Chapter 30 1. Zhou Xuan Interprets Dreams

In the alchemy room that was three feet square, the bronze alchemy furnace that was as tall as two people stood majestically.The golden 狻猊 carved on the top of the stove is shiny, grinning, vivid and mighty.It raised its head and stared at the sky, and a wisp of light blue cigarette came out of its mouth, lingering, rising into the air, but not dispersing, just like a thin line drifting with the wind, swaying and various, slowly moving out all kinds of strange things The shapes of fish, snakes, insects and birds make people look forward to lingering. On the two comfrey futons a zhang away from the alchemy furnace, sat two bearded elders, one in a red robe and the other in a white robe.However, the elder in the red robe quietly looked up at the wisp of incense from the alchemy furnace, gently stroked his beard and sighed: "Doctor Zhou's 'Dragon Tongue Fragrance' is really gathered and shaped, and it lasts for a long time. It is really a rare fragrance in the world." Foreign object!"

The white-robed elder seemed to be listening but not listening, his eyes were slightly lowered, and the divine light was contained in the gaps between his eyes, which did not let out or sway, as if two deep pools were hard to see the bottom of. "According to Jiang, speaking of Dr. Zhou, your skill of 'burning incense to form' is almost comparable to the skill of respecting Hou Xunyu and Xun Lingjun back then..." the red-robed elder continued to praise. "When Xun Lingjun was alive, I'm afraid that Mr. Jiang, you hadn't become an official?" The white-robed elder who had been silent all this time suddenly said something.

"Uh... this..." The red-robed elder's face turned red immediately, "Jiang also heard that Sima Zhongda had introduced Xun Lingjun's unique skill of 'burning incense to form'...so Jiang took it for granted. ! Take it for granted!" "Hehehe...So it turns out that Mr. Jiang is taking it for granted! Then, how can I bear your compliments?" The white-robed elder opened his eyes and stared straight at him, "Mr. Jiang condescends today I'm afraid that the reason for your visit is not just to praise me's skill of 'burning incense to form'?"

The elder Jiang surnamed heard the words, a slight smile appeared on his face: "Doctor Zhou really has unparalleled insight and insight into people's hearts. Jiang Ji is here this time, and there are a few things that he would like to ask Doctor Zhou to do a fortune-telling." This white-robed elder is none other than Zhou Xuan, the Taishiling of the Wei State and Zanshan Xuanhua doctor.His attainments in astrology, divination and divination are already the top masters in the Central Plains today, but because he is in charge of the royal family Yixiang's privy, he has a lot of connections and never shows his face outside.On weekdays, he lives in secluded places, and always retreats to cultivate his mind and practice Taoism.On the contrary, it was his personal disciple, Guan Ren, who rose to fame in the government and the public, almost suppressing his reputation as a master.

Jiang Ji, who is an advising doctor, has always been very interested in the study of astrology and theory, and was recommended by Sima Yi, and often came to Zhou Xuan's mansion to ask for advice. Each of them inspired each other, and gradually became close friends who talked about everything. .Today, Zhou Xuan heard that he had something to ask again, and he didn't refuse, and said leisurely: "Master Jiang has something important to ask me for divination, just tell me frankly!" With lingering fear on his face, Jiang Ji said with embarrassment: "Konghe (Zhou Xuan's word is "Konghe"), to tell the truth, Jiang has been having nightmares recently, and he is very unhappy! No, the night before yesterday, Jiang I had a dream—the bamboo grove in the back garden of my house caught fire suddenly during the daytime, and the fire became hotter and hotter, as if it had reached the sky, and it couldn't be extinguished no matter how much I beat it. Jiang woke up After that, my mind was in a trance, and I felt quite ominous, and I asked Kong He to analyze it for Jiang to distinguish good and bad!"

