In the fourth year of Taihe reign of Emperor Cao Rui of Wei, it was the first month of spring, when everything was new, the grass was luxuriant, and everything was full of vitality.
The Jiuhua Terrace in the eastern suburbs of Luoyang was also built a few years ago under the orders of Emperor Wen himself. Although the Jiuhua Terrace is not very high and does not have many intricate and gorgeous features, it is magnificent and awe-inspiring. New, after looking carefully, you can actually see a bit of the style of the Tongque Terrace in Yedu.
Today's Jiuhua Terrace is also different from the past. On the stage, guests are sitting together, drums and harps are playing, creating a lively scene.
Because, what is being held here and now today is the crowning and adulting ceremony for the legitimate son of Changling Marquis of the Xiahou family.
The elders of the Cao family and the Xiahou family were all sitting in order of their positions, facing south and facing north, under the hall steps.
The two young men from the past are currently holding their crowning ceremony.
"On the auspicious day of the month, you will start to wear clothes of the Yuan Dynasty. Abandon your youthful ambitions, follow your will and become a virtuous person. Longevity will be respected by Weiqi, and you will be blessed by Jingfu..."
After the two honored guests washed their hands from the west steps, they each took a silk cloth crown from the hands of a minister on the steps, and slowly and solemnly put it on the carefully combed crowns of Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi. Fa Shang, Xuan and Xi also had solemn expressions, kneeling with solemn faces to receive the crowning ceremony of the guest of honor.
The crowning ceremony of the ancients not only symbolized a person's adulthood, but also meant that from now on, adults will gain many new rights and correspondingly have to bear more responsibilities.
After wearing the cloth crown just now, it represents that the person who crowned it, namely Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi, has the right to participate in politics and govern people.
The ceremony did not end here. Amidst the solemn and elegant Daya music, the two of them slowly walked into the back hall, took off their original garb and put on matching bonnet hats that they had just added. Xuan Duanfu.
After wearing the Xuan Duan clothes and the silk cloth crowns on their heads, the youthful spirit of Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi seemed to have subsided, and they were replaced by more mature and stable aristocratic characters.
After the two tidied up their clothes, they solemnly and slowly walked out of the back hall, thanking and saluting the elders of the clan, as well as relatives, friends and guests who came to watch the ceremony.
The two guests who presided over the crown ceremony washed their hands again, then took two leather beanies sewn and braided from white deer skin, similar to the heads of warriors, and continued the following ceremony:
"The auspicious month and the day are due to you. Respect you for your majesty and dignity, and be careful and virtuous. My eyebrows will live for thousands of years, and you will be blessed forever..."
After the praise was over, the two honored guests added the leather hats to the two young men who were about to reach adulthood.
This kind of leather ben hat is made of white deer skin. White is the correct color of the West among the five elements, which represents the spirit of murder and the meaning of war. Wearing it naturally means that the crowned person will be punished. The right to perform military service also corresponds to the responsibility of military service.
Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi entered the back hall again, and then changed into the robes that matched the leather crowns on their heads. This robes matched the white leather crowns they wore, and their color was also white, and this The waist of the clothes is also decorated with a pleated lower skirt, and is tied with a knee-covering garment that is also white.
After changing into Jue Ben's attire, the two walked out of the back hall again and continued with the crowning ceremony.
"With the correctness of the year, with the order of the moon, Xian Jiafu. Brothers are here to achieve Jue virtue. Huang Lai has no boundaries, and is celebrated by heaven..."
At this time, the two honored guests solemnly and carefully placed the most honorable title, the Jue Bian, which represented the crowned person's right to worship in the temple, on the heads of Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi.
The two of them entered the hall again, changed into Xunshang that matched Jue Bian, and put on red-yellow knee caps.
Yellow represents the central soil, which is the most respected, and therefore is the most sacred and important of the three crowns.
Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi came out of the back hall again and saluted the guests. The etiquette process of the crown ceremony was finally completed.
After the two people completed the three crownings, they each brought a piece of dried meat according to the etiquette of the crowning ceremony. They went down the main hall from the west steps and were led by the praisers to the east wall. Then, they went from the north end of the palace.
After walking out of the door, the two faced north, where they met their mothers and completed the ceremony of offering dried meat.
When the crowning ceremony arrives, it is the most important moment.
At this time, it is time for the guest of honor to pick the "words" for the two of them.
After adding a title, the original name can only be used to refer to oneself. From then on, except for one's own king and father, no one can call oneself by his first name, and can only call oneself by his cousin to show his respect for oneself.
Respect.
After Cao and Xia came back from visiting their mother, they faced south according to etiquette and stood solemnly on the east side of the west steps. The two guests of honor had solemn faces and gave the final congratulations to the two crowned people in front of them:
"Tai, the beginning, when the vitality begins to emerge. It is called Taichu. It is said that its Qi is vast and can be the beginning of all things. Xuan'er, I will choose the word for you, Taichu.
Xihe, the one who created the sun and the moon from the beginning of the heaven and the earth, Xi’er, I will give you the name, Uncle Zhao.” [Note 1]
[Note 1: Xiahou Xuan’s courtesy name is Taichu, and Cao Xi’s courtesy name is Zhaoshu.]
After taking the title Zhengbin, Xiahou Xuan and Cao Xi can be regarded as true adult scholars.
After the word-taking ceremony, the two went to visit the brothers and sisters from each clan who came to watch the ceremony. Finally, the two dressed in formal attire and brought various gifts to visit the elders of their respective clans.
