Chapter 18 Nowhere to Sell Pearls - Mad Master

In the 25th year of Wanli reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Hongdao, who was tired of officialdom and resigned from the county magistrate of Wu County, traveled all the way to Hangzhou and came to Hangzhou.After enjoying the beauty of the West Lake, Hongdao returned to the place where he stayed, the apartment of his friend Tao Wangling Hanlin. On the way, he was dragged away by some Jiangnan scribes who had admired him for a long time. After washing up, it was Haishi.Hongdao went up the stairs gently on tiptoe - he lived in Tao Hanlin's study which doubled as a guest room, and the owner's family downstairs had already fallen asleep.Perhaps he was still reminiscing about the beauty of Jiangnan in the misty rain in March, or the strength of those flower carvings had begun to break out just now, and Hongdao was not sleepy.He looked at the rows of books on the wall.Only one lamp was lit, and the light was a bit dim, coupled with the fact that the alcohol was getting stronger and stronger, Hongdao felt a little dizzy.He groaned and took a copy casually.

The cover of the book was covered with a thick layer of dust, Hongdao patted the table leg a few times vigorously, and looked at it under the light, it was a yellowish collection of poems and essays.The quality of the paper was poor, limp, and the edges were not neatly cut.The word "Que Bian" can be vaguely seen written on the cover, and the ink used to print the book is also very inferior. The originally clumsy font and oil smudges give people a dirty feeling.Hongdao frowned, but he didn't bother to change another one, it was just for fun anyway.Leaning on the armchair, Yuan Hongdao casually opened the book.

After not reading a few lines of Hong Dao, Qu Ran sat up, held the book in both hands, read every word carefully with his eyes wide open, and kept reading in a low voice.After a while, his recitation became louder and louder, and sweat oozed from his forehead at some point. Suddenly, he jumped up suddenly, his hands trembling violently, as if he was holding a piece of red-hot iron. He couldn't restrain his excitement anymore, and he didn't care what time it was. He stomped his feet repeatedly and shouted downstairs: "Brother Tao! Come quickly! This "Que Bian" Who wrote it? Modern people or ancient people? Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!"

The entire Tao family was awakened, and Tao Wangling jumped out of bed in fright.In a daze, he fastened his clothes and ran up in three steps and two steps.When he finally figured out what was going on, he breathed a sigh of relief, and casually said, "Oh, he. This is a collection of essays by Xu Wei, Xu Wenchang, a scholar from my hometown in Shanyin. What's wrong?" "You must have never read it. You come and you come, you read this one, and this one..." Hongdao couldn't wait to stuff the anthology to Tao Hanlin.Suddenly, he remembered something: "Xu Wei, I've never heard of it—is he still there?"

After asking several times, Tao Wangling finally answered—he was also fascinated: “Oh, dead—probably dead, about four or five years ago.——Where did you find it? Why didn’t I see it earlier? What about this collection?" That night, no one in the Tao family could sleep peacefully.Their master and Yuan Hongdao read that book until dawn, screaming, jumping, crying, laughing, slapping the table, and stomping the floor. The Tao family servant who couldn't sleep was full of resentment, but he didn't dare to speak out, so he could only curse secretly on the bed: "They are crazy, they must be crazy!"

Xu Wei is crazy. That day, there were still thirty-one years before Yuan Hongdao read Xu Wei's anthology.That year, Xu Wei was forty-six years old. It must be a winter afternoon.The weather was fine, and a group of idlers sat around a small bridge in Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) on ​​a flat open space.They ate their own rice wine, peeled peanuts, and enjoyed the sunshine leisurely. Suddenly, a howl like a broken gong came from a distance in a deep alley: "I killed someone, hahaha! I killed someone! Hahaha, hahaha! I finally killed her! Hahaha, hahaha !" Everyone was shocked, but after careful identification, they were all relieved and frowned unconsciously.I stood up a few times, looked in the direction of the sound, and then sat down again.

