Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 113 Taishi Dan (Part )
When it started snowing in Luoyi,
He Bo finally managed to stick his head out of the Yishui River and arrived at the place he had been waiting for for so long.

Although meeting the young Confucian sage in Zhu State made He Bo directly feel the surprise that the new world on the south bank of the river brought him, he couldn't help but sigh that "big cities have many celebrities."

But He Bo said:
I am a ghost with aspirations.
I won't stop for the little boy.

In the state of Zhu,
He had already rested for a while, so there was no need for him to stay any longer.

Later, Meng Ke's mother said that the money she had saved was enough, and that living near the market for a long time might damage Meng Ke's talent and spirituality, so she had to move again while the child was still young to find a teacher for him.

As for the butcher’s pursuit?
The ghosts and gods can only wish him happiness.

At last,
He Bo just took the opportunity to catch little Meng Ke, rubbed the child hard, and then left in a cool manner.

Only the future sub-sage was left, who was rubbed dizzy and holding his messy hair, thinking: Did the other party suddenly go crazy?

……

"The land of Chengzhou is really in a state of desolation."

He Bo went ashore.
Walking towards the tall and ancient Luoyi Royal City.

While walking, don't forget to look at the surrounding scenery.

I found that people coming and going were in a hurry, most of them were poorly dressed and thin.

While people should be staying at home to avoid the cold winter wind, some people still go out to chop wood in the hope of obtaining more resources for the winter.

In recent years,

Because Emperor Bian was too "active", the number of times the princes came to Luoyi to warn him gradually increased.

Not to mention the great war between the three kingdoms of Qin, Wei and Han near Luoyi, Duke Dong of Zhou was also constantly trampling on the majesty of the Zhou emperor.

This fall,

Duke of Zhou, Ji Gen, sent people to cut off the grain outside Luoyi. The emperor was angry and cursed them, but he was afraid that if he went to Duke of Zhou to ask for an explanation, it would cause unrest again, so he could only hold back his tears.

Anyway, there is food stored in the royal city, so the emperor has enough food to eat.

Only the innocent common people who were affected lamented that their food was taken away. They didn't even have time to shed tears before they had to hurriedly collect food to eat to avoid starving to death in the winter.

This is also the reason why He Bo can see many pedestrians when it snows in winter.

Even ghosts and gods couldn't help but sigh at this.

Chengzhou is a place where

It was an important place that King Wu of Zhou ordered Duke Zhou to manage after he completed his great task of defeating King Zhou, in order to control the princes who were enfeoffed in the Central Plains.

In terms of status, Luoyi, established in the land of Chengzhou, was also considered the capital by the Zhou emperor.

From the time when King Wu selected the site, Duke Shao selected the residence, Duke Zhou built it, and King Cheng completed the city in the fifth year of his reign, and when the four words "Zezi Zhongguo" were engraved on a huge bronze vessel used as a memorial, the meaning of "Chengzhou" was determined.

This is the manifestation of the Zhou Dynasty’s Mandate of Heaven!
Zong Zhou,

It is the place that represents the rise of the Zhou people!

Chengzhou,

It is a place that represents the power of Zhou people!

Two weeks of land,

Together they symbolize the past and future of the Zhou Dynasty.

Therefore, it is said in the Book of Songs: "King Wen is above, shining brightly in the sky. Although Zhou is an old country, its destiny is renewed!"

But right now,

The Zhou emperor had lost the capital of Haojing of Zhou for many years.

Sitting in Luoyi, Chengzhou, the princes did not come to pay homage to him for many years.

If the princes suddenly arrived, the Zhou emperor would even feel worried!
Therefore,
Even though He Bo didn't know the historical context of later generations, he could clearly feel it when he walked in this place representing the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty:
The Zhou Emperor,
I can no longer bear the burden of the world!

The fall of the Zhou emperor and the end of the fighting among the princes also meant the arrival of a new era and the conferring of a new "mandate of heaven".

Life must break out of its cocoon in pain and embrace a bright future.

And all this,
There is no need for ghosts and gods to lend a helping hand.

therefore,

He Bo just took advantage of the fact that no one could see him and ran to the royal city to see Tian Zi Bian who was drinking and enjoying the warmth of the fire.

The ghost deliberately stirred up an invisible and chaotic wind, which made the other party sneeze repeatedly and hug him in panic. Then He laughed cruelly.

Afterwards, the ghost turned away, explored on his own, and found the storage room of Luoyi.

A very old historian was in the storage room, sorting out the classics inside.

Perhaps sensing something, the old historian suddenly looked outside the door.

He Bo showed up and saluted Taishi, "Hello!"

Taishi witnessed the arrival of ghosts and gods with his own eyes, but he did not find it strange at all.

He just walked forward slowly and returned the greeting to He Bo, "I was so negligent for not preparing to welcome you, a distinguished guest."

He Bo smiled and said, "I came here without asking, how can I blame the elders?"

He introduced himself, "I came from the Taihang Mountains in the north. The reason I came to Luoyi is that I hope to read the ancient books treasured by the Zhou Dynasty."

The old lady smiled, but she had no teeth left in her mouth.

He said, "There are very few people reading the classics in Luoyi anymore."

"You are willing to watch now, which shows that human wisdom is enough to attract ghosts and gods, and it is not because of the turmoil in the past few hundred years that ghosts and gods are disgusted and stay away from the world."

"That's enough to make me happy!"

"Please let me lead the way for you!"

The old historian walked in front and introduced her name to He Bo, "My name is Dan."

