On March 3rd, the Shangsi Festival, the Jia Lian brothers were both leisurely and cheerful when they set out, but when they returned to the city, they were both worried.
The melon was a bit big, so I had some indigestion for a while.
When leaving, Taoist Zhang specifically told the two of them not to tell anyone about it, but Jia Lian and Jia Cong did not hesitate at all and informed their father about the incident that night.
I thought it involved a mystery that could not be overcome by human power. I didn't want to pardon the master. After a long silence, he sighed with his two sons: "Oh, I should have expected it a long time ago. Which one of Jia, Wang, Shi and Lin is not a prince who has been passed down for hundreds of years?" If the family was built by human power, how could it be possible for every family to have its direct descendants exhausted?"
Ningguo Mansion is the direct descendant of the Jia family's ancestral family. The ancestral woman was in good health during her pregnancy, but suddenly suffered from dystocia and hemorrhage, leaving the youngest daughter to die with regret. At this point, Jia Zhen's temperament gradually changed, she became ridiculous and crazy, and she even did things like picking off ashes.
In the main house of Rongguo Mansion, the mistress and the eldest son died early one after another. Jia She finally came out of this incident. The only hope of Rongguo Mansion was that Jia Zhu died on the eve of the examination.
Not to mention the Wang family and the Shi family. Wang Xifeng's parents and Shi Xiangyun's parents were both direct descendants of the family, and they both died in unclear circumstances.
Even Wang Ziteng, the wife and concubines of the family did not give birth to a son. Instead, they gave birth to a son in an outer room hidden in Liaodong.
Is the capital so unfavorable to heirs? On the contrary, is Liaodong, with its harsh conditions, suitable for giving birth?
How difficult is it for the heirs of the Gusu Lin family? When it came to Lin Ruhai's generation, they almost died. Could it be that the methods of those gangsters in Jiangnan who harmed people were really that clever, that they were able to break through the heavy protection of the Lin family's personal guards and the Dragon Guards?
It would be terrible if it were possible to destroy Lin Ruhai's family with just human power.
It is estimated that no one in the entire kingdom can sleep peacefully, not even the two saints in the palace.
Even the Xue family of the imperial merchants was powerful enough to protect the safety of their own family, but in the remote Xue family, with two direct branches, only the simple and ignorant Mrs. Xue and her four children were left.
Jia She seemed to be a careless master on the surface, but in fact he had already sensed something was wrong.
I met the Xue family in Jiangnan, and after taking them back to Beijing to live temporarily, I took a closer look at the brothers and sisters in the house, and found that there were all the children in the house without either a father or a mother. No matter how I looked at it, I felt strange and inexplicable.
What a coincidence. Why are they all directed at my own family or a family that is closely related to my family?
It wasn't until he quietly went to the palace that he learned a secret from the old saint.
The late prince, the future sage who was praised by everyone in the government and the public, why did his personality suddenly change after thirty years of being wise? Is it really because of the hibiscus ointment? Can a little hibiscus ointment really make the wise eldest son send troops to rebel?
On that day, the old sage told Jia She personally that he had never had any intention of saving money, but starting from the 47th year of Zhaowu, he became suspicious for no reason.
The father and son, who were originally close to each other, seemed to have changed people, and a huge gap developed overnight. Even though he knew it was impossible, he still drifted away until the day of the military remonstrance, whether it was the old sage or the former prince, he suddenly woke up when his blood flowed like a river.
Unfortunately, it was all over, and both father and son knew that someone had to die to end this catastrophe. It was clear that the former prince could break through the palace gate, kill his father and kill his brother, but after ascending to the ninth position, he suddenly committed suicide in front of the army. Everything is so weird.
The old saint finally regained his senses after seeing his eldest son die in front of his eyes.
There seems to be an invisible hand secretly pushing behind each of these events, including sons competing for legitimate rights, fathers and sons alienated, monarchs and ministers jealous, etc.
You want to say that the emperor was suspicious, but Liu Ji admitted it. But he is the Great Khan, who pays special attention to his reputation and has suppressed his suspicion to the extreme. How could he reach the point of forcing his eldest son to death in just two or three years?
That was the prince he had carefully cultivated. He could even tolerate the ambitious bastard, the Fourteenth, so how could he not tolerate his eldest son?
The old saint passed the throne to the humble fourth son due to a stroke. He moved to the Dragon Head Palace and went behind the scenes. After several years of secret investigation, there was still no result.
When Jia She came back from Jiangnan and accidentally told him about the abnormality at home, the old sage finally remembered a royal secret, so he specially invited a person into the palace.
This person is Taoist Zhang, a Taoist who lives in Qingxu Temple outside the city as Jia Daishan's substitute.
There is a mysterious monk and a pair of people, and there are these two people behind everything.
