On the afternoon of the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Caozhi returned from the county. In the past few days, he visited celebrities in the county and attended to various banquets. The crowds were like a revolving door, but he spent less time in Chenjiapu. Today he finally felt free and could calm down.
Let's peruse a batch of books brought back from Chutang Taoist Temple the day before yesterday. These nearly a thousand volumes were all handwritten by Ge Hong. Taoist Li Shouyi asked Chen Caozhi to bring them back to Chenjiawu for collection. This batch of books was Ge Hong's 30th birthday.
Those copied before the age of 18 were all subsets of classics and histories, which were exactly what Chen Caozhi needed. After Ge Hong became obsessed with the golden elixir path in his middle age, he copied and collected a large number of Taoist scriptures, such as "Xuan Yuan Jing", "Jiu Yin Jing", "Jiu Yin Jing" and "Jin Dan Jing".
Most of these Taoist scriptures such as "Collection of Three Corpses" were left in Luofu Mountain. After Ge Hongxian passed away, Li Shou brought a small part of them back to Chutangtang, and there were actually hundreds of volumes.
Chen Caozhi borrowed one-third of the nearly one thousand volumes of books he brought back the day before yesterday to copy and preserve, such as "Honglie of Huainan", "Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals", etc. In the past year, Zongzhi and Run'er have copied and preserved these books.
After reading all the books, they were all overjoyed to see so many more books. The two little brothers and sisters looked at this book and rubbed that one, sitting in the bookstore, although it was not easy in the treasure mountain.
During the two Jin Dynasties, paper books were not yet popular. A large part of the books collected by aristocratic families were bamboo slips or silk books. You can imagine how precious the books were. The dissemination of books was all by hand. It was difficult for ordinary people from poor families to own a large number of books. This was also the reason why the ninth grade
The social foundation for the existence of the Zhongzheng system is because compared with the children of aristocratic families who have a good family education and can read a lot of books, unless they have amazing perseverance and outstanding intelligence, their academic accomplishments will always be inferior. There is no such thing as a poor family.
, it is reasonable for the low-grade non-gentlemen to a large extent. Of course, the disadvantages become more obvious in the later stages. Chen Caozhi can stand out because he has the insight of two generations of souls, the nourishment of Ge Hong's collection of books, and the hard work and study.
, and then he became famous as a commoner student.
It is not that Chen Caozhi never thought about popularizing books such as engraving and printing books with movable type to open up people's wisdom, but after much consideration he gave up because he only knew the rough concept of engraving and movable type, and the specific details were not clear.
This would cost a lot of money to test. A book of 100,000 words cannot be printed without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. Moreover, the engraving plates are very easy to wear out and the plate making is difficult. The book will be useless after printing only a few copies. It is difficult to make a profit. Of course, if
The only difficulty in money and material matters can be overcome. Another main reason made Chen Caozhi completely give up the idea of printing books, because if he did so, it would be equivalent to depriving other gentry of the privilege of inheriting poetry and etiquette.
, the first thing the popularization of books harmed was the interests of the gentry, shaking the foundation of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System. This was even more intolerable to the wealthy families than Huan Wen's usurpation of the throne. One can imagine the fate of the Chen family of Qiantang.
Historically, the emergence of woodblock printing technology was used to print Buddhist scriptures, and it was already more than 400 years later in the Tang Dynasty. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the social foundation for popularizing books had not yet been formed. Acting rashly would not benefit the country and could lead to death.
, Chen Caozhi would not be so unwise, so he continued to copy books and accumulate books for the descendants of the Chen family. When the generation of his nephew and nephew comes, the Qiantang Chen family will also have a family inheritance.
Only then can we truly be a wealthy and aristocratic family.
The Chen clan in Chenjiawu have been very busy these days, not only for the Chinese New Year, but also for moving into a new home. The square "Laiyi Tower" on the north side of the round fort has been built and decorated. The elders of the clan
It was agreed to move there on the first day of the first lunar month of the new year, leaving the Chen family to live in the old Wubao.
Chen Xian, Chen Man and other elders of the clan agreed that "Laiyi Tower" should still be divided into four major areas: east, west, north and south. The west area is the largest, with three independent courtyards, nearly a hundred houses, and can accommodate more than a hundred people. In this regard, the east area,
There is no objection on the south and north floors. The Chen clan members all understand that the prosperity of the Chen clan in Qiantang today is mainly due to Chen Caozhi. After the land occupation case last month, the Chen clan members understand this better and understand better.
The family must be united, and their new residence in "Laiyi Building" is several times more spacious than the original one, so how could there be any dissatisfaction!
Chen Caozhi didn't care about the move. He was reading and practicing calligraphy in the study on the third floor. Zongzhi and Run'er were reading quietly beside him. Ran Sheng, who was like an iron tower, was also quietly reading "Zuo's Spring and Autumn". This was Chen Caozhi's
Let him read it. There are many classic war examples in "Zuo Shi Chun Qiu", which will definitely be helpful to Ran Sheng.
Brothers Chen Mo and Chen Tan came to the west building to ask for advice from the sixteenth brother Chen Caozhi. They saw Ran Sheng concentrating on reading. When they saw the two coming, they just nodded and then immersed themselves in reading again. Chen Tan sat down and sat down.
Next to his son, he laughed in a low voice: "Run'er is really a good teacher. Xiao Sheng can be called gentle, courteous, and accommodating now."
Run'er's big bright eyes rolled around, with a smile, and said: "This is not what Run'er taught, it was Uncle Chou who taught him well. Xiao Sheng followed Uncle Chou to Jiankang. Within a year, things changed.
It's like a person, which really makes Run'er strange."