After hearing this, Zhou Xuan stroked the stag-tail whisk with his right hand slowly on his knee, pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "'The bamboo forest catches fire, and it burns into the sky'—well, it is indeed a It’s something to worry about. Doctor Jiang, have you experienced chest tightness and lung pain recently?” "Yes! Yes!" Jiang Ji nodded upon hearing this, "Jiang has been feeling like a heavy stone has been pressed between his chest and lungs recently, not to mention how uncomfortable it is..." "Then you must have already seen a doctor? If my prediction is correct, he should have prescribed medicinal materials such as coptis and golden chrysanthemum for clearing away heat and reducing phlegm..."

Jiang Ji suddenly showed surprise on his face: "Zhou... Doctor Zhou, can you figure out this... such a thing?" Hearing this, Zhou Xuan smiled lightly, picked up the stag tail whisk and waved it in front of himself: "I can also deduce that before you came to Bifu today, you must have had a big quarrel with others, and the quarrel was 'shang Listen up to the sky and make a sensation in the government and the public'!" "Hey! Doctor Zhou, you are really a god!" Jiang Ji was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped, "At the court today, the governor of Youzhou, Wuqiu Jian, sent an eight-hundred-mile fast ride The report claimed that Gongsun Yuan of Liaodong had taken the position of Mushou from his uncle Gongsun Gong, and that he would abolish the superior and establish himself as the successor.

"At the time of the court discussion, Jiang advocated sending troops to fight for peace, so as to stop the source of chaos; but Chen Jiaoling insisted on peace talks, and even suggested that His Majesty acquiesce in Gongsun Yuan's filthy behavior of seizing the throne on his own, and even grant him the title of emperor. 'Mr. Le Lang' put him in custody...Doctor Zhou, please comment. Isn't Chen Jiao raising a tiger? Gongsun Yuan is so ambitious that he dares to take the position of uncle today. Who can guarantee that he will tomorrow Wouldn't you come to seize the Central Plains Divine Cauldron out of madness? Thinking of this, Jiang had an argument with Chen Jiao at the court, and we had a big fight in front of His Majesty...Chen Jiao Yourou Jiang is so indignant for being blocked like this! I'm afraid that the Quartet Kingdoms will all laugh at my Great Wei Dynasty, which has no one in it, and just sit back and watch the rebels attack and seize the throne!"

The smile on Zhou Xuan's face was always as light as autumn water, and he still gently stroked the stag tail whisk with the five fingers of his left hand, without saying much.As a minister who observes the sky and astrology, he has a sensitive position, so he never easily talks about the affairs of the court. After Jiang Ji vented his anger, he realized that he had lost his composure, and hurriedly said to Zhou Xuan with apology: "Oh! When Jiang mentioned the matter of Gongsun Yuan just now, he didn't get angry at all. I’m afraid I’ll offend Dr. Zhou. Dr. Zhou is in the alchemy room and doesn’t leave home, yet he deduced the dispute between Jiang and Chen Jiao so quickly...Jiang really admires..."

Zhou Xuan looked at him with a faint smile, and said leisurely: "Doctor Jiang's remonstrance is good, but Mr. Chen Jiaoling also has his difficulties! Now the puppet Shu is eyeing the west, and the rebellious Wu is ready to move in the east. I am on both sides of the big Wei. Enemy and dilemma are already extremely stressful; if the imperial court provokes Gongsun Yuan to revolt in the north in order to uphold the righteousness of the moment, then we, Great Wei, will be confronted with enemies on three sides, and the situation will be even more difficult! Your Majesty and Chen Jiaolingjun are at this moment Apart from restraining Gongsun Yuan as much as possible, there is indeed no other choice!"

