Ping An Biography

"You can't be too ostentatious. Zhang Ning from Shangyuan County knows that? Yes, that's right, he is declaring in public that this year's autumn Xie Yuan is none other than him, and he is arrogant about his literary talent. What happened!" A middle-aged man with a round face and a big belly As soon as the man sat down, he said happily to the two tea guests sitting in the same seat. He sighed as if he had the meaning of regret, but there was a sense of gloating in his tone.

"What's the matter, what's the matter?" A young man in silk and satin next to him asked eagerly.

The young man who spoke and the big-bellied man who had just arrived wore silk and satin while the other wore common clothes, but this did not show the difference between rich and poor, but because the young man had fame and the big-bellied man did not.It was the 21st year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty ([-] A.D.), and the decree that the common people could not wear silk and satin made by Taizu was still in effect. Besides, this was in Nanjing, which was the capital of the Ming Dynasty not long ago, and people dared not do it at will. Things that go beyond the limits, especially in public.

The big-bellied man who just arrived was about to speak, but suddenly there was a "boom, bang" sound of percussion instruments on the stage downstairs, and he suppressed his words.At this time, a corner came up and sang: "The autumn lights are bright and the green curtain is bright, and the night case is read by Yun. There are so many stories in the past and the present. There are very few good talents, and there are also gods and ghosts. They are trivial and unsightly. It is not about weathering. Body, even if it is good, it is in vain. When it comes to legends, it is easy to entertain people, but it is difficult to move people. Gentlemen with good friends, look at it differently. Don’t talk about gags, and don’t look for palace numbers, just look at the son’s filial piety and the wife’s virtue..."

The next libretto is accompanied by erhu, and the sound is not as harsh as percussion music, so the big belly man continued: "What's the matter? I happened to see with my own eyes yesterday that his uncle Zhang Jiujin took someone to carry him back. He went back. Yes, that’s right, Zhang Jiujin, who was in the brocade business, picked up his nephew from the yamen and carried him back. It seems that... what kind of prison is it? Ning is also a scholar with no strength in his career, and he heard that he was dying at home, so he waited for that breath."

The young man looked curious and said: "Brother Chen is in the silk and satin business, and he seems to have some contacts with Zhang Jiayun brocade shop. He must know something inside. I only heard that Zhang Ping'an (word) was imprisoned for bribing the examiner before the provincial examination. , is there any more detailed news?"

"Ma Maocai took the exam in the same tribute academy as Zhang Ning, so you don't know anything about it?" the big belly man asked back.

The young man in the satin robe hurriedly shook his head and said: "Although I am taking the exam at the Nanjing Gongyuan, I am a student in Jiangning County, and Zhang Ping'an belongs to the county school of Shangyuan County. Not much is known about it.”

The big-bellied man called Brother Chen waved his hands in a mysterious manner after hearing this, and when the two of them shifted their positions and listened to them, he whispered in a mysterious voice: "Who is the examiner? Master Lu Zhen Lu, the servant of the Ministry of Rites from Beijing. After all, our Nanjing is an important place, and the chief examiner of the rural examination is also an important court minister, but now he has been suspected of fraud in the imperial examination and has been taken to the Zhenfusi Prison by Jin Yiwei. The examiner Zhang Ning bribed is this Lord Lu. I heard the case After it was published, someone exposed that Zhang Ning had boasted that he would win the Yuan Dynasty before the exam started. Thinking that there are a lot of talents in the land of Fengshui on both sides of the Qinhuai River, there are countless scholars who participate in Qiuwei every Ziwumaoyou, and there are also countless people with real talents. It depends on the ancestral graves to get on the list. For the first time Zhang Ning participated in Qiu Wei, he dared to declare in public that he would win the first place. Where did he get the confidence? So the government took him for a trial. Sure enough, there was a reason for everything, and everything was recruited. Locked up for a while The imperial court thought that he was spared the death penalty for his first crime, and he was dismissed from his meritorious service, never hired and sent home."

"That's all the news?" The young man in the satin robe looked a little disappointed, "Have you never heard of who exposed it?"

The big belly man was not very happy: "Who would know about ordinary people? I thought Ma Mao was in the examination room, and there would be more news about this kind of thing."

"Since the servants of the Ministry of Rites have all entered the imperial prison, why was Zhang Ning released so quickly..." The young man in satin robe suddenly picked up a teacup to drink tea, and stopped there.

The big-bellied man said casually: "It's the last breath left, the Zhang family is preparing for the funeral, and the death penalty is not the same as the death penalty."

……

Unlike many cities in the north, Nanjing City is square and upright, but looks like an inverted convex character. The city is divided into Shangyuan and Jiangning counties. Except for the raised part to the south of the "inverted convex character", other areas belong to Shangyuan County , the dividing line is Dazhong Street.The Qinhuai River flows southward along the west city wall outside the city, diverts water at the Sanshan Gate, and one stream flows into the city; most of the Qinhuai River in this section is in Jiangning County, near the Tongji Gate in the southeast of the city, and it is connected with the water coming from the north. Canal Qingxi confluence, through the city wall out of the city.

