The Scholars Chapter 44

Chapter 44 Mr. Tang successfully returned to his hometown. Yu Mingjing drank wine to ask about the funeral.

By the way, Mr. Tang discussed with the two young masters and packed up and went home. Taishou Lei gave 4 taels of silver as a gift to the representative, asked Tang's yamen chef to prepare a banquet, and invited Tang Zhentai to go to his yamen office for a farewell party. On the day of departure, all the officials from Hecheng came to see him off. Pass Changde by water, cross Dongting Lake, and return to Yizheng from the Yangtze River. Nothing happened on the road. I asked the two young masters about their daily studies and took a look at the scenery on the river. In less than twenty days, I arrived at Shamaozhou and sent my family home to prepare food to welcome him. The sixth master knew about it and went all the way to Huangnitan to greet him. The brothers also met and talked about their hometown. Tang Zhentai saw his glib words and said angrily: "I have been away for more than thirty years and you have grown up, how can you learn such a nasty temperament!" Later when he saw him speaking, he said "Master", Tang Zhentai said Tai angrily said: "You are so obscene! What nonsense! I am your uncle. Why don't you call me uncle, but master?" When talking about the two young masters, he also called them "eldest uncle" and "second master". Tang Zhentai said angrily: "You gangster! You deserve to die! If you don't teach your two brothers and take care of them, how can you call them uncle or second master!" The sixth master was scolded and dejected. All the way to home. We paid our respects to our ancestors in Tangzhentai and packed our luggage. His brother Nai, who was the magistrate of Gaoyao County, had already retired at home. When the old brothers met, they were happy with each other and drank wine for several days. Tang Zhentai did not go to the city, and he did not know the government. He only built a few villas on the riverside, where he studied and taught his children. Three or four months later, when I saw the essays written by the young masters, I was not very happy and said, "How can I succeed in this essay? Now that I am here, I need to invite a gentleman to teach them a lesson." He hesitated every day. Ignore this matter.

That day, the doorman came in and said: "The Second Prime Minister Xiao of Yangzhou has come to pay his respects." Tang Zhentai said: "This is my brother Xiao. I can't recognize him even though I know him." Please come in. Xiao Baiquan came in to see the ceremony. Seeing that he was as beautiful as jade and elegantly dressed, he bowed and sat down with him. Xiao Baiquan said: "Uncle Shi, congratulations on returning home, my nephew should come to say hello. Because at this time, Mr. Gao, the Imperial Lecturer in Nanjing, took leave to go home and spend time in Yangzhou. My nephew has been with him for a long time, so he came late." Tang Zhen The platform said: "Congratulations, brother, have you entered the school?" Xiao Baiquan said: "The former great master took the postgraduate entrance examination to make up for the doctorate disciples. It is not uncommon to receive Qingjin. But the article about my nephew was spread all over the city in the past three days. , Sure enough, he was appreciated by the great master, which shows that Zhenba is not bad at all." Tang Zhentai saw that he was very articulate, so he left him to eat in the study and asked the two young masters to accompany him. In the afternoon, the Zhentai came out and said that he wanted to invite a gentleman to help the two young masters in their careers. Xiao Baiquan said: "My nephew recently had a gentleman who read Huiwen. He is from Wuhe County. His surname is Yu, his given name is special, and his courtesy name is Da. He is a Mingjing gentleman, and his career is actually good. This year, I went to a salt business family. He was not very proud of running a restaurant. If Uncle Shi wanted to hire a gentleman, he would only be good to him. If Uncle Shi wrote a letter of appointment and asked his nephew to meet Mr. Yu, he could come to Guangu together every year. Fifty or sixty gold." After hearing this, Tang Zhentai was overjoyed and stayed with Xiao Baiquan for two nights. He wrote a letter of engagement and ordered the eldest son to go to Yangzhou with Xiao Baiquan to pay homage to the Wu family who sells salt under the river. Mr. Yu. Xiao Baiquan asked him to write a late student post and change it to a disciple post in the future when he enters the library. The uncle said: "Half teacher and half friend, I have to write 'classmate junior brother'." Xiao Baiquan couldn't resist, so he had to take the post and go there together. A message was posted on the door, please come and sit in the study. I saw Mr. Nayu, who was about fifty years old, wearing a square scarf on his head, an old sapphire blue jacket, red shoes on his feet, fair complexion, three locks of moustache, shortsightedness, coming out to bow to the two of them and sit down. Yu Youda said: "Brother Baiquan, I went to Yizheng the day before yesterday. When did you come back?" Xiao Baiquan said: "I went to Yizheng to see my uncle Tang, and stayed for a few days. This is Brother Tang." He took out Uncle Tang's famous card from his sleeve and handed it over. Mr. Yu continued to look at it, put it on the table, and said, "How dare you take this?" Xiao Baiquan said again what he wanted to ask him to be his husband, and said: "I am here to pay my respects. If Meng Taiyun agrees, I will send you a scholarship and money." Come here." Yu Youda said with a smile: "The old man is a great man and the young master is a talented man. I am old and incompetent. I can't wait for a day." The two of them said goodbye. The next day, Yu Youda went to Xiao's house to pay homage and said, "Brother Baiquan, what happened yesterday cannot be obeyed." Xiao Baiquan asked, "What's the reason for this?" Yu Youda smiled and said, "Since he wants to worship me as his teacher. , how to write a post about "Wan Di" to worship me? It can be seen that I am not sincere in asking for advice. This is fine. I have an old friend who is a governor in Wuwei Prefecture. I have an appointment with him the day before yesterday. I want to go there. Helping me a little is better than sitting in a pavilion for a year.