Beijing, Jinling, Yangzhou...
East Palace, Prince Zhongxin’s Mansion, Jia Family, Lin Family, Xue Family…
For more than ten or even twenty years, this monk and his group would always appear in the right places at exactly the right time. What a coincidence!
Jia She did not explain these secrets in the palace to the Jia Lian brothers in detail, but only told them that someone would investigate in detail.
However, he told his younger son one thing in advance, that is, after the palace examination, the old saint would take him to the imperial mausoleum.
"Dad, why did the saint take his son to the imperial mausoleum? Is there anything there?"
Master Pardon shook his head: "I don't know either, but this matter was decided between the saint and Duke Wei a long time ago."
Jia Cong's first reaction was that it was related to Su Hui. Just as he was about to mention it, his father waved his hand: "I know what you are thinking. Let's wait until you come back from the imperial mausoleum to talk about everything."
Seeing the solemn faces of his two sons, Master Pardon suddenly smiled, stood up and walked forward, patted the eldest son on the shoulder and rubbed the younger son's head.
"Don't worry, no matter whether it's gods, ghosts, ghosts or conspiracies, it will never come to light. When a person is vigilant and properly prepared, they will never get close to him. Do you really think that the saint can't lift the sword when he is old? Saint The layout started two years ago, and now it’s almost time to close the network.”
"He is really a god in the sky. Even if he comes down to earth, he will be suppressed by the dynasty. Soon everything will be revealed. Just wait, when the time comes, the three of us will go meet this mysterious monk and Taoist to take a look. What kind of monster is this that almost caused our family to be destroyed?"
…
After nightfall, Jia Cong suddenly developed a high fever and fell into a coma.
In his dream, the years were peaceful at first, and he won the first prize as he wished. After riding a horse through the streets, he entered the court and became an official.
Two years later, Daiyu got married and her father-in-law promised to marry her. Both houses were preparing for his wedding to Daiyu. But at this moment he saw the monk.
The laitou monk and the lame Taoist, both with dark eyes, walked through the wall and came to him, stretched out their dirty hands, grabbed his neck, and held down his hands and feet.
The lame Taoist strangled Jia Cong's neck with a ferocious look on his face: "You are a heretic, a damn heretic, you are the one who ruined the fairy's way to heaven and ruined our fate. Those who defy heaven should be treated as such. Apologize to death!"
And the dead monk's nails suddenly became sharp and slender, glowing with cold light as they were about to dig into Jia Cong's chest.
"Heretic, use your heart to make medicine today to help me become a Buddha..."
Seeing that the long nails were touching his chest, Jia Cong could even feel a dull pain in his chest. At this moment, a golden light flew out from the imperial golden order hanging on his waist and turned into a chubby orange cat floating in the air. In front of Jia Cong.
The orange cat half-smiled, staring at the two monsters. Suddenly, it opened its mouth, and several tentacles stretched out from its mouth. It caught the lazy monk and the lame Taoist who had no time to react, beat them, and then burped in their mouths.
Jia Cong, who was surviving the disaster, looked at the orange cat who turned around and stared at him in confusion, and thought of a name in his heart: Devouring...Eating...Element Devouring Beast!
Before he could say anything, the orange cat meowed at him and started licking his face.
"Don't lick, don't lick, you just swallowed two dirty people and you haven't brushed your teeth yet!"
Jia Cong raised his hands to take the orange cat off his body, but when he struggled, his head hit the wall behind him. He suddenly felt pain and opened his eyes.
"Uncle, Brother Cong is awake!"
The familiar voice reached his ears, and what Jia Cong saw was a huge tiger head...
"big cat?"
"Ouch!"
The big cat's head almost knocked Jia Cong out of breath, and wanted to continue licking Jia Cong.
The weak Jia Cong angrily tried to push away the tiger, which was not aware of his own weight: "If you want to die, get up quickly, I'm about to be crushed to death by you!"
Outside Jinling City, in Lingji Temple.
In the elegant and exquisite living room, the doors and windows are closed.
There was a monk in the house who was lame; there was a monk who was lame.
The two of them were sitting cross-legged facing each other. One of the objects in the middle was a straw man with a bunch of hair tied up and a spell written in a cinnabar script.
Suddenly the incense candle broke and went out, and the straw man spontaneously ignited. The monk spit out a mouthful of blood at the same time, and his face turned as white as a dead man. Then they both screamed in pain and fell down together.
At the same time, in the Rongguo Mansion in the capital and the Tianshi Temple in Longhu Mountain, Lao Tao, each with an immortal spirit, suddenly opened his eyes. Zhang Lao Tao smiled slightly and then went out to the Dongkua courtyard.
