The Complete Works of Lu Xun's Novels

Chapter 31

"Beizhi has already drawn up a fundraising plan," another senior official said. "We're going to hold a strange food exhibition, and we'll invite Miss Kui① to do a fashion show. We only sell tickets, and we'll announce that we won't be raising donations during the event, so we can see more people."

"That's good." Yu said, bending over to him.

"However, the most important thing is to quickly send a batch of large rafts to pick up the scholars to the plateau." The third official said, "At the same time, send people to inform the Qiji Kingdom, let them know about our respected culture, and provide relief. Just send it here every month. Scholars have a public statement here, which is quite interesting. They think that culture is the lifeblood of a country, and scholars are the soul of culture. As long as culture exists, China will also Existence, everything else is secondary..."

"They think that China's population is too large," said the first official, "reducing it is the way to peace. Besides, those people are just foolish people, and their joys, sorrows, sorrows, and joys are by no means as subtle as the wise men think. .To know people and discuss things, the first thing to do is to rely on subjectivity. For example, Shakespeare..."

"Fucking fart!" Yu thought in his heart, but he said loudly: "After researching, I know that the previous method: 'Yun' is indeed wrong. In the future, 'Guide' should be used! ②I don't know everyone What's your opinion?"

It was as quiet as a cemetery; the faces of the officials also showed death, and many people still felt that they were sick, and I am afraid that they will have to ask for sick leave tomorrow.

"This is Chi You's method!" A brave young official quietly angrily.

"The humble opinion of a humble position, I thought that adults should take it back." A senior official with white beard and white hair felt that the rise and fall of the world was tied to his mouth at this time, so he put his heart on the line and put death on the line. Unexpectedly, he resolutely protested: "It's the old man's established method. 'If you haven't changed your father's way for three years, you can be called filial piety.'——The old man has ascended to heaven for less than three years."

Yu didn't make a sound.

"Besides, my lord has put in so much effort. I borrowed the breath of God to submerge the flood. Although God was angry, the depth of the flood was a little shallower. It seems to be treated as usual." Another A senior official with gray beard and hair said that he was the godson of Yu's uncle.

Yu didn't make a sound.

"I don't think adults are as good as 'Godfather's Gu'②," a fat official saw that Yu was silent, thinking that he was about to be subdued, so he said a little frivolously, but there was still a layer of oil on his face. sweat. "According to the family law, restore the voice of the family. The adults probably don't know what people are saying about the boss..."

"To put it simply, 'Yan' is a good way to judge in the world," the old official with white beard and hair rushed to say, fearing that the fat man would make trouble. "Other things, the so-called "modern" ③ people, the old Chi You's bad at this point."

Yu smiled slightly: "I know. Some people say that my father has become a yellow bear, others say that he has become a three-legged turtle④, and some people say that I am seeking fame and profit. Just say it. What I want to say is I checked the situation in Shanze and asked for the opinions of the people. I have seen through the facts and made up my mind. No matter what, I must be a guide! These colleagues also agree with me."

He raised his hand and pointed to the sides.Officials with white beards, flower beards, fair faces, fat and sweaty, and fat but not sweaty, followed his fingers and saw a row of black and thin beggar-like things, not moving. , don't speak, don't laugh, like cast iron.

four

After Master Yu left, time passed really quickly, and before he knew it, the situation in the capital became more and more prosperous.First, some rich people wore cocoon silk robes. Later, they saw oranges and grapefruits being sold in big fruit shops, and Huasi kudzu hanging in big silk shops; Later they had bearskin mattresses and fox fur coats, and the wife also wore red gold earrings and silver bracelets.

As long as you stand at the gate, there is always something new to see: a cart of bamboo arrows today, a batch of pine boards tomorrow, sometimes lifting strange rocks for rockery, and sometimes fresh fish for raw fish; Sometimes there is a large group of big tortoises one foot and two inches long, all shrunk their heads and put bamboo cages on them, and they are loaded on the cart and pulled towards the imperial city.

"Mom, look, what a big turtle!" The children shouted when they saw it, and ran up to surround the car.

"Little devil, get the hell out of here! This is the treasure of Lord Long Live, be careful to kill him!"

However, news about Lord Yu also increased along with Zhenbao's entry into Beijing.In front of the eaves of the people and under the trees beside the road, everyone is talking about his stories; the most popular ones are how he turned into a yellow bear at night, dredged the Jiuhe with his mouth and claws, and how he invited The Heavenly Soldiers and Generals captured Wuzhiqi, the monster who made waves, and put him at the foot of Guishan Mountain.No one mentioned the matter of Emperor Shun anymore, at most, it was just talking about Prince Danzhu's worthless life.

