Chapter 25 provocative

The meeting place of the Restoration Conference is located on the Thousand People Stone in the middle of Huqiu Mountain. It is a natural giant rock surrounded by green trees, with a slightly inverted triangle shape.The rock surface is flat and open, and it can seat thousands of people, so it is called Thousand People Rock.On the north side of the stone is the Shenggong platform—it is said to be a platform, but it is actually just a flat land on the cliff. Shenggong, an eminent monk of the Liang Dynasty, once preached Buddhism on the platform, and believers sat on the Thousand People Stone to listen to the lecture.It is said that the righteousness of this student is so profound that even the stubborn stone was influenced by his preaching, and he nodded his head to convert.This nodding stone is now standing in the white lotus pond on the east side of the podium.In the late spring, there is not a single flower bud in sight, only the lotus leaves full of ponds swaying in the breeze, facing the rising sun, raising their round, translucent green covers one by one.

On the west side of the podium, close to the Thousand People Stone, is a tall and thick brick wall.In the middle of the month, there is a cave gate, and strange rocks stand inside the gate.Looking down at the deep pool, it is the sword pool - the place where King Helu of Wu buried his sword.Taking a closer look, the dark pool water is hidden in the shadow of stone walls and shrubs, which is quite deep and mysterious.And here and there, waves of light flashed from time to time, cold and trembling, which made people suspect that it was the stubborn sword soul from ancient times, unable to bear the loneliness of confinement, struggling and jumping at the bottom of the pool. blow away...

On the sharp corner at the southern end of the Thousand People Rock is a wide and gentle climbing stone step, connecting the Broken Beam Hall and the Toushan Gate at the foot of the mountain.The stone step is divided into two parts when it reaches Thousand People Stone. The right part leads to Yunyan Temple and Huqiu Pagoda, and the left part can reach Jianchi and the third spring. I don't know from which age, this place has become a place for tourists from all over the world to rest and feast.Every morning and evening, from Yunyan Temple to Duanliang Hall, there are always a cloud of scholars and women, joining hands to take the banquet, and they cannot be crowded.In the past, Fufushe held two conferences, both of which were held here.Rows of mats have been laid out on the thousand-person stone with a radius of several mu. In the center of each mat is a large octagonal bamboo food box surrounded by pots and utensils.On the aisle between the mats, every ten steps or so, there is a pot-bellied wine jar, with a red paper sign marking the name of the wine on it.Bursts of intoxicating aroma of wine are wafting through the opened mud seal.On the side of the front of the venue, five rosewood tables for the Eight Immortals were lined up.It was a VIP seat, with six armchairs per table, and the table was also complete with bowls and bowls, but there was no food box.On both sides of the venue, two "poetry sheds" were temporarily set up. Some antique calligraphy and paintings are displayed in the sheds, and paper, inkstone, brush and ink are provided for those friends who are addicted to poetry to write impromptuly.Standing on the opening of the stone step, the layout of the whole venue can be called simple and unpretentious.Those lanterns, colored balls and other things were completely discarded. The only decoration was a white cloth curtain one foot wide and two feet long, hanging from a tree branch protruding obliquely, with the inscription "Repeated The four big black characters of "Community Assembly" are very solemn and eye-catching when viewed from a distance or near.

It was getting late, and the meeting place was full of scholars waiting for the banquet to start. Some of them surrounded the commune friends who came from afar, eagerly inquiring about the news of the war situation; Composing poems, judging the good and the bad with relish; many people saw that the meeting could not be held for a while, so they scattered in small groups, or visited the monk's room, or looked for historical sites, or climbed high pavilions, or looked down on the clear stream.On this small hill with a radius of no more than twenty feet, all of these gentlemen in square scarves and Confucian uniforms gathered all at once, all of them looked calm and confident, and they were imposing, and they had long since driven those who came from the city and the four villages to offer incense. The common people were so frightened that they couldn't hide, they just stood at a distance, looking this way.

When Mao Xiang walked briskly up the last stone step and appeared at the venue, Zhang Mingbi, who was out of breath, could hardly keep up with him. "Hey, hurry up! Just a few stone steps, you will become Wu Niu panting for the moon!" Mao Xiang turned around and said mockingly, walking non-stop, with an excited and lively expression. Zhang Mingbi waved his hand in despair, grunted in a low voice, and hurried a few steps to Mao Xiang's side. "Mr. Mao, Mr. Zhang, you two are here!" Several well-known guests immediately came up to welcome them, and greeted them warmly:

"Have worked hard along the way!" "It's a rare honor for the two gentlemen to come here!" "This way please, please!" Mao Xiang smiled happily as usual, and kept walking forward.An intellectual hurriedly took a step forward and led them to the VIP table. "Oh, Pijiang, Gongliang, I'm looking forward to your coming! I was muttering just now, I'm afraid you won't come!" Li Wen, who was socializing among the guests, rushed up to greet her, and said with a smile on her face and her hands clasped.He is a tall, middle-aged man with a white face and long beard, and his manner and conversation are quite elderly.In this meeting, he is also one of the main allies.