The one at Longhu Mountain was different. After opening his eyes, he immediately ordered the entire Taoist sect. Starting today, Taoist priests will go down the mountain to destroy the evil sacrifices in the country.
On the same day, a large number of troops from the Fusi of Jinling Town, the Dragon Imperial Guard, dispatched to destroy Lingji Temple and capture the demon...
At this time, Jia Cong didn't know that Jiangnan was in trouble again, so he just let Daiyu give him the bitter medicine.
The big cat and two kittens were lying outside the window basking in the sun. From time to time they would glance into the house and whine. They would wait until Jia Cong gave a feeble reply, then flick their tails and continue to close their eyes and fall asleep.
After finishing the bowl of medicine, Daiyu stuffed a plum into Jia Cong's mouth after rinsing her mouth, and praised: "It's strange today, Brother Cong didn't complain about the pain."
Jia Cong forced a smile back: "How many days have I been unconscious? How did the big cat come to the house?"
Daiyu's body trembled when she mentioned this. She pretended to be calm and tried to squeeze out a smile, but Jia Cong held her hand: "Sister Lin, don't be afraid, I will tell you something." Something magical…”
Jia Cong told the story about the golden orange cat's protection in his dream. Regardless of whether it just happened in a dream, it still made Daiyu call out for a miracle.
Perhaps it was the miracle in the dream that made Daiyu calm down, and she told Jia Cong what had happened in the past few days.
"On the night of Shangsi Festival, Uncle Eleven suddenly heard you calling for help. When he entered the house, he found you unconscious with a high fever. My uncle went to the Imperial Hospital that night to ask for a doctor. But I don't know what happened. Injection or medicine, you just can’t wake up.”
"Grandpa Zhang suddenly came to the city and asked my uncle to go to the palace and bring the big cat over. He also hung the Yan Fei Dao given by the emperor on the bedside and put the golden order under your pillow."
"Grandpa Zhang said that you will wake up safe and sound in three days at most! He said that this is your fate and the consequences that you have to bear if you change your life against the will of nature. Once you pass this level, you no longer have to worry about being attacked by these things. It’s troubled.”
"When you woke up, Grandpa Zhang told your uncle what happened in Jiangnan. Then your uncle was completely relieved and told me that nothing would happen to you, so I didn't have to worry."
Jia Cong understood the meaning of Taoist Zhang's words, but he was both curious and somewhat resistant to these mysterious things.
"Ouch!"
Snapped!
"Stop yelling, stay down and guard the door."
Taoist Zhang's voice came from outside the house. The old Taoist priest did not enter the house. He stood in front of the open window and smiled at the two people in the house: "Infinite Heavenly Lord, it seems that you have enlightened."
"ah?"
Jia Cong was confused. What did he realize?
However, the old Taoist priest did not explain to Jia Cong and continued to talk to himself: "When the people from Jiangnan enter the capital, the answer to the mystery will be revealed. You should prepare well for the imperial examination. You will understand all this when you go to the imperial mausoleum."
"ah?"
Come on, drag the Riddler out for a dog fight!
Unfortunately, the old Taoist still smiled slightly, waved his hand, and turned away: "The old Taoist will go back to Qingxu Temple first. When you come back from the imperial mausoleum, remember to come to the temple and talk to the old Taoist about Zhuang Zhou's dream of butterfly."
The old Taoist priest was gone, but Jia Cong and Daiyu could still hear his chanting in their ears.
"The human realm is insignificant, the immortal realm is vast, and the ghost realm is joyful!
At the door of human life, life is precious in the immortal way, and death is precious in the ghost way; the immortal way always brings good luck, and the ghost way always brings misfortune; the high is pure and beautiful, and the tragic song is loud in the sky; I only hope that the way of heaven will be fulfilled, and I don’t want the way of human beings to be poor.
There are thousands of ghosts in Quanqu Mansion, the northern capital. But if you want to suppress people's calculations and cut off people's life gates, Ah Ren sings the cave chapter to capture Bei Luofeng, chants the demon spirits in bunches, and kills the six ghost fronts. The weather is turbulent, and my Tao is prosperous. "
Daiyu felt that the old Taoist priest's chanting made her feel more relaxed, and suddenly she remembered something.
She asked: "Brother Cong, how old is Grandpa Zhang? Why do I feel like he has always been like this?"
This question also stopped Jia Cong. After thinking for a long time, he replied uncertainly: "It is said that Grandpa Zhang is my grandfather's Taoist substitute, but he is not the right one in terms of age. I have never heard anyone say that. He is older than Grandpa Zhang, but as Sister Lin said, it seems that he has been like this for as long as I can remember... Hey, he must be a god!"
…
As this inexplicable disaster passed, Jia Cong felt a lot more relaxed even though he was confused.
