Hu Tingsen still looked friendly, and said with a smile: "Today's homework has been put on the table for you, I heard Mr. Orange Li say that you have all been enlightened a few days ago, and you have become a lot more literate, so today I will start with the first article of this classwork." "Jiang Fang's word Xudong, the number is orange, and there are many people at the time.

Ruan Yuan looked at the table on his desk, and there was a brand-new booklet with the words "Selected Poems" written on it. The anthology is a book edited by Prince Zhaoming, which originally included a lot of poems and essays, looking at the appearance of this book, it should be Hu Tingsen's selection of some simple and easy-to-learn chapters and compiled them. The Jiang family was originally wealthy and had their own place to stereotype books, and it was not difficult to engrave this kind of compilation book.

I opened the first page again, and saw that it was an ancient poem, with the words "Shijiang Picking Hibiscus" written at the beginning, Ruan Yuan's family had "Anthology", and knew that this was one of the "nineteen ancient poems", thinking that it was because of the short length, so it was selected by Hu Tingsen in the first article. While thinking about it, I only heard Jiao Xun ask: "Teacher, shouldn't we talk about the "Four Books" first?" Why do you want to talk about this ancient poem? ”

Hu Tingsen was prepared and said with a smile: "Children, what are we lecturing here for?" It's nothing more than the words 'learn to succeed'. So, what do we do if we want to learn something? This child said well, four books, four books are indeed essential books for learning. But the teacher also wants you to think about it, if you want to succeed in your studies, do you have to use the four books? Or is it impossible to learn other knowledge to reach the realm of 'learning to be successful'? ”

Jiao Xun couldn't answer for a while, and Hu Tingsen said: "In my opinion, these four books and five classics are indeed the way of the sages of the ancestors. But in addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, for thousands of years, the essence of the sages is also innumerable! Based on the anthology of the essays that you have seen, these ancient poems and articles were selected by a person of extraordinary talent during the Liang Dynasty 1,200 years ago, and it is beneficial and harmless for us to study the essence of these predecessors today. If you think that apart from the Four Books and the Five Classics, there has been nothing else for thousands of years...... Haha, this is also too underestimating the ancients of the past thousand years. ”

Ruan Yuan listened to Mr. Hu's words, his mind was open-minded, his mood was accessible, and he was by no means an ordinary Confucian who only knew the Four Books and the Five Classics, and even only Cheng Zhu's commentary was respected. At this time, I heard a child from the Jiang family say: "Let's read the four books, isn't it just to take the test for talent and promotion in the future?" What to do when reading these? ”

Hu Tingsen chuckled: "Leave with one heart and leave home, and sorrow will end up ...... old age" couldn't help but chuckle: "Hehe, if reading is only for the purpose of being an official in the imperial examination, then it is too much to underestimate the four books and five classics and the way of sages." Reading and learning, the upper is to tell the ancients, inherit the righteous path of the sages, and the lower is to cultivate self-cultivation and morality, and to stand innocent in the world. If you study only to be an official, and abandon your moral reputation and teaching, you will end up being greedy and harming the people, and deceiving your superiors and subordinates...... Then it's better not to read this book! ”

Looking at the ancient poem in his hand, Hu Tingsen's tone gradually calmed down, and said: "This poem "Picking Hibiscus in the River" is about a pair of close relatives who are separated for some reason, resulting in longing. Life in the world, the reason why it is called a human being is because of this love word. If you don't have this love word, you will be born in the world, and you will be in endless trouble. According to the sages, this kind of affection is born with it, but when people are born, they are ignorant by nature, and they themselves do not know that they have affection. Therefore, we need to study and study, in order to ...... all the feelings, righteousness, and courtesies that we are born with and so on, and rediscover them so that people can truly be called human beings. ”

Seeing that there was still a look of disgrace in the child's eyes, Hu Tingsen changed his words and said: "If you insist on the imperial examination, then say that you should take the imperial examination, what is the content of the imperial examination, do you know it?" Don't say three words of Baguwen, in addition to this, you will say another one? Speaking of this, the child finally panicked, he didn't know the imperial examination in Japan, but he just heard the adults talk about the Bagu Wen, and knew the content of the Four Books and Five Classics, so he followed the gourd. In fact, the official version does not have the word "Baguwen", but calls it "Shiwen" or "Zhiyi", and sometimes it is called "Sishuwen", which these children do not know.

Hu Tingsen knew that the experience of these children was nothing more than that, so he said: "This should be done, in addition to knowing the four books and five classics, but also to learn poetry, taking the initial county school admission as an example, there is a poem with five words and six rhymes, if you become a student, you want to take the exam, you have to write a poem with five words and eight rhymes." Do you still think that learning poetry is useless? ”

These words were full of color, which made Ruan Yuan look at Mr. Hu in a fascination, forgetting everything else for a while, only to feel that there was a vast world that he could not imagine between the volumes. Hu Tingsen saw that the children had no objections, so he started from the first sentence of the poem, "Shijiang Picking Hibiscus", and in the grief, it was even more sincere, which made people immersed in it and difficult to extricate themselves.

