Chapter 19 Lost rare book

"Hmph, as long as I, Huang Zongxi, are here, those scumbags' tricks will not be allowed to succeed, there is no doubt about it!" Huang Zongxi thought resolutely, pursing his slightly protruding lips.At this time, he was walking on the street inside Changmen in the west of Suzhou City.He walked in such a hurry that Huang An, a school boy holding a green cloth bundle under his arm and holding an oiled paper umbrella for him from behind, couldn't keep up with him. The dense spring rain is drifting silently. The rainwater wets the cobblestone pavement, the black tile roofs of the shops on both sides of the street, and also the oil-paper umbrellas, bamboo hats and sedan chair roofs that come and go on the street. The faces of pedestrians who looked sullen were covered with a layer of gray color.This spring rain is supposed to come at the right time. In the past, it can inject some warmth and hope into the anxious hearts.But not anymore.Today's Suzhou, the leading commercial port in the south of the Yangtze River, the center of the silk weaving industry, and a symbol of the unprecedented prosperity of the Ming Empire, after years of heavy war expenses and the severe drought that swept across the Sanwu area between summer and autumn last year The attacks of the locust plague and the locust plague have finally completely declined, and it has almost become a ghost world where beggars stop their way and starve to death.Only half a year ago, in the machine rooms all over the city, the jacquard looms were still rattling all day long, but now it is rare to hear it.The criss-crossing water alleys used to be full of beautiful Wu Nong's soft words and pipa, but now they have been replaced by moans and sighs of poverty and mourning of bereaved relatives.As for the most bustling and bustling Changmen area, due to the lack of merchant ships, the shops are closed one after another.The previous scene full of department stores and bustling tourists has disappeared, and only a few shops are still barely supporting their facades. The situation is quite bleak and pitiful.It's just that the most difficult spring famine has passed, the hungry people from the four townships have gradually left, and it is rumored that the old men who have restored the society will come to participate in the Huqiu meeting. In any case, it was always a chance to try their luck and find a way to survive, so they tried their best to be active and active, which made the depressed and desolate market more or less revive.

However, at this moment, Huang Zongxi didn't have the heart to pay attention to these things, because the recent situation in Fushe was so serious that it almost occupied all his thoughts.On the night of the seventh day of March, he and his friends finished the banquet at Li Shiniang's house and returned to the river room where Maoxiang was staying. That's the first time he heard of someone trying to reverse the case for Ruan Dacheng.At that time, he was so surprised and angry.Not only did he fully agree with the analysis of the community members that the protagonists of this conspiracy were Jishe, but he also took the case and advocated going to Songjiang immediately to ask the members of the Jishe about the culprit.It was only because of Chen Zhenhui's strong presidency and repeated persuasion that he reluctantly endured it.According to Chen Zhenhui's plan, of course they would never let the gang of scum from several societies go.However, considering that the influence of his faction has been greatly weakened since he lost the competition to become the main alliance of the conference a few days ago, and it seems that Zheng Yuanxun, another main ally, has already joined forces with the leaders of several societies. People put on crotch pants, and with only a few people like themselves, they may not be able to control the situation at that time.To be on the safe side, it is necessary to invite one or two respected Donglin veterans to come out to hold the line.On this point, Huang Zongxi also agreed.However, when discussing who to invite to come forward, he had a dispute with everyone.He suggested that Qian Qianyi lives in Changshu, which is very close to Suzhou, so he might as well invite him to come forward; but most people disagreed, and advocated to go to Jintan to invite brothers Zhou Bi and Zhou Zhong.Originally, the Zhou brothers were all well-known figures in the scholastic community, and they were also resolute anti-Ruan factions, so it was not a bad idea to ask them to come forward; but Wu Yingji and others rejected Qian Qianyi because of this, saying that he seemed unreliable. of.This point greatly angered Huang Zongxi.He couldn't tolerate anyone despising and slandering Qian Qianyi, especially he didn't believe Wu Yingji's rumor that Qian Qianyi also seemed to advocate condoning eunuchs, so he quarreled with them on the spot.However, there were many people on the other side, especially Hou Fangyu and Gu Gao, whose words were sharp and harsh, and Huang Zongxi only had one mouth, so he couldn't compete with them.In a fit of anger, he declared that he would not go up to Tiger Hill with them.Later, thanks to Chen Zhenhui, Mei Langzhong, and Zhang Zilie who tried their best to persuade them, and agreed to Huang Zongxi to go to Changshu to invite Qian Qianyi, the turmoil was calmed down.

