When they arrived in front of the Zichen Palace, a palace maid naturally guided the princess to the royal seat under the eaves of the main hall. It would be inappropriate for Shang Bo to follow her up.
All I saw was that Princess Yanguang gave Shang Bo an apologetic look, and then walked up to the main hall with her servants.
After the princess left, Shang Bo felt much more at ease. He followed the officials from the capital to the makeshift seats and saw the Nuo opera being performed on the stage.
It is said that Nuo opera is an exorcism ritual passed down from ancient times. Nuo dancers wear strange four-sided masks and dance on the stage.
The accompanying musicians played the ancient sheng, and the melodious sound resounded throughout the square.
Shang Bo quickly turned on the video function. The masks worn by these Nuo dancers were simple and funny, just like those strange bronze heads unearthed in Sanxingdui.
The officials present watched the Nuo opera with great interest. This was the only time of the year when they could take their families to the palace to play.
After watching it for a while, Shang Bo felt a little bored. The movements of the Nuo dancers were like those of a master, and they only turned over and over a few times.
Occasionally, if he does a somersault, the audience will burst into applause.
For Shang Bo who has seen various acrobatic performances before, this show is indeed a bit monotonous.
Shang Bo looked at the seat on the steps of the main hall.
Those who can sit on the steps are all members of the royal family and ministers. Among them, the positions on both sides of the main hall belong to the two most favored princes today.
King Li Xi of Qi is sitting on the right side. He is wearing a blue prince's python robe and is surrounded by a group of internal servants.
Although King Qi was younger than the prince, he was taller and more mature. He looked at the Nuo opera stage in the Zichen Palace and cheered from time to time.
And as he yelled, the servants around him also joined in the fun, making the imperial steps very lively.
In contrast, Prince Chu King Li Chu was much calmer.
Li Chu also wore a python robe. His appearance was similar to that of the King of Yue, but more feminine.
In fact, Li Chu is already thirty-one years old this year, but despite being so pampered, he looks like he is only in his twenties, which is even younger than his younger brother Li Xi.
Next to the two princes, who have the same name, are the remaining sons of the emperor.
In fact, the fertility of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty was quite terrifying. Although Li Heng was suppressed by the emperor, he still had many children while living in the East Palace. He had fourteen sons. Although the ancient royal family was unavoidable in infant mortality, today
There were also seven sitting in front of the Zichen Hall.
In addition, the emperor has eight daughters, all of whom are now sitting under His Highness Zi Chen.
In addition to the emperor's legitimate son, His Highness Zi Chen also sat in the imperial clan, as did Guang Luxun, Li Tan and other important ministers of the clan.
However, most of Li Tang's clan had no rights and were similar to royal mascots, so Shang Bo quickly looked away.
Next to them are the nobles and ministers. However, titles in the Tang Dynasty were surprisingly difficult to obtain. During his reign, the emperor granted a total of three princes.
Prime Minister Zhang Yue was granted the title of Duke, but Zhang Yue's son surrendered to the puppet Yan State, and the Duke's title was also deprived of him.
The same was true for Prime Minister Li Linfu. After Li Linfu's death, he was liquidated by Yang Guozhong. Even Li Linfu's family was executed, and the title of the Duke was taken back.
The other Duke was Gao Lishi, but Gao Lishi was serving the emperor in Xingqing Palace and did not participate in today's national Nuo ceremony.
At present, there is only one named Duke Guo Ziyi. Guo Ziyi's old wife was granted the title and is also sitting under the palace today.
Shang Bo looked at the old lady of the country. Although Guo Ziyi was a model of loyal ministers through the ages, her own methods were not low.
There is a very classic section in Peking Opera called "Man Bed Wat", which is a scene sung to pay homage to Guo Ziyi's birthday.
The Wat is a tablet held by the ministers when they go to court. Sometimes officials will write the outline of the memorial to be prepared on the Wat. The Wat represents the identity of the senior official.
"Bed Full of Wat Tablets" is sung about the scene where Guo Ziyi's son and son-in-law go to pay homage to his birthday, and all the children in the family are holding Wat Tablets.
This is also a favorite excerpt for wealthy families, which means that if the family is prosperous, the children will have a bright future.
However, this song is about what happened after Guo Ziyi was granted the title of Fenyang County Prince. Now Guo Ziyi is only acting as Duke, and the family has not yet reached this level of prominence.
As for the princes and princes in the early Tang Dynasty, they were basically the same.
Although Taizong did not kill meritorious officials, Gaozong killed meritorious lords without blinking an eye. After all, he was a fierce man who killed even his own uncle.
Those who were lucky enough to survive during the Gaozong period were almost wiped out by the Wu Zhou Dynasty.
The Wu brothers who were granted the title of Wu Zhou Dynasty were all killed by the old Li family in the Shenlong Coup.
Next to the ministers were the prime ministers. Although the prime ministers and ministers were sitting next to them, they attracted the most attention.
After all, these clan ministers do not necessarily have the power; the prime ministers are the core of the empire's power.
At this time, Li Fuguo came out of the Zichen Palace. He held two black masks in his hands and announced to the ministers:
"The king of Qi, Li Xi, the king of Chu, Li Chu."
