Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 429

On August 54th in the [-]th year of Qianlong, there is one day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The 29-year-old Jiao Xun walked out of the Jiangnan Gongyuan in Jiangning after three sessions of nine-day torture from the eighth day of the eighth day of August.If nothing else, this subject probably failed the exam!
Jiao Xun is from Yangzhou. At the age of three, he could see typos on the Spring Festival couplets. At the age of six, he entered a private school to learn "Mao Poetry". At the age of 17, he took the test for boys. Again and again.

That year, Jiao Xun's parents died of illness one after another. According to the regulations, he had to stay at home for three years, and he had no intention of studying, so he studied "Book of Changes" at home every day to pass the time.

Unexpectedly, this man has a wide range of interests. When Ding You finished last year, he didn't say he picked up the Four Books to review, but started to study "The Book of Songs"; Mao Shidi Interpretation", and began to study mathematics in his spare time, but he did not read serious books related to the imperial examination.So if he doesn't fail this subject, who will fail?

Jiao Xun's mentality is very good, in short, he can't be defeated, so let's talk about it next time.Anyway, the family also has land property, so they don't have to worry about food and drink, and they can have enough money to collect ancient books.This man was so obsessed with collecting books that he couldn't even sell the land. He even sold his wife's hairpin just to raise money to buy a [-]-volume "Tongzhitang Jingjie".

Tomorrow is August [-]th, Jiao Xun missed his wife and children at home, so he declined all the entertainment for the same year, hurriedly settled the bill with the inn, found a boat from Yanziji to Yangzhou, and took the boat home.

Even if there is an occasional accident, in case I win, it will be almost a month after the list is released, so there is plenty of time.

Since the 50th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, regulations on the release time were issued, requiring large provinces to release their rankings within September [-]th, central provinces within September [-]th, and small provinces within September [-]th.However, the imperial court only stipulated the deadline for the release of the list, but the specific date and time for the release of the list are still determined by each province.Because Yin belongs to the tiger and Chen belongs to the dragon, both belong to auspicious days, so each province has an unwritten rule to choose more Yin and Chen days to release the list, which is the origin of the "Dragon and Tiger List".

Jiao Xun returned home early the next morning, first put incense on the coffins of his parents, and after washing up and eating breakfast, his wife Ruan Shi said: "A person came to the door the day before yesterday and sent a letter. Accepted. Who do you think the letter came from?"

Jiao Xun said casually, "Who is it?"

Ruan said: "It's Mr. Rong Fu, did you have any contact with him before?"

"Huh?" Jiao Xun was taken aback. Wang Zhong's name is known to everyone in Jiangnan. Although the two were in the same city before, Jiao Xun was just a junior and had no chance to make friends.In the past two years, there was no news from Wang Zhong, and after a year, 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, so his family moved away to avoid disaster.

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.

Jiao Xun felt very surprised in his heart, and he didn't make friends with Wang Zhong, so why would he suddenly write to himself.So he hurriedly said, "Where is the letter? Hurry up and show it to me."

Ruan Shi said: "It's on the table in the study, look at you in a hurry."

Jiao Xun hurriedly went to the study to have a look, and saw that the top of the envelope was sealed with wax paint. Looking at the handwriting again, it was indeed Wang Zhong's.Jiao Xun became more and more strange, so he hurriedly opened the letter, took out the letter and began to read it, but halfway through the reading, Jiao Xun was stunned.By the time he finished reading a few pages of the letter, he was already in a cold sweat.

At about the same time, Hong Liangji, who was celebrating the festival at his home in Changzhou, also received a letter from Wang Zhong.This guy and Wang Zhong are considered good friends, but they are even more confused than Jiao Xun, thinking that this guy has been missing for two years, why would he suddenly write to me?And he even gave away a quasi-one, and actually knew that I was at home. Could this guy be watching me all the time?
Hong Liangji is two years younger than Wang Zhong, and is 43 this year.He studied poetry and books since he was a child, and was good at textual research, which was appreciated by Yuan Mei and Jiang Shiquan.However, this troubled brother like Wang Zhong has failed many times and has been wasted until now.

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 all over Wu, Yue, Chu, Guizhou, Qin, Jin, Qi, Henan and other places. Months away.

From the 52nd year of Qianlong, Hong Liangji, the "violent man", wrote the [-]-volume "Illustrated Records of Qianlong Prefectures and Counties" in one year, which recorded in detail the provinces, the number of people in the prefecture, the prefectures and counties under their jurisdiction, products, An overview of the geography 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 covered in white sweat from fright.In particular, Wang Zhong mentioned at the end of his letter: "If you are interested, my brother, please go to Xuzhuang, Sheyang Lake, northern Jiangsu, to have a meeting before September [-]th."

