Kong Mingde even invited Yan Xiangdong: "Xiangdong, you and my old man can live in a tent."
Faced with the kindness of the head of the Kong family, Yan Xiangdong waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, I am young and strong. I can just keep myself warm by the fire at night. It doesn't matter!"
Kong Mingde had no choice but to give up.
Having a tent is not enough, you also need to find some firewood, otherwise the young men who are keeping watch outside tonight will not be able to survive.
So, a group of young men stumbled deeper into the forest, one step deeper and the other shallow, and came back after finding a lot of dead branches and leaves.
Although the moisture on these branches and leaves is a bit heavy, it is not impossible to light them.
At this moment, it was already dark and the fire was getting darker.
Everyone lit two fires and sat around them separately, which was just right.
It was okay to be busy just now, but now that I am free, I feel empty.
That is to say, everyone can't help but start to worry about the future.
Today and this night are over, but what about tomorrow?
Thinking of this, everyone missed the comfortable life they had at home in the past.
There is plenty of food all day long, there is no shortage of fish and meat, there is a cooling fan in the summer and a heater in the east.
In the past, I thought everything was normal, but today I realize how much enjoyment it is.
Thinking of this, many people couldn't help but cry secretly.
When Kong Mingde heard the sobbing, he originally wanted to scold everyone to silence them, but then he thought, these days have changed a lot, and it is very difficult for the clansmen to persist to this day.
Let them vent their anger.
Thinking of this, Kong Mingde didn't say anything, but silently took out a small piece of dry food from his arms. This dry food was distributed to the soldiers on the ship.
Everyone has a share, and if you save some food, you can survive for two or three days, but after two or three days, you have to figure out your own solution.
Suddenly, Kong Mingde seemed to remember something and touched Yan Xiangdong who was sitting next to him: "Xiangdong, do you have any solid food? If not, I will share some with you."
Yan Xiangdong quickly and carefully took out a piece of cake from the words: "There are some!"
As he said that, he took a hard bite. But for this bite, he used all his strength to bite it down. As for swallowing it...
It was so dry that I couldn't swallow it at all.
Although the conditions at Yan Xiangdong's home were not good, he had never eaten dry food that was so hard to swallow. He was so stunned that he couldn't swallow it for a while.
"Xiangdong, drink some water!" Kong Mingde's voice came.
Yan Xiangdong was about to smile bitterly, where was the water coming from now?
But then his eyes widened and he saw Kong Mingde grabbing a handful of snow from the ground and stuffing it into his mouth.
Kong Mingde also couldn't eat it, so he had no choice but to swallow it with blood and water.
Yan Xiangdong looked at it speechlessly for a while, then he could only stuff snow water into his mouth in the same manner.
He was hypnotizing himself even more crazily in his heart: "Mencius said: When Heaven is about to assign a great responsibility to a person, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, deplete his body, and disturb his actions. Therefore,
Tempting one's heart and forbearing, one has benefited from what one cannot do..."
A small piece of dry food, if you save it, it's just a mouthful or two. This little thing can't withstand the severe cold.
Especially since this place is close to the bay, the wind blowing at night is particularly biting.
Even relying on a campfire can only have a limited effect.
At this time, Kong Mingde couldn't help but think of the big bed with withered flowers at home.
It was a large bed made of nanmu. It was covered with a layer of Uzbek blankets and a layer of lynx inlaid with mink fur. The cover was made of green silk from Suzhou and Hangzhou, which not only kept warm, but also
Very expensive.
Just that big bed of nanmu withered flowers can cover the daily expenses of an ordinary family for twenty years!
But those things are in the past. Now, I can only sit on the snow and warm up around the fire filled with fireworks...
If you don’t believe it, you can’t keep immersing yourself in the past. You should... By the way, there are still these things!
Kong Mingde seemed to have thought of something, and quickly gave a few words to the old housekeeper behind him.
After hearing this, the old housekeeper looked hesitant: "Master, it's already this time, why do you still want to see that thing?!"
Kong Mingde's face became solemn and he scolded: "You old man, what do you know?! That is the treasure of my Kong family!"
The old housekeeper had no choice but to turn around and leave.
Yan Xiangdong, who was sitting next to him, heard the words of the master and servant clearly. He suddenly became curious and looked forward to what the old butler was about to bring.
After a while, I saw the old housekeeper dragging a large wooden box over.
