Changsha is much bigger than Xiangyang, but since the Yellow Turban Rebellion did not affect this city this year and the autumn harvest is basically over, the streets are very prosperous and seem to be relatively stable. I think I can take a good rest in the next few months. I have no guilt at all for this lazy thought in my heart, and I have found many reasons for myself. The one that makes me most proud is "rule by inaction". It turns out that my realm is so similar to that of the great sage, and I can't help but be intoxicated by myself.
"Enough, enough, stop being so conceited. Being a governor makes you so beautiful." My sister definitely didn't know what I was thinking, but she reminded me not to get too carried away. No matter how great my thoughts were, others would still think I was someone else's success. This might be the hardship of the great sage. I suddenly felt my skin starting to grow thicker again.
I finally controlled myself and raised the official seal in a serious manner to accept the greeting of local officials. The common people gathered around to see the arrival of the new governor. I tried my best to control my excitement and the laughter that was about to burst out, and waved to them. However, there seemed to be no custom for the new governor to make a comment, so I still followed the steps they arranged for me step by step. I had to put on a formal dress and offer sacrifices. I didn't know which god to offer sacrifices to. Anyway, I could fall asleep anywhere. If someone hadn't thrown a stone and hit me, I don't know when I would wake up. As soon as I opened my eyes, I asked the priest next to me, "Is it over?" He said, "Sir, it's over, but you have to share the sacrificial meat." The teacher also reminded me before leaving that the key is which piece to keep for yourself. The teacher taught me to take the tuǐ. I know that pig's trotters are delicious, but I don't eat much beef, but I think it should be about the same. The teacher knew that I was a glutton, so he really took care of me. He cut off a piece of the cow's hind leg and distributed the rest to the local gentry and some people in the front row.
After we came down, we were taken to the official residence where we lived. The place was not big, but it was clean. Anyway, I didn’t care much. Seeing that my sister seemed very satisfied, I also gave up.
Some maids helped us tidy up the house and luggage, and I went to the meeting room to ask about the situation in Changsha. Their report was extremely long and hypnotic, consisting of dozens of kilograms of scrolls and half a box of silk cloth. Originally, for the teacher's instructions, I tried very hard to listen patiently for an hour, but when we had packed up our luggage and the house, their report seemed to have no intention of coming to an end. My sister saw that I was already murderous, and in order to avoid a murder in the court, my sister asked them to leave these things behind and go back to rest first.
I entered the city at daybreak, and after noon, these rituals finally came to an end. I felt it was time to eat, and naturally thought of the meat sacrifice.
My sister placed the sacrificial meat on a plate in front of me, looked at me with a very strange look, and asked me, "Don't eat it... If you really want to eat it, don't regret it."
Seeing my sister like this, I felt like there was something wrong. I smelled her meat, and it was fine. It was very fragrant and my mouth was watering. I looked around at the other three people at the table, and it seemed that no one was going to argue with me, which made me feel that there was something wrong with her meat, but I really didn't know what the problem was.
But when I took the first bite, I understood. The feeling was probably no different from biting a brick, except that this brick was made more like a cow's tuǐ.
"Why is this beef shank so hard?"
"Didn't your teacher teach you about these etiquette things?"
"Yes, he told me that when he asked me to divide the sacrificial meat, he wanted me to give the hind legs to myself. I thought it was because the hind legs tasted better."
"Why are you so greedy? You are right to choose tuǐ, because when an ox moves forward, its hind legs exert the most force. Choosing tuǐ means that you will devote yourself to Changsha's government affairs and do your best."
"It turns out that beef hindquarters are so unpalatable. I will never eat beef hindquarters again."
"You're wrong. Not all calves look like this. This one is the only one. When a calf is chosen for sacrifice, they have to choose between two options. Half of them are always pampered and fed only with chestnut spices, while the other group is never fed enough and is often driven around. They are all starving to the point of being skin and bones. They have to starve for a few days before the sacrifice. In this way, although they are sacrifices of the same age, the meat offered to the gods must be much more tender than the meat left for themselves to eat, to show respect for the ancestors and gods." My sister bowed respectfully to the north, but she still smiled and winked at me. "That's right, the one left on the altar and the one shared by everyone is so that even the worst eyesight can tell which one is bigger."
I suddenly turned to the Zhou brothers and sisters, "How do you know about things like sacrifices? Did my sister teach you?"
"No, we would go to any sacrificial ceremony we heard about... I've eaten sacrificial meat many times before, so I know it tastes terrible. The rich families would bring it back and feed their dogs or servants, or put it somewhere until it can't be eaten and buried."
"Sister, it seems we need to get a dog. I can't eat anymore." Suddenly I saw the restraining look in my sister's eyes. "No, once you take the first bite, you must eat it all. This is the rule. That's why I told you, don't regret it, since there is..." Sister pointed to the "evidence" on the meat - the missing piece of the brick, "you have to eat it all."
