Since ancient times, anyone with prestige would be sought after by the masses and gain huge practical benefits. Most of the time, the so-called prestige was just a trick to deceive people. When an emperor raised an army, he could pretend to be mysterious and fool the masses. When he was ruling a country, he could also pretend to be mysterious and make the people obediently listen to him.
Other people who liked to pretend to be mysterious and seek benefits for themselves had to obey the people with the greatest benefits, which was the ruling class. Only then could they openly pretend to be mysterious and fool the common people. If they went against the interests of the ruling class, they would be considered a serious cult and would be severely punished.
In other words, everyone hoped to gain the greatest benefit for themselves by pretending to be mysterious and provoking the masses. This would inevitably lead to conflict. If both of them said that they were guided by the heavens and came to the mortal world to rule the masses, then who would the masses believe? These two people who represented the Emperor would naturally have conflicts.
Of course, if one of them claimed that he was guided by God and came to the mortal world to assist the Emperor, there would not be any conflicts. The two people who pretended to be mysterious could be brothers. One would be responsible for being the Emperor and the other would be responsible for being the Minister.
However, many magicians in ancient times were simply performing magic to seek huge benefits for themselves. They did not have a good relationship with the ruling class or the Church and did not deliberately serve them. Therefore, when their prestige rose, they would pose a huge threat to the ruling class and the Church.
When the common people were obsessed with magicians and worshipped them as gods, the ruling class and the Church would be very nervous. In their eyes, the ignorant common people should follow them. How could they worship the insignificant magicians? If the situation was allowed to develop, one day, the magicians suddenly raised the flag of rebellion. Would the ignorant common people follow the magicians and rebel? If the ignorant common people gave their money to the magicians, how could they have more money to show filial piety to the Church and the court?
Therefore, no matter from which perspective, as long as these famous magicians were not willing to serve the court and the Church, they had to be persecuted. This way, the vested interests of the court and the Church could be better protected and they could always ride on the heads of the people.
Due to the increasing popularity of magicians, the persecution they faced also gradually increased. During the reign of King Henry VIII, the punishment for performing magic was death. At the end of the sixteenth century, the court persecuted witches to the point of massacres, and their methods could be said to be extremely cruel.
In the later period, all the magicians were threatened with their lives. Under such circumstances, they had to share the secrets of magic. If they did not, they would be executed. This led to the birth of the first magic books in English.
In these magic books, the origin of magic was introduced in detail. It told all the readers that magic was just a trick that made use of some natural phenomena to deceive people. In this way, the Church would no longer have a reason to say that the magicians were engaging in black magic. This was because it was not magic at all. It was a trick to deceive people.
Since it was a trick that made use of natural phenomena to deceive people, the influence of these magicians among the masses would be greatly reduced. They would no longer be a threat to the ruling class and the Church. In this case, the magician would become a very ordinary entertainer. It was obviously unnecessary to persecute an ordinary entertainer who was no threat to the court and the Church.
However, after the secret of magic was made public, the magic performance industry did not become silent. Instead, it developed in great strides. This was because before the birth of movies and television series, the entertainment for the masses was very limited.
Although many people knew that magic was a trick to deceive people, many curious audiences still liked to watch it. There were even many people who widened their eyes to see how the magicians performed magic and how they deceived their eyes with magic.
With the rise of the theater, the magicians found a new stage. The magicians used their skillful hands to combine lighting and stage effects to launch a new era of magic. Since then, the magicians reached the peak of history. Many magic shows were born to cater to the theater. At the end of the nineteenth century, magic shows ushered in the golden age. Magic shows everywhere were full of people. The magicians wore formal tuxedos at that time, just like the audience in the theater. This was the origin of the tuxedos.
With the development of the film industry, the magicians' halo was gradually replaced. However, the magic show industry had never disappeared. After all, there were still many people who liked to watch magic shows.
Ang Lee did a magic show casually and it surprised Li Xiaolu. The magic of fire in the palm was very simple. Many magicians in later generations basically knew this trick. There was nothing special about it. It was just that Li Xiaolu had never seen it before, so she felt it was more magical.
"Assistant Minister Li, how did this fire come out?"
Li Xiaolu still didn't believe the so-called Heavenly Fire. She still felt that Ang Lee was deceiving her. She felt that the flame in Ang Lee's hand was changed by some method, which was enough to show that this little girl was not stupid.
"Smell it. What's the smell?"
Ang Lee put his palm on Li Xiaolu's nose and let Li Xiaolu smell it carefully.
"Haha! I know, this trick is very fun to deceive people! "
Li Xiaolu smelled something and said with a smile.
The beauty of the sunrise only lasted for a moment. When Ang Lee and Li Xiaolu were inadvertently talking and laughing, the sun had already risen high. The cold feeling just now was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by the dazzling sunlight.
This might be the eight or nine o 'clock sun that a great man in later generations said! However, at this moment, it was not that time yet, but it was already dazzling.
There was more or less a fishy smell on the beach, but after reaching the depths of the sea, there was no fishy smell at all because the sea was too big. No matter how much fishy smell there was, it would be diluted by the huge sea water and completely disappear without a trace.
After that, Ang Lee performed a few more magic tricks. However, he did not deceive Li Xiaolu. Instead, after Li Xiaolu's repeated requests, he taught the magic tricks to Li Xiaolu and let this little girl learn to perform. However, Li Xiaolu's aptitude was a bit poor. Ang Lee taught her for a long time, but she could not learn it.
