Madam, protect me!

Chang'an County Government.

Li Nuo looked at the two lines of words on the code and was very excited.

"Name: Li Nuo."

"Lifespan: twenty-six days."

This morning, he only had ten days left to live, and now it has grown to nearly a month.

Six of them were due to Cui Ze's three-year imprisonment and three thousand-mile exile. The penalty of one hundred with or without a rod had no effect on the increase or decrease of longevity. As for the death penalty for the woman who killed her husband, Li Nuo increased it. A full ten days of life is also the sentence that has increased the life span the most so far.

The punishments in Daxia were divided into five categories: whipping, rod, punishment, exile, and death.

So far, according to Li Nuo's experiments, only imprisonment or more can increase his life span. The maximum imprisonment in Daxia is three years, and the maximum exile is three thousand miles. Therefore, imprisonment and exile can increase his life span by at most three days, and death penalty can increase his life span by ten days.

Calculated this way, it is actually more cost-effective to be sentenced to life imprisonment or exiled for 10,000 miles, but because prisoners also need to eat, and food is wasted if raised for a long time, the maximum prison sentence in Daxia is three years. If you feel that three years in prison is not enough, then add If exile and exile are not enough, it is better to just cut it off.

As for why the exile is only three thousand miles away, it's because no matter how far it is, it's not the boundary of Daxia.

Pei Zhe had been standing next to Li Nuo, watching him write different sentences one after another. The penalties in each judgment were also different. Although he didn't know why he did this, there was something about Li Nuo that he couldn't understand. This is not the only thing.

He loves writing so much, no wonder his handwriting is so good.

The strange thing is that he can write well, but he doesn't know many words - some of the idiot's behaviors are really difficult for normal people to understand.

Writing with a brush is really hard work. Li Nuo put down the pen and was about to rub his sore wrist when a burst of melodious music suddenly came from his ears.

The music was melodious, and it was like crying. I don’t know what instrument it was played on. It reached the climax and stopped suddenly. The people listening were confused. Li Nuo walked to the door, looked around, and Pei Zhe asked. : "What are you looking for, Master?"

Li Nuo asked doubtfully: "Someone was playing the piano just now, didn't you hear it?"

Pei Zhe smiled and said, "Of course I heard it. That person was playing "Cloud Gate", one of the "Six Musics". The passage just now comes from Chapter 9, Section 7 of "Cloud Gate". It is based on the Confucian awe-inspiring truth. Play with breath, the music sound is very penetrating, sometimes you can hear It seems to be close to my ears, but in fact it is miles away. However, the music sounds a bit unfamiliar. I don’t know which Confucian student in the early stage is learning the Six Music to prepare for the imperial examination. Zhenqi music is not allowed in Chang’an City. He must have been careless..."

Li Nuo was slightly surprised: "Master Pei still knows music?"

Pei Zhe stroked his beard and said with some pride: "I am also a disciple of Confucianism. I have practiced the six arts since I was a child, and I also know a little about music."

In fact, "a little understanding" is just his humble way of saying that the imperial examinations are about "six arts". Confucian disciples may not all be proficient in music, but Confucian disciples who have passed the imperial examination gold list are very good at etiquette, music, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and mathematics. Of the six arts, all of them must be mastered and mastered.

The imperial examination at that time was more competitive than it is now. There were hundreds of thousands of candidates, but there were only dozens of people who could truly become Jinshi and obtain official status. Only one person in ten thousand could be selected. The real one in ten thousand, any one of these people You may not be able to master each of the six arts to the top, but you will definitely not have any obvious shortcomings.

It's just that these things are rarely used after the imperial examination. If they are neglected to practice, they will gradually become useless.

When the magistrate of Chang'an was mentioned, the first thing that came to Li Nuo's mind was a cowardly and unreliable impression.

It is said that he is unreliable, but he knows the "Daxia Rules" very well. He can read the precise provisions at a glance. Just by listening to a piece of piano sound, he can know the chapter of the music and guess the identity and realm of the player, and even the upcoming song. What he did impressed Li Nuo.

Li Nuo remembered that Butler Wu once said that Confucianism, which involves self-cultivation, ordering the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world, can cultivate awe-inspiring aura and not be afraid of anything. However, he had not seen it before, so he asked the Chang'an County Magistrate: "No Do you know how far Master Pei’s Haoran Qi cultivation has reached?”

