Chapter 759 The Fisherman and the Goldfish

If someone could grant you one wish, any wish, what would it be?

A long time ago, there was a fisherman who caught a talking goldfish. The goldfish begged bitterly, and she spoke in a human voice: "Grandpa, please put me back into the sea. I will give you a valuable reward. In order to redeem myself, you can ask for anything."

The old man was taken aback, but he was still a little scared. He had been fishing for thirty and three years, but he had never heard that fish could talk. He released the goldfish, and said a few kind words to her: "God bless you, goldfish! I don't want your reward, go into the blue sea, and roam freely there."

The old man went back to the old woman and told her the great miracle. The old woman pointed at the old man and scolded: "You fool, you are such an old fool! You dare not take goldfish as reward! Even if you want a wooden basin Well, ours is pretty badly worn."

So the old man went to the blue sea and saw the sea was slightly rippling. The old man called out to the goldfish, and the silly fish appeared.

The old woman was always dissatisfied, and made one request after another to the little goldfish. At first she only had a broken wooden basin, and then she asked the goldfish to give her a new one, and then she began to ask for money, a mansion, youth and beauty .

Her endless pursuit has turned into greed, and from the initial poverty, she has splendor and prosperity.

She has a big house, wears an expensive sable waistcoat, a beautiful headdress on her head, pearls around her neck, gold rings inlaid with gemstones on her hands, and red leather boots on her feet. Her face was also revealed, she whipped the servants and acted recklessly, the old man still asked the goldfish to fulfill all her wishes.

Later, she planned to become the female overlord of the sea, and forgot her fisherman husband. People laughed at him: "You are so stupid, you deserve it! This is a lesson for you, and you have to keep your duty in the future!"

The old woman said to the old man: "Go back and bow to the goldfish. I don't want to be a free queen anymore. I want to be the queen of the sea. Let me live on the ocean and ask the goldfish to serve me. I can do whatever I want."

The old man didn't dare to talk back, nor did he dare to speak in disobedience. So he ran to the blue sea, and saw a dark storm on the sea: the raging waves were surging, rushing, shouting, and roaring. The old man called out to the goldfish, and the goldfish swam up to him and asked, "What do you want, old man?" The old man bowed to her and replied, "Please, little goldfish! What shall I do with the damned old woman?" ? She no longer wants to be a queen, she wants to be the overlord of the sea; in this way, she can live in the vast ocean, and ask you to serve her in person and listen to her whatever you want."

The goldfish didn't say a word, just stroked its tail in the water and swam into the deep sea. The old man waited for an answer by the sea for a long time, but he didn't get it, so he had to go back to see the old lady, and saw: in front of him was still the broken mud shed, her old woman was sitting on the threshold, and the broken wooden basin was still in front of her.

Venice started as a small fishing village. They are like the fishermen in the story. Men go out to fish, and women weave fishing nets at home. Later, more and more people fled, gradually turning into a floating city.

Who doesn't want to be emperor? He only needs to make a wish, and someone will do everything possible to fulfill it, which is even more miraculous than Aladdin's magic lamp, because the lamp god can only grant him three wishes, while being an emperor can make unlimited wishes.

In 1310, an anti-government rebellion with the nobles as the main body occurred. When the rebels passed through the alley, the standard bearer was killed by a stone mortar thrown from the window by a woman.

Having lost the flag, the rebels were defeated and the mortar-throwing woman was rewarded by Pietro Grazia with two hopes.

The woman put forward two hopes: one is to hang the Venetian flag in the window of the home on festivals. Second, the rent will no longer be raised.

She made a contribution, and could have asked for a house instead of reducing the rent, but she asked the governor to keep her promise, and the rent has not changed for the next 158 ​​years.

The system of the republic needs to be maintained, and it is necessary to do everything possible to prevent the emergence of the monarchy, to prevent the emergence of dictatorships and families, to do everything possible to fight against individual heroism, and to do everything possible to allow people to gain freedom of mind and body.

What's more important is that the rich and powerful must try their best to narrow the gap in wealth accumulation between themselves and the people.

Do not suffer from scarcity but inequality, and do not suffer from poverty but anxiety.

However, not everyone understands this truth. Even if a rich man is very rich, if there are people who are richer than him, he will still compare himself. The Matthew effect is obvious, the strong get stronger, the weak get weaker, the good get better, the bad get worse, the more gets more, and the less gets less.

