On August 14th, the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign, the Mid-Autumn Festival was one day away.
Twenty-nine-year-old Jiao Xun walked out of the Jiangnan Gongyuan in Jiangning in despair after experiencing three nine-day tortures starting from August 8. He no longer had any confidence in this provincial examination. If nothing else, this
80% of the subjects will fail!
Jiao Xun was from Yangzhou. He could read typos on Spring Festival couplets at the age of three. He entered a private school to study "Mao Shi" at the age of six. He passed the boy's examination at the age of seventeen. He was a scholar at the age of twenty-two and became a Linshan student.
At the age of 18, bad luck started to come.
That year, Jiao Xun's parents died of illness one after another, and he was forced to stay at home for three years. He had no intention of studying anymore and spent his time studying "The Book of Changes" at home every day.
Unexpectedly, this dear friend has a wide range of interests. When Ding You finished last year, he did not mention picking up the Four Books to review, but began to study the "Book of Songs"; first he revised "The Poems on Birds, Beasts, Plants, Trees, Insects and Fish", and then started "The Book of Songs".
"An Interpretation of Mao's Poems on Geography", he also started to study arithmetic in his spare time, but he did not read the serious books related to the imperial examination. So if he didn't fail in this subject, who would fail?
Jiao Xun has a good attitude, but he won't let him down if he doesn't succeed. Let's talk about it next time. Anyway, he has land at home, so he has no worries about food and drink, and he can also have enough money to collect ancient books. This man is so obsessed with collecting books that he even sells land. Once, he even took his wife's hairpin
I sold it just to raise money to buy a copy of the 1,800-volume "Tongzhitang Jingjie".
Tomorrow is August 15th, and Jiao Xun missed his wife and children at home, so he declined all the social activities of the same year, hurriedly settled the bill at the inn, found a boat from Yanziji to Yangzhou, and took the boat home.
Even if there is an accident, if you win, it will be almost a month before the results are released, so there is no rush.
The Qing Dynasty introduced regulations on the time for releasing the results from the 50th year of Kangxi, requiring large provinces to release the results within September 15th, medium provinces within September 10th, and small provinces within the fifth day of September. However, the imperial court only stipulated the time limit for releasing the results.
, but each province still determines the specific date and time for releasing the results. Because Yin belongs to tiger and Chen belongs to dragon, both are auspicious days, so each province has an unwritten rule. If you choose to release the results on Yin and Chen, this is called "dragon and tiger".
The origin of "Bang".
Jiao Xun returned home early the next morning and first lit incense on his parents' memorial tablets. After washing and eating breakfast, his wife Ruan said: "A man came to my door the day before yesterday and delivered a letter. I have asked someone to
Accept it. Who do you think the letter is from?"
Jiao Xun said casually: "Who is it?"
Ruan said: "This is Mr. Rong Fu. Did your husband have any contacts with him before?"
"Huh?" Jiao Xun was stunned. Everyone in Jiangnan knew Wang Zhong's name. Although they were in the same city before, Jiao Xun was just a junior and had no chance to make friends. In the past two years, Wang Zhong suddenly disappeared.
In 2001, even his wife and children suddenly disappeared, leaving only an old servant to look after the house. Many people in Yangzhou speculated that Wang Zhong must have offended someone, and even moved his family to avoid trouble.
The reason for saying this is mainly because Wang Zhong has been depressed for a long time, and his personality has become more and more like Mi Heng. He has a crazy personality and a bad mouth. He will directly start a fight with anyone he catches who doesn't like him, which makes many people dislike him.
Jiao Xun was surprised. He had never made friends with Wang Zhong, so how could he suddenly write to him? So he hurriedly said, "Where is the letter? Take it to me quickly."
Ruan said: "It's on the desk in the study. I see you are in a hurry."
