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

Chapter 70 The sound of wind and rain
After introducing their new friend Li Guoxian, everyone sat down and began to discuss their recent experiences in studying Buddhism.

Wu Wenxiang smiled and said, "This is the Heart Sutra I copied recently."

Wang Xinqi took out the statue of Guanyin she painted.

It was Li Guoxian's turn. She stood up in front of everyone shyly: "I wrote a Zen poem after reading Buddhist scriptures."

Li Guoxian read out a poem he had written in a low voice. After reading it, he looked at everyone in fear for fear of being laughed at, but he quickly won the support of many women.

Li Guoxian breathed a sigh of relief.

Every woman regards this as handing in homework in a social setting. Li Guoxian even prepared for it three days in advance and even went to Li Dan's staff to ask about the rules. Finally, he did not lose face.

After the performance, she finally began to enjoy such social occasions.

After a lot of display, it was finally Wu Wenxiang’s sister-in-law Cao Hui’s turn.

Cao Hui said with a smile: "I don't have time to write every day like other sisters. I wanted to copy a copy of the Lankavatara Sutra half a month ago, but I haven't finished it yet."

She is married and has to take care of her family every day. This time she is just here to entertain her sisters-in-law.

Cao Hui smiled and said, "I'll just talk about a Buddhist pair that I've heard in the past two days."

Wu Wenxiang said at that time, "My sister-in-law is very bullying, so she sent us away with a pair of tricks she heard from outside."

Cao Hui rolled his eyes at her, "Sister, you really have a sharp tongue... This couplet is so well written. After listening to it, you will know that I can earn some credit in the hands of several grandmothers even if I am just a messenger. How can I call it a boss?" Has anyone been sent away?"

The fair and fat girl Wang Xinqi smiled and said: "Let's talk about it first. If the time comes, I will let you pass. If you don't get it right, you will have to take another one to pass."

Someone else asked: "Who wrote this couplet?"

Cao Hui: "You must have heard of the author, who is the melon and vegetable immortal Wang Wenlong."

Wu Wenxiang was curious: "He can also write pairs?"

Sun Tong, who knew the inside story, said with a smile: "He is a great talent. His "History of Portugal" is very expensive in Luoyang in Fuzhou."

"Don't quarrel, don't quarrel, watch me write this couplet," Cao Hui took up his pen and wrote the couplet in very graceful handwriting on the fragrant flower paper: Who is in charge of the clouds and mountains on all sides? I am confused and don't know. Zong.

Several women came over to take a look and savored it for a while. Wang Xinqi blinked: "Is this a good pair?"

Cao Hui was also a famous talented woman in Fuzhou. She smiled and explained to the sisters:

"This couplet is adapted from a poem by Zhu Wan of the Tang Dynasty, 'Who is the master of the clouds and mountains on all sides? Several houses of fireworks are neighbors.' Only the first sentence is used, and the second sentence is added and changed into a new one."

"It was originally a sentence describing a scene, but when he changed it, it became deeply Zen-like."

"The world of mortals is like clouds and mist, and people don't know what is real and what is illusion in the clouds. Although Buddhists see through the illusions in this world, they also exist in the world of mortals. It is inevitable that they will be divided into sects, but how can they explain clearly? Which sect is responsible for ferrying people to that paradise?"

"This couplet is very Zen-like. What's even more rare is that he used the original sentence from the Tang Dynasty but completely changed the meaning of the original poem with just the next sentence. It's a show off." Cao Hui said with tears in his eyes. Guangcai came, obviously appreciating the author's talent: "At the same time, the work is even better than the original sentence. Can you tell me whether this couplet is wonderful?"

A group of women thought about these two couplets. The more they read, the more they realized that the couplets had a profound aftertaste and were full of Zen spirit.

Li Guoxian on the side looked at the couple but couldn't help laughing, thinking that Wang Wenlong had just escaped from Gao Yin's mansion two months ago, when did he write such a thing again?

Everyone praised it, and Cao Hui continued: "I also heard a couplet he gave to the academy. You can read it again."

She picked up the pen and wrote another couplet on the paper: The sound of wind and rain and the sound of reading filled her ears; she cared about everything, family affairs, state affairs, and world affairs.

