When Guishan was sent as an envoy to the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu also gave many gifts, which made Di Rang a little embarrassed. Before leaving, he gave Liu Xiu a Dawan horse given to him by Qiu Jike.
The Dawan horse is also commonly known as the sweaty horse.
The body shape of the Sweat Horse is relatively slender among all types of horses. It is somewhat similar to a leopard in that it is extremely explosive and can exert force very quickly in a short period of time, but its endurance is insufficient.
It must be noted that the sweaty horse is not as magical and useful as in novels and novels. The skin of this kind of horse is extremely thin. When exerting force, the blood vessels swell. Because of the thin skin, the horse's body looks like
The horse is even more blood red. When the horse sweats, it looks like it is dripping blood. This is also the origin of the name "Sweat Blood BMW".
But it is not suitable for the battlefield. First of all, its endurance is seriously insufficient and cannot meet the needs of war. Secondly, the skin is too thin and does not need to hit the weapon. Even if it scratches against the armor, it may cause deep wounds.
China has always been a secular country, but everything that is practical and easy to use can be preserved. However, the sweat-blooded BMW has become extinct in China. The reason is also very simple. It is not practical. If you can’t use it in war, I will still buy you and raise it.
What are you doing?
The sweaty BMW is more suitable for scouts and messengers. It can deliver messages and orders over short distances, which can greatly increase the speed of message delivery.
Of course, regardless of whether it was practical or not, such a bloody horse was still very precious at that time. Liu Xiu was also very happy about Dirang's gift of the horse.
Time flies by very quickly, and it’s the beginning of autumn in a blink of an eye. After the beginning of autumn, on the fifth day of Wu Day, is the Autumn Society Festival.
At that time, the Spring Society Festival and the Autumn Society Festival were both big festivals. The main activity of the Autumn Society Festival was to worship the earth god.
Liu Xiu is in Chang'an now, so he naturally participates in the worship activities in Chang'an. The place of worship is near the ancestral temple in the south of Chang'an.
This kind of ancestral temple was built when Deng Yu occupied Chang'an. It was very simple at the time. After subsequent expansion and renovation, it is now very spectacular.
To the west of the ancestral temple and to the east of Jieshui Slope, there is a hill called Sheji Mountain, and Guanji was built at the foot of the mountain.
Guanji is a social palace dedicated to the God of Grain. There are full-time clergy in it. The official with the highest rank is Guanji Ling.
Liu Xiu was coming to Sheji Mountain to worship the God of Grains. The people of Chang'an also learned the news early and came to the vicinity of Sheji Mountain one after another.
When Liu Xiu's guard of honor arrived at Sheji Mountain, the crowd here was already huge.
Liu Xiu took the lead to get out of the carriage, and then Hua Feiyan also got out of the carriage and walked to stand next to Liu Xiu.
Even though Hua Feiyan was not Liu Xiu's real concubine, she still bore the title of concubine. Now that she was in Chang'an, she had to participate in such a big event as paying homage to the God of Grain.
The clergy of Guanji had already lined up at the foot of the mountain to greet Liu Xiu and Hua Feiyan. When they saw Liu Xiu and Hua Feiyan, Guanji's order hurriedly stepped forward, bowed his hands and saluted, and said respectfully: "I pay my respects to Your Majesty, and pay my respects to Hua Meiren!"
Liu Xiu waved his hand and said expressionlessly: "Get down!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Guan Jiling's name is Wu Qing. He is a middle-aged man in his forties, with a thin build, pale eyebrows, small eyes, a flat nose, thick lips, and an unattractive appearance.
While he was speaking, his attitude was respectful, but his eyes were erratic. Sometimes he glanced at Liu Xiu secretly, and sometimes at Hua Feiyan, his eyes moving constantly.
Liu Xiu's impression of Wu Qing was very general, but Guanji was not an important authority. Its main responsibility was to worship the God of Grain during the holidays, and then there was nothing else.
In Liu Xiu's view, Guan Ji was an idle member of the imperial court, a useless person.
