Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 516 The Regulations of the Way of Peace
As Taiping Dao emerged from Xinxia and surged in all directions,
King Wen of Xia, who had ruled a vast country, once made a suggestion to He Bo:
"We must find a way to maintain contact between the people of different regions and prevent them from becoming alienated."

If people's hearts are scattered,

That would make the team difficult to lead.

by that time,
Are the team's colors still the same?
Are those Taoist priests wearing yellow turbans still the same as they were in the beginning, following the will of Heaven and the people?
At the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment,

There was also a system in place to allow historians from different countries to exchange information, record the histories of other countries, and preserve the deeds of the Xia people.

This is why the virtuous people of the Xia dynasty, who had expanded their territory for eight hundred years,

They were not overwhelmed by the surrounding barbarians, nor did they lose their way in the desolate "foreign lands," nor did they forget their mission and origins with the passage of time.

When the Way of Peace appeared...

How vast is the world!
The Central Plains alone could no longer restrain the hands and feet of the gentlemen of the various Xia states, nor encompass their footprints.

To go into more detail,

The identities and missions of the feudal lords who were initially enfeoffed during the Zhou Dynasty and the Taoist priests sent by the Way of Great Peace to spread their teachings in all directions were quite different.

Even if starting a business is difficult, the former is nominally going to become the ruler of a region.

Once the construction is completed and the people are gathered together, living up to the name, they will not only be able to enjoy wealth and honor in peace, but they will even be able to turn the tables on the Zhou emperor, harvest his wheat, and seize his Nine Tripods.

The latter, however, received God's command to spread His benevolence and love everywhere.

Besides teaching those barbarians,
Furthermore, we must speak out for the injustice done to the numerous Xia people who have multiplied and are now everywhere, and use our own bodies and minds to promote the Way of Heaven.

This is not an easy task.

To be a feudal lord
Even those who were so poor that they had to farm the land themselves, and who might encounter barbarian attacks the moment they stepped outside, were among the first to be enfeoffed as feudal lords.
Just thinking that after the hard work of my generation, my descendants will truly benefit and enjoy wealth and honor for life makes the back that was bent over while harvesting wheat and planting millet no longer hurt, and my hands and feet that were busy all day no longer feel tired.

Looking at the newly built ancestral temple and the descendants growing up beside me, I feel even more happy.

But the Taoist priests could not do that.

Unfortunately, the world is full of temptations and corruption.

Even if the first three generations can maintain their original intentions and not go astray, what about after that?
Looking at the dead in this world, I've heard far too many things like, "My ancestors suffered for me long ago," and "This world was conquered by my ancestors, so I deserve to enjoy such wealth and honor!"
For this,

He Bo expressed his approval.

Thus, the gathering of the Way of Peace came about.

According to the prescribed system
Every five years, representatives of the Taiping Dao from various regions, along with some well-known local ghosts with sufficient ideas and abilities, are regularly brought to an empty dreamscape with only seats provided. They are then asked to recount their experiences and the ideas and theories they have developed after combining reality with local conditions.

just,

People's thoughts are never in agreement.

Moreover, the circumstances vary from place to place, so the experiences accumulated from those experiences will naturally differ as well.

Therefore,
When the first Taipingdao Assembly was held
Because everyone was not yet familiar with the process, and also wanted to show off their achievements to other fellow cultivators and highlight their own style, quite a few conflicts arose.

Before even clearly explaining the situation, some people are eager to sell their own experience to their peers, hoping that the other party can take their notes and implement the corresponding measures, believing that their own is the best and most correct.

There are also those who resort to violence to debate scriptures at the slightest disagreement, adhering to the principle of "better to die than to die," thus displaying the demeanor of a strongman.

The tradition of philosophical debate among the various Chinese states also included the advocacy of "physical debate on the classics."

Thus, the scene of "fists and kicks blending with the sky, sticks flying alongside lone egrets" filled every corner of my dreams.

all in all,
The chaos at that time
This makes the gathering place, which God created haphazardly because he was lazy, resemble a small boat tossed about in a storm, rising and falling, making people dizzy when they encounter it.

Fortunately,

It is not too late.

God would not tolerate this group of Taoists who had not listened to the teachings of gods and spirits for a long time and had been corrupted by "those who wrestle with the gods" like Zhao Shen and Sun Chong.

He slammed his fist on the table and said:
"This is a major meeting, not the Jixia Academy. Where is the rule to physically assault fellow practitioners?"

After all,

He Bo then completely suppressed them, and then created various places in his dream, throwing people into them in several rounds.

"The reasoning is very difficult to explain clearly."

"But the lessons learned from experience are always simple and brutal."

"These guys haven't been to other places where Taoists preach, so they don't know the situation there, and thus they've started to have pointless speculations and arguments, which is naturally not good!"

"In that case, why don't you go and have some fun with them, and then we can talk after you've tasted it!"

