Before dawn, the lights were already brightly lit in front of Xuande Gate. Inside, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Privy Council, the Censor's Platform, the Court of Ceremonies, and the Taichang Court of Ceremonies were all performing their duties, and they were urgently setting up the site for the prisoner dedication ceremony.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for arranging the royal curtains in front of the Xuandemen gate tower and the throne used on the day of the celebration.
Of course, the throne is ready-made and only needs to be carried from the inner court to the Xuandemen gate tower.
Among the various agencies present, the job in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is undoubtedly the easiest.
The busiest ones are undoubtedly the ceremonial courtyard. They not only have to divide the positions of various departments, but are also responsible for reviewing the etiquette and music required for the prisoner presentation ceremony.
At the same time, they also had to train the prisoners who participated in the prisoner dedication ceremony to prevent the prisoners from making any mistakes.
If there is a problem with the prisoner dedication ceremony, the first person to be severely criticized will be the ceremonial courtyard.
Fortunately, Li Wei, the prefect of the Institute of Ceremonies, was a well-read man. At the age of ten, he could chant ancient music and recite more than a hundred epic poems. Before he reached the top, he could read the Nine Classics and understand their meanings.
In terms of Confucian attainments, Li Wei was not inferior to the great Confucian Zhang Zhao of the Later Zhou Dynasty.
A few moments.
As the morning light faded, the on-site construction work came to an end. Not long after, all the officials from the DPRK, Chinese, and military arrived in front of Xuande Gate one after another.
According to the ceremony of presenting prisoners, the civil and military officials of the DPRK and the various envoys should be divided into two groups, the east and west, just like the order of the DPRK meetings.
Then, the Privy Councilor or the Deputy Minister stood in the middle. Standing behind the Privy Council Chief and Deputy Ministers were the generals who participated in the prisoner sacrifice.
Standing behind the generals are the prisoners.
After each shift was ready, the emperor walked out of the inner east gate with his usual obedience, and the officials greeted him in turn. Finally, the emperor ascended to the throne and formally met with the officials downstairs.
All the officials walked northward and paid homage to the emperor three times. The prime minister led the officials to perform the "Holy Bow and Long Blessings". This was repeated three times and the ceremony was completed.
All officials returned to their posts, and the prisoner presentation ceremony officially began.
Afterwards, a Hanlin scholar stood on the south side of the city tower to announce the victory of the war, as well as the identity and guilt of the captured persons.
This is what it means to tell the world.
It can not only declare that the martial virtues of the Song Dynasty are abundant, but also frighten Xiaoxiao.
After the edict was announced, led by the chief and deputy envoys of the Privy Council, and under the guidance of the Court of Ceremonies, the generals and prisoners appeared one after another.
Moreover, the emperor will convict the captives on the spot, either punish them or release them.
Those who were sentenced were immediately escorted to the execution ground to be sentenced, while those who were released were asked to bow three times and express gratitude on the spot.
At this point, the prisoner dedication ceremony is generally over.
Finally, all the officials congratulated the emperor, paid three respects to the emperor, the Privy Council reported "the ceremony is over", all officials bid farewell, and the emperor returned to the inner court in a public carriage.
In fact, if the memorial of the ceremonial court was followed, the prisoner presentation ceremony would be even more complicated.
After going through a series of rituals such as offering sacrifices to the ancestral temple, Yitai Shrine, admonishing Wuchengwang Temple, and performing a triumphal ceremony, they finally came to Xuandemen for the prisoner dedication ceremony.
If we follow the design of the ceremonial courtyard, this passage will take at least half a day.
Li Jie thought the etiquette was too complicated, so he simply skipped the front part and started at Xuande Gate in one step.
Not only that, Li Jie also issued an edict to the ceremonial institute. If prisoner dedication ceremonies are still held in the future, this time should be used as an example.
According to this regulation, Li Jie only needs to show up at the throne room above Xuande Gate, and others will naturally do the rest.
No worries!
