Zhao Shu stood up on the high altar, looked at the dark clouds swirling in the sky, made a prayer to the sky, attracted a wisp of fresh air to descend, and then used the virtual calligraphy talisman to lightly tap the Fang Yuji Zhentu on the Dharma table.
The map immediately produced a sensation, with ripples rippling on the surface, and the true shape of the earth's veins as curved as seals appeared with purple energy. Then there were rolling muffled thunders that kept ringing deep in the rock formations, causing birds to fly in the forest and rats hiding in their holes to run, but no earth moved. Shaking shape.
Among the mountains and peaks of the Four Wild Mountains, the clouds and mist are billowing, as if there is an invisible giant raising its hand to play with it. The infinite power sweeps across the sky and the earth, the clear and turbid yin and yang, the four seasons and the five elements are inspired by each other, and they match each other silently.
Standing on the altar, Zhao Miao moved alone, keeping his spirit in the void. The cave door behind him suddenly shone brightly, and a cloud seal flew into the sky to form a cave.
Zhao Shu raised his head and blew, and the purple air rose up and condensed into a pedestal. The Dongtian Yunzhuan was like a fetus sitting on it. It was nourished by the clear air flowing around the heaven and earth, and rapidly changed and refined its shape. It was vaguely visible that an earthly god was gradually being gestated.
However, before the appearance of the earthly god was complete, Zhao Shui felt that it was difficult to perform the ritual, as if he had reached a dead end and could not go any further.
"The seven orifices are not yet clear, and one truth is not yet made. The spirit is only recorded in the book, and the talisman is waiting for the edict."
Zhao Shu shouted loudly, as if raising his head to the sky, and then made a false gesture, and the earthly god who had not yet fully formed turned into a ray of light and returned to the cave to calm the turmoil of the earth's veins.
After the ceremony was over, Zhao Shu breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked down the altar, gesturing to others to pack their belongings.
"Promoting the energy of the heavens and nurturing the true spirit of the earth." Xu Zhouzi shook his head and sighed: "With the power of such rituals, it is no wonder that the ceremonial officers of the Tianxia Dynasty can control all gods. If there are ghosts and gods who act on their own initiative and do not obey the laws, , the praise officer can also destroy it at will and erect another one."
"Senior's words are exaggerated." Zhao Shu quickly waved his hands and said: "Even when the Tianxia Dynasty was at its peak, and there were many officials praising the people, it was impossible to easily educate people to only respect gods. This kind of thing is closely related, and it is impossible to try to force it with human power. The order of heaven, earth, mountains and rivers is harmful rather than beneficial.
What's more, what I just did was not to let the earth worship the gods and enlighten the gods, but to assist the work of nature. In the end, I still have to let the heaven and the earth create good fortune, and the people's faith and wishes will fulfill this god. As the saying goes - the people are also the masters of the gods. , the holy king first becomes a people, and then devotes himself to God.
The faith and wishes of the common people are fulfilled by the gods. The mountains, hills, rivers and lakes serve as their residences. They are endowed with the aura of heaven and earth and are responsible for the burden of misfortunes and blessings. Naturally, they must respond to the faith and wishes of all living beings and provide material benefits to people, in order to become a righteous god."
Xu Zhouzi kept nodding his head: "On the surface, the official of praise is specialized in sacrificial rituals, but in fact, he lays the foundation for the country, distinguishes right from wrong, and distinguishes interests and harms, so as to settle the hearts of all people."
Recently, Xu Zhouzi assisted Zhao Shu in revising the rituals and regulations. He devoured the official scriptures like a hunger and thirsty. With Zhao Shu's guidance from the side, he was greatly enlightened. In the past, many difficult questions seemed to have been opened by an iron cone, and he suddenly felt clear and transparent.
"That's right." Zhao Miao nodded, paced with his hands behind his back, and said: "In fact, in the eyes of the praise officer, if a god is born with a private mind and has desires and demands, he will inevitably be partial, unable to cover the world, and will be defeated in all directions. .