In fact, ever since he learned that there are really two monks and Taoists in this world, a big stone has been weighing on his heart for several years.
Although the two demons have not yet been escorted back to Beijing, since Taoist Zhang dares to speak out, he, a young man, will naturally obey the words of his elders.
Listen to the old man and eat enough!
Jia Cong put all the worries aside and spent time with his family while preparing for the imperial examination. It wasn't until March 15th before the palace examination that he walked out of the gate of Rongguo Mansion.
In the eighth year of Yuanyou, March 15th, Mao hour.
Three hundred and forty-seven tributes, led by the Minister of Rites, passed through the Qianbu Corridor and gathered in front of Daxia Gate. Arranged according to the ranking of the examination, waiting for the routine search by the Dragon Guards on duty in front of the door.
At the end of the day, as the sun rises, there is a burst of drum music from all around, and the door slowly opens.
The candidates standing in front of the square continued to pass through the Fengtian Gate and stood in front of the Danbi in the square in front of Fengtian Hall. The readers and receivers headed by the cabinet ministers and dozens of deacons stood on the Danbi and accepted the test. After all the candidates paid their respects, they waited quietly for the arrival of the emperor.
At a quarter of the hour, Emperor Liu Heng came out amidst thousands of calls. Everyone entered the hall, knelt on the ground, and bowed five times and kowtowed three times.
Afterwards, Chief Assistant Zhou Jiong read out the imperial edict: "According to His Majesty's decree, the Renchen Palace Examination has officially begun..."
"Zhi said: I am the one who rules the world, promotes change and promotes order, and has a solid government. However, focusing on agriculture, managing the army, and building preparations are the greatest ones. "Book" said: "It is difficult for the prophet to farm the wall, but it is easy." Also said : He defeated the soldiers and defeated Yu's traces. When King Fu became king, he first took part in the great political affairs, and the Duke of Zhou told him this with his fists. His meaning was profound. I look up to the heavenly family..."
The questions asked by Ce were very long, and all the tribute students listened carefully and thought deeply about the emperor's meaning.
After the reading was completed, everyone took their seats one by one. The desk for the examination had been set up by Guanglu Temple officials the day before. When it was ready, the deacon began to distribute the questions and answer sheets.
Jia Cong is the Huiyuan of Renchen Branch and ranks first. He did not rush to answer the questions, but closed his eyes and meditated.
The emperor mentioned several aspects in the policy question. The relationship between farmers, soldiers, and merchants was the key point.
Farming has always been the top priority of the state, and encouraging farmers to teach farmers and mulberry trees is the first priority of every official who is close to the people. But in the past, the main source of taxation was farmers. Now that the source of taxation has changed, how should the court respond to this change.
The same is true in military affairs. As the dynasty changes its territory and establishes counties, the tasks of the nine-sided army should also change accordingly.
The prosperity of commerce and the sharp increase in commercial taxes made the ancestral system that suppressed commerce outdated. Many veterans in the court were extremely dissatisfied with this. The Center also wanted to reformulate business policies, but it was difficult to proceed due to various reasons.
The importance of these three dynasties is not only that they exist separately, but farmers are also the source of soldiers. Businessmen are the source of wealth. Soldiers are the guards of farmers and merchants.
How should the relationship between the three be reasonably handled?
The emperor directly raised the three major problems currently encountered by the imperial court, and wanted to see how this group of freshly minted tributes viewed the upcoming new coup law.
Of course, he didn't expect any practical solutions from this group of novices who had not yet joined the officialdom. He just wanted to select a few people from them to reserve talents for the prince.
After half a stick of incense, Jia Cong was the first to write.
The eyes of all the kings and ministers in the palace turned to Huiyuan Lang, who was the chief.
"I said to you: I heard that when a ruler governs the world, he must calm down and fight, and then he can conquer the world. He must make clear decisions and act together, and then he can gain the real merits of the world. Why? The king is like heaven, and everything is in China. The foreign barbarians from all over the world are all rising up in the sky, and they are all under the control of the king..."
Monthly ticket recommendation ticket
Thanks to book friend 0246 for the reward!
Finally, I have almost filled the hole that I dug a long time ago in the original work. It is so difficult to write about the gods and ghosts, and it is so useless when it is rounded up.
A small plot will be added after the palace examination. It is time for the vigilante witch and the monk and the Taoist to drag her out to offer sacrifices to heaven.
What follows is the story of Jia Maomao creating peace for all generations and his lifelong love affair with Sister Lin.
It's a bit rough to round up this pit, so I hope readers won't scold me.
I've had a fever since the day before yesterday. Sanyang Kaitai has no energy at all. I got up in a daze tonight to type. The update is late. I'm sorry, I won't break it into chapters. I'll update it in one big chapter with 5,000 words.
(End of chapter)
