Linxia

Chapter 108, Laba

After seeing off his uncle Fang Boxian and his entourage, Fang Lin's family was in low spirits for a few days, but they still had to go on with their lives as usual.

In the past, he had to adjust his days off and take leave in the store due to various reasons. Now that he has settled down, he has paid back the adjusted days off and made up for the leave.

In Xuan Mo Zhai, everything is just like before.

Every morning, I would stroll along the school route with Manager Liu to exercise. Sometimes I would run into Xu Xianwen, the son of Xu Kuo Lao. This kid wouldn't call me "Brother Fang", but would deliberately call me "Uncle Fang", say hello, and then run away. Perhaps he still remembered that he didn't explain to his teacher that day, and was deliberately taking revenge?
In the evening, I would stroll around the teahouse alone. When I had free time, I would copy books, study the Four Books and Five Classics, and try to write eight-part essays. I would go back every three to five days.

The days are regular and fulfilling.

As time goes by and the Great Cold solar term approaches, the weather is getting colder and colder.

It was the eighth day of the twelfth month and also the coldest day of the year. Snowflakes were falling from the sky outside. The braziers in the store were lit and everyone was wearing cotton-padded clothes and making fire to keep warm.

Shopkeeper Liu's wife, Liu Min, prepared Laba porridge, which contained peanuts, soybeans, mung beans, and red dates... As usual, each person had a small bowl, no more.

However, Fang Lin, Huang Di, and Chai Yiwei were already satisfied. It was good enough to have something to eat. Why were they so picky? Besides, Old Lady Liu's cooking skills were not bad, and the food she made was delicious.

In this kind of weather, there are not many customers in the store.

Shopkeeper Liu was in a good mood as he looked at the snow outside the window. He started talking: "Now we are enjoying a good life. The people of Daxia have cotton-padded clothes to wear. If we count the people in the past, during the Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, how could the people have such treatment?"

"Boss, please tell me!" Fang Lin said as he took a sip of Laba porridge. It tasted sweet and when it entered his stomach, he felt warm from head to toe.

"Yes!" Huang Di and Chai Yiwei also came over to listen. This was something new that they had never heard of before.

"Cotton has existed since the Qin Dynasty, as far as records go. At that time, people did not realize it, nor did they have the ability to make it into clothes or quilts..."

"What did people wear when it was cold in the past?" Huang Di asked curiously.

"That's a good question."

Shopkeeper Liu took a mouthful of Laba porridge, sipped the flavor like tasting tea, and said slowly after swallowing it: "Rich families have sable furs and so on, while ordinary people can only wear linen and hemp clothes. At night, rich families stuffed some animal hair into their linen quilts; ordinary people just stuffed some dry grass and leaves inside, which is also called a mattress. You can imagine how effective this mattress is in keeping out the cold. At that time, in the cold winter, encountering such weather, large numbers of people would freeze to death..."

"The cloth quilt has been cold as iron for many years, and the naughty child stepped on it and tore it." Fang Lin suddenly thought of this poem and sighed.

"Yes, this is a poem by the great poet Du Fu."

Shopkeeper Liu looked at Fang Lin with appreciation and explained, "The so-called cloth quilt is actually a quilt made of linen. This kind of thing is not very warm, especially after a few years of use, it becomes cold and hard like iron... So, before our Great Summer, the common people's winter was like going through the gates of hell."

"Then why can we, the people of Daxia, have cotton-padded clothes and quilts?" Chai Yiwei asked.

"Don't be impatient, just listen to me."

Shopkeeper Liu told the story: "During the Song Dynasty, cotton clothing and quilt making technology had already appeared, and cotton was also planted in large quantities, but it was far from popular. Only the rich could enjoy it. That is our Taizu, who rose from humble beginnings and suffered too much, and had a deep understanding of hunger and cold. After the founding of the country, he issued an edict: All people with five to ten acres of land should plant half an acre of mulberry, hemp, and kapok, and those with more than ten acres should double the amount...