Jiang Ji listened and sat there pondering for a while.Finally, he let out a long sigh, looked to the west with both eyes, and said leisurely: "Alas... Chen Jiao did this, and Jiang knew that he took great pains, but what he did was still too gentle and blunt... If it was General Sima is in charge of the court, so he will definitely not allow Gongsun Yuan to blatantly coerce the court to acquiesce in his position. Even if he has to be imprisoned, he must use both soft and hard measures to dispel his ambition! Winning him with the position of 'Da Sima' will not satisfy his greed... For a greedy and ungrateful person like him, in addition to frightening him first, other methods of arrest will be used. It is inevitable that there will be future troubles..." "Hehehe! Stay here! Stay here! You know that the alchemy room of this seat never talks about military and national plans, so you should continue to save these words for His Majesty to talk about!" Zhou Xuan smiled slightly, and turned his hand to the dust. With a light shake from outside, "Let's pack up our clothes first, something important will happen unexpectedly later!" "Don't be busy, don't be busy—don't play tricks, let Jiang explain the ins and outs of the meaning of this dream first!" Jiang Ji hurriedly pulled the corner of his robe. "Okay, okay. I will give you an analysis! It was once said, 'The encounter of the gods is a dream, and the form is connected with the matter. Therefore, day and night dreams are also connected by the gods and forms.' "Book of Rites" says , "Dreamers are fate, energy is moving, souls are away from the body, and gods are coming and going. Yin and Yang are sensed, and good and bad are tested." Wang Chong once said, "Husband dreamers are also like. Good and bad come, gods appear, bear The meaning of the dream of "bamboo forest catches fire and burns into the sky" is: "bamboo forest" is a metaphor for wood, and the liver of the human body belongs to wood; "fire" , which is a metaphor for people’s heart fire and anger; you dream of 'fire in the bamboo forest', which means that the heart energy is too strong and the liver fire is too strong. Too much heart energy and liver fire can hurt the lungs and suppress the spleen, so you have chest tightness and phlegm The second is irritable and irritable, so you will argue with others. And "Fire Burning into the Sky" is likened to "reaching the sky to listen to", so I conclude that you must be in front of His Majesty at the court meeting today Had a big fight with others. So far, do you understand?" Jiang Ji heard this, and thoughtfully said: "It turns out that Dr. Zhou's way of interpreting dreams is to analyze them in such a way of "using images to understand meanings, and using meanings to describe things"? Then, Jiang had another strange dream last night. How do you explain it?" "What strange dream? Tell me about it." Zhou Xuan said slowly. "Last night, Jiang dreamed that two blue tiles on the roof of his house were blown to the ground by the strong wind, and suddenly turned into two swallows and flew away. Doctor Zhou, can you tell me what this dream means? " Zhou Xuan pinched his fingers and thought for a while, then suddenly looked at him in surprise: "Unexpectedly, Doctor Jiang, you have a strict system in your house, and such a thing of slaves and servants committing adultery and fleeing privately will happen! You have to go back to the house and call the housekeeper here to make a good deal of it." I've been admonished..." Hearing this, Jiang Ji showed a smug smile: "Hehehe...Doctor Zhou, your words of dream analysis and judgment this time must be very wrong! To be honest, I didn't have any sleep at all last night. What was said just now, "the tiles fall on the side of the house, and the swallows fly away" were all deliberately fabricated by Jiang to deceive you... Since Jiang's dream is purely fabricated, how can you judge it accurately?" Zhou Xuan let out a long laugh, but slowly stood up from the comfrey futon, holding the silver silk stag in both hands to whisk the dust, and said lightly: "All dreams are actually just the thoughts in your heart reflected in your mind in your sleep. It’s just an image! In the final analysis, the dreamer is actually the movement of the mind. Therefore, the dream you just made up of "falling away from the house, turning into a swallow" is essentially a subtle expression and expression of your inner will. It's just vaguely presented! This seat can completely analyze the divination based on this 'false dream'—you just wait and see how it