Qin Official

"Mr. Xia, do you know why Yan people are still white?"

When Xia Wuqie was applying medicine to Gao Jianli, he suddenly said such a sentence for no reason.

Doctor Xia pondered for a moment and said: "I heard that the place where the Yan people live is the ruins of the Yin Shang Dynasty. They inherited the legacy of the Shang Dynasty. Their writing is like that of the Shang Dynasty, and their customs are like those of the Yin Shang Dynasty. White is the most important thing."

"no no."

Gao Jianli shook his head and said with a smile: "The Yan people are simple and uncultured, and they don't pay attention to the inheritance from thousands of years ago. The reason why the Yan people like white is just because after the winter in the Yan Kingdom, there will be heavy rain every year. Snow, snow covers all colors, sounds, and throbs, endlessly, blending into the sky, just like the beginning of chaos, the beginning of heaven and earth, grand and peaceful."

"Living in that endless whiteness, we naturally fall in love with white."

While talking, Gao Jianli also remembered that many years ago, by the Yishui River, everyone in plain clothes and hats bid farewell to Jing Ke.

"Is this the reason?" Xia Wuji was indifferent and continued to untie the linen belt that covered Gao Jianli's eyes.

"That's probably it, it's just..."

Gao Jianli sighed: "I have been in Xianyang for more than a month, and I no longer know what white is."

"It's natural."

Xia Wuji smiled and said: "You are blind, and all you see is darkness!"

The cloth belt was taken off, accompanied by the faint smell of medicine, Gao Jianli's black and white eyes, without any figure, were dead silent, staring blankly into the darkness covering him.

He was smoked blind by Emperor Qin Shihuang's order Xia Wuji and used the "Huo" method: fresh hot horse urine was put into a sealed bucket, then roasted over a fire, and Gao Jianli's head was pressed in until the horse urine steamed. until dry.

As a result, the person fainted. After waking up, although the eyes seemed to be normal, they became stiff, the light withered, and became dead.

Still uneasy, Xia Wuqi tried Gao Jianli several times, and did not return to Qin Shihuang until it was confirmed that he was completely blind.

The emperor just said lightly that he understood it and let Gao Jianli work as a musician in Yuefu.

As a captured fugitive, Gao Jianli was originally sentenced to be cut in half, but he was taken to Xianyang Palace and listened to Gao Jianli playing the piano from a distance. However, the emperor was reluctant to part with this wonderful music, so he pardoned him and spared his life. .

The emperor liked his music, but he thought his eyes were too bright and contained too many emotions. Looking at it always reminded the emperor of some unpleasant past events, so he ordered Xia Wu to ignore it.

This is the civet cat's favor for not killing the mouse, listening to it squeaking at its paws.

But can a blind man still play music as before? Xia Wuji was very doubtful.

"Doesn't Imperial Doctor Xia know that in ancient times, most of the music officials in the princes' courts were blind?"

Gao Jianli was groping for his building, holding the bamboo board firmly in his hand, and said: "The ancient god Gu, who passed the test and measured the sound and made the music, is actually a group of blind men."

Shi Xiangzi, who played Shao music and made Confucius ignorant of the taste of meat for three months, was blind. Shi Kuang, the Dazai of the Jin Dynasty, was also blind. When he was young, he learned the piano from Gao Yang, a court musician of the Wei Kingdom, but without success. Later, he thought that the reason why he could not specialize in music was because he could see too many things with his eyes, so he After blinding his eyes with mugwort and practicing hard, he gradually surpassed his teacher in piano skills and was able to play the most beautiful music in the world.

"I am also blind now. It seems that this is destined by God to let me focus on music."

Gao Jianli was not filled with indignation because he was blinded by smoke, and he did not even show any hostility when facing Xia Wuqi, who hit Jing Ke with a basket of medicine.

His ambition and hatred seemed to have been extinguished along with those bright moves...

"In the past two years, I have been running around, working as a mediocre person, eating the food of dogs and pigs, and living a hard life. Now, thanks to His Majesty's mercy, I am allowed to eat delicious food. What is there to complain about?"

