Chapter 108: The Great Shooting Ceremony There are four kinds of archery ceremonies recorded in the Book of Rites, namely, the Great Archery Ceremony, the Yan Archery Ceremony, the Bin Archery Ceremony and the Xiang Archery Ceremony. The so-called Great Archery Ceremony is a kind of archery ceremony held before offering sacrifices to heaven. Today is the end of the year, and tomorrow we will change the year to worship the heaven and the army will set out for the southern expedition. This archery ceremony is held at the right time. To the south of the altar in the southern suburbs outside Shouchun City, this shorter platform has three steps. Emperor Cao Rui is wearing a crown and sitting on the highest step. Cao Xiu, the announcer of the Grand Archery Ceremony, was standing on the second floor in full court dress, presiding over the entire process of the Grand Archery Ceremony. Below, sixty or seventy officials with a rank of more than 2,000 stones also lined up in full court dress and stood on the stage. Since it was a shooting ceremony, archery was a must. The Grand Shooting Ceremony was a ceremony for the emperor, so before all the ministers started shooting, Emperor Cao Rui would naturally be the first to shoot. Under the auspices of Cao Xiu, Cao Rui stood up from his seat, slung his quiver over his shoulder, took the bow handed over by the attendant, and slowly walked down the steps to the sound of drums and music. At this time, sixty steps away from Cao Rui, the archery officer had already set up a target for the emperor. This kind of target has a special name, which can be called "鹄" or "侯". If the etiquette system is followed completely, the "hou" used by the emperor will be made of tiger skin, the "hou" used by the princes will be made of bear skin, and the "hou" used by the ministers will be made of leopard skin. Shouchun was the capital of Yangzhou, so tiger skins were not hard to find. But bear skins and leopard skins were harder to find, so they had no choice but to use brocade and silk instead. Cao Xiu read out the rules of the grand archery ceremony. In addition to the first test shot, each person had three arrows to shoot three times in succession, following the guidance of the muezzin and following the beat of the drums and music.
If you get all three correct, you will be rewarded. Of course, if you fail to get all three correct, there is no punishment, but you will be embarrassed in front of all your colleagues with two thousand stones. Since the time of Emperors Huan and Ling, the ritual system of the late Han Dynasty had gradually begun to decline. In addition, during the Jian'an period, there was no time or opportunity to perform such a grand ceremony in the court. Therefore, the civil officials and military officers below listened carefully, not wanting to embarrass themselves in front of the emperor. This place is in the suburbs, and there is naturally wind in the open field, which will naturally interfere with the shooting. The target is the size of a human head and is sixty steps away. It is still quite difficult to hit it. When it comes to archery, of course, it depends on strength. In the past, the story of Li Guang shooting a tiger was passed down. Li Guang shot an arrow and the tip of the arrow did not sink into the stone. This kind of record is possible if one is strong. But it is not easy to hit a target sixty steps away. How could there be so many people who could shoot the target from a hundred paces away? In addition, the bows and arrows used in the grand archery ceremony were for public use, not the bows that everyone was used to using on a daily basis, so being able to hit the target was already good enough. The officer who announced the ceremony was Cao Xiu, who was in charge of the ritual process. The archer who was in charge of the specific archery guidance was none other than General Cao Zhen. The two regents were given this position. Apart from the emperor, they were the most powerful people in Shouchun City, and no one could say anything. Under the command of Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen first saluted to the emperor not far away, and then demonstrated to the emperor and his ministers. Cao Zhen slowly walked to the front of the emperor, stepped on the mark of the shooting position for the ministers with his left foot, faced west, turned his head to the south, stared at the middle of the target, indicating that he was determined to shoot arrows, then took a step, and finally drew his bow and shot arrows until he had shot all the arrows in his hand and the three arrows in the quiver. Cao Zhen then saluted the emperor, turned around and walked back to his seat. This process was developed by Sima Yi and Xin Pi. Cao Zhen just shot four arrows in a row, and these four arrows also have their own particularities. The first arrow is called "practice shooting", which means to practice, and whether it hits the target or not does not count. The three arrows in the quiver are the ones that actually count. Accompanied by the drum music that belonged exclusively to the emperor, Cao Rui held a bow in his left hand, an arrow in his right hand, and three arrows in the quiver slung across his waist. Cao Rui took a deep breath and slowly stood still, gently opened the palm of his left hand, and used four fingers to feel the wind direction. After a moment, he held the bow steadily with his left hand, pulled the bowstring with his right hand, and released his fingers. The feather arrow just passed through a distance of sixty steps and nailed to the edge of the tiger skin. The arrow Xi shot had hit the target. The ministers watching on both sides did not dare to disturb the emperor. Cao Xiu stood aside and saw the emperor's right hand reaching for his waist, and then shouted: "Your Majesty, please shoot!" Cao Rui gently closed his eyes, listened to the sound of the wind blowing through the flags, took a deep breath, and prayed silently in his heart: "If God grants me victory this time, please let me hit the target with all three arrows!" Naturally, no one would urge the emperor, and the ministers just stared at the emperor's handsome face with wide eyes. Cao Rui slowly opened his eyes, bent the bow and drew the arrow, and without hesitation, he let go and shot the arrow. The arrow flew through the air and hit the center of the target directly. When the ministers saw that the emperor hit the bull's eye with his first shot, they all shouted "Long live the emperor" in the venue, and the sound of the musicians beating drums became more and more urgent. As the drumbeats slowed down, Cao Xiu stood on the stage and shouted, "Your Majesty, please shoot again!"
