Zhao Xixi was very interested in the life in the cave. She could not imagine that there were more than a thousand people living here together. She couldn't wait to learn more about people's basic necessities, food, housing, transportation, resource allocation, neighborhood relations, and social governance.
The young man led them towards the depths of the cave. Although there were more than a thousand people living in such a spacious hall, they could not smell any peculiar smell at all. Instead, there was a strange smell. The aroma makes people feel particularly comfortable and pleasant.
Zhao Xixi curiously asked what kind of flower this wonderful fragrance came from. The young man replied with a smile: "This is not a floral fragrance from a plant, but ambergris. It is not really plant, but the secretion of water dragon."
After hearing this, Chen Mingzhi suddenly became very interested and asked to have a glimpse of the true nature of ambergris. After all, this kind of item is rare and extremely precious in the world. It can be said to be a rare treasure that can be encountered but cannot be found. Its value is astonishingly high.
The young man smiled slightly and explained: "The water dragon is the water god we admire. Four times a year, it brings us precious water sources at specific times. Specifically, it brings us precious water. You were led here by the mountain floods that washed down the cliff, and these water flows eventually gathered in the lake in the cliff valley."
There is a mystery about one hundred and fifty miles away from here. And the eye-catching Dragon Valley. This dragon valley is actually a deep well with a diameter of about six feet, but its depth seems to be bottomless, making it difficult to peer into the bottom.
Next to the Dragon Valley, there stands a huge Dragon Rock, with its length and width reaching a thousand feet.
Whenever water dragons arrive here, they will rest on the huge dragon rock for ten full hours. According to legend, the dragon rock is the sacred dojo where water dragons practice. Once the time comes, these water dragons will quickly get into the dragon valley.
The extremely precious ambergris was obtained here.
It is carefully distributed to various caves and pharmacies for use by specialized personnel because it not only exudes a strange aroma, but is also a highly effective medicine.
"Come on, everyone, please take a look." The young man took a few steps forward and pointed to the rockery that was more than two meters high in the center of the cave. At the core of the rockery, there is a small hole hidden. There is a transparent solid piece in the shape of amber, the size of a palm, placed in the cave.
This solid piece exudes an unusually strong and strange smell, making people feel a fresh and pleasant atmosphere, as if all the depression and discomfort have dissipated in an instant.
"Wow, it turns out this is the legendary ambergris! Just a little bit as tiny as a mung bean in the world is enough to buy an entire villa in Shanghai! I didn't expect it to be here. There is such a huge piece. "Chen Mingzhi couldn't help but express his extreme feelings.An envious look.
"Do all the houses over there need to be purchased?" the young man asked equally curiously.
“If you don’t buy it, where can you live? And the house prices are rising higher and higher, and the price is staggeringly expensive. Ordinary people may not be able to afford a house even if they work hard all their lives. The cost of the house! When I married my mother-in-law, my mother-in-law’s family had to ask me to buy a house in the county.”
“For this reason, I not only used up my parents’ life savings, but also owed money. Hundreds of thousands of foreign debts, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank loans! Now most of the monthly income must be used to repay the bank loan. I really envy you that you can allocate free housing!" Chen Mingzhi said with emotion.
"We have a book here handed down from our ancestors called "The Record of the World", which describes in detail the use of gold and silver and other currencies to conduct transactions in the outside world. But here, there is no Currency in circulation. The founder established a system that prohibits the use of currency and strictly prohibits taking public property for himself. All items here are distributed according to actual needs."
"Then you work. What? Just work, who will do the work?" Zhao Xixi asked with interest.
"According to the regulations of the Presbytery, all people over the age of ten need to participate in labor. Specifically, we divided the population into four age groups: ten, sixteen, and twenty. and forty years old. Moreover, according to gender, we will divide the work tasks into agriculture, handicrafts, kitchen work, etc. These tasks will be uniformly arranged by special labor houses, and each ten people will be divided into them. As a group, they collaborate with each other to complete tasks. For women, they do not need to participate in labor during the first three years of marriage, pregnancy and lactation,” the young man explained in detail.
Zhao Xixi listened carefully, but was still a little confused, and continued to ask: "Is this system really feasible? Will everyone be obedient? Isn't it possible that no one would want to be lazy? Are you kidding? ”
“This system has been going on for thousands of years, and everyone is very supportive. In fact, people here not only work hard to do their own work, but even take the initiative to help. Other groups. Of course, if someone is lazy because of legitimate reasons such as illness, it is understandable. Everyone attaches great importance to their reputation. It is difficult for a person who is lazy and does not participate in work, whether he is a man or a woman. Find a partner you are willing to marry. Moreover, those who violate the system by refusing to participate in labor will be severely punished. Therefore, under normal circumstances, everyone will abide by the rules and dare not make mistakes easily." road.
"So are there bad behaviors such as fighting, killing and setting fires?" Zhao Xixi continued to ask.