"That's true."

Xia Wuqie nodded: "Just like studying medicine, who among those who study piano and architecture are from poor backgrounds?"

While talking, Gao Jianli, with the help of his assistant, set up the building and started playing music...

When the bamboo board in Gao Jianli's hand gently crossed the Zhuxian, Xia Wuji no longer had the slightest doubt. Gao Jianli's music was as good as before, with a little more meaning, but he didn't understand the rhythm and couldn't explain it.

After Xia Wuqi listened for a while, he felt a mixture of emotions in his heart. He shook his head and left with the medicine basket on his back.

…

Of course Gao Jianli knew that Xia Wuji had left. After becoming blind, he was not very used to it at first: when he dreamed, he would dream of the white snow in Yanshangdu, the brightly colored streets and alleys, and the whole world was dotted by the bright stars, sun and moon. Bright.

When I woke up, I opened my eyes suddenly and looked around. I found that the day was completely dark, and I realized that I was blind. However, I refused to close my eyelids and kept them wide open, as if hoping to find a glimmer of light.

But found nothing.

Over the past month, Gao Jianli has gradually adapted to the darkness. He measured the furnishings of the house through his steps, judged the position of people through his ears, and felt the wall to go to the toilet to pee. Sometimes he peeed crookedly, making the room full of stench, so he could only urinate. Awkwardly waiting for the servants to come and clean.

At this time, he would think of the story of Shi Hui, a blind musician from Zheng State in the Spring and Autumn Period, who deliberately urinated in public in the Song Dynasty court, and he burst into laughter for a moment.

"Chaoyue? No one is there!"

The laughter got louder and louder, and the palace maid was so frightened that she thought the blind man was crazy.

The most unbearable thing is that the eyes must be continuously applied with medicine, otherwise they will be itchy and painful, like countless ants biting in the eye sockets. Sometimes Gao Jianli is so painful that he is covered in sweat, but he never moans silently, and endures it all with his head down, as if his tongue is also being bitten. Cut off.

They, the Yan people, are accustomed to the winds of the north and grew up in the ice and snow. They all have the same temperament, stoic and decisive.

After a month of training, Gao Jianli was able to identify the type of food from the smell coming out of the kitchen in the early morning. When eating, he could savor the taste and smell, feel the rough touch of Xianyang Shaobing under his fingers, taste the smoothness of fish meat, and the stinging pain when hot soup splashed onto the wound on his hand cut by the string.

Hearing, smell, taste, touch, and without vision, there are many ways to perceive the world, enough for him to survive.

For example, not long after Xia Wuqie left, Gao Jianli heard another visitor entering the house. He was wearing soft-soled silk shoes and stepping on the stones silently, but he was still noticed by him.

The visitor took off his shoes outside the door and entered in only his bare feet. He tried his best to be as quiet as a mouse, as if he didn't want to disturb Gao Jianli, but he was too fat to cover up his clumsy steps.

It wasn't until Gao Jianli finished playing a piece of music that the sound of clapping hands could be heard from where the man was standing.

"What a piece of music from "Qing Shang"!"

Everyone's timbre was special. Gao Jianli already knew who was coming and could even smell what snacks he had brought for him.

The junu from Changyang Street South Market, Shi's honey bait, and a new snack are all new. They are soft and sticky in the hand and sweet in the mouth.

"It's sugar glutinous rice cake. It's a popular food in Nan County in recent years. My friend's house made it and sent it to me. I think Mr. Gao is from the north and must have never eaten it."

But Gao Jianli only tasted one and then stopped. He raised his wide sleeves and bowed to the source of the sound: "The people of Yan are close to the seaside. They are used to the hard life of being salted. They are not used to sweets. I'm sorry for bothering Zhu Xia Shi." .”

The person who came was none other than Zhang Cang, the historian under the pillar. Ever since Gao Jianli entered Yuefu, Zhang Cang had become very interested in him or his music.

