Chapter 53 ancestor worship
On New Year’s Eve, every family is having a reunion dinner.

At this time, eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year had become popular, and the cooking method was definitely much more advanced than at the same period in history.

There are a wide variety of dishes, including frying, stir-frying, deep-frying and stewing.

Because it was New Year's Day, Li Yuan's concubines and illegitimate sons and daughters were also allowed to dine in the main hall.

The magnificent hall and the scene of dozens of people eating together was definitely the most lively New Year's Eve dinner Li Yuanhui had ever eaten.

The oldest of the illegitimate brothers is only ten years old, and the youngest is only five or six years old, not even older than the eldest niece of the eldest brother.

This is what a big family is like, and my dad is not yet at the peak of his childbearing years.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, we stayed up all night as usual.

My father and several brothers started playing mahjong again, and several sisters-in-law and my father's concubine Wan also gathered together to play mahjong.

The remaining half-brothers plucked up their courage and surrounded Li Yuanhui, asking him to talk about marching and fighting.

They stayed together until the late night or early morning before they dispersed.

Early the next morning, Li Yuanhui was woken up by Tan'er, who prepared new clothes for him and helped him wash up.

Today is the first day of the twelfth year of Tiansheng, the first day of the first lunar month, also known as New Year's Day.

This day is for worshipping ancestors.

And today, not only Li Yuan's family, but all the Li family members in Chang'an will gather here with Li Yuan to worship their ancestors together.

Because Li Yuan's branch is the most prominent one in the Li family today, and it is also the legitimate lineage, and is considered the head of the clan. The ancestral temple is also in Li Yuan's mansion.

Li Yuan had more than a dozen cousins, including General Zhengxi and Duke of Chengji County Li Shenfu, General Zuo Longxiang and Marquis of Xiangcheng Li Zhan, Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple Li Zedi, General Huben Li Cang, Prince's Right Internal Commander Li Jinda, Magistrate of Wannian County Li Zhu, and Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Li Bing.

The next generation and the next next generation together number as many as a hundred people.

Li Shenfu and Li Yuan were in front, and the rest were behind. The entire courtyard was filled with Li family members kneeling.

After bowing to the ancestors, they continued to burn incense.

These are only the clansmen in Chang'an. Together with the clansmen in Luoyang and those serving as officials in various places, there are at least two hundred of them.

All those with the surname Li are descendants of the same person.

The late Grand Tutor, Minister of the Interior, Senior Pillar of the State, posthumously awarded General of the Cavalry, and Prince of Longxi, Li Yan.

Of course, the title of Prince was conferred posthumously.

The only king of a different surname in the Great Yan Dynasty was King Lingzhi of the Xianbei Duan family. The ancestral home of the Duan family was Lingzhi in Liaoxi.

As for the rest, whether they were Xianbei, Han people, Xiongnu, Rouran, or Turks, they could all be given important positions in Dayan, but they could forget about being crowned kings.

Li Yuanhui looked at the portraits of his ancestors and thought to himself, this ancestral hall is still a little small, and there is no room for people to kneel. When it is replaced by the Imperial Ancestral Temple, it will be much more spacious, right?
After working for half a day, the ancestor worship was finally completed. As usual, they were going to have dinner at Li Yuan's place. There were hundreds of clansmen, and the Li family specially borrowed ten cooks from outside for this banquet.

Li Yuan entertained his cousins ​​of the same generation in the main hall, while his four sons entertained their peers and younger generations in other parts of the house.

General Li Shenfu, the General of the Western Expedition, had just returned to the court from his post as Governor of Yizhou. He was about fifty years old, tall, a little fat, with a slightly bulging belly, but he was well maintained. He was the eldest of Li Yuan's generation, the third child. As for the second child, Li Jing, he had already passed away.

Li Shenfu sat on the couch with Li Yuan and said softly, "Third Brother, this time I was asked to return to the court and let you go to Bingzhou. It seems that the saint is very cautious. When you go to Bingzhou, be careful."

