Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 368 Confucius, Nine Feet and Six Inches! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Xi Shi rode her bicycle and soon arrived outside Diqiu City, where she was stopped at the gate by the city gatekeeper.

Xi Shi was well-prepared. She produced four documents prepared by Fan Li, Wu Zixu, Zigong, and Tian Qi, representing the states of Yue, Wu, Lu, and Qi, leaving the city gatekeeper speechless in astonishment.

At the city gate, a man in his thirties saw Zigong's official document and stepped forward to bow.
"May I ask if it is the Lotus Fairy in person? My name is Zai Yu. Senior Brother Duanmu said that you would come soon and asked me to wait at the door. I never expected to actually meet you."

Upon hearing this name, Xi Shi instinctively asked:
"Are you hopeless, like a piece of rotten wood?"

Ziwo was one of the Ten Philosophers of Confucius. He was intelligent and eloquent, but lazy. Once, when Confucius was teaching, he found that Ziwo was missing. He sent someone to look for him and found that Ziwo was sleeping in broad daylight. Then he uttered the famous line, "Rotten wood cannot be carved, nor can a wall of dung be plastered."

To modern people, this means that I am a good-for-nothing, a hopeless case.

However, when Confucius traveled around the states, he always took Ziwo with him and sent him on several missions to the states of Qi and Chu, showing him great trust.

Now that she has met the person in question, Xi Shi really wants to know the original meaning of "rotten wood cannot be carved".

I bowed and said with shame:
"Because I am unwell, my master thought that my health was too poor and that no matter how much knowledge I had, it would be useless. I did not expect that the Lotus Fairy would also know about me. I am truly ashamed!"

Xi Shi hadn't expected that the original meaning of "rotten wood cannot be carved" was like this, and agreed, saying:

"Health is the foundation of everything, so it really needs to be taken care of."

This simple sentence made my eyes light up:
“That’s wonderful! I must tell my master immediately. Fairy, please come with me. My master lives in the city.”

He paid the entrance fee for Xi Shi and jogged ahead to lead the way.

Diqiu City is not large. The city walls are made of rammed earth, and most of the houses inside the city are thatched huts. However, some walls are obviously reinforced with straw, giving them a cheap version of reinforced concrete.

Arriving at a courtyard with catalpa trees, I called out from afar:
"Master, the Lotus Fairy has arrived!"

The man in his thirties was as cheerful as a child. No sooner had he finished speaking than a deep, aged yet resonant voice rang out from the courtyard:

"A man should be established by thirty. Is such a noisy display of gentlemanly conduct even a little bit?"

I shamelessly muttered a few words under my breath to the gate, clearly showing I'd been disciplined many times and become quite the brat.

Soon, a commotion arose inside the gate, and Zigong was the first to run out. Upon seeing Xi Shi, he immediately bowed and greeted her.
"It's been over a month since I last saw you, Lotus Fairy, your charm remains unchanged. Welcome to my hometown, Weiguo!"

A middle-aged man, over fifty years old, looked at Xi Shi pushing her bicycle and asked in confusion:
"Can this thing really be ridden like a horse? Junior Brother Duanmu, are you just kidding us?"

Zigong introduced:
"This is my senior brother Zilu, my master's right-hand man."

Zilu then came to his senses and respectfully bowed to Xishi:
"Zhong You, a fool from the mountains, has seen the Lotus Fairy. Did you kill someone in the State of Qi?"

Xi Shi hadn't expected that news of her fondness for chopping people up had already reached the State of Wei. She nodded and said:

"Tian Qi's son, Tian Heng, spoke rudely and was struck dead by my divine thunder. The Tian family's progress in usurping the throne of Qi was disrupted, and Taigong Wang thanked me."

This news was so explosive that several of Confucius' disciples began to whisper among themselves.

At this moment, an old man who was two meters tall walked out of the gate. His hair and beard were completely white, and he stood tall and straight. Standing there, he looked like a pine tree or a high mountain.

Xi Shi had read the information and knew that Confucius was sixty-four years old this year. She thought he was a little old man who liked to talk about principles, but she didn't expect him to be so big.

No wonder everyone likes to listen to his reasoning; those who don't probably all got their heads smashed.

Xi Shi took the initiative to bow:

"Greetings, Master!"

Confucius returned the greeting:
"I am but a stray dog, unworthy of such a grand gesture from a fairy. What did you mean by saying that the Tian family would replace Qi? Tian Qi is a ruthless man. How did he react when Tian Heng died?"

Just as Xi Shi was about to answer, Zilu made a gesture of invitation:

"We were so excited that we neglected our duties. Please come in and speak with the fairy... Master, you just said that my junior brother lacked gentlemanly manners, and now that he has heard about the changes in Qi, he is clearly flustered."

Confucius nodded humbly:

"Your criticism is correct. I was indeed impolite. Please come in and talk, fairy."

Upon arriving in the courtyard, Zilu instructed Zixia to boil water and brew tea. Xishi then said:

"No need for that, let me offer you some tea. Please wait a moment."

Having said that, she took out the leaf given to her by Emperor Gouchen, strode into the Xiaopenglai Courtyard of the Hunyuan Palace, and hurriedly found Zhou Yi:

"Master, I've found Confucius. He's at least two meters tall and has a huge build..."

Zhou Yi exclaimed "Ah!" This height was a bit beyond his imagination. The Records of the Grand Historian said he was nine feet six inches tall, so it seems that was not an exaggeration. It was much more realistic than the heights of celebrities.

Only a few months had passed since Xi Shi left the Yue Kingdom, yet she had already contacted Confucius, much faster than expected. Zhou Yi asked:
"What does Confucius need right now? I can procure some supplies and try my best to help him." Although many people in modern society have mixed opinions about Confucius, believing that his ideas are dross, the more you experience, the more you realize that many of Confucius's theories are still relevant in the 21st century.