Although magic tricks were fake tricks to deceive people, this technology was also very demanding on people. Not everyone could perform magic tricks. The most basic quality of performing magic was to react fast enough. If the reaction speed was particularly slow, any magic trick could not be performed. Because if the reaction speed was very slow, anyone could see how it was changed. In this way, how could it still be called magic? It could be said that there was no magic power at all.
Therefore, learning magic was also very difficult. It must be practiced repeatedly to practice the speed of reaction. When the speed exceeded the discrimination ability of the human eye, the magic trick was successful. If the speed was not enough to exceed the discrimination ability of the human eye, the magic trick would fail.
Ang Lee also liked to watch magic tricks in his previous life. Ang Lee really didn't know how most of the magic tricks were changed, but there were a few magic tricks that Ang Lee knew. This was also because some magicians' movements were not up to standard. The speed was a little slow, so Ang Lee could see the flaws.
For example, there was a black cloth strip. The magician only needed to flick it gently, and the black cloth strip would become colorful. It was very magical and very interesting.
Li An had watched it for many years, but he didn't know how it worked. It wasn't until one day, when he was watching a guy who wasn't very good at it perform that Li An discovered the mystery. It turned out that the cloth was in a barrel, just like a person's sleeve protector. However, the color inside and outside were different. As long as the inside was flipped, the color would change. It was very simple.
However, if he slowly removed the color inside, even a fool would be able to tell what was going on. Only by quickly flinging it could people not tell what was going on and thus feel that the magician was very powerful.
Because the magician was not skilled enough, when he touched the inner layer, his finger slipped, so he did it a little more. In this way, all the onlookers found out, and for a time, it caused a violent roar of laughter. The magician who made a fool of himself could only bite the bullet and continue to perform. After all, these were very ordinary street performances. It was not an important occasion. Even if he was seen through, it did not matter much. Moreover, everyone in the future knew that magic was fake. So, when they saw how it was fake, there was a feeling of excitement in their hearts. At least the doubts in their hearts were solved. This feeling was still very good.
Magic could only satisfy people's curiosity for a while. If people watched magic every day, they would be very tired. For example, if a person ate meat every day, they would soon be tired.
It took a long time to set off from the port in the north of Egypt to the distant port of Gibraltar in Spain. The journey was long enough, so they had to find something to do. Otherwise, they would be really bored to death.
Work was part of it, and there were also entertainment and pastimes. Wasn't a person's life spent in constant work and entertainment?
Ang Lee's work was quite simple. It was nothing more than listening to the reports of his subordinates, designing the topographic maps of various bases in the Tang dynasty, or perfecting the structure of the Tang dynasty's canals to make the canals of the Tang dynasty more perfect. These tasks were very easy for Ang Lee. The rest of the chores and tiring work were all done by his subordinates. Ang Lee did not need to do it himself. Otherwise, Ang Lee would be exhausted to death.
As for entertainment and pastimes, Ang Lee enjoyed more. Eating delicious food was a kind of enjoyment. Hugging cute little beauties was also a kind of enjoyment. Of course, looking at beautiful scenery was also a kind of enjoyment. In short, doing anything was a kind of enjoyment. As long as he did not go to work and did not do dirty work, it could be called enjoyment and entertainment.
The weather in the future was not very good, and there were many lights at night in the city. Therefore, it was difficult for a person to look at the stars in the sky.
However, the air in the Tang dynasty was very good. At least, it was much better than the industrially polluted planets in the future. During the day, the sky could be very blue. At night, not only were there many stars in the sky, but they were also very clear. It was not difficult to see countless stars at a glance.
Looking at the stars in the night sky on the ground was a kind of enjoyment, but looking at the stars on the ship was another kind of enjoyment. Moreover, looking at the stars while lying on the ship was more clear and more romantic.
However, if one specialized in astronomical observation, it was better to do it on the relatively still ground. Because the ship was too swaying, the observation would be inaccurate. However, such a problem did not exist on the ground, and the observation could be very accurate.
Last time in the car, Ang Lee had already explained some knowledge of astronomy to Li Xiaolu, and he also emphasized some of the more important and famous stars. At this moment, looking at the stars on the ship had become a hobby for everyone.
After all, the sea was relatively monotonous and boring. During the day, there was only the blue sky and white clouds, and the blue sea. Once it was night, the surroundings were all dark, and only the stars could be seen. Therefore, looking at the stars naturally became a hobby for all sailing on the sea.
The most famous stars were the Cowherd and Vega Stars, the Sirius Star, and the Big Dipper. These stars had been told to Li Xiaolu. However, there were too many famous stars in the sky, and there were many stars that were worth talking about.
For example, the old man star, which was slightly darker than the Sirius Star, was a star that was worth talking about.
"Xiaolu, have you heard of the old man star?"
Ang Lee asked.
Li Xiaolu shook her head and said, "No, of course not. I have never heard of it. Old man star, is it a very old star?"
Ang Lee pointed to the south and looked for a long time, but he did not find any trace of the old man star. He said disappointedly, "The old man star is a star, below the Sirius Star in the south. However, there is no old man star in the sky now. Maybe it is too short and blocked by the horizon!"
Li An originally thought that he would be able to find Old Man Planet, but after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find it. After all, Old Man Planet was located too far south. It wasn't easy to see Old Man Planet from the northern hemisphere. In fact, it was impossible to see Old Man Planet from the northern hemisphere.
"It seems that the old man star is playing hide-and-seek with us. It's so interesting!"
Li Xiaolu said with a smile.
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