Cao Xueqin sealed the pen and returned to hatred

The Grand View Garden is a warning to the world

In the winter of the 28th year of Qianlong, Jingshi, Zhili, and Yanqing suffered the largest hail disaster in the Qianlong Dynasty. At that time, the overhaul project of the Old Summer Palace was completed, and the emperor read the west factory of Changchun Garden, and ordered the six servants of the Jiuqing Department to wait for the attendants and the above. Then he made a grand visit to Zhaoxi Tomb, Xiaoling Tomb, Xiaodong Tomb, and Jingling, and Fu Heng, the Minister of Military Aircraft, naturally wanted to follow him.

Fu Heng had long wanted to see Cao Xueqin, and heard that Cao Xueqin's family had moved from Huangye Village in Xishan to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou, and the family situation was getting worse and worse, and he didn't know how the book "Dream of Red Mansions" was written, so he wanted to go to Cao's house to see it in person and give this young friend some help.

As Fu Heng, who was a busy prime minister, this idea could not be realized, so he had to entrust Qian Du to realize his wish.

Qian Du, who had just returned from Nanjing for two days, received a letter from Fu Liuye on this day, in which he said cautiously:

Brother Qian Du: Recently, Xueqin moved to Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou,

The family is poor, and I don't know if "Red Mansion" is finished, so I wanted to invite my brother

Go to Cao's Mansion with you to see Brother Cao's Huang in order to be in suspense

Huang Da is fast. However, I can't help myself, and I don't know when I can do it

Return. I would like to ask the gentleman to go and see Xueqin on his behalf, and hand over the silver ticket

One hundred taels slightly express their hearts, to the order.

In November of the 28th year of Qianlong, Ding Mao Fu Heng

Qian Du has been running errands in Nanjing, and he hasn't seen Xueqin for a year or two, and after reading Fu Liuye's letter, he put the one hundred taels of silver tickets in his pocket, and immediately decided to go to Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou to visit Cao Xueqin immediately.

Qian Du no longer returned to the government, went back to the house in a sedan chair, took thirty taels of broken silver, saw that there was still Ning silk brought back from Nanjing in the box, also took out one, and ordered the family to stuff it into the horse jacket. He didn't call his entourage, he changed into civilian clothes and hats, and only said to his wife:

"I'm going to see a friend and get back before dark."

With that, he rode a mule out to the north, and hurried to Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou to visit his old friend. After walking for a while, passing by the Jade Emperor Temple, I looked at it from a distance on the mule, and the pilgrims crowded and shouted in a crowd, and the line was more than half a mile long. In front of those stalls selling gold, silver, paper and foil, and yellow mounting of incense and candles, there are crowds, most of them are old women from far away villages in the city and outside the city, some make wishes, some make wishes, some are sad and some are smiling. The buzzing voices almost wanted to carry the Niangniang Temple away. Suddenly, at a glance, I saw Mrs. Cao Xueqin staggering over from the pox temple, and Qian Du stopped the mule and shouted:

"Sister-in-law Fangqing!" Busy with the mule.

Fang Qing was unaware that someone would greet her in this kind of place, she was stunned for a while, looked up and saw that it was Qian Du, and asked:

"Yes...... It's Mr. Qian! I heard from your family, you went to Nanjing, when did you come back? As he spoke, he squatted down.

Qian Du looked carefully, Fang Qing's face was blue and white, and her eyes were bruised, as if she hadn't slept for a few nights, and she seemed to have just cried. He accosted:

"I came back from Nanjing a few days ago. Sister-in-law, you have lost a lot of weight, how is it, is Xueqin at home? Are the kids alright? I'm going to your house! ”

Qian Du saw that Fang Qing was haggard, his lips were purple and his hands and feet were stiff, he hurriedly beckoned to a sedan chair, and said to Mrs. Cao:

"Look at my sister-in-law's body is so weak and weak, she is walking? How did you get this? Please get on the sedan chair, and I will ride the animal and go together. ”

Fang Qing looked at the sedan chair, turned back to Qian Du and said:

"We don't live a good life, the head of the house only cares about writing his novels, and he doesn't want to be an official or ask for friends, even if he sells words and paintings, he doesn't have time." She lowered her head embarrassedly, but she couldn't walk anymore, so she got on the sedan chair timidly, and said as she walked, "I moved to Zhangjiawan and wanted to rely on the help of the old Cao family, but I didn't know that I lost the eagle instead of the rabbit." No, the whole hometown has to be dotted, and there are neighbors from north to south...... There is a lot to be owed to others. It's not what it used to be, it's really tight......"

