***
June 22nd is Tiankang Festival.
The so-called Tiankang Festival is the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Qin. All officials in the court have a day off to celebrate the emperor's birthday.
According to the custom of all dynasties, officials from all regions prepared local specialties. In addition, what was more important was to offer auspicious signs.
It is said that when King Wu of Zhou attacked the Shang Dynasty, a white fish jumped into the boat and a flame descended on the roof of King Wu's house and then turned into a bird. These auspicious signs were considered to be a symbol of God's appointment of King Wu as the Son of Heaven.
It is said that when Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, was emperor, the five planets appeared in a row in the sky, and there were many other auspicious signs.
After that, almost every time an emperor ascended the throne, some auspicious signs appeared. Local officials also reported the discovery of auspicious signs to the emperor as a manifestation of their political achievements.
On Qin Mu's birthday last year, he was personally on an expedition to the northwest and was busy with the war. Few local officials offered auspicious gifts, so he did not take it seriously.
But this year, all kinds of auspicious signs came flooding in. In Qingzhou, it was said that colorful auspicious clouds appeared in the morning; in Xiangyang, it was said that double-grained orchids grew on the wheat; in Guangyuan, it was said that sweet springs appeared on the ground; in Liuzhou, a magical turtle appeared in the river... For a time, auspicious signs were seen everywhere across the country.
Qin Mu took a look and saw that everything was a mess.
When all the officials were celebrating his birthday in the Purple Palace, Qin Mu coughed twice, looked at the officials wearing neat crowns in the palace, and said in a loud voice: "Officials from all over the country have given me many local specialties and auspicious signs, such as sweet springs coming out of the ground and orchids growing on the crops. It sounds like a scene of flowers in bloom."
All the officials looked at each other, wondering what the emperor meant by what he suddenly said.
Minister of Rites Tan Qiubai bowed and said, "Your Majesty, auspicious signs have appeared frequently in various places. This is the approval and commendation of your Majesty's virtue and achievements in civil and military affairs from heaven. Your Majesty, I congratulate you."
"Your Majesty, congratulations to you, Your Majesty!"
All the ministers came forward to congratulate him, looking extremely happy.
Qin Mu went on to say, "The auspicious signs from heaven are certainly good things. But in my opinion, the greatest auspicious sign in the world is that the local officials govern their localities well, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and all industries prosper. If they can do this, I will be happier than any other auspicious signs. Gu Yanwu!"
Hanlin University Scholar Gu Yanwu hurried out of the class: "I am here."
"You should immediately draft an imperial edict. From now on, no matter what auspicious signs appear in various places, they do not need to be reported. Every year during the Tiankang Festival, local officials should not prepare any local specialties. If you want to report something, just report your achievements to me.
But please do not make false reports. I will send people to inspect, and if anyone is found to have made false reports, they will be dismissed and questioned. I want real achievements, and if officials from all regions can report achievements that are worth showing, it will make me happier than reporting any auspicious signs, so let it be. "
"I respect your order."
Sima An immediately led all the officials to come forward and pay homage, saying, "Long live the wise emperor! Long live the wise emperor! Long live the wise emperor!"
After Hanlin University Scholar Gu Yanwu drafted the imperial edict, Qin Mu affixed the imperial seal, making it a formal imperial edict and promulgated it throughout the country, which aroused enthusiastic response.
In the Song Dynasty, every time the emperor celebrated his birthday, officials had to prepare birthday gifts, which was a huge waste. Local officials went to great lengths to offer auspicious gifts, and everyone competed in making gifts.
When some emperors of the Ming Dynasty celebrated their birthdays, they would send eunuchs to collect rare treasures and take the opportunity to plunder, which made the people miserable.
As soon as the emperor of Qin issued this imperial decree, the people immediately regarded it as the greatest auspicious sign.
In the city of Nanjing, spontaneous celebrations for the emperor's birthday were everywhere. Colorful silks were hung high and flowers were placed on the streets. Merchants took the opportunity to offer discounts and promotions, making the city very lively.
Even the prostitutes in brothels came down from their dressing rooms to perform singing and dancing for free, and the scene was full of singing and dancing.
These were all spontaneous actions of the people, and Qin Mu didn't care.
As for those merchants offering discounts and promotions, they are simply using the name of the emperor's birthday to do business, so there is no need to pay any attention to them.
***
Gu Rong captured Thang Long Prefecture, but Ma Liuliang defeated Zheng Zhen's 30,000-man army in one fell swoop, capturing Zheng Zhen and his sons, as well as the Lord of Li and all the officials in the court. Ma Liuliang was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.
He Jinan once again created a classic battle example, with 300 men defeating 30,000 troops. Although he used 200 war elephants to break through Zheng Xun's formation, causing chaos in Zheng's army, in fact, even without the 200 war elephants, he could still break through the enemy formation and capture the enemy leader with the 200 rockets he brought and the 300 cavalry.
