reverse spirit

Feng Chen: "I really want to know if there is really a god."

King Jiulan thought for a while, and said, "It depends on what kind of god you are talking about."

Feng Chen looked at him suspiciously.

King Jiulan said: "The most important thing in governing a country is to unify the hearts of the people. To achieve this, there are many ways, one of which is to implement benevolent government, so that the subjects respect and love you, and think that you are a person who has lived through the ages. Gentleman, then they will follow you in obedience."

King Jiulan glanced at the street outside the window, and smiled meaningfully: "Besides, there is another simpler and more effective method, that is - to create a god for the people, in this way, the whole country The people will have a unified belief. You have to know that the power of belief can be invincible and can make people crazy. Things like benevolent government still need the king to work hard to maintain, and they are often criticized and criticized by others, but belief does not exist, okay? , Whether it can be better. Once people believe in it, they will believe it wholeheartedly, and will spontaneously associate those good things with the gods. If this kind of belief is still connected with the government, the people will blindly trust Kings rarely have a rebellious heart. Moreover, they will start to be xenophobic. Their gods and beliefs will never be questioned and defiled by outsiders. Once anyone questions what they believe, they will be angry and even fight back violently. In this way The country is often the most difficult to conquer, if you want to split the country, you must first disintegrate their beliefs, so using the theory of "gods" to rule the country is also a common method for kings."

"But this kind of rule that relies on theocracy can sometimes become quite fragile. When others do not challenge their beliefs or gods enough, the people will fight back frantically. However, once the blow is strong enough, the people themselves will start to question the gods." , they will feel fooled and betrayed, and then they will be full of hatred for their gods and kings, and even assist foreigners to destroy their previous beliefs. Look at Shu Ji, she kept smearing and accusing Li Qi after she came to court, trying to Let the people of the Li country believe that he is not the incarnation of gods, and at the same time let people fabricate all kinds of strange stories, and say that they touch the dragon's saliva and give birth to a child. Isn't it just to make Baixin respect their mother and child and surrender willingly? But it is a pity that , she is still a bit stupid, things are not thorough enough, many rumors exposing her vicious deeds have been circulating in the market, making Li people wary of her, and Li Xiruo began to act as the monarch after succeeding, manipulating public opinion, and eventually will The situation has been completely reversed, and there is no chaos in Liguo. In addition to handling government affairs well, the other most important thing Li Xiruo needs to do is to maintain the beliefs of Liguo people. As long as Liguo people still firmly believe that there are gods, other countries will It is impossible to shake the foundation of Liguo, and it is impossible to truly annex Liguo."

"If the god you asked refers to this kind of god, then I can tell you that there has always been a god."

Feng Chen looked at him silently, many thoughts flashed through his mind, he realized that he actually didn't understand Li Guo at all, and he didn't really understand Li Xi Ruo, what he had done in the past few months Even if it is for the good of leaving the country, even he himself began to have some doubts about whether he was doing the right thing.

King Jiulan talked a lot, until his mouth was dry. He poured a glass of wine, drank it slowly by himself, and said to Feng Chen with a regretful face after drinking: "How can you drink such a good wine?" It’s a pity that you can’t taste it.”

Feng Chen closed his ears, pretending not to hear.

King Jiulan didn't expect him to answer. He drank happily by himself, and when he had had enough, he spun the cup while the old god said: "I know that what I just said is not the answer you want, but The widow also often thinks about this matter, and I have quite a lot of experience, but usually I have no place to talk about it, so I will tell you casually."

Feng Chen looked at him silently, the corner of his mouth twitched very obviously.

King Jiulan flicked his sleeves twice calmly, put his arm on the edge of the food table, and said slowly: "Actually, what I really want to say is: It is meaningless for you to ask this kind of question. If there is no God, you will be exhausted." I kept asking and searching all my life, but in the end my eyes were blank and I found nothing. If there is a God, then the cause and effect, reincarnation, and destiny in this world are all predestined. So what if you know it, you still can’t change anything. You can only obey the destiny. Therefore, I advise you not to do unnecessary things. Don’t even think about changing the destiny and bringing the dead back to life.”

Feng Chen's eyes dodged for a moment, apparently being told what was on his mind, he pondered for a moment, and then asked: "According to what you said, gods are just a tool used by the king to control the people. Belief in gods is no different from being fooled by the court. Isn't it ridiculous?"

King Jiulan chuckled, and said: "You can't say that. People who believe in God will think that the universe is mysterious and the laws of heaven are reincarnated. Mortals should have awe of all things in the world, and they also understand that they can't cover the sky with their hands. Usually, you must not act arbitrarily and act arbitrarily. Therefore, ordinary people who believe in God can let themselves have good thoughts and do good deeds, and at the same time help themselves to look away. Once the king believes in God, he will not regard everything as a dog to blame. You will regard human life as worthless, and then be able to treat your people kindly. As a feudal man, you should have a deeper understanding than the widow."

Feng Chen turned to look at him: "Then do you believe in God?"

