Ji Tang

Chapter 8
Mencius went to Qi.Chong Yulu asked: "Master, if you have any hesitation, it will be like this. As I said before, Yu heard that Masters said: 'A gentleman does not complain about heaven, nor blame others.'" He said: "That time, this time also. It will happen in 500 years. When a king rises, there must be someone famous in the world.”

The sky has darkened, and the crisp sound of reading does not seem abrupt in this quiet evening, but is particularly harmonious.

After comforting his wife, who was in a very ups and downs mood today, Xie Lian couldn't sleep, so he prepared to go out for a walk.As soon as I walked out, I heard the sound of reading coming from the opposite side.

He was originally a book addict, and he felt as if he had met someone with similar interests in this village, so he couldn't help but walk towards the room.

"Dong dong!" Ji Song, who was reading, heard a knock on the door and thought it was his mother, so he didn't pay attention.

"Mom, the door is not closed, come in!" Ji Song said without taking his eyes off the book.

"Squeak!" The door opened. Ji Song put down the book in his hand and stood up.

"Uncle Xie! Why are you here?" What Ji Song didn't expect was that the visitor turned out to be Xie Lian. He quickly welcomed Xie Lian into the room and asked in surprise.

Xie Lian didn't say anything. He came to Ji Song's desk and picked up the "Mencius" wrapped in unknown bark. Seeing the shabby but very clean scroll, Xie Lian nodded with satisfaction. Then he said:

"I was in a state of ups and downs today. I couldn't sleep for a while, so I wanted to go out for a walk. When I heard the sound of your reading here, I got curious and came here. I hope I didn't disturb you!"

Ji Song placed the brewed tea in front of Xie Lian and said with a smile: "How could it be? Even if Uncle Xie doesn't come, I will visit you tomorrow!
Song has always been studying alone, and he has a lot of problems. He suffers from no one to teach him. He just knows that Uncle Xie is busy today, so he doesn't dare to bother him!Uncle Xie can come, just in line with Song's wishes! "

"Oh! Seeing that you have already studied Mencius, you should have a teacher. How can you be alone?" Xie Lian said in surprise.

"I don't have a teacher. My mother taught me how to read and read since I was five years old. As for Mencius, we come from a poor family, so what choice do we have? We can just learn whatever we have!" Ji Song said with some self-deprecation.

Ji Song took out the "Book of Mountains and Seas" from the cabinet and placed it on the desk, touching it gently as if he were touching a rare treasure.

"I'm not afraid of your ridicule, Uncle Xie. We only have these two books at home, and this "Book of Mountains and Seas" was given to my father by a Taoist priest. There are many uncommon words in it, and my mother doesn't know them, so I can only guess at them. Memorize these two books, whether they are correct or not, ha!" Ji Song said nonchalantly.

Xie Lian looked at these two volumes of books. "Mencius" was okay, but the "Book of Mountains and Seas" was a big one. He had read this book himself. Although the content was interesting, it was bitter and difficult to understand. Ji Song He said that he actually memorized it, but Xie Lian didn't believe it.

"The head of Dongshan."

"The mountain called Zhū is adjacent to Qianmei in the north."

"He then traveled south for five hundred miles and called Zhu"

"It is said that the mountains of Zhugou have no vegetation and are full of sand and rocks."

"Twenty miles to the east is called Heshan."

"There is no vegetation on it but a lot of jade green. It is actually the capital of the river."

Xie Lian originally wanted to test Ji Song and make the young man not be too arrogant, but as he asked the question, Ji Song opened his mouth without thinking.They talked faster and faster, until half an hour later, Xie Lian had to admit that except for a few reading errors, Ji Song had indeed memorized the entire "Shan Hai Jing", but this was also the reason why no one taught him.

Afterwards, Ji Song was tested on his understanding of the article, and Ji Song also answered fluently.

"What a genius! I didn't expect that you could read the book to this extent without anyone teaching you. Some of your understandings have inspired even me. These are really your Self-taught?"

Xie Lian really wanted to open Ji Song's head to see how he was different from other people. His views on books had broken through the shackles of previous generations' thoughts. It seemed absurd, but after careful consideration, it made sense.

"Uncle Xie is so complimentary. Song is just overthinking. You must not be praised like this by Uncle Xie!"

Ji Song knew that this was just what he had seen in his previous life. He had seen too much. He was somewhat self-aware of how much he weighed.

Xie Lian shook his head and said nothing more. He handed the book to Ji Song and asked him to pick out the words he didn't recognize. After hearing this, Ji Song almost jumped up with joy.

Instead of picking up the book, he turned around and came to the bed, took out a square wooden board and handed it to Xie Lian.Xie Lian looked at Ji Song in confusion, but when he saw the words engraved on the wooden board, his whole body was filled with confusion. Looking at the hopeful young man in front of him, he was full of complexity.

Sure enough, any achievement is not accidental. How can anyone understand the unknown dedication and bitterness behind it if you are not a person involved?How could Song Geer's efforts be beyond the imagination of ordinary people when he had no one to teach him?

