In a small forest next to the river, seven or eight people were hard at work. In the distance was an incense table, where sacrifices had just been made, and three people were watching politely not far away.
Su Ziji, who has already been elected as a candidate, is also among the workers. He is wearing a coarse dungaree. This is a temporary change of clothes. After placing incense and burning paper on the table for the ancestors of the Su family, he prayed for the reason why the ancestors moved their tombs, and also talked about the new tombs.
address.
This is the rule of moving graves that has been passed down from the previous dynasty.
When raising a grave, preparations must be made well, otherwise the ancestors will be disturbed.
The time for moving the tomb is also very particular. It cannot be past noon to avoid the noon sun burning the bones.
Not even on rainy days.
Today is like this, the sun is still bright, and the time is far from noon, which is just right.
"Sir, it's ready." The Taoist said softly as the remains were picked out one by one, merged with the bones that were originally taken out, and carefully placed in the bone tower.
Su Ziji, who was holding a black umbrella, took the black cloth from the hands of the wild Taoist and covered it one by one on the bone tower.
The wild Taoists threw the copper coins prepared in advance into the pit and then filled the empty tomb. As for the old coffins and funerary objects, they were burned immediately and could not be brought into the new tomb.
The new grave was far away, and the coffin containing the remains was put into an ox cart. Su Ziji, a male member of the Su family, was leading the way in an ox cart in front, holding a funeral flag. Ye Buhui, Su Ziji's married wife, followed behind the coffin in the car.
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Yu Lu, Zhang Sheng, and Fang Xi, who were watching the ceremony, naturally took other cars as friends and followed at the end of the procession.
The Su family's ancestral tomb is in Jinggao County. Since Su Zi was registered as a Juren, the purchase of land and the procedures were very smooth without any obstacles. The wild Taoists who dealt with this matter were even more flexible.
When Su Ziji led his team and took an hour to arrive at a hill, the Taoist pointed and said: "Sir, you see, this is Xiaoyu Mountain. The surrounding thirty acres of land are all sacrificial fields."
Looking from a distance, I can see a hill suddenly appearing on the plain, running from east to north. The mountain is green and full of lush green bamboos. When the west wind blows, the birds chirp in response. Below the hillside, there are dozens of acres of sloping fields. In the distance, there is still smoke.
wave.
Su Ziji nodded. He was busy with work. This was his first time here. Lu Fengyun did not disappoint him.
After that comes the process of moving the remains to the new grave.
The time of burial has long been calculated by wild Taoists. It is an "auspicious time" that will not harm the ancestors of the Su family and Su Ziji. Su Ziji needs to be the first to dig the grave. After three shovels of soil, others can start.
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After digging several times, the wild Taoist looked at the time, examined it carefully, and said decisively to Su Ziji: "Master, the auspicious time has come, please put the bones of Lingzu Lingzong in order, and then seal the soil into a tomb.
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Su Ziji followed the instructions and put the bone tower containing the bones of his ancestors into the pit in order. When the remains were finally put in, everyone buried and sealed them with soil, piled soil outside and sealed them tightly, and several earth tombs were roughly formed.
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"Introduce the spirit!" At this time, Su Ziji stepped forward and inserted the spirit flag in his hand on the grave. However, neither his family member Ye Buhui nor his friend Yu Lu and others were allowed to come forward.
During the process, the Taoist priests could speak, and only Su Ziji could speak during prayer.
The cold wind blew and the place was quiet.
But when he fell in the eyes of the wild Taoist, he felt refreshed and said, "Sir, it's time to erect a tombstone."
This was something that had been prepared for a long time. Su Ziji took a three-foot stone slab as instructed and inserted it into the north of each tomb in the same order.
Once this was achieved, the wild Taoist said in a deep voice: "Quick, young master, please bow down to your ancestors. This time, you will use the ritual of three bows and nine knocks!"
When Su Ziji heard this, he didn't dare to be negligent. He gathered his mind quickly and followed the instructions, kneeling in front of the tomb and prostrating himself.
The wild Taoist people were not relaxed at this time, because they moved the ancestral graves and the location was good, but to occupy this land line, the ancestors and the earth had to have a connection, so they did not dare to slack off and observed attentively when Su Ziji kowtowed.
"Hey, I just kowtowed for the first time, and the white air drooped and poured into the graveyard." The wild Taoist's heart moved, but he did not speak and continued to watch the movement.
He remained silent, only to see that during the second prayer, something suddenly seemed to open up in the tomb, and there was a "pop" sound, followed by the sound of flowing spring water.
"Well, even though I got a spiritual response when I bowed down, it's too fast, right?" The wild Taoist's heart skipped a beat and he frowned. Waiting for the third prostration, a wisp of white air came out and floated up lightly, meeting Su Zi.
As soon as he closed his body, a trace of it floated up and landed in the ancestral hall further away.
You can't think too much at this time. The wild Taoist said: "Young Master, the white energy corresponds to the ancestral spirit. Although it has not yet formed the Yin House, it has been combined with the spiritual earth and the ceremony has been completed."
"A small ancestral hall has been built above, and we can offer incense when the tomb is finished. Below, there are thirty acres of sloping fields. I inspected two tenant farmers, Wu and Lai. They are both honest people and they offer incense every day."
"We usually take care of the cemetery and weed it, so we decided to pay thirty-seven per year, and pay thirty percent of the fixed amount every year. What do you think, Master?"
Sanqi is a bit low, but Su Ziji has no clansmen now, so he only needs to rely on this to make people work hard, so he nodded and said: "You did a good job."
The wild Taoist breathed a sigh of relief. This was considered a successful migration. As for the strange things during the burial process, he frowned and thought, feeling that something was wrong.
"Yes, this Xiaoyu Mountain is not the real Yushan Mountain. It is just a name given by the county. It can be regarded as a bit of a place, but it is not a place of great wealth."
"Now this strange appearance is not that of great wealth, but it has the appearance of springs gushing from the earth."
"Although it's not big, I feel it for a long time. Hey, it seems that not only my fortune telling, but also Feng Shui, I'm not good at it."
It was all done, and there were only some finishing and trivial tasks that did not require personal participation. Su Ziji suddenly felt that his body relaxed inexplicably, as if a small but always-present stone had been removed.
"No matter what, as a member of the Su family, this sacrificial obligation must be fulfilled."
"Being completely clear about others and myself is the principle of my life."
Su Ziji breathed a sigh of relief when he felt this change. Not to mention, after this series of procedures, if he is not physically strong, he might feel tired early.
Yu Lu, who had been watching, saw Su Ziji bowing several times to the new grave. He felt mixed and at the same time felt happy for Su Ziji.
Yu Lu was once a classmate of Su Ziji, but now he has been left far behind. Yu Lu is not without a desire to win, nor is he jealous. After all, when he was admitted to the Tongsheng Examination, he once topped the list, and Su Ziji
Just the end.
It's just that I'm happier for my friend.
"There are too many things going on during this time. I wanted to get together with you before leaving, but it has been rainy and rainy some time ago, and the dam was damaged. It has been a troubled time."
Facing these friends who could only get together at this time, Su Ziji said feeling a little guilty.
At that time, not to mention gathering with friends, every time he went out, Ye Buhui was always worried for fear of encountering danger.
At that time, when I went to meet up with friends, I just didn’t care.
And it had been raining for so long. As soon as the rain stopped, we were busy moving graves again. According to the rules before, it was not allowed to gather with friends.
Time is tight, so it’s not impossible to get together in these few days, but it’s really not necessary.
"When we get back from the capital, we will have a good time together."