When Ran Sheng heard Run'er talking about him, he looked up at Run'er and smiled sincerely, which meant that he had not changed and he was still Ran Sheng. However, he heard Chen Tan say: "Xiao Sheng is Run'er's uncle now."
Now, does Run'er still call him Xiao Sheng?"
Run'er pursed her lips and looked at Ran Sheng with some annoyance, obviously reluctant to call Ran Sheng uncle.
Ran Sheng said quickly: "I am the Chen family's distant house. It's a far away house. Run'er should call me Xiao Sheng, okay?"
Run'er said to Ran Sheng: "Xiao Sheng, this is what you asked for. Don't blame Run'er for being rude." As he said that, he glanced at Chen Caozhi secretly to see what Uncle Chou's face was like. Would he blame her?
Chen Caozhi smiled and went to explain Chen Mo's doubts.
Xiaochan came over and said, "I'll take care of you, young man. I'll invite him to discuss matters at Heming Hall."
Chen Caozhi got up and followed Xiaochan to Heming Hall. Heming Hall is at the west end of the third floor. The hall is dedicated to Lao Dan, the ancestor of Taoism, and the "three officials" of heaven, earth and water. When Chen's mother, Li, was still alive,
Every morning and evening, he goes to Heming Hall to recite "Laozi's Five Thousand Essays". Now Ding Youwei often goes to Heming Hall to sit quietly and recite sutras.
It has been more than ten days since Xiaochan was bitten by a vicious dog. The wound on her calf has healed. Although the bite on the back of her left hand was deep, it has become scarred and there is no other strange feeling in the wound. The most dangerous seven days ago
He had already passed through safely, but according to Ge Hong, it would take a hundred days to be considered free, so Chen Cao ordered Xiao Chan to insist on taking purple bamboo root soup, a vegetarian diet, and no fishy or meaty food.
Ding Youwei sat on the futon, as beautiful as a lotus. Although she was wearing a winter coat, she was not bloated at all. Her eyes were calm and kind. She motioned for Chen Caozhi to sit down on the futon in front of her, and said to Xiaochan and Axiu beside her: "You two
Please go out for a moment while I talk to Xiao Lang about some important matters."
Xiaochan and Axiu exited the Heming Hall. As dusk approached, the Heming Hall became a little dark.
Chen Caozhi didn't know what important matter his sister-in-law Ding Youwei wanted to tell him. He waited respectfully for a while, but Ding Youwei didn't speak. He seemed to be hesitant and said, "Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"
Ding Youwei breathed out softly and said: "Atan is going to accept the engagement."
Chen Caozhi smiled and said, "That's great. Two Ding girls have married into our Chen family."
Ding You smiled slightly and said: "My uncle really wants to betroth my seventh sister to you. My seventh sister is also a good woman with good looks. Of course, she is inferior to Wei Rui. With Wei Rui in this world,
Young man's vision is very high, how can other women catch your eye?"
Ding Youwei seemed to be grieving for her younger sister, but Chen Caozhi knew that her sister-in-law didn't mean that. She probably liked Wei Rui more than her younger sister, and she was worried about his marriage to Wei Rui.
Ding Youwei continued: "Life is like a fleeting moment, just suddenly. It has been more than three years since Agu passed away. What worried Agu most before her death was Xiaolang's marriage. Xiaolang, now my sister-in-law is worried about you. In the New Year
You are twenty years old."
Chen Caozhi couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. It seemed that marrying Wei Rui would be much more difficult than he originally expected. He said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry too much about this matter. I will definitely find a way."
Ding Youwei once thought about the possibility of marrying Wei Rui for Xiao Lang, but always found it difficult and had almost no hope. Then he asked: "Tell my sister-in-law, where is Xiao Lang's confidence?"
Sister-in-law is the most considerate person. Chen Caozhi had nothing to hide. After thinking about it, he said: "Sister-in-law, the main people who oppose me marrying Wei Rui are Wei Rui's uncle Lu Shi, and Lu Shi's sons Lu Chu and Lu Qin.
These two people, Lu Shi and his son, are stupid and unclear, and they are not on good terms with Huan Da Sima. I predict that Lu Shi will be defeated, and then I will have a chance to marry Wei Rui."
Ding Youwei asked: "Does Xiaolang want to use Huan Da Sima's power to attack Lu Shi?"
When Chen Caozhi was asked this question by his sister-in-law, he suddenly felt that he had some evil intentions and said: "Sister-in-law, I will not stir up trouble and deliberately deal with Lu Shi, but some things are bound to happen. Lu Shi thinks that Huan Da Sima has harmed the Jiangdong gentry.
Interests are always in his mind, and Lu Shi is even more dissatisfied with the end of the earth and obstructs them in every possible way. How could Huan Da Sima not know about this? Moreover, I expect that the confrontation between Lu Shi and Huan Da Sima will be more intense, and Lu Shi will be ostracized.
That’s to be expected.”
Ding You slightly pursed his lips and frowned for a while, then said: "Xiao Lang, if possible you should still help Mr. Lu. Kindness and generosity are more convincing. Otherwise, if you knew that Mr. Lu would be defeated but kept silent, you would face the consequences in the future.
Wei Rui is bound to have a grudge."
Chen Cao's forehead was sweating, and he said respectfully: "My sister-in-law's teachings are true, Cao will remember them."
Ding Youwei saw Chen Caozhi sweating and said with a smile: "Of course, sister-in-law doesn't want you to be that pedantic person who doesn't distinguish between good and evil and insists on doing benevolence and righteousness but suffers a loss. We must marry Wei Rui.
"
Chen Caozhi smiled and said, "Yes." But the next words from his sister-in-law Ding Youwei were: "Okay, now let's talk about Zhu Yingtai and Zhu Langjun. Who is she?"