Someone took a sip of wine slowly, and said slowly: "That poor scholar surnamed Xu has gone crazy again." "These days, it seems that his problems are getting worse and worse." An old man next to him blew away the peanut jacket in his hand, "howling day and night, crying after crying, crying after crying, Damn it!" "Fortunately, it didn't snow. It was great when it snowed. They sang and danced in the snow, just like fish in a frying pan." "You probably haven't seen him drinking a little wine, that's funny, he walks all over the street yelling, disregarding black and white, he shoots the door whenever he sees it, it's so fierce! He opened the door and yelled and walked away .”

"If you want to say that you are a scholar, it is a crime to reach this point." "I heard that he is good at painting, and the masters in the mansion often ask him for it." "I want to paint with him, and it is the master who rewards him—that kid is quite arrogant. A few days ago, an adult praised him and asked him to paint a painting. He was still sober that day. I said you should take care of yourself." Show your hand, maybe the adults have taken a fancy to it, and won't you be promoted immediately? But it is said that the adults saw him sitting in front of his broken house, and he was sitting behind the threshold in a daze. Just about to go in, this kid might as well be cold Jumped up, shut the door with a bang, and kept yelling: 'I'm not here, I'm not here!' Almost pinched the hand of an adult, and it's also a thing that doesn't know what to do."

The crowd continued to drink and chat in the sun, listening to the approaching howls with great interest. "Hahaha. I killed someone, I killed my mother-in-law! Hahaha, I killed her!" Finally, Xu Wei appeared in front of them waddlingly.Disheveled and tangled hair like dried vegetables, wearing a greasy ragged long coat with a slanted neckline, one foot is bare in the cold weather, the other is wearing a rag shoe with a rotten bottom, his eyes are dull, Come all the way with a smirk.Behind him was a group of laughing urchins, clapping their hands and bouncing around. "Wen Chang, did you kill someone?" The old man said jokingly, "Do you want to have a drink after killing someone?"

"Hehe, I killed her!" Xu Wei smiled foolishly, staring at the wine in the bowl. "How did you kill him? With a rope? With a kitchen knife?" The group of idlers asked with a smile. "Slashed with a knife!" Xu Wei was also grinning, groping for a bloody knife from his arms. There was a shrill cry, and all the people disappeared almost at the same time, leaving behind a floor of peanut shells and several unfinished bowls of wine.It seemed that the sun also hid in the thick dark clouds immediately, and the cold air permeated the earth. Xu Wei was still grinning, swayed over, grabbed the wine bowl, and drank it down.

