Chapter 224 Xu Wei
walked down the road from Xianxia Pass, and the group arrived at Qinghu Town.
It was different from what Lu Quexi and his son described, because mining pirates were rampant on Xianxia Mountain, blocking the passage between Zhejiang and Fujian.
Coupled with the Japanese pirate unrest in Zhejiang, the entire Qinghu town was not as prosperous as imagined.
The ships are docked on the shore, and there are people sitting on the pier. Most of the shops in the town have their doors closed. The occasional merchants selling goods from the north and the south are just small grocers.
Qinghu Town is the southernmost wharf of Quxi. The wide Quxi can be traveled by boat. The group of people should take the boat at the wharf and go to Xi'an City, the seat of Quzhou Prefecture. (Not from Shaanxi, but today's Quzhou City)
Su Ze rented five wave boats at once, which are medium-sized merchant ships that can be driven by sails and paddled. The owner had not seen such a big business for a long time, and personally helped Su Ze Ze and others took charge of the boat.
Sure enough, water transportation was the highway in ancient times. After the group got on the boat, they traveled much faster.
Su Ze secretly memorized the hydrological routes during the day. Water transportation is the lifeblood of Zhejiang, and the entire waterway in Zhejiang will intersect in Hangzhou Prefecture. This is why Hangzhou Prefecture is the administrative center of Zhejiang.
If we attack Zhejiang in the future, one plan is Huang Chao's method, which is to cross Xianxia Mountain and enter Quzhou, and then march on land to Hangzhou.
Another way is to attack from the sea, defeat Ningbo and then attack Hangzhou.
As long as the Hangzhou Prefecture is captured, it is equivalent to controlling the entire Zhejiang water system, and then Zhejiang can be completely conquered.
Su Ze did not forget his original intention to rebel, and while he was silently recording the surrounding mountains and geography, a mountain peak suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
The shipowner introduced:
"Gentlemen, please take a look. This is Jianglang Mountain. This is the most dangerous mountain in western Zhejiang. There is a line of sky in the mountain that is a hundred feet high and can only accommodate one person." Jianglang Mountain is indeed
strange. Quzhou is located in Most of the basins in the mountains in northern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang are flat, but Jianglang Mountain rises from the sky like a pillar, which is surprising to everyone who is used to seeing mountains.
It is indeed a dangerous terrain. If we attack Zhejiang, we can set up an ambush on Jianglang Mountain.
After another half day, the wave boat arrived in Jiangshan County, and the number of business travelers here gradually increased.
It was getting late, and Su Ze felt that it was not safe to sail at night, so everyone rested at the dock for one night and set sail again the next day.
Su Ze and his party were big customers, and the shipowner brought the fruits he bought from Jiangshan County to the shipyard.
Putting down the fruit, the shipowner asked with a smile: "Are you all going to Quzhou Academy to attend the Confucius Memorial Ceremony?
"
When I go to the two capitals, I always go to Quzhou to worship Confucius Temple. But in recent years, the southern scholars have left other roads. If it were this time before, the Qu River would be full of boats carrying scholars!" Recalling the past
, The shipowner sighed again.
Only then did everyone remember that Quzhou was still the seat of the Confucius Southern Sect.
This was after the Jingkang humiliation in the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Jin soldiers went south, Zhao Gou summoned the then Duke Yansheng to Quzhou and established the Confucius family temple in Quzhou, which was the Southern Sect of Confucius Temple.
After the establishment of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan asked the Confucius family in Quzhou to return to Qufu. However, the head of the Nankong family at the time was unwilling to obey the order, so he gave up the title of Confucius' direct lineage to the other sects who stayed in Qufu. Since then, the northern and southern clans have been divided. Temple of Confucius.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Northern Sect was still canonized as Duke Yansheng, but it also recognized the status of Nankong in Quzhou. The specifications of the Nankong Family Temple in Quzhou and the Confucius Temple in Qufu were the same. Although Nankong did not have the title of Duke Yansheng, it could still be Leading sacrifices at the Confucius Temple, he had a transcendent status among scholars in the whole south.
Everyone was originally going to Quzhou Academy, but now that there was a grand ceremony in Quzhou, they naturally wanted to join in the fun. After daybreak, everyone urged the shipowner to hurry up and continue towards Quzhou City.
Just as Su Ze was sailing towards Quzhou County, the Quzhou Academy outside Quzhou City was also bustling with people.
Scholars from all over northern Zhejiang gathered together. They were all candidates who were preparing to rush to the Northern and Southern Imperial College this year.
The reason why they gathered in Quzhou was because Quzhou was where the southern sect of the Confucius Temple was located, and many scholars wanted to worship at the Confucius Temple before heading north.
This time of year is also the busiest time for Quzhou Academy. It entertains scholars from all over the country, holds lectures, and prepares for the ceremony of worshiping Confucius Temple. The busy scholars of Quzhou Academy are busy with each other.
Quzhou Academy is not an official academy, but a private academy like Yanping Academy.
