On cold days, the north wind is like a knife cut, especially at night.
Zhu Pingan, who had a full day at the Luming Banquet, returned to his room at the inn in the evening before curfew, his breath mixed with the smell of alcohol, with a little drunkenness. Zhu Pingan had once resolved not to drink, but there were so many big shots at the Deer Feast that you had a cup of wine and I had a cup of wine, so how could he be ashamed to eat his vegetables there? So despite being very restrained, he still couldn’t help but feel three times drunk.
After returning to his room, Zhu Pingan took a hot shower, changed into clean clothes, sat down at the desk by the window and opened the “Book of Transmission” gifted by that mysterious old Taoist and picked up the oil lamp to read it.
Three points of drunkenness, head a little heavy, difficult to concentrate, Zhu Pingan to the oil lamp to cover the lampshade and then opened the window, the cold wind rustling blowing, a few points of cutting feeling, so that Zhu Pingan instantly sober a lot.
A hundred readers have a hundred Hamlet, Wang Yangming’s “psychology” thought fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism of the essence of the three, because there are hundreds of years of experience, Zhu Pingan in the reading of the “Transmission of the book” is to see a kind of “fight with the sky, fight with the ground, fight with people”. The core of the method of winning a hundred battles is Wang Yangming’s eight aphorisms: This mind does not move and moves randomly.
“True knowledge is so to do, not enough to be called knowledge. This is what scholars should teach, so that they can do it.”
The night is still young, snow has entered the window, and a certain young man reading a book by the window is gradually sinking into the book.
Early in the morning of the second day, Zhu Pingan got up and washed up, slung over his school bag, clamped the black wooden board and as usual out the door. As the saying goes, “Practise three times in winter and three times in summer”, practising calligraphy and learning emphasises perseverance.
In the cold days, in the cold wind to practice calligraphy reading, but it has a special flavour.
After more and more pedestrians came and went, Zhu Pingan put away his brush, bamboo tube, black wooden board and other things, and walked out of the woods, and asked for a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup in the street shop and ate a breakfast with oil cakes.
After having breakfast, Zhu Pingan walked towards the pier outside Yingtian City with his school bag slung over his shoulder, ready to ask about the passenger ships that were travelling upstream. Learn about the situation. Yingtian’s wharf was also relatively busy in this kind of weather, Zhu Pingan went to the wharf to enquire about the situation, and the people on the wharf didn’t dare to slow down when they saw Zhu Pingan’s long shirt.
After inquiring, Zhu Pingan generally understood the situation. Generally small boats will not go against the current in this kind of weather, only larger passenger and cargo boats will go against the current with the combined effect of sails, oars and perhaps a fibre man, and the cost of the boat is also three times more expensive than going downstream.
However, the proprietor of a large cargo ship took the initiative to approach Zhu Pingan, and this cargo ship would set sail early tomorrow morning to go against the current, to reach the area of Ba Shu. There was a section in the middle that overlapped with Zhu Pingan’s journey.
The reason why the proprietor approached Zhu Pingan was simple: he wanted to make use of Zhu Pingan’s identity. In Ming Dynasty, there was no high-speed railway, no aeroplanes but there were waterways and post roads. Post roads were similar to today’s national highways, where donkeys could drive themselves around without charge, but the post stations were only responsible for receiving officials and businessmen. Generally, waterways were free, but some waters were still like the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal with a banknote gate, that is, the toll booths of the Ming Dynasty, small boats and so on were free of charge, but large freighters and so on still had to be charged.
However, the Ming Dynasty valued the scholars. There are provisions of the boat as an official does not charge, the eunuch’s boat does not charge, the scholar, lifer, Xiucai’s boat does not charge.
Ming people also like to take advantage of the situation, trying to find ways not to pay the fee, to steal some tax.
There were policies at the top and measures at the bottom. To evade fees, there are many means, the core of which is forgery. For example, fake official ship, in the bow of the fake sign, write what the big official official position and so on the bigger the better. Scare tax collectors, so that they hurry to release. Another example is that you are not a scholar, a candidate, or a showman, but there are always more ways than there are difficulties. Invite a scholar and citation and so on boat, this is the amulet ah, tax officials to charge, naturally, there is a “amulet” out to dock, as free of charge. Counterfeit official ship is very risky, so. Merchants have hired a scholar to escort the ship.
