Taixue, Zheng Mansion. In the large door of the hall, Zheng Xuan sat in front of the table, holding a pen and concentrating, with his eyes slightly closed. On the table was a pair of yellow and white bamboo paper that had just been spread out. There was no ink on it, and the spring breeze was blowing. It seemed that even the great Han Dynasty was nervous. I was also intoxicated, and for a moment I didn’t know what words to write.
After a long pause, Zheng Xuan sighed lightly, placed the wolf hair horizontally on the pen holder, and said to the disciples beside him: "As I get older, although I still have as many threads as when I was young, I have lost the indomitable spirit to move forward. Spirit, when I was about to start writing, I felt the slightest hesitation. It is true that people are susceptible and time is hard to come by."
There were about a dozen disciples sitting in the hall, taking care of Zheng Xuan's daily life, and reading scriptures in the hall when they had nothing to do. Upon seeing this, Tian Qiong handed over a basin of warm water for his teacher to wash his face and refresh himself, and then said softly: "The emperor will listen to the teacher and the doctors lecture in half a day. It is natural for the teacher to be more cautious."
Zheng Xuan waved his hand to refuse, then stroked his hair that was not completely white with one hand, and twirled the wolf hair again with the other hand. He smiled at the disciples present and said: "I am already a teacher at an age where my ears are obedient. The princes and emperors are nothing more than princes when they reach the Imperial Academy." Just a student. Tell the master, tell the truth and return. The so-called etiquette of the university, although it is issued to the emperor, has no north, so it respects the teacher. Why? It must be known that before the great road, regardless of whether the emperor or his ministers are high or low, if the emperor cannot understand this truth, he will He would not have been promoted to emperor in the first place."
Most of the disciples disagreed with these words, but they did not dare to argue out loud. It is public opinion that today's people are absurd and unscrupulous, but they are also mean and ungrateful. Since the eunuchs were re-emphasized, their subordinates were bloody and the party was imprisoned. It can be said that the whole world is heartbroken. Zheng Xuan is probably the only one who is famous all over the world but does not rule the court. Only a great Confucian who is free from suspicion can behave like this.
Zheng Xuan saw the student's expression of concern and said with a carefree smile: "If you have anything to say, just say it. The university will be sincere, cultivate one's mind, govern one's family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world. He said it over and over again. His eyes are nothing more than the word sincerity. I will teach you to respect the teacher." , Respecting the teacher is the art of respecting the Tao, and the art lies behind the Tao."
All the disciples were silent, and the only son Zheng Yi'en answered calmly: "Since my father has seen what your brothers are thinking, it can be seen that the sincerity of the brothers has been revealed, so why do you need to make fun of them again?"
"You, you." Zheng Xuan shook his head and laughed, then touched his forehead and sighed. Zheng Yien was not only his only son, but also his proud disciple, so Zheng Xuan could be called doting on him. Zheng Xuan skipped those words just now. , and then said: "Man is born innocent. He doesn't care about right and wrong. He doesn't know the honor and disgrace of male and female. It's okay for sincerity to show itself. Yi En, are you saying that my disciples are still innocent?"
Seeing that his only son couldn't finish the next sentence, Zheng Xuan turned to his disciples and said with a smile: "It's okay if you are innocent, the one who is in such trouble is your teacher." He dotted wolf hair on the clear water, Zheng Xuan lightly twisted the tip of the hair and put it on the inkstone again. The stone was soaked with ink, and he sighed to the paper: "As a teacher, you cannot put ink on plain paper, just like teaching a child. After this stroke, no matter how dissatisfied the teacher feels afterwards, there is no way to repent. If you can make mistakes without making mistakes, and do not let future generations call you a misguided disciple, then you will be satisfied as a teacher."
As soon as he finished speaking, disciple Zhao Shang said seriously: "Teacher is joking. The teacher is a great scholar in the Han Dynasty, and he is the leader of doctors. If the teacher consciously misleads his disciples, who can be called the master of the world?"
"Why am I like a dragon's head?" As soon as he said this, all the disciples were shocked, and then returned to their previous state, silent. Only Cui Yan gathered his sleeves and answered carefully: "Master Zheng is like rain, and the dragon's head is like clouds. Rain Moisturizes all things, beyond the reach of clouds.”
Zheng Xuan stared at Cui Yan for a moment, and then looked back at the bamboo paper in front of him. An inexplicable emotion surged into his heart, driving his men to wave the wolf hair. Zheng Xuan was fine if he didn't pick up the pen, but when he picked up the pen, he was out of control. The disciples saw the teacher swiping ink like rain, and the pen moved like a dragon and a snake, but after a while, it covered the entire bamboo paper. After Zheng Xuan finished writing, he paused. The wrinkles on his face smiled and he showed a contented look. He waved to Cui Yan and said, "Ji Gui, come here and take a look."
Cui Yan came forward to visit and saw a few words on the bamboo paper that were like mountains meandering, thick and vast, sparse and melancholy. He couldn't help but read while reading: "A spring comes from under the mountain, and a gentleman cultivates virtue through fruitful actions." He He couldn't help but raise his head and said in surprise to his teacher: "Teacher, is this the Meng hexagram?"
Zheng Xuan smiled and nodded and said, "I heard that there was chaos in Bingzhou, and I felt uneasy. Last night I made a hexagram for the dragon's head, and it turned out to be a Meng hexagram. I wonder how you can explain it?"