"The meeting of our society, how dare I come out! What's more, there are two brothers in charge of the alliance, and there is no reason for my brother to come!" Mao Xiang said loudly. "Heh, heh!" Li Wen quickly shook her hands, "Brother Society, you are so embarrassing to me! The word 'main alliance' is never mentioned again! But this meeting, if not for the great efforts of the brothers Support, I'm afraid it will fail!" "Brother Shuzhang, why should you be too modest! It's a bad year, it's hard for the two leaders to organize this meeting of thousands of people. Just this little courage, the younger brother is completely in admiration!"

"I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, we are also poor, and we can't stop! Brothers in the company should not be offended by the simplicity! —By the way, Dingsheng and Ciwei, why don't you see them?" "Oh, it's coming, it's coming. How could they miss such a grand event!" ... After exchanging greetings and saluting each other one by one, the celebrities who arrived first - the famous calligrapher and painter Zha Yihuang, the talented scholar Gong Dingzi from Hefei, the famous writer Chen Mingxia, the Yan brothers and the Lu brothers from Hangzhou Denglou Society, and other celebrities all came one after another. Surrounded up, everyone continued to greet, salute, and exchange pleasantries...

Zhang Mingbi socialized as usual, while paying attention to Mao Xiang worriedly.Seeing him getting more and more excited, talking loudly, laughing for no reason, and interrupting other people's conversations repeatedly, Zhang Mingbi became even more worried.When he was hesitating whether to go over and take care of him, Mao Xiang suddenly turned to him: "Hey, Gong Liang, the chief ally of Zheng Chaozong hasn't come to make an 'appearance' for a long time. It's noisy and disgusting here. Why don't we go up for a walk!" After he finished speaking loudly like this, he unceremoniously put aside a celebrity who was talking to him, walked over, and dragged Zhang Mingbi towards Bailianchi.

Zhang Mingbi followed him involuntarily, and complained in a low voice, "Pijiang, how can this be—he's talking to you!" "Hmph, don't mind him! It's so vulgar, a rotten scholar who doesn't even know how to write, but pretends to be a famous person, I hate him just looking at him!" "Hey, I said Pijiang, you also need to relax a little bit, this is the case, you have to cherish yourself." "Well, what does this mean?" Mao Xiang raised his eyebrows. "I mean, Yuanyuan..." "I don't want to talk about Yuanyuan!" Mao Xiang shook off Zhang Mingbi's hand violently, took a few steps forward angrily, then turned around and stared, "You are not allowed to mention her either!"

