A red ribbon was tied around the sleeves of their robes.
It seed to be the Prince Qin’s idea.
Two years ago, when the Prince Qin, then still the Marquis Qin Wu, was establishing public schools, he distributed these blood-red ribbons to each student. Then, in front of those children aged only seven or eight, he said this was a piece of the blood-soaked banner stained by the blood of the Qilin Army soldiers who opened territories.
At that ti, officials and nobles within Chen Country were all cursing.
Bullshit!
What kind of tradition is in the Prince Qin’s mind?!
Not to ntion whether it’s really stained by the blood of the fallen.
Giving flags dyed with the blood of soldiers who perished in the battlefield to young people, what kind of battle-mad army is this?!
An all-Gongyang Confucianism group?! Holding firmly onto sha and hatred, never giving up?!
He just thought, in ten years, twenty years.
When the youth who grew up holding such beliefs, proficient in both literature and martial arts, co of age.
What will the Heavenly Strategy Mansion beco?
Nan Hanwen felt a chill down his spine, and after returning, he listened to the teenagers outside, fourteen or fifteen years old, discussing [how to determine the trajectory of an arrow to hit the enemy three hundred zhang away at an angle of three fingers inside the fortifications]
[During spring plowing, one hundred mu of land, fifteen people, maximum efficiency]
[Farr School’s discussion on the effect of intercropping on soil fertility]
And [Duke Xue’s new work on classic military campaigns]
Thinking of the capital of Chen Country, where those spree-loving young people from noble families indulged in the pleasure districts, it made Nan Hanwen’s vision darken, having thoughts that it might be better to just run into a wall and die. Upon returning, he asked his deputy Xiao Shaohui:
"Have all the gifts for Prince Qin been collected by Your Majesty?"
Xiao Shaohui replied: "Gold and silver treasures, beauties and music, he accepted them all."
Nan Hanwen breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "That’s good, that’s good..."
Wiping the sweat from his temples, he said, "Since ancient tis, wealth dissipates heroism, the tenderness of beautiful won dissolves a hero’s backbone. Those heroes destined to shake the world, thus lose their lives and humiliate the nation, and even as literary talent reaches the heavens, it’s for these reasons that culture suffers disgrace."
"If we can’t extinguish Prince Qin’s fierce spirit."
"The fate of our Great Chen is in peril."
Yet in his heart, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of discomfort, thinking that such behavior, even if it speaks of loyalty to the monarch and love for the country, if it changes the Prince Qin who talked with him about the world and future without sticking to any power, it would make him feel both pain and regret.
If he weren’t an old retainer of Chen Country, he truly felt a kind of desire to follow the Prince Qin.
Why, did he only et such a person at this age!
How to reconcile loyalty and righteousness.
He inquired further about the situation, and Xiao Shaohui said, "He accepted it all and promptly agreed to have us construct a grand building."
Nan Hanwen was shocked, asking, "He agreed?"
Xiao Shaohui said, "Yes, moreover, he hopes we can build it bigger, more luxurious!"
"Even bigger?!"
Xiao Shaohui contemplated Marquis Qin Wu’s request and earnestly replied, "Yes, hoping it can accommodate over five thousand people, for living quarters, and that each palace should accommodate two hundred people; even the Imperial Kitchen needs to host thousands dining at the sa ti."
"He wants a huge Martial Arts Arena, with a capacity for over a thousand people."
"And a pavilion resembling the Star-picking Tower."
"Do we really need to help him?"
Nan Hanwen listened, stunned, silent for a long ti, and said, "No matter what, as long as it can make Marquis Qin Wu lose his ambitions, help him with it. If he demands the most unparalleled beauties and the finest musicians in the world, get them for him."
"Let him taste the flavor of power, imrse himself in it, unable to rise again, bit by bit wearing away his majestic spirit."
Nan Hanwen regained his composure, forcibly suppressing his own complex emotions toward the Prince Qin.
He had once been the confidant of Pri Minister Tantai Xianming.
Later, after Tantai Xianming’s death, he honestly followed Chen Dingye’s lead. At this mont, what he did was to reenact what Tantai Xianming had done to Chen Dingye back then, not through sches, but by following human nature.
People’s desires will only rise higher and further step by step.
As long as Li Guanyi has tasted the feeling of power in hand, acting recklessly.
He will be engrossed in it, surely unable to control himself, perhaps in five years, ten years, he will gradually beco a different person, as heroes throughout history, when they’ve not achieved great things, are all like this, step by step becoming what was once their enemy.
Such was Chen Dingye.
He believes, the Prince Qin will certainly be the sa.
"Heroes of the world, all have desires; what is your desire?"
"Beauties, martial achievents, mountains and rivers, power, ultimately none can escape..."
"The Crowning Ceremony is just a start."
"That scene where tens of thousands, millions, bow to one person, pay reverence to one person, that feeling of becoming an overlord, as if holding everything in control, even as a bystander, will evoke a sense that a real man should be like this."
"When you personally experience it, you will certainly be engrossed in it, once it starts, it can never again be controlled."
But, if you could control it.
Nan Hanwen suppressed this emotion, looked at Xiao Shaohui, and said:
"How is the preparation?"
Xiao Shaohui said: "Everything is perfectly prepared."
Ying Country and Chen Country have both brought many ceremonial officials, even Central State dispatched many officials from the Ministry of Rites, assisting the Heavenly Strategy Mansion in preparing for this Crowning Ceremony. The students are all jubilant, along with decent officials, and even officers who have earned rits on the battlefield.
The heroes of the world, all future kings and ministers throughout history, after establishing their rits, naturally need to declare their prestige, enforce etiquette, establish a sense of hierarchy, and the system of etiquette.
User Comments
0 comments from readers