[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god
Chapter 98 1755 BC
That's how things settled.
Hammurabi first agreed to a decree allowing slaves to redeem themselves.
This decree was promulgated quietly. After several slave owners who wanted to redeem their slaves met Hammurabi and handed in their requests in person, Hammurabi nodded and agreed.
After repaying their value, these slaves can become freemen Avilu and sign employment agreements with their original masters.They generally rely on the host for food and housing, so their wages are pitifully low.
However, with the status of free citizens, they can expect to own their own property in the future. Their mentality is extremely satisfied at this moment, and they can work energetically.
As soon as the news was released, the honorable Aviru immediately ran to Hammurabi and warned Hammurabi: Once this precedent is set, it may soon cause the big nobles to backlash.
Unexpectedly, Hammurabi immediately threw out a limiting condition: the ancestors of these "redeemed" slaves were free citizens of Babylon.
Before Hammurabi established the Babylonian Kingdom, the Mesopotamia experienced frequent wars.Countless wars and plunders took place between the city-states and between the city-states and the Hittites.
When looting occurs, the population is robbed and robbed as the most important wealth.Many Babylonians were robbed to neighboring countries, made into slaves, and then sold back to Babylon.This meant that the Babylonians were enslaving their own countrymen, their former neighbors, friends, and even relatives.
Therefore, Hammurabi was confident: "Why can't the king let these people become the free people of Babylon again? They are."
The venerable Avelurs could not refute, but they urged Hammurabi to add a restriction to the law: only the free people who were once Babylonians can redeem themselves.
Hammurabi graciously accepted.
As everyone knows, this has opened a channel for the class transition from slaves to freemen.
Soon, Hammurabi added another decree: "When the country needs it, the king has the right to conscript Vardu for military service, and the conscripted Vardu can offset taxes."
The great nobles did not have much objection to this: in their view, Valdu can be equated with silver.Since the king agreed to use people to offset the tax, they have nothing to disagree with.
But outside the vision of the nobles, there is another decree specially issued to the military: "Waldu who has served in the military for three years can be converted into a free citizen Avelu. His wife and children will be freed together. Citizenship."
Another channel was also opened.
Hammurabi held the clay tablet full of decrees in both hands, and asked the "smiling little villain" beside him: "Is this exactly what you want?"
Yi Nan blushed slightly and nodded.
Her goal in this time and space is not to witness the eradication of slavery. Under the existing production relations, it is impossible to completely eradicate slavery.But an upward channel has appeared, and class conflicts have eased—and these are closely related to her observation target in this era: the emergence of law.
"Herod, how are your preparations going?" Hammurabi asked the black-robed ceremonial officer who was standing a step away in front of him.
"Report to the king, all the 'customary laws' have been sorted out, and your previous 'precedents' are being sorted out and refined." Herod replied loudly.
Since he returned to Babylon, he has handed over the "Gate of Justice" errands to other ritual officials around him, and he has concentrated on sorting out relevant laws and regulations.His goal is to sort out a set of complete legal documents that can be referred to by court officials when handling complaints and adjudicating cases.
"It's not this, I'm asking you, what are you going to do with your Mushchenu identity?"
Hammurabi didn't seem very interested in what Herod was doing - anyway, with Herod around, everything was left to him.
Herod raised his head in surprise, and quickly glanced at Miss Ishta's face behind Hammurabi.
Since Hammurabi allowed the slaves to redeem themselves, many people have speculated whether the king would allow Mushchenu to redeem himself.
But the situation of Mushchinnu and slaves is not the same.They are subordinate to the royal family and do not have the right to own real estate, but because they help the royal family manage their property, they can actually live a very rich life.
However, it goes without saying that the status is low. Back then, Herod had suffered humiliation in front of Prince Samiye, and that was something every Mushchinu had to endure.
If Herod chooses to redeem himself and become a freeman Avell—he can marry Miss Ishtar in a glorious manner, but at the same time he must resign from the position of royal ceremonial officer.Because all the royal officials are served by Mushchinnu to ensure their absolute loyalty to the king.
Herod thought for a while, then lowered his head and promised Hammurabi: "My lord, Herod doesn't want to change for the time being."
"Herod has an extremely important job in his hands, and now he just wants to concentrate on doing things, and only those errands are in his eyes."
Yi Nan stood behind Hammurabi, and when he heard this, his heart was slightly shaken.
