Chen Chong and Wei Yan left Xu County and found out that the bandit trouble in Yingyin had not yet been calmed down, so they had to take a detour according to the original plan, cross Tongshui and Yingshui in succession, and then go west along Yingshui and pass through Yangzhai in Yingyang.
When he arrived in Yangzhai, Chen Chong thought of many childhood friends whom he hadn't seen for many years and didn't know how they were doing. He originally wanted to go to the city to talk about it, but he thought that the situation in the DPRK was still unclear and time could not be wasted, so in the end he could not enter the city. After crossing from Yangcheng back to the north of Yingshui River, the plain terrain is steep and steep, with ravines scattered across it. Songgao Mountain is as towering as a pillar of heaven. After climbing over the ravines, Shenyuan Pass is clearly in sight.
Although His Majesty has still behaved absurdly since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Yellow Turban Sea has still sounded the alarm for him. After all, at its peak, the Yellow Turbans not only spread across eight states and shocked the world, but the most important thing was that the Yellow Turbans once captured the entire Nanyang County and half of Yingchuan County. Nanyang was the hometown of the Guangwu Emperor, and from Yangcheng to Luoyang, it only took two days. Da.
His Majesty therefore paid special attention to the defense of the Eastern Capital and ordered General He Jin to lead the Yulin Army and the five schools of the Northern Army to repair the Eight Passes around Luoyang. He then recruited evil young men from the capital to serve as the defenders of the Eight Passes and added the Eight Pass Captains. Coordinate the affairs of the Eight Passes to protect the Eastern Capital and ensure that even if Nanyang, Yingchuan, Hanoi and other places are all captured, Luoyang will remain impregnable.
When Chen Chong passed the pass, he was wearing court clothes and holding a horse in his hand. He could tell at a glance that he belonged to a wealthy family. The guards did not dare to exploit him. After asking for his identity, they sent Chen Chong through the pass with gifts. When Chen Chong looked back at the city, Shenyuan Pass stood like a red brick on the horizon. He couldn't help but sigh: "Chang Wen, do you know how I feel every time I walk through this Shenyuan Pass?"
Wei Yan was still sixteen or seventeen years old. He followed Chen Chong into the capital for the first time. He was full of curiosity and excitement. He reluctantly looked back at Sheyuan Pass and said, "How can Yan know what Chen Chong is thinking? But in my opinion, Come on, how can we break through such a dangerous pass without tens of thousands of elite soldiers?"
"You are making common sense." Seeing Wei Yan so excited, Chen Chong couldn't help but laugh. He could only slow down his tone and said seriously: "Wen Chang, you have to remember that most things in the world cannot be treated with common sense. To think, you must think more, think about the worst-case scenario, then think about the best-case scenario, and then ask yourself which situation is more suitable for your own situation and that of the other party.”
He turned on his horse, no longer looking at the city gate behind him, and sighed: "Wu Qi once advised Marquis Wu of Wei that the safety of the country is not in danger, but virtue. Even if the mountains and rivers are strong, if the king does not cultivate virtue, all the people in the boat will become enemies of the country, and What danger is there to defend?”
Then he walked in silence all the way, passing Fengshi and Yanshi, and then went straight to Dongdu along the Luoshui River.
Although he entered the Eastern Capital, strictly speaking, Chen Chong did not enter Luoyang City. Just because Chen Chong's temporary position in the court was as a doctor offering sacrifices to wine, and as the first doctor of the Five Classics, he was responsible for matters related to Taixue, so his residence was located in Taixue. Although Taixue was the highest academic institution in the Han Dynasty, it was located outside Luoyang City, two miles south of Kaiyang Gate.
But it was not that the imperial court did not attach great importance to Taixue. On the contrary, it was precisely because Taixue was famous throughout the world that the imperial court chose to locate Taixue in the suburbs. During the Xin Mang period, Wang Mang was well-known for his Confucianism in Taixue. He aggressively recruited the students of Taixue. He increased the number of Doctors of the Five Classics from one to five, and greatly expanded the number of Ph.D. students. When the Han Dynasty became emperor, there were only more than 3,000 Ph.D. students. , after Wang Mang came to power, there were more than 10,000 people.
