The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 194 The Shock of Documentary Literature

Zeng Jing had no objection to these paintings, and Wang Wenlong had given him enough money, but what embarrassed him was the subsequent pictures Wang Wenlong asked him to draw: a group of beautiful girls sitting in a textile factory, talking and laughing happily while working; beautiful woman is carefully inspecting silk produced in women's textile factory.

It is impossible for female textile workers to wear wide robes and long sleeves when working. They all have to wear narrow clothes to show off their body lines. Their hair must be tied up to avoid getting tangled in the machine, exposing their entire face, and even rolling up their sleeves to expose their arms. .

These paintings, which seemed normal to later generations, were a bit shocking at this time. You must know that women's wrists in this era could not be easily seen by men.

Zeng Jing also painted erotic paintings, but erotic paintings would not be widely displayed to the outside world. Now the master wanted to publish these two paintings widely. He was really worried that the newspapers would cause an uproar after printing them.

Wang Wenlong said with a smile: "Bochen has just acquired his skills and hasn't had many opportunities to display them yet. After these two paintings are completed, you will definitely become popular, and people who ask you for paintings will probably have to cross the threshold. How can it not be a good thing?"

Zeng Jing thought about it but still shook his head hesitantly. He always has a chance to become famous, but if he is involved in this matter, he will be criticized by thousands of people.

"Master, I would rather not have this name..."

No matter how unwilling Zeng Jing was, Wang Wenlong could only do the next best thing and said: "Then don't sign, you will always help me this time."

Zeng Jing then nodded in agreement.

These paintings had to be collected from all over the place. When Zeng Jing was in Fuzhou City, he first made two portraits of female workers in textile factories.

You Sicun was also good at calligraphy and painting. He heard that the characters painted by Zeng Jing were very similar, so he watched from behind while Zeng Jing was painting.

But when you saw Zeng Jing's brush gradually outlining the finished product, You Sicun couldn't help but feel his ears warm.

There is no way, the defense between men and women in this era is too serious, and there are very few depictions of the female body in works of art. Tang Bohu's beauty is famous all over the world and many collectors can't put it down, but in fact, the figures in the paintings only reveal their heads, necks and hands. The female workers painted by Zeng Jing based on real scenes are wearing narrow clothes and long skirts, which can show their figure, and their appearance is extremely real.

Wang Wenlong said to Zeng Jing from the side: "We must paint the female workers in a healthy, natural, and generous manner."

Zeng Jing nodded: "I will do my best."

The paintings that could be published in newspapers were only about the size of a palm, which were considered small paintings at this time and required the skill of meticulous painting. Zeng Jing completed both paintings in just two days despite his meticulous painting.

When Zeng gave it to Wang Wenlong, Zeng Jing said in advance: "If I log in like this, I'm afraid it will attract a lot of discussion."

The effect of his meticulous paintings is too real, and they are beautified according to Wang Wenlong's requirements. Above the picture are a group of beauties weaving cloth. They say it is an interview but it is actually propaganda. They are more beautiful than the seven fairies in the New Year paintings.

Wang Wenlong smiled and said: "I wrote that article, and I am also the editor-in-chief of Xundao. I am not afraid of it. What are you afraid of?"

Zeng Jing also laughed: "This is what you said, Master. I will only paint the few paintings that Master asked for. I will not care about the follow-up matters." In fact, Zeng Jing himself was quite satisfied with these works. In the past, the figures he painted were all sitting and standing stiffly, with dull expressions on their faces. However, these paintings already have a sketch style, showing a dynamic beauty, which allowed Zeng Jing to broaden his painting ideas.

Wang Wenlong immediately asked the workers in his workshop to start engraving. A few days later, he took the template to the editorial department. The finished product was so good that the staff of the "Xun Bao" stared at the pretty woman on the screen. The smiling faces were all dumbfounded.

……

Although the weather in Fujian this year has been bad and suffered from droughts and earthquakes, the people can barely survive due to the promotion of new crops. As the provincial capital, Fuzhou's life in the city is almost unaffected, and the market is even more prosperous because of the prosperity of maritime trade.

Many wandering children spend their leisurely time wandering around without knowing whether the world is going up or down. They just walk around the streets every day, looking for some novelties.

At the foot of Pingshan Mountain, there is Yueshan Academy.

After classes were over on the tenth day, the students in the academy packed up their things and went home.

"Dear gentlemen, there is a new "Xun Bao" published." A scholar who broke into the library waited for everyone to finish class and came to sell newspapers with a book box in his hands.

Yueshan Academy is just outside the city of Fuzhou. The students who study here are all the children of wealthy families in the city. Many of them have money to spare and they like to read newspapers the most.

Wang Zucai heard this and quickly said to his book boy: "Go and buy a copy of "Xun Bao" quickly."

After a while, the newspaper was brought back. Wang Zucai spread it out and began to read it eagerly. He stood in front of the academy door and read the newspaper. Not long after, his friend Zhou Yunsheng also walked out of the courtyard with the book boy. When he found Wang Zucai, he curiously asked: "This issue Is there any news in the Xunbao?"

Wang Zucai had already entered a sluggish state. It took him a long time to react. With a sad and angry look on his face, he handed the newspaper to Zhou Yunsheng: "Friend Zhou, be sure to read the front page article first!"

Similar to Wang Zucai and Zhou Yunsheng, many people showed expressions of sadness and indignation when they saw the large-scale report on the drowning of women on the front page.

