The Spring Festival is the most solemn festival in China. All countries have stopped fighting. People enjoy this rare time of peace and celebrate the New Year with their own customs.
In Prince Ping's palace, since the twelfth lunar month, the servants and maids have been coming in and out, preparing to purchase things for the festival, cleaning the courtyard, and decorating the entire palace with joy. The twenty-third lunar month of Qi is commonly known as Xiaonian, which is the day of resignation.
On this day, every household offers sugar melons and persimmons, posts to the Kitchen God, sets off firecrackers, and sends dumplings to send the Kitchen God back to heaven to report his duties. It is said that God speaks good things, and the lower world ensures peace. Children's songs are heard on the street: Children, don't be greedy, it's over.
Laba is the New Year; how many days can you drink Laba porridge? Twenty-three. Twenty-three candies and sticky melons; twenty-four cleans the house; twenty-five makes tofu; twenty-six comes to cook meat; twenty-seven comes to kill the rooster.
; Twenty-eight handfuls of noodles; Twenty-nine, steamed buns; Thirty nights of fun; Going out to the streets on New Year's Day to do some twisting.
The days before the Spring Festival are also a time for relatives and friends to interact with each other and keep in touch with each other. Prince Ping and his wife personally went to the houses of several old princes to deliver New Year gifts, and then sent King Wuyou to visit the houses of various princes, princes, and princes who had good relations with him in Lu City.
He walked around; he was also busy entertaining the princes and ministers who came to visit him from the capital and various places.
As usual on New Year's Eve, we go to the palace to watch the New Year together. As the same clan, King Qi, King Ping, and King Shun led the prince Qi Yi, King Wuyou Qi Si, Xiaoliang King Qi Chang and other men from the family to drink in the main hall. Princess Qi led the female family members in the main hall.
Waiting in the inner hall. At around midnight, the ceremonial officer invited Jiu to go to the ancestral temple to worship. After returning from the ancestral temple, King Ping and King Shun each took their family members back to their homes.
Firecrackers and fireworks were set off all night in Lucheng. King Ashoka was riding on a horse and walking side by side with his father. He liked to smell the fireworks mixed with the smell of incense and candles, and he also liked to spend time with his parents and family like this.
The feeling of being together. King Wuyou looked at his father's profile. Under the illumination of the lantern, his father's resolute face looked a bit weathered. After years of fighting and working hard on state affairs, there was little laughter on King Ping's face. King Wuyou knew
Although his father was usually strict with him, he loved him the most. King Ping felt that King Wuyou was looking at him, so he turned to look at his son, with an inquiring look in his eyes, but King Wuyou laughed and galloped on his horse.
Standing up, the horse's hooves hit the street, crisp and fast. King Ping looked at the back of King Wuyou, and there was a smile on his face. If King Wuyou could see it, he would know what a kind smile it was.
Before dawn, Qi Lu came to Prince Ping's Mansion to pay New Year's greetings. He got a New Year's wallet sewn with red silk from Prince Ping and his wife, and then took King Wuyou and Ying'er to go to another house to pay New Year's greetings. It is customary in Qi that girls are not allowed to
New Year's greetings, but once she gets married and becomes someone else's daughter-in-law, she has to accompany her husband in New Year's greetings. Ying'er has been betrothed to King Wuyou since she was a child. When she was in her prime, King Qi personally conferred the title of Princess Wuyou on her, so she wore new clothes.
Yi came out with King Wuyou. After a circle, he also collected a lot of red envelopes. Qi Lu looked at it and said that there were more than his own. He tried to grab it several times, but was blocked by Meimei and **. Several people
There was a fuss all the way, until King Wuyou promised to give him a big red envelope, and Qi Lu gave up.
It was almost noon, and a group of princes from various royal palaces gathered around King Wuyou. Everyone was clamoring to go to the prince's palace to have drinks and gambling with the prince. The streets were already lively, and everyone in the city, both officials and common people, was wearing new clothes.
, visiting relatives and friends, greeting each other along the way, a peaceful scene. The happiest thing is the children, wearing new clothes, holding incense, lighting one or a firecracker from time to time, hiding their ears, if they see
Some people were frightened and clapped their hands and started laughing again.
Compared with King Wuyou's happy holiday in Lucheng, Zilong and Zhuge Qingyun were much busier. They had been dividing their troops in Lincheng for many days. Years ago, King Xiang sent his ministers to come to the city to handle the handover.
This place originally belonged to the State of Xiang and was adjacent to the State of Qi. The people had close contacts with the State of Qi. It was safe to know that it had become the fiefdom of Zilong, the general of the State of Qi. Zhuge Qingyun entered Lincheng, first posted a notice to calm the people, and then took advantage of the Spring Festival
, opened a granary to help the poor people. At the same time, he summoned the former government officials to understand the local customs.
Zilong then led the army to Hecheng, which originally belonged to Chen Di. Although it was named Chen Di, due to its location at the junction of the Three Kingdoms, conflicts continued for years. In addition to the actual control of the city, the Chen State had basically no control over the areas outside the city.
.Zilong knew that taking over Hecheng would never be smooth sailing.
One hundred thousand Qi troops stationed 80,000 in Lincheng, and Zilong brought 20,000. They entered the city and handed over the city defense with the officials of Chen. Zilong ordered the soldiers to put up notices to appease the people, and sent troops to garrison.
He went to various major places in the city. In addition to reading a lot of illustrated county annals and government documents from previous years, Zilong was practicing military horses in the government office. The granaries in the city had long been empty, but fortunately the Qi army had enough food. In the first few days, there were a few large households in front of them.