Obtaining a higher status, living a prosperous life, and marrying the woman he loves—Herod faced such an opportunity, but he bluntly gave it up.He knows he has more important things to accomplish.
"Let the light of justice shine on the earth, destroy all sin and evil, so that the strong cannot oppress the weak."——This oath, Herod was not just talking.He is really practicing.
Yinan laughed immediately, she really saw the man right.In this world, if anyone can complete the great cause of compiling the law alone, it must be Herod. Apart from him, no one else can take on this important task and complete this great cause.
Hammurabi looked strangely at the girl behind him, then at Herod, coughed twice and said, "Strange... the king originally thought..."
Hammurabi originally thought that the two young people around him were in love with each other. After all, they cooperated seamlessly and could communicate with each other.
But when he asked about it, one said that he only knew about work and didn't care about anything else, while the other showed relief in his eyes—this is not quite right!
I saw Herod's waist bent even more, and he explained sincerely: "Actually, Herod has nothing good... and can only do those errands related to the law."
Inan looked at Herod, knowing that what he said was not self-effacing.
Herod was mighty, but also humble.He was full of courage, but also fearful.
It was not until this moment that she felt that she had almost really understood the man Herod.
"As you wish, as you wish!" Hammurabi waved his hand happily: The king thought that there was nothing to hope for, but now he realized that was not the case.
So, those princes under his knees still have some hope?
After Hammurabi returned to Babylon, the New Year in the Babylonian calendar soon ushered in.
The time on Yinan's watch was updated, and now it is 1755 BC.
The old king's health is getting worse and worse.He fell ill frequently and became more and more inseparable from people.
The more this time, the more confused the old king was about his successor.
"How much the king wants to live another 500 years!" Hammurabi sighed in front of Yinan once, "The Kingdom of Babylon will be prosperous and prosperous forever..."
Yinan: These words sound familiar.
"How can the kingdom be properly continued?" Hammurabi asked Inan.
It just so happened that Yi Nan knew the answer: a system is needed, and the system can help maintain a stable social order until the productivity pushes the production relationship to change again.
But Hammurabi was full of other thoughts: "Ishtar, are there really none of the king's worthless sons that you can fancy?"
Inan smiled and shook his head.
She knew that Hammurabi had in fact intended to marry her to a certain prince, so that in effect he would have put the whole kingdom into her hands.
But she can't make this kind of promise, she doesn't know when the countdown will be pushed on the watch again.According to the progress of her observation mission, it should not be far from the end.
The old king groaned and went to call for the fortune-teller.
"The king wants to ask the meaning of the gods."
When the fortune teller arrived, he caught a glimpse of Yi Nan in the room, and immediately said sharply, "The women in the room, please screen yourself."
Yinan almost laughed out loud: this fortune-telling teacher has a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, dressed in fancy clothes, and deliberately pretends to be a gods and gods who can communicate with "gods".She didn't have a good impression of this kind of "magic stick" who excluded women for no reason, so she simply gave him a glare before leaving.
The fortune teller was a thin, middle-aged man. He was glared at by Yi Nan, and he felt dizzy for a moment, almost unable to control himself.
Hammurabi snorted and asked, "What's the matter?"
Of course, the fortune-teller couldn't say that he saw a beauty and then became sensual. He could only say with surprise: "That girl...that girl is very different."
Hammurabi sighed deeply and said, "The king already knew she was very different, but it is useless to say that now."
"Please ask the gods for the king's meaning."
Nowadays in Babylon, divination is quite popular, ranging from the fortune of the kingdom to the trivial daily matters.
The fortune-teller answered "Yes" piously, and sat cross-legged in front of the king, clasped his hands in front of his chest, prayed devoutly, and then took out all the "props" he carried with him.
The fortune-teller spread a carpet on the terrazzo floor in the royal court.Then he took out a dice and twelve chess pieces representing various things in nature.
He placed twelve chess pieces in a circle, and then rolled the dice one by one.
The dice used by fortune tellers are different from the six-sided dice used by ordinary people in drinking and guessing games. This kind of dice has twenty sides①.
Every time the fortune-teller rolls the dice, he moves one of the pieces in the circle.After throwing twelve times, the twelve chess pieces form a special picture in front of the fortune-teller.
The fortune teller patiently looked at this scene, and the more he looked at it, the more surprised he became.
Hammurabi felt that his expression was wrong, and asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
The fortune-teller turned pale with shock, and said in a trembling voice, "O great king of Babylon, I seem to have received an oracle from God."