However, the difference between Quzhou Academy and Yanping Academy is that the academy does not have a school hall. Almost all the scholars who come here are famous. The purpose of coming here is not to learn stereotypes and participate in the imperial examination, but to exchange knowledge.
Quzhou Academy was once an important center for spiritual studies, and Wang Yangming gave lectures here three times.
The Quzhou Academy does not have the position of mountain director. There are empty monasteries in the academy where scholars can stay, and there is also the former site where Wang Yangming gave lectures for scholars to exchange knowledge.
Although there is no mountain director in Quzhou Academy, everyone is sitting around the four scholars at this time, waiting for them to assign work.
These four people are famous scholars in Zhejiang. They are members of a scholar association called "Yuezhong Ten Sons".
However, the ten people were not present. This time, Xu Wei, Zhu Dashou, Lu Guangsheng and Chen He were in charge of Quzhou Academy.
However, not all the ten sons of Yuezhong were scholars with great reputations. All the great officials were elected officials, and Xu Wei and Lu Guangsheng were just scholars. Instead, Chen He was a hereditary member of the Imperial Guards, and did not even have any fame.
In Zhejiang, where the literary style flourished, they were the leaders among the scholars present. This is because the ten sons of Yuezhong were the direct descendants of Wang Yangming's philosophy.
Regarding Wang Yangming's Xinxue, the imperial court's attitude was initially prohibitive.
But Wang Yangming's status was here, and it was impossible to directly ban Wang Yangming's academics. Therefore, in the 17th year of Jiajing, Yan Song, the then Minister of Rites, tried to figure out his intentions, opposed free lectures, and once again destroyed the world's academies on the pretext that the academy was wasting money and disturbing the people. .
At that time, the center of spiritual studies in the world was Jishan Academy in Shaoxing Prefecture. Wang Yangming's direct disciple Wang Ji gave lectures on the boat and set up a mobile class - Jianhu Huafang.
The ten disciples of Yuezhong were studying the meanings of the Wang Clan Classics at the Jianhu Huafang at that time, which means that they were the direct descendants of the Xinxue.
Zhejiang is one of the strongholds of Xinxue, and the status of the ten scholars in Yuezhong has been rising. Although only one of the ten scholars, Shen Lian, has passed the Jinshi examination and is now an official, their names are still more famous than other scholars in Zhejiang.
Among the ten sons in Yuezhong, Xu Wei and Zhu Dashou are the most famous, and they are the leaders of the ten sons in Yuezhong. After arranging the ceremony for worshiping Confucius, the scholars surrounding the four people dispersed.
Xu Wei is now thirty-two years old, and Zhu Dashou is thirty-one. Xu Wei is not the oldest among the four, but he looks the most vicissitudes of life.
Xu Wei was selected as a scholar very early, but he has always been unsatisfactory in the provincial examination. He failed again in the Zhejiang provincial examination last year, and he was a little disheartened by the imperial examination.
The imperial examinations of all the major officials were similar. He won the imperial examination at the age of twenty-one and ranked second in the provincial examination. However, he has taken the joint examination for ten consecutive years and failed every time.
After everyone dispersed, Zhu Dashou said: "Brother Wen, do you really want to be that person's guest?"
All three people looked at Xu Wei, and he sighed and said: "The family is in trouble, and the whole family will be hungry if we don't act as the curtain." Of course, everyone knew that
this was Xu Wei's excuse. Although he failed in the imperial examination, he was definitely not counted. Can't open the pot.
Xu Wei was a master of both calligraphy and painting, as well as a profound attainment in folk arts. He was also one of the descendants of Wang Xue who learned to do miscellaneous things, and he was proficient in all aspects of strategy, war, and government.
Even if Xu Wei does not serve as an official, he will never starve to death with his reputation.
The person Zhu Dashou was talking about was Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang who had just replaced Zhang Jing and became in charge of the overall situation of Zhejiang's anti-Japanese war.
Zhu Dashou did not hide his dislike for Hu Zongxian. Hu Zongxian was a disciple of Yan Song. The ten disciples of Yuezhong all experienced Yan Song's ban and destruction of the academy. In addition, the stance of Qingliu, the successor of Wang Xue, made them even more skeptical about whether they liked Hu Zongxian or not. stand up.
Zhang Jing actually had a bad reputation in Zhejiang. He transferred foreign troops to Zhejiang, used guest soldiers on a large scale, and made Zhejiang's public security a mess.
But after all, Zhang Jing achieved great victory against the Japanese. However, Yan Song's party member Zhao Wenhua collaborated with Hu Zongxian to impeach Zhang Jing. Now that Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong were killed, Zhejiang scholars despised Hu Zongxian.
Xu Wei also knew that this was a stain on Hu Zongxian that could not be erased. He sighed and said: "Hu Ruzhen is a contingency technique. It is better for him to preside over the anti-Japanese war than for someone else to preside over it, right?" Everyone was silent, and
now When it comes to understanding the situation of Japanese pirates, Hu Zongxian is indeed number one.
