Chapter 17 Establishing Virtue Throughout the World by Means of Three Books

  At first, Zhang Zixing still followed the daily rotation to stay in the three palaces. Later, he found it too troublesome and had a super-large bed specially made in the middle palace of the empress. He ignored the protests of the three concubines "corrupting the emperor" and pulled them all into the big bed for "cultivation". Jiang Wenchun and Yang Jiu were mature young women who had slept together with Zhang Zixing when he was still a prince, so now that their identities had changed to empress and noble consort, they didn't think much of it. Huang Feiyan was shy and had no such experience. Even when Zhang Zixing asked her to change positions during intimacy, she felt extremely embarrassed and refused to share a bed with the other two women. Later, she couldn't withstand the emperor's "pressure" and had to give in. Over time, it became a habit. In this way, Zhang Zixing enjoyed himself with his three beautiful concubines, savoring the pleasures of life. Huang Feiyan had practiced martial arts since childhood and had a physique that far surpassed Jiang Hou and Yang Fei. With Zhang Zixing's personal guidance on some Su Nu Jing Qigong techniques, she gradually made progress and benefited more than the other two women.

  As for the palace maids and singing girls, Zhang Zixing didn't have any intention of taking advantage of them, instead he dispersed more than half of them, only keeping a small number to serve him. The vast rear palace was left with only three consorts, making it eerily quiet.

  Facing the deserted harem, the virtuous empress who was deeply poisoned by the ideas of polygamy and inheritance was worried. She knew that her three sisters combined could hardly satisfy this vigorous husband, let alone with only three concubines and two princes, so she had advised Zhang Zixing to take in more concubines many times, but Zhang Zixing always smiled and did not respond, or used "the fate has not arrived" as an excuse.

  It's not that Zhang Zixing has changed his ways, nor does he want to take in many beautiful women. Rather, it's a case of being aware of the dangers while living in peace and quiet, knowing that if one indulges excessively in beauty now, neglects government affairs and the development of vital energy, they will surely repeat the mistakes of past dynasties' downfall.

  Although busy with government affairs during the day and working hard at night, Zhang Zixing's self-cultivating magical warrior's mantra had not been neglected. After two years, he had already cultivated to the last posture "Wall", and his physical strength and toughness had expanded greatly. His five senses and six consciousness were also greatly expanded, far surpassing ordinary people. Due to the enhancement of Zhang Zixing's Su Nu Jing energy, the data that could be called up by the super brain was gradually increasing, and it would also feed back that special energy to further regulate the increasingly powerful Su Nu Jing and Warrior's Mantra.

  In the third year of Emperor Zhou's reign, in summer, Emperor Zhou intentionally declared a three-month retreat for introspection and meditation, entrusting state affairs to Wen Zhong and Shang Rong. Three months later, the emperor indeed emerged from his retreat, summoning all officials to the Jiuxian Hall, where he claimed that during his "introspection" he had written down all his lifelong insights in three great mysterious books, which he now made public to the world.

  The three great strange books written by Tianzi are "Baicao Jing", "Tian Suan" and "Dashang Liyue".

  "The Hundred Herbs Canon" is a comprehensive medical book compiled from the super-brain database of "Huangdi Neijing", "Shennong Bencaojing", "Shanghan Zabinglun" and "Jinkui Yaolue", which can be called a masterpiece in this era of backward medical skills.

  "The Heavenly Calculations" is an academic work mainly based on the great Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi's "Nine Chapters of Mathematical Art", also appropriately covering some scientific knowledge in astronomy and geography.

  The "Great Business Etiquette and Music" is divided into two major chapters, "Etiquette" and "Music". The "Etiquette" chapter is the focus of the book, which is Zhang Zixing's adaptation of Zhou Gongdan's future ideological theories. Zhou Gongdan's greatest contribution to our Chinese civilization was "establishing etiquette and creating music", using moral norms to regulate people's behavior, making humanity bid farewell to the era of barbarism, which coincides with Zhang Zixing's current ideas.

  In the book, Zhang Zixing proposed the hierarchical theory of "Three Bonds and Five Constants" in feudal society. The "Three Bonds" refer to "the ruler is the bond for the minister, the father is the bond for the son, and the husband is the bond for the wife", requiring those who are ministers, sons, and wives to absolutely obey their rulers, fathers, and husbands, while also requiring rulers, fathers, and husbands to set an example for their ministers, sons, and wives. It reflects a special moral relationship between rulers and ministers, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives in feudal society.

  The "Five Constants" are benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and faithfulness, which are used to adjust and regulate the behavior of people in relationships such as ruler-minister, father-son, brother-brother, husband-wife, and friend-friend. Although from a historical perspective, it embodies the various relationships of feudal rule, becoming the guiding ideology of feudal law, and is a thought weapon used by the ruling class to control and suppress people's thoughts and prevent them from "rebelling against their superiors", in this more primitive and barbaric slave society, it undoubtedly has a huge positive effect. At the same time, it can further consolidate Zhang Zixing's regime from an ideological perspective and lay the foundation for implementing new social systems in the future.

