Hearing Zheng Sen's words, Xia Wanchun was stunned for a moment, and then smiled and said: "But it's me who is rude, sir, please." Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"It's okay, I'm also very happy to see someone who can learn from me." Zheng Sen also said.

Xia Wanchun asked the servant to open the door, and asked people to tell his mother-in-law, Mrs. Sheng. Xia Yunyi was not there, so it was naturally inconvenient for Mrs. Sheng to come out to greet Zheng Sen, but she also welcomed Zheng Sen through the curtain. Zheng Sen also praised Xia Wanchun's intelligence and learning, and said that he also benefited a lot from talking with him. Mrs. Sheng also told Xia Wanchun to study well with Zheng Sen.

Then Xia Wanchun took Zheng Sen to his study, and after asking the servant to bring tea, he finally couldn't help it and asked, "Sir, can you tell me why the master has a little fan?" ”

"Huh." Zheng Sen said with a smile: "Little friend, the master said that 'a gentleman is not a weapon', and said that Zigong is a vessel of Hulian, what is the explanation?" ”

"The Book of Changes says, 'The metaphysical is the way, and the metaphysical is the instrument.'" A gentleman should be aspiring to the Tao, and should not be satisfied with making himself a tool. That's why the Master said that a gentleman is not a gentleman. Xia Wanchun thought for a while and replied, "As for Zigong, the great sage of Confucius." However, he has not yet attained the Tao, so the master called it the vessel of Hulian. Although it has not reached the state of perfection, it is not bad. ”

"That's right, with the sage of Zigong, the master is still compared with the instrument, what does it mean? When he wanted to encourage Zigong, so that Zigong knew that what he had learned was still insufficient, he should go further and use his own weapons to be a gentleman's inadequate. Zheng Sen said, "If Fan Su, ask about the matter of the crop, what is the doing?" But it wants to be a cultivator. And the master knows that Fan Xu's talent is more than that, and it is a pity that his ambition is not in the way. Therefore, it is small. The master's small ambition is not a matter of small crops. Building a crop garden, the foundation of the world, the Son of Heaven is still a matter of hundreds of officials to persuade farmers, and can he be small? If Fan Su asked, not how to farm alone, but how to make all the farmers in the world good at the farm, the master should be happy, how can there be a villain? Therefore, if a gentleman is not a weapon, a gentleman cannot be satisfied with only being able to make a tool and only use it, not that a gentleman cannot be used as a tool. For example, if I study it just to have a clipper for myself, then I am really a villain. ”

"Is it of any use for Mr. to study these?" Xia Wanchun asked.

"Knowing the nature of water will naturally be useful and useful in the future. Do you know the story of 'the medicine that does not turtle the hand'? Zheng Sen put on a seductive look.

"Wan Chun knows." Xia Wanchun replied.

The story of "The Medicine of the Turtle's Hands" comes from "Zhuangzi Wandering", which tells the story of a family who had an ancestral medicine that could prevent their hands from being frozen and cracked by water in winter, and they relied on this medicine to help people wash their clothes for generations. Later, someone spent money to buy a prescription from them, but it was used to help Wu fight with the Yue State in the winter, breaking the Yue army, and the king of Wu tore the earth and sealed it. The same medicine, in the hands of some people, can only help others wash their clothes, and another person can get a reward for ripping the soil.

"Now that you know, you don't have to rush to ask such a question." Zheng Sen said, "Dong Zhongshu said: 'Knowing the way and not counting its merits', not despising meritorious deeds, meritorious service, one of the three immortals, can An Neng not count? It's just that if the Tao is clear, then the work will come naturally, and there is no need to ask for anything else. In fact, as Mr. Yang Ming said, knowledge is action, and Tao and Gong cannot be completely separated. Tao is the core, and work is the performance. If you can't do merit, you can't really have a way; If there is a way, it will be successful. For example, if you understand the nature of water, can you be a shipbuilder, can you be meritorious, can you be a transshipment envoy, a river patrol envoy, and a naval commander? A gentleman attains the Tao, although it is not a weapon, but it can be used as a ten thousand tools. There is no superior or inferior knowledge itself, and how to use it is superior to inferior. ”

Xia Wanchun thought for a while before saying, "What Mr. said seems to be very reasonable, and Wanchun can't find a problem." It's just that whether it's right or not, Wanchun doesn't know. When I read Zhu Zi's book, it was full of truth, and I only felt that there was no flaw, but when I read Mr. Yangming's book, I felt that Zhu Zi was wrong. The boy is not knowledgeable, and he does not dare to say that his husband's opinion is wrong, nor does he dare to say that he is right, for fear that he will have to wait for his father to come back and ask his father for advice. In addition, Mr. Fang Mizhi of Tongcheng also came here earlier, sang harmony with my father and Mr. Chen, and also took the time to teach me some trigonometry. Mr. Fang said that in the study of triangles in the world, there is no one who can surpass the Venerable Ling, and at that time, Mr. Fang gave me a set of "On Various Triangles" translated by Ling Zun, with annotations made by Ling Zun for this book. It's just that Mr. Fang came and went in a hurry at that time, and he didn't have time to point me out. Later, when I read this book by myself, I couldn't understand many things, but my father and Mr. Chen didn't understand it very well. Mr. has a family history, and he must be proficient in this, and the kid has some questions to ask Mr. ”

"Trigonometry, at first glance, it doesn't seem very difficult, but if you study it deeply, there are indeed some places that are not very friendly." Zheng Sen said, "I don't dare to say that I know everything, but I am willing to study it with Xiaoyou......"