Confucianism cultivates six arts, and ability is also related to the six arts.

The first three realms are still in the stage of cultivating Qi. They have no offensive power, but their defense is not weak. Haoran's true Qi protects the body and can be immune to the power of each family.

In the fourth realm, there will be a qualitative change, and it can condense into clouds of righteousness and fly in the sky, corresponding to the "control" in the six arts.

When you reach the fifth realm, you can comprehend the awe-inspiring sound. Playing it with ordinary musical instruments can cause large-scale group damage, which corresponds to the "music" in the six arts.

As for the sixth level, he is already a Confucian semi-sage. He can condense arrows of righteousness in the void, which corresponds to "shooting" among the six arts. Warriors in the sixth level have to retreat when they see this.

I heard that the Confucian cloud of righteousness can fly in the sky for a long time, traveling thousands of miles in a day. Even warriors in the material-controlling realm cannot do this. After flying in the air for a quarter of an hour at most, their true energy will be exhausted.

Hearing Li Nuo's words, Pei Zhe was stunned for a moment, then silently lowered his head.

Li Nuo looked at him and said: "Don't be stingy, Master Pei. I just want to see something. Master Pei has been practicing for so long. He should have reached the fourth realm of Confucianism. He can condense a cloud of righteousness and let me open my eyes..."

…

A moment later, at the gate of Chang'an County Government Office.

Before getting on the carriage, Butler Wu coughed lightly and reminded Li Nuo: "Master, when you meet Confucian people in the future, it is best not to ask them what level of Qi cultivation they have reached. This is very impolite..."

Li Nuo expressed confusion, "Why?"

Butler Wu explained helplessly: "The Confucian way, self-cultivation, family harmony, governance, and peace in the world, these nine words are easy to say but difficult to do. Young people are fearless and uphold justice in their hearts, so they can naturally cultivate a sense of righteousness. However, once they enter the court as officials, few people can stick to their original intentions over time. If their original intentions are gone, their righteousness will be difficult to advance, and they may even regress. Some people have been officials for a long time and cannot even gather a trace of righteousness..."

"..."

It turns out that in this world, there are some invisible shackles for practicing Confucianism and practicing Legalism.

Legalism is objectively prohibited, and practicing Legalism will offend many dignitaries and encounter obstacles from the outside.

Confucianism cannot be cultivated subjectively. It is easy to maintain one's original intention for a period of time, but it is difficult to maintain one's original intention for a lifetime, especially after entering the officialdom and facing all kinds of temptations, how many people can maintain a pure original intention?

Self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and world peace are the loftiest ideals of Confucian disciples. The ideal is full, but the reality is very skinny. Once those who chant these sentences every day enter the officialdom and become vested interests, it is difficult for them to return to the original state.

In terms of cultivation, it is stagnant or even regresses significantly.

Other schools are getting stronger and stronger, while Confucianism is getting weaker and weaker.

However, as a stepping stone to enter the officialdom, even if Confucianism is getting weaker and weaker, there are still countless people flocking to it.

Steward Wu sighed and said: "The fifth realm of martial arts is not rare, but practicing the Haoran true qi to the fifth realm can make you a great Confucian and be admired by thousands of people. Unfortunately, there are not many such people in the whole Daxia, and even the fourth realm is rare..."

Li Nuo thought to himself that although Confucianism and Legalism are considered to be very powerful among all schools, the conditions for cultivation are so harsh. Compared with martial arts, they are not very competitive. How can they not decline?

No wonder the magistrate of Chang'an County did not answer his question, and he seemed to be in a bad mood afterwards.

Thinking of something, he suddenly asked: "Isn't my father also a Confucianist? What level has he reached in his practice?"

Butler Wu smiled, but did not answer directly. He just said: "This question, I don't know either. Young master, go ask the master later..."

Li Nuo shook his head. To be honest, he was not very familiar with the father. Even if he met him, he couldn't ask these questions.

Just as Li Nuo's carriage slowly drove towards the Li Mansion.

Chang'an County Government.

Just after sending Li Nuo away, Pei Zhe had no time to breathe a sigh of relief, and the jailer hurried over, looking panicked, and whispered in his ear: "Sir, it's bad, Zhang Xiaoyun committed suicide in prison!"