Chapter 71 Confucius
Flowers fall in dreams.
This was the first time that Lu Xuan walked out of the storage room by himself.
He stretched out his hand, caught a cherry blossom, held it in his palm, and looked around at the busy traffic, vendors, people coming and going, and the fireworks.
It was obviously ancient times, but in terms of prosperity and fireworks, it was far better than modern times.
Skyscrapers, cement and steel bars still lack a bit of human touch.
"I've seen Lord Shouzangshi!" A man guarding the door of the Octagon Square Building came forward and bowed slightly.
Lu Xuan glanced sideways and said politely:
"Your Excellency?"
"I am the servant of the previous generation's Lord Keeper of the Tibet. I am responsible for guarding the Tibetan Room. I am a senior official." The guard with a knife on his waist but no armor said respectfully:
"But the imperial court has ordered that I will be transferred to Hangu Pass in more than a month, so I came here to say goodbye."
"I see." Lu Xuan looked at the powerful middle-aged man in front of him curiously, and asked softly: "May I ask your name?"
"Yin Xi."
Lu Xuan nodded and asked politely:
"I wonder if you know if there is a place in the city to send letters?"
Yin Xi was startled and said:
"I can lead the way, sir."
Lu Xuan hesitated for a moment and nodded gently:
"Thank you very much, Mr. Yin."
"My lord, I'm sorry." Yin Xi said hurriedly: "My courtesy name is Wen Gong, so your lord will call me Duke Wen. I am your subordinate, so why should I call you sir?"
As he spoke, he quietly raised his head and looked at the new Shouzang Shi who had only been in office for a few days, feeling a little emotional in his heart.
This is too young.
But people should not be judged by their appearance. Although the position of guarding the history of Tibetan history is not really an important position, those who hold this position can read the books collected in the Great Zhou Dynasty day and night. Their knowledge and insights are all among the best in the world.
With this in mind, Yin Xi bowed respectfully again.
Seeing this, Lu Xuan thought for a moment and knew that order was important here, so he did not stop or refuse.
He raised his hand and said:
"Then please ask Mr. Wen to lead the way."
Yin Xi made a ritual and led the way.
Not long after walking, we arrived in front of a quaint tall building.
"This is the place where letters are sent. They are divided into three, six or nine grades. The lower grade is human power, which can take several days to reach places not far away. The middle grade is spirit pigeons, which are ten times faster than human power. The highest grade is divine birds. , and it’s dozens of times faster than a spiritual pigeon.”
With that said, Yin Xi led Lu Xuan into the high-rise building. As he said, the building was divided into three areas. The place where people delivered letters was also overcrowded. The place where pigeons delivered letters only saw seven or eight wealthy businessmen.
But the place where the divine bird delivers messages is empty.
"If your Excellency wants to send a letter, just use the sacred bird. It was originally prepared for officials. You are the guardian of the dynasty, so just send them."
Lu Xuan suddenly realized, no wonder there were so few people.
He followed Yin Xi forward, and under the awed eyes of some ordinary people, wealthy gentry and businessmen, when he reached the 'Sacred Bird Area', a young boy came up to him quickly, nodding and bowing.
"Two adults, take your seats over here."
The boy was naturally discerning. He glanced at the long knife on Yin Xi's waist and at the official uniform that Lu Xuan had been wearing since he fell asleep. His head lowered and his waist bent further.
After a while, he found the bamboo slips and carving knife and placed them in front of the two of them.
"My lords, please."
Lu Xuan held the carving knife and dropped it on the bamboo slip, and the book was written in a moment.
The general idea is to say hello to Senior Brother Zhang and ask about spiritual things that nourish the spirit and energy at the same time.
Putting down the carving knife, Lu Xuan was a little confused, why the letter that Brother Guangcheng brought for Brother Zhang was paper. However, it seems that people in this era have not popularized paper, ink, pen and inkstone, and all use bamboo slips and carving knives. .
Strange, strange.
The boy carefully closed the bamboo slip and asked respectfully:
"I wonder where you want to send it and to whom?"
Lu Xuan nodded and said:
"Send to Qi, a close relative of Duke Huan of Qi, Zhang Ling."
The boy took note, put away the bamboo slips, and asked carefully:
"Sir, the divine bird has just sent a letter. It is from Zhang Ling in Qi. It is to be sent to the storage room. I dare to ask, sir."
"My lord is the history of today's treasure house." Yin Xi said.
Hearing this, the boy quickly went to bring the sealed bamboo slips and handed them over respectfully.
Lu Xuan thought it was a coincidence, so he opened the wooden seal, spread out the bamboo slips, and browsed carefully.
[Junior brother Lu Xuan personally initiated the ceremony. 】
[Hey, senior brother, I single-handedly penetrated the Qin army's formation and killed twelve Qin immortals. I think my reputation will spread to Luoyang in the near future. Junior brother, do you think I'm majestic? 】
[Well, also, by chance, senior brother got a 3,000-year-old flat peach. Don’t eat it yet. After taking the capital of Qin, I will bring it back and give you half of it. This is a good thing! 】
After Lu Xuan read the bamboo slips, a smile appeared on his face and he whispered imperceptibly:
"Senior brother, I'm waiting for you to become famous all over the world."
After putting away the bamboo slips, Lu Xuan, accompanied by Yin Xi, walked back to the storage room without staying much. The way back was slow, but it allowed Lu Xuan to take a good look at Luoyang City.
The two of them walked through the downtown area and walked through the bustling roads, stepping on the bluestone slabs under their feet. Lu Xuan looked around, his face full of curiosity.