Hammurabi snorted softly, thinking: I have called you here to ask the will of the gods.
Unexpectedly, the fortune-teller suddenly pushed his body, changed from sitting to kneeling, lay on the ground, opened his hands, and said loudly: "The oracle of the gods is: the true god has quietly come to Babylon..."
Surprised and delighted, Hammurabi stood up while leaning on the seat, and sat back down when his feet softened.
"The true god...really came to Babylon...is it Marduk, the god of Jupiter?"
The fortune teller was dumbfounded at the distribution of chess pieces in front of him, shook his head and said, "No...it's the patron saint from another city."
"The patron saint of another city..." Hammurabi fell into deep thought.Wang stretched out his hands to support his forehead, and then buried his head deeply between his arms.
Outside the city of Babylon, almost every city has its own gods, as the patron saint of the city.
But isn't the true god who came to Babylon Marduk, Babylon's own patron saint?
After a while, Hammurabi suddenly raised his head and asked, "Are you sure?"
The fortune teller quickly shook his head: He is a fortune teller, how can he be sure of anything?
"My little man, my little man will observe the astrology again tonight...to make sure..." Seeing Hammurabi's uneasy expression, the fortune-teller said hurriedly.
The results of the nighttime stargazing helped the fortune-teller "fix" his conclusions and specified the direction of "another city", southeast of Babylon.
"The king came back from that direction during his tour this time. It turns out that the king is the true god who descended from the sky!" The fortune-teller was excited for a moment, and put the high hat on Hammurabi with both hands.
Hammurabi raised his foot and kicked: "Get out!"
Whether he is a true God, can he not know?
The fortune-teller disappeared, and Hammurabi was left alone, sitting alone in the royal court, facing the sky full of stars, for a whole night.
The next day, Hammurabi ordered Miss Ishtar to come to the palace.
"Miss Ishtar, Wang wants to ask you to give me some advice."
Facing the young woman, Wang appeared very friendly this time, friendly and respectful, no longer as affectionate as his father and grandparents, and no longer called her "the smiling little villain".This made Yi Nan raise his eyebrows, feeling very curious.
"Last year in the summer palace, you mentioned to Hammurabi that in this world, the king is the only one who has the kingship granted by God."
Hammurabi modestly called himself his name, which surprised Inan even more.She had heard that the king had asked a fortune-teller to do astrology at night, so she really wanted to know whether Hammurabi's attitude had something to do with the result of last night's horoscope.But Hammurabi brought up that old incident without first coming to Hammurabi.
"What Hammurabi wants to ask you is, how can we prove to the world that the kingship in Hammurabi's hands is granted by God?"
Yi Nan's eyes rolled, and his mind was thinking quickly: Hammurabi has been in power for decades, leading troops to fight everywhere, and the entire Kingdom of Babylon bowed under his rule.The world has long believed that Hammurabi is the agent of Marduk, the god of Jupiter - but why did he ask this question?
Hammurabi knew from the look in her eyes that she understood himself, and knew that he was not asking this question for himself.
What Hammurabi wanted to ask was actually the same question: How could such a god-given kingship in his hands be passed down from generation to generation.
How can his ineffective descendants rely on the wisdom of their ancestors to continue to properly govern the country and let it continue in its current state.
He folded his hands on his knees and bowed solemnly to the woman in front of him.
This is already the highest etiquette that Wang can achieve.
"Beautiful and intelligent Miss Ishtar, Hammurabi sincerely asks you to enlighten me."
Looking at the old and humble King of Babylon, Yi Nan couldn't bear to refuse, so he said, "There are two ways."
"The first method is to mint coins."
"coin?"
"Yes."
At present, the entire Mesopotamia has broken away from the ancient "wheat dollar" system of physical exchange and has begun to use precious metals as currency.The use of currency depends on weighing, and people use the uniform "weights" cast in Babylon to weigh the weight of silver or gold.
Now there are some "shekel silver" cast by jewelry workshops on the market, which divide silver into "standard weight" close to one shekel, which has basically become "coins", but it is different from the "coins" of later generations. "There are also some differences: there is no currency value on it, and there is no specific information on the issuer.
"You can die-cast your head on the surface of these silver coins, and cast the head or logo of a god on the back of the silver coin."
"In this way, as long as people use these silver coins, they will naturally feel the connection between you and the gods."
This is not proof, but enlightenment, or even a kind of thinking strengthening, or even a kind of "brainwashing", so that people can subtly accept this point of view in daily use, and repeatedly emphasize it day by day.