There is a bridge called Dazhong Bridge on Qingxi next to Tongjimen, and Liren Street is to the north of Dazhong Bridge.This is one of the concentrated places for merchants operating daily necessities business. Places like Dazhong Bridge, Beimen Bridge, and Sanpailou are all commercial areas.The home of Zhang Ning, who had just been released from prison, was in an alley on Liren Street.

The Zhang family is obviously in business, but their household registration is agriculture, because there was no such thing as business registration in the Ming Dynasty.Some systems of the Ming Dynasty were really suspected of being self-contradictory. Taizu hated those who were idle and did not produce. In his opinion, merchants belonged to those who were not engaged in production, so there was no such thing as business status; There may be a lack of merchants, and those who are engaged in business have their own countermeasures. They use various methods to obtain agricultural, craftsman, and military status. Become a farmer.In this era, except for the most innocent and noble people who are officials and farmers in name, everyone has to eat.

Zhang Ning's parents are two brothers. His father's name is Zhang Jiuyin, and his uncle's name is Zhang Jiujin. They run the brocade business together.Zhang Ning's father passed away early, and his mother also passed away a few years ago. The remaining two siblings lived with their uncle.Yun Brocade Shop has a share of assets left to them by Zhang Jiuyin, and there are a few acres of land in the countryside to collect land rent, which is considered a small property; but Zhang Ning is a person who has studied in a career, and has no business at all. The assets and real estate are all managed by his uncle. Living in my uncle's house, my livelihood is not a problem.Zhang Ning lost his father in his early years, and his uncle Zhang Jiujin was almost equivalent to his father. He was even called Erlang at home, because Zhang Jiujin had an only son who was Dalang; but the two brothers were still very different in Zhang Jiujin's eyes, not because Zhang Ning was The most important thing about the relationship with his nephew is that Zhang Ning was a baby picked up before, so there is a layer of separation in blood.

In the past few days, Zhang Jiujin's brows have not been relaxed, and he sighed as soon as he lifted the chopsticks during dinner.He was worried that his nephew was still in prison a few days ago, but now he is more helpless.

Looking back from left to right, there were five people, young and old, at the dinner table. In the past, seven people usually ate together. Zhang Jiujin pulled his face and asked, "Where is Miss Zhang, do you still need someone to invite you to eat?"

"I called her just now, and said she didn't want to eat it, so I was dipping rice soup into Erlang's mouth in the room." Luo Yue'e, Zhang Dalang's wife, answered while hugging the six or seven-year-old girl onto the stool.

The middle-aged woman next to her said: "Call her again, persuade her. This child cried a few times yesterday, how can she live if she doesn't eat?"

Zhang Jiujin said angrily: "Leave her alone, don't go!"

He is the head of the family, and when everyone saw him getting angry, they didn't dare to confront him face-to-face, and fell silent for a while, only the six or seven-year-old girl pulled her mother's sleeve: "I want to eat steamed eggs, mother scooped it up for me."

Zhang Jiujin's son, Zhang Shicai, broke the silence at this moment: "While I was in the shop today, the Wang family came to return the gift?"

"50 taels of silver back." The middle-aged woman said, she is Zhang Shicai's mother Zou Shi.Zhang Shicai couldn't help muttering: "Erlang was deprived of fame. Their family wanted to regret the marriage a long time ago, but they were afraid of being snobbish. Yesterday they heard the doctor say that Erlang is no good. I'm afraid they were secretly happy, and they just had a reason to regret the marriage."

Zhang Jiujin immediately put down his chopsticks heavily with a "snap", turned his head to stare at his son and said, "What are you talking about, are you afraid that you won't offend someone?" Zhang Shicai hurriedly said, "Aren't you at home? I can still go out and be careless No..."

Mrs. Zou chimed in: "You can't say that about others at home. The Wang family is a respectable and wealthy family. If you don't withdraw the engagement now, what kind of reputation do you want your daughter who hasn't left the court to bear when something happens to Erlang?"

"Yes, I know I'm wrong, can't I!" Zhang Shicai buried his head with a dark face.

Zou said again: "I'm just poor Erlang, how could he bribe the examiner? .”

Zhang Jiujin said: "Who told him not to know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth to provoke right and wrong!"

At this time, the old couple didn't blame Zhang Shicai anymore, and Zhang Shicai said again: "I heard the news from the clerk in the county that Mr. Lu, who was involved in the fraud case in the scientific field, was imprisoned once in Beijing. It is said that he His son-in-law made a mistake in etiquette when he went to court, but the Prince Jian Guo did not blame him because Mr. Lu was the Minister of Rites; After getting angry, he thought it was not a big deal, so he released him and resumed his post. Father, do you think that Mr. Lu got involved in the fraud case in the examination room again this time? Don't like him being plotted against?"

Zhang Jiujin was silent, Zou said doubtfully: "The emperor also controls his son too strictly."

"Mother, you don't know, how can the emperor's family be the same as our common people's family? The son of the common people's family will be scolded for doing something wrong; the prince has done something wrong, and the unlucky ones are the officials around the prince. How few officials were killed and imprisoned? No one in Nanjing knows how the famous and talented Xie Jin died. He said that he met the prince privately. It’s just that everyone dare not say it outside.” Zhang Shicai said logically .

But what they said was in vain, the emperor, prince, court officials, etc. were too far away from the Zhang family.