Chapter 54 at risk

Liu Zongzhou determined the countermeasure of "don't go, don't avoid, don't defend", and was determined to shock the government and the public with his death, but Huang Zongxi didn't fully obey in the end.He made up his mind to do his best no matter what, "Even if I die, I will die before the teacher, there is no doubt about it. Otherwise, I will become a coward like a dog!" He resolutely To think tragically.Originally, he planned to tell Chen Zhenhui and Hou Fangyu about this matter.Who knows, it's unclear whether the two members of the club felt discouraged and desperate when they heard that the Shangshu drafted by Zhou Biao had been sent away, or they were enraged by Huang Zongxi's reprimand and left without saying goodbye.As a result, Huang Zongxi could only single-handedly prepare by himself behind the teacher's back.From that day on, he led the existing ten servants to patrol around the house day and night; in addition, he ordered Liu Zongzhou's two personal servants to stay by his master's side every step of the way.Once something happened, Huang Zongxi himself would lead the crowd to resist the enemy, and the two personal servants immediately carried Liu Zongzhou on their backs and found a way to escape. If the teacher refused, they would use coercion. "If the teacher blames me for this, let him blame it. Anyway, I must not watch my teacher be killed, there is no doubt about it!" He swore to himself.

Now, it's the third day.After finally surviving a tense and long day, several servants were rotated to eat under the kitchen, and the other two also continued to patrol outside the door under Huang An's leadership.Only Huang Zongxi was left in the courtyard.At this moment, the bright blue of the clear summer sky has faded, and the hazy twilight is rising from the roof ridges of the four rooms.The shadows of those flowers and trees on the wall and in the corner of the courtyard became more and more dense and blurred.However, neither the main room nor the side rooms were lit. There was only a smell of sweet potatoes mixed with rice coming from the kitchen at the back, floating slowly in the courtyard.This is also Liu Zongzhou's frugal family tradition.It wasn't really that he couldn't afford it, but he insisted on not allowing members of his family to enjoy life beyond that of ordinary people during the famine years.However, what this smell reminds Huang Zongxi at this moment is his home in the east of Zhejiang.In that old and dilapidated Grand Servant's Mansion composed of many bamboo and wood structures, his mother and several brothers who have separated from each other must be sitting in their own rooms at the moment, One after the other, they talked about homework, while eating sweet potato and rice, the dog wagging its tail turned around under the table.Their conversations are often interrupted by children's mischief.Maybe they are talking about themselves far away in a foreign land. "Hey, even if they don't talk about it, my wife and sister will definitely talk about it. Although Nangui took the time to go back this time, the time is too short, and because he only cares about his newborn son, there are many things to deal with. I don’t have time to take care of the housework. After I leave, their livelihood may be more difficult than that of the younger brothers. Fortunately, they can still get along with each other, and my mother will take special care of them, which finally relieves me from worrying... It's just, just, what if I unfortunately die at the hands of an assassin this time, what should I do?" This question popped up suddenly, in the past two days, Huang Zongxi was devoting himself to trying to protect the teacher. Indeed, he had never thought about it; at this moment, he panicked and couldn't help being stunned.That's right, to protect the teacher without hesitating to sacrifice his life, this is undoubtedly an unshirkable responsibility for him.However, after his death, leaving his wives and concubines and a large group of young children, how will they live?Especially Miss Xi and the youngest son who was just born, what will be the fate?Although I became an orphan before I was sixteen years old, at that time, no matter what, the whole country was still dominated by the Ming Dynasty, and it was far from the current level of chaos. Now the future is uncertain, and wars can happen anytime, anywhere It will spread to the south of the Yangtze River... Thinking of this, Huang Zongxi's heart tightened involuntarily, and the joints of his ten fingers were also squeezed.For a moment, he couldn't even make up his mind whether he should really do it so desperately...

"Master, master!" A hasty voice sounded from the courtyard door, Huang Zongxi turned around in a daze, and found the school boy Huang An running towards him in panic. "Master, hurry, go and see, it's on the door, it's on the door!" So far, all the precautionary measures were arranged secretly behind Liu Zongzhou's back, so Huang Zongxi immediately waved his hand: "You bastard, what are you shouting about!" He scolded in a low voice, and then quickly looked back, only to find that there was no movement in the teacher's study room which was already lit, so he made a gesture and followed the school boy to the courtyard door.

"Master, look, what's that?" As soon as he got outside the door, Huang An turned around, pointed at the door, and whispered nervously. Huang Zongxi took a closer look and found a small circle painted with white powder on the upper left corner of the door leaf.In the thin darkness, it is very eye-catching. "Well, can you be sure that this is a new painting? It hasn't been done before?" Huang Zongxi stared at the white circle like a mark and asked with a frown. "Hui Xianggong, the villain of this door has carefully inspected it during the day, and there is no record of this circle." A servant standing behind Huang An said affirmatively.

