As the sun slowly crept into the middle of the sky, the bronze bell carved at noon was ringed on the bell and drum tower in the distance. A few small flocks of jackdaws flew to their feet at the sound of the melodious bells. They flapped their wings and croaked, and soon gathered into a large group, circling around the bell and drum tower. It wasn't until the bell died down for a long time that they gradually separated, looking for their nests and falling down. Eventually, there was only one jackdaw left in the sky, still flying lonely. Perhaps, its nest has been overturned by a naughty child, or perhaps it has not found its home, or perhaps something has made it sad; In short, in the end, it did not fall to the ground, but flew off into the distance with a mournful chirp, becoming a small black dot in the blue sky......

Huo Shiqi sat in the grass pavilion on a small earthen bag by the pond in the backyard, raised his face, and kept looking at the lonely bird. When the distant jackdaw completely melted into the blue sky, he also subconsciously walked out of the pavilion, trying to continue to pursue its figure.

He didn't make it. No matter how fast he paces, he can't keep up with it. Even though his eyes followed it, even if there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, he couldn't tell which way the jackdaw had flew.

He stood dumbfounded on the dirt slope made of the earth from the pond, staring in the direction in which the jackdaw had flown away, and did not move for a long time.

It was midday, and he was alone in the backyard, so quiet that he seemed to hear his breathing and heartbeat. There was no wind, and he didn't feel cold; Sunlight also does not make people feel warm. The water in the pond below the slope has been discharged about the beginning of winter, and now there is only a thin layer of ice at the bottom of the pond, which shimmers in the sunlight. On the ice were dead branches and leaves that had been blown into the pond by the wind, and then stirred up by the windy cold wind, piled up everywhere.

He let out a long sigh and dragged his tired legs back to the grass pavilion. He sat down on the stone drum bench in the pavilion, stared at a pair of bloodshot eyes and continued to think about his thoughts. Perhaps, it may be more accurate to say that he is continuing to be in a daze, one by one, he has not woken up from the all-night conversation with Shang Cheng last night. His mind was still circling the changes of Wei Ying and Wu Qi, and he was still stuck in the story of Wang Mang's failure, and he was still flashing those new words that he had never heard of: class, stratum, unity, attack, ruling base, social structure, social organization, social shock, historical process, historical stage, slave society, feudal society, imperial power, and relative power......

These historical figures, historical stories, and inexplicable new words, suddenly came and went in his mind, making his mind chaotic, and he couldn't sort out a clear clue at all. He couldn't remember many of the things Shang Cheng had told him; It was hard for him to recall the connection between those unheard of new words. The knowledge he had received in a short period of time was too much and too profound, which made his mind confused, and even if only two hours had passed, he could no longer remember the specific measures taken by Shang Ying to change the law. He only remembered the general story of their change of law and their final encounters, as well as some good comments of later generations on their change of law, which were actually Shang Cheng's positive comments on them. However, if he were asked to repeat Shang Cheng's evaluation, he would probably not be able to say a word. He only knew that Shang Cheng's evaluation was wonderful and reasonable, at least no worse than the history books he had read. Moreover, Shang Cheng did not simply judge Shang Ying's rights and wrongs, but constantly changed the perspective of thinking about problems, constantly put forward novel ideas, and explored and summarized the reasons for Shang Ying's success and failure from all directions. Unfortunately, he was too dull and stupid to remember the subtle conversations. From beginning to end, what he can remember, summed up together, there is only one sentence:

One by one, Zhu Xuan's investigation of hidden fields and hidden households, as well as the vigorous promotion of new agricultural tools and new methods, are likely to cause a catastrophe in the end. It's not Zhu Xuan and they have a disaster, or Da Zhao has a disaster!

When Shang Cheng made this assertion, his expression was very serious. He remembered that he had known Shang Cheng for so many years, and Shang Cheng's serious expression seemed to have only appeared once, that is, the time when he was asked to go to Beizheng to kill Li Shen. At that time, Shang Cheng also looked like that, his eyes were firm, his face seemed to be frozen with ice, his lips barely moved when he spoke, and his voice seemed to burst out of his chest, so deep that it was impossible to justify and disobey it......

He shifted his footsteps, allowing his numb legs to move. He remembered that he asked Zhu Xuan why they were thinking about changing the law, and Shang Cheng replied to him like this:

"I don't know. I don't see any place where there is a need for big social change. But since they want to change, there must be a good reason. It's just that the reason is that we can't reach them and understand them yet, out of our sight. However, Zhang Pu and the Prime Minister's office, they must know the truth very well. But they themselves can't come forward to lead this change for one reason or another, or they don't have the courage to carry out the change, so they put Zhu Xuan, a high-ranking intellectual with a high reputation, to the forefront! ”

He had only memorized this sentence for a whole night's conversation; I don't know if it's Shang Cheng's original words. It was from this question that the content of his conversation with Shang Cheng shifted from changing the law to the current situation in the imperial court. The contest between the southbound faction and the northbound faction, the struggle for imperial power and relative power, the fact that the crown prince was poisoned and was already on the verge of death, and the various preparations made by the kings of Chengdu and Jinan for the position of the prince in secret, were also mixed with contradictions between the military and the army, Xiao Yan's parting of ways, Yang Shang's rivalry, and the internal divisions and checks and balances within the Shaozhuang faction that would inevitably appear in the future......

