Spring and Autumn I Am King - Chapter 1157

ps: 5,000-character chapter…

The big bell tower in the royal city is not in the palace, but in the outer Guo, because the original purpose of this bell is to convene the people of the country to convene to announce the decree.

Therefore, Zhou Crown Prince Ren had to board the carriage and rush to the outside of the palace.

According to the etiquette system, the emperor is six, the princes are five, the lord is four, the doctor is three, the scholar is two, and the commoner is one. The capital of the country was dying, and Prince Ren didn’t care that he had not officially ascended the throne, so he directly used his father’s chariot and horse.

The six old horses who were still able to eat food, took Prince Ren, his most trusted old lady, and more than a dozen palace armors to the south of the city.

Along the way, they first passed an official area, which was the closest to the palace and was the residence of the nobles.

When King Ping moved east, a large number of Western nobles followed, including Zhou, Zhao, Rong, Mao, Yin and other clans; but after arriving in Luoyang, the branches were scattered for hundreds of years, and the Gan, Liu, Wangshu clans came into being. and so on. These hundreds of families are intertwined and attached to the royal family. They own a large area of ​​land and residences. They don’t do farming, and they are dressed in fine clothes and food every day. They only need to send some chariots to join the Sixth Division in battle.

In the Zhou Dynasty, it was the privilege and pride of the nobles to join the army. However, after being protected by Jin for more than 100 years, the meat-eaters of the Zhou people became increasingly depraved and slack. , do not want to pay.

At the critical moment when the Zhao army was approaching the city, the place was also in chaos. Prince Ren originally hoped to call on some nobles who had a good family to be armed and defend the city. But when they saw that each of them closed their doors and were busy hiding their ritual utensils and belongings, they were suddenly disappointed.

Taifu looked on with cold eyes and said lightly: “As the saying in “October Days”, ‘If you choose three things, you should hide more. Don’t leave an old man, so that you can guard my king. If you choose a carriage and horse, you can live there. ‘When the disaster is imminent, these people have always only cared about their family and not the country. After the disaster of Mount Li, Zong Zhou Zhongxungui only cared about himself and ran first, regardless of the danger of King Ping’s lonely army.”

Whenever a catastrophe was imminent, the nobles of Chengzhou and Zhou were all like this. If they were not so weak and selfish, when the prince led Rong Di to call two hundred years ago, King Xiang of Zhou would not have to abandon the city and leave.

“If you can rely on Dr. Gongqing, do you still need to run out of the palace?” Prince Ren had already expected it. He gritted his teeth and ordered the imperial guard to continue to move forward and drive towards the civilian residence of Waiguo.

…

The Zhou system stipulated that within a hundred li outside the king’s city, it was divided into six townships, and each township set up a township doctor to manage government affairs. The residents of Xianglu are basically peasants who live according to their clans, and they are related to each other by blood, and they are also the main force of the Zhou Dynasty army.

However, with the changes of the times, the Liuxiang system is also unsustainable. After the rebellion of the princely dynasty, the Liuxiang system, which was linked by blood ties, collapsed completely. more up. The Zhou family had few people, so the people living in the city were basically craftsmen or merchants, so later generations came to the era of Su and Qin, and they would say “the customs of the Zhou people, governing the industry, focusing on industry and commerce, and chasing the second is the task.”

After Tianzi’s car rushed out of the inner city, the first thing Prince Ren faced was these businessmen who heard that the army was approaching the city and were hurriedly disbanding the market, preparing to finish their work, and tidy up their stalls and hurried home.

“Prince is here! Everyone dares to be rude!?” the loyal royal said loudly.

Chinese people and businessmen were a little stunned, but they still habitually greeted the prince who was wearing hemp and filial piety.

“Two or three sons are exempt from gifts.”

Prince Ren didn’t care about etiquette now, he stood up so that everyone could see him, and shouted with all his might, “People! The former king has just died, and the Hou Zhao has no ministers, so he wants to seek my Zhou family. , now the troops are outside the city. Although Gu is young, he is not allowed to commit the following crimes. It is necessary to preserve the dignity of the royal family. Today, the six divisions are uneven, and the head of the city is empty. !”

As he spoke, he asked the palace armor behind him to hold down the weapons and armors that were pulled on the auxiliary car, and looked at the people with fiery eyes, hoping that they could pick up weapons and follow behind him to protect the family. country.

However, to the disappointment of Prince Ren, there are thousands of people in this busy city, but they just looked at the old weapons all over the ground, but no one picked them up and joined the prince’s army.

The atmosphere seemed to be frozen, everyone’s empty eyes were full of indifference, while Crown Prince Ren stood in the chariot with a long sword, blushing, extremely embarrassed.