I will say goodbye to my employer in these few days. For the Tang Mansion, Brother Baiquan actually recommended someone else. "Xiao Baiquan couldn't force himself, so he replied to Uncle Tang and invited someone else to go.

A few days later, Yu Youda resigned from his master, packed his luggage, and returned to Wuhe. His home was at Yu's house. Lane. After entering the house, his brother came out to follow him. This brother was named Chi, and he was also a well-educated scholar in Wuhe County. He chose two Hanlin people. The people in Wuhe County were short-sighted, so they went to flatter him. There was another family from Huizhou, who ran a salt pawn shop in Wuhe and wanted to join the local people. In the beginning, the Yu family in Yujia Lane was married to the Yu family of an old squire, but the two families refused to marry the Fang family. Later, there were several shameless and talented people from the two families who wanted to marry each other. The Fang family compensated him by marrying his daughter, and they began to marry each other. Later, the Fang family not only did not make any special compensation, but said that the two families admired him for being rich and begged him to marry him. Therefore, there are two types of people in these two families who don't care about their ancestors' dignity: one is an idiot, and the idiot has an eight-character behavior: "If you are not Fang, you will not be close, and if you are not Peng, you will not be friends." "One kind is a good boy, and that good boy also has eight words for his behavior: "If you don't have a good attitude, you won't have your heart, and if you don't have a pen, you won't speak. "This is about those stupid and shameless people. If there is no one in Wuhe County who pretends to be surnamed Fang, he does not need to have relatives; if there is no Jinshi surnamed Peng, he does not need to have friends. Such people, He felt that he was being snobbish, but in fact he was stupid! Those cunning people were thinking of getting married to the Fang family, but the Fang family did not want to do it. Sir is my teacher. Mr. Peng San invited me to his study for a long time to talk intimately. ” Then he said: “Mr. Peng Si brought books to me in Beijing. "When people heard what he said, they would often invite him to have a glass of wine, asking him to say these words at the table to frighten the people drinking at the same table. This is a bad custom.

I have Da Da. Two brothers, Yu Youzhong, followed the family motto of their ancestors and studied in isolation. They did not talk about the snobbery of living next door. But I never dare to say anything when I come to this county, because Wuhe people have an unbreakable belief: they always say that as long as a person is a scholar or a scholar, they are the same person as the magistrate of the state or the county. No. If someone says that the county magistrate respects that person's character, or that he is a famous person, and wants to talk to him, everyone in the county will smile like a person who has never been elected. When you go to visit the magistrate, you can cross your arms and show your kindness. The two brothers from the Yu family have unprecedented character and writing, because their family has never seen the magistrate of this county come to visit them, and they are not relatives of the Fang family. , and he was not friends with the Peng family, so although his relatives and friends did not dare to look down on him, they did not know how to respect him.

That day, Yu Youzhong came in after his brother, paid his respects, and prepared wine to greet him. To elaborate, it was more than a year ago. After dinner, Mr. Yu Da did not go to the room. In the study, the two old brothers slept together. At night, Mr. Da told Mr. Er that he would go to Wuwei Prefecture to see friends. Mr. Er said: "My brother is still staying at home for a while." I want to take the science test in Fuli. When I come back from the test, my brother will go. Mr. Yu Da said: "You don't know." I have used up all the money I have in Yangzhou, and I have to rush to Wuweizhou to get a few taels of silver to spend the long summer. It's okay for you to take the scientific examination. Your sister-in-law and sister-in-law are in charge of the house. My two brothers were living behind closed doors, why should I be at home?" The second gentleman said, "If I go there this time and get dozens of taels of silver, I can bury my father and mother when I come back. We have been uneasy at home since the coffin has been at home for more than ten years. Mr. Da said: "I think so too. I will do this when I come back." ”

A few days later, Mr. Da went to Wuwei Prefecture. More than ten days later, the Grandmaster card arrived and he came to Fengyang. Mr. Yu Er dressed up and settled in Fengyang and rented a place. Stay here. It's the eighth day of the fourth month. On the tenth day of the lunar month, the divination cards will be collected. Come, take three exams for each student. Mr. Yu Er took the exam inside on the 16th. The case was sent out on the 17th. Mr. Yu Er got the first and second place and stayed in Fengyang until the 2nd. On the fourteenth day, I saw the master off and went back to Wuhe.

