Chapter 7 Qi cried and fell beside his mother's coffin

After this escape from the tiger's mouth, Zeng Guofan never dared to walk on foot again.He hired a small sedan chair to carry it, and Kang Fu and Jing Qi stood next to the sedan chair one after the other.Passing through Xiangxiang County, it was already dusk. In order to avoid further delays in socializing, Zeng Guofan specially chose a small shop outside the south gate to settle down.He quietly left in the early morning of the next day, and when he arrived in Xiema Town that evening, he ran into Jiang Gui who came to greet him. "Oh, my uncle! You are finally back. The old man and the men and aunts have seen through them all." Xiema was only seventy miles away from the lotus leaf pond, and Jiang Gui received it without walking far, feeling very happy .

"Is the old man okay?" Jiang Gui is the distant nephew of Zeng Guofan's mother Jiang's natal family.Seeing Jiang Gui, the sadness of his mother's funeral that he had temporarily forgotten in the past few days immediately rushed to his heart, Zeng Guofan felt a tightness in his chest, and his voice became miserable. "The old lady is in good health. I just look forward to your old age every day, hoping that you will get home soon, for fear of any accident." After serving Zeng Guofan to rest, Jiang Gui said, "Master, you are going to rest here tonight. Even if I'm home, I'll go back and tell the old man right now."

"It's so dark, you should leave early tomorrow morning!" "The family has to make preparations early. I am used to walking at night, so these dozens of miles are nothing." Zeng Guofan gave Jiang Gui a tael of silver, and said: "You have worked hard these days, and you ran to Anhui to deliver the letter, and today you came to Xiema to pick me up. It's hard." Rural people usually used hanging money, and it was rare to see silver. Jiang Gui took a tael of vain silver, happily, ate two mouthfuls of rice, and rushed back to the lotus leaf pond overnight.

In the evening of the next day, Zeng Guofan arrived at Hejiaao.Ninth brother Guoquan and Mandi Guobao have already been here to welcome them.Seeing the eldest brother with a hemp rope around his waist stepping out of the sedan chair, the two younger brothers burst into tears together, and Zeng Guofan also shed tears.Since Guoquan left home in the 22nd year of Daoguang, the brothers have not seen each other again, while Guobao has been separated for 12 years.Seeing that his two younger brothers had grown into adults, Zeng Guofan was both happy and sad. After exchanging pleasantries, he walked back to Baiyangping hand in hand.

Seeing the plain lanterns hanging high at the gate of the house and the fluttering soul banners from a distance, Zeng Guofan was deeply saddened, and he ran towards the gate in three steps at a time.All three gates had already been opened, and dozens of people, young and old, stood on both sides of the central gate.Zeng Guofan saw his father standing in the center leaning on a cane, and ran forward recklessly, knelt down in front of his father, and said in a choked voice, "I'm not filial, you're late..." Before he could finish speaking, tears were already streaming down his face.Sister Guolan, younger sister Guohui Guozhi, and younger brother Guohuang Guohua all came over and helped him up.Zeng Guofan paid his respects to his father, uncles and aunts again, and told Guobao to take good care of Kang Fu, then he entered the gate surrounded by his younger siblings.After passing through the first house, Zeng Guofan saw the white curtains illuminated by candlelight in the Golden Hall, and suddenly his eyes spun. Contrary to his usual calm and restrained, he stumbled towards the mourning hall, panicked by Guohuang and others closely following him.In front of his mother's portrait, Zeng Guofan knelt down on both knees, and after yelling "Mother", he felt that his eyes were black and he didn't know anything.The entire family panicked.Uncle Dongyang knew a little bit about medicine, and said to Linshu, "It's not a problem. It's caused by the exhaustion of the past few days, plus the excessive grief just now, and he will wake up slowly."

He directed the crowd to carry Zeng Guofan to the bed, pinch him, apply a cold towel to his forehead, pry open his teeth, and drink a spoonful of ginger soup.Zeng Guofan slowly woke up.His face was full of tears, and he struggled to walk to the coffin again, wanting to see his mother for the last time. Although the Jiang family had already been buried in a coffin, the lid of the coffin had not been crucified until Zeng Guofan returned.Everyone removed the coffin lid, and Zeng Guofan looked at his mother one last time by candlelight.I saw my mother was very thin, her eyes were closed tightly, and her expression was peaceful. Zeng Guofan's heart was piercing like thousands of arrows.The people drove him away, the coffin lid was quickly closed again, and he was nailed to death immediately.Zeng Guofan caressed the coffin lid, thinking of his mother's hard work for the family all his life, and the love he had for him; thinking of his mother's serious illness, he had not served the decoction for a day, and he had not listened to his mother's dying instructions; He died at one point and went home.All of a sudden, his heart was broken, his heart was broken, and the sadness that had been accumulated in his chest for more than a month and the fear of the past few days rushed out at the same time.He couldn't control it anymore, so he simply cried bitterly beside the coffin.When Zeng Guofan cried like this, everyone in the Zeng family burst into tears, especially Sister Guolan, who cried out mother-in-law and mother-in-law.After a while, Lin Shu pulled up his son who was supporting him on the coffin, and said, "Kuan Yi," Lin Shu used to call his son by his nickname even though he was already an official servant, "You've been working hard all day, so don't be too sad." Linshu persuaded his son that he was already in tears.

