December passed quickly amidst everyone's expectations, and it was the end of the year in a blink of an eye. New Year's Eve is a day for every family to worship their ancestors, and the Guo Song family is no exception. He now has four wives and five children. His eldest sister
Guo Ping also wanted to come to offer sacrifices. Although Guo Song did not want to spend too much time on the sacrifices, this matter was no longer up to him.
Early in the morning, Guo Ping brought her son Zhou Junyu, daughter-in-law Zhang Yuer and daughter Zhou Mingzhu to the Jin Palace. Since last year, Guo Ping's husband's spiritual tablet has also been temporarily placed in the Guo's ancestral hall. Her husband is an orphan, and the Zhou family only has a few children.
Since last year, Guo Ping decided that instead of letting her husband live alone, she might as well put her parents' spiritual tablets together with her.
Xue Tao and Guo Ping are basically responsible for the preparations for the sacrifices at home. The sacrifices have already been prepared. In fact, they mainly include three kinds of animals and seasonal fruits. Since they are not a large family with hundreds of people to sacrifice, they do not use cattle, sheep and pigs.
Instead of livestock, chickens, ducks, fish and small animals were used for sacrifice, and then incense, candles and paper money were used. It is simple to say.
There is a small ancestral hall in the Jin Palace, which is actually part of Jing'an Temple. Jing'an Temple is a Taoist temple. Gongsun's four disciples, Daoqing, Daofeng, Daoming, Daoyue and three old Taoist nuns practice here.
The Taoist temple is not small. It consists of a Laojun Hall and a Sanqing Hall. The backyard is the ancestral hall, which enshrines the spiritual tablets of Guo Song's parents, grandfather, grandmother and brother-in-law Zhou Liang.
The three old Taoist nuns were originally the old maids of Xingqing Palace. They were all in their fifties and sixties and had no home, so they became Taoists and practiced in Jing'an Temple to provide for their old age.
Daoming and other four people were highly skilled in martial arts and were responsible for protecting the safety of Guo Song's family at night. Of course, in addition to the four of them, there were more than twenty full-time female guards in the Jin Palace. The four of them were just additional protection at night.
Three old Taoist nuns are responsible for taking care of and cleaning the Guo's ancestral hall to ensure that the incense burns continuously at all times and the oil lamps are kept on.
Clean, they put their palms together and saluted the princess.
Xue Tao replied with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, three Taoist nuns. You go and have a rest. We will arrange the arrangements here ourselves!"
The three old Taoist nuns bowed and then turned back to the front hall.
Everyone worked together, placed the sacrifices, lit two long incense candles, inserted three incense sticks in the incense burner, and replaced the futon with new ones.
"Auntie, what are the sacrificial customs in my hometown?" Xue Tao asked with a smile.
Guo Ping smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, I'm not too sure. I only vaguely remember that my father wanted to kill a rooster and sacrifice it with fresh chicken blood. However, I think sacrifice is also a ritual. The key is sincerity. If you can't kill it,
There is no need to kill the chicken."
Dugu Youlan also smiled and said: "Auntie is right, this is a Taoist temple after all, it's better not to kill."
"Caichun, what are the rules for sacrifices in Jiangnan?" Xue Tao asked Liu Caichun again.
Liu Caichun was pregnant and her belly was slightly bulging. She smiled and shook her head, "The rules in Jiangnan are that women cannot participate in sacrifices. They are only responsible for the arrangements and final cleaning. They can only stand outside and wait during the sacrifices."
"This is a big family sacrifice! Isn't it okay to worship your parents at home?"
"It's okay at home. I remember that in addition to the three animals and five fruits, there are also many snacks and five-grain rice."
Xue Tao nodded, "Chang'an doesn't need snacks and grains, but I also feel that the things on the offering table are a little short, so it doesn't hurt to add some."
Min Qiu said: "Sister, I'll go to the kitchen and ask for some."
"Don't forget to bring some more plates." Xue Tao ordered.
"Minqiu, I'll go with you." Liu Caichun followed.
The two left with several maids. Guo Ping looked at their backs and asked in a low voice: "I heard that their relationship is not going well?"
Xue Tao said lightly: "It was a little bit at first, but since Min Qiu's brother and sister-in-law were sent to Taiyuan, Min Qiu has restrained himself a lot. Especially after Caichun became pregnant, the relationship between the two has obviously improved."
"I see. I mean, why did Zhang Daqi and his wife disappear? They went to Taiyuan, but they were really too public. All the shops in Xi'anmen Street knew that Zhang Daqi's sister was married to the King of Jin. They were walking together
He never looks at people with a straight eye, and often uses the King of Jin to oppress them, or send them away, so as not to be upset by hearing about their affairs all day long."
Not long after, Min Qiu and Liu Caichun brought five or six food boxes with the maids, which were filled with various snacks and grains. They also placed five or six plates and a pot of good wine. Finally, the table was full.
