Because the emperor was half an hour late when he arrived at Hanyuan Hall, and the discussions among various schools of thought were very intense, the selection meeting that day was held until the sun set.
As soon as it was past get off work time, Geng Dingxiang went straight back home. His family has a small population and a large house. His third brother Geng Dingli lives with him. Geng Dingli's family lives in the east courtyard, and Geng Dingli's family lives in the west courtyard.
Geng Dingli's second brother Geng Dingli did not pursue a career. He was still a student at this time, but he was not inferior to Geng Dingxiang academically. At this time, he was half-hiding and half-teaching in his hometown, concentrating on writing books and establishing theories. The third brother Geng Dingli became a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing's reign and was appointed director of the Ministry of Education. The two families bought a large house together and lived together.
When Geng Fangxiang returned home, the old woman saw that he looked worried, so she told the family servants to be careful, and she and her daughter-in-law served the food in person. Geng Dingxiang took a few mouthfuls with a gloomy expression, and then asked his son Geng Ruyu, "Has your third uncle come back?"
Geng Ruyu put down his chopsticks, stood up and replied solemnly: "Father, my third uncle sent me a message earlier, and I will work overtime at Jidial tonight."
Geng Dingxiang snorted, looked him up and down and said, "What are you reading today?"
Geng Ruyu had sweat on his forehead and hesitated. The daughter-in-law who was standing aside dishing out food pouted and said, "Master, you have been scolding him every day, and now you are so scared that he can't even speak. Today he read the emperor's "On Practice" and wrote thousands of poems. Many words of experience.”
Geng Dingfang put his chopsticks on the table, intending to scold his daughter-in-law, but as a father-in-law, it was too tasteless to do so. He could only say to his son with evil anger: "You are a man, a thirty-year-old man, why do you want your wife to tell you what book to read? Why, can your father eat you?"
Geng Ruyu apologized and said with a smile: "My father's majesty is getting worse day by day, and my son is sometimes afraid. I wonder what happened at the selection meeting today?"
Geng Dingxiang became more and more angry and said: "The emperor has dragged all of them to Burma, what else can we do? There are a total of eighty-six people, and thirty of them are eliminated, all of them are famous Neo-Confucianists!"
"Ahem, the selection hasn't even started yet. The emperor first said, 'Yu Yu is so handsome, I am from Zhou'. When Zhu Zian was there?! Do you think there is any room for this?"
Geng Ruyu smiled after hearing this and said: "Today my son read "On Practice", which said, 'Practice, understanding; practice, understand again, repeat until infinite, and the principles will become clearer.' This is to open the eyes for the reform."
Geng Fangxiang rolled his eyes and said: "So what? 'Although the road is short, it can't be done; although it is small, it can't be done'. Isn't that what it means?"
Geng Ruyu said: "What my father said is true. But refer to "On Contradiction", the emperor's practice is much more profound than Xunzi's, and the truth is explained clearly - the son did not say this, listen to the father's meaning, although the emperor is thin today Zhu, but he still respects Confucius, which is from the past, but it is different from the purpose of the emperor's two treatises."
Geng Dingxiang was reminded by his son and suddenly woke up and said: "Huh?" He sat there silently, wandering in the sky, not knowing what to think.
His daughter-in-law is the granddaughter of Liang Menglong, the current governor of Jiliao, and her single name is Xin. Although Liang Menglong was not a general, this granddaughter was very favored by Liang Menglong and had a very fierce temper. Seeing that her husband was still standing there, he said, "Sit down and eat quickly. Don't you hear that 'no words when eating, no words when sleeping'?"
Seeing Geng Dingxiang still rolling his eyes and thinking, Geng Ruyu glanced at his mother again, then slowly sat down and picked up the rice bowl to eat. His mother said: "No one is trying to rob you, why are you in such a hurry to eat?"
Liang Xin pouted again and said: "It's not like I was scared. For more than a year, I have been scolded every day. Even a good person has lost his energy. This year, he has suffered from stomachache and can't eat well." 's sake."
