Mr. Zhu's county chronicle compilation project is nearing completion, and the financial constraints have made him at a loss, and the person of insight who supported him in doing this has long since left Zishui, and the successive county magistrates are no longer interested in the county chronicles, and Mr. Zhu's scalp is numb in order to ask for funds, and he can't help but come up with a foul sentence: "It is more difficult to do serious things for two dollars than to cut tendons!" The gentlemen who aroused his dancing and writing cheered, saying that the county magistrate who could provoke Mr. Zhu to get angry and curse must be the greatest county magistrate in China. Mr. Zhu continued to write, review, and revise some of the manuscripts that had already been compiled. Xiaowen walked into the house and called out solemnly: "Uncle." "Present an obituary in front of you. Mr. Zhu took a look, his face suddenly became pale as paper, his eyes looked at Xiaowen in confusion, and then drooped down. This is the obituary of Lu Zhaohai's death in Zhongtiao Mountain. The obituary was sent by the headquarters of the 17th Division, where Zhaohai belonged, and the condolence and funeral ceremonies would be held in Bailuyuan, and the deceased's only last wish when he was dying was to lie on the land of his hometown. Bai Xiaowen told his uncle that the 17th Division sent personnel to the county to contact, and the army and the county government jointly presided over a public memorial meeting. Bai Xiaowen said: "Uncle, the commander of the 17th Division came with a message and deliberately asked you to be present, and asked you to say a few words. Mr. Zhu asked, "When will Zhaohai's coffin be transported back to its original place?" Bai Xiaowen said: "Tomorrow." First by the county from all walks of life mourning for three days, and finally a public memorial meeting, and then buried. Mr. Zhu said: "I will go to the hearse early tomorrow morning, and I will keep a watch for Zhaohai." Bai Xiaowen reminded: "Uncle, Zhaohai is a junior...... Mr. Zhu said: "The soul of the nation is regardless of generation...... Zhaohai...... "Mr. Zhu covered his face with his hands and cried......

It was a day after the late autumn of the previous year, Mr. Zhu was walking on the original slope behind the academy, the golden wild chrysanthemums were blooming brilliantly, the slopes and ditches were filled with a rich fragrance, and the warm and brilliant chrysanthemums all over the slopes and ditches could not hide the sadness of slaughter. Mr. Zhu stared for a long time at the villagers who were uprooting cotton stalks on the slopes of the original slope, and then turned to look at the figures of the farmers in the river who were plowing and sowing wheat stubble, and suddenly thought to himself, if there was a group of Japanese soldiers breaking into the river or the original slope at this moment, if there was a bomb exploding in the village or on the ridge full of straw, what would it be like to pull out the plough and sow the seeds, and the villagers who walked out of the village to carry baskets and bring cans to deliver food...... There is a layer of desolation in my heart, "there is a yellow flower blooming". He saw a car speeding from west to east on the river highway, the rolling yellow dust that stirred up the fan suddenly scattered, the car slowed down when it drove to the opposite side of the academy, and then forked off the highway and drove onto the official road towards the south to Yuangen, stopped at the edge of the Zishui River, one person stood on the river bank and pointed, the other took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and waded across the river, and walked up along the winding path leading to the academy. The tranquil and tranquil idyllic scenery here was so out of harmony with the whole of China that he was so angry that he despised the Chinese soldiers, and could not understand how such a large army could not defeat the Japanese in a small land. Mr. Zhu saw Zhang Xiucai, who was guarding the door, calling him on the slope outside the wall of the academy: "Your student Lu Zhaohai is here—" Mr. Zhu lifted up his robe and hurriedly walked downhill.

Mr. Zhu saw Lu Zhaohai in military uniform at the gate of the college. Lu Zhaohai raised his hand in salute, and the riding boots under his feet rattled. Mr. Zhu nodded and politely asked Zhaohai to sit in the house. Walking into the study, Lu Zhaohai said excitedly: "Sir, I want to ask you to write me a word-" Mr. Zhu asked lightly: "You drove all the way from the city to get a car, just to ask for a word?" Lu Zhaohai said sincerely: "Yes, I came here on purpose. Mr. Zhu smiled teasingly: "Don't you think it's a lot?" Is it worth it for those two bad words for me?" Lu Zhaohai was not aware of Mr. Zhu's emotions, and thought that it was Mr. Zhu's usual great modesty, so he said with great sincerity: "I am about to go out of Tongguan to fight Japan, and I just want to get a painting of Mr. Zhu's ink treasure before leaving." Mr. Zhu raised his head with an "oh" sound, and asked impatiently, "Where are you going?" Lu Zhaohai said: "Zhongtiao Mountain." ”

