MTL - To Four Thousand Years Later-Chapter 26 Divine right of kings

East of Jerusalem, the Rock of Zohile altar.

As promised yesterday. Solomon rode King David's donkey at the altar on time.

As soon as he appeared, the atmosphere at the scene was already boiling

The crowd cheered King Solomon's name, and the crowd dispersed in two directions. All the people of Israel bowed down to him and welcomed him with the flute of reeds and the trumpet of ox horns.

There can be no doubt that Solomon's popularity among the peoples of Israel is at its highest at present

"Men of Israel, listen to the wise words of King Solomon, the spokesman of the Lord!"

Solomon stepped up to the altar, got off his donkey, and announced loudly to the crowd.

"Long live King Solomon!"

"Long live King Solomon!"

People could not understand what King Solomon meant, but in short, under the leadership of some people, they followed and praised King Solomon.

Only a very small number of people vaguely realize that something is wrong. But under the coercion of the boiling voice, they all chose to remain silent or shout together with the people next to them.

"David, my father, wanted to build a house for God."

Solomon shouted, "But God sent the prophet Nathan to punish King David!"

"He said—will you build a house for me to live in? Ever since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this day, I have never lived in a house. Build a temple of cedar, shall we?"

Solomon held Nathan's staff and shouted loudly: "The Lord said, I will choose a country for my people Israel! I will make them happy and peaceful, and they will never move again, and no one will disturb them as before. And then I will make your son king, and he will build me a house—"

"—I will establish his kingdom and the temple he built for me forever!"

Solomon stomped his staff heavily on the ground, and the sound was as loud as thunder.

"You know! Seven days after my father David returned to the Lord, I received a dream from the Lord."

"He said, Solomon—you will build the house for me, because you are my chosen king on earth! You are taking over the nation of Israel from me, not from your father David!"

Solomon said forcefully: "Your words are my words, and your glory is my glory. If any of the people of Israel opposes you, he is guilty of a great sin—for he despises your glory, which is equal to Let's insult my aura together!"

Hearing this, a priest finally realized what was wrong.

But they saw that the high priest Zadok was still sitting motionless on his seat, and it was difficult for them to say anything.

This should not be said—this kind of thing can only be said to King Solomon later...

"Sadduk!"

Solomon turned to call the high priest.

The high priest respectfully stood up and waved. A dozen or so young and middle-aged priests behind him brought seven or eight wooden boxes as tall as one person, put them in front of the people and opened them.

I saw that it was full of precious stones and pure gold - the gorgeous light even dazzled Solomon's eyes.

"These are the things that my father David left behind to build the temple."

Solomon looked around and shouted loudly: "I will send the high priest Zadok to go to Tire, and seek ingenious craftsmen from Hiram, the king of Tire, and exchange enough cedar and pine wood with cattle, sheep and precious stones. Build the temple for the Lord." and build you warm houses."

Solomon said in a loud voice: "The firstborn of every family has the honor to participate in the construction of the temple! They must be strong in body and sound in limbs. I will give them food and drink, and I will give them swords. I will make them strong like soldiers, rich like shepherds, and The ingenuity of the craftsmen of Tire. I will bear their names in the inner sanctum forever—"

Hearing this, the crowd finally boiled.

To be able to leave one's name in the temple and be with God - what an honor is that?

Not to mention being able to share a mouth to eat. You can also learn the craftsmanship of building a palace, and you can build a house for yourself when you get home.

Suddenly, the old man who didn't have a male at home felt annoyed.

"From today until five hundred years later, I will divide Israel into twelve provinces, and each province will have seven cities. The governor will be chosen by me, and the mayor will be chosen by the governor; the governor will be accompanied by three priests and three secretaries. The official and the mayor are paired with two priests and a clerk to assist in the work, responsible for local taxation, armaments, and mediation of disputes. Only those who have no males in the family can send their eldest daughter to the temple to learn the wisdom of counting and judging right from wrong—after today the clerk Women only. Every young child who can stand should go to the home of the local clerk to learn numeracy, history, and common sense."

Solomon took a breath and continued: "The mayor and the governor are re-elected every twelve years. These twelve years are called a term-each governor will be called the mayor, and the new governor will be elected by me from other places. Selected from among the mayors."

"—If there is a dispute among the people, you can go to the mayor to ask for wisdom; if the dispute is unclear, go to the province, and if you still don't know it, you can come to me. Every year, the clerk of each local dispute will set up multiple case files, respectively. Hand it over to the chief secretary and the great secretary; the government affairs of the local governors will be divided into multiple assessments by the priests, and they will be handed over to the chief priest and the high priest respectively."

—In this way, a complete and truly efficient bureaucratic system is formed.

Solomon paused, waiting for the crowd to digest.

Every family with an eldest son will send the eldest son to repair the temple voluntarily, and he can go to various places to do projects in the future. At the same time, exercising the body is equivalent to increasing the source of soldiers.

And as long as there is a battle, the number of soldiers who join the army will definitely die. As a result, the number of males will inevitably decrease, and there is no need to worry about an imbalance in the ratio of males to females.

Those women who could not participate in heavy physical labor could come to the future temple to learn mathematics and customary law. And after Solomon compiled the law code in the future, they will come to study the law and the scriptures.

As for national finances... this problem is best solved instead.

Solomon examined the government expenditures during King David's time and realized that the biggest annual consumption was the vice of sacrifice. At least thousands of cattle and sheep are sacrificed and burned every year, which is a great waste and delays the development of productivity.

So Solomon continued: "I also decreed today that private sacrifices are to be prohibited everywhere. The Lord said to me, 'Shall I be displeased with you because your sacrifices are few? Just keep the law and be godly. Believe in the gods and guard the country, I am happy. On the contrary, if you disobey your father, your king, and your teacher, I will not be happy even if you sacrifice a thousand cattle and sheep.'”

"Therefore, the cattle and sheep used for sacrifice should be given to Jerusalem every year, and after the sacrifice, they will be given to the firstborn son and eldest daughter who have been glorified to share food. In this way, they have received great favor, and their spirits have been pleased with the Lord—"

— To put it simply, after the sacrifice is over, you should eat it and don't waste it.

The cattle and sheep originally used for sacrifice by the local people were used to support the engineering team and the civilian team, and then let them carry out infrastructure and exercise in various parts of Israel, and improve the knowledge level of the next generation of young children.

At present, Solomon does not know the number of the people, does not know the opinions of the people in various places, the news cannot be conveyed, and the trade routes are blocked. This is all he can do.

As for the businessman...he plans to be sent among the people along with the appointment of governors and mayors.

And this can divide the number of priests in Jerusalem. And based on their work and real power, keep them busy and have no time to stop Solomon's words.

"—End of this. Write down my words of wisdom, engrave them on clay tablets, and spread them throughout the land of Israel. Not a word shall be deleted, nor a word shall be added."

Solomon said forcefully: "I swear to you—if you listen to me, Israel will be honored, and you will be rich. Sickness can be healed and wounded, stomach full, and words can flow freely. Blessed are you!"

"—Long live King Solomon!"

Although many could not understand the preceding words, some understood what Solomon was saying.

They shouted sincerely, blew their flutes and trumpets, and led the people around them to bow down to Solomon: "Long live King Solomon! Long live Israel—"