In fact, Yan Xiangdong noticed this big wooden box when he was talking to Kong Mingde during the day. At that time, he was still wondering why the Kong family could bring a big wooden box when all the belongings of the people assigned here had been thrown away.
?
Yan Xiangdong couldn't bear it anymore and couldn't help asking: "Mr. Mingde, what is this?"
Kong Mingde smiled slightly, opened the box, took out something, and handed it to Yan Xiangdong: "Look!"
Yan Xiangdong was stunned, this seemed to be a book.
Feeling guilty in my heart, I took the book and by the light of the fire, I could see clearly the two words on the cover: "The Analects of Confucius?"
Yan Xiangdong was almost in tears at this moment.
What a twist of fate! Didn’t I come to this ghost place because of the saint’s books?
To be honest, Yan Xiangdong did not regret that it was a lie when he came to this freezing America. But if he was given another chance, he would still be willing to be a student of Dongshan College, and he would still be willing to support Liu Fulin and Zhang Hong.
Of course, some of them had the intention of becoming an official through these people, but more importantly, they still had the persistence in their hearts for the Four Books and Five Classics, and the study of the saints.
After all, this is what he has stuck to for almost most of his life!
At this moment, looking at the Analects of Confucius, Yan Xiangdong suddenly felt that this wild and freezing land was really unsustainable.
Just when his mind was agitated, Kong Mingde said with a smile: "Xiangdong, please open it and take a look!"
Yan Xiangdong was a little confused. As for the Analects, he had already memorized it by heart when he was ten years old. From what Mr. Mingde meant, could there be anything novel in this Analects?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yan Xiangdong was embarrassed, but he still turned the page and saw that between the lines of familiar sentences, there were actually lines of tiny characters!
"This...is this annotation made by someone on the Analects of Confucius?" Yan Xiangdong looked at it for a while and then recognized it.
Kong Mingde asked with a smile: "Guess again, who made this annotation?"
Now Yan Xiangdong was asked. He turned over a few more pages and saw that the paper was yellowed and the ink was a little brown. It seemed that the Analects of Confucius must be old.
Annotate the Analects of Confucius?
As far as Yan Xiangdong knows, there was an ancestor of Nan Kong...
Thinking of this, Yan Xiangdong's mind stirred, and he asked with a trembling voice: "Could it be..."
"Yes, it was written by my ancestor from Nankong, Duan Yougong, who traveled south with Emperor Gaozong. As a generation of classics scholars, his handbook annotations are very rare!" At this point, Kong Ming De Ren said.
I couldn't help but feel proud.
Yan Xiangdong was even more excited and burst into tears: "The only thing I can see in this life is Gong's annotated manuscript. Xiangdong has no regrets in this life!"
Kong Mingde chuckled, patted the big wooden box behind him and said: "There are also "Mencius", "Book of Changes", "Spring and Autumn" with annotations in public manuscripts..."
"All my Confucian classics, Duan Yougong, have annotated them. I brought them all here when I was exiled to a foreign land. Xiangdong, you can read them to your heart's content!"
After hearing this, Yan Xiangdong felt his blood boiling all over: "Mr. Mingde, such a great kindness, Yan Xiangdong will never forget it!"
Having said that, without saying much, after paying homage to Kong Mingde, he carefully read the annotations on the Analects of Confucius in his hand page by page.
Kong Mingde felt satisfied when he saw that Yan Xiangdong respected his ancestor's masterpiece so much.
The other people surrounding the bonfire at this moment are either Kong Mingde's cousins or Kong Mingde's children and nephews.
At this moment, Kong Mingde also said to them: "The night is cold and the firelight is very good. You should also take a look at Duan Yougong's manuscript!"
The origin of southern Confucianism is really not an empty talk.
In this generation, Kong Mingde’s knowledge and skills are the best.
But several of his cousins and a bunch of nephews are not bad at all. If the imperial examination had not been reformed, they would still be taking the Four Books and Five Classics.
I dare not say that these people can all pass the Jinshi exam, but they will definitely have no problem taking the Juren exam.
But once the imperial examination system was reformed, these things they learned were basically useless.
Therefore, the support of these brothers and nephews must have played a big role in why Kong Mingde had the confidence to persuade Hou Fang, Zhang Hong and others to set up Dongshan College this time.
Being exiled to this wild land this time, I was lucky to have escaped death, but I was more disappointed, angry and desperate.
At this moment, when the head of the family said that the manuscripts of these ancestors, Duan Yougong, could be read, he was immediately overjoyed.
