Chapter 6 The fourth part of the poultry part is better than fire and earth gives birth to gold

October 29, 2008 at 22:42 In the literature, the first animal that became extinct due to human activities was the golden bird.Around the 2nd century AD, the gargoyles were still active in the southwestern part of the empire.But eventually they disappeared altogether. This is how the history books describe this poor bird.It probably belongs to the finches, because it looks like any other finches, only slightly larger.Most of its feathers are bright yellow, with a slight metallic luster, but without the cold feeling of metal, it feels soft and dense.No one knows what the golden-washing bird's call is like, and one theory is that it doesn't sing at all.

The golden bird often flies aimlessly in the sea.Catching them is extremely difficult.Even so, there are still countless bird hunters who try to spread huge bird nets between sea ships and wait for them to land.The bird hunters formed a huge fleet and drifted on the sea.They risked offending the sea god, and they were busy all year round, but in the end, there were very few people who could capture the golden bird alive.But bird hunters still refuse to give up, because once they successfully catch them, they can get huge rewards. It is well known that great wealth is hidden in this bird.On the first and fifteenth days of each month, if the weather is too gloomy, the golden bird will feel depressed and restless.Jumping impatiently between the branches, they don't eat, but swallow their saliva desperately.At this point, some saliva will seep out along the rough edge of the hard beak.As soon as it comes into contact with the outside air, it turns into fine gold flakes.These gold flakes are slightly heavier than real gold and have a more dazzling luster.Like real gold, they melt when heated and can be cast into shapes.Hence the golden bird gets its name.

The local people think that these gold shavings are very magical, or that they themselves are the embodiment of divine power.They believe that jewelry made of this gold shavings will bring special luck to the wearer.This makes the bird, and the gold shavings it spits, all the more eagerly sought after. According to "Wei Lue", when Emperor Cao Rui of the Ming Dynasty ruled the empire, Kunming, nine thousand miles to the south, presented him with a golden bird. The envoy of Kunming State told Emperor Ming that even in the southern countries, people have not seen a live golden-washing bird for at least seventy years.Everyone believes that it is the only remnant of this species in the world.After decades of wars, the Central Plains Empire finally returned to stability from strife under the rule of Emperor Ming.The southern countries believe that its appearance is the praise of the gods to the emperor, and it is the highest auspiciousness in the world.Therefore, he traveled across mountains and rivers to dedicate this golden bird to the emperor of Wei.

The wisest man in the Wei state, Sima Yi, the son of former Jingzhaoyin Sima Fang, Marquis of Wuyang, Taiwei, governor, and general Sima Yi, told the emperor that the last golden bird was a special revelation from the gods to the emperor.He said that the Liu family who served as the emperor before the Cao family occupied the position of "fire" in the moral genealogy of the five elements, while the Cao family occupied the position of "earth".According to the theory that these five elements build the world, earth will eventually replace fire and become the master of the empire.At the same time, this theory also says that the auspicious sign of the family occupying the position of "earth" is something that can produce gold, that is, the so-called "earth-born gold".Washing the golden bird just fits the needs of this theory.

This explanation made the Emperor Ming very happy.He seemed to see that his descendants, accompanied by the golden bird, stood in the center of this ancient empire, passing on the traditional family sacrifice method forever. He specially opened up a new garden for the golden bird, and named it "the Garden of Spiritual Birds".I heard that this kind of bird is particularly afraid of the cold. In order for it to survive the cold winter in the Central Plains safely, the Emperor Ming ordered to build a special small palace in the Garden of Spiritual Birds, with windows inlaid with polished crystal slices.In this way, even in a closed room, the golden bird can get the sun.Emperor Ming named this small palace "Pihan Terrace".

The well-informed general also explained to the Ming emperor how to raise this precious bird.Goldwash birds don't usually eat, he said.But if you can provide it with some rare food, then the gold shavings it spits out will show even more strange effects.According to the general's instructions, the Emperor Ming ground the luminous pearls from the South China Sea into powder, opened the heads of the turtles from Yangzhou, took out the translucent brains, and fed them to the golden birds as food. Sure enough, the golden bird spit out more gold shavings than usual.Jewelry cast from them emits a faint reddish glow in the dark.Emperor Ming liked to play with such jewelry, and often rewarded his favorite palace people with it.

Perhaps because of eating pearl powder and tortoise brain, this golden-washing bird lived a particularly long time.From the Ming Dynasty to the Qi Dynasty, and then to the Yuan Dynasty, it has been dedicating beautiful metals to the imperial court. "Supplements of Relics" records that this legendary bird lived until the dynasty changed.It is said that on the morning when the Sima family officially replaced the Cao family as the imperial family, the golden bird suddenly uttered a clear and sweet chirp, like a silver hammer hitting a jade chime made of Kunlun sapphire.After calling out, it tilted its head, fell to one side and died.

When Emperor Wu, who had just ascended the throne, heard the news, his expression was very calm.In fact, when he was young, he heard his grandfather, the great general of the year, say: when this bird dies, the era of the Sima family will begin.