A wave of angry curses came from a distance, and the children cried out in fear. Most people who study Xu Wei tend to believe that Xu Wei's killing of his wife is the same as his several suicides, which are pathological manifestations in a state of mental confusion.In other words, Xu Wei's madness was not an astonishing act of faking madness that was popular among the so-called celebrities at that time. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the rebellious psychology against the increasingly harsh and outdated ideological rule, combined with the development of southern commerce and the spread of theories such as Kuzen and Yangming Mind, formed a wave that spread wantonly outside the orthodox mainstream. .There are more and more strange people in the world, and the talented people are more or less abnormal.Like Tang Bohu who slipped out of the house from time to time, dressed in ragged clothes, sang the lotus flower falling, and begged for money for fun; No matter where you go... Although their madness is also a kind of venting, a kind of resistance and demonstration against the society, to a large extent it is only to mark that they are out of the ordinary and not bound by the bad habits of the world.They are by no means crazy, even, they are more sane than most people in the world.And their madness is sometimes even a life-saving trick—just like how Tang Bohu used it to escape from the vortex of King Ning's rebellion. Perhaps Xu Wei was like Tang Bohu at first, pretending to be crazy to avoid the political turmoil he was involved in when he was an aide to Governor Hu Zongxian of Zhejiang and Fujian.The situation was really grim at that time. With the fall of Yan Song and the political upheaval, even Hu Zongxian was arrested and committed suicide—but Hu Zongxian was the only big name in Xu Wei's life who could look up to him and help him.But everyone has to admit that his madness is becoming less and less like a fake. Who can really raise a sharp knife to his wife like Xu Wei?Who can ravage his thin body time and time again like Xu Wei?Every time I read Yuan Hongdao's "Xu Wen's Long Biography", I would close my eyes and skip over that paragraph of text that can make people twitch: "Break his head with an axe, the blood flowed across the face, the skull was broken, and there was a sound of rubbing. Or use a sharp awl to pierce his ears, and penetrate more than an inch, but he will not die." Is Xu Wei, a blood-stained lunatic, also performing an absurd farce? Of those crazy talents, who has endured so many hardships like Xu Wei? The biological mother was a maid without a title; within a hundred days, her father passed away; when she was ten years old, her biological mother was finally kicked out of the house and resold; her stepmother treated Xu Wei fairly well, but even she died when she was fourteen The two brothers are more than 20 years older than him, and they have never looked at this humble little brother... How many happy days did Xu Wei have in his childhood?How many times have you had innocent laughter?Even, can he have enough to eat every day? Maybe it will be better when I grow up and have my own family.But how is it a marriage?Xu Wei had a thorough taste of what it was like to live under the fence.Fortunately, his wife Pan's sincere affection for Xu Wei, Xu Wei seems to have seen a little light leaking from the fingertips of the Emperor of Heaven.But God couldn't bear to give him even this poor consolation, so within a few years, he took Pan Shi, who was only nineteen years old, back from Xu Wei's hands.Cry, after crying, you still have to start a family again.But why is it a marriage again?I got married so badly that even my poor house was robbed.Another overwhelming white eye... There is no need to narrate Xu Wei's tragic experience, and there is no need to envy Tang Bohu, Zhu Yunming, Li Zhi and others for their much warmer childhoods. God always tortures some people severely.Thinking about it the other way around, who can be sure that what God did was purely an unconscious trick, so those unlucky ones can only blame themselves for the wrong landing time? ——Can't this be understood as God's test after test before putting the burden on the shoulders of giants? But for Xu Wei, it seems that the responsibility God wants him to bear is to struggle and scream vividly on each piece of rice paper.In order to achieve the best results, God does not allow Xu Wei to wake up - if there is a God. Sober people are often artificial, powerless, hypocritical, cunning, and their creations reek of rancidity. To completely crush a person, the most effective means is to crush his most confident and last position. Doesn't everyone know that Xu Wei was able to write articles at the age of nine, and at the age of sixteen imitated Yang Xiong's profound "Explaining Mocking" and wrote "Shide"?Literary talent, the only advantage that Xu Wei can be confident in, has taken root in the deepest part of his heart since he was a child, and has flowed through his body with his blood.It is this imaginary heat that supports Xu Wei to survive the dark childhood. At the age of