Jiaozhi, which was thought to be very troublesome, was unexpectedly quickly captured by Gu Rong and Ma Liuliang. At least the rich Red River alluvial plain was captured. As for the mountainous areas in the south, Ma Liuliang was also sending troops to attack them.
That day was Tiankang Festival and a great victory had just been won. Ma Liuliang cooked sheep and cattle in the camp, ate large chunks of meat and drank large bowls of wine to celebrate.
Just as they were having fun, a report suddenly came from the gate saying that an angel had arrived with an imperial decree, and asked Ma Liuliang to quickly prepare to receive the order.
Ma Liuliang did not dare to delay, and immediately had people prepare an incense table. He also personally welcomed the eunuch who came to announce the decree into the camp. When the soldiers in the camp saw the angel coming, they dropped their wine bowls and watched curiously.
"Eunuch Han, you have worked hard on the journey. I wonder why His Majesty suddenly issued an order..."
"Ahem!" Eunuch Han Yinghan coughed twice, stood in front of the incense table expressionlessly, took out an imperial edict, and read aloud: "By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Jiande Hou Ma Liuliang, while suppressing the rebellion of Cen Yin, the chieftain of Si'en Prefecture in Guangxi, set fire to the mountains without regard for the consequences, causing the fire to spread to several states and destroying the homes of tens of thousands of people..."
Ma Liuliang fell to the ground, his head buzzing when he heard this. No way, does His Majesty really want to hold me accountable
Finally, when he heard Han Ying in a daze reading out the punishment of one hundred military sticks and one year's salary, he almost jumped up. He didn't care about the one year's salary, but these hundred military sticks would at least make him half-crippled if not dead. Wouldn't that be the end
"Eunuch Han, are you mistaken? His Majesty..."
"Come on, take Ma Liuliang down and execute him!" Han Ying shouted sharply, and the imperial guards who came with him immediately rushed forward, took Ma Liuliang down, pressed him onto two benches, and then pulled up his pants, revealing a... ... Well, it's definitely not white, Lord Ma's butt is a little black, saying a little black is a polite word, it's really black... ...
When the soldiers in the camp saw this situation, they couldn't help but get a little agitated, but Han Ying had the imperial edict in his hand, so no one dared to act rashly and could only watch.
Han Ying flicked his whisk, squatted in front of Ma Liuliang, smiled and said softly, "Marquis Jiande, I'm sorry."
"Eunuch Han, Your Majesty... I know I was wrong, Your Majesty, please spare my life!"
"Hehe... Marquis Jiande, bear with it. You didn't do the right thing this time. It's going to be hard for His Majesty to deal with you. If you are not punished, will the imperial censors in the court let it go? Besides, other generals will follow suit. The Qin Empire is not enough for you to fight for."
"Well, I'll take the blame for my own actions. If you want to hit me, just hit me hard. At most, I'll be a brave man again in 18 years."
"Hehe... Execution!"
Han Ying shouted sharply, and the burly palace guards immediately took up their big sticks and hit him hard. "Pa!" The sound of the stick made people's hearts numb, and this was only the first stick, there were still ninety-nine sticks to come.
Ma Liuliang had gritted his teeth early in the morning, ready to hold out, but when the powerful blow came, although his buttocks did hurt, it didn't seem as severe as he had expected...
After a few beatings, Eunuch Han could no longer bear it and quickly squatted in front of Ma Liuliang, saying anxiously: "Oh, my Lord, if it hurts, you should scream a few times. You are so silent that it makes it difficult for me to live."
Ma Liuliang's heart trembled, and he immediately screamed in unison: "Ah! Ouch! It hurts so much!"
Lord Ma's screams were so miserable that they echoed throughout the camp and made everyone's eardrums hurt.
As a result, after being beaten with a hundred military sticks, he jumped to the ground with a bloody butt, as if nothing had happened.
Han Ying quickly came forward and said with a bitter face, "Hou Ni, can you please cooperate a little? If word gets out about your behavior, His Majesty won't look good."
"Oh oh... Ouch, it hurts so much! Ouch..."
Ma Liuliang cooperated again and was helped into the big tent by his left and right hands. Han Ying followed him in. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a bottle of medicine from his sleeve and said, "My Lord, this is the healing medicine given to you by His Majesty. Apply it once in the morning and evening. The skin wound will be healed in a few days."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, and thank you, Eunuch Han."
"My Lord, His Majesty said that you have been through a lot in the war, and His Majesty knows it all. But the country has its own laws, and His Majesty cannot always protect you alone. In the future, Your Majesty, you must not be so reckless, otherwise even if His Majesty wants to protect you, he will have to act according to the law."
After hearing this, Ma Liuliang was deeply moved. He stood up and kowtowed several times to the north: "Your Majesty, I will repay your grace with my life..."
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ps: On New Year’s Eve, the night of family reunion, I wish you all good luck in the Year of the Sheep and all the best!
.(To be continued..)
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