In mid-December, Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, and Le Yi braved the severe cold and snow to finally return to Mengyi.

In addition to the three of them, the crown prince Dai Wu also sent fifty Song soldiers to escort Meng Zhong and others along the way.

These fifty Song soldiers were soldiers under the command of the military Sima Dai Busheng, and the leader of the team was a very young commander called "Rong Yi (fén)", who was only in his early twenties, which was not much different from Meng Zhong.

Meng Zhong didn't know much about this Rong Oyster, but Le Yi was quite familiar with this person, after all, when he was fighting in the territory of Qi a while ago, this person was quite appreciated by Le Yi because of his bravery.

It is worth mentioning that Meng Zhong and his party of 53 people, but there were a full 12 chariots to travel, and this kind of team aroused Mengyi's vigilance, so that when Meng Zhong and a few people drove the chariot to Mengyi, Mengyi sounded the sound of gold on behalf of the warning, and immediately, a large group of Mengyi children in armor and weapons in hand poured out of the village, putting on a vigilant posture.

Among them are Meng Zhong's familiar Meng Hu, Meng Sui, Meng Heng and others.

"It's us!" Meng Hu shouted in a loud voice from afar.

"Hu?"

Meng Hu, who had been back in Mengyi for several months, was stunned when he heard the shout, and after a closer look, he found that the person who came was Meng Zhong and Meng Hu, and the vigilance in his heart was immediately eliminated, and the people immediately lifted their vigilance.

Subsequently, the chariot of Meng Zhong and Meng Hu stopped outside the village, and Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, Le Yi and the forty-nine Song soldiers led by Rong Yi all got off the chariot.

"Uncle Menghu."

Meng Zhong was still very happy to see Meng Hu, after all, before the winter of the previous year, when they fled back to Song from Zhao State, because Le Xu, Xiang Yu and others were infected with the wind cold, so Meng Zhong could only beg Meng Hu to stay in Zhao State to take care of the two, since then Meng Zhong has been worried about them, and now at a glance, Meng Hu, Le Xu, Xiang Yu and others seem to have returned to Song State unharmed, which makes Meng Zhong and Meng Hu feel very happy.

"Ah Zhong."

As Meng Zhong's clan uncle and the young patriarch of the Meng clan, Meng Ju also greeted Meng Zhong at the same time as he jumped out of the chariot, and greeted him quite enthusiastically, after all, he also knew that the most outstanding clansman in his Meng clan was the young man in front of him who was about to enter the age of eighteen, Meng Zhong.

"Uncle Menghu, when did you return to Mengyi?"

"Haha, I'll be back in Mengyi in April this year, just in time to catch up with the spring ploughing in the clan."

On the side, Meng Sui seemed to guess what Meng Zhong wanted to ask, and replied in advance: "Ah Zhong, Xiang Yi and Le Xu are all fine, when I return to Mengyi, they will come back with Uncle Meng Yu early, but now they are all in their respective families, do you want to summon them to come to the clan together?" ”

"Forget it." Meng Zhong said with a smile: "In the cold winter, don't let them run back and forth, and after the New Year, let's get together again in the master's house." ”

"Well, that's fine." Meng Sui nodded.

Seeing that the conversation was almost over, the young patriarch Meng Hu greeted with a smile: "Okay, let's talk in the city first." As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at Rong Yan and the other fifty Song soldiers.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong summoned Rong Yi to the front and introduced him to Meng Hu: "Uncle Meng Hu, this is Rong Hu, a pawn under the command of Sima Dai Bushengjun, this time I was ordered by the prince to escort us along the way, and it was very the way. ”

Of course, Meng Hu could understand Meng Zhong's voice, and immediately warmly beckoned Rong Yi and others to rest in the city, and instructed the clansmen to prepare wine and food, and prepare a banquet in the ancestral house of the clan to catch Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, Le Yi and Rong Yi and others.

I have to say that the ancestral house of the Menghu clan used to only hold banquets when the elders and patriarchs of other families came to visit, and this time it was a special case, which shows that Menghu really attaches great importance to Meng Zhong and others.

It's just that this makes Meng Zhong a little puzzled: Isn't it necessary to ask the patriarch Meng Qi for a banquet in the ancestral house?