That is to say, with sufficient cotton supply, people can have cotton clothes to wear and quilts to cover themselves with, and when encountering severe cold weather, the number of people freezing to death is greatly reduced.

At this point, we have to say that our Great Xia has suffered many disasters, not only the severe cold in winter, but also droughts, floods and other disasters. Taizu set up reserve warehouses for this purpose, so that ordinary people can survive when disasters occur..."

Fang Lin was drinking Laba porridge and listening with great interest.

Outside the window, snowflakes are falling one by one, quietly and silently, talking, and time just passes by.

……

After lunch, the snow outside got a little heavier and there were even fewer customers in the store. Today was Laba Festival, so Manager Liu simply closed the store and gave them the whole afternoon off.

Fang Lin left Xuan Mo Zhai, thought for a while, and did not go back. He went out of the city to check out the feces business. Coincidentally, Dong Zugao was also there.

"It's snowing today, and I'm tired of studying, so I came out to take a look. I'm really lucky to meet Brother Fang here."

Dong Zugao pulled Fang Lin in to sit down and poured him a cup of tea. "I was just about to tell Brother Fang that our feces business has expanded, and the net profit this month is sixty taels."

"So many? Brother Dong is a great businessman, and I am really benefiting from it."

"No, Brother Fang's idea is still good. To be honest, Brother Fang, I was a little uncomfortable with this business at the beginning, but now I know the advantage, which is that it does not attract attention."

Dong Zugao said, "No one has ever integrated what we do before. Even now, the hired dung men, hired dung merchants, and people who buy dung from the villages below are afraid that we will lose money and stop doing it. The same is true for the government. People look down on this dishonorable business, which costs basically nothing to run. If they don't look at the account books, it's hard for outsiders to imagine that we are making so much money. I keep it secret outside and create the illusion that we are only making a small profit. Brother Fang can also cooperate..."

"I understand. Don't show off your wealth!"

Fang Lin smiled and nodded, saying something: "I met Brother Dong, and I just happened to ask Brother Dong for help with something. It's the end of the year, and there will be a Tongsheng exam in February next year... I wanted to ask Brother Dong to take a look at my level. If it's not far behind, I plan to give it a try. If I'm far behind, I won't waste my time."

The county examination and the prefectural examination are called small examinations and the examination for students of higher learning. They are held twice every three years. After passing the examination, one becomes a student of higher learning and can participate in the academy examination to become a scholar.

Don’t think that the test for children’s voice is easy. Many people take imperial examinations throughout their lives and only become a student when they are in their fifties or sixties.

"It is my duty to do this little thing. So, let's start with the county exam. I will set the questions and you can try to do them, brother Fang?"

"Okay, Brother Dong is an expert, I'll listen to you."

"Brother Fang, you are too kind. If you are an expert, how could you not pass the imperial examination?"

Dong Zugao waved his hand and said seriously, "There are five parts in the county examination. The first part requires two essays from the Four Books and one five-character six-rhyme test poem. There are format and word count requirements. The second part requires one essay from the Four Books, one essay on sex or filial piety, and reciting the imperial edict. The third part requires one essay from the Four Books, one essay on regulated verse, and reciting the imperial edict. The fourth and fifth parts are consecutive tests, including scriptures, poems and fu."

As he spoke, he gave the questions for the first round of the county examination and asked Fang Lin to write an essay.

While Fang Lin was taking the exam and doing his homework, Dong Zugao sat beside him reading and waiting silently.

After a while, he finished writing and handed it to the other party.

Dong Zugao took it and read it briefly. He frowned and pointed out one by one: "Brother Fang, here... here... these words must not be used!"

"I noticed that these are not taboo words?" Fang Lin wondered.

"They are indeed not taboo words, but these words have multiple meanings and are metaphorical. In this case, we should also try to avoid them. We should also not discuss current affairs, etc. We must pay attention to these details."

