Chapter 7 first quarter

The glory of the Zhong family does not originate from Zhong Shiheng. As early as his father's generation, the Luoyang Zhong family has been known to everyone in the world. Because the Chong family has a great "hermit" known to everyone under the piano - Zhong Fang. Zhong Fang (955-1015) was born in a small official family. His father, Zhong Xu, once served as a small official such as Ling Shi of the Ministry of Officials. When Zhong Fang was a boy, the Central Plains was in a state of war, and there was obviously no way out for studying. .Although Zhong Fang is smart, he puts his mind on Xuanyi and Taoism books, which determines his future life direction.

After his father died, Zhong Fang saw the world was full of smoke, so he took his mother to live in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain. In Zhongnanshan, the life of planting and Fang is very poor, planting two acres of thin land, teaching a few students, collecting some lessons, coding and practicing in spare time, occasionally brewing a jar of sake, singing to loneliness. Zhong Fang originally thought that he would live like this for the rest of his life. The world will change, and soon, the Zhao brothers ended the civil strife in the Central Plains, and cultural people ushered in their own new era.

The coming prosperous age seems to have nothing to do with the "born" species, he is just a hermit, playing gossip, alchemy, economics is not his strong point, let alone go with those young people with a big beard Tokyo to participate in scientific research. Everything is possible. At the beginning of the founding of the past dynasties, what the monarch needs is to recuperate and recuperate. Advocating the practice of Huang Lao's art is an inevitable choice, not to mention that the Zhao brothers were "forced" to wear yellow robes. If it becomes the heart disease of the Zhao brothers, Zhao Kuangyin will inevitably sigh to Shi Shouxin and other brothers-power is nothing, and gods and horses are nothing but floating clouds.

——Those who can live in poverty and endure loneliness are good comrades. In this context, the price of hermits rose in the Northern Song Empire, exceeding the price index in Tokyo.In Kaifeng, Chen Tuan, the master of Zhongfang, received a high-level reception from Zhao Kuangyin and gave him the title "Xiyi". In the third year of Chunhua (992 A.D.), a group of uninvited guests came to Zhongnan Mountain where Zhongfang lived in seclusion. They were envoys sent by the emperor Zhao Guangyi to summon Zhongfang to the court. Zhong Fang was stunned by the pie falling from the sky. After enjoying the joy of Du Gongbu's "clothes covered with tears and full of poems and books", he packed his bags and prepared to go on the road.

At this time, his mother stood at his door and asked him coldly: "Have you forgotten your identity?"What does the bustling world outside have to do with you? Zhong Fang was surprised: Yes, who am I? The mother turned and left with a sigh full of disappointment with her son. Under the obstruction of his mother, Zhong Fang had to refuse the court's summons. But although he is in Zhongnan, his heart has already flown to the outside world. The seed mother did even better, she even burned the pen and ink of the plant, saying that since she is a hermit, why do she play with this seed all day?Don't accept the students, because it is because of teaching that the reputation spread outside the mountain.

In order to avoid the world, the seed mother asked Zhong Fang to move her family to a more remote mountain. Without Shuxiu, Zhong Fang's material life was even more miserable. When his mother passed away six years later, he didn't even have the money to buy a coffin. Before my mother passed away, I had a long talk with Zhong Fang, saying that after my death, your own path is ahead of you. It is up to you to choose whether you want to be famous for a lifetime or to be rich for half a lifetime. Regardless of the choice, his mother made the best preparation for him. A great and wise mother.

Zhong Fang did not hesitate. As soon as his mother died, he immediately went out of the mountain to Zhongnan, began to make friends with various dignitaries and celebrities, and was also very concerned about various state affairs.Reciting poems and composing fus is no longer a matter of high mountains and rivers, and political doggerel poems such as "Hu Chu bears the grace of the sage, and the sage is ashamed to go to war" have also spread to Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng's ears, and he flattered his ass to the point. In the fifth year of Xianping (AD 1002), Zhong Fang finally embarked on the Chongzheng Hall. The road he walked along the way was summarized into a proper term by later generations-"Zhongnan Shortcut".