The old woman was speechless after hearing this, and Geng Xiang couldn't help but said: "Whose rule is this? The wife talks about the master? I am his father, can't I reprimand him?"
Liang Xin was also a well-educated man. Hearing this, he said: "If you can't stand the bullying of Neo-Confucianism nowadays, why don't you resign and go give lectures? The second master is at home, roaming in the woods, writing books and establishing theories. How comfortable he is. Although you are still the second grader now, "Young Pin, you can't get into the imperial court even if you hold Neo-Confucianism on your head, so why should you accept those weaklings in the court and vent your anger on such fools when you go home?"
Because he could not say that he was reluctant to give up this official position, Geng Dingxiang blushed at the words of his daughter-in-law. He just sat there and kept reciting the old words of Confucius to persuade himself to control his anger.
Geng Ruyu secretly praised his wife, saying that he would definitely take a handful of Shenbao Pills tonight to fight this monster. As he thought about it, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Geng Dingxiang caught a glimpse of it, and the anger in his heart threatened to push his head away. He yelled, "Why are you laughing?"
Geng Ruyu's face turned pale, he put down the bowl in fright, and stood up to answer. His mother said: "Don't get up. You've gotten up several times to eat. Can you eat? You old guy, our family is just like this. Are you going to torment him to death? You're like 'father, father, son' every day. Isn't that right?" Don’t you think a father is kind and a son is filial?”
Geng Dingli's eyes stood up in anger, thinking that you are going to rebel. Geng Ruyu hurriedly stood up and said, "Mom, it's the right thing for a son to respect his father." He then said to his wife, "Stop being conspicuous here and go back to the house."
Liang Xin raised her eyebrows when she heard what he said. Geng Ruyu winked hurriedly and held hands with his wife behind his father's back. His mother saw him nearby, curled her lips, and secretly scolded her son for being a coward. But at this time, they were unanimously resisting Geng Dingxiang, so he said to his son: "What do you think my wife is doing? Let me tell you, she is right. You two have to write essays and martial arts, so just go to the study and don't eat while you are eating." Adding trouble to people."
Geng Daxiang has been married for forty years, but his wife is a doormat, and he has been eating her up for the rest of his life. Unexpectedly, today, under the encouragement of her daughter-in-law, the old woman also rebelled, and she was so angry that her blood vessels almost burst.
But the situation was one-on-three. When Lao Geng saw that he had offended the public, he really couldn't get angry, otherwise the family would be in chaos. Just when he was embarrassed, Geng Ruyu's four-year-old son ran in, followed by a servant to protect him.
The boy held a large ball of marshmallows and said, "Grandpa, look, Third Grandpa bought me marshmallows."
Geng Dingxiang said in surprise: "Your third grandfather is back?" His grandson didn't answer, but showed off to his mother with marshmallows. The old woman behind her said, "Yes, Master. The Third Master is back. He said he was going to the west to have some food and would come over."
Geng Ruyu said in a loud voice: "Ruyu, go and ask your third uncle to come over and eat." Geng Ruyu agreed, got up and went out.
Geng Dingxiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and without looking at the old woman's face, he ordered: "Bring some wine." His daughter-in-law said: "Master, I'll get it." Geng Dingxiang nodded.
Seeing that the friendly forces were being divided and disintegrated, Geng Dingxiang's old lady panicked and said, "No, let Chunxiang go get it. I'm hungry too, so I asked them to eat here, and we'll go to the west room to eat." After that, he called the two maids. Coming over to serve Geng Dingxiang for dinner, she and her daughter-in-law changed tactics.
After a while, the old woman heard her son leading Geng Dingli to the dining room. She was completely relieved and complained to her daughter-in-law about Geng Dingli's bad temper. In words, he envied his daughter-in-law's good fortune, but it was hard for him to be a doormat for half his life.