In fact, many ancient rulers did this, and the effect was immediate - after all, the influence of "coins" in ancient society was no less than that of money itself.
"Okay!" Hammurabi imagined the difficulty of this matter out of thin air, and confirmed that he could do it, and so could his descendants.
Being able to be cast on coins and "back to back" with the gods seems to give Hammurabi a little more confidence.The way he looked at Yi Nan was very convincing, so he looked forward to the second method she said.
"The second is, Herod—"
Hammurabi raised his head: "Herod?"
"The law code that Herod is compiling now. It should become the law code given to the king by the gods." Yinan said.
"code?"
"You may not know that Herod collected all the 'customary laws' of the city-states large and small in the Mesopotamia, screened them, removed duplication and inappropriate content; A number of 'precedents', together with various principles, finally came together to form a legal book that can guide almost everyone's life..."
"During this period of time, Herod has applied these contents to Babylon's 'Gate of Justice' and other cities in the kingdom. Now it is not only him, but other colleagues trained by him can also follow this code content, resolve disputes among the people, and deal with cases that have occurred in various places.”
As Yi Nan spoke, his heart was unavoidably agitated.
She not only witnessed the birth of the "Code of Hammurabi" this time, she almost witnessed the birth of the "law" with her own eyes.
"So you need an opportunity to record this code of law in an indelible form of time, grant it a supreme status, and let all citizens of the entire kingdom be familiar with it and abide by it."
"The day this law code is promulgated to the world, people will understand that it was given to the king by the gods, and the king exercises the power of justice, rewarding good and punishing evil according to it."
Because of the difference in status, this code cannot be called "Herod's Code" after all, but can only be called "Hammurabi's Code".
However, this law code, which Herod himself has devoted countless efforts to, will be handed down because of the name of Hammurabi.
"If everyone can abide by the law in the code, exercise power, and undertake obligations. Injustice in the kingdom will be eliminated slowly, and crime will no longer breed. The national power of the Kingdom of Babylon will become stronger and will no longer be weakened, The name of King Hammurabi will be passed down through the ages."
"The most important thing is that with this code, it can actually solve your problem of choosing an heir—but you need to prepare in advance."
Yinan gave Hammurabi a mysterious smile, then saluted, turned and left.
Hammurabi was stunned, and it took him a long time to understand: the royal family is also an ordinary family, and the inheritance of the throne also needs to follow the rules in the code, so as not to conflict with divinity.
He immediately turned around and went back to his residence. After thinking for a long time, he made many decisions in just one day and one night:
He announced that the childless queen would accept the sons born to two concubines as adopted sons.These two princes are not very old, but they are smart, eager to learn and motivated.Depending on the situation, teach him, even if he is not a genius, he must be better than those older princes in Samier.
The second thing is to order the minting of coins.For this reason, the royal family acquired a coinage workshop, and the workshop developed coinage technology in order to be able to roll a standard shekel of silver into silver coins of a uniform size, and print Hammurabi's name on the front and back of the silver coin respectively. Bust in profile and statue of Marduk.
Needless to say, the effect of printing head portraits on silver coins, but people feel that the royal family will definitely not cut corners, and the coins minted by the royal family must be one shekel of silver in standard fineness.
Therefore, the silver coins here have not yet been minted, and the people of Babylon are already looking forward to it, waiting to "exchange" the "silver coins" issued by the royal family with the silver in their hands.
When the silver coins were minted, people played with the exquisite silver coins and looked at the heads and gods printed on them. Although they didn't understand what it was, they all thought it was amazing.
The last thing is that King Hammurabi recruited the best masons in the kingdom, purchased the best basalt pillars from the northern mountains, and announced that all the contents of the "code" sorted out by Herod would be engraved on the rocks.
There are twelve such rocks in total.Stonemasons had to use carving knives to carve all these cuneiform characters on the tall basalt stroke by stroke. The workload was huge and it was impossible to complete it in a short time.
But Hammurabi was very insistent: he asked the stonemasons to first carve the full text of the "Code" on a basalt stone pillar, but at the same time carved a stone relief painting on the top of each stone pillar.
On the screen is a standing Hammurabi, receiving a scepter symbolizing power from the sitting god.
There is a secret hidden in the relief paintings on these stone pillars - only Hammurabi knows it except the stonemason who carved it himself.
Among the twelve stone pillars, there is a relief painting on one of the stone pillars. The one who gave Hammurabi the scepter is the goddess.
