Smuggling Daming

A large mansion with a high gate in the north of Suzhou City has a plaque hanging on it, with the words "Zhufu" written on it. If someone who knows calligraphy sees this plaque, they will definitely say "Good character!"

Today, the front of the Zhu Mansion is full of traffic and guests. Scholars wearing Confucian scarves and blouses gather in front of this mansion from all over Suzhou on foot or by car. When they meet familiar friends, they will come forward immediately. Say hello, and then enter Zhu's mansion hand in hand.

The identity of the owner of this Zhu Mansion is not simple, he is Xu Shenzhong's teacher Zhu Zhishan, and Tang Bohu is one of the four talented scholars of the Wu family.In addition, Zhu Zhishan's background is not simple. His grandfather's name is Xu Youzhen. Because of his meritorious service in supporting Ming Yingzong's restoration, he was named a martial arts uncle and a scholar of Huagaidian. As a result, he was exiled as a citizen, and has since lived in Suzhou.

Xu Youzhen was so talented that he studied astronomy, geography, art of war, water conservancy, yin and yang, and alchemy. He was also one of the most famous calligraphers at that time. Zhu Zhishan had been learning calligraphy from Xu Youzhen since he was a child. Later, Zhu Zhishan could become the most famous calligrapher of Wumen. Representative figures are inseparable from Xu Youzhen's teachings.

In addition to Xu Youzhen, Zhu Zhishan's grandfather Zhu Hao is also very famous. He is also famous for his calligraphy in Suzhou, and he also served as a political envoy. Influenced from an early age, he could write big characters one foot square at the age of five, and could compose poems at the age of nine, becoming a well-known child prodigy.

At the age of 33, Zhu Zhishan passed the Juren examination again. At this time, he has become a leader among young scholars in Suzhou.However, after passing the examination, Zhu Zhishan's good luck seemed to be used up all of a sudden, and he failed to succeed in three consecutive examinations of the Ministry of Etiquette, and he is now in his 40s.According to the original history, Zhu Zhishan tried the Ministry of Rites seven times in his life, and finally got a small official of the county magistrate. That is to say, Zhu Zhishan had to wait at home for more than ten years before he could realize his dream of becoming an official.

Today is Zhu Zhishan's 44th birthday. Although he suffered several setbacks in the imperial examination, this does not hinder Zhu Zhishan's reputation in the local area, especially because Zhu's family is also a rich man in the local area. He is informal, so he is very popular among local scholars. Tang Bohu, Shen Zhou, Liu Jue, Du Ling and other famous Suzhou scholars are all his close friends. Therefore, almost all the local scholars in Suzhou came to wish Zhishan his birthday.

Zhu Zhishan and several students stood in front of the door to welcome the guests, including Xu Shenzhong.Zhu Zhishan, who is just 44 years old today, has a big body and is very conspicuous among the generally short southerners. On the one hand, he has big ears and a snub nose and a wide mouth. He was stroking his beard, probably because of his birthday, Zhu Zhishan kept smiling and saluted with acquaintances from time to time.

After all the guests arrived, the birthday banquet began immediately. Zhu Zhishan took the students to toast each table one by one, and finally came to the inner hall. Tang Bohu, Wen Zhengming, Yang Xunji and others were all present.

Zhu Zhishan was also very happy today. He drank and chatted with these close friends, and the atmosphere was very lively. However, when the drink was in full swing, several students of Zhu Zhishan came in to present their congratulations.

Originally, when the guests arrived, birthday presents would be presented immediately, but in this age of respecting teachers, the relationship between students and teachers is actually similar to that of father and son, so students like Xie Shenzhong and the others did not present the birthday presents they had prepared immediately, but I want to send it together in front of teachers and friends, so as to show my filial piety.

"Teacher, this is a pair of words that my disciple found from Nanjing. It is Mi Fu's "Fangyuan Temple", and I am here to dedicate it to the teacher!" He looked calm, but there was still a hint of complacency in his tone.

Zhu Zhishan, Tang Bohu and the others were also surprised when they heard that it was written by Mi Fu. They hurriedly opened the word to read it, and they were amazed at the same time.Mi Fu is one of the four masters of the Song Dynasty. He has made great achievements in calligraphy, especially the literati in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Zhishan's calligraphy was deeply influenced by Mi Fu, and he always wanted to collect a pair of Mi Fu. It is a pity that Mi Fu's handwriting has not been able to come true. From this we can see how rare Mi Fu's handwriting is, so the students who presented the gifts naturally have reasons to be proud.

"Okay! Good! Liangkuan, you have a good eye. This is indeed Mi Fu's authentic work. It must have cost a lot of money, right?" Zhu Zhishan waited until his friends had read Mi Fu's handwriting, and then he said with a look of relief. The student standing below said.

"Students can't be sloppy in preparing birthday gifts for the teacher, and even if they spend more money, it's worth it to buy an authentic Mi Fu work!" Hearing the teacher's praise, the student named Liang Kuan Said with an excited face.His family is a well-known wealthy businessman in Suzhou City, as long as it can make the teacher happy, he doesn't care how much money he spends.

