With more than 3,000 disciples, Confucius was both a huge cultural and academic community and a powerful political force. In order to restore the Zhou rites, Confucius and his disciples monopolized all cultural activities in the Lu State, including all weddings, funerals, and sacrifices from the princes and nobles to the common people.

Especially for funeral activities, the people of Lu are proud to be able to invite the Confucian people to preside over the funeral. If any family did not invite a Confucian disciple to preside over the funeral, it would be a very shameful thing.

The funeral activities presided over by Confucius were complicated, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly, and it was difficult for ordinary people to bear a huge economic burden.

There was only one person among Confucius's disciples who was able to minimize these expenses. And my own fees are extremely low. This person is Yan Hui.

Fan Li rode north, inquiring all the way, who presided over the funeral of the family in front? He was told that it was Confucius's student Yan Hui who presided over the funeral.

Yan Hui's name, Fan Li had heard of it a long time ago. He was not a few years younger than Confucius, but he was Confucius's favorite and most respected disciple. Because he was knowledgeable, noble, cheerful, and easy-going, the common people also respected him very much.

Fan Li thought to himself, look at what such a famous sage looks like today.

Pedestrians appeared on the road, chatting and talking about some things in the funeral.

In spring and autumn, people have little entertainment, and life is monotonous and boring. Being able to watch the funeral supported by the people of the Confucius Gate is also a thing that everyone yearns for.

When nothing happens, there are hardly any pedestrians on the road. But on this day, people from all over the country were dispatched.

Everyone gathered at the funeral scene. Funerals generally last three to five days. The funeral was already the last day of the family, and some funeral activities were changed from the home to the funeral and cemetery.

When Fan Li arrived, the coffin had been parked in the cemetery, and the people watching formed a large circle, and in the field, a group of witches, dressed in black clothes, with their hair scattered, dancing strange dances under their feet, and singing strange songs in their mouths. Next to it was a band, drums and cymbals clanging and trumpets blowing.

First there was a group dance, then a solo dance. Then there was a group dance. After dancing for a while, I changed the program again, and someone supported the filial son and grandson and circled around the venue. In the middle of the field, there is a table with a pig's head, a cow's head, and a sheep's head on it. After turning around, the filial son and grandson knelt down and kowtowed, and then got up and turned again.

From the clothes and faces of the onlookers, it can be seen that there are even poor people, and there is no shortage of disciples. Fan Li stood in the crowd, his appearance and clothing were a little outstanding, but everyone came from four towns and eight towns. They don't know each other. People would classify him as rich, so no one paid much attention to him.

The sacrificial activities are carried out one by one, and some rituals Fan Li can figure out what they mean, and some rituals Fan Li doesn't understand what they mean at all.

He wanted to see the famous Yan Hui, but there were so many people, he didn't know who Yan Hui was.

Next to him stood a middle-aged man in his thirties. Fan Li patted him on the shoulder and said, "Driver, may I ask, which one is Mr. Yan Hui?" ”

The man looked back at Fan Li, and saw that Fan Li had an extraordinary bearing, holding a horse in his hand, carrying a sword by his side, and it was not a local accent. He said, "Sir is not a local, is he?" ”

Fan Li said with a smile: "I came all the way down, and when I encountered such a grand event, I couldn't help but stop and watch." I heard that it was Mr. Yan Hui who was the master of ceremonies, but I didn't know which one was Yan Hui, so I bothered to ask. ”

The man said, "No wonder you don't know Mr. Yan Hui." You see, that tall man in a blue robe is Yan Hui. ”

Fan Li nodded and smiled, expressing his gratitude, and then turned his face to look at Yan Hui. I saw that Yan was eight feet tall, her face was fair, her hair was not messy, her blue shirt was a little shabby, and her collar and cuffs were patched, but the pulp was very clean and ironed. He stood with his hands down, his expression solemn and dignified, and gave instructions from time to time during the ceremony.

Those who are doing things next to them come forward from time to time to ask questions. Before speaking, he bent down and bowed his hand, which showed that he was very respectful.

Yan Hui also returned the salute, looking very modest. The men were instructed to take two steps back before turning to leave. Be polite.

Even the onlookers stood silently. There is little gossip. It seems that everyone has an excellent upbringing.

"The state of etiquette is worthy of its name!" Fan Li secretly admired in his heart.

At this time, another ceremony was being carried out in the field, two people supported the filial son who was wearing heavy filial piety, facing the sky on his back, and chanting words in his mouth. Then he knelt down again, stretched his hands forward, and bent down until he was prostrate and threw himself to the ground. If so, several times.

Fan Li understood this etiquette, which probably means to worship heaven and earth, and wish the deceased to ascend to heaven as soon as possible.

A few people next to him whispered, which attracted Fan Li's attention. These are young people, in their teens and twenties, brightly dressed and red, and it can be seen that they are all children of rich families.

They were whispering about Yan Hui.

One said: "Mr. Yan Hui is really poor." presided over such a solemn ceremony, and wore patched clothes. ”

Another said: "Mr. Yan Hui pays attention to reading and learning, and only pays attention to moral cultivation, and neglects to make money." ”

The third said, "It is precisely because of this that he is respected by everyone." ”

One said, "I think he deliberately pretended to be like this." It's just a reputation. There is no one in the world who does not love money. ”

One said: "I'm not saying that Mr. Yan Hui doesn't love money, but the master has a saying, and a gentleman loves money in a good way." Mr. Yan Hui doesn't love any kind of ill-gotten gains. ”

One said, "There is a kind of money called righteous wealth, there is also a kind of wealth called unstoppable wealth, and there is another kind of money that you can't say is just or unjust." ”

One said, "What kind of money is this?" ”

The one said, "For example, if you are walking on the road and suddenly pick up a sum of money, are you just or unrighteous about it?" ”

One said, "It's called a windfall." ”

The other said, "When you see such money, do you want it or not?" ”

One said, "I'm sure I want it, I don't want it, and I'll be picked up by others." ”

Another said, "I want it too." ”

The one said, "Then the question is, do you say, do you want Mr. Yan Hui?" He walked down the road and picked up a sum of money, did he want it or not? ”

Several people looked at each other, and they all said that they couldn't get Yan Hui to pick up the money or not. That young man smiled slyly: "Let's make a joke today to test how high Mr. Yan Hui's moral character is." ”

Everyone said, "You have a lot of ideas, how do you say to take the test?" ”。

"Let's do this......" The voices of several people suddenly became smaller, and they cooed and laughed wryly.

Fan Li couldn't hear what they were saying. I couldn't help but laugh secretly in my heart, these little guys actually used this method to test Yan Hui. However, this method is still very powerful to deal with a poor person like Yan Hui. Will Yan Hui be able to withstand their test?