Chapter 261: Official Awakening
The Five Oceans Festival was proceeding in an orderly manner.
On the high platform of white marble, various elaborate rituals unfolded under the guidance of the chief priest.
At this solemn and reverent moment, whether marshal or soldier, everyone had to stand obediently during the ceremony! And all were satisfied to be standing and participating in the ritual.
The marshal was satisfied because tens of thousands of people were enshrining the great oceans alongside him; thus, in future naval battles, the fleet’s formations against the enemy would also obey orders without question.
The captains were satisfied because only a few people stood in front of them, with most sailors standing behind them.
And the sailors were also satisfied with their current positions, because in front of this white jade platform, many people wanted to stand but couldn’t!
Ritual music played as the ceremony proceeded in a standardized manner! The marshal specially looked around and suddenly sensed something, glancing toward a certain second lieutenant below the platform. After confirming he was from “Dongtu,” the corner of his mouth twitched!
The marshal helplessly eyed that sturdy young man from the North: “Instead of awakening in your own home, you come here to mooch off the incense and fire?”
He glanced at his own side, with several hundred disciples, none of whose families weren’t generationally devoted to their localities; now they were all standing obediently in the military camp, dressed in new uniforms, yet the favor of Thick Earth had fallen on this fellow.
…At this time, Xuan Chong was still immersed in the atmosphere…
The Five Oceans Festival was a proper national ritual, on the same level as the Son of Heaven’s prayer-for-harvest ritual.
All participants had clean backgrounds and transparent family connections.
In “Xianglin’s Wife,” even the family rituals of great households didn’t allow “remarried” or “unclean” people to enter, let alone in such a grand ritual.
If those ruffians from the streets wielding axes plotted to make the sailors participating in the grand ritual unclean, say by entering a gambling house or the like?
The sailors would be purged by the navy, and those clueless gambling houses would also be razed.
Even now, gambling houses and certain unruly places, upon learning a sailor’s identity, would politely escort them out.
Just like in Water Margin, the tavern at the foot of Mount Wutai refusing to sell alcohol and meat to Lu Zhishen after recognizing his identity.
Suppose the gambling houses and brothels had big shots behind them? And the young masters among these “big shots” wanted to show off their power and forcibly oppress the small figures who had attended the national ritual?
First off, lowly establishments like “gambling houses,” “brothels,” and “theater businesses” never have any “big shots” behind them. This shows a lack of understanding of Xian Han’s national conditions.
Xian Han people: Only barbarian nations would raise such a question.
Xian Han nationals have always sneered at places led by Europe as barbarians, precisely because those so-called parliamentarians who sit at the table and speak turn out to be utterly disreputable upon investigation, with “gold coins regardless of origin” and “earning any money.”
Xian Han nationals’ moral judgment of foreign barbarians’ parliamentary systems is just like Xuan Chong’s previous life’s so-called Western civilized world looking at India’s parliament.
In Xuan Chong’s previous life, India boasted the world’s largest “democracy”; but over half of the parliamentary candidates were unclean, bearing serious criminal charges! As for major European and American newspapers: “Is this a parliamentary election or a bandits’ spoils-sharing conference?”
Clearly, even the Anglos felt that scene was undignified.
The parliamentary system of the merchant alliance that Xuan Chong was familiar with in his previous life, placed under Xian Han’s values, would enrage the great scholars into jumping in fury.
On this Han Family land, thousands of years of developmental trends have seen the ritual system grow increasingly complex; from ancient times to now, the developmental trend of Eastern ritual systems is that as eras progress, rituals increasingly constrain scholars and nobles, with the principle that ritual does not extend to the common people, and the higher up the great lords are, the more trepidatious they become toward ritual.
In Xuan Chong’s cognition, the imperial system achieved the pinnacle of centralization! By the “Ming and Qing” stage, it seemed to have reached its limit.
But now, seeing Xian Han, Xuan Chong couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement!
In the Imperial Court, whether “Imperial Way” or “Hegemonic Way,” the ministers holding different views all adhered to the sacred learning of “Harmony between Heaven and Man.”
In a public event like a ritual under all eyes, any slip-up would be weighed on the scales. And if investigated and found guilty of “Heaven and Man Contradiction” crimes, it would be like social death in his previous life, with no chance of recovery forever.
Leading “Harmony between Heaven and Man” prioritizes the “state altars.”
“Inji” refers to Heaven’s mode of production, such as fields producing grain and great oceans producing fish; those maintaining this “inji” are all of “legitimate profession” status. Similar to the official positions “ranked among the Immortals” in mythology.
And those maintaining the legitimate profession are the “she.” “Theater, prostitutes, brothels” are not engaged in legitimate professions.
If a monarch’s ministers favor those without legitimate professions and distance themselves from legitimate professionals, they would be labeled and squeezed out of the power core.
…In Xian Han, “money” is divided into “noble” and “base”…
Thousands of years of cycles of governance and chaos have given Xian Han’s current governors “trauma stress syndrome,” desperately trying to escape this cycle of governance and chaos. They have set up the strictest code of teachings and rules ever, which no one can transgress! Whoever dares to transgress will be crushed by the entire system from top to bottom.