"Yes, yes." The Zhou brothers and sisters also echoed, "Either don't eat the sacrificial meat, or you have to eat it all, otherwise it's a taboo." Zhou Yu and her sister actually started discussing about taboos such as being struck by lightning, having their houses collapse, and being hit by a carriage when they went out. Zhou Cang was also stupidly intervening from time to time.
"Okay, okay, I'll eat it." Finally, I decided to compromise, but I was thinking about something else in my heart, and I couldn't find the words to organize it. It was about sacrifice. I thought I could come up with a speech that would impress my sister, but when I took the second bite of the brick, the inspiration in my heart disappeared.
That’s not all. For a long time afterwards, whenever I smelled smoked beef or even spices, I would feel nauseous. Every time I entered or exited the government office, I would feel the urge to take a bite of the black lacquered pillars.
The excitement soon wore off, because after the autumn harvest, there was really not much to do. Every day was just boring stuff, and I left a lot of things to my sister. Because it was a waste of talent to let my sister only take care of food and grass, she became the head of the family and the second in command of Changsha. But my sister still pointed out that I wanted to be lazy, but this time, I had already thought about resigning, and I thought it was a great attempt to improve the political status of women. This time it was my sister's turn to be speechless. I asked Zhou Cang to be in charge of the defense of Changsha, but I was still worried about it. I was afraid that he was too young, and the original city guard didn't look like a military officer. When I took office, I learned from Teacher Wei and asked him to lead troops to search and suppress the remnants of the Yellow Turbans near Chaisang. The next day, he returned home on the pretext of illness. I sighed and said that I would let someone else take over this position. On the third day, all kinds of filial sons, seriously ill people, and old bodies filled my desks. I expressed great sympathy for this and gave them more than ten times the salary so that they could go back to fulfill their filial piety, recuperate, and take care of their old age. As for Zhou Yu, I asked her to be responsible for the security of the city.
From then on, there was no more obstacle to my decrees, and the meeting room now became my family's dining table. Usually, my sister and I would discuss things, and Zhou Cang and Zhou Yu would occasionally express some opinions that sometimes seemed stupid, but sometimes were very insightful, but according to them, those were some of the topics that the soldiers talked about with them.
At the end of August, it was almost late autumn, but the weather had not completely cooled down. There seemed to be fewer things to do, and everything was in order. I attributed this to my sister's diligence and carefulness, and my sister accepted it without hesitation. The Yellow Turban Army had never been near Changsha, but I still asked Zhou Cang to take the troops out from time to time to train the troops and pretend to search for the Yellow Turbans, in case some of them recovered from their illnesses or their old bodies asked to continue serving the country. That would be bad. During this period, he also fought against bandits once. He heard rumors that there were bandits in Yuelu Mountain who often went to rob tombs, so Zhou Cang went there. However, Zhou Cang was so excited to lead the troops, but he caught a group of children. I asked where the bandits were. He was them. I shook my head. What's wrong with the children nowadays? They like to be bandits so much. Is the profession of robber so promising? But I suddenly noticed that Zhou Cang had an embarrassed look and Zhou Yu had an angry look, so I quickly found other topics to change the subject. Zhou Yu was such a bad girl that she often complained about me to her sister, so Zhou Cang and I were basically the third in command at home. The leader of the bandits was only a 13 or 14-year-old kid. Looking at their ragged clothes, I knew without asking that they had lost their parents and couldn't rob anything, so they could only rob tombs and sell jewelry. I asked Zhou Cang to feed them and recruit them into the army, and the banditry ended. But later on, some people still came to me specifically to give me gifts, because this area of Mawangdui is the cemetery of a family of Hou, the prime minister of Changsha State in the previous dynasty. The Hou family is still a prominent family in Changsha. I protected their ancestral tombs for them, so it is not surprising that they came to thank me. However, they actually gave me a smoked whole cow, which made me very unhappy. However, I did a good job in verbal communication, and I said that it was my job and there was no need to thank me. But they insisted on giving it to me, and I refused to accept it. We were deadlocked at the gate for a long time. Finally, after experiencing the toughness of the cow's tussle, I let them take all the gifts back.
Another day, I was walking around the streets with my sister. Suddenly, I met the lame beggar I met on my first day in office. He limped over to beg from my sister. It was obvious that he knew who controlled the financial power. I asked him why he didn't go home and came to Changsha again. He seemed to recognize me, and told me with a pitiful face that he had no one at home. My sister took pity on him and gave him money. He thanked me hurriedly and turned away.
I found a strange place, and immediately I realized that I had been deceived. I called out to Zhou Yu, who was patrolling, and said, "Catch this idler for me."
"My Lord, what crime have I committed?"
I pointed at his lame left leg and said, "Because the last time I met you, your right leg was lame."