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

Chapter 63 It’s become common practice
My wife was speechless after what Chen Baoyi said. Chen Baoyi asked again: "Where is my son?"

My wife replied: "I have gone to grind rice for Mr. Ye's family."

Chen Baoyi nodded and walked out. His wife quickly asked, "Where are you going again?"

Chen Baoyi said: "Nosy, I happened to go to Mr. Ye's house to borrow seeds. The imperial court distributed potato seeds and sugarcane seeds before. No one in our village went to get them, so only Mr. Ye's house planted them. You and your wife took out the millet and pounded it. Tomorrow morning my son and I will come back and have a meal before planting vegetables and melons. Li Xiangong said in the painting, be quick!"

In previous years, after the autumn harvest rice is stored in the barn, Quanzhou Prefecture enters the off-farm season. Some rural areas close to the city will grow some winter melons and white radish to sell in the city, while people in villages slightly farther away from the city may prepare to go to the city to work. They worked as corvees, or went to the mountains to cut firewood and hunt to supplement the family income.

But this year, the people of Quanzhou are obviously much busier.

Almost all the farmers who went to see the ashram on the same day after the propaganda at Hokke-an started planting melons and vegetables.

In the tense atmosphere of the impending food shortage, the farmers who had not gone suddenly saw that their neighbors had begun to plant vegetables, and pictures of the melon and vegetable fairy were posted on their homes. When they asked, they heard that it was Li Xiangong of Fahua Temple who told them that this There are many ways to survive the famine. These farmers seemed to have found a way to relieve stress and hurriedly learned.

So it seems that with the endorsement of gods, growing vegetables has changed from a simple productive labor to a religious behavior. As long as you grow vegetables, you can be protected by gods and survive the famine.

So more and more farmers began to grow vegetables.

The sugarcane seeds and potato seeds provided by Xu Xueju were all uniformly prepared and could not be sent out at first, but since the Fahua Temple, the supply has actually exceeded demand.

The more people competed for it, the more precious it became to the people, and eventually it became a scramble. Those who had potatoes would plant potatoes, and those who had sugar cane would plant sugar cane. If they didn't have any, they would plant winter melons and radishes.

Even the sacrifice of melon and vegetable immortals quickly developed corresponding folk rituals. Quanzhou farmers put mimeographed images of immortals on the places where they put their farm tools. They had to bow before starting work and when they returned home after planting vegetables, as if this was the end of the day. ceremony.

Then it was spread among the people that the melon and vegetable fairy likes vegetables that grow in winter the most. As long as you offer freshly picked potatoes, radishes, etc. to the melon and vegetable fairy's table when receiving the goods, you can get the immortal's blessing.

This ritualistic process coupled with simple sacrificial methods quickly spread to Quanzhou and spread to surrounding state capitals.

The more severe the drought, the easier it is for people to accept this belief.

Zhangzhou Prefecture, which was second only to Quanzhou in the degree of disaster, was also affected by this new belief. The people tried every means to get melons and vegetables to worship the immortals, and at the same time they began to learn to grow winter vegetables.

At this time, in Haicheng County, Zhangzhou, Zhou Qiyuan, a scholar in the county school, found Chen Yangmei, who had just returned from a trip to Quanzhou.

Zhou Qiyuan comes from a poor family but is quite talented. He is about to turn 30 this year and is studying hard in school to prepare for next year's provincial examination.

At this time, Zhou Qiyuan looked at the melon and vegetable leaflet brought back by Chen Yangmei, and the more he looked at it, the more he frowned.

"This is clearly a missionary! In the year of great calamity, he did this and made the people superstitious and follow him. The mastermind behind it is so bold!"

Although Chen Yangmei was far less knowledgeable than Zhou Qiyuan in imperial examinations, he often traveled because of his talent.

Zhou Qiyuan raised his head and looked at Chen Yangmei: "Brother Xian, does he know who made this pusher?"

Chen Yangmei smiled and said: "Brother Zhou, there is no need to be too indignant. The person behind this matter is also a member of our Confucian sect. The intention is excellent."

Zhou Qiyuan asked: "Brother Xian, do you know the details?"