Mr. Zhu stood up from the chair, his face full of self-reproach: "Zhaohai, please forgive my mistakes. I thought you were idle in the city playing with calligraphy and painting. Lu Zhaohai hurriedly stood up and helped Mr. Zhu sit down: "How dare I blame Mr.!" When our division commander heard that I was going to look for Mr., he repeatedly told me to ask him to write him a picture as well. He said he was going to hang it in the military tent......" Mr. Zhu's cheeks twitched, and he sighed again and again, such a flattering phenomenon had never happened to him. Mr. Zhu has often regretted his fickle emotions lately, but now he has entered an irrepressible state of excitement, as if a powerful flow of blood and fire continues to stir up from the center of his feet, through the knees through the dantian impact on the internal organs and then rushed to the top of his head, his arms also trembled against the hot blood and fire, and his hands trembled and grabbed Zhaohai's shoulders: "Zhongtiao Mountain, that is the last door leaf of Tongguan!" Lu Zhaohai also became excited: "If I can't hold Zhongtiao Mountain and let the Japanese soldiers enter Tongguan and trample on the pass, I won't come back to see Mr., and I won't have the shame to see the father and elder in Guanzhong." ”

Mr. Zhu dripped water into the inkstone to study the ink himself, and Lu Zhaohai wanted to study the ink for Mr. Zhu, but he silently and resolutely refused. Mr. Zhu couldn't control his hand and grinded the gradually thickening ink out of the inkstone. Mr. Zhu personally cut the paper, and the paper cutter trembled in his hand; Lifting the brush from the pen holder and dipping it in the inkstone, the wrist and the brush still trembled. Mr. Zhu rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, until he reached above the elbow, stuffed the lower arm of ** into the bucket under the table, soaked it for a long time, the cold well water played a calming role, he wiped his forearm with a cloth towel, and immediately lifted the pen, sure enough, he no longer trembled, and wrote down seven vigorous and flying cursive characters in one go:

The pillar of the world is this peak, Mr. Zhu stopped his pen and said: "This is one of the seven unique poems I wrote. I was young and vigorous when I first lifted it, and I came back from my southward journey to climb Mount Hua. Now I realize that I don't even have the strength of a wheat straw, but I can use it for your teacher. Lu Zhaohai also had mood swings, and tears welled up. Mr. Zhu re-laid out a banner, dipped in ink and resolutely put down the pen again:

After Mr. Zhu, the spirit of the white deer, put down the brush, suddenly raised his hand and bit his middle finger, pressed the part of the seal at the bottom left of the banner and banner, and pressed the blood mark heavily. Lu Zhaohai was surprised to see the blood flowers on Mr. Zhu's middle finger that fell onto the calligraphy and painting, and knelt down with a plop: "Sir, don't worry, I must compensate Mr. with a bucket ......of blood from Little Japan" Mr. Zhu recited abruptly: "Wang Shibei set the Central Plains Day, don't forget to tell Mr. about the good news!"

Mr. Zhu tore a piece of waste paper and wrapped his middle finger, and when he sat down, he looked extremely calm, gentle and kind like his father: "Zhaohai! Before leaving, if there is anything I have to do, you say, as long as I can do it......" Lu Zhaohai also sat down: "No, no, there is nothing to bother Mr." I decided not to go back to my original position, so as not to worry about my parents. In the future, if they ask you, they will say that we have gone to southern Shaanxi. Mr. Zhu said, "I will say this well, don't worry." Lu Zhaohai said: "There is only one small thing to trouble Mr.-" As he spoke, he stuffed his hand into his chest, took out a copper yuan from his underwear pocket, and smiled shyly: "Sir, when you see Bai Ling in the future, give her this copper yuan with your own hands." Mr. Zhu asked strangely, "A copper?" Do you owe her a copper? It's too serious. Lu Zhaohai said, "Half." She has half of this copper yuan, and I have half of it, and whoever takes it owes half to the other party. Mr. Zhu smiled and asked, "Then Bai Ling doesn't owe you half of it again?" Lu Zhaohai said: "She owes me better than I owe her." Mr. Zhu saw a deep secret in Zhaohai's eyes, and asked, "It's not just a copper, right?" Lu Zhaohai calmly recounted the heartfelt feelings of the two caused by the game of this copper dollar. "Oh! Oh my!" Mr. Zhu sighed, "Then what will you do later?"

"Later...... She's my sister-in-law. Lu Zhaohai laughed and said, "She and my brother Zhaopeng both have the surname 'Gong'!"

"So this copper dollar is more valuable than gold dollars!" Mr. Zhu looked at the dragon pattern, turned it over and looked at the words, and handed it back to Lu Zhaohai, "You should take it." ”

"I've always carried it in my underwear pocket. I've never told anyone about it. Lu Zhaohai said calmly, "I'm going to the battlefield." I'm afraid that this copper will be dirty if it falls into the hands of the devil......" and handed the copper dollar over again.