As if seeing the confusion on Meng Zhong's face, Meng Sui explained with a smile on the side: "Ah Zhong, Uncle Meng Yu is already the patriarch of my Meng clan. ”

"What?" Meng Zhong looked at Meng Que in surprise when he heard this, which made Meng Que a little embarrassed, and explained with a sneering face: "Uncle Wei thinks that he is not qualified for the position of patriarch, but the father of the family is old, and the elder brother is ...... I have no choice but to let me take it, ashamed and ashamed. ”

Meng Yu's brother, Meng Yu, had died in the Song Dynasty's foreign wars many years earlier.

Hearing Meng Hu say this, Meng Zhong hurriedly said: "Uncle Meng Hu is talking about this, I believe that Uncle Meng Hu will be able to be qualified for the position of patriarch and make my Meng clan more and more prosperous." ”

"Hahaha......"

Meng Hu was quite happy to hear this, and smiled and welcomed Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, and Le Yi into the city.

When he returned to the clan, he first visited his mother and sister at home, so Meng Zhong entrusted the reception of fifty Song soldiers including Le Yi and Rong Yi to Menghu, Meng Sui and other clansmen, and he immediately drove a chariot in the direction of home.

Meng Zhong still remembered that when he left his hometown for Zhao, it was in the spring and summer when he was fifteen years old, and in a blink of an eye, he was already seventeen years old, and even after a short time after the New Year, he would be eighteen years old.

Counting the days, he has been away from home for almost three years, which makes him a little nervous on the way home, for fear of being blamed by his mother Ge for this.

Before driving the chariot back to the house, Meng Zhong jumped out of the car and peeked in through the fence wall of the courtyard, but saw someone in the courtyard.

Seeing this, he pushed open the courtyard door and walked in, but before he took two steps, there was a strange cry of "ahhhh

"Ash, don't scream, don't you recognize me?" Meng Zhong scolded twice in a low voice.

As soon as the words fell, a girl's crisp voice came from the main house: "Who? ”

Following the direction from which the voice came, Meng Zhong turned his head to look, and saw the figure of a young girl appearing on the threshold of the main house, it was his sister Meng Yan.

"Grandma."

Meng Zhong smiled and greeted his sister.

"Ah...... Elder brother? ”

Sister Meng Yan looked at Meng Zhong with wide eyes, as if she couldn't recognize it, and after being stunned for two or three breaths, she reacted, and muttered with some trouble: "Brother, is it you?" ”

"Who am I talking about?" Meng Zhong replied with a smile.

Hearing this, Meng Yan's face suddenly bloomed with a smile, and he ran over quickly, looking at this posture, it seemed that he was about to pounce into Meng Zhong's arms, and Meng Zhong was shocked to quickly throw the package on his shoulder on the ground, and hugged the oncoming Meng Yan with both hands, so as not to be knocked down by his sister on the snow in the courtyard.

Sure enough, after nearly three years of separation, this time they finally met again, Meng Yan threw herself into her brother's arms, and after two or three breaths, she raised her head and looked at Meng Zhong up close.

Unlike her brother, she remembered that when she left her hometown more than two years ago, he was only fifteen years old, and he was only a head taller than her, and now, it was clear that she had grown in the past two years, but it was no longer up to his brother's shoulders.

Even, Meng Yan carefully found that her brother's jaw had gradually grown some thin beards.

"Brother, you ...... Grew taller...... The body is also much stronger......"

She whispered, her pretty face slightly crimson.

"Oh, is there one?"

Meng Zhong raised his right hand and clenched his fist.

To be sure, if he was fifteen years old, he would have grown much taller and stronger two years later, but since most of the enemies Meng Zhong had encountered in the past two years were adult men, he did not pay much attention to the changes in his body.

At this time, the mother Ge Shi also walked out of the main house, and after seeing her son in the courtyard, her face showed a deep joy: "Zhong'er, is Zhong'er for your mother back?" ”

Seeing this, Meng Zhong patted Meng Yan's back and signaled her to let go of herself, and then hurriedly walked to her mother and said respectfully, "Mother, the child is back." ”

"Okay."

The left hand was on his son's right hand, Ge Shi gently stroked his son's face with his right hand, as if he had put down the boulder hanging in his heart, and said happily: "You child, you have been gone for so long, and your mother has always remembered you...... It's good to be back this time, it's good to be back, it's good to be back. By the way, it's cold outside, let's talk about it inside the house, and I have a lot to say to you for my mother. ”

"Okay." Meng Zhong nodded and said, "Mother, you go into the house first, and wait for your son to pull the chariot outside in, so that the two horses don't run away." ”

"You go, you go." When Ge Shi heard this, she urged Meng Zhong, but she didn't enter the house, so she stood outside the house and watched her son pull the chariot outside the courtyard into the courtyard.

