Chapter 559: Ambush Trap
However, ancient emperors traveling was not like later generations of backpackers who could just pick up their backpack and hop on a train for a spontaneous trip.
Especially since civil officials always claimed the imperial family had no private matters, let alone something like the Son of Heaven's Heaven Worship Sacrifice, which concerned the state.
The Zuo Zhuan, Year 13 of Duke Cheng, records the words of Duke Kang of Liu, a Grand Master of the Zhou Dynasty: "Diligence in ritual is less important than showing respect; exerting effort is less important than being sincere... The great affairs of a state lie in ritual and war."
'Si' refers to ritual, and also to ceremonies. 'Rong', military affairs, refers to weapons, the military, and also to war.
During the Spring and Autumn period, for a feudal state, ritual and warfare were the most important great matters of the country.
The Guoyu, Zhou Yu Shang, says: "Indeed, ritual is a great principle of the state."
Ritual is a symbol of national sovereignty, and the High Priest is the ruler of the state.
Regardless of what the core of the Confucian School became after absorbing the essence of the Hundred Schools of Thought, on the surface, the state was still governed by ritual law. This is the foundation of Confucianism.
It is precisely because of this that the preparation work alone for Li Shimin's several Heaven Worship Sacrifices lasted for several months.
Especially the Fengchan Ceremony (Imperial Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth) at Mount Tai, although he repeatedly rushed for time, the preparation for the ritual vessels for the Heaven Worship Sacrifice alone took over a month.
Although this ceremony at Mount Zhongnan was only a small sacrifice, everyone at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices still prepared for over half a month, which was a full five days past the ten-day period Li Shimin had mentioned.
The Court of Imperial Sacrifices was mainly responsible for managing ancestral temple rituals. The Book of Sui, Treatise on Officials, records: "Taichang (Court of Imperial Sacrifices) manages mausoleum and temple sacrifices, rituals, music, and ceremonies, astronomy and numerology, and matters of attire."
This Government Office mainly managed rituals, rituals and music ceremonies, "astronomy and numerology," and the attire of officials.
The Court of Imperial Sacrifices was originally just a Minor Government Office, a superficial "face project." But after the Heavenly Emperor Manifestation, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices became the Supervisor of ghost god rituals in various places, responsible for communication matters between the Imperial Court and the earth gods and city gods in various places.
For a time, this Minor Government Office instead became a hot commodity.
When the Son of Heaven's decree for the Heaven Worship Sacrifice was sent down, the various Government Offices, although like wound-up machines, began operating intensively.
However, it was only after a full twenty days that Li Shimin began his journey for the Heaven Worship Sacrifice at Mount Zhongnan.
"Amitabha Buddha! Venerable! The Son of Heaven has already left the Imperial Palace!"
On Cuihua Mountain outside Chang'an City, a fat-headed, big-eared Old Monk wearing an apricot-yellow monk's robe was sitting cross-legged, gnawing on a chicken leg with relish. Standing behind him was a Monkey (Sun Wukong) with a hairy face and thunder god mouth, who had four great banners stuck in his back.
This Monkey (Sun Wukong) had a face full of baleful qi. While grinning, his gaze would occasionally sweep over the fat monk's bald head. His appearance suggested that the next moment he would pull out a stick and smash his skull.
A well-built Warrior Monk carefully went up the mountain path to the Mountain Peak, tremblingly standing behind the two people, bowing with palms together and saying.
The fat-headed, big-eared monk raised his head and looked at the light beam of qi luck covering the area Above Chang'an City, and couldn't help but sigh: "The human realm's conferment, and it's still conferring this kind of Qingshe Great God! Pitiable that the Great Tang Dynasty's three hundred years of destiny will be scattered in an instant!"
"But it's fine. Without the protection of mortal fortune, this Human Emperor deserves to face this kalpa!"
The fat monk paused, then turned his head to look at the sneaky Monkey (Sun Wukong) behind him: "You are the King of Ten Thousand Monsters. Eventually, you will have a match with that Heavenly Emperor. Since he calls himself the Son of Heaven, this kalpa shall be brought down upon that Human Emperor by you!"
