Wang Tianci said nothing and gently helped Wang Rong replace the two rows of candlesticks that were about to burn out. Wang Rong then raised his head and waved his hand, indicating that he should blow out the candlesticks in his hands first. "It's not too late to replace it after it's burned out."
After Wang Tianci heard this, he blew out the candle in the candlestick in his hand without saying a word. The light in the room returned to its previous appearance, much dimmer.
He has admired his great-grandfather Wang Rong very much since he was a child. He has heard too many stories about his great-grandfather Wang Rong since he was a child. His great-grandfather is a legend in his own right!
The two most famous stories of Wang Rong's childhood are that when he was just over six years old, he was watching ferocious beasts fighting at the Xuanwu Field in Shangluo. Suddenly, a ferocious beast abandoned the monks in front of him and rushed towards the people watching on the edge of the Xuanwu Field. Countless monks panicked. They panicked and fled in all directions, but Wang Rong, who was only six and a half years old, remained motionless and showed no change in his expression. Afterwards, his family asked him why he didn't move. Wang Rong said: "I can't run away from the beast, and I can't beat him. Running is the same as not running." Emperor Zhou Xing happened to be on the viewing platform at that time. He saw this Jing, afterward greatly praised Wang Rong, saying that this son would definitely be honored as one of the Three Dukes in the future.
There is another story that is very famous. When Wang Rong was playing with his children when he was a child, they found a plum tree full of fruits on the side of the road. The other children rushed to pick plums to eat, but Wang Rong stood still and said: "The plum tree is still full of plums on the roadside, so the plums must be bitter, otherwise they would have been picked all." "
This is Wang Rong, who has been different from ordinary people since he was a child.
Before he reached the age of twenty, he was introduced to Ruan Ji, the most famous grandmaster in the world at that time, from the Chenliu Ruan family. At that time, the seven people headed by Ruan Ji and Jikang were known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest. Needless to say, Ruan Ji and the two were the most famous grand masters in the world. The rest of them were eventually four advanced grand masters. Only one finally stayed at the second-grade purple-robed monk. Wang Rong was introduced by Ruan Ji when he was less than twenty years old, and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest became a legend, which is still fascinated by countless monks to this day.
The only thing Wang Tianci didn't understand was his great-grandfather's habit of becoming stingy as he got older.
Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, Shangluo nobles have been competing for wealth. The most famous ones are Shi Chong, the son of the founding father Sima Shibao, and Wang Xun, the uncle of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty. There was a very famous thing about Wang Rong when he was young, that is, after his father died, his father's old subordinates came to mourn him. Seeing that Wang Rong was young, they gave Wang Rong a lot of money. But Wang Rong changed hands and gave away all this huge amount of money to others, leaving not a penny for himself. This is something Wang Tianci has always wanted to imitate. In his view, money is something external to the body, and even spiritual grains and other things are external things. To cultivate oneself, one must first cultivate oneself, and one must cultivate oneself to the point where one neither takes pleasure in things nor feels sorrow for oneself. In his opinion, his great-grandfather had already cultivated himself to the point where he could neither be happy with things nor sad with himself when he was not yet twenty years old. Why did he become more and more confused as he got older? He had asked Wang Rong, who occasionally returned to his hometown, several times before when he was in Jinyang, but Wang Rong always laughed and refused to answer. What's more, there are so many servants in the Wang family to take care of this matter. If you leave it to a capable person, they will handle it properly. Shouldn’t the three dignitaries of the imperial court think about how to assist the emperor in governing the world every day?
"Grandpa, you have to go to the palace to discuss matters before leaving, so don't make arrangements too late today." Wang Tianci said after gently placing the candlestick aside.
"Does God know what Grandpa Xingri was discussing when he came to the palace?" Wang Rong stopped what he was doing and asked warmly.
"Tianci doesn't dare to ask." Wang Tianci replied respectfully, "Our Wang family's ancestral motto is not to seek political power if one is not in his position. No one unrelated to the family is allowed to ask about court matters."
Seeing Wang Tianci's response, Wang Rong nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, it is indeed a gift from heaven. We must stick to this ancestral precept in the future. It's just that things have authority, and rules can be observed and modified. You need to continue to understand When to be cautious and when to be flexible.”
"Godsend took note of it!"
"Xingtian's matter is very simple. King Yuzhang is going to conduct a fifth-grade monk examination. Godsend, my great grandfather will test you. You only have this little information. How many things can you associate with it?"
Wang Tianci knew that this was the time for his great-grandfather to give instructions and test him, and he did not dare to show any slights in his heart. He is an extremely smart and logical genius. After thinking for a moment, he immediately organizes ideas in his mind.
