In the cold weather, the north wind blows against our face, especially at night, like a knife cutting through us.
Zhu Ping'an, who had been feasting for a whole day, returned to his room in the inn before the evening curfew, with the smell of alcohol in his breath and a bit of drunkenness. Zhu Ping'an had once made up his mind not to drink, but there were so many big shots at the Luming Banquet, one for each, how could he have the nerve to eat there? ! So even though I was very restrained, I still felt a little drunk.
After returning to the room, Zhu Ping'an took a hot bath, changed into clean clothes, sat at the desk by the window, opened the "Traditional Records" presented by the mysterious old man, and lit up the oil lamp to read.
Partly drunk, his head was a little heavy, and it was difficult to concentrate. Zhu Pingan covered the lampshade and opened the window. The cold wind blew, and the feeling of being cut by a knife made Zhu Pingan instantly sober.
There are a hundred Hamlets for every one hundred readers. Wang Yangming's "Xinxue" thought combines the essence of the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Because of his hundreds of years of experience, Zhu Pingan saw it when he read "Chuan Xi Lu" The core of this method of "fighting against heaven, earth, and people" to be victorious in every battle is Wang Yangming's eight-character motto: This heart will not move but will move randomly.
"True knowledge means doing it. If you don't do it, it doesn't mean you know it. This is for scholars to establish their teachings carefully, so that they can practice their duties..."
It was late at night, snow was falling outside the window, and a young man reading by the window gradually fell into his book.
Early the next morning, Zhu Pingan got up, washed up, and went out as usual with his schoolbag slung across his body and a black wooden board under his arm. As the saying goes, "Winter practice is three days, and summer practice is three days." The emphasis in practicing calligraphy and learning is perseverance.
It's been nine cold days, practicing calligraphy and reading in the cold wind, but it has a unique flavor.
As more people came and went, Zhu Ping'an collected the writing brushes, bamboo tubes, black wooden boards and other items. Shi Shiran walked out of the woods and ordered a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup from a shop on the street and had breakfast with fried pancakes.
After breakfast, Zhu Ping'an walked to the dock outside Yingtian City with his schoolbag slung across his body, preparing to inquire about the passenger ship going upstream to learn about the situation. Yingtian's wharf was also relatively busy in this weather. Zhu Pingan went to the wharf to inquire about the situation. People on the wharf did not dare to neglect Zhu Pingan's gown.
After questioning, Zhu Pingan had a general understanding of the situation. Ordinary small boats would not go upstream in this kind of weather. Only larger passenger ships and cargo ships would go upstream under the combined effect of sails, oars and perhaps trackers. Moreover, the boat fare is three times more expensive than traveling down the river.
However, the owner of a large cargo ship took the initiative to contact Zhu Pingan. This cargo ship will set off upstream early tomorrow morning to reach the Bashu area. There is a section in the middle that overlaps with Zhu Pingan's journey.
The reason why the owner approached Zhu Pingan was simple: he wanted to take advantage of Zhu Pingan's identity. In the Ming Dynasty, there were no high-speed rails or airplanes, but there were waterways and post roads. The post road is similar to today's national highway. Travelers can drive by themselves without any charge. However, the post road is only responsible for receiving officials and businessmen. General waterways are free, but some waters still have checkpoints like the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, which is the toll station of the Ming Dynasty. Small boats and the like are free, but large cargo ships and the like still have to pay.
However, for scholars in the Ming Dynasty, there was a rule that there was no charge for the ships of officials, eunuchs, and scholars.
People in the Ming Dynasty also liked to take advantage and tried every means not to pay fees and steal some taxes.
There are policies and measures to counter. There are many ways to evade fees, the core of which is fraud. For example, they pretended to be an official ship and put up a fake sign on the bow of the ship. The bigger the better, the bigger the better, to scare the tax collectors into letting them go quickly. For another example, I am not a Jinshi, a scholar, or a scholar, but there are always more solutions than difficulties. Asking a Jinshi, a scholar, or the like to take a boat ride is a talisman. The tax official charges a fee, so naturally there will be "talismans" to deal with it, and it is also free of charge. Counterfeiting official ships was very risky, so merchants hired Jinshi people to escort them.