Now, Chen Zhenhui and Gu Gao went to Jintan, Maoxiang agreed to attend the meeting after persuasion, but said that he had to go to Changzhou first and left alone.Huang Zongxi, along with Wu Yingji, Hou Fangyu, Mei Langzhong, and Zhang Zilie, arrived in Suzhou ahead of schedule and lived in the house of a social friend named Qian Xi not far to the east of Gaoqiao. He planned to observe the movement and make preparations in advance.However, Huang Zongxi still wanted to go to Changshu to visit Qian Qianyi, and his mood became even more eager because he thought that he would meet the old man soon.

When it comes to the relationship between Huang Zongxi and Qian Qianyi, it is indeed different from ordinary people.This is not only because Huang Zunsu, Huang Zunsu, the father of Huang Zongxi, and Qian Qianyi belonged to Donglin back then, and the two families had a friendship; but also because after Huang Zunsu was persecuted to death by the eunuch party, Qian Qianyi had been very caring and caring for the son of the old man for many years.Seeing that Huang Zongxi was living in a difficult situation, he often gave him financial assistance. He also specially invited Huang Zongxi to stay at his home in Changshu, and opened up all his books to him so that he could devote himself to studying and discuss with him.Huang Zongxi naturally admired Qian Qianyi's articles and knowledge; Huang Zongxi's penchant for learning and thinking, and his extraordinary insights often surprised Qian Qianyi, so he spared no effort to praise others.For these reasons, Huang Zongxi has always been very grateful to this old uncle, and regards Qian Qianyi as a senior confidant.Although he has long worshiped the famous Confucian Liu Zongzhou as his teacher, in comparison, Qian Qianyi, who is erudite, flexible in thinking and eclectic, has a special attraction, which makes Huang Zongxi involuntarily have a close attachment to him. Feelings.In fact, in Huang Zongxi's view, Qian Qianyi, as the Donglin veteran who was persecuted back then, is no match for Zhou Bi and Zhou Zhong brothers in terms of hatred for the eunuch party or the current prestige and influence among scholars. Nothing can compare with it.No matter how arrogant and domineering and demagogic the group of people are, as long as Qian Qianyi comes forward to say a word at that time, their plot will definitely not succeed.I am afraid that the Zhou Brothers may not be able to do this.

"Oh, no matter what, I have to go to Changshu quickly, the sooner the better!" He urged himself like this in his heart, and he became excited involuntarily, and walked faster. In this way, we went all the way to Wuchaofang.This area is a place where bookstores gather, and there are quite a lot of large and small shops.In the past, when Huang Zongxi came to Suzhou, he would always come here for a walk, so he was no stranger to it.However, now that Huang Zongxi came here, he didn't come here to buy books. On the contrary, he planned to try to mortgage his set of Song edition "Hidden Xu Yanyi".Because he hadn't seen Qian Qianyi for more than two years, this time he went to Changshu, no matter what, he had to buy some gifts.But right now he has nothing in his pocket, not to mention the ceremony, he is almost hesitating about the travel expenses to go home.It stands to reason that he shouldn't have gotten into this situation. Just half a month ago, he still carried fifty or sixty taels of silver with him.Unexpectedly, they met Chen Zhenhui and Wu Yingji, who spent three days drinking or visiting prostitutes.Although there are wealthy young masters such as Mao Xiang and Chen Zhenhui as hosts, but I am too embarrassed to eat for free every day, and occasionally I have to pay for a table or two.With such a let go, all the money will be spent in a blink of an eye.Naturally, he still has a group of friends, but for asking Qian Qianyi to come forward, he had a big argument with him just now, and now he humbly extended his hand to borrow money, Huang Zongxi couldn't let go of this face no matter what.After much deliberation, I finally thought of this "Hidden Virtuality and Meaning".This book caused a storm half a month ago.Later, Huang Zongxi couldn't bear it, so he sent it to a mounting shop, where the master craftsmen carefully rinsed, repaired, and re-mounted it, and miraculously restored it to its original appearance.This is currently the only valuable thing Huang Zongxi has on hand. Although he is very reluctant to part with it, he has no choice but to bet it out temporarily.This matter was originally assigned to Huang An, but when Huang An came, he said that the bosses of the bookstore were very cunning, and they were only willing to pay for a book worth sixteen taels of silver, which was the most accommodating One of them only came out to seven taels.Huang Zongxi was angry and impatient, and scolded the book boy, saying that he was useless and couldn't even do such trivial things well.But scolding is scolding, but in the end, you have to do it yourself.