"In recent years, due to Empress Jia's desire to depose the crown prince, King Yuzhang has been highly sought after by some people in Shangluo. Those who do good things are called the 'Twenty-Four Friends of Shangluo', and they support them in front of them." Wang Tianci said cautiously. He said, "But the 'Shihan Zhi' stipulates that if you want to become a prince, you must become a fifth-grade monk before the age of twenty-seven. Although the prince failed to become a fifth-grade monk at that time, the prince had already become a third-grade monk. Therefore, it does not count as a violation of the "Shihan Rule". Although King Yuzhang has been quite popular in recent years, his cultivation has not improved. According to Chongsun, Empress Jia may have another basis for the daily assessment. Otherwise, like this There has been no movement for many years, and suddenly there must be some changes in the assessment at this time."
"The prince is in danger!" Wang Rong said in shock, "The person guarding the Jinyong Palace is none other than Huainan Prince Huangfu Yun. A few days ago, a minister from Huangmen suggested that the position of prince in the imperial court should not be suspended for a long time. Someone suggested that according to the story of Emperor Jing and Emperor Wen, After the brother-in-law came, King Huainan took over as the crown prince. How could Empress Jia let the fruits she had sown with so much hard work fall into the hands of others after planning for so many years. King Huainan was bound to attend the meeting. Everything going on in Shangluo these days. Although the rumors are untrue, they must be controlled by people behind the scenes. The purpose is to put pressure on Empress Jia and let Empress Jia know that if the prince is alive, he will always be a serious problem. With Empress Jia's character and work style, I am afraid that it is They wanted to send someone to harm the prince while the King of Huainan was not in Jinyong Palace during the Xingri Conference. When the prince was killed, King Huainan, who was in charge of guarding Jinyong Palace, could not escape the blame. This was a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Empress Jia had used it many times before."
Wang Tianci was shocked when he heard this. He could no longer maintain his usual calm demeanor and exclaimed in shock: "This is very bad. What should I do? Grandpa, how did you deal with it?"
"How to deal with it?" Wang Rong smiled bitterly, "Tianci, whose do you think this world belongs to?"
Wang Tianci was stunned when he heard the words, paused, and replied seriously: "The world belongs to the people of the world. Emperor Wen of Zhou Dynasty said this personally to the monks all over the world on the Zen platform when he was receiving Zen. Emperor Wu also said this when he was promoted to Zen and accepted the Zen of Zhou. Said the same words."
"But does Empress Jia think so?" Wang Rong's old face was full of helplessness at this moment, "Don't mention Empress Jia, he is Emperor Wu. In his later years, all policies are no longer to share the world with the monks in the world, but to find ways to The family belongs to the world. Therefore, he vigorously promoted monks from poor families, so he founded Hongdu College, so he re-employed Jia Chong, Feng Chen and others. All of them, he wanted to increase the imperial power and no longer share the world."
"But grandpa, aren't you Situ? You can definitely stop this." Wang Tianci said hurriedly.
"If I can stop one thing, can I stop two things? If I can control it for a year, can I control it for a lifetime?" Wang Rong explained patiently, "God sent me to ask you, are there more monks from poor families or monks from aristocratic families in the world?"
"Of course there are many monks from poor families." Wang Tianci said without hesitation.
"That's it. Emperor Wu saw this exactly. He thought that he could win over the poorer families with more people to control our family. Very simple calculation, the number of monks from the poor families is dozens or even hundreds of times that of our family."
Wang Rong's words were like a thunder, instantly clearing all the fog in Wang Tianci's heart. At this moment, he admired his great-great-grandfather even more. He really stood far and saw things from a distance, and directly grasped the essence of the problem.
"It doesn't matter whether the prince sincerely adheres to the oath made by the imperial family and the world's monks when he received Zen in the Jin Dynasty. Emperor Wu also insisted on this concept when he was young. But people will change! Even if he saves the prince , with the ability and talent of the prince, what if he one day becomes Emperor Wu in his later years? The prince really has 70% to 80% of the style of Emperor Xuan, both in cultivation and ability. At the end of the Shang Dynasty, he assisted Emperor Wu of Zhou Sima Cao to defeat the North How talented Sun Yu and Sun Lingjun were, the princes from all walks of life who finally laid the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He said something that I later understood. That is, the person who sits on the throne of the emperor is as good as Emperor Xian of Shang, even better than Shang. Emperor Wu. In this world, we should still share the world. We cannot attach prosperity and decline to one person. Tianci, have you done anything wrong?"
Wang Tianci was dumbfounded by what he said. He had never thought about such a complicated problem, even though he felt that he had already done everything in the world for nothing. Only today did he realize that he was afraid that he might not even be able to win one out of ten. I can't even see it in vain.
