Chapter 218 Inspiring the oath to sacrifice to the sky
Fumeng Lingcha began to organize people to build an altar. The wooden piles after the camp was dismantled were ready-made materials. The base was made of rammed earth, and the steps up were covered with wool felt. Sacrifice to heaven required rituals and music, and the Chinese army had ready-made materials.
There were military drums and bronze horns, and after the ritual music, there was dancing. The Tang people in this period were not only good at bragging, they were also very good at dancing. Any random man in the army could dance an impassioned and impassioned King of Qin's formation-breaking dance.
From the north gate of Dundo City to the altar on the river bank, there are military formations and honor guards on both sides. They are very representative troops, and they also need to take into account the emotions of the ethnic minorities in the Western Regions. Therefore, Fumeng arranged for Gai Jiayun to be placed close to both sides of the altar.
In the middle army, a little further away is the Tuqi Shihemo tribe, then the left and right Yuhou troops led by him, and further still is the troops of Bahna Khan, followed closely by Yang Xilie's left and right wing armies, so
Every once in a while, the team of Shiguo, Miguo and other kings could only stand at the city gate and wait from a distance.
The Eighth Regiment led by Li Siye was very lucky. They were arranged to stand at the front as representatives of the dance ceremony guard, so that they could observe the entire sacrificial process.
The sun was shining brightly today, the west wind was bleak, countless big flags were fluttering in the wind on both sides of the memorial road, the military formation was solemn and solemn, and tens of thousands of soldiers gathered on the south bank of the river. In Li Siye's view, such a scene could only be compared to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Fumeng Lingcha, as the deputy priest, presided over the entire sacrificial process. He ordered people to light the towering braziers on the left and right sides of the altar. When the sundial pointed to the direction of Chen, he fluttered his cloak and leaned on the horizontal knife, facing the city gate and tearing it apart.
The voice shouted loudly: "The hour has arrived! Let's start the sacrifice!"
The city gate of Dundo City opened with a bang, and the deep sound of the bronze horn came from the door, filling the air with a solemn atmosphere. Jiedushi's two-sided gate banners were the first to leave the city, followed closely by the Chinese army's tooth flags, and three large
The flags were raised several feet high, and all the flags of the ceremonial guards on both sides were eclipsed in front of them.
The trumpeters lined up and played slowly as they walked out. The sound was long and lasting. To achieve this effect, the array of trumpeters needed to cooperate tacitly. When the trumpeters in the front row were short of breath, the trumpeters in the back row quickly stepped up so that
The robes in the front row are ventilating, and the trumpeters in the third row continue to play when the front row exhausts. The sacrificial ceremony is not a trivial matter, and if it goes wrong, it will be a sin of beheading.
Dense and rhythmic drumbeats sounded, and hundreds of military men came out side by side carrying two military drum stands. Two muscular men in fine clothes, with white forehead smear on their foreheads, and thick arms waving drumsticks to beat the drums.
The cowhide drum head makes a sound like thunder that shakes the two sides of the river.
In the sound of these primitive horns and drums, the wild elements in the chests of the soldiers were aroused, as if there was a fanatical rhythm beating to the beat of the drums, and the spears in the hands of the soldiers unconsciously hammered the ground up and down. Even Li Siye
This modern man who prides himself on being well-informed is also confused by this fanatical atmosphere. He wishes he could rush to Suiye City with his Mo Dao and cut off hundreds of heads right now.
Behind the drum platform, hundreds of halberd-bearing captains and five hundred dancing soldiers danced out of the city gate. The halberd-bearing rectangular array was all wearing bright light armor. The dance they performed also seemed heavy and mechanical, and their footsteps jumped left and right in accordance with the drumbeats.
The halberd in his hand stabs into the air in front of him in a swinging manner, creating a sense of beauty in uniformity.
And in the center of the rectangular formation holding a halberd, there was a general holding a horse spear dancing across the pole. He was wearing a blue-black mountain armor, a red cloak on his shoulders, and his wings were beautifully draped. Although his dance seemed unfamiliar and clumsy,
But he has a neurotic martial spirit.
Li Siye recognized that the dancer was Qixi Jiedushi Gai Jiayun. This really surprised him. The dignified Jiedushi actually came to dance in person, and danced so ugly. However, in this case, Gai Zhong
No matter how ugly Cheng dances, no one dares to laugh at him.