seventeen, Xu Wei, who was full of blood, raised his head high, put on the latest white cloth gown, and walked into the examination room with confidence.I, Xu Wei, are so talented, isn't it just to get something out of my bag if I take the exam as a small scholar? The blow fell heavily on the head, Xu Wei was stunned.Lost!He even failed the exam for a scholar! The blood in Xu Wei's veins lost its direction for a moment, and it started to run wild, causing pain like skin peeling all over his body.Fortunately, being young, Xu Wei raised his head hard, adjusted his breath, gritted his teeth and sat down at the desk again, sharpening himself again. But this is only the prelude to the tragedy of Xu Wei's life.After that, Xu Wei took eight subjects in a row, until he was 41 years old, but the final result was just a scholar's kerchief—rao this scholar, it was Xu Wei who shamelessly begged the examiner to get it after the re-examination. So, in September, when the rankings were announced, in the high and crisp autumn, when everyone was excited, dark clouds flew up from the yellow rankings, the cold wind howled from the Qiantang River, and Xu Wei felt heavy snow blowing in his heart again and again. He didn't have Tang Bohu's consolation when he won Jieyuan, nor did Li Zhicheng's rebellious philosophy system. He was just a poor scholar who would never be ranked, had no family, no love, no human affection, and no family of his own. Finally, Xu Wei, exhausted physically and mentally, was no longer able to maintain the only faith and hope in his heart, and he was no longer able to resist the fierce thunder from the nine heavens—his mental skeleton was shattered under the weight of the palms of heaven and earth. He straightened up again and raised his head, even taller than ever.He and the sky looked at each other for a long time, to see who would blink first - he won, Xu Wei laughed loudly, his white hair flying in the wind. Xu Wei is crazy. But the innate stubbornness and unyielding branded deep in his heart stimulated him all the time and made him wake up.He crawled all over the ground looking for fragments of his own skeleton, putting them together again and again, trying to stand up,— To accept the next blow from God. Therefore, Xu Wei's admirers in later generations found his cause of disease and the source of his pain: the imperial examination. It is true that Xu Wei's madness was indeed one of the most tragic tragedies caused by the imperial examination.However, can the imperial examination be abolished for Xu Wei, for all the students in the world who are addicted to clichés and rotten articles?To put it another way: the imperial examinations have come to the Ming Dynasty, should they withdraw from the stage of history? No government can manage the world in an orderly manner with a few people, especially as human beings reproduce and progress, there must be more and more clues.So, who do we rely on to rule the world? Relatives?noble?Family status?General?eunuch?These lofty princes and adults have witnessed the decadence and degeneration of generations. Can they really manage this vast empire well?Are the mortal beings trampled under their feet inherently incompetent and useless, never to be able to get ahead?The bloody lessons of history have made the monarchs see clearly that the noble relatives around them are the moths who are incapable of making mistakes-to make the world clear and the empire Changan, it is necessary to rely on civilian elites scattered in every corner of the world. There is another reason that everyone is tacit but doesn’t reveal: you don’t give the people a way to be born, it’s like leaving no gates in the reservoir to release the flood. If the people who are old and can’t bear it anymore, if they cry out, wouldn’t it be like wildfire? Terrible? ——Even the besieged city has to leave a living room, and the poor at the end of the road are very dangerous. In a closed dark room, as long as you open a narrow door, you can attract everyone's attention, so that the people inside will not be too tired to hold back their chiseling—and the people who get out can still loyally serve you. Is there a smarter way than this? In this way, all subjects must be given a chance to contribute to our dynasty and absorb and wear away your excess energy.But, how do you let the imperial court know how many catties you have, and whether you can stabilize the country? By lineage?By recommending each other?By self-recommendation? ——You can’t rely on fighting, winning prizes, or gambling. Who can think of a more sensible and advanced method than selecting the best through examinations?Isn't the modern Western civil service system borrowed from the Chinese imperial examination system?Even in our own country, the recruitment of civil servants follows the spirit of the imperial examination. There is another most important advantage of imperial examinations: fairness.In theory, no matter who you are, whether you are poor or rich, whether you are an official or a farmer, as long as you don’t commit any crimes, anyone can take the exam (except for special circumstances). Isn't the imperial