Chapter 302: The District Drinking Rite

In the Tang dynasty there was no such term as "New Year," and New Year's Eve was far less important than in later times; what mattered to them was the first day of the first month, Yuanzheng, and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth.

On the Lantern Festival of 937, Liangzhou was decked in red and hung with colors, looking completely renewed. This was already the fifth Lantern Festival Zhang Zhao had passed since arriving in this era.

By this time it was in fact already the second year of Tianfu of the Later Jin, because in the twelfth month of 936, after Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang, he had immediately changed the era name to Tianfu.

But the news had not yet reached Liangzhou, so the Hexi region was still using the Qingtai era name of the Later Tang's last emperor, Li Congke.

This year's Lantern Festival was different from those of previous years: Zhang Zhao had by now stabilized the situation in Liangzhou and at last had territory of his own.

Among his wives and concubines, his principal wife, Cao Shijiu Niang, had not yet crossed the threshold and was still in Shazhou, Dunhuang, mourning for Cao Yijin.

Cao Yannian of the Cao family remained in Khotan because Zhang Xianyu, Zhang Zhao's eldest daughter by her, was still very young.

Ayiguli was all but certain not to return east. The second son she bore, Zhang Xianyu, would remain in Anxi as the designated future lord of the great grasslands west of Talas, including the Caspian coast.

At the same time, Zhang Zhao's legal mother, Princess Fengtian of Khotan, had already set out to return to Khotan after Cao Yijin's funeral, and Ayiguli also bore the heavy responsibility of fulfilling filial duty to the legal mother on Zhang Zhao's behalf.

Presumably, with a daughter-in-law and grandson to keep her company, and several hundred thousand mu of land in Ningyuan to manage, Princess Fengtian would have her hands full.

The remaining one, Li Ruoliu, had also not come to Liangzhou. She and Zhang Zhao's eldest son, Zhang Xianzhun, had been arranged to stay in Dunhuang to keep Zhang Zhao's birth mother, Lady Song, company.

Lady Song had always lived alone before the blue lamp and ancient Buddha, but Zhang Zhao still hoped she could change this habit of living somewhat.

After all, if the day ever came when he ascended the throne, his legal mother Princess Fengtian, with her Scythian features, would not be suited to serve as Empress Dowager. His birth mother, Lady Song, would certainly have to go east with him to Luoyang or wherever, so she needed to be trained up first.

Therefore the only ones following at Zhang Zhao's side were Cao Sanniang, the little wildcat Guo Wan'er, and a Saffarid Persian princess, Saifiye, who could still only be counted as a loli.

Among these, Cao Sanniang still had to be treated with propriety for some time, since she was still within the mourning period for Cao Yijin, and the little loli Saifiye absolutely could not be touched. Only the one little wildcat, Guo Wan'er, was available at his side.

But Guo Wan'er had been trained by Zhang Zhao himself, in an act of self-sabotage, into a personal female secretary. With so much upheaval throughout Liangzhou, the matters Guo Wan'er had to handle in a day were no fewer than those of her cousin Guo Tiance, who followed at Zhang Zhao's side, and she had grown thin from overwork. This made Zhang Zhao reluctant to go flirt with her too often.

Hmm! In summary, as he was drinking merrily with everyone and watching Murong Xinzhang with a beautiful concubine at his side, all tender affection, Zhang Zhao suddenly realized that he, the Acting Minister of Works and Commissioner of the Guiyi Army, was actually the plainest one of them all.

This year's Lantern Festival was especially lively. Besides being the first Lantern Festival under Zhang Zhao's governance of Liangzhou, Zhang Zhao had also restored two grand ceremonies that had not been held since the Tibetans conquered Hexi.

The first was the District Drinking Rite. The so-called District Drinking Rite was a banquet custom passed down from the Zhou dynasty.

Its original main purpose was to recommend worthy men to the state, with the district grandee acting as host at the banquet. Later it evolved into a banquet held by local officials to entertain candidates for examination, and was called the District Drinking.

But in Zhang Zhao's hands, he intended to transform the District Drinking Rite from a wine ceremony in which local officials entertained examination candidates into an event in which the ruler of a region entertained the worthy elders of the district.

At present, in Zhang Zhao's Liangzhou, the Hexi Military Governor's office administered the single prefecture of Liangzhou, though of course Ganzhou, Lanzhou, and other prefectures might soon be added.

