Shu Chen

Chapter 6
Summer April.

Another morning.

In front of the Zhengjia Sangyuan mansion, under a huge peach tree, forty or fifty children sat around in sequence, silently.

Those who are neatly dressed, sit upright, holding a small wooden board in one hand and a writing brush in water to practice calligraphy; those who are wearing straw sandals and ragged, lie on their knees almost on all fours, holding a small wooden stick in their hands to write and smear on the sand.

The only thing in common is the curiosity on their faces.

In the past, when Zheng Du opened a Mongolian school, he developed rules.Every morning, the Zheng family steward will hang the content taught that day under the peach tree for the first-come children to transcribe and practice writing.When the hour was up, Zheng Du came out to teach for an hour, and then left.

On the grounds that they did not accept the restraint, they ordered the children not to perform the ritual of master and apprentice, and they did not answer questions after they were taught.

After Zheng Pu continued teaching, he also continued the old practice.

Just set up a table under another peach tree, and put the full version of "Thousand Characters" for others to transcribe at will.

This is also one of the reasons why he was praised by the county.

It is not a broom to treasure.

He also asked many destitute scholars to transcribe them and take them to some remote villages to teach them during the slack of farming. They made some money to pull a few pieces of cloth for their mother-in-law or cut a few pounds of meat for their children to open meat and so on.

Today is no different.

As soon as Chen Shi arrived, Zheng Pu took Xiao Yan'er's hand and walked out.

"Cough! Cough!"

With a few clear coughs, all the children consciously sat up and prepared to listen to the lecture. Zheng Pu just wanted to go to the seat under the peach tree.

I felt like my sleeve was being ripped off a few times.

Looking down, I saw Xiao Zhengyan covering her mouth with her hand, her eyebrows squinting at the peach tree side, and whispering, "Brother Zhong, look, that eccentric is still there today! Hee hee!"

Following the younger sister's gaze, Zheng Pu couldn't help but smile.

That is the strange person who has only appeared in Mulberry Garden in the past few days.

He was in his twenties, eight feet tall, and very thin.

Washed white and covered with large and small patches, it was as if it was hung on a wooden shelf, and bulging bones were faintly visible at the shoulders.Such a body, if a good face is born, it can still be attributed to the extraordinary style of Daogu Xianfeng.

However, his appearance is really beyond compliment.

I saw his broad forehead and narrow jaw, like a dustpan standing upside down; his eyebrows were short and intricate, like a worn-out broom.

Obviously, he has hanging eyes, buck teeth, and a sparse beard, and he looks like a ruthless dragon, but the bridge of his nose is collapsed, and there are dishes on it, which makes it a bit funny.

To be more polite, it is a simple appearance.

If it sounds ugly, then don't see it during meals, lest you will endure the indecent act of spouting rice.

The behavior is also very strange.

It stands to reason that scholars of this age have long been familiar with hundreds of schools of thought, and they came to Sangyuan only to transcribe "Thousand Characters".

It was good for him, after transcribing the calligraphy book, he stayed among those children for several days in a row, listening to Zheng Pu's lectures calmly, without any embarrassment of "standing out of the crowd".

There is no intention to chat with Zheng Pu politely.

Every time I finished listening to the lecture, I left, as if the purpose of coming to Mulberry Garden was to review the old and learn new things.

However, Zheng Pu ignored him.

Since others are enjoying it, let him go.

Immediately, Zheng Pu put away his smile and walked slowly to the seat to prepare for the lecture.He also glared at Xiao Zheng Yan with a frown and feigned anger, signaling her not to be rude about other people's appearance and behavior.

"What I want to talk about today is 'Destroy the Guo on a false journey, and practice the soil to meet the alliance. Why obey the contract law, and Han abuses the punishment.'"

"It means that the State of Jin borrowed the way from the State of Yu to destroy the State of Guo, and Duke Wen of Jin summoned the lords in Jiantu to make a blood alliance. Xiao He obeyed the simple laws of Emperor Gaozu, and Han Fei died tragically under the torture he advocated."

"The state of Jin is the state of the feudal lords of the Zhou Dynasty; the extermination of the Guo on a false journey means"

"Jin Wengong is one of the five hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period. Ji's surname is Jin, and his name is heavy."

"Han Fei, the clan of Korea, taught by Xunzi, advocates"

An hour passed by.