Hammurabi first agreed to a decree allowing slaves to redeem themselves.
This decree was promulgated quietly. After several slave owners who wanted to redeem their slaves met Hammurabi and handed in their requests in person, Hammurabi nodded and agreed.
After repaying their value, these slaves can become freemen Avilu and sign employment agreements with their original masters.They generally rely on the host for food and housing, so their wages are pitifully low.
However, with the status of free citizens, they can expect to own their own property in the future. Their mentality is extremely satisfied at this moment, and they can work energetically.
As soon as the news was released, the honorable Aviru immediately ran to Hammurabi and warned Hammurabi: Once this precedent is set, it may soon cause the big nobles to backlash.
Unexpectedly, Hammurabi immediately threw out a limiting condition: the ancestors of these "redeemed" slaves were free citizens of Babylon.
Before Hammurabi established the Babylonian Kingdom, the Mesopotamia experienced frequent wars.Countless wars and plunders took place between the city-states and between the city-states and the Hittites.
When looting occurs, the population is robbed and robbed as the most important wealth.Many Babylonians were robbed to neighboring countries, made into slaves, and then sold back to Babylon.This meant that the Babylonians were enslaving their own countrymen, their former neighbors, friends, and even relatives.
Therefore, Hammurabi was confident: "Why can't the king let these people become the free people of Babylon again? They are."
The venerable Avelurs could not refute, but they urged Hammurabi to add a restriction to the law: only the free people who were once Babylonians can redeem themselves.
Hammurabi graciously accepted.
As everyone knows, this has opened a channel for the class transition from slaves to freemen.
Soon, Hammurabi added another decree: "When the country needs it, the king has the right to conscript Vardu for military service, and the conscripted Vardu can offset taxes."
The great nobles did not have much objection to this: in their view, Valdu can be equated with silver.Since the king agreed to use people to offset the tax, they have nothing to disagree with.
But outside the vision of the nobles, there is another decree specially issued to the military: "Waldu who has served in the military for three years can be converted into a free citizen Avelu. His wife and children will be freed together. Citizenship."
Another channel was also opened.
Hammurabi held the clay tablet full of decrees in both hands, and asked the "smiling little villain" beside him: "Is this exactly what you want?"
Yi Nan blushed slightly and nodded.
Her goal in this time and space is not to witness the eradication of slavery. Under the existing production relations, it is impossible to completely eradicate slavery.But an upward channel has appeared, and class conflicts have eased—and these are closely related to her observation target in this era: the emergence of law.
"Herod, how are your preparations going?" Hammurabi asked the black-robed ceremonial officer who was standing a step away in front of him.
"Report to the king, all the 'customary laws' have been sorted out, and your previous 'precedents' are being sorted out and refined." Herod replied loudly.
Since he returned to Babylon, he has handed over the "Gate of Justice" errands to other ritual officials around him, and he has concentrated on sorting out relevant laws and regulations.His goal is to sort out a set of complete legal documents that can be referred to by court officials when handling complaints and adjudicating cases.
"It's not this, I'm asking you, what are you going to do with your Mushchenu identity?"
Hammurabi didn't seem very interested in what Herod was doing - anyway, with Herod around, everything was left to him.
Herod raised his head in surprise, and quickly glanced at Miss Ishta's face behind Hammurabi.
Since Hammurabi allowed the slaves to redeem themselves, many people have speculated whether the king would allow Mushchenu to redeem himself.
But the situation of Mushchinnu and slaves is not the same.They are subordinate to the royal family and do not have the right to own real estate, but because they help the royal family manage their property, they can actually live a very rich life.
However, it goes without saying that the status is low. Back then, Herod had suffered humiliation in front of Prince Samiye, and that was something every Mushchinu had to endure.
If Herod chooses to redeem himself and become a freeman Avell—he can marry Miss Ishtar in a glorious manner, but at the same time he must resign from the position of royal ceremonial officer.Because all the royal officials are served by Mushchinnu to ensure their absolute loyalty to the king.
Herod thought for a while, then lowered his head and promised Hammurabi: "My lord, Herod doesn't want to change for the time being."
"Herod has an extremely important job in his hands, and now he just wants to concentrate on doing things, and only those errands are in his eyes."
Yi Nan stood behind Hammurabi, and when he heard this, his heart was slightly shaken.
Obtaining a higher status, living a prosperous life, and marrying the woman he loves—Herod faced such an opportunity, but he bluntly gave it up.He knows he has more important things to accomplish.