What Liang Xin could say was to comfort her mother-in-law. The two of them were eating and talking to each other when they heard a crash in the main room, as if someone had dropped a wine glass.
Then Geng Dingxiang shouted: "What did you say? Missionary? Professor at Beijing Normal University?!"
Neither of the two women heard what Geng Dingli said. The old woman was worried, so she put down her chopsticks and stood up and said, "Oh, I'll go take a look." The daughter-in-law also said, "Madam, I'll go there too." After that, she helped the old woman over.
When they entered the dining room, they saw that Geng Fangxiang had not only dropped his wine glass, but also knocked half of the dishes and plates on the table to the floor. Geng Dingli and Geng Ruyu stood aside and smiled bitterly. Geng Ruyu's body was covered in soup and water, and a chicken paw was still hanging on the hem of his clothes.
The old woman was so frightened that she chanted Buddha's name and said, "Amitabha, what are you doing?" Seeing Geng Dingding's angry face and being speechless, she panicked and asked Geng Dingli, "Third uncle, what's wrong with your elder brother?"
Geng Dingli smiled bitterly and said: "Today, Wang Shangshu passed down the emperor's oral order, asking us to hire Fan Li'an, Luo Mingjian and Matteo Ricci as professors and lecturers at the Capital University. They will teach mathematics, geometry and philosophy, and the eldest brother was angry because of this."
The old woman said: "You damn old man, the emperor has his reasons for doing this. Are you more knowledgeable than the emperor? Besides, who cares who is the professor, and he has not taught your children and grandchildren, what does it have to do with you?" Are you so angry?"
Geng Ruyu helped Geng Dingxiang and said, "Mom, that's what I said just now. Originally, my father was just angry. After I said this, I was so angry that I was speechless." When the old woman heard that, she started to stiffen when she saw Geng Dingxiang. , so scared that he cried out. Geng Ruyu saw her crying and asked Geng Dingli if she was going to the medical school.
Liang Xin called the maid serving beside her: "Go to my room quickly and find the box containing the three-edged needle." The maid ran out the door like flying. Here she directed Geng Ruyu and Geng Dingli to carry Geng Xiang to the bedroom.
When Geng Daxiang lay down on the kang, the little maid brought over a box with a black lacquer and silver pattern. Liang Xin opened the box and asked her mother-in-law to roll up the sleeve of Geng Daxiang's left arm past his elbow, and took out a brown pair from the box. The silk belt said: "Tie it on the master's big arm."
By the time it was tied, Liang Xin had burned a finger-length three-edged needle in the box on an oil lamp, and gently patted Geng's elbow. When the veins were protruding, she used the tip of the needle to rub it quickly.
Just after pricking, a red spot appeared on the elbow, and then a drop of blood as black as ink flowed out. Liang Xin asked her mother-in-law, "Have you ever bought alcohol at home?" Mei Xiang, the eldest girl next to the old woman, said, "Yes. "Liang Xin said: "Go get alcohol cotton and wipe the wound." Before he finished speaking, Geng Dingxiang let out a long breath, opened his mouth and said hoarsely: "You will kill me with anger." [Note 1]
The entire Geng family was stunned. Geng Xiangxiang cried to his wife, "You scared me!" Geng Ruyu was surprised and delighted, and said, "How can you treat her like this? It's a wonderful rejuvenation."
Liang Xin said: "My grandfather has the same temperament as my grandfather, and this disease is also the same. My grandfather always asked me to give him a needle when he was angry at home and couldn't speak." After that, he wiped the three-edged needle with alcohol cotton. Geng Ruyu gestured and put it into the box.
Geng Dingli couldn't laugh or cry. He smiled and comforted: "Brother, why are you so angry? The emperor made He Xinyin a kingless and fatherless person like him. Nowadays, a few Westerners are professors, so what? They can still read It’s impossible to go to heaven.”
Geng directed his eyes toward the ceiling, with turbid tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes. He sighed and said, "I'm afraid that in a hundred years, the orthodoxy will be extinct!"
(End of chapter)
