Despite the fact that he seemed to be majestic and majestic all the way around, he stood like an emperor while others were kneeling. However, this whole set of rituals took a long time, and even standing doing nothing would make his back sore from exhaustion.
No wonder being an emperor has required a good figure since ancient times. Just this set of rituals is tiring enough.
Zhao Yanhao, surrounded by Ryukyu officials and naturalized civilian cadres, walked to the North Hall with King Shangfeng.
The group of people walked to the North Hall and saw that the North Hall was a newly built imitation Chinese-style palace. It looked very grand. It was carved with horned dragons and osmanthus trees. The beams were crisscrossed like a spider web, and the palace tiles were interlocked like mandarin ducks.
The rafters of the palace are covered with water plants, as bright as clouds; the painting and carving skills inside the palace are very superb, magnificent and extremely beautiful - this is the place where Ryukyu entertains envoys.
Compared with the street buildings of the humble Ryukyu people, the palaces of Ryukyu can be called "majestic". In fact, this difference is not only reflected in the houses, but also in the texture of official and civilian clothing. The common people are almost all made of undyed plantain cloth or cheesecloth.
, completely unrelated to silk and satin.
Zhao Yanhao followed King Shangfeng into the North Hall. The square pillars and wall panels in the room were all made of boxwood with a texture like ivory, which was very exquisite. The living customs of the Ryukyus and Japanese are roughly the same.
A mat made of "foot-treading cotton" is spread on the ground. You take off your shoes to get on the mat and sit upright on the ground.
King Shangfeng invited Zhao Yanhao to be the first to attend. For Zheng Jue, Xu Liang, Li Renjun and others, ranging from naturalized civilian cadres to ordinary attachés, navy and army officers and soldiers, and Ryukyu people, corresponding banquets were prepared according to their status.
There were Ryukyu guards waiting for them to take their seats.
King Shangfeng whispered a few instructions to Cai Jian in Ryukyu language. Cai Jian cupped his hands at Zhao Yanhao and said with a smile: "Envoy of the Song Dynasty, please be patient. King Zhongshan will change his clothes now and come back as he goes. The banquet will begin later. In addition,
The King of Zhongshan has ordered that if any of the envoys from the Celestial Dynasty are unable to attend the banquet due to official duties, they should give two taels of the banquet fee to me."
Zhao Yanhao also nodded and said with a smile: "The King of Zhongshan is indeed very considerate in his hospitality."
King Shangfeng bowed and retired, going to the back hall to change his clothes.
Zhao Yanhao took a look and saw that the banquet in the palace was luxurious and sumptuous, with many ingredients that Zhao Yanhao had never seen before. However, it was a pity that the Ryukyu dishes were simple to prepare and there were no soups, which made him accustomed to
Looking at the four dishes and one soup, Zhao Yanhao always felt that something was missing. The drinking utensils used in the fine banquets were all made of gold, gems, rhinoceros horns, etc. Many of them were rare treasures from overseas. It seemed that this country was in the spotlight
Although the warehouse was originally ransacked by Satsuma, a lot of money was still left in the family.
"What is this?" Zhao Yanhao looked around casually and saw a plate of meat slices of some animal on the table. The color of the meat slices was as white as Poria cocos slices.
"This is seahorse meat. This thing has the head of a horse and the body of a fish, hairless but with legs. The best quality is very rare. Our country is sincere and frightened, and we sincerely ask the envoy to taste it."
"Seahorse?" Zhao Yanhao thought that it was probably a marine mammal like a manatee or a dolphin, or some kind of big fish in the sea. No matter what he thought, it couldn't be the seahorse they were familiar with and could be used for medicinal purposes. He was in the traditional Chinese medicine store.
I have seen seahorses claimed to have "aphrodisiac" effects in dried seafood shops. After being dried, they are no larger than dried shrimps.
