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A Prophet - Chapter 18 (Part 4)

Chapter 4 - The Feng Shui of Nanjing, the "Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties"

Liu Congyun stroked his beard and said, "The Commander is well-read in history and must know about the dynastic successions of Nanjing. Nanjing is called the 'Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties,' but Commander, just look: among all the dynasties that established their capitals in Nanjing, has there been a single one that was long-lived? Has there been a single one that prospered? During the Three Kingdoms period, Eastern Wu established its capital in this place and was quickly destroyed, followed closely by the Eastern Jin, which also met its end before long. Then came the four minor dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen, followed later by the Southern Tang for less than forty years, and then came the great Ming dynasty. Fortunately, Emperor Chengzu of Ming, Zhu Di, was relatively smart and immediately relocated the capital to Beijing upon ascending the throne. Later, in the late Ming period, the capital was moved back to Nanjing, resulting in the entire lineage of Ming orphans being wiped out by the Great Qing within a dozen years. Just look at these dynasties that set up their capitals in Nanjing—at most a century, at least a few decades; they were either short-lived or feeble. This is all because the Feng Shui of Nanjing is unsuited for a capital. Now that the National Government has relocated, it is for the better. Perhaps a major turning point in the War of Resistance will emerge from this!"

After listening, Tiger Hong nodded repeatedly. "So that really is how it is. Why are the dynasties that set up their capitals in Nanjing so short-lived?"

Liu Congyun chuckled softly. "Commander, just listen to me. A place where a capital is established must inherit the energy of the dragon veins, resting against mountains and beside water, backed by mountain ranges as a barrier and facing clear waters as a source of wealth. Yet Nanjing city lacks this fortune. According to the ancient rule of facing south with one's back to the north, Nanjing has the rolling Yangtze River right behind it—relying on nothing and unsupported, with undercurrents churning away. It is an omen of turmoil and instability, and thus unsuitable for serving as a capital. However, such a place of rushing river waters and dense greenery precisely harmonizes with the spiritual energy required for scholars to splash ink, wield brushes, and let their minds soar freely. That is why the south of the Yangtze River produces many men of talent, while the north produces sages."

Master Zu nodded. "What Master Liu says is entirely correct. That is the very logic of it. Throughout history, across a thousand years of Jiangling's history, how many talented scholars and beautiful women have emerged from the south!"

Saying this, Master Zu pondered for a moment before suddenly asking, "What I want to know more about is whether the devils, after capturing Nanjing, had any unusual actions aside from burning, killing, and looting?"

"Yes!" Tiger Hong thought for a moment and said, "Come to think of it, it's quite comical. Several of my subordinate brothers escaped right out of Nanjing city. They said that after the devils occupied Nanjing, they tied iron chains around the snout of the stone ox on Niutou Mountain and dispatched a full company of troops to guard that mountain... Ah, right, do the Strategist and the Scholar happen to know what Niutou Mountain is all about? Why is it called Niutou Mountain?"

"Ah. Niutou Mountain is where the dragon vein of Nanjing is located," Master Zu said. "Legend has it that when Zhu Yuanzhang was herding cattle for a landlord back then, he often couldn't get enough to eat. As he herded day in and day out, his stomach would grow empty. One day, when his hunger became truly unbearable, he slaughtered a small calf, roasted it, and ate it. When he went back that evening, the landlord tallied the number of cattle and found one missing, so he asked Zhu Yuanzhang where it had gone. Zhu Yuanzhang lied that the calf had wandered into the mountains on its own to graze and couldn't be chased back. The landlord smiled sinisterly and said, 'My cattle will answer whenever they hear my call. I am going to the mountain right now to call out, and if no cow lows in response to me, I'll slaughter you.' Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang broke out in a sweat all over his forehead, thinking he was dead for sure this time. To his surprise, when the landlord stood on the mountaintop and shouted, cow mooing sounds indeed drifted out from the mountain, but the animal simply wouldn't come out. Later, the landlord led men to patrol the mountain but couldn't find anything, so he just gave Zhu Yuanzhang a beating to settle the matter. Later on, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, people widely spread the rumor that Zhu Chongba was the True Dragon Son of Heaven, and that even after the calf was slaughtered and ascended to heaven, it still had to obey the True Dragon Son of Heaven, which was why the moment the landlord called out, the calf's soul hurriedly answered. Later, the shape of that mountain slowly changed, gradually growing into the shape of an ox's head. Once, when Zhu Yuanzhang was out of the palace on an inspection tour and happened to pass beneath the mountain, he looked up inadvertently and was startled. He hurriedly asked the accompanying eunuch why the mountain had grown to look like an ox's head—it looked terrifying! 'Level it for me!' The eunuch said, 'You mustn't, you must not! That mountain was transformed from the very calf that once saved Your Majesty's life!' Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and when he looked up again, the ox head on the mountain actually smiled faintly at him. Zhu Yuanzhang was startled once more and quickly instructed the eunuch, 'Quick! Quick! Put a cangue on this ox head!' So skilled craftsmen from the palace began hammering and chiseling away at Niutou Mountain, boring a hole right at the position of the ox's nose and threading an iron chain through it. Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang feel at ease looking at it. Ever since then, people have all said that whoever holds the chain on the ox's head holds the dragon vein of Nanjing."

After hearing this, Tiger Hong scratched his head and said, "Does the Scholar believe this sort of stuff?"

Master Zu gave a light laugh and said, "I don't believe it, but the devils do."

Liu Congyun also smiled. "Since ancient times, how many legends have there been across the land of China! When the devils invaded China, they pulled out every trick in the book!"

Master Zu said, "That's right! I heard that not long ago, they were shelling the Laojun Terrace in Luyi, Henan, and as a result, they fired thirteen shells without a single one exploding, scaring a bunch of junior soldiers dumbfounded!"

"That's a true story!" Tiger Hong said. "People all over the country know about it! This thing is truly bizarre—what is the probability of thirteen shells simultaneously turning into duds?"

"Very low, so low it can be practically ignored, but it actually happened—just like choking to death on a sip of water or breaking a rib from a sneeze; the probability is extremely low, but things like that do happen in the world," Master Zu said with a smile.

"Hehe," Zhu Jin, the "Twin-Blade Heroine," who had been listening from the sidelines, couldn't help laughing out loud. "The Scholar is so humorous—breaking a rib from a sneeze, hehe..." She resumed laughing as she spoke.

Wang Jikun, "Hundred-Pace Piercing Yang," also chimed in, "This only shows that the Japanese devils' military manufacturing still isn't up to par. Look at Hitler's munitions factories—they conduct random inspections of ammunition at any time. If the dud rate exceeds one in a thousand, everyone in the entire factory gets cremated. Under those conditions, who would still dare manufacture duds!"

"Black-Faced Rakshasa" Liu Xuequan also crowded closer. "In my view, it's still our ancestors showing their divine presence. That was none of other than Taishang Laojun! No matter how formidable the devils are, they're still human beings; Laojun is a heavenly immortal. With a flick of his horsetail whisk in the clouds, he knocked all the shells down, only mortal eyes couldn't see it..."

"Then he should have flicked his whisk and swatted the devils right back to Japan!" Wang Jikun retorted.

"All right, all right, we're getting off topic," Tiger Hong said. "It seems the devils are quite superstitious. Aside from military offensives, they're really putting their backs into these unorthodox and crooked paths as well..."

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