Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 199 Names before and after death

While the few people were chatting, the dishes were served one after another.

Zhang Xiao watched the dishes being served one after another, and was still wondering what the main course was, when he saw a plate of fish being served.

"This is West Lake vinegar fish, absolutely delicious. Teacher, please don't listen to the untrue rumors outside." Li Zhizao said.

It's hard to refuse such hospitality, so Zhang Xiao naturally wants to use his chopsticks. In Li Zhizao's expectant eyes, Zhang Xiao took a piece of fish into his mouth.

"It's quite tender and delicious. Is this fish still sour and sweet?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Yes, Hangzhou cuisine is more sweet, and it is very different from Nanjing cuisine."

"I want to apologize to you for saying that the West Lake vinegar fish is not delicious without tasting it myself. In fact, I don't like fish very much, but today this fish is really delicious," Zhang Xiao said.

After everyone had eaten and drank enough, they returned to their accommodation.

"Hangzhou is indeed a good place. No wonder the ancients wrote poems about how the warm breeze made tourists drunk and called Hangzhou Bianzhou. The sponsor Wan Yanliang was also attracted by Liu Yong's "Looking at the Sea Tide" and wanted to Lead the troops southward," Zhang Xiao said with emotion.

When he actually arrived at Li Zhizao's house, Zhang Xiao observed carefully from the moment he entered the house. Looking at the style of the house and the furnishings inside, although it was not a wealthy family, it was not an ordinary home either. He could still feel the influence of officials. The smell of home.

"Zhenzhi was a talented scholar, so Zhang fell in love with him at first glance in the capital, gave him some financial support, and let him study in the Imperial College. Unfortunately, Zhenzhi was implicated by Zhang, and he did not continue after he passed the imperial examination. After taking the exam, I really feel a little sorry.”

"Whatever you say, why should we be so polite between you and me? Well, it's a little late today, and Zhang will pay a visit tomorrow."

"Why does Mr. Zhang have time to come to Hangzhou now? Or does he have other important matters in Hangzhou? If there are important matters, Li will not dare to delay Mr. Zhang for too long."

"I am alone now. Since I was invited by your father, if your father does not mind the harassment of our group, Zhang will naturally come to visit you." Zhang Xiao readily agreed.

"Zhenzhi and I have been friends for a long time. Although Zhenzhi calls me teacher, in fact we are just like friends. How dare I bother to come to my door to deliver the greeting card in person."

"So the Ming Dynasty punished the former Song Dynasty for its subjugation. It has always taught them not to make peace with each other and not to negotiate with each other. Even though they have been fighting with Mongolia for many years, they still failed to completely subjugate Mongolia. It is really a pity."

"Mr. Zhang, you don't have to be polite. Li is just a white man. He is not as famous as Quan Zi. However, Zhizao's grandfather was an official, so he still has this family fortune. I didn't read any fame, so I just kept it. To maintain the family business, study, and educate a few boys of the same clan, that's all." Li's father replied.

"What did Mr. Zhang say? At that time, Mr. Zhang was already well-known. Quanzi was just a down-and-out scholar. Mr. Zhang supported Quanzi and paid a lot of money for Quanzi to do important things. This was a once-in-a-lifetime good thing. In the capital, Feng Lang Li also heard about it, but they are just some young people making trouble for nothing. Mr. Zhang has done so many big things, but he has to be falsely accused in vain, which is to bully Mr. Zhang. You are a gentleman, and you can live in the capital. Jingcheng got the opportunity to go to school, and he still bothered Mr. Zhang to support him and give him guidance. It was only natural for him to call you "teacher." Yes, I should have paid my respects to Mr. Zhang in person yesterday, but I was a little negligent." Father Li apologized.

"What is your current position?" Zhang Xiao asked Li's father politely.

"Zhenzhi, thank you for accompanying us to visit Hangzhou first. You can go home tomorrow. I will stay in Hangzhou for a while. Just keep in touch if you need anything. After all, you have told me your home address." Zhang Xiao instructed.

"Teacher, although many people mention Hangzhou, they always like to mention the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, but I don't like it. The Southern Song Dynasty left half of the country, but they chose Hangzhou as a temporary residence. It shows that they are so afraid of the Jin Kingdom. Since ancient times, those who wanted to make progress in the Southern Dynasties had to settle in Jinling. Song Gaozong wanted to restore the Central Plains, but chose Hangzhou as his capital. It can be seen that he still wanted to occupy half of the country and live in peace. It was a pity for someone like Yue Wumu. The loyal ministers and generals who are rare in a thousand years have blocked the road to ZTE by themselves," Li Zhizao said.

