Chapter 6 Qian Yi
The weather is cold in spring and the sun is shining brightly.
Today is a good day with clear skies in Dasangli. But the atmosphere at the scene was like the twelfth lunar month in the middle of winter, terrifyingly solemn.
Zhang Heizi was tortured and was currently lying on the wooden cart supported by Zhang Chong and others, his face was ashen and he was sweating profusely.
Si Sun was also supported by the local residents who were dating each other. He was sitting on the brought-in bed, drinking the homemade slurry brewed by the farmer.
Duman ran home to get this.
He respects this chivalrous and wealthy man in the sea and lakes, even though he is the Taoist envoy of Taiping Road. Du Man felt that Taiping Road was all about pretending to be gods and ghosts, and fooling fools.
He had seen how the Taiping Taoists used water to cure diseases.
The patient is first asked to kneel at an intersection extending in all directions, and then kowtows in all directions. The patient must be sincere in the process. After that, the Taiping Taoist priests would write the word "Elixir" in their hands, mix it with water, and let the patients drink it.
He said, He who believes will live, and whoever disbelieves will die.
After Duman saw this set, he guessed the whole trick.
This so-called believer lives, and the unbeliever dies. In fact, it’s just that those who survived said they believe it, and those who didn’t survive said they didn’t believe it. Therefore, those who deserve to die will still have to die, and those who need to live will still have to live.
The whole Taiping Road is a scam.
Yes, Duman has always been smart. He has been able to weave good straw sandals since he was a child, even better than his father.
He, Zhang Chong, and Zhang Dan were classmates, and Zhang Dan was the trumpeter he teased. All three of them were educated in the village library and studied "Cangjie" and "Jijiupian".
Later, his father died due to a frightened horse, and the clan compensated him by spending a special amount of money as a monk to send him to Fu's Jingshe in Dongpingling County for further study.
The academic status of Fu's Jingshe is unrivaled not only in Jinan, but also in Qingzhou and the whole world. Just because "Shang Shu", one of the five classics in the world, was passed down by Fu.
The founder of the Fu family lineage is Fu Sheng of the Qin Dynasty. At that time, Qin Shihuang burned books and harassed Confucians, and Confucian classics disappeared. But Fu Sheng alone hid the Book of Documents in Jiabi.
Later, Taizu of this dynasty conquered the world, and Emperor Wen began to focus on literature. At that time, Fu Sheng was the only one who understood "Shang Shu", so he was called to Beijing to study. However, Hui Fusheng was nearly ninety at that time and was not good at practice, so he still passed on his knowledge to his hometown.
Over the past four hundred years, teaching has continued. The original lineage of Fusheng's Shangshu was also developed into Ouyang's Shangshu, and the three branches of Xiahou's Shangshu were all prominent schools in the world. But they all respect the Fu family as their ancestor.
Even though the Fu family in Jinan later moved to Dongwu County, Langya County, and even the family law was changed to "Qi Shi", the Fu family's jingshe here is still the ancestral line of "Shang Shu".
Every year, there are no fewer than thousands of scholars from all over the world who come here to study, either driving horses with whips or walking with sticks, and they come and go on official roads.
At first, it was difficult for Duman, a local, to understand why students from Xizhou, as far away as Liangyi, had to come here to study scriptures despite being afraid of frost and snow.
You must know that this thing is thousands of miles away, and the journey alone will take a year. You will also encounter bandits and water bandits along the way. If you don't get it right, you will lose your life.
Later, a senior brother explained the reason:
"What is the goal of traveling thousands of miles? It is a profit. Those who advance will be rewarded with two thousand stones, and will be rewarded with high titles and generous salaries. Those who retreat will return to their hometowns to teach, establish a local style of study, and travel around the mountains and rivers. Wouldn't it be joyful? . As for wealth, rice, oil and salt, I have my own disciples to do their work.”
It turns out that from Emperor Xiaowu, who dismissed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, to Emperor Yuan and Cheng, he selected literary officials and dismissed legal officials. The Han Dynasty has formed a complete Confucian selection criteria for bureaucrats.
From the emperor's edicts to the ministers' reports, everyone quoted the scriptures as basis. Great doubts about the state should also be settled by classics.
Therefore, if you don’t read the scriptures, how can you be an official?
