October 24th, Jiangling and Huguang governor's yamen.
Early winter has arrived, and the sky is getting darker day by day.
The last years of Chongzhen were in the Little Ice Age, and the climate was even colder, with frost falling in the morning and evening. On this day, it was the first snow in the winter of the 14th year of Chongzhen.
At the end of the day (3 p.m.), we hadn’t even arrived at the office yet.
But today it snowed for the first time, and Fang Kongzheng was a bit of a scholar. In addition, he had been busy with military and government affairs a while ago, so he was worried every day. When he saw that it was snowing, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He ordered his staff to disperse early and went back to his house to cook wine and enjoy the snow with his family.
His sons are all working as officials in other places, and they only have female relatives around them. A few concubines also joined in the fun, helping with the dishes and drinking with them: "Master is very interested. It seems that today we are going to enjoy the snow and compose poems. We sisters don't understand.
Poems can only be used as wine barrels."
Fang Kongzheng just twisted his beard and smiled and said nothing, but he felt a little lonely in his heart: After all, he has long hair and short knowledge, how can he know what is in his heart.
Seeing that he didn't speak, the concubines and waiters looked at his words and expressions, and they all knew that they had not guessed what the master was thinking, so they all ate by themselves to cover up and relieve the embarrassment.
The younger daughter Fang Ziling, who was clearing the snow from the plum trees, read a lot and often asked him about government affairs. She had already guessed what her father was thinking.
I saw her sweeping for a while, sweeping the superficial layer of snow on the plum leaves into a small jar, and gathering up about one or two liters.
He took it to the small red clay stove where the wine was being cooked, took away the wine jar, put the snow jar on it, added two pieces of silver frost charcoal, and picked up a small fan to make tea in case his father and aunts sobered up after drinking too much.
Fang Ziling fanned himself a few times and had some time to chat, then he said in a showy way: "In recent years, there have been constant floods and droughts, and it has been getting colder year by year. Appreciating the snow is indeed an elegant thing, but the poor people don't know how to survive the cold winter. My father
If you work diligently and care for the people, how can you become so popular in poetry just because it snows early?"
When the aunts heard this, their expressions became a little embarrassed, and they quickly admitted their mistake: "Young lady is still smart and clever. If we don't study, we can't see anywhere."
There are also a few young and ignorant people who, taking advantage of the master's favor, pretend to get to the bottom of things: "Master, why are you cooking wine and enjoying the snow today?"
Fang Kongzheng was greatly relieved to see that his daughter understood him, so he wanted to test his daughter and followed his concubine's wishes.
Fang Ziling smoothed his hair to prevent it from being smoked by the charcoal fire, and then said calmly: "What's so difficult about this? Since the snow has long been detrimental to the people, and my father can still be happy about it, there must be other aspects that are beneficial to the country's affairs.
My father had always been worried that Zhang Xianzhong would send stragglers out to Sichuan to burn, kill, and loot. Now that it is snowing, the mountain road between Yiling and Zigui will definitely be difficult to travel. This winter will probably be over."
Since the surprise attack on Xiangyang in August cost 2,000 cavalry, Zhang Xianzhong's mobile force has also been severely damaged.
In the past two months or so, Fang Kongzhen was no longer afraid of Zhang Xianzhong coming to attack the city again. He was just afraid that he would send a small group of highly mobile troops to kill, loot and then run away.
There are also few cavalry in the southern official army, especially under Fang Kongzhen. There were only 1,000 cavalry out of the 8,000 direct troops in the past. The miscellaneous troops in other local guards that existed in name only had almost no cavalry. Only officers from more than 100 households had war horses.
ride.
It was simply impossible for him to pursue Zhang Xianzhong's small robbery force.
Fang Kongzheng was greatly relieved to see his daughter so smart. He took a sip of rice wine and said proudly: "Our family should be so knowledgeable and talented. If you were a man, you would be no less knowledgeable than your elder brother. What a pity."
Fang Kongzhen boasted after drinking, but it wasn't too much. Their family was one of the few scholarly families at that time who was strong in liberal arts and science.