Hong Liangji slammed the table fiercely, saying hello to you, Wang Rongfu!He disappeared suddenly and silently for two years, and even his family members did not know where they were.It turns out that you kid has become a thief, and you are also a North Sea thief who has repeatedly defeated the imperial army!

Thinking of this, Hong Liangji couldn't help muttering: "Hey! See if I don't write a reply letter to humiliate you, in order to repay the 'graciousness' of pushing me off the boat."

For a good-tempered person like Hong Liangji to never forget, it can be seen that Wang Zhong offended him not lightly.

The incident started a few years ago when Hong Liangji went to Yangzhou to visit Wang Zhong. During the period, the two of them were in the same boat, talking about articles and classics, and the more they talked, the more intense they became.The problem is that despite Wang Zhongxin's ruthless mouth, his eloquence is mediocre.Facing Hong Liangji, who has a sharp mouth and copper teeth, Wang Zhong can't argue at all.In desperation, he changed his words instead of his hands, and pushed Hong Liangji off the boat. Fortunately, the boatman was good at water and rescued him.

Hong Liangji, who was in his early forties, was foaming from choking, and when he woke up, he cursed Wang Zhong for his lack of restraint.

So he did what he said.Without pretending to be a servant, he grinds the ink himself, spews a thousand words, quotes from the scriptures, and scolds Wang Zhong bloody, which really relieves the pent-up anger in his chest.However, after he finished writing and read it twice himself, he felt satisfied, and then he remembered that the sender didn't leave an address at all.

(⊙o⊙)... Hong Liangji shook his head and smiled wryly, then tore the letter into pieces, threw it into the brazier and burned it to ashes, thinking that I should go over and scold him personally.

Just a few days before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, from Yangzhou to Changzhou, more than a dozen scholars who failed to pass the imperial examination or had no intention of taking the imperial examination received letters from Wang Zhong handed over by others.

Some of these people are old friends of Wang Zhong, and some are young scholars who have always admired his name but have never met him.After reading the letter, some of them burned it as if they had never received it; while some quietly packed their bags and prepared to leave for the north in late August.

The reason why Wang Zhonghui came here suddenly after two years of silence was mainly because he was stimulated, to be more precise, he was stimulated by Lin Ziping.

In the late July of the 54th year of Qianlong, that is, in July 1789, led by the "Beihai Pursuit" of the shogunate, a large number of Lan scholars from the island country arrived in Beihai Town on the Biancai ship of the Beihai Company.

Among them, the most famous is the 66-year-old Sugita Genbai. In addition, it also includes Asada Takeli, Udagawa Gensui, Takahashi Yoshitoki, Yamakata Pantao, Sima Jianghan, Motoki Ryonaga, Kuchiki Longqiao, Katsura Chuan Fuzhou, Hou Scholars such as Haru Fujili, Yoshimune Hashimoto, and Tadao Shizuki, as well as their students and family members, totaled more than 150 people. Among them, the famous orchid medicine scholar Udagawa Gensui was the orchid teacher of Sato Nobuhiro.

The attitude of the shogunate is out of sight and out of mind. Since Beihai Town wants it, they should just pack it up and send it away together, lest these people gather in Osaka or Edo to make troubles, and make Edo and Osaka practice fear all day long. .

Natural science enthusiasts from so many island countries visited collectively, and almost all the upper management of Beihai Town were dispatched to Whale Harbor to express their warm welcome.

But Wang Zhong had no interest in this at all, and even declined the invitation to go to Whale Bay with Zhao Xin.

joke!What kind of talents do you need in the place of Jiangnan literature?Lin Ziping came from Japan to recruit a group of guys who learned from Westerners, but Zhao Wang actually treated him like a guest, what do you mean? !
In terms of knowledge, in history, Wang Zhongna was the one who checked and corrected the "Siku Quanshu".In the line of inheritance of Chinese Sinology in the eighteenth century, he was definitely a top-notch figure. Can he look up to the island country?
According to the article, Wang Zhong's parallel prose is known as the highest style among the parallel prose in the Qing Dynasty, the so-called "thrilling, a word of gold".The sacrificial article written by Zhao Xin in Heilongjiang City last year was later criticized by Wang Zhong when he saw it.Fortunately, Zhao Xin didn't hear it, otherwise he would have to get under the table in shame, dig another hole and bury his head in it.

