At the West Gate of Chang'an, a carriage walked in from outside the West Gate of Chang'an, and there was a middle-aged man about forty years old in the carriage. He has his wife www.biquge.info and children next to him, and his son is in his twenties, but he is a coachman himself. And the clothes on his body are very ordinary, not like an official at all, but he is an official, just a petty official.

"Father, this time the imperial court asked you to come back to serve as this audit envoy, I don't know what kind of official it is. Why hadn't I heard of the official position of this auditor before? His son asked.

The middle-aged man replied, "I don't know, I heard that it is a newly established mission, and my official has not yet been determined." ”

In ancient officialdom, "official" refers to a real position, not the status of a temporary assignment. That is, the official position, which represents where your personal organizational relationship is placed.

"The official has not been sure, so what is the use of this audit?" His son was clearly not satisfied.

"There is an order from the court, so I have to obey!"

His son finally complained: "Father, you have been in office since the Sui Dynasty, and when you were young, you studied under famous scholars, and later promoted filial piety and honesty to an official. Then he served as Wang Shichong's Duzhi Shangshu, but after Wang Shichong surrendered, the Tang Dynasty just gave you a county lieutenant. With your father's ability, how can you be a county lieutenant? This time, it was not easy to get the main book, and with the help of the east wind of the Shiren Wailang, he went all the way up, but that Du Yan actually took the opportunity to blackmail. Wasn't it that his father was under Wang Shichong at that time, and there was a conflict with Du Yan? To say that in fact, your father's status under Wang Shichong was not much lower than Du Yan's, but now Du Yan has become a secretary of the ministry, but father, you are just a ......"

Zhang Xingcheng closed his eyes and carefully recalled his life experience in the past forty years, and couldn't help but fall into a wry smile. He is forty years old, and he is still an eighth-grade petty official, which may not be strange in later generations. However, in this era, it is difficult to make progress without special circumstances. Even if a forty-year-old is at the deputy director level in later generations, the future is relatively slim, not to mention the ancient era when the average life expectancy was not long? Zhang Xingcheng has had ups and downs in his life, he studied with famous teachers since he was a child, and later became an official of the Sui Dynasty after raising filial piety. then took refuge in Wang Shichong, and rose all the way to become the secretary of the Duzhi Shangshu, in charge of the national finances. But later Wang Shichong surrendered, and Du Yan, who had a bad relationship with him, was reused, but he was beaten all the way to the bottom, that is, a Jiupin county lieutenant beat him. Whoever let him have no one behind him, no matter how bad Du Yan is, it is also a member of the Jingzhao Du family, with a profound background.

Although Zhang Xingcheng claimed to be Zhongshan Zhang, he was a descendant of Zhang Cang, the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty. But let's not talk about whether this is true or not, even if it is true, many generations before him have long since declined, and no one will recognize them. This world is also very realistic, who will care about the result of you as a declining person, the root is red and white. Zhang Xingcheng relied on this all the way to the top high position of Duzhi Shangshu, but he was once again beaten to the bottom and became a county lieutenant. However, although there was some improvement later, he became the chief secretary of Jingxian County, and even borrowed the extraordinary Dongfeng to take the opportunity to be promoted. But I don't know if I can go to the top in my life, this time I came to Chang'an to serve, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse. However, he returned to Chang'an and was able to become a Beijing official, and his development prospects were completely different from those of local officials.

"Is it Zhang Xingcheng's master book in front?" A voice asked.

Zhang Xingcheng took the initiative to ask: "I'm Zhang Xingcheng, I remember that I don't have any acquaintances in Chang'an?" ”

"It's us Shi Cao Chang who invites you, please go to Qin's Restaurant for a while!"

Zhang Xingcheng asked excitedly: "Is it extraordinary?" ”

"Yes!"

"I didn't expect that Shi Yuan Wailang could look up to me, so I will go to meet him!" Zhang Xingcheng replied.

Zhang Xingcheng came to Qin's Restaurant and walked directly to it with his family, while Shi Bufan and Liu Renliang took the initiative to come over to greet him.