comes to fruition!" After finishing speaking, he pouted his mouth slightly towards the door of the room: "The angel has arrived, and I have arrived at the mansion——I should go to the main hall to receive the order!" Before he could finish his sentence, the servants of the mansion shouted from outside the door: "Master! Master! An imperial envoy from the inner court came outside the gate to announce that you are going to receive the order!" Jiang Ji stared at Zhou Xuan dumbfounded, followed him out of the alchemy room, and saw Jiang Laowu, the butler of his mansion, waiting anxiously under the eaves of the corridor, and hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Would you like to come here?" do what?" Jiang Laowu kowtowed to him, and replied in a murmur, "Master, madam asked the villain to report to you—the maids in her room, Aqing and Ahong, rolled up a bag of jewelry from her early in the morning. sneaked away..." "Oh! Such a thing really happened in my mansion!" Jiang Ji couldn't help exclaiming, turned around, looked at the back of Zhou Xuan who was gradually going away from the corridor, and murmured, "Doctor Zhou , you are really an expert at predicting things like a god!" Cao Rui did not summon Zhou Xuan in the Nine Dragon Palace as usual, but asked the messenger to lead him directly into the most secret "Ziyuan Forbidden Room" in the harem for questioning. The four corners of the Forbidden Palace are dimly lit by candles, and there is a huge object in the middle, covered with a thick layer of green felt, making it difficult to see what is inside. Cao Rui leaned listlessly on the throne dragon bed, staring blankly at the huge thing covered with green felt, silent.It wasn't until the middle base general Cao Shuang led Zhou Xuan respectfully outside the gate of the Forbidden Palace that he begged to see him four or five times before he suddenly woke up from deep thought: "Come in!" Cao Shuang respectfully led Zhou Xuan into the "Ziyuan Forbidden Room", and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Master Zhou has arrived..." "Understood." Cao Rui did not even lift his eyelids, he lowered his head slightly and ordered, "Lead the guards to guard the 'Ziyuan Forbidden Room' carefully and strictly outside, if you find anyone close to eavesdropping - Shoot and kill on the spot!" "Yes!" Cao Shuang clasped his fists in response, turned his face to the room, and stepped back slowly. In the quiet forbidden room, only Cao Rui and Zhou Xuan were left at this moment. "Your Majesty..." Zhou Xuan raised his head, carefully looking up at Cao Rui. "Zhou Aiqing, go and pull down that layer of green felt." Cao Rui suddenly raised his eyes and looked directly at him, as if there were deep clouds hiding in his eyes, too thick to dissolve. "Yes!" Zhou Xuan climbed up on his knees on the poplar floor, reached out and grabbed the corner of the green felt, and pulled it down gently. A black and heavy boulder stood impressively in front of his eyes, shaped like a gigantic turtle with its neck stretched out and its head held high, with a height of one foot and two feet and a radius of three feet and eight inches.On its broad tortoise back, there are veins of jade-like veins combined to form mysterious and simple patterns: the pattern of the unicorn is in the east, the chapter of the phoenix is ​​in the south, the picture of the white tiger is in the west, and the painting of the rhinoceros is in the north. .And in the center of the turtle's back, there are eight divine horses with wings and galloping with hooves!The eight flying horses are like a ring shaped head to tail, arching around a circle that seems to be a natural deficit. In the afternoon, it will change"! Seeing this stone, Zhou Xuan opened his mouth wide in shock, froze for a moment, then hurriedly picked up the green felt to cover it! "Don't cover it—just let it be placed like that!" Cao Rui's voice was a little hoarse and dry, as if there was no moisture at all, "Zhou Aiqing—it was Meng Jian, the governor of Liangzhou, and Xu Miao, the prefect of Zhangye. The Liugu Xuanchuan River in Dan County was discovered on the third day of the first lunar month of this year, and it was pulled into the palace that night by a cart drawn by seven or eight horses with bridles..." At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up. : "Zhou Aiqing, you are good at astronomy and geography, you know everything, and you don't know everything - you should recognize He Shi, right?" Zhou Xuan's whole body was like sifting chaff, he knelt on the floor