not move.
Suddenly, a maidservant came in a hurry and whispered into the Queen's ear. It was obvious that the Queen's body was already weak. She braced herself up and said to everyone, "Spring is short, everyone should go back to the house as soon as possible." Everyone.
Puzzled, he left in a hurry without saying much.
When Concubine Lan returned to the palace, she saw that Murong Ba had been waiting here for a long time. Murong Ba said, "Mother doesn't know something, and that section of the army has rebelled." Yan Yan saw Concubine Lan pouring water, but the water did not come out of the cup, but she couldn't help herself.
Know.
"Mother, this time my father ordered me to go out with Gao Bi and lead a team into Lingzhi City alone. Do you have any instructions?" Murong Ba said to his mother.
"Both are fighting against each other. There are your uncles and aunts in this section of the army. All you have to do is station troops to help in the war. This is actually..." Lan Shuyi finally said, "It's a hot potato, so don't worry."
"My son, I understand, what mother said is true." He cupped his hands and said goodbye to Concubine Lan.
After that, he hurriedly entered her palace. At this time, he was packing up his clothes and preparing to go straight to the palace of King Yan in the royal city. He saw his son Murong Jun already standing at the door of the palace.
"Jun'er, my mother has something important to do, please get out of the way quickly." A look of displeasure appeared on Queen Duan's face.
"The queen thought deeply, it is absolutely impossible to go here." Murong Jun hurriedly blocked his mother's way.
"Your uncle and uncle are both in Lingzhi City. If the Yan army is coming, I'm afraid..."
"Plop," with a sound, Murong Jun knelt down in front of his mother.
"Earlier today, my father was informed of the urgent news. He was furious and neither the left nor right dared to speak." Murong Jun slowly raised his head, "I just heard from my father that it was a pity that Duan Bu was bullied by Shi Zhao and had no way out. He was kind enough to take him in. I was not prepared to annex his tribe, but now I have returned and rebelled, which is unbearable." Murong Jun stood up slowly, "I have indeed heard from many ministers in the court: Duan has always been a dishonest villain, and he has made a sworn alliance with Liu Yue. , but killed him, abandoned his righteousness and sacrificed all his flesh and blood, recognized Shi Le as the father of the thief, tempted him to commit suicide, and rebelled over and over again. If we can destroy him in one fell swoop, we will never have any future troubles."
When Duan Hou heard this, he was shocked: "Jun'er, please advise your father quickly. Your father and the leader of the Duan tribe are both uncles and brothers. They are fighting against each other..."
"Don't say anything more, Duan." Murong Jun was startled and said angrily, "I'm sorry for being so disrespectful. As usual, my father went to war and I was the prisoner of the country. Now that's it, letting Murong Ke stay behind as the prisoner of the country means nothing to me. Arrangement, my mother wants to say this, the matter is very dangerous."
However, they saw that Duan Hou cherished his motherland and wanted to highlight the palace gate, but Murong Jun said sternly: "The palace gates of Duan Duan are closed on both left and right sides. It is not my order and cannot be opened lightly. Anyone who violates this will be killed immediately."
Everyone on the left and right is afraid of the power of the prince, and they all respect him.
Duan Hou just sat slumped on the ground, listening to the footsteps of his son Murong Jun gradually leaving. Her mother's family's days were numbered...