Dong Zugao was afraid that Fang Lin would not take it seriously, so he warned him carefully: "In the early years of the founding of the country, many important officials in the court were killed or their families were exterminated because of the taboo words in their poems. In the previous two or three dynasties, there were also great scholars who criticized the orthodox interpretation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism in the court and died tragically in prison. In recent years, although it has been slightly relaxed, it is still better to be cautious about such things, in case there is another big prison one day..."

"Literary inquisition? It is indeed a similar time and space. Just like the early Ming Dynasty, there were similar things in the early years of Daxia."

Fang Lin sighed inwardly. He had complicated feelings towards this Emperor Taizu Xia. He rose from obscurity and did many things that benefited the people, such as promoting cotton planting, setting up reserve warehouses, etc. However, due to the limitations of the times, he also made many not-so-correct decisions, such as following the Yuan Dynasty and setting the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's interpretation of the Four Books and Five Classics as the standard, selecting scholars based on the eight-legged essay, suppressing thoughts, and launching a literary inquisition.

Dong Zugao continued to read the article, and after a while he spoke: "Brother Fang's article is quite inspiring. I feel deeply inspired after reading it, but some words and sentences are a little..."

"Brother Dong, please feel free to speak."

“Heretical.”

Dong Zugao pointed out three or two points and said helplessly: "These are too unorthodox. In my opinion, I am afraid it will not be easy to pass."

After reading it, Fang Lin felt even more helpless. He had been suppressing his thoughts and writing according to the standard interpretation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism that he had memorized by rote. However, modern thoughts and values ​​had been integrated into his blood and bones and had become as instinctive as breathing. In his eight-part essays of thousands of words, some of these might be revealed inadvertently without him noticing. However, these tiny details would be considered heresy and he would be dismissed.

Yes, Daxia adopted the eight-legged essay system to select scholars, taking "the words of one teacher as the standard", and only recognized the interpretation of the Four Books and Five Classics by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and all others were wrong.

To put it more clearly, what kind of scholars were selected by the imperial examination system? Scholars who were influenced by Confucianism, deeply identified with Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and restricted their own thoughts, and those who were selected were people with their own thoughts and restless people, not to mention Fang Lin, a "cancer" with modern values?
This is also the reason why people in later generations said "the harm of eight-legged essay is worse than poison". It restricted people's thoughts and created a large number of nerds who blindly followed the old ways and stuck to conventions. They could do nothing except recite the Four Books and Five Classics.

'It's hard to disguise something like this. I can certainly tie my hands and feet, suppress my thoughts, and write eight-part essays according to the interpretation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, but words reflect my heart, and some minor details may accidentally reveal the truth, which makes me different from those students who have received this kind of education since childhood and agree with the ideas of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.'

'In fact, compared to those native students, my situation is even worse. They are still a blank slate, but I have already been formed and have my own mature outlook on life...'

Fang Lin felt that writing eight-legged essays was like dancing in shackles and confined to a small space, and being asked to dance well.

In fact, it is not wrong to think so. The essence of the eight-part essay is to restrict people's thoughts. The more thoughtful people are, the more torture they suffer. Next, Dong Zugao continued to give test questions and asked Fang Lin to take the four county exams. After the five county exams, he gave an evaluation: "If Brother Fang can calm down and study the classics, he may be able to pass the county exam within ten years."

This is already a very high evaluation.

Judging from the study time, among those scholars who have learned the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood, not many can pass the examinations of Tongsheng and Xiucai before the age of 20. Moreover, the county examination is held twice every three years, a total of six times in ten years. In addition, the economy of Huai'an Prefecture is developed, so it is actually very competitive.

"Is it possible to pass the county exam in ten years? But after passing the county exam, you are still not even a tongsheng. There is still the prefectural exam, not to mention the scholar."

Fang Lin sighed inwardly and suddenly remembered an interesting story told by Master Ou.