When Ruan Yuan returned home, he begged his father to tell him more about the "Anthology", and Ruan Chengxin was quite puzzled until Ruan Yuan explained the ancient poems that Mr. Hu was talking about, and he heard the clues. I couldn't help but think for a while: "Mr. Hu was really a famous Confucian at that time, he was good at the Book of Songs, and I have heard of the profound knowledge. I don't want to teach children, from shallow to deep, I can really make children like poetry, this is the good thing. ”

But thinking that most of the poems included in the "Anthology" are ancient works, and the pronunciation and semantics of the characters have changed greatly, Ruan Yuan is only eight years old after all, and it is not easy to understand these. Then he said: "Yuan'er loves reading so much, and my father naturally likes it, but reading to learn is not a day's work, and if you want to read the "Anthology" well, it will take at least a year or two, can Yuan'er be patient?" ”

Ruan Yuan didn't know what was difficult, so he nodded. Ruan Chengxin started teaching Ruan Yuan some simple articles from the next day, starting with the prose that overlapped with the story of "Historical Records", such as "Reply to Su Wushu" and "Report to Shaoqing", and after the famous dozen or so essays, he talked about Han Fu. Ruan Yuan naturally had a lot of puzzles, Ruan Chengxin explained one by one, seeing his son so studious, he was quite happy, but he didn't feel bored. After a while, Ruan Yuan was already able to memorize many chapters.

……

"What is the so-called 'poetry and words'? At the beginning of the ambition, it is the 'love' that Mr. Hu talked about, when a person's 'love' accumulates enough, this person will have 'ambition'.

What happens if this 'ambition' is enough? As stated in this "Preface to Mao's Poems", we must express the aspirations in our hearts in words. This is the origin of poetry, and when writing poetry in the future, we must not forget the root of poetry. ”

"Tai Shi Gong's sentence 'Man is inherently dead, or lighter than a feather, or heavier than Mount Tai.' What does that mean? Just because this person is different, the 'will' is also different. Some people's daily 'aspirations' are only full of food and clothing, and if they are in a poor family, it is fine. But if we scholars are like this, it will be 'lighter than a feather'. With the world in mind and the common people in mind, this kind of 'ambition' is the so-called 'heavier than Mount Tai', and it is the 'ambition' that we scholars should have......"

Sometimes Ruan Chengxin's explanation may not be completely accurate, but in order for Ruan Yuan to understand, he can only try to be as simple as possible. While Ruan Yuan was learning the "Anthology", the Tang poems taught by his mother were also often recited so as not to forget.

On this day, Hu Tingsen suddenly had a whimsical idea and asked each of the children in Jiang's private school to write a poem, with no subject matter, as long as it was related to the landscape. Ruan Yuan has been reading poetry since he was a child, and although it is difficult to have a good work for a while, he can catch the wind and write a five-character and eight-rhyme poem.

Seeing that the students were putting away their pens one after another, Hu Tingsen also began to read these poems one by one. Seeing Jiao Xun's poems, he couldn't help but nod and said: "Jiao Xun, your five words and eight rhymes, your voice is flat, and your battles are quite appropriate, and your words are good, but there are still a little shortcomings." ”

Jiao Xun was quite pleased when he heard this, he knew that Hu Tingsen was used to it, if the poem was not done well, Mr. Hu would not criticize it immediately, but he would not praise it, but he would only say a good word at the end. But if Mr. Hu begins to comment carefully and carefully, it must have merit. So although I heard the teacher say that I still have shortcomings, I was already satisfied, and said, "Please also ask the teacher for advice." ”

"Why do you use the last two sentences, 'There is a real meaning in this, and I have forgotten to argue.'" This? Hu Tingsen said with a smile: "Although it is difficult to say that your other sentences are written in the world, they are also decent, which is rare at your age." But this sentence, although it is a classic work of the ancients, but if you copy it like this, it seems to be inferior. Without explanation, it is not the right way to take the words of the ancients by force, just as to take the property of others without intercourse. I'll stop this time, don't write poems like this in the future. Jiao Xunyuan didn't know what the disadvantages of directly using the words and sentences of the ancients were, and when he heard Hu Tingsen's words, he immediately sweated and said busily: "What the teacher said is that students must remember it for the rest of their lives." ”

Hu Tingsen read a few more poems, and he didn't seem to be satisfied, but when he looked at it, his eyes suddenly lit up: "The fog is heavy and the mountains are far away, the tide is flat and the shore is low, this sentence is ......" looked at the inscription Ruan Yuan below, first made a straight face, and said to Ruan Yuan: "This is made by someone else in your family?" ”

"It's not family members, the student thought of these two sentences before, so he wrote them down casually." Although Ruan Yuan didn't understand why Hu Tingsen's tone was stern, but it was true, he replied like this.