The news that Yu was going back to Beijing had been spread for a long time. Every day, a group of people would stand at the gate to see if his guard of honor would arrive.not at all.However, the news spread more and more tightly, and it seemed to be more true.On a half-cloudy and half-clear morning, he finally entered the imperial capital of Jizhou amidst the crowds of people.There is no guard of honor in front, but a large number of beggar-like entourage.At the end was a big man with thick hands and thick feet, with a black face and yellow beard, and his legs were slightly bent. He was holding a big black stone with a sharp top in both hands-"Xuan Gui" bestowed by Lord Shun, and he said repeatedly, "Excuse me, excuse me." , Let it go, let it go", squeezed into the palace from the crowd.

The common people were cheering and discussing outside the palace gate, the sound was just like the sound of the waves of the Zhejiang River.

Lord Shun was sitting on the dragon seat, he was already old and he couldn't help feeling tired, but now he seemed a little frightened.As soon as Yu arrived, he stood up courteously and saluted. Gao Tao went to greet him first, and then Shun said:

"You can also say a few good things and I will listen."

"Hmph, what do I have to say?" Yu Jian replied shortly. "I just want to grow every day!"

"What is 'Zizi'?" Gao Tao asked.

"The flood is overwhelming," Yu said. "The vast mountains and mausoleums are so vast that all the people are submerged in the water. I take a car on a dry road, a boat on a water road, a sledge on a dirt road, and a sedan chair on a mountain road. Yitongshu and Heyiliang give everyone food and meat to eat. Let the water from the fields flow into the river, let the river water flow into the sea, and Hejiliang gives you something rare to eat. If there is not enough food, adjust the surplus to make up for the shortage. Move. Everyone Only then did it calm down, and everything became the same.”

"That's right, those words are really good!" Gao Tao praised.

"Oh!" Yu said. "Be careful and be quiet when you are an emperor. Have a conscience for the sky, and the genius will still give you benefits!"

Lord Shun sighed, and entrusted him to manage the country's affairs. If you have an opinion, speak it face to face, and don't speak ill of it behind your back.Seeing that Yu agreed, he sighed again, and said, "Don't be disobedient like Danzhu, who just likes to wander around. He has to punting on dry land, and makes trouble at home, making life hard. I really don't like it." Pleasing to the eye!"

"I asked for a wife, and I left in four days," Yu replied. "When I gave birth to Aqi, I didn't treat him as his son. So it was good to be able to control the water and divide it into five circles. It covered five thousand miles, counting twelve states, and reached the sea. Five chieftains were established. It's very good. But there are Miao No, you have to be careful!"

"My world is really thanks to your efforts!" Master Shun also praised.

So Gao Tao, together with Lord Shun, bowed his head in awe. After he retired from the court, he hurriedly issued a special order, asking the people to follow Yu's behavior.

This caused the merchants to panic first.But fortunately, Master Yu's attitude has changed a bit since he returned to Beijing: he is not particular about eating and drinking, but he is generous when doing sacrifices and religious ceremonies; his clothes are casual, but he should dress beautifully when going to court and visiting guests.So the market was still not very affected, and after a while, the merchants said that Lord Yu's behavior should be imitated, and Lord Gao's new decree is also very good; finally, the peace is so peaceful that even all the beasts can dance, and the phoenix also flies to join in the fun.

Made in November [-].

Cai Wei
一
In the past six months, for some reason, even the old people's home has not been very peaceful. Some of the old men are also whispering to each other, running in and out very vigorously.Only Boyi was the least mindful of other things. When autumn came, he was too old to be afraid of the cold, so he would sit on the steps basking in the sun all day long, even if he heard hurried footsteps, he would never raise his head to look up.

"Big brother!"

As soon as I heard the voice, I knew it was Shu Qi.Boyi was always the most courteous, so before he raised his head, he stood up and waved his hand, which meant he asked his brother to sit down on the steps.

"Brother, the situation doesn't seem to be going well!" Shuqi sat down side by side, panting, his voice trembling.

"What's the matter?" Boyi turned his face to look at it, and saw that Shu Qi's pale face seemed to be even paler. "You have heard about the two blind men who escaped from the King of Shang?"

"Well, San Yisheng seemed to mention it a few days ago. I didn't pay attention."

"I went to visit today. One is Tai Shizhen, the other is Shao Shiqiang, and they brought a lot of musical instruments. I heard that there was an exhibition held a few days ago, and the visitors were all 'tsk-tsk-tsk-ed',—but It seems that the army is going to be mobilized here."

"Using troops for musical instruments is against the way of the ancient kings." Boyi said slowly.

"It's not just for musical instruments. Didn't you hear that Shang Wang Wudao cut off the foot bones of a person who crossed the river in the morning and was not afraid of the cold water? Look at his bone marrow and dig out the heart of Prince Bigan to see if it has seven orifices? Rumors, once the blind man arrived, it was confirmed. Moreover, it also proved the old chapter of the Shang Dynasty. The old chapter should be conquered. But I think, after all, it is not in line with the way of the king..."