After holding it for a long time, he could only threaten loudly: “Is it possible that no one is grateful for the six hundred years of kindness of the Zhou family? Is it possible that you will not regret it until Zhao Jun destroys the city butcher!?”

After a while, an old man with a dove stick tremblingly came forward to relieve the prince.

“Prince.”

He cupped his hands and smiled and said, “In the past five or six years, the army of Zhao State has passed through Chengzhou not ten times or eight times, and the food, vegetables and fruits they need are bought at par or even higher than the market price on silk. For our merchants and craftsmen, Qiu has never committed any crime, and the entire city has been massacred, how could it be possible…”

These remarks aroused a burst of approval. After the Huangchi meeting, Zhou Shi almost became a foreign county of Zhao State, and Zhao Jun borrowed it every three days. The people were still fearful at first, but gradually they regarded it as normal. After there was no danger of being slaughtered, everyone would at most suspend business and go home for a few days to hide, and soon life would be normal, so why bother to follow Prince Ren to the city to fight against the powerful Zhao army?

As for Prince Ren’s “royal dignity”, what does it have to do with them?

And “Six Hundred Years of Zhou Dynasty” Ende, it’s good not to mention this. When I mentioned it, some peasant women and farmers who came to the market to sell goods whispered:

“What kind of kindness? We have not fled to foreign countries, and we have done our duty very well by staying in the Zhou land to cultivate the land for the nobles. Although the house is full of food, 30% will be given to the royal family, and the other 30% will be given to the city owner. There is not much left. Every year in August, we have to collect silk and linen, make clothes for the nobles, and donate the gorgeous clothes, but we have no clothes and no brown, and it is difficult for us to survive the winter…”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and following this complaint, strange voices came from the people one after another.

“Yes, the weather is already cold in November. We still have to go up the mountain to hunt raccoon dogs, hunt fox skins, and give them leather jackets for nobles. When we hunt big pigs, we must present them to the prince, and when we hit small pigs, we will return to ourselves, otherwise we will be interrupted. Legs… It snows heavily in December, and the nobles are drinking warm wine and roasting charcoal fires in the palace, but we have to continue to take risks, cutting firewood for the nobles to burn charcoal, my hands are covered with frostbite, that’s how I came. !” This is a hunter gnashing his teeth.

“The shuttle on the loom is empty, we wear kudzu shoes and bind with thick twine, and my children can only step on the frost with bare feet. On the contrary, those frivolous princes and grandsons, wearing the fine silk shoes we woven, swagger away. On the Zhou Dao. The Zhou Dao is as flat as a whetstone, and as straight as an arrow shot. The princes and nobles can walk on it, but we the grass people can only kneel in the dust beside the road and dare not look up.” This is the female weaver in tears.

“We serve the royal family, and we never dare to neglect our positions. However, we can only be lowly and lowly officials all our lives, living with a bucket of rice. On the contrary, we are the sons of the princes. As long as we have a good background, we can make up for any official position.” Even Even the slightly higher-ranking scholars sighed.

Their voices were low at first, just talking to themselves or talking with others, but gradually they became louder.

Finally, a businessman in plain clothes stood up. Although he is a native of Zhou, he has lived in Taoqiu for a long time. The merchants who were deeply influenced by the free atmosphere there stood up. Because there were not many people with Prince Ren, he was not afraid. He raised his arms and said loudly:

“For decades, the royal family has not only made a lot of money to win profits from merchants, but also increased taxes from time to time. What good things have they done for the common people? I only came today to let us appreciate the kindness of the royal family and go to die with the prince…”

“I think it’s not that we want to be grateful for the grace of the royal family, but the royal family wants to be grateful for the kindness of the people’s upbringing!”

Under the instigation of the merchant, instead of taking up arms to help defend the Zhou family as Prince Ren hoped, everyone blamed him for the injustice and anger that had accumulated over the past decades and began to complain loudly.

This was something that Prince Ren had never expected. He was stunned, choked with rhetoric, and couldn’t say it again.

It was Taifu who saw the crowds and remembered the riots of the Chinese people in those years, for fear of hurting the prince, so he asked the imperial master to drive away quickly, while the crowd behind him burst into cheers of victory, and then packed their things and went home.

…

“Those tax hikes and apportionments were not done by Yu…” When the market behind him slowly faded away, Prince Ren regained his senses from the shock and said bitterly to the old lady.

