noveltune Chapter 8 On the Yellow Heaven of Great Peace
Chapter 8 On the Yellow Heaven of Great Peace
Li Shi raised his head, his eyes fixed on Li Sheng. The other brothers also made no attempt to hide their excitement, their eyes filled with fervor as they stared at him.
Even the injured brother they had placed on the bed seemed to want to get up and listen to Li Sheng's story.
Looking into their eyes, Li Sheng knew it all too well.
They were both curious and eager.
It's the almost desperate yearning of a drowning person grasping at the last piece of driftwood.
They weren't just asking casually; they genuinely wanted to know.
Looking at them, Li Sheng felt a sudden, gentle stirring in his heart.
So he sat up straight, pondered for a moment, and began to describe to them the beauty of the heavens:
"All men under heaven are descendants of the Yellow Heaven; all women under heaven are children of the Great One. Under the Yellow Heaven, all people are of the same root, and there is no exploitation, oppression, hunger, cold, disease, or fraud. The wealth of heaven and earth is shared by all, and there is no imbalance. Yin and Yang are in harmony, all things flourish, people suffer no injustice, and each finds their own joy. This is what is meant by a peaceful and prosperous world."
As soon as Li Sheng said this, everyone present held their breath.
Although they had not received classical education from the upper echelons of society in this era, what Li Sheng said was not profound, and they could still understand it.
"Brother Sheng," one of them, Liu Lu, asked in a trembling voice, "then...then my parents, they died a long time ago, are they also in the Yellow Heaven?"
"They must be in the Yellow Heaven too."
Li Sheng looked him in the eyes, his tone resolute and leaving no room for doubt.
"When I met Zhonghuang Taiyi, the gods told me something."
Everyone held their breath.
"After death, regardless of whether one believes in the Way of Peace or not, and regardless of whether one was good or evil in life, one will go to the Yellow Heaven. After being judged by the Heavenly God of the Central Yellow Emperor, one will enjoy eternal peace, free from illness and disaster, and live a peaceful and prosperous life!"
Li Sheng's gaze slowly swept over each face.
"Your parents, your brothers and sisters, all those who suffered and tormented in this life, those who didn't live to old age, are all in the Yellow Heaven. They haven't disappeared, they haven't become wandering ghosts, they've just moved to another place, waiting for you."
A suppressed sob echoed from inside the room.
Li Shi covered his face, his shoulders trembling.
His mother died before the wheat harvest. Her last words were, "Stone, I'm sorry, I couldn't see you get married."
He knelt by the bed and cried all night. The next day, he still had to go to the fields to harvest wheat. If he didn't, he wouldn't even have enough grain to eat next year.
He thought he would never see his mother again in this lifetime.
"Brother Sheng," Li Shi's muffled voice came from behind his hand, "You mean... my mother is still alive?"
"exist."
"Will I...will I be able to see her again?"
"able."
Li Sheng answered without the slightest hesitation.
"When you go to Huangtian, you will see her; she will be waiting for you there."
Li Shi finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears.
However, instead of wailing, they sobbed, and the others also had red eyes.
After a while, the crying gradually subsided.
Li Feng wiped his face clean with his sleeve, sniffed, and his voice, though still a little hoarse, was much more steady than before.
"Brother Sheng," he asked, "how...how did people live in Huangtianli?"
"Yes," Li Shi also looked up, his eyes red, "Do we...do we still have to farm? Is it like in the mortal world, facing the yellow earth and turning our backs to the sky every day?"
Li Sheng smiled slightly.
"Farming is necessary. But," Li Sheng changed the subject, "the land in the Yellow Heaven is different from that in the mortal world."
"Why is it different?"
Liu Lu pressed for further details.
"First, favorable weather for crops."
Li Sheng held up one finger, describing to them the exact beauty they could feel.
"In Huangtian, there is no need to pray for rain, no need to worship the river god, and no need to fear drought, flood, or locust plagues. It rains when it should rain and the sun shines when it should shine. Crops can be harvested two or three times a year. As long as you plant them, you will have a harvest, and there will never be a poor harvest."
Several people listened with their eyes wide open.
In the mortal world, farming is a gamble.
They were gambling on whether the heavens would grant them a favorable weather, whether the river god would be angry, and which way the locusts would fly. In their entire lives, they had never seen a single day of "favorable weather"; the Han Dynasty had simply suffered far too many natural disasters.
"Secondly," Li Sheng held up his second finger, "everyone has land to cultivate."
"Everyone?"
One of them spoke up, his voice somewhat shrill.
"Then...then there were no powerful clans seizing land?"
After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.
His name is Zhao Hu, and he is only seventeen years old this year. His father was originally a self-employed farmer with seventy or eighty acres of land. Although they were not rich, they were able to make a living.
Later, a locust plague struck the village. His father borrowed grain from a powerful family but couldn't repay it. His land was taken away, and he became a tenant farmer.
His father died of anger, muttering before he died, "That's the land my father passed down to me."
Li Sheng looked at Zhao Hu, his gaze darkening.
"There are no powerful clans."
His voice wasn't loud, but every word was filled with determination.
"In Huangtianli, there are no powerful families, no government officials, and no exploitation."
The room was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.
"Listen carefully," Li Sheng said slowly, "In the Yellow Heaven, there are no cannibalistic tyrants, no tax collectors, no corvée labor, and no taxes. Whatever you plant and harvest is all yours. No one will collect 70% of your rent, no one will force you to build palaces, tombs, or river embankments, and no one will imprison you for not being able to pay your taxes."
Everyone's hands were trembling.
"Brother Sheng,"
Li Shi's voice trembled, "Then...then you mean there are no taxes? No corvée labor? No government officials? No powerful clans?"
"Not at all."
Li Sheng's tone was as calm as a deep pool of water.
"Zhonghuang Taiyi once told me something. He said that the suffering in the world lies in the fact that some people ride on the backs of others. Those powerful people, those officials, those high-ranking kings and generals, they don't farm but they have food to eat, they don't weave cloth but they have clothes to wear. We are all Taiyi's children, so why should we be treated this way?"
The six people looked at each other in bewilderment.
Li Sheng looked at everyone, his gaze calm yet burning.
"The Yellow Emperor sent me back because peace has not yet been achieved in the mortal realm. Peace cannot be obtained by waiting after death, nor would the Heavenly God Taiyi desire it that way. We must establish our own Yellow Heaven in this world!"
The room remained silent for a long time.
Li Feng was the first to kneel down, his entire body prostrate on the ground with his forehead covered in dirt.
"Brother Sheng," his voice was muffled, "I believe you."
Li Shi also knelt down, and then the others followed suit; they all knelt down.
Six people knelt on the muddy ground, their bodies prostrate. No one spoke loudly or shouted any slogans, but a silent power was gathering.
"Stand up, do not kneel. I do not need your worship, and there is no reason for you to kneel before others in the peaceful world."
Li Sheng's voice was gentle, yet it carried an irresistible power.
The six people then stood up one after another. Their eyes were still red, but the bewilderment and fear they had shown before were gone from their faces. Instead, they had a firmness they had never shown before.