Farmers' fortune telling scam

Throughout the world, countries with a long history, such as Egyptian, Greek and China, have unique cultural connotations and a long national history, so there are always some unique myths and legends. Taking Greece as an example, the stories of Zeus, Hera and Venus add a lot of legend and mystery to Greece. In China, there are also many cultural contents that add mystery to Chinese civilization.

China had a very mysterious theory in ancient times. This mysterious theoretical culture, namely geomantic omen, is a very mysterious art form. For modern human beings who believe in science, these so-called fortune-telling is just a "psychological game" based on human psychology, and it is also a tool used by many superstitious Taoist priests to deceive people at will. Facts are not as described in Feng Shui legends, nor can they really help people understand the world.

Having said that, there are still foreigners who are convinced of this, especially some ancient people. In feudal society, most people believed in fairy tales. Perhaps for modern people, a superstitious person will be questioned, but in the past, a person who is not superstitious at all will be questioned. China has many related cultures, such as physiognomy, palm reading, geomantic omen and so on. An old Taoist can understand a person's past and future just by looking at his face. There was once such a story, which was very effective. The farmer's family held a funeral and suddenly it rained heavily. The fortune teller said: Be a big official! It was realized decades later.

Zeng Guofan, as one of the most famous ministers in Qing Dynasty, is a very important figure in history. Zeng Feast is Zeng Guofan's grandfather. He is just an ordinary man, living on the most basic men and women. His family used to be poor, but later he got sick and had no money for treatment, so he had to die of a terminal illness. After his death, the Zeng family held a funeral for him. At that time, the ancients did not believe in cremation, and celestial burial was only a memorial service for ethnic minorities, so most people in the Central Plains chose burial. So they must buy a coffin and put the body in it so that they can enjoy the peace after death. Halfway through the funeral, it suddenly rained heavily and the funeral could not continue. The downpour also caused the local hillside to collapse. A fortune teller happened to pass by and saw that this scene was a little different. There must be metaphysics in it.

For families who are about to bury their loved ones, rain can be said to be a very unknown thing. Everyone hopes that when burying the elderly, they can open their eyes and have a sunny day to finish smoothly. However, at that time, the Zeng family had not buried the old man, but it was caught in heavy rain. Based on this, it is impossible to carry the coffin up the mountain or pay homage in the rain. In addition, when buried, the soil is not soft at ordinary times, so it is impossible to jump on the soil, so all activities can only be stopped. It is unlucky to interrupt the funeral, so we need to find a new cemetery for burial. Previously, the fortune teller happened to pass by and heard the tricks of the Zeng family and stopped them. He took the initiative to find a place and said it was the most suitable place. His reason is also very simple, but it is enough to move people's hearts: Feng Shui is very good, as long as it is buried here, there will inevitably be senior officials in the family in the future. At that time, the whole family will be famous and will receive countless rewards.

These words were very convincing to the poor Zeng family at that time, so they also listened to the fortune teller and buried the old man in the place he instructed. However, as the fortune teller said, decades later, Zeng Guofan became a senior official of the Qing Dynasty. He made great contributions to the Qing government at that time, and his achievements have always been remembered by people.

In fact, through the textual research of the Zeng family, we can see that Zeng Guofan's father is a famous scholar. Although he is not an official, he is brilliant and respected by the local people. "When there is no hero, Lizi becomes famous." At that time, the Qing Dynasty was chaotic, and his father had very clear guidance for Zeng Guofan to be an official in the future, so Zeng Guofan's grades would naturally not be too low. Zeng Guofan was reused by the imperial court because his own talent was appreciated by the imperial court. He once said that "no big talk is pragmatic", and even the best words need to be put into action. So his success has nothing to do with fortune telling, metaphysics and geomantic omen.