Mr. Zhu's heart sank suddenly, he held the copper yuan tightly in the palm of his hand, handed the copper yuan to him and told him about the affection of the two young men and women condensed on the copper yuan. Mr. Zhu said: "I will keep it, and when you come back, I will return to Zhao, or you will give it to Lingling." ”

Lu Zhaohai stood up and resigned. Mr. Zhu called out the same people who compiled the county chronicles one by one to see off Lu Zhaohai. More than a dozen old gentlemen repeatedly arched their fists and sent them directly to the gate of the academy. Lu Zhaohai had regained his spirit and asked, "Does Mr. have anything else to say?" Mr. Zhu said coldly: "When you come back, you will bring me a memory: a handful of Japanese hair." Lu Zhaohai gave a military salute with a snort: "It's not difficult!" It's too easy to do. Mr. Zhu lowered his face even more and said, "I want you to kill the widow with your own hands with a handful of hair." ”

This is a unique grand funeral in Bailuyuan. The entire funeral ceremony was presided over by an authoritative body called the "Lu Zhaohai Funeral Committee", with the 17th Division Commander Ru as the chairman, Yue Weishan, the secretary of the Zishui County Party Department, and the county magistrate Hou as the vice chairmen, and a total of 21 representatives from all walks of life in the social army and gentlemen and virtuous people were listed as members, and Mr. Zhu, Bai Jiaxuan of Bailu Village, and Tian Fuxian were all solemnly listed. All the specific affairs, such as digging tombs, building tents, borrowing tables, chairs and benches, digging for grain, grinding noodles and stoves, and other miscellaneous affairs, are all undertaken by the people of the Bailu family. Bai Jiaxuan received in the ancestral hall the officials sent by the 17th Division and the county government to settle this funeral, showing rare generosity and easy-goingness, and accepted all the agendas of the new funeral they proposed, only stating a little: "You do according to your new rules, the people of the clan, and you still act according to the rules of the clan." He turned around and instructed Xiaowu, who was sitting beside him, to strike the gong, and said to the officials, "You can rest assured about what comes down." ”

Bang-bang, the grand gong just sounded in the village alley, and then some clansmen walked into the gate of the ancestral hall, and then saw the men crowding into the courtyard in groups; The sound of gongs still buzzed in the south alleys of the village, and almost all the people gathered in the ancestral hall, and it was clear that everyone had heard of what had happened and knew its unusual significance. Bai Jiaxuan walked out of the ancestral hall and stood on the steps with a cane, holding the cane forward with both hands, his bent waist trembled, raised his head and said, "A doll in our clan is dead!" The old and young people gathered in the courtyard of the ancestral hall were silent. The huge throat tower on Bai Jiaxuan's raised neck slid sluggishly, and a string of hot tears rolled up from his swollen lower eyes. Tears rolled down the old man's face, making the people present unbearable to look at, and a whimper rang out in the silent courtyard. Bai Jiaxuan's throat was a little choked: "Zhaohai is Zilin's doll, and it is also the doll of our whole clan and village." Everyone must give the doll the aftermath ...... Do ...... do it" someone couldn't wait to urge: "What do you say?" Let's settle down!" Bai Jiaxuan put forward two motions: "Use the official money saved in the ancestral hall to hang a pole of white silk python paper and a pole of black silk python paper for Zhaohai; Use the official food saved by the ancestral hall to entertain guests from all walks of life, and reduce Zilin's support and burden. The clansmen passed with a hum. Anyone can think of the meaning of the two motions, especially the latter one, Lu Zilin's family has no one except for a long-term worker, Liu Mou'er! The old patriarch Bai Jiaxuan's two motions were deep and meaningful, and won everyone's expectations. Bai Jiaxuan then divided the specific labor, and he pointed out the names of the thirteen clansmen in one breath: "Thirteen of you are digging tombs, half of you are digging earth tombs first, and the other half are going to the kiln to pull bricks." Just remember how many bricks you pulled. The tomb is finished, and the bricks are pulled, and you put together the tomb hoops. Bai Jiaxuan pointed out eleven more people to build the spirit shed: "How to build the spirit shed?" You do what the team told you and the county officials. It will be set up at breakfast tomorrow, and the hearse will return to its original place at noon. Bai Jiaxuan also assigned the people who built the stove to wash wheat and grind noodles, and even designated where the wooden pole to hang the python paper was planted and who would plant it. The clansmen are all surprised, in recent years, the big and small affairs in the clan have been settled by Xiaowu, the old patriarch rarely shows up, and today he personally arranged it, and he was not chaotic and orderly, and he could remember the official name of the adult man of the whole clan, and his heart was very clear! Bai Jiaxuan finally turned his face and said to his son who was standing next to him: "Xiaowu, you have carefully handled all the things on all occasions. ”

Everything is going on in an atmosphere of pathos. Bai Xiaowu actually handled the big and small matters, for a while he went to the cemetery to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony, and for a while he agreed with the clansmen on the specific location of the funeral shed downstairs in the foreplay of the ancestral hall, constantly answered the inquiries of the living road clerks, and constantly received officials and relatives from nearby villages, he took the initiative to report the progress of the major projects to the team and the officials of the county government, and did not forget to explain the truth to the owner of this unusual funeral, Uncle Zilin. Lu Zilin sat on the chair like a seriously ill person, his crying and swollen eye bubbles squeezed his eyes, and he seemed to have no interest in how to bury him: "Xiaowu, you just watch it!" If you think it's suitable, Uncle will be suitable...... You can do it without worry!"