Jiao Xun hurried to the study and took a look. He saw that the envelope was sealed with wax. Looking at the handwriting again, it was indeed Wang Zhong's. Jiao Xun became more and more strange, so he hurriedly opened the letter and started reading it. Unexpectedly, he read
Halfway through, Jiao Xun was completely stunned. By the time he finished reading all the pages of the letter, he was already breaking out in a cold sweat.
At about the same time, Hong Liangji, who was celebrating the holidays at his home in Changzhou, also received a letter from Wang Zhong. This man was a good friend with Wang Zhong, but he was even more confused than Jiao Xun. He thought that this guy had been missing for two years.
, why did you suddenly write me a letter? And he delivered it every time. He actually knew that I was at home. Couldn't this guy be keeping an eye on me?
Hong Liangji is two years younger than Wang Zhong, and is forty-three this year. He has studied poetry and books since he was a child, and is good at textual research on words and chapters. He is highly appreciated by Yuan Mei and Jiang Shiquan. However, like Wang Zhong, this fellow sufferer also fails after repeated attempts.
to date.
However, unlike Wang Zhong who prefers to stay at home, Hong Liangji has a bold personality and likes to travel to famous mountains and rivers. He has traveled to Wu, Yue, Chu, Guizhou, Qin, Jin, Qi, Henan and other places. He often spends 12 months in a year.
Not at home for months.
Starting from the fifty-second year of Qianlong's reign, this fierce man took one year to write the fifty-volume "Qianlong Mansion, Prefectures and Counties Map", which recorded in detail the provinces in the world, the number of people in the prefecture, and the prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction.
Products, a geographical overview of each county, and a map of the rivers and prefectures and counties in each province.
When Hong Liangji finished reading the letter, he was so frightened that he was sweating all over his body. Especially since Wang Zhong mentioned at the end of the letter: "If my dear brother is interested, please go to Sheyang Lake Xu in northern Jiangsu before September 15th."
Zhuang Yimei."
He banged the table loudly and said in his heart, Wang Rongfu! He disappeared suddenly and silently for two years, and even his family members did not know his whereabouts. It turns out that your kid is actually a thief, and he is also a North Sea pirate who has repeatedly defeated the imperial army!
Thinking of this, Hong Liangji couldn't help but murmured: "Hey! Why don't I write a good reply and humiliate you in return for the 'favour' of pushing me off the ship?"
For someone as good-tempered as Hong Liangji to be able to remember him so much, it shows that Wang Zhong offended him quite a lot.
The incident started a few years ago when Hong Liangji went to Yangzhou to visit Wang Zhong. During the period, the two of them took a boat together, talked about articles and classics, and talked loudly and became more and more intense. The problem was that although Wang Zhong was very talkative, his eloquence was average.
Facing the tough-tongued Hong Liangji, Wang Zhong couldn't argue at all. In a rage, he tried his best to push Hong Liangji out of the boat. Fortunately, the boatman was good at water and rescued him.
Hong Liangji, who was in his early forties, choked and foamed at the mouth. When he woke up, he cursed Wang Zhong for his lack of self-respect.
So he did it as he said. He polished the ink himself, wrote thousands of words, quoted scriptures, and scolded Wang Zhong bloody. It was a relief for the pent-up anger in his chest. However, after he finished writing, he read it himself.
After checking it twice and feeling satisfied, I remembered that the person who sent the letter didn't leave an address at all.
(⊙o⊙)......Hong Liangji shook his head and smiled bitterly, then tore the letter into pieces, threw it into the brazier and burned it to ashes, thinking that I might as well go over and scold him in person.
Just a few days before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, from Yangzhou to Changzhou, more than a dozen scholars who had repeatedly failed or had no intention of taking the imperial examinations all received personal letters from Wang Zhong delivered by others.
Some of these people were Wang Zhong's old friends, and some were young scholars who had always admired his name but had never met him. After reading the letter, some of them burned it with fire and pretended that they had never received it; others quietly packed it away.
