On April 16, Tunzhou, Daode County, the day before the Monument Opening Festival, before the sun rose in the morning, the entire Daode County was already boiling.
Daode County was not actually called Daode County. Before 687 years of the Black Iron Calendar, Daode County actually had another name, Anping County. However, after 687 years of the Black Iron Calendar, Anping County slowly became Daode County. County, because on April 17, 687 in the Black Iron Calendar, an earthquake occurred in Anping County, and the Hongyu landslide in the county. Among the collapsed mountains, the ancient moral monument appeared out of nowhere, shocking the world.
Fifteen years after the Taikoo Moral Monument was born, in Anping County, there was a young man named Meng Shidao who was born in the same year and the same day as the Taikoo Moral Monument. He learned Taoism and practiced under the Taikoo Moral Monument for three years, and was promoted to the Black Iron Knight at the age of 18. That Taikoo Moral Monument The Moral Monument has become a sacred object among many people in Anping County. In the following 30 years, the young man who gained enlightenment under the Taikoo Moral Monument became middle-aged and advanced to the rank of Earth Knight again. The influence of the Taikoo Moral Monument expanded to The whole Tunzhou attracted the attention of the world, and Anping County slowly turned into Daode County. Later, Meng Shidao began to write books and treatises, which became popular in the world, and the so-called "Tun Dang" gradually took shape, and Meng Shidao naturally , and became the leader of Tuntang.
In the next two hundred years, as Meng Shidao's cultivation became stronger and stronger, his achievements became greater and greater. Meng Shidao, who came from Tunzhou, became famous all over the world, and finally became the teacher of the prince and one of the three princes. The power of the Grand Situ and Tuntang has spread all over the world, and he has the potential to rival the six major sects...
Just as the people of Youzhou regard Zhang Tie as the pride of Youzhou, in Tunzhou, Meng Shidao is also regarded as the pride of Tunzhou by the people of Tunzhou. From the birth of Tundang to the present, in Tunzhou, the Moral Society has There are thousands of moral societies all over the country. In every city in Tunzhou, there are dozens of moral societies. Even in the towns and villages outside the city, moral societies are everywhere. All the moral societies are twisted into one. Under the control of the backbone of the swallowing party, at the beginning, joining the Moral Society was voluntary. However, later, as more and more moral societies became more and more powerful, the power of swallowing the party became stronger and stronger. Those who did not join the moral society would gradually be swallowed up. The Party and the Tao De Society rejected and suppressed them, treating them as alternatives. No matter what they did, there were many obstacles and various shackles. In this environment, those people and families who were unwilling to join the Tao De Society had to leave Tunzhou and go to other places. Find another place to settle down.
Over the past two hundred years, as Meng Shidao advanced step by step, in the entire Tunzhou, from wealthy officials to peddlers and lackeys, there were very few people who could still gain a foothold in Tunzhou without joining the Moral Society, and they were almost extinct.
On April 16, the day before the Monument Opening Festival, many capable people in Tunzhou came to Daode County early by airship or airship with a pilgrim mentality. The entire Daode County was filled with people and horses neighing, and the streets were overcrowded. , all the restaurants and inns were full, and people rushing to Daode County from the surrounding cities and counties of Daode County were even more crowded, filling all the official roads.
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In the early morning of April 17, just after the ugly hour, Zhu Laosan, who opened a tofu shop on Zhujiaji East Street outside Huangyan City, Daode County, got up, lit an oil lamp, and put the ten people who slept in the same room with him into bed. My three-year-old son woke up.
"Mitsuji, wake up..."
The eleven-year-old child was sleeping soundly when he was ugly. Zhu Laosan called twice and finally pushed his son to wake him up.
"Ah, dad, what are you doing..." Zhu Laosan's son opened his eyes, but he was still sleepy and did not react for a while.
"You forgot that dad told you that today is the Monument Opening Festival. We are going to "touch the monument". We must rush to Hongyu Mountain before dawn. Get up quickly, wash up, and put on the new clothes prepared for you!" Zhu Laosan's tone suddenly became stern. His son, who had been severely disciplined by him for a long time, did not dare to say anything more. He rubbed his eyes, quickly got up from his bed, and began to prepare.
Zhu Laosan is a widower. Since his wife died in childbirth giving birth to a son, he has not had a second marriage. He lives alone in the Zhujiaji with his children and relies on his ancestral tofu-making skills.
Zhu Laosan actually didn't fall asleep at all last night. Although he was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, the excitement in his heart made him feel extremely excited the day before the Monument Opening Festival. It's like taking medicine, making it difficult to sleep.
Since seven days ago, the president of the Zhujiaji Moral Society and the director of the Zhujiaji pavilion handed him a gift card and told him that he could take his son to "touch the monument" during this year's Monument Opening Festival, Zhu Laosan I've already started to have insomnia.
He had been waiting for this day for ten years. During these ten years, he donated almost half of the money he earned from selling tofu every year to the Moral Society of the Zhu family, in order to one day get a piece of With a big gift card, you can take your son to do a "stele-touching" ceremony on the day of the Monument Opening Festival, to see and touch the ancient moral monument with your own eyes.