As the Great Han Dynasty God of Confucianism, Zheng Xuan was not only a master of Confucian classics, but also a master of prophecy. He was good at using plantain to tell fortunes, and the fortune-telling came true in all likelihood afterward. Plantain was also called Zhengjuncao. The disciples were familiar with divination, but they were surprised that the teacher was so troubled by Chen Chong. There was a huge age difference between the two, and their friendship was evident from the fact that they were of the same generation. However, Zheng Xuan's divination had always been about personal life and death, except for national affairs. , now it is the first time for Chen Chong to divine fortune.
Cui Yan replied: "There is a saying in the Meng hexagram: 'Using people to punish people, using words to shackle them, is stingy in the past.' In response to Chen Jun's surrender at the beginning of the year, tens of thousands of Baibo bandit troops were wiped out overnight. And "彖" said: 'There is danger at the bottom of the mountain, so stop it.' It can be said that although there is a small danger in Chen Jun's random behavior, he will definitely be able to turn the danger into safety."
Zheng Xuan nodded and said: "What you said makes sense, but in my opinion, the emphasis of this hexagram is still 'The bandits ask Tongmeng, Tongmeng asks me'. Although this chaos is huge, the Hu people have always admired Han Wei." . I despise myself, and Ting Jian is the head of Xiping Dragon. Although he has no rivers and seas, he has nothing to fear when encountering mountain springs and monsters in the mountains. What I ask is, if Chen Junze is attacked by barbarians, what will be the disaster? What will be the blessing?"
Gongsun Ping of Youzhou was the quickest to reply: "How to educate the barbarians? The disciples were born in Youyan, and grew up in the company of Wuhuan and Xianbei. At that time, the court only thought that Xianbei was respectful and could be a foreign vassal, but unexpectedly Tanshihuai unified Xianbei. This is a huge problem for me as a great man. If he is not from my race, his mind will be different. How about his education?"
Zheng Xuan was noncommittal and looked at the disciples in a blink of an eye, only to see that Sun Yan seemed to want to speak, which made him even more surprised. Sun Yan never said a word in the house, concentrating on his studies. When Zheng Xuan took him for an exam, he almost never made any mistakes. It should be noted that Zheng Xue took the Modern Classics as its core and the Ancient Classics as its surface, and placed the most emphasis on textual research. Sun Yan was the most proficient in ancient books among all his students. When Zheng Xuan wrote, he often asked him to correct it, and often asked him to correct it when he was away. As a teacher, his status is not low, but I didn’t expect that Sun Yan, who usually cherishes his words like gold, would also participate in the topic today.
Sun Yan paused for a moment, then stepped forward and said to Gongsun Ping: "What Master Zheng just said, 'The bandits ask me for help, and the children ask me for help.' It can be said that the way is right. The way is not distinguished by beauty, and the way is not divided by old and young. The barbarians have a heart for the Tao, which is beyond the reach of human beings. If a child seeks me, and I refuse him in fear, then the Tao will disappear. A gentleman cultivates virtue through fruitful actions, but we reject others from the Tao, and virtue will be sterile. What is a gentleman?"
Then Sun Yan said to Zheng Xuan: "Master Zheng, I have something I must say."
After Zheng Xuan agreed, Sun Yan continued: "Today, my second disciple, Liu Xuan and Liu Bao, bid me farewell and returned home."
The disciples were inexplicable and didn't know how to evaluate it, but the next words immediately caused a big stir.
"Both of these two people are from the Xiongnu royal family, one is the son of Shanyu, and the other is the grandson of Shanyu. Because the Xiongnu royal family often married into the Han Dynasty, they considered themselves nephews of the Han Dynasty, so the Yi surname was Liu. He studied in Hedong, and later entered the Imperial College under my tutelage. When I said goodbye today, my disciples only knew the identity of the two of them, and felt ashamed, so they told Master Zheng."
Not only many disciples of Zheng Xuan had heard of the names Liu Xuan and Liu Bao, but some of them had seen them with their own eyes, but they didn't expect that they were from the Huns royal family. The other disciples discussed one after another, saying that the second son was skilled in six arts, had extraordinary bones, and was elegant in speech. Unexpectedly, he grew up in a land of stinky smell. Now that something happened in his hometown, he returned to the battlefield in the north, and he is even more courageous.
After Zheng Xuan asked clearly, he couldn't help but smile and call Sun Yan: "Uncle Ran, before I knew it, two kings came out of your sect. How to collect fennel? From swamps to 沚. To use it? It's a matter for the princes. It must have been a hundred years. Later, you will also leave your name in history."
Sun Yan replied neither humble nor arrogantly: "Master Zheng has said it before. Confucius said: 'There is no distinction between teachings.' Disciples do not dare to distinguish themselves from each other, let alone regard them as nobles. , he is also a teacher. To guide him by a different path is not only to respect the Tao, but also to be a gentleman at a distance. The disciples are comforted by the fact that they can only be taught to cultivate the righteousness and pass on the Tao."
Zheng Xuan stared at it for a long time, and then sighed to the other disciples: "Uncle, he is as silent as jade, and shows his quality, so he can pass on his teachings to me." He gently stroked his temples again and sighed: "The human heart is susceptible, and time is hard to come by. , I am really old.”