He didn't like Wu Qing in his heart, so Liu Xiu didn't bother to talk to him and walked up the mountain. There are steps in Sheji Mountain, and you can go from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain.
At this time, there were already military guards on both sides of the steps.
Liu Xiu and Hua Feiyan walked to the top of the mountain, where an altar had been set up. There were many sacrifices piled high on the altar. Liu Xiu took a quick glance and felt quite satisfied.
Next, the worship ceremony began.
The clergy danced and danced beside the altar.
Liu Xiu was accustomed to this. After the priests finished their worship dance, Wu Qing stepped forward and sang loudly: "The seedlings come out early, the rice grows well, the pests escape, and the grain piles
Full warehouse..."
Hearing Wu Qing's singing, Hua Feiyan couldn't help but look at him a few more times. Then, she whispered to Liu Xiu beside her: "Your Majesty!"
At this time, Liu Xiu's face was as dark as water, and her face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. What nonsense did Wu Qing say? Are you singing limericks here?
After Wu Qing finished singing, he looked back at Liu Xiu, bowed and stepped aside.
Liu Xiu didn't even look at him. He walked to the altar, took the three incense sticks handed over by Wu Qing, lit them, and inserted them into the incense burner. Then he knelt down and bowed down. As Liu Xiu knelt down, everyone present
Everyone knelt down one after another.
It was like a chain reaction. Then, the soldiers on the steps knelt down, then the soldiers at the bottom of the mountain knelt down, and finally the people around Sheji Mountain knelt down.
On the mountain, Liu Xiu kowtowed forward, then he stood up, opened his arms, and said loudly: "God bless me, a big man, and I will have a good harvest!"
"God bless the man, let him have a good harvest!" "God bless the man, let him have a good harvest——"
People shouted in unison, one after another.
After worshiping for an hour, Liu Xiu and Hua Feiyan walked down the mountain.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Wu Qing said with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty, meals have been prepared in Guanji Nei. Your Majesty and Hua Meiren are invited to have a meal in Guanji Nei."
Liu Xiu didn't want to go at first, but there were too many people watching. When he arrived at Sheji Mountain, it would be unreasonable if he didn't even enter Guanji Mountain. He nodded and said yes.
Wu Qing waved his hands repeatedly, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please! Flower Beauty, please!"
Liu Xiu glanced at Wu Qing, "You are the official of Guanji, not the waiter!" He shook his head secretly and walked towards Guanji.
Guanji covers a large area, but it looks a bit dilapidated due to its age. There are not many people in Guanji, including Wu Qing, there are only about ten people.
It can be seen that Guanji has been specially cleaned. The floor is relatively clean and there are no debris, but walking on it makes people feel uncomfortable.
The main thing is that the bluestone on the ground is black and white, and there seems to be a lot of dried blood on it.
Seeing that Liu Xiu and Hua Feiyan both lowered their heads to check the bluestone on the ground, Wu Qingqian smiled and explained: "Your Majesty, many people have died here in Guanji before. When the Green Forest Army invaded Chang'an, they killed everyone in Guanji.
Later, the Red Eyebrow Army invaded Chang'an and killed all the people in Guanji. It was not until Guanji returned to the Han Dynasty that peace was achieved!"
"I see!" Liu Xiu stepped on the ground and asked, "So, these black marks are all blood stains left over from that time?"
Wu Qing said helplessly: "Too many people died, and no one cleaned them up for a long time. Later, when I cleaned up the blood stains, I couldn't wipe them away no matter how hard I wiped them."
Liu Xiu frowned and said in a deep voice: "This is Guanji! It's a palace for worshiping the God of Grains!" There are still patches of blood on the ground. Isn't that ridiculous? "Why don't you replace all these bluestones?
"
Wu Qing said with a bitter look on his face: "Your Majesty, it costs money to replace the bluestone. I have gone to court several times, but in the end, nothing happened. There is no news at all."
Liu Xiu stared at Wu Qing and said word by word: "If I remember correctly, in the second year of Jianwu, I saw Guanji's request for renovation, and I approved it."