tremblingly, stammeringly replied: "Qi... Your Majesty Qizuo, this... this stone came from...strange, old minister, no... no Dare to speak falsely." "Let Ru say what you say, but it doesn't matter." Cao Rui obviously lost the patience of being "gentle and respectful" in the court meeting before, so he frowned and bumped over. "Is this... This stone was deliberately forged?" Zhou Xuan said in a trembling voice, "How can such a strange stone come in this peaceful and prosperous age?" "I have summoned a lot of skilled craftsmen to examine it carefully... They said that the patterns on this boulder seem to be carved but not carved, or engraved but not engraved, and it is not clear whether it is natural or man-made..." Cao Rui quietly Staring at the huge boulder, he said leisurely, "And the yellow-gray water rust and earth rust on this boulder have also been formed for many years, so it can't be done by someone in a hurry!" Speaking of this, He smiled a little self-consciously: "I also hope that it is artificially forged! That's why I summoned you to identify it! Zhou Aiqing—you can speak boldly! I forgive you for treating whatever you say today as meaningless." crime!" Hearing that he spoke so earnestly, Zhou Xuan withdrew his face solemnly, and replied shyly: "Since your majesty is so interested in consulting the old minister, the old minister has spoken truthfully and bluntly - if the old minister knows correctly, this should be an ancient According to the classics, the "Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone" carrying the "Heluo Book" is often born when the destiny changes—I'm afraid it is an ominous thing for me, Great Wei!" Before Cao Rui finished listening, his eyes were like ice knives on Zhou Xuan's face coldly, and he gritted his teeth loudly, but he didn't lose his composure—if these words came from someone else, Cao Rui would have already been Without hesitation, the general was dragged out and beheaded.But these words came from Zhou Xuan's mouth!This Zhou Xuan has always been divination like a god, and his calculations are correct: fifteen years ago, he had accurately predicted the time when Taizu Wu Emperor Cao Cao would die, and left behind "five and five vertical and horizontal, black rats meet tigers; And the famous assertion of being a prime minister, dying and proclaiming emperor" (the date of Cao Cao's death is the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, the celestial stem and earthly branch of that year is "Gengzi", and the tiger is the first month, that is, the month of Wuyin .) Eight years ago, he once again accurately calculated the lifespan and time of death of Emperor Gaozuwen Cao Pi, leaving behind the assertion that "day after month, life is eighty; ride a horse and climb straight to the sky" ( "Day after month, life expectancy is eighty years", which means that the number of days and nights is eighty, which means that Cao Pi can only live for forty days and forty nights, and he died of a sudden illness at the age of forty. ; "Riding a horse and riding a horse, climbing straight to Qingyun" means that Cao Pi should have died in the month of the horse in the year of the horse, and he did die suddenly in the month of Jiawu in the year of Bingwu).These past events are nothing more than Cao Rui himself. When he was worried about whether he would be able to successfully succeed to the throne, Zhou Xuan was also the first foreign minister to quietly present himself with a purple gold wishful to show his support— ——Sure enough, at the last moment, I was appointed as the crown prince by the first emperor himself.At the same time, he also understood the ingenious meaning of Zhou Xuan's gift of Zijin Ruyi back then: "Zijin Ruyi" means "Zi Jin Ruyi"!The wishful person, the so-called "whatever you want to achieve", implies that your ambition to succeed to the throne can finally be fulfilled after going through all kinds of disasters.It was Zhou Xuan's series of "hundred-tested, hundred-accurate" divination and deduction ability that Cao Rui had to be amazed at him and regarded him as a god!Therefore, at this moment, he could only suppress the fear in his chest, and declared to Zhou: "Zhou Aiqing, what kind of 'ominous omen' will this stone bring? Tell me carefully..." "There is an ancient book that says, 'When a spirit turtle and a mysterious stone come out of the sky, there must be an earth-shaking change.' The so-called 'earth-shaking change' is nothing more than a change of destiny and a change of dynasty... The old minister deserves death, and I can only say this. Don’t