This river is one of the sources of the Jishui River in Ganxi. Because it flows countercurrent, the boat speed is very slow.
During the slow sailing, people were sitting and bored, chatting and having fun. The man of the hour was a young scholar with an arrogant face who was shaking a folding fan. He claimed to be the most talented person in Jiangxi and said that he wanted to compete with Ouyang Xiu...
Most of the people on this boat came to visit Ouyang Xiu because of his reputation, but there were only a few who dared to say that they wanted to compete.
Because at this time, Ouyang Xiu was already the leader of the literary world and the most famous scholar in the world. If this scholar dared to challenge, he must have two brushes. The people on the boat looked at him with admiration.
This made the scholar extremely proud. While pointing out the country, he crossed his legs arrogantly, causing the old grocery store man sitting opposite to have to tighten his legs.
At that time, when people talked about the Three Kingdoms, they talked about the story of "Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times and subdued him seven times." Then the scholar shook his head and said: "This Meng Huo is so barbaric and does not obey the teachings of the king. Kong Ming captured him seven times."
He was released seven times and still refused to accept it. I never imagined that the descendants of Mencius would have such violent and untamable people."
When everyone heard this, they all covered their mouths and laughed secretly. The old man opposite him asked: "So Meng Huo is a descendant of Mencius, then whose descendant is Kong Ming?"
"No need to ask, of course he is a descendant of Confucius." The scholar quickly opened the folding fan, and there were three big characters "Hu Buliu" written on it. He didn't know whether it was his name or his ambition. But when he saw a look on his face, "You really
He said with an ignorant expression: "As expected, the inferior saint is not as good as the whole saint, not even the descendants!"
"In that case, let me stretch my legs, little old man." The old man chuckled and changed his legs into a comfortable position.
This was definitely not the first time that the scholar had made such a joke. When he saw this, he knew that he was timid again, so he closed the folding fan and laughed, "It's just a joke, don't take it seriously." After saying this, he still couldn't help it, so he simply said
When he got up and left the cabin, he saw a big tree by the river, and he immediately became inspired by poetry. In order to regain his composure, he read loudly:
"There is a tree by the river with two big yaks."
Everyone inside knew that he was a fool and wanted to hear a joke, so they held back their laughter and waited for him to stop.
Unexpectedly, he searched desperately and couldn't continue. This situation was the most suffocating, not only for composing poems, but also for listening. Finally, someone kindly took over for him:
"The moss becomes the leaves in spring, and the snow becomes the flowers in winter."
The scholar followed the sound and saw that there was a middle-aged man in plain clothes outside the cabin. The middle-aged man was thin in stature, but his eyes were bright and bright. He was not too old, but his temples were already gray. Judging from his green robe and corner belt,
, it must be that he was sitting outside during the period of mourning and was not suitable for the laughing atmosphere in the cabin. Not only was the scholar not grateful, he was actually a little annoyed, thinking that you are deliberately against me, so what?
Just when he saw a group of ducks rushing into the river, quacking happily, he continued to sing loudly:
"A group of good duck ladies jumped into the river together."
The bottom was stuck again, and the middle-aged man chanted:
"The white hair floats on the green water, and the red claws make the clear waves.
Seeing that the other party pressed him twice, the scholar suddenly became angry and thought to himself, I have to make things difficult for him, so he chanted again:
"Everyone took a boat to visit Ouyang Xiu."
After saying that, he stared at the man to see what he was doing. Then he saw the middle-aged man chuckle and continued:
"Xiu already knows you, but you still don't know how to be ashamed."
After a while, the scholar realized that this was the Ouyang Xiu he wanted to challenge. His face turned red with shame and he wanted to find a place to hide. But he heard Ouyang Xiu smile kindly and said: "You don't have to be like this. When I was young,
He is also frivolous, go back and study for a few years, and then we can compare again."
"The student has been taught..." The scholar looked warm and ashamed, and bowed deeply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you Mr. Ouyang?" The boat immediately became lively. People surrounded Ouyang Xiu, asking for words or poems. There were also many people holding their collections of works and begging Mr. Ouyang for help.
Write a preface. I don’t know whether he was idle and bored, or he was enthusiastic about the old ways, but he accepted everyone who came.
Knowing that the middle-aged man was Ouyang Xiu, Chen Ke and others became excited. What were they here for? Isn't it just to ask this old gentleman for help? Although he didn't look too old.
But there were many people around him at this time, so a few people stopped joining in the fun and whispered to the side. Song Duanping was worried and said: "You think, this old gentleman has written so many prefaces, will it be worthless?"
"
"It's possible," Chen Ke said with a wry smile: "Put the dictionary aside in advance."
Maybe in this day and age, it's not easy to meet a celebrity, let alone a big celebrity like Ouyang Xiu. Until they arrived at Sha'ao Ferry, Chen Ke didn't say anything.
The ferry was very small. Ouyang Xiu got off the boat, clasped his fists at everyone and said: "Those who are in mourning, I will not entertain you and go home. I hope the sea will be clear."