Wu Qing said quickly: "Reporting to your Majesty, the money issued by the court that time was used to repair the statue of the Grain God and the main hall. There is really no extra money to replace the bluestone paving the floor."
"That's nonsense!" Liu Xiu glared at Wu Qing and walked into the main hall of Guan Ji.
Right in front of the main hall, there is a tall female statue erected. This is the God of Grains, also known as the Mother of Grains.
This statue looks quite new, but the rest of the hall is completely different. Many of the red paint painted on the pillars have fallen off, and even the wall coverings have fallen off in some places.
Liu Xiu walked around the hall and asked, "Wu Qing, is this what you call renovation?"
Wu Qing shrank his neck and was so frightened that he didn't dare to say a word.
Seeing Liu Xiu in the main hall, walking back and forth with his hands behind his back, his eyes constantly scanning, he grinned secretly, bowed forward, and whispered: "Your Majesty's royal meal is ready..."
Liu Xiu didn't say anything, and walked directly out of the main hall and walked towards the middle of the palace.
There are many houses here, including residences and guesthouses for receiving guests.
Liu Xiu took a general look and found that the situation was similar to that of the main palace. Many of the buildings were dilapidated and could not have been renovated in the second year of Jianwu. Liu Xiu's face became increasingly ugly, and he walked towards the back of the She Palace with his hands behind his back.
He would like to see where the money he approved has been spent by them.
Liu Xiu had just taken a few steps when Wu Qing chased after him. He knelt on the ground with a thud and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, part of the money allocated by the imperial court was used to renovate the statues, and the other part... was used by me...
…I wait……"
"Were they all divided up privately by you and others?"
"The sin of a minor minister deserves ten thousand deaths! The sin of a minor minister deserves ten thousand death!" Wu Qing kowtowed forward as he spoke.
Liu Xiu was so angry that she couldn't speak for a long time. She raised her hand and pointed at Wu Qing fiercely. After a while, he said: "You are really good!"
After speaking, he flicked his sleeves, turned around and walked out. Now, even if Wu Qing prepared delicacies from the mountains and seas for him, he had no intention of eating them.
Seeing Liu Xiu walking away in anger, Wu Qing even kowtowed and said urgently: "Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, please spare your life!"
Liu Xiu said nothing, strode out of Guanji, got on the carriage, and headed back to Chang'an City.
In the car, Hua Feiyan looked at Liu Xiu and hesitated to speak. Liu Xiu glanced at her and asked, "What does Feiyan want to say?"
"In the imperial court, Guan Ji was not taken seriously more and more, and he almost became a third-in-command. Serving as an errand in Guan Ji is indeed not very profitable, and the salary is pitifully small."
"So, they should use all the money I approved to line their own pockets?"
"No, Feiyan doesn't mean that. They are indeed at fault, but if Your Majesty accuses them of this, Feiyan will be worried that Guanji will be left unattended in the future."
No one wants to work as an errand in Guanji. With the small salary of Guanji, it can only feed one person and the whole family is not hungry. However, anyone who has a family to support and support the whole family will not work as an errand in Guanji.
After hearing Hua Feiyan's words, Liu Xiu's anger calmed down a little. He murmured: "Now the imperial court's money is so eager to break it into two and spend it. How can there be any extra money to put in such an insignificant place as Guanji?"
."
Hua Feiyan changed the subject and said, "Your Majesty, Feiyan feels that something is wrong in Guanji... the atmosphere in Guanji is a bit like..."
"like what?"
"Somewhat like Yeting Prison." After saying this, Hua Feiyan looked at Liu Xiu cautiously. After all, Guanji is a place where the God of Grain is served. Comparing Guanji to Yeting Prison is disrespectful to the God of Grain.
Hearing what she said, Liu Xiu also suddenly had the same feeling. He pondered for a moment and said: "Guanji is far away in the countryside and is rarely visited by people on weekdays. What's the difference between working in Guanji and working in Yeting Prison?!"