Prime Minister

Chapter 1157: Prisoner Surrender Ceremony

Chapter 1157: Prisoner Surrender Ceremony

In September, the sky in Bianjing was clear.

A bright yellow imperial tent was laid on the imperial tower of Xuande Gate.

The emperor's throne is high above.

Because today is a grand ceremony of presenting captives, the Ministry of War, Dongshanggemen, Censorate, and Taichang Temple worked all night to set up the stage before dawn.

The emperor was seen coming out from the inner east gate, with the two ministers of the Secretariat, Wang Gui and Zhang Yue, on his left and right, and all the officials came in turn to welcome him.

After the emperor ascended the throne, all civil and military officials in the gate tower as well as guests and envoys from all directions walked sideways to the north and kowtowed to the emperor three times.

For this prisoner presentation ceremony, the emperor specially invited Wang Gui and Zhang Yue to go upstairs to watch the ceremony. The emperor sat facing south, with Wang Gui and Zhang Yue sitting on his left and right.

Zhang Yue looked around and saw that the entire Imperial Street was packed with people. In the distance, Li Xian, dressed in red, was riding a tall horse, escorting prisoners and leading a huge team towards Xuande Gate.

Zhang Yue sat beside the emperor and thought that the ceremony of offering captives was passed down from the Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty retained the primitive and barbaric customs of killing people for sacrifice, which was extremely cruel.

The tradition passed down after the reform by Duke Zhou has become much more civilized. This is an improvement on the core value of Zhou Li, 'The Emperor has no relatives but only virtue as his support'.

The most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and military affairs. Military ceremonies combine sacrifices and military affairs, which is to show off the military power to the people and establish a culture of respecting military achievements.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that Emperor Taizong felt that he had basically pacified the world and issued an "edict to stop fighting."

From then on, the Song Dynasty abandoned military achievements, emphasized culture over military affairs, and changed from expansion to inward-looking. Therefore, the custom of advocating military achievements in the ceremony of offering prisoners was curbed for a time.

It was not until this time, after a great victory, that Zhang Yue organized the ceremony of offering captives on a grand scale. His purpose was to reshape the customs. Only by changing the customs first could he make laws.

The second is to establish the authority of the emperor, which is also the power in the power magic. The emperor's authority is enhanced through war, and then amplified through large-scale rituals and ceremonies.

Of course, this is Zhang Yue’s top-level design. For the participants, they will unconsciously integrate into that environment and will naturally be affected.

Any ritual or sacrifice has political significance behind it.

The inspiring power behind political significance, what could be more inspiring to the people than presenting captives to the imperial court?

But Li Xian was seen at the front, leading nearly 10,000 soldiers and escorting hundreds of prisoners across the Imperial Bridge, with soldiers in front and behind beating gongs and drums and singing triumphant songs.

The cavalry and infantry troops lined up on both sides of the Imperial Street, and the people rushed to watch.

The shadow of the two previous attacks on Xia had not yet passed, and the people were feeling resentful.

How come we were defeated by the Dangxiang again? Are they now bullying us?

The people, from top to bottom, all asked themselves this question, and now that we have won a great victory, everyone is happy.

The official watched the prisoners being escorted through the Imperial Street and asked Zhang Yue standing by, "Are the prisoners being treated well?"

Zhang Yue said: "One pound of meat and two pounds of rice and flour every day, they are all well supplied and we dare not neglect them."

The emperor said, "That's good. I am really unhappy about Wang Quanbin's destruction of Shu and his killing of 27,000 Shu prisoners."

Zhang Yue said: "At the beginning of the country, all the rules were drafted. Now that your majesty's benevolence is known to the world, the generals and soldiers below will not dare to act recklessly."

The official said, "Okay."

After a while, Li Xian led the captives to the Xuande Gate and led them to the position for presenting the captives.

Li Xian and his subordinates all held swords and wore military uniforms, while their left and right men held a notice cloth and a box and came forward to present them at the gate.

After a while, the box was carried to the imperial tower.

The eunuch opened the box and a head coated with lime was presented to the official for inspection.

This leader was undoubtedly Liang Yimai. Although he had been dealt with, the emperor still frowned when he saw this. However, he could not show a woman's kindness at this time, so he did not look away. However, this scene was immediately seen by the eunuchs and was held up for Wang Gui to review.

