British writer

Two days later, in the morning.

Imperial residence.

Under the long eaves of the hall, Meiji sat facing the lawn.

He picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

Then he sang:

"Spring nights are short, and the floating bridge of dreams is suddenly cut off——"

The charm is long.

Not far away, Takasaki Masafeng walked up with small steps, bowed respectfully at Meiji's side, and then said: "Your Majesty, your spring song is very beautiful. What are the next few lines?"

Meiji: "..."

The atmosphere was inexplicably awkward.

After a while, he sang: "Hengyun is like a belt..."

As soon as this sentence ended, Takasaki Masakawa next to him shouted loudly: "Good!"

As a result, the atmosphere became more awkward.

Meiji cleared his throat, took another sip of tea, and asked, "Teacher, what do you want to see me for?"

Takasaki Masakawa handed the newspaper with both hands,

"Your book review was published in the newspaper."

It was the Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the best-selling newspapers in Tokyo.

Meiji glanced at it and couldn't help but frown,

"Why publish it on the front page? This will only confuse readers, who will pay less attention to the content and instead consider the so-called 'deal' behind it."

Takasaki Masakawa didn't answer.

But I thought in my heart,

Your Emperor's article appeared in the newspaper, and there was a behind-the-scenes deal.

He said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I think there is no need to be shy."

The emperor waved his hand,

"It should be avoided. Didn't you see that I used a pen name?"

"Ah this..."

Takasaki Masafeng glanced at the author column of the book review,

What is written is:

Look south and listen to the world.

From "Book of Changes·Shuo Gua", "The sage faces south to listen to the world, and governs toward the Ming Dynasty."

Considering the current composition of Japanese intellectuals, most of those who are literate also know some Sinology. When you see the pen name of "Looking south and listening to the world", you will inevitably think of "ruling towards the Ming Dynasty".

With everything like this, how can we still not know that it was Meiji’s handiwork?

Takasaki Masafeng said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to shy away from this, because you have taken the lead. Do you still remember the repeal of the Meat Eating Ban?"

Influenced by the Buddhist thought of not killing, Japan promulgated the "Meat Eating Prohibition Order" during the Tenmu period.

Since then, many emperors have attached great importance to the practice of fasting, abstaining from meat, and being cautious in their words and deeds to purify themselves.

This has led to the Japanese custom of not eating meat becoming more and more popular, making the average Wu Dalang shorter than the last.

How can we enrich the country and strengthen the army like this?

So, in the 5th year of Meiji (1872), Japanese people suddenly saw reports of Meiji eating meat.

Meiji was a little complacent;

"Indeed, with me taking the lead, people began to compete to eat beef hotpot. I still remember a sentence in "An Yule Hotpot", 'If you don't eat beef hotpot, you are uncivilized.' In two years, Tokyo's beef hotpot restaurants have grown from the 1970s to the present day. The number of households increased to 588."

Even numbers remember zeros and whole numbers,

It can be seen that Meiji indeed believed that it was one of his indelible achievements.

Gao Qi Zhengfeng took the opportunity to flatter him.

"Your Majesty, you have the same opinion about "Lord of the Flies". Yesterday, its author Lu Shi said a lot of outrageous things at Dongda University. If you stand up and make your views public, you can bring order to the chaos!"

This flattery made Meiji feel comfortable all over.

He said slowly: "You are right. Lu Shi can write "The Nature of Japanese Civilization", which shows that this person has sophistry skills. Although we, the people of Japan, are wise, how can we be cunning and cunning people? opponent?"

Takasaki Masafeng nodded repeatedly,

"Yes! The people need your guidance!"

Meiji said "Yeah\

,"Looking back now, posting it on the front page was indeed the right choice.

He picked up the newspaper,

The book review is called "In the face of survival, everything is trivial."

The article starts with a clear meaning,

——

Secularity begins with the first sacrifice of the Fauves.

It is not a sacrifice to the gods, but a sacrifice to the "beasts" around you and the danger that is always looming.

In order to hunt wild boars, the Fauvists gave up their original student attire and covered their bodies with colorful paint.

Their demands are correct!

——

"Tsk...tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Meiji was stunned when he saw it.

"That's great. I write really well. Even if Lu Shi himself stood in front of me, he would be convinced by me and give up his ridiculous and superficial views, right?"

Takasaki Masafeng nodded repeatedly,

"That's natural."

MeijiContinue reading,

Even though he had read it more than ten times when he was proofreading the manuscript, he still felt satisfied when he looked at the printed font.

The wind blew and the newspapers made a soft sound.

In the morning of early spring, the sun shines softly on every corner of the Imperial Palace.

