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

Ten days later, "Suzhou Xunbao" issued a relevant report. The report described in detail the value of the oracle bone excavations in Anyang, Henan, and the situation that the Oracle Bone Society was unable to make ends meet and had a large number of precious oracle bones that could not be preserved.

The newspaper stated that although Wang Wenlong and many teachers and students in Jiangnan donated money to support the excavation of oracle bones, the money could not last long. The main reason was that the court did not provide support, and all the manpower and material resources for the excavation needed to be mobilized privately. There was only investment but no output. It is simply a bottomless pit, and even the literati involved in the excavation may be accused of violating relevant regulations.

The relevant report of "Suzhou Xun Bao" devoted three pages to introducing the beginning and end of the oracle bone excavation work in Anyang, Henan, and even the research results of some oracle bone societies. For the first time, this major discovery of oracle bone inscriptions was visually presented in Jiangnan. in front of readers.

Wang Wenlong wrote an editorial under his real name and stated clearly: "The epigraphy studied by the predecessors was only a study of two or three unearthed artifacts. It can be considered as a result of interest. However, the number of oracle bones is close to 10,000 pieces. In terms of writing, One hundred thousand, and they all originated from the same period, and can almost certainly be artifacts of the merchant royal family. It is difficult to write characters in ancient times, and the number of oracle bones gathered in Anyang is not a bad idea. It is not impossible to say that it is a classic compiled by the officials of the Shang Dynasty. These historical materials should be obtained by The imperial court attaches great importance to and protects them! Moreover, oracle bones are fragile and difficult to preserve, so any rubbings or handling must be done carefully. In order to protect the ancient documents, the opinions of the members of the Oracle Bone Society should be considered, whether to study the repair and storage of local houses in Anyang, or carefully consider transporting them. Method? If all the oracle bones are transported to the capital for sorting and sorting out as the official method of compiling history in the past, there will inevitably be losses on the way..."

The discovery of Anyang oracle bones is a major news that has been circulating among scholars and officials throughout the Ming Dynasty in recent years. However, the scope of this matter has been limited to the higher-level scholar class who have access to epigraphy. Ordinary people Many people still don't know anything about Oracle.

This series of reports in the "Suzhou Xunbao" was the first time that Oracle was introduced to the people of Jiangnan, and it quickly caused a sensation.

Not only the literate group, but also ordinary people also heard news about oracle bone inscriptions through a large number of live newsstands. For the first time, they learned that ancient documents from the pre-Shang period had been unearthed in Anyang, Henan, and they knew that these documents were too early. At that time, even Paper did not appear, so it could only be engraved on the oracle bones. Many of the contents on them are still unrecognizable. However, due to the lack of financial resources of the literati and the indifference of the government, these excavated oracle bones are in very danger. situation. After hearing such news, everyone became nervous instantly.

Whether they were literati, scholars, gentry officials, or even illiterate small farmers and businessmen, they all responded enthusiastically, hoping that the court would protect these oracle bones as soon as possible.

Chinese culture has respected culture and education since ancient times, and has a tradition of cherishing writing paper. Even illiterate beggars know that paper with writing on it cannot be used to wipe dirt. That is insulting the saints.

But now there are hundreds of thousands of ancient characters recorded by ancient people in Anyang, but only some literati are trying to protect them. This situation is obviously unacceptable even to the lowest level of the people.

This report spread quickly to the north and south after being issued from the place where literati gathered in the south of the Yangtze River. It aroused strong reactions from literati in Huguang in the south and Guanzhong, Jingshi, Shandong, Henan, and Hebei in the north.

The first reaction of everyone was almost unanimously to criticize Fang Damei for his poor management of the local area: the birth of such a precious thing as oracle bones should have been reported to the superiors long ago, and people should not ignore the destruction of oracle bones. The situation is so bad, he, the governor of Henan What to eat?
Then the Donglin Party members, who responded most quickly to public opinion, followed suit. A large number of Donglin officials came to Shu hoping to protect the oracle bones, and by the way, they targeted Zhejiang Party officials.