"Master Zhang, welcome! I think you know this, right? You don't need me to introduce you, do you? Shi Bufan pointed to Liu Renliang and asked.

Zhang Xingcheng took the initiative to say: "I heard that it was Liu Xiancheng, and we had a relationship back then!" ”

Zhang Xingcheng is Liu Renliang's predecessor, and when Liu Renliang took over as the lieutenant of Chencang County, he was connected to Zhang Xingliang, which can be regarded as having a one-sided relationship.

"Okay, since they're not outsiders, let's take a seat!" Shi Bufan said.

Zhang Xingcheng's two sons looked at Shi Bufan curiously, because Shi Bufan, a man who was a few years younger than them, was actually a six-rank high-ranking official in the imperial court, which was simply incredible.

"These two are Ling Gongzi, right?" Shi Bufan asked.

"Well, Luo Ke, Liang Ke, I've seen Shi Cao Chang. Shi Cao Chang is young and promising, he is a pillar of my Tang Dynasty, and he is a six-grade official of the imperial court at a young age, and his future is limitless! Zhang Xingcheng said.

Zhang Liangke said unconvinced: "Father, you were still a scholar back then!" ”

Obviously, Zhang Liangke is very unwilling, a person who is not as old as himself is actually a six-grade official. In the past, his father was the Duzhi Shangshu under Wang Shichong, which one was not held by everyone? And fell from the peak to the trough, and even the county magistrate of a county dared to yell at his father, which made Zhang Liangke very unwilling. Now I see a young man who is not as big as himself actually riding on his father's head, and even the tone he uses is obviously the attitude of his elders, which makes him very not very strong, and he inevitably wants to get some face for his father.

Zhang Xingcheng hurriedly stopped and said: "There is no need to mention the past. The heroes don't mention the courage of the year, and now I am just a person with an uncertain future, where do I dare to say anything? What's more, this time it was thanks to Shi Cao's recommendation that I was able to return to Chang'an. Otherwise, I really don't know if there is a chance in this life, and you are still looking down on Shi Cao Chang here? This time, Cao Chang was my benefactor, and he was kind to me. This time, the production method of Shi Cao Chang was adopted in Fuping County, so that I had this opportunity to be promoted. And if it weren't for Shi Cao's recommendation, then I don't know if I would be able to return to Chang'an this time. But you still look down on Shi Cao Chang so much, that's really unreasonable. Liang Ke, you still don't apologize to Shi Caochang? Otherwise, let others know that our Zhang family is a person who will take revenge, so how can we stand in heaven and earth? ”

When Zhang Liangke was about to apologize to Shi Bufan, Shi Bufan stopped him and said, "Master Zhang, don't use it." However, Master Zhang, looking at your tone, you are also quite passable, have you lost your fighting spirit now? You used to be a Duzhi book, but now it's just a small master book, have you lost your fighting spirit in the future? ”

"When I was younger, I naturally had a fighting spirit. But the world is difficult, the world is in turmoil, and I have had ups and downs a few times, and now I just want to be more stable! Zhang Xingcheng replied.

Shi Bufan pointed to Zhang Xingcheng's wife and his two sons, and said, "Master Zhang, are you so willing to be dull all your life?" You're only forty years old, so what? As long as you can seize the opportunity, then who doesn't have a chance? What do you think you can do at the age of forty, and you can still achieve something at the age of forty. I am confident that if I live for 200 years, I will hit the water for 3,000 miles. Back then, I told Kong Yingda that even if he is older this year, what can he do? Age is not what hinders people from struggling, do you want your son to follow you in the future? If you don't continue to seize the time and struggle, then what hope is there in the future? If you don't struggle at the age of forty, can you succeed at the age of fifty? If you don't work hard, you will never succeed. ”

"So, look at the expectant eyes of your wife and children, they are all relying on you. You are the head of their family, if you have lost the spirit of struggle, how can you make them live a good life? How can you fight for a piece of the world and seal your wife and son? What if you are forty years old, if you don't struggle at the age of forty, then next year you will be forty-one, and time will not go back. If you don't turn back time, then you are wasting here today, and tomorrow will be a waste, why don't you try to do something meaningful? The most precious thing of man is life, and life belongs to man only once, and his life should be spent in such a way that when he looks back, he will not regret that he wasted his time, nor should he be ashamed of his inaction. When he was dying, he was able to say this: My whole life and all my energy have been devoted to the most magnificent cause in the world, the ideal of life. \'\'

