The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 75 The Fujian Road is more difficult than the Shu Road
In the Ming Dynasty, the official New Year holidays gradually increased from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

The initial example set by Zhu Yuanzhang was that civil and military officials would have a five-day holiday on the first day of the first lunar month every year, and no holiday on New Year's Eve.

In the seventh year of Yongle, a ten-day Lantern Festival holiday was added from the 21th to the [-]st of the first lunar month.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty had a ten-day holiday every ten days. It was always strange that there was a five-day gap between the New Year and the two original long holidays, so officials often moved the ten-day holiday to the first month of the year.

During the Longqing period, the number of holidays continued to increase, from the first day of the first lunar month to the twentieth day of the first lunar month.

When Wanli came to power, he didn't pay much attention to whether officials went to work or not, so he was naturally more relaxed about holidays.

In the 27th year of Wanli, the New Year's Eve holiday started on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. It was to be put on the 24th of the first lunar month, so it was [-] days. Xu Xueju didn't have to go to work for nearly a month.

It's great for officials to have a holiday, but it's impossible for the yamen to be empty of work for nearly a month. As Xu Xueju's staff, Wang Wenlong can only take the initiative to go on duty.

Seeing that the closer we get to New Year's Eve, the fewer people come to the yamen for some morning snacks.

On New Year's Eve, Wang Wenlong came to the Chief Envoy Si Yamen early. Seeing that the gate of Sangan Yamen was not open, and Wang Pingbao was already sitting on the dismounting stone and counting the cracks in the bricks, Wang Wenlong blinked and suddenly felt so stupid.

So I tossed my sleeves and skipped work to go home.

As a newly minted Fujian celebrity, Xu Fantai's number one aide, and a newly minted immortal, Wang Wenlong had an extremely fulfilling Spring Festival this year. All the prominent figures in Fuzhou City sent messages to invite him.

Wang Wenlong doesn't need to deal with characters such as the third class and the sixth room in the Yamen in person. He can just bring a gift to Deng Zhimo or Wang Jingui. The other characters who are on the stage are enough for Wang Wenlong to keep busy.

He borrowed a horse from Li Guozhu and rode it to the county and countryside, eating and drinking everywhere.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Wang Wenlong opened a big banquet in his workshop and invited the craftsmen in the workshop to eat and drink.

As the Lantern Festival approaches, every wealthy and powerful family in Fuzhou holds a Dragon Lantern Festival.

Xu Xueju couldn't stand it even more than Wang Wenlong, and revealed that he wanted Wang Wenlong to help him eat Dragon Lantern Wine. Wang Wenlong decisively asked for leave and went to Fuqing to find Ye Chengxue.

In the first month of the 28th year of Wanli, Wang Wenlong's "92 Methods of European Regular Script" was finally printed.

Although several bookstores in Nanjing and Huizhou were willing to print, and a study in Zhangquan, Fuzhou also came to look for it, these people only looked at Wang Wenlong's face.

Zhangzhou Bookstore was willing to pay more for the manuscript, but asked Wang Wenlong to print a picture of the famine-saving melon and vegetable fairy on the title page together with his name to increase sales.

Of course Wang Wenlong was unwilling. He knew that his "European Regular Script 92 Methods" was a good book. If it was sold at a low price, it would definitely be popular.

However, these people completely do not understand the advantages of wax printing, and their sales ideas cannot keep up, so their reluctant use of wax printing technology is in vain.

In the end, with the help of Deng Zhimo, he decided to cooperate with Yu Xiangdou, who was flexible and good at fighting price wars in the low-end market.

"European Regular Script 92 Method" has been printed by Jianyang Shuangfengtang. The wax printing speed is very fast, but Wang Wenlong can't wait for it to be put on the market.

On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, he took Wang Pingbao to Fuqing to join Ye Chengxue. Wang Wenlong simply took a long vacation this time, planning to be invited to travel to Sanwu with Ye Chengxue after the year.

Before the Ming Dynasty, people in Fujian said that the Fujian Road was more difficult than the Shu Road. The difficulty of the Shu Road was that it was high and dangerous, while the difficulty of the Fujian Road was that there were many mountains.

The mountains in Fujian are either towering into the clouds or difficult to pass, or they are simply too numerous to cover.