Perhaps for some people, the ceremony of "touching the monument" is pious and sacred, but for Zhu Laosan, who lives at the bottom of society, he is not so pious. He joined the Moral Society because the entire Zhujiaji people Everyone joins. If he doesn't join, he won't be able to survive in Zhujiaji. Even if he starts a small business selling tofu, he may lose money and get into a lot of trouble. The reason why he insists on completing this task is The ceremony of "touching the monument" was a very philistine and realistic idea in his heart. He wanted to take his son to take a chance and give his son a chance to honor his ancestors and have a prosperous future, instead of having to spend his whole life like him. I can only stay in Zhujiaji and make tofu.
Zhu Laosan did not dare to hope that his son would be favored by the Taoist master. Although there were only seven or eight children who could be favored by the Taoist master during the Monument Opening Festival every year, compared with the children who came from all over Taixia every year to open the Monument Festival. The seven or eight children who perform the "touching the monument" ceremony may not even have a one-ten-thousandth chance. Besides the Taoist masters, the leaders of the moral societies in various cities in Taixia basically have no chance of doing so. I will come on this day and also select some children worth cultivating to take back.
Zhu Laosan just hopes that his son can be favored by the leaders of other big cities, or that when he comes back, he can find a backer in the Moral Club in Huangyan City with the qualifications of having done the "touching monument" ceremony at this age, and he can have noble people. With a little help, he was satisfied. For Zhu Laosan, who had only been able to make tofu since he was a child, this was a way for his son to get ahead with all his efforts.
In less than a stick of incense, the father and son were ready. They each dressed up and ate some food at home that had been prepared last night. Then Zhu Laosan carried dry food and a kettle on his back, carrying it in one hand. He lit a fluorite lamp, held his son in one hand, and went out.
It was midnight when I went out, the moon was sparse, the lotus pond next to Zhu Laosan's house was full of frogs, and the grass was full of crickets.
When Zhu Laosan took his son out, there were already many people in the Zhu family gathering with their young and old to prepare to go out.
When many people saw Zhu Laosan and his son, they all greeted Zhu Laosan and looked at Zhu Laosan with envy. The fact that Zhu Laosan received the grand gift card for the Monument Opening Festival has already spread throughout the world. Apart from the president of the Moral Society, only two families in the Zhujiaji received the other two gift cards this year.
Under the envious eyes and warm greetings of everyone in Zhujiaji, Zhu Laosan felt even more encouraged. He pinched the gift card he kept close to his body, pulled his son, and walked out of Zhujiaji with his head held high.
Fortunately, the weather is good today. Even without a fluorite lamp, you can still see the road clearly by relying on the moonlight. Zhu Laosan and his son walked out of Zhujiaji in a short time and came to the outside of Zhujiaji, which is connected to the official road. On the hillside path.
Looking down from the hillside, although it is midnight, the entire official road below is already brightly lit, which is even more lively than the busiest night market. Countless people, both men and women, old and young, are walking on their backs. Carrying simple luggage and holding lanterns or fluorite lamps in their hands, they were walking on the official road. Some young people did not even bring anything, and they were just walking happily on the road in groups. Everyone was heading towards the same goal. The direction is moving forward.
Zhu Laosan also pulled his son into the huge flow of people and hurried along with them.
Zhujiaji is more than fifty miles away from Hongyu Mountain. As long as you keep walking, you can almost reach Hongyu Mountain before dawn.
In order to show piety, when approaching Hongyu Mountain for hundreds of miles, no one took carriages, horses or any other means of transportation. Everyone walked to Hongyu Mountain on foot.
"Dad, my feet hurt..." After walking twenty miles, Zhu Laosan's son couldn't walk anymore.
"If your feet hurt, then take a rest, drink some water, and then go again..." Zhu Laosan took off the water bottle he was carrying and handed it to his son.
A few minutes later, although his son had not rested enough, Zhu Laosan continued to lead his son forward. When his son really couldn't walk, Zhu Laosan had a cold face and dragged his son along. Walk.
Along the way, Zhu Laosan himself was tired and thirsty, but he still relied on his own foot strength and persistence to reach the edge of Hongyu Mountain before dawn.
More than half of the people who came along the way stopped when they arrived at the edge of Hongyu Mountain, and then automatically gathered in the dozens of huge squares surrounding Hongyu Mountain. , each of those squares is comparable to a large airship take-off and landing base, which can gather hundreds of thousands of people, and connects the roads leading to Hongyu Mountain from all directions. In normal times, there will not be so many people in these squares. , and on the day of the Monument Opening Festival, all the squares around Hongyu Mountain will be overcrowded.
Because of their gift card, Zhu Laosan and his son Zhu Guangsi were envied by countless people. After passing two inspections, they followed the repaired road and entered Hongyu Mountain. After walking for a few miles, a long line of people appeared in front of Zhu Laosan, stretching for more than ten miles like a long snake. The tail of the line was just in front of him, but the head of the line turned to Behind a ridge.
Everyone was waiting, and Zhu Laosan had to stop.
Everyone who comes here comes here to do the "Touching the Monument" ceremony, and the "Touching the Monument" ceremony for the Opening of the Monument Festival will not begin until the first ray of the sun shines on the Taikoo Moral Monument in the morning. It is still not until dawn. For a while, everyone was waiting quietly...