Fang Yizhi was able to write "Physics" later, not because he appeared out of thin air, but because of his family background. His father, Fang Kongzhen, was very knowledgeable in mathematics, astronomy, and geography, and he wrote "Lun of Zhouyi Shi Lun".
Even though the title of the book contains "Zhouyi", it seems to be an interpretation of the Five Classics of Confucianism. In fact, it contains a lot of astronomical and mathematical content. The younger daughter Fang Ziling followed her father and brother and read a lot of books in an eclectic way, so she gained extraordinary knowledge.
The father and daughter talked about the situation for a while, and the topic inevitably turned to the prediction of the future of the besieged thieves.
Fang Kongzhen took the opportunity to test his daughter and asked her to predict the abilities of various thieves and whether they would be able to gain something next year.
Fang Ziling cooked the tea, poured a cup for her father, frowned slightly and said, "Father, you often say that whether these bandits can be annihilated depends not only on me, the Ming Dynasty and the bandits, but also on the Tatars outside the pass.
The situation was already very good last year, but it happened again this year. Wasn't it because Hong Chengchou transferred all the elites from the Nine Sides to Liaodong to fight against Huang Taiji? The elites from Yangge Lao also had to step in to fill the gap left by Hong Chengchou.
Fortunately, the few soldiers left behind by Mr. Yang Ge were enough to kill two or three of the bandits this year, forcing Zhang Xianzhong to retreat and turning Huguang into a safe place. However, Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai, and Ma Shouying have joined forces, and there is still hope for the south next year. I'm afraid the north will become even more corrupt.
Moreover, we have to hope that the Hongge Department will be outside the pass next year and there will be no new mistakes. Otherwise, the south may not even be able to hope for peace."
After Fang Ziling finished speaking, Fang Kongzheng smiled while twirling his beard. The concubine next to him observed the words and quickly helped the sedan chairmen to carry the people: "The second young lady is really smart. My daughter's family can speak such clear and logical truths. We are not well-educated." , but I can only feel envious."
Fang Kongzheng wanted to prevent his children from being proud, so he quickly pretended to criticize her lovingly: "No, what she said is just a cliché with a slight improvement. Most of the views are either what I often say or what Shen Bingbei said last time he came to the house. When we were discussing military affairs, I mentioned that she just picks up people's wits."
Fang Ziling's face turned red. She didn't want to be said to have stolen the political and academic views of her father's colleagues, so she quickly clarified: "No way, my daughter's knowledge is completely different from Shen Daotai who came last time!
His arrogant "On Thieves" states that 'only a thief chief who has no descendants can recruit more people for his use'... This is all nonsense!
When he wrote that book, Chuang Thief, Luo Rucai, and Ma Shouying had not yet joined forces, right? He dared to categorically conclude that in the future the three thieves would conspire for big things, and if there was a conflict, it would be Chuang Thief who would be able to win over Luo Rucai and Ma Buqu.
Now that the intruders have broken through Luoyang and attacked Kaifeng, Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying have been following their lead for three or four months. How come they are not seen trying to harm each other and annex them?
At first, I thought he was really a genius and a visionary, but I didn’t expect him to be a delusional person. No matter how proficient in Yi theory and good at guessing the wise men are since ancient times, no matter Zhou Gong, Confucius, or Zhuge, there is no such arrogant and outspoken person. ?”
The more Fang Ziling talked, the more dissatisfied she became, but it could be heard that she was not completely dissatisfied. She just hated Chen Shuren's detailed predictions.
No matter how strong a wise man has been since ancient times, he would not speak in such detail, otherwise he would become a charlatan who gambles on prophecies, not a prudent gentleman.
Fang Kongzheng heard this, but he didn't take it seriously. He just continued to twitch his beard and examine his daughter.
Seeing this, Fang Ziling was feeling furious, so she thought to herself: She has fallen into her father's trap again!
Sure enough, when Fang Kongzheng saw her panic, he revealed:
"You also said that your knowledge did not come from Shen Bingbei? Listening to what you just said, I have not only read "The Theory of Rogue Thieves", but I am afraid that I have also read through the "Rizhi Shijian" published last year. Otherwise, how would I be able to pick out the ones among them? Are you wrong? Everyone in academic circles has his or her own opinion, and it’s no big deal. Gentlemen are harmonious but not partisan, and they are group but not party.”