The best is to be selfless and without desires, like the earth of the emperor and queen, covering all things without talking about gains and losses; like the sun and moon hanging high, shining on the past and present without distinguishing each other. The four seasons circle, life and death have their own destiny; the five directions are peaceful, The mountains and rivers have been peaceful since ancient times."
When he said this, Zhao Shu was actually a little ashamed. His respect for the Praise Officer was no longer what it used to be, and many of his past concepts had been shaken as the foundation of the Immortal Way was laid.
Heaven and earth cover all things, and it is true that there is no gain or loss, but there is no distinction between right and wrong. The sun and the moon hang high, and for thousands of years there will always be corners that are not illuminated. As for life and death in the world, perhaps it is precisely the lack of certainty that makes things possible.
Reproduction is endless. The mountains and rivers seem to be motionless, but in Zhao Shu's view, they are always moving and contain infinite power.
In fact, the predecessors of Zanli Guan were not short-sighted and blind. Zhao Shu himself was in troubled times, and he knew very well how important it was to rectify the world and help the people and suppress chaos. Zanli Guan established the laws and regulations in the hope of long-term peace.
It's just that when you reach Zhao Shu's level, you can still vaguely discover some deliberate intentions of the predecessors of Zan Li Guan.
There is no partiality in the heaven and earth, but the Emperor, Heaven, and Taiyi, the Queen, Earth, Kun, and the Five Virtues are sacrificed. All gods with private desires must wait for them. The praise officer claims to act on behalf of heaven, so he naturally has the authority to control ghosts and gods, and he also has the authority to override them.
Through the merits of evil and evil rituals, we can realize the wish that the people are the Lord of God and the people are the foundation of the country.
However, the laws and regulations set by the praise officials are by no means indestructible. The heaven and earth are vast, and the temporary laws and regulations are not enough to cover all kinds of things. It is like a piece of cloth that has been beaten by wind and rain for many years. No matter how repaired it is, it will not last long.
"By the way, the talisman I saw you summoned just now doesn't feel like the one passed down by the Praise Officer." Xu Zhouzi interrupted Zhao Shu's thoughts.
Zhao Miao's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the cave door not far away and said: "This cave was a place where a master of cultivating immortals lived in seclusion a long time ago, and the talisman and seal script were the remains of him after he dissolved them.
It is blended and refined with the earth's energy. I came here before to sense the legacy of my predecessors."
"That's it." Xu Zhouzi didn't have any more doubts.
Seeing that Xu Zhouzi trusted him so much and he lied so much, Zhao Shu felt a little unhappy. So he casually asked: "I previously compiled the "Nine Levels of the Three Heavens". I wonder if your seniors have any advice?"
"I have indeed read it. Why does your "Nine-Rank Immortal Ranks of Three Days" feel somewhat similar to the private Nine-Rank Immortal Ranks set up by Chongxuan Hall?" Xu Zhouzi asked.
The Huaxu Guoguan system has four levels of rank from low to high: Fu Li, San Qing, Dharma General, and Lingguan. This is actually the result of the joint discussion of each Guan. There may be other ranks within different Guan.
There is a distinction in order.
For example, Chongxuan Hall has a private ninth-grade immortal rank, which Liang Tao summed up from the Nine Heavens Immortal Barrier, and the names are elegant and sublime, such as "Shangzhangdian", "Xuandu True Scholar", "Jinque Yushi"
, the name is quite intimidating.
"I did refer to the Nine-Rank Immortal Order, and there is no need to admit it." Zhao Shu answered frankly: "However, Chongxuan Hall did not implement the Nine-Rank Immortal Order carefully, and even indiscriminately taught Dharma to the nobles in order to make money.
I thought more about it and figured out that there were no rules and regulations governing the promotion of the urn, which led to the confusion of the spiritual texts and the dust on the dharma urn."
The "Three Heavens and Nine Ranks" compiled by Zhao Shu set up a number of examinations for the transfer of urn products. There are not only the past practice of accumulating merit, but also the examination of rituals and techniques corresponding to each rank. The former is
Virtue, the latter is talent.
