Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 32 Unraveling the Mysteries: The Power of the Three Officials Alliance, the Source of the Divine Path
Wang Cheng thought to himself, "Isn't the seal in one's birth chart the official seal?"

It's exactly like the saying from my past life, "I was born with a job title, and the end of the universe is the job title."

What might have been a joke in a past life is now an undeniable fact in this world where divine officials are revered.

However, they do not serve as officials for the "Lord of the State and the True Dragon Emperor," but directly for the Great Dao, hence the name "Divine Dao Officials"!
Shen Yuting didn't expect him to answer, and continued speaking on her own:

"Fourth brother, as everyone knows, the divine official system was formed in the Han Dynasty, and its power comes from the Dao Qi above the Nine Heavens and the power of the Three Officials Alliance."

However, many people do not know that as early as the pre-Qin period, the official positions and religious positions of the state were not distinguished from each other.

Without the accumulation of knowledge during the pre-Qin period, the later flourishing of diverse systems of divine authority would not have been possible.

I had heard my father talk about the origin of the three classes of officials, but the Wang family of Caishui was too unbalanced and their methods were a bit wild. In terms of orderly inheritance, they were definitely not as good as the Shanhaihui. So I quickly pricked up my ears and listened carefully.

Although Zheng Qian had heard this story when he first started learning, he still held his breath and listened intently when he heard it again.

The Zhou Dynasty official positions were divided into the Heavenly Official, Earthly Official, Spring Official, Summer Official, Autumn Official, and Winter Official, as recorded in the Rites of Zhou.

Each of the six departments contains 60 officials, which corresponds to the number of a sexagenary cycle. Thus, the six departments have a total of 360 officials, which corresponds to the number of days in a year.

Each department had both administrative and religious functions; at that time, "official position" was also "divine position".

Titles like "Fire Master," "Wind Goddess," "Radiant Light Master," and "Rain Master," which sound like deities, have been used since the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and continue to the present day.

Not only the Zhou Dynasty, but the establishment of states in all dynasties was essentially a grand religious ritual.

By using talismans and official ranks to correspond with celestial phenomena, the nation, a replica of the universe, is infused with Daoist energy, making it a real entity and transforming it into a divine dynasty, thus gaining legitimacy.

At this point, Shen Yuting paused, waiting for his two disciples to process this part of history before continuing:

"There is a connection between the Great Dao and humanity. Every nation is established when there are unusual celestial phenomena and auspicious omens, which represent the mandate of heaven they have inherited."

The Hetu Luoshu, five-colored rice ears, the Heavenly Mandate Black Bird, and the Phoenix Crying on Mount Qi are all typical auspicious omens.

The emperor represents the nation in receiving the Mandate of Heaven, and the feudal lords, having been appointed by the emperor, are able to share in the Mandate of Heaven.

Therefore, in the pre-Qin era, supernatural powers and skills flowed in the blood of the emperor and feudal lords, and outsiders could not touch them. At that time, the hierarchy was always based on rank.

The regional governors and feudal lords, bound by blood ties, were like gods within their respective fiefdoms!

Wang Cheng listened intently. These were secrets unknown to the Cai Shui Wang family, but common knowledge to the Shan Hai Hui, which possessed a legitimate lineage.

He also realized that the pre-Qin era was completely different from the present.

One can gain without effort; as long as you are the eldest son of a feudal lord, you can automatically inherit the titles of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron, and even become the ruler of a country.

The downside is that it heavily relies on being born into a good family; unless you're from a noble family, there are almost no avenues for advancement.

If you were to be reborn into that era, it would be like hell.

At this moment, Shen Yuting's voice suddenly rose in pitch:
"Until His Majesty the First Emperor established a unified dynasty, the Han dynasty inherited the Qin system."

The first covenant established by humans and the three officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, who manifested the Dao Qi, at Crane Cry Mountain, and the subsequent repeated covenant-establishing and ordination ceremonies.

Finally, the ethereal 'Tao' was given weight through the 'faith' that runs through the covenant, transcending isolated nations and becoming the 'law' that will be passed down through generations!
The Twenty-Four Solar Terms are neither the Rites of Zhou nor the Laws of Qin. They did not perish with the change of dynasties and formed their own system.

The 'divine talisman system' established by imitating the investiture of feudal lords by the emperors of the pre-Qin period consisted of talismans bestowed by the three officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water upon divine officials.

For officials, each of the seventy-two pentads is equivalent to the Mandate of Heaven's Black Bird of the Shang Dynasty, the Phoenix's Cry at Mount Qi of the Zhou Dynasty, or Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty Slaying the Serpent.

This is the true meaning of "Man follows the Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows Nature."

Ultimately, through the ordination ceremony, each official was transformed into a minister of the Great Way.

"Official ranks are mainly divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. The imperial court further subdivides them into nine grades, with the ninth grade being the lowest and the first grade being the highest."

The beginning of internal and external training and communication with Qi is equivalent to the ninth rank. Lighting the heart lamp is the eighth rank of celestial being. When the life fire is pure Yang, one is officially granted the celestial ordination and ranks, becoming a formal seventh-rank official.

