roccoschili Chapter 899 Taishan Fengchan
Chapter 899 Taishan Fengchan
On the top of Mount Tai, the sea of clouds surges like galloping horses.
On November 11th of the 23rd year of Kaiyuan reign, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, wearing a robe with a dragon crown and twelve emblems, climbed the nine jade steps of the Fengshan Terrace.
The jade disk used for offering sacrifices to heaven reflected a warm luster in the morning sun, which contrasted with the pearl crown on his temples.
As the voices of the ceremonial officials singing "Laying down the Jade and Silk" penetrated the clouds, the forty-year-old emperor tilted his head slightly and looked towards the dawn in the east - there, the Tang Empire he had created was spreading between heaven and earth in the most magnificent posture.
In the Fengshan team, the Mingguang armor of the Imperial Guards shone coldly in the mountain breeze.
These soldiers were all selected from the elite troops in border towns under the conscription system. The cloud patterns on the armor plates have been polished hundreds of times, but they can still reflect clear faces.
Li Longji looked at their straight backs and thought of the military reform that affected the whole country in the tenth year of Kaiyuan.
At that time, the military system of the prefectures was already like a rotten tree that could not be sustained. The number of soldiers in the Guanzhong Zhechoufu was more than half short, and the soldiers stationed in Liaodong even had to bring their own dry food to take up their posts.
He ignored the opposition and asked Prime Minister Zhang Shuo to implement the conscription system, selecting soldiers based on the principle of "recruiting strong men without asking about their family background" and providing them with generous military pay and land.
The ten thousand imperial guards on standby at the foot of Mount Tai are the fruits of this reform - their average age is twenty-five, they are skilled in archery and horsemanship, and they wear distinctive armor, which is completely different from the skinny and pale palace soldiers ten years ago.
Minister of War Xiao Song reported quietly, "Your Majesty, Beiting Protector General Gai Jiayun has stationed 5,000 cavalry in Yiwu, and Anxi Jiedushi Fu Menglingcha has sent scouts west of the Pamir Mountains."
Li Longji nodded slightly, his eyes sweeping across the border maps displayed on both sides of the Fengshan Terrace.
The territory outlined in red ink on the map extends to the Ungjin Governorate on the Korean Peninsula in the east, the Kangju Governorate in the Amu Darya River Basin in the west, the Jiankun Governorate on the shores of Lake Baikal in the north, and Jiaozhi under the jurisdiction of the Annan Protectorate in the south.
This territory stretching for thousands of miles, guarded by ten military governors and four protectorates, is like a giant's outstretched arm, encompassing the entire East Asia.
What made the empire most proud was the Western Region barrier formed by the two major protectorates of Anxi and Beiting.
Starting from Chang'an and heading west along the Silk Road, there was a beacon tower every three hundred miles and a military city every five hundred miles.
The camel bells of Kucha and the horns of Luntai harmonized with each other, and the garrison soldiers of Shule were able to convey the warning to Khotan within three days.
Last autumn, the Turkic Khan Sulu led his troops to invade the city of Suiye. The Anxi Protector Du Xian gathered 30,000 cavalry in just seven days and drove them west of Talas.
Today, caravans on the road to the Western Regions no longer have to worry about being plundered by the Hu cavalry. Even Persian camel merchants dare to carry spices and glass directly to the West Market of Chang'an.
Among the ritual vessels used in the Fengshan Ceremony, a group of silver pots were particularly eye-catching. The bodies of the pots were engraved with pictures of envoys from seventy countries paying homage. From the high-nosed and deep-eyed Arab merchants to the Bohai prince with his hair tied up and his clothes lapel on the left, all of them held tributes with respectful expressions.
The ceremonial officer introduced that this was the "Ten Thousand Nations Paying Homage to the Emperor" pot specially made by the Honglu Temple for this Fengshan ceremony. There was also an inscription on the bottom of the pot: "Submit plans every three years, and all nations will flock to Heluo."
Li Longji gently stroked the body of the pot, recalling the grand court meeting in Ziwei City, Luoyang, during the winter solstice last year.
That day, tributes from various countries were displayed in Yingtianmen Square: sable furs from the Uighurs were piled up into small hills, ginseng from Silla was placed in jade boxes, sulfur from Japan was packed in gold-painted lacquer barrels, and cinnabar from Nanzhao was filled in silver basins.
The envoys from more than seventy countries were arranged according to the size of their countries. Leading the group was Bohai Prince Da Wuyi, who wore a purple robe and jade belt, followed by envoys from Tibet and the Caliph of the Arabs.
When the Minister of Rites was reading out the tribute lists from various countries, there was suddenly a commotion outside the palace - it turned out that the Persian prince was performing with dancers. Their spinning skirts were like blooming flowers, attracting the imperial guards to stop and watch.
This kind of lively scene is even more common in Chang'an.
In the "Persian Residence" where foreign merchants gathered in the West Market, merchants from Samarkand bargained in Sanskrit and Turkic, musicians from Kangguo played the pipa in the wine shop, and monks from Tibet translated Buddhist scriptures in Ci'en Temple.
When Monk Jianzhen sailed eastward last year, the Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty, Kibi no Makibi, specially held a vegetarian feast at Qinglong Temple and invited international students from more than 20 countries to attend.
During the banquet, Cui Zhiyuan, a student from Silla, composed poems in Chinese, merchants from the Arab world presented ostrich eggs, Tibetan nobles performed the Guozhuang dance, and even Li Longji's sister, Princess Yuzhen, could not help but join in and drink grape wine with everyone.
On the way back to Chang'an from Mount Tai, Li Longji deliberately took a detour to Luoyang.
This city, known as the "Second Capital" together with Chang'an, is bustling with activity in early summer.
