Chapter 10: Unfounded worries?
The second day of the second month
At the hour of Yin, the sky was covered with dark clouds.
Yang Wei De observed the weather at the observatory all morning. The wind started to blow at midnight and heavy snow came at 1 a.m. He could not help but feel overjoyed. If the snow continued in the morning, there would be no solar eclipse in the capital city. The only thing he could see was the sky suddenly becoming as gloomy as night and then returning to normal after a moment. The nursery rhyme's psychological warfare would be broken and the emperor would regain his confidence, because the Manifest Destiny was still on the side of the Song Dynasty.
Another task today was to accompany the emperor to offer sacrifices at the round mound in the south of the city. This tradition of praying for a good harvest has been around for more than a thousand years since the Han Dynasty. Usually, the emperor himself would be the main priest, thus showing the world the emperor's emphasis on agriculture and sericulture. But this year was a little different. The nursery rhyme stated that the dragon swallowed Fuguang and bowed his head, which seemed to imply that he would be forced to surrender during the solar eclipse on February 2. The emperor once lost the courage to go to Yongqiu Round Mound and directly challenge the nursery rhyme. He wanted to change the date, but the ministers opposed it, believing that it would be interpreted by the people as fear of heaven, and then they would doubt whether the Mandate of Heaven was still in the Song Dynasty. So in the end, the emperor had to bite the bullet and decided to offer sacrifices to heaven on the old date. At the same time, he brought Zhao Zongshi, a member of the royal family adopted by the queen, for the first time. It is said that this was because Yan Shu, the former historian of the Privy Council, the Grand Secretary of the Jixian Hall, and the Duke of Linzi, entered the palace to meet the emperor.
Yan Shu probably thought that he was seriously ill, so he risked his words. He believed that although the will of heaven was unpredictable, he was sure that the prince could appease the ancestral temple and comply with the will of heaven to enhance the legitimacy of the emperor.
If it weren't for the current situation, no one would dare to mention the matter of appointing a crown prince in front of the emperor, especially since the Thirteenth Regiment is not the emperor's own son. Although the emperor is old and powerless, he has always hoped to have a son. Now he can only succumb to fate and hope to solve the current dilemma.
In fact, using disasters to explain the will of heaven and to educate the king in a roundabout way has been the main function of Confucianism since Dong Zhongshu. However, this skill was later neglected, and the king secretly took back the right to interpret the will of heaven with the help of various changes in the sky, monks and Taoist priests, and Nuo rituals. This time, Yan Shu used rumors to force the king, which was quite a bit of the legacy of the holy religion.
The annual sacrificial ceremony was also the duty of Yang Wei De, the spring official. During the sacrificial ceremony, Yang Wei De had to stand at the corner of the second level of the round hill and kneel down to worship the God of Xuantian with the emperor and other officials. This matter could not be delayed, so he got off the observatory and took a sedan chair to the Suzaku Gate. There, the full imperial carriage was ready, and the royal majesty in front of the people was not reduced at all, and there were even hundreds more soldiers and horses escorting him.
Old Yang boarded the seventh carriage in the convoy, which was already quite near the front. Wen Yanbo and Bao Zheng were already there. Although they were still unemployed, they insisted on worshipping God together. Perhaps they also wanted to see if the prophecy would come true?
Seeing Yang Wei De getting on the car, Lao Bao couldn't help but tease: "The Shen Kuo you recommended didn't show up today."
"Maybe he got delayed somewhere? He's usually a very smart child."
"That's okay. Time is tight and we can't meet the deadline. Let's talk about it in a few days." Wen Yanbo said to ease the situation.
"Minister Wen, it doesn't really matter whether you come or not. I just saw Shaoqing Yang Chun was quite proud when he got on the car. Haha, it really is a big snowfall, which fulfilled my wish."
"It's not just me. I think the emperor also wants this snow." Yang Wei De said with joy.
"Yes... I went to the palace yesterday and saw that Master Zhang was burning a spell: Order Teng Liuxun Er to return to their respective positions, snow and wind will blow, and the gods will obey the order..." Wen Yanbo said expressionlessly, "The emperor also wants to fight magic with magic. If the prophecy doesn't come true today, then half of the alarmist talk in recent days will be gone. The people behind the scenes will have to retreat when they see the difficulty."
