Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4792: Blue Sky Everywhere
"Why doesn't Niubizi take such brutal actions seriously? One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to ten thousand. There is a world of difference between having and not having, a difference in essence. What is the difference between one and ten thousand?"

"What does this have to do with cruelty? The ritual of sacrifice has existed since ancient times. It is a bridge between mortals and heaven. 'The most important affairs of a country are sacrifice and war'. This is what the Zuo Zhuan said. How did you, a Confucian student, read the works of the ancient sages?"

Cheng Xuanying retorted, thinking Fang Jun was unreasonable.

Fang Jun was silent for a moment. Cheng Xuanying's words were reasonable and well-founded. "Sacrifice" was clearly stipulated and was reasonable and legal. Although most sacrifices nowadays were three animals, in ancient times they were mostly "human sacrifices". Using living people as sacrifices to worship gods was an ancient practice. It could not be said that Cheng Xuanying's behavior was wrong.

He sighed and said helplessly, "Although the behavior of the ancients cannot be criticized, and the sacrifice is a completely legal etiquette, but didn't the Taoist priest have a little compassion when he threw two babies into the turbulent sea? God has the virtue of loving life, let alone two living people. If the babies thrown into the sea were your children, would you still feel at ease?"

Ma Zhou, who was standing aside, lowered his head and drank tea, keeping silent. One was born a military general, and the other was a barbarian. Although it was inappropriate for the two to discuss Confucian classics, they could not be stopped. However, as a Confucian disciple, he could not interrupt.

Nothing is appropriate.

Cheng Xuanying was stunned for a moment, drank a sip of tea, slowly exhaled, and sighed: "How can I feel at ease? It's just that the sea is turbulent and dangerous, unpredictable and uncontrollable, so the people on the coast are more and more convinced of the gods and ghosts. I feel sympathy, but those people on the coast are willing to throw their children into the sea as sacrifices to the Dragon King in exchange for calm waters. Do you believe it or not?"

Fang Jun was silent.

The more dangers humans face that they cannot resist, the more trustworthy they become. This is human nature. Even in later times when science was flourishing, people living on the coast were more trustworthy than people living inland, let alone in this era?

He accused Cheng Xuanying of being vicious by sacrificing living people, but he ignored the current era. In fact, Cheng Xuanying was able to reduce the number of sacrifices from dozens to only two, so he was indeed qualified to be proud...

But at this time, could he point out that sacrificing living people was unreasonable?
This is not just a question of whether or not people listened to him, but that he has shaken Confucianism and the current social ecology. "The most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and wars"!
This is politically correct. Anyone who opposes it is a traitor and can be killed by anyone.

There is still a long way to go to dispel superstition...

*****
The Buddhist and Taoist ceremonies that had lasted for many days came to an end one after another, and the merchants, tourists, monks and Taoists who had gathered in Chang'an also left one after another. The bustling city of Chang'an gradually quieted down, but it was not easy to restore it to its original state.

The rapidly increasing population brought about countless amounts of domestic waste. The officials of Chang'an and Wannian counties forced the yamen runners to hire laborers to transport the garbage in Chang'an out of the city, clean the streets, and then bury the garbage outside the city.

Of course, in addition to endless troubles, there is also skyrocketing wealth.

The Buddhist and Taoist sects spend a huge amount of money to hold grand ceremonies, and the money has poured into many industries. In addition, the tourists who come to visit also bring huge tourism income. The profits of the catering, accommodation, clothing and other industries are even the income of the previous year.

Located in the southwest corner of Jinchangfang, Xuji Congee Shop is adjacent to Dacien Temple. During the Yulan Festival, it received countless travelers and merchants for breakfast. There was no place to put the baskets of copper coins, so they had to dig a deep pit in the backyard to bury them...

When the ceremony was over and business returned to normal, the boss Xu Sifu and his wife had time to dig up the buried copper coins.

After closing the business in the evening, the couple hid in the bedroom and cleaned up the two piles of copper coins one by one with a rag, then counted them one by one and strung them together with a hemp rope, and they were so happy that they couldn't see their teeth...

"I've been exhausted these past few days. I've been cooking porridge and pickling vegetables all day long. I can't even straighten my back. It feels like it's broken. If I continue for a while, I'm afraid I won't make it."

While counting the money, Xu Sifu pounded his waist with a look of regret on his face.

His shop only sells breakfast, but he sells breakfast from dawn till afternoon every day, even an iron man can't stand it...

His wife Wang Erdi snorted and rolled her eyes at him: "Your back has been in bad shape for more than a year or two. Why do you have to make up such an excuse? If this kind of life happens all year round, it would be worth it even if your back is broken!"

Ignoring the dissatisfaction in the old woman's words, Xu Sifu chuckled and said, "Isn't it? I've made a year's worth of money in these few days. No matter how tired I am, I'm enjoying it!"

Then he continued, "Everyone says that your Majesty is not as good as Emperor Taizong, but why do I feel that life has been getting better and better since your Majesty ascended the throne?"

Wang Erdi rolled her eyes at him and warned him, "How can ordinary people like us say such things? Shut up now, or you will get into trouble!"