Wang Mang was able to usurp the Han Dynasty and establish himself on his own, relying on, first, his status as a relative, and second, the support of the Imperial Academy. Emperor Guangwu considered it again and again, and finally decided to locate the Imperial College in the southern suburbs of Luoyang in order to strengthen his monarchy and control public opinion. Later, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty spent a year in the first year of Yongjian to expand the Imperial College with 112,000 workers and built 240 rooms and 1,850 rooms. The Imperial College was like a small city. Up to now, the party's shackles have been lifted, and Taixue has become more prosperous. According to rough calculation, the number of Taixue students has reached more than 30,000.
When Chen Chong arrived at the outskirts of Luoyang City, the scorching sun was shining, it was noon, and it was also the busiest time for the market outside Luoyang City. Rows of houses stretched along the road, and the Luoyang City Wall in the distance was faintly visible, and there was a lot of noise. Noisy, busy with traffic, and surging with people, Liangzhou's ruined war situation seems to have no impact on the heart of the empire. The sharp ruts tell of busyness, prosperity, and indifference.
This is the Luoyang Horse Market. After arriving, Chen Chong simply bought Wei Yan a Jiuyuan horse. Then the two of them entered the Middle East Gate, turned left through Sangong Mansion, and exited Kaiyang Gate. Within three quarters of an hour, Tai Learning is in sight.
The noisy atmosphere suddenly disappeared. Wei Yan rode his new horse and looked at the world curiously.
Not only the atmosphere, the environment of Taixue is also unique: green bamboo pavilions, ancient mulberry trees, winding paths, green shade everywhere, pavilions mostly paved with pebbles, smoke rising from the distance, pedestrians rushing on the road, but few people Noisy. Suddenly, two large stone seals came into Wei Yan's eyes, one on the left and one on the right, with a sentence written in cinnabar on each: Without indifference, there is no way to clear one's ambition, and without tranquility, there is no way to reach far.
The rear courtyard is suddenly open to the public, with stone paving, tall red gates, and horizontal stone railings. On the plaque are the two characters "Tai Xue" with silkworm heads and swallow tails, which are round and round.
A young official in front of the door was engrossed in copying scriptures. Chen Chong got off his horse and stood behind him to watch for a while. The young official was unaware of it until a passing student recognized Chen Chong and saluted and greeted him. Master Jiu was behind him, accusing him repeatedly.
Chen Chong smiled and shook his head, gave him a few words of encouragement, then took out a copy of "Han Fei" from his luggage and gave it to him, and then called Wei Yan to continue moving forward.
Behind the gate is a huge square, about a hundred feet wide and more than ten feet long. Forty-six Xiping stone tablets are placed here. At this time, there is no longer the scene where "thousands of people watching and copying the scriptures filled the streets every day" when the stone scriptures were completed, but there are still many students discussing the meaning of the scriptures in the square in front of the inscriptions.
Conveniently behind the square is the Taixue Lecture Hall. The main lecture hall is fifteen feet long and four feet wide, and can accommodate 300 people attending lectures at the same time. The other lecture halls are slightly smaller and can also accommodate about 200 people attending lectures. Continuing to the south, after passing the lecture halls, you will find the residences of the doctors.
Chen Chong's residence is a three-entry courtyard, which was allocated by the imperial court and is quite spacious. When Chen Chong brought Wei Yan in, he bumped into three or four students. The students saluted Chen Chong and said, "Good morning, teacher."
Chen Chong returned the gift with a smile, and a student greeted him: "Teacher, I heard that Mr. Wen Fan died of illness not long ago, and the teacher took a break to return to his hometown for some reason. Why did he come back so quickly?"
Chen Chong immediately replied seriously: "The death of our ancestor from illness has shocked the whole world. There are already many people buried, and there is no need to rush for one person. What's more, it is not necessary to show up before the funeral. The country is in trouble now, and it is your responsibility. I will return to Luoyang this time. , I am going to ask for foreign posts, I am afraid I won’t have much time to preach and teach, so don’t relax.”
The students had different expressions. After looking at each other for a moment, they all nodded in agreement. Chen Chong said goodbye to them, tied the two horses to the stable, and called into the courtyard: "Ayan! Ayan! I'm back."
Wei Yanzheng was surprised that in such a large courtyard, he didn't see a single blue-headed slave, but he saw a woman hurriedly walking out of the side room. I saw her wearing a round bun with a swallow tail, a three-sided embroidered skirt tied around her waist, and blue and white silk shoes under her feet. Her face was like the dawn moon, her lips were like red, and her fingers were like green onions. She looked extremely beautiful.
The woman was stunned for a moment when she saw him, then saluted and said angrily to Chen Chong: "Ting Jian, why did you come back in such a hurry? Did you make trouble with uncle and uncle again?"