Because he was too old, Taishi Dan walked very slowly with his back bent.

He Bo could see that he didn't have much life left, and he probably only had one or two years left.

The ghost asked him, "Although I cannot prolong your life, I can alleviate some of the pain caused by aging."

"I hope to use this as a reward for the historian allowing me to read the classics. Are you willing to accept it?"

Taishi Dan shook his head.

He said, "Birth, aging, sickness and death, this is the inherent law of heaven and earth."

"I have experienced the joy of health when I was young and strong, and now it is natural for me to accept my old age."

"Although my body does feel uncomfortable, I am still happy in my heart, because this is how I feel as a human being who follows the laws of heaven and earth."

"So I can only be grateful for the kindness of the ghosts and gods."

Hearing this,

He Bo did not force the blessing.

He followed Taishi Dan's footsteps gently and slowly, walking past one bookshelf after another filled with bamboo slips, and then walking past one bookshelf after another filled with tortoise shells.

The history of mankind followed the footsteps of He Bo and Tai Shi Dan, passing by little by little and falling behind them.

Finally, Taishi Dan stopped and He Bo also stopped.

The old historian said, "Well, this is the end."

He picked up an old, yellowed tortoise shell and handed it to the ghost.

"This is the oldest text collected from the Zhou Dynasty."

"It is said that it records events during the time of Emperor Huangdi."

Taishi Dan paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Maybe it was carved by Cangjie."

So He Bo stretched out his hands and carefully took the tortoise shell, which was very likely to carry the oldest characters of the entire Chinese nation.

He gently stroked the marks on the tortoise shell and smiled, "Are you talking about the Yellow Emperor's attack on Chi You?"

Taishi Dan told him, "My teacher said that this record is about the covenant between Huangdi and Yandi."

He Bo was very surprised, and his hands holding the tortoise shell became more gentle and pious.

Although he could not understand the ancient characters on it, if what Taishi Dan said was true, then this tortoise shell might be a witness to the Chinese nation from its birth to the present day.

It was inscribed when Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang collaborated, recording the oldest and most sacred oath of a nation.

Then it was passed on to Xia, to Shang, and finally to Zhou.

Why didn’t it pass on to later dynasties?

He Bo thought with regret.

Perhaps it was because of the turmoil that lasted too long that this precious cultural relic was lost in the long river of history.

Just like the Nine Cauldrons that represent the Mandate of Heaven of the Zhou Dynasty.

Tai Shi Dan saw He Bo's regret, so he also felt regretful.

"In fact, before the Prince's Rebellion, there were more books preserved in the storage room."

"But Prince Chao fled to Chu with many ancient books, and the emperors who came after him did not have the power to ask the King of Chu to return those books."

Prince Chao's Rebellion
It was one of the countless internal struggles that occurred within the Zhou royal family.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, 157 years ago,

King Jing believed that his eldest son Meng was cowardly and lacked dignity, while his illegitimate son Chao was brave and resourceful and had the demeanor of a king.

So he wanted to depose Crown Prince Meng and enthrone Prince Chao.

However, ministers such as Shan Qi strongly opposed it, believing that the dethronement and enthronement of the crown prince was a major national event and that the Zhou rites must be strictly followed, with the throne being passed down to the legitimate heir rather than to the most capable person.

The matter lasted for a long time, and when he was dying, King Jing made up his mind to establish a new crown prince.

But before he could issue the edict, he fell seriously ill. Before his death, he appointed the official Bin Meng as his regent and dictated his will, ordering the throne to be passed to Prince Chao.

After King Jing died, the ministers Shan Qi and Liu Juan believed that if Prince Chao was enthroned, they would lose power. So they sent swordsmen to assassinate the regent Bin Meng, and declared that King Jing's will was a forgery. They then supported Prince Meng as king, who was known as King Dao of Zhou.

However, because of the assassination of the regent, all the civil and military officials in the court were dissatisfied with King Dao. They gathered their guards to drive King Dao out of Luoyi, and in accordance with King Jing's will, they supported Prince Chao.

thus,

The Zhou Dynasty once again saw the situation of "two kings coexisting".

The subsequent intervention of the State of Jin made this chaos more like a replay of the chaos that occurred after the death of King You in the late Western Zhou Dynasty.

The final result was the same as the turmoil that symbolized the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

King Jing of Zhou, who was supported by the Duke of Jin, finally returned to Luoyi. Prince Chao had no choice but to lead his ministers and flee to Chu with the classics of Zhou.

So far,

The Zhou emperor's majesty was further lost.
Half of the classics that had been passed down in Luoyi for a thousand years were also lost.

He Bo stroked the tortoise shell and said with great regret, "It's just a family affair, but it destroyed a thousand-year heritage. What a pity."

Taishi Dan nodded in agreement.

"If the ghosts and gods have the chance in the future, please go to the State of Chu and bring back those books on behalf of our descendants."

He said to He Bo, "The situation in Chu is also very chaotic."

Taishi Dan had seen too many disputes and turmoil.
He has lost all fear and anxiety about these things,
He was just worried that these unrests and wars would harm the treasures passed down to future generations by the sages from ancient times to the present.

"Okay, I took note of it."

He Bo promised him, "I don't have much talent, and I don't intend to interfere in too many human affairs."

"But it is still possible to be a spectator and preserve their traces for passers-by."

After saying this, he sighed again, "Being able to record yesterday's wind and rain, and then see the sunrise of the next day, is actually a very beautiful thing, isn't it?"

(End of this chapter)