Chapter 65 Divine Assistance
Outside the city, while Guan Shengyun and others were busy building siege equipment these days, Ma Wensheng in the city was not idle either. Wang Jian found the bed crossbow and "succeeded in the first battle", but Master Ma still couldn't sleep - it was because of fear in the first few days, but this time it was because of excitement. I tossed and turned like pancakes on the bed for half a night, and suddenly I realized: This is obviously God's help! So before dawn, I took a group of people and ran to the Chenghuang Temple to burn incense.
He respectfully presented cakes, fruit, paper, candles, and wine (pronounced "li"), silently prayed for some commonplace things such as ensuring safety and building a golden body, etc. After a few bows, he was about to go out when he saw a lot-drawing stall outside the hall. He has to lift the hem of his official robe and go over.
Jing Xiangshan hurriedly stopped him and said: "Master Ma, Confucius said, 'Respect ghosts and gods and keep them at a distance'. It's enough for us to pray and express our feelings to ask for God's blessing. Bamboo sticks are dead things. If you say something unfavorable, it may shake the morale of the army." . Sir, think twice.”
Ma Wensheng said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about, and you don't even look at what this is about! You just made such outrageous remarks after praying, aren't you afraid that the Immortal Family will be upset!"
Then he turned around and bowed to the hall: "Don't blame the superior immortal. Don't blame the superior immortal. If the lower official is not strict with his subordinates, he will be severely punished when he returns to the Yamen. The city is safe and protected by the superior immortal. I ask the superior immortal to give him some help." Make it clear." After saying this, he picked up the lottery tube and started shaking it.
The several civil and military personnel accompanying him looked at each other with helplessness in their eyes.
With a snap, a sign fell out. Ma Wensheng picked it up nervously and looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but dance: "Haha, good luck!"
This signature is "Baili Xi surrenders to Qin", which comes from a famous allusion: Duke Mu of Qin knew that Baili Xi was a great sage, so he redeemed him from the Chu State with five sheepskins and granted him state government. Baili Xi "has no improper plans and must be successful in his actions". He merged with the country for twenty years and strengthened the Qin Dynasty.
The interpretation of this sign goes like this: A noble person meets by chance, and from then on, he will be supported and his destiny will be prosperous. If you come in and out with plans, everything will be successful; if the common people take advantage of them, you will have a bright future!
No wonder Ma Wensheng was so happy.
When he came out of the temple gate, he looked around, hoping to find Baili Xi, the god who could help him.
Fortunately, Pan Dingjing, Xiangshan, Wang Jian and others finally got rid of Ma Wensheng for the time being, and they were busy with their own affairs.
As the saying goes, all your wishes come true. It is also said that when Jingcheng goes to gold and stone, he will open the door - Ma Wensheng kept saying that there must be a good person to help him, and he found one for him.
Gu Sanzhi sold Li Li of a hundred households. Although no one wanted to see him in the camp, no one dared to provoke him. There was no need to answer the question, as he had been fawning over the retinue of soldiers sent by Ma Wensheng to block the city gate all day long. As for those guys with dark eyes on camp matters, with Gu Sanzhizi, who was familiar with the garrison's head, helping and giving guidance, they were able to use chicken feathers as arrows and shoot them fiercely. Awesome, it can be said that the fly leads the way to the dung beetle, working in collusion.
Hearing from the soldiers that Master Ma wanted to find someone capable to help him, Gu Sanzhizi slapped his thigh and said, "You should have told me earlier, I know this living god!"
In the east gate of Shaanzhou lived a magic stick who was both a witch and a Taoist, named Liu Shiting. On weekdays, he makes a living by exorcising demons, catching ghosts, measuring characters, reading fortune and feng shui, performing magic tricks to find objects, and presiding over weddings and funerals, etc., and he is quite famous. Ma Wensheng and his gang were new arrivals and didn't know this person, but Gu Sanzhizi knew him and had a good relationship with him, so he recommended him ceremoniously.
Ma Wensheng thought about it for a while, then slapped his forehead: "God! This is the auspicious person I am looking for! The sign says Baili Xi will surrender to Qin - the land of Qin, Shaanxi! There is one pavilion in ten miles, and there are ten pavilions in the land." , Baili! You can’t be wrong, God helps me, God helps me! Hahahaha..."