"What are you doing all the way into town? Borrow money? ”

"Alas," Fang Qing shook her head and sighed, "I came here yesterday...... Big hair and small hair have acne, can't see through the blisters, and the whole body is hot. I...... I'm here to make a wish......"

Qian Du was stunned: Who doesn't know that after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the first emperor Shunzhiye's beloved concubine Dong Efei died of "smallpox", which caused Shunzhiye to give up the throne and go to Wutai Mountain to become a monk. Xuan Ye, who was only eight years old at the time, also suffered from "smallpox", but fortunately, Su Malagu cured him with a herb, and this led to a generation of Kangxi Emperor. When Shunzhi became a monk, he wrote a poem to his friend Hongjue Zen Master to express his thoughts on Concubine Dong E. The poem says:

The spring breeze rose in the cave room last night,

Reminiscing about the beauty of the Xiangjiang River.

On the pillow for a while, in a spring dream,

Traveled thousands of miles south of the Yangtze River.

This is already a well-known story, hasn't Cao Xueqin heard of it? "Smallpox" was an incurable disease back then, and he didn't think of other ways to save people, so how could he ask his wife to ask for a bodhisattva? He high-fived on the back of the mule and sighed:

"Woe is not a single line, the weasel bites - cough! This Xueqin, it's true, does he still believe this? Tell you a woman to run so far and do such a useless thing! ”

"He didn't call me here," Fang Qing turned her head on the sedan chair and said, "I said that I went into the city to borrow money from a friend to grab medicine, and then I came out ......"

"Oh, don't say it," Qian Du said to the two masters who carried the sedan chair: "Hurry up your feet, let's hurry up!" ”

A sedan chair and a mule chased slowly to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou, Qian Du thought it was only forty or fifty miles, who knew that after Tongzhou asked Fangqing, there were still twenty miles. Seeing that the pale sun had set in the west, it quickly slid towards the western horizon. Qian Du secretly thought to himself, afraid that he would not be able to catch up in the sedan chair before dark, so he sent the sedan chair back, found another horse to ride by himself, and let Fang Qing ride the mule.

The four legs walked much faster than the two legs, and they finally rushed to Zhangjiawan at the beginning of the unitary.

Fang Qing was on the back of the mule and pointed to the north of the village with her hand:

"Master Qian, that's it!" So saying, he got off the mule.

Qian Du counted the horse's foot money, and chased after him, it turned out that there was a small stone bridge on the Tonghui River that was frozen like a mirror, the bridge deck was not wide, and it had been Lingling, and it was very dangerous for mules and horses to cross the bridge, so Fang Qing came down first at the end of the bridge. She walked to the north of the village on the other side of the bridge.

Qian Du followed.

Approaching, beside the birch forest, stood three lonely grass houses, the wood door was closed, and a black hole opened under the low grass eaves, and the withered grass on the roof shivered in the wind. The chickens did not crow, the dogs did not bark, and there was no voice, and there was a dead silence. Suddenly, an ominous premonition suddenly hit Qian Du's heart, and when she looked at Fang Qing, she also seemed to have some kind of psychic feeling, only to see her staggering and trotting and crying, shouting:

"Big hair...... Little! ”

Qian Du tied the mule to a birch tree and hurried inside. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw Fang Qing sobbing "wow", and his hand was holding the door frame and slumped on the ground. hurriedly came in, and Qian Du was also stunned.

What a tragic sight!

The three small thatched huts in the cold ice do not even have a partition wall, and it is a big grass hut, and on the smoked front wall hangs a picture of last year's God of Wealth Bodhisattva, whose white eyes seem to be astonished and permanently staring at this family that is inferior to today's beggars:

The four walls cracked through the cracks, and a stream of cold wind poured in, raging and roaring in this empty "home" with nothing to grow, and the two sauerkraut jars under the north wall, the old porcelain bowls with leftover rice buckled on the lid of the jar, and a few empty bowls, clanged. The sour smell emanating from the vat was tinged with a musty smell. On that broken bed, sitting against the wall sat fifty-seven or eighteen-year-old Cao Xueqin, with a short gray beard full of cheeks, unkempt hair like a mane, and motionless like a clay wood carving.