Pack your bags and prepare to leave for the north in late August.
The reason why Wang Zhonghui suddenly came here after two years of silence was mainly because he was stimulated. To be precise, he was stimulated by Lin Ziping.
In late July of the 54th year of Qianlong's reign, that is, in July 1789, a large number of orchid scholars from the island countries, led by the "Beihai Enforcement" of the shogunate, arrived in Beihai Town on the Benzai ship of the Beihai Company.
The most famous among them is the 66-year-old Genpaku Sugita, which also includes Goudachi Asada, Gensui Udagawa, Yoshitoki Takahashi, Kanata Yamakata, Ehan Shima, Yoshionaga Motoki, Ryuuhashi Kuchiki, Hoshikawa Katsuragi,
Scholars such as Goto Reiharu, Hashimoto Yoshimune, and Shizuki Tadao, as well as their students and family members, totaled more than 150 people. Among them, the famous orchid medicine scholar Udagawa Gensuke was Sato Shinbubuchi's orchid school teacher at that time.
The attitude of the shogunate is out of sight, out of mind. Since Beihai Town wants them, they should just pack them up and send them away, so that these people will not gather in Osaka or Edo to make trouble, which will make Edo and Osaka live in fear all day long.
.
With so many natural science enthusiasts from the island countries visiting collectively, almost all the upper-level managers of Beihai Town rushed to Whale Harbor to express a warm welcome.
However, Wang Zhong had no interest in this at all, and even declined the invitation to go to Whale Bay with Zhao Xin.
You're kidding! What kind of talent does Jiangnan need? Lin Ziping brought a group of guys from Japan to learn Western things. King Zhao actually treated him like a guest. What does that mean?!
In terms of knowledge, Wang Zhongna was the person who reviewed and revised the "Sikuquanshu" in history. He read hundreds of classics and history books and read every book. He was admired by countless scholars. In the context of the inheritance of Chinese Sinology in the 18th century, he was definitely the most important person in history.
A top-notch person, can he look down on the island country?
Wang Zhong's parallel prose was praised as having the highest style among parallel prose in the Qing Dynasty. It was said to be "thrilling, and every word is worth a thousand pieces of gold." The memorial essay written by Zhao Xin in Heilongjiang City last year was later seen by Wang Zhong and was called a loss.
He called this article a "bullshit article" and made it worthless. Fortunately, Zhao Xin didn't hear it, otherwise he would have been embarrassed to get under the table, dig a hole and bury his head in it.
In fact, Wang Zhong was still worried about Zhao Xin's face and did not dare to hurt him face to face. It is said that when he was a student, he didn't even look down on the inspector. Once, an inspector surnamed Meng was presiding over the exam.
Wang Zhong was at Wang Zhong's examination table. In order to show off his talent, Wang Zhong finished the paper by answering three times, five and two. Then he was about to hand in the paper. He slammed the table hard and shouted: "I will scare Xiao Meng to death today!" he shouted to others.
The examiner "Xiao Meng" said that since the beginning of the imperial examination, no matter how talented and learned the person is, who can achieve such a "feat" like him?
In fact, Wang Zhong is also aware of his own character flaws. There is a handwritten calligraphy hanging in his office that reads, "Severe and severe, do not collect blessings." It is intended to warn him to avoid being anxious, to be loving and tolerant, and to be relaxed and relaxed.
Only by being diligent can you keep your mind, cultivate your righteousness, and reach the realm of benevolent people. When studying, you must be docile and follow the crowd, so that you can progress in your studies. Only in this way can you have a broad mind and be free from disasters.
Speaking of which, Wang Zhong didn’t go to the welcome ceremony, but a group of teachers from the primary school did. Even Wang Zhenyi followed Lao You after hearing about it. After a group of teachers came back, they started chatting. I honestly didn’t expect that there are people in the island country now.
There are so many people who are obsessed with natural science, and their level is surprisingly good, they actually know how Kepler's third law works...
