The sun and the moon travel back and forth, and time flies by. The weather in Xiaoyuan Township is smooth and peaceful. The villagers live in the wilderness and are unaware of the cold and heat outside. Li Tan, the second son of the Li family, was eight years old and entered a public school to learn calligraphy and calligraphy. His elder brother, Li Diao, was nine years old, the same age as Jing Shi, his son in the school. Li Diao has a long and honest nature, and is polite to others, much like his mother. He is also kind and generous, like his father. He is slightly older than Jing Shi, and they have been studying together for a year. They are often friendly to each other. During festivals and holidays, Jing Shi will be called home to eat and drink with him. After such a long time, they both had a brother with a foreign surname.
At that time, the Bin Dynasty abolished the Li Fa, protected the well fields, and eliminated private slaves. It also changed the official legal system so that it spread throughout all the villages and counties in the middle country, and the people all knew the rituals and education. As for the southeastern countries, they also followed the emperor's laws and followed suit. Among them, the Eastern Region has a prosperous academic style, outstanding people, and famous ministers and wise men. As for the place where teaching is carried out, the center is called a school, the southeast is called a private school, and the west is called a school. The courses offered are calligraphy, mathematics, agriculture, arts, and miscellaneous in the countryside. Chinese studies include etiquette, music, imperialism, archery, history, and metaphysics. Generally speaking, there are small differences in various places, but the general similarities.
Most of the lecturers in the school are local bachelors. When it comes to Chinese studies and universities, famous students and doctors are hired to teach Taoism. The only subject is metaphysics. Because it involves Yin, Yang, five elements, and innate Bagua, they are all skills of national scholars and cannot be taught casually. , it is necessary to invite missionary monks from the Celestial Master Temples of various countries to specialize in teaching mysteries. The students he taught were all outstanding figures in Chinese studies, and some of them had excellent foundations. After hearing and understanding, they actually started cultivating Taoism and abandoned their official positions to join the mountains. There are many precedents.
Xiaoyuan Township is located in the north of Zhen State. All the corvee laws and regulations are governed by the Zhen State Prefecture. Only the rural public school, although it was classified as a rural school, was close to the border of Qingshan City. At that time, monks from the mountains came to teach in the private school, which can be subdivided into "three songs and three tactics". The three songs are "Lianshan Ge", "Bu Tian Ge", and "Dongliu Ge", which respectively talk about the Eight Diagrams, the zodiac, and the meridians and blood; the three tactics are "You You Jue" and "Hua Gao Jue" , "Steaming Cloud Jue", which talks about the inner vision of the underworld, taking elixirs to strengthen the body, and refining qi and gathering energy.
Although these methods are simple techniques of Taoist enlightenment, they are complicated and obscure after all. The people in the countryside are often simple-minded and impatient. The missionary monks are supposed to be sent here, and they are not forced to do so. They only teach some superficial common sense so that they can know the time and place and facilitate farming.
There are many mystical teachers in Xiaoyuan Township School, and those who come often are disciples and grandsons of Master Xue Kuo in Xuanhua Cave, whose Taoist name is Deyinzi. He practiced hard for half a hundred years, but in the end his bones were not as good as his own, and he had not made any progress. He was also good at reading scriptures and studying, so he voluntarily embarked on a missionary practice. At noon that day, Deyinzi was sitting in front of the hall. He wore a high hat, trimmed his face and combed his hair. He put some tea on the table and twirled his snow beard in his hand. He was talking to the schoolchildren about the yin and yang of solar terms. He closed his eyes and chanted in Xuanle Zhengyin: "There is something outside the sky. Qi is as thick as the deep sea. In the earth's luck, it is whirling like a chicken. The yin and yang begin to move, the breath travels through, and the solar terms begin to form. There are six qi, eight winds, twelve months..."