What's even more unbearable to look at is that at the end of the bed by the window, there are two little boys about ten years old, one older and one younger, lying side by side, their faces have been covered with yellow paper. The little toes are stiffly cocked...... The charcoal in the brazier had long since been extinguished, and there was not a trace of smoke except for the two flickering lamps at the head of the bed.

There was also a woman in patched clothes, sitting on a small stool next to the bed without saying a word, folding paper foil ingots. She looked up at Qian Du with a dull gaze, and then buried herself in her own business.

"Celery, Celess ......"

Qian Du suddenly woke up from the nightmare in a trance, and seemed to stumble and shout among the desolate graves and mounds—like calling out to Cao Xueqin's wandering spirit, and as if he wanted to call himself back from hell, he shouted several times:

"Xue Qin! Celery ...... I'm Qian Du, Qian Du, Qian Lao Heng! Heavens, you ...... What's wrong with you? ”

While shouting, he dragged the half-paralyzed Fang Qing to the bedside. Qian Du said to the woman in the patched clothes:

"That sister-in-law, you're here to help, right? Fast...... Find a way to make a fire and get some hot water...... It's too cold in this room for the living to ......."

Before he finished speaking, he stopped. He recognized that this middle-aged woman in ragged clothes was Zhang Yuer! The family lives outside the front door, and Qian Du doesn't know how many times she stepped on the threshold of her house, ate pig's head meat, and drank pork liver with Dunmin and Cao Xueqin. Dun Min and Yu'er broke up in frustration, and Qian Du also intended to propose marriage to her...... It's only been a few years since everyone has suffered such a huge disparity!

At this time, here and here, under this scene, we will meet again, creation, life, and counting...... How could God arrange that?

"Brother Cao, what this master said is that he doesn't dare to sit down so hard." Yu'er stood up, supported her waist with her hands, and said tiredly, "This is the marriage left over from the previous life, and it is fate." You just swallow it. Those who have gone have gone, and those who are alive are still alive, Zhangjiawan alone, more than 20 children have been left in this catastrophe, God's will is like this, what can people do? ”

"More than 20 children died in the village, all of them smallpox?" Qian Du asked unshockedly.

"Yes," Zhang Yu'er said with tears in her eyes, "Sister-in-law Fangqing, you are not a good body, you are so hard, it is better to cry well...... Just cry, it's better to cry. Alas, you have to make a fire, I'll go home and get you some dry firewood, and bring a pot of hot water......"

After that, Zhang Yuer glanced at Fang Qing and Qian Du indifferently and lonely, and walked away on the residual snow.

Yu'er's home is only a few dozen steps away from Xueqin's house, and as soon as she enters the door, she scoops water from the jar to the pot, silently pumping firewood and starting a fire. Her husband was an honest and coarse man, and at this time, her husband was squatting on the side of the kang table and smoking a cigarette, saying:

"I saw that there was a mule at the door of Cao Ye, I'm afraid it's a visitor, right? I just went to the proprietor's house to fetch water, and the shopkeeper gave me a few pieces of cake, so you can take it when you send boiling water - don't be angry with your sister-in-law, she is also from a big family. is the same as Cao Ye, when he has money, he will make it, and he doesn't know how to live a long life...... On such a cold day, running to Beijing, she is a woman, doesn't she feel sorry for men and children? You go first, I'll get the pigsty up at home, and I'll help with the cooking. ”

Zhang Yu'er seemed to let out a long breath from the bottom of her heart, her gloomy face eased up, and in the crackling sound of firewood, she said:

"I am also angry with Fangqing's sister-in-law, and I am also angry with the third master of the Cao family. That godson 'master' is always a family of brothers, an ancestral grave, and Qin Ye has not even taken care of it at this point. Did Qin Ye give them less things when he came? His grandmother's, what kind of world is this! ”

The water was boiling, Zhang Yuer carried the boiling water, hugged a bundle of dry firewood to Xueqin's house, and heard Fang Qing's mourning and crying from a distance, Xueqin also made an intermittent howl, and when she entered the door, she saw Qian Du comforting her, and said:

"When this cry came out, I was relieved, and I was afraid that I would be sick in my heart. Alas...... Big hair and little hair, what a good two children...... In a blink of an eye, it went...... Why are you so blind......"

