Chapter 331: Old Stories of the Former Capital

I hurriedly said, "Ding Li, I'm currently a fugitive, not any noble. Come have a drink—I'll bring a cup of wine."

We're all old friends. Alas, this year has been the most unlucky for me—life has fallen from a height.

Kept falling to the ground. Never expected that in middle age there would still be such a crisis.

Fortunately, I have the favor of the two old friends, Mr. He and Mr. Zhu, who don't despise me; being able to sit together and drink is also my greatest happiness as Zhao Jianqiang. Come, let's down this cup.

I finished speaking and then downed the drink.

The others also followed suit and downed theirs.

After He Zuming took two bites of food,

"Jianqiang, everyone has a calamity number. To pass the tribulation, pass the tribulation—once you get past it, you become a god."

Not to mention ordinary people,

What place is this,

It is the old dynasty's capital, the foundation of six hundred years, all here.

The Forbidden City, which gathers the spiritual qi of the world and collects the auspicious omens of the dragon's lair, yet it too must undergo tribulation.

At the end of the Ming, the rebel king came and looted everything clean.

In the late Qing, foreigners looted, killed, and burned; the imperial city was like hell.

During the Republic of China era, warlords clashed, and the people could not make a living.

Alas, the old country's old capital can only be reborn from fire.

Today you see, skyscrapers rise, lights gleam and wine flows.

A scene of vibrant vitality.

Who could have imagined the ruined walls and broken remnants from a hundred years ago?

Jianqiang, we should look forward. Do you agree?

Hearing He Zuming say this, I was deeply moved in my heart; he uses things to touch people.

Come encourage me, to walk forward, to look forward,

We must be reborn from fire.

I looked at He Zuming with gratitude,

Then I said, "Mr. He, I understand. I have a realization: in the past I was as hard as iron, letting myself grow strong."

Actually, after forty, one realizes that a person needs not only to be like iron, but also to have the toughness of steel.

Only after a hundred refinements can true steel be made.

My tribulation is actually like refining steel, making me more resilient.

Mr. He, I offer you a cup.

After He Zuming heard me finish speaking,

He laughed heartily and said, "Jianqiang, you are a person of wisdom. Old Zhu, join us for a drink."

The three of us clinked cups and drank them down together.

Zhu Sheng also laughed and said, "Old He, I have something I don't understand: when people face tribulation, is it a predetermined fate or heavenly will?"

He Zuming said, "It's all heavenly will. Think back, when the Great Qing entered the pass, the Shunzhi Emperor once asked the venerable monk Yulin Xiu how many years the Great Qing dynasty could hold power."

The venerable monk Yulin Xiu replied, "It is the emperor's compliance."

What does 'compliance' mean? It is the era name of the Shunzhi Emperor.

Ancient emperors' names all have avoidance meanings; this character 'shun' needs one stroke less, and that missing stroke turns 'chuan' into 'two', so a hundred and eight remain unmoving—thus the Qing dynasty's fate is within 280 years.

From the Qing's entry into the pass as orphans and widows to the end of the Qing as orphans and widows, it is all predetermined.

Zhu Sheng immediately asked, "Old He, what are orphans and widows?"

"The Emperor Fulin and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang aren't they orphans and widows? Dorgon served as the Regent Prince."

Then aren't Empress Dowager Cixi and Puyi orphans and widows? Isn't his father Zaifeng not the Regent Prince?

Looking at this, isn't it all predetermined?

"Haha, with you saying that, everything in the world is already set; no one can change it." Zhu Sheng asked.

"It can be changed, but that requires a person who can penetrate heaven, wielding the power to penetrate heaven, to overturn the world greatly."

Just as Mr. Zhao said, only after a hundred refinements can steel be formed; only steel can bear heavy responsibility, only then can there be a method to overturn the world, only then can the predetermined fate be altered.

Alas, such people are exceedingly rare.

"Old He, I still have one uncertainty: people say dynastic succession follows the five elements cycle—is that really true?" Zhu Sheng asked.

"What you speak of is the five virtues; this is just folk legend, not to be trusted."

The five elements are metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

Metal produces water, water produces wood, wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal; conversely, metal overcomes wood, wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, fire overcomes metal.

