Chang'an Suzaku Street is one of the main venues for lanterns, about 150 meters wide, 5020 meters long Suzaku Street, there are enough venues for people to enjoy the lanterns, from Mingde Gate to Suzaku Gate, as far as the eye can see, bamboo sheds are erected on both sides of the street, and the bamboo canopies are hung with elaborate lanterns.

More than lanterns, are people.

The street is crowded with young men and women dressed in makeup, because there are too many people, from time to time there are crowded and blocked things, I heard that the most crowded place, some people are squeezed up and can't get to the feet, and are "sandwiched" to walk, fortunately, there are Wuhou shops and Jingzhao Mansion soldiers to maintain order, the forbidden army is also dispatched, guarding the main roads, and there is something to deal with as soon as possible.

In general, the general order is good.

The Shangyuan Festival held in Chang'an is definitely worth seeing, there are beautiful lanterns everywhere, making people dazzled, the streets are crowded with handsome men and beauties, making people feast their eyes, after seeing the lanterns, the East and West markets are full of dazzling goods and treasures from all over the world, which can also satisfy your desire to buy.

If you are tired, you can find an inn to sleep, this carnival is three days and two nights, the time is full, and you can play again.

It's boring, Pingkangfang is welcome at any time, and all kinds of beauties are at your disposal.

It's empty, the temples in Chang'an are crowded, and there are senior monks who give lectures every day to cleanse your soul.

Hungry, roadside food stalls, restaurants in the square, rich and thrifty.

Before it was dark, Zheng Peng was pulled out by a few women, went to the street to see the lanterns, first brushed Zhuque Street, and then saw Jinguangmen from Chunming Gate, and walked for more than an hour, and their legs were sore.

Chang'an is too big, in addition to the two main venues, one hundred and eight squares have small lanterns for people to watch, now the street is overcrowded, for the sake of safety, cars and horses can not go to the street, unless special approval or urgent official business, the lantern will be all on two legs, not tired is strange.

Huang Sanjiu, who had lived in Chang'an for a long time, understood this point most clearly, and persuaded Zheng Peng early to spend a lot of money to book a window seat in a restaurant called Songzhulou in Xingwufang, so that he could sit on the third floor and look at the lanterns on the street from a high ceiling.

After sitting down, Lan Duo said a little unhappily: "Zheng Peng, what are you doing here, there are so many beautiful lanterns, this county lord hasn't seen enough, what to eat." ”

In Lan Duo's heart, Anxi Town is already very prosperous, at least many times more prosperous than the territory of Tuqishi, but I didn't expect Anxi Town to compare with Jingshi Chang'an, one in the sky and the other in the ground.

It's rare to be in such a good mood to enjoy the lanterns, Landuo has always been interested, and I want to see more.

Zheng Peng explained: "Shangyuan Festival is three days and two nights, I want to see that there is time, if the emperor is happy, it is possible to extend it for two days, don't get tired all of a sudden, eat something first, take a rest by the way, and soon you can watch the lantern parade." ”

"Lantern parade?"

"Yes" Lin Xun'er echoed: "County Lord, just now we saw the selection of lanterns, it is only a preliminary evaluation, the winner can participate in the lantern parade held by Jingzhao Mansion, accept the emperor's review, and the emperor will judge the best lantern, this lantern is called the lantern leader, and the person who makes the lantern will be rewarded, and the street is full of people during the parade, it is difficult to say whether you can see it clearly, this is the best location." ”

Lan Duo said with some curiosity: "Those lanterns, some are big and some are small, the big ones are more than fifteen zhang high, and the small ones are less than a foot, how do you compare these?" ”

"It is divided into different types, roughly two feet and one zhang as the dividing point, divided into three grades, each grade selects a winner, and finally selects the best performance from the three winners to be named the lamp leader."

Zheng Bing said with some sighs: "An ordinary lantern, twenty or thirty wen can tie one, those well-made lanterns, often count thousands of guan, we don't look at the lantern wheel in front of the palace of Wang Chengfeng, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, fifteen zhang high, but also decorated with jewelry and silk cloth, installed on a car with wooden wheels, it takes a hundred strong men to push, it is said that it took 80,000 guan to produce, how to compare with these people with rich families." ”

"Miss, this won't" Huang San explained: "In order to let the people actively participate, there is an unwritten rule in the Shangyuan Festival, officials of the fourth grade and above only participate in the competition and do not evaluate, Miss look carefully, those lanterns with a cloth flower tied to them are all works that participate in the event but do not participate in the selection." ”

So that's the case, Zheng Bing nodded suddenly in realization.

Guo Ziqi said curiously: "What is the reward for those who win the lamp?" ”

"This maybe, the lamp is hand-picked by the emperor, and everything is improvised by the emperor, but every reward will not disappoint." Huang San said with some envy.

Hearing this, Lan Duo stared at Zheng Peng and said, "I remember that someone said that he wanted to make a big and beautiful lantern that would attract the attention of the whole city, but the county lord hasn't seen where the lantern is yet." ”

Zheng Peng made lanterns, and the secrecy was not only done at home, but it was simply overdone, and he was not allowed to see it in front, and when it came to the Shangyuan Festival, Lan Duo and others were full of interest to see what kind of lantern Zheng Peng had built, but Zheng Peng said that it was not yet time to make it public, so he went to the street to see the lanterns first, and the suspense was revealed at the end.

Until now, Lan Duo still doesn't know what medicine Zheng Peng's gourd sells.

"That's right, young master, what kind of lanterns did you make, can't you say it now?" Lin Xun'er couldn't help but ask.

Zheng Bing and Xiaoyin stared at Zheng Peng curiously, as if they wanted to find out the answer from his face.

"It's almost time" Zheng Peng said calmly: "Lantern primary, parade, no one can grab the limelight, and when the parade is almost there, the young master's lantern will be released again, and it will be lively at that time." ”

"I don't know if it's pierced, so it's going to be mysterious." Lando pursed her lips and said with some disdain.

Zheng Peng smiled: "Isn't it a trick, can't you just gamble, county lord, do you want to gamble?" ”

"Don't bet." Landau said very dryly.

Dealing with Zheng Peng, Lan Duo has an experience: it's best not to bet with him, otherwise you won't know how to lose if you lose, and if you don't gamble, you will earn. ”

"You see, they're getting ready." Zheng Bing pointed to the selection point below and shouted.

Zheng Peng looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a group of young women wearing uniform skirts, escorted by the soldiers of Jingzhao Mansion, lined up in a neat queue from far to near.

Huang San explained on the side: "The lantern festival is divided into the folk lantern festival and the official court lantern festival, when the folk lantern festival parade, the folk women take the winning lanterns selected from the primary election, and the palace lantern parade is composed of palace maids, the small one heard that this year's Chang'an County and Wannian County, each selected a thousand women to participate, the scale is larger than last year, last year was only 700 people from each county. ”

A good lantern also needs a good lantern bearer, if a beautiful lantern is held by a fat, short and ugly woman, how beautiful the lantern will be discounted.

When those women arrived at the selection site, some of them carried a lantern, and some needed several people or even dozens of people to master the huge lanterns, some of which were complicated to make, and the owner of the lantern showed them how to do it.

After about two quarters of an hour of preparation, with the sound of a drum and drum, the annual lantern parade of the Shangyuan Festival finally kicked off.