"You want me to chop up this fellow! No problem,
Back then, I killed all the way from the Heavenly Court to Penglai East Road with two watermelon knives. With a swing of my blade, I didn't even blink!" The Monkey (Sun Wukong) pulled out a banana from somewhere, peeled it, and stuffed it into his mouth: "But let's be clear in advance, I won't do anything without benefit!"
"Oh? What benefit do you want? The Human Emperor indeed destroyed your Flower and Fruit Mountain!"
"I will naturally settle the score for Flower and Fruit Mountain with them," the Monkey (Sun Wukong) threw the banana peel in his hand, grinned towards the fat monk, and let out a bellow: "Monkey King is the Great Protector of Flower and Fruit Mountain, born from Heaven and Earth, not that Monk's Mind Monkey! If you want my help, promise me one condition: I want This World as my Bodhimanda. After everything is done, you all get out of this World!"
"Praise Chandana Meritorious Buddha!" The fat monk bit into the chicken leg, seemingly listening to Buddhist chants. After a long time, only one word popped out of his mouth: "Deal!"
Mount Zhongnan is only one hundred fifty miles from Chang'an. This distance is naturally nothing in modern society with various travel tools like high-speed rail, cars, and aircraft.
But in ancient times, this was a two or three-day journey for ordinary civilians, and this was even with the several Imperial Highways Chang'an had built leading outwards.
The Great Tang Dynasty's Imperial Highways were built imitating the pre-Qin Imperial Highways, centered around Chang'an. According to the plan, these several Imperial Highways, which have been under construction from the beginning of the Great Tang Dynasty's founding until now, reach Goguryeo in the east, the Aral Sea in the west, Annam in the south, and the North Blue in the north.
The main force for building the Imperial Highways were convicts, prisoners, and even demon monsters captured by the Demon Subduing Division. In the words of the Great Protector-General of Tang, keeping prisoners imprisoned in Cells was a waste of grain; it was better to put them to use. The same applied to prisoners of war.
In recent years, the Great Tang Dynasty's Militia Army campaigned year after year, capturing millions of prisoners. Annan monkeys, Steppe Turks, Western Regions foreign tribes—these prisoners were all used as labor, building Imperial Highways, digging canals, building river dikes, reclaiming wasteland, and digging Mines.
When the Great Tang Dynasty's Militia Army returned from campaigns, these prisoners, like silver, money, cattle and sheep, became excellent spoils of war in the eyes of the Local Government Offices, who competed to acquire them.
After all, these prisoners did not need to be paid wages; they only needed to be provided with food.
After the Heavenly Emperor sent down grace, the Great Tang Dynasty did not lack grain, and these prisoners were all excellent labor force.
Rumble, rumble. On the solid rammed earth Imperial Highway, there was a burst of earth shaking and mountains swaying, amidst rising smoke and dust.
Cavalry, four riders abreast, converged into a mountain-like military formation, as if they were going to level all obstacles on the Imperial Highway.
These armored soldiers were covered head to toe in black armor, with black cloaks draped over them. Even their faces wore black face masks. Their mounts were also uniformly black cavalry. Their uniform actions and cold gazes made people feel awe.
Some old Tang people recognized the origin of these armored soldiers at a glance.
The Black Armor Army! Xuan, black; Jia, armor.
The Black Armor Army got its name because all the Soldiers wore black armor.
When Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan served as Right Guard Commander during the Sui Dynasty, in order to defeat the Turkic cavalry, he once selected elites from the Tang Army, two thousand Soldiers, strictly trained them, and formed a flexible light cavalry.
He improved upon the fully armored cavalry of the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, which primarily used full armor for horse and rider, by adopting Bright Light iron armor, which had more detailed craftsmanship and was even more lightweight.
This was the predecessor of the Black Armor Army.
By the time the current Son of Heaven took over, he further developed and expanded the Black Armor Army. He selected elites from the cavalry led by Yuchi Jingde, Qin Shubao, and others, formed a mixed Hu and Han formation, and expanded the Black Armor Army to four thousand men.
And he made a large investment in optimizing the armor: using helmets to protect the head and neck, with rolled-up flaps on both sides to protect the ears.