You must know that these manuscript annotations contain the essence of duan public knowledge. As long as these things exist, they will have the confidence to re-create the Confucius family in this barbaric world and revive the study of saints.
The most important thing is that from now on, there will no longer be a distinction between North and South Kong. It is the real and unique Kong family!
In this excited mood, everyone couldn't wait to get their hands on a manuscript.
I read it eagerly, and for a while it felt like I was studying hard all night long.
It’s just that as time goes by, this atmosphere can no longer hold up.
Without him, as the night gets deeper and deeper, the wind gets colder and colder, like a sharp knife, cutting people's faces with pain.
Even if there is a campfire, the amount of heat it can provide is quite limited.
But these are not the most important things. The most important thing is that the branches they picked up seem to be not enough!
Now the trouble is big. There are no branches to light the fire. The bonfire will be extinguished in a short time. Once it is extinguished, those of them outside are afraid that they will freeze to death tonight!
When I thought of this, everyone could no longer read the books in their hands.
The temperature was getting lower and lower, and the cold wind was getting more and more biting. Finally, a nephew of the Kong family couldn't help it anymore: "Master, let's go to the forest to pick up some branches and bring them back!"
Before Kong Mingde could speak, Yan Xiangdong spoke bitterly: "We have almost picked up the outermost branches. If we want to pick up more, we have to go deeper into the forest..."
"But none of us know whether there are ferocious beasts deep in this dense forest. If we encounter them, then..."
At this time, Kong Mingde also nodded: "That's right! The wind and snow are getting stronger now. I'm afraid that if you go deep into the forest, you will get lost, and the danger will be even greater!"
As soon as this was said, everyone fell silent.
But some people still muttered: "What should we do? Are we really going to freeze to death tonight?"
No one can accept this, because what we are facing now is such a cruel situation.
So, in the oppressive silence, time passed silently bit by bit, and the bonfire in front of them was also slowly reducing its intensity!
Dozens of pairs of eyes stared intently at the slowly decreasing fire.
Feeling the warmth in front of them fading away little by little, everyone began to feel anxious.
Everyone couldn't help but start to have an idea. It would be great if there was something that could continue to burn and keep warm at this moment...
Thinking of this, everyone was stunned for a moment, and then unanimously turned their attention to the book in their hands, and then to the large wooden box full of things behind Kong Mingde...
no!
I can’t even think about it!
Everyone was shocked by the audacious idea in their hearts. This was simply treason!
Kong Mingde's brothers and nephews all blamed themselves. As descendants of saints, how could they have such thoughts?
Although Kong Mingde said nothing, he could clearly see the actions of the tribesmen just now.
He knows... now is the time of life and death. If there are no measures to deal with it, I am afraid that something unspeakable will really happen tonight.
However, the matter is of great importance. If he really does this, how will he, Kong Mingde, face his family ancestors and Kong Sheng in the future?
Kong Mingde's face looked gloomy for a long time, then he looked at the clansmen whose faces were getting paler, and finally let out a long sigh.
Then he slowly said: "Everyone, the fire is about to be extinguished. Throw all the books in your hands into the fire to start the fire!"
"What!"
As soon as these words came out, the tribesmen sitting around the bonfire were shocked and stood up.
Although this thought flashed through their minds, it really just passed through their minds.
If you really ask them to burn books now, they will definitely not be able to accept it emotionally.
The most important thing is that these books can be called the only sage's learning in this barbaric way. If they are burned, they will be completely gone.
Among them, Yan Xiangdong, a man with a foreign surname, was the most excited: "Mr. Mingde, why do you say such stupid things?! If we burn books to save our lives, what is the difference between us and the treacherous king who reformed the imperial examination system?"
?”
"If Duan Yougong's manuscripts are burned, then what's the point of our being exiled to Yinzhou? Mr. Mingde, don't be confused!"
Yan Xiangdong's voice was hoarse and won the approval of many Kong clan members.
"Yes, the head of the family must not be confused!"
"It wouldn't be a pity if I waited for death, but this sage's learning cannot be harmed!"
"Master, you must not do this!"
In the face of everyone's dissuasion, Kong Mingde still let out a long sigh. He pressed his hands down and everyone became quiet.
Kong Mingde first looked at Yan Xiangdong: "Let me ask you, among the three talents in the world, which one is the most valuable?"
Yan Xiangdong said without hesitation: "Confucius said: The nature of heaven and earth is that human beings are the most precious... Naturally, human beings are the most precious!"