The speaker is unintentional, the listener is intentional. The more Wang Zhong listened, the more irritated he became. Finally he couldn't help but slapped the table and said: "The person I have admired since the Han, Han and Tang Dynasties is the surname of Gu Ning in Kunshan, Deqing Hu Fei (sounds the same as bandit)
) Ming family, Xuancheng Mei Dingjiu family, Taiyuan Yan Baishi family, Yuanhe Huiding Yu family, Xiuning Daidong Yuan family. The so-called rise of ancient learning began with the Gu family; He, Luo, practiced witchcraft, and ended with the Hu family
Erqi (pronounced in the same place); advanced Chinese and Western methods, and became refined in the Mei family; the Yan family is the one who attacks ancient Chinese prose; the Hui family is the one who specializes in the "Yi" of Han Dynasty. All these unique skills that have not been passed down for more than a thousand years, and Dai
The family comes out and gathers them together!"
The teachers present all looked at each other in astonishment after hearing this. The lively and lively exchange of words between you and me suddenly died down. Everyone has long known that Wang Zhong is cynical, often makes shocking remarks, and is afraid of revealing his secrets.
He knew the details, so he was usually very careful when speaking in front of him. Moreover, after the other party's big words, everyone who listened was confused, and it took several minutes to think about it.
However, Wang Zhenyi, who was present, understood it. She quickly took Lao You out and murmured for a while. Only then did Lao You suddenly realize and was amazed. Xin said that he was indeed a well-deserved scholar. This time, he had learned what it means to curse without using curse words.
, what is meant beyond words.
To understand what Wang Zhong said, we must first understand what "Confucian classics" is. Strictly speaking, Confucian classics refers to the study of annotating classics, and classics are the main body of ancient Chinese scholarship, and generally refer to the essence of various schools of thought in the pre-Qin period.
Specifically, it refers specifically to the Thirteen Classics.
The words explain the drastic social changes in the late Qing Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, which prompted scholars to begin to reflect on the academic shortcomings since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Scholars led by Gu Yanwu hated the superficial and empty academic style of the Ming Dynasty and strived to apply it to the world.
With the purpose of "saving the world", we advocate a truth-seeking academic spirit, and emphasize the academic philosophy of "reading the Nine Classics begins with textual research, and textual research begins with understanding the music. Even the books of hundreds of schools of thought are the same".
The end of learning.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The so-called Gu Ningren in Kunshan is Gu Yanwu. He had the greatest influence on Wang Zhong, and he has always upheld Gu Yanwu’s academic spirit.
"Deqing Hu Feoming Clan" and "Taiyuan Yan Baishi Clan" refer to Hu Wei and Yan Ruocha respectively. These two people's identification of "He Tu", "Luo Shu" and "Pseudo Ancient Wen Shangshu" have impacted the crudeness of traditional Confucian classics.
Speaking, seeking truth from facts and being well-founded opens the way for the emergence of a new generation of academics.
As for "Xuancheng Mei Dingjiu Clan" and "Yuanhe Huiding Yu Clan" refer to Mei Wending and Huidong. The academic proficiency and expertise of these two people represent the basic characteristics and symbol of Pu Xue in the Qing Dynasty.
It is responsible for the initial establishment of scholarship in the Qing Dynasty.
"Dai Dongyuan of Xiuning" is the great scholar Dai Zhen. The book "Pythagorean Cutting Circles" that Zhao Xin discussed when he met Wang Zhenyi in Guangzhou was written by this person. Dai Zhen collected the great achievements of his predecessors and was proficient in both writing and phonology.
, the study of calculation, classics and other textual research, emphasizing the knowledge of ancient teachings and clear meanings, and taking this as a way to understand the classics and clarify the Tao, and also attach importance to the necessity of "clearing the Tao". In his later years, he devoted himself to the exploration of principles and principles, which ultimately contributed to the development of Qian
The prosperity of Jiapuxue.