Zhang Mingbi choked.He frowned, looked at the back of Mao Xiang who was walking quickly, finally sighed, and followed sullenly. Just after Mao Xiang and Zhang Mingbi disappeared, Wu Yingji, Huang Zongxi, Hou Fangyu, Mei Langzhong, and Zhang Zilie also came to Huqiu.They had planned to be there early in the morning in order to observe the movement and monitor the group of people from several societies.However, since Chen Zhenhui and Gu Gao have not been seen coming to meet up, it is unclear how they went to Jintan to invite Zhou Bi and Zhou Zhong to come forward.Everyone was afraid that if the situation changed and they would not be able to get in touch, they had to stay at Qian Xi's house and wait.It was only when she was anxious and sighing that Chen Zhenhui sent someone to tell that the Zhou brothers had been invited, but there was an urgent matter and they had to go to Bantang instead of entering the city, so they should go to the tiger first. mound.After hearing this, everyone was a little puzzled, but they had no time to delve into it, so they hurried out.However, being so late for such a short time, almost all the members of the society had arrived on Tiger Hill, and it was only because Zheng Yuanxun, the main ally, hadn't seen the scene yet, that the meeting was delayed. Wu Yingji saw that time was running out, but he still had no idea what was going on at the venue.In advance, it was only estimated that Du Linzheng and Xia Yunyi were far away in Beijing, and Chen Zilong was now an official in Zhejiang, and probably would not come to the conference.But currently on the Stone of Thousand People, except for Li Wen, none of the other prominent figures in the clubs can be seen.Wu Yingji couldn't help feeling anxious.As soon as the usual courtesies were over, he winked at his companions.Hou Fangyu and the others immediately dispersed knowingly and went to the crowd to understand the situation. Now, Hou Fangyu, Mei Langzhong, and Zhang Zilie have all left, while Wu Yingji has to stay and monitor the movement of the VIP seats.After looking around, Huang Zongxi also climbed the stone steps on the left and walked towards Sanquan Pavilion. Since Qian Qianyi refused to intervene in today's conference, Huang Zongxi was very disappointed and disappointed.Originally, he fully thought that Qian Qianyi, as the veteran of Donglin, would definitely stand up and stand up for such a major event that related to the safety of the country and the rise and fall of the social situation, and he believed that as long as he stepped forward, he would be able to stop it. This dastardly plot.At the beginning, it was based on this estimation that Huang Zongxi was so resolute in advocating to invite Qian Qianyi, and he did not hesitate to quarrel with Wu Yingji, Hou Fangyu and others.Unexpectedly, the result backfired.Although the friends didn't say anything when they found out, Huang Zongxi felt that his face was dull.Especially when he was trying to save face and told everyone the "reason" Qian Qianyi couldn't come forward in detail, Hou Fangyu's slightly sneering expression hurt Huang Zongxi even more. "Hmph, just laugh! I'll surprise you when the time comes!" He was annoyed and thought to himself. Now, Huang Zongxi was walking alone on the path made of bricks, his eyebrows were slightly frowned, and his mouth was tightly pursed.Realizing that this life-and-death contest can only be borne by himself and his companions, his mood is not as anxious and irritable as it was a while ago. "Yes, they dared to use Ruan Huzi as a topic. They are so insane! What is Ruan Huzi? A remnant of the eunuch who deserved his death, a heinous and despicable villain! Besides, there is an imperial case, and there are soldiers below. I don't believe Lin's clear discussion. In today's meeting, how many people would dare to openly agree with their views! In fact, there is no need for Elder Mu to come forward, and it is even more redundant to send them to invite Zhou Zhongyu. At times, as long as I raised my arms, put right and wrong in public, and brought out the "Liudu Anti-Riot Public Exposure" four years ago, denouncing their crime of breaking the alliance and breaching the contract, I would be able to win most of the community members to us. Come aside. There is no doubt about it!" Thinking so confidently, Huang Zongxi felt full of strength.He began to imagine the frustrating and stunned looks of the scum of the several clubs when they were severely reprimanded by him, and he couldn't help showing a happy and triumphant smile, and his steps became more brisk and powerful. This went all the way to the Sanquan Pavilion, and suddenly I heard someone shouting: "Too aggressive, too aggressive!" He looked up and found that there were several Confucian scholars gathered in the pavilion, all of whom came from Hangzhou to attend the conference.The person who greeted him was Zheng Xuan, and the others were also known to each other. Huang Zongxi was about to find out about the situation, so he happily walked over, saluted and greeted each other in the pavilion, and then sat down on the railing couches. "Brothers from the company came before me, did you hear any news?" Huang Zongxi looked around everyone and asked with a smile. "Aha, what news can we have?" A Confucian scholar named Yan Jin rushed to answer, "The news is that we have all been fools this time! Ba Badi came here early in the morning, his legs were sore, and his eyes were piercing. But it’s still not open.” "Also, as soon as we arrived in Gusu, we asked you everywhere, and we didn't know where you hid, so it was hard for us to find