"Anyway, I bought this set of books at sixteen taels, so I have to pay back sixteen taels!" Huang Zongxi thought stubbornly, waving his hand to drive away a few beggars who came up to beg for money, and let a group of them pass by The funeral procession, carrying the coffin and weeping past, stepped into the threshold of Dalaitang Bookstore. According to Huang An, this Dalaitang is the bookstore that is willing to pay seven taels of silver. It looks ordinary from the outside, and there is a wooden signboard on the outside that reads "Famous Books of Ancient and Modern Times". It acts as a small counter at the door. There are bookshelves lined up against the walls on all sides, and all kinds of books are piled up on them. In addition, there is a small square table, a few chairs, stools and the like, which are for customers to rest their feet.However, at this moment, there was no customer in sight, only a young boy who looked like a clerk was dozing on the counter.

Huang An closed the oil-paper umbrella, shook the rainwater accumulated on it outside the threshold a few times, leaned it against the edge of the door, and walked over to shake the guy awake to explain his purpose.Unexpectedly, the owner of the bookstore was not at home.When asked where he went, the guy couldn't tell; he was asked to send someone to look for him, but he refused to do so with many prevarications.In the end, Huang Zongxi got angry when he heard it, so he simply told Huang An to ignore him, Guan Zi moved a chair and sat down by the door, and ordered Huang An to bring over the set of "Latent Virtuality", while doing the final Caress and enjoy, while waiting for the owner to come back.

The patter of spring rain is still falling.The rainwater accumulated outside the threshold and trickled down to the lower places.It has been raining for a whole day, and the dirt and dirt on the streets have been washed away.Today this little patch of flowing rain looks clear and clean.It was splashed by the water droplets falling from the eaves, drawing a long series of wonderful patterns. Huang Zongxi took "Hidden Virtuality and Profound Meaning" out of the nanmu box.There are four volumes of this book, all of which are covered in gray-blue jackets, and the title of the book is printed on the slightly yellowed Song Jian scripture paper bookmark, which looks very quaint.Turning the inside pages, you can find that this book not only has a particularly tall paper frame, but also has quite large fonts, each of which is square and neat, with rounded knife skills, and also has paper-colored ink, which is dazzling. boutique.The fly in the ointment is that there are some stains that cannot be rinsed off on individual pages.This stain made Huang Zongxi feel distressed and resentful, and at the same time made him feel more sorry and cherish the book... Finally, he sighed a long time, closed the book, and stopped reading. "Although I have to temporarily mortgage it, to thank Old Man Qian and to prevent the plot to overturn Ruan Huzi's case from succeeding, it is right and worth it!" He said while putting the book back into the nanmu box. Convincing himself, he wrapped the book again in a blue cloth bundle, put it on his knees, raised his head, and began to look into the street.

This Wuchaofang is closely connected to Changmen Street. Although it is also a place with dense population and many shops, the street is quite narrow, and the situation in the opposite house can be clearly seen.Directly opposite the bookstore is a large cloth shop, on the left is a medicine shop, on the right is a shop selling groceries, and next to it are several bookstores and other shops.At this moment, the rain was a little lighter, and the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased.Huang Zongxi saw: two sedan chairs passed by with splashes of water; a blind old man carrying a huqin, led by a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, slowly turned out from the alley; three children braved the rain, Squatting by the pool of water under the eaves, I was setting up a wooden boat; then I recruited a trowel-faced idler, who gesticulated from the side to act as a guide, and with his glib, teased him, he was leaning against the nearest door A woman with a big mouth and heavy makeup who couldn't stop laughing.In addition, there are naturally many pedestrians passing by with their shoulders and hands in a hurry. "Well, the owner of the bookstore should be back by now, right?" Huang Zongxi thought, and couldn't help opening his eyes wide, eagerly meeting every suspicious person approaching, and raising his head from time to time to look further away.