Liu Shiting's skill as a housekeeper is to watch people's words and deceive others. When the soldiers besieged the city, I saw Lord Ma personally leading the crowd to come to invite him. How could I know what was going on? If you don't seize the opportunity to make a fortune at this time, how can you live up to the professional ethics of a liar? "Six Dinglishi", "Beidou Divine Weapon", "Qimen Dunjia", "Throwing beans and forming soldiers" and other high-tech vocabulary were spoken smoothly and smoothly, leaving Ma Wensheng stunned for a moment. At the end, he looked at Ma Wensheng carefully for a while, then left his seat and said: "The ordinary people are blind, I forgive you, Lord. Your surname is Ma, and you have a good horse face, so you will surely bow your head! If all people bow your head, that is the entrance." Please pay your respects to the Prime Minister!"
Hearing this, Ma Wensheng was overjoyed and had no doubts at all.
Jing Xiangshan had been scolded and did not dare to be serious with Ma Wensheng anymore, so he could only let him act nonsense. Pan Ding couldn't bear it anymore and persuaded: "Sir, you don't say anything about strange power and chaos. The Art of War says, 'The battle is not about heavenly officials, yin and yang, or time, but about human affairs.' It is also said, 'In battle, it is not about heavenly officials, yin and yang, or time, but about human affairs.'" Appointment of talents and talents will bring benefits without time; knowing the law and judging orders without divination will bring good luck; paying attention to merit and hard work will bring good fortune without praying.'. The war is coming, and the subordinates think that it is the most important thing to strengthen the troops and horses..."
Just as Ma Wensheng was about to have a fit, Liu Shiting became angry when he saw someone dared to block his way of making money. He looked at Pan Ding for a few times and said leisurely: "My lord, ordinary people dare to speak out. You are a bad person in the hall. Your lips are burnt and your ears are red. I'm afraid there is something wrong." A great calamity. In these days, we must be more careful."
Pan Ding, who is from the sixth rank of Zhou Tongzhi, heard this and said angrily: "You are so bold and unruly! How dare you insult an official of the imperial court by talking nonsense?! Come on, take it!"
Ma Wensheng was not willing to let the "noble man" be taken away, so he hurriedly stopped him: "Ahem, wait a minute, wait a minute. Mr. Pan, in my opinion, the old god also has good intentions, so it doesn't hurt to be more cautious, right? What, By the way, some new grains have been raised from the state warehouse, Mr. Pan will help me check it out and be a co-ordinator."
Pan Ding let out an angry "hum" and walked away, waving his sleeves. Jing Xiangshan really didn't want to see Ma Wensheng behaving like this, so he shouted "Master Pan, I'll go with you", told Ma Wensheng and left.
It was not easy for Liu Shiting to meet such a powerful fool, and he was determined to defeat Ma Wensheng. He sighed in a pretentious manner: "Oh, good advice is hard on the ears. Common people are stubborn and will tell you when they see it. It's just a pity that all the good intentions..."
Ma Wensheng smiled and said: "Don't blame the old god. If he can't listen to the truth, it's his own fate. For this plan to defend the city, we need to ask the old god for guidance."
Liu Shiting laughed loudly: "Don't worry, Mr. Ma. The common people are not talented, but the thieves have not noticed it. Wait until the common people climb the tower to see what's wrong, and then we can make some sense."
Ma Wensheng said happily: "This is very good, please ask the old god."
The commanding height of Shaanzhou is not the city tower, but the Baolun Temple Tower in the city.
Baolun Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty, and the pagoda was built in the 16th year of Dading in the Jin Dynasty (Jin Shizong Dynasty, 1176 AD). People stand in front of the tower and hold two stones against each other, and the echo can be heard like the sound of frogs, so it is commonly known as the Toad Tower among the people. Together with the Echo Wall of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the Yingying Pagoda in Yongji, Shanxi, and the Shiqin of the Great Buddhist Temple in Tongnan, Sichuan, it is also known as the four major ancient echo buildings in China.
The Baolun Temple tower is thirteen stories high, and Liu Shiting and Ma Wensheng climbed it together. Because he had already made plans in his mind on the way there, when he arrived at the top of the tower, Liu Shiting looked around calmly, finished his performance in a serious manner, and burst out laughing after a moment.
Ma Wensheng knew that it was time for him to praise him, so he hurriedly asked: "Old god, why are you laughing?"
Liu Shiting replied confidently: "Don't worry, sir, we will definitely win!" After saying that, he pointed to the east: ""Yun Qi" said, 'The Qi in the city comes from the east, and its color is yellow. This is a celestial city and cannot be cut down! 'This is called 'Ji City Weather'. Sir, first of all, we are already in an invincible position!"