Wang Gui sighed in a pretentious manner and said, "If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?"

Afterwards, the head was passed to Zhang Yue. He just took a look at it without much reaction.

The official looked calm and said, "Send the head to all officials and guests for inspection."

Liang Yi buried his head and it was brought downstairs for viewing.

This time everyone saw it clearly, especially several tribute envoys from the Western Regions, who had been in and out of the Dangxiang palace and had seen the burial of the Dangxiang leader and prime minister Liang Yi.

Liang Yi was once so high and mighty, but now his head and body are separated here.

Seeing this scene, the tribute envoys from the Western Regions all trembled and bowed to the officials on the imperial tower. Zhang Yue suddenly remembered the classic saying that foreigners' knees cannot bend.

The official extended his hand to signal the envoy not to be so polite.

The envoys then calmed down a little.

After the head was announced, Wang Gui immediately read out the proclamation.

"The acting Privy Councillors of Qinfeng Road, Yongxingjun Road, and Hedong Road, the General Manager of Huanqing Road Han Zhen, the Governor of Lanhuixihe Li Xian, the General Manager of Jingyuan Road Shen Kuo and others submitted a letter to the Secretariat: We have heard that the flying frost and lightning are the means by which the Heavenly God shows his power; the punishment of crimes and the relief of the people are the means by which the wise king shows off his military power..."

General Lubu described the ins and outs of the two great victories in Lanzhou very clearly. He also talked about how brutal the Dangxiang army was and how the soldiers fought hard in hundreds of battles and finally won the first battle to end the war.

After the proclamation was read out, all the officers and soldiers under the city drew their swords.

Some of the hundreds of prisoners kowtowed and apologized, while others did not beg for mercy but just closed their eyes and waited for their fate.

Finally, the government selected a dozen Tangut leaders or generals who had repeatedly attacked the Song Dynasty and could be considered the vanguard, and took them to Xishi to be executed, and imprisoned the rest.

These people were tied with white silk around their heads by the officers on both sides and escorted away. The rest of the people were also taken back to wait for orders. When the officials and civilians saw this scene, they were all delighted and cheered.

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

The emperor, sitting on the throne, looked moved and immediately greeted the officials and the people with a smile.

But the people below were so excited that they broke through the obstruction of the officers and soldiers and rushed to the left and right of the Imperial Tower to cheer towards Tianzi Mountain.

For a moment, shouts of "Long live the Buddha" and "Long live the Buddha" echoed everywhere.

The emperor was very happy to see this, and he said to Zhang Yue, "Thanks to you, I now know the honor of being an emperor."

Wang Gui was not jealous when he heard this, and acted as if he was already used to it.

Zhang Yue said modestly, "Your Majesty, my efforts are not enough to repay even one percent of your kindness."

The emperor was very happy to see that Zhang Yue had made great achievements but was not arrogant. He thought to himself, "In Xining, I had Wang Anshi as prime minister, and in Yuanfeng, I had you, Zhang Yue, as prime minister. The restoration of the Song Dynasty is just around the corner."

If the previous words were still meant to win over and praise, the official did not say these words, but kept them in his heart.

The official immediately stood up from the throne and said, "Give me something."

The attendants rewarded the officials with crowns, robes, clothes, jewelry, gold, silver and coins. During the Yuanfeng period, there was an abundance of wealth, and the officials and officers were all given generous gifts.

The officials and generals who received the gifts thanked the emperor again. One general, after thanking the emperor for the reward, even waved his hand and scattered the jewels and coins among the people.

This caused the people to scramble for it.

The eunuch changed color, but the emperor didn't care and said, "In the past, when Huo Qubing was fighting against the Xiongnu, he poured the imperial wine into the river and drank it with his soldiers. This is also a good story."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

After saying this, the emperor turned around, went downstairs, and returned to the palace on a sedan chair. Seeing this, all the officials and people came to see him off.

……

When Zhang Yue returned home, he learned that Han Zhen's aides, Xu Xi and Lu Dazhong from the Six-Route Privy Council, were seeking a meeting at his residence.

What they brought was a letter from Han Zhen to Zhang Yue.

After reading the letter, Zhang Yue slammed the table and said, "What does Han Zhen mean? Now that his wings are strong enough, he wants to fly away?"

Seeing Zhang Yue was furious, Xu Xi and Lu Dazhong lowered their heads and dared not say a word.