After hearing this question, the young man couldn’t help but sigh.He was shocked, but soon regained his composure, and said slowly: "Here here, the law established by the Elders' Council clearly stipulates that no matter who participates in a fight, whether justified or not, will be handed over to the Council of Elders for decision. The number of whippings that should be received, and each party shall bear half of it; if more than two people participate in the fight, the person who convened the fight will be regarded as the person in charge and will bear all the whippings according to the number of participants. If the number is larger, it can be executed in batches. No more than ten lashes will be given each time, while other participants will be exempted from punishment. As for intentional murder and manslaughter, they will be sentenced to death, except for cases of negligence causing death. According to our historical records, only in this case. Five hundred years ago, there was a murder case caused by two men fighting for a woman. Since then, there has been no similar record. ”
“Wow, this is really the case. A peaceful and peaceful world! Without conflicts of interests and conflicts, naturally there would be no vicious incidents." Zhao Xixi sighed deeply.
The young man led the four people and continued walking inside. They stepped on the stone steps and headed towards the grotto above. Along the way, they saw a grotto every few tens of meters on the cliffs on both sides. The door openings of these grottoes were the same size, but the door openings had their own unique decorations and carved patterns.
However, what is striking is that an auspicious cloud is carefully carved above the lintel of each door opening.
"This should be your totem." Jiang Xiaobao murmured to himself.
"Yes, auspicious clouds are our totem. Only our founders have ever witnessed real auspicious clouds. And the rest of us have never had such an experience. I will take you there later. There is a legendary auspicious cloud in the meeting room of the Presbytery. It is said to be an auspicious cloud from the sea," the young man explained with a smile.
When everyone heard this, their eyes shone with curiosity. They were full of expectations for that mysterious auspicious cloud and couldn't wait to have a look at it. So, they quickened their pace and followed the young man to the meeting room of the Presbytery.
Jiang Xiaobao gently touched the dark green door in front of him and whispered: "The color of this door is really beautiful!" At this time, everyone suddenly realized that the stone slab on the grotto door was actually a It is made of a whole piece, and some parts also have a translucent glass texture.
"This is basalt. Look, there are small pores on it! This purely natural material is so luxurious!" someone exclaimed.
"That's my home, fifth from here. Why don't you come to my home and have a look." The young man extended an invitation enthusiastically.
Song Yijin and others are naturally eager to have the opportunity to visit their real living environment. When they arrived at the door of the young man's house, they found that the door of his house was no different from other houses, except that the pattern on the door was slightly different.
The young man gently opened the door, and a young manThe child suddenly ran out of it, quickly climbed into his arms like a little monkey, and hugged his neck tightly with both hands.
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Then, the little guy blinked his curious eyes and looked at the group of uninvited guests. The young man tried to get the child to say hello to everyone, but who knew that the child was very stubborn. No matter how much he was coaxed, he refused to speak, and even stayed in his arms and refused to get off the ground.
The young man introduced everyone into the house with a smile. The light in the room was slightly dim, with several oil lamps emitting a faint light, illuminating the entire space. The ground has been carefully polished, as smooth as a mirror, and spotless. There are five small and exquisite cave dwellings in the spacious living room. Each cave dwelling is a bedroom. The bed in the cave seems to be carved directly from the stone wall. It is low and chic, with stone pillows and quilts placed on the bed.
The ancient way of life is still preserved here, and electricity, a product of modern civilization, did not appear here. Most items from the outside world are hard to find here. The tables and chairs are made of exquisite metamorphic rock with exquisite craftsmanship. In addition, there is a bench for people to rest, whose style is quite similar to the chaise longue sofa used by modern people. There are many books displayed on the table and in the wall caves. Zhao Xixi can't help but wonder what kind of material the paper of these books is made of, and what is the content of the books? However, she was worried that being too casual would offend the other party, so she was embarrassed to ask.
The young man seemed to see what he was thinking, smiled slightly, then picked up a book from the table and handed it to Zhao Xixi and said: "I am also responsible for managing the bookstore. This is a book that has just been printed. , after sorting it out, it will be sent to the bookstore."
Zhao Xixi took the book and asked curiously: "Is this bookstore equivalent to what we often call a library? ? If someone wants to read a book, can he borrow it there and return it after reading it?"
The young man nodded and replied with a smile: "Yeah, you can understand it that way. "
Zhao Xixi lowered her head and looked at the title of the book in her hand - "Lianshan Yi", and couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement in her heart. This is a long-lost book from the Qin Dynasty! Then, he glanced at several other books on the table, including "Eighteen Types of Qin Code", "Gui Zang Yi", "Tian Code" and "Miscellaneous Internal History", etc. These are all precious books that have been lost! Two of them have been unearthed in Xi'an in the past few years.
Jiang Xiaobao's eyes widened and he said in amazement: "Wow, these books are priceless treasures!" He couldn't believe his eyes.
Look at these papers, they are very modern, the printing ink is very clear, and the font is the official script popular in the middle and late Qin Dynasty. It can be seen from here that their writing and printing technology have been constantly developing and improving.