"But grandpa, why did you insist on protecting the prince in the beginning?"
"First, at least the current prince adheres to the concept of the imperial family and the monks all over the world sharing the world. Who can say clearly what will happen next." Wang Rong said and stretched out a finger, "Second, the imperial court has its own court The majesty of the three gongs and nine ministers has the majesty of the three gongs and nine ministers. The emperor can say whatever he says, and the royal family can say whatever he says! We share the same world with the Huangfu family, and we are not their slaves. This principle It is more important than whether the prince can maintain his position and whether the prince will become a different person in the future. Godsend, keep in mind the words of the great grandfather. We monks and our family must always stick to this bottom line. No matter who is sitting in that position. Whether it is the Sima family or the imperial family, or whichever family will be in the future, we must resolutely oppose the monopoly of power. You must know that since the beginning of the Shang Dynasty, countless knowledgeable monks have been pursuing this. It was not until the late Shang Dynasty that they were able to realize the monarch as in ancient times. Surrender. This is a huge breakthrough achieved by so many seniors after so many years of hard work. No matter what, you must not forget this." When Wang Rong said these words, his eyes that had always been cloudy suddenly burst into light, and his whole body exuded a rare His Grandmaster aura is as calm and powerful as the king of the jungle.
Wang Tianci's heart trembled, and he responded solemnly: "My great-grandson Tianci will remember my great-grandfather's teachings! He will protect the family for the rest of his life and share the world with the emperor!" Now he finally understood. In the mind of his great-great-grandfather, Whether the prince lives or dies, whether the prince ascends to the throne or whether King Yu Zhang ascends to the throne, these are not important matters. The important thing is that this world cannot be a world of one family and one surname.
Seeing his serious and respectful attitude, Wang Rong showed a look of satisfaction on his face: "Outsiders say that our Wang family in Jinyang is as talented as a forest of talented people, but I know in my heart that the only person I can rely on in the future is God-given you." Seeing that he was about to be humble, he showed off He waved his hand and changed the topic, then said, "Goddess, do you know why my great-grandfather has often played with these calculations over the years?"
"The great-grandson is puzzled."
"Grandpa asked you, how much spiritual grain can be harvested from one acre of good spiritual land in one season? How much spiritual grain can be harvested from one acre of ordinary spiritual land in one season? How much spiritual grain can be harvested from one acre of poor spiritual land in one season?"
Wang Tianci was shocked when he heard this, smiled bitterly, and shook his head.
"How much spiritual grain does it cost for a monk to cultivate to the ninth level? How about the eighth level? What about the seventh level? Wait, wait, etc. How many spiritual fields are there in Bingzhou in Jin Dynasty? How many monks are there? How many spiritual fields are there in Jizhou? Monks? What about other states and counties? How many monks were there in the world during the pre-Shang Dynasty? How many monks were there during the post-Shang Dynasty? How many monks were there in the Zhou Dynasty? After our Jin Dynasty, how many monks are registered in the world now? And now every year during the Jin Dynasty, there are Compared with the pre-Shang and post-Shang periods, has the output of spiritual grain increased or decreased? How much has it increased? How does it compare with the increase in the number of monks?"
Wang Tianci felt even more bitter when he heard these questions. After all, he was only in his early twenties. In addition to practicing, he also had to read the books of the sages of his predecessors. He really knew nothing about these issues. He has never been a complacent and arrogant person, and he has always been eager to learn. In the eyes of others, he is a genius, but he himself admits that he is just more diligent in thinking and learning. At this moment, he realized more and more that he still had too much to learn.
"Countless monks only care about their own cultivation, only care about their own wealth, and only pursue how to obtain more resources. But few monks care about how many resources there are in the world and how many monks can sustain their cultivation. In the early days of the pre-Shang Dynasty At the time when the number of monks in the world was the largest, there were more than 3.78 million monks in the early days of Emperor Shang Wu. Emperor Shang Wu launched successive wars against the Northern Barbarians and Southern Barbarians, with more than 20 major battles and countless smaller battles. Although from then on, Countless tribes were conquered from south to north and from east to west, but the number of monks in the world also dropped from more than three million in Zhoufeng to just over two million. It was not until the era of the Later Shanghang Zhang that the number of monks in the world rose to one again. Zhou Feng, Zhou Da 4.13 million. During the reign of Emperor Shang Zhang, his relative Dou Xian relied on this extremely powerful national power to completely conquer the Northern Barbarians, bringing the influence of the Later Shang to its peak. But in this world, prosperity must decline, and the Later Shang Ever since Emperor An was defeated, there have been endless political struggles, and under the Second Emperor Huan Ling, monks were imprisoned on a large scale twice. Tianci, what do you think is the reason behind these phenomena? "
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