Just when Zhao Yanhao was about to have an in-depth discussion with Cai Jian about what kind of animal this seahorse was, King Shang Feng had already changed the "Ci Fu". The "Ci Fu" reproduced by the Senate was modeled on the "Court Service" of the Song Dynasty.
It is a formal dress used during court meetings. So it is not the long-legged futou that everyone thinks of - it is the official dress.
King Shangfeng wears a Diao Chan crown on his head, a crimson robe and skirt, lined with a white flower robe, tied with a large belt, and then tied with a leather belt to cover his knees, with a square heart-shaped collar, a jade sword and a jade pendant.
Wearing a brocade ribbon, white silk stockings and black leather shoes, he walked into the hall with elegant steps. Seeing Zhao Yanhao sitting upright, waiting for the crowd, he walked forward and bowed down to worship.
Zhao Yanhao quickly stood up and helped him up, saying: "King Zhongshan, there is no need to be polite. Since His Highness has been canonized by the Song Dynasty, we, regardless of high or low, will work together to spread the rain and dew of the Senate of the Song Dynasty all over the world."
ah!"
After hearing Cai Jian's translation, King Shang Feng quickly thanked you. Zhao Yanhao muttered in his heart: "I just don't want to kowtow to you in accordance with the 'etiquette'."
King Shang Feng also entered the table, holding up a rhinoceros horn cup inlaid with gems on the table with both hands, and toasted to Zhao Yanhao.
"please."
"Your Highness, you're welcome." Zhao Yanhao took the wine glass and took a sip. The naturalized citizens and Ryukyu officials in other seats also picked up their wine glasses, and for a while, they were drinking and laughing.
After three rounds of drinking, King Shang Feng gave Cai Jian some instructions. Cai Jian then stood up, bowed to Zhao Yanhao, and said with a smile: "If you don't mind being the envoy of the Song Dynasty, you might as well hear the rituals, music and dance of our country, and sing the songs of the Song Dynasty."
Kindness.”
"Very good," Zhao Yanhao said with a smile.
Then Cai Jian also presented a post of congratulations, saying: "At the beginning of our country's chaos, the first person to be born was the king, and he was named the Tiansun family. For example, Emperor Xi of China was ruled by the emperor. After that, when the king ascended the throne, every time the gods showed him
Lingyou is a song that welcomes the gods and sings them with joy. Later gods appear frequently, but the songs of the gods still exist to this day. I sing it today to wish the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, long live the Senate, may Chairman Wang and all the elders live a thousand years, may you live a happy life.
Peace prevailed in China and abroad during the Song Dynasty, and I praised the king again, and we all received blessings."
Zhao Yanhao nodded and saw an old man coming from His Highness. He bowed and bowed. Without accompaniment, he sang "Song of Peace" directly in Mandarin:
"Long live my Lord, I will hold Zhongshan for eternity. I will pay tribute to the Heavenly Dynasty, and the sea will be calm all the way. My subjects are all happy, and everything will be prosperous. Will they return to the east after ten thousand years? Long live my Lord, may my blessings and longevity be as long as heaven."
This "Song of Peace" was originally written to praise the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. Now that the angel of the Song Dynasty has arrived, it is used to praise the "Great Song Dynasty" intact.
Zhao Yanhao relied on Zheng Jue's translation to understand the meaning of the words. Firstly, his Jianghuai Mandarin with a strong southern Fujian accent was difficult to understand. Secondly, the elegant tone of the song made it more difficult to distinguish.
After the old man finished singing, he bowed and retired. Prince Naohyung of Yonegugawa, who was sitting beside him, also stood up and walked to the front of the temple. He also bowed and bowed, and continued to sing "Song of Ishitoko" in Ryukyu dialect: "石なぐの"
, 石の大石, なるまでも. うかきぶせみしょり, my master, がなし.”
After listening to it, Zhao Yanhao felt that the lyrics of this song were a bit like the Japanese national anthem "Kiminoyo", and he didn't know who copied whom.