All the ladies in the boudoir were surprised again when they saw this couplet.

If that sentence of ruthlessness is about showing off one's skills and requires some explanation to see the beauty of it, then the threshold for appreciation of the couplet in front of you is much lower. The language of this couplet is simple, but the content is profound and meaningful, making people appreciate it at a glance. Imprinted in the heart.

The women only looked at this couplet and instantly imagined in their minds the image of a scholar who lived in a thatched cottage but had the world in mind.Those are Liu Yuxi in the inscription of the humble house, Zhuge Liang who works hard in Nanyang, and Du Gongbu who lives in a dilapidated house but cares about the poor people in the world.

Although he is just a student with no power, he wants to influence the situation of the world and create peace for all generations.

"What a heroic spirit from Leile!" Miss Sun couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration.

Wang Xinqi nodded: "To be able to write such a sentence, Mr. Wang must be a man with the world in mind."

Sun Tong said: "I really want to meet such a good man."

Wu Wenxiang, who was on the side, laughed out loud: "Isn't Miss Sun's heart moved?"

Sun Tong's face immediately turned red, "Sister is talking nonsense. I also said that my sister's love is true. I'm trying to cover it up."

"No!"

"There is."

A group of women started to fight.

But as he listened to several people making jokes related to Wang Wenlong, and increasingly directing them toward men and women, Li Guoxian gradually stopped laughing.

She knew that her father was already looking for a wife for her. The more people talked about Wang Wenlong's marriage, the heavier her heart became.

……

In the study, Xu Xinggong turned over the manuscript written by Wang Wenlong. While reading, he asked: "There is another civil uprising in Hanyang, Wuchang. What do you plan to do, sir?"

Wang Wenlong shook his head and said: "The feudal lord also asked me about this. I can only suggest that the disaster in Fujian should be handled well without being distracted."

Xu Xinggong asked: "Why don't you write a letter to remonstrate?"

Wang Wenlong said: "First it was Li Dao from Hukou, and then Chen Feng from Huguang. The whole world was talking fiercely. Even the bachelors, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, and the Imperial Academy have given the above advice. Is there any response from the emperor today? Lord Fantai will join in the fun again. , what’s the use?”

After hearing this, Xu Xinggong thought for a while and reluctantly agreed with Wang Wenlong's point of view.

In December, the eunuch taxation once again caused civil unrest, and it became more serious.

There may be some debate about who is right and who is wrong between Wanli and the civil servants, but the trouble caused to the people by sending eunuchs to collect taxes during the Wanli period has been recorded in the history of almost all walks of life, from high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty to small businessmen who only know how to settle accounts. Among the people, no one except the eunuchs and their minions would praise this policy.

Even when Wei Zhongxian took power later, he did not dare to clean up this matter, just because this matter was too excessive, and there was really no interest group that could help clean up the matter.

If you want to know how exaggerated this group of eunuchs is, you can see it from these two civil uprisings.

The civil uprising in Huguang began in Xingguo Mansion. In October, the Xingguo government caught a group of tomb robbers. They confessed that they had dug up the tomb of Mrs. Li Linfu, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and obtained a large amount of gold and silver.

Chen Feng, the eunuch who caused a civil uprising in Jingzhou a few months ago, learned that such a tomb robbing incident had occurred in Xingguo and that the gold and silver obtained was large, so he immediately ordered the local government to seize the gold and silver and report it to Emperor Wanli.

The actions of Li Linfu, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, were too similar to Zhang Juzheng, so the officials at this time had a one-sided critical attitude towards Li Linfu.

There is no concept of cultural relic protection these days. People in the Ming Dynasty think that the family of his treacherous official is worthy of building a tomb?It was just a matter of digging his wife's grave.

So Emperor Wanli's cunning operation came. He ordered Chen Feng to put these funerary objects into the inner treasury and directly swallowed the proceeds from other people's tomb robbing.

The more serious consequence was that Chen Feng was praised by Wanli and thus found a new way to win the emperor's favor. He ordered his minions to dig up all the ancient tombs in Huguang and send the treasures to the inner treasury.

So this group of tax officials began to dig up people's ancestral graves all over Huguang...

(End of this chapter)