Although He Bo once granted the Great Master of the Way of Peace the ability to communicate with the dead and obtain news from distant places through the underworld,
But seeing it is better than hearing it a hundred times.

Some things and objects,
Only by experiencing it firsthand can one truly understand its profound meaning.

Under the control of God's visible hand,

The Taoist priests, who had traveled throughout the four cardinal directions in their dreams, traversing countless mountains and rivers, and even sitting on boats and feeding their bodies to giant sea fish, quickly developed a calm and gentle gaze.

When he reappeared and discussed the Dao with his fellow Daoists, he seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.

But on the other hand,
Excessive arguing is not good.

It's not good to argue about anything and just keep saying "Ah, yes, yes, yes".

Truth does indeed require debate.

then,

He Bo then personally took part in the activity, gathering the ubiquitous clouds and mist in the dream and forming a snowball, which the Taoists were then allowed to use to express their final opinions.

"Dreams are ethereal and have no real foundation."

"Therefore, the thoughts of ordinary people can be fully revealed in dreams."

"As the saying goes, 'What you think about during the day, you dream about at night,' and that's the principle behind it."

He Bo scooped up a "snowball" and said it to Wang Feng, who was staring blankly at the continuous artillery fire and explosions below.

"And this little thing is the carrier of people's likes and dislikes."

The scene, resembling a meteor falling to earth and a rain of fire, fully expressed the thrower's dissatisfaction with what the receiver had said and what the reasoning was.
The scene, resembling a rainbow bridge with flowers fluttering in the air, fully expresses the thrower's support and approval for the receiver.

The former, if struck, will be so overwhelmed that they will be completely disoriented and suffer a terrible fate.

The latter, when they receive it, will experience a sense of peace, tranquility, and mental clarity.

"And what about what they have?"

Wang Feng didn't quite understand, but she pretended to understand. She pointed to some of the troublemakers below and asked them what the snowballs with a faint tint in their hands represented.

He Bo casually replied, "This fully expresses their homesickness."

"what?"

……

When the smoke clears
After everything returned to calm,

Wang Feng, an outsider, joined the paperwork recording the contents of the Taipingdao gathering.

"I didn't study to do this..."

Wang Feng, who once roamed freely through mountains and rivers and raised the banner with his fellow villagers in his prime, briefly serving as a duke or marquis of Xuanhan, held his pen in his hand, not understanding how he had fallen to his current state.

Wasn't he coming to Xinxia to seek out wise people and ask them about the principle of "heaven and earth being one with me"?
How did I suddenly become a scribe?
"This is normal!"

"There will be even more to do after you die!" The Great Teacher of the Sui Dynasty, who was standing nearby, replied with a smile as he wrote down his notes, upon hearing his question.

God will not let any dead ghost who is close to Him go unpunished.

"But why bother recording this kind of thing?" Wang Feng scratched her head, then sighed again, forced by the record in front of her.

The old man next to him laughed even louder, "Because if you write down everything everyone says, you can check later to see if anything has changed!"

This is also a form of reconciliation!
God once said, "The most interesting thing about articles and reports is reading them in bound volumes."

Time passes silently.

A moment of carelessness can add a wrinkle and a strand of gray hair.

By recording a person's words and deeds from childhood to old age, one can glimpse the impact of time on a person through written words.

This is also why historians are so keen on recording history. "Moreover, many of our colleagues find it difficult to leave their names in the national history."

"If we, as fellow travelers, are unwilling to record their words and deeds, and to imprint their thoughts, how will future generations know that, thousands of years later, there are still people working for 'humanity' in the shadows?"

compilation of history,

It has always been an extremely energy- and financially demanding endeavor.

Even though Sima Qian had his own family tradition, he still traveled to many places and interviewed many people in order to write the Records of the Grand Historian, thus exhausting his life's work.

Therefore,
In the weighty annals of national history, the writings mostly focus on kings and generals, while the lowly and ordinary people receive little attention.

Unfortunately, many times,
They are lowly, ordinary people doing things that benefit the entire nation.

The Way of Peace was formed by the lowest of people and gave voice to them.

Write them down.

Record the true face of this world.
How could it not be important?
When Wang Feng heard him say that, she stopped complaining and quietly became a temporary servant.

When God, who had just sent everyone back, passed by and saw Wang Feng getting along well with a famous and virtuous man from the Sui Dynasty, he smiled and did not disturb the other's "seeking of the Way".

In the west,

Having just opened his eyes, stretched, and smacked his lips as he recalled his dream, Yege'er scratched his messy hair and quickly began to ponder the ancient and profound question of "what to eat later."

But obviously,

This problem has troubled generations, so it must be quite difficult.

Even the wisest and most profound Western teacher, as deep as the ocean, could not unravel the mystery in his stomach.

"Anyway, I'm not going to eat that shield."