The "Treatise on Flooding Thieves" he mentioned is the recently popular work that previews Li Zicheng's plans to annex Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying.
"Rizhishijian" is a political philosophy work written by Gu Yanwu at the beginning of last year, before Shen Shuren was appointed to Huangzhou, and during the last period of time when he was serving as Hanlin editor after the Gangdian examination. It mainly discusses "the If civilization defeats barbarism, the Northern Expedition will surely win." "Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world."
To put it bluntly, it was based on the "Rizhilu" that Gu Yanwu himself would write many years later in history, and added a lot of private information that Shen Shuren believed would be helpful in rallying people and stabilizing morale against the Qing Dynasty in the future.
Fang Ziling was inevitably a little embarrassed when her father exposed her.
She was about to think of a way to overturn the situation, but fortunately, the housekeeper of the house suddenly came to the backyard and asked the maid to come in to report that she seemed to have some government affairs to contact the master. By chance, the lady was relieved.
The maid stepped forward with eager steps and whispered: "Sir, Uncle Zeng said that there are dignitaries from the officialdom coming to visit. I want you to decide whether you want to see him or not."
Before Fang Kongzhen could answer, the concubines around him were a little dissatisfied. It was rare for them to go out to the garden and have a drink with the master. The master was busy with government affairs recently and rarely enjoyed himself.
The concubine in the fifth room, relying on her love, spat: "The governor's office has been dissolved, what kind of petty officials are there to disturb this Jiangling territory?"
Fang Kongzheng's face was serious: "Don't be presumptuous! What if it's something urgent? I'll go and ask."
There were women in the backyard, so the housekeeper and staff were not allowed in, but were waiting outside the hanging flower door. Fang Kongzheng followed the maid to the hanging flower door, chatted with the visitor for a few words, immediately paid attention to it, and ordered the guests to be brought.
After giving the instructions, he turned back to the plum garden, sat down next to the stove, and said to his concubines: "If you want to avoid it, just avoid it. A colleague is visiting from Wuchang and I have to see him. Then Shen Shi It's true, I'm really having some fun with government affairs today."
Fang Kongzheng looked at the sky and saw that Shen Shizheng was drinking and enjoying the snow in the plum garden at four o'clock in the afternoon. He was indeed slacking off in work.
After ordering his wives and concubines, he turned to his daughter: "Ling'er, it's Shenshu who is here. I haven't seen you for half a year. He has also become the censor of Qiandu. He is only half a step away from becoming the governor of his father. The honor and disgrace in officialdom , as expected.
My father sees that you are very dissatisfied with his knowledge. Do you want to ask for advice in person later? Or should you avoid it with your aunts?"
Fang Ziling bit her lip unconsciously and decided to be more serious. She avoided it with her aunts and changed into a more formal scholar's uniform before engaging in an academic debate.
It would be too shameful to argue with others while wearing women's clothing.
Just as Fang Ziling ran away, footsteps could be heard outside the Chuihua Gate, and it was Shen Shuren who was ushered in.
"Futai is so elegant. It has just snowed for the first time this year, and we are already enjoying the snow by the stove. It seems that I have disturbed the elegance of Futai." Shen Shuren walked in through the snow and waved his hand to disperse the smell of barbecue in the air. , said with a playful smile.
Fang Kongzheng did not say anything to him, and pointed to the empty seat opposite: "It doesn't matter, I'm just too busy playing around, and I'm not as energetic as you young people, who work hard day and night.
Are you looking for any support this time? Recently, many people have come to me to accuse you of being unreasonable. Seeing how difficult it is for you, I helped you block them all. You are bold, because Qian is the only one who is responsible for defense in Wuchang Mansion. How dare you dare to dictate so boldly and decisively to the civil affairs!"
Chen Shuren sat down across from him and admitted frankly: "In emergency times, we do extraordinary things. As long as we can work together to stabilize the place, drive away thieves, win battles often, and behead the thieves, your Majesty and the elders will understand us." It’s urgent to follow authority.”