Hu Tingsen had been in the shogunate for several years, and he had always been good at criminal law, and seeing that Ruan Yuan's attitude was sincere and did not seem to be fake, he turned to a pleasant face and said: "Today's poems are the title I gave you on a whim, and I am here to watch you compose poems. Worried that Ruan Yuan was afraid, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have no intention of blaming you." These two poems are stable and ingenious in the confrontation, and they have a broad realm. People who are not well-open-minded and intelligent must not write this poem. You are only eight or nine years old this year, you can have these two sentences, and your future achievements will be far above the old age. ”

Ruan Yuan was naturally embarrassed when he heard Mr. Hu praise himself so much, so he lowered his head and whispered, "Sir...... The gentleman is too exalted to the students, and he really dare not ......"

"If you are a great talent, you should soar in the sky, why don't you dare?" Hu Tingsen smiled: "Looking at your tone, it seems that someone in the family has a professor, huh...... Tang poetry, whose favorite work? ”

"It's Mr. Maha." Ruan Yuan replied. Maha is Wang Wei, Ruan Yuan first learned poetry, so he started with Wang Weishi, and he is quite familiar with it.

"Hmm...... The white clouds look back, and the blue mist enters to see nothing. What's next? ”

"Mr. Hui, it's 'the peaks in the field, the clouds and the sunshine are different.' ”

"The wind is strong, and the general hunts Weicheng. What about the next sentence? ”

"Mr. Hui, it's 'the grass is withered, the eagle's eye is sick, and the snow is light.' ”

These two sentences are not recited by everyone in Wang Wei's poems. Ruan Yuan can recite it, which shows that he has pondered Wang Weishi.

"Good boy, Wang Weishi, which sentence do you like the most?" Hu Tingsen was completely relieved, believing that Ruan Yuan was young and his knowledge was higher than that of ordinary people.

"Mr. Hui, if you say that the students like the most, it should be the sentence 'Brother Yaozhi ascends to the heights, and there is one less person in the dogwood'. When the students read Mr. Maha's preface and composed the poem, it was only seventeen. However, Mr. Maha has a broad mind, and attaches great importance to brotherhood, first pushing himself and others, knowing the scene of the brothers' reunion, and then expressing his own mind, asking but not being able to get it. Mr. Maha is such a genius, how can Ruan Yuan disrespect him? Since Hu Tingsen entered the school, he has talked about lyricism with poetry, and at this time, listening to Ruan Yuan's words, he has read poetry and learned about friendship, and he is not overjoyed.

After Ruan Yuan finished answering, he suddenly noticed someone under the corridor, and when he looked closely, he saw that it was a little girl of the same age as himself, looking at him with a smile. It seems that I listened to the answer with the teacher just now, and I was quite envious. Seeing Ruan Yuan turn her head, the girl seemed to be a little shy, and hurriedly lowered her head, only snickering under the corner of the wall.

Ruan Yuan didn't think much about it, so he sat down. After all, it's not a bad thing for others to smile at him. But he didn't see that the eyes of the few Jiang family children around him were full of resentment.

It was the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong, and the nine-year-old Ruan Yuan had been studying in the Jiang family for nearly two years. During this period, the speed of academic entry was Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun. The two are quite studious and are deeply loved by Hu Tingsen, so Hu Tingsen often opens a small stove to teach them some new knowledge. At this time, when Sinology was flourishing and new commentaries on the classics were emerging, Hu Tingsen was very open-minded and often admired well-founded commentaries.

Ruan Chengxin also got a job copying books in the Jiang family to earn some money to make a living, although Ruan Chengxin claimed to be a scholar and was quite reluctant to have too much contact with the Jiang family, but seeing that the Ruan family was poor day by day, he had to bend his waist for five buckets of rice.

There was no homework in Japan, but Hu Tingsen saw that Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun were studious, so he called the two to Jiangfu and told more stories about "Zuo Chuan". Soon the lecture was over, and Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun went to the back garden of Jiangfu to play. Talking about the North Lake where Jiao Xun was when he was a child, Jiao Xun said that the scenery there is extremely beautiful, and between the small bridges and flowing waters, it is the most comfortable and peaceful.

Ruan Yuan is usually in Yangzhou, and he often sees the hustle and bustle of the market, and after watching it for a long time, he is also quite bored. Then he said: "Brother-in-law, when you are free in the future, can you take me to the North Lake to have a fun?" ”

"Haha, I don't think that Ruan Fuzi, who loves to read the most, still has a childlike heart." Jiao Xun said with a smile. Ruan Yuan studied quite diligently, and by the time he was nine years old, he had gradually been able to recite the four books, so Jiao Xun gave him the title of "Ruan Fuzi".

Ruan Yuan couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he heard this. At this moment, a servant of the Jiang family came over and said to Ruan Jiao and the others: "Master Chengli is at the school school, it seems that there is something urgent, and I want to see the two of you." ”

Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun listened, although they didn't know what was going on, but after all, Jiang Fang had the grace to raise them to study, and since he came to call the two of them over, he couldn't refuse. So I trotted all the way to the home school. But when I looked around, there was no Jiang Fang. When he turned around and wanted to leave, he saw that a few children of the Jiang family's school had blocked the way.

Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun had never had much contact with these Jiang family disciples, and at this time, looking at their eyes, it seemed that something was wrong, and they all realized that it was not appropriate to stay here for a long time. Jiao Xun took a step forward and said, "Brothers, just now someone said that Mr. Orange Li has something to do here, and the two of us are here, since everything is fine, the two of us will not bother." ”

"Who's your brother? Two mongrels with foreign surnames, are you surnamed Jiang? Come and call us brothers? The tallest Jiang family disciple looked at Jiao Xun contemptuously.

"My brother misunderstood, although the two of us are not surnamed Jiang, his grandmother, my adoptive grandmother, is also from the Jiang family. Jiangfu family school, people of the same clan can enter, my two relatives are not the same clan? ”

"Don't talk nonsense, young master, I look down on you the most for being such a crumb, call me!" The eldest Jiang family disciple gave an order, and the two Jiang family juniors on the side immediately swung their fists at Jiao Xun. Jiao Xun fought back with all his might, but fighting was really not his forte, and he was one against two, so he soon couldn't support it and was knocked to the ground by the two.

A child of the Jiang family standing behind didn't seem to want to see everyone fist and kick each other, so he said, "Why should my brother bother about him? I am also a member of the Jiang family, and I see that they are usually quite well-behaved, and they have never been disrespectful to our Jiang family, for the sake of our fellow sect, forget it this time. When Ruan Yuan looked at this person, he felt that his face was quite raw, and he couldn't remember what it was called for a while.

"Fart! When I saw these two little rabbit cubs, I got angry, and I pestered Mr. all day long, and Mr. never gave us a good face! If it weren't for these two little kings and eight calves who said bad things about us, Mr. would have done this to us?! The eldest Jiang family disciple was obviously unmoved, his eyes gradually turned to Ruan Yuan, and the other two people had already understood and walked towards Ruan Yuan.

Ruan Yuan saw that Jiao Xun was humiliated, and he was about to be surrounded, and he was also very anxious in his heart. Neither he nor Jiao Xun would fight, except for the one who said good things, there were five people on the other side, and they were all older than him, so he was a little scared. But at this time, he suddenly remembered that the day before yesterday, his father had told him the story of Xue Rengui's three arrows to set the Tianshan Mountain, and he didn't understand why the Tang army was less than the enemy, but Xue Rengui could use only three arrows to repel a strong enemy.

Ruan Chengxin replied at the time: "In all wars, you must first know yourself and your enemy. It is a good thing that we have more troops than the enemy, but even if the enemy is outnumbered, do not show cowardice first. It is necessary to first look at how the enemy's troops are arranged, if the lineup is tight, it is indeed impossible to underestimate the enemy, but if it is to fight separately, it is much easier. If conditions permit, you can directly take the army, and the enemy will inevitably be in chaos. Although Xue Rengui had many opponents, he was undisciplined. He shot three arrows at the opponent's three fierce generals, destroying their edge, and the opponent was naturally afraid, so he surrendered. ”

At this time, seeing that the remaining three people, although they looked vicious, they were standing on their own sides, obviously not working together. Although Ruan Yuan had never fought in actual combat, he also had the heart to give it a try, and went straight to the big Jiang family disciple, pushed him to the ground, and pressed him tightly.

The big man didn't expect Ruan Yuan to take the initiative to attack, and he was at a loss for a moment, so he was pressed to the ground. When the other two helpers saw that the eldest brother was pressed down, they also panicked, and only stood in place and did not dare to move. Ruan Yuan saw that he had succeeded in the attack, and he didn't want to cause another incident, so he said to the big man: "If you let go today, Brother Jiao and I will give up, and I won't talk to Mr. Chengli about today's matter!" ”

"So what? Mr. Orange is my own grandfather, can he still do it to his grandson?! Seeing that Ruan Yuan didn't want to make a move, the big man had no fear, so he threw Ruan Yuan to the ground again and began to fight. Ruan Yuan also just wanted to scare him, he didn't want to really use force, and his body was thin, so he had to hold his arm tightly to prevent him from hitting him. But after all, the age difference between the two is a few years, and Ruan Yuan insisted for a while, and he was already physically exhausted.

Seeing that the other two had already surrounded him, although Ruan Yuan was still supporting, he knew that there was no turning point. I had to press the big man's arm with all my might, so that I could be beaten later. At this moment, I suddenly heard a familiar voice behind me say loudly: "Bullying the weak in broad daylight, do you still want to have a face?!" ”

The person who came was Jiang Fang, Ruan Yuan heard Jiang Fang's voice and knew that he was safe, so he finally relaxed. Seeing Jiang Fang in front of them, a few of the Jiang family disciples who were beating people didn't dare to bully Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun anymore, so they hurriedly stood aside and lowered their heads.

