The next morning we checked out early, and the four of us set off for Zhaowang Hotel.
More than ten years ago, Zhaowang Hotel was regarded as the most upscale hotel in Handan. Now this hotel is still there, but the business is not as good as before.
We took the city bus from the train station and it was not a long journey. It took about an hour to arrive at the place. I ran to the front desk to ask if there was a man named Liu living here. Could you please let me know and say that someone is looking for him.
The waitress at the front desk said sorry, but it is not convenient for us to proactively disclose guest information. You can ask the guest to call the front desk.
He shook his head and said that he had tried but could not contact the beggar Liu.
"Changchun Club." With the mentality of giving it a try, I looked at the waitress and said these three words carefully.
The waitress's expression changed, and she immediately changed her words and said, "Wait a moment, and I'll check it out for you."
At that time, computers were not widely available for registration at the front desk, so they were all handwritten in a thick black notebook, including ID number, name, and so on. There was no such thing as Internet monitoring.
The waitress flipped through the registration book for a few minutes and said: "Mr. Liu has an annual card with us, room 406, but Mr. Liu should not be here now. He goes to Nanminghe Park to exercise at 5:30 every morning, maybe at noon
If you come back, you may not come back for the whole day."
We thanked the front desk clerk and went to Nanminghe Park to look for Liu, the beggar.
I really found him this time, but he wasn't exercising in the park...
To the north of Nanminghe Park is the ticket office. There is a small fitness square next to the ticket office. The beggar Liu is sitting on a chair in the square. His clothes are shabby and ragged. There is an equally shabby enamel tea jar at his feet, which he is holding in his hands.
He was napping on his sleeve... His enamel jar was full of fifty-cent change, and even one dollar was very small.
The forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. Beggar Liu must be rich, and he is not an ordinary kind of rich. He can get an annual pass at the most upscale hotel in the area. I really can't figure out why he does this.
Later I asked the boss and he told me the reason.
In 1992, a movie was made called Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier. It was originally a comedy movie that was nonsensical and funny. Very few people knew the prototype character behind the story.
The beggar Liu Benming was named Liu Changsheng. His great ancestor had won the first place in the martial arts examination in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign, which was commonly known as the Wu Zhuangyuan. At that time, it was very difficult to obtain the Wu Zhuangyuan exam, which was definitely much more difficult than the current civil service examination.
At that time, the first test was a horse riding and archery test, the second test was a skill and courage test, and the third test was a literary test.
"Skills and courage" include drawing the bow, dancing the sword, and lifting weights.
The knives and stones that need to be danced are divided into three levels, and the bows are also divided into three levels, namely: eighty, one hundred and one hundred and twenty (kg). The assessment process has requirements, that is, "the bow must be fired three times."
When it is full, the knife must be pressed against the chest front and back, and the stone must be lifted off the ground by one foot, and it must be level with the shoulder."
Beggar Liu's great-great-grandfather ranked first in all three exams, and set a record of 320 kilograms in lifting stones.
After passing these three levels, you will basically be admitted to the martial arts examination. The literary examination is just for the purpose. It consists of two symbolic questions. But the beggar Liu’s great-grandfather was not only illiterate but also had a bad temper. He thought that the examiner was deliberately making things difficult for him.
He was so angry that he kicked the examiner on the head and gave him a concussion. Afterwards, his great ancestor was arrested and brought to prison for two years.
So now if we check the Qing Dynasty archives online, we will find that Wu Zhuangyuan is not the beggar Liu Gaozu. Instead, what we find is that the first Wujia in the Jiawu Branch in the 19th year of Qianlong (1754) was a man named Gu Lin. His great ancestor was originally the first
First, because he kicked someone and gave him a concussion, Gu Lin, who was second at the same time as him, became first.
The family that he caused a concussion was very powerful. In order to retaliate, they paid for their connections to break the legs of his great-great-grandfather in prison. Later, he became a lame when he was released. People who practiced martial arts in those days paid great attention to rowing.
On the other hand, his great-grandfather still had martial arts skills after he was released from prison, but because of his disability, his life was not easy, and later he became a beggar.
Things took a turn for the better in the 24th year of Qianlong's reign, when Qianlong was 49 years old. His favorite thing to do was to go to the south of the Yangtze River to pick up beautiful women. In the twelfth lunar month of this year, Qianlong disguised himself and walked to Yuanze Mountain (in the northern part of Shaoxing) when he suddenly encountered a mountain.
The bandits were robbing, and the king of the country was about to die at the hands of the bandits. At this moment, a ragged middle-aged beggar suddenly emerged from the grass on the roadside. Although this beggar was lame on one leg, he was very skilled in martial arts and could be eliminated in three strokes.
The second one repelled the bandits and saved Qianlong.
Qianlong was very grateful to this man afterwards. Qianlong said: "You have done a great job in saving the man. Just tell me what kind of reward you want."