The breastplate was divided into left and right pieces, fastened vertically in the center with armor straps, and had round guards on the left and right for protection of the chest cavity;
Shoulder guards covered both shoulders, and arm guards were worn on the arms. A belt was tied at the waist, and tassets were used to protect the thighs.
There were almost no blind spots in the defense, allowing the Black Armor Army to move through arrow rain.
All Black Armor Army soldiers carried quivers that could hold thirty arrows; they were equipped with horse crossbows with a range of about two hundred paces; additionally, individual soldiers were all equipped with lacquered spears and ring-pommel sabers. This Black Armor Army can be said to be the strongest cavalry in the entire Great Tang Dynasty.
Back then, after the Great Tang Dynasty captured the Guanzhong Region, the main Forces Outside the Pass were Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande. The entire Central Plains formed a tripartite situation.
Gaozu sent the current Son of Heaven to lead one hundred thousand Tang Army to pacify the two Forces of Wang and Dou.
In order to prevent Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande from uniting, the current Son of Heaven decided on a quick battle and quick resolution.
Using the vast majority of the one hundred thousand Tang Army, he surrounded Wang Shichong inside Luoyang City. He then personally led three thousand Black Armor Army, rushing non-stop to attack Hulao Pass.
At this time, Dou Jiande's military force was nearly one hundred thousand, but the three thousand Black Armor Army had no intention of retreating. They quickly inserted themselves into the one hundred thousand Forces, directly attacking Dou Jiande's Central Army Tent.
For a time, Dou Jiande's military was in chaos, with people and horses overturned. Finally, the current Son of Heaven captured Dou Jiande alive.
The current Son of Heaven then led the Black Armor Army, bringing Dou Jiande, and quickly returned to Luoyang City. When Wang Shichong saw Dou Jiande in the prisoner cart, he knew that relying on his own strength, he could not contend against the flourishing military power of the Great Tang Dynasty. After weighing the situation, he opened the city gates and surrendered.
It can be said that this Black Armor Army played the effect of stabilizing the realm in the history of the Great Tang Dynasty's founding.
Not only that, these battle-hardened Black Armor Army armored soldiers all cultivated the Iron Blood Breathing Method passed down by the Grand Governor. Each of these Black Armor soldiers could be called a martial arts master.
Whenever encountering a great battle, the current Son of Heaven always took them as the vanguard.
Even in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, which no one dared to mention, the Black Armor Army was the main force. This shows how high the status of the Black Armor Army was in the current Son of Heaven's heart.
Of course, those who could assist the current Son of Heaven in commanding this Military were all top-tier famous generals: Yuchi Jingde, Qin Shubao, Zhangsun Wuji, Cheng Yaojin, Li Jing...
Li Jing even led several thousand Black Armor Army, directly attacking the Turkic Main Camp and finally capturing Illig Qaghan alive.
However, since the Militia System was perfected, the Black Armor Army has been responsible for guarding the defense of Chang'an City and rarely left Chang'an again.
For the Heaven Worship Sacrifice journey, the Emperor surprisingly brought the Black Armor Army. The deep meaning behind this couldn't help but startle some Observers.
As the sun set in the west, in the orange-red halo of twilight, a full moon slowly rose in the west. A strange scene of the Sun and Moon in the same Sky surprisingly appeared in the Sky.
In a Mountain Forest thirty miles away from Mount Zhongnan, a group of Buddhist Sect Experts led by the three great holy monks of the Buddhist Sect stood on the Mountain Peak, gazing from afar at that huge team.
"The cloud qi forms the color of dragon-tiger. This is the qi of the Son of Heaven. The Emperor is undoubtedly among them!"
Monk Dao Xin, one of the three great holy monks, gazed from afar at the high place. Since childhood, he was born with a pair of wise eyes and innately possessed the ability to observe qi luck.
"Amitabha Buddha! Whether the Emperor is among them or not, I don't know. But this Old Monk can still clearly see a bit of that Black Armor Army's military qi!" The Old Monk beside Monk Dao Xin revealed hesitation in his eyes:
"Qi and blood soaring to the sky, a fierce tiger with wings! How could the Black Armor Army be here? Could it be that information was leaked!"
