Spring and Autumn I Am King

Chengzhou, Wangcheng.

"The minister, Zhao Wuxi, thinks about seeing the emperor, and is sincere. Now it has been spread to all countries to meet in the Huangchi meeting. If the emperor comes to Huangchi in the name of patrolling hunting, the minister can lead the princes to show off. In this way , I don't lose the dignity of the royal family, and I don't lose the sincerity of the widow monarch's loyalty and respect, is it okay to know?"

Zhou Wanglu repeatedly read the silk book, which seemed to be submissive, until the words blurred into a ball in front of his eyes.

"I must never agree to Zhao Hou's request!"

He crumpled the silk book into a ball angrily and nearly burned it on the spot.

But in the end, he held back and said without hesitation: "Go to the alliance of princes with the respect of the Son of Heaven, and let one person lose face, but doing so will hurt the prestige of the Zhou family! Besides, according to the etiquette, The princes have the responsibility of making a pilgrimage to the emperor of Zhou, how can the emperor condescend to go to the princes' country to meet the princes! Even the princes of Qi Huan and Jiuhe have never been there in person! It's alright if you don't go over there, sir!"

King Zhou's official Liu Cheng and the new owner of the Shan family looked at each other unilaterally, thinking in their hearts: "Does the royal family still have majesty? Can this ritual system still constrain the invincible Hou Wuxi? Zhao Hou asked the emperor to attend by name and surname, and the emperor had to condescend to move."

But they had to persuade them with good words.

Liu Cheng said: "Actually, the emperor made an exception to preside over the alliance meeting and ordered Houbo. There is a precedent... Back then when Duke Wen of Jin practiced the alliance of soil, the first emperor, King Xiang of Zhou, visited Wenyi."

It turned out that just after the Battle of Jin Chu Chengpu, the Jin state had already established its hegemony in the Central Plains and offered prisoners to Zhou. King Xiang of Zhou also gave gifts such as bows, arrows, axes and tomahawks. In the winter of the same year, Duke Wen of Jin summoned Duke Zhao of Qi, Duke Cheng of Song and Duke Cai Zhuang , Zheng Wengong, Chen Zi, Juzi, Zhuzi, the envoys of the Qin state, etc. met in Wendi, and invited King Xiang of Zhou, who had to go north to join the alliance due to the power of Duke Wen of Jin.

This incident is a major event in which the princes are above the emperor. It has always been regarded as a great shame by the king of Zhou, but now, it has been carried out by Liu Cheng as a basis.

The politics of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty were extremely conservative, and everything only followed the old rules. Since there were precedents, it would be easier to handle.

Zhou Wang's sigh was relieved, but he was still reluctant. He complained: "The reason why King Xiang went is because Duke Wen of Jin once defeated the prince who wanted the throne, so he is grateful, what has Zhao Hou done? ?"

Zhao Hou regained the land occupied by Zheng Guo for the Zhou family, but Zhou Tianzi had no gratitude in his heart. In addition, when he asked people to go to Xun the year before, Zhao Wuxi dared to stand and accept it, which made Zhou Wang more dissatisfied. What's more, the state of Jin has at least the same surname as Zongji, but the state of Zhao is a descendant of the surname Ying who used to be a cow and a horse for the Zhou people, which makes the emperor even more awkward...

"Although Zhao is of no benefit to the royal family, if the State of Zhao wants to harm Zhou, it is really easy... Hou Zhao has already informed the world that the Son of Heaven will attend the meeting. I'm afraid that Zhao Guo will do something unfavorable to the royal family..."

What Liu Cheng said was pitiful, Zhou Wang could only sigh, and agreed to this matter. Whoever made Jin and Qi who could support the Zhou family would be no different from perishing, and Qin, Chu, Wu, etc. all became Zhao State's The defeated army can no longer intervene in the Central Plains. In this world, no one is willing to open their eyes for Zhou Tianzi.

It is not far from Luoyang to Huangchi, it only takes less than ten days. In the middle of December, Qin Bo’s motorcade just arrived at Beimang, so Zhou Wanglu, accompanied by Liu and Shan Erqing, took the In the fine snow, under the neighing of human beings, the creaking of the carriage and the groan of the palace, it slowly went east.

When he was in the car, Zhou Tianzi still sighed and sighed: "Under the Putian, is it not the king's land; leading the land, is it not the king's ministers. This world is so big, is there no one who will be injustice for everyone? Is it?"

What King Zhou did not know was that those who had been loyal to the old Zhou Li were not dead yet.

In response to this incident, in Yexian County, Chu State, an old man with a white back and forth in his "Spring and Autumn" angrily wrote the big characters "The Son of Heaven hunts in Huangchi" in the style of Spring and Autumn!

...

Limping, the disciple of Confucius opened up a scroll of bamboo slips, pointed to the still-inked sentence on it, and announced loudly to the waiting brothers and sisters:

"The master said that Zhao Wuxi used his ministers to call the monarch, and he could not teach him. That's why the book said, 'The Son of Heaven is hunting in Huangchi!'"

"Well said!" After hearing this, the disciples applauded the Master's "Spring and Autumn Brushwork".