As a result, Zheng Sen stayed in Songjiang for five full days before saying goodbye and leaving. Before leaving, he also gave Xia Wanchun a model of the "Feiyan", a set of "Celestial Movements", and a well-made telescope.

Zheng Sen was a little regretful that he couldn't meet Xia Yunyi and Chen Zilong on this trip, because these two people were talents that Zheng Sen felt might be useful in the future. However, being able to see Xia Wanchun can be regarded as making up for this regret a little.

In the next trip, the "Feiyan" is not very easy to use, because although the "Feiyan" is relatively small, and it uses a longitudinal sail that can sail against the wind, but it is a sea ship after all, it is not designed for inland navigation, for example, it does not have oars, and can only sail by the wind, which is not a problem at sea, but it is very inconvenient and inflexible to go up the Yangtze River. Nowadays, there are many ships on the Yangtze River, and in contrast, if the "Feiyan", which is not very flexible, continues to travel up the river, I am afraid that it is easy to cause traffic accidents. Therefore, when Zheng Sen arrived here, he could only change into a river boat and continue to Nanjing.

"In the future, it will be very important to enter the Yangtze River, and fight on other rivers, or use the rivers as transportation routes to support land warfare. Although my family's sea vessels, including those I am building now, at least here in Asia, can definitely be regarded as 'strong ships and guns', I am afraid that it is still a little troublesome to enter the Yangtze River to fight. And to get into smaller rivers, it's even harder. Maybe I should have them do the pre-research of river warships in advance. Standing at the bow of the boat, Zheng Sen looked at the rolling Yangtze River and thought like this.

"It's Chongming County over there, right?" Zheng Sen asked, pointing to a large sandbar in the distance.

"Major General, it's Chongming County." Hai Dafu, who was beside him, replied, "Speaking of which, over the years, Chongming Island has become a lot bigger. ”

"Chongming is at the mouth of the river, and it will definitely be an important place for soldiers in the future." Zheng Sen sighed.

Hai Dafu doesn't know much about this, so there is no interface.

After a while, the river wind gradually became stronger. Hai Dafu said: "Young General, the wind is strong, let's go into the cabin." ”

……

Taking a river boat, the speed of going upriver is much slower, from Songjiang to Nanjing, it takes six days.

When the ship arrived in Nanjing, the people of the Zheng family, who had arrived in advance, had already prepared a car and waited at the dock. Zheng Sen got off the boat and got into the carriage. Hai Dafu asked the leader: "The accommodation has been arranged?" ”

"It's all arranged, we bought a yard by Xuanwu Lake, not far from Guozijian, although the yard is not big, but it is also exquisite and quiet." The man replied.

"Who was the original owner?" Hai Dafu asked again.

"It's a businessman with whom we do business." The man replied, "We have cleaned up the house, Uncle Hai, you can rest assured." ”

"Hmm." Hai Dafu nodded.

After a while, the carriage entered the city of Nanjing, along the way Zheng Sen saw that in the city of Nanjing, the prosperity of the market, the prosperity of the people is indeed far better than other places, that is, Quanzhou, although it is also prosperous, but it is difficult to compare with Nanjing.

"It is worthy of being 'the gold powder land of the Six Dynasties, the imperial state of Jinling'. It's a pity ......" Zheng Sen sighed slightly.

"The eldest young master, there is the Guozijian in front." Hai Dafu's voice came from outside the carriage.

"Oh, thank you, Uncle Rich." Zheng Sen looked over there, and there was a three-room archway standing there, inlaid with three gilded characters, and the Tao was: Guozijian.

"That's it." Zheng Sen nodded. But the carriage could not go down that street, so it only turned around and went around the other street. After walking along the bluestone paved streets for another quarter of an hour, you will see a magnificent ancient temple.

"Young Master, that is the Jiming Temple, which is known as the head of the four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasty. The plaque of the temple is written by the ancestor of this dynasty. The eldest young master can also go in and have a look when he is free in the future. Hai Dafu said again.

"Uncle Hai, thank you, you are very familiar with this place, I will go out in the future, don't worry about getting lost." Zheng Sen said with a smile.

"When I didn't follow the old man, I was a businessman and came to Nanjing once or twice." Hai Dafu replied, "But I am a person who remembers the road, as long as I have been to the place, how to go, and what is next to it, even if it is a few decades, I will remember." ”

"Uncle Hai is also the same ability, amazing." Zheng Sen smiled, "I just don't know if Brother Afu will learn this skill in the future?" "Ah Fu is the son of Hai Dafu, and now works as a second officer on a whaling ship.

"He's not bad, but although his ability to drive a boat has surpassed mine, he still can't compare to him and mine when it comes to knowing the way. It's much better than, though. My mother-in-law can get lost even in a palm-sized place like Anping. If you get here, let her go to the street alone, I'm afraid she will be lost immediately. Speaking of his son, Hai Dafu was also happy.

At this time, the person who drove the car also spoke: "Young Master, the yard with a willow tree at the front door is it." We're almost there. ”