In fact, both King's Generation and this song originated from ancient Chinese celebration songs. The original "Jun" did not refer to the monarch, but was just a respectful title for people.
Since ancient times, banquets have been called banquets, and such a formal banquet must naturally include music and dance. This not only means "tourism" but also includes "ceremony and music". Next is dance music. Ryukyu musicians in the corridor, dressed in various
People in red and green clothes, wearing six-leaf hats or green turbans with swallow tails, holding three strings, flutes, gongs and drums, lined up in two rows, then knelt and sat in the hall, each playing a musical instrument and singing. There were four more people in the corridor.
A boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, carved in pink and jade, walked up to the hall. He was dressed in colorful clothes and a black leather hat. The long tassel on the hat hung down to his chest. From time to time, he would look back, sit up, and walk.
Arrive in front of the musicians. The musicians untie the leather hat for the children, coil the long tassel on the leather hat, and hand it over to the children. The children hold the leather hats and dance to the music played by the musicians. After dancing, worship and walk away
Go down to the main hall.
Then four more children appeared on the stage, wearing royal makeup, a Zhupa on their head, purple forehead makeup, and gold ornaments. They were also dressed in colorful clothes, and wore five-colored flower ropes hanging down to their knees. According to the rhythm of the musicians, they took off their clothes.
They put down the flower rope, held hands and stamped their feet to dance.
Then there were three children, no more than ten years old, wearing pearls and green flowers on their heads and palace skirts, each carrying a small flower basket. After appearing on the stage, the three stood in a row and danced the flower basket dance to the music.
Then several groups of children came on stage to perform slap dances and ball dances. King Shangfeng and the Ryukyu officials watched attentively and nodded in praise from time to time. Judging from the dance postures and costumes, they should belong to "female musicians", but for some reason, 17
In the 20th century, all East Asian countries invariably abolished female musicians at formal occasions and replaced all performances with men. This is very boring for Zhao Yanhao. As a straight man, he really has no idea about this kind of yoooo women's costumes.
Not interested, although as an "angel" it is inconvenient to openly show "displeasure" or a bored expression, but I really can't appreciate it - probably only Taira Akimori, an expert on Japanese history and culture, can watch it with gusto.
All he could do was silently stuffing food into his mouth to relieve his boredom. There was only one scene in the middle where six warriors wearing black and white, long-sleeved shorts with striped stripes and golden sash on their heads were dancing with white staffs in their hands.
This relieved him from the boring atmosphere.
In this way, the Ryukyu boys danced seven or eight times, and it was already approaching dusk. King Shangfeng had already ordered the Ryukyu officers to place dozens of fireworks in the imperial court. At this moment, he ordered several officers to wear bamboo hats on their heads and ride on fake horses.
The horse was stuffed with fireworks on the head and tail of the fake horse, then lit, and ran around in the imperial court, adding to the fun. Amidst the sparks, the guests and hosts drank and drank happily, pushing the banquet atmosphere to a climax.
The fireworks tour was over and the sky was already dark. King Shang Feng ordered that the envoy of the Song Dynasty be given Japanese swords, gold screens, gold fans, various brocades, and some silver. Zhao Yanhao thanked him and walked to the imperial court.
Then, he sat on the sedan chair that had been prepared, and then waved goodbye to the Ryukyu monarchs and ministers.
Ryukyu officers hurriedly lifted the palanquin, and, surrounded by naturalized civilian cadres and soldiers, walked out of Fengshen Gate. I saw many Ryukyu officers waiting for the crowd outside Fengshen Gate, holding torches more than two feet long, lining up.
They met each other on both sides of the road. The flames soared into the sky and stretched across mathematics. Zhao Yanhao secretly sighed, knowing how noble the elders are now! When the officers saw the envoy leaving, they held the torch all the way and escorted Zhao Yanhao and his entourage back to the Angel Hall.