Power is often easier to attract money, and the more power you have, the faster money will come. Corrupt officials understand this "reason" best.

Enrico Dandolo was elected consul of Venice at the age of 85. He was already 95 years old when he carried out the Fourth Crusade. He led and used all available factors to strengthen the soft power of the Republic of Venice. , hard power, and brought back the four bronze horses decorated on St. Mark's Church.

An old man of this age should enjoy his old age at home. In 1205, he died in Constantinople at the age of 98. Before the expedition, he entrusted the country to his son Ranier Dandolo.

After his father, who had become a hero, died in a foreign country, it was almost a matter of course and a matter of course for Jianguo's son to be the candidate for the next head of state.

But this Dandolo recommended another person as a candidate for the head of state, and he withdrew from the election for the head of state. A few years later, he was killed in battle as commander-in-chief of the fleet while suppressing the Cretan rebellion.

The reason why he resigned from the right to be elected was that he was not only from a famous family, but also had a famous father. The head of the Republic of Venice is tenure for life. If you are elected head of state, the old forces who used all means to fight for the inheritance of the Governor of Venice in your family will rise up, and the republic system will be destroyed.

In the history of the Republic of Venice, there are endless people like him who retired for the sake of national interests. In Venice, the nobles control the state power, except that the head of state has the expenses to buy gorgeous clothes, because he is the face of the country and has no salary. It is their responsibility and obligation to serve the country.

In the countless wars of the Republic, there are always such words as "Venice nobles all died in battle". When civilians die, the state will issue a "survivor annuity" to the survivors.

The sacrifice of the nobles is one of their obligations. There are no monuments, and there is no compensation for sacrifices. Obligations are obligations. This is the responsibility that those in power must bear.

It's hard to imagine that there are such responsible people in this city full of debauchery and illegitimate children, but people with a clear head and no sense of profit will know what to do is right.

Perhaps Marino did not want to put his personal will above the law and the Council of Ten because of his interests, he was just confused.

A young man who went crazy for love carved the characters on the chair back of the ten-member council that his wife was enjoyed by others. He wanted the young man to die, but the ten-member council thought that after the merits and demerits were equal, the young man Nobles deserve to die. Should the 80-year-old governor swallow his anger and keep the overall situation in mind, and continue to govern under the strange eyes of others, or should he try his best to kill that reckless idiot?

Not everyone can always remain sober in their interests and passions. In 1310, the nobles wanted to overthrow the ten-member parliamentary system. Those strange people wearing masks and black cloaks would make the red velvet merchants panic all day long, just like a black sledgehammer. The sword of Damocles hangs overhead.

The Dandolos are not the Medici of Florence, they are only shadows of Venice, shadows are essential, what has no shadow in the sun? There are even bubbles in the sea, and this poor house can't afford it. The nobility, self-control, restraint and self-esteem of a woman who can only pay rent should make many people living in the palace ashamed.

Her first requirement is even more special. There is a saying in Venice: we are Christians first, and then Christians.

The Pope of Rome once lamented: The Pope is everywhere, except in Venice.

In Venice, the Venetian flag is hung instead of the Pope's flag. In the late Renaissance, the Counter-Reformation rose, so Inquisitions were built all over Europe, and Venice was no exception. However, the tribunal established in Venice is different from the clergy as referees in other places, that is, there must be three Venetian laymen among the referees, and the verdict is invalid without the reply of the Faculty of Law of the University of Padua; it must be passed unanimously to be convicted.

So every time there was a court trial, the Venetians got up and left before they finished reading the crimes. Such a trial of witches was never completed in Venice.

People can believe in God, but they cannot override the divine power over the secular world, let the Pope manipulate the king, and allow a "kingdom" like the Papal States to appear.

You can’t believe the liar’s words. I believe that no one will use money for nothing. There is a funding gap of about 4 billion in the Moses plan. The average of the 13 Renaissance buildings is 300 million euros, and there is still a certain gap. This requires The Venice government found donations and local taxes to fill it.

The source of the tax is mainly from the tourism industry and the associated catering. When the locals have to pay the tax, the cost is transferred to the tourists. The price of the catering in Venice is high. At the same time, in order to obtain high profits, Yiwu small commodities The goods in the market pretend to be handmade products in Venice and are sold to tourists at a high price. The police and the government turn a blind eye to this situation. Will the tourists who were slaughtered finally want their money back? ?