In the next few days, Xie Lian was not in a hurry to leave. Except that his son really needed to recuperate, Ji Song's intelligence and studiousness made Xie Lian's character of being a teacher come out completely, and he reorganized Ji Song's basics, and even more He took out his collection of books and let Ji Song read them.Ji Song did not dare to miss this rare opportunity. During this period of time, he spent all his time absorbing knowledge, and with the accumulation of his previous life, he was making rapid progress until the morning of the eighth day.

"Song'er?" Ji Song was worried about affecting Xie Lian and his wife's rest these days and did not dare to exercise in the yard, so he exercised outside every time. This morning, Ji Song was ready to go out as usual, but At this time the door opposite opened.

"Uncle Xie, don't you want to sleep a little longer?" Ji Song said in surprise.

"Who are you who is shivering? Can't I get up early?" Xie Lian said to Ji Song angrily.

"Okay, I have something to ask you for, and I'm leaving today!" Xie Lian said sadly.

"Uncle Xie, isn't Song's reception good? I..." Hearing Xie Lian's words, Ji Song suddenly became anxious. Although they had not known each other for a long time during this period, Ji Song was truly grateful to Xie Lian. , If it weren’t for Xie Lian’s teachings during this period, Ji Song wouldn’t know when he would get this opportunity. This is a gift of reinvention!

Now that Xie Lian is leaving, how can we keep Ji Song from being anxious?
"It's not because of you. I was going to Chang'an to take up my post. The appointed time is coming soon. I can't delay things. It's not like we can't meet in the future. Chang'an is not far from here. If you have anything to do with your studies then, can you ask me? Write here, so stop being childish.”

Xie Lian patted Ji Song's shoulder and comforted him.

Ji Song did not go out again, but went back to the room and drew something on a piece of white cloth. It wasn't until Ji Song's mother called Ji Song to eat outside that he put down the charcoal in his hand, looked at the picture in his hand, and nodded with satisfaction.

"I hope this gift can make Uncle Xie's career smoother." Ji Song said to himself.

This is when Ji Song drew Qu Yuanli in later generations and prepared to give him to Xie Lian as a way of repaying him for his teachings during this period.

It's not that he doesn't want to use it himself, but with his status and age, there is no direct channel to the upper level.

During this time, he learned that Uncle Xie was an old friend of Li Gang, the current Minister of Rites and the Crown Prince, and his father's generation had a close friendship before. This time he came to Chang'an on Li Gang's recommendation.

Otherwise, with the current background of the Xie family in Jiangzuo, they would not be able to send their own family to Chang'an to serve as officials.With such a relationship, this farm weapon could become popular in Datang more quickly.

Ji Song put the white cloth in his arms and came to the lobby. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Ji Song hurriedly took his seat. He was silent during the meal. After all, he did not speak when he ate and slept.

Normally when there were just the mother and son, there was nothing wrong with it, but now that Xie Lian and his wife were here, some etiquette still had to be observed.

After eating the morning meal, Uncle Xie and his wife said goodbye, and Ji's mother tried her best to persuade her to stay. She had always seen Xie Lian's teachings to Ji Song these days. She didn't know how to repay them, so she could only do her best to take care of their meals. In the past few days, I have been eating meat every meal.

Xie Lian could only say that it was the order of the court, and only then did Ji's mother give up her intention of staying.But she packed half the carriage with the unfinished meat and various local products, and finally gave up after Xie's mother's persuasion!
Xie Lian originally wanted to leave some money, but Ji's mother refused to accept it, and Ji Song almost fell out: "What? Uncle Xie, what does this mean? Is your kindness to Song comparable to money? My mother is here for Is money the only thing I can do to entertain you? Are you asking me to be an ungrateful person? Wealth is not a difficult thing for me!"

Under Ji Song's questioning, Xie Lian gave up the idea and could only shake his head helplessly and said: "You treacherous person!"

"Hey! Isn't this what Uncle Xie taught me?" Ji Song was not ashamed, but proud.

"Okay, okay, I can't help you, so I'll leave you those few books. They contain some of my experiences. You can take a good look at them!" Xie Lian finally said.

"Uncle Xie! This is my little wish, please don't refuse." Ji Song handed Xie Lian the white cloth in his arms.

Before Xie Lian could react, he took out some snacks and gave them to Xie Kuan and Xiao Youning and said, "You should listen carefully to your parents. My brother will visit you when he has time."

"The days are long, please uncle Xie and aunt take care of themselves." Ji Song bowed to Xie Lian and said.

Ji Song looked at the leaving carriage and had mixed feelings for a moment. Uncle Xie was one of the people who helped him the most after he came to Datang.

Although Uncle Xie is not a great talent that will go down in history, he is still an elite of this era.He made up for Ji Song's shortcomings in studying alone, and also allowed Ji Song to truly understand the rules of the game in this era.

He broadened his horizons and understood the structure and values ​​of society, which saved him a lot of trouble in the future and allowed him to initially integrate into the scholar-bureaucrat class of this era.

It wasn't until the carriage was no longer visible that Ji Song turned around and returned home. Now that he had the confidence in his heart, he could do some things.

(End of this chapter)