“Old minister naturally knows…”

The Taifu sighed, and the complaints of the people were true, and they were basically all of Zhou Jingwang and Zhou Jingwang’s urgent efforts to save the royal family’s finances. But the arrogance and depravity of the entire royal family, ignorant of the people’s sentiments, is a legacy of malpractice from the distant Zongzhou era. After King Ping moved eastward, instead of being removed, it became more and more serious. Today, it has finally turned into bitter fruit. Today’s Zhou is like back then. Wei Yigong, who was rejected by the Chinese to serve in battle, is generally unpopular.

While they were talking, they had already driven into the outer country in the south of the city and reached their destination: the Bell Tower.

This is the tallest building in Waiguo. After slowly ascending the second floor, Prince Ren stood in front of the big bell.

This is a huge bronze bell, some parts of it are as smooth as a bronze mirror, and some parts are carved with Kui patterns and cloud patterns. There are 36 high-protruding long-shaped breast patterns on both sides of the bell body, which are extremely gorgeous and eye-catching. There are also inscriptions of more than 2,000 words, the beginning of which is…

“Twenty-two years, Wang Zizhi clock…”

This is the largest and most spectacular clock in the world, and it was created in the era of King Jing of Zhou. More than 30 years ago, King Zhou Jing wanted to cast a big bell on a whim to show his majesty to the people of the country. Duke Shan Mu and Lingzhou Jiu, a music official, both persuaded him, but King Zhou Jing did not listen to the untruthful advice and insisted on going his own way, looting the people’s fat and plaster. It took a huge amount of people’s energy to cast this 1000-pound bell “No Shot”.

The next year the big bell was cast and moved to the bell tower to try it out. The musicians reported that the music was harmonious. King Jing was overjoyed, and proudly told the music official Lingzhou Jin: “Didn’t you say that after this bell is cast, it will definitely make a dissonant sound.”

At that time, Lingzhou Jiu replied: “The time for this bell to make a discordant sound has not yet come. There is a proverb called ‘All hearts form a city, and all mouths speak gold’. What the people like are rarely unsuccessful. There are very few things that don’t like it. The king issued Daquan (large denomination copper coins), which has already made the merchants complain, and now he spends manpower and financial resources to cast the big bell, and the people are tired. Even aimed at the royal family, I think this is a sign of discord…”

“The dissonance that Lingzhou Jiu said has now been fulfilled. Within a week, there are full of discordant voices. The hearts of the people have been scattered, and it is difficult to make a city. However, the evil government of Zhou is full of gold.” Without shooting the big bell, Prince Ren remembered the complaints of the people and smiled bitterly. This is the root that his father and grandfather planted, and now he wants to taste the consequences.

But he is not reconciled!

The illustrious Zhou, six hundred years of inheritance, the crowns of more than 20 early kings, weighed heavily on his head, and those chapters that he was proud of since childhood appeared in front of his eyes little by little…

“Juechu gave birth to the people, Shiwei Jiangyuan… Zaisheng Zaiyu, Shiwei Houji. The grandson of Houji, the great king of Shiwei. The Yang of Juqi, the real beginning of cutting business…”

The origin and history of the surname Ji is extremely long, no less than that of the Yin and Shang. Although there are many decorations and details about the history, the farmers in the Weishui Zhouyuan have worked hard to create this endless state!

“King Wen is above, and Yuzhao is in the sky. Although Zhou is an old state, its life is renewed. King Wen’s grandson, this branch has a hundred generations, and all the scholars of the Zhou Dynasty are not visible to the world…”

“Muye Yangyang, Tanche Huanghuang, Siqiao Peng Peng. Master Wei is still the father, Shi Wei Yingyang, Liangbi King Wu. Want to cut down on the big merchants, the dynasty will be clear and bright!”

King Wen and King Wu, that was the prosperous period of the Zhou Dynasty, and it was also the most glorious era, but where are the Jiji Toushi at that time?

“Since he became Kang, there have been four directions, and the light is bright. The bells and drums, the chime and the generals, the blessings of the Rang Rang!”

Reading these passionate poems, Prince Ren laughed out loud.

Cheng Kang’s rule of the world and the division of feudal lords created the prototype of the whole world. The culture and traditions of Tang, Yu, Xia and Shang were inherited and abandoned, and the whole world was heavily branded with the mark of Zhou.

But now, is Zhou going to perish so inexplicably?

Standing on the bell tower, Prince Ren seemed to see Zhao Jun, who was clearly armored, and Zhao Hou Wuxi, who was riding a horse and coveted the Jiuding for a long time, but didn’t extend his hand until now…

“No, never!”

