Liu Zong and his three sons were all of average appearance and had no talent for learning.
Especially Liu Bo and Liu Can are even more dull and dull, even in their dealings with others, they are a bit dull.
Zuo Mengeng seriously suspected that this was the result of inbreeding.
Because their mother Zhang and Liu Zongzhou are cousins. Zhang's father is Liu Zongzhou's uncle.
On the contrary, the third son Liu Bi still had some spiritual energy. After Liu Zongzhou died on hunger strike, he inherited Liu Zongzhou's knowledge and compiled it into a book for future generations.
Compared with the Liu family's three sons, Huang Zongxi's two younger brothers are much more handsome.
Huang Zongyan's academic level is almost the same as Huang Zongxi's, very solid.
Huang Zonghui excelled, relied on his photographic memory, learned a lot, and was very arrogant.
"The eldest brother has great respect for General Zuo, and the younger brother is still convinced of my brother's knowledge. I wonder if General Zuo can teach me?"
Huang Zonghui was not very happy to go to Shandong.
The south of the Yangtze River is prosperous and full of flowers. Huang Zonghui relies on the reputation of his father and brother to take advantage of it. No matter where he goes, he is praised by the stars, like a superstar.
Huang Zonghui likes this kind of life very much and does not want to go to the unfamiliar Shandong.
Then……
Then he was beaten up by Huang Zongxi and appeared in front of Zuo Mengeng honestly.
After not seeing each other for several years, the eldest brother Huang Zongxi has become very strange in the eyes of Huang Zongyan and Huang Zonghui.
Not only did he lose an arm, he also became resolute and resolute, refusing to tolerate disobedience.
Although Huang Zongxi is slightly older than his two younger brothers, he used to be very doting on them. Now facing the pressure of their eldest brother, Huang Zongyan and Huang Zonghui are not used to it, and they blame Zuo Mengeng.
Looking at Huang Zonghui, who was like a dandy, Zuo Mengeng said jokingly: "If God assigns a great responsibility to this person, he must first suffer from his will, strain his muscles and bones, and starve his body and skin. Brother Zewang has to work hard to achieve something, and brother Zewang must investigate."
"
Huang Zong was furious at the meeting.
This was the first time he had been taught such a lesson.
"Humph, I have read poetry and books since I was a child. Although I dare not say that I have learned a lot, I have achieved a little bit. I dare not or forget these wise words."
Zuo Mengeng seemed sincere and said: "It's one thing to know some truths, but another thing to do them or not. The world is so big, Brother Zewang should go and see everywhere in order to perfect what he has learned."
Huang Zonghui felt like he was stuck in his throat, and found that he could not compete with a martial artist, so he had to hide aside and sulk.
Zuo Menggeng doesn't care how Huang Zongyan and Huang Zonghui reform.
With Huang Zongxi here, what the two of them have to do is pray for a better life in the future.
What surprised Zuo Mengeng even more was the arrival of Qi Biaojia.
Zuo Menggeng still valued this famous official and loyal man in the late Ming Dynasty.
After asking, I found out that just last month, Qi Biaojia had completed his service. Originally, his mother, relatives and friends had urged him to go back and apply for election and serve as an official.
However, Qi Biaojia was not very willing to become an official and planned to put it off for a while.
At this time, Liu Zongzhou returned to his hometown.
When he learned that his teacher was back, Qi Biaojia was delighted to visit him. Liu Zongzhou also valued this disciple very much, so he invited him to go to Shandong with him.
After learning about the situation in Shandong from Liu Zongzhou, Qi Biaojia was greatly shocked and immediately agreed.
After going back, I discussed it with my wife, and the couple came with their two children.
Qi Biaojia's wife was accompanying him. She was Shang Jinglan, a famous and talented woman in the late Ming Dynasty.
Shang Jinglan's sister Shang Jinghui has the reputation of being the most beautiful woman in the country. Shang Jinglan's beauty is naturally very outstanding. Standing next to the handsome Qi Biaojia, she is indeed a famous golden girl in Jiangnan.
"I have been an official for many years and have lived in the countryside. I deeply feel that people's livelihood is very difficult and there are many injustices in the world. I heard from my teacher that Zhongheng governs the place and everyone can live and work in peace and contentment. I really yearn for it. No matter how high or low you are, you can arrange your errands as much as you like.
Already."
Qi Biaojia is an extremely pragmatic person and hates empty talk.
When his father wanted to teach him how to cultivate his mind, he didn't even take it seriously.
In the past few years of keeping filial piety at home, he has heard about the drastic changes in the world and witnessed the decline of society. He really wants to find a way to save him.
As for whether Zuo Mengeng was ambitious or not, he didn't care at all.
In his mind, whoever can save the world is right.
After understanding Qi Biaojia's thoughts, Zuo Mengeng respected him even more.
"Brother Youwen's talent has been praised by the teacher for a long time. In the future, there will be help from my brother, so why not worry about it."
Both of them are disciples of Liu Zongzhou, so they are brothers in the same discipline, so there is no need to be polite.
As for Chen Hongshou, another fellow student, Zuo Mengeng had to put more thought into it.
"Linqing is currently translating and printing a large number of Chinese and foreign classics, and my wife is responsible for this. Brother Zhanghou is a master of printmaking. Please help me in the future."
