The sky is not clear for three days, the earth is not three feet flat, and people are not worth three cents of silver.
I’m talking about Guizhou.
April of the lunar calendar coincides with the rainy season in Guizhou. Last night Wang Yuan, Wang Meng, Yuan Gang and Yuan Zhi were sleeping on the street, and suddenly it started raining. There was no use hiding under the eaves, the wind blew and the rain spread everywhere.
The four of them were soaked to death.
Coupled with the huge temperature difference between day and night, they were shivering from the cold. Wrapping two layers of linen on their bodies was completely useless. They could only huddle up against each other at the base of the wall to keep warm. The temperature may have dropped below 5 degrees Celsius.
Even the two donkeys were crowded together with them. They lay in the innermost position and were surrounded by four people to prevent the donkeys from getting wet in the rain, cold and getting sick. A man's life is cheap, but a donkey's life is more valuable than a human being's.
"Go away, go away, don't delay my business!"
Early in the morning, the innkeeper took out the door panel to open the shop and scolded Wang Yuan and others.
Wang Yuan couldn't sleep at all in the first half of the night, and he probably got used to the cold in the second half of the night, so he fell asleep with his eyes squinted. Not long after he fell asleep, he heard someone yelling in his ear, so he had to hold the handle of the knife in a daze.
Well, when I wake up, my first reaction is not to open my eyes, but to grab a knife!
Yuan Gang, Yuan Zhi and Wang Meng were in the same situation. Without even opening their eyes, most of the three knives had been drawn out.
Seeing that they were still hanging on, the shop assistant wanted to go over and kick them a few times. Instead, he pulled out four knives from their sheaths. The shop assistant was so frightened that he took a few steps back. Without thinking much, he turned around and went into the shop to clean up the tables and stools.
The most valuable thing in Chuanqing's house is none other than a weapon.
The steel knife on Yuan Gang's body almost cost all his savings over the years, and it can be regarded as a family heirloom. Brothers Wang Yuan and Wang Meng both have iron knives, and the steel fire is not much better than the kitchen knife. It can only be said that it barely escapes the category of pig iron.
As for bows and arrows, they are consumables.
A homemade earthen bow will become useless in less than a year and a half. You must bring a spare bow when hunting to avoid losing the chain at critical moments. Only a few arrow clusters are made of iron, and most are made of bone or stone. Their lethality can move people.
to tears.
Of course, if there is a rebellion one day, the arrow clusters will definitely need to be quenched.
This trick of quenching poison was learned from the natives, who like to play with blow darts.
Wang Yuan stood up with a shiver, moved his legs and feet to warm up, and squatted down again to play with the clay bow. The bow string was a little damp, so he took out a piece of oil-soaked rag, wrapped it around the bow string and wiped it gently back and forth, as if he was touching his lover's beautiful skin.
.
After wiping the bow string, he then wiped the iron knife, his technique was extremely skillful.
Yuan Gang, Yuan Zhi and Wang Meng are also doing the same thing. For them, they don't have to have money, they don't have to eat wine and meat, and their weapons must be handled properly, otherwise they are likely to die suddenly.
The light rain was still falling non-stop, but fortunately the rain was not as heavy as at night, and the wind did not blow it under the eaves.
The four of them took care of their weapons and stood under the eaves of the inn waiting. Who knows when Master Shen, the lazy guy, would get up.
After waiting for a full hour, Shen Fucong came out of the store. Seeing that their clothes were still wet, he immediately said embarrassedly: "You were tired last night."
"It's nothing, I've long been used to it," Yuan Gang said while leading the donkey, "Wait until the rain stops before leaving. Let's eat something to fill our stomach first."
Prices in the provincial capital were too expensive and they were reluctant to buy anything to eat, so they brought ten days' worth of dry food and water with them.
The rain continued for half a day, and in the afternoon, a few people led the donkey to Beicheng District.
The style of Beicheng District is different again. There are the most Han civilians here, and it is relatively more prosperous. It finally feels a little like a provincial city. There are also many Han people in Nancheng District, but most of them belong to military households and the rich ones
Wearing gold and silver, the poor are wearing nothing, and the gap between the rich and the poor is extremely obvious.
Under the leadership of Yuan Gang, everyone came to a street. There were several shops next to each other, all selling cultural supplies, and there were even shops specializing in calligraphy, painting and antiques.
Shen Fucong's spirit became excited. He finally found a familiar feeling here and wanted to get in and take a look at any shop he encountered.
When he came to the bookstore, Shen Fucong first browsed the miscellaneous books, shook his head repeatedly, and was greatly disappointed.
There are very few types of miscellaneous books here, either old ones such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", or professional books such as Buddhist scriptures and pharmacopoeias. As for literary works in recent years, Shen Fucong only saw two poetry collections from the Hongzhi Dynasty. .
Looking at the imperial examination reference materials again, Master Shen was even more disappointed.
Over in the south of the Yangtze River, the ink scrolls for the provincial examinations were printed every three years. The ink scrolls here were actually from more than 20 years ago, and they were reprints of old Jiangnan scrolls from the Chenghua Dynasty.
There have been two emperor changes, and the update speed of the imperial examination data in Guizhou City cannot keep up with the update speed of the Ming Emperor.
In desperation, Shen Fucong picked up a relatively exquisite set of "Annotations on the Four Books" and asked, "What's the price of this book?"
The shop owner saw that they were all dressed in young men's clothing and didn't want to do business at all. But after all, as a scholar, he still had basic self-cultivation, so he replied: "Three Guan."
"Does this mother also want Sanguan?"