The days since then have been incomparable. The official of Zhong Hermit has been promoted again and again, and he has reached the level of deputy minister (the Minister of the Ministry of Industry). Unlike other employees, he does not need to punch in to work in the Zhao Empire Company. Zhong Nanshan is the power of the SOHO family. He only needs to go to Kaifeng every few months to sit and discuss with the emperor, and then he can receive the salary and the generous red envelopes from the emperor.Such days envied those officials who had to wait in line in front of the Chongzheng Hall early in the morning.

In such a life, Zhong Fang gradually forgot who he was. He began to buy a lot of land in Fenghao and other places (the rent was more ruthless than Huang Shiren), sensual and sensual, allowing his family to oppress the people, and the hermit became a bully. Even the senior officials in the court are ignored, and their ego is inflated to the extreme. Once, Zhongfang returned to Zhongnan Mountain from Kaifeng. The local official Anzhizhou Wang Sizong took officials below the Changan Tongsan to pay homage to Zhongfang. When bowing down, Zhong Fang just waved his hands and snorted, and nodded casually.

At that time, Wang Sizong was offended.Who is Wang Sizong?The number one scholar in the imperial examination in the eighth year of Emperor Taizu's Kaibao (AD 975), the veteran of the three dynasties, has always been known for being vigorous and resolute, daring to speak and act. If he couldn't control his mouth, he would have appeared in the cabinet long ago. Today I am still a bird official like Chang'an Zhizhou. Wang Sizong was very angry when a stinky Taoist priest made a statement in front of me. Later, when Zhong Fang's nephew (probably not Zhong Shiheng) came out to pay homage to Lao Wang, Wang Sizong followed Zhong Fang's example and went even further, without even waving his hands, and humming while sitting on the seat.

Zhong Fang was furious immediately, and confronted Wang Sizong to the death. Zhong: My nephew came to pay homage to you, Mr. Wang. It's too impolite for you to sit there and say nothing! Wang: Oh, I am imitating Mr. Zhong. Just now I saw that when the officials of the Changan Security Bureau paid homage to Mr. Zhong, you sat there and didn't seem to express anything.I am the number one scholar who has been in the treasure for eight years. Your nephew is just a white man, and it is not too much for me to sit and be worshiped by him. Zhong: What champion man!Not by fighting. As soon as Zhong Fang said this, the faces of all the officials at the meeting changed. The most taboo thing in Mr. Wang's life was that he was said to be the champion in fighting. At that time, it was really difficult to choose between the two best players, Wang Sizong and Zhao Changyan, so Chairman Zhao had to use the simplest method - an extra match.The way of the extra match is to fight, whoever has the hardest fist will be the champion. An unprecedented boxing match between Wang Sizong and Zhao Changyan was held between Wang Sizong and Zhao Changyan. The final result was that Wang Sizong knocked down Zhao Changyan on the boxing ring and won the crown of champion Lang in the eighth year of Kaibao. But this victory in the boxing ring became a pain in Wang Sizong's life. Later, his political opponents laughed at him behind his back as the champion of fighting.If time goes back, Wang Sizong will definitely choose to punch fake punches and lose this match, and he will be the second place in the list with peace of mind and justice. Zhong Fang exposed his scars in front of Wang Zhuangyuan, and the consequences were quite serious.According to unofficial records, the conflict between the two escalated at that time, from a verbal fight to an armed fight, and the result of the battle also proved that the title of boxing champion was not in vain. Although Wang Sizong was eight years older, he still used martial arts. Gained the upper hand, and finally left deep five-fingerprints on the face of the hermit (unbelievable gossip news). Before the matter was over, Wang Sizong returned to Kaifeng and played a book, exposing all kinds of bad deeds of the Zhongnan hermit after his fortune. Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng also heard about the planting and release, and gradually he no longer paid attention to the hermit planting.In this way, the halo of Zhongnan Hermit began to dissipate slowly. He planted a reputation for a lifetime, but in the end he was ruined. He only got an official hat, a few acres of fertile land, and a few handfuls of silver, and no one ever calculated for him whether the account was worth it.