Even the monarch fears the theory of “Heaven and Man Contradiction.”
Xian Han’s monarch is a “real-power monarch” in Taixi legal terms, but if tainted by a Heaven and Man Contradiction crime, he becomes a “nominal monarch.”
Returning to the Five Oceans Festival ceremony, those who ascended for the main ritual were all officially certified “legitimate profession” citizens.
If disturbed by “not engaged in legitimate profession” elements, and some “big shot” dares to endorse and vouch for them! That “big shot” would immediately be identified as a “pathogen” and cleared by Xian Han’s internal power immune system.
At this time outside the ceremony, in the dock and numerous port areas, masses of various people were watching the ranks of battleships arrayed amid the waves in the harbor, while the sailors participating in the ceremony stood tall and proud.
…Capitalist merchants devour without rules, while Xian Han’s ritual law devours precisely….
As a transmigrator, in this Xian Han, Xuan Chong was extremely grateful to have a seat at the table!
He was a prince, constrained by ritual law from birth, assigned a “legitimate profession.” Proliferating and guarding the land in the bitter cold was the legitimate profession.
Here it must be noted that Xian Han’s historians’ understanding of “farmer uprisings leading to great chaos under heaven” in the process of dynastic rise and fall.
First, the answer: Xian Han’s official historians do not consider “uprisings” absolutely correct; they merely view “uprisings” as phenomena of “Heaven and Man Contradiction,” with their focus on how to resolve this phenomenon.
Xian Han already has a complete theory to curb farmer uprisings from occurring.
Xuan Chong read contemporary history, where Confucian scholar-officials said: Land annexation? This is not wrong. Tenant farmers losing land is normal and natural! Households with slow farming efficiency are naturally eliminated, to be occupied by households with high farming efficiency! (A cold exposition of internal population elimination in Huaxia)
Confucian scholar-officials admit: It’s more intense during natural disasters. And when natural disasters combine with military calamities, the natural elimination of “lazy idlers” spirals out of control, leading to major problems.
Xian Han historians believe: The key to bandit uprisings (farmer uprisings) is not land annexation. Rather, after annexing land, the great clans at the top detach from “legitimate profession,” indulging in being served by maidservants in the back courtyards and debt collection businesses. When land control falls into the hands of “non-legitimate profession” groups, then uprisings—official term: agricultural riots—occur.
Over thousands of years, it wasn’t that imperial power didn’t reach the countryside, but that it descended slowly.
In Xian Han, land is still being annexed, but the landlords who annex large amounts of land are locked down by “ritual law descending to the countryside.”
Ritual law stipulates that after landlords gain control of land, during the busy farming seasons set by astronomy and calendars, for every hundred mu of land, they and their blood relatives must personally labor on-site for one shichen per day (capped at four shichen) to be deemed engaged in legitimate profession!
Thus, contemporary landlords, after annexing land, are fully engaged in “legitimate profession” during busy farming seasons—failure to be deemed so is a stain. If exposed, lightly it’s years without imperial examination eligibility; heavily, it affects a clan’s official careers.
Xuan Chong: This approach ensures “landlords are truly farming,” so tenant farmers can see the landlords. This reduces the chance of tenant farmers conspiring behind the landlords’ backs.
If farmers truly have grievances, it’s not conspiring but seizing face-to-face opportunities to vent resentment at the landlord, without gathering to impact government offices. Large-scale “agricultural riots” thus dissipate at the landlord level.
Xuan Chong was greatly shocked by this; without class narrative, Xian Han historians’ logic explains agricultural riots from a “personnel matters” theoretical standpoint.
Xian Han explains dynastic changes: When rulers contradict Heaven and Man, losing the ability “to unite everyone in legitimate profession”; combined with rulers’ Heaven and Man Contradiction governance, plus those with steadfast hearts but lost livelihoods becoming displaced and forced to uprising, dynastic change begins.
Xuan Chong’s previous life education logic explained uprisings from an “economy” theoretical standpoint: In land annexation, masses of landless farmers lose economic sources, leading to uprisings.
After the two theories collided, Xuan Chong couldn’t help but ask again: With Xian Han doing this, are there no landless farmers?
Actually, there are.
Having lost land production materials and the social environment of legitimate profession, they have no voice! —Just like Ah Q in “The True Story of Ah Q,” losing land and economic capital, losing social capital in legitimate profession, his final outcome was easy suppression. Seeking heterodox paths, he ended up beheaded, able only to mentally draw a Q.
Xuan Chong: So Xian Han’s ritual law logic is to give “legitimate professionals” sufficient respect; isolate “legitimate professionals” from the group, then unleash the iron fist mercilessly on the rest.
In current Xian Han “scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants,” ritual law delineates “ritual” scopes for legitimate professions from top to bottom.
Court scholar-officials determine seating quotas in rituals based on each industry’s output and social role. Every year, industry magnates in various sectors attach great importance to seating. —Liu Haoxing could get a seat because his family had generationally guarded the North.