One day, a parent brought a five-year-old child to school and asked Master Ou to teach him. When the child learned that Master Ou was a scholar, he said innocently: "I know that after a scholar comes a juren, and after a juren comes a jinshi. How come you are still a scholar at your age?"

In his words, he almost pointed at me and said, "Why don't you take the imperial examination? Don't you want to?"
At that time, when Master Ou talked about this, the expression on his face was very beautiful and wonderful.

'Imperial examination, why do some people always think it's so simple? If I have to blame someone, I can only blame myself for not having a PhD in Chinese in my previous life, and not being able to remember all the famous essays, so that I can rise from a humble background.'

Fang Lin felt helpless and could only comfort himself. Everyone has different talents. He was just average at writing eight-part essays. What could he do? Just take your time!
……

Taking the twenty-four silver coins as dividend, he said goodbye to Dong Zugao and returned to Xixiang Hutong.

When he entered the room, he saw Tian Xuan holding a round toy and approaching him, sharing it with him like a treasure: "Brother Lin, what do you think this is?"

"What?" Fang Lin took a look and had some vague guesses, but pretended not to know and asked.

"It's Huo Cong!"

Tian Xuan said happily, pointing to Fang Lin: "Brother Lin, do you see this? Is this the lid?"

"Hmm." Fang Lin looked at it and saw that there was a lid on it with holes on it, shaped like a honeycomb.

"It's this lid. When we're home cooking dinner, we open it and put the unburned charcoal in. After a while, the fire will be hot. We can hold it in our hands or put it on our stomach... especially when we have our period..."

When Tian Xuan said this, she realized something and two faint blushes appeared on her face. She stopped talking immediately.

Fang Lin understood: "Isn't this a variant of the warm baby?"

At this time, Fang's mother also came out and said with a smile: "This thing is really good! During the day, wrap it with a layer of cloth outside, hold it in your hands or against your chest to keep warm; at night, light the fire in the quilt, lie in it after a while, it's so warm... Linzi, I'll make one for you tonight..."

Fang Lin looked at it, but had a question: "What if I kick it down when I sleep at night?"

"Your father knows about this..."

"Cough cough!" Fang's father coughed repeatedly and winked at Fang's mother.

Fang's mother turned a blind eye and bluntly exposed his past in front of her son: "Just the day before yesterday, your father got up at night and knocked over the stove, causing charcoal ash and charcoal fire to spread all over the bed, almost burning the quilt..."

"Isn't that accidental?"

Father Fang felt embarrassed and tried to defend himself, changing the subject abruptly: "Is the meal ready? My son is hungry."

Fang Lin really wanted to say "I'm not hungry", but after thinking it over he gave up.

"Okay! Okay! I've been thinking about my son coming back tonight, and I've been cooking the Laba porridge, waiting for Linzi to come back. Let's eat now."

Dinner is naturally Laba porridge.

The Laba porridge made by Fang's mother and Tian Xuan contains red beans, mung beans, and red dates as well as longan, lotus seeds, etc.

Fang Lin ate Laba porridge twice today, in different occasions and with different people. He felt good both times, and each had its own flavor.

During the meal, Fang's mother chatted with the neighbors: "Linzi, you don't know, the Xin family got married, Xin You's wife is called Sha Xiaoyun, she is yellow-skinned and thin..."

"I saw it once."

"Grandma Man is the same. I thought she had changed, but I never expected that..."

Fang's mother told Fang Lin, "Yesterday, Grandma Man asked Xiaoxuan and I to go to Xin's house for tea. She said she was taking us to take advantage of us. She also said that we didn't need to say anything and just leave it to her and have tea... But who in our family is that kind of person?"

"Yes!" Tian Xuan also nodded.

Fang Lin listened and thought that Grandma Man was a really interesting person.