On the Tianjin Bridge, a Hu Ji galloped past on a white horse, and the gold foil on her temples contrasted beautifully with the stone lions on the bridge.
In front of the silk shop in the South Market, a Persian merchant was introducing Samarkand brocade to buyers in broken Chinese.
In the peony garden of Shangyang Palace, the palace maids were playing dice with the wives of the Western Region envoys, and their laughter startled the orioles on the branches.
This open and inclusive atmosphere is even stronger in Chang'an.
On Zhuque Street, you can see ladies wearing veiled hats walking side by side with scholars. Swords and abacus bags are hung on the belts around their waists, showing no sign of the restraint of later generations.
In the "Hu Ji Tavern" in the West Market, singing girls sang the Persian "Eighteen Beats of the Hujia", dancers performed the Zhezhi dance, and scholars competed in poetry and drank wine here. Even Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling once left a poem that said "Hu Ji is as beautiful as a flower, and she smiles in the spring breeze while drinking at the wine shop."
Chang'an City's inclusiveness is also reflected in its acceptance of foreign cultures.
The cross of the Nestorian Temple and the pagoda of the Da Ci'en Temple face each other across the street, and the sacred fire of Zoroastrianism and the alchemy furnace of Taoism burn in the same market.
The cook in the Minister of Personnel's house was a Korean who could make authentic cold noodles.
Some of the generals of the Yulin Army were of Xianbei descent, but they could recite the "Analects of Confucius".
Even among the court musicians there was Bai Mingda, a master of the pipa from Kucha. His piece "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat" has now become a must-have piece of music for court banquets.
After the Fengshan ceremony, Li Longji read the report from the Ministry of Revenue in the palace at the foot of Mount Tai.
The accounts of the silk warehouse showed that the country had grain reserves of 96 million dan, copper coin reserves of more than 3 million strings, and silver reserves of 200 million taels. Silk was piled up like mountains, so much so that the beams and pillars of some warehouses collapsed under the weight.
Yang Guozhong, who was in charge of finances (then a doctor of the Ministry of Revenue), wrote in a memorial: "Mill in Guanzhong costs ten coins per dou, and silk in Luoyang costs 150 coins per piece. The average household has enough grain to last for three years."
This wealth stems from the empire's sophisticated tribute system.
Li Longji recalled Wu Zetian's words: "If you take the land of the barbarians by force, it will exhaust the national strength; if you try to win them over with kindness, you will gain benefits."
The Tang Dynasty’s current governance of its vassal states is a continuation of this approach.
The Bohai Kingdom paid tribute of 30,000 sable skins every year, and the court gave back silk and farm tools.
Silla sent people to exchange seal skins for the "Book of Rites" and the calendar; the Japanese delegation brought sulfur and gold dust, but took away the "Tang Law Commentary" and the "Diamond Sutra".
This strategy of "giving more and taking less" might seem disadvantageous to the imperial court, but in fact it maintained the vast international order at minimal cost. As the Minister of Rites said, "One bolt of silk for ten sable furs, ten volumes of scriptures for a thousand bushels of grain. This is not a transaction, but a blessing from the Celestial Empire."
The full treasury gave the court the confidence to implement more relaxed policies.
In the first month of the 23rd year of Kaiyuan, Li Longji issued an edict to reduce the rent and labor service tax across the country, reducing the land tax from 2 liters per mu to 1.5 liters.
At the same time, the scale of the Changping Granary was expanded, and fifty more granaries were built in Guanzhong, Henan and Hebei to prepare for famine years.
These measures enabled the people to live and work in peace and contentment. According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, in the 23rd year of Kaiyuan, the number of households in the country reached 9 million and the population reached 45 million, an increase of nearly 30% compared with the beginning of Kaiyuan.
Standing on the top of Mount Tai and overlooking the sea of clouds, Li Longji suddenly recalled the difficulties in the early years of the Kaiyuan period.
At that time, Princess Taiping had just been sentenced to death, there were many factions in the court, and there was even a tragedy of cannibalism in Guanzhong due to drought.
He worked day and night, appointed wise ministers such as Yao Chong and Song Jing, and implemented reforms such as household registration, equal distribution of land, and rectification of official administration, which brought about the prosperity of today.
Today, folk songs sang, "The Kaiyuan era surpassed the Zhenguan era, and far surpassed the Wu Zhou era in its new atmosphere." Even historians wrote in their diary notes, "Since the Three Dynasties, there has been no such prosperity as the Kaiyuan era."
But he also remembered another of Wu Zetian's words: "The art of colonization is like holding a tiger's tail; if you are weak, you will be devoured."
Although the Tang Dynasty is strong at this moment, the hidden crisis has begun to emerge.
Although the conscription system improved combat effectiveness, it also allowed the military governors of border towns to control a large number of troops.
The open and inclusive atmosphere has also caused some officials to worry that "Hu style is too prevalent and will damage our Chinese style."
Even the fullness of the national treasury attracted the princes to covet the throne.
But these hidden worries seem so insignificant in the glory of Fengshan.
When the ceremonial officer sang "The ceremony is over", Li Longji bowed deeply to the sky.
The mountain breeze blew his crown, and the light sound of pearls colliding seemed to be telling something.
He knew that from this moment on, his nerves, which had been tense for twenty-three years, could finally relax a little.
As for those hidden undercurrents, perhaps it’s not too late to think about them tomorrow.
In the team going down the mountain, the armor of the imperial guards was still shining, and the court robes of the foreign envoys were still bright.
In the direction of Chang'an, the bells and drums on Zhuque Street are about to ring the evening drum, the Hu merchants in the West Market are counting today's income, and the lights in the Daming Palace have been lit one after another.
This empire, like the sunrise on Mount Tai, is at its most glorious moment.