"My son is here!"
I only saw Li Fuguo handing two Nuo opera masks to the two princes and saying: "Your Majesty has a decree, please ask the two princes to perform Nuo dance on behalf of the emperor!"
The officials present took a deep breath.
According to tradition, the emperor would also put on a mask and go on stage to participate in the Nuo dance in the final stage of the Nuo dance to pray for the people of the Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Li Longji especially loved dancing. Before the rebels captured Chang'an, Li Longji personally participated in Nuo dance as the emperor.
Unless there was something wrong with the emperor's health, he would not appoint his son to participate in such large-scale sacrificial activities.
This also shows that the emperor's health is indeed in poor condition and he is unable to even participate in the national Nuo sacrifices.
However, the emperor was unwell and asked the prince to participate in the sacrificial activities on his behalf. This was a normal thing in the past dynasties.
But what is abnormal is that the Tang Dynasty clearly had a prince, and the emperor asked two princes to participate in the Nuo dance on his behalf.
The meaning of this is thought-provoking.
Many of the officials in the capital were smart people, and the way they looked at the two princes was immediately different.
The expression on Li Xi's face was naturally ecstatic. His father entrusted him with such an important matter, which showed that he and the crown prince had the same position in his heart.
Li Chu was thinking deeply and felt great humiliation.
Even though he was the crown prince of a country, yet he was allowed to be sacrificed together with the King of Qi. This humiliation almost made Li Chu walk away.
However, he also understood that this was not the time for an attack. Li Chu took over the black mask, then walked directly down the imperial steps and onto the Nuo dance stage.
After the prince came on stage, King Qi also quickly stepped on the stage. The two of them wore masks and started dancing.
However, tensions were also high on the stage at this time. Li Chu wore a mask and danced to Li Xi. Both of them stepped on the drums and danced face to face on the stage. The dancers dancing on the stage were scattered behind them, and they were dancing with each other.
They were doing Nuo dance movements to exorcise evil spirits.
Shang Bo only felt that there was a dark cloud hanging over Chang'an. The dark cloud was getting bigger and bigger, and it was almost to the point of lightning and thunder.
After the Nuo dance ceremony is over, officials from the sixth rank and above can continue to stay in front of the Zichen Hall and wait for the New Year's Eve banquet that starts in the evening.
Officials from the sixth rank and below had to leave the Daming Palace before dark, and only saw the overwhelming crowd starting to walk out of the palace gate.
Although Shang Bo had no rank, as the envoy of the Longyou Governor's Mansion, he represented the King of Yue at this New Year's Eve banquet.
Like Shang Bo, the envoys from the Jiedushi period, envoys from the vassal states, and nobles from the clan also stayed in the Zichen Hall, waiting to enter the hall to attend the royal banquet on New Year's Eve.
The palace ladies carried palace lanterns and lit the candles in the Zichen Palace.
In winter, the sun goes down early and the sky gradually gets late, but candlelight is as bright as day in the Zichen Hall.
The prince and King Qi were sweating from dancing Nuo dance. They each changed their clothes and stood at the door of Zichen Hall again.
Li Fuguo walked to the door again and shouted: "Your Majesty announces that the clan officials, ministers, and envoys from the vassal states will grant a banquet to Zichen Palace!"
"Enter the palace!"
Although the one who stayed in the backyard represented the King of Yue, Shang Bo had no rank after all, so he stood at the end with a group of Jiedu envoys and envoys from the vassal state.
As these top dignitaries of the Tang Dynasty entered the Zichen Palace, Shang Bo saw the emperor on the throne.
Although Li Heng looked pretty good, it could be seen from his swollen body that the Supreme Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was really not in good health.
Sitting next to the emperor is the newly crowned empress Zhang.
The emperor's other concubines sat on both sides of the emperor, and the two underage princes and princesses were also held by wet nurses and sat on chairs beside the emperor.
Shang Bo took a look and found that one of the babies was the prince Li Tong born this year to Queen Zhang.
In fact, there are a total of four princes canonized this time.
King Li Xi of Qi, King Li Chu of Chu, and King Li Tan of Yue. The other one was the newly born little prince Li Tong, who was canonized as King Ding.
Rumor has it that the emperor liked this little prince who was born in Fengxiang Mansion very much, and even wanted to make him the crown prince.
However, Empress Zhang advised the emperor that "the country cannot establish a young ruler", and the emperor gave up this idea.
It's just that Shang Bo is skeptical about this version of the rumor, and he believes in the other version of the rumor.
That is, Empress Zhang actually wanted her biological son to succeed to the throne, but she also knew that the Tang Dynasty was in turmoil, and it was impossible for the court ministers to agree to support an infant prince.
Therefore, Empress Zhang retreated and adopted Li Xi and helped Li Xi seize the throne.
In the Tang Dynasty, the meal-sharing system was still practiced, especially at royal banquets. The maids carried the plates to the table. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty finally stood up from his throne and said a scene of praying for good weather in the coming year.
Li Heng then picked up the wine glass and said, "Drink up and congratulate the Tang Dynasty!"
"Congratulations to the Tang Dynasty! Long live my emperor! Long live my emperor!"