Just when he was anxiously looking forward to it, suddenly, there was a sound of chaotic footsteps on the street, and a yamen official walked over with a piece of paper that looked like an official document in his hand.Behind him, followed by a group of porters each carrying a shoulder pole.When they came to the cloth shop directly opposite the bookstore, they stopped.I saw the tolerance walk into the store, say something loudly, then come out, gestured to the group of porters, and said, "Quick, go in and move!" The porters crowded together and were about to go in when the shop owner—a fat middle-aged man rushed out angrily, saluted the servant and said:

"Don't be angry, head man! Please listen to Xiao Ke's words. This time, the acceptance of the value is not due to the intentional delay of the small shop. It is actually due to the famine and bad years, and the loss is huge. The number of these hundred horses, the small shop has already lost a lot of money. I have used all kinds of plans to raise funds, and I hope that Touweng will give it to the government office in a few days, I am very grateful!" The tolerance sneered, and said, "Father Li, you have to treat it like a fart! You want me to forgive you, but the old man doesn't forgive me! You must also know that this time it is Uncle Zhou Guo in Beijing. If you come to Gusu to buy goods, the limit order is to get all of them today, even the Elder Master can only follow him!" Boss Li said with a mournful face: "It's all because the computer room is closed and the supply of goods is not available. Ever since it was rumored that Uncle Zhou came to Suzhou to make goods, the price of silk and satin has skyrocketed overnight, and it has more than doubled. Thin, it's really..." The tolerance said indifferently: "It doesn't matter whether you are small or thick, you should bear the value now, even if you go bankrupt, you have to do everything!" Boss Li was anxious, and stammered: "But, but The mansion has clearly issued a notice and set up an inscription, saying that the boss will sell it at the current price according to the temporary government and county duties, and there is no need to sell the value!" The tolerance was startled for a moment, then changed his face immediately, and shouted: "This, you can tell the master, I don't care about it!" After speaking, he waved his hand and yelled at the group of porters: "Move it for me!" While they were answering, Huang Zongxi had been watching intently.At this time, he understood a little bit: it seems that the Suzhou government ordered the cloth shop to purchase hundreds of silks and satins, but the cloth shop was unable to raise money because of the loss of capital.So now the government sent people to the door and forcibly confiscated it.Originally, the imperial court used to have the so-called "shop households as compradors" system, which stipulated that shop households in various industries must take turns to work as errands to purchase goods for the government.On the surface, the money for the goods is distributed by the government, but in fact, it is often not enough. The exact amount depends on the character of each official, and there is a lot of flexibility.As usual, the insufficiency will be made up by the shopkeepers on duty in each line.The shopkeepers were afraid of the power of the government, so they could only reluctantly admit their compensation.This system has been practiced for many years, and the shopkeepers are forced to complain to the sky.Rich businessmen who have the means try to seek refuge with the government and escape from the servants; small and medium businessmen who have no means are often ruined, and some even sell their children and daughters and throw themselves into the river to hang themselves.Shopkeepers were overwhelmed, and there were frequent incidents of joint strikes.Later, the imperial court saw that there were too many long-standing abuses, so they had to make some changes, and changed the "comrador of the trade" to "the comprador of the merchants" and "the comprador of the merchants", and erected an inscription.However, it seems that this maladministration has not been truly abolished, as long as the subordinates like it, they will continue to do so. At this moment, some spectators had surrounded the street, blocking Huang Zongxi's sight.He couldn't help standing up, craned his neck and looked over people's heads.He saw those porters, under the command of the tolerance, were constantly bringing out bolts of silk and satin from the cloth shop, ready to pick them up.That Boss Li stood aside in a daze, trembling all over his body.Huang Zongxi couldn't bear it very much, he thought for a while, turned around, and told the book boy who was standing by the side watching in a daze: "Huang An, you go, invite that old man over here, and say that Mr. Ben asked him to talk." "The head man? Which head man?" Huang An was a little puzzled. "Here!" Huang Zongxi pointed to the