Liangzhou governed six counties: Shenniao, Guzang, Fanhe, Jialin, Changsong, and Minqin.

Beneath each county there were also grassroots divisions such as townships and wards: ten households made one neighborhood, one hundred households made one ward, five hundred households made one township, and each county had at least five townships.

In terms of official appointments, however, apart from county-level posts such as County Magistrate and County Sheriff, no official posts could be established in the townships and wards. There were only the township elders and ward heads responsible for assisting with tax collection, catching thieves, inspection, and conscripting corvée labor.

Governance not extending below the county level had always been an important feature of rule in ancient Chinese society.

Because at this time a single county had only a few tens of thousands of people, the population was extremely dispersed, and with limited productive capacity it was impossible to support a large-scale civil service. Thus governance of the townships and wards was basically controlled by the local worthies and elders.

But with Zhang Zhao, the situation was still somewhat special. The people under his counties' jurisdiction, aside from Guzang County, which was mostly Liangzhou Han folk, were all split out from the six valley divisions of the Wenmo.

The County Magistrates of each county were also originally the chieftains of the various tribes. This was not governance not extending below the county — it was governance not even extending to the county.

And to break this situation in which tribal chieftains were like local emperors, the worthy elders of the townships were Zhang Zhao's most important means of reaching the lower levels.

So he quickly restored the system of township elders and ward heads in the six counties of Liangzhou, although these township elders and ward heads still had to listen to the tribal chieftains in many matters.

But as long as Zhang Zhao gave them a certain amount of support, they would be able to continuously share in and strip away the tribal chieftains' power, which was even more conducive to Zhang Zhao's complete control of the six divisions' people.

And this District Drinking Rite was a good opportunity Zhang Zhao gave these lowest-level petty local magnates to "see the sovereign" and "bathe in imperial grace."

Therefore Zhang Zhao directly moved the drinking venue to the bank of the Macheng River outside Liangzhou. From the six counties, thirty-seven townships, and one hundred eighty-five wards came two hundred thirty petty magnates and their sons and younger kin — a full five hundred and more people.

Together with the various officials of the Liangzhou Han folk and Sogdians, a District Drinking Rite of close to seven hundred people began.

Guo Wan'er, transformed into Zhang Zhao's head steward, was on the verge of tears.

What kind of District Drinking Rite was this! Watching those burly men whose mouths gaped wide and made fist-sized mutton and sand-onion buns vanish, whose heads tilted and left a honey-glazed roast lamb leg as nothing but bone, she suddenly thought:

These people had come to feast on a rich household. This one drinking ceremony, with wine and meat alone, could not be settled for less than a thousand strings of cash.

"Dong dong dong!" One great drum after another was struck, and the crowd that had been gorging itself instantly fell silent.

It turned out that Zhang Zhao — Acting Minister of Works, Acting Military Governor of Hexi (self-proclaimed), Commissioner of the Guiyi Army, Dharma King Bodhisattva — had stepped onto the high platform.

"In high antiquity, the Son of Heaven of Zhou held the District Drinking Rite, thereby making the Xia the rulers and the Yi the subjects, and expanding the living territory of us Han folk.

The great dynasty established the District Drinking Rite, thereby making the barbarians of the four quarters submit, and bestowing upon us sons of Tang a hundred years of glory.

Today I, Zhang Erlang, in imitation of the ancient sage kings, have laid out fat sheep and fine wine to drink together with you worthy elders of the districts. I ask you all to raise the dark wine in your bowls!"

"The great dynasty" referred to the Great Tang, and "dark wine" was wine diluted with clear water.

It was said that in highest antiquity there was no wine, and rites were performed with water; later kings honored antiquity and esteemed it as dark wine.

This thing, from the vessels for mixing and holding the wine to the rites applied, all had strict regulations.

It was only later that these were gradually simplified, and by Zhang Zhao's time they had been simplified to the point that, apart from the one requirement that the dark wine be diluted with water, basically everything else had been done away with.

Every sentence Zhang Zhao spoke on the high platform was simultaneously recited aloud by the several dozen youths of the Loyal Followers Army surrounding him, so that even with several hundred people seated around the banquet, everyone heard it clearly.

"Aye!" Several hundred people shouted in unison, raising their wine cups at the same time.

