After this order was issued, many soldiers in the surrounding area wanted to join in the fun and spread the word among the boats, saying that the emperor wanted to treat everyone to oranges. Soon, before many oranges were distributed, some people took the lead in rowing over, holding oranges in the river and shouting directly to the big boat, saying that they were thanking the emperor for the reward.
In response to this, Emperor Zhao simply sat at the bow of the boat and had a lamp hung on the bow to illuminate himself. Then he peeled oranges while nodding to the soldiers who came to express their gratitude.
The three gentlemen looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
On the contrary, Lu Haowen and Wang Boyan were more or less familiar with the official's unbridled attitude, so they simply took an orange each, thanked the official, and then sat calmly at the bow and slowly ate... In the end, the usually serious Xu Jingheng had no choice but to step forward and sit down awkwardly to eat the orange.
The oranges were distributed layer by layer. The soldiers and the civil and military officials only had about 2,000 oranges in total, so after the distribution was completed, there were still many left. Emperor Zhao was about to order the remaining oranges to be given to the families of the civil and military officials, but suddenly he heard a commotion on the shore. It was the news from the river that attracted the nearby residents to come to the ferry to find Emperor Zhao, asking him to reward them with oranges to pray for good luck this year.
Official Zhao naturally had nothing to say. He waved his hand again and placed the remaining half of the oranges at the ferry on the south bank for distribution. Everyone, young or old, strong or young, could take one.
However, oranges were just miscellaneous fruits and were not precious in Huainan. Everyone just came to see Emperor Zhao for fun, and many people did not eat the oranges after receiving them. Instead, they kept them in their arms, hoping to get a reward.
Therefore, after a short while, Zhao Guanjia finished his posturing and was about to get up to have a proper meal. However, as soon as he looked up, he saw a bright moon hanging on the Xishi Mountain in front of him, like a bright lantern hanging high in the sky, and then shining down on the river. He was moved and sat back down. Then, on the river, everyone saw that the official sitting at the bow of the boat picked up another orange, carefully peeled off half of it, pushed out the fruit segments from the bottom, and then opened the lantern beside him, took out the remaining candle that was about to burn out, and put it into the orange. Then he stood up again and walked to the side of the boat in front of everyone.
Everyone understood, and Feng Yi hurriedly called for a small boat to pick them up. He asked Yang Yi Zhong to help the official get off the boat carefully, and then released the orange lantern on the Huai River, letting it drift with the current and drift eastward to the Xishi Mountain.
In fact, such behavior is quite wasteful on the road, because one lamp is fine, but the official is doing this under the attention of the public, which may lead to imitation and waste the storage of the imperial palace. Therefore, the three ministers and other important officials who came after hearing the news frowned secretly.
However, after Emperor Zhao had lit the lanterns on the river, he turned back to the big boat and looked eastward at the drifting sparks with a long sigh: "I came here in a hurry and was unable to wait for the Bagongshan Cemetery to be built for the sacrifice. The fleeting lights will only serve as a feast for the dead soldiers' souls."
The civil and military officials around, starting with the three ministers, became solemn.
Soon, the surrounding soldiers and civilians on the shore, some heard this and knew that the government was commemorating the comrades who died in the battle of Bagua Mountain, some did not understand why and thought that the government was having fun with the people, so they all followed suit... Those who did not eat the oranges naturally went with the flow, those who had eaten them went to borrow from others, those who had candles used them, those who did not have candles put some oil and stuffed some messy wicks in, and those who could not even find oil simply put some dry pine branches in the water, lit them, and pushed them into the water.
In the end, even Yang Yizhong, who was usually steady, ran down in person, lit a few orange lanterns in front of the officials, and threw something into the river.
In short, just a moment later, there were thousands of streams of light, like stars, swaying eastward along the Huai River, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, like a dream.
After waiting for a while, they saw the light gradually disappearing, leaving only the bright moon above. Many officials and poets who had previously felt that the government was wasting money were now disappointed. A few even thought of the days before Jingkang, and felt like they were in a dream. They covered their faces and cried secretly, which was in sharp contrast to the people on the shore who were still excited.
As for Zhao Jiu, the Emperor Zhao, he felt completely at peace at this moment. Without giving it any more thoughts, he simply picked up a big orange, put it in his arms, and went downstairs to the cabin to eat.
As the saying goes: Snow washes away the dust of the barbarians, and the wind brings the clouds of Chu to stay.
Who wrote this tragic and heroic poem, crossing the city wall at night?
The lakes and seas have always been majestic, the rivers and mountains are now the scenery, sit down and wait for the toast.
Fortunately, when the cranes cried, the general defeated the enemy.
Recalling the past, Zhou and Xie, rich in Spring and Autumn.
Xiao Qiao was newly married, her perfume bag was still untied, and she enjoyed her achievements.
The sun sets on the rocky tip of Chibi, and the bright moon hangs over the Feishui Ferry, calling out to people’s sorrow.
I want to ride on the wind and see the floating light again.
This volume is finished.
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