"So," Huang Zongxi thought, "the assassin really came. This secret mark was clearly left in order not to touch the wrong door temporarily. Then, they will attack tonight!" Suddenly realizing that the dangerous murderous intent was approaching unavoidably, the hesitation and weakness that lingered in Huang Zongxi's heart dissipated all of a sudden.The blood in his whole body boiled, and his spirit suddenly lifted.He was about to issue an order to be on full alert when he suddenly remembered something, so he pointed at Huang An: "Quickly, you go to the back door to have a look, but there are also such secret marks?"

Huang An agreed and disappeared into the darkness.After a while, he came back again and said out of breath, "Qi, Mr. Qi, there is also on that door!" Huang Zongxi said "ah" and was stunned.Because just now he suddenly remembered that the group of suspicious pilgrims that Huishen discovered the day before yesterday were three people in total.Then maybe the number of assassins tonight is the same, or even more.If the opponent attacked from one direction, he would lead all his servants to resist desperately, or he could gain some time for the servants guarding Liu Zongzhou to carry the teacher away; if the enemy attacked separately, it would be a bit hard to guard against.Now Huang An reports that there is also a white circle mark on the back door, which shows that the assassins really took the approach of splitting up. "Hey, what can I do? Why am I so confused, I didn't think of this earlier!" Huang Zongxi yelled regretfully and anxiously in his heart.But the danger was imminent, and rearranging was impossible. "For the current plan, I have to stick to the teacher's side and shrink the defensive circle to the smallest size, so that no matter which direction the enemy comes from, I can immediately find out. Now, this is the only way!" Having made up his mind in such a haste, he lowered his voice and said to Huang An:

"Go right away and tell them to find a place to hide, and closely monitor the movement around them. Once the assassin arrives, kill them immediately, and there must be no violation!" After finishing speaking, he waved his hand, returned to the yard, and rushed to Liu Zongzhou's study. When he stepped over the threshold, it suddenly occurred to him that he would definitely attract the teacher's attention by rushing in so angrily.Of course he didn't want the teacher to know that he was making arrangements in secret, and he didn't want to alarm the teacher too early, so as not to cause interference and hinder the implementation of the established plan, so he tried his best to calm down and slow down, but his eyes still couldn't help being surprised He looked around anxiously, for fear that the assassin had sneaked into the house.

Liu Zongzhou was sitting in front of the desk, reading the book intently. A pottery Xuan kiln book lamp illuminated his white beard and hair.Hearing footsteps, Liu Zongzhou raised his head slightly in surprise.When he saw clearly that it was Huang Zongxi, he put down the scroll in his hand and showed a questioning expression. "Oh, I don't know how disturbing the disciple is when the teacher is reading!" Huang Zongxi apologized and said. "No, I have nothing to do, so I browse casually. Well, sit down!" Liu Zongzhou pointed to the pier opposite the desk. Huang Zongxi hesitated for a moment.He originally wanted to sit next to the teacher so that he could protect him nearby, but he felt that his appearance was too revealing and it was not in good manners.So I had no choice but to move the plinth forward a little to make it closer to the desk, and then I leaned forward slightly and sat down.

"I haven't seen you coming in and walking around all day. Could it be that you are working hard? I don't know what book you are reading?" Liu Zongzhou looked at the student and asked, with a familiar and kind smile on his square face. Although Huang Zongxi had already sat down, his eyes were still looking around vigilantly. He only vaguely responded to what the teacher said, but asked suspiciously, "Huh, where are the two of them?" Liu Zongzhou had already put his head back on the book, and raised his head at this moment: "Who?" When he understood that Huang Zongxi was referring to the two relatives who were with him, he said indifferently: "I saw that they are here I have nothing to do, so I sent them to return the Buddhist scriptures I borrowed two days ago to the Sutra Pavilion at the monastery."

Huang Zongxi was taken aback, stood up suddenly, and shouted angrily: "Then, how can it be done!" "Well, what did you say?" Probably was eager to look up some content, this time Liu Zongzhou did not look up from the book. Huang Zongxi calmed down and realized his gaffe.He originally wanted to find the two servants immediately, but he was worried that the assassin might already be lying in the dark and would commit violence as soon as he left, so he sat down slowly and said in a disguised way: "Brother, disciple means, they all left, and there is no one waiting for the teacher, how can it be?" As he said, he secretly took out the sharp sword that was caged in his sleeve, and put it across his thigh. .