Zhang Yuer made a bowl of hot tea for the three of them, lit a fire two steps under the bed, and then sat down to wipe her tears.

"Xueqin, I heard from Madame that there is still a lot of famine outside." Qian Du had something on his mind and was in a hurry to rush back that day. At present, it is not suitable to stay in this situation, so he took out Fu Heng's one hundred taels of silver ticket and all the broken silver on his body, put them on the mattress next to Cao Xueqin, and said:

"This is what the sixth master asked the younger brother to bring to you, this idea of money, don't pay the bill first, put the child into the ground first. When I go back, I'm afraid I'll have to go to the south and ask for a little more from Zhang Yiquan. Now I'm in the Yamen, but I don't have any oil or water -- it doesn't matter, it's all on me. Look at you, even the tears are dry, you have three disasters and two diseases, what should you do if you call Fangqing? I have to go back. The Duncheng brothers seem to have come back a few years ago, and they are not allowed to stay in the western suburbs, so they can also come to see you. After a while, I want the sixth master to find you another idle errand, and slowly you will be alive again......"

Seeing that Xueqin's family was so sad, Qian Du was moved, wiped a handful of tears with him, hurriedly comforted a few words, went out to play a mule, and left Zhangjiawan as if fleeing in the dark.

Duncheng rushed back to Beijing from Jiangning, and it was nearly a year old. Beijing people are the most important New Year's Festival, since the twenty-fourth lunar month of the New Year, the sacrifice to the god of the stove began, regardless of the rich and poor families busy in the year, the trouble is very happy. After waiting to meet several literary friends in the capital, Fang heard that Cao Xueqin's two sons unfortunately died of smallpox, so he was busy going to Zhangjiawan to see Cao Xueqin the day before Chinese New Year's Eve.

Seeing Cao Xueqin's appearance, Duncheng was secretly taken aback: it was originally from after the death of Da Mao and Xiao Mao, Cao Xueqin had a fever, did not think about eating, and had been bedridden, and recently added symptoms of hemoptysis.

"Xueqin, you have to take care of yourself." Duncheng sat down on the edge of the bed, took Xueqin's thin hand and said, "We are all old people, and maintenance is the most important thing." You're the last person you dare to write that book. "The Story of the Stone" has been written eighty times, and everyone who has read the manuscript is amazed, but you are still revising it over and over again, and you have changed it four times! ”

"No, five times."

"There is no perfect writing in the world, so why should you suffer yourself?"

"Brother Cheng," Cao Xueqin stretched out her thin bean-like arm from the quilt and shook it, "Have you forgotten the poem you wrote to me in Huangye Village?" I can't forget it. ”

"Which poem?"

Cao Xueqin half-closed her eyes and said:

Persuade the gentleman not to play the diner,

Persuade the gentleman not to detain the rich door.

The remnant cup is cold and virtuous,

It's better to write a book about Huangye Village.

"I did exactly what my brother said," Cao Xueqin said with a wry smile, "I have fallen from a rich weaver in Jiangnan to a situation where today's beggars are inferior, with nothing but an unfinished manuscript of "The Story of Stones". The words and sentences in it are all made of the blood and tears of the big family and the Qing Dynasty that I personally experienced from the prosperity to the decline and decay. How dare I not carefully review and revise it so that it can be passed on to future generations? ”

"But you keep changing the front, don't write in the back, and there are still forty times, when will it take to finish?"