"Impossible. Those we brought are all elites from various Monasteries. Even they didn't know the purpose of this trip beforehand!" Monk Dao Xin shook his head.
"Then what do we do now? The Black Armor Army is here. I fear that relying solely on the Warrior Monks from our various Monasteries, we are not a match for them!"
"Calm down. Didn't we transport ten Prince of Qin Cannons? I have already ordered people to bury several thousand pounds of gunpowder on both sides of the Imperial Highway leading to Mount Zhongnan. No matter how formidable the Black Armor Army is, after all, they are also flesh and blood bodies!"
Monk Dao Xin twirled the Bodhi Buddhist Beads in his hand. Although that was said, for some reason, waves of unease arose in his heart.
The Sky was getting darker and darker. Just as he watched that huge team approach the gunpowder pre-buried point, several Warrior Monks holding signal incense were ready to go, facing the fuses behind several pieces of artillery.
"Dao Xin!"
"Di Xin!"
"Your matters have been exposed! Quickly lay down your arms and surrender! Consider yourselves warned!"
A huge sound wave, loud enough to penetrate gold and crack stone, suddenly sounded from high altitude. Then, spotlights comparable to the Sun lit up from high altitude, as if more than ten Suns had instantly appeared in the Sky, illuminating the entire Mountain Forest like daytime.
The black-clothed Warrior Monks with bald heads, numbering several thousand people, who were hiding in the Mountain Forest, didn't even have time to cover their bald heads. Under the illumination of the spotlights, those bald heads looked like glowing light bulbs, extremely dazzling.
Boom! These Warrior Monks hiding in the Mountain Forest, who were preparing to assassinate the King and kill the entourage, were startled one by one by this sudden incident. One by one, they froze at the original spot, at a loss.
In the surrounding Mountain Forest, which was originally dim, lights also suddenly became bright. Countless torches were raised, and countless noisy footsteps sounded.
"It's bad, this is a Trap!" Dao Xin was startled in his heart.
"Senior Brother!" Monk Di Xin beside him looked at Dao Xin in a panic.
Dao Xin strongly suppressed the trepidation in his heart: "Things have come to this. We can only commit to a desperate fight. Tell the disciples not to panic. With the Venerable here, who will win is still unknown! As long as we kill the Emperor, the World in chaos will be the opportunity for our Buddhist Sect to flourish!"
The surrounding ambushing Prefecture Army slowly closed in, tightly surrounding the Mountain Forest completely.
In the Mountain Forest, those black-clothed Warrior Monks holding flintlock guns stood ready, confronting from afar the Militia Army who were also holding flintlock firearms.
At this moment, a burst of sound from a heavy object tearing through the air suddenly sounded in the high altitude.
"Be careful overhead!"
A middle-aged Warrior Monk shouted sternly, and then thousands of Warrior Monks simultaneously raised their guns and aimed at the high altitude.
"Bang bang bang"
Amidst the rising white smoke from the firearms, dense lead bullets simultaneously left the barrels, forming a dense net of lead bullets in mid-air.
"A group of gun-wielding monks, ha ha ha, that really is strange!"
A burst of hearty laughter sounded. The Sky seemed to tremble for a moment. The lead bullets that had shot out paused in mid-air for a moment, then accelerated and fell downwards.
"Amitabha Buddha!"
Seeing that those lead bullets were about to fall on the heads of these Warrior Monks, Di Xin chanted a Buddhist name, waved his hand and pulled at his shoulder. The Kasaya on his body, embroidered with gold thread, flew out of his hand. It expanded against the wind, instantly turning into a huge red kasaya cloth covering tens of miles of the Mountain Forest.
At this moment, the Prefecture Army surrounding the Mountain Forest, seizing the opportunity when those Warrior Monks opened fire towards the Sky, also pulled their triggers. Dense bullets simultaneously attacked the Mountain Forest from all directions.
On that huge red cloth Kasaya, the sutras drawn with gold thread suddenly released streaks of golden light. Under the cover of the golden light, those bullets attacking the Mountain Forest fell onto the golden light as if they had hit an iron plate, emitting a burst of clanging collision sounds before falling onto the ground.
(end of chapter)