In fact, Wang Zhong was still concerned about Zhao Xin's face, so he didn't dare to hurt him face to face.It is said that when he was a student in the past, he didn't even pay attention to the inspector.Once, a school inspector surnamed Meng presided over the examination, and walked to Wang Zhong's examination table during the period.In order to show off his talent, Wang Zhong finished answering the paper with three times, five times and two divisions, and then he was about to hand in the paper, slammed the table hard, and shouted: "Today, I will scare Xiao Meng to death!" He called the examiner "Xiao Meng", It is said that since the imperial examination, no matter how talented and learned a person is, who can have such a "feat" like him?
In fact, Wang Zhong is also aware of his personality flaws. There is a handwriting in his office that reads "Severe and urgent, no blessings." In order to preserve one's heart, one can cultivate one's integrity and reach the realm of benevolence.To learn, you must be gentle and follow the crowd, so that you can improve your studies.Only in this way can we have a broad mind and be free from disasters.

Having said that, Wang Zhong didn't go to the welcome ceremony, but a group of teachers from the elementary school went, and even Wang Zhenyi followed Lao You after hearing about it.After a group of teachers came back, they started chatting. I really didn’t expect that there are so many people who are obsessed with natural science in the island country, and their level is unexpectedly good. They actually know how Kepler’s third law is. Blabla
He does not mean that.Wang Zhong got more and more annoyed when he heard it, and finally couldn't help but shoot the case and said: "I am a great China, and the people who have been admired after the Han and Tang Dynasties are the Gu Ningren family in Kunshan, the Hu Ju (sound with the same bandit) Ming family in Deqing, and the Meiding family in Xuancheng. Jiushi, Yanbaishi in Taiyuan, Yuanhe Huidingyu, Xiuning Daidongyuan. The so-called prosperity of ancient studies began with Gu's beginning; He and Luo corrected witches until Hu's collapsed (same place); The Chinese and the Western push forward, and the Mei family is the best; the Yan family is the one who focuses on the ancient prose; "

The teachers present were all stunned when they heard this. The excitement of your words and my words turned cold after a while.Everyone has known for a long time that Wang Zhong is cynical, often makes shocking remarks, and is afraid of revealing his details, so he is usually very careful when speaking in front of him.What's more, after the other party's big talk, everyone who listened to it was clouded, and it took several minutes to think about it.

But Wang Zhenyi, who was present at the scene, understood it, and she hurriedly dragged Lao You out for a while, and Lao You suddenly realized it, and she was amazed.Xin said that he is indeed a well-deserved university student, but this time he has learned what it means to swear without profanity, and what it means to mean something beyond words.

In order to understand what Wang Zhong said, one must first understand what is "Confucian classics".Strictly speaking, Confucian classics refers to the knowledge of annotating scriptures, and scriptures are the main body of ancient Chinese academics. It generally refers to the essentials of various schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, and specifically refers to the "Thirteen Classics".

The story shows that the drastic social changes in the late Qing Dynasty prompted scholars to reflect on the academic ills since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Scholars headed by Gu Yanwu hated the frivolous and empty style of study in the Ming Dynasty, and strived to be practical in the world. With the tenet of "saving the world", he advocated a realistic academic spirit, and emphasized the academic philosophy of "reading the nine classics from the examination of the text, and the examination of the text from the knowledge of the sound. Even the books of various schools of thought, there is no other way". The end of learning.

The so-called Gu Ning clan in Kunshan is Gu Yanwu.The greatest influence on Wang Zhong, what he has always upheld is Gu Yanwu's academic spirit.

"Deqing Hu Juming clan" and "Taiyuan Yan Baishi clan" refer to Hu Wei and Yan Ruoqi respectively. The two people's identification of "Hetu", "Luoshu" and "Pseudo-Guwen Shangshu" has impacted the traditional Confucian classics. He said that seeking truth from facts and being well-founded has opened the way for the emergence of a new generation of academics.

As for "Xuancheng Meiding Jiushi" and "Yuanhe Huidingyu's", they refer to Mei Wending and Huidong. The academic excellence and specialization of these two people just represent the basic characteristics of the Qing Dynasty's Puxue. It marked the initial establishment of academics in the Qing Dynasty.