At the end of December, Yexian, which is located in the Nanyang Basin, is not as cold as the north, but the Confucian disciples are still wearing a little thin.

But it turns out that they didn't mix well.

It has been almost ten years since Confucius came to Yedi. He was honored by Ye Gong as a guest. He was entertained by delicious food and a good place to live. He also gave some Lumi every month. But there were too many disciples who followed Confucius. At first, there were hundreds of people. It was impossible to support them with the gift of Ye Gong, and the disciples with face and skin did not want to eat rice all the time.

Gradually, Zilu, Gongliangru and other brave and powerful men joined Ye Gong's army and guarded the city for him. Yan Hui and others, who had the spirit of poetry and calligraphy, also began to sow seeds and flowers in Chu State, and began to receive some disciples, and they could also make a living with their bundles.

There are only a handful of people known as "Gentlemen of Confucianism", such as Diaoqikai, Yuanxian, Youruo, etc. They can't do anything if they don't succeed in writing, they don't work hard, and they don't care about farming, so they can only gather around Confucius. , by eating the Master's point of rice to survive.

These people have nothing to do after they have eaten all day, and they like to talk about rituals and music, or show benevolence and righteousness. Recently, the theme is to criticize Zhao Wuxi, who killed the Quartet in the Central Plains. A few years ago, the Zhao family had already made them indignant. If Zi condescended to go to Huangchi to go to the Zhaohou League today, it made this group of people feel that the sky was about to fall! They rushed to tell each other, and came to the residence of Confucius, hoping that the Master could give some guidance.

As a result, Confucius said in the "Spring and Autumn" that "the emperor hunted in the east in Huangchi", they were regarded as inspiring words, and they expressed various praises and interpretations.

Diao Lai Kai Xian praised this book to an unparalleled position: "Master's Spring and Autumn Period, the words are precise and the meaning is obvious, the historical facts are recorded in a subtle and far-reaching way, tactful and logical, exhaustive but not distorted, warning the evil and commending the good. If it weren't for Daxian, who could write it? Although our disciples have a lot of knowledge, no one can change a word!"

"That's right." Yuan Xian, who always prided himself on being lofty and looked down on Zi Gong, Ran Qiu and other benefactors seeking honor, seemed to be savoring the wonderful Shao Le, and said, "The most exquisite thing about Master is the brushwork in this book. A single word must contain praise and criticism, a single word of praise is honored by Hua Gun; a single word of derogation is as strict as an axe!"

"Yes!" Youruo, whose appearance was somewhat similar to Confucius, also stood up to help the case, and said excitedly: "In the past, Yu suppressed the flood and the world was peaceful. The chaotic ministers and thieves in the world are afraid!"

This "chaotic minister and thief" naturally refers to Zhao Hou Wuxi, who murdered the monarch and stole the country and summoned the emperor to attend the meeting as a prince. For a time, the "gentlemen and Confucians" forgot that they only ate a little bit of bad bran and brown rice for their meals, so they openly criticized Zhao State in a small room, regard it as the biggest tyranny in the world, and the law that Zhao State followed, It is also regarded by them as "evil doctrines harm the righteous~www.wuxiaspot.com~ everyone can attack them".

In this way, a short sentence was endowed with countless meanings, and it was even far beyond Confucius' original intention.

Just when the room was full of smog, the door outside was opened, and the cold wind blew in, causing the thinly dressed Confucian scholars to shudder, and then a clear voice said at the door:

"There is too much content that was not originally interpreted in one sentence. I am afraid that you are going too far."

Everyone looked back and glared angrily, but saw the young scholar in the sheepskin jacket sighed at the door, and said earnestly:

"Historical pens are like swords, the sinners, meritorious people are all counted in the book of alchemy, and the ruler is the moment, and it is bound to the posterity. Before it happens, the empty text is cut off by etiquette and righteousness. It can be seen from this that your lord. The responsibility of the classics, we know the righteousness of the people and ministers to be loyal, and also know the root of benevolence and kindness... This is the reason why the master wrote "The Spring and Autumn". Although a lot of effort was spent, it is still in the vast and vast annals of this world. It's just the words of a family. In the history books of various countries, there are more records that 'Zhaohou summoned the emperor to Huangchi', and the princes will also be flattering in the face of Zhao's power, and the emperor is humiliated, it doesn't matter to them anymore."

The person who came was Zhuan Sun Shi, a disciple of Confucius in Chen Guoshou. Seeing that he dared to speak to his elders like this, Yuan Xian and others were furious and scolded: "Zizhang, what do you mean?"

Zi Zhang bowed respectfully to the crowd, and said, "The boy just thinks that when the "Spring and Autumn" comes out, everyone in the world will praise it, and they will kill the chaotic ministers and thieves according to the praises and criticisms in it, and turn the troubled world into the opposite? I'm afraid they think too much. In my opinion, no matter how the Master protects the Son of Heaven in his writing, the fact that ritual and music conquests came from the state of Zhao cannot be easier. Why don't you open your eyes, see the big changes in the world, and adapt to it. In this way, there is still a possibility for the study of Confucianism to flourish!" (To be continued.)