The lecture was in full swing in front of the hall, and the students below were also very happy. Because Li Tan climbed a tree in the morning, he actually caught a newly hatched chick, and quietly brought it under the table to play with. Yu Tong was amused when he saw him. He pretended to listen to the lecture and looked at where Li Tan was sitting. They also took notes and threw them at each other. You came and I came and went, and there was a lot of excitement. Jing Shi was sitting alone at the front seat, with a pile of high-quality books beside him, and he took them one by one and looked through them. He is also different from others when flipping through a book. He glances at ten lines in a blink of an eye and wants to read a hundred pages without using half a cup of tea. After coming to the public school for a while, I have memorized all the books copied in the library. Because the library has been renovated recently and new volumes copied from the county have been added, some new books have not been passed.
The hall was full of teachers and students, each having something good to do, and they were enjoying themselves. However, someone lost his accuracy, and a big paper ball jumped out from the side, and jumped on Deyin's face, scaring the old Taoist until he grew a beard. blow. When he opened his eyes and looked around, he saw that the paper ball was colorfully painted with tortoises, sparrows, and field mice. The old man immediately became angry and stood up to look down the hall. But I saw all the children in the hall, all looking at their eyes, nose and mind, sitting upright, as if they were eager to learn. There was only a child sitting in the corner of the wall, with books piled high beside him. He was also flipping through books in his hands, but he was doing it as fast as a fan, making other people's eyes dazzled.
When Deyinzi saw this scene, he was not angry at all. He thought to himself: "Reading requires mental movement. How can you turn over it randomly like this and damage the pages of the book in vain? This bad boy can't even pretend. Attention!" Then they looked at the table and sat down at the table, and called out by name: "Jing Shi!" His son immediately raised his head, his face was dull, not panicking, he stood up honestly and said: "Sir."
Deyinzi said: "Can you hear what I just said about solar terms?"
Jing Shi said: "Yes."
Deyinzi's face was as dark as water. He twirled his long beard and said, "Tell me again."
When Jing Shi heard the words, he responded and started a sentence: "There is air outside the sky, as thick as the deep sea..." He recited a thousand words in one breath, not only the words and sentences were accurate, but also the consecutive sentences were read in a cadence. .
After hearing what he said, Deyinzi was greatly surprised. He took a tea cup and asked, "Have you ever practiced chanting in the past? How can you know how to recite the correct pronunciation?"
Jing Shi said: "No. I heard Mr. read it just now."
Deyinzi has mixed doubts and beliefs, because he knows that the correct sound of Xuanle is based on the ancient tunes of the Eastern Region, which is very profound. Although he cared about the ignorance of school children, all he read were simple articles. If he could understand them immediately, his memory was really unparalleled. Then he pointed to the pile of books and said, "Why are the books and manuscripts placed here? If you want to study them, you can borrow them one by one. If they are piled up like this, insects will easily breed over time."
Jing Shi responded: "I will read them all today and return them to the library in the evening."
Deyinzi was even more surprised when he heard what he said. He immediately took the book from his case and asked about the general meaning of the book. He was able to answer it immediately. When I took out some pages and tried to recite them, I found that I knew them very well.
After trying ten books in a row, I didn't make a single mistake. However, I asked about the pronunciation and meaning of some ancient characters that were not noted in the book, but I couldn't answer them. I realized that this person was really gifted. Not only does he have a photographic memory, he can recite what he has heard, but he can also read hundreds of books in a row, using both his eyes and ears. His memory is so strong and his talent is astonishing.
Deyinzi has been teaching for a long time, but he has never encountered such a talented person. He was very happy in his heart and said repeatedly: "Good, good, good. You are a good boy who is good at learning and will become a great person. Now that you have such a talent, you will become a great person." My wife must be a good person for cultivating the Tao. Come, sit down and answer my question: What is the origin of the clear sky and turbid earth?"
Jing Shi said: "It was caused by the Qi of Xuan Ye in ancient times."
Deyinzi was overjoyed and asked again: "Where does the turbid soul go?"
Jing Shi said: "The soul returns to heaven, and the soul enters the earth. Each returns to the pure and turbid qi and changes, and it starts again and again, and then serves the purpose of reincarnation."
