Chen Chong and Wei Yan left Xu County and found out that the bandit trouble in Yingyin had not yet been calmed down, so they had to take a detour according to the original plan, cross the Tishui River and Yingshui River one after another, and then go west along the Yingshui River and pass through Yangzhai in Yingyang.
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When traveling to Yangdi, Chen Chong thought of many childhood friends whom he had not seen for many years and did not know how they were doing. He originally wanted to go to the city to talk about it, but he thought that the situation in the DPRK was still unclear and time could not be wasted. In the end, he could not enter the city. Congyang
The city then crossed back to the north of Yingshui River. The plain terrain is steep and steep, with ravines scattered across it. Songgao Mountain is as towering as a pillar of heaven. After climbing over the ravines, Shenyuan Pass is clearly in sight.
Although His Majesty has still behaved absurdly since the Zhongping Period, the Yellow Turban Sea boiling still sounded the alarm for him. After all, at its peak, the Yellow Turbans not only spread across eight states and shocked the world, the most important thing was that the Yellow Turbans once captured the entire Nanyang County, half of which
Yingchuan County and Nanyang are the hometown of Emperor Guangwu, and it takes only two days to reach Luoyang from Yangcheng.
His Majesty therefore paid special attention to the defense of the Eastern Capital, and ordered General He Jin to lead the left and right Yulin armies. The five schools of the Northern Army repaired the Eight Passes around Luoyang, and then recruited evil young men from the capital to serve as the defenders of the Eight Passes, and added the Eight Pass Commanders.
Coordinate the affairs of the Eight Passes to protect the Eastern Capital and ensure that even if Nanyang, Yingchuan, Hanoi and other places are all captured, Luoyang will remain impregnable.
When Chen Chong passed the pass, he was wearing court clothes and holding a horse in his hand. He could tell at a glance that he belonged to a wealthy family. The soldiers did not dare to exploit him. After asking about his identity, they sent Chen Chong to pass the pass. When Chen Chong looked back at the city, he saw that the gate was like a red brick on the horizon.
I couldn't help but sigh: "Chang Wen, do you know how I feel every time I walk through this Pass?"
Wei Yan was still sixteen or seventeen years old. He followed Chen Chong into the capital for the first time. He was full of curiosity and excitement. He reluctantly looked back at Shenyuan Pass and said: "How can Yan know what Chen Chong is thinking? But in my opinion,
Come on, how can we break through such a dangerous pass without tens of thousands of elite soldiers?"
"You are making common sense." Seeing Wei Yan so excited, Chen Chong couldn't help laughing. He could only slow down his tone and said seriously: "Wen Chang, you have to remember that most things in the world cannot be made by common sense.
To think, you must think more, think about the worst case scenario, then think about the best case scenario, and then ask yourself which situation is more suitable for your own situation and that of the other party."
He turned on his horse, no longer looking at the city gate behind him, and sighed: "Wu Qi once advised Marquis Wu of Wei that the safety of the country is not in danger, but virtue. Even if the mountains and rivers are strong, if the king does not cultivate virtue, all the people in the boat will become enemies of the country, and
What dangers are there to defend?"
Then we walked in silence all the way, passing through Fengshi and Yanshi, and then along the Luoshui River straight into Dongdu.
Although it is said that he entered the Eastern Capital, strictly speaking, Chen Chong did not enter Luoyang City. Because Chen Chong's temporary position in the court was as a doctor offering sacrifices to wine, and as the head of the Five Classics Doctors, he was responsible for matters related to Taixue, so his residence was located in
Within Taixue. Although Taixue is the highest academic institution in the Han Dynasty, it is located outside Luoyang City, two miles south of Kaiyang Gate.
But it's not that the imperial court didn't pay attention to Taixue. On the contrary, it was precisely because Taixue was famous all over the world that the imperial court chose to locate Taixue in the suburbs of the city. During the Xinmang period, Wang Mang was famous for his Confucian reputation and wanted to win over Taixue's disciples.
The number of doctors in the Five Classics increased from one to five per classic, and the number of PhD students was greatly expanded. When the Han Dynasty became emperor, there were only more than 3,000 PhD students. After Wang Mang came to power, the number reached more than 10,000.
Wang Mang was able to usurp the Han Dynasty and stand on his own, relying on, firstly, his status as a relative, and secondly, the support of the Imperial College. Emperor Guangwu considered it again and again, and in order to strengthen the monarch's power and control public opinion, he finally decided to locate the Imperial College in the southern suburbs of Luoyang. Later, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty settled in Yong.
In the first year of its founding, it took one year to expand Taixue with 112,000 workers, and built 240 rooms and 1,850 rooms. Taixue is like a small city. Now, the party's shackles have been lifted, and Taixue is now
It is even more prosperous. According to rough calculation, the number of Tai students has reached more than 30,000.
