Red Mansion Reader

Chapter 8
Chen Heng felt lucky to meet a teacher like Wang Xianming.

Perhaps ordinary people would dislike Wang Xianming as an old boy. He himself failed the imperial examinations many times, so what good things can he teach?But things don't look like this. Wang Xianming is in his forties this year, and he has long since given up the idea of ​​continuing the scientific examination, and he is concentrating on teaching and educating people.

Unlike those scholars who have to teach at the same time and prepare for the imperial examination at the same time, they say that they are teaching people, but they are all cram-feeding, and whether they learn or not is all up to the students.

In addition, when Wang Xianming was young, he studied under his father-in-law, which also broadened his horizons.He can barely comment on whether the article is good or bad.He can also talk about the meaning of the Four Books and Five Classics.

More than 30 years of continuous study career made Wang Xianming deeply understand the detours and mistakes on the road of imperial examination.It's a pity that he woke up too late, and the best time for a person to learn is limited.After the time point, reading again is just to find the answer to life.

Now these things will be turned into nutrients and watered on Chen Heng's seedling.Just like in the Four Books, most people in the world start reading from "The Great Learning", but Wang Xianming thinks that they should start from "The Analects of Confucius".

He explained it to Chen Heng in this way: If "University" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" are compared to mountains supporting the sky, then "The Analects" is the earth that carries them.Climbing the mountain from the very beginning can certainly broaden one's horizons and open doors.

But "The Analects of Confucius" decides how high your mountain can be, whether it is the peak and five mountains that can see all the small mountains, or the arrogant Yelang who rises from the flat ground.

Only by deepening the foundation and allowing yourself to comprehend the subtleties, can your mountain continue to be raised until you see the moon through the clouds and look down on the world.At that time, although the mountain is high, you have to exercise your foot strength, and it will be more effective to climb up.

"What about Mencius?" Chen Heng asked.

Wang Xianming shook his head and said, "It's a clear spring flowing down from a high mountain. When you reach the top of the mountain, you can stand at its source, go down the river, and ride the wind overnight to reach the river. Wouldn't it be great? So we will read "Mencius" last."

Chen Heng understood, so he devoted all his attention to "The Analects of Confucius", not daring to be distracted in the slightest.

It is also the benefit of entrusting one-on-one teaching. Wang Xianming can always use the time of teaching other people to explain the scriptures to Chen Heng, and feed him the knowledge in pieces.One teaches carefully, the other learns quickly, and the progress is naturally fast.

After the Confucian classics class in the morning, the afternoon time is still calligraphy. The Guange style is popular in the examination room nowadays. Because it is clear at a glance and the movement is regular, it has been very popular among examiners since the Yongli Dynasty.

But Wang Xianming still insisted that Chen Heng start practicing from regular script, although regular script took a lot of time and the effect was slow.But as long as it is practiced well, other calligraphy can be understood by analogy in the future, and it is easy to write.

By the end of this class, there will be about half an hour left in the day's study.During this time, the two usually used it to chat.Wang Xianming would talk about things he encountered or saw, such as anecdotes about the examination room and the current situation in the court.

This is one of the few opportunities for Chen Heng to learn about the outside world, so he will always turn into a curious baby during this time, asking questions.Wang Xianming regarded him as his own child, and the two of them talked behind closed doors, so naturally they wouldn't be too restrained.

…………

…………

On this day, after a day's class, the two teachers and students sat and chatted with each other.The two were talking about a scholar in Jinling who was dismissed by the examiner because he used the story of Li Tang as an example when he was examining talents.

"Can it still be like this?" Chen Heng blinked, not knowing what kind of taboo this good Li Tang had committed in the Yong Dynasty.

"You said that the current sage is enthroned, why did you choose Wu Ding as the reign name?" Wang Xianming acted like a good boy, and seeing that Chen Heng couldn't figure it out, he explained: "Now the Supreme Emperor still lives in the palace."

Chen Heng suddenly realized, as if he had discovered some big secret, he opened his mouth and was about to spit out: "Could it be Xuan..."

"Hush, keep quiet." Wang Xianming patted Chen Heng's head lightly, and joked again, "Now you know why my teacher asked you to take out the Book of Filial Piety and read it when you have nothing to do. Today's imperial court values ​​filial piety the most."

"The instigator is also afraid of the latter." Chen Heng nodded approvingly.

Wang Xianming laughed out loud. He liked the cleverness of this child.Everything is clear, and it is very enjoyable for him to teach.