The air is filled with the faint scent of flowers and earth, which makes people feel relaxed and happy. Occasionally, birds hover over the palace, and their crisp calls add a bit of vitality.

At this time, a palace attendant came with small steps.

"His Majesty."

Meiji is still addicted to his own articles,

He was absent-minded, his head still buried in the newspaper, and he hesitated: "Yeah, tell me, what's wrong?"

The palace man replied: "Hijikata Hisamoto would like to see you."

Hijikata Hisamoto previously served as the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce and the Imperial Palace. After resigning from his position, he focused on education and was transferred to the Imperial Household Provincial Imperial Household Institutions and Regulation Bureau and the Director of the Imperial Code Institute. He was quite favored.

To some extent, he was also Meiji's teacher.

Meiji couldn't help but be surprised,

"Hijikata-sensei is back from Yokohama?"

He waved his hand,

"Okay, please."

The palace man left immediately.

Not long after, a short man in a suit walked in.

His dress is quite Westernized, especially the pocket watch chain exposed from the open suit, which is full of British style.

Meiji whispered: "Hijikata-sensei!"

Hijikata Hisamoto bowed,

"Your Majesty, I haven't seen you for a long time. You are becoming more and more wise and powerful."

After saying that, he took a step forward,

"I saw a Chinese-run newspaper in Yokohama called "Xinmin Congbao". There was a very interesting novel called "Lord of the Flies" in it. After that, I bought a Japanese... um... Your Majesty, have you heard of it?”

Meiji laughed,

"I've finished reading it all!"

He shook the newspaper in his hand and was about to say that he had also written a book review.

As a result, Hijikata Hisamoto didn't notice and continued the topic: "Have you read this book review?"

He started groping inside his clothes.

Meiji's smile became brighter and brighter,

"I am the author of that book review... um..."

The smile froze.

Because what the other party brought out was not the "Yomiuri Shimbun" but a magazine——

"Cuckoo".

Meiji had heard about it, and the haiku above was quite charming.

Hijikata Hisamoto turned over the pages,

"Look, this article "Japanese, why don't you reflect?" is really penetrating and has a poignant point of view. It made me very ashamed."

Meiji’s head was full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

When he heard this name, he instinctively felt that it was absolutely contrary to his own book review views.

Takasaki Masakaze next to him was also confused and winked at Hijikata Hisamoto.

Hijikata Hisamoto:? ? ?

"Takasaki-kun, what's wrong?"

Takasaki Zhengfeng was speechless and could only remain silent.

Meiji silently took the magazine and began to read the book review.

——

If we deny civilization, how are we different from beasts?

Living in this "magical" country, there are always many incredible things happening to us.

I feel strange when I see teachers in universities always reading from the textbook, but our students can endure it;

I feel helpless when I see the weak preying on the strong but the passers-by on the roadside can turn a blind eye;

When I see...

I have all kinds of puzzles about this, and even after reading "The Nature of Japanese Civilization" I still can't figure it out.

Until Lord of the Flies came along.

——

The article was written by a writer named Masaoka Shiki.

Miraculously, he seemed to have predicted the content of the Meiji Book Review, and almost refuted it point by point, and it was well-founded and convincing.

After Meiji finished reading it, he felt completely bad.

Silence falls,

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three people under the corridor seemed to have been cast into silence and remained silent.

It stayed like this for about two minutes.

"Huh~"

Meiji took a breath, adjusted his mentality, and then said: "It does make some sense. Not much, just a few points."

Hijikata Hisamoto was surprised,

a bit?

Still "just"?

He wanted to persuade Meiji to read it again.

Takasaki Masakaze next to him grabbed his sleeve, and then nodded to the "Yomiuri Shimbun" not far away with an extremely small amplitude.

Hijikata Hisamoto squinted his eyes and read quickly,

Then, he smiled disdainfully in his heart,

That article "In the face of survival, everything is a trivial matter" is simply unreasonable.

If you haven't read "Japanese, why don't you reflect?" 》, maybe you will be confused by the bullshit logic in it,

But now, Hijikata Hisamoto’s evaluation is:

That's it! ?

He muttered in a low voice: "The Yomiuri Shimbun is getting more and more unpopular."

Takasaki Masafeng almost vomited blood and quickly pointed at the author of the article.

Hijikata Hisamoto looked at it carefully.

Facing the south and listening to the world?

"hiss……"

He took a breath,

"It's actually a book review written by His Majesty himself!?"

He said this a little loudly, but Meiji heard it clearly.

He raised his head,

"What handwriting? What did I write?"

