I have a fortune book

Chapter 65 Pray for Rain
In less than a cup of tea, Zhou Bai wrote an eloquent and refined sacrificial oration.

Ji Hongzhe has been an official for many years, and he was born as a Jinshi, but he has never seen such a thing, he is astonished.

"It must have been researched before, but he is only fifteen, so there is an omission in the content of the sacrificial oration." Ji Hongzhe searched for a reasonable explanation in his heart, and picked up the manuscript written by Zhou Baigang to read it.

"Nephew, it's not that easy to write a sacrificial oration to the gods. If you don't have enough background, it must be nondescript. I tried it before..."

Looking at it, Ji Hongzhe's words of admonition and persuasion stopped. He seemed to be caught in the emotions described in the sacrificial text, his face changed from time to time, and his hands were a little unsteady.

In the end, Zhou Bai's tribute to the city god to pray for rain successfully suppressed those famous people's rites and was selected by Ji Hongzhe.

This is not selfishness, but the content of the sacrificial oration really moved him, and it can be used in tomorrow's rain-seeking ceremony.

……

The next day, Pingcang County became lively early in the morning. Even the sleepy children were woken up by their parents. They all wore new clothes that they were usually reluctant to wear, and merged into the flow of people on the street.

The flow of people is rushing in one direction. There is the Temple of the City God, which is located in the center of the city, not far from the government office.

Everyone's face is pious and solemn, and the incense sticks in their hands or the new clothes they put on are a way for these simple people to express their respect.

Because there has been no rain in Pingcang County for more than a month, the ground is dry and the paddy fields are dry.

Even if the county has built a complete water storage facility since its foothold here, there are many ponds and wells dug in various villages and villages, but there is no rain, and the food that hundreds of thousands of people hope for is still difficult to grow. reward.

So today, whether the city god can hear their prayers and whether they can send nectar is very important to everyone.

The city god of Pingcang County is closely related to this place, and even the origin of Pingcang has a lot to do with it.

Because he was a general of Kaijiang, his main achievement during his lifetime was Kaibian of Bei'an County.

In recognition of his achievements, after his death, Daxu Gaozong granted him the title of City God of Pingcang County with the luck of the dynasty, protecting the people of the county and defending the border of the country.

The status of this kind of city god is of course very high in Pingcang County, and the city god's temple built for him by the government is also in the middle of the city pool, covering a large area, and the daily people will not be crowded at all when offering incense.

Of course, today is different. Those who can enter the front row of the temple square are celebrities, talents, and wealthy businessmen. In short, they are all lucky people.

In addition, only a small number of people who came early can occupy the back row in the square, and most people have to stand in the streets and alleys outside the Town God's Temple.

On the square, dozens of sacrificial seats were set up in front of the main hall of the temple.

Miao Zhu stood on the top step of the Chenghuang Temple as the master of ceremonies, and the county magistrate Ji Hongze and Shi Yu stood below the altar as the officiant.

On both sides of the steps stood a number of servants and deacons from the original Town God's Temple, who would guide the sacrificial ceremony.

The magistrate, chief secretary, and edict of the county government, as well as several county lords and representatives of many villages, stood at the front of the square as the accompanying priests, at the place closest to the incense burner.

As for Zhou Bai, he was next to the three chief priests, he didn't have to do anything else, he just recited the sacrificial oration he had written.

It turned out that Ji Hongze was worried that he would not be able to recite the true feelings in the sacrificial text, so that the effect of the sacrificial ceremony would not be maximized, so he simply asked Zhou Bai to read it by himself.

On the sacrificial table are whole pigs with safflowers in their mouths, whole sheep, tower-shaped fan cakes, five animal wine gifts, fruits and vegetables, cooked rice, ingots, and treasures, etc. The offerings are extremely rich. Yu, Yamen has spent thought and energy.

When everything was ready, the master of ceremonies glanced at the solemn crowd and began to sing the ceremony, and the sound of drums, applause and music sounded at the same time.

"Kneel, kowtow, kowtow again, kowtow three times, Xing, kneel!" The officiant took the lead in kneeling and kowtowing, from the square to the people waiting outside, all knelt down devoutly.

Then the deacon spread the incense, the first incense, the second incense, and the third incense.

Offering silk, entering the nobility, sacrificing wine and drinking...offering five animals, and offering delicacies.

The Fangyuan censer ignited a dense fragrance, and suddenly a gust of breeze came, and the thick white fragrance covered all the sacrificial seats.

"Readers take their place and read out the sacrificial oration!" Finally, Zhou Bai understood himself amidst the excited voice of the master of ceremonies.

"On April 46th in the [-]th year of Wei Xiangxing, Zhou Bai, a county resident, took a libation of drinking and shame, fasted and bathed, and offered sacrifices to the god of the county town god, saying: Wuhu! Gods and people have their own things that should be dealt with. The righteous also...

If God has knowledge, he appeals to the heavens, pleads for the people, feels the benevolence of the heaven and the earth, penetrates the spirit of the mountains and marshes, brims with brilliance, fills the ditches with water, comforts the hope of the people, and manifests the spirit of the gods.Spirit!If there is no rain for three days, it will be five days, and if there is no rain for five days, it will be seven days.If not, the hope will be cut off in three days, and then in five days, and then in seven days, and the disaster will be cruel...

Gu Pan Chenghuang sympathizes with the people of Pingcang, let's enjoy it! "

Zhou Bai's voice was clear and loud, and as the wind drifted further and further away, he poured out all the emotions contained in the sacrificial text.

The principle of the coexistence of gods and humans, and the difficulty of us mortals lacking rainwater, you are deeply popular, and all good and evil actions are in the mind of your city god.

Of course, the most important thing is that everyone sincerely prays for rain, kowtows and knees, no one is dishonest at this time.

Including Zhou Bai himself, he also wanted rain. Without rain, what would his Zhou family do to open up wasteland? Corn, sweet potatoes, etc. need to be available even if there is no shortage of water.

At the same time, he also thought of the difficulties in the development of Pingcang County. It was short of water and drought at every turn, and there was no real big river to rely on.

That day he promised Tingshan Mountain God to draw water from the Ningjiang River to activate the Canglan Water Vein, not only for the Canglan Water God, but also for his own hometown.

After Zhu Wen finished reading, it was another series of procedures.

Open the sacrifices, then offer the wine and then the food... Three kowtows, rejoicing, eating, melting treasures, and burning sacrificial texts.

At this time, many people felt that something was wrong, especially the county magistrate Dong Yi, who immediately whispered in Ji Hongzhe's ear.

He has been an official in Pingcang County for 20 years, and has seen many sacrifices to the gods to pray for rain, but there has never been a celestial phenomenon that has not changed until now.

It's broken, it won't fail, the officials, representatives of the powerful, including some ordinary people, all thumped in their hearts.

Countless people stared at the sky with tears in their eyes, why is it still cloudless!
Many old people who had experienced the calamity began to kowtow in pain, begging the city god to look at them.

Yu Yueyun, who was mixed in the crowd below, also clenched his fists, wondering if he was scolding Chenghuang for not doing anything in his heart.

She stared at Zhou Bai, a little regretful and resentful, obviously he did such a good job, why is it still not enough!
"You will have a way, right." For some reason, Yu Yueyun suddenly had such an idea.

(End of this chapter)