"Oh? You don't have to worry about that." Liu Zongzhou waved his hand, "Well, don't worry..." Why don't you worry? He didn't go on talking, but pressed his five fingers on the book, raised his head, and smiled at Huang Zongxi ,Say: "Well, remember? A few days ago you asked me, Mr. Yang Ming's phrase 'There is nothing outside the mind, nothing outside the mind, no reason outside the mind, no righteousness outside the mind, no kindness outside the mind', what do you mean by that? At that time, I didn't answer, but I wanted to inquire into it in detail, so as not to make hasty remarks and cause confusion. Now, I finally figured out something. I'll tell you right now!" The "Mr. Yangming" mentioned by Liu Zongzhou was the great Confucian king Shouren during the Zhengde and Jiajing years of the Ming Dynasty.The "Xin Xue" he founded was a great school at that time, with profound influence, many disciples, and a legacy passed down from generation to generation.Liu Zongzhou's knowledge also belongs to the school of "Wang Xue" in terms of succession.The passage he said just now is a famous argument put forward by Wang Shouren, which can be found in "Book with Wang Chunfu" in the anthology.Huang Zongxi, as a student of Liu Zongzhou, naturally studied "Wang Xue" in depth on weekdays. Now that the teacher said that he would give him an answer, if it was normal, he would be very happy.But here and now, he was a little at a loss. "Ah, thank you teacher..." he said absentmindedly, at the same time secretly clenched the sword resting on his lap under the desk. "Yangming's so-called 'heart'," Liu Zongzhou said slowly, lowering his eyes, as if he wanted to focus more on his own thoughts, "that's a general term. If we talk about it separately, this 'heart' is actually controlled by the world. , country, family, body, mind, mind, mind, knowledge, and things are composed of eight eyes. The eight eyes also have their own fine and rough points. Mind, knowledge, and things are their essence, and the world, country, family, and body are their rough. .If you only talk about the heart, then the heart is nothing more than a thing.” The "heart" mentioned by Wang Shouren is purely human's subjective ideas.However, it is said that everything in the universe is born from the heart. Once human subjective ideas disappear, everything in the universe will cease to exist.Although Liu Zongzhou still uses the word "heart" to express his respect for the master, he interprets "heart" as the whole universe including the original mind and external objects, and the "heart" of subjective ideas is only Seeing it as a part of it has actually gone far away from Wang Shouren's original intention.And this question is exactly what Huang Zongxi is eager to confirm.So for a moment, he actually forgot the danger of the situation, and stared blankly at the teacher with wide eyes, waiting for the other party to speak. "If you say this as a teacher, you must ask. Yangming clearly said that there is nothing outside the mind, but I said that the mind is also a thing. Then, which of the mind and things is the main one, and which one is the subordinate? Well, the heart actually has no form. Intention is its form; intention has no form, and knowledge is its form; knowledge has no form, and objects are its form. Objects have no effect, and knowledge is the effect; knowledge has no effect, and intention is the effect; The mind has nothing to do, and the heart is the action. This is 'body and function are one principle', and this is 'microscopic seamlessness'!" This is another point of view that boldly revised Wang Shouren's theory.Because according to Wang Shouren's proposition, "heart" is the body of the universe, even if everything ceases to exist, "heart" as a subjective idea still exists and can regenerate everything.Now Liu Zongzhou refers to "heart" as something that ultimately depends on things to manifest, which actually denies that the heart can produce everything and replace everything, which is tantamount to denying the saying that "there is nothing outside the heart".Although Liu Zongzhou is a contemporary master of Yangming School, and he himself regards himself as the successor of Wang Xue, he never sticks to the old sayings, dares to insist on independent thinking, and puts forward new insights that are different from those of his predecessors, including the masters.It can be said that Huang Zongxi, as a student, has felt the deepest and benefited the most over the years.At this moment, Huang Zongxi felt this point strongly again after comprehending it.He couldn't help getting excited, and was about to tell the teacher about his thoughts on this issue a few days ago, but at this time, there were light footsteps outside the door.His heart skipped a beat, he instinctively clenched the hilt of his sword, and turned his head. Those who came in were the two personal servants sent by Liu Zongzhou to return the Buddhist scriptures.Before they came in, they had obviously learned from Huang An that something unusual had happened, so when they saw Huang Zongxi's questioning gaze, they all shook their heads in satisfaction, indicating that nothing had happened yet. Huang Zongxi breathed a sigh of relief.However, he still didn't dare to be careless. While the two servants were guarding the house, he stood up, excused himself to go to the toilet, and went outside to look around.He didn't return to the house until he found no suspicious signs. "Then," he asked impatiently as he sat down in his seat, "I just listened to the teacher's teaching, 'the mind has no body, and things are the body'. But this 