When Chen Chong arrived at the outskirts of Luoyang City, the scorching sun was shining, it was noon, and it was also the busiest time for the market outside Luoyang City. Rows of houses stretched along the road, the Luoyang City Wall was faintly visible in the distance, and there was a lot of noise.
Noisy, busy with traffic, surging crowds, Liangzhou's ruined war situation seems to have no impact on the heart of the empire, and the sharp ruts tell of busyness, prosperity, and indifference.
This is the Luoyang Horse Market. After all, Chen Chong bought Wei Yan a Jiuyuan horse. Then the two of them entered the Middle East Gate, turned left past Sangong Mansion, and exited Kaiyang Gate. Within three quarters of an hour, too late
Learning is in sight.
The noisy atmosphere suddenly disappeared. Wei Yan rode his own new horse and looked at the world curiously.
Not only the atmosphere, the environment of Taixue is also unique: green bamboo pavilions, ancient mulberry trees, winding paths, green shade everywhere, pavilions mostly paved with pebbles, smoke rising from the distance, pedestrians rushing on the road, but few people
Noisy. Suddenly, two large stones came into Wei Yan's eyes, one on the left and one on the right, with a sentence written in cinnabar on each side: Without indifference, there is no way to clarify one's ambitions, and without tranquility, there is no way to reach far.
The rear courtyard is suddenly open to the public, with stone paving, tall red gates, and horizontal stone railings. On the plaque are the two characters "Tai Xue" with silkworm heads and swallow tails, which are round and round.
A young official in front of the door was immersed in copying scriptures. Chen Chong got off his horse and stood behind him to watch for a while. The young official was completely unaware of it. It was not until a passing student recognized Chen Chong and saluted him that the young official suddenly realized the sacrifice.
Master Jiu was behind him, accusing him repeatedly.
Chen Chong smiled and shook his head, gave him a few words of encouragement, then took out a copy of "Han Fei" from his luggage and gave it to him, and then called Wei Yan to continue moving forward.
Behind the gate is a huge square, about a hundred feet wide and more than ten feet long. Forty-six Xiping stone tablets [1] are placed here. At this time, there are no "viewers and copyists" when the stone scriptures were completed.
"More than a thousand vehicles crowded the streets", but there were still many students discussing the meaning of the scriptures in front of the inscriptions in the square.
Conveniently behind the square is the Taixue Lecture Hall. The main lecture hall is fifteen feet long and four feet wide, and can accommodate 300 people attending lectures at the same time. The other lecture halls are slightly smaller and can accommodate about 200 people attending lectures. Continue to the south, after passing through the lecture halls.
This is the residence of the doctors.
Chen Chong's residence is a three-entry courtyard, which was allocated by the imperial court and is quite spacious. When Chen Chong brought Wei Yan in, he bumped into three or four students. The students saluted Chen Chong and said: "Good morning, teacher." p>
Chen Chong returned the gift with a smile, and a student greeted him: "Teacher, I heard that Mr. Wen Fan died of illness not long ago. The teacher took a break and returned to his hometown for some reason. Why did he come back so quickly?"
Chen Chong immediately replied seriously: "The death of our ancestor from illness has shocked the whole world. There are already many people buried, and there is no need to rush for one person. What's more, it is not necessary to show up before the funeral. The country is in trouble now, and it is your responsibility. I will return to Luoyang this time.
, I am going to invite myself to serve as a foreign minister. I am afraid that I will not have much time to preach and teach, so don’t relax.”
The students had different expressions. After looking at each other for a moment, they all nodded in agreement. Chen Chong said goodbye to them, tied the two horses to the stable, and called into the courtyard: "Ayan! Ayan! I'm back."
Wei Yanzheng was surprised that in such a large courtyard, he did not see a single blue-headed slave, but he saw a woman hurriedly walking out of the side room. She was wearing a bun with a swallow tail, a three-sided embroidered skirt tied around her waist, blue and white silk shoes under her feet, and her face was like dawn.
The moon, if its lips are red and its fingers are like green onions, looks extremely beautiful.
The woman was stunned for a moment when she saw him, then saluted and said angrily to Chen Chong: "Ting Jian, why did you come back in such a hurry? Did you make trouble with uncle and uncle again?"
Chen Chong scratched his head and said: "Ayan, I have always been reasonable. Apart from making trouble with you, who else have I made trouble with?" Then he grabbed the woman's delicate hand, covered his stomach and said: "Ayan, I have been busy with Wen Chang all day today.
Lu, I’m still empty in my belly. You hurry up and make two bowls of wheat rice. I’ll take care of it with Wen Chang first.”
Seeing that Wei Yan was at a loss in this situation, he said solemnly: "Ayan, this is Wei Wenchang of Yiyang. He is the sibling of Xuande, and naturally he is also my sibling. Wen Chang, this is my wife, you can call me sister-in-law.