Seeing the head of the family quickly shut up, he said, "Hey, I heard that the Liu family next door is planning to move to Huating Town?"

"I don't know how his Liu Er found a job as a sailor. It is said that the income from a trip is equivalent to tending ten acres of land at home. However, it is too far from Chang'an. If he wants this job, he can only move his family to Huating Town... Why, you want to go too?"

"Go to hell! The sea is very dangerous. No matter how much money you are given, you have to live to spend it. Liu Er is always thinking evil and refuses to work hard on the farm. How can we do the same? If we run this shop, our descendants will not starve to death for three generations. Why should we leave our hometown and risk our lives on the sea?"

"That's true, then why are you asking this?"

"His family has moved away, so does the house have to be sold?"

"Of course, how else can we rent it out? Chang'an is thousands of miles away from Huating Town. The rent collected every year may not be enough to cover the travel expenses... You don't want to buy his house, do you?"

Wang Erdi nodded and whispered, "My child has grown up and will get married next year. Why should I buy Liu Er's house instead of living in these two rooms? When we get married, we will have a more spacious place to live in. It's not far away and can help me. How great."

Xu Sifu thought about it. He never dared to have such extravagant hopes in the past. He had a serious illness a few years ago and had to pawn all his land. In the past two years, he could only rely on this shop to make ends meet. How could he dare to think about buying a house?
But now, looking at the copper coins piled on the ground, I suddenly feel heroic.

He immediately stood up and said, "I'll go find the head of the village and ask him to go to Liu Er's house and ask."

"I haven't had dinner yet. Let's go to the butcher's shop in the town and buy a pound of cooked meat and a pot of wine. Then we can have a few drinks with the people in the village, and then things will be easier."

"know."

……

The next morning, the village head went to Liu Er's house and the matter was quickly settled.

Liu Er's family moved to Huating Town and was eager to sell their house. The price was not high. Xu Sifu's family liked the idea of ​​having the house next to each other, fearing that others would interfere. The two families knew each other well, and the village head acted as a matchmaker, so they hit it off immediately...

I went to Wannian County Government to transfer the ownership that day.

Transferring property ownership is not a trivial matter. Not only do you have to define the neighbors, check to make sure everything is correct, sign a contract, and determine taxes, but you also need to go through the "transfer office" because Liu Er is moving his entire family to Huating Town. And you must get the "transfer office" done before you can transfer the property. Otherwise, if for some reason the "transfer office" cannot be done but you still transfer the property first, you will be homeless...

There are many procedures, and you have to go to several government offices and several duty stations. It is not only time-consuming and laborious, but you also need to prepare some "reward money" to deal with those little devils in the government offices...

"Why go to the county government? Your two families can handle this matter at the new government office. There's no need to run around."

The head of the village took the two families to a new government office outside the north gate of the East Market.

When they arrived at the place, they saw dozens of people queuing outside the door. The Xu and Liu families couldn't help but complain: "How long will it take for so many people to line up? We should have gone to the county government office earlier."

In the past, ordinary people were most impatient to go to the county government to get things done. A small matter would often take a whole day. The officials had cold faces and were full of impatience. They kept knocking and banging and said in a roundabout way that they wanted some "benefits". There were so many people queuing here, and I was afraid that nothing could be done today.

The head of the village said impatiently, "You two only know how to keep an eye on your own family. When you have nothing to do, you can come out and take a look. This is a new government office set up by Jingzhao Prefecture. It's called a 'one-stop' office. Many government offices have transferred officials. Small matters like yours can be handled here. Why bother running around and wasting time and effort?"

The two families did not understand what "one-stop" meant and did not take it seriously. They believed that the habits and ideas they had developed over the years could not be changed in a short period of time, but they did not dare to speak out due to the authority of the village head.

While waiting in line, a young official in a blue round-necked robe came over.

The official was about twenty years old, with a fair face and no beard. His official robe was made of fine linen with hidden patterns, with edges on the collar, sleeves, and lapels, and a horizontal sash at the bottom of the shirt near the knees. This kind of clothing was called a "sandal", and was the most common official robe.

When he came closer, the young official bowed and saluted. Before he could say anything, the head of the village and the Xu and Liu families quickly returned the greeting.

"I am Sun Chuyue, the Censor-in-Chief. I am here to monitor the new government's policies. Do you want to come in and do your business?"

"Business."

The head of the village and Xu and Liu were trembling with fear. Although the censors were not of high rank, they were quite noble. They could not only discuss state affairs and impeach important officials, but could even write directly to the emperor. Each of them was upright and upright.

"Then do it. If any official shirks responsibility, prevaricates, delays, or even demands bribes, you can report them to me. I will enforce the law impartially and punish them severely!"

"Ah... okay, okay."

The village head and the two families were a little confused.

Buck-passing, prevarication, procrastination, bribery... isn't this normal?

Which official doesn’t do things this way?
Can this be reported?
Seeing that the young censor named Sun Chuyue turned to other people and gave the same excuse, the two families looked at each other at the same time, and both felt that things were indeed different from before.

If officials really did their job without shirking responsibility, prevarication, or soliciting bribes... wouldn't there be justice everywhere?