examination open to everyone, allowing everyone to take it on the same starting line, an opportunity as fair as possible? But since it was fair, why did the well-educated and intelligent Xu Wei lose to those rotten scholars who only dropped book bags?Could it be that the examiners were blind in the eight exams?Of course anyone can answer casually: stereotyped!How could an unruly genius like Xu Wei stand the constraints of stereotyped writing? That's right, the well-behaved stereotypes couldn't restrain Xu Wei——Xu Wei's overflowing articles were not in line with stereotypes. So the murderer of Xu Wei was stereotyped?Of course you are right.So since stereotyped writing is such a heinous crime, should the content of the imperial examination be changed for the sake of the Ming Empire and thousands of Xu Wei? Well, try it out and change it.But what to replace?Examining poetry and Fu like the Tang Dynasty?Wang Anshi has long seen the emptiness of selecting scholars in poetry and prose - can well-written poems rule the world well?The stereotyped test is about the scriptures and meanings, at least the questions are all taken from the scriptures of the sages governing the country and the world, which is much more practical.Besides, what is the evaluation standard for using poetry and prose to start the exam?Everyone has their own understanding and standards for poetry, even if Taibai is taking the exam, if it falls into the hands of an examiner who hates pomposity, he might have to go back to his hometown in despair. Stereotypes are better, you see, breaking the topic, inheriting the topic, starting the lecture, starting the section, middle section, back section, and closing section, each section has its own standards, and each section has its requirements.Although it is still impossible to achieve a unified scoring standard, compared with those endless poems and songs, everyone's likes and dislikes must be much closer.Besides, this is also good for candidates. Isn't it fair that everyone reads the same few books? Poetry and fu are no longer good, so can't you try to take other exams?Isn't modern science more normative than stereotyped writing?There is no need to talk about the significance of science to human society.The question is, does the Ming Empire need these sciences? China's self-sufficient economy never needs to fantasize about the overseas world, and the monarchs and ministers of all dynasties are also very satisfied with the farming and pastoral atmosphere under their feet-although this kind of romance often only exists in their imagination of the golden wall and splendor.The teachings of the ancient sages made them regard almost all sciences outside the land as strange skills and obscenity.They listened to the words of the sages, and they could only focus on agriculture, and even doing business was the end of their careers, and they were done by unscrupulous people.To put it more bluntly, there is only one real "truth" for them: to secure their respective positions - from the dragon bed to the court.The Confucian doctrine of dividing and stabilizing classes is what they really need most. The stereotyped exam repeatedly teaches students all over the world, it is to let them study the classics handed down by the sages, one after another, the "stability" first, and not to think about it-be well-behaved, and there is always hope that you will be able to sit on the top spot . This "book" remains unchanged, who can change the content of the imperial examination? Without gasoline, even the best cars are decorations; without cars, who would design roads and install traffic lights? So there must be some people who have become victims of the times. In this fair arena, Xu Wei failed fairly. Let the giant pillars of the sky compete with sewing needles; let Kuafu, who is chasing the sun, wear embroidered shoes and compete with women; Say. Genius is Xu Wei's real enemy.The hand that can stir the sea and split the mountain often cannot pick up a small grain of rice in front of you. Perhaps, Xu Wei is not Optimus Prime, Kuafu, nor does he have the golden-eyed giant spirit palm, then he is at least a violent wild horse chasing after the wind and the moon. It's a horse injury. The plow has been passed down for thousands of years, and it cannot be destroyed for a while.There is only one field, and there is absolutely no other battlefield where you can ride with you.All your worldly values ​​have to be reflected in this muddy field: either a good animal or a waste. If you can't squeeze through the narrow gate, no matter how good your poems are, they are wild fox Zen in the eyes of the world; painting and painting are nothing but true craftsmanship. Therefore, Xu Wei went crazy. "Eat it, you prisoner! After eating, please remember, Master Zhang saved you and let you waste food for a few more years." With a bang, the prison guard opened the gate, revealing a bowl of gray rice Throwing it in front of Xu Wei, several flies circled in.The prison chief with a swollen face turned around and left, cursing something incessantly. Xu Wei, with disheveled hair and filth all over his body, sat on