Ma Wensheng knew that the blacksmith shop was in the east of the city, and it had been constantly building ordnance for a while, so there must be fireworks. But since I have determined in my heart that God and man will help me, and God and man say that it is angry, then naturally I am angry.
Liu Shiting continued: "'General Qiu' said: 'Those who have a strong aura in the army, gradually become like clouds, and then turn into the shape of mountains, will have deep plans and cannot be attacked; if they join our army and fight quickly, they will win a great victory'. Your Excellency, please Look, the air above our army, does it respond?"
Ma Wensheng looked intently, and saw that meals had just been prepared in a long stove in the kitchen. Some of the Huotou Army auxiliary soldiers were busy pouring porridge into buckets, and some were loading grain cakes into baskets. There was a lot of steam. There was some murmuring in my heart, and I couldn't help but think to myself: "Does this count?"
It happened that a gust of wind blew up and blew away the "cloud" that had just risen, making Ma Wensheng even more hesitant.
Liu Shiting, who had been looking at Ma Wensheng's expression from the corner of his eyes, saw this and didn't give him time to think. He hurriedly said: ""Fengjiao" says: 'The wind comes from behind, the mist and clouds collide, the people are majestic, the horses neigh and the flags are raised, The enemy is on the verge of victory, and we will achieve great success by winning a complete victory! The common people would like to congratulate you, sir." As he spoke, he bowed his head deeply to the ground.
He secretly saw that Ma Wensheng's expression became much more relaxed, and he continued: "The wind is blowing to the south, and the thieves are also in the south. Our city is in the north, and the thieves will attack me against the wind. "Fengjiao" also says: "The army marches, and the flags and flags point behind them. Otherwise, the three armies will be defeated and they will die in battle! Sir, this is God's will."
Ma Wensheng was so happy. Next, Liu Shiting pointed at the sun and said, "If the sun has green energy above and below it, it is good luck and you can go out to the army." He didn't understand it at all, and kept nodding in agreement.
Seeing that the fire was almost done, Liu Shiting struck while the iron was hot: "Sir, the common people are not talented, so I would like to select 666 people, set up a 'Six Ding Formation', use the 'Liujia Technique', capture all the thieves' heads with one drum and wipe out all the thieves!"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Ma Wensheng hurriedly agreed and called a soldier: "Take my order, go to the bank and take out two hundred gold and five thousand silver, and give them to the old god for temporary support."
Another person was summoned: "Take my order and accompany the old immortal to select people. No matter what the camp or position is, the superior officer will not stop the person chosen by the old immortal. Anyone who violates this will be regarded as delaying the military aircraft!"
Liu Shiting asked Ma Wensheng for another 200 kilograms of copper material. He stopped what the copper and blacksmiths were doing and cast a "powerful bucket" (which can be understood as a super-large long-handled copper spoon) in the shape of the Big Dipper. "Weary of defeating all soldiers" (the word "weary" here is pronounced "pressure"). To put it bluntly, this trick is to make something to curse the opponent, such as painting a portrait or making a wooden figure to prick with a needle... To this day, this This kind of nonsense can still be seen occasionally: neighbors are at odds, hanging a small mirror in front of each other, etc.).
After Liu Shiting took the money, he really worked hard and walked around the prison, streets, and camps. With a finger, the person pointed out would drop everything and follow him, becoming one of the six hundred and sixty-six glorious "magic soldiers." member.
The precious time to prepare for the war was wasted by this group of fools. Not to mention this, all the messing around completely disrupted the originally hasty and insufficient deployment, and Pan Jing, Wang Jian and others were almost in despair - according to historical records, "At this time, both civil and military officials have a look of death"!
In fact, in ancient wars, sacrifice and divination were two very important tasks. Most of the bandits were limited by their conditions, and they often just pretended to be a ghost to suit the occasion. But for the officers and soldiers, there is a strong sense of ritual. There are many relevant records in historical materials: Yang Hao killed cattle to sacrifice to heaven during the expedition to Saarhu, and Yi Jing went to Guandi Temple to ask for fortune-telling during the Opium War... among others Various signs have a great impact on people's morale. The most famous one is the story of Di Qing's hundred copper coins. Today we have no awareness of this aspect at all. We talk about how Jiang Shang stepped on the tortoise shell that predicted King Wu and was unfavorable in divination, and rebuked it: "Withered grass and rotten bones, it's safe to know." But this is just an example - until the Qing Dynasty, sacrifices and divination before sending troops were still indispensable links.