Yin Xi saw this and asked with a smile:
"Is this your first time wandering around Luoyang City, sir?"
"Indeed." Lu Xuan nodded. Although he and his teacher walked through this bustling street last time, the teacher was so powerful that he led him out of the city in just three or five steps without having time to observe carefully.
Yin Xi introduced Lu Xuan in detail at this time.
"That's the Tianma Pavilion. When ordinary people want to go on a long trip, they will rent high-quality horses here, such as dragon horses. They can travel thousands of miles a day just for leisure. There are also half-blooded Pegasus horses that can walk on the clouds and travel in the sky. Even gods are far better than them. Not as fast as it is.”
"This is a sacrificial building, a unique building in Luoyang. It is a place for worshiping the gods. The largest sacrificial building is in the palace. The emperor will hold a small sacrifice every year and a big sacrifice every three years, just to pray for good weather and to obtain immortals. God’s blessing and the shadow of our ancestors remain.”
"That is."
Lu Xuan listened with interest, but doubts arose in his heart.
Worship the gods, pray for good weather, and ask the gods to bless the storms of this era. Do you want to listen to the gods?
Shouldn't these be the most basic natural changes, shouldn't they be carried out by heaven and earth?
Lu Xuan thought for a while and asked his doubts.
Yin Xi paused slightly and looked at the new Shou Zangshi next to him in surprise. He was silent for a long time and then said:
"To be honest, sir, I once asked the previous generation, Lord Shouzangshi, this question."
"Oh?" Lu Xuan became interested and asked, "What did the teacher say?"
"teacher?"
Yin Xi was stunned for a moment, and then he was relieved. He turned out to be Mr. Li's disciple.
He thought for a while and explained in a low voice:
"This matter has violated some taboos and I dare not publicize it loudly. Mr. Li said that before Zhou Dynasty, our human race was not controlled by the gods. The title of the human master was [Emperor], and the wind, rain, thunder and sun also controlled the heaven and earth."
As he spoke, Yin Xi's voice became even lower:
"After the founding of the Zhou dynasty and the unification of the mountains and rivers of the world, the ruler of human beings descended from his throne and took the title of "King" instead of "Emperor". He was also called "Son of Heaven". He who is the Son of Heaven obeys the destiny of Heaven, and whoever has the destiny of Heaven is called the Heavenly Court. .”
Lu Xuan listened carefully and did not interrupt. Yin Xi's voice also kept getting lower and lower, and he even looked around frequently, as if he was afraid that someone would be listening.
"Master Li said that since that time, wind, rain, thunder and sun have been under the control of immortal gods. Basically, it is one of the means by which immortal gods supervise the human race. If the emperor does not obey the heaven, there will be severe droughts, floods, thunder, etc. , descended from the sky and landed on the ground.”
Lu Xuan's expression suddenly darkened.
He doesn't have much objection to the heaven suppressing the human world and governing the kings of the world. After all, his goal is to suppress the heaven and the world with his own body, and to seek peace in the world through the path of self-exaltation.
However, if the human master disobeys the heavenly court, why should he punish ordinary people?
Yin Xi also sighed at this time:
"At that time, I once asked Mr. Li why the emperor was immoral and the gods punished the people. Mr. Li only said, 'The position of the ruler of man is the same as that of the emperor of heaven' and said no more. I have thought about it for many years, but still I can’t figure it out.”
Lu Xuan frowned as he walked. By the time he was about to reach the downstairs of Bajiao Sifang, his thoughts had gone through his mind three and five times.
Looking at the overall situation from the perspective of a later generation and an outsider, he guessed the reason in a moment.
The teacher once said that heaven, earth, and earth are of the same origin, and there is no distinction between high and low. The master of man is also on the same level as the emperor of heaven.
Then, Heavenly Court is probably unable to harm the human master, either because of his personality or due to the luck of the human race. From this point of view, we can guess the root of Heavenly Court's actions.
Just like when I was celebrating the New Year when I was a child, I waited with other children in a shantytown for Grandpa Fifth to set off fireworks. If a child made a fool of himself, Grandpa Five would not punish him. He would just ask everyone to wait until the child stopped making noises before setting off the fireworks.
Under the pressure of other children, the noisy children stopped making noises.
Heaven punishes all the people, and the people's resentment will not hit the sky, but will hit the one on the throne!
Lu Xuan sighed:
"The emperor has lost his virtue. Instead of punishing the emperor, the immortals and gods punished the mountains and rivers and all the people. This is to hold all the people hostage to order the emperor. But why are the people guilty? How can the mountains and rivers be blamed? This heaven is wrong."
Yin Xi's expression changed dramatically, and he took three steps back. The ground he stepped on rumbled, and he looked around, fearing that his words would be overheard!
Instead of waiting for him to speak, someone spoke first.
"How could the people be blamed? How could the mountains and rivers be blamed?" The two of them looked sideways at a middle-aged man waiting at the door of the storage room. The middle-aged man looked powerful and tall, with a strong and ferocious spirit, but also a refined elegance. .
He bowed to Lu Xuan:
"Sir's words are profound."
Before Lu Xuan could say anything, Yin Xi's expression changed and he asked:
"Who are you? Why are you here? My master didn't say anything just now!"
The strong man smiled and said softly:
"Sir, there is no need to be alarmed. I don't like the behavior of Heaven. My name is Kongqiu. I am from the state of Lu. I am here specifically to visit the guardian of Tibetan history."