Great Creator

30 years ago.

Yasong City, the capital of King Ya.

The most majestic building in Yasong City is the Wangcheng, and the outer circle of the Wangcheng is where officials at all levels work. Among them, the most deserted one is probably the official historian's office.

The book characters are shaped like bamboo slips compiled side by side, and the book house is the place where the bamboo slips of Yaguo are stored.

The historian is the official responsible for keeping records.

The chief historian is called Yin, and the general officials are called Neishi. In addition, there are many officials.

The Yin of this generation, surnamed He, named Ding, was born as an ancestor of He Yu, a university student.

As we all know, Ge She has no heirs, so it is descended from the historian family, which belongs to the He family, Ge She's eldest disciple.

It was eight o'clock at night.

The human race uses a 24-hour timekeeping method, with sundials during the day and hourglasses at night.

Not every household has an hourglass, so the task of telling the time is the responsibility of the watchman.

Hearing the sound of the bellman knocking on the street outside the window, Nei Shi Banjin put away the bamboo slips he was compiling in his hand, put them on the shelf, and then walked lightly to the inner room of the mansion.

Across the corridor and the door curtain, Ban Jin could see the bean-like lights beating slightly in the inner room from a distance.

He came to the door of the inner room, raised the curtain, and stepped in. Sure enough, he saw an old man with a white beard wearing a purple patterned official uniform, crouching in front of the shore, writing something with a pen.

"The teacher really hasn't rested yet." Ban Jin sighed.

This person is the Chief Yin of the Cefu, He Ding, who is also Ban Jin's immediate boss and mentor.

He Ding looked up at him, then turned his head and signaled: "Come and sit here."

Although the two of them are superior and inferior, but the relationship between master and apprentice is extraordinary, so naturally you don't need to be polite. Ban Jin naturally obediently came to He Ding's side, raised the hem of his robe, and knelt down on the mat beside him.

He Ding stopped writing, put it aside, then handed the bamboo slips in hand to Ban Jin, and said, "Read it."

Ban Jin took the bamboo slips and saw that what was recorded on them was the affairs of Jing State.

"In the 234th year of the Ya State, in the 53rd year of the Jing State, Wen Zan abdicated, and the crown prince Wen Yu came to the throne as King Jingping, with his second son, Wen Yuan, as the crown prince. In the 55th year of the Jing State, God... Huh?" Ban Jinnian The voice of chanting stopped suddenly, because a passage here was completely crossed out by He Ding.

It was originally written here, "Because the crown prince Wen Yuan framed the eldest son Wen Ling, the gods announced with their divine voice that Wen Ling was the reincarnation of the god of heaven, and sent down the punishment of heaven to execute Wen Yuan, and the hourglass of heaven fell for the third time."

However, this long passage was completely crossed out by He Ding, and a new piece of bamboo was added later.

Ban Jin was a little confused, so when he was about to ask He Ding why, He Ding urged him: "Don't worry about that paragraph, just follow what I wrote later, and read on."

Ban Jin had no choice but to continue to read the following text: "...Jing Guo55, Wen Yuan was crushed to death by a huge stone. Jing Guo57, Wen Yuli's third daughter, Wen Ya, was crowned princess."

Jing Guo’s records stop here for the time being, Ban Jin puts the bamboo slips back on the table, full of doubts in his heart, he doesn’t understand why He Ding changed the historical records like this.

"This record is made by our company's internal history. You know what it says, and it is true." He Ding moved his aging body and sat facing Ban Jin. "Ban Jin, don't you think it's strange now, why should I change such a real record?"

"Teacher, this disciple is really puzzled. The teacher once taught me that the most important thing for a historian is to write straight books and not be afraid of dignitaries. If this is the case, why did the teacher abolish the real records?"

He Ding felt very relieved after hearing these words. He looked at his disciple gently. Ban Jin is only 31 years old this year, and he is very straightforward, but he is still immature in many places.

"Ban Jin, have you ever studied Master Ge's history books?"

"Read it many times."

"Then do you still remember what Master Ge wrote at the very beginning—the history books of the human race, which describe people's affairs, and miracles are elusive and untraceable."

"I remember, but..."

"Ban Jin, we are historians, not wizards. What the historians record must be the history of the human race, not the history of the gods. It is true that the gods came to the world and even warned us, but the gods are far away from us humans. The function of history books is to let the people see the past, understand what is right, what is wrong, what should be done, and what should not be done."

"History books are like a mirror. If God is reflected in the mirror, is it necessary for the gods to look at the history books and understand what they have gained or lost? Therefore, it is really presumptuous to record things about the gods in the history books. What we can record, It's just human gain and loss."

Ban Jin knelt on the ground, listening to his teacher explain the reason for revising the records, the confusion in his heart was gradually solved by the teacher's words, he thought for a while, and then he came to his senses and said: "So that's the case, the teacher feels that the The entry of the gods into history is not only cumbersome, but also does not conform to the principles of history taught by Master Ge, so the previous records of the Jing Kingdom's gods descending into the world and heaven's punishment were deleted and revised, and in the end there were only records related to the human race."

He even reasoned by analogy: "In the history of the human race, there is a tradition of tabooing the venerable. If this is the case, what dignity can compare to the gods. It must be correct for us not to record the things about the gods in the history books."

He Ding nodded, and then said: "Actually, Ban Jin, if you look at the historical records of the human race, you will find that the shadows of the gods are always more hidden than visible. In many cases, there are not too many of them." Involved in our human race, these three things have become more obvious in recent years."

"The gods must...don't want to interfere too much with our human race..."

He Ding stroked his long white beard, looked out the window and sighed.

Ban Jin looked at the teacher's slightly hunched figure, and kept the teacher's teaching firmly in his heart.

A few years later, He Ding stepped down from Yin's position, and Ban Jin took over the post.

Before He Ding abdicated, he once held his hand and gave him an important task.

That is to ask Ban Jin to go to various places of the human race, collect historical records from various countries, and compile a complete history book of the Ya Kingdom.

Ben would like to assure him that this matter will be done with the rest of his life.

Since then, Ban Jin has been working hard to collect records from various countries and compile them into his "Ya History".

The editing of this annals took a long time, and it was a major event that took a lifetime to do.

Decades are fleeting. In the 259th year of Yaguo, Ban Jin is now 62 years old and has entered his twilight years.

He stepped down from the position of Yin Chang two years ago and entrusted him to his most trusted disciple to ensure that the tradition of history writing would not be broken. He also taught his disciples like a mentor, letting him understand that history is the history of people, not the history of gods, which is the criterion of historians.

However, an event happened last fall that completely overturned Ben Jin's thinking.

That's what King Zhuang knew about Beicheng being punished by the gods.

After hearing about this, he intentionally went to have a look, and he didn't make the trip until the next year.

From Ya Country to Zhuang Country, the journey is not too far. Ban Jin took a book boy along the way, and heard many discussions from the people about Zhibei City.