  Of course, in order to further win the hearts of the people, the book specifically points out that the king should pay attention to the support and opposition of the people's hearts, consider the feelings of the masses, and "quote" Tang Taizong's famous saying "water can carry a boat, but also capsize it". With these theories, abolishing the practice of burying alive in the future will be justified and reasonable.

  As for the poems, songs and lyrics recorded in the "Le" chapter, they are a large number of pirated works. Considering that the "original author" has not yet been born, Zhang Zixing, this plagiarizing emperor, also unscrupulously claims them as his own.

  These three great books were published and immediately caused a sensation throughout the land.

  Among the three great books, "Baicao Jing" became the supreme treasure book for all medical practitioners. King Zhou also established a Medical Academy to cultivate a large number of doctors in an official capacity, which raised the medical level of the entire Shang Dynasty by several levels, saving countless lives. The people deeply felt the kindness of the new king, and many even worshipped him as a god.

  The emergence of "Tian Suan" not only taught a lesson to all scholars at that time, but also widely applied the method of arithmetic to business exchanges. The profound and subtle parts of this book are even difficult for wise and capable people to understand, while the simple and easy-to-understand parts can be learned and used by ordinary merchants, making it a matter of pride for everyone, regardless of their status, to be proficient in arithmetic. Grand Master Du Yuancheng, under Zhang Zixing's guidance, successfully manufactured a bronze seismograph with reference to "Tian Suan". The old grand master was so excited that he almost wanted to worship Zhang Zixing as his teacher, but later suddenly realized that it would be against etiquette and repeatedly apologized.

  Among the three books, "Da Shang Li Yue" has had the greatest impact. This work established a very perfect ritual and moral norms, and put forward a series of viewpoints such as "the people are precious, the ruler is light", which made all the "sages" including Ji Chang admire it. The three books were promoted for only one year, and they won countless hearts for Zhang Zixing. Seeing that the time was ripe, he took advantage of the momentum to promulgate a decree that had been brewing in his heart for a long time - abolishing the sacrifice of living people.

  Zhang Zixing had anticipated that it would be impossible to completely abolish the practice of human sacrifice and ancestral worship in this era. As soon as the edict was issued, it was met with strong opposition from officials and nobles. However, Zhang Zixing, who had accumulated thousands of years of wisdom, was not deterred. His countermeasure was to create "mantou" (steamed buns) filled with meat paste and broth to replace human sacrifice, a tactic he learned from Zhuge Liang's campaign against the southern barbarians. As for the burial objects, he adopted the method used in the Qin dynasty's terracotta army, using clay to create human figures, which were then covered with gold, silver, or bronze masks. The quality and quantity of these figures varied according to the status of the deceased, just like the strict hierarchy of ritual vessels.

  This decree has saved countless slaves' lives and successfully taken the first step towards liberating slaves. However, considering the current situation, it is unrealistic to completely abolish slavery in a short period of time, requiring long-term development and effort. For this brand-new sacrificial and burial system, although some people had minor complaints, the public opinion of "Da Shang Li Yue" and the intimidation of the emperor eventually made them give up their persistence. More people are interested in the new substitute, thinking it better represents the deceased's identity than live human sacrifice. Therefore, this policy that frees humanity from ignorance and barbarism has finally been implemented smoothly after breaking through numerous obstacles, with the entire world extolling the virtues of today's emperor.

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  "Master, please take a look at this." A stout and smiling housekeeper handed over a scroll of paper to the young man in the shop. The young man had a heroic appearance, with bright eyes and an extraordinary aura that made him stand out even among millions of people. Behind him stood another handsome young man, who seemed to surpass the first one in terms of looks, but somehow lacked something.

  "This paper is still a bit too rough, the current papermaking technique is not good enough," the young man stroked the paper roll in his hand, furrowed his brow and muttered to himself: "The fiber quality of tree bark and hemp cloth is not high enough, try using mulberry bark as raw material next time... Superbrain said that during the Northern Song Dynasty, people in Zhejiang used wheat and rice straw to make pulp and combined it with tung oil to make paper, by the Ming Dynasty, the technique of making bamboo paper had become more sophisticated. Unfortunately, Song Yingxing's 'The Exploitation of the Works of Nature' cannot be retrieved from the database, and materials are currently in short supply, so we can only use Cai Lun's papermaking method..."

  The shop owner didn't quite catch the young man's muttering to himself, but he clearly heard his first sentence of criticism and immediately said with a displeased expression: "Sir, your words are unfair! The current wise and intelligent emperor has not only passed down three great treasures, but also created paper-making techniques, woodblock printing techniques, brush and ink manufacturing techniques, and other extraordinary skills to benefit the people. His merits are boundless, even the legendary Fuxi Emperor couldn't match him! What abilities do you have that you dare to recklessly criticize the emperor's sacred paper-making technique? Please leave this humble shop at once."

  "How dare you!" The short and stout butler immediately glared at him with a hint of superiority: "You actually dared to be rude to our master, do you know who we are?"

  "I don't care whose master you are," the old shopkeeper said with a stern tone, "The emperor's virtue is boundless, and all under heaven are grateful. If you dare to speak like this again, I'll just shout loudly once, and the neighbors around will drive you three out! If the guards come, you few may even face death!"

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