This means he is ready to deny his account.

At this moment, he was extremely lucky that he used a pseudonym when submitting the article.

Takasaki Masafeng: "..."

Hijikata Hisamoto: "..."

The two looked at each other, then laughed at the same time,

"No, Your Majesty didn't write anything. Haha...hahahahahahahahaha..."×2

They spoke in unison.

…

Buchanan House.

Riku Toki and Natsume Soseki were sitting on the same wide sofa,

Opposite them sat three people whom they had not seen for a long time.

Shimazaki Fujimura,

Hasegawa Tatsunosuke,

Zhenggang Zigui.

They sat upright, their eyes scanning the exquisite decoration in the house from time to time.

Obviously, the owner of this mansion, the British Minister, put tremendous pressure on the three of them, like a mountain weighing down their heads.

On the coffee table among several people, a newspaper and a magazine were spread out.

"Yomiuri Shimbun", "Cuckoo".

Lu Shi saw that one was as big as the other two.

He didn't expect that book reviews could cause a crash.

The most terrible thing is that the overloaded dump truck driven by Masaoka Shiki directly hit Meiji who was driving the baby bus to death.

Outrageous!

Masaoka Zigui asked cautiously: "Sir Lu, what do you think?"

Lu Shi said: "Frankly speaking, the book review you wrote is very accurate and has a rich perspective. I appreciate it very much. However, this article about The Emperor..."

Before he finished speaking, Natsume Soseki coughed crazily.

"Cough cough cough cough..."

He shook his head at Lu Shi,

"Lu, you must not collide with His Majesty."

Lu Shi was speechless,

"..."

He thought,

It wasn't him who hit the person to death, it was clearly Masaoka Shiki.

As a result, Hasegawa Tatsunosuke on the opposite side said: "Yes, Sir Lu, don't mention His Majesty's name easily. I don't understand the reason why you mentioned him."

Lu Shi pointed at the spread "Yomiuri Shimbun".

"This article is not..."

He was interrupted again,

This time it was Shimazaki Fujimura who spoke.

"Sir Lu, what are you talking about about this article? The writing of 'Looking South and Listening to the World' is indeed very poor."

Lu Shi: "..."

Okay, okay, let’s play like this, right?

It can be regarded as seeing the real-life version of "The Emperor's New Clothes".

But some things are really hard to say more.

He joked: "Okay, it's just me who is short-sighted. It turns out that there are people named 'Nanmian Er' in Japan."

Everyone was stunned.

After that, they all laughed involuntarily.

Masaoka Zigui was ill, and his laughter quickly turned into coughing, almost coughing out his lungs.

He calmed down his breathing and then said: "There is a person named 'Nan' in Japan. Maybe this person's surname is 'Nan' and his name is 'Mian Er Ting Tian Xia'?"

Everyone laughed again.

He said that he would not conflict with the emperor.

As a result, these guys bumped into each other harder than anyone else and even made fun of Meiji's pen name.

For a moment, the three Japanese were no longer nervous, as if the British minister's residence was not so scary anymore.

Masaoka Zigui said: "Sir Lu, you seem to be satisfied with my book review."

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"You are the reader and I am the author. How can I be satisfied if you write a book review?"

Masaoka Zigui chuckled,

"Sir Lu is kind and gentle to the people, and he is a role model for our generation."

Many people who engage in literature and artistic creation are very arrogant.

They will dismiss those ordinary people who cannot understand their works and think "it's your problem that you don't understand".

Especially for a work with an allegorical nature like "Lord of the Flies", the author can even pick on the readers.

candidate book;

Books also select people.

A writer as easy-going as Lu Shi really makes people like him.

Masaoka Zigui was curious,

"Then, let me ask another question. Sir Lu, from what other angles do you think "Lord of the Flies" can be appreciated?"

Lu Shi scratched his head,

"With this article "Japanese, why don't you reflect?", it's not enough for you? Do you still want to write?"

His eyes couldn't help but glance at the "Yomiuri Shimbun".

Even Meiji was killed, and they still rushed to whip the corpse. It was really the bloodline of "lower and upper" that had awakened.

Launch an onboard charge to the board!

(PS: "Onboard" is the homophonic pronunciation of "Banzai" in Japanese.)

Lu Shi asked: "You are like this with Meiji... ahem... I mean, you are going against the 'Southern and Listening to the World', aren't you afraid of problems?"

Masaoka Zigui shook his head seriously,

"Sir Lu, this is a purely literary discussion."

Next to him, Shimazaki Fujimura and Hasegawa Tatsunosuke bowed at the same time.

