During the coldest days of winter, the north wind blows on your face, especially at night, and it feels like a knife cutting.
Zhu Pingan, who had been at the Luming Banquet for the whole day, returned to his room in the inn before the evening curfew. He was a little drunk with the smell of alcohol in his breath. Zhu Pingan had once made up his mind not to drink, but there were so many big shots at the Luming Banquet drinking one cup after another, how could he have the nerve to just sit there and eat the food? ! So despite being very restrained, he still felt a little tipsy.
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 "Chuan Xi Lu" given by the mysterious old Taoist priest, lit the oil lamp and began to read.
A little tipsy, his head felt heavy and he had difficulty concentrating. Zhu Ping'an covered the oil lamp with the lampshade and opened the window. The cold wind blew in, and it felt like a knife cutting him, which made Zhu Ping'an instantly sober up.
There are a hundred Hamlets for a hundred readers. Wang Yangming's "Xinxue" thought integrates the essence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Because of hundreds of years of experience, Zhu Ping'an saw a way to win all battles of "fighting against the sky, fighting against the earth, fighting against people" when reading "Instructions for Practical Living". The core of this method is Wang Yangming's eight-character motto: The heart does not move, but moves randomly.
"True knowledge is the basis for action. If you don't act, you don't know enough. This is the most important teaching for scholars, so that they can practice it themselves..."
It was late at night, snow was coming in through the window, and a young man was reading a book by the window, gradually sinking into the book.
The next morning, Zhu Pingan got up early, washed up, and went out as usual, carrying his schoolbag and a black board. As the saying goes, "Practice in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer", practicing calligraphy and studying emphasizes perseverance.
In the coldest days of winter, practicing calligraphy and reading in the chilly wind is a unique experience.
When more and more people came and went, Zhu Ping'an put away his brush, bamboo tube, black wooden board and other items, walked out of the woods leisurely, and ordered a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup and fried cakes for breakfast in a store on the street.
After breakfast, Zhu Pingan slung his schoolbag across his shoulder and walked to the dock outside Yingtian City, ready to ask about the passenger ship going upstream. To understand the situation. Yingtian's dock was also quite busy in this kind of weather. Zhu Pingan went to the dock to inquire about the situation, and the people on the dock did not dare to neglect Zhu Pingan when they saw his long gown.
After asking, Zhu Ping'an roughly understood the situation. Ordinary small boats would not go upstream in such weather. Only larger passenger and cargo ships would go upstream with the combined effect of sails, oars, and perhaps trackers, and the fare was three times more expensive than going downstream.
However, the owner of a large cargo ship took the initiative to contact Zhu Ping'an. This cargo ship will set off early tomorrow morning to go upstream to the Bashu area. There is a section in the middle that overlaps with Zhu Ping'an's journey.
The reason why the boss approached Zhu Ping'an was very simple, that is, he wanted to use Zhu Ping'an's identity. The Ming Dynasty had no high-speed rail, no airplanes, but there were waterways and post roads. Post roads are similar to today's national highways. Travelers can drive by themselves for free, but the post stations are only responsible for receiving officials and businessmen. Generally, waterways are free, but some waters still have money gates like the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which are toll stations in the Ming Dynasty. Small boats are free, but large cargo ships are still charged.
However, the Ming Dynasty valued scholars. There were regulations that officials' boats were not charged, eunuchs' boats were not charged, and Jinshi, Juren, and Xiucai's boats were not charged.
People in the Ming Dynasty also liked to take advantage and found ways to avoid paying fees and evade taxes.
There are policies from above, and countermeasures from below. There are many ways to evade taxes, and the core is to cheat. For example, pretending to be an official ship, putting up a fake sign on the bow, writing something like a high-ranking official title, the bigger the better. Scare the tax collectors and let them let you go quickly. Another example is that you are not a Jinshi, Juren, or Xiucai, but there are always more solutions than problems. Asking a Jinshi or Juren to take a boat is like a talisman. If the tax officer wants to charge, there will naturally be a "talisman" to meet him, and it is also free. Impersonating an official ship is very risky, so. Merchants have hired Jinshi and Juren to escort them.