Twelve years have passed since Zeng Guofan bid farewell to his father who escorted his family to Beijing in the spring of the 21st year of Daoguang, and father and son have never seen each other again.Tonight, Zeng Guofan looked at his white-haired, cowardly father with pity in his heart. "Father, what kind of disease does mother have this time?" "My heart hurts, and I feel black and dizzy." "Why didn't you and your brothers never mention her old man's illness in the past letters?" Zeng Guofan asked suspiciously. "I want to tell you, your mother is always unwilling, for fear that it will affect your work for the emperor..." Lin Shu seemed to be full of bitterness and wanted to confide in his son, but his speech was slow by nature, and his heart was very sad. I was speechless and couldn't catch up.Guolan hurriedly brought a hookah for her father, and Lin Shu took a couple of puffs, wiped the spout with her hand, and handed it to her son.Zeng Guofan waved his hand: "I have been abstinent for eight years." Hearing his father's words and knowing that his mother was still so considerate of him even when he was seriously ill, Zeng Guofan felt even more uncomfortable.He looked at the black lacquered coffin protruding from the curtain, and tears flowed out again.He paid the silver back from Beijing and entrusted his uncle to buy several sets of longevity utensils belonging to the old man in the family. At that time, he ordered four of them in total.He also specially told his younger brother that Xiangtan lacquer is good, but you should ask more experts, because it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of national lacquer, so don't buy it with others to prevent fraud; The lacquer is not sticky, and it will peel off after a long time.He also told his younger brother not to ask Huang Er, a painter, to paint. He is treacherous and unreliable.He knew that some elderly people in his family would need to use it sooner or later, so he was extra careful.But now thinking of the farewell mother lying in it, I can't help but feel sad again.

Guohui, who has always been able to speak quickly, saw her father smoking continuously, and knew that her father's old habit had fallen again: the more she had to say, the more she didn't know how to say it, and finally she smoked silently.So she took over her father's words and said to her brother: "Three months ago, I received a letter from my brother, and learned that my brother was released from the Jiangxi Examiner, and was rewarded by the emperor with a one-month vacation to visit relatives. The whole family is happy, and my mother is even more happy." , the illness has recovered a bit, and I can get out of bed and walk around now and then. I told the family to make preparations to welcome my brother back. The house was painted, and new clothes were made—the whole family made a set for each person. The grandchildren couldn’t read well. When they grow up, they scold them: "Uncle will come back in a few days, see if you have the face?" If the sons fail to do something well, they will teach them a lesson: "When your elder brother comes back, I will tell him!" It's been half a month , and because he was too excited, he lay down on the bed and said in his mouth all day long: "Don't let me go, I will be back soon, let me see Kuanyi again!" Zeng Guofan couldn't help but said again. Sobbing softly, Guohui was too sad to speak.The family brought two cups of hot tea, and the siblings took them.After taking a sip of tea, Guohui continued: "On the morning of the tenth day of June, my mother's illness suddenly deteriorated, and phlegm filled my throat, and I couldn't speak. Brother Man rushed to the town to invite Mrs. Jin. Mrs. Jin had no choice but to let Drinking ginseng soup. After pouring down a bowl of ginseng soup, it took another two days. When the lamp was lit on the twelfth, it didn’t work. Dad called the whole family to mother. Mother looked at this and that, her eyes widened. The big one pointed at the cabinet vigorously. No one understood what she meant. I thought, Mother wanted to see the clothes she usually wore, so I hurriedly took out some of her good clothes from the cabinet and gave them to her. Mother gently pushed it away with her hand. The four siblings thought that Mother was going to hand over the house keys to some daughter-in-law, and hurriedly took out a large bunch of keys from the cabinet. The whole family is there, except for the absence of brother, mother can't see him, and wants to touch the letters from home sent by brother again. Father takes out a large bundle of letters from home that brother sent back from the cabinet over the years and puts them in mother's Beside the pillow, Mother touched it with both hands, and slowly swallowed..."

Hearing this, Zeng Guofan couldn't bear it anymore, covered his face with his hands, and burst into tears again.He remembered the day he said goodbye to his mother for the last time—— It was the second day of November in the 19th year of Daoguang, when Zeng Guofan left the museum and went to Beijing.Before dawn, Zeng Guofan was extremely happy when his second son, Jize, came into the world amidst the cries of "wow".The eldest son Zhen died of pox in the second month, and his wife Ouyang has been feeling uncomfortable, and now she has comfort.Especially the mother, who is eager to embrace her grandson, sees that Tim is another grandson, and she can't keep her mouth shut.After breakfast, the whole family sent Zeng Guofan to the road.Regardless of dissuasion, his mother insisted on sending him off.The old man took his hand and sent him ten miles away along the mountain road against the north wind.He was already twenty-nine years old at that time, and he was a father, but his mother still treated him as a child, sending him to Hengzhou city to study every year, and kept nagging him all the way.With tears in his eyes, his mother told him to take good care of his body, to be an official in the capital, and to go home to see his parents when he had an opportunity in the future.Zeng Guofan walked two or three miles away, turned around and saw his mother was still standing on a small hill by the side of the road, her gray hair was blown by the north wind, and she was staring straight ahead...