Zhu Zhishan also knew the situation in Liangkuan's home, and the other party was his student, so he asked people to put away the writing and take it out to appreciate it when he was free in the future. Next, other students came forward to offer birthday gifts.

Zhu Zhishan is famous for his calligraphy in Suzhou, so many young students want to come and learn from him. However, although Zhu Zhishan is easy-going and often points out other people's shortcomings in calligraphy, he is still very strict about accepting students, and some students have already become officials. , so there were only seven students presenting birthday presents in person today.

These students are rich or poor, and the birthday gifts they give are also different. The rich students, such as Liangkuan, give expensive calligraphy, paintings and antiques, etc., but the birthday gifts given by the poor students are very ordinary. Sending a birthday greeting written by himself, Zhu Zhishan didn't feel disgusted at all, and still accepted a few words of praise with a smile. For him, no matter what these birthday gifts are, they are the hearts of the students, as long as the hearts come. , it doesn't matter how expensive the gift is.

Soon it was Xu Shenzhong's turn to present the birthday gift he had prepared. He took a few steps forward, bowed to Zhu Zhishan and said, "I wish Master Songhe a long year. The gift prepared by the disciple for the teacher is a book. Due to the rush of time, the manuscript was finally copied by the disciple and two friends separately, so it is a birthday gift for the three of us, but it is a pity that they are far away in Songjiang and cannot come to Suzhou, so I specially asked the disciple to celebrate the teacher's birthday on their behalf!"

"Oh? The manuscript?" Zhu Zhishan was a little surprised when he heard this, and immediately took the box containing the manuscript from Ji Shenzhong and put it on the table, then gently opened it, and there were three large characters - "Journey to the West".

"This...is it possible that this is the manuscript of Journey to the West that has caused countless people to copy it?" Tang Bohu, who was next to Zhu Zhishan, was also very surprised when he saw the name of the manuscript.Tang Bohu is a middle-aged man of more than 30 years. He looks elegant and handsome, but his spirit does not look very good.

Tang Bohu is ten years younger than Zhu Zhishan. He is only 34 years old this year. It can be said that he is in the golden age of a man, but because of the fraud case in the examination room four years ago, his road to the imperial examination has been completely blocked, and his wife at home has also left him. Go, this hit Tang Bohu hard, and his mood and personality also changed. He usually plays games in life, forgets his love among landscapes, poems and paintings, and sells paintings for all his needs. It can be said that he is very unhappy, so his eyebrows There is always a sense of depression in the room, and he is not very restrained in drinking and sex, so the spirit is naturally not much better.

"That's right, this is the manuscript of Journey to the West!" Zhu Zhishan picked up the manuscript in the box and looked at it for a few times, and suddenly found something wrong, "Hey, why are there so many manuscripts? Isn't there only the first ten chapters of Journey to the West? ?”

With the spread of storytellers and the release of the manuscripts of the first ten chapters by Zhou Zhong, Journey to the West is no longer limited to Songjiang, but has spread to Nanjing, Suzhou and other places, and has aroused widespread interest among folks and scholars. There was a huge response, especially those scholars, who rushed to copy the first ten manuscripts of Journey to the West. Unfortunately, because the time was too short, not many manuscripts were circulated, so many scholars had no place to copy.

Zhu Zhishan and Tang Bohu only read the manuscript from a friend, and they both loved the book so much that they even stayed at that friend's house for a few days, reading ten chapters before returning.Now they got the manuscript of Journey to the West, which made them very happy. Other people at the table had also heard of the name of Journey to the West, so they gathered around to watch it.

Seeing several elders showing their love for the manuscript, Xu Shenzhong explained with a smile: "Mr. Qi, some time ago the students went to Songjiang to visit their father, and happened to meet the author of Journey to the West. His surname is Zhou and his name is Wenda. He is a talented young man, and the student hit it off with Wen Da, so he copied the manuscript of Journey to the West..."

Xu Shenzhong told Zhu Zhishan all about his acquaintance with Zhou Zhong, and the copying of Journey to the West with Zheng Jing and Zhou Zhong. It took more than half of the time to circulate, and it aroused the envy of countless people. Among them, Tang Bohu made an appointment directly with Zhu Zhishan, and he must be the first to copy it. He was willing to exchange one of his paintings, which made Zhu Zhishan go haha laughing out loud.

Just when Xu Shenzhong was making a big splash at the birthday banquet with Journey to the West, a very ordinary-looking carriage was parked in front of the Zhou Mansion in Songjiang City. Zhou Zhong was holding a bundle in his hand and waving to He bid farewell to Butler Xu, and then stepped into the carriage. With the sound of the coachman's whip, the carriage slowly left Zhou Mansion.

ps: Today is the first day of going to Sanjiang. I hope that book friends who have Sanjiang tickets in their hands can vote for Laoyu. Thank you!