"Thus the dark wine is in the chamber, the sweet wine and white wine at the door, the reddish wine in the hall, and the clear wine below... thereby to rectify ruler and minister, to strengthen father and son, to harmonize elder and younger brother, to align high and low, and to give husband and wife their proper place — this is called receiving Heaven's blessing."

Zhang Zhao likewise raised his wine cup high and loudly chanted this passage about dark wine from the Book of Rites, "The Conveyance of Rites."

"This is the virtuous wine of antiquity. First we honor Heaven, Earth, and our ancestors, thanking them for the bloodline and culture they passed down to us, so that today, by this writing and these rites alone, we can recognize one another and trust one another!

Next we honor ourselves. Anxi, Hexi, and Longyou have been sunk in barbarian dust for a hundred and fifty years, yet we have not forgotten our ancestors and still know shame and honor. Therefore, having endured tribulations, we can still return to our motherland.

This is the common great vow of myself, Zhang Erlang, and all of you: to recover the twelve prefectures of Lan, Shan, Gan, He, Kuo, Min, Tao, Wei, Bing, Liang, Gua, and Sha, and Su, so that the Nine Bends of the Yellow River and the He-Huang valley may return to the nation! Please drain this cup!"

"Aye!" Several hundred people roared in answer once more, draining the dark wine in their cups in one gulp, and then the atmosphere was pushed to its peak.

"We are willing to follow the Minister of Works (the Bodhisattva) and return to the nation!"

When the drinking was done, some wept bitterly, some were overcome with mixed emotions, some drank freely and sang, and some were stirred to the depths of their hearts.

In four months, Zhang Zhao, drawing on the powerful centripetal force of Han culture, had at last accomplished the first step of guiding the hundreds of thousands of Wenmo of the Nine Bends of the Yellow River and the He-Huang valley back onto the right path.

"Reporting to Your Excellency! The Zhang family of the Baishui Army, the Ma family of the Xuanwei Army, and the Zhu family of the Heyuan Army in Shanzhou, moved by Your Excellency's great righteousness in returning to the nation and aware of Your Excellency's bodhisattva-like benevolence and might, wish to offer the three cities of Baishui, Xuanwei, and Shancheng in Shanzhou in allegiance!"

Zhang Zhao had just stepped down from the high platform when Murong Xinzhang, dressed in close-fitting martial attire, came before him leading three chieftains clad in black leather robes.

The moment the three saw Zhang Zhao, they dropped to one knee. "The three tribes of Shanxi are willing to follow the commands of the Dharma King Bodhisattva, in life and in death!"

The so-called Zhang family of the Baishui Army, the Ma family of the Xuanwei Army, and the Zhu family of the Heyuan Army sounded Han Chinese, but in fact they were not Han at all.

They were the three Tuyuhun tribes — Zhangmi, Mabo, and Zhulu — whom Murong Guiying had told Zhang Zhao about, conquered by the Tibetans in years past.

Because of trade, they had originally been subordinate to the East Dahe tribe among the six Wenmo valley tribes, but this subordination was only nominal; the East Dahe tribe could not control them at all.

Within the territory of these three tribes, the Zhang family of the Baishui Army and the Ma family of the Xuanwei Army were located in what would later be Datong County in Qinghai, while the Zhu family of the Heyuan Army was situated directly in Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai.

In the Tang dynasty, Shanzhou was the seat of the Longyou Military Governor, and therefore rather large. The three tribes lay west of Shanzhou, and were sometimes called the Three Tribes of Shanxi.

After Zhang Zhao had essentially brought Liangzhou under control, he dispatched Murong Xinzhang with three hundred Murong clan cavalry, plus three hundred Basmyl cavalry under Zhang Zhao's own command, to advance west into Shanzhou.

Relying on the Murong clan's status as Tuyuhun royalty and the awe-inspiring name of Zhang Zhao the Dharma King Bodhisattva, they brought the Three Tribes of Shanxi back into the fold directly.

The mere fact that they had already changed Zhangmi to Zhang, Mabo to Ma, and Zhulu to Zhu showed that they did not even wish to remain Tuyuhun — they wanted to become Han outright.

Zhang Zhao naturally would not refuse. With the submission of the Three Tribes of Shanxi, he could use their strength, dispatch a small force of elite troops in coordination, and force the surrender of Huangshui City, the former seat of the Longyou Military Governor, thereby taking all of Shanzhou in one stroke.

"Guo Tiance, set three more banquet tables and welcome the three chieftains Zhang, Ma, and Zhu to their seats!"

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