"This is simply an attempt to cover up the truth. There is heavy snow in the capital but no one else can see it?" Bao Zheng said disdainfully.
"For other distant places, it may not be a total eclipse but a partial eclipse. However, astronomical calendars have always regarded a total eclipse in the capital as the biggest taboo," said Yang Wei De.
"Is there any explanation?" Wen Yanbo asked.
"The Book of the Later Han says: 'The sun is the essence of the sun and the image of the ruler. When the ruler's way is damaged, the yin will take over and thus an eclipse will occur.'"
"This is quite ridiculous," Bao Zheng said immediately, "Xunzi said: Heaven has its own way, it does not exist for the sake of Yao, nor does it perish for the sake of Jie. The stars, sun and moon have nothing to do with whether a king is wise or not. Confucius also said: Respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance."
"Brother Xiren, the Master did say that we should respect ghosts and gods, and he did not cite this as nonsense." Wen Yanbo interjected, making Yang Wei De breathe a sigh of relief.
"Minister Wen, you must know that the ancient sages did not talk about strange and supernatural things."
"However, the most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and wars. Sacrifice requires holding the meat, and war requires receiving the meat. These are the great principles of the gods. Why should we distinguish the matters of ghosts and gods thoroughly? As a monarch or a minister, it is better to believe in their existence, act as if you are in the presence of gods at all times, and act cautiously in everything you do, for fear of losing morality and going against the will of heaven. In this way, good policies will naturally emerge. If you do not believe in gods, you will be disrespectful and fearless at all times, and act arbitrarily against the will of heaven, then the country will be destroyed soon." Wen Yanbo said.
"That being said, there must be some moderation."
"How to control it? Sir, what do you think?"
"The Xia people respected fate, worshipped ghosts and kept them at a distance; the Yin people respected gods and led the people to worship gods, putting ghosts first and rituals second; the Zhou people respected rituals and valued charity, worshipped ghosts and kept them at a distance. The Xia and Zhou ways of worshipping gods each had their own harms, but the Yin people were too lewd in their sacrifices, poisoning the people and only asking ghosts and gods, which was actually a way to bring disaster and destroy the country."
"Since worshipping gods in the Xia and Zhou dynasties each had its own harms, and the Yin and Shang dynasties were licentious in worshipping gods and bringing disaster, in your opinion, where is the moderation?"
"Respect the Heaven above, serve the ghosts and gods in the middle, and love the people below. This is self-control." Bao Zheng said sternly.
"Although the words make sense, they are just high-sounding theories and not practical solutions."
"Mr. Wen..." Bao Zheng was speechless for a moment. As the most argumentative person in the court, this was a rare situation.
"You must know that at this moment, someone is trying to overthrow the Song Dynasty by using the magic of ghosts and gods. How can we be obsessed with talking about the truth? For now, we can only take a long-term view and deal with it when the opportunity arises."
"What the Minister Wen said is absolutely right." Yang Wei De quickly complimented him. He had already heard that in this debate, Bao Zheng was at a disadvantage.
"I cannot bring the treacherous people to justice, and can only take the long view and retreat when I see difficulties. I am unwilling to accept this."
“Now this nursery rhyme has been fulfilled time and again, which is enough to defeat a hundred thousand soldiers. If Master Zhang’s actions can make this group of treacherous villains retreat temporarily, it would be a rare request. Let’s get through this first… cough cough cough…” Wen Yanbo coughed for a while, closed his eyes and dozed off, not knowing whether he was really sleeping or avoiding a fight.
Yang Wei De didn't dare to compete with Bao Zheng , so he had to pretend to sleep. The carriage went southeast in the snow, and the snow was getting heavier outside. Yang Wei De closed his eyes, but listened to the wind outside with his ears erect, praying in his heart: Please don't stop the snow.
Bao Zheng had a stern face all the way. He had been feeling resentful every day these days. Not only because there was an invisible big hand holding the reins at the other end of the nursery rhyme, but also because he did not want to ask for help from the Taoist priest to turn the situation around and defeat magic with magic.
After a bumpy ride in the car, Wen Yanbo slowly woke up, as if he suddenly remembered something.
"Yang Shaoqing, I suddenly remembered something..."