The big man also left Ruan Yuan and greeted Jiang Fang, still fearless, and said with a smile: "Grandpa......", Jiang Fang slapped him down, and said angrily: "Yuan'er Xun'er has been in my family for two years, respecting teachers and elders, and has never made any mistakes." You actually did this, and found so many people to beat Yuan'er and Xun'er, and the face of my Jiang family was all lost by you! ”

The big man still wanted to argue, but he saw Hu Tingsen also walking slowly from behind, followed by a little girl, who knew that it was Jiang Cai, the daughter of his cousin Jiang Zhenji. I saw that Hu Tingsen's eyes were quite unhappy, as if he had seen the situation in front of him and had guessed what was happening. Then he said: "Mr. Hu, it's their ......"

"Needless to say." Hu Tingsen did not have the smile on his face, and said: "According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, those who beat people with hands and feet will be punished with twenty lashes, and those who become injured will be punished with thirty lashes." Today, there are all the human and material evidence, can you be willing to go to the Yamen of Jiangdu County? Hu Tingsen is usually easy-going, and he doesn't show a smile when he speaks, but he is extremely disgusted with the other party. The eldest man heard that he had spoken of the law, and knew that Mr. Hu was unhappy in his heart, and there was nothing to add to it, so he didn't dare to argue anymore, and left with the four helpers.

For a while, only the child of the Jiang family who helped Ruan Yuan delay time, Ruan Yuan was worried that Jiang Fang would mistakenly think that he was also one of the people who bullied him, so he said: "Uncle Jiang, this brother is a good person, and he helped me just now." ”

Jiang Fang sighed: "It's also my fault that Zhenlu and Zhenlu have no way to teach their children, in fact, a few decades ago, it was my Jiang family who asked for the Ruan family, I didn't think that these children would be so snobbish today." After looking at the remaining child, he said to Ruan Yuan: "Actually, this child's name is Jiang Fan, he just entered my house recently, and he is not a child of my family, but he saw the friendship of the same surname and accepted him to study here." These descendants don't care because his surname is Jiang, but they are so ...... to you" Seeing Ruan Yuan, there is no big deal, Jiao Xun was bullied by two children, his face was blue, and his clothes were torn apart, which was both ashamed and distressed, so he hurriedly pulled up Jiao Xun and helped him wipe the filth on his body.

Jiang Fan said: "In the morning, I heard from the three officials that I wanted to see Brother Ruan, but if I want to be angry with him, I feel that something is wrong, so I still tell Brother Ruan, I don't want to be too late." Brother Ruan, brother is here to compensate you. Ruan Yuan knew that he was not a wicked person, so he also returned the salute. But looking at the place where the children of the Jiang family ran away, thinking that they had been in the Jiang Mansion for two years, they had never been at fault, but today they were humiliated in vain, and they couldn't help but become angry.

The little girl Jiang Cai also stepped forward to comfort Ruan Yuan and said: "Brother Ruan, my brothers have always been arrogant, and when they told them that Brother Ruan was smart and studious, they looked at me one by one. But Brother Ruan, Cai'er thinks you are very good, and if you have difficulties in the future, she will definitely help you, Brother Ruan, don't be angry, okay? ”

However, Ruan Yuan has been studying since he was a child, and he has always believed in the words of the sage, and he only feels that life is in the world, even if difficulties and setbacks are inevitable, he must not lose his ambition, and he must not endure humiliation and steal life. As early as when he was besieged by three children of the Jiang family, he had secretly made up his mind not to associate with the children of the Jiang family again. Although Jiang Cai was gentle and kind, he must be a kind person, but he still didn't want to stay because of this. Lowering his head and gritting his teeth slightly, he raised his head and said, "Sister of the Jiang family, you have a kind heart, and Ruan Yuan remembers it in his heart." But ......" Ruan Yuan turned his head again and said firmly to Jiang Fang: "The children here are like this, Ruan Yuan does not want to stay in Jiang Mansion anymore. ”

Jiang Fang was shocked, he didn't expect Ruan Yuan to be so tough at a young age, he and Hu Tingsen often talked about the younger generations in the family, and knew that Ruan Yuan was talented, and over time, he would be able to become a talent. Where is Ruan Yuan willing to leave? Then he said: "Yuan'er, don't worry, I will strictly control those unscrupulous children." But Yuan'er must not have the idea of leaving my Jiangfu. ”

"Uncle, grandson is only afraid, in the future, when grandchildren enter this door again, every time they will remember the humiliating scene today. If that's the case, how can the uncle let the grandson feel at ease? "Nguyen Yuan is still very determined.

"Yuan'er, Mr. Hu told me that you are talented, if you can learn more classics and become a famous teacher, your future achievements will be above all the people in my Jiang family, why should you abandon everything in the future because of temporary unhappiness?" Jiang Fang was still reluctant to Ruan Yuan.