This completely broke the limitation of passing on power through surnames and bloodlines.

From then on, since every official of the Third Rank was a subject of the Great Dao, they could naturally use talismans, roughly equivalent to a general's 'tiger tally,' to mobilize Dao energy and perform rituals to avert disasters.

Combining his past learning and insights, Wang Cheng felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining through, gaining a completely new and systematic understanding of the divine path cultivation system. In short, the Three Officials, through talismans or omens, granted the divine officials the power to enforce the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms," ​​allowing them to intervene in the natural world based on their authority.

This is the unity of man and nature!

While Shen Yuting was inspired by the great achievements of his predecessors, he also felt a sense of regret:

"Unfortunately, these three officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water are not personified deities, but rather symbols of the manifestation of the Dao."

Using their names to set up altars and perform rituals is always successful; trying to communicate with them or request interference in earthly imperial power is wishful thinking. Alas.

Shen Yuting didn't continue speaking, and Wang Cheng and Zheng Qian both understood what was going on.

If the officials of the Thirty-Six Water Servants had connections, how could they have ended up in such a miserable state?
Why does the Mountain and Sea Association maintain its neutrality?
It's all because they lack the ability!
As descendants of the treasure fleet from back then, they have connections with all sides, and only by adopting a neutral stance can they carefully maintain the balance.

If they had the power, they would have already flipped the table.

Wouldn't it be better for him to establish an independent nation at sea?
The assassination of Jinghai Wang, the strongest water collector, was not only a devastating blow to the Five Peaks Banner, but also a bolt from the blue for the neutral Mountain and Sea Association.

Once Wang Zeng falls, who knows how many years it will take before he gets another chance?

Don't even talk about accumulating strength. When the water collectors split up and fight each other to the death, the Mountain and Sea Association will inevitably suffer a severe blow.

Shen Yuting, after all, was a man of extraordinary character, and quickly rallied.

"Fortunately, I have taken on a few good apprentices."

The Shan Hai Society's extensive recruitment of disciples actually had another consideration.

There are individuals who betray their class in this world, but there is no class that betrays its class.

The Shan Hai Society spares no effort in training new water collectors in order to strengthen the entire water class's official hierarchy. Once the water class officials are powerful, they will naturally work together to fight for the interests of the water class as a whole.

Therefore, regardless of which faction they belong to, as long as someone has talent, they are willing to nurture them properly.

Even if a disciple is directly taught, it won't prevent him from joining the government navy or armed merchant groups in the future; he'll always have connections.

Wang Cheng paid a mere "pound of gold" to gain such a master, which is clearly a great deal.

The three of them, master and disciples, had already reached the door of the pavilion while talking.

"It is said that every profession is like a mountain, and I, as a teacher, will not comment on the difference between officials in the celestial and earthly classes."

Our Water Class is mainly divided into two branches: one is Water, and the other is Wealth. While some of the corresponding 72 pentads are the same, others are completely different.
【White Water Boy】, 【Star Chaser】, 【Corpse Retriever】, 【Turbid River Boatman】, 【Pearl Diver】, 【Water Divider General】, 【Sea Scoop】.
[Chaofenglang], [Bibaoren], [Peddler], [Traveling Merchant], [Silversmith], [Saltman], a total of thirty-six halls.

Women fear marrying the wrong man, and men fear entering the wrong profession. The importance of choosing an official position is no less than that of being born into the right family.

The environment, inheritance, growth rate, and potential, among other factors, can all completely change a person's life.

We must not be careless.

Wang Cheng nodded repeatedly in his heart:
'Our family's "Guide to Sending You with the Wind" is the most profound study of water veins, with the most mainstream and numerous "White Water Lang" as the priority.'

The Wang family has never had to consider anything else when bestowing titles or ordination upon its members, nor have they had to be picky.

Passed down through generations, the fate of the Cai Shui Wang family has long been tied to this official position.

However, the Mountain and Sea Society truly lives up to its prestigious status as a water-gathering lineage; their ability to tailor instruction to individual needs alone far surpasses ours.

Wang Cheng felt that regardless of whether the divination was performed or not, he was destined to be a "white-water man" (a man who spends his life as a prostitute). However, he couldn't speak carelessly at this time, so he simply said:
"This disciple will follow Master's arrangements."

The three of them entered the pavilion, and Wang Cheng discovered that although the pavilion was divided into three floors, it was open to the outside and connected by a wooden corridor. Each floor contained twelve old wooden boxes.

Yellow curtains covered with red incantations fluttered around, and an incense table with a bronze incense burner was placed in the center of the first floor.

Shen Yuting pushed Wang Cheng to the center of the attic:
"When a child turns one year old, there is a custom called 'Zhuazhou Test,' and various lineages also have a custom called 'Zhuazhou Determines Fate' when determining the destiny of their disciples."

Fourth brother, go! Take control of your own future!

(End of this chapter)