We had been looking for chickens for a day, but we were actually quite tired and wished we had a night's rest.

But after dinner, I felt bored, so I went to the third uncle's room, and wanted to ask him what he was doing during the day.

When I entered the house, the third uncle was leaning against the head of the bed, looking at the ceiling in a daze.

After a long time, I also figured out his habits. His appearance proves that the third uncle has encountered a problem.

I sat down gently, and when the third uncle saw me coming, a smile appeared on his face.

I asked, "What's the matter, Uncle San?" ”

When the third uncle saw me coming, he sat cross-legged on the bed and said, "During the day, I went to check the history of the bridge." ”

I asked, "Did you find something wrong?" ”

The third uncle nodded and told me what he had found during the day.

As for the history of the bridge, it has been more than 300 years ago, and it is a veritable century-old bridge. The river flowing below is called the Mustard River, and according to the chronological calculation, the dynasty that built the bridge was the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. The bridge is a typical stone arch bridge design, perfect design, simple structure but strong and extraordinary, in the long years, although after the impact of countless floods, wind and rain and several earthquakes, but it is safe and sound, standing majestically on the mustard river.

And the name is still written by Shunzhi himself. The implication is: Sumeru hides mustard seeds, and mustard seeds are Sumeru. Sumeru flows in mustard seeds, the sun and moon flow in the pot, and the avenue flows in nature.

Shunzhi uses the word Liuyu and integrates the ideas of Buddhism and Taoism. In order to persuade the world not to be obsessed with the fame, status, honor, etc., things will be transformed, and glory and wealth are just passing clouds, just like this mustard water, drifting with the tide and not staying for a moment.

However, after entering the 90s, the bridge has experienced 300 years of wind and rain, and some natural and man-made damage has been made. In order to preserve the heritage and for the safety of travelers, the government decided to carry out the first large-scale repairs to the bridge.

Because it flows into the middle of the bridge deck, there are signs of collapse, so this repair project is huge. At that time, the water of the Mustard River was turbulent and fast. The project should build a steel frame on the mustard river, use steel cables, and lay foundation pillars in the river. The third uncle didn't understand the engineering aspect, and the description was very simple.

I knew that he didn't mean to describe this, so I listened to him go on, but who knew that he stopped the topic and asked me, "Eldest nephew, do you know about the river festival?" ”

"River festival? Is it a tribute to the river god? ”

The third uncle nodded: "That's right." There is also a saying that it is a river demon, whether it is a river god or a river demon, it is a kind of spiritual creature that breeds in the river water. Some trades that rely on the river water to eat, such as river workers, fishermen, etc., must pay homage to the river god or sea god before going out to the river and going to the sea. In order to pray for the protection of the river god and bless the wind and rain on both sides of the river. The river went smoothly and returned safely. ”

I know something about what the third uncle said. In some special places and special industries in our country, there is indeed a unique custom of their own. More often than not, I think they want to pray for psychological comfort. Whether this sacrifice was useful or not remains to be seen.

about

There are many allusions to this kind of worship to the river god in history. Accounts differ and opinions vary. The more famous story is the story of Simon Leopard's rule. said that the king of Wei sent Ximen Leopard to Ye to govern. The local witch said that the river god of the Zhanghe River would marry a young and beautiful girl as his daughter-in-law every year, and if he did not send it, he would send water and flood the fields. In fact, it was a means for the local gentry to collect money from witches. Simon Leopard did not believe in evil and threw both the witch and the gentry into the river on the spot. And dig ditches to divert water, every year the wind and rain are smooth, and the harvest is quite abundant.

There is also the famous allusion of Zhuge Liang's sacrifice to the river god, according to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang led his troops to the south, and encountered miasma and venom when crossing the Lushui, and the soldiers who touched the water would become weak and sick or even die, and it was difficult to continue the march. At this time, Meng was able to say that Zhuge Liang carried out a river sacrifice in accordance with local customs, killed forty-nine prisoners of war, and sacrificed human heads in order to cross the river smoothly. Zhuge Liang naturally did not want to kill the prisoners of war so easily, so he kneaded them into a ball with flour and rice wine, stuffed them with beef and mutton, and then carved out the facial features of the human beings on the surface, imitated them into human heads, and offered them to the river god. This work well, and after worshipping the river god, the miasma receded and the army was able to cross the river. This imitation of the human head was named "Mantou", and it was also the prototype of the original steamed buns and steamed buns.

When I heard the third uncle mention the river festival, I asked, "Did they also carry out the river festival when the bridge was built?" ”

The third uncle nodded: "Although this kind of river sacrifice is an ancient custom, those construction units and workers who work on the water all year round believe in it very much. Every time they start construction, they have to perform a river festival. For this, the officials also turn a blind eye, as long as they don't make a big move. Otherwise, if you are deducted from the hat of feudal superstition, you will not be able to explain to the above. ”

"It must have been something wrong at the time of the river festival." I couldn't help but ask.

The third uncle's face was very ugly, and he just nodded slowly when he heard me ask: "At that time, there was an accident during the river festival. Later, in order to carry out the project smoothly, the official blocked the news. So not many people know about it, and it took me a lot of effort to find out. ”

I asked, "Are you looking for your leader friend again?" ”

The third uncle nodded and admitted, "That's right." It also happened that the chief commander of the maintenance project at that time is now the competitor of my leading friend in the official career. My leader friend also collected some evidence from the river festival and wanted to attack the other party. So he had a fairly clear grasp of the situation, and he told me bluntly. ”

I thought to myself, the struggle in this career is really intriguing, open and covert, and sometimes it is really more ruthless and poisonous than a face-to-face duel. This kind of method of stabbing behind the back can not be described as insidious and vicious. I don't have a good impression of this leader friend. It is estimated that the third uncle is also very disdainful of this, but he still has to get help from him often, and the third uncle is also reluctant to associate with him.

I got up and poured a glass of water for the third uncle and handed it to him, and the third uncle took two big sips and continued to talk about what happened during the river festival: "At that time, during the river festival, they found a feng shui master, and the time was chosen at ten o'clock in the morning. At the beginning, the sky was still clear, and no one expected that when the river festival began, it would suddenly become gloomy. Large dark clouds drifted in the sky, obscuring the sky above the festival site. There were also a lot of onlookers, and everyone whispered and talked about it, and the voices became louder and louder......"

(End of chapter)

Reading is exciting, reading is wonderful!

( = )