"My father heard about the matter and asked me to invite Mr. Zhang to be my guest." Li Zhizao explained.

"Yes, the Northern Expedition failed, which is really hard to reconcile. If we really couldn't defeat it, forget it. We already had hope, but for the sake of our own selfish interests, we forgot the hatred of the country's subjugation and surrendered to the Jin Kingdom in the north. It's really unreasonable. Humiliation. In this regard, the Southern Song Dynasty was far inferior to the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The founding emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Emperor Jin Yuan, Sima Rui, was only a collateral clan member and did not have much real power. However, he never compromised against Shi Le, who destroyed the Jin Dynasty. Shi Le also wanted to cross the river and occupy the south of the Yangtze River, but was repelled by the Sima Rui regime. Later, Shi Le also wanted to make peace with the Eastern Jin Dynasty and sent envoys to the Eastern Jin Dynasty with gifts. Emperor Yuan of Jin ordered them to kill the envoys and burn the gifts. This is the integrity of a monarch. . Although the Eastern Jin Dynasty was also politically dark and the royal power was declining, the monarchs and ministers still upheld the dignity of the orthodox dynasty. Once such dignity is gone, it will be difficult to regain it. "

Li Zhizao went back with a big bag, but after he came home and explained the reason, his old father didn't bother to express his feelings for the calf, so he asked his son to invite Zhang Xiao as a guest. So half a day passed before Zhang Xiao met Li Zhizao again.

"The house is humble and humble. Please don't blame me, teacher."

"It doesn't matter, Zhang is just an idler now. Your Majesty asked me to come to Nanjing to worship my ancestors. After worshiping my ancestors, I don't have to rush back to Beijing. I have long heard that Suzhou and Hangzhou are rich, the West Lake has beautiful scenery, and Hangzhou is Zhenzhi's home. , so I came directly to Hangzhou.”

"I have also read Mr. Zhang's books. Even if they are novels, you can still see the great talent and learning in them. Sooner or later, Mr. Zhang will return to Beijing and be re-employed. But since you can stay in Hangzhou for a while, you can also Don't worry about me, just stay with Mr. Zhang at all times and lead Mr. Zhang to appreciate the beautiful scenery and delicious food in Hangzhou." Father Li changed the topic and taught Li Zhizao a lesson.

No matter how eloquent he talks outside, he can only be honest at home. The great genius Li Zhizao is standing next to him, and he can only be just right when he hears his father's words. "After staying in Hangzhou for a while, I may want to go to Shaoxing to taste Shaoxing's rice wine and visit Mr. Xu Wenchang." Zhang Xiao said.

"Mr. Zhang, what you are talking about is Xu Wenchang, who was Hu Butang's staff at that time? He seems to have passed away two months ago. How could Mr. Zhang still interact with Xu Wenchang?" Father Li asked.

"It can be regarded as a close relationship. A few years ago, Old Master Xu came to the capital and stayed at Ning Yuanbo's house. Ning Yuanbo's eldest son and second son were both taught by Xu Wenchang, so all of Old Master Xu's expenses in the capital were Uncle Ning Yuan was responsible for it all. When I went to Uncle Ning Yuan's house, I met with Mr. Xu several times. Mr. Xu also paid a visit to Mr. Zhang and gave me all his collected works and asked me to help him publish them. Printing..." At this point, Zhang Xiao suddenly couldn't speak anymore. Only then did he realize that Xu Wei had no wealth at that time and no relatives he could trust. He gave all his manuscripts to himself. Taking care of funeral affairs.

"Most of the officials and people in Zhejiang Province know about Hu Butang. After all, although Hu Butang was domineering and was punished by the court, Hu Butang has actually done some things for Zhejiang, especially He made great contributions to fighting against Japan and protecting the country and the people. Famous generals such as Yu Zongbing and Qi Shaobao were also promoted by Hu Butang. Such a popular figure was actually particularly fond of a scholar like Xu Wenchang. In Zhejiang at that time. All officials, both civil and military, were very envious and jealous. When Hu Butang fell, how could Xu Wenchang survive? Not to mention how good his life was, he didn't even have a quiet life. . But to be honest, if I can have the same scenery as Xu Wenchang in the first half of my life, it will be enough for me in the second half of my life."

Although Zhang Xiao and Old Master Xu don't have a deep friendship, they can be regarded as close friends. Zhang Xiao discussed with the group of people traveling with him and decided to go to Shaoxing first, and finally give this unfamiliar friend a ride.