Chen Chong scratched his head and said: "Ayan, I have always been reasonable. Besides making trouble with you, who else have I ever made trouble with?" Then he grabbed the woman's delicate hand, covered his stomach and said, "Ayan, I have been busy with Wen Chang for a long time today. Lu, I’m still empty in my stomach, hurry up and make two bowls of wheat rice, and I’ll take care of it with Wen Chang first.”
Seeing that Wei Yan was at a loss in this situation, he said solemnly: "Ayan, this is Wei Wenchang of Yiyang. He is the sibling of Xuande, and naturally he is also my sibling. Wen Chang, this is my wife, you can call me sister-in-law. Well, when she first married me, she didn’t touch Yangchun water with her ten fingers, and then washed her hands to make soup. It has been several years now. I guarantee that you will never forget it after eating it once. "
Such blatant teasing made Cai Yan's cheeks glow, but he couldn't get angry in front of outsiders, so he quickly withdrew his hand, glared at Chen Chong with his beautiful eyes, and then lowered his head and said: "Then you go and clean up the study first, let's go The editor is resting there." Then he hurried back to the kitchen.
Chen Chong patted Wei Yan and said with a smile: "Chang Wen, come with me, and I will instill a scholarly atmosphere in you." Only then did Wei Yan come back to his senses and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, your official position is better than six." Bai Shi, why do you still use your sister-in-law to cook? Don’t you have a blue-headed servant girl in your family?"
Chen Chong carried their luggage, led the way for Wei Yan, and said with a smile: "Chang Wen, there are some things that there is no need to leave to others, especially things that you can do yourself. If you don't listen and don't clean a house, how can you sweep the world?" Besides, I don’t like to boss others around, and no one likes to be bossed around.”
Wei Yan felt a little dizzy when he heard these words. He was still young at this time and had not seen much warmth and coldness in the world, but he could also feel the heaviness in Chen Chong's words, but this could not completely solve his doubts. He also He asked: "Chen Jun, I see that you still have two courtyards in your house. You can just arrange a wing for me. Why move it to the study?"
This question made Chen Chong a little hesitant. He hesitated for a while and could only answer awkwardly: "Chang Wen, it's not that I'm stingy. It's just that when I first came here, I felt that this mansion was so spacious. It was just A Yan and I. It was quite luxurious to live there, and I couldn’t clean it up, so I helped some Han disciples from the Imperial College and let them live here. Apart from Yuan Zhi and Guang Yuan who had just left, there were about forty Imperial students. We are all crowded here, but we forgot to leave a guest room, so you just have to make do with it."
At this point, Wei Yan unexpectedly asked: "Chen Jun, did you learn all your knowledge and principles from books?"
"Some are, some are not. The article is long, some truths cannot be learned from books, and some truths can only be learned from books." Chen rushed in and straightened the bed in the corner, and replied: "Just reading Tens of thousands of books are necessary to travel thousands of miles, and if there is someone who has both read and walked through them, then he cannot be said to be much better than me."
Wei Yan then asked: "Can Mr. Chen teach me how to read?"
Chen Chong was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily, as if it was a blessing in his life. He took Wei Yan's hand and put it on the bed, threw his luggage on the bed in the corner, and said happily: "Wen Chang, since you have this idea, how can I not Try your best?"
He immediately rummaged through the books in the study room. After sifting through them, he wrapped a thick pile for Wei Yan and said with a smile: "If you don't understand anything, you can ask me, but I hope that before you ask me, ask yourself first, and then Answer it yourself first. Only in this way can you make progress and become a pillar of the country."
While chatting and laughing, Cai Yan cooked wheat rice and brought it to the two of them. Chen Chong, like a hungry tiger emerging from its cage, swept away the food and asked Cai Yan: "A Yan, how many days have I been away for the past few days?" Have you ever come to see me?"
Cai Yan was arranging Chen Chong's clothes at the side and replied: "Yuan Chang came here the day before yesterday and said that the court situation was critical. He asked you to go to him on the day you come back. However, today's court meeting has not dispersed yet, so Yuan Chang should not be there yet." Go home, you can go there later.”
Chen Chong suddenly changed his expression, put his rice bowl aside, and couldn't help but mutter to himself: "Yuan Benchu moved so fast?"
He immediately straightened his clothes and said to Cai Yan: "Ayan, it's almost time to go back to Yuan Chang's house. Although there is enough time, it's not too early. In case of accidents, I'd better go to Yuan Chang's house first." One trip.”