When I came to visit, Zilong also received him at the government office, and the lukewarm manner left everyone wondering. Around the Spring Festival, the city was basically quiet inside and outside the city, but there were reports from the countryside, and bandits came down the mountain to plunder, so Zilong also assigned the government office
The officers retained by the government led the army to conquer, but before the officers and soldiers arrived, the bandits had already fled into the mountains.
After the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival will come soon. The squires of Hecheng came to the government office early to petition, saying that Hecheng changed hands and a lantern festival should be held to celebrate. Zilong also obeyed the public opinion and arranged to hold the Lantern Festival in the city.
For those who use big lanterns, the required fees are paid by the government. For a time, thousands of people were enthusiastic, and almost every house in the city hung up various lanterns. As night fell, the lights illuminated the streets, making it particularly lively.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival would be held in a few days. Zilong took several generals with him and asked a clerk retained by the government to take him around the city. The clerk wanted to speak several times along the way.
After a while, Zilong returned to the government office and summoned him to the main hall for questioning. The name of the clerk was Shi Dingshan. His ancestral home was Qi State. He had been serving in Hecheng for five or six years. This time Hecheng was occupied.
When the Qi State took over, he did not go to the Chen State with most of the officials, but stayed. When he was summoned by General Zilong, he did not hesitate and directly expressed his concerns. It turned out that the west of the Lotus City was continuous.
There are several groups of bandits in the mountains. They used the Three Kingdoms campaign here to gather in the mountains and forests. Although Chen Jun sent troops to suppress it several times, they all returned without success. Shi Dingshan was worried that there would be a lantern festival in the city, and those bandits might take advantage of it.
The army was new and unfamiliar with the situation in the area, so they entered the city to cause trouble. Zilong nodded after hearing this. Seeing that Zilong was quite convinced of his idea, Shi Dingshan continued: "General, I know that when bandits enter the city, they must pass through the police.
Township, you might as well send someone to guard there. If you see a group of men armed with weapons, they are probably bandits. Just capture them and torture them in the cell." Zilong laughed and said to Shi Dingshan: "The chief secretary said that.
Yes, I also expected that thieves would take the opportunity to cause trouble. I have made arrangements, so you just have to watch the show. But your reminder is very good. After the thief is captured, I will reward him heavily."
The Wolong Mountains run through Qichen and other places. From a bird's eye view, it looks like a long dragon entrenched in the Central Plains, winding in circles.
Fengqiling is located on the side of Chendi in the Wolong Mountains. The mountains here are high and densely forested, and it has always been a place where bandits and bandits gather. This is the largest group of bandits on Fengqiling, with thousands of people. They are also honest.
Farmers in the country were forced to fight for years in various countries. In order to avoid corvee labor and war, they gathered in the mountains and made a living by robbery. The leader's surname was Meng, his name was Meng Qi.
Being squeezed out, he was angry and killed his superior. He took dozens of soldiers and fled into the mountains. They moved to Fengqiling. Seeing that the mountain was difficult to defend and difficult to attack, they took over the place. There was originally a group of bandits on the mountain, but they were all
The mob could not withstand Meng Qi's attack and surrendered the mountain stronghold. Meng Qi then gathered men and horses from nearby mountains and trained them according to military discipline. In a few years, he became one of the most powerful bandits in the Wolong Mountain area. Chen Guo
, Xiang Guodu once launched a campaign against him, but failed to do anything to him, and instead allowed him to gain momentum.
When Meng Qi first heard that He City had been ceded to Qi, he was very angry. He pointed at Chen Duluo City and cursed him for several days, vowing to take back He City. However, the informant who was sent to inquire about the news reported that he
When Qi's 20,000-strong army entered Hecheng, he lost his temper and the energy to shout. Although Meng Qi was a martial artist, he was not reckless. Thinking about how many thousands of his men could go before the Qi army,
It wasn't enough to fill the gaps between people's teeth. So I just led my brothers honestly and restrained myself a lot.
After the Spring Festival, Meng Qi heard that the Lantern Festival was going to be held in Hecheng. He couldn't help but make plans again. He thought about taking advantage of the lively lantern festival to lead a few skilled brothers into the city to see the situation.
After a little stir, the Qi army knew the name of Fengqiling, and called out their own names on the ground of Wolong Mountain. Even if it was not easy to do it, among the tens of thousands of Qi army, from Hecheng
Going in and out once was something worthy of showing off. After making up his mind, Meng Qi arranged for the Shanzhai's informants to go to the city in advance and select the people who would go down the mountain with him. As soon as the brothers on the mountain heard that they could go to the city with the leader to watch the lanterns,
Everyone rushed to sign up, and finally decided to compete and selected a dozen strong young men. In addition, he arranged for one or two hundred people under his command to wait near Liangxiang to support him.
Meng Qi blended in with the crowd entering the city and entered the city in a big way. The informants in the city had already arranged a place for him, and he stayed at Tongfu Inn. This inn is close to the most prosperous main street in Hecheng and is owned by a century-old hotel.
It's a time-honored restaurant. Fortunately, we booked the rooms a few days in advance. Otherwise, three or five days before the Lantern Festival, the store would have put up a fully booked notice and there would be no more vacancies.
Meng Qi lived on the second floor and opened the window. He saw that the whole street was straight and wide, with lively shops and houses on both sides. Every house was decorated with lights and people were coming and going. People from the city and the countryside rushed in after dark.
In the city. In previous years, the city gates were closed at night. Now that the Qi army was stationed, the city gates were no longer closed for the convenience of the people. In addition to the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival, the city gates were opened wide for the past few days, allowing the people to come and go at will.
Seeing that it was already evening and the sun was setting, Meng Qi asked his men to go to the store and order some side dishes and a jug of wine. He asked for a hot pot and put the wine on it to warm it. He and a few brothers sat in front of the window to drink and eat.