Chapter 13: A Handful of Hands Transforms the World
Chapter 13: Changing the Earth with a Handful of Hands
Xuanjing City, Scholar’s House.
A group of scholars gathered together to watch the ancient volumes that had recently caused the world to tremble.
Ever since the ancient books appeared in the world some days ago, the bookstore in the city had been printing additional books without stopping. Even so, the demand for the published books exceeded the supply. These scholars also bought a few volumes today with great difficulty, so they invited a group of friends to come here to enjoy it together.
“The upper goodness is like water, the water is favorable to all things but does not contend. Wonderful, wonderful!”
“Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. In just a few words, reading it instantly reveals infinite subtleties, this sutra is truly extraordinary!”
“In my opinion, just these three thousand words are worth all the articles I’ve read before!”
“I feel the same way!”
“No, no, no, in my opinion, the subtlety of that volume of Yi is even higher than that of Dao De. Although the text is obscure and difficult, the words are so precise that they seem to contain the supreme principles of heaven and earth.”
“Precisely, Heaven walks with health, and the gentleman is unceasing in his self-improvement! Speaks the heart of my generation!”
The scholars were talking and discussing enthusiastically, looking mesmerized.
At this moment, one of them suddenly sighed, “I can’t imagine that such an exquisite text has been buried thousands of years underground without anyone knowing about it. Every time I think about it, I feel pained!”
These words also caused the crowd to echo.
“Yes, the late master loved reading the most during his lifetime. If he could read these few volumes of scriptures, I don’t know how pleased he would have been.”
“It was unfortunate for all the world’s readers in the past that they could not hear these scriptures!”
“But are these scriptures really written by previous generations, lost due to war and only the remnants of the scrolls preserved in ancient tombs? As I look at the Nanhua and the Analects, none of the people or things in them are recorded in the history books.” Among the crowd, a voice was somewhat abrupt.
The crowd was first quiet for a moment, and then they came to a firm conclusion.
“It must be so. This kind of text, there is absolutely no possibility of forgery by present-day people. Existing history books, only nearly three thousand years of history. Before three thousand years ago, there were basically no detailed records. I think these classics are the products of that time.”
“I heard that the ancient school of visiting said that in the ancient times, there were a hundred schools of thought, and the classics that were born were as numerous as the stars in the sky. These few volumes of scriptures that we are reading today are but an insignificant part of them.”
This statement immediately caused a gasp of surprise in the restaurant.
“There is actually such a thing!”
“Just thinking that there are still so many classic articles buried deep underground and not seen on earth, I am incomparably heartbroken and can’t sleep at night!”
“I wonder what the rest of the classics are like.”
……
“But after all, these ancient texts are deeply hidden in various ancient tombs. The fact that the School of Visiting the Ancient World is saying that they are excavating ancient tombs on a large scale to look for the lost classics is really against human decency.”
The crowd of scholars instinctively wanted to speak out in agreement, but once they thought of the countless classic texts still staying underground waiting to be excavated, their tone became less resolute.
“Didn’t the leader of that school of visiting antiquity say that what they are doing is a matter of protection, salvage excavation. It’s not an act of destruction.”
“That’s right, I heard that every time they excavate an ancient tomb, they don’t generally wreak havoc like previous grave robbers, only taking gold and silver. Instead, they carefully take out all the objects and keep them properly. If there is any damage, there are also specialists responsible for repairing it.”
“Indeed, one cannot simply compare them to grave robbers.”
However, there were still quite a few people in the crowd who held opposing views.
“It’s just a nice thing to say. What’s the difference? Who here doesn’t have an ancestor? If your family’s ancestor’s tomb was excavated in this way, how would you feel?”
“The precedent of this matter must not be opened, or else the consequences will be endless. We shall do our best to dissuade it.”
“Exactly. “
……
There were others who did not voice their opinions and acted as peacemakers.
“His Holiness and the ministers of the court will surely have already made their judgment on this matter, so there is no need for us to worry too much about it.”
“Let’s wait and see, let’s wait and see.”
…… As the Dao Deity spread throughout the world a few times, heated debates erupted all over Grand Xuan.
There were countless scenes similar to the one inside the Scholarship Building today.
Li Fan knew that trying to reverse the minds of the people of the world in a short period of time would definitely not work.
Now, it is only the beginning.
But Li Fan wasn’t worried at all that things wouldn’t work out.
In the current world, the ones who hold the power of speech are after all the readers.
With countless classics as bait, Li Fan was not afraid that these readers would not fall into line.
What’s more, Li Fan didn’t ask for these people’s support, as long as they didn’t jump out to oppose it.
……
While secretly seeking the world, Li Fan was also gradually advancing the degree of influence of the Visiting Ancient School in the secular world.
In the sixth year of the Anchor, the Son of Heaven was suddenly stricken with a serious illness and was bedridden. All the doctors were at their wits’ end. At this time, the School of Ancient Visitors held an elixir in front of the saint. He said that this elixir was found in an ancient tomb and was suspected to be left by an immortal, which had the effect of making flesh and bones from the dead. Taking it might be able to relieve the danger.
The son of heaven first did not pay attention, but with his body is not as good as a day, see is going to die, he still hold a dead horse as a living horse doctor’s mentality, will be the medicine to take.
Who ever thought that the elixir is really effective, but a few days, the son of heaven will be restored as before.
The court was shaken, and the ministers had a lot to say about it.
The emperor even night edict to visit the leader of the ancient school of thought into the palace, detailed questions about the immortal, a few days did not go to court.
Since then, the emperor believed in the existence of immortals. He secretly authorized his army to cooperate with the School of Ancient Visitors to look for traces of the Immortals in the ancient tombs.
In the ninth year of the Anchor, the School of Ancient Visitors held an exhibition in Xuanjing, inviting the ministers and princes and nobles in the capital to see it.
Although these people were also very rich and knowledgeable, after seeing one piece of rare treasures in the exhibition, they were all immersed in it and lingered on.
After this, the School of Ancient Visitors even liberalized its restrictions, so that ordinary people could enter the exhibition as long as they purchased a ticket.
Xuanjing City was suddenly sensational.
Countless people lined up, wanting to enter the exhibition to get a glimpse of the treasures. The number of people was so large that it caused the roads in the capital to be blocked. Luckily, the saint issued an order for the garrison to maintain order with armor, and only then did it not cause a bigger disturbance.
The spectacle has lasted for more than half a month.
After this, instead of stopping, the exhibition began to tour around, starting one by one in all parts of Da Xuan.
In the eleventh year of the Anchor, the Jianghuai Prefecture uncovered a vicious grave-robbing case and captured a grave-robbing team of hundreds of people.
The group had gone on a rampage excavating ancient tombs in the deep mountains, causing incalculable damage.
According to the law, this group should all be sentenced to capital punishment.
But the number of people involved in the case is too large, too wide, Jianghuai Prefecture governor Li Fan dare not take the liberty to make a decision, a letter, eight hundred miles of expedited into the Xuanjing City, please His Majesty to make a decision.
Some ministers were outraged by the news and wrote a letter requesting execution.
However, the strange thing is that the vast majority of courtiers have remained silent at this moment.
The emperor also suppressed a cadre of proposals and did not take a position.
After a month, the emperor’s decree came late.
There was no capital punishment, but only sentenced to be sentenced to slavery and kept in the capital.
The ministers of the court hardly ever wrote a letter of objection.
Li Fan looked at the edict and smiled faintly, knowing that the momentum had been set.
(End of chapter)