In other words, if you want to be an official, you must treat classics.
Moreover, after learning the scriptures, one can teach the disciples of the tribe. Granting a family member can protect the family's reputation; granting a disciple can strengthen the government and the opposition. Therefore, there is a saying, "It is better to leave a scroll of books to descendants than to leave a thousand bells of millet to descendants." This is the truth.
Only with this kind of family law can we keep the hairpin for generations to come.
He also gave Duman two real-life examples from this dynasty. Both tribes were the three lords of this dynasty for several generations.
The first one is the Yuan family of Runan, a wealthy family in Guandong. The family law is "Mengshi Yi", which was learned by Yuan Liang, the father of Yuan An, the first third son of the Yuan family, from the Mengshi Jingshe.
At that time, Yuan Liang was just a county magistrate with a salary of 600 shi. From the time of his son Yuan An's surrender, all the four generations produced thousands of stones and three nobles. The family was extremely wealthy and offered sacrifices to the princes on a daily basis. Isn't this the help of Meng's Yi?
The second one is the Hongnong Yang family of the Kansai gentry, whose family law is "Ouyang Shangshu". Yes, this "Ouyang Shangshu" was passed down by Ouyang Sheng, a student of Fu Sheng at that time.
The Yang family was originally a martial arts family in the former Han Dynasty. Their ancestor Yang Xi was granted the title of Marquis because he received a leg from Xiang Yu. Until the emergence of Yang Zhen in this dynasty, who received Ouyang's "Shangshu" from Taichang Huanyu, the Confucian scholars respected him as: "Kanxi Confucius Yang Boqi". The Yang family thus turned into a Confucian classics family.
After that, the fourth generation of Taiwei successively had great virtues and careers.
From this we can see how great a blessing it is for a rural mat weaver to be able to learn from Fu's Jingshe in Jinan and be listed in the same lineage as the famous officials of the Han Dynasty in history.
Even though this good fortune was obtained by Duman's father with his life.
Duman, who just came here, is just a country fool and doesn't know the importance. He was filled with resentment towards his clan for causing his father's death, and it was hard to get rid of it.
But the more he understood the importance of Confucian classics, the more he realized how illustrious Fu's Jingshe was. He gradually began to be grateful to his clan and full of hope for the future.
As the senior brother said, I don’t dare to seek the position of the Three Lords, but for the price of two thousand stones, it starts with my generation.
From then on, he served his teacher day and night, studied in the morning and evening, treated him like a father, and studied hard. And because his family was not rich, he was unable to provide him with daily wages.
Therefore, every morning, Duman took the straw mats and sandals that he had knitted at home and went to the market to sell them, reading scriptures while selling mats. After getting off the market, I went to the teacher's office to greet him respectfully and ask for advice.
During the day, I would also help the senior brothers pick up food, clothing, and borrow books along the way. Wait until night, then go back to the house, burn firewood and study hard.
He worked hard for several years and studied tirelessly.
As a poor family, what you are afraid of is never suffering? The fear is that there will be no chance.
Duman felt that his clan had given him a chance, and as long as he worked hard, he would succeed, and he would be worthy of his mother, so he worked day and night weaving straw mats.
But it wasn't until one day that he suddenly realized that this opportunity had never been opened to him.
That day, as usual, he went to greet his teacher.
In fact, he had an unkind request that he wanted to make to his teacher in private, which was whether he could get a teaching position in a monastery so that he could supplement his living expenses. It turns out that in the past few years, even though he was working hard and studying hard, the social entertainment of the senior brothers and the purchase of bamboo slips still cost more than half of the family's wealth.
Although his mother didn't say anything and still supported her silently, he still felt guilty.
He felt that he had a deep relationship with his teacher, and he was proficient in Confucian classics. He had already graduated as a teacher, and it was not a big problem to find a paying position in the school.
But that day, Duman stood outside the door for a long time and did not see the teacher go out.
Later it occurred to me that the teacher must have had a banquet with Cai Yong, a scholar from the east, yesterday, and he must not have returned yet.
Duman was going to leave, but by some strange mistake, he opened the door that day and entered the teacher's house.
He later reflected that the strange opening might be his inner desire to become a learned scholar.
He wanted to see what the scene was like inside the door that was always radiating light.