The five elements also correspond to the five colors.

Metal corresponds to white, water to black, earth to yellow, wood to blue-green, fire to red.

Each dynasty has its governing color, also called esteemed virtue.

Starting from the Sui dynasty, the Sui esteemed water virtue, belonging to black; thus the destroyer of the Sui is the Tang, because the Tang esteemed yellow, belonging to earth virtue, and so on.

The Song esteemed wood virtue, which is blue-green; metal overcomes wood, so the destroyer of the Song is metal.

The Yuan dynasty also came from metal virtue, favoring white.

Thus fire overcomes metal, so the destroyer of the Yuan must be fire.

Therefore Zhu Yuanzhang established the state name as Ming, which is essentially great fire.

Water can overcome fire; Hong Taiji established the state name as Qing, which governs water and favors black.

The Qing destroyed the Ming.

He Zuming finished speaking and then paused, not continuing.

Continue saying, why did you stop? What you said is totally right, I feel it makes sense. I've only heard half, but it's addictive. Old He, I want to ask you, what virtue does the Republic have?" Zhu Sheng continued asking.

But He Zuming just smiled,

「The rest of the matter, heavenly secrets must not be revealed. Come, Old Zhu, let's drink, let's drink; speaking of past dynasties' old affairs, let's just treat them as stories, not take them seriously.

We are just chatting today.

Here at the imperial city's base, we cannot speak too openly.

Everyone, when free, go to the palace for a stroll to see what the emperor eats, wears, lives, and travels.

To be frank, what they lived on and ate in the past is not much different from what we eat today.

We should be quite fortunate; for ordinary commoners, being able to eat a full meal is a blessing.

We should cherish and treasure our blessings.

It's just that we don't have three palaces and six courtyards, haha, maybe some people already do.

Look, that high and mighty dragon throne isn't something just anyone who wants to sit can sit on.

Without that destiny, one wouldn't even think of such a thing; Yuan Dàtóu went against the current.

He only lasted eighty-three days addicted, so one must act in accordance with the trend, not against it.

He Zuming raised his cup and said.

You want to make steel right now and also go with the trend; we're all confused." Zhu Sheng said.

I said: "Mr. He, does going with the trend mean following the current situation?"

He Zuming set down his wine cup.

Let's talk about old matters: back then, Yongzheng took over the empire from the Kangxi Emperor. Was he sticking to the old system unchanged, or did he carry out sweeping reforms?

He faced a dilemma, and he ultimately chose reform, following the will of the people.

He abolished the previous dynasty's abuses.

Actually, the hardest part of reform is officialdom; the wise ruler Kangxi had already realized the corruption in officialdom, but he was willing yet unable, so he could only pass it on to the next generation to handle.

Yongzheng knew his father's thoughts; after taking the throne, he began to rectify officialdom.

He carried out sweeping reforms, injecting new vitality into the Qing; only then came the Qianlong prosperous era—without Yongzheng's reforms, there would be no Qianlong prosperity.

We are mere commoners; whether we go with or against the trend, we must rely on those above.

If those above go with the trend, we follow; if they go against it, we change accordingly.

Jianqiang, do you understand what I mean?

After listening to He Zuming finish speaking, I fell into thought.

It seems He Zuming has been lingering in Sijiucheng for a long time.

He knows many more things, which differs from what we think.

At this moment Zhu Sheng said: "The ancient saying goes, a sage ruler governs officials, not the people. Jianqiang, whether we go with or against the trend, we must do our utmost.

That's how things in the world are: if you put in effort, there is still a chance.

If we don't strive, we won't even have a chance.

I laughed and said: "Mr. Zhu, Mr. He, I've made it to today; whether we go with or against the trend, I will give it a try.

I have nothing now, so I fear nothing even more; as the saying goes, does a barefoot person fear those wearing shoes?

The Da Heng Group is gone; what do I have to fear?

Today mainly I met two teachers, exchanging with you; it feels better than reading ten years of books.

Jianqiang, I'm just talking nonsense; you don't need to take it seriously. This money is an external thing, can be had or not; one must be able to pick it up and let it go.

One must not look only at Da Heng in one's eyes.

One must also look farther away.

I believe there are many companies stronger than Da Heng.