"Let the light of justice shine on the earth, destroy all sin and evil, so that the strong cannot oppress the weak."——This oath, Herod was not just talking.He is really practicing.
Yinan laughed immediately, she really saw the man right.In this world, if anyone can complete the great cause of compiling the law alone, it must be Herod. Apart from him, no one else can take on this important task and complete this great cause.
Hammurabi looked strangely at the girl behind him, then at Herod, coughed twice and said, "Strange... the king originally thought..."
Hammurabi originally thought that the two young people around him were in love with each other. After all, they cooperated seamlessly and could communicate with each other.
But when he asked about it, one said that he only knew about work and didn't care about anything else, while the other showed relief in his eyes—this is not quite right!
I saw Herod's waist bent even more, and he explained sincerely: "Actually, Herod has nothing good... and can only do those errands related to the law."
Inan looked at Herod, knowing that what he said was not self-effacing.
Herod was mighty, but also humble.He was full of courage, but also fearful.
It was not until this moment that she felt that she had almost really understood the man Herod.
"As you wish, as you wish!" Hammurabi waved his hand happily: The king thought that there was nothing to hope for, but now he realized that was not the case.
So, those princes under his knees still have some hope?
After Hammurabi returned to Babylon, the New Year in the Babylonian calendar soon ushered in.
The time on Yinan's watch was updated, and now it is 1755 BC.
The old king's health is getting worse and worse.He fell ill frequently and became more and more inseparable from people.
The more this time, the more confused the old king was about his successor.
"How much the king wants to live another 500 years!" Hammurabi sighed in front of Yinan once, "The Kingdom of Babylon will be prosperous and prosperous forever..."
Yinan: These words sound familiar.
"How can the kingdom be properly continued?" Hammurabi asked Inan.
It just so happened that Yi Nan knew the answer: a system is needed, and the system can help maintain a stable social order until the productivity pushes the production relationship to change again.
But Hammurabi was full of other thoughts: "Ishtar, are there really none of the king's worthless sons that you can fancy?"
Inan smiled and shook his head.
She knew that Hammurabi had in fact intended to marry her to a certain prince, so that in effect he would have put the whole kingdom into her hands.
But she can't make this kind of promise, she doesn't know when the countdown will be pushed on the watch again.According to the progress of her observation mission, it should not be far from the end.
The old king groaned and went to call for the fortune-teller.
"The king wants to ask the meaning of the gods."
When the fortune teller arrived, he caught a glimpse of Yi Nan in the room, and immediately said sharply, "The women in the room, please screen yourself."
Yinan almost laughed out loud: this fortune-telling teacher has a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, dressed in fancy clothes, and deliberately pretends to be a gods and gods who can communicate with "gods".She didn't have a good impression of this kind of "magic stick" who excluded women for no reason, so she simply gave him a glare before leaving.
The fortune teller was a thin, middle-aged man. He was glared at by Yi Nan, and he felt dizzy for a moment, almost unable to control himself.
Hammurabi snorted and asked, "What's the matter?"
Of course, the fortune-teller couldn't say that he saw a beauty and then became sensual. He could only say with surprise: "That girl...that girl is very different."
Hammurabi sighed deeply and said, "The king already knew she was very different, but it is useless to say that now."
"Please ask the gods for the king's meaning."
Nowadays in Babylon, divination is quite popular, ranging from the fortune of the kingdom to the trivial daily matters.
The fortune-teller answered "Yes" piously, and sat cross-legged in front of the king, clasped his hands in front of his chest, prayed devoutly, and then took out all the "props" he carried with him.
The fortune-teller spread a carpet on the terrazzo floor in the royal court.Then he took out a dice and twelve chess pieces representing various things in nature.
He placed twelve chess pieces in a circle, and then rolled the dice one by one.
The dice used by fortune tellers are different from the six-sided dice used by ordinary people in drinking and guessing games. This kind of dice has twenty sides①.
Every time the fortune-teller rolls the dice, he moves one of the pieces in the circle.After throwing twelve times, the twelve chess pieces form a special picture in front of the fortune-teller.
The fortune teller patiently looked at this scene, and the more he looked at it, the more surprised he became.
Hammurabi felt that his expression was wrong, and asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
The fortune-teller turned pale with shock, and said in a trembling voice, "O great king of Babylon, I seem to have received an oracle from God."
Hammurabi snorted softly, thinking: I have called you here to ask the will of the gods.