"My boss, why did you buy so much rice wine, but you didn't see Mr. Xu drinking?" Lu Zhang couldn't help but asked doubtfully on the way to Xu Wei's tomb.

"Wenhua, how old was Old Master Xu when you met him? How could he drink with such a body? But Old Master Xu was still very good at drinking when he was young, even under Hu Butang's tent I never stopped drinking when I was a staff member. How could he not like drinking? It’s not disrespectful for a few of us to bring wine with us to see him. "

But when Zhang Xiao and his group came to Xu Wei's tomb, Zhang Xiao was still shocked by the simplicity of the cemetery. It seems that he is really impoverished to a certain extent.

Zhang Xiao, who really couldn't stand it anymore, led everyone to make simple repairs to the cemetery, and then placed a number of sacrifices, especially several jars of rice wine.

After the worship, Zhang Xiao opened one of the jars of Shaoxing rice wine, and the aroma immediately overflowed.

"Everyone, let's drink a few bowls in front of the tomb. Mr. Xu is also a casual person, so he probably won't mind." Zhang Xiao slowly poured a bowl of wine and gestured to everyone.

Seeing that Zhang Xiao was acting like this, everyone followed suit, poured the wine on the bowl and started drinking. Everyone had almost finished drinking. Zhang Xiao scattered some of the remaining wine in front of the tomb, and then led the group down the mountain. After descending from the mountain, Zhang Xiao did not leave directly. Instead, he went to the village and found the village chief. After some pleasantries, it was confirmed that this nearby place was indeed Xu Wei’s hometown. After Xu Wei died alone at home, there were no immediate relatives around him. The villagers scraped together to give this once glorious hero a gift. I had a slightly decent funeral, but the cemetery really couldn’t be that particular.

On the way back to Hangzhou, Zhang Xiao remained taciturn.

"What's on your mind, my boss?" Lu Zhang asked.

"Yes, I just saw Mr. Xu's tomb. Think about it, in this life, people have enjoyed blessings and experienced disasters. In the end, they turned into nothing more than a pile of loess and left no trace in this world. ." Zhang Xiao sighed.

"Master, don't worry too much. If a person fails to accomplish anything in his life, then his whole life will pass peacefully and happily. If he wants to do something, he must hone himself all the time, not to mention this. I don’t know when this ordeal will end,” Lu Zhang said.

"How should I put it, man, it is already a great happiness to be able to live in peace for the rest of your life." Li Zhizao next to him sighed with emotion.

"What Zhenzhi said makes some sense. In fact, it is not easy for people to live in peace for the rest of their lives. Looking at the history of China for thousands of years, there has been a long period of chaos and mutual conquest. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, that is, the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, but It didn't last long, and things became even more chaotic immediately afterwards. First, Empress Jia's dictatorship, and then the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, which devastated all living beings. The common people were already eating each other, and warlords from all walks of life were still fighting fiercely. If it hadn't been for this kind of tragedy After learning the lesson, the vassal king will not be so closely watched after his death, and the same is true in this dynasty. Even if the world is peaceful, that is, the politics are clearer, there will still be no shortage of natural disasters, and there will be no shortage of natural disasters during the Zhenguan period. During the severe drought and locust plague, many people still starved to death," Zhang Xiao said.

"After returning to Hangzhou this time, boss, do you want to go anywhere else?" Lu Zhang asked.

"Maybe we should go to Songjiang Mansion. This is a good place. The largest city in China is likely to appear there in the future, because the conditions there are so unique." Zhang Xiao explained.

"Songjiang Prefecture is indeed a prosperous place, but it is not certain that Songjiang Prefecture will become the largest city." Lu Zhang looked a little unconvinced.

"Don't be anxious, time will prove everything. The geographical location of Songjiang Mansion is really good. Let me analyze it carefully for you." Zhang Xiao said.

"What's a good idea?" Lu Zhang then asked.

"In our land of China, the largest river is the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River is not only long, but also has a wide channel. There are also fertile lands along the river. The end of the Yangtze River is Songjiang Prefecture. The port built in Songjiang Prefecture allows you to go to the sea to the east and to the west. It can go all the way to the vast southern inland area of ​​China. There is only one such geographical location. Although Guangzhou also has the mouth of the Pearl River, the Pearl River is not that long and its navigation value is not as good as that of the Yangtze River." Zhang Xiao explained.

“Do the big cities of the future have to develop along the coast?”

"That's basically the case, because ships in the future will definitely get bigger and bigger, and their ability to withstand wind and waves will definitely become stronger and stronger. Shipping by ship will definitely cost a lot less than land transportation in the future," Zhang Xiao explained.

(End of this chapter)