"Then tell me what else you can see from the year name?" Wang Xianming picked up the teacup and continued to diverge Chen Heng's thinking.Since he took Chen Heng as his disciple, he naturally didn't want to teach a pedantic scholar who only knew what he knew.

Who can memorize the Four Books and Five Classics? What really determines Chen Heng's future is those things that can be bypassed.

Chen Heng thought hard for a long time before he tried to speak: "The reason for using force is because His Majesty understands the art of war and is good at military affairs. Using Ding is because you want to become a hero of the generation?"

As soon as Chen Heng finished speaking, Wang Xianming's hand holding the tea stopped in mid-air. He looked at him for a long time before saying, "Young people are awesome. It's already past [-] years when you want to understand this truth as a teacher."

"In the past, I failed repeatedly in the imperial examinations as a teacher. I often blamed the examiners' lack of eyesight and different preferences." Wang Xianming shook his head and sighed. "Thinking about it now, when the Supreme Emperor was in power, he was getting older and loved the proses of the prosperous age of singing and dancing. As a teacher, he was not talented enough. The words in the articles were difficult to find new ideas, and he suffered repeatedly. When the new emperor came to the throne, he was still working hard on this road as a teacher. I wasted years and didn't know the king's will. How could I get high school?"

"Then think about it again, what kind of reign name will the Holy Majesty choose after Wu Ding's reign?"

"Probably something like literature."

"Why?" Wang Xianming asked with great interest.

"Strength cannot last long, and softness cannot be kept. Cultivation of civil and martial arts is the only way to flourish. Emphasizing martial arts and suppressing literature, and emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts are all actions in troubled times." Knowing that he was talking to his wife, Chen Heng's words could not help but be bold.

Wang Xianming nodded and said: "Unless you are a Jinshi in high school, you can't say such things to outsiders."

"Yes, Master."

Chen Heng understood the deep meaning of the teacher, so naturally he would not refute.

"It's been ten years since Wuding, let's just watch and see if your guess is right."

"What if it's not allowed?" Chen Heng couldn't help being curious about the meaning of the teacher's words.

"Then punish you for copying the Four Books and Five Classics three times." Wang Xianming smiled very proudly.

"Yes." Chen Heng had a bitter look on his face. He didn't ask about the reward for guessing correctly, and the teacher didn't take the initiative to mention it, so of course he didn't, and it was useless to ask.

In the following days, Chen Heng continued to maintain this rhythm, reading in the morning and practicing calligraphy in the afternoon, and he did not dare to relax for a day.After more than half a year, Chen Heng memorized the four books by heart.

At this point, Chen Heng will enter the next stage, choose one of the Five Classics as his own, and at the request of Wang Xianming, he will also start reading articles by Sima Xiangru, Han Yu, Sansu and other great writers.

These literati who have left a strong mark in history have been tested for their wonderful diction and the prosperity of their articles.Often take out their articles and read them, so that you can cultivate your own context and intention when writing.

In order to obtain these articles and textbooks for Chen Heng, every [-]th day when it was his turn to rest, Wang Xianming had to take the village ox cart to the county bookstore to buy them.The money was not paid by the old Chen family, but by Wang Xianming himself.

Don't think that they are cheap and can't cost a few dollars.Take the books that Chen Heng read before, for example, the "Three Character Classic" with a small number of words costs [-] words.For example, the Four Books and Five Classics, if the layout is good, or with annotations from the sages, the price can be more than three taels, and this is just a book.

Looking back at the few members of the old Chen family, there are only more than 20 taels after a year of hard work. This is not counting the situation of eating, drinking and paying taxes for the family.

It can be seen that Wang Xianming took care of Chen Heng.

On this day, I just took a rest.

Chen Heng rested at home and helped his family with some farm work during the holiday.Wang Xianming boarded the ox cart in the village early to pick up the books he had ordered.

Just today, a carriage came to Shanxi Village, and a thin literati alighted from the carriage. Under the guidance of the villagers, he came to Wang Xianming's house.

The literati stood at the door for a long time and looked at it before he called out the master.When Mrs. Liu came to the door and saw who was coming, she was surprised and then delighted and said, "Scholar Lin! Why are you?"

"Hahaha." The literati laughed heartily, and said triumphantly, "Isn't it just me, Senior Sister."

"Why are you here? I heard from my father that you have been in the capital."

"Hahaha, Senior Sister, you are so unreasonable. When we meet again after a long absence, aren't you going to let me go in and have a cup of tea?"

"Look at me, come in, come in."

(End of this chapter)