Chen Hongshou did not achieve much in politics, but he was very powerful in art. He was said to be the best in calligraphy and painting.
Although his calligraphy has not been passed down much, there are many praises for his calligraphy in history books.
Bao Shichen said of his calligraphy, "Chu tunes are self-singing, and they are not unreliable and elegant."
The only place Zuo Menggen could think of to arrange his place was in the printing industry.
In Linqing, although the printing industry did not operate on a large scale, with the increase in translation and printing of classics, it has gradually grown in scale.
Printmaking is a technique often used in book printing before printing was industrialized.
Currently, there are no such talents in Linqing, and the arrival of Chen Hongshou has filled the gap.
Chen Hongshou had no interest in being an official. The reason why he came with Liu Zongzhou this time was simply because he had traveled all over the south of the Yangtze River and had no sense of freshness.
After hearing Liu Zongzhou praise Shandong so much, I became curious and just treated it as a trip.
Chen Hongshou was very happy when he heard that Zuo Mengeng invited him to participate in printmaking and that what he had learned throughout his life could be put to use.
"It's rare for someone to appreciate my clumsy skills and I have no respect for them. Now that Zhongheng is in a good period, this is a small gift, so please accept it with smiles."
Chen Hongshou took out a wooden box and delivered it to Zuo Mengeng himself.
After Zuo Menggen thanked him, he opened it and found that there were character prints one after another. There were words on them. When he compared them, he found that they were pictures of characters from the Water Margin.
Each painting is lifelike and the text is full of rhyme.
Although Zuo Mengeng didn't have any artistic talent, he knew that this set of gifts was truly extraordinary, and he quickly thanked him again.
How did he know that this gift from Chen Hongshou was the handed down treasure "Water Margin Leaves".
Most of the people of later generations who know "Water Margin" and its characters come from this set of "Water Margin Leaves".
This is Chen Hongshou's original work. If it is preserved and passed down, it will be absolutely priceless.
Songjiang Mansion is full of talents, but Suzhou Mansion next to it is experiencing turmoil.
The cause is also related to Zuo Mengeng.
The initiator is Chen Zilong.
That day Liu Zongzhou came on stage to give a lecture, which caused a great sensation in Songjiang Prefecture. Chen Zilong was also taught.
After returning home, Chen Zilong thought hard about what Liu Zongzhou said, and finally summarized it and came to a conclusion.
The ideas conveyed by Liu Zongzhou can be called "Wen Yi Zai Shu".
Because Liu Zongzhou emphasized the practical application of academics, there was no objection to academics being divorced from reality.
However, this point of view is very different from the "writing to carry the Tao" that Fushe upholds.
When Chen Zilong talked with Song Zhengyu, Xia Yunyi and others, Song Zhengyu and Li Wen criticized Liu Zongzhou's words, thinking that this literary master had betrayed the right path.
On the contrary, Xia Yunyi felt that Liu Zongzhou's point of view was very good. If done well, it could make Confucianism down to earth and get rid of empty talk.
Chen Zilong is still very young now, and his own thoughts are not yet mature, so he was stumped by two viewpoints for a while.
After thinking about it, he dragged Song Zhengyu, Li Wen, Xia Yunyi and others to Suzhou to find Zhang Cai, one of the leaders of the restoration society.
Zhang Cai passed the Jinshi examination in the first year of Chongzhen and was awarded the title of Magistrate of Linchuan County.
However, after taking office, he did not do any practical work, and the "purpose of communicating with conscience" he upheld was also in vain. Instead, he fell into a dispute with Ai Nanying.
Ai Nanying was the one who was beaten up by Chen Zilong. As a native of Linchuan, she had been arguing with Zhang Cai.
In the end, no one could convince anyone, and Zhang Cai resigned and returned home last spring because of illness, where he concentrated on academic research and social rehabilitation activities.
Zhang Cai's insistence on retrospection is actually more stubborn.
Because he advocated returning to Zhu Neo-Confucianism and was extremely opposed to Xin Xue.
He once had academic exchanges with Liu Zongzhou, but in the end he failed to become Liu Zongzhou's disciple because of different opinions.
It was simply because at that time Liu Zongzhou took "being careful about independence" as the core of his academic work, while Zhang Cai strongly opposed lectures that talked about human nature.
But the problem is that although both Zhang Cai and Fushe are opposed to empty talk, what they themselves do is to stay at home and form their own system, which is also empty talk.
Chen Zilong came to visit with Liu Zongzhou's latest lecture content, which immediately gave Zhang Cai a violent impact.
"This...is this really what Mr. Jishan said?"
Zhang Cai doubted whether Chen Zilong had made a mistake?
The Liu Zongzhou he knew only talked about vague ideas such as "mind nature", "ethics" and "prudence on independence".
But now this manuscript is not far from reality throughout, and calls on scholars to combine Confucianism with daily life, and even use it to promote and promote life and production.
What Zhang Cai couldn't accept was that according to Liu Zongzhou's point of view, Confucianism was almost equivalent to lowering its divine status and becoming a market study.
This pragmatic intensity made him, a person who has always advocated pragmatism, feel deviant.