Mr. Da came to Wuwei Prefecture. The prefecture respected him and stayed for a few days. He said, "Sir, I have not yet taken office." I can't give you more money. Now there is one thing, just tell me your feelings, and I will agree with you.

This family can give 400 taels of silver, which can be divided among three people; the husband can get more than 130 taels of silver, and he can take it home to do important things for the old man and the old aunt. I'll stop being kind in the future. "Mr. Yu Da was happy, thanked Zhou Zun, and went out to meet the man. The man's surname was Feng, and his name was Ying. It was a matter of life and death. Mr. Yu Da said for him that Zhou Zun approved and went out to exchange the money. , bid farewell to Zhizhou, packed up his luggage and went home. As he was passing through Nanjing, he remembered: "The emperor Du Shaoqing lives in the river house of Lishe Bridge in Nanjing. He is my cousin. Why not drop by to see him?" So he went to the city and came to Du Shaoqing's house. Du Shaoqing came out to follow him. When he saw his cousin, he felt happy, bowed and sat down, and said what he said after more than ten years of separation. Mr. Yu Da sighed: "Brother, it is a pity that you have abandoned these good foundations! You are the only one to become a senior official." How can a person like me get used to selling literature for a living now?" Du Shaoqing said: "I am here now, enjoying the pleasure of having friends in mountains and rivers, so I am used to living there. To be honest with my cousin, my stupid brother doesn't have any hobbies either. The couple has several sons, they live in plain clothes and eat vegetables, and they feel indifferent. I can’t regret what happened in the past. "After that, he served tea with his cousin. After eating, Du Shaoqing went in and discussed with his wife about making wine for his cousin. At this time, Du Shaoqing was poor and couldn't afford it, so he thought about how to pawn something. Today It was the third day of May, but Zhuang Yaojiang's family sent a load of gifts to celebrate the festival with Shaoqing. The boy followed the gift and walked in together with the worship box. The gift was an anchovy, two roast ducks, and a duck. A hundred rice dumplings, two pounds of foreign sugar, and four taels of silver in the box. Du Shaoqing wrote a thank you message and took it. Du Shaoqing and his wife said, "This is done!" A few days later, the lady prepared the food and drinks herself. Chi Hengshan and Wu Zhengzi lived near each other, so Du Shaoqing wrote a note asking them to come and accompany their cousin. They talked about mutual admiration and had wine together in the river house. .

While eating and drinking, Mr. Yu Da mentioned that he wanted to find a place to bury his parents. Chi Hengshan said: "Sir, as long as the ground is dry and warm, there is no wind and no ants, it will be enough for our ancestors." Don't even listen to talk about getting rich and famous. Mr. Yu Da said: "Exactly." This is the most important thing to us. Because people have difficulty finding land, their ancestors are often delayed and unable to bury them. My younger brother has never paid attention to this. I would like to ask you two gentlemen: What is the origin of Guo Puzhi's theory?" Chi Hengshan sighed: "There are no official burial sites for people who have died in the tomb, and the method of family burial is not good. Scholars and gentlemen are confused by the theory of dragon caves and sand and water. I want to be prosperous in my heart, but I don’t know that I have fallen into great rebellion and immorality!" Mr. Yu Da was surprised: "How can I be born into great rebellion and immorality?" Chi Hengshan said: "There is a poem that I want to listen to sir: 'The air disperses and the wind rushes where you can live. Sir, what is the reason for burying bones? Japan and China have not yet solved the desertion, but people in the world still believe in the "Burial Book"! This is a poem written by the predecessors in Diaoguo Cemetery. What I hate the most is that the sorcerer now relies on Guo Puzhi and often says: "This place can produce a tripod armor and a number one scholar! Please tell me sir: The official title of number one scholar began in the Tang Dynasty. Guo Pu was a native of Jin Dynasty. How did he know that there was such a thing in the Tang Dynasty?" For an official title, we should first establish a law and say what kind of place it is, and then just produce this one thing? This is ridiculous! If the ancients worshiped each other, they can be seen geographically. How about the burial of the mother in Huaiyin, where the camp was high and open? , and the nobles of Huaiyin princes will inevitably be punished by the three clans. Is this place bad or good? It is even more ridiculous for these common people to say that the Xiaoling Mausoleum of this dynasty was the place chosen by Mr. Qingtian! Qingtian ordered the great sages of the world to serve soldiers, farmers, and rituals. , music, and no time to spare, how can you have the leisure time to do this? When Hongwu came to the throne, it was an auspicious place for ten thousand years, and there were magicians to take care of it. What does it have to do with Qingtian!"

