Chapter 1445 — The People's Heart as Blade
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
" The various officials of the Ministry of Personnel came forward. The Minister of Personnel bowed and raised both hands high.
"Are the laws of Jingping rule by man or rule by law? Is it governing the country by law, or governing according to law?
Do the old laws of Jingping still suit the present era? " "If Jingping's Dao methods and divine abilities must change, must Jingping's laws also change? " "Have the good laws of those years become evil laws today?
How to punish evil, how to promote good, how to achieve justice? " "It is impossible to completely abandon rule by man. How to strike a balance between rule by man and rule by law?
" "Is the lawgiver self-disciplined, disciplined by others, or the law itself?
" "My lord Minister of Personnel! " "The law concerns the direction of the people's hearts! " "The people's heart is a blade, the strongest divine blade.
It can cut down one or two corrupt officials, and it can also destroy a powerful nation.
My lords, concern yourselves with the people's heart on my behalf. " "Today I, on behalf of the court, bestow the blade upon you.
The reform and transformation of the law is entrusted to you! " Shen Mu bowed and presented the Blade of Law.
The Minister of Personnel stepped forward, received the divine blade with both hands, and retreated with lowered head.
Standing in line with the other officials, he said solemnly, "Where the law lies, the Ministry of Personnel will brave fire and water, and not fail the people's heart under heaven!
" Shen Mu followed Zaifu away from the new city of Jiangling, step by step.
This bestowal of the blade in the new city would cause no small stir in Jingping. The reform of the law would surely be promoted and spread, perhaps restoring to Jingping a clear and bright political order. "Grandpa Tu, where is our next stop?
" "This mortal world is a vast holy land and also a vast purgatory. Living beings transcend in this holy land and sink in this purgatory.
There are too many injustices in the world, too many struggles. Open strife and veiled contention, scheming against one another, countless. The blade Dao must be tempered in the red dust and also tempered on the battlefield. " Zaifu said, "I will take you to the battlefield.
Although you are my disciple, you have never been to war.
The war in Taihuang Heaven you only skimmed the surface of. Back then. . .
" He stared blankly, then shook his head.
"Never mind. " Shen Mu asked curiously, "Grandpa Tu, since you have begun, why not continue? " Zaifu hesitated. Seeing that Shen Mu was not as grave as before, and that after bestowing the Blade of Law upon the Ministry of Personnel, Shen Mu's Dao heart had become firm again, stronger than before, Zaifu was happy for him in his heart, so he did not conceal it. "Back then I could still be counted a talented scholar.
Though I was tall and powerfully built, I had read deeply of the classics and histories, and I had some small fame for my essays, poetry, and songs. At that time I was a man of letters, infatuated with a life of luxury, lingering in the flower streets and willow lanes. It was not until the enemy invaded, the country broken and the home destroyed, that I saw the misery of those days and threw down my brush and ink, drew my blade, and joined the army for the battlefield.
Of the several hundred talented scholars of Jiangnan who went with me, those who returned.
. .
" His voice was bitter. "Only I. " Shen Mu patted his shoulder.