To Four Thousand Years Later

"My king... the deal with the king of Tire has been agreed upon."

In Solomon's outer palace, the high priest Zadok knelt down to Solomon who was sitting behind the table, and reported to Solomon in a low voice: "He will send someone to Lebanon to cut down cedar wood for you, and then send the wood from Lebanon as you said. Ship it to the sea, tie it into a raft, and ship it to Israel. The cedar and pine wood that can be used to build the palace will be paid in five years."

"What's the price, Zadok?"

Solomon asked.

Zadok immediately replied: "You have to give Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat and 20 cors of clear oil as food for his family every year. In addition, you have to pay the wages of the woodcutters, but you can Calculated according to the wages of the servants. Starting from the second month, Hiran will send craftsmen to help you build the temple."

Because the weight units in the Middle East are not uniform at this time, and it is not convenient to weigh, so volume is generally used instead of weight for weighing.

In terms of conversion, one cor is about two hundred and twenty liters.

"Yes, very reasonable price."

Solomon nodded in satisfaction: "The price cannot be kept too low. Our two countries should not be enemies, but brothers. After all, good wood can only be found in Tire, and the Israelites are not as good at cutting down trees as their workers."

Trade with Israel, which is rich in food in the plains, with Tire, which lacks food but is rich in manpower and timber resources. This is a great thing for mutual assistance and mutual benefit for the two countries.

It all went well, and Solomon breathed a sigh of relief. Continue to write something on the table.

Sadhu hesitated for a long time, but stopped talking.

Finally, he began to speak.

"My king..."

He whispered: "I heard that you sent priests to various places, so that the status of the eldest daughter of ordinary people is equal to that of priests. Is this a bit... out of order?"

"Unruly?"

Solomon raised his head suspiciously: "Where is it out of order? Saint Moses' Ten Commandments said, 'You must gather the priests together, and no one is allowed to be higher than them'?"

"No, but priests have always been..."

"Then, my Zadok."

Solomon interrupted Zadok's words, and said indifferently: "The words of the priest and my words—I who was blessed by God and given the authority of the king, and the words of King Solomon, which is more important?"

Hearing this, the cold sweat on Sadhu's body suddenly drenched his back.

But he still didn't give up. He just kept silent for a long time and then said again: "But, my king, what should you do if you deprived the priest of the right to perform sacrifices and changed many rules of sacrifice? The priest did not offend you! We all Is your backer—"

"No. You have offended me, Zadok."

Solomon put down his pen with a snap, and said in a low voice, "Because you haven't fulfilled your duties as a priest. You use the name of a priest to profit yourself, and people hate offering sacrifices to me instead of delighting them. You are guilty—"

His voice became calm and thick, and his eyes were full of presence and strong pressure.

Hearing this, Sadhu seemed to realize something, his pupils shrank to the limit in an instant!

He raised his head abruptly, but met Solomon's expressionless but commanding eyes.

That was definitely not Solomon's eyes - Zadok took care of Solomon since he was a child, and knew that he was a gentle and weak person. Though wise, she doesn't have much determination.

"I deprived you of sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, because you yourselves were unclean; I sanctified you, and you sinned yourselves."

Solomon's voice was low and commanding. There seemed to be fire in his eyes.

The sky outside the palace instantly darkened, the sky was thunderous, and the cool wind soaked in from outside, making Sadhu's whole body cold, and he fell on the ground and couldn't stop groping.

... how could I forget!

Solomon—he is the incarnation of the Lord on earth!

Zadok suddenly trembled, and confessed to Solomon in an old and trembling voice: "I, my lord! I repent to you because I have committed sins—I was greedy for power and did not listen to King Solomon's words of wisdom..."

"But you are guilty. If you are guilty and don't know it, you are greatly guilty."

Solomon's voice rumbled, "I scatter you from the earth to warn you that some of you are unclean, but you don't know it."

"I take back your right to perform sacrifices. This is another warning to you that some of you are unclean, but you still don't know it."

"Why don't you know yourselves? You should know yourselves! Knowing that you are unclean, but still performing the priesthood—you are greatly guilty!"

Solomon stood up from his seat, and the thunder fell.

At that moment, great fear gripped Sadhu's heart. Because of his old age, his aging heart stopped suddenly, and the world in front of him became dark, and he was going to die of fright here

But at this moment, in his dim vision, Solomon stepped forward and touched his forehead with his hand.