Zhao Miao also set many rules for meritorious deeds, ranging from practicing medicine and administering medicine, giving up money to help people, redressing grievances, and eradicating evil spirits, as well as praying for sunshine and rain for the people, driving away locusts, collecting and treating plagues, and eradicating evil spirits.
Water, fire and water. Only those who have accumulated merits and deeds will be able to register and advance, and their products will be transferred.
On the contrary, those who commit indiscriminate killings, commit corruption and pervert the law, serve as teachers to evil gods, etc. will have their merits deducted, even deprived of their positions, their cultivation will be abolished, and they may even be punished with death.
As your rank rises, you can also learn more advanced techniques, which are not limited to rituals and rituals. Zhao Shu's compilation of this part is not comprehensive enough. Apart from rituals and rituals, there are no other categories of magic.
"The Nine-Principle of Three Heavens is indeed good, but there are still some problems in it." Xu Zhouzi asked: "You mentioned in the book that you will set up a merit and demerit book, but who will verify whether a certain monk has corresponding merits and demerits?
Similarly, if a monk violates the rules, who will punish him?"
"Of course we have to set up another government office." Zhao Shui didn't have much confidence in this aspect. He compiled the "Three Days and Nine Grades" and it was impossible for him to implement it by himself. No matter the current leader of the country,
It's still Liang Tao's Taoist Kingdom in the World. This book serves as a guideline, and there are many areas for detailed improvement in its specific implementation.
"It's not a big problem just to set up a scientific examination school and move the order." Xu Zhouzi said with a smile: "But if we only examine scientific rituals and rituals, our Jiangzhen Hall will probably get a big advantage."
"I'll add other subjects later." Zhao Shu also smiled: "And who told me to be good at rituals and rituals? The revision of rituals and laws must be based on this."
Xu Zhouzi was naturally very satisfied, and then asked: "But in addition to accumulating merit and setting up scientific examination schools, there are still some people who are highly skilled in cultivation, but may not be proficient in the subjects they are tested in, and do not have profound meritorious deeds. How should we deal with these people?"
"
Zhao Miao spread his hands: "Aren't these people the Qishan monks? They have no intention of joining the world and taking orders, so why bother thinking about their future?"
"That's right, but I thought too much."
…
Old Lin breathed out hot air and rubbed his hands repeatedly. His fingers, which had been broken by repeated frostbite, were swollen red and purple. Although they were not as flexible as when he was young, his hands still felt like needle pricks every winter.
Pushing open the door, I felt a rare warmth, and saw my son and daughter-in-law standing by the stove, sitting opposite each other and crying.
"What's wrong?" Old Lin stepped forward to warm himself by the fire and patted the snowflakes off his body.
The son of the Lin family wiped away tears: "The village head came just now and said that the land in our village will be planted with mulberry seedlings next year."
"Ah? It's so good, why do you have to plant mulberry seedlings instead?" Old man Lin was puzzled.
"I heard others say that if you want to sell silk, you have to plant mulberry and raise silkworms." The son of the Lin family sighed: "Our family has just returned a few bushels of rice to the village. We don't know how to survive after sowing next spring. Now we will plant mulberry instead."
Miao, how will you survive next year...?"
After saying this, the son sighed and the daughter-in-law sobbed. The child in his arms seemed to sense the sad atmosphere and started crying loudly. The daughter-in-law could only shake and shake.
Old man Lin took one look and said, "The child may be hungry. Just feed him some milk."
The daughter-in-law of the Lin family did not dare to raise her head and whispered: "I...have no milk these days."
As soon as these words came out, the three adults in the family were speechless, leaving only the cry of the child.
"The Hu family's daughter-in-law at the east end of the village also just gave birth to a baby. I'm going to beg their family." Old Lin stood up with his knees propped up.
The son of the Lin family grabbed his father and said, "Forget it, the Hu family has always looked down on others, how can they help us?"