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Cao Xueqin said, stroking the thick stack of manuscripts that were tired on the bedside, "and my body is ...... I'm afraid that God won't give me more time...... I can't finish writing it. ”

"Don't worry," Duncheng comforted, "I heard that Qian Du, who has come to see you, said that you don't look very good, and you are really a little scared in your heart." Today, your spirits are much better, your face is bloody, and your speech is more energetic. It can be seen that this is a temporary disaster, so you can keep it in peace. ”

After that, he put a blanket bag next to Cao Xueqin's pillow, patted it lightly and said cautiously:

"This is the complete eighty chapters of "The Stone Record", and there is no shortage of fat inkstones and our criticisms. The one I copied was left at the master Liu Xiaolin in Nanjing, and the boss of Yongmao Bookstore Jia valued this book very much, and asked me to even transcribe the criticism, saying that it should be printed exquisitely, so that the master could become famous and he could also make a fortune. ”

"I heard that books are being collected everywhere now," Cao Xueqin said worriedly, "The governors of several provinces have issued notices, and it is difficult to print the history of barnyard novels in general, does Boss Jia really have the courage to print it?" ”

"No problem, Boss Jia is popular over there. It's just that printing such a large book requires 3,000 strings of money, and I can't raise it for a while, so I have to wait a while. You don't have to be in a hurry, the spring flowers will bloom in the coming year, and when you get better, I will ask you to read a neat and neat sample book! ”

Cao Xueqin bowed slightly:

"My heart is clear...... It's hard for you to go to Nanjing. Not enough money...... I expected it, and there were many unexpected things, and my heart was bright. Remember Yiquan's poems? ”

"Which one?"

"It's the one in "Qinxi Jushi".

"Ah, remember, there seem to be two sentences: 'Love will be the pen and ink, and the western suburbs will be secluded.' Isn't it this one? ”

Cao Xueqin nodded effortlessly and said lightly:

"Actually, whether it is the western suburbs of Lujie or moving to Zhangjiawan, it is not voluntary, but it is a last resort, all for this book!"

"Yes, yes......" Duncheng fell into deep thought, and he also wrote a poem about it:

The path of basil is old and unpretentious,

The whole family eats porridge and wine, and often on credit.

Looking for a poet to stay in the monk's house,

Sell paintings to pay for the restaurant.

Cao Xueqin has suffered so much for this "Stone Record" that can be passed on to future generations, others don't know God knows, he also knows. Thinking of this, seeing Cao Xueqin's tired face, she said:

"It's getting late, I have to go."

Duncheng did not rush back to the city, stayed in Tongzhou for a night, the next day, he bought some food, fish and meat and came to Cao's house again, and chatted for a long time about the writing of "Stone Records", and had lunch, then said goodbye to Cao Xueqin:

"Xueqin, when you are well, you can just continue to write your manuscript, and you don't have to worry about it. As for the one hundred or dozens of taels of silver owed to them, Fang Qing just blocked it, and that bit of silver didn't make me poor. After ten days and a half months, I will make an appointment with Yan Zhai to come and see you again, and bring the silver with me by the way. ”

Cao Xueqin's eyes were sunken, her skinny arms were on the outside of the quilt, her dry and dull eyes stared at Duncheng, and she said in a muddy voice:

"Don't bother here, there is Fang Qing to take care of, and Yu'er and her family over there still come over to accompany them from time to time. But these are all poor friends. With these poor friends, I am not lonely and sad...... It's so far away, and it snows from time to time, so it's called...... Tell your friends in the city not to come. If I don't die in the spring, I will return to the city, and our Peach Blossom Poetry Society will continue to do it...... Lin Daiyu is Lin Daiyu, Cao Xueqin is Cao Xueqin, you can't just bury a 'flower'. ”

It happened that Yu'er came in with a basket of frozen pears, put the basket on the small square table, and said:

"Sister-in-law, the pears I brought are placed on the small table, and there are air-dried eggplant stalks under the pears, and fried bacon is a good dish. It's snowing outside, and this year's winter snow is really black, and the next one doesn't stop - I said Cao Ye, you should have gone to Zhongzhuangyuan to be Hanlin, so you can't choose the auspicious one? What are the words of the dead and alive, the bare-mouthed and white-toothed? ”

"What Yu'er said is, let's not talk about this!" Dun Cheng was also familiar with Yu'er, and said with a smile, "Today is the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, you and Fang Qing should have a good New Year." 'Yan City cries and sings sadly, and Qinhuai Fengyue remembers the prosperity', you just pick up good things and think about it, maybe your body will recover quickly. ”

"The soup tune is not envious of the green lotus pet, and Yuan Zhao is unforgettable, this is a sentence in a poem written to me by Yiquan." Cao Xueqin said with a flushed face like a fever patient, "I, Cao Xueqin, was born at the wrong time, with a weird and stubborn temper, who can understand my hard work!" I grew out of the muddy water, like a slim lotus flower. However, they know very well that the big families we once lived in and the royal courts that we have heard and seen seem to be prosperous, but in fact they are all dirty and corrupt sludge and muddy water; Those hypocrites who are full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, all of them are picking up ashes, **, rape and murder, poor and weak red-faced girls in the "Grand View Garden" and "Small View Garden", hateful to those large and small slaves, slaves of slaves, weaving a net of human nature and conscience, and we are all unable to extricate ourselves from this net. ”

"yes, that's what you said."