The Chinese studies that later generations of Chinese people often talked about were actually only a very small part of Sinology. It can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty and was called "Pu Xue".
The implication of Wang Zhong is that Lan Xue is nothing! Those so-called "scholars" of the Japanese country are not even comparable to fireflies in front of the Confucian classics. Any one of the above six people can destroy them. Only by adhering to correct scholarship
Spirituality, using Confucian classics as a means to understand the way, and general principles and principles can lead to universal knowledge.
In fact, Wang Zhong had no personal opinion about Lin Ziping, and even had some admiration for him. However, the situation in Beihai Town was booming, the territory was getting bigger and bigger, and the martial arts was getting stronger, but the martial arts was really not that good.
In Wang Zhong's view, if King Zhao allowed the island scholars headed by Lin Ziping to grow, wouldn't the right to speak in Beihai Town fall into the hands of the Japanese in the future? What is the status of the great Chinese philosophy? This is what he cannot do.
tolerated.
So Wang Zhong didn't even eat dinner after returning home, thinking about things, and finally went straight to Zhao Xin's house in the middle of the night, saying that he wanted to write letters to his friends and juniors in Jiangnan to recruit them to serve in Beihai Town.
Wang Zhong said, aren’t you the one who wants to engage in surveying? I know him! I also know him who loves arithmetic!
When Zhao Xin heard that there were such figures in Daiqing in the 18th century, he quickly asked who it was. Wang Zhong crackled and said, and Zhao Xin's heart suddenly went cold.
In fact, Zhao Xin roughly understands the principle of "the theory of justice and principles". But the problem is that Chinese culture pays too much attention to the "metaphysical" feeling. The artistic conception is enough, but the words are all in the words. If it is not hidden, it will not show its level.
; Just like the "blank space" mentioned in Chinese painting, guess?
However, whether natural science and Confucian classics run counter to each other or arrive at the same goal through different paths, the meaning must be implemented in the words, and no ambiguity is allowed. This is inferior in the eyes of the Confucian classics, and is only needed for daily necessities.
things; even those who mastered this knowledge were reduced to "craftsmen" and were looked down upon by the scholar class, which eventually led to the loss of knowledge from generation to generation.
The ancients said that the Lushan Waterfall is "flying down three thousand feet". The artistic conception is enough, but the problem is that natural science cannot do this. The Xiufeng Waterfall is actually only 105 meters high.
How many turns does it take to tighten a key screw in place? You can't tell an apprentice that you can do it by feeling, right?
Each of the cannon parts made by the Beihai Navy must be accurate to millimeters or even finer. This is not something that can be made by feeling at all. Every detail must be correct. If the craftsman is concerned about artistic conception, Zhao Xinyi pointed to the ancient books on the shelf in the house.
jade, that stuff is fine.
After hearing what Zhao Xin said, Wang Zhong was silent for a long time and said that this is not a problem, you just need to tell me whether this can be done.
Zhao Xin's answer was of course. He said that I was originally worried that these people would not come, so I didn't invite them. If you, Mr. Rong Fu, can come and stay, it is already a treasure for me. And there is definitely no one I know.
You, Mr. Rongfu, know many people.
After some compliments, Wang Zhong left with satisfaction. Zhao Xin said that his mouth was dry and his head was as big as a bucket.
Unexpectedly, Wang Zhong was extremely efficient. He wrote more than 20 letters in just one day. Zhao Xin had already said everything, so he had to let Beihai No. 1 deliver the goods to Sheyang Lake.
He took him there by the way and arranged for Wang Changsheng and a few of his men to deliver the letters to each recipient's house.
Wang Zhong was satisfied, and he even planned to go to Sheyang Lake in person to interview the people he invited.
Thus, a cultural conference spread across half of the south of the Yangtze River began, and in the end even the Manchu Qing court was alarmed.