the rotten haystack in a daze, staring at the fence. Do you think I don't know, and you can fool me by wearing a piece of wooden skin and not moving?What are you doing standing in front of me all day long?saved me?Someone save me?How many years have you eaten?Thinking that I don't know, you want to fatten me up and kill me, just like killing a pig next door during the Chinese New Year?Cook the soup, sharpen the knife... blood!There's blood all over the floor... I can't let you guys torture me, cut me up piecemeal, have a good time!I am not afraid!What about the knife?What about the knife?Give me a knife!give me a knife!Why don't you talk?Are you afraid?I don't kill you, I kill myself, where is the knife? Why is it dark, so black, so white, so bright?Like ink.Ink, ink!Pen!Where is my pen?Haven't touched a pen for a long time?Only with the pen in hand can I have a moment of peace.Is it really peaceful?Oh, that feeling is so comfortable, as if the scorching flames of the whole body are leaking out from the tip of the pen one by one, it is cold and comfortable.Come on, the left swipe is the ax that Pangu opened the sky; the right swipe is the hook of the underworld;Where's the pen?Where's the pen?Get a pen! As if they didn't kill me so I could draw?You dirty bird people, standing in rows all day long, can you understand what I'm drawing?Do you know where my painting is?do you know?What I am really good at is my words, my poems, my articles, and my full knowledge of bringing peace to the country and benefiting the world!You bird people, you know that?My painting is just to vent, to vent your stinky bird spirits! —It's like farting loudly and loudly!Do you read my articles?Can you read it?understand? who readswho readsIs anyone reading it? Where is my wife?Where is my most beloved wife?It's not the vulgar killer, but the gentle and considerate one, Si'er, yes, Si'er, that's the name I gave her.In the world, only she can understand me, only she doesn't despise me!But where did she go?I haven't come to see me for many years, and I haven't even entrusted me with a dream. What are you doing standing in a row, help me find my sister!Still not going?What about the knife?so cold!What season is it, is it?What about it?Give me a knife! Xu Wei put his arms around his shoulders, curled up into a ball, and lay down on the haystack, crying loudly. "Xu Wei, with the character Wenchang, nicknamed Qingteng, Tianchi, Tian Shuiyue, etc., was an outstanding artist in the late Ming Dynasty in my country. He was listed as one of the top ten famous painters in ancient China. He has profound attainments. His paintings can absorb the essence of the predecessors and be completely reborn. Instead of imitating the old habits of imitation, he likes to use splashed ink to draw and dye, creating a style of painting for a generation. The ink is dripping, re-imagining, not seeking similarity in form and spirit, landscape, Characters, flowers and birds, bamboo and stone can be used for everything." The bright and elegant hall was full of seats.All eyes were focused on the painting that the auctioneer was passionately explaining.A few spotlights illuminate the somewhat yellowish drawing paper, which seems to be a little whiter. The auctioneer, whose tie was so tight that he might be out of breath, looked around the hall with eagle-like eyes while explaining.He needs to see clearly which of the guests are really interested in bidding, whether it is inevitable or unavoidable, and there are probably a few people who will bid - he tries to put this hammer down with some weight.After all, he has undergone professional training. While observing carefully, he introduced Xu Wei in an orderly manner, with extremely fluent speech. "Xu Wei was worshiped by many masters in later generations. For example, Zheng Banqiao called himself: 'a running dog under the Ivy League', and Qi Baishi often sighed, 'I wish I had been born three hundred years earlier, so I can polish ink and paper for Ivy'..." Although the honored guests didn't have much interest in these things, and Xu Wei's value has long been understood, they still have to pretend to be absorbed in it, so that no matter how impatient they are, they won't show it—everyone is a civilized person with status.But when it came to Zheng Banqiao and Qi Baishi, many people immediately thought about it, calculating the market of the two, estimating how much they should pay today, and how much they can earn if they do.Some people's expressions became tense. "In order to give you a comparison, a representative work by Xu Wei, the "Ink Grape Picture" collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing, is now displayed on the big screen. Please carefully compare the handwriting and inscription. This picture is purely written in ink. Grapes are painted and dyed at will. Arbitrary temperament. On the upper left of the painting, there is a poem inscribed by Xu Wei: Half my life has been down and out, I have become an old man, and my independent study is like the evening wind; There is nowhere to sell the pearl at the bottom of the pen, and it is thrown among the wild vines. "