The proprietor of this cargo ship is interested in Zhu Pingan’s status as a scholar, and wants to make use of Zhu Pingan’s status as a scholar to be exempted from taxes.
“Thank you, Mr Zhu, we will treat you with good food and wine on the way, and we also have ten taels of silver for the travelling ceremony, so I hope that you will accept it.” The ship owner heard that Zhu Pingan was a new scholar, his attitude was respectful, and he promised Zhu Pingan in this way.
After hearing this, Zhu Pingan couldn’t help but hook up his lips, eating and drinking for free, playing and travelling for free, and also being able to get some consultancy fees along the way, so why not.
Moreover, he had heard of this in his previous life, this has become the practice of the Ming Dynasty, why should he break the routine.
After agreeing on a time and place, Zhu Pingan said goodbye to the boatman and went back to the inn. Fatty just got up in the inn, after hearing the news that Zhu Pingan will be returning home tomorrow morning, Fatty hard pulling Zhu Pingan to a restaurant to give Zhu Pingan practice.
Zhu Pingan in the vicinity of Fuzhimiao is also considered to be a little famous, the current Enke Nan Zhili most is the youngest lifer, in the restaurant to eat, the shopkeeper let the shop boy free to send two restaurant’s speciality dishes. This makes the fat man sigh, betting and swearing to go home to study, must enjoy this treatment can not.
On the second day, before the daybreak, Zhu Pingan left the inn silently with his travelling bag on his back and walked along the Qinhuai River towards the city gates, rushing out of Yingtian City in time for the first batch of gates to be opened and let out of the city.
The owner of the cargo ship waited at the pier early in the morning, and when he saw Zhu Pingan, he asked his mate to meet him on the boat.
This cargo ship in the Ming Dynasty should be considered a huge ship, Zhu Pingan on the boat, the cargo ship owner will be a packed room upstairs as Zhu Pingan’s bedroom, and let the cook with the ship to make a sumptuous meal and sealed red envelopes together into the room.
“Thank you.” Zhu Pingan arched his hand and thanked the ship owner.
“Mr Zhu, please don’t be like this, I should be the one to thank you, if there are any areas where the hospitality is not good, you can just ask.”
The ship owner hurriedly avoided his body, not daring to accept Zhu Pingan’s salute, bowing and thanking Zhu Pingan in reverse.
Mutually beneficial, Zhu Pingan did not insist any longer, thanked the shipowner and enjoyed his breakfast.
“If you need anything, just go downstairs and call someone.” The ship owner also left with a good eye.
Because the cargo ship’s side is very high and has handrails, it is very safe, after having breakfast, Zhu Pingan went to the bow of the ship, firmly grasping the handrails to enjoy the snowy scenery of the Yangtze River on a winter’s day.
Despite the snowflakes drifting under the sky, the water of the Yangtze River was flowing, but it was not frozen.
Cargo ship with a number of large sails, in the ship helmsman’s skillful technique cleverly with the help of the wind, in the Yangtze River rowing “zhi” word against the current, both sides of the scenery in front of the eyes one by one, full of snow in the woods, half of the white head of the mountains, and so on.
Facing the howling north wind, wearing a rabbit fur coat, standing at the bow of the boat, watching the mountains and woods pass before my eyes, I couldn’t help but feel a kind of impassioned spirit reverberating in my chest.
In this situation, standing at the bow of the boat, Zhu Pingan could not help but recite a poem:
A good time and a beautiful day, the king sent me to patrol the mountains.
After three days of travelling, Zhu Pingan disembarked from the ship and showed the tax officer on duty his certificate of being a scholar with an official seal, and the cargo ship passed through the banknote gate without any problems.
After two more days, Zhu Pingan got off the boat, and his home was close at hand.
When he left home, the autumn harvest was busy, but when he returned home, it was already snowing; when he left home, he was only a small scholar, but when he returned home, he was already a civil servant, which made him feel a little bit emotional, patting the snow on his body, Zhu Pingan put on his travelling bag and went forward.