Mr. Yu Da said "Sir, your discussion is really enlightening!" Wu Zhengzi said, "Mr. Hengshan's words are absolutely correct. There was a strange thing in my city the year before last. I will tell you gentlemen about it. Mr. Yu Da said: "I would like to hear it, I would like to hear it." Wu Zhengzi said: "It's Shi Yushijia in Shijia Lane, where I get off the floating bridge." Chi Hengshan said: "I have heard a little bit about Shi Yushi's family, but I don't know the details." "Wu Zhengzi said: "Shi Yushi Kunyu two. Mr. Shi Er said that Brother Nai was awarded Jinshi, but he was not awarded because the eldest lady's burial was not good. Only the first bedroom was given, but not the second one. Because I have a Feng Shui master at home, I discuss moving the grave all day long. Shi Yushi said: "It has been buried for a long time, I'm afraid it won't be moved." ’ Weeping and bowing down to beg him. He decided to move. The Feng Shui threatened him again, saying: 'If he doesn't move, his second wife will not only lose his position as an official, but also become blind!' He became more and more panicked, and relied on the Feng Shui to look for land everywhere. There is a Feng Shui at home, and there are many Feng Shui outside. This feng shui is looking for a place, and let those feng shui come over. Those who know the essence of Feng Shui are called the father acting like the son and smiling, and the son acting like the father smiling. There is no one the same.

But when I was looking for a piece of land, I was told, "No need!" The feng shui situation in my family became urgent, so I donated another piece of land, and on the left side of the new land, I bribed a relative to tell me that I dreamed of the old lady Feng Guan at night. Xiapei pointed to this land and told him that he wanted to be buried here. Because the old lady found this piece of land herself, other feng shui could not overturn it, so she moved her mother to bury it. On the day when the tomb was to be moved, two brothers, Shi Yushi, knelt there. After digging the grave and seeing the coffin, there was a rush of hot air from the grave, which rushed out and hit the second gentleman's eyes, and he was immediately blinded. The second gentleman became more and more convinced that this Feng Shui was actually a living god in the present who could know the past and future. Later, he thanked him several hundred taels of silver. ”

Mr. Yu Da said: “We also like to pay attention to relocation and burial. Shaoqing, is this possible?" Du Shaoqing said, "I have one more straightforward statement. The court should establish a method for this matter: whenever a person wants to be buried, he should be asked to hand in a submission paper at Yousi Yamen. Feng Shui has a sweet knot: how many feet of water are there on the coffin, and how many buckets and liters of ants are on the coffin. If it's open and it's true, then that's it. If there are ants in the water, but it's not open, then when you dig, bring an executioner and cut off the slave's dog's head with one knife. Those who want to move the tomb shall be put to death immediately and late according to the law of descendants murdering their grandfathers. This wind may be gone for a while!" Yu Youda, Chi Hengshan, and Wu Zhengzi clapped their hands together and said: "Speak freely! Speak freely! Bring a big cup to drink!" After eating for a while, Mr. Yu Da Talking about the story about the Tang family asking him to be a guest house, he said it again and said with a smile: "Warriors can only be seen like this!" Wu Zhengzi said: "There are some martial artists who are more elegant than others!" After telling Xiao Yunxian's story in detail, He said to Du Shaoqing: "Mr. Shaoqing, take out the paper and look at it with Mr. Yu. "Du Shaoqing took it out. Mr. Yu Da opened it and read the poems of the pictures and Dr. Yu. After reading, he took advantage of the wine and composed a poem according to the rhyme. The three of them praised it. After drinking for half the night, they stayed together. On that day, a duck seller from Wuhe Township came with a letter from home, saying that it was brought by Father Yu Er to Father Yu. When he opened it, Mr. Yu Da's face turned pale. Just because of this, there are different teachings:

Brothers help each other, which is really a good feeling; friends make recommendations and see the friendship of the same voice.

After all, the book says. Let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

Chapter 44: This time, Tang Fengzhuo and his old brothers got together. After Tang Zhentai returned home, he saw his nephew Tang Laoliu in a bad mood. He looked very angry and scolded him severely! Seeing that his two sons were very poor in knowledge, he wanted to ask Yu Youda to teach him, but Yu Youda's father had passed away. For many years, he and his brother Yu Youzhong were not buried because they could not find a good place. This shows how poor they were, but they believed in etiquette. However, this chapter satirizes the customs of Wuhe, which shows the author's indignation.