The owner of this cargo ship was attracted by Zhu Ping'an's status as a scholar and wanted to use his status to obtain tax exemption.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhu. I will treat you well with good wine and food along the way. I will also give you ten taels of silver as a gift. I hope you will accept it." When the ship owner heard that Zhu Ping'an was a recent juren, his attitude was extremely respectful and he promised Zhu Ping'an like this.
After hearing this, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips. He could eat, drink, play and travel for free, and at the same time earn some consulting fees. Why not do it
Besides, I had heard about this in my previous life. It has become a common practice in the Ming Dynasty. Why should I break the rules
After agreeing on the time and place, Zhu Ping'an said goodbye to the boatman and returned to the inn. Fatty in the inn had just gotten up, and after hearing that Zhu Ping'an was going back home early the next morning, Fatty dragged Zhu Ping'an to a restaurant to give him a date.
Zhu Ping'an was a little famous near the Confucius Temple. He was the youngest candidate in the Enke Nanzhili. When he was eating at the restaurant, the shopkeeper asked the waiter to give him two of the restaurant's specialties for free. This made the fat man sigh, and he swore that he would study hard after returning home and must enjoy this treatment.
On the second day, before dawn, Zhu Ping'an quietly left the inn with his luggage on his back, walked along the Qinhuai River towards the city gate, and was the first group of people to be allowed out of Yingtian City.
The owner of the cargo ship was waiting at the dock early. After seeing Zhu Ping'an, he asked his servants to help Zhu Ping'an onto the ship.
This cargo ship was considered a giant ship in the Ming Dynasty. After Zhu Ping'an boarded the ship, the owner of the cargo ship used a tidied room upstairs as Zhu Ping'an's bedroom, and asked the chef on the ship to prepare a sumptuous meal and send it to the room in sealed red envelopes.
"Thank you." Zhu Ping'an bowed to thank the ship owner.
"Master Zhu, please don't be like this. I should be the one thanking you. If there is anything that is not good enough in our hospitality, please feel free to point it out."
The ship owner quickly moved away, not daring to accept Zhu Ping'an's salute, and bowed to thank Zhu Ping'an instead.
Since it was mutually beneficial, Zhu Ping'an did not insist any further. He thanked the ship owner and started to enjoy his breakfast.
"Sir, if you need anything, just go downstairs and call for help." The ship owner also left with a tactful look.
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, held on to the handrail tightly and enjoyed the snow scene of the Yangtze River in winter.
Although snowflakes were falling from the sky, the Yangtze River did not freeze because the water was flowing.
The cargo ship hoisted several large sails and, with the exquisite skills of the helmsman, cleverly used the wind power to zigzag upstream on the Yangtze River. The scenery on both sides of the river passed by one by one, including forests covered with snow, half-white mountains, and so on.
Facing the howling north wind, wearing a rabbit fur coat, standing on the bow and watching the mountains and forests passing by one by one in front of me, I couldn't help but feel a sense of passion echoing in my chest.
In this situation, standing at the bow, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but recite a poem:
What a pity the beautiful weather. The king sent me to patrol the mountains.
After sailing for three days, they passed a customs office. Zhu Ping'an got off the ship and showed his certificate of official status to the tax officer on duty, and the cargo ship passed the customs office smoothly.
Two days later, Zhu Ping'an got off the boat and his home was just around the corner.
When he left home, it was still the autumn harvest season, but when he returned home, it was snowing heavily; when he left home, he was just a young scholar, but when he returned home, he was already a successful candidate. It was hard not to feel a little emotional. After brushing off the snow on his body, Zhu Pingan carried his bag and walked forward. (To be continued.)xh123