Shen Fucong was so angry that he almost threw the book away, and said angrily: "If you were in Jiangnan, this set of books would cost at most three hundred dollars. The paper used seems to be poor, and it is printed on inferior quality paper. What's the use? Ink, the handwriting is almost blurred in some places, what kind of weird ink are you using? And this typesetting..."
Master Shen talked for a long time in one breath, reducing the "Collected Commentary on the Four Books" in his hand to nothing.
Instead of being angry, the shop owner became positive and said, "My friend is a scholar from Jiangnan?"
When Master Shen heard the title "friend", he couldn't help asking: "Is your Excellency also a scholar?"
The shopkeeper was even more enthusiastic: "Hongzhi entered school in the eighth year."
"You are indeed a friend," Shen Fucong stood up straight and bowed seriously, "I entered school in the 14th year of Chenghua."
The shopkeeper became respectful and bowed: "In that case, I shall call you a late student."
Shen Fuchong immediately helped the shop owner up: "No need to be so polite, you and I are both friends."
Yuan Gang, Yuan Zhi and Wang Meng were a little confused by the drama in front of them, and they didn't understand how the two scholars became so familiar with each other.
Yuan Gang took the opportunity to educate his son and whispered: "Did you see it? This is the benefit of studying!"
The scholarly atmosphere in the early years of Zhengde had not yet been completely corrupted.
As long as one is a scholar and the other is a Jinshi, they can call each other friends. Even if one is a scholar and the other is a Jinshi, they are still true friends.
If you are just a Tongsheng, you are not qualified to be friends and can only be called Xiaoyou. An 18-year-old scholar can call an 80-year-old Tongsheng with peace of mind.
As for late students, it is the self-humility used to express respect when junior students face their seniors and when junior students face their seniors.
This phenomenon will gradually change in a few years.
By then, only the official position will be considered, regardless of how early or late he entered school. An eighty-year-old old Jinshi, when meeting a powerful minister, Shangguan, will shamelessly claim to be a late student. And the powerful minister, Shangguan, is likely to directly call him "little friend" and call the scholar The order of superiority and inferiority is completely broken.
The Zhengde Dynasty was the watershed of Ming Dynasty society. Politics, economy, culture, customs... began to undergo comprehensive changes.
The reasons are, firstly, that scholars want to break through the confinement of stereotyped writing, and secondly, the social and economic prosperity has reached a critical point.
We are only talking about the cultural aspect here. According to Qian Qianyi, Mr. Shui Tailiang, "During the Zhengjia period, scholars regarded reading the classics as a taboo; during the Wanli season, scholars regarded reading as a taboo!"
Starting from the Zhengde Dynasty, scholars actually regarded being familiar with the Five Classics as pedantry. By the Wanli Dynasty, scholars were embarrassed to say that they liked reading. They just felt that stereotyped writing was useless, so they looked for other ways of thinking and began to pursue the practical value of knowledge extensively.
Wang Yangming was not the initiator of this ideological movement, but he was a key figure connecting the past and the future.
Wang Yangming's views on the study of mind were like a bolt of lightning piercing the night sky, leading the mainstream of Confucianism from Neo-Confucianism to the study of mind, and gradually transformed into practical studies in the late Ming Dynasty. Even Qian Qianyi was a master of practical studies, advocating "from Confucianism to Confucianism" "Achieving practical results" is just a thousand miles off track.
And countless Confucian scholars went even further, because they despised stereotyped writing, stopped reading classics, and stopped reading books. They only memorized reference materials for the imperial examination, saying that they were talents who managed the world and applied them to the world, and disdained to associate with pedantic scholars. Even Sima Qian was I don’t know which dynasty it was from.
Back to business.
Shen Fucong and the shopkeeper talked about their school years and exchanged names, quickly building a close relationship.
The bookstore owner said: "Since you are in front of my friend Shen, I will sell you two copies of this set of "Four Books Annotations" at a discount."
Master Shen did not doubt that he was being ripped off and asked: "Why is it so expensive?"
The bookstore owner smiled bitterly: "In Guizhou, books are probably the most useless things. There is not even a printing and engraving workshop for thousands of miles. I have to go to Huguang to buy books. It is not easy to transport and maintain books. If I don't sell them at a high price, I won't lose money. ?”
"The price is a bit too high," Master Shen said.
The bookstore owner gritted his teeth and said: "Then it's seventeen hundred dollars, it can't be cheaper!"
The exchange price of silver and copper coins is different in every dynasty, and even in each region. In Guizhou City, one tael of silver is worth about 800 copper coins. This set of "Four Books Annotations" is more than 2 taels of silver, far more Much higher than Shen Fucong's psychological expectations.
Master Shen asked Yuan Gang: "How?"
Yuan Gang replied in a low voice: "The five families only scraped together three taels of silver. This set of books only sold for two taels. I'm afraid it won't be enough to buy other things."
Master Shen could only lower his face and continue to bargain: "They are all scholars, you see..."
"Friend Shen, please wait for a moment."
The bookstore owner suddenly smiled, walked past Shen Fucong, nodded and bowed towards the door of the store: "Mr. Song, are you here to buy books again?"
A Confucian scholar wearing a square scarf came in waving a folding fan: "Are there any new books?"
"Two books just arrived recently, and they are both reserved for Mr. Song." The bookstore owner quickly ran back and took out two books from the counter drawer.
(PS: The administrator of the book club group is very strict and will reject anyone who joins the group with incorrect verification information. Now the verification question has been changed to "Which website is the first website for this book?". Those who want to join the group can apply again. I'm extremely sorry. )