'thing' is the 'reason'." , suppress 'qi'?" The "reason" and "qi" he mentioned here are two answers to the ontology of the universe proposed by scholars throughout the history, in addition to the "heart" advocated by Wang Shouren.For example, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which was once very popular, advocated that "reason" should be regarded as the foundation of heaven and earth and the source of all things.Therefore, the Gangchang Confucianism, which is advertised as "Tianli", has become the supreme, eternal and unchanging fundamental principle that must be absolutely obeyed.But this kind of statement, just like Wang Yangming's claim that as long as you keep your "heart", you can have long-term peace and stability, it cannot explain the Ming Dynasty for more than 270 years. , in the end, the ruthless reality of decline and collapse is still unavoidable.And this is exactly what Huang Zongxi is deeply confused and distressed.If it is said that the reason why he appeared so angry in front of Chen Zhenhui and Hou Fangyu two days ago was more or less driven by this kind of mood, then at this moment, because he was attracted by the teacher's profound philosophical thinking, Huang Zongxi had the desire to try to speak at a higher level. Level, the desire to find grounds for one's own doubts. Liu Zongzhou remained silent, obviously aware that in order to answer this question, he must make a more ruthless breakthrough to the school he learned from.This is undoubtedly embarrassing, even painful.However, he still raised his head, looked at the students with piercing eyes, and said decisively: "There is nothing more than Qi in heaven and earth! Only when there is energy, there are numbers, when there are numbers, there are images, when there are images, there are names, when there are names, there are things, when there are things, there is nature, and when there is nature, there is reason. Therefore, reason is a latecomer. And the reasoner It is often said that it precedes Qi, and it is thought that Li is angry. In fact, what is his Li that can be angry!" "Ah, if that's the case, why did Confucian scholars say, 'Qi is generated by principles'?" "Well, there is this reason with this energy, and without this energy, what is the reason attached to? It's just that once the principle comes out, it is supreme, and it often dominates the energy, so it looks like the energy comes from the principle. Yes, it’s not really possible to be angry!” Liu Zongzhou's opinion made Huang Zongxi very excited.Based on this inference, Huang Zongxi's reform of the government, his doubts about the existing relationship between the monarch and his ministers, and the way of serving the monarch and ministers can all find the ultimate basis in the change of "Qi".Thinking in this way, Huang Zongxi has been completely immersed in the difficult and important philosophical speculation, and felt so much fun that he forgot everything around him. "Ah, so from this point of view, the names Li and Qi are created by man. In fact, they are just one thing—in terms of its ups and downs, it is Qi. In terms of its ups and downs without losing the principle , is reason, right?" Just now Liu Zongzhou just expounded on the question of who is the master and who is the slave of "Qi" and "Li".Now Huang Zongxi simply pointed out that "Li" is not something independent of "Qi", but a characteristic of "Qi" when it operates and changes.It really goes one step further than the teacher and explains it more clearly.So Liu Zongzhou was taken aback for a moment, then he slapped the desk and said loudly: "That's right, well said, that's it, that's it!" He then tilted his head covered with silver beard and hair, and laughed heartily. At this moment, the roof tiles "clicked" clearly.Huang Zongxi's heart trembled, he shouted "No!", jumped up suddenly, rushed to the book lamp on the table, and blew out the fire at once.The room was suddenly dark.Huang Zongxi immediately stretched out his hand and pulled Liu Zongzhou aside, straightened out his sword, and tightly protected the teacher with his body. These movements were extremely quick, and within a split second, the sound disappeared completely, and the room became dead silent.Only the chirping insects in the courtyard could be heard through the window more clearly. After a short moment like this—it seemed to Huang Zongxi that he did not know how long it lasted—only he heard an owl-like voice giggling on the roof, saying: "Third brother, what's the matter with you today? This skill of breaking tiles is really brilliant!" "Brother Qin Xian," a cheerful voice came up, "You haven't figured out what the third brother is thinking. He probably thinks that this old official can stay well. It's a pity to kill him. He intends to let him live for a few more years. But if you leave without letting a fart go, it seems that our brothers are too incompetent. That's why I said hello to him. Or, with such a handsome skill, the third brother can still make a fool out of this?" Listening to this conversation, Huang Zongxi seemed to understand a little bit.He was afraid that the assassin was playing tricks, so he still protected the teacher tightly, and did not dare to slack off in the slightest.At the same time, he raised his ears, trying to figure out where that "third brother" was at the moment. However, the "third brother" remained silent.Among the intermittent chirping of insects, Huang Zongxi could only vaguely distinguish it, as if there was a breeze blowing over the roof tiles.Then, everything returns to silence. Until dawn, the assassin did not show up.