Donglin officials thought that Ye Xianggao had already asked Emperor Shu to protect the Anyang oracle bones. At that time, Shen Yiguan, the leader of the Zhejiang Party, said that now is the time when employment is tight, and there is really no manpower to protect the oracle bones, so that they will The rules for protecting oracle bones have been pressed. If cultural relics are lost now, in addition to blaming Fang Damei, Shen Yiguan should also be blamed.

Shen Guanyin did not dare to confront the fierce discussion. He first defended himself and said that it was really because the court was short of officials that it was difficult to cover everything. Then he joined forces with Zhejiang Party Minister Shangshu to demand that the quota of officials be filled.

Even Emperor Wanli had to react. On the one hand, he reprimanded Fang Damei, and on the other hand, he explicitly asked the cabinet to send someone to understand the situation.

Kaifeng Mansion, Henan, in Fang Damei's official residence. Fang Damei frowned and said to Fang Dazhen beside her: "Tongye, no matter how hard it is, I never expected that this spearhead would come to me. I was asked to take charge of the oracle bone excavation in Anyang Mansion. I took on two positions and came up with Kaifeng Mansion. It’s difficult, can you manage it?”

Fang Daxuan on the side said: "This is an unforeseen disaster."

Fang Dazhen, Fang Daxuan and Fang Damei are all Anqing natives and are distant brothers of the same generation. Fang Dazhen was awarded Jinshi two years after Fang Damei, while Fang Daxuan is Fang Dazhen's younger brother and is now just a candidate.

Hearing this, Fang Dazhen said: "I think this is all the Donglin Party in the south of the Yangtze River intending to persecute people, and Wang Wenlong is the leader, dedicated to instigating trouble. When I return to Anqing this time, I will definitely find Wang Wenlong to argue for you. theory."

Fang Dazhen was younger than Fang Damei, but he hated evil even more. In the 17th year of Wanli, Fang Dazhen became a Jinshi and released the Daming Mansion officials. As soon as he took office, he began to redress unjust cases. The lives of more than a hundred people were lost, and a large number of powerful people were offended. The rich and powerful local people wanted him to leave, so Fang Dazhen was quickly promoted to censor.

It's a pity that Fang Dazhen offended too many people and was promoted to the position of censor not long after that. He was always annoyed. In anger, Fang Dazhen simply asked for sick leave and returned to his hometown. He has taken leave for fifteen years now.

Fang Dazhen's character is jealous of evil. He feels that Wang Wenlong is trying to trick people and has a very bad impression of him.

On the contrary, Fang Damei, the owner of the project, defended Wang Wenlong after hearing this and said: "Wang Jianyang also wanted to protect the oracle bones. If he hadn't pushed us hard, we would not have known that the oracle bones found in Anyang were of such value and that the protection situation was so difficult."

Fang Dazhen said angrily: "Huang Zhong, you are so crazy! Someone is hurting you, and you still speak for him."

"Tong Ye's words are serious," Fang Damei shook her head and said: "I also want to protect the oracle bones, but I need to communicate with Wang Wenlong and others. Henan Province has also suffered from famine this year. How much money is left for protection? I beg him to understand my difficulties and stop attacking me as a patrol officer."

"If you say this, people will only bully you more," Fang Dazhen said with a sneer: "When I go to Jiangnan this time, I will go to Wang Wenlong first. If he refuses to stop, I will also have a fight with him in Nanjing. Let’s see who can scold whom!”

The three of them are all from Anqing Prefecture in Nanjing. They all came from the Fang family in Tongcheng. Jiangnan is definitely their home ground. Moreover, Anqing Prefecture is the leading imperial examination house in these years. In the early years of Wanli alone, it has produced twenty-eight Jinshi, almost all of them. Tangled branches and vines, if Fang Dazhen uses his connections, he can really cause trouble with Wang Wenlong in Jiangnan.

(End of this chapter)