His gaze fell upon the five shields placed in the corner of the room, called "Big Pancakes," which were actually capable of protecting their owner from swords and arrows, and had rendered great service during their missionary work in the West.

Yageer no longer dwelled on the previous questions.

How pitiful God is,

The humidity is very high here these days.

These naan breads that he placed aside not only did not get damp, moldy, or rotten, but also seemed to become even tougher, making them difficult to peck!
in this way,

How could he dare to put that thing in his stomach?

If he hadn't fallen in battle against the barbarians, but instead fell to the bread of God's love, then at the next gathering, his fellow believers would either argue or mock him.

"...Liu Ruyi went to drink with the local barbarians again?"

Walk out of the room,

Yageer looked around and found that a certain person was nowhere to be seen.

Based on previous experience
He quickly deduced the other party's whereabouts.

“Yes!” someone else replied.

In this place where many races meet,

Given that the Germanic and Celtic peoples had a tradition of migration, it was not surprising that they would encounter barbarians from further east or west every now and then.

Since they had already established a foundation, turning barren land into cultivated land, and forged friendly and cooperative relationships with neighboring Roman garrison fortresses, they didn't need to worry about potential problems arising from barbarian incursions.

But after taming wild beasts with kindness and making them obedient, and conquering barbarians with force and making them fearful,
The surrounding tribes also showed enthusiasm and friendliness towards these missionaries who came from the east.

in this way,

Then came the time for Liu Ruyi to display his talents.

He lacked both the skills to fight and the unwavering will to sacrifice himself, so he did not make much of a contribution in the previous pioneering work, which was filled with blood and flesh.

But once the seeds germinate and take root...

His inherited ability to make friends was thus revealed.

quickly,

He established good relations with the leaders of some surrounding tribes, frequently visiting them to trade and drink with them.

Even some Romans liked this witty Chinese man. Whenever Liu Ruyi led a team to trade near the fortress, they suffered less and received more benefits.

but,

The basis for this friendliness lies in their own strength.

If one is not strong enough to protect oneself,

Even with extraordinary talent and a silver tongue, one is unlikely to be noticed by others.

After all, the surrounding area is full of barbarians and beasts.
If you want them to understand human nature, you have to beat them up first to clear their heads.

"Let's not talk about him anymore."

"Tomorrow is the day for preaching and expounding the Dharma, so let's focus on that first."

Yageer shook his head and said this to the others.

preaching and speaking,

It was a special set of rules established by Yako, combining his experiences traveling with his teachers in the West with his own missionary work.

Just like the "rest and bath" in the Central Kingdom of the East,
Every five days, Yako would set aside a day to read the contents of the Book of Peace and other classics to the people in the temple built in the area, and to explain and enlighten them, so that the audience could resolve their doubts and know the mercy of God.

at first,

The other Taoist priests, not understanding the purpose of the Great Virtuous Teacher's actions, specifically sought out Yege'er to inquire about it.

“Farming and construction are both very busy and labor-intensive tasks, especially since the West has no foundation to begin with, so everything has to start from the source.”

Why do this at all?

Yorgias said, “The uneducated barbarians have the mind of beasts and cannot be viewed with the same eyes as ordinary people.”

The ancients said, "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette." The premise is that etiquette must exist. Only after having a goal can one continue on the path.

"But where is etiquette here? Beasts only have the idea of ​​eating their harvested food immediately, and they don't even have the wisdom to store up surplus food for storage."

"I am doing this for the same reason I previously tamed the Celts."

You can't reason with wild animals.
Just as playing the lute to a cow not only fails to gain its approval, but may also be repelled like an annoying mosquito.

They can only be driven by sticks.
Lure them with benefits.
Only after it has become quite human-like can we begin to analyze and interpret its characters.

The activities that the Romans called "Mass" were precisely the process of civilizing the barbarians, teaching them to walk upright, and marking the next stage after they gradually lost their hair.

"At this point, there is still some distance between them and becoming a complete human being."

They can understand basic principles, but they cannot comprehend profound wisdom.

"Moreover, those guys are somewhere between humans and beasts, and it's impossible to know whether they'll move forward or backward in the future."

"Therefore, we need to establish corresponding systems and adopt various forms to first instill some concepts into their minds."

“Once they get used to that way of life, it will be much easier to carry out in-depth education.”

Just like in Yage's own growth process,
The words "dock" and "feeding" immediately evoke the image of "pigeons".

Once a habit is formed,
Thoughts inevitably change as well.

It won't be easy to change things later.

The Taoist priest then suddenly realized the truth and began to hold a "Mass" with his son.

"Shall we continue distributing eggs tomorrow?"

"Ok!"

Upon hearing this, Yege looked up and saw that he had flown out of his pen and climbed onto the roof of his house. There stood a majestic rooster, looking down on all living beings.

"Keep sending them!"

(End of this chapter)