Chapter 5 Five happiness wins one talent

"It turns out that this pair of chess pieces was the favorite object of Emperor Chongzhen of the former Ming Dynasty." Zeng Guofan said.When Kang Fu talked about the inscription of Emperor Chongzhen, Zeng Guofan saw the two lines of writing on the bottom plate of the box.Zeng Guofan has seen many of Chongzhen's handwriting, and he can tell at a glance that it is indeed authentic.thing "Yes. This pair of chess pieces has been passed down to our brothers and has been in the Kang family for nearly 200 years. Unfortunately, the "Ancient Chess Book" was lost in my grandfather's hands. Our brothers did not inherit the Kang family tradition. He has no virtue and no talent, and his chess skills are mediocre. I am living in Yuezhou City today, and I am really ashamed of my ancestors." Kang Fu lowered his head in shame.

"Why should you blame yourself so much. Since ancient times, there have been many things where heroes have been trapped because of unfavorable times. Qin Shubao also sold horses. At that time, who would have expected that he would assist Tang Taizong to conquer the world in the future. And not only his chess skills He is outstanding, and his martial arts are also outstanding, so if you do well on your own, there will always be a day when you will stand out." Through half a day of observation and conversation, Zeng Guofan knows that Kang Fu is filial to his mother and loves his brother, is upright and honest, and does not go astray despite being displaced.Now after listening to him explain the origin of this pair of chess pieces, I know that he has a pure family style and profound ancestral virtues, and I like this young man very much. I think: If this person is always with me, I will really be a talent!After Kang Fu was encouraged by Zeng Guofan, he also thought in his heart: If he can follow this minister in this life, he will make great progress, and the Kang family is expected to revive.He said to Zeng Guofan: "Uncle, after hearing what you said today, Kang Fu will not give up on himself in the future, and must work hard to win glory for the ancestors of the Kang family."

Zeng Guofan patted Kang Fu on the shoulder affectionately, and said: "As long as you have this kind of ambition and ambition, why worry about no future! It's late at night, you go to bed first, and tomorrow we will play a few games together to relieve the boredom in the boat. .” The next day, Zeng Guofan and Kang Fu played five consecutive chess games in the boat and lost all of them; they played three more chess games and also lost.At the end of each round, Kang Fu analyzed the reasons for Zeng Guofan's mistakes in detail.Zeng Guofan felt that his chess skills had improved a lot in the past day, and he really felt like he hated to meet Kang Fu.On the afternoon of the third day, the boat arrived at Yuanjiang County.Kang Fu invited Zeng Guofan, master and servant, to visit his house. Zeng Guofan readily agreed and arranged for the captain of the boat to wait by the pier before going ashore with Jing Qi.

Xiahe Bridge is only ten miles away from Yuanjiang Wharf, and it takes half an hour to arrive.When he came to the house, Kang Fu was stunned.The three thatched huts with earthen walls in my family have all collapsed, and the houses of the neighbors next door have also collapsed, and each family has set up sheds next to the ruins.Kang Fu asked them, only to find out that the lake surged ten days ago and destroyed a lot of houses in this area. His younger brother Kang Lu and two other young people went looking for a way out.Before Kang Lu left, he asked his neighbors to tell his elder brother that there was no need to worry about him, and that he would come back home after two or three years.Seeing this scene, Zeng Guofan said to Kang Fu: "It seems that it is difficult for one step to settle down at home for a while. If you don't dislike it, please come to my house for a while. I can also ask you about chess every day."

Zeng Guofan's words hit Kang Fu's heart, so he readily agreed without refusing.The three of them returned to the boat immediately.In the early morning of the next day, the ship entered Zijiang and arrived in Yiyang that night.Jing Qi paid the boat fare and dismissed the boat boss. In order to facilitate the conversation with Kang Fu along the way, and because the hands and feet were numb from the boat for more than ten days, Zeng Guofan did not take a sedan chair, and the three of them walked back to Xiangxiang from Yiyang.At noon that day, I came to the foot of Jiji Mountain in Ningxiang.

After walking for two or three days, Zeng Guofan felt tired.Jing Qi saw a flat stone slab under an old pine tree ahead, and said to Zeng Guofan, "Master, let's rest here!" Zeng Guofan nodded.Kang Fu said: "Master, I have a cousin who lives not far from here. Let's go to her house and have lunch at her place!" Zeng Guofan said: "I'm already tired, and it's not good to bother others out of thin air like this. There is a small restaurant in front, let's go there for dinner. How about you go to your cousin's house alone?" "That's fine, I'll come when I sit at my cousin's house for a while."

Kang Fu took the path and left.Master and servant Zeng Guofan walked along the main road to the small restaurant. This is a common restaurant on the side of a country road, with two small tables, a shopkeeper and a boy.Seeing someone coming, the owner hurriedly greeted him, and the young man immediately brought two bowls of tea.Jing Qi knew that Zeng Guofan was always frugal and didn't drink much, so he randomly ordered three or four vegetarian dishes and ordered half a catty of water and wine. As soon as the meal was finished, the shop owner came up with a smile and said to Zeng Guofan: "Old man, I can see that you are a talented school teacher with your old appearance. The small shop has been open for more than half a month. I don’t even have a couplet, just ask the old gentleman to write one for the shop today, and you don’t need to pay for the food and drink, it’s a little reward for you.”

Zeng Guofan loves writing couplets the most, and he thinks he is good at it. Among friends and relatives, they almost respond to every request, and take it as a pleasure.The owner of the shop is so sincere today, of course he would not put off excuses, so he smiled and said, "Okay! What kind of couplet do you want? Do you want to get rich or seek peace?" Seeing Zeng Guofan's full promise, the owner of the shop was very happy, and said: "Mr., the shop doesn't want to do anything else, just want to let others see you. Feel free to ask me for credit." Zeng Guofan laughed loudly and said, "Even if there is a couplet posted here that no credit is allowed, he will do so if he wants credit."

The owner of the store said honestly: "It's always better. Old man, you don't know. Since the store opened for more than half a month, people have been paying on credit every day. They are all acquaintances and relatives. He came to pay on credit. It’s not free, so why don’t you give him credit? But the small shop has a small profit, and it’s like this every day, how can it afford it? To tell you the truth, for more than half a month, the small shop has not only failed to make a penny, but also collapsed. I owe the butcher thousands of dollars." Looking at the poor shop owner, Zeng Guofan sympathized with his difficulties, and said, "Okay! I'll write you a tough couplet and post it up."

The little guy quickly took out the pen and paper, and started to grind the ink again.The owner of the store and Jing Qi stood by and watched.Zeng Guofan thought about it for a while, and wrote in his pen: "Wealth is like Shi Chong, and you don't entertain guests without money; debate is like Jizi, and talking about princes and princes does not allow credit." After writing, I read it again.When he was admiring himself, a foreigner's accent suddenly sounded in his ears: "Master Wei, you have been looking for a few days and can't find a scholar. Isn't this right in front of you?"

Immediately, several people gathered around and said in one go: "This gentleman's handwriting is not ugly!" "Yes, it's not ugly!" "Let's find him!" Zeng Guofan turned his face away to see who were talking.This didn't matter, it scared him so much that three souls flew away and two souls flew away, leaving only one of the seven souls!