On the same day, Meng Zhong stayed at home and told his mother and sister about his experience in the past two years.

For example, his experience in Zhao State, or his experience in Qiangyang to resist the Qi army this year, in fact, his experience in Zhao State, when Meng Sui, Wu Ying and others returned to Mengyi, they had already told Ge and Meng Yan about it, which made Ge and Meng Yan quite shocked, and never imagined that her son and her brother would do such a great thing in Zhao State.

However, the Qi and Song Wars that happened some time ago, Ge Shi and Meng Yan were not clear, so they were worried about hearing it, even if Meng Zhong was in front of them at the moment, they couldn't help but pinch a cold sweat for Meng Zhong.

At noon, after the family had lunch at home, Meng Zhong proposed to Ge: "Mother, since the child has returned to Mengyi, he should go to visit his master......

"It should be, it should be." Ge Shi nodded yes again and again, and then asked, "Then come back and have dinner?" ”

"Came back. But there is no need to prepare at home, Uncle Meng Hu is going to hold a banquet at the ancestral house, and someone should come to call us in the evening. ”

"Oh, that's fine, then you should be careful on the road."

"Holo."

Bidding farewell to his mother and sister, Meng Zhong changed his armor and drove the chariot to Zhuangziju.

Zhuangziju is not far from Mengyi, but at present, the road is closed by heavy snow, and it is a little inconvenient for the chariot to drive in the snow, so it took more than two hours to arrive at Zhuangziju from Mengyi.

As in memory, the house where Zhuangzi lived had hardly changed, but it had become extraordinarily quiet, thinking that the disciples of Xiang Yu, Wu Ying, Le Xu, and Le Jin had all returned to their respective families for the winter.

Parking the chariot in front of the Zhuangzi Residence, Meng Zhong stepped on the snow to the Zhuangzi Residence.

He glanced around the courtyard and saw that there were a few more peers he didn't recognize, and several of them were chopping wood in the courtyard.

Probably noticing Meng Zhong, when two young men of the same age greeted him, he asked in a polite and somewhat wary tone: "This place is the residence of Master Zhuang, I don't know what to do?" ”

Seeing this, Meng Zhong arched his hand and said, "In Xia Meng Zhong, a disciple of the master, who has been away from his hometown for a long time, returned to his hometown today, and has come to meet the master. ”

"Meng Zhong?"

The two teenagers were taken aback when they heard this, and they realized that the peer in front of them, who was about the same age as them, turned out to be Meng Zhong, the eldest disciple of Master Zhuang, and immediately hurriedly bowed to Meng Zhong, calling him "Senior Brother".

This made Meng Zhong a little surprised, and asked curiously, "The two are also disciples of the master?" ”

"This ......" The two young men were a little embarrassed when they heard this, and one of them said in a sneering voice, "The master will accept us as disciples for the time being......

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhong was also a little embarrassed, and hurriedly relieved: "Master likes people with perseverance the most, and I also lived in the house for a long time before Master accepted me as a disciple......

When the two of them heard this, they looked at each other and said with strange expressions: "It's been two years since I came to the house......

"Uh......" Meng Zhong couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

At this moment, a voice came from a distance: "Ah Zhong? Isn't that Ah Zhong? When did you come back? ”

When Meng Zhong looked up, he saw Uncle Zhuang coming out of the main house and greeting him with a smile.

"Thank goodness!"

Meng Zhong hurriedly said goodbye to the two teenagers, walked quickly to Uncle Zhuang, and greeted him: "Uncle Zhuang, seeing that you are still in good health, Meng Zhong feels very fortunate. ”

"Hahaha......"

Uncle Zhuang stroked his beard and smiled: "I haven't seen you for more than two years, and I can speak more and more." ”

"Where, where." Meng Zhong laughed and snorted, then glanced back, and asked in a low voice, "Uncle Zhuang, those two people are a little raw, did they just come......"