The head of the family also toasted the guests with wine and presented gifts to express the family's gratitude.
After this complicated and solemn ceremony, the two of them were truly adults.
The elders of the two clans looked at the two rising stars in their families with happy expressions on their faces.
―――
The inner city of the imperial city.
After the death of Emperor Wen, the new emperor Cao Rui who came to the throne once again rebuilt the Luoyang Imperial City, and the Jianshi Hall, originally used for political discussions and court meetings, was replaced by the newly built Taiji Hall.
In the Tai Chi Hall and above the court, the civil and military officials were standing in their respective positions in strict order and according to their respective shifts.
And Wei Emperor Cao Rui, who was sitting on the throne, looked solemn and majestic at this time. Compared with a few years ago, he now gave people a mysterious feeling and was more inviolable.
After several years of hard work and experience, he is no longer the fearful and eldest son of the emperor who walked on thin ice.
Now, his eyes are filled with the mysterious color that belongs to the emperor. This is a color that is difficult to guess and cannot be seen through. No matter who it is, there will definitely be a feeling when seeing such eyes.
An urge to shiver.
Ever since Cao Rui ascended the throne as emperor three years ago, granted amnesty to the world, and appointed hundreds of officials, God seemed to be eager to begin its test of the young Wei Emperor.
The young emperor seemed to have remembered some past events, and there was still a confident and mysterious smile on his lips.
[The past is vague]:
In August of the seventh year of Huangchu, it was an extremely hot summer.
This year was also the fourth year of Jianxing reign of Liu Chan, the later lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, and the fifth year of Huangwu reign of Wu King Sun Quan.
Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, heard that Emperor Wen Cao Pi had passed away and that the new emperor was an unknown young man. He felt that this was an excellent opportunity to go north to compete, so he personally led tens of thousands of troops to attack Jiangxia. The situation was critical and the morale of the army was unstable. Jiangxia The prefect Wenpin Wen Zhongye defended Jiangxia while hurriedly asking for help from the imperial court.
The first emperor died and the new emperor was established. This was the critical moment when the Wei Dynasty was waiting to be reborn. The twenty-year-old emperor was not frightened by this sudden change. After the court meeting, Cao Rui decisively dispatched a man with high prestige. Xun Yu, the imperial censor, went to the front line of Jiangxia to reward the three armies and sent orders to the defenders. If the war situation changes, His Majesty the Emperor will personally come to Jiangxia to fight side by side with the armies.
When the Jiangxia garrison heard the news, their morale was greatly boosted. King Sun Quan of Wu could not attack for a long time and could not advance. After a few months, they had to retreat.
Cao Rui and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty breathed a sigh of relief, but what no one expected was that Sun Quan would resort to another trick.
A few days later, on Xinsi Day, the famous Soochow generals Zhuge Jin and Zhang Ba led tens of thousands of troops to invade Xiangyang again. This time Cao Rui couldn't sit still. Only then did he realize that if Soochow didn't give Soochow some color, Look, I'm afraid that as the new emperor, I won't be able to feel at ease.
After another court meeting, he decisively made another decision, which was to mobilize the four ministers who took care of life left to him by the late emperor, Sima Yi, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and other famous generals to go into battle in person. Cao Rui understood that not long after he ascended the throne, this time If the enemy cannot be defeated in one fell swoop, then the civil servants, military officers, and people in the country will definitely be disappointed with himself as the emperor. As a result, the situation will be very unfavorable.
And it was his cleverness to send these ministers who cared about life to go into battle in person. Because it was the first time for him to be the emperor, and it was also the first time for Sima Yi, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and others to be ministers who cared about life. No matter who they were, they had no influence on him. Cao Rui was very concerned about his reputation and prestige, so in this battle, Cao Rui tied himself tightly to the four ministers who cared about his fate.
In this way, Chen Qun, the general of the town army, was responsible for the dispatch of grain and grass in the rear, while Sima Yi, the general of the Fu army, led an army to Xiangyang to attack the Wu traitors in person.
For Sun Quan, King of Wu, the success or failure of this battle meant whether he could truly compete in the Central Plains and then aspire to dominate the world.
For Wei Emperor Cao Rui, the success or failure of this battle determined the stability of his throne and the peace of the country.
For the people of the two countries, the success or failure of this station means peace and happiness in the past ten years. If defeated, the sons and daughters will return safely, and the military expenses collected by the court will not be in vain. Not only that, You can also get compensation from spoils of war. If you lose the battle, it will naturally only make things worse.
In this way, the whole world's attention was attracted to the important town of Xiangyang in Jingzhou.
Naturally, Sima Yi did not dare to relax in this battle. He showed off his power and not only defeated Zhuge Jin's main force, but also killed Wu general Zhang Ba.
Cao Xiu, the general who conquered the east, actively cooperated with Sima Yi to pursue and intercept the defeated remnants of the Wu army. Soon, Cao Xiu broke up with him and went to Xunyang. The Wu army was defeated and had to retreat hastily.
After this battle, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty and the people of the world were full of confidence in their new emperor.
Thinking of this, the emperor, who is already twenty-six or seven years old and has already become more mature and steady than the late emperor. The emperor who originally did not show his emotions easily could not help but reveal a proud smile.
After being stunned for a moment, he remembered what happened just after the victory.
After all, what happened that year was far more than that; and God's test did not end just like this.