At that time, Bufan directly copied the famous sentence of the later masterpiece "How Steel is Made", which made Zhang Xingcheng's eyes shine. Zhang Xingcheng immediately realized how stupid his idea was, what if he was forty years old this year, he would still have a chance at the age of forty. If you don't struggle this year, the time will also pass. No matter what you do, even if you don't do anything, the time of your life will continue to pass. Time passes and there is no turning back, so if you don't do anything, isn't it a waste of time? Even if he is forty years old, if he does nothing for the rest of his life, he will still die in the end. But if you do it, no matter whether you can succeed or not, you have fought for your ideals and for your future generations. Regardless of whether you can succeed or not, in short, you have struggled, and naturally you have no regrets in your life.

"Master Zhang, do you think that in the past, as a dignified scholar of the branch, you felt that you had fallen, and you couldn't stand it? Since it fell, it's a big deal to get up, it's no big deal. I fell today, and I can't be afraid. As long as you want, you can get up and don't care about anything. I wrote a song for you today, and I hope you can enjoy it. ”

Shi Bufan then began to sing a song that was quite famous in later generations.

"All the honors of yesterday have become distant memories. I have spent half my life diligently, and tonight I walked into the wind and rain again! I can't go with the flow, for the sake of my beloved ones......"

When Liu Renliang and Zhang Xingcheng heard this song, they also felt very strange, this song style was not available in the Tang Dynasty at all, and even such a "vernacular" song was unheard of in ancient times. But after singing, it suddenly made Zhang Xingcheng burst into tears.

Zhang Xingcheng feels that this song is not just talking about him, he has struggled for half his life, and he almost fell from the peak. The fall from Duzhishangshu to a Jiupin county lieutenant made him almost lose confidence. What I had been fighting for half a lifetime suddenly disappeared completely. But this song is simply too much like him, and all the honors of yesterday have become distant memories.

But then he said again that he would go through the wind and rain again, and naturally he had to fight hard for his relatives and sons. made the forty-year-old Zhang Xingcheng feel very excited, which made him very excited.

"Shi Caochang, you are right, thank you! I will definitely work hard in the future, and I don't believe that with my ability, I will not be able to reach the top again. I believe that I will be able to get up again one day. I've passed the first half of my life, and I've been able to get up, so shouldn't the second half of my life be easier? In the next half of my life, even if I do nothing, it will be half my life, and hard work will be half my life, so since this is the case, then I will use the remaining half of my life to enjoy wealth and prosperity for my wife and children, and work hard to be able to seal my wife and son. Zhang Xingcheng said.

Zhang Xingcheng took the initiative to toast, and then expressed his gratitude to Shi Bufan. Shi Bufan and Liu Renliang also took the initiative to return the favor, which can be regarded as friends to them. Shi Bufan thinks that Zhang Xingcheng should be in confusion at this time, and this kind of result of falling from the peak is not something that ordinary people can bear. If we can get through it now, then maybe there will be more prospects.

Maybe the ups and downs are a disaster for the average person. But for a powerful person, it may not be an important spiritual wealth, with this spiritual wealth it will be of great help to the next life development. The ancients said that the heavens will descend on the people, and they must first work their muscles and bones and suffer their minds, so in fact, they must suffer to be the ones who truly achieve great things.

Anyone has been trained, otherwise they will not be able to achieve great things. Which person who has reached the top has not gone through a lot of hard workout? Even if Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, the two prime ministers from the scholar clan, certainly rely on the factor of family background, they also came up step by step, not directly making them prime ministers. Official positions are not hereditary, they are earned by one's own desperate efforts. You can't get to the top just by fighting your father, because you have a father and someone else has a father, can your father still be able to hold you to the top?

As long as Zhang Xingcheng continues to ignite his fighting spirit, there is still great hope. (To be continued.) )