All day on the 19th day of the lunar month, all the yamen in Sichuan continued to inquire about the news of the thieves. In the evening, after receiving the emergency document from Deyang County, the governor Yamen finally made a relatively clear judgment on the situation after synthesizing all kinds of information: the thief brigade slaughtered Renshou County on the 14th and killed Liu Sance, the magistrate of the county. On the night of the 15th, the city was not dug in the CD Mansion, and after the main force of the thieves arrived outside the east gate of the CD Mansion during the day on the 16th, it was estimated that the officers and soldiers were tightly guarded, and they could not beat the provincial capital for a while and a half. So the thieves continued to go north around the city to fight Deyang County, and now Deyang County has been lost. Tomorrow, the cavalry of Liu Shijie, the general of Nanyang, the forward of Mengzhen, will arrive at CD Mansion on time. With this guest army, the provincial capital can be described as worry-free! So all kinds of people in the CD House breathed a sigh of relief. However, the four gates of the CD were still not allowed to be opened, and the notice on the side of the door said: If tomorrow is still peaceful, the city gate will continue to open and close according to the old time. The hundred officials have not yet entered the palace to report success, but the changes in the outside world have quickly spread to the palace. Zhu Pingjin also received the good news for the first time, but he only thought for a moment in the face of Cao Sanbao, who came to report the news with a smile, and then smiled and simply said three words: Got it.

The next morning, the sun came out outside. In accordance with the rules of the Shu Palace, the eunuch palace maid opened the curtains and curtains of the prince's bedroom on time, and opened the palace doors and window lattices to let in the brilliant sunlight and fresh air. Whether it is summer or winter, you must open the window to ventilate when you sleep in the morning, which is the custom of Shudi. After Zhu Chun, the king of Shuxian, became a vassal CD, he also followed the customs. To say that the reason for the formation of this custom is actually quite simple: Shu is surrounded by mountains, the center of the basin is low-lying and humid, the clouds are low, and the sun is rare. If the doors and windows are closed for a long time, people are easy to get sick and things are easy to mold. Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty passed by Sichuan, and once sighed in the "Book of Answering Wei Zhongli on the Tao of the Master": "Qu Zifu said: 'The Yi dogs bark, and the barking is strange. 'Servants go to Wenyong, the south of Shu, the constant rain is less, and the sunrise is the dog barking. So he left an idiom for future generations: Shu dog roaring day. Since the warm sun of CD winter is precious, as long as it is sunny, whether in the city or in the countryside, people like to go outdoors for activities, or dry clothes and food, and remove moisture; Or play mahjong pai gow and try your luck; Or bubble tea houses and wine shops, and spread the news. Of course, the palace does not let the princes sleep lazy, and it also has the meaning of urging learning and progress.

Zhu Pingjin was awakened by the sunlight outside the window and had to get up. As soon as he was served by the palace maid and eunuch to finish dressing and changing, Zhu Pingjin caught a glimpse of the little eunuch Wang Sizhong coming in silently, and reported softly: Master Shu is passing the word, and at three o'clock today, Master Shu will enter the house to give a lecture, so that Zhu Pingjin will be on time.

Different from the extravagant and decadent pigsty life of other feudal kings of the Ming Dynasty, the Shu Wangfu has attached great importance to the cultural education of the family since Zhu Chun, and cultivated himself in accordance with the Confucian value orientation. At the beginning of Zhu Pingjin's crossing, he didn't want to leave right and wrong, so he hurriedly ate a few bites of breakfast and rushed to the study hall a quarter of an hour early.

The study hall is in the east wing of the square inside the carrier gate. The regulations of the Shu Palace, together with the Imperial City of Nanjing, were only slightly smaller. As the Prince of Hongwu, the feudal mansion was slightly different from the prince after the Yan Domain.