The visitors pestered Ouyang Xiu all the way, and when they were satisfied, they said goodbye to him as promised, without even getting off the boat, and waited to return to the county town.
After leaving the ferry, Ouyang Xiu put on a straw hat and walked home carrying a bamboo stick, followed by a child carrying a basket. It seemed to be in perfect harmony with the surrounding paddy fields and farmhouses, but there was no hint of a literary leader.
Feeling someone following behind him, he stopped, turned around, smiled at Chen Ke and the other five, "Isn't it right to have friends coming from afar?" When he saw Zhao Zongji, he visibly let out a chuckle and said, "You are from Bian.
From Liang?"
"Going back to Mr. Ouyang, I am the only one who comes from Bianliang." Zhao Zongji said respectfully, "I do look like my father."
"Sure enough, it's you?" Ouyang Xiu frowned and said, "Why don't you go to Jinghu South Road and come to this remote place like mine?"
"I'm here to ask you for help." Zhao Zongji saw that Ouyang Xiu was unhappy and quickly explained: "They came to see Mr. Ouyang, and I was there to lead them."
"Let's talk at home." Ouyang Xiu said solemnly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ouyang Xiu lost his father when he was young and came from a poor family. This is why he left a good story about "learning calligraphy on a sand table". Moreover, his real hometown is not in Luling, but in Yingzhou. This is just his ancestral home. So he became an official.
After that, Ouyang Xiu did not buy any more property here. This time he returned to bury his ancestor, only to find that the old house had collapsed long ago, so he had to live in the ancestral hall.
In the backyard of the ancestral hall, cut watermelons were placed on the low table; Chen Ke and several others were sitting on scattered bamboo chairs, all holding their breath and looking at Ouyang Xiu.
Ouyang Xiu was concentrating on reading the materials given to him by Chen Ke.
This reading lasted for more than half an hour. After reading it, he paced around the yard for a long time with his hands behind his back, and then he sighed and said, "You have posed a big problem for me."
After hearing this, the hearts of Chen Ke and others sank. Could it be that even the conscience of Song Dynasty thought that it should be tolerated?
"Does Mr. Ouyang also think that the overall situation should be taken into account?" Chen Ke said in a difficult voice, what is the difference between this kind of people's hearts and those of later generations?
"What's the big picture?" Ouyang Xiu asked.
"The overall situation of suppressing the rebellion." Chen Ke said with difficulty.
"Of course we must put counterinsurgency first..." Ouyang Xiu's words made everyone feel heartbroken, but his next words reshaped people's hearts. Just listen to this drunkard who has told the truth for half his life.
Said: "However, with the rotten people in Lingnan, the situation will only become more and more chaotic! If you don't believe it, there will be a defeat in the near future."
"What does Mr. Ouyang mean?" Chen Ke and others were refreshed.
"Replace everything from generals to soldiers, from civil servants to military officers!" Ouyang Xiu sighed: "How can I not worry about such a difficult thing?"
"..." The young people looked at each other. They were shocked at first, then realized and said overjoyed: "So, Mr. Ouyang has agreed to help us?"
"I'm not helping you," Ouyang Xiu shook his head and said, "This is just my duty as a minister." Then he sat back on the bamboo chair and said, "But I, Ding You, am at home and have no right to play the memorial. I will wait for my memorial slowly."
By the time we get to the capital, Lingnan may be out of control."
"What Mr. Ouyang means is..."
"Let me think about it, let me think about it." Ouyang Xiu stroked his long beard and thought hard: "How can we be safe?"
No one, including Zhao Zongji, could help him with such high-level matters. He could only think of it himself.
After a while, Ouyang Xiu slapped his thigh and said, "Yes! The son of Duke Fan Wenzheng asked me to write a Shinto monument for Duke Wen Zheng. In this name, I wrote to Xianggong Han and asked him to write it down."
"Can this be faster?"
"Of course, don't underestimate Fan Gong's reputation and Han Xianggong's authority." Ouyang Xiu said with a meaningful smile: "Just wait and see the good show."
"Mr. Ouyang." Chen Ke, who had been bitten by a snake once and was afraid of well ropes for three years, sighed softly: "Yu Wenshuai also said similar words to me back then..."
"It seems that Yu Wuxi has thought a lot in the past ten years," Ouyang Xiu said in a daze: "Actually, sometimes, although we suffer bad luck, the fault is not necessarily ours." After saying this, he came back to his senses and sighed.
He said: "If I could lower my head, I would have gone back to Bianliang long ago."
"I used my villain's heart to save you." Chen Ke lowered his head and said.
"It's okay, it's human nature." Ouyang Xiu smiled and said, "Any other questions?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Ouyang," Chen Ke whispered: "Is it possible that my father was killed in prison?"
"Don't worry, those people won't kill your father before they find the account book." Ouyang Xiu shook his head and said angrily: "It's so heart-breaking. Yu Wuxi pointed at these people to suppress the rebellion.
, my head is really full of fluids!”
"I hope so..." Chen Ke felt relieved a lot.
"If it's not too shabby, you can stay here for two days." Ouyang Xiu looked at Chen Ke and said, "I believe the results will come back within a few days."