"Oh, you said they." Uncle Zhuang stroked his beard and said: "Since the master accepted a few of you as disciples, several nearby families have sent their children to come, but these people are too utilitarian...... Speaking of this, he paused, glanced at Meng Zhong in front of him, and then smiled again: "Even if you are utilitarian, you are not as smart and witty as you...... The old man heard that some time ago, under the command of the crown prince Dai Wu, you and Mencius's proud disciple Tian Zhang confronted the two armies in Qiyang? ”

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhong couldn't help but be a little surprised.

You must know that in this war between Qi and Song, the Song State mainly used the army and family soldiers in the Pengcheng area and even the eastern part of the Song State, and did not affect the western part of the Song State, including Mengyi, which made the western part of the Song State not very clear about this war with the Qi State - for example, Mengyi, even if it was Meng Hu, who had just become the patriarch of the Meng clan, he only knew that Qi led the army to commit the Song State, but there was a specific situation about the Qi army, and Meng Hu was not clear.

Unexpectedly, Uncle Zhuang, who was far away in Zhuangziju, actually knew that he Meng Zhong was confronting Tian Zhang in Qiangyang, which was really surprising.

As if seeing the confusion in Meng Zhong's heart, Zhuang Bo explained with a smile: "It was Mencius who told the master in the letter, and you know that the master and Mencius have always maintained correspondence in recent years. ”

"I see!"

Meng Zhong suddenly realized when he heard this, and after a few words of greeting with Uncle Zhuang, he asked, "Where is the master?" ”

"Inside the house." As if seeing the eagerness in Meng Zhong's heart, Uncle Zhuang smiled and got out of the way and pointed to the house: "Go quickly." …… In the past two years, the master has been talking about you a lot. ”

"Sin, sin, sin."

Whispering in his mouth, Meng Zhong hurriedly walked into the main house.

As soon as he entered the main room, he saw Zhuangzi sitting behind a low table in the room, bowing his head and holding a pen to write something on the bamboo slips, and even sneering like "hehe" and "hum" while writing.

"The Master doesn't seem to be in a good mood......

Muttering in his heart, Meng Zhong slowed down, walked lightly to the house, and cautiously bowed to Zhuangzi: "Unfilial disciple Meng Zhong, I came to visit the teacher today. ”

"Huh?"

Zhuangzi seemed to be immersed in the bamboo slip in front of him, and he didn't even notice Meng Zhong's arrival, so that when Meng Zhong saluted him, he was shocked, and even subconsciously covered the bamboo slip on the table with his left hand.

"It's Ah Zhong."

After seeing clearly that the person who came was his most proud disciple Meng Zhong, Zhuangzi's face showed a slight smile, only to see him quietly roll up the bamboo slips on the low table in front of him and put them aside, and then said to Meng Zhong with a smile: "When will you come back?" ”

Meng Zhong replied respectfully, "I just returned to Mengyi today, and I returned home to visit my mother, and then immediately came to see my teacher. ”

"Hmm."

Zhuangzi nodded with satisfaction.

Although Taoism does not pay much attention to this kind of etiquette between master and apprentice, Meng Zhong can achieve this point, and as a teacher, Zhuangzi is naturally happy in his heart.

"Sit down and tell me about your experience in the past two years."

"Yes."

After Yiyan sat down, Meng Zhong told Zhuangzi everything about his experience over the past two years.

Naturally, the first thing he talked about was his experience in the Zhao Kingdom, but according to his observations, Zhuangzi was not very interested in the "Dune Palace Change", and he was more interested in the "Yuanqi Theory" told by Gu Guanzi, who was also a disciple of Taoism.

I saw Zhuangzi stroked his beard and said with a little surprise: "Que Guanzi, I have not heard of this person's reputation before, but according to you, his "Yuan Qi Theory" is more perfect than my "Essence Qi Theory...... I think it is also a great sage of my Taoism, which is gratifying. ”

I have to say that the essence of Kui Guanzi's "Yuan Qi Theory" and Zhuangzi's "Jing Qi Theory" are actually the same thing, but the name is different, and their concepts are almost similar, but it must be admitted that Que Guanzi's "Yuan Qi Theory" is indeed more complete than Zhuangzi's "Jing Qi Theory".

Afraid that the teacher would be frustrated by this, Meng Zhong said cautiously: "Regarding the Yuan Qi of the Crane Guanzi, even the Crane Guanzi himself admits that it was the Teacher whose essence and qi gave him a lot of inspiration, so he has the Yuan Qi ...... said."