"Minister Wen, please speak."
"The round mound where we are offering sacrifices today is also called the Altar of Land and Grain?"
"Exactly."
"She means land, Ji means grains, and these two words She and Ji are the foundation of the country."
"This..." Yang Wei De didn't understand Wen Yanbo's meaning for a moment.
"If the snow doesn't stop today, the clouds don't clear, and the solar eclipse doesn't show up, then the fifth line of the nursery rhyme about the dragon swallowing the light and bowing its head will fail to come true?"
"What the Minister of Literature said is absolutely right."
"If so, then the sixth line of the nursery rhyme seems to be related as well?"
Yang Wei De woke up instantly: You mean: The Hidden Fire Dog's country is shaken?
"This fire dog, can it also be called a heavenly dog?"
"The Records of Celestial Officials in the Han Dynasty says that the Heavenly Dog looks like a running star, and wherever it falls, flames look like fire, blazing up into the sky. The Fire Dog is the Star God of Misfortune, and according to the Tang people, he is in charge of setting fires. I think it is indeed the same evil creature, but it has different names in different dynasties."
"Do the fifth and sixth lines of the prophecy happen today? The heavenly dog swallowing the sun as people say must happen today, and the so-called fire dog shaking the country, will it happen on the round hill in Yongqiu County?"
Yang Wei De did not dare to answer. He originally guessed that this sentence might be related to the fire in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, symbolizing the shaking of the foundation of the country. However, according to Wen Yanbo, it seems possible, because the round mound for worshipping the God of Xuantian is also called the Altar of the Land and Grain, which has the word "land and grain" in it. In other words, the fifth sentence of the swallowing of the light and the bowing of the real dragon, and the sixth sentence of the hidden fire dog shaking the land and grain, may both happen today. If this is true, the forces will be superimposed in the public opinion field, forming a crushing force.
“But how do we interpret the word ‘hidden’ in ‘hidden fire dog’ in the sixth sentence?” Wen Yanbo asked himself.
"Perhaps this fire dog will not reveal its true form when it is trying to shake the country?"
Wen Yanbo shook his head, obviously not satisfied with this literal interpretation.
"Mr. Bao, what do you think?" Yang Wei De kicked the ball to Bao Zheng.
Bao Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Master Yang, do you know the ancient name of Yongqiu County where this round hill is located?"
"Before the Zhenguan Period of the Tang Dynasty, it was called Qidi?"
Yang Wei De said cautiously.
"If you know the land of Qi, you can understand the story of the people of Qi worrying about the sky."
"this……"
Bao Zheng seized the opportunity to fight back and opened fire without any restraint, even mocking Wen Yanbo who initiated the topic.
Wen Yanbo burst into laughter after hearing this.
"Bao Xiwen is really sharp. I dare not contradict him, hahahaha."
A convoy of cars drove to the round mound outside Yongqiu County. The round mound was already there. Although it was just pushed up with earth, it had been repaired over the years and its appearance was still upright.
When everyone got off the car, what Yang Wei De was worried about happened. The wind and snow seemed to have subsided, but the thick clouds in the sky were still gloomy and heavy, but it was no longer safe. He calculated the time and found that the solar eclipse would occur in one hour. If the clouds did not dissipate, the matter would be delayed. Even if the solar eclipse was seen in other places, it would not be considered to be above the emperor's head.
Chen time.
All the officials stood at the foot of the round hill, the emperor was still on the jade sedan chair, and the thirteen regiments and Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong in the car behind were already drinking tea and resting on the roadside, looking very relaxed. When the time came, the emperor got off the car and hurried to the altar, followed by all the officials. Yang Wei De stole a glance and saw that the clouds seemed to be getting higher and clearer. He thought to himself: Will Master Zhang's spell work?
The people in Kaifeng were also looking forward to the development of the situation. The nursery rhyme was written in a mysterious way, and the interpretations of the tabloids were also different. The critics did not reach a complete consensus on the sentence "Swallowing the light and bowing the dragon", but they all speculated that there might be strange astronomical phenomena. The so-called "Fu Guang" is the sun, and swallowing the light will naturally be associated with a solar eclipse, and how to interpret the "Following the dragon" is still for the wise men to wait and see.