"Xiu Ning Dai Dongyuan" is the great scholar Dai Zhen, who wrote the "Pythagorean Cutting Round Technique" that Zhao Xin discussed when he met Wang Zhenyi in Guangzhou.Dai Zhen collected the great achievements of his predecessors, not only proficient in textual research, phonology, calculation, classics and other textual research, he emphasized that the meaning and reason are clear when the anecdote is clear, and he regards this as a way to understand the scriptures and understand the way, and attaches importance to the necessity of "understanding the way". In his later years, he devoted himself to the exploration of righteousness and reason, which eventually led to the prosperity of Qianjia Puxue.

The national studies that Chinese people in later generations often talk about are actually only a small part of Sinology. Specifically, it dates back to the Qing Dynasty and is called "Pu Xue".

Wang Zhong's implication is that Lan Xue is nothing!Those so-called "scholars" in the Japanese kingdom can't even compare to fireflies in front of everyone in Confucian classics, and any one of the above six people can kill them.Only by adhering to the correct academic spirit and using Confucian classics as a means to understand the way, can the principles be understood and all dharmas understood.

In fact, Wang Zhong has no opinion on Lin Ziping personally, and even admires him a little bit, but the situation in Beihai Town is booming now, the territory is getting bigger and bigger, and the martial arts are strong, but the martial arts is really not that good.

In Wang Zhong's view, if King Zhao allows the island scholars headed by Lin Ziping to become bigger, wouldn't the right to speak in Beihai Town be reduced to the hands of the Japanese?What is the status of the Chinese doctrine of righteousness?This is what he cannot tolerate.

So Wang Zhong didn't even eat dinner after returning home, he thought about it, and finally went straight to Zhao Xin's house in the middle of the night, saying that he would write letters to his friends and juniors in Jiangnan to recruit them to work in Beihai Town.

Wang Zhong said, aren't you the one who wants to conduct surveys?I know it!I also know people who love arithmetic!
As soon as Zhao Xin heard that there were such people in Dai Qing in the eighteenth century, he immediately asked who it was.As soon as Wang Zhong crackled and said, Zhao Xin's heart became half cold.

In fact, Zhao Xin generally understands the truth of "the theory of righteousness and reason".But the problem is that Chinese culture pays too much attention to the "metaphysical" feeling, and the artistic conception is enough, but the words are all beyond words, and if you don't hide it, you can't show your level; just like the "blank space" in Chinese painting, you guess?

However, whether natural science runs counter to Confucian classics or leads to the same goal by different routes, the meaning must be implemented in the words, and there is no room for ambiguity.In the eyes of Confucian classics, this has become inferior, and it has become something that is needed for daily work; even those who master this knowledge are reduced to "artisan households", which are looked down upon by the scholar class, and eventually lead to loss of generations.

The ancients said that Lushan Waterfall is "flying down three thousand feet", and the artistic conception is enough, but the problem is that natural science cannot do this. Xiufeng Waterfall is actually only 105 meters high.

How many turns does it take to screw a screw in a key part before it is in place?You can't tell the apprentice that you can do it by feeling, can you?

Every part of the cannon 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, and there is no mistake in the slightest.If a craftsman talks about artistic conception, Zhao Xinyi pointed to the jade wares on the ancient shelf in the house, that would be fine.

After hearing Zhao Xin's words, Wang Zhong was silent for a while, saying that this is not a problem, you just need to tell me if it can be done.

Zhao Xin's answer is of course.He said that I was worried that these people would not come, so I didn't invite them.If you, Mr. Rong Fu, can come and stay, I feel like a treasure.And I certainly don't know as many people as you, Mr. Rong Fu.

After some compliments, Wang Zhong left satisfied, 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.After Zhao Xin had finished speaking, he had to ask Beihai No. [-] to take the letter with him when he was delivering goods to Sheyang Lake, and arranged for Wang Changsheng and a few of his subordinates to deliver the letter to each recipient's house.

Wang Zhong was satisfied, and he even planned to go to Sheyang Lake in person to have an interview with the people he invited.

Thus, a literary meeting that spread to half of the south of the Yangtze River was kicked off, and even the Manchu court was alarmed in the end.

　It should be pointed out that Hong Liangji is a famous scholar who pointed out the hidden danger of population expansion earlier in Chinese history.In history, he saw the census book of the previous year in the 58th year of Qianlong, and was deeply worried about the rapid increase in population.So he wrote in "Zhiping Pian": "There is no one who is not happy to be a people who have been in peace. The household registration should be increased by five times 30 years ago, ten times by 60 years ago, and twenty times by [-] or [-] years ago.” His foresight cannot but be convincing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)