"Recently, the pancakes are getting smaller day by day, and it seems that something is going to happen," Boyi thought for a while and said. "But I think it's better for you to go out less, talk less, and practice your Tai Chi every day!"

"Yes..." Shuqi replied half-heartedly.

"Think about it," Boyi knew that he was not convinced, so he continued. "We are guests, and we stay here because of Siboken's pension. The pancakes are getting smaller, of course we shouldn't say anything, but we shouldn't say anything even if things start to go wrong."

"Then, we have become pensioners for retirement."

"Better talk less. I don't have strength to listen to these things."

Boyi coughed, but Shuqi didn't speak anymore.As soon as the cough stopped, everything was silent, and the sunset at the end of autumn shone brightly on the two white beards.

two

However, it is not calm, but it always grows up. Not only does the pancake get smaller, but the flour also gets thicker.The people in the nursing home whispered even more, only the sound of cars and horses was heard outside, and Shuqi liked to go out more, although he didn't say anything when he came back, but his uneasy look made it difficult for Boyi to relax: he seemed to feel that this A bowl of stable rice is about to become unsteady.

In late November, Shuqi got up early as usual to practice Taijiquan, but he went to the yard, listened to it, opened the door of the hall, and ran out.When about ten cakes were baked, he ran back angrily, his nose was red from the cold, and white steam was blowing out of his mouth.

"Brother! Get up! Troops are dispatched!" He stood in front of Boyi's bed respectfully with his hands down, and said loudly, his voice a little rougher than usual.

Boyi was afraid of the cold, so he was reluctant to get up so early, but he was very friendly. Seeing that his brother was in a hurry, he gritted his teeth, sat up, put on his leather robe, and slowly put on his pants under the bed.

"I was just about to practice boxing," Shuqi said while waiting. "But I heard horses and horses walking outside. When I hurried to the main road to see it—as expected, it was here. First of all, there was a big white-colored sedan chair, which should be carried by 81 people. There was a wooden master inside, and it was written "The spiritual position of King Wen of the Great Zhou Dynasty"; all soldiers followed. I thought: This must be the time to attack Zhou. The current King of Zhou is a filial son. If he wants to do great things, he must lift King Wen to the front. Look After a while, I ran back, and unexpectedly, there was a notice posted on the wall of our nursing home..."

After Boyi's clothes were put on, the two brothers felt a burst of cold air when they walked out of the house, and quickly tightened their bodies.Boyi didn't move around very much, and when he stepped out of the gate, he looked a little fresh.After a few steps, Shuqi reached out and pointed at the wall, but there was really a big notice posted:

"According to today's King Zhou of Yin, he used his wife's words to exterminate himself from heaven, destroyed his three righteousness, and separated from his king's parents and children. He abandoned the joy of his ancestors; he used the sound of obscenity, and used the sound of chaos and righteousness to make him happy. Talk about a woman. Therefore, I will send it out today, and Wei will be punished by heaven. Mianzai master, don’t do it again, don’t do it three times! This is a sign.” ①
After the two finished reading, they walked towards the main road without making a sound.I saw that the side of the road was crowded with people, and they couldn't get through.The two said "excuse me" from behind, and the people looked back and saw two white-bearded old men, so they hurriedly moved away according to King Wen's order to respect the old men, and let them go to the front.At this time, the wooden master at the head had long been out of sight, and all the soldiers walking past were row after row of soldiers, and it took about 350 pieces of flatbread. , like a five-color cloud.Then came the soldiers, followed by a large group of civil and military officials riding tall horses, surrounded by a prince with a purple sugar face and beard, holding a yellow ax in the left and a white oxtail in the right, majestic: this is exactly "respectful punishment from heaven" Zhou Wangfa ③.

The people on both sides of the road were all in awe, no one moved, no one made a sound.In Baijing, he was not wary of Shuqi, but he dragged Boyi straight up, got through several horse heads, grabbed King Zhou's bit, and shouted with his neck straight:

"I don't bury my father when he dies, but instead mobilizes troops, is it called 'filial piety'? Can a subject be called 'benevolence' if he wants to kill his master?"..."

At the beginning, the people on the side of the road and the generals in front of them were all frightened; even the tail of the white ox in King Zhou's hand was crooked.But as soon as Shu Qi said four sentences, there was a clattering sound, and several big knives were cut off from their heads.

"Stay on!"

Everyone knew that it was Jiang Taigong's voice, so they dared not listen, so they quickly stopped the knife, and saw that it was also a fat, round face with white beard and white hair.

"Where are the righteous men? Let them go!"