Ruan Yuan remembered that when his father let him go to Jiangfu to study, he also told his mother about Jiang Fang's words, saying that he could make his own decisions about his livelihood, but Ruan Yuan's future could not be delayed. At that time, I only heard that the Jiang family was rich and had a large collection of books, so I agreed to Jiang Fang's words. But this humiliation made him begin to understand that if he continued to stay in the Jiang family, he could only whisper to those unscrupulous children in the future. Listening to Jiang Fang's words, it was the same as what he heard when he came. Then he said: "Uncle Jiang, when I came to the Jiang family, you said to my father that Yuan'er's future should be decided by himself, yes or no?" ”

Jiang Fang was stunned for a moment, not wanting Ruan Yuan to mention this past again.

Ruan Yuan continued: "Today's matter, Ruan Yuan has already understood that the Jiang family has Mr. Hu, and it is true that Ruan Yuan will benefit for life. At this time, he threw Hu Tingsen to the ground again to thank him for his kindness. He also said: "But if it is for the sake of studying, you will be humiliated like this, and you will be looked down upon, then what is the purpose of studying here?" Learn the words of the saints? The sage said that he could not win his ambition, and he also said that he would raise my heroic spirit. If you want to stay in Jiangfu today, won't you live up to the words of the sage? Although Jiang Fang wanted to continue to stay, he also felt that Ruan Yuan's words were quite reasonable, and it was difficult to refute them for a while.

Ruan Yuan said again: "Uncle Jiang said that Yuan'er's reading and learning should be Yuan'er's own decision. Then I will be the Lord today, and in the future, I will go home to study, and I will not trouble Uncle Jiang! After that, he still didn't forget to pay his respects, and bowed to Jiang Fang again, until he finished the salute, then stood up again, pulled Jiao Xun and left.

Jiang Fan and Jiang Cai were both taken aback, and Jiang Cai shouted, "Brother Ruan, brother of the Ruan family!" She listened to Ruan Yuan and Hu Tingsen's poems that day, and saw that he answered him fluently, with both talent and affection, and she had already had a heart of admiration. At this time, he was reluctant to leave Ruan Yuan.

Hu Tingsen said with a smile: "Cai'er doesn't have to worry, I have been teaching with him for two years, and I know his temper, if he decides, he will never come back." But be assured, that since I have an old relationship with him, I will give you all the work I can do. He said to Jiang Fang again: "Today's situation is like this, and the old man doesn't want to stay in the Jiang family anymore." These children in Jiangfu are the two smartest. At this time, Jiang Fan had just met Jiang Fang, and he went to Jiang Mansion to study because of the friendship of the same surname, and he did not communicate much with Hu Tingsen. Therefore, Hu Tingsen didn't think about Jiang Fan, he just thought about Ruan Yuan and Jiao Xun leaving, and it was very boring for him to be with these mediocre children, and he had no regrets when he left.

Jiang Fang saw that Hu Tingsen was also leaving, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed and felt that he couldn't keep talents.

Suddenly, a deep and clear voice sounded behind him: "Ruan Yuan is so civil and military, and he is so talented in the prime minister, but the virtuous brother can't stay, it's a pity." ”

Jiang Fang was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Brother said that he laughed, although Yuan'er is smart, but after all, he is only nine years old, where is it related to the general?" ”

The elder brother smiled: "Talented, observant and courteous, humble and well-behaved, what is it if you are not a talent?" At that time, the three of them surrounded him, and he went straight to the heart, and took the lead in restraining the three officials, and only waited until you arrived. I've seen a lot of this Manchu Dynasty civil and military, and Orange still doesn't believe that my brother is not a good brother? ”

As he spoke, he walked out, seeing that he was around fifty, although he was quite kind, but there was a deep bearing in his eyes. It is the master of the Jiang family, the general merchant of Lianghuai, and the great salt merchant Jiang Chun, who was officially awarded a doctor of Guanglu.

Jiang Fang was also quite ashamed when he saw his brother coming, and said: "The child's temper is enough, Mr. Hu is also leaving, this ......" looked at Jiang Chun, as if hoping that he would help keep him.

But Jiang Chun said: "Gathering and parting are all fixed. Those who are willing to come can't go, and those who are willing to go can't stay. He said to Hu Tingsen: "If Mr. is willing to go, he will follow his wishes." It's just that I don't take good care of this grandson on weekdays, and I hope that Mr. will help me more. ”

Only then did Jiang Fang understand that Jiang Chun was good at recognizing people, and knew that Hu Tingsen was a famous Confucian, and each had his own ethics, so he hurriedly forced him to stay, just for fear of giving him the feeling of being under the fence. It's better to go with the flow, he will feel embarrassed when he sees Jiang Chun being lenient. Sure enough, Hu Tingsen said: "Jiang Zongshang is so loving, it is really unbearable in the future. In the future, if Jiang Zongshang needs to go down, he will do his best to report it. ”

Jiang Chun replied, but he was still looking outside, and the person who seemed to care more was Ruan Yuan.