He pushed away the Taifu who wanted to stop him, and said in a hoarse voice: “King Cheng has set the cauldron in Jiayan, the world is thirty, and the year is seven hundred, and it is ordered by heaven. If today’s fate has not been changed, the great Zhou , will never die in the hands of Yu Xiaozi! I don’t believe it, and I don’t believe in the great success of Zhou, there will be no loyal ministers, and no Chinese people who have a heart for the royal family to help me defend against the enemy!”

Prince Ren roared, holding up the big bell mallet hanging on the beam with both hands, as thick as the waist, staring at the big “no shot” bell in front of a room, backing a few steps, and rammed hard towards it!

“Boom!”

A sudden and huge trembling sound resounded around the clock tower, causing the six horses tied downstairs to neigh in shock.

“Boom!”

The second sound of the bell came to the deserted market, where only a few wild dogs were left looking for food on the chaotic streets, and the bells rang together.

“Boom!”

For the third time, the ancient and heavy bells echoed over Luoyang. Although they were separated by a mile or two, the lilu in the city was still clearly audible, but every household realized that the war was coming and closed their doors one after another. Close the door to this appeal full of grief and indignation!

“Boom!”

The fourth sound, as the strength of the bell-strucker waned, seemed to be a weaker and weaker reprimand, which made Duke Liu, who came out of the palace, slightly startled.

“We can’t look back.” Shan Gong was ashamed, but Liu Gong had a dark face, and ordered the Sixth Division to give up resistance and prepare to open the door to welcome Zhao Hou.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

However, the bell, which had already weakened, was reinvigorated, once, twice, three times… Prince Ren gnashed his teeth, like a mad tiger, regardless of the rust that fell from the big bell without shooting and the sound of the bell tower. The dust was rising all over the sky, and even the blood splashed from the tiger’s mouth without knowing it, just kept bumping.

One voice, unwilling; one voice, reluctance.

It seems to be saving this twilight ancient dynasty, and he seems to be crying about the shame that he cannot protect his ancestral property as a prince and grandson of Wen…

I don’t know how long it took to hit, until I was exhausted, and Prince Ren’s legs went weak and he slumped on the bell tower.

However, even though he worked so hard and struggled so hard, with a huge Chengzhou, hundreds of nobles, and 100,000 residents, no one responded to the bell, gathered at the clock tower, took up arms, and helped Prince Ren defend Chengzhou…

“why?”

Prince Ren started to cry, like a child. For this long-established dynasty, he was just a child.

“Why? Those who protect the country, even the humble ones, also have responsibilities, but if the meat-eaters have become so rotten and decayed that the people will resent them and abandon them, no one will take up arms for the country…”

An old voice sounded, with a hint of melancholy, with a hint of sympathy, but more indifferent.

Prince Ren raised his head with tears streaming down his face, only to see an old man with crane hair and youthful face standing in front of him with his hands behind his back. The wind was floating, with a trace of pity in his eyes, but a look of relief that saw everything on his face.

“You are……”

Seeing the old man, the old lady raised her hand, feeling a little excited, and was about to salute, but was stopped by the old man.

Prince Ren’s eyes were full of confusion, this old man was probably the only one who heard the bell, and he didn’t care who he was, as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw, he raised his head and asked, “Elder, I’m very proud. Zong Zhou, why has it fallen to such a level?”

“Because Zhou De has declined…”

The old man spread his hands and answered as a matter of course: “When things are strong, they grow old. This is the law of nature. People, all things, and family and country can’t escape this rule…”

“What should I do with that kid?” Now that the ministers are not ministers~www.mtlnovel.com~ the people of the country are not the country, and the Zhao army is about to enter the city. At that time, people will be knives and I will be fish, and Prince Ren will be at the end of the road.

The old man came over, helped Prince Ren, wiped off the dirt from his body, and smiled at him: “The way of nature cannot be violated, remember my words, the husband does not argue, so there is no special…”

…

Zhong Chen’s drumming has stopped, but the heavy echo has not stopped for a long time, and it continues to tremble Luoyang. Even Zhao Wuxi, who was surrounded by the army outside the city, waiting for the sheets of the city gate and the Liu family to slowly open, moved his ears and heard this strange echo.

Raising his head, he saw the setting sun above Chengzhou City in the afterglow, the setting sun was like blood, the birds that were startled by the bell were flying in confusion, and pieces of purple and red clouds were blown into the vast sky by the wind, and finally There is not a trace left, just like this history, no matter how beautiful and moving it is, it will disappear with the passage of time.

“Summer, spring, autumn and winter are at your fingertips, and the rooster announces the dawn of the bell road at dusk.”

Zhao Wuqi muttered a word to himself, sighed again, and said, “Six hundred years is not easy, but in this world, there is no immortal dynasty!”