As the city of Sichuan Province, CD Mansion has a ring of walls as high as three zhang four, two zhang five with a base thickness, and a length of about 22 miles. The Shu Palace, located in the center of CD City, is surrounded by tall double-layer city walls on the outside, which is divided into an inner city and an outer city (Xiao Wall). The palace has three axes in the north-south direction, among which the central axis stands the city gates such as Lingxing Gate, Yumen, Duanli Gate, Carrier Gate, Guangzhi Gate, and Houzai Gate. Lingxing Gate is the southernmost gate of the palace, which is a tower-like building with a wide face of five rooms, which is equivalent to the Daming Gate of the Beijing Division (Note 1). The Duanli Gate is the main gate of the palace, which is equivalent to the noon gate of the Jingshi, and is an extremely tall gate tower with three eaves and three gates, and it is also the tallest building in the CD Mansion (Note 2). Entering from the Duanli Gate, to the north is the Carrier Gate, the Carrier Hall, the Yuan (YUAN) Hall, the Chongxin Gate and the Cunxin Hall. The carrier hall is the main hall of the Shu Palace, which is equivalent to the Fengtian Temple (Taihe Palace) of the Forbidden City, and the carrier gate is equivalent to the Fengtian Gate (Taihe Gate). There is a huge square in front of the hall, and it is the place where the highest ceremonies of the feudal kingdom are held. Nanjing's Fengtian Hall is nine rooms wide (Note 2), and the carrying hall of the local feudal kings is one level lower, only seven rooms wide, all covered with cyan glazed tiles. Behind the carrying hall of the Yuan (YUAN) hall and the heart hall, the face is five rooms wide. Together with the Carrier Palace, the two together form the outer three halls of the Shu Palace. Continue to go deeper to the north, and it is the harem of the Shu Palace. The harem also consists of three main halls. Guangzhi Gate and Houzai Gate are the north gates of the inner city and the outer city of the Shu Wangfu respectively. Between the harem and the Guangzhi Gate, there is a small garden.

There are only two students in the study hall, Zhu Pingjin and his younger brother Zhu Pingjian. Zhu Pingqiao is a concubine, from the palace, nine years old this year, and is taciturn. Perhaps because he is a concubine, the young Zhu Pingqiao is always polite in front of Zhu Pingjian, the son of Shu, but there is no sense of closeness. When Zhu Pingjin arrived at the study, Zhu Pingjian had already left the house to wait. Zhu Pingjin hurriedly called Luo Yuan and took Zhu Pingjian's hand into the house.

As with the prince scholar of the Beijing Division, there are several teachers who can give lectures to the prince, but there is only one formal teacher, called the prince of the world. The status of Wang Fu and Shizi Fu is theoretically very respected, and it must be either an erudite Confucian or an important minister of the imperial court, and the teacher of the first class of the master is a professor; As for the attendant or the attendant, it can only be regarded as a teaching assistant. Zhu Chun, the king of dedication, invited the famous Confucian Fang Xiaoru to be the prince of the country, and also gave the house where Fang Xiaoru gave a lecture, the name said: "Zhengxue", as a result, the king of Yan entered Beijing, wiped out the ten clans of Fang Xiaoru, and almost brought a monstrous disaster to the Shu Wangfu. From then on, the princes invited by the Shu Wangfu did not invite courtiers, Confucians, or people who were interested in becoming officials.

Zhu Pingjin's current master is Shu Wenyi, a native of Luzhou, Sichuan (Note 3).

Master Shu was sixty years away, thin and strong, and his expression was upright. The content of today's lecture is not the Four Books and Five Classics, nor is it poetry and songs, but some of the provisions on the vassal kings of the vassal kingdom in the "Daming Huidian", including the chapters of jade, canonization, invitation to seal the biological mother, marriage matching, and selection of marriage and succession. Zhu Pingjin's name was decided early. As the eldest son of the Shu Domain, Zhu Pingjin was awarded the title of Prince of Shu by the imperial court as soon as he turned ten years old, and was awarded the gold book and the golden treasure according to the regulations, and officially began to receive the deputy state-level salary. When the king of Shu goes, Zhu Pingjin is naturally the fifteenth generation of the king of Shu in the Pingzi generation. Therefore, Zhu Pingjin doesn't care about most of the content that Master Shu said, and Zhu Pingjin cares about only one - marriage.