People in the Tang Dynasty were more adept at martial arts than dancing. Anyone from the emperor to his ministers could dance twice when they were happy. In the early years of Zhenguan, the military god Li Jing defeated the Western Turks. When news came that Li Yuan and Li Shimin, father and son, danced opposite each other, now the sheep thief in Youzhou,
He relied on dancing to please his superiors and won the title of military governor of three towns. Today is Gai Zhongcheng's big day. What's wrong with him dancing twice? What's wrong?
The dance of the Dancing Soldiers is much more agile. The scales on their bodies are light and their dancing postures are also very lively. In the front row are sword and shield soldiers with a sword in their left hand and a shield in their right hand. In the back row are spear soldiers. The number of dances is also
Similar to fighting, the shield soldiers form a shield wall when they stand side by side. The pike soldiers thrust out from the gaps in the shield wall, and then spread out and squat down.
The sword and shield soldiers bowed and squatted, walking in a straight catwalk to the rhythm of the drums. Their shoulders swayed from side to side like they were dancing in a bazaar. The horizontal swords in their right hands slapped the shield surface in time with the drum beats, and they uttered neat trumpets.
son.
The drums sounded, boom! Boom! Boom!
The sword hits the shield, 咵! 咵! 咵!
The soldiers shouted, Hi! Hi! Hi!
Even the flag bearers arrayed holding long yellow flags, the flagpole swayed up and down in time with the rhythm.
At the end of the long banner procession were dozens of soldiers driving the yaks and goats used for sacrifice.
According to the etiquette system, Jiedu envoys are subordinates, and sacrifices should be made with shaolao. The sacrifices are pigs and sheep. The emperor sacrifices Tailao. Pigs, cattle, and sheep are sacrificed to the sky. But things turned out to be in a hurry and no pigs could be found.
, so they had to use yaks and goats instead.
When the sacrificial procession arrived at the altar, the drummer shouted a trumpet, and all sounds suddenly stopped.
Fumeng Lingcha shouted on the altar: "Open!"
The team separated to both sides at the same time, leaving the middle road, and the first stage of the sacrifice came to an end.
The atmosphere was temporarily silent, and everyone held their breaths, waiting for the formal ceremony of sacrifice.
Gai Jiayun was sweating profusely from dancing, so he took off the bag from his head. The supervisor's attendant quickly offered him a handkerchief, and he stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat from his face. Another attendant handed him a water bag, which he took and drank some.
mouth, poured the remaining water on his head, wetted his armor and clothes along his face and beard, stretched out his hand and wiped his face and shouted: "Refreshing!"
When he did this, everyone present turned their attention to him. In this solemn ceremony, everyone was tense for fear of making mistakes. No one dared to say one more word or make one more move. Only Gai Zhong
The Prime Minister seemed to be free from restraint. In his opinion, this sacrificial dance was just a big show directed by him, and he could see the truth. Everyone participating in it was in awe and solemnity, but he was not.
This is his advantage as a superior.
After all, battles have to be fought and sacrifices have to be carried out. Life requires a sense of ritual, and war requires it even more.
But what he didn't know was that in this grand sacrificial event, there was another person who was not in awe of it.
Fumeng Lingcha walked down from the altar, stood in front of Gai Jiayun, bowed and crossed his hands, saying: "It's getting late, please invite Zhongcheng to come on stage to offer sacrifices."
Gai Jiayun threw out the water bag in his hand, and the attendant hurriedly came forward and held it in his arms.
"Okay, let's start the sacrifice by killing animals!"
Gai Zhongcheng gave an order, and the soldiers driving the livestock drew their swords from their waists and slashed at the cattle and sheep. In the blink of an eye, the livestock fell into a pool of blood.
Twenty-eight warriors carried the plank up, placed the chopped cattle heads and sheep heads on the plank, and took seven bowls of blood in black porcelain bowls.
The sacrificial ceremony officially began. The warriors carried seven pairs of cattle and sheep heads on wooden boards and walked side by side up the steps to the altar. Seven chief priests and deputy priests followed side by side. They were Gai Jiayun and deputy priests.
The envoy Yang Xilie, Fu Meng Lingcha, the sudden cavalry Shihe Modagan, the Bahanna Khan, the king of Shiguo Dututun, and the king of Miguo silently cried. Behind them were their respective flags and flags.
The warriors placed the animal sacrifices on the sacrificial table and retreated. Gai Jiayun and other seven people held incense sticks in their hands and worshiped the heaven and earth. After kneeling three times and nine times, they stood up, holding bowls filled with blood, and turned towards the bottom.