Chen Yangmei nodded and showed off to Zhou Qiyuan with a profound look on her face: "Brother, please turn the leaflet to the last page first."

The stack of leaflets brought back by Chen Yangmei was very thick. Zhou Qiyuan flipped through the front pages, which contained a large amount of content promoting various gods in Guacaidai, and saw that the last few pages contained serious transcripts from the imperial palace.

This was exactly what Wang Wenlong suggested Xu Xuedu to disseminate in leaflets about the disasters in various places, including reports on the disasters in the north and south, the disaster relief situation around the world, and the general lack of rain in Fujian this year.

In fact, a disaster year of this level would only occur once every ten to twenty years in the Ming Dynasty. However, ordinary scholars in a corner of the Ming Dynasty did not even know that so many places in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty would be affected by disasters at the same time under the conditions of information exchange at this time.

Although people with connections in this era could read the Di Bao, such detailed statistics on relevant content were beyond the reach of those with extremely high resources. Ordinary scholars like Zhou Qiyuan had never seen this stuff before.

It was the first time for Zhou Qiyuan to read this kind of content that summarized the disasters in various places in the north and south. Looking at the page full of disaster reports from various places, and the amount of food relief that easily amounted to 10,000+ stone, Zhou Qiyuan was dumbfounded when he read the disaster briefing for the first time. Yes, I subconsciously enlarged the level of the disaster by several amounts in my mind.

“Don’t you think famines in various places will be so severe this year?”

Although Chen Yangmei's family is rich, he is just a country gentry. In terms of experience and vision, he is on the same level as Zhou Qiyuan.

He was also shocked when he was prompted to read the contents of the newspaper here before, but now he was happy to show off his knowledge in front of his brothers.

He seemed to have an insight into the situation and said: "This year, the drought in Zhangquan and Quanzhou is serious, but the disaster-stricken area in the Ming Dynasty is not this one. The imperial court is still sending troops to Bozhou, and there is no time to help Fujian. Even in Fujian, Zhangquan is not the only one affected. .”

"The food harvest in Fujian this year is generally insufficient. The people in Zhangquan cannot get relief locally. If they flee the famine, I am afraid that the whole Fujian will not have enough to eat. Wang Wenlong, the supervising student, can only offer melons and vegetables as a substitute."

"Now there are people growing vegetables in every village outside Quanzhou Prefecture. I think it will definitely help with disaster relief."

After being shocked by the number of disasters and hearing Wang Wenlong's solutions, Zhou Qiyuan already admired Wang Wenlong: "So, this Wang Wenlong has really done a good thing for the people. I don't want me to blame a good person."

Chen Yangmei smiled and said: "I also have an inside story. The story of the melon and vegetable fairy was actually compiled by Wang Wenlong based on his own experience. Quanzhou scholars who had met Wang Wenlong said that the melon and vegetable fairy looked very similar to Wang Wenlong. "

Zhou Qiyuan laughed when he heard this and said: "I just said that I have never heard of this god. This Wang Jiansheng is also an interesting person."

If Wang Wenlong heard what Chen Yangmei said next, he would definitely be angry. The Guacai Immortal was painted by Xu Xueju's painter according to the template of an ordinary immortal, and it has nothing to do with him.

And because the printing quality is so poor, if the original version of Guacai Xian is pretty, the facial features of the mimeographed version of Guacai Xian can only be said to have begun to take on a human form. No matter how long he grows, Wang Wenlong will not be able to develop such virtues.Isn't this a curse?

……

Wang Wenlong did not actively promote himself during this operation, but his achievements quickly spread.

The process of Wang Wenlong presiding over the Guacai Dai involves too many people. Ordinary farmers may not know the inside story, but among the educated class with a little knowledge, it is impossible to hide his identity. As the belief in the Guacai Immortal spreads, the literati also I am willing to tell Wang Wenlong's story to highlight my own knowledge.

The story is passed down and develops in outrageous directions, making Wang Wenlong's story even more legendary.

With the spread of Guacaidai, Wang Wenlong's reputation is becoming more and more famous in Fujian.

(End of this chapter)