Ruan Yuan returned home and told his parents what happened in Jiang Mansion one by one. Seeing that he was stubborn like this, and looking at Jiao Xun's appearance, he knew that what Ruan Yuan said was true, and he was also quite distressed. Hurriedly asked Yang Lugao to buy fish, firstly to comfort his son, and secondly, to praise him for his reasonable and temperate measures. Yang Lugao has been in Nguyen Mansion for more than 30 years, and he is good at cooking on weekdays, and the fish he makes is unusually delicious. Ruan Yuan had a big meal before calming down.

Ruan Chengxin also knew his son's ambition, and he thought of going to the Jiang family to study, but it was not his wish, so he did not object. only said: "If Yuan'er doesn't want to go, he will follow his father to study in the future." The Jiang family doesn't go to small things, but if they delay their studies, the gains outweigh the losses. Ruan Yuan nodded, knowing his father's mind.

From then on, Ruan Chengxin began to teach Ruan Yuan's Tang and Song Dynasty prose and "Zizhi Tongjian", and Ruan Yuan said: "The Anthology is a classic, but unfortunately there are a lot of prose texts, and they are rarely used today. The prose side of the Tang and Song dynasties is a model of articles, so let's start with Ouyang Yongshu and Su Wenzhonggong. Yuan'er is nearly ten years old, and he has read a lot of books, and when he has a foundation, he can also read "Zizhi Tongjian". Ruan Yuan knew that his father's teachings were gradual and beneficial to him, so he listened to them one by one. After that, he learned from Ouyang Xiu's "Theory of Prisoners" and Su Shi's "Book of Soldiers on behalf of Zhang Fangping". Ruan Chengxin also picked the wonderful parts of "Tongjian" and taught Ruan Yuan to read.

Unconsciously another year has passed, and Ruan Yuan has a lot of understanding of prose and historical allusions. One day at home, I had nothing to do, looking through the books left by my grandfather, and unexpectedly found a few volumes of "Mathematical Essence" approved by the imperial court, which was a masterpiece of the late Kangxi Dynasty, and the imperial court concentrated on arithmetic masters, and was revised after ten years. Before Kangxi, Chinese and Western arithmetic, one by one. Ruan Yutang left this one, which has been scattered in several volumes, but there are still many remains. So Ruan Yuan pestered his father and asked him to teach him some more arithmetic. Although Ruan Chengxin is not proficient in arithmetic, it is not difficult to explain basic terms. Ruan Yuan looked at it and learned a lot about arithmetic.

Behind a volume of "The Essence of Mathematics and Physics", Ruan Yuan accidentally found a few words, which were "Report to the emperor's grace and go down to An Lishu", which looked dry and thin, and it was Ruan Yutang's handwriting. He looked at the battle, and it also coincided with the words of benevolence and government that he saw in the "Analects" and "Mencius", so he secretly wrote it down. It's just that at this time, Ruan Yuan still doesn't understand what these eight words mean.

On this day, Jiao Xun came to be a guest again and invited him to Beihu to play for a few days, thinking that he still had time to communicate with Jiao Xun on weekdays, and it would not hinder his studies, so Ruan Yuan also went.

When they had nothing to do, the two often went to the area of Huang Jue Bridge where Jiao Xun lived to play hide and seek, Jiao Xun thought that he was one year older than Ruan Yuan, his physical strength should be better, and he should hide more timely. Who knew that several times in a row, Jiao Xun was accurately found by Ruan Yuan, but on the contrary, it was Jiao Xun's turn to catch people, but Ruan Yuan often hid and did not know where to go.

On this day, Jiao Xun hid in the grass, thinking that Ruan Yuan could no longer be found in the depths of the grass, but it didn't take long for Ruan Yuan to find out. I was quite dissatisfied in my heart, so I asked: "I said, little master, do you have clairvoyance and ears?" Why do you look for me so quickly every time, and I won't play with you anymore. ”

Ruan Yuan said with a smile: "Brother-in-law, don't make fun of me, in fact, there is no good way, but my father taught me that the first thing to look at in the art of war is the terrain, which is divided into nine types, each with its own characteristics...... For example, here, there is mostly flat land, and although my brother-in-law hides in the grass, doesn't my brother-in-law see a tree by the lake? The tree is not small, so you can climb it and take a look. ”

Jiao Xun suddenly realized at this time, and said with a smile: "I still think you are honest on weekdays, but now that I think about it, I have more eyes than anyone else." He was about to hit Ruan Yuan, but Ruan Yuan hurriedly caught it and said, "Brother-in-law is a liar who doesn't blush, you said that Beihu has the most fishing, but I saw that there are few people around." ”

Jiao Xundao: "Actually, there are a lot of people in this area, but now is not the fishing season. I saw fishing and crabbing here the year before last, and there were a lot of people! And there are various methods, such as fishing with cages, nets, and ropes around the lake, and the fish do not want to touch the ropes, so they swim into it, and then they catch all the nets. ”

"There is also crab fishing, in fact, it is not difficult to catch crabs, crab fat season to the lake to see, there are no small holes dug by crabs, along the hole, you can catch a lot at once! There are also people who put bait on bamboo poles, and crabs seem to like things like bamboo poles the most, and they all come up and climb one by one, and it is not difficult to catch them at all. Jiao Xun said and said, he forgot about the "hatred" with Ruan Yuan, and only cared about telling stories.