you all over the city!" His brother Yan Hao also interjected half-jokingly and half-seriously, " Hmph, based on this, I have to punish you three cups later!" "Yes, yes, it must be punished, it must be punished!" Several people cheered in response. Huang Zongxi waved his hand nonchalantly: "You—haven't heard anything?" He asked again. Yan Jin shook his head in bewilderment: "No!" Then he rolled his eyes, "Hey, Taichong, could it be that you heard something?" Huang Zongxi nodded: "I heard that there will be a public discussion in this conference to forgive Ruan Yuanhai. Brother, don't you know?" "Ruan Yuanhai?" Yan Jin asked inexplicably, "Which Ruan Yuanhai?" "Could it be Ruan Huzi?" asked another person. "What, Kuanyou Ruan Huzi?" "Who is he!" "What's going on?" Several voices rang out at the same time. "This matter is absolutely true!" Huang Zongxi made a decisive gesture, "And the culprit of this conspiracy is the scum of the Songjiang Society!" Everyone let out an "ah", whether they were surprised or did not understand, they all stared at Huang Zongxi in a daze. "Fortunately, we were aware of this matter early, and we have already made preparations." Huang Zongxi stood up briskly, and said with confidence, "As long as we are allied with gentlemen, with a clear mind and a determined mind, we will not be confused, and we will beat the drum and attack, and the treacherous schemer will be defeated." It must not succeed!" "But, Tai Chong, what's going on?" Zheng Xuan asked, who became more and more confused the more he listened.He was short and fat, with a waist-length beard hanging from his chin. Presumably other people felt the same way, so they couldn't help but nod their heads. "Hey, listen to me!" Huang Zongxi waved his hands excitedly.Now that he has run into this group of friends and feels completely sure of persuading them to stand on his side in future contests, Huang Zongxi is now even more confident in winning. "Here's the thing—" he said.So, he traced back from the gathering at Li Shiniang's house on the Qinhuai River more than half a month ago, how Chen Zhenhui heard the news from Zheng Yuanxun, how they analyzed and researched, and came to the conclusion that the mastermind was Jishe, and how Prepare to fight back to thwart this conspiracy and so on, I said it again to everyone.In order to prove that the inference is correct, he specifically listed how the leader of several societies, Xia Yunyi's teacher, Zhang Xiandeng, was an enemy of the Donglin people, how the members of the several societies were passive and perfunctory in the affairs of the society, and how they were alienated from everyone; after Zhang Pu's death, they And how to go against the old way, actively engage in various "bad deeds" in an attempt to usurp power in the society.At the end, he looked around excitedly at everyone: "Everyone, although the members of the several societies are rampant, they are no match for the righteousness of my fellow gentleman. I have predicted that they will definitely lose! But a fierce fight is inevitable. Brother I am not talented, but I have already decided to go forward, and go straight to the front! I don’t know if all the brothers in the society will also join in and help me?" While Huang Zongxi was speaking enthusiastically, his friends listened quietly all the time.This was naturally due to their great desire to find out what the news was all about.However, after Huang Zongxi finished speaking, they looked at me and I looked at you. For a long time, no one made a sound. "Hey, everyone, how are you doing?" Huang Zongxi couldn't help it. "Tai Chong," Yan Hao said hesitantly, stroking his sparse yellow beard, "I'm afraid it's better to be cautious about this matter." "how?" "Please forgive me for being ignorant, I just heard from my brother that this Ruan Yuanhai is the person involved in the imperially-designated reverse case. If so, who would dare to reverse the case for him? I'm afraid they are just talking nonsense, Ciwei, Dingsheng But they took it seriously and insisted on fighting for it, so why bother?" "Taichong," Zheng Xuan also picked up, "I wanted to persuade my brother a long time ago, but I just avoided such pointless disputes. I saw you arguing with Dingsheng and Ciwei all day long. , working hard, I don’t know what will be the benefit? It’s better to put it aside early and concentrate on studying and mastering a few articles, which is serious!” "Hey, if you really make a fuss, it will be terrible!" Yan Jin laughed in surprise.Perhaps imagining the unrestrained scene once the dispute broke out, he blinked excitedly, "It's lively, hee hee, interesting!" He said fascinatedly. "You know how to make a fuss!" Yan Hao glared at his younger brother, and then persuaded Huang Zongxi, "Tai Chong, within the same community, peace is the most important thing. Even if they are not in the same community, you can either hold back or talk to him in private It's over, why bother to make such a big fuss today? One is to spoil everyone's interest, and the other is to spread, and outsiders will inevitably laugh at it." "Well, in my brother's opinion, could it be that Ruan Yuanhai fabricated rumors to confuse people and disrupt our social situation?" A black and thin Confucian scholar named Jiang Hao said suddenly.He has always been a man of few words, until now he did not speak. "Hey, how could this happen!" Huang Zongxi argued angrily, "This matter came from Zheng Chaozong's mouth, how could it be Ruan Yuanhai's rumor? It's not because my brother and others are aggressive and contentious, so this matter is related to the rise and