Cao Rui shot another arrow, which was slightly off target, but still not far from the center of the target. When the officials saw that the emperor had hit the target with three arrows, they cheered even louder. Following Cao Xiu's shout of "shoot three times", Cao Rui took a deep breath, pulled the bowstring to its full length and breathed three times before shooting the arrow. After a few moments, the arrow hit Tiger Skin Marquis steadily. At this time, the cheers in the field could no longer be suppressed, and the voices shouting "Long live" came one after another. Cao Rui chuckled and handed the bow to Cao Zhen who came to take the bow. He then slowly took off the quiver and handed it to Cao Zhen, the archer. The emperor shot four times and hit the target, which was indeed a good start for this archery ceremony. It also gave a very positive psychological hint to the generals who would set out for the battle tomorrow. Hitting the target with four shots out of four was truly extraordinary. Although archery was one of the six arts for a gentleman, not to mention the civil officials who were responsible for menial tasks, even if they were generals, how many people could hit the target with four shots out of four at a distance of sixty steps? The civil officials and military officers in the field were all enthusiastic, and Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen, as the commanders of the military forces of Yangzhou and the commanders of the central army, were surprised and happy. If this is not a good omen, then what is a good omen? All we can say is that His Majesty the Emperor has indeed inherited Cao's bravery and is indeed good at archery. Accompanied by the enthusiastic and rapid drum music, Cao Rui smiled and turned to walk onto the stage. While climbing the stairs, Cao Rui even wondered, was it really God's will for me? What is God's will? What is Heaven? The grand archery ceremony was now officially underway. There were sixty-four people present, including the two thousand stone officials and provincial governors. They were divided into thirty-two teams, with each team taking one two thousand stone official from the central army and one two thousand stone official from the external army and the prefectures. The thirty-second competition was carried out slowly with drums and music. Before each archery competition, the two men had to greet the emperor by announcing their names and official titles before starting the official archery competition. This kind of memory is indeed not easy for the ministers to forget. So much so that many years later, when a governor entered Luoyang as a minister, Emperor Cao Rui saw him again and asked casually: "Are you the one who missed all four shots in Shouchun?" deep impression. Time passed slowly, and about ten teams had finished archery. There were some who missed all four shots. And most of those who practiced archery usually hit one or two of four shots. There were not many who hit three of four shots, and they were usually not in the same team. The two people who aroused Cao Rui's most interest were Guanqiu Jian, the captain of the Yue cavalry from the central army, and Sun Li, the prefect of Langya from Xuzhou. The two of them hit the target in practice shooting, first shooting, and second shooting. The eyes of all the officials in the field were also focused on the two of them. Just when Cao Xiu was about to call out the third shooting, Cao Rui gently raised his hand to stop Cao Xiu. Cao Rui read out the names of the two people on the stage: "Guanqiu Zhonggong and Sun Deda." When Guanqiu Jian and Sun Li heard the emperor calling them, they turned around and saluted again. Cao Rui smiled and said, "You two both hit three out of four, which is the first time since the archery ceremony began. How about this, I will add a bonus to you two. If the fourth arrow hits the target again, I will give him a horse from my own horse as a reward." Guanqiu Jian and Sun Li were both two thousand stone officials, so a horse was really nothing. But if it was the imperial horse that the emperor rode himself, it would be something worth boasting about. Guanqiu Jian was only 25 years old, and was in the prime of his youth. Sun Li was already over 40 years old, and was also skilled in archery and horse riding. The two looked at each other, neither willing to give in, and it was obvious that they both wanted to compete for the reward. Following Cao Xiu's command, the two arrows hit the target almost at the same time. The two people in the same group shot four arrows and hit the target. This scene had not yet happened since the shooting ceremony began. Cao Rui also laughed when he saw it. Cao Rui smiled and said, "You two, come over here." Guanqiu Jian and Sun Li walked to the front of the stage and were about to salute, but Cao Rui stopped them and said, "Go up two more steps, closer to me." The two of them then went up two more steps and stood on the same level with Cao Xiu, and then bowed to the emperor. Cao Rui then slowly stood up, went down one step and grabbed the hands of both of them. Guanqiu Jian was an old acquaintance, but Sun Li had been an official in the prefecture for a long time, and this was the first time Cao Rui had seen him. Sun Li's face was thin and angular, and his eyes were particularly bright. Cao Rui smiled and said, "I have memorized Sun Deda's appearance today. I will order someone to bring the imperial horses here later, one for each of you." After gently patting the back of Sun Li's hand, Cao Rui said, "You must make contributions to the country!" Upon hearing this, Guanqiu Jian and Sun Li knelt down to express their gratitude. The officials below who had not yet competed were naturally thinking about what reward they would get if they also hit the target with four shots. As for those two thousand stone players who had just hit the target with one, two, or even none of their four shots, could only stand there and envy.
(End of this chapter)