"It's just the New Year, at best I'll kowtow to them a few times." Old man Lin wrapped himself in thin clothes and hurried out of the house. Braving the wind and snow, enduring the cold wind like a flesh-cutting steel knife, he finally arrived at Hu's house at the east end of the village.
Compared to their own house, which doesn't even have a neat fence, the Hu family has a rammed earth wall and is much richer than other people in the village. They have hot black bean rice with salty black bean sauce every day, and they can even drink sour rice milk when the sun is at its peak in the summer.
, simply a luxury.
Old man Lin rolled up his sleeves outside the hospital, wandering and thinking for a long time. Finally, his face became stiff due to the cold wind, so he had to muster up the courage to knock on the door.
"Who?!" The elder of the Hu family opened the door with a wary look.
"It's me, Old Man Lin."
Seeing that there was no one behind him, the Hu family's husband asked, "Is something wrong?"
Old Man Lin forced a smile: "Didn't my wife just give birth to a baby? For some reason, the milk supply has not been enough in the past two days, and the baby has been crying non-stop, so I would like to ask your Hu Dalang's wife to help me. I don't know..."
Hu Dalang said "Oh" but didn't agree immediately. He only heard someone in the room asking: "Who is here?"
"Old man Lin, his wife's milk supply is not enough, and she wants our family to help."
"It's winter, let him in."
Hu Dalang was a little disgusted, but he still opened the door, and a burst of hot air rushed out. Old Lin hurriedly entered, and saw that the house was full of dozens of men, all men from various families in the village.
"What are you..." Old man Lin was confused for a moment. Could it be that they all came to pay New Year greetings to the Hu family? Is it okay to kowtow later?
"My dear, please take the young man's wife to Old Man Lin's house." Old Hu, who seemed to be the head of the family, was wearing a thick coat and had a burly figure. He spoke towards the back room and finally added: "Next to the stove. There is a bowl of beans and rice, which I also sent over."
When Old Man Lin heard this, he was overjoyed and knelt down quickly to kowtow. Old Man Hu waved his hand: "Okay! Don't do this. Since you are here, just stay and talk."
"What are you talking about?"
"The head of the village has come to deliver a message. Our village will plant mulberry seedlings instead." Old Man Hu said with an ugly face: "The harvest has not been good in the past few years, and everyone owes a lot. Many families in our village can hardly open the pot. Plant these mulberry seedlings. We can't use it as food. We don't know how Zhuangtou will collect it, and we don't know if we can meet the rations. No one is willing to plant mulberry seedlings instead. But this time Zhuangtou came with more than a dozen Zhuang Yong, and he was afraid that we wouldn't be able to refute. .”
"That's why we came to look for Hu Tou'er!" Someone said: "Hu Tou'er, you also went into battle to kill the enemy back then. You are more knowledgeable than us farm guys. You must know what to do."
Old Man Hu was silent for a long time: "You also know the power of Mr. Wang. Our village is his territory all day and night. Even if we go to the county seat in the east, it is another Mr. Wang's territory. Besides, who is willing to abandon it these days? Family property?"
"But you can't just watch it like this, right?"
Old man Lin saw that everyone was talking to each other and couldn't explain why, so he asked: "Can't we go to the government?"
As soon as these words came out, there were only a few sneers and sarcastic looks. Old man Lin suddenly lost his temper and simply said: "I was collecting firewood outside the village yesterday and happened to meet a group of hunters. They said that Marquis Zhenming will be coming in a few days. The county town also said that Marquis Zhenming can best uphold justice for the common people. When those gentlemen saw Marquis Zhenming, they were so scared that they turned into chickens. Why don’t we ask Marquis Zhenming for help?"
Obviously many people did not believe what Old Man Lin said, but some people were persuaded, and they all looked at Old Man Hu. Seeing this veteran who had experienced the battlefield, he crossed his arms and said in a deep voice: "I will go to a county town myself." .If the news is true, I would rather risk my life to make a way for everyone to survive!"