Moreover, doing so will not cause any bad effects.
The essence of the prisoner presentation ceremony was to promote the majesty of the Song Dynasty. As long as the Song Dynasty could remain strong, simpler etiquette would not affect the final results.
Big fists are the last word.
If the fist is not strong enough, no matter how grand the prisoner presentation ceremony is, it will not be able to deter others.
The sky is bright.
All officials are already in place, and envoys from all directions have already arrived.
In the envoy phalanx, Korean envoy Han Zuo first looked at the civil and military officials in front of Xuande Gate, and then looked at the densely packed people in the city in the distance.
Seeing such a grand scene, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion from the bottom of his heart.
"The Great Song Dynasty is mighty!"
At the same time, a trace of delusion arose in his mind.
If one day, Goryeo could hold a similar prisoner sacrifice ceremony, even if he died now, he would be willing to do so.
After thinking for a while, a wry smile appeared at the corner of Han Zuo's mouth.
Of course he understands that this is absolutely wishful thinking.
Apart from anything else, does Goryeo have a city gate as majestic as Xuandemen?
No!
Not to mention, there are millions of people living in Bianliang City.
Such a majestic giant city may not be born in Goryeo even if it takes another hundred or thousand years.
Goryeo was a small country with few people.
Han Zuo was already satisfied to be able to see such a grand scene in the Song Dynasty in his lifetime, and anything more was just a luxury.
At the same time, envoys from Dali, Tubo tribes, Uighurs, Jiaozhi and other small countries also expressed similar sentiments one after another.
It is indeed a heavenly kingdom, and it truly proves that sentence.
"China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; it has the beauty of attire, so it is called Hua."
The military salute alone, one of the five rites, is so grand. What would it be like if it were the auspicious ceremony, the first of the five rites?
(In ancient times, there was a theory of five rites, with sacrificial matters as auspicious rites, funeral matters as unlucky rites, military matters as military rites, guest matters as guest rites, and crown (and crown) wedding (wedding) matters as honorable etiquette.
Among them, auspicious rituals are the first of the five rituals, and the prisoner presentation ceremony, although it has both auspicious rituals and military rituals, is still classified as military rituals)
As soon as the auspicious time arrived, Li Jie rushed to Xuandemen on time.
"Your Majesty is here!"
"welcome!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kou Zhun led all the officials in shouting.
"Hail, Holy Gong."
After repeating it three times, all the officials returned to their posts. Li Wei, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and a judge of etiquette, came out and stood south of Xuande Gate to read out the edict.
"On the 20th of the previous month, Wang Deyong, the general manager of the Hebei Road Military and Horse Command, defeated the Khitan and captured alive the Khitan's deputy envoy to the North Court Privy Council, Xiao Pugu, the king of Lanling County..."
The front of Xuande Gate is so vast that Li Wei's voice alone, even if he shouts at the top of his lungs, cannot reach everyone.
Besides, what kind of decency would it be for a high-ranking civil servant to yell?
Therefore, every time Li Wei recited a sentence, there was a special person responsible for shouting it, and one person preached it to the other until it spread to every corner in front of Xuande Gate.
far away.
Both sides of the Imperial Street in front of Xuande Gate were crowded with a large number of onlookers.
This time there were slightly more people coming to watch than when the army triumphed last time. But what was surprising was that when the sound of the edict was announced nearby, tens of thousands of people lined up on both sides of the imperial street.
Eerily quiet.
Although you can't hear a pin drop, it's true that no one is making any noise.
Noting this miraculous performance, the envoys from various countries present were even more amazed.
The people of the above country really know etiquette and observe etiquette, and they are not comparable to the people of small countries like us.
(PS: Here, thank you to Mr. Roosevelt for correcting me. The title of the previous article is wrong. Triumph has the meaning of return. The word "And Return" was added. Indeed, the Chinese teacher was silent after reading it.
However, the author does not have the authority to modify the title and cannot modify it. Sorry, forgive me)