The generals immediately took back their knives and put them in their belts.On the one hand, four soldiers came up, stood at attention respectfully to Boyi and Shuqi, raised their hands, and then carried one of them with them, and walked towards the side of the road.The people quickly moved out of the way and let them go behind their backs.

After reaching the back, the soldiers stood at attention respectfully again, let go of their hands, and pushed hard on the backs of the two of them.The two only yelled "Aya", and staggered around a distance of one foot, before falling to the ground with a thump.Shuqi was fine, he was supported by his hands, and only his face was covered with mud; after all, Boyi was older, and his head happened to hit a stone, and he passed out.

three

After the army passed by, they could no longer see anything, so they changed directions and surrounded Boyi who was lying down and Shuqi who was sitting.Some of them knew them and told people on the spot that these were the two elder sons of Lord Guzhu in western Liaoxi. Because they abdicated, they fled here together and entered the nursing home set up by the former king.This report aroused the admiration of the crowd, so they knelt down and tilted their heads to look at Shuqi's face, some went home to make ginger soup, some went to inform the nursing home, and told them to lift the door to pick him up.

After about one hundred and three or four big cakes were baked, the status quo remained the same, and the spectators gradually dispersed; after a long time, two old men came hobbling over with a door panel, There is also a layer of straw on it: this is the old rule of respecting the elderly set by King Wen.As soon as the board was placed on the ground, there was a groan, and Boyi suddenly opened his eyes: he woke up.Shu Qi uttered a cry of surprise, helped the two men gently lift Boyi onto the door panel, and carried him into the nursing home; he followed beside him, holding onto the hemp rope hanging from the door panel.

After walking sixty or seventy steps, I heard someone shouting in the distance:

"Hey! Wait a minute! Ginger soup is here!" It looked like a young lady was running towards this side with a crock pot in her hand, probably afraid that the ginger soup would be spilled, she didn't run very fast. quick.

Everyone had to stop and wait for her arrival.Shuqi thanked her for her kindness.Seeing that Boyi had woken up by himself, she seemed a little disappointed, but after thinking about it, she advised him to drink it anyway to warm his stomach.But Boyi was afraid of spicy food, so he refused to drink it.

"How can I do this? It's made with eight-year-old ginger. No one else can produce something like this. There is no one in our family who likes spicy food..." She was obviously a little unhappy.

Shuqi had no choice but to take the earthen jar, and persuaded Boyi to take a sip and a half of it, and there was still a lot left, so he said that he was also suffering from stomachache, so he drank it all.With red eyes, he respectfully praised Jiang Tang's strength, and after thanking the wife for her kindness, this big dispute was resolved.

When they returned to the nursing home, they didn't have any remaining illnesses. On the third day, Boyi was able to get up, although there was a large lump on his forehead—but he had a bad appetite.Officials and citizens are unwilling to give them detachment, and often send some disturbing news, either official newspapers or news.At the end of December, I heard that the army had crossed Mengjin, and all the princes arrived. ① Not long after, the copybook of King Wu's "Tai Oath" was also given.

This is a special banknote for nursing homes to read, so that their eyesight will be dazzled, so every word is written as big as a walnut.But Boyi was too lazy to read it, and only listened to Shuqi recite it aloud, and there was nothing else, but "abandoning his ancestors and sacrificing without answering, and abandoning his home and country..." These few sentences, taken out of context, seem very I broke my heart.

There are also many legends: some say that Zhou Shi went to Muye and fought with King Zhou's soldiers, killing them all over the field, blood flowing into rivers, and even wooden sticks floated like grass stalks on the water; Although King Dao Zhou had 70 soldiers, he did not actually fight. When he saw Jiang Taigong coming with a large army, he turned around and opened the way for King Wu. ④
Although these two legends are slightly different, they seem to be true after winning the battle.Afterwards, I heard from time to time that the treasure from Lutai, the white rice from Juqiao, was brought in, which further proved the success of the victory.The wounded soldiers came back one after another, as if they had fought a big battle.All wounded soldiers who can barely move around usually sit in teahouses, hotels, barbershops, and other people's eaves or doorways, telling stories about the war. No matter where, there are always a group of people listening to him with joy.When spring came, it no longer felt so cold in the open air, and I often spoke vigorously at night.

Both Boyi and Shuqi had indigestion, and they couldn't finish the pancakes they deserved every meal; they went to bed as soon as it got dark, but they couldn't fall asleep.Boyi was just tossing and turning, and Shuqi felt irritable and sad when he heard it. At this time, he would get up again, get dressed, go for a walk in the yard, or practice a set of Tai Chi.

There was a night with stars and no moon.Everyone was sleeping quietly, but there were still people chatting at the door.Shuqi never eavesdropped on people's conversations, but this time for some reason, he stopped in his tracks and turned his ears sideways at the same time.

(End of this chapter)