Thanks to the tourists for their contribution to the construction of Venice, but it is a pity that the tourists are sitting on the cruise ships. The water discharged by those cruise ships has destroyed the mud on the foundation of Venice, and the city is still sinking.

It seems that in the end the Queen of the Adriatic Sea will still live in the broken mud hut like the fisherman's old woman. She is still sitting on the threshold, with the broken wooden basin in front of her.

She had so many wishes that the goldfish would come true for her, but it was her husband who made the wish for her. Every year, he would drive a luxurious golden boat and throw a golden ring into the blue sea.

It was a ceremony and a promise, just like the Venetian people built the Church of Our Lady of Health in accordance with the agreement with Maria after the outbreak of the plague in 1630 under financial constraints.

The political operations of the Athenian democracy, the Roman Republic, the Florentine Republic, and the Republic of Venice all adopted the lottery model, which sounds irrational, absurd, and irresponsible, but is the election of the pope rational and responsible?

The process of electing a new pope has been going on for two millennia, and a similarly modern system was established after the Second Council of Lyon in 1274.

The world knows the Vatican has a new pope when an official burns the ballots with a special chemical fuel, causing a puff of white smoke to rise from the church chimney. If Vatican officials used other chemical fuels to create black smoke, the vote would be invalidated.

Who was the Doge of Venice in 1287? Giovanni Dandolo, he is the same name as the naval commander who was forced by the boatswain to leave the Doge's Palace in 1355.

They should not be alone, but with a mask on who knows?

Napoleon had excellent military talent in the army, but what about the navy?

He was so afraid of lions that he not only destroyed the lion at the gate of the Governor's Palace, but also destroyed the lion's mouth relief used for informers.

In Venice, no one's personal will overrides the Republic, and that's what the Emperor wanted.

Caesar was finally assassinated, although the senators couldn't even kill, and only one stab could cause fatal wounds after dozens of stabs.

If the people want democracy, it doesn't matter if they are as sensible as the woman who smashed the flower pot, if they are like the "old woman who made a wish", the government promised everything to please "them", and the end will be the same as that fairy tale what?

No one knows what the ending of the story is, because the story is still going on, maybe the old woman just accept it, and he and the old man lived a happy life because of their good deeds.

The sea of ​​desire is boundless, don't get lost, it is another form of maze.

Unless you find a way to turn yourself into a talking fish so the ocean is your home, what life wouldn't you have with that kind of power?

Just be careful not to get entangled in the imperceptible net of the sea, or you will be like the fish in the story, constantly satisfying the endless desires of the old woman.

It was obviously an old man who let him live, so why should he listen to that wicked woman?

The goldfish then wagged its tail and left, so that it would not let the land creature become the overlord in the sea, and its head was not as unconscious as a human being, and it didn't even know it was being teased.

But the fish certainly doesn't know what kind of happiness the human beings have gained after experiencing all that, so it is doomed to be a stupid fish, begging the human beings to let them go.

Sometimes, what matters is not the end of the journey but the process.

How can you know the joy of fish if you are not a fish? How can you know that you do not know the joy of fish if you are not a fish?

With the help of the "devil", Pomona came to the pier of San Marco, where there were already "officials" in traditional Venetian costumes waiting.

And the clothes on her body also turned into the gorgeous golden dress she got from the Vienna Palace.

They save a "fish", which is the fish's wish fulfilled for them, only two Lamoras die.

"Welcome to Venice." A man in red velvet and a mask said in English, "I am a diplomat of the Republic of Venice, and I will be your guide for the next trip to the Doge's Palace."

"Is the Governor not seeing us?" Pomona also asked with airs.

"He was beheaded," said the diplomat. "It's between those two pillars."

Pomona looked in the direction he was pointing, and there looked to be a pool of blood.

"Get off the ground? I like it." Severus said flirtatiously.

"This journey will be full of blood, conspiracy, terror and excitement, are you two ready?"

"Of course," Pomona said with a smile, a wand hidden in her elbow-length white silk gloves.

Maybe, she could buy some lace to decorate it.

So they walked to the main entrance under the leadership of the "diplomat", a place that "tourists" cannot enter.

At this time, rain clouds are forming on the sea surface in the distance, and the thunder light illuminates the dark clouds, just like the sea surface described by Hemingway, indicating that a storm is coming.