Zeng Gong, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, set out from Jiangxi to Fuzhou. The straight-line journey of [-] kilometers took two months. Zeng Gong later complained in his book: "The mountains are connected without interruption, and the numerous stations are the same." Get a level ground."

If you think about climbing the mountain every day when you get up, going to bed after climbing to the station, and getting up the next day to continue climbing for two consecutive months, you will know what kind of painful journey Zeng Xianggong went through back then.

Fortunately, in the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to consolidate the south, the imperial court built a large number of roads in Fujian. At this time, it was much easier for Wang Wenlong and Ye Chengxue to leave Fujian.

Wang Wenlong lived in Fuqing until the twentieth day of the first lunar month. After the New Year, he and Ye Chengxue went up the Minjiang River.
The boat passes through Minjiang River and Jianxi to Jianyang, and then turns to Nanpu River to Pucheng.After that, all the people disembarked and took the land route out of Xianxia Pass to Jiangshan County, Zhejiang Province.

The journey from Pucheng to Jiangshan County only took an hour on the expressway in later generations, but it’s only when you actually drive it that you realize how powerful it is.

Wang Wenlong and others had been walking through the mountains all morning. The scenery around them seemed to have never changed, making people feel tired just walking.

Fortunately, we will pass through some markets and villages along the way, where we finally have a place to eat and rest, and there are also some people around us.

The closer we are to Xianxia Pass, the more caravans there are on the road. Although it is still the first month, businessmen and common people cannot have a peaceful holiday like the court officials. They have to go out to make a living after celebrating the New Year.

As evening approached, we finally arrived at Xianxia Pass.

Wang Wenlong and Ye Chengxue didn't bring much luggage, so they walked much faster than the merchants dragging their goods.

They passed several caravans along the way and were about to walk onto the official road in front of the pass when they saw a young man riding a donkey appearing on the road ahead.

From the back, the young man looks no more than ten years old. He is accompanied by a book boy and carrying luggage on his back, as if he is going on a study tour.

Both are a little strange.

It is novel for such a young boy to go on a study tour, not to mention that there is no need for those who are still studying in the first month to go out in such a hurry.

Out of curiosity and boredom during the journey, Wang Wenlong and Ye Chengxue decided to go up and say hello.

The young man turned around and cupped his hands when he saw the two young people studying.

"Student Fuqing Ye Chengxue."

"Student Jianyang Wang Wenlong, where is my friend from?"

The young man was shocked when he heard this, and asked excitedly in a southern Fujian accent: "You dare to be Wang Wenlong who wrote "History of Portugal"?"

"It's the students."

The young man hurriedly greeted him again: "The student is Putian Huang Daozhou, and he is going to Quzhou for a trip."

When he heard this name, Wang Wenlong immediately realized that as a child in Fujian, Wang Wenlong had heard the name Huang Daozhou since he was a child.

The great hero who fought against the Qing Dynasty, although the one in front of him is a child.

After some questioning, the two people also found out Huang Daozhou's identity, and then they were both a little surprised.

Huang Daozhou's ancestral home is Putian and he was born in Zhangzhou. He entered Chongwen Academy in Tongshan at the age of five and began to take the imperial examination a few years later. Last year, Huang Daozhou was admitted as a scholar when he was 13 years old. This year, Huang Daozhou is 14 years old and has already gone to study in Guangdong. , and was also invited to travel to Quzhou.

In comparison, Wang Wenlong and the two suddenly felt a little ashamed of themselves.

Wang Wenlong's proctor was donated, and Ye Chengxue was not much better. He saved Enyin and went to the Imperial College to study with the title of scholar. If he hadn't had a good father, he would never have been able to pass the exam.

In this way, the two of them were messing around with the scholar and the supervisor.

Look at Zodiac Zhou again, tell them where to put their faces as adults...

But at this time, Huang Daozhou obviously admired Wang Wenlong even more. He took out a "History of Portugal" from his bag, pulled Wang Wenlong and said respectfully:

"Sir's book is so well written. It has been reprinted from Guangdong to Fujian. I was just thinking about going back to Fuzhou to look for him, but I didn't expect to meet him here."

(End of this chapter)