The owner of this cargo ship took a fancy to Zhu Pingan's scholar status and wanted to use Zhu Pingan's scholar status to get tax exemption.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhu. I will entertain you with good wine and food along the way. I also have ten taels of silver for the ceremony. I hope you will accept it." The shipowner was extremely respectful when he heard that Zhu Ping'an was a recent official. He made a promise to Zhu Pingan.
After hearing this, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips. He would eat, drink, play and travel for free, and he could also earn some consulting fees by the way. Why not do it.
Besides, I had heard about this in my previous life, and it had become a routine in the Ming Dynasty, so why should I break the routine?
After agreeing on a time and place, Zhu Pingan said goodbye to the boatman and returned to the inn. The fat man in the inn had just gotten up. After hearing the news that Zhu Pingan would return home early tomorrow morning, the fat man took Zhu Pingan to a restaurant to practice for Zhu Pingan.
Zhu Ping'an is somewhat famous near the Confucius Temple. He is the youngest candidate in this year's Enkenan Zhili. When he was having dinner at the restaurant, the shopkeeper asked the waiter to give him two of the restaurant's specialty dishes for free. This made the fat man sigh, and he swore that he would study hard after returning home and enjoy this treatment.
On the second day, before it got light, Zhu Ping'an quietly left the inn with his luggage on his back, walked along the Qinhuai River to the city gate, and was the first to open the city gate to let people out of Yingtian City.
The owner of the cargo ship had been waiting at the dock early. After seeing Zhu Pingan, he asked his crew to help Zhu Pingan get on the ship.
This cargo ship should be considered a giant ship in the Ming Dynasty. After Zhu Pingan boarded the ship, the owner of the cargo ship used a packed room upstairs as Zhu Pingan's bedroom, and asked the cook on board to cook a sumptuous meal. Meals and sealed red envelopes were delivered to the room.
"Thank you." Zhu Pingan thanked the shipowner with his hands.
"Master Zhu, please don't do this. I should be the one thanking you. If there is anything wrong with your hospitality, please just bring it up."
The shipowner quickly turned away and did not dare to accept Zhu Pingan's salute. He bowed and thanked Zhu Pingan.
Mutually beneficial, Zhu Ping'an didn't insist anymore, thanked the shipowner and started enjoying breakfast.
"Master, if you need anything, just go downstairs and call for help." The shipowner also left with a wink.
Because the cargo ship's side is very high and has handrails, it is very safe. After breakfast, Zhu Ping'an went to the bow of the ship and firmly held the handrails to enjoy the snowy scenery of the Yangtze River in winter.
Although there are snowflakes in the sky, there is no ice in the Yangtze River because of the flowing water.
The cargo ship raised several large sails, and with the exquisite skills of the helmsman, he cleverly used the wind to paddle upstream on the Yangtze River. The scenery on both sides of the river passed in front of him one by one. Forests full of snow, half of which The mountains of Baekdu and so on.
Facing the howling north wind, wearing a rabbit fur coat, standing on the bow of the boat, watching the mountains and woods passing by before my eyes, I couldn't help but feel an impassioned feeling echoing in my chest.
In this situation, standing on the bow of the boat, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but recite a poem:
It’s a beautiful time, but the king sent me to patrol the mountain.
After three days of sailing, the ship passed through a banknote checkpoint. Zhu Ping'an disembarked and showed his official certificate to the tax officer on duty, and the cargo ship passed the banknote checkpoint smoothly.
Two days later, Zhu Ping'an got off the boat and home was close at hand.
When I left home, I was still busy with the autumn harvest, but when I returned home, the snow was already falling; when I left home, I was just a little scholar, but when I returned home, I was already a great person, which makes people feel a little emotional. Ping An picked up his luggage and walked forward. (To be continued.)