As for many of his propositions, they have even been deeply ingrained in the genes of the Chinese people. For example, the idea that "those who are not of our race will surely have different hearts" is a microcosm of all dynasties and even modern society.

All dynasties that elevated the status of foreign races suffered greatly; those who united with foreign races ended up raising a tiger to cause trouble.

Confucius's theory of great revenge was almost the guiding principle for Emperor Wu of Han's expansion of territory. The idea of ​​repaying evil with good is a misinterpretation by Confucian scholars. Confucius's true proposition was to repay evil with evil and to repay evil with evil.

Furthermore, Confucius was not just a boastful person. He served as the Grand Minister of Justice and Chancellor of the State of Lu, where he weakened the power of the Three Huan families, cleaned up the officialdom, and revitalized the entire State of Lu.

As for military affairs, Confucius's beloved disciple Ziyou once led the Lu army to easily defeat the powerful Qi state. When the ruler Ji Kangzi asked him who he had learned military strategy from, Ziyou said it was Confucius. Ji Kangzi immediately welcomed Confucius back to Lu with the highest level of ceremony, thus ending Confucius's fourteen-year journey through the states.

Unfortunately, Ji Kangzi only wanted Confucius to help him exploit the people, so Confucius refused and went home to continue teaching.

It will be several years before Ji Kangzi welcomes Confucius back. The course of the entire Spring and Autumn period has changed, and it is estimated that Ji Kangzi will not live to see that day again.

Xi Shi brought a portable gas stove, a kettle, two boxes of Biluochun tea given by Fang Hongyan, and a whole case of ceramic teacups... Since she was inviting everyone to drink tea, she naturally had to prepare the teaware as well.

Zhou Yi brought over two more boxes of mooncakes:
"Take it with you. These are leftovers from the supermarket. We bought all the remaining mooncakes when we went shopping today."

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncakes, which are high in oil and sugar, no longer sell, but for people in ancient times, they were a very rare treat.

Xi Shi returned to the courtyard where Confucius taught with a pile of supplies, startling everyone. She placed the portable gas stove on the stone table in the courtyard and poured the large bucket of mineral water she had brought into the kettle to boil.

Confucius leaned closer, looking at it from left to right, and sincerely asked for guidance:
"May I ask, Lotus Fairy, how does this thing burn?"

Xi Shi said:

"There is a flammable gas underground. If you collect it, you can use it to start a fire and cook. In the world where the gods live, this has become an everyday item."

A scholar who was about my age said:

"I once met people from Qin. They said that north of Qin, there is black grease oozing from the cracks in the ground that can be ignited with fire... May I ask, Fairy Lotus, is that grease the same as the gas you mentioned?"

Xi Shi shook her head:

"That's petroleum, and it's very useful. In the world where the gods live, petroleum is already widely used. For example, the wheels of my bicycle contain materials extracted from petroleum... What's your name? You even know about petroleum."

The other party bowed:
"My name is Yan Hui."

Upon hearing this name, Xi Shi mentioned Yan Zhenqing:
"Your 34th generation descendant was brave and unyielding in the enemy camp, preferring death to preserve his integrity. He is revered by later generations and was recently bestowed the title of Mountain God of Mangshan by my family's immortal elder."

Yan Hui looked on with a sigh:
"My descendants are so successful, it must be because they have read my teacher's works."

The concept of integrity was proposed by Confucius. When Xi Shi mentioned that her 34th generation descendant had preserved his integrity, the clever Yan Hui immediately guessed that Confucius's writings would be passed down to later generations.

Confucius asked:

Where is Mangshan?

"The area north of the capital of Chengzhou and south of the Yellow River is what we call the Northern Mountains."

Confucius knew which mountain it was as soon as he heard it, and nodded, saying:
"It is a peaceful place, a top-class final resting place, where many emperors will surely be buried in the future."

Soon, the water boiled, and Xi Shi skillfully brewed the tea. When the aroma of the tea wafted out, everyone took a deep breath, surprised that the aroma could be so rich.

Xi Shi brewed tea for everyone and gave each person a mooncake to enjoy with the tea.

Confucius smelled the aroma of tea, took a bite of the mooncake, and exclaimed in admiration:
"I have traveled throughout the states and thought I knew the world was vast, but I was just a frog in a well. Thank you, Lotus Fairy, for broadening my horizons... By the way, what is the meaning of the Tian family replacing Qi? What was Tian Qi's reaction?"

Xi Shi said to him:

“If I hadn’t killed Tian Heng, he would have killed the king a few years later, seized power completely, and then replaced the Jiang family as the king of Qi when his son came to power. After I killed Tian Heng, Tian Qi expressed his gratitude and gave me many books.”

I leaned closer and asked:
"He didn't give you any trouble?"

Xi Shi took out her token and showed it off:
"Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be the next to die. I travel the world on behalf of the immortal, and I can kill anyone who is disrespectful."

Confucius greatly admired this decisive and ruthless style:

"The Tian family usurped the throne and deserved to be killed, but the monarchs of various countries have been largely sidelined, and the entire world has fallen into chaos. What should I do now?"

Xi Shi said:

"This is an inevitable trend of the times. The aristocratic families have gradually moved from being appendages of the nobility to taking center stage. In Qi, the Tian family usurped the throne; in Jin, the three families divided the state; in Lu, the Three Huan families held hegemony; and in Wei, internal strife will occur in a few years... The aristocratic families have become the mainstream of the times, and this trend is unstoppable. This is not a collapse of the social order, but the beginning of a new social form!"

Her words startled Confucius:
"Is that so? Have all my claims over the years been wrong?"

(End of this chapter)