Since Hu Zongxian accepted the initiative to fight against the Japanese, he has been recruiting local scholars who are familiar with the Japanese situation to assist him in the fight against the Japanese. He also listened to the local opinions in Zhejiang and no longer mobilized guest troops into Zhejiang. Instead, he asked Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang to fight against the Japanese. Local recruitment.
These actions also made Zhejiang scholars have a different view of him. Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian had old friends. At Hu Zongxian's invitation, Xu Wei agreed to be Hu Zongxian's staff some time ago.
Xu Wei said: "Resisting the Japanese is my great wish. I, Xu Wei, will support anyone who can resist the Japanese. I have promised to assist Hu Ruzhen in painting anti-Japanese paintings. Please stop trying to persuade me." The crowd fell silent, and Hu Zongxian raised his hand to resist
. It’s hard for everyone to say anything about the Japanese flag. After all, Zhejiang is also the area where Japanese pirates have caused the most serious harm. Several major chaos have occurred in Zhejiang in the past two years. Zhejiang scholars also hate Japanese pirates the most.
Xu Wei said to Zhu Dashou: "After this ceremony to commemorate Confucius, Brother Duanfu will go to Beijing to take the exam. I wish Brother Duanfu can be on the top of the high school this time!" Everyone agreed, but Zhu Dashou let out a long sigh
. He said in a tone: "I don't want to be at the top of the list, I just want not to fall
behind." Everyone also fell silent. This is the cruelty of the imperial examination. Even a genius like Zhu Dashou who passed the examination at the age of twenty-one would not be able to succeed in the imperial examination. He also failed in the imperial examination, a battleground for geniuses, for several years in a row.
Xu Wei even failed to pass the examination.
The topic was a bit awkward, so Chen He said: "We will be giving lectures at Quzhou Academy these days. Brothers, you should decide on the topic as soon as possible so that the scholars gathered in Quzhou can prepare early." The "lectures" at Quzhou Academy are
actually The lectures were debates, and the tradition has always been to closely follow current affairs. In today's terms, the lectures were actually a gathering of scholars from a province to "discuss political affairs."
However, for scholars, studying politics is not a complete waste of time, because the questions in the imperial examination require answering policy questions, that is, policy theory.
When the time comes for the palace examination, what will be tested is not just the ability to write eight-legged essays.
Those who can participate in the palace examination have already confirmed their qualifications for Jinshi. These are those who have to be sent out to serve as officials, so it is normal to take the policy theory test.
Among the scholars who participated in the lecture at Quzhou Academy this time, many were candidates who were going to Beijing to take the imperial examination. They gathered together to discuss current affairs, which could be regarded as preparation for the imperial examination in advance.
Everyone looked at Xu Wei, and Xu Wei said without thinking: "Let's take the maritime ban as the topic."
Everyone nodded. This topic is also a topic that has been discussed by Zhejiang scholars, but it is this kind of controversial topic, the more it can be Generate good discussions.
People in Zhejiang are more conflicted about the maritime ban than people in Fujian and Guangzhou.
The people in the Fujian-Guangzhou area naturally hoped that the imperial court would lift the sea ban. For example, Zhu Wan, the governor of Fujian and Guangzhou who strictly enforced the sea ban, was frantically attacked by officials from Fujian and Guangzhou. In the end, Zhu Wan committed suicide after being dismissed from his post and took charge of Fuguang. The officials no longer dared to talk about adhering to the maritime ban.
But scholars in Zhejiang are very divided over the maritime ban.
Although there are many mountains in Zhejiang, there are still large areas of land near Hangzhou and Shaoxing. In addition, Zhejiang's silk and other industries are also developed and are not as dependent on maritime trade as Guangzhou, Fujian.
The Japanese rebellion caused greater damage to Zhejiang. The gentry and common people in Zhejiang hated the Japanese pirates, and naturally they were not so enthusiastic about the establishment of a maritime ban.
But in the past, the port where the Japanese country paid tribute was Ningbo. When the Japanese country paid tribute normally, Ningbo was the largest port in the southeast region, and its popularity even surpassed the ports of Fuzhou and Guangzhou.
The coastal areas of Fujian also have a fishing tradition, and strict sea bans will also affect the fishery. Therefore, scholars in Zhejiang are very confused about whether to open the sea ban.
Now that the topic has been decided, everyone once again asked Xu Wei to hold a pen and write down the four words "Pinging the Japanese Forbidden Sea" as the theme of this lecture.
The topic was hung on the passageway of Quzhou Academy, and all the scholars in Quzhou secretly wrote down the topic. During this period, they prepared the topic and waited to become famous in the "lecture" after the Confucius Memorial Ceremony.
In such an atmosphere, on March 10, Su Ze and his party sailed to Quzhou. Before they even landed, they saw the tall archway of Quzhou Academy. Under the archway, there were many scholars gathered.
Except for Su Ze, everyone on the boat was gearing up to participate in the grand event.
(End of chapter)