dare to speak further!” "Who? Who? Who can change my Wei Dynasty?" Cao Rui's cheeks flushed immediately, "Is it Zhuge Liang from the pseudo-Shu? Is it Sun Quan from the pseudo-Wu? I... I want to send troops immediately Send generals to destroy them..." Zhou Xuan fell on the floor, touched his foreheads, and remained silent for a long time——Shu has the danger of lofty mountains, and Wu has the obstacles of the Yangtze River. How can His Majesty destroy them at the moment of his desire? The more Cao Rui thought about it, the more extreme he became, and he said angrily: "How about I find a few tiger warriors to smash this demon stone into pieces?" "Your Majesty, these natural strange stones are meant to be used as warnings. If they are destroyed by manpower, there may be even more unexpected disasters! Who dares to lighten the scourge of heaven?" Zhou Xuan finally plucked up his courage. , a little timidly advised. "Then why don't you tell me what to do?" Cao Rui frowned and said heavily, "Is there really no way to divert and resolve it?" Zhou Xuan pondered for a long time before he opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty Qi Zuo, for the current plan, the old minister can only personally escort this piece of 'Spiritual Turtle Profound Stone' back to Liangzhou, and look for the local Kunlun Mountain's northern peak 'Xuanyin Soil'. The word "discuss" in the prophecy on the stone "Great Discussion Cao Yan" is stifled, and if it is changed to "Da Ji Cao Yan", it may be possible to turn misfortune into blessing and disaster into good fortune!" "Well... very good! I have specially entrusted you to do this matter. After it is done, I will reward you very much." "The old minister would like to obey the sacred order and do his best." At this moment, Cao Rui slowly relaxed his heartstrings, and sat quietly on the throne dragon bed for a while, then suddenly remembered something, and asked Zhou Xuan: "That's right! Zhou Aiqing, I always remember that Chen Qun Sikong talked about his work when he died of illness last year. I had a strange dream, dreaming of a "nine-tailed spirit fox" standing on a tree, with nine branches hanging on the ground, very similar to the fall of the evening clouds... He explained to me that this meant that my big Wei had "dry and weak branches" The hidden danger of being strong and having a big tail that cannot be dropped. Zhou Aiqing, you have a deep understanding of dream interpretation, what do you think of what he said?" Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, and said politely: "Your Majesty Qizuo, the 'nine-tailed spirit fox' appeared in the dream, which is a good omen rather than a bad sign. There is a saying in ancient books, 'In the past, Xibo Jichang won the nine-tailed fox when he climbed Qishan, Then Dongyi returned to Zhou; Wu Wangji sent out to Mengjin to take white fish, and the princes came to the court." He also said, "The nine-tailed fox is a metaphor for the nine concubines in the harem and the prosperity of their descendants." Therefore, Chen Sikong dreamed The 'nine-tailed spirit fox' is a great auspicious omen for the prosperity of our Great Wei Foundation! Your Majesty should be happy about this!" Cao Rui originally had very few children, but when he heard what Zhou Xuan said, he couldn't help but feel a little joy on his face.He nodded slightly, and then asked slowly: "Zhou Aiqing, recently Sima Yi sent a foreign object from Yongzhou - it's a big three-cornered deer with pure white fur like snow, what's the sign?" "The sign of the white deer?! Oh! Your Majesty, this is a beautiful event of great auspiciousness! In the past, Zhou Gongdan became a king, loyal to the sun and the moon, and had the tribute of Qishan Suzhi; now the General Sima respectfully accepts the appointment of Shaanxi, To be diligent in the affairs of the king, and to have the gift of the White Deer in Yongzhou—isn’t this an auspicious omen from ancient times, which is still far away today? Your Majesty can win the virtuousness of his ministers like General Sima. Not enough to worry about!" After Cao Rui heard this, he didn't answer immediately, but pondered for a while, raised his eyes and took a deep look at Zhou Xuan: "If the omen of the White Deer can really be as you said, it will naturally be a great blessing for the great Wei Sheji. How about this, Zhou Aiqing, you will go to Yongliang and Liangzhou as my imperial envoy, on the surface to reward Sima Aiqing and his Guanzhong army, but secretly suppress the disaster with the method of recovery That demon stone!"