Deyinzi couldn't help being happy, twirling his beard and smiling, saying hello repeatedly, and asked: "The polishing of gold and bronze mirrors is a lesson for today's people; a basin of still water in a pond is a lesson for the ancients; making friends and powerful enemies is a lesson for virtuous people." "Evil consequences and retributions are a warning of evil and evil. All these four are a warning to mankind. Do you know what is a warning to all things in heaven and earth?"
Jing Shi said: "Map."
Deyinzi stopped happily, paused in his hands, forced himself to smile, and said: "Everything in the heaven and earth, no matter how it behaves, changes in the air. Everywhere is connected to each other, isn't it better than dead things to be flexible?" ? So what is a good lesson?”
Jing Shi sat quietly in front of the case, his eyes not blinking for a moment, but he still said: "The changes in Qi are unpredictable and cannot be relied upon. This is a map."
Deyinzi was also speechless and twirled his beard in a depressed manner. After a long time, he touched the top of the thorn tree and sighed: "The student is a talented person who can manage the country. If you study hard, you will be useful as a pastor and govern the land in the future." After that, he returned to the front of the hall. , let’s talk about the article again, my mood is desolate, in the end I am very sad. It was close to the end of school, and when I saw the commotion among the schoolchildren below, I sighed again and said sadly: "It's cloudy today, so I went to bed early. Just go home later."
When all the children heard this, they were all happy, laughing and cheering, and ran out of the hall in a mess. Li Tanyou was very happy. He patted Jing Shi on the shoulder and said, "Great hero! He usually doesn't talk, but today he was so angry that he ran away."
Jing Shi said, "I don't have one." He then caught the bird under Li Tan's table, held it in his hand, looked at it for a moment, and said, "This looks like a hoopoe. It can eat insects and is beneficial to people. Let's put it back." He put the chicks back into the nest and went back to the hall to clean and copy books.
Although this incident happened in the school, because all the children saw it, they came home early and told their parents why, the rumor spread like wildfire. Everyone in the village knew that there was an orphan boy in the school who had a good knowledge and a strong memory, and was considered a child prodigy.
In that room, Li He was very happy after hearing the rumors. He brought some fruit cakes and wanted to visit the school. When Wei Shi saw it, he hurriedly picked up a baggage and handed it to Li He and said, "I'm making new clothes and quilts for Diao'er and Tan'er at the end of the new year. I can save the remaining cloth, but the color is a bit more expensive. I managed to dye it the day before yesterday and made a few more." It's like new. Since the kid is quite a bit older and the school life is very poor, he must be short of clothes. You can take it with him and let him try it on. If it doesn't fit, I'll change it."
Li Diao responded. When he arrived at the public school, Jing Shi was immersed in copying books, so he patted his head with a black hand as big as a cattail leaf fan and said with a smile: "Boy! You can be in the limelight now!" and gave him the fruit cakes and clothes he had brought. , and then said: "This is brought to you from my family, please try it to fit me."
Jing Shi wrote to thank him, hugged the package, and went to the back hall to change it. When he came out, he saw that he was much looser, because he was shorter and thinner than Li Diao. Li He saw it and sighed: "You are a small seedling with short arms and legs, and you don't like to move. How will you deal with big things in the future? Don't talk about others. Even if you find a daughter-in-law, you won't be able to control your family. From now on, we will have more land. After practicing, my body has grown so much, but I need to change my clothes a little more." Then he looked at Jing Shi holding a piece of red cloth in his hand, sewn squarely, with butterflies fluttering on the surface of the material, as if Webster had made it out of leftover materials. Strange, he asked: "What are you holding?"
Jing Shi responded: "It should be a hand-warming cloth tube."
Li He said happily: "Why did someone in my family dye her clothes and leave this pattern on? I'm afraid people will laugh at you. Let me talk to her and ask her to change the style with you."
Jing Shi shook his head and didn't pay attention. He turned around and put the cloth tube down and said, "The red one is fine, don't bother changing it." Then he went back to the inner hall to change his clothes and handed them to Li He for alteration.
