"I grew up in a poor family, dull and silent, with no friends or relatives. I ate porridge and vegetables and had no meat. I only liked to study. Besides reading, I still studied. I had no ambitions in my life. I just wanted to enter the capital to be admitted to the Tao of Heaven. After getting to know Chen'er, I just wanted to study with her, even though she really wasn't interested in studying."
This is the first paragraph of Wang Zhice's notes. Looking at this passage, Chen Changsheng spontaneously felt a sense of intimacy, just like when he knew Gou Hanshi's experience before the Ivy Banquet, even though he knew he was his opponent, he still felt a sense of intimacy with him, because he was also A person who only likes to read.
"On the way to Beijing, at the Prince's Mansion in Tianliang County, I met the then eunuch and later the Taizu, and then, I met King Qi, and then, in Luoyang, I met him again, and my elder brother, Yes, it was also in that alley in Luoyang that was dripping with sewage, I met Chen'er, so I stayed."
"Luoyang paper is expensive, everything is expensive, even sesame seed cakes are sold more expensive than other places, not to mention that there were wars every day, and she wanted to go back to her old business after the money ran out. I think killing people is always bad. She asked me how to manage the house. After thinking about it, I still want to go to the capital, and even if I don’t get into the Heavenly Dao Academy, I can go to the Tianshu Mausoleum to sell some fake rubbings. I always thought that I was a scholar with nothing to do, so my handwriting was not bad.”
"She came to the capital with me, and never left again, even if she wanted to, because Emperor Taizu's army surrounded the capital, and it was at that time that I found out that after my eldest brother left Luoyang, I don’t plan to come back anymore, on the day when the city was finally broken, Chen’er and I sat on the boat, looked at the smiling King Qi riding a white unicorn across the Naihe Bridge, and knew that life should be better.”
"Your Majesty ascended the throne in front of the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books, but the army of demons came. Then two years later, the demons came again. King Qi would occasionally come to the inn to chat with us. It can be seen that his mood is getting worse and worse. Not good, I don’t know if it’s because his favorite unicorn died on Luoliuyuan, or because His Majesty still refuses to clarify who the prince is. One day, after drinking a lot, he stared into my eyes Said, since Luoyang City, I have always wanted me to help him. I am a little confused. I am just a scholar with no strength to restrain a chicken. .”
"I was admitted to Tiandao Academy, started to study, and lived the life I yearned for, but she didn't like this ordinary life. I took her to the Li Palace to see the green vines, and to the Orthodox Academy to see the banyan trees. She didn't like it either. , saying that the forest in Chaoyang Garden is too dense, the big banyan tree is too tall, and the most important thing is that Qujiang and the lake in the National Education College are both peaceful. One night, I laughed while watching Luoyang Miscellaneous Notes, she sneered and said Wen It seems that the mountain is not happy, and only people like me can endure such a boring and boring life. I understand what she means, but I don't want to answer the conversation, so I have to keep silent."
"Later, she finally left the capital. I didn't know whether to go to Xuelao City or to find the traces of my eldest brother. In short, she left me. I thought about it for three days and three nights, and I confirmed that I couldn't change anything, so I continued to study. , I just started to think about spiritual practice during my free time while studying. I always thought, and my friends also thought, that I had no potential for spiritual practice, let alone any talent, but for some reason, I didn’t start practicing until I was over 40 years old. For me, I didn’t encounter the obstacles in the rumors. I spent one night and then I roughly understood what spiritual practice is. Maybe there was a big commotion that night, which shocked many people, so it was very inexplicable, and I became I became a celebrity in the capital, and King Qi took the imperial decree of Emperor Taizu and forced me to enter the court and become an official. Many people thought that I would be proud of the noise I made that night, and be proud of my talent in cultivation. In fact, what I am really proud of is that the small games I made spread in Kyoto and even the whole mainland. In short, I became a celebrity, and I started to visit the residences of those dignitaries and celebrities, including several princes including King Qi. All befriended me, and life seemed to be pleasant again, except that she never came back."
"Peaceful and happy days can't last forever. I understand this truth, but I didn't expect the end of this beautiful day to come so suddenly. One night, Kyoto was suddenly under martial law. Two guests came to my house. They They are all guests from Prince Qi’s mansion. They asked me to do something. After thinking about it, I didn’t agree, but I also didn’t want to stop King Qi. I know that with his temperament, no one can stop him from moving forward. In the early morning of the next day, the carriage began to transport the corpses out of the city. I stood upstairs looking in the direction of the Baicao Garden and the white smoke rising slowly, silently praying that not too many people would die, at least those princes I was familiar with. Don't want them all to die, but unfortunately things don't go as planned, those princes are still dead after all, including their wives and children."