"Duncheng, you know me best......"

"Brother Xueqin," Duncheng saw that Xueqin was as excited as if he was back, afraid that he would talk too much, so he persuaded, "You can keep it in peace." ”

"I say this so that you can understand my "Stone Record" and understand why I don't even care about the invitation of the Emperor's Painting Garden. The sound of the piano wrapping the bag is indifferent, and the sword is slowly breaking through the box', which is also in vain as 'the chant of Yi Shui'. I'm afraid, what ...... I have for a while" He glanced at Yu'er, who was putting fruit on the case, and lowered his voice and said, "I'm afraid that something unexpected, this sentimentality, so I had to 'Cuidian Empty Mountain is cold at night', and even my manuscript is a fragment." ”

Duncheng smiled bitterly and said:

"I'm older than you, and I don't want to be so cranky, so I can give birth, and I'll be here soon." After a few words of comfort, he took his leave and went out.

Before leaving, Cao Xueqin shook the rope, took out a note from his chest pocket and stuffed it to him, he didn't have time to look at it, so he took the car.

Duncheng never imagined that he would say goodbye to his best friend Cao Xueqin for decades. Xueqin's words about "The Story of Stones" also became his last words. Back to the light, back to the light! Seeing Duncheng go out of the door, there was a creaking sound of the cart pressing on the snow, and Cao Xueqin gently closed her heavy and tired eyelids......

It was pitch black in front of me, so black that I couldn't see my fingers, and it was so black that my heart was cold, and then I felt that my whole body was cold. This cold, as cold as being immersed in a glacier, like being thrown naked in an empty ice cellar. He struggled hard, trying to move, trying to speak, but the cold air seemed to be infused into his limbs. The cold heart of the cold world, like the plague, like the smallpox virus that spread in the village, soaked into his internal organs and froze his heart. Everything in front of him became more and more blurry and ethereal, the god of the stove on the wall, Zhong Kui on the door, the inkstone paper and pen on the case, and the fragment of the "Stone Record" that he regarded as his life, all floated up, like a wisp of smoke, floating out of the window, stumbling and floating among the white and vast barren graves......

He himself floated up, and with the cold world the cold hearts of the cold people floated like the plague like the smallpox that raged in the village, like a wisp of clouds, to the frozen sky, to the dark world, to the chaotic hell...... He was tired, sighed slightly, and muttered:

"It's so cold......"

Float, float......

The bell of Fanyin Temple rang, melodious and turbid, echoing and reverberating in the snow curtain of the sky. Announcing the end of the 28th year of Qianlong and the arrival of the 29th year, in the frozen birch forest of the Tongji River, from the empty houses where the three thatched huts did not even have boundary walls, there was a cry of sorrow and grabbing the earth......

Cao Xueqin died, and a generation of writers died tragically and silently. However, the thick "Stone Record" (later renamed "Dream of Red Mansions"), which he cast with his painstaking efforts, is destined to be like a heavy stone, smashing into the current dynasty, smashing into the distant future, and smashing into the heart of the feudal dynasty!

Duncheng returned home, and under the candlelight, Fang Zhan looked at the note that Cao Xueqin stuffed into him when he was leaving, which turned out to be a self-titled stone poem by Xueqin:

Love this punch stone,

Exquisitely natural.

Tracing the origin of the primeval state,

What year did you fall?

Aspire to return to the end,

There is no talent to make up for the sky.

Don't ask for a lot of money,

Chic to be a stubborn fairy.

Cao Xueqin is gone, gone forever. His immortal magnum opus, through the mediation of friends such as the Duncheng brothers, Qian Du, Liu Xiaolin, and Zhi Yanzhai, was finally published in Nanjing.