"Which pot is not opened, which pot is mentioned. Fifteen-year-old marriage, that is, next year, there are still more than ten days to celebrate the New Year. This old man will be sent by his mother. Zhu Pingjin muttered in his heart, "Pingjian listened carefully, and wondered where the county was sealed." But it's useless to seal the county anywhere, anyway, he can't get out of the CD! ”

The lecture lasted for more than an hour, and the tea was served twice. After that, there was an exchange session where students asked questions and teachers and students answered. At this time, Zhu Pingjin stood up and made a gesture and asked Master Shu: "In the first year of Chongzhen, the thief and the thief started in northern Shaanxi. In the past thirteen years, the thieves have migrated uncertainly in Jin, Shaanxi, Henan, Chu, and the north and south, and Chongzhen burned my Fengyang ancestral tomb in eight years! Today, the thieves entered Sichuan in a big way, poisoned the Shu realm, and even knocked on the provincial capital of our province, the students asked the master, do you know what the reason is? ”

This stabbed a hornet's nest.

As soon as the thief was mentioned, Shu Lao'er immediately became calm, and his righteousness became impassioned. first criticized Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan, who was arrested in Beijing last month, saying that as an official who defended the land, he lost his famous city and should be killed; criticized the superintendent Yang Sichang again, saying that he drove thieves into Shu and spent the country's money in vain, and he deserved to die; Fang Guoan, the chief soldier of Sichuan, said that he had no skills in training, and he was not solid in defending the city, and he should be defeated. At the end, Master Shu held the table with both hands, and a large number of tears welled up in his old eyes: "Luzhou fell into the hands of thieves, pity me Shu's family is full of loyalty, there are more than 100 brothers in five rooms, all of them fight to the death with the thieves, and no one survives!" ”

"Wow!" It was Zhu Pingjin's turn to be taken aback, "But there is such a thing!" I don't know! ”

"And the old man's seventh niece and son-in-law, Su Qiong," Master Shu didn't say yet, "The soldiers and civilians of a state alone went to the city to fight the thieves." The thief army of 100,000 besieged the city three times, attacked on all sides, and the sound of killing shook the sky, but the reinforcements did not arrive for a long time. When the city was broken, Su Qiong was a scholar, and several thieves and generals fought alone, and the blood was all over his body, especially shouting and fighting! Master Shu was so excited that despite his sixty years of age, he jumped up and held a big sword flower with his hand, which made Zhu Pingjin and Cao Sanbao stunned, and hurriedly stepped forward to help them sit down.

"Su Qiong?" Zhu Pingjin asked in a low voice.

"It's the governor of Luzhou." Cao Sanbao hurriedly returned.

"That's where we get down to business." Zhu Pingjin thought.

Master Shu continued to maintain the rhythm of storytelling, and the demeanor of celebrities and scholars was gone. In the previous life, the compound of the S Committee demolished a section of the wall next to the gate, and then built several petition reception rooms facing the street. Zhu Pingjin also participated in the reception of the petitioners for several mass incidents, and was very familiar with the petitioner's desire to talk when he faced the leaders of the S Committee. There was no notebook to write hard, so Zhu Pingjin sat next to Master Shu, holding Master Shu's hand with one hand, and following Master Shu's storytelling with the other hand, tapping the rhythm from time to time, indicating that he listened very carefully, attentively, and agreed. Seeing that Master Shu had entered the tea, Zhu Pingjin hurriedly beckoned the little eunuch Wang Sizhong to approach, and loudly instructed him to report to the prince that Master Shu was full of loyalty and martyrs, and asked the prince to apply for the governor, the patrol press and the three divisions of the yamen, as soon as possible to find out that the thieves entered Sichuan, and the officials and people of Shu were loyal to the martyrs of the Death Festival, and they were widely praised and compensated. Hearing the orders of the prince, the four loyalists and the four sages couldn't help but secretly look at each other: With the respect of the vassal king, how could the two little eunuchs see each other if they wanted to? Therefore, he only agreed, and refused to go out.