Sacrifice is relatively easy to understand - today's swearing-in ceremony, pre-war mobilization, flag presentation and other ceremonies can vaguely see its original traces.
Divination is much more complicated, and the types alone are very complex.
Bu: Mainly refers to turtle divination. Drilling and burning the turtle shell, and predicting good or bad luck by interpreting the fracture lines. Carve the result on the ox shoulder blade and preserve it - this is the oracle bone inscription.
Gua: Throw flake stones/wood blocks on the ground and guess the future based on the pros and cons.
Zhan: The origin is Zhanzhan, which is to arrange and extract yarrow (pronounced "Shi") grass, and predict good or bad luck according to its odd, even, long and short. King Wen of Zhou Dynasty was imprisoned in Youli (pronounced "You") by King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. He had nothing to do all day long and developed this game. He used yarrow and bamboo to arrange and combine, so he came up with eight trigrams and even sixty-four hexagrams. The "Book of Changes", which is praised by many people as magical, appeared in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty. As for whether it is really so mysterious, not to mention whether a primitive man who does not know that the earth is a big sphere can understand the truth of the universe, let me tell you a little story. . King Tian Wen once played with yarrow and finished calculating a fortune. King Zhou came and brought a bowl of meat soup: "Are you hungry? Try it." After King Wen finished eating, he asked: "Is it delicious?" King Wen said: "It's delicious. ." King Zhou: "Do you still want to eat?" King Wen: "Yes." King Zhou: "I'll give you a knife and a piece of bamboo, and engrave a letter for your youngest son to ask him to come over." King Wen: "What does eating meat have to do with my youngest son?" King Zhou: "What a big deal! What did you just eat?" I stewed the meat with your eldest son. After eating it, it’s gone. If you still want to eat, call your younger son over and I’ll stew it for you again.”…
Later, "occupation" became more and more diverse.
There is "star divination": not only by looking at the stars, but also by looking at the sun, moon, thunder and rain.
There is "Celestial Accounting": guessing based on various weather and astronomical phenomena, such as "there are sounds from the sky", "rain without clouds", "thunder at Mao hour", "dark day and night", etc. There are all nonsense.
There is "earth divination": looking at the landforms and surface, such as "earth cracking" and "earth rumbling", they are all serious misfortunes.
There is "solar divination": guessing by looking at the sun, in addition to the examples in the text, there are also "every solar eclipse, strike it from a disadvantageous place, and you will win" and so on.
There is a "wind corner": guess based on the wind direction, the text says a lot about it. The reason why it is called "corner" is because the wind direction is divided into east, west, north and south, and the sky is round, and the earth is also divided into east, west, north and south. Since it is a square, there must be a "corner"!
There is also "Yun Qi Zhan": "Yun Qi" is also called "weather" - are you familiar with this word? Hehe, you guessed it right, "Weather Forecast"! That’s where the word comes from. The original meaning of the word "Xiang" is "appearance", which is to observe the appearance of "clouds" or "qi". As a description of an animal, "elephant" translated into modern Chinese means "Oh my God, this thing is so big." Over time, it became an exclusive noun.
There are also "miscellaneous guesses": various fancy guesses, including "five elements guess", guessing what animals and plants you see match the yin and yang and the five elements, "dream guess", Zhou Gong's interpretation of dreams, "Liu Ren"/"Dun Jia" "/"Taiyi", collectively known as "Three Styles", I don't know exactly how.
In addition, there are prophecies (pronounced "anger"), which are vague prophecies, such as "Hu is the one who destroyed the Qin Dynasty"/"The Eighteen Sons Master Divine Weapon"/"The Mo Dao Stone Man has one eye" and so on.
Fuqi (pronounced "hit") is to hang a stylus and let two little bastards hold a sand tray and swing with their eyes closed. They can guess by looking at the traces drawn by the stylus in the sand - by the way, this is how Yan Song, the powerful prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, was played to death. (Lan Daoxing sent a WeChat message to Yan Song, "The Emperor misses you, come here quickly", and then asked the two little bastards to mark out "The traitor is here". They played this several times, and Shizong looked at it and thought, Huh? Why is it always you?).
Derived from the above, you can choose a cemetery, look at Feng Shui, adjust the decoration of the house, look at faces and palms, measure words, let birds pick words... and so on, it is simply profound and profound.