Unexpectedly, the fortune-teller suddenly pushed his body, changed from sitting to kneeling, lay on the ground, opened his hands, and said loudly: "The oracle of the gods is: the true god has quietly come to Babylon..."
Surprised and delighted, Hammurabi stood up while leaning on the seat, and sat back down when his feet softened.
"The true god...really came to Babylon...is it Marduk, the god of Jupiter?"
The fortune teller was dumbfounded at the distribution of chess pieces in front of him, shook his head and said, "No...it's the patron saint from another city."
"The patron saint of another city..." Hammurabi fell into deep thought.Wang stretched out his hands to support his forehead, and then buried his head deeply between his arms.
Outside the city of Babylon, almost every city has its own gods, as the patron saint of the city.
But isn't the true god who came to Babylon Marduk, Babylon's own patron saint?
After a while, Hammurabi suddenly raised his head and asked, "Are you sure?"
The fortune teller quickly shook his head: He is a fortune teller, how can he be sure of anything?
"My little man, my little man will observe the astrology again tonight...to make sure..." Seeing Hammurabi's uneasy expression, the fortune-teller said hurriedly.
The results of the nighttime stargazing helped the fortune-teller "fix" his conclusions and specified the direction of "another city", southeast of Babylon.
"The king came back from that direction during his tour this time. It turns out that the king is the true god who descended from the sky!" The fortune-teller was excited for a moment, and put the high hat on Hammurabi with both hands.
Hammurabi raised his foot and kicked: "Get out!"
Whether he is a true God, can he not know?
The fortune-teller disappeared, and Hammurabi was left alone, sitting alone in the royal court, facing the sky full of stars, for a whole night.
The next day, Hammurabi ordered Miss Ishtar to come to the palace.
"Miss Ishtar, Wang wants to ask you to give me some advice."
Facing the young woman, Wang appeared very friendly this time, friendly and respectful, no longer as affectionate as his father and grandparents, and no longer called her "the smiling little villain".This made Yi Nan raise his eyebrows, feeling very curious.
"Last year in the summer palace, you mentioned to Hammurabi that in this world, the king is the only one who has the kingship granted by God."
Hammurabi modestly called himself his name, which surprised Inan even more.She had heard that the king had asked a fortune-teller to do astrology at night, so she really wanted to know whether Hammurabi's attitude had something to do with the result of last night's horoscope.But Hammurabi brought up that old incident without first coming to Hammurabi.
"What Hammurabi wants to ask you is, how can we prove to the world that the kingship in Hammurabi's hands is granted by God?"
Yi Nan's eyes rolled, and his mind was thinking quickly: Hammurabi has been in power for decades, leading troops to fight everywhere, and the entire Kingdom of Babylon bowed under his rule.The world has long believed that Hammurabi is the agent of Marduk, the god of Jupiter - but why did he ask this question?
Hammurabi knew from the look in her eyes that she understood himself, and knew that he was not asking this question for himself.
What Hammurabi wanted to ask was actually the same question: How could such a god-given kingship in his hands be passed down from generation to generation.
How can his ineffective descendants rely on the wisdom of their ancestors to continue to properly govern the country and let it continue in its current state.
He folded his hands on his knees and bowed solemnly to the woman in front of him.
This is already the highest etiquette that Wang can achieve.
"Beautiful and intelligent Miss Ishtar, Hammurabi sincerely asks you to enlighten me."
Looking at the old and humble King of Babylon, Yi Nan couldn't bear to refuse, so he said, "There are two ways."
"The first method is to mint coins."
"coin?"
"Yes."
At present, the entire Mesopotamia has broken away from the ancient "wheat dollar" system of physical exchange and has begun to use precious metals as currency.The use of currency depends on weighing, and people use the uniform "weights" cast in Babylon to weigh the weight of silver or gold.
Now there are some "shekel silver" cast by jewelry workshops on the market, which divide silver into "standard weight" close to one shekel, which has basically become "coins", but it is different from the "coins" of later generations. "There are also some differences: there is no currency value on it, and there is no specific information on the issuer.
"You can die-cast your head on the surface of these silver coins, and cast the head or logo of a god on the back of the silver coin."
"In this way, as long as people use these silver coins, they will naturally feel the connection between you and the gods."
This is not proof, but enlightenment, or even a kind of thinking strengthening, or even a kind of "brainwashing", so that people can subtly accept this point of view in daily use, and repeatedly emphasize it day by day.