Then a burst of warmth passed. Zadok felt that his body became comfortable again, so he no longer doubted Solomon's words.

And what Solomon said made him feel even more guilty: "Look, you still didn't believe me until just now. Because you didn't realize my strength. This is you testing me."

"-exactly!"

Just then, the prophet Nathan walked in with his staff. He said angrily, "If you tempt King Solomon, you are tempting our Lord. You are guilty, Zadok!"

… Nathan said yes.

Zadok was silent, thanked Nathan first, then kowtowed heavily to Solomon, and said in a low voice, "You are right, my lord. I was really tempting you just now...I have committed a serious sin."

"It's good for you to know, Zadu. Your heart is kind, and it's not beyond salvation."

Solomon said in a deep voice: "Since five hundred years ago, I led Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. I ordered Moses to write the book of Leviticus to guide you, but I did not let you use my words against me."

"Now, I will speak wisdom to you personally, but you use Moses to quote me against me!"

Solomon finally concluded: "Surely, you are guilty of mortal sin."

"We are guilty of a great crime."

Sadhu said reverently, "I hope you will guide me."

Nathan on the side also bowed and said, "I hope you can guide me."

"Here I abolish Leviticus, and the old priesthood, the day before the temple was built. You must remember, and your posterity must remember, that it was you who sinned and arrogant guilt."

"Behold, those who pursue righteousness, kindness, industry, and wisdom will find honor; those who are haughty and lazy will be rooted out from their people. For they are a plague that will overthrow A stronghold of the good."

"I will make a new law and give it to Nathan, and he will give it to you in seven days. You must memorize it within seven days and seal it in the ark of the covenant—I will also give you the right not to die if you touch the ark of the covenant. "

"You should give the new law to other people. You will have new glory. If you don't listen to the advice, tell your king Solomon and let him cut off these people from the earth."

Solomon glanced at Zadok for the last time, and said in a low voice, "Do you remember?"

"I will remember."

The high priest Zadok respectfully bowed down to Solomon again.

Solomon walked back to his seat and sat down again, and the thunder outside gradually subsided.

"Then, Zadok."

Solomon spoke, his voice became clear again: "I'll ask you again—"

"—I, the priests, and the traditions of Israel, which is more important?"

"It's you, my king."

Zadok replied immediately without any hesitation: "Your glory is higher than all the priests of Israel. I will keep your words in mind."

"Okay, you go down."

Solomon nodded in satisfaction: "The next words are not for you, Zadok."

"…yes."

Zadu retreated a little disappointed.

Nathan glanced at him, a little unbearable: "My king, Zadok is old. It's not good for you to scare him like this..."

"With such a good condition, if you don't fool him, you will be blind for nothing."

Solomon snorted softly: "The one who will regard me as the master, is Zadok the only priest among the priests? Therefore, he is the only one I can fool."

"In this way, I will control all the high-level people in Israel. The voices in any field will be unified, so that the people at the bottom will accept the information much faster."

Solomon said calmly: "This is the benefit of a theocratic society. When people follow the words and deeds of individual people, it is especially easy to accept their ideas. Especially when they lack relevant information about it."

"They don't understand God, so they will believe what God's spokesperson explains; especially when they don't know anything about the content of a certain rumor, it is easier to believe it."

"Also, people tend to absorb and digest information in a biased way. Those who have accepted a certain information will not easily give up this belief-even if it is just rumours. Especially people have strong beliefs about such beliefs. When you are emotionally dependent, old ideas are more difficult to give up."

Solomon looked at Nathan: "So, a strong reversal is impossible. It will also cause the counterattack and extremeization of the old ideas. However, it is still possible to change subtly under the leadership of the leader. Let me explain it this way, you understand Are you ready, Nathan?"

"...Your wisdom, it is really hard for people to think that you are a mortal."

The prophet Nathan said with a wry smile, "Although you have repeatedly stated that you are not Yahweh, I am starting to doubt it now..."

"How can a mortal have such wisdom... right?"

Solomon chuckled: "Don't underestimate humans, Nathan—no, Floros. As long as you have time... as long as you give them time, what they can do will shock you too."

"Well, I look forward to that day."

Floros said with a smile.