After finishing the lecture, Zheng Pu picked up the water bag, moistened his throat, and announced that he would go out to study tomorrow, and the study would be taught by others.Well, he hurriedly hurried, and finally finished annotating the "Thousand Characters"; his mother Lu Shi also arranged the carriage and entourage for the trip, and it was time to leave for Chengdu.

The children were a little sad when they heard this.

They were reluctant to cite Zheng Pu's interesting lectures from the ancient and modern, but they did not dare to say anything.

On the other hand, the strange person, after hearing that Zheng Pu was going to study abroad, first showed surprise, then he solemnly sorted out his clothes and bowed his hands to Zheng Pu before turning around and leaving.

This move also made Zheng Pu suspicious of Dou Dasheng.

Because the strange man's salute meant to leave it alone, and it also indicated his purpose of coming to Mulberry Garden: not for "Thousand Characters", but to make a special trip to observe Zheng Pu!

Could it be that this person is the assistant of the prefect's office?

wrong!

At the beginning of the spring, I declined the prefect’s expedition on the grounds of “honoring my filial piety and widowed mother and raising my younger sister and my lack of talent and learning”, and it is impossible to send someone here again now.Moreover, looking at his ragged clothes, it does not meet the dignity of an official.

But if he is not from the government, what purpose does he have to come to observe me specially?
Well, why don't you let the housekeeper take care of it and pick a clever person to follow him to find out the details?

It's just that, looking at him, he doesn't have any ill will towards me, and it doesn't seem right to send someone to follow him?

Just as Zheng Pu was pinching his chin and looking at the man's disappearing back thoughtfully, a very gentle word interrupted his thoughts, "Zijin, are you worried about tomorrow's schedule?"

Turning his head to look at him, he was his cousin Lu Huang, the eldest son of Zheng Pu's second uncle.

After Zheng Du helped his concubine Lu as a continuation, the Lu family, who came from a merchant, attached his whole family.

In order to rely on the noble family of the Zheng family, the caravan of the Lu family would be less troubled by the government and the tyrants, and they would form hidden households in accordance with the conventions and evade taxes.

A deeper consideration is to hope to be assimilated by the Zheng family into a family of farming and reading.

The 400 years of Dahan's inheritance has made the business of scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen deeply rooted.

The Lu family also wanted to get rid of the copper stench of the merchant's home, so that future generations and nephews could have the opportunity to embark on a career and become a master.

Today, Zheng Pu's eldest uncle helps manage the property of the Zheng family's fields, and the second uncle leads the caravan, which has been renamed the Zheng family, to pursue profits.

For example, the eldest son of the uncle, Lu Da, who has already learned a little, was taken by Zheng Pu's brother Zheng Yan to Zitong County to serve as a servant.

The reason why Lu Huang still stayed at home was to replace Zheng Pu in teaching Mongolian studies in the future and to accumulate family reputation for the Lu family.

"No."

Zheng Pu shook his head and grinned at Lu Huang, "It's not far from Chengdu, and my second uncle has arranged accommodation and meals along the way. I have nothing to worry about. But from tomorrow, my cousin will give lectures on my behalf, I don't know. Is there anything else I need to explain, cousin?"

"Brother Yu is really puzzled!"

When Lu Huang heard the words, he patted his forehead, his voice became a little distressed, "It's the sentence 'Tian writes paper, Jun Qiao is free to fish'. I remember Zijin explained that Meng Tian made brushes, Cai Lun made paper, and the ancient times There is a man named Ren Gong who is very good at fishing. But I can't remember what 'Jun Qiao' means."

That refers to the transformation of the waterwheel by Ma Jun of the State of Wei.
It's not yet an allusion, and of course it's hard for you to remember.

He answered silently in his heart, Zheng Pu nodded cheerfully, and began to make up the story without blushing at all, "The meaning of 'Jun Qiao' refers to the legendary four-legged, two-headed, human-faced beast named 'Jun', with ingenuity, once helped Dayu control the floods"

After some interruptions, Zheng Pu gave up his plan to let people know the details of that weird scholar.

What he didn't know was that after the man left Zhengjia Sangyuan, he went straight to the Guanghan Prefect's Office, and after noon, followed a few officials to Chengdu.

(End of this chapter)