"Brother-in-law, what's that little temple over there?" Ruan Yuan suddenly pointed to a temple on the side and asked.

"That's Dongyue Temple." Jiao Xundao: "Speaking of Dongyue Temple, there are many stories, a few years ago, it was said that there was a student, that is, Xiucai, who went to Jiangning Mansion to take the exam, and passed by the Dongyue Temple halfway. Suddenly, I heard a cry from inside, and when I looked over, I saw a young woman, who said that she had fled from the famine, and had not eaten for several days. Xiucai was kind, so he gave some dry food to the woman, and he knew how to fish again, so he went to the North Lake, caught a fish and came back to roast it for the girl. The girl said, 'Sir is very kind, and the concubine has nothing to repay, so she only tells Mr. that if she goes to the exam this time, she will be able to do Chinese.' ’”

Xiucai listened to it and laughed it off. We are in the south of the Yangtze River, there are many students, and the middle lift is the most difficult, and this time he went to the provincial capital, but he didn't have much hope. But in this dream, he saw himself sitting in the examination room, and the three exam questions in the paper were clearly written, and he didn't know why, when he put down the pen, if he had divine help, the three exams would be completed in a while. At this time, I suddenly heard the rooster crow, and I knew that it was early in the morning, but when I woke up, the girl was nowhere to be found. ”

Xiucai didn't think much about it, he just felt that the three test questions and the articles he made were clearly remembered in his heart, and he was afraid that he would forget them, so he borrowed some paper and recorded them one by one. At this time, he didn't feel anything abnormal, but he didn't expect Fucheng, entered the examination room, opened the paper and took a look, the first test question was exactly the same as in his dream! Xiucai was taken aback, remembering the paper he had made in his dream, so he wrote it word for word and wrote what he had done in his dream on the test paper. After two or three games, the same was true. Later, when the list was released, this talented talent who thought he would definitely fall off the list actually won the third place in Jiangnan! "According to the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou was originally in Jiangsu Province, but the township test was the same examination of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, and it was only called the Jiangnan Township Test. Ruan Yuan has heard his father say it since he was a child, and he is not surprised.

Since then, there are often scholars passing by Dongyue Temple to spend the night, but everyone who sleeps has often met this woman, if she is kind enough to help her, she will definitely go to high school. If you don't want to help, or if you have evil thoughts in your words, you will definitely fall off the list. After a long time, some people said that this woman was not an ordinary person, but a fox fairy! Ruan Yuan often listened to his father tell folk tales on weekdays, but Ruan Chengxin was born in an official family, so he didn't remember much folk tales after all. At this time, I listened to Jiao Xun tell the story of ordinary folk readers, and I was unconsciously fascinated.

"I used to only hear my father say that there is a "Liao Zhai", there are a lot of fox fairy stories in it, I don't want to be in the North Lake, there are also fox fairies?" Ruan Yuan was quite curious, so he asked Jiao Xun.

"In this area of the North Lake, not to mention the fox fairy, other stories, from the gods and monsters of the heavenly realm, from the loyal and good of the world, there are many of them." Jiao Xun said with emotion: "It's just that most of the stories are passed on by word of mouth on weekdays, and some stories may have been true. When a reader sees a story that is absurd, he denounces it as nonsense. No one believes the story, and no one tells it, so naturally the original story is forgotten. ”

"Then the brother-in-law wrote down all these and stopped adding oil and vinegar, so wouldn't he be able to distinguish the true from the fake?" Ruan Yuan asked.

"Actually, I've had an ambition since I was a child. It is to write down the story of our North Lake side of the lake, little by little. Some of them are made up, and there is no way to do it. But there are some real stories that can always be remembered. But speaking of this, Jiao Xun sighed. Said: "But this book is so simple? How many people wrote books and published them, and no one helped to stereotype and print them, and after a long time, they were lost. My family is not rich, where can I engrave a book. ”

"Brother-in-law, don't worry, when I grow up, I will definitely carve it out for you." Ruan Yuan comforted.

"It's so easy, I heard my father say that carving a book by yourself is an ordinary book, and it also requires dozens or hundreds of shutters to be carved, and you have to find carvers and make molds...... People say that you will have a good future in the future, I believe it. But the stereotyped printing of the book is inevitably a little more difficult for you. ”

Ruan Yuan looked at the lake on the side and stopped talking. In his heart, he secretly made up his mind that if there is a condition in the future, he will definitely help Jiao Xun and help those who can't carve books to carve out all the books.

Before you know it, Ruan Yuan has also spent the first ten years of his life.