Chapter 179
The next morning we checked out early and the four of us set off for Zhaowang Hotel.
More than ten years ago, Zhaowang Hotel was regarded as the most upscale hotel in Handan. Now this hotel is still there, but the business is not as good as before.
We took the city bus from the train station and it was not a long journey. It took about an hour to arrive at the place. I ran to the front desk to ask if there was a man named Liu living here. Could you please let me know and say that someone is looking for him.
The front desk waitress said sorry, but it is not convenient for us to proactively disclose guest information. You can ask the guest to call the front desk.
He shook his head and said that he had tried but could not contact the beggar Liu.
"Changchun Club." With the mentality of giving it a try, I looked at the waitress and said these three words carefully.
The waitress's expression changed, and she immediately changed her words and said, "Wait a moment, and I'll check it out for you."
At that time, computers were not widely available for registration at the front desk. They were all handwritten in a thick black notebook, including ID number, name, and so on. There was no such thing as Internet monitoring.
The waitress flipped through the registration book for a few minutes and said: "Mr. Liu has an annual card with us, room 406, but Mr. Liu should not be here now. He goes to Nanminghe Park to exercise at 5:30 every morning, maybe at noon Come back, or you may not come back all day.”
After thanking the front desk clerk, we went to Nanminghe Park to look for Liu, the beggar.
I really found him this time, but he wasn't exercising in the park...
To the north of Nanminghe Park is the ticket office. There is a small fitness square next to the ticket office. The beggar Liu is sitting on a chair in the square. His clothes are shabby and ragged. There is an equally worn enamel tea jar at his feet, which he is holding in his hands. He was napping in his sleeves... His enamel jar was full of fifty-cent change, and even one dollar was very small.
The forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. Beggar Liu must be rich, and he is not ordinary rich. He can get an annual pass at the most upscale hotel in the area. I really can't figure out why he does this.
Later I asked the boss and he told me the reason.
In 1992, a movie was made called Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier. This was originally a comedy movie that was nonsensical and funny. Very few people knew the prototype character behind the story.
The beggar Liu Benming was named Liu Changsheng. His great-great-grandfather once won the first place in the martial arts competition in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign, and was also commonly known as the top martial arts scholar. At that time, the examination for Wu Zhuangyuan was very difficult, definitely much more difficult than the current civil service examination.
At that time, the first test was a horse riding and archery test, the second test was a skill and courage test, and the third test was a literary test.
"Skills and bravery" include drawing the bow, dancing the sword, and lifting weights.
The knives and stones that need to be danced are divided into three levels, and the bows are also divided into three levels, namely: eighty, one hundred and one hundred and twenty (kg). There are requirements in the assessment process, that is, "the bow must be fully drawn three times, the sword must be close to the chest front and back, and the stone must be lifted one foot off the ground, and it must be at shoulder level."
Beggar Liu's great-great-grandfather ranked first in all three exams, and set a record of 320 kilograms in lifting stones.
After passing these three levels, you will basically be admitted to the martial arts examination. The literary examination is just for the purpose. It consists of two symbolic questions. However, beggar Liu's great-grandfather was not only illiterate but also had a bad temper. He thought that the examiner was deliberately making things difficult for him. He was so angry that he kicked the examiner on the head and gave him a concussion. Afterwards, his great ancestor was arrested and brought to prison for two years.
So now if we check the Qing Dynasty archives online, we will find that Wu Zhuangyuan is not the beggar Liu Gaozu. Instead, what we find is that the number one Wujia in the Jiawu Branch in the 19th year of Qianlong (1754) was a man named Gu Lin. His great ancestor was originally number one, but because he kicked someone and gave him a concussion, Gu Lin, who was number two at the same time as him, became number one.
The family he caused a concussion in was very powerful. In order to retaliate, they paid for their connections to break the legs of his great-great-grandfather in prison. Later, he became a lame when he was released. Those who practiced martial arts in those days paid great attention to appearance. His great-grandfather's martial arts skills were still there after he was released from prison, but because of his disability, his life was not easy, and he later became a beggar in his family.
Things turned around in the 24th year of Qianlong's reign, when Qianlong was 49 years old. His favorite thing to do was to go to the south of the Yangtze River to pick up beautiful women. In the twelfth lunar month of this year, Qianlong dressed up and walked to Yuanze Mountain (in the northern area of Shaoxing) when he was suddenly robbed by bandits. Seeing that the king of a country was about to die at the hands of bandits, a man in clothes suddenly emerged from the grass on the roadside. A ragged middle-aged beggar. Although this beggar was lame on one leg, he was very skilled in martial arts. He was able to defeat the bandits and save Qianlong with just three strokes.
Qianlong was very grateful to this man afterwards. Qianlong said: "You have done a great job in saving me. Just tell me what kind of reward you want."