“Our founders left behind a large number of bamboo slips, but due to improper preservation, almost nonecan be preserved. In the room of the presbytery, the walls are covered with inscriptions from the founding period. At that time, the founder found that the bamboo slips could not be preserved for a long time, so he carved the text on the wall first. Later, we used plants, rock powder, rock glue and other materials to make paper, and invented stone printing. ”
“So, what are your books like? "The young man asked curiously.
"The paper used in our books is made from trees, reeds, weeds, bamboo and other raw materials beaten into wood pulp or straw pulp. After cooking, beating, coloring, Made by a series of processes such as purification and drying. The characters above have evolved into simplified characters, which is a further simplified version of the official script you see now, with fewer strokes. Moreover, we use all offset printing methods and no longer use thread for binding. "Jiang Xiaobao introduced in detail.
"Handmade books like yours are easier to preserve. Adding natural rock powder and rock glue to plant fibers is more conducive to permanent preservation, which is also very advantageous, especially for printing. Rock ink is incomparable to our oil-based ink and water-based ink. Tibetan handmade thangka pigments are made from minerals, which are bright and long-lasting. This mineral pigment can be understood as rock ink. "
"Many of the books here are lost in the world. They are well-deserved treasures in the world and are of infinite value. "Jiang Xiaobao said.
The houses here are so exquisitely built! The only drawback is that there are no electric lights. It would be perfect if they could have electricity.
"What is Electricity and lights? "The young man asked curiously.
"Electricity is a good thing. It is a commonly used energy source in our daily lives. It can be generated through various channels such as water flow and wind, and then transmitted through wires made of metals such as copper wire. Finally, just use a light bulb to achieve lighting! Moreover, the brightness of electric lights is very high, much brighter than the oil lamps you use in your house. It is almost the same as the light you see outdoors during the day. However, electric lights also have some shortcomings. In comparison, I think oil lamps are more practical here. "
After hearing this, the young man still didn't seem to understand.
Jiang Xiaobao asked again: "Then what kind of oil do you use to light the lamp? ”
“This is a special kind of oil called rock oil. We have dedicated people responsible for refining this oil. These oils come from the cracks in the cliffs near Dragon Valley and seep out continuously. After collection, they are purified and refined. They can be used as lamp oil and kitchen fuel. "
"That may be oil. We use machines on the ground to pump it up from below. Oil is very useful. In addition to making lamp oil, it can also be made into gasoline, engine oil, and is also a raw material for making cloth for clothes. By the way, if your lamp is always lit, where does its smoke go? ”
“You see there is a row of small holes above the roof, which are connected with the caves. The air in all the caves is circulated by the draft.When moving, the upper pipes of each grotto are connected, continuously sending fresh air into the grotto, and at the same time, the dirty smoke is automatically sucked away. ”
Chen Mingzhi lamented that in comparison, the electric exhaust systems used in our modern society pale in comparison.
Song Yijin became more and more fond of this grotto. Observing the surrounding walls carefully, I saw that the holes on the walls were large and small, but they were arranged neatly, as if they were carefully designed.
Then look at the children's stone and wooden objects placed in the house. The toys made there are even more dazzling. From simple building blocks to exquisite dolls, every toy shows the exquisite craftsmanship of the makers.
You can imagine that the people here must be dazzled. Paying great attention to cultivating children's hands-on skills and creativity
Looking at everything in front of him, Song Yijin couldn't help but sigh: "The people here are really amazing! With his own wisdom and hard work, he has created such a wonderful life. ”
After visiting the young man’s house, they continued to move forward towards the Presbyterian House. The Presbyterian House is composed of nine people. This rule has been established since the founding of the ancestors. It has not changed and cannot be changed.
When they walked out of the cave, the other cave in front was the location of the Presbyterian House. When they entered the hall of the Presbyterian House, they could see a huge statue in the center. The stone screen is engraved with exquisite auspicious cloud patterns. Below the auspicious clouds, the full text of "Kai Zu Xun" is engraved. There is a round stone table and stone bench right in front. It is a place where nine elders discuss matters, and major decisions in the clan can only be determined through the consultation of the Elders Council.
The young man told everyone that the members of the Elders Council are voluntarily elected by the clan members, as long as they are young. Anyone over the age of 15 is eligible to be elected to the Elders' House. Then, they noticed that the cliffs on both sides were covered with a large number of words, and the scene was very spectacular. Going deeper, they could see many carved inscriptions. The grotto contains various functional areas such as a bookstore, an executive courtyard, a weaving courtyard, a study room, and a warehouse. In particular, there are many study rooms and warehouses, and there seem to be many children's voices in the study room.
At this time, Song Yijin was staring at the stone screen intently. Suddenly, as if he had discovered something, he turned to Zhao Xixi and said, "Look, the content engraved on it is not the same one we had outside before." Did you see the "Ancestor's Instructions" on the boulder? They are exactly the same! " Zhao Xixi heard the words and quickly took a closer look. Sure enough, it was exactly as Song Yijin said.
"So, where are the auspicious clouds on the sea? "Zhao Xixi asked curiously.