He had seen the brilliant scene when the teacher taught them.
At that time, the teacher was wearing a virtuous crown, a robe with wide sleeves, a belt around his waist, and a veil. He was holding a jade ruyi, and he looked as outstanding as a fairy.
Behind him are a group of servants, either playing fans or playing with sand hammers. Those who fan are doing it to relieve the heat, and those who wield sand hammers are doing it to suppress the academic rules. Among the rest, there is a person with a high voice who is responsible for repeating what the teacher said so that the disciples outside the wall can also listen to the teachings.
In the first year after Duman came, he listened to classics outside the wall. In the second year, he moved forward to the wall. In the third year, he was able to listen to the teachings in the teacher's monastery. He is the one who has made the fastest progress among this group of students.
The teacher couldn't help but sigh:
"Work hard, work hard, and I will live a humble life."
Qianyi was the word given to him by his teacher as a reward when Duman was ranked in the palace. Taken from "Shangshu Dayu Mo": "If you are full, you will suffer losses, but if you are modest, you will benefit."
From then on, he lived a full and humble life, and he became more and more respectful to his teacher.
Others finished listening to the teacher's teachings. He was the only one who went back every night and made sure to write down what the teacher said today. The bamboo chips that were cut off by the book knife because of mistakes were piled up on his desk.
Ever since he saw the brilliance of his teacher when he was teaching, his ambition has changed from the ambition of earning a salary of two thousand stones in this world to the pursuit of pursuing the holy knowledge.
He has been sublimated, and other people are aware of their humility and benefit.
But all of this was shattered that morning because of his curiosity.
To be more precise, I woke up.
According to the master's rules, all those who have studied "Shangshu" and become disciples will have their names recorded on the screen after receiving the disk, to express to the ancestor that my veins are blooming and spreading.
In the past, this screen was kept in the teacher's room. As soon as Duman came in, he saw this screen first.
He was both proud and cautious as he looked at the names on the screen.
Over the past four hundred years, countless great Confucians and scholars have been listed on it.
He jumped out of the middle and looked towards the last few columns, eagerly looking for his name. But I looked for it three times and couldn't find it.
He started from the beginning again and crossed them one by one with his fingers. When he saw the end, there was still nothing.
Duman sat on the ground at that time. He felt that something was wrong. He continued searching inside the house, hoping to find a second screen, but was only disappointed.
At this time, the division commander came back. When I saw Duman in the room, I was surprised at first, and then angry when I saw Duman sitting in front of the screen. But when I looked at Duman again, my face was withered and I couldn't bear it.
He walked up to Duman, looked down at the hard-working Qianyi, and said leisurely:
"You know everything?"
"Why? Commander, is this something wrong? Shouldn't I be on this screen?"
Du burst into tears, trying hard to hold back his grief and anger.
"That's right, you are indeed not on the screen. Just because you are good-natured and shallow in nature, you should not have entered my sect. The disciples sent by your clan are just to listen. You can learn knowledge, but it is difficult to accept the ultimatum. Originally, I’ve been telling you this for a long time, but it’s only because of your honesty and hard work that it’s only come to this day. Will you blame me?”
Duman was awakened by a thunder explosion at this time.
No wonder the clan would leave such a good opportunity to him, no wonder a local tycoon could have the opportunity to send disciples to such a monastery.
It turned out to be a "layman" who didn't have access to the entrance wall.
He couldn't stay any longer. He didn't look at the teacher again and ran away from the monastery crying. He didn't even take away the bamboo album in the cottage. Along the way, he was thinking wildly.
He hates Zhang Qiu, hates the clan leader Zhang Hong, and hates everything in the clan.
Why did I give him hope but never gave it to him? Why did I let him have this dream for several years?
No, this is not his clan, his surname is Du, he is an outsider.
In this way, Duman staggered back home.
When he got home, his mother looked at Duman who was covered in mud and even kicked off his shoes. She said nothing and cooked a bowl of hot soup cakes.
Duman ate the soup cake and burst into tears.
From then on, Duman continued to weave straw sandals and mats in Dashangli.
His personality changed and he became sarcastic and dissolute, and his name also changed, becoming "Du Daman" among the villagers.
The name Qianyi disappeared with the wind, as if it had never appeared before.
(End of chapter)