He remembered that after listening to Shang Cheng's narration, the first thought that flashed through his mind turned out to be "when the heroes of the Land of Storms and Clouds used their weapons"! He was so excited by his ambition that he didn't feel sleepy, and the reason why he came to this quiet backyard alone was to persuade Shang Cheng to give up the ridiculous observance of military discipline and devote himself to this earth-shaking change!

Fortunately, his mind has not been completely burned because of fever, at least he can clearly know how many catties and taels he has, no matter how much he calculates, he is also 108,000 miles away from the title of "hero of the world". However, like him, who is his "Ji" and who is his "Hong"? What horse is willing to let him hold his tail, and what wild goose is willing to let him climb the pipe?

Obviously, this person can only be a monk, and he can only be a monk!

However, the monk had clearly told him that these things should not be touched, let alone touched!

He believed the monk's words. He unreservedly and absolutely trusted the monk's words! As long as the monk says that there is something that cannot be done and something is going to go wrong, it is absolutely not to be done! Now, Zhu Xuan didn't even dare to touch the monks, why did he Huo Qiqi dare to touch it? Isn't he necessarily more capable and capable than a monk?

However, he really regretted to miss such an opportunity. If he can climb the path of Chang Xiu and Zhu Xuan, he is likely to be the founder of the country. Only with the knighthood can the Yixian Huo family be regarded as a truly glorious lintel. Moreover, he really wanted to do something real so that he could be worthy of the Martian Gonggong Shrine that he could see in the fields of Yanshan. In fact, he didn't have any strength at all, but he enjoyed the praise of others for the monk's exploits, which made him feel extremely ashamed and guilty in his heart. He owes the monk so much that he can't even count it......

Thinking of the place where he was sorry for the monk, he couldn't help but think of Lianniang. Although the monk repeatedly said that Lianniang's affairs had nothing to do with him, the real enemy was the Tuqi people who invaded Yanshan for no reason to burn and kill and plunder, so that he should stop blaming himself. But can he not hate himself?

When he thought of his stupidity at the beginning, when he thought of Lianniang and the doll in her belly, he couldn't help but shed tears. He hates, he hates himself! How could he be so stupid! He thumped his thigh in annoyance. Why is he so stupid......

At this time, a servant happened to walk by the pond. He saw the strange behavior of Uncle Ying's uncle. But he didn't dare to say anything, and hurriedly walked over with his head down.

The sound of footsteps alerted Huo Shiqi from deep remorse. Only then did he realize that the sun had set in the west. Unconsciously, he actually stayed in this grass pavilion for almost a whole day.

He wiped away his tears and snot with the sleeves of his robe, and no matter how bad his current image was, he hurriedly ran to Shang Cheng.

Shang Cheng had just gotten up, and he was asking people to go to dinner with him, when he saw him enter the door with an unkempt face and a gray face, he was immediately startled. He hurriedly let him into the house and sat down, and while asking someone to hurry up and fetch some hot water, he asked him with concern: "Uncle, what's wrong with you?" ”

Huo Shiqi does not sit. He was willing to stand. He said to Shang Cheng in a firm tone: "I have made up my mind!" ”

His tone startled Shang Cheng again. Shang Cheng asked him: "You sit down first, you can say anything!" What are your minds? ”

"I'm not going to the Ministry of Industry anymore, and I don't want to be a founding uncle! Whatever they want to give him, they can give it! ”

"Oh, oh." Shang Cheng hurriedly nodded in response. In a hurry, he was a little confused by the second monk, and he didn't know which play his uncle was singing. It took a while to react, this is Huo Shiqi who promised to listen to his persuasion and not to stir up peace in the muddy water. He said happily, "If you don't go to the Ministry of Industry, you can't say that you don't want to be the founder of the country." Of course, you still have to ask for it! ”

"No!" Huo Shiqi rarely interrupted Shang Cheng's words. He said, "You and I both know what those things are going on, so we won't talk about it." Whatever the court gives, I don't ask for it and I don't want it. That's not my credit in the first place! I'm just here to talk to you, I'll listen to you, go to the military department to find something to do! He grinned. I think clearly, can't you also do real things in the military department? ”

Shang Cheng nodded vigorously. He was very much in favor of his uncle's words. As long as you are willing to do things, which yamen can't do it? If you want to do things in a down-to-earth manner, what position can't you do in a practical way? He said, "Okay, I'll go back and talk to the military department to see if I can arrange a position for you." Uncle Yiyi, don't worry about this Juelu, there will be a big battle to fight in the past few years, and I will have to protect you as the founding marquis when the time comes! "Since he can send Guo Biao, Zhang Shao, Sun Zhongshan, and them all the way to the founding of the country, he can naturally help Uncle Seventeen earn a meritorious service of honoring his ancestors! He is a blind businessman in Yixian County, and he has this heart, and he has this ability!