Seeing that the little eunuch had not moved for a long time, Master Shu hurriedly said: "The son of the world is benevolent and righteous!" The luck of all the people in Shu is also! The old man is shallow and can be the son of the world, and he lives up to what he has learned! As he spoke, he disregarded the difference between teachers and students, and got up and wanted to reach the ground.

Zhu Pingjin hurriedly helped Master Shu and said, "The student will come to the door tomorrow and go to the teacher's door to pay respects!" Let everyone in Shu know the master's loyalty! Take this as a model to revive the will of the military and the people of my Shu to resist thieves! As soon as Master Shu heard this, he re-seated.

"You want to hurt Lao Tzu! The vassal king's reputation for benevolence and righteousness is a curse rather than a blessing! Besides, Lao Tzu's father is still there! Zhu Pingjin scolded in his heart, "I want to exchange something affordable." ”

Zhu Pingjin waved at Master Shu and said, "The student heard that this time Wancheng (Note 5) will be as fierce as a tiger to suppress thieves and contribute a lot. He set out from Chu and chased the enemy to CD for thousands of miles, which was really hard work, so Inspector Yang thought that he was the president's army. In order to frustrate the morale of our army, the thieves divided the guest army, and deliberately spread rumors, saying that 'they want to kill my left town, run and kill my fierce town', so the people of Fucheng are also quite uneasy. The students did not know the art of war and could not think of a way to break the enemy, so they wrote a poem to praise the officers and soldiers of Mengzhen, so as to inspire the hearts of our soldiers and soldiers to kill thieves, and to set the people of Dingfu City in a state of panic. The student would like to ask the master for detailed comments. ”

"Oh?" Shu Lao'er was very interested when he heard it, "Come and listen!" ”

But there was only one sentence. Next, I would like to ask Master to continue. ”

"Well, let's read it first."

"Mengzhen is not afraid of difficult expeditions, thousands of rivers and mountains are just waiting for leisure!"

"Hmm!" The old gentleman groaned for a while before he spoke: "The beginning of this poem is majestic, and it has the tendency of Suzi's 'big river to the east'. Good poetry! Good poetry! However, "the old gentleman shook his head, "The old man is good at righteousness, scripture and history, and law, but he is not good at poetry." The old gentleman thought for a while and said: "If the prince of the world invites everyone in Shuzhong poetry to continue the poem, there will be a famous continuation of the mink under the heavy reward." Well, such things that benefit the country and the people and are elegant will definitely be passed on as beautiful talks! ”

"That's what you said!" Zhu Pingjin thought that since the master had highly affirmed the great significance of this matter, there was no difficulty for the prince. So Zhu Pingjin got up cautiously and said again: "Thank you for your advice!" The students are sparse, and the master is invited to work and evaluate the continuation of the poems. The students should enter the palace immediately and personally report the master's loyalty to the prince! ”

Note 1: Daming Gate was successively changed to Daqing Gate and Zhonghua Gate, and was later demolished. Now on the original site is the *** Memorial Hall.

Note 2: This building was preserved until the fifties and sixties of the last century, but it is a pity.

Note 3: The Taihe Hall that tourists can see now is rebuilt after the burning, with a width of 13 rooms. However, the volume of the building has dropped significantly, and it is only a dwarf version of the original Fengtian Temple.

Note 4: The prototype of Shu Wenyi is Song Wenyi, the former long history of the Shu Wangfu and a Danling person. The plot needs it, and the character design has been changed.

Note 5: Nanyang ancient name.