Because "Dream of Red Mansions" takes the history of the decline and fall of the four major families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue as the main line, it comprehensively and profoundly summarizes the history of the three generations of Kang, Yong, and Qian in the Qing Dynasty from the so-called prosperity to decline, and finally inevitably went to defeat, which not only shocked the present but also shocked the future.

When Qianlong heard that there was such a book, he immediately sent ministers to Nanjing to collect and destroy it, and to investigate the relevant personnel involved in the engraving, publication, and distribution of "Dream of Red Mansions", and created an unprecedented literary prison during the Qianlong period. Cao Xueqin's widow Fang Qing, fortunately, left Zhangjiawan under the care of many friends, so as to avoid suffering.

However, "Dream of Red Mansions" is still circulating among the people with its shocking ideological content and incomparable artistic charm. Yongzheng's political rival Yunyu's grandson Yongzhong, after Cao Xueqin's death, read "Dream of Red Mansions" and wrote a mourning poem with great emotion:

Expressive writing is full of thousands of years,

It's not that lovers don't shed tears.

hateful and not acquainted at the same time,

Cover the roll and cry Cao Hou several times.

Another member of the Qing imperial family and Qianlong's cousin Hongyi said: "Dream of Red Mansions is not a heirloom novel, and I have heard about it for a long time, and I don't want to see it; I'm afraid it's a hindrance. From the different reactions of the royal family, it can be seen that the rise and fall of the four major families in "Dream of Red Mansions" really condenses the social reality of the three generations of Kang, Yong, and Qian in the Qing Dynasty, and will have such a huge impact.

It is not accidental that "Dream of Red Mansions" appeared during the reign of Qianlong, it is like a mirror, reflecting the vile, treacherous, hypocritical, and corrupt imperial power of the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties in which Cao Xueqin lived.

Let's look at the fourth episode of "Dream of Red Mansions", "The Gourd Monk Judging the Gourd Case", which has a section of text that vividly depicts the so-called "talisman" of ministers and officials at all levels in the Qing Dynasty, and the text says:

Whoever is a magistrate has a private slip that says about the province

The names and surnames of the most powerful and wealthy squires, all in the provinces; If not

knows, if you offend such a person for a while, not only the officials, but also the marginal nature

It's hard to save your life! - That's why it's called the "amulet".

Although these words came from the mouth of the gourd monk, it was a living reality for Jia Yucun, who had just relied on the "power of Jiafu Wangfu" to make up for the Yin of the "Jinling Yingtianfu". Because the main culprit of the "gourd case" of "European injury to human life" encountered when he took office was precisely the son of Xue Fu, one of the "four major families", and the "dumb overlord" Xue Pan. For the four major families of Jinling Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xu, the "talisman" records such a common proverb:

Jia is not fake, and Bai Yu is a horse for Tang Jin.

Afang Palace, three hundred miles, can't live in a history of Jinling.

The East China Sea lacked a white jade bed, and the Dragon King came to invite the King of Jinling.

The harvest year is so big "snow", and the pearls are like earth, gold and iron.

These four families also reflect how the wealth of the Qing Dynasty was accumulated in the hands of the emperor and the emperor's servants and lackeys at all levels. At that time, Kangxi Ye and Qianlong Ye made a southern tour, and the silver consumed by the treasury and the big nobles was nominally the silver offered by the treasury and the big nobles, but in fact it was the people's fat and people's ointment scraped from the "thousands of miles of starvation".

The emperor is the world, officials at all levels are his slaves, the royal family and the slaves are officials in the court and localities, connected into an all-encompassing network, the party is even pro-defeating, every loss is lost, one is prosperous, one is dominant, no one dares to provoke. Xue Pan killed someone, and he could walk away like no one else, "This man lives some small things, and his brother and slave are here to cook." However, the officials who were corrupt and perverted the law "bent the law for personal gain and arbitrarily judged the case", and the murderer Xue Pan also went to the capital to continue to do evil.

In this short text, Cao Xueqin profoundly exposed the dark and inhumane nature of feudal imperial politics, and exposed the cruel and bloody true face of the so-called "prosperous and prosperous state" and "family of poetry and hairpins".

Therefore, "Dream of Red Mansions" is a cry of warning to the world, a call for humanity and humanity, and it is still a treasure in Chinese literature hundreds of years later.