Zhang Cang has read a lot of books, but his biggest hobbies are mathematics and music rhythm. He has been collecting music scores from the Six Kingdoms and wants to compile them into new music rhythms. He has been to Yuefu frequently recently.

In ancient times, in formulating calendars and judging seasons, in addition to relying on celestial observations, wind direction was also considered. "Yao Dian" records that the calendar was formulated by observing the "four winds". The observation of the wind mainly relies on hearing. Blind but deaf Gu Meng can predict the season by judging the direction of the wind. Moreover, the ancients believed that the production of musical rhythm was also the work of wind. Wind was a mixture of the air of heaven and earth, thus producing the "Twelve Rhythms".

Now that Zhang Cang wants to revise his law, he naturally has to start with music, and Gao Jianli, who has learned a lot of ancient music, has become a living fossil in his eyes.

"In Xianyang Palace, there are only a handful of musicians who can fully perform the styles of the fifteen countries."

"And there are only a few people in the world who can play the music of "Qing Shang", let alone the long-lost "Qing Zheng" and "Qing Jiao". It is said that only Mr. Gao can play it."

Zhang Cang considered his tone. After a month of getting along, he and Gao Jianli had gradually become familiar with each other, but was it still too abrupt to ask him to teach him his best music?

"I teach you."

Unexpectedly, Gao Jianli pointed out the topic very simply.

"Although my eyes are blind, my heart is not blind. How can I not know the meaning of the history under the pillar?"

He directly asked Zhang Cang to bring the piano. He played it slowly and asked Zhang Cang to memorize the score.

Gao Jianli is the only person left in this world who can play "Qing Zheng" and "Qing Jiao". This is why Qin Shihuang spared his life.

But soon, this music will be lost...

This can be regarded as Gao Jianli's last regret and reluctance in the world. All his disciples died in the battle between Qin and Yan. His wife and daughter were separated and disappeared. He had no skills but no successors.

"It is indeed Gao Jianli's great fortune to pass this song on to Xunzi's disciples and carry it forward."

Gao Jianli didn't know how much time he had. An hour passed by in a blink of an eye. Just after Zhang Cang recorded the scores of two pieces of music on hemp paper, Gao Jianli stopped playing the piano in his hand and looked outside with empty eyes, revealing laughed.

"I gotta go."

Zhang Cang was a little confused. After a while, he realized that a group of people came outside. They were Ye Zhe and Lang Wei who were beside the emperor.

The visitor said loudly: "Musician Gao Jianli, Your Majesty Yan Ju has called you to play music to entertain me. Come with me now!"

This is the sixth time the emperor summoned Gao Jianli within one month, which shows how much he likes his music.

Gao Jianli stood up and asked the attendants on the side to help him arrange his clothes, and then held Zhu in his arms. He refused to let his assistants touch it.

Holding Zhu in his arms, Gao Jianli bowed slightly towards Zhang Cang.

"I hope Zhu Xia Shi can study and remember this song diligently, and don't let it become a masterpiece!"

After saying that, he followed the visitor towards the palace, his steps were brisk, and he didn't know the person, so he would never have guessed that he was a blind man.

This sentence made Zhang Cang a little confused. He shook his head and left Yuefu without thinking too much, taking the music score with him.

Yuefu is affiliated to the Shaofu, so at the entrance of the Shaofu, he met Hei Fu who was hurried back.

"Zihu!"

Heifu came over night from Du Yi, but unfortunately the gates of Xianyang City did not open until dawn. He did not have the privilege of entering directly, so he delayed until now. After entering the city, he rushed to the Shaofu, but unexpectedly he met Zhang Cang.

He jumped off the carriage and asked Zhang Cang directly without bothering to explain, "I heard from Shaorong that you and Gao Jianli are on good terms. Where is he?"

"Mr. Gao?"

Zhang Cang was still immersed in the wonderful sounds of two peerless pieces of music. He woke up when Hei Fu called out. He pointed in the direction of Xianyang Palace and said: "Mr. Gao went to play music for His Majesty. At this moment, he should be in front of the emperor!"