In fact, many ancient rulers did this, and the effect was immediate - after all, the influence of "coins" in ancient society was no less than that of money itself.
"Okay!" Hammurabi imagined the difficulty of this matter out of thin air, and confirmed that he could do it, and so could his descendants.
Being able to be cast on coins and "back to back" with the gods seems to give Hammurabi a little more confidence.The way he looked at Yi Nan was very convincing, so he looked forward to the second method she said.
"The second is, Herod—"
Hammurabi raised his head: "Herod?"
"The law code that Herod is compiling now. It should become the law code given to the king by the gods." Yinan said.
"code?"
"You may not know that Herod collected all the 'customary laws' of the city-states large and small in the Mesopotamia, screened them, removed duplication and inappropriate content; A number of 'precedents', together with various principles, finally came together to form a legal book that can guide almost everyone's life..."
"During this period of time, Herod has applied these contents to Babylon's 'Gate of Justice' and other cities in the kingdom. Now it is not only him, but other colleagues trained by him can also follow this code content, resolve disputes among the people, and deal with cases that have occurred in various places.”
As Yi Nan spoke, his heart was unavoidably agitated.
She not only witnessed the birth of the "Code of Hammurabi" this time, she almost witnessed the birth of the "law" with her own eyes.
"So you need an opportunity to record this code of law in an indelible form of time, grant it a supreme status, and let all citizens of the entire kingdom be familiar with it and abide by it."
"The day this law code is promulgated to the world, people will understand that it was given to the king by the gods, and the king exercises the power of justice, rewarding good and punishing evil according to it."
Because of the difference in status, this code cannot be called "Herod's Code" after all, but can only be called "Hammurabi's Code".
However, this law code, which Herod himself has devoted countless efforts to, will be handed down because of the name of Hammurabi.
"If everyone can abide by the law in the code, exercise power, and undertake obligations. Injustice in the kingdom will be eliminated slowly, and crime will no longer breed. The national power of the Kingdom of Babylon will become stronger and will no longer be weakened, The name of King Hammurabi will be passed down through the ages."
"The most important thing is that with this code, it can actually solve your problem of choosing an heir—but you need to prepare in advance."
Yinan gave Hammurabi a mysterious smile, then saluted, turned and left.
Hammurabi was stunned, and it took him a long time to understand: the royal family is also an ordinary family, and the inheritance of the throne also needs to follow the rules in the code, so as not to conflict with divinity.
He immediately turned around and went back to his residence. After thinking for a long time, he made many decisions in just one day and one night:
He announced that the childless queen would accept the sons born to two concubines as adopted sons.These two princes are not very old, but they are smart, eager to learn and motivated.Depending on the situation, teach him, even if he is not a genius, he must be better than those older princes in Samier.
The second thing is to order the minting of coins.For this reason, the royal family acquired a coinage workshop, and the workshop developed coinage technology in order to be able to roll a standard shekel of silver into silver coins of a uniform size, and print Hammurabi's name on the front and back of the silver coin respectively. Bust in profile and statue of Marduk.
Needless to say, the effect of printing head portraits on silver coins, but people feel that the royal family will definitely not cut corners, and the coins minted by the royal family must be one shekel of silver in standard fineness.
Therefore, the silver coins here have not yet been minted, and the people of Babylon are already looking forward to it, waiting to "exchange" the "silver coins" issued by the royal family with the silver in their hands.
When the silver coins were minted, people played with the exquisite silver coins and looked at the heads and gods printed on them. Although they didn't understand what it was, they all thought it was amazing.
The last thing is that King Hammurabi recruited the best masons in the kingdom, purchased the best basalt pillars from the northern mountains, and announced that all the contents of the "code" sorted out by Herod would be engraved on the rocks.
There are twelve such rocks in total.Stonemasons had to use carving knives to carve all these cuneiform characters on the tall basalt stroke by stroke. The workload was huge and it was impossible to complete it in a short time.
But Hammurabi was very insistent: he asked the stonemasons to first carve the full text of the "Code" on a basalt stone pillar, but at the same time carved a stone relief painting on the top of each stone pillar.
On the screen is a standing Hammurabi, receiving a scepter symbolizing power from the sitting god.
There is a secret hidden in the relief paintings on these stone pillars - only Hammurabi knows it except the stonemason who carved it himself.
Among the twelve stone pillars, there is a relief painting on one of the stone pillars. The one who gave Hammurabi the scepter is the goddess.
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