King Jiulan thought for a while, and said: "I don't worship or believe in God, but I believe that all things have spirits, and good and evil will be rewarded."

Feng Chen looked down at the street and stopped talking.

He didn't get the answer he really wanted, but he also knew that he could no longer ask and pursue. This is a question that will never have an answer.

At this moment, everything should be over.

King Jiulan poured the last glass of wine into the wine glass, lifted the glass, savored it carefully, then put down the glass and stood up.

"What should be said, the widow has finished talking, um..." He stopped in the middle of speaking, glanced at the lantern placed on another food table, thought for a while, and said: "Before you leave , the widow will tell you one last thing."

Feng Chen turned his head and looked into his eyes.

I thought that King Jiulan was going to say something serious, but he seemed to be waiting for a good show to come on stage. He laughed and said, "To be honest, I think your luck is quite amazing, and sometimes you don't know it. It should be said that you are lucky or unlucky."

Feng Chen's face darkened a little, and he struggled for a long time before suppressing the urge to punch him and make him stop talking nonsense.

King Jiulan grinned and said with a smile, "Today is the Osmanthus Festival in Liguo."

"Osmanthus Festival?"

"Well." King Jiulan stretched out his hand and pointed to several houses in the distance. The houses were tall or short, new or old, but there was a big lantern hanging on the gate without exception, and the lanterns were all embroidered with flowers.

King Jiulan pointed to the lantern sent by Sizhu, which was also embroidered with flowers.

"It's embroidered with sweet-scented osmanthus."

Feng Chen squinted his eyes to look at those lanterns, it seemed that he was very hard to see, there were countless lanterns hanging on the shops on both sides of the street, tens of thousands of lights streamed into his pupils, as if a thin layer of veil was cast over his eyes. sand.

King Jiulan said: "In the old days, there was a couple named Lou who were engaged in fishing. One day, the husband went fishing with his fellow countrymen, and he said he would return in seven days. However, there was still no news after three months. His wife went to sea every day to search, but finally failed. Yes. Five years later, his wife became ill with longing and passed away. Before she left, she asked the villagers to bury her by the seaside. The tree, the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, grows rapidly and becomes luxuriant overnight. It is as big as a canopy. Its branches are as thick as stone mills and as hard as fine iron. It grows across the sea and grows endlessly. When the petals fall into the water, the water reaches If you don’t invest, the water won’t recede, and it’s worth a thousand gold. Not only that, but the sweet-scented osmanthus tree is still prosperous and undefeated, and it has been blooming for more than three years.”

"One day, a dilapidated fishing boat suddenly floated on the sea. There were three people on board, all skinny and unkempt. When the villagers picked up the boat, they found that the three people were the Lou family fisherman and his friend who disappeared eight years ago. After the three people were rescued, After careful inquiry, the village name found out that when they were fishing at sea that day, they suddenly encountered a huge wave, which caused the fishing boat to lose its direction, and finally the fishing boat was washed up on an isolated island. Several people were on the island I barely survived by feeding on wild fruits, birds and beasts, but the ocean is vast, and it is impossible to find the route back.”

"Then one day, countless sweet-scented osmanthus flowers suddenly floated from the sea, and they floated all the way to the isolated island. Fishermen took a boat to see them, and found that the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers were in a straight line among the undulating waves. Wash it away. Then everyone felt that this was a divine manifestation and wanted to help him go home, so they took a boat and sailed along the sweet-scented osmanthus, and after [-] days, they returned to their hometown."

Feng Chen was a little stunned when he heard that, King Jiulan paused, and continued: "However, at dawn the next day, the villagers found that the osmanthus tree that had been blooming for three years was completely dead, so some people said that osmanthus The tree is the incarnation of that woman's soul, she did everything she could to get her husband back home, and when her husband did return to his hometown, she was exhausted and her soul flew away."

King Jiulan stretched out his fingers and slid across the row of lanterns hanging on the house, saying: "Later, people regarded the day when the woman died as the 'Osmanthus Festival'. Hang a lantern with a picture of an osmanthus tree on it. When the light falls on the ground, it will appear as if countless osmanthus flowers have grown from the ground. If there are wanderers at home, or relatives are missing, the family members will write on the lantern. the person's name, and these osmanthus branches will guide them home."

King Jiulan looked at the lanterns and smiled. The candlelight illuminated his face, making his smile look a little warm: "Tonight, there are quite a few lanterns with the names of the national teachers written on them."

Feng Chen opened his eyes slightly, and stared intently at the lantern downstairs. Even though he could only see a blur of light and shadow, he still couldn't help but search the lantern carefully, hoping to see Li Xiruo's face. name.

Now, anything related to Li Xiruo is so precious to him, even if it is just a name written by others.

King Jiulan smiled lightly: "I still have things to do, I will accompany you here today, let's go first." After finishing speaking, he turned and walked towards the door, waving his hands casually as he walked, really wanting to be free and easy How free and easy.