"Sir Lu, please clarify your doubts!"×2

Lu Shi fell into deep thought,

Masaoka Shiki was able to write "Japanese, why don't you reflect?" 》, indicating that the thinking is relatively normal,

Of course, it could also be a mozai person, but the mozai direction is different.

But no matter what, Lu Shi didn't want such people to be harmed by the Japanese royalist forces.

What's more, Masaoka Zigui is suffering from lung disease. According to history, he will die in a few months. There is really no need to go through such trouble.

Lu Shi thought for a while and gave a simple example:

"You all remember the character Piggy, right? The fat, short-sighted boy."

Several people nodded together,

"of course I remember."

Lu Shi added, "Then have you ever thought about why Piggy's glasses can make fire?"

A question confused everyone.

"..."

"..."

"..."

They exchanged glances and had no idea what Lu Shi was talking about.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Myopia glasses are concave lenses, which have a divergent effect on light, so it is impossible to directly use concave lenses to gather sunlight to light a fire. Look, you are reading and haven't even discovered such an obvious problem. How can you write a book review?"

The remaining liberal arts students present all had expressions of "Who am I? Where am I?"

After a while,

Snapped--

Shimazaki Fujimura clapped his hands,

"I understand!"

His face was full of enthusiasm and he said: "Fire is the origin of human civilization, but the glasses that bring fire are myopia glasses. Then, the so-called civilization in the book becomes an illusion. This foreshadows that Amano Keiichi It will eventually fail.”

Natsume Soseki nodded,

"That makes sense!"

On the other side, Tatsunosuke Hasegawa disagreed: "Don't think too much. I think we should start from the novel itself."

Shimazaki Fujimura was puzzled: "How to say?"

Hasegawa Tatsunosuke spreads his hands,

"Is it possible that Piggy doesn't know that he is actually farsighted? Children don't know farsightedness, they only know myopia. In addition, he is a good boy who listens to his aunt, and he does what his aunt says, so there was a misunderstanding."

"Tsk..."

Zhenggang Zigui was speechless.

"That makes sense."

Several people had a heated discussion.

Lu Shi collapsed next to him.

He felt that the most likely explanation was that Golding, the original author, made a technical error.

Even if Golding is a top student at Oxford University.

We all make mistakes.

Lu Shi cleared his throat,

In an instant, the attention of the others was drawn to him, their eyes full of eagerness.

He said: "For this kind of problem, we still need to open our minds and consider it. Keep it simple and don't always dwell on the literary nature."

This advice made several Japanese people fall into deep thought.

After a while, Masaoka Zigui nodded,

"I see."

"Huh~"

Lu Shi let out a long breath,

"As long as you know."

Masaoka Shiki said: "When Sir Lu talked about glasses, it was clearly a matter of physics. This is telling us to have interdisciplinary thinking. Just like your "Guns, Germs and Steel", "The Rise of Great Powers" and other works .”

Lu Shi: "..."

"So that's what I meant."

Hasegawa Tatsunosuke seemed to be enlightened, and suddenly realized: "Sir Lu likes to use the relationship between economics and sociology. Just like the desert island where the children live, the low productivity determines that this can only be a primitive society. .”

Shimazaki Fujimura echoed: "So, Amano Keiichi's 'civilization' is doomed to fail. This is a cruel prophecy!"

Several people looked at Lu Shi,

"As expected of Sir Lu!"

Lu Shi didn't care anymore.

He just wants to know the result,

"So, you are still going to continue writing book reviews?"

Masaoka Zigui shook his head,

"More than just writing a book review? Now I know that there are so many details hidden in "Lord of the Flies", and starting from a single point of view is tantamount to getting a glimpse of the whole thing. I decided to break it apart, mash it up, and read it carefully. .”

Hasegawa Tatsunosuke: "Me too."

Shimazaki Fujimura: "Me too."

Natsume Soseki: "Me too."

Masaoka Zigui was very satisfied.

"Okay, then you can submit articles to "Cuckoo". Maybe we will form a school in the future."

Just like "Dream of Red Mansions" has red science,

Later, "Lord of the Flies" developed a school of thought in Japan, but it was not called "Flyology" because the name was too disgusting, as if it was a study of biology. Instead, it was called "Lord of the Flies".

Masaoka Shiki said: "In the next period of time, the direction of receiving manuscripts for "Cuckoo" will be determined."

This guy wants to go all the way to the dark side.

Because no matter who the book reviewer is, it is difficult to agree with Meiji’s article "In the face of survival, everything is a trivial matter\

,"As long as it is written down, it is equivalent to flogging Meiji's corpse.

Launch an onboard charge to the board!