Xuan Chong felt that this seemingly exhausting formalistic ritual was extremely honorable for the participating commoners.
Those Martial World people outside the system, nameless and status-less! Utterly unqualified for the glory of bathing in the “Five Oceans Festival.”
…Xuan Chong: This is too right-wing…
By this reckoning, in cities, masses of freelancers, from restaurant owners to food delivery waiters, are not legitimate professionals. All are existences that can be arbitrarily crushed by the iron fist at any time.
As for these people called the citizen stratum in Europe, in Xian Han, they are unworthy of rebellion.
Tsk tsk, Xian Han land is vast, and every vassal state lacks people. Sending away “non-legitimate professionals” poses no issue for Xian Han core area operations.
Indeed, Dongtu annually receives from Xian Han several hundred debt-ridden youths; all minor offenders, thieves of small items who couldn’t repay.
Under this system, Xuan Chong clearly felt that Xian Han society was always brimming with an outward “killing intent.” No other reason—too many youths yearned to be classified in the “legitimate profession” category, unwilling to live like “ants.”
Joining the military for social assembly, entering formal system communication through assembly, thus gaining capital.
And the Xian Han court has currently reached the limit of productivity. Expanding from north to south, the land expansion yielded no returns.
…The ceremony ended…
After standing for a morning, Xuan Chong rubbed his hungry stomach, then began a 100-meter sprint, habitually picking up a ruler to mark the distance ahead.
Xuan Chong slightly moved his finger ahead, drawing a new line.
“Wait, a ruler? I didn’t bring my pencil case?” Xuan Chong stared at the precisely appearing 84.5445m distance ahead, slightly stunned!
The Five Oceans Festival is a formal ritual; wearing a well-fitted formal attire, one cannot carry extra items.
And something as important as the pencil case—if confiscated by a superior in a formal setting, he’d have to cry.
Thus, he left it in the dormitory.
Yet now, a metaphysics event occurred: the ruler from the pencil case appeared directly in his hand following his intent.
Xuan Chong silently recited, and “whoosh,” the ruler vanished; then, when he wanted to measure a distant building, it reappeared.
Then, Xuan Chong paused, immediately trying: compass, eraser, pencil all appeared, even the pencil case. And when he wasn’t measuring, they turned into phantoms.
After lunch, Xuan Chong hurriedly ran back to the dormitory, took out his schoolbag, and found the stationery all gone.
However, as Xuan Chong willed it to measure the room size, the stationery reappeared. Thus, Xuan Chong realized the “magical stationery” had fused with him, becoming one of his abilities.
Xuan Chong: I just attended a “festival,” how did my transmigration items turn metaphysical? Who knows, maybe one day I’ll vanish from this world with a whoosh too.
Afterward, Xuan Chong thumped his schoolbag but soon paused, because he felt a solid object: the novel “Brave Soldier” was still there.
Touching this novel, Xuan Chong realized something and hurriedly asked the system: “Where are my stationery?”
Abruptly, the system replied: “Transmigration items have completed system update according to plane rule system. Welcome to evaluate.”
Xuan Chong: “System update? Is the old version saved?”
System: “The old version had vulnerabilities; restoring it would inconvenience your use. (Though not explicitly stated, this system reply clearly informed Xuan Chong that in the old version, losing stationery would prevent him from using it! The new version update was for his better experience.)”
Xuan Chong always felt this was like coaxing a child. He must have encountered something for all this to happen. (Five Oceans Festival)
Xuan Chong waved the “Brave Soldier” in his hand and asked: “What about this?”
System: “This item, due to lack of usage feedback, was not included in this update system.”
Xuan Chong seized the key info: “How to use it?”
The system played dead. Perhaps disappointed in a student with no enthusiasm even for “cheating.”
…Half an hour later…
Xuan Chong used all the tools and suddenly noticed a fountain pen in his hand!
When using the ruler to draw lines in the air, no fountain pen was needed, so what was the fountain pen for?
Xuan Chong took out the ruler and drew with the fountain pen: normal lines, no different from his previous air-drawn ones.
Then he paused, pondered, feeling he hadn’t fully explored the fountain pen’s function, so he took it to write on paper, but the writing was normal, and the paper didn’t turn into gold or silver.
While Xuan Chong was bored, he slid the pen over the “Brave Soldier” borrowed from the library and found the fountain pen wouldn’t “show” (ink out). Reflexively he shook it, then drew on his palm, finding the ink flowed smoothly.
Xuan Chong flipped through the novel and suddenly discovered a blank name on a page, then flipped many pages. Xuan Chong found that in this novel, over 250 consecutive chapters, this name had vanished. He suddenly understood.
Thus, Xuan Chong hugged his copy of the novel for research, occasionally scribbling as if a bored person writing with an invisible pen.
However, suddenly, the pen tip could stroke under a word, and that word was “Grass Returning Pill.” Xuan Chong took a deep breath, circled the word. Then staring at it, his eyes felt sore; rubbing them, the word disappeared.
Immediately after, Xuan Chong hastily stood, accidentally bumping his schoolbag, but as it fell, he felt something extra inside, like a ceramic bottle.