New Year's Eve sacrifices usually start at midnight, that is, at three o'clock in the middle of the night. Everyone has to go to bed early, and then get up an hour earlier, take a bath and change clothes, and put on special sacrificial robes. In half an hour, the whole family gathers in Guo
Song led them to the ancestral hall.
There was a faint sound of chanting from the ancestral hall. Three old Taoist nuns were chanting sacrificial scriptures in a low voice. The whole family lined up in the courtyard. Guo Song walked into the ancestral hall, bowed, inserted three sticks of incense into the incense burner, and turned around.
come out.
Next came the princess Xue Tao, then the eldest aunt Guo Ping, and the second wife Dugu Youlan. According to the seniority and order, after the elders finished offering incense, the younger ones entered the ancestral hall to offer incense.
The first of the younger generation to offer incense was Guo Song's eldest son, Guo Jincheng. He would be thirteen years old after the Chinese New Year. He was already taller than his mother, but he was still a little immature.
Under the careful training of his master Li Mi, he had completed basic studies, read scriptures extensively, and wrote beautiful calligraphy. Guo Song planned to let him go to Taixue to study law for two years in the spring.
Guo Jincheng was more serious and meticulous in offering incense and worship than his father. He didn't like to laugh much, he looked serious all day long and worked seriously, much like his grandfather Xue Xun. Xue Tao had no choice but to let him go.
Below is the eldest daughter Guo Weiwei. Guo Weiwei will be fifteen years old after the Chinese New Year. She has grown into a beautiful girl. Her eyebrows and eyebrows are very similar to those of her father Guo Song. Her personality is outgoing, lively and cheerful, which is completely opposite to her brother.
Next up is Guo Yan'er. Guo Yan'er is ten years old. She is a very quiet and beautiful girl. She also looks a lot like her father Guo Song.
At this time, Guo Song suddenly realized that time flies like an arrow. Has it been ten years since Dugu Youlan married him?
He turned his head and looked at Dugu Youlan, and saw that she was looking at her daughter with all her heart, her eyes full of love. Guo Song couldn't remember how long it had been since he had slept with Dugu Youlan, it was probably half a year! She gave birth to her baby
Jinxiu is now three months old.
A trace of guilt arose in Guo Song's heart, as his treatment of Dugu Youlan was indeed a bit excessive.
The next day was the first day of the first lunar month. As usual, the Jin Palace would hold a New Year's banquet for all officials and generals in Chang'an, totaling more than 1,400 people.
The square in front of the Jin Palace was filled with more than a hundred tables. Guo Song stood up with his wine glass and laughed loudly: "It's another new year. As usual, I should say something. A lot of things happened last year.
First of all, we captured Hanzhong and most of Hebei. We are not far from reunifying the north of the Yellow River. Our cause is moving towards victory step by step.
Military victory is the most important event, followed by the fact that we finally obtained the seaside salt farm. Many people may not understand what this means. Let me tell you, this means that our fiscal and tax revenue has increased by 40%, and our finances are abundant. Everyone
Salaries will also increase, benefits will also increase, and we will have more money to take care of the elderly and homeless.
The third major event concerns people's lives. We approved the issuance of Chang'an Express and Tianxia Xinbao. Their appearance has greatly changed everyone's lives and promoted the development of education. Last year alone, the number of children entering school in Chang'an was higher than the year before.
The number has tripled, the number of people in literacy clubs run by the government has increased sharply, and girls’ schools have also appeared. I hope that this year there will be another wave of education and schooling, so that more people can become literate and more children can enroll in school."
.........
Guo Song spoke for a full quarter of an hour, summarizing last year's successes and shortcomings. Finally, he raised his glass and said, "As usual, our first glass of wine is dedicated to the three thousand soldiers who died on the battlefield."
He slowly poured the first glass of wine on the ground, and the ministers and generals also poured wine on the ground.
Guo Song filled another glass of wine and said loudly: "The new year is about to usher in. I believe this year will also be an extraordinary year. Come! Let us come for the new year and make the new year more brilliant.
Let’s drink to the victory!”
"cheers!"
Nearly 1,500 officials and ministers raised their glasses and shouted in unison, drinking down the wine in one gulp.
"Everyone, let's get started! Eat as much as you like, drink as much as you like, and we'll get drunk before we stop."
Everyone sat down and started drinking and chatting with laughter. At this time, a guard walked past Guo Song and whispered a few words to him. Guo Song's face changed slightly and he nodded, "I'll be here right away!"
"Your Highness, what happened?" Pan Liao asked in a low voice.
"I don't know. Shi Huan has something urgent to see me. It's probably something happened over at Suiye. Call Qiu An and come with us."
After saying that, he stood up and walked quickly to the official room.