fall of the social situation. It is impossible to sit idly by for the survival of the country. Now that treacherous schemes have occurred and rebellious phenomena have been seen, it cannot be undone by words. If you don’t punish and clean up the family, the social affairs will be even worse! If you don’t regard the younger brother as a madman People who are ignorant still hope to learn from this principle, share righteous indignation, and save this piece of public opinion to frighten the courage of the chaotic officials and thieves in the world! It is very fortunate for the country and the restoration of the society!" As he said, he bowed deeply to everyone. As a result, the friends were silent, but still showed a look of embarrassment, and did not express their attitude immediately. Seeing this situation, Huang Zongxi was a little anxious and disappointed.He was thinking about how to persuade them, when suddenly, there was a sound of hurried footsteps, and Mei Lanzhong rushed into the pavilion panting.He didn't have time to salute everyone, so he yelled at Huang Zongxi: "Tai Chong, so you are hiding here, but you taught me how to find it!" Seeing his distraught look, Huang Zongxi hurriedly asked: "Lang San, what's the matter?" Mei Langzhong shook his head: "It's incredible, it's amazing, it's amazing, it's amazing!" "What's the matter?" Huang Zongxi asked anxiously. "Rumors, rumors are too powerful!" Mei Langzhong stuck out his tongue and winked his eyes again. After hearing that it was a rumor, Huang Zongxi felt relieved, "What did you hear?" He frowned and asked. "Hey, there are so many!" Mei Langzhong stroked his arm in the air, "Here, it is said that the emperor is eager to seek talents because of the increasingly devious atmosphere, so he ordered the officials to choose the lesser criminals in the case of rebellion." After being screened, Ruan Yuanhai and Feng Zhuoan were specifically mentioned, saying that they are both talented people. Therefore, no matter whether my generation is generous or not, this beard must be used! In addition, it is said that when Master Xizhang was alive, in fact I also had the idea of ​​forgiving Ruan Huzi for a long time. I had private discussions with the seniors of Donglin for several times, but unfortunately I passed away before I could make a public discussion. Therefore, my generation's public discussion to forgive Ruan is actually adhering to Master Xizhang. Last wish!" "Ah, Master Xizhang already had this intention before his death? This, is this true?" Yan Jin asked in surprise. "Aha, even Lao Yan believed it. Look, isn't it amazing?" Mei Langzhong said proudly, "Tell you, this is a rumor, a rumor! Do you understand?" "What else?" Huang Zongxi asked angrily.He was greatly indignant and astonished at these fantastic rumours, whose baseness and infamy far exceeded his imagination. "Oh, there are also people who say that Ruan Huzi cried to Wu Ciwei and Chen Dingsheng face to face a few days ago, vowing to change his mind and join our company. Seeing his sincerity, Wu and Chen already agreed... By the way, They even said that Ruan Huzi has joined my rehabilitated society!" When Mei Langzhong said the last sentence, he couldn't help laughing.Even the rest of the people shook their heads, thinking that this was too unbelievable. But Huang Zongxi didn't smile, his face was livid with anger, his chest was heaving sharply.Suddenly, he roared: "Lang San, let's go!" Mei Langzhong was laughing and joking with everyone about the absurdity of these rumors, and when he shouted, he asked in confusion, "Let's go? Where are you going?" "Look for the scum of the clubs to settle the score!" Mei Langzhong was taken aback: "What, settle the accounts, and go now?" "Why, don't you dare?" "Hey, dare..." "Then let's go!" "But, but..." "There's nothing but, let's put it bluntly, are you going?" Huang Zongxi widened his eyes impatiently. Mei Langzhong was obviously unwilling to go right away.But under Huang Zongxi's aggressive gaze, he didn't dare to speak out, but asked timidly, "Just, just the two of us?" Huang Zongxi was silent for a while.Of course he hoped that the group in front of him would follow, at least to gain momentum.However, to his disappointment, those few friends still pretended to be deaf and dumb, making no expression, and one or two quietly hid back. "Hmph, it's a good thing they still claim to be gentlemen of Fushe, that's what happens when things come to an end!" He thought coldly, then raised his head, and said proudly: "So what about two people? Two people can still deal with them! Are you still afraid of those ugly people?" Mei Langzhong also calmed down at this moment. "Let's wait for Dingsheng and Zhonglao to come. Otherwise, we should inform Ciwei and Chaozong first." He said, straightening his tall body. Huang Zongxi got angry, "Don't worry about them, don't worry! Did you hear that?" He stomped his feet and said. But Mei Langzhong was quite stubborn: "I can't go without telling them." Huang Zongxi stopped talking.He gave Mei Lan a hard look, turned his head and walked away. Just as he walked down the pavilion, he turned back suddenly and walked up to Mei Langzhong, gritted his teeth, and said word by word: "Listen, from now on, we will never-befriend!" He turned around again and went out of the pavilion without looking back. Mei Langzhong obviously did not expect his old friend to do this. He stared at Huang Zongxi's back in shock, and then looked at the people around him for help.When he was convinced that no one could rescue him, he jumped up suddenly, let out a cry, and chased him out angrily...