On the one hand, it is easy to change the situation, but it is difficult to change one's nature. She still loves to take advantage of others. But maybe in her eyes, this is a natural activity, taking advantage based on ability? On the other hand, it is not without merit. She has the intention to repay the favor, but because of her family's situation, she has to pay back the money and live a tight life, so she takes Fang's mother and Tian Xuan to take advantage of others?
"What happened next?" he asked.

"Later, Xiaoyun was also stubborn. When Grandma Man came, no matter what she said, Xiaoyun just lowered her head and made clothes... Grandma Man had no choice but to leave! Xiaoyun had a dizziness problem, but she had a good tailoring skill and made clothes quickly and beautifully..."

Dinner ended with such casual chat.

……

After dinner and washing up, Tian Xuan knocked on the door and came in with a torch.

She lit the fire for Fang Lin in the bed, sat down next to him, and suddenly asked, "Brother Lin, are you in a bad mood today?"

"Sister Xuan figured it out?"

Fang Lin was surprised at Tian Xuan's intelligence and attentiveness. He felt a little annoyed because he was thinking about the imperial examination, but he didn't want to convey this emotion to his family, so he kept his emotions to himself. Unexpectedly, Tian Xuan noticed it.

He thought about it and didn't hide it. He told Dong Zugao that he went to see him today and tried to do the questions, but the results were not as good as expected.

Tian Xuan listened quietly, and when Fang Lin finished speaking, she took his hand and comforted him, "Brother Lin, I've seen women in plays who 'teach their husbands to seek titles'. I don't want that. People are different, why must their husbands be ambitious? I know, brother Lin, it's already been very difficult for you."

The words 'it's already not easy' really made Fang Lin feel warm in his heart, and he couldn't help but hug Tian Xuan in his arms.

"Brother Lin, I'm telling you the truth. Our family is much better off now. You are amazing! It doesn't matter if you fail the imperial examination. I heard that being an official looks glorious, but it is also dangerous..."

Tian Xuan said, reaching out to smooth Fang Lin's frown a little bit: "Brother Lin, don't think too much, don't put too much pressure on yourself, you should also take a break, if you encounter anything, you can talk to me..."

"Linzi, I'll get you a torch..." Fang's mother pushed the door open and saw the two people hugging each other. She immediately turned around and walked out, muttering as she walked, "Hey, what was I going to do? It's okay."

Fang Lin was facing the door, looking at Fang's mother's poor acting skills, he couldn't help laughing and burst out laughing.

"Brother Lin, you're still laughing!" Tian Xuan felt so ashamed that she would not be able to see Fang's mother tomorrow. She hit him lightly and ran out.

Fang Lin smiled again, stood up, blew out the lamp, and lay down with his arms as a pillow.

Originally, he had a sense of urgency in his heart. Dong Zugao's comment that "it takes ten years to pass the county exam" felt too late, too late, and he couldn't wait!
But after Tian Xuan's comfort, he felt much better.

'Emperor Xia had benevolent and good policies such as promoting cotton and setting up reserve warehouses, but he was also criticized for literary inquisition and the eight-legged essay system; Grandma Man had a sarcastic and merciful side, and loved to take advantage of others, but she was also willing to die to wake up her son, and wanted to take advantage of others with her mother and sister Xuan out of gratitude. People and things have two sides, how can they be perfect and only take advantage of others? '

Fang Lin thought, secretly saying: "I have a modern outlook on life and enjoy the benefits it brings me in dealing with people and gaining insight into the times. Naturally, I have to accept the shackles it imposes on my selection of candidates for the imperial examination. This matter needs to be done slowly. More haste makes waste. The more anxious you are, the more likely it is that something bad will happen. Let nature take its course!"

Of course, his letting things take their course does not mean lying down and doing nothing, but rather doing his best and doing everything he can without forcing anything.

Thinking this way, he calmed down and the warmth from the fire in the bed warmed his body and mind, and he gradually fell asleep.

It was windy and snowy outside the window, but warm as spring inside the house. Water vapor condensed on the window, and the long and cold winter night passed just like that.

……

(End of this chapter)