tolerance. Huang An blinked his eyes, obviously a little unhappy: "Master, you want to take care of me again..." He pursed his mouth and said. "If you are told to go, you will go!" Huang An had no choice but to step out the door, separate from the onlookers, go forward and talk to the tolerance, and then lead him back to the bookstore. The tolerance was a black-faced man with a full beard and two eyebrows that almost met.Huang Zongxi stepped forward, clasped his hands, and was about to speak, when he noticed that those spectators outside the door had turned around and looked at them curiously.So, he put the set of "Latent Virtuality and Meaning" on the chair, made a gesture of concession, and said, "Tou Weng, please take a step to speak." The tolerance opened his eyes, looked him up, and followed him suspiciously.When he walked to the row of bookshelves farthest from the door, Huang Zongxi turned his head, looked into Tolerance's eyes, and said earnestly, "Tou Weng, Xiaosheng has a sentence, I don't know whether to say it or not? I see that the business of this cloth store Depression, the situation is embarrassing, it doesn't seem like a deliberate delay, why don't Tou Weng make it easier for others, just give him a few days!" The tolerance saw that he was a scholar, at first he didn't know what was going on, but he was a little respectful. Hearing what he said, he suddenly turned cold, shook his head, and said, "Mr. If you are willing to be accommodating, the elder of the mansion is personally responsible for this matter, and I cannot help myself if I want to finish it in a timely manner!" "This 'trading as a comprador', didn't the imperial court explicitly order the ban, why is it being implemented now?" The tolerance glanced at him, and said nonchalantly: "Cutting leather is cutting leather, but these things can only be done on the sidelines! For example, in Panjing, Zhou Guojiu sent someone to handle the goods, and a book was delivered to you. In the hands of the old man, can the old man not care about it? This money cannot be spent in the public treasury, and the old man can't pay for it himself, so he can only share it among the various shops." Huang Zongxi frowned in disgust: "But these shopkeepers are already in trouble for the rest of their lives, and their lives are at stake. Wouldn't it kill them if they want to distribute the money like this?" The tolerance laughed: "Sir, you are too honest! Don't look at these shopkeepers who pretend to be poor and complain. In fact, which corner of the room is not buried with 10,000 to 20,000 under the bed? If you don't squeeze hard, don't expect He took it out! I have experienced this a lot, don't worry, they can't finish it, they are far away!" "No!" Huang Zongxi was irritated by Tolerance's unconscionable nonsense, "Now it is clear that the Japanese are fighting against the captives, natural disasters are still frequent, people's livelihood is miserable, and all businesses are sluggish. There are not many shopkeepers and merchants who are bankrupt! Those who are lucky enough to survive are also It is hard support, tossing and struggling. It is important to know that the business of merchants is also related to people's livelihood. Let me ask you, what psychology does the people have, and what psychology does the country have?" The more he spoke, the more passionate he was, and he gestured vigorously.But the tolerance obviously didn't understand most of them, and they didn't understand why Huang Zongxi was so excited all of a sudden.He probably just felt that the scholar was so stupid that it was not worth entangled with him, so he turned around and pretended to leave.However, before he could move his legs, he saw a commotion among those crowding outside the door to watch the commotion. An eleven or twelve-year-old boy stumbled in, grabbed Tolerance's clothes, The voice shouted: "This is my house! Why did you rob my house? You give me back, give me back! Did you hear that?" While yelling, he slammed into Tolerance hard. The tolerance was caught off guard, and he was at a loss.When he found out what was going on, he became furious, slapped the child aside, and cursed: "You little bastard, even you are here to make me happy!" He wanted to kick him away, temporarily Seeing Huang Zongxi's angry gaze, he reluctantly retracted the raised foot, spat hard on the ground, and strode out. Huang Zongxi supported the child who was pushed down on top of him, opened his eyes wide, and planned to stop the tolerance loudly and reason with him.At this moment, Huang An's panicked voice suddenly sounded: "Oh, sir, where's your book?" Huang Zongxi's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around: "What?" "Book, book, that book!" Huang Zongxi let out an "ah" and hurried to the chair he was sitting on.Immediately, he was stunned as if he had been hit by a sap—the chair was empty, and the set of "Hidden Imaginary Meaning" that he had placed on it just now had disappeared.