"Hahaha." Zhuangzi stroked his beard and smiled: "How can other people's polite words be taken seriously? As he spoke, he glanced at Meng Zhong and said with a smile, "Are you afraid that I will feel annoyed by this?" Do you think of the old man like this? ”

"Of course not." Meng Zhong flatly denied it.

Zhuangzi didn't care, stroked his beard and said: "The world's avenues, thousands of thousands, mortals can peep into one or two, it is a fluke, even if I Zhuang Zhou, there are also times when the mind is short and weak, once I also wanted to improve the essence of the said, but I have no clue, today I heard the grievances of the Crane Guanzi said...... Chao asked, it is okay to die at night! ”

"Huh?" Meng Zhong looked at Zhuangzi in surprise when he heard this, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Zhuangzi asked puzzledly, "Are you suspicious of being a teacher?" ”

"Nope." Meng Zhong shook his head again and again, and then explained in surprise: "The disciple is just very surprised, surprised that you actually quoted Confucianism, teacher. …… Morning news, death can be carried out! These are the words of the Confucian sage Confucius. ”

"Y-W?"

Zhuangzi's face changed slightly, and he pretended to be calm and smiled: "Confucian remarks are not useless...... At least "the morning hears the Tao, and the night can die" is quite reasonable! ”

He didn't want to tell his disciples that the level of his verbal war with Mencius had escalated in the past two years, so much so that he had been reading Confucian books for nearly two years, trying to find flaws in them to scold Mencius, and Mencius would also find loopholes in his Zhuang Zhou's books as a tribute.

Let's just say that this is an academic exchange between the two sages.

As a result, Zhuangzi was so familiar with some Confucian sayings that he blurted out at this moment.

"Is that really all there is?"

Looking at Zhuangzi's expression, Meng Zhong felt a little unbelieving in his heart, but just as Tian Zhang did not dare to ask his teacher Mencius for details, Meng Zhong did not dare to ask in detail.

In short, as long as the teacher is happy.

Later, when Meng Zhong said that when Que Guanzi tried to help Master Zhao change the law and finally failed, Zhuangzi's face showed a sad look.

Meng Zhong certainly knew what the reason was.

At the beginning, Zhuangzi once commented on his close friend Hui Shi, believing that if Hui Shi had not gone to Wei to become the state minister, his academic achievements would have been far more than that.

Now the same is true for Que Guanzi: if you study your scholarship in the Chu State and continue to improve the "Yuan Qi Theory", won't it be over? Why bother to go to Zhao State to help Master Zhao's father change the law, but he almost died in Zhao State. If you die because of this, wouldn't it be a great loss for the Taoists?

I have to say that in fact, in the eyes of Que Guanzi and Master Zhao, what they pay the most attention to is actually the "Tianqu Rishu", that is, the new law modified by imitating the Chu system, but for Zhuangzi, he doesn't care about Tianqu Rishu at all, he attaches more importance to Qu Guanzi's academic attainments such as "Yuanqi Theory".

If he learned that Que Guanzi was once caught by Anpingjun Zhao Cheng, Fengyangjun Li Dui and others in Zhao State, Zhuangzi was quite nervous.

It wasn't until Meng Zhong said that Zhao Cheng, Li Dui and others did not kill Que Guanzi, but only expelled him from Zhao State, that Zhuangzi breathed a sigh of relief.

During this period, Meng Zhong also recounted his experience in leading troops to fight.

To be honest, Zhuangzi was not interested in this at all, but because Meng Zhong was his disciple, and he also cared about Meng Zhong's growth in this regard, he listened patiently, and while listening, he secretly sighed that the disciple in front of him was really growing rapidly.

If Meng Zhongshang felt quite immature two years ago, but now, his gestures are no longer ordinary.

"Could it be that if it weren't for my Taoist, would there also be a famous general?"

Zhuangzi thought secretly.

may be because of the relationship between the famous generals Tian Zhang among the Confucian disciples, and Zhuangzi is not trying to reject this matter now.

Of course, the main reason is that he gradually felt that his disciple Meng Zhong was not the kind of disciple who chose to retreat to study Taoist thought.

Moreover, it is also because Zhuangzi has great expectations for this disciple.

For example, the art of a hundred schools!

Well, although this suggestion was made by Mencius, whom he hated a lot, Zhuangzi was also a little moved by it.

After all, as long as you are an excellent teacher, who doesn't want your disciples to eventually surpass themselves.