"I sat at home for three days, didn't go out, didn't inquire, and looked at each other with the two guest officials sent by Prince Qi's mansion, silent. Finally, King Qi came in person after dealing with the outside affairs. In such a nervous At this moment, he actually took the time to meet me. I don't know whether I should feel honored or should feel vigilant. King Qi said that he doesn't mind my silence these days, but I need to show my attitude to the people of Kyoto now. Can be silent, he stared into my eyes and asked me what my attitude was, I thought for a while and said, I have no attitude, so he started to be silent, and then he turned and left, that was the last time he and I were friends Talk, because I found out later that in the early morning of that day, he had officially succeeded to the throne and became His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
"I was not taken away from office, nor placed under house arrest, nor was I sent to a big prison. I was just deliberately forgotten by the court and those people I used to know in this home in Kushui Lane. There is another person who was deliberately forgotten like me. , that is Emperor Taizu, King Qi... No, it should be said that it is His Majesty, either because he wanted to be filial and worried that Emperor Taizu would be too boring in the deep palace and cause trouble, or because he still remembered the friendship between us and worried I was too bored to cause trouble at home, so I was ordered to be the secretary and let me enter the palace to accompany Taizu."
"It must be said that the life in the deep palace was actually very interesting. In just a few months, Taizu seemed to have aged for hundreds of years and became a real old man. He was not as irritable and frivolous as before. He became more kind, and no longer cared about state affairs. Of course, he had no way to care about it, and no one allowed him to care about it anymore. So he began to care about the outcome of the card table and the beautiful maids in the palace. I have advised against the latter. Several times, he didn’t like to hear it very much. Regarding the former, it was difficult for him to beat me at the card table, but he became more and more interested. In that deep palace full of ivy, at the card table under the melon and fruit rack , I played a lot of poker games with the old man, and we always chatted during the leisure time, so I heard a lot of stories and kept them in my heart."
Looking at the handwriting on the notebook, Chen Changsheng couldn't calm down.
These are Wang Zhice's self-reports, the memories of a generation of legends. What he said was very messy and simple, but he clearly narrated his own life journey, and this journey happened to be during the most turbulent years in the mainland. , so these narratives naturally have a strong impact.
Looking at these words in the notebook, he seemed to see Wang Zhice back then. He was a young scholar who went to Beijing to rush for the exam but did not seek an official position. He traveled thousands of miles to the capital just to read thousands of books. , Seeing the reflection of a girl in the city of Luoyang, the scholar saw a lot of scenery in his eyes and stopped in his tracks.
The young scholar finally started to walk again and arrived at his destination, Kyoto. He never forgot his original goal back then, but he couldn’t live according to the idea of the year. The scenery in his eyes changed a lot, and the reflection of the girl broke into nothingness. official, became a celebrity in Kyoto, and was forced into worlds he didn't want to be in, and he never liked.
Seeing this, Chen Changsheng's mood gradually became tense. Wang Zhice's travel notes or self-reports, when he got to the notes, he had to enter the most critical link, which he wanted to know the most, the part where the Taizu was imprisoned in the deep palace. Sui Yue, what exactly did he say to Wang Zhice, or, next time, he may see what the Defying Fate Changer himself said.
He continued to read his notes.
"There are many rumors about Emperor Taizu, the most famous of which is naturally changing his fate against the sky. There has been a certain saying in the mainland. Many years ago, Taizu got acquainted with the current master of Taoism, that is, Li Gongli. Ren Pope used some kind of secret method to sacrifice to the starry sky, thus successfully changing his fate against the sky. The emperor star shines on the earth forever in the night sky, and after the change of Baicao Garden, there are many more starry sky offerings The specific content of the sacrifice is that the Taizu was willing to leave only one son to pass on the bloodline in order to change his fate against the sky, and all the other sons were dedicated to the starry sky as a sacrifice... However, after the Taizu succeeded in ascending the throne, he did not want to fulfill the promise of the year, In fact, his sons are so good, who can die? And who is willing to die?"
"I don't know if King Qi and those princes have heard this rumor, even if they have heard it, have they believed it, but whether this rumor is true or not, as long as it appears, as long as it is heard, their hearts will dry up The branches turned into terrible poisonous snakes, constantly biting their hearts. From Po Luoyang to Kyoto, those outstanding sons of Taizu have been unable to maintain a good relationship. It has something to do with the ownership of the imperial chair. Now that I think about it, it has something to do with this Rumors also have a lot to do with it. It must be admitted that the sons of Taizu are all excellent, but His Majesty is the most powerful one among them. When those princes are still trying to influence Taizu's choice and wait for the arrangement of fate, His Majesty took the lead without hesitation and killed all his brothers..."
"I asked Emperor Taizu if he changed his life against the sky. He was drunk that day, and the age spots on his face were particularly bright. He smiled like a child and a fox. He didn't have a positive face. To answer my question, I just hiccupped and sang a local opera in Tianliang County, nodding non-stop, as if I was about to fall asleep."
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