"Brother, rest assured. I know all these things. However, since you are accompanying me on this border patrol, please take care of yourself. The Saint is increasingly unwilling to listen to different opinions."

Although they were cousins, both of them were important officials in the court, and one was an insider and the other was an outsider, so they had few opportunities to meet each other and had to be cautious in their correspondence.

Now, while offering sacrifices to their ancestors, there was naturally a lot of information to be exchanged. The two did not talk about the general situation in the world or making preparations early, but just reminded each other of some precautions.

As for other matters, they are naturally understood by everyone.

Whenever Li Yuan made any move, the first thing he would do was to contact his clansmen and relatives.

And these tribesmen and relatives will certainly respond.

Because at this time, "prosperity together is prosperity, and adversity together is adversity together" is never an empty saying.

After Yang Xun started the rebellion, half of the generals in his team were members of the Yang clan. This is the power of the clan.

Apart from the New Year ancestor worship, there are few times in the year when people can gather together like this. It is also quite rare for the tribesmen to get together. Everyone drinks and talks happily, and the atmosphere is warm.

Just like the Li family’s current fortune, it is booming.

Compared with the Li family, the ancestral worship ceremony in the Imperial Ancestral Temple was much more grand. There were nearly a thousand members of the Murong clan kneeling outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple to pay their respects.

In the main hall of the Taimiao, Emperor Murong Ying was in the lead.

Behind him were the elders of the royal family, including Prince of Wei Murong Ding, Prince of Wei Murong Xianzong, and Prince of Chu Murong Gang.

The second sequence is the emperor's younger brothers such as Prince of Qi Murong Ju, Prince of Han Murong Lin, and a group of princes, such as Prince of Gaoyang Murong He, Prince of Rencheng Murong Hui, etc., who are ranked after the princes.

A crowd of people followed the chanting of Zong Zhengqing and bowed in respect.

After the ceremony, Murong Ying brought a group of clan members back to Taiji Palace for a grand banquet.

Although the Li family's family dinner was not a united one, it was at least a happy occasion for the whole family.

As for the Murong clan, the main hall of the Taiji Palace was countless times wider than the Li family's hall, and countless times more deserted.

The desolation lies in the fact that everyone has to wear a smiling mask, but speaks very little, so that the only sound that can be heard in the huge hall is the sound of ritual music.

Murong Ying sat on the dragon throne, not knowing what he was thinking about. Occasionally he spoke a few words to Murong Ding, Prince of Wei, and Murong Xianzong, Prince of Wei, who were sitting nearby.

The banquet was as deserted as the fate of Dayan, making these extremely noble Prince Murong feel very uneasy.

After three rounds of drinking, Murong Ying returned to the palace first.

Murong Ding and Murong Xianzong, two old princes of the same generation, left together.

After these two left, there were more noises in the hall.

"The New Year is getting worse and worse. It's so boring. I remember when we first entered Chang'an, we roasted a whole lamb outside the Taiji Palace and built a bonfire. Emperor Wu shouted and led the dance. The late emperor and we followed. My grandfather and Uncle Chu played the drums together. I remember Uncle Chu played the drums very well. Thirty years have passed in a flash. The New Year is getting more and more boring."

Murong Xianzong was the nephew of Emperor Wu, and among the oldest members of the royal family, he was a few years older than Murong Ding.

Murong Ding looked at his old brother with nostalgic eyes and couldn't help but chuckled. "We had just entered the Central Plains at that time. Although we Murongs have been sinicized for a long time, we still have the heroic spirit and unruly spirit of the Xianbei people in our bones. Now even our hometown of Liaodong is almost occupied by the Goguryeo people. Now these young people all grew up in the Central Plains. How can this land of the Central Plains nurture the character and courage of our generation? It's far from enough. There are not many who can ride horses, shoot arrows, and charge into battle."

Murong Xianzong laughed when he heard this, and then he sighed very sadly.

"Perhaps these people will have to return to their hometown in Liaodong soon to compete with the Goguryeo people for territory."

"They will naturally learn it when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)