"How dare you commit such evil deeds when the sun is shining brightly?"

"This baby girl is so pitiful."

"These parents should all be exiled!"       "Although I knew that there were people who doted on their daughters in the village before, how did I know that the situation would be so serious?"

……

Wang Zucai and Zhou Yunsheng read the newspaper together, and it was difficult to take their eyes away from the news print for a long time.

The baby on the print is as beautiful as a golden boy sitting with a Bodhisattva, with pink skin and clear eyes, but he is abandoned in the wilderness to wait for death.

The composition of Zeng Jing's paintings is extremely impactful and makes people feel extremely distressed just by looking at it.

And reading the newspaper article carefully makes people feel even more depressed.

"No wonder Mr. Jingguan wrote the article himself. It's such a human tragedy!"

Wang Wenlong's description of the process of abandoning the baby and the various behaviors of parents abusing the baby girl is explicit and straightforward. The detailed description makes it unbearable to watch the parents kill a lovely baby.

After describing the drowning of babies, Wang Wenlong extended it from individual phenomena to the severity of drowning of girls, “According to the author’s investigation, there are 24 baby towers in nine counties under the jurisdiction of Fuzhou Prefecture. If three days are full, a rough calculation shows that no less than three hundred babies are drowned in one month. Probably one of the babies encountered in this picture every hour, and in Fujian Province, the number is even more astonishing."

The students of Yueshan Academy were at least middle-class, and they were the main class that opposed the bad habit of doting on girls. They had a strong conscience, and Zhou Yunsheng and Wang Zucai were heartbroken to see them.

Wang Wenlong's writing style is very cold, and there is not much outcry. He just uses numbers and tragic descriptions to describe things straightforwardly. Finally, Wang Wenlong said that doting on daughters has also caused many social problems. In areas where domination of daughters is serious, the proportion of adult men unable to marry is also the highest. Moreover, mothers often have huge problems with their children's education - in such areas, women's status in the family is naturally lower.

Wang Wenlong's brushstrokes are objective and cold, which makes people feel like their hearts are being pierced by a knife, as if they are watching the current situation getting worse day by day but there is nothing they can do about it.

Until the end: "The fierce daughter Hu of Putian ran a women's textile factory and produced Xiangfei silk in order to save the daughters. She had no choice but to do so. Mrs. Hu said: If the women are not given a livelihood, there will be no solution to the trend of drowning women."

Wang Wenlong gave a preliminary solution, which seemed to give people a glimmer of hope.

Zhou Yunsheng sighed: "Mr. Jingguan really speaks out for justice."

Wang Zucai nodded in admiration: "How could a man like Mr. Jianyang dare to say this if he didn't have a great man like Mr. Jianyang to let women go out to work?"

"Does my friend Zhou dare to use silk produced by women?"

"Why don't you dare? As Mr. Jianyang said, my mother is a woman and my wife is a woman. Aren't all the textiles in the world produced by women?"

"I also deeply believe this. I am afraid that if I buy that Xiangfei gauze, I will be laughed at by the busybody..."

The technique of documentary literature is indeed powerful. Many scholars at the gate of Yueshan Academy who came into contact with this kind of article for the first time were deeply moved.

They often went to brothels and restaurants without following the rules of etiquette, and did not agree with the old-fashioned ideas of their elders. At this time, Zhou Yunsheng, indignant, simply said: "I want to buy the Xiangfei gauze, can any of my comrades go with me?"

"I'll go with my friend Zhou!"

"I also need to go!"

Many scholars responded enthusiastically, but some were afraid that if they bought this thing back home, they would be lectured by their elders and dare not follow it.

In Wang Wenlong's first report, he had already pulled out the Hu family and specified the location of the shops and factories in Hengjin Lane. Zhou Yunsheng and others were originally from Fuzhou, so they quickly followed the location in the newspaper. In front of the store.

Zhou Yunsheng and Wang Zucai discovered that the sales staff in the store were also female. Wang Wenlong had already considered the gender of the sales staff, and finally found that if it was a female factory using male sales staff, it would definitely cause more criticism.

Although the two of them had some hesitation in their hearts, they rushed in as soon as they got excited due to the fierce public sentiment.

It was also the first day for the saleswomen in the store, and many of them were still a little shy. However, with the spread of the "Xun Bao", many people came to the store to buy cloth, and these women gradually became familiar with the work. .

The Women's Textile Factory has a well-known name, but the products it produces are actually only mid-range, and the patterns are not too complicated. Fortunately, Wang Wenlong uses new machines and the production efficiency is higher, so the quality inspection can also be stricter, and the patterns are not complicated. The quality of the products put on the shelves after screening out all the good ones is much more guaranteed than the middling products on the market at this time.

Wang Zucai's family was wealthy, so he was so excited that he bought three bolts of silk and three bolts of floral cloth, and asked his boy to find a porter to take them home.

When returning home, Wang Zucai felt scared and asked the book boy to take the people through the small door first to put the goods away, while he went home through the main door.

When his father Wang Yude saw Wang Zucai sneaking into the room against the wall, he frowned and said, "How long has it been since class ended? Why did you come back just now?"

"I went to the city with some friends to buy some things." Wang Zucai was very afraid of his father. He was so lively outside just now, but he turned into a loach when he came home.

(End of this chapter)