Well, when she first married me, she didn’t touch Yangchun water with her ten fingers, and then washed her hands to make soup. It has been several years now. I guarantee that you will never forget it after eating it once."
Such blatant teasing made Cai Yan's cheeks glow, but he couldn't get angry in front of outsiders, so he quickly withdrew his hand, glared at Chen Chong with his beautiful eyes, and then lowered his head and said: "Then you go and clean up the study first, let's go
The editor is resting there." Then he hurried back to the kitchen.
Chen Chong patted Wei Yan and said with a smile: "Chang Wen, come with me, I will instill a scholarly atmosphere in you." Only then did Wei Yan come back to his senses and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, your official position is better than six."
Baishi, why do you still use your sister-in-law to cook? Don’t you have a blue-headed servant girl in your family?"
Chen Chong carried their luggage, led the way for Wei Yan, and said with a smile: "Chang Wen, there are some things that there is no need to leave to others to do, especially things that you can do yourself. If you don't listen and don't sweep a house, how can you sweep the world?"
Besides, I don’t like to boss others around, and no one likes to be bossed around.”
Wei Yan felt a little dizzy when he heard these words. He was still young at this time and had not seen much warmth and coldness in the world, but he could also feel the heaviness in Chen Chong's words, but this could not completely solve his doubts. He also
Asked: "Chen Jun, I see that you still have two courtyards in your house. You can just arrange a wing for me. Why move it to the study?"
This question made Chen Chong a little hesitant. He hesitated for a while and could only answer awkwardly: "Wen Chang, it's not that I'm stingy. It's just that when I first came here, I felt that this mansion was so spacious. It was just A Yan and I.
It was quite luxurious to live there, and I couldn’t clean it up, so I helped some Han disciples from the Imperial College and let them live here. Apart from Yuan Zhi and Guangyuan who had just left, there were about forty Imperial students.
We are all crowded here, but we forgot to leave a guest room, so you just have to make do with it."
At this point, Wei Yan unexpectedly asked: "Chen Jun, did you learn all your knowledge and principles from books?"
"Some are, some are not. The article is long, some truths cannot be learned from books, and some truths can only be learned from books." Chen rushed in and straightened the bed in the corner, and replied: "Just reading
Tens of thousands of books are necessary to travel thousands of miles. If there is someone who has both read and walked through it, and has a long article, then he cannot be said to be much better than me."
Wei Yan then asked: "Can Mr. Chen teach me how to read?"
Chen Chong was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily, as if it was a blessing in his life. He took Wei Yan's hand and sat on the bed, threw his luggage on the bed in the corner, and said happily: "Wen Chang, since you have this idea, how can I not
Try your best?"
He immediately searched for books from the study room, after sifting through them, he wrapped a thick pile for Wei Yan and said with a smile: "If you don't understand anything, you can ask me, but I hope that before you ask me, ask yourself first, and then
Answer it yourself first. Only in this way can you make progress and become a pillar of the country."
While chatting and laughing, Cai Yan cooked wheat rice and brought it to the two of them. Chen Chong, like a hungry tiger out of its cage, swept away the food and asked Cai Yan: "A Yan, how many days have I been away since I left?"
Have you ever come to see me?"
Cai Yan was arranging Chen Chong's clothes and replied: "Yuan Chang came here the day before yesterday and said that the affairs of the court were critical. He asked you to go to him on the day you came back. However, today's court meeting has not dispersed yet, so Yuan Chang should not be there yet."
Go home, you can go there later."
Chen Chong suddenly changed his expression, put his rice bowl aside, and couldn't help but mutter to himself: "Yuan Benchu moved so fast?"
He immediately straightened his clothes and said to Cai Yan: "Ayan, it's almost time to go back to Yuan Chang's house. Although there is enough time, it's not too early. In case of accidents, I'd better go to Yuan Chang's house first.
One trip."
[1] Xiping Stone Classic: The Xiping Stone Classic is the earliest official Confucian classic carved stone in Chinese history. It was carved from the fourth year of Xiping, Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to the sixth year of Guanghe, Eastern Han Dynasty. After it was carved, it was erected in Luoyang City of the Han and Wei Dynasties at that time.
Outside Kaiyang Gate is the seat of Luoyang Taixue, so people also call this book "The Stone Classic of Taixue". The Stone Classic is written in one piece in official script, with a square and upright font, and it is very well-known, so it is also called "The Stone Classic of Taixue".
"One Word Stone Scripture".
The Xiping Stone Classic is of great significance in the history of Chinese culture. It represents that the two major schools of Confucianism, the Modern Classics and the Ancient Classics, finally reached an initial consensus after hundreds of years of disputes. It also left behind the standard official script font, which contributed to the development of calligraphy.