For many years, this scene has always lingered in Zeng Guofan's mind, affecting his endless love for his hometown.Today, the son came back to see his mother on purpose, but the mother could no longer open her eyes to see her son who had become a high official.God!Why are you so cruel that you can't let your old mother prolong her life for another three or four months, so that the wanderer who has returned from afar will accompany her during her last days in the world? !For a split second, Zeng Guofan seemed to feel that the honor of ranking second in the Qing Dynasty and the prosperity of the nine cities in the capital were like dust and soot, worthless. .Tears welled up in his eyes, and he was in so much pain that he rushed to the coffin desperately, and shouted, "Mother! My son came back late! My son is sorry for your old man!"

The whole mourning hall was full of crying again, and Zeng Guofan's younger brothers and sisters fell down beside the coffin crying.Everyone missed the old lady's Shengde during her lifetime, and was even more moved by Guofan's pure filial piety.Extreme grief, covering the mourning hall of the Zeng Mansion like a dark cloud, large drops of teardrops rained down beside the coffin and in front of the portrait... Uncle Jiyun came over and helped Zeng Guofan up, and everyone stood up to stop their tears.The cook came in and announced that dinner was ready.Everyone surrounded Zeng Guofan to a hall called "Baiyu Hall".After he sat down, the family saluted again. Linshu greeted everyone to sit down and have a reunion dinner.As soon as Zeng Guofan took his seat, he suddenly remembered Kang Fulai, and hurriedly sent Jing Qi to invite him.Kang Fu came in and saw that Guofan's family was reunited, so he refused to sit down.Zeng Guofan pulled him and said, "My dear brother, I must invite you to eat this meal with my whole family today." After Kang Fu sat down, how Zeng Guofan met him in Yuezhou City, and how he was arrested by Changmao later, thanks to his brief account of his rescue, the family members all sighed with emotion.Ninth brother Guoquan poured a glass of wine, walked up to Kang Fu and said, "Hero, you are the savior of our Zeng family. In the name of the entire Zeng family, I respect you with this glass of thin wine." Kang Fu hurriedly stood up and said repeatedly: "Don't dare to do it! This will destroy Xiaoshengshou!" With that said, he drank the wine in the glass. After eating, everyone persuaded Guofan to go to rest.Zeng Guofan said: "For more than ten years, I have not fulfilled a day of filial piety to my mother, and I have not served a day of decoction when I was ill. In the past two months, you have been working hard. How can I not keep the coffin when I come back tonight?" Go to sleep! Where do you put me? Aren’t you afraid that the villagers will laugh at you?” Everyone saw that what he said was reasonable, and it was already the third watch, so Mandi and a few other servants were left in the mourning hall, and the rest went to sleep separately. When he reappeared in the mourning hall, Zeng Guofan had already changed into filial piety clothes, wrapped in white cloth, and his whole body was plain white.He respectfully kowtowed three times in front of the portrait of his mother, then washed his hands, put incense in each incense burner, cut off the wick of each candle, and then walked around the four walls of the mourning hall to see these Who gave the elegiac scrolls, and carefully looked at the materials of the various elegiac curtains, rubbing them with hands.After reading it, he called Guobao over and asked him to instruct his servants to hang up the elegiac couplets of Jiangxi Governor Lu Yuanlang, Jiangxi Xuezheng Shen Zhaolin, and Hubei Governor Chang Dachun that he brought back along the way in a conspicuous place. Twirling his beard, Zeng Guofan carefully admired the three elegiac couplets sent by the highest-ranking people. Regardless of the calligraphy and writing, they are all among the best, especially Chang Dachun's, which is written in the vigorous Wei Bei style, with smooth ink and full-bodied strokes.Zeng Guofan watched, and couldn't help but read aloud: "The star envoy came back from Chai Sang, and heard that his loving mother climbed to the sky with a smile. He thought of Yue Zhe Qianxun, and his soul followed Cang Hao; the imperial edict was issued in front of the que, recalling that the family has suffered many odd numbers, Desperate for thousands of miles of smoke and clouds, looking at the broken green mountains." "I really deserve to be a genius in Hengyang, with a good intention and a good handwriting, which can be called double excellence." He praised in his heart. He sat down by the spirit table, looked at the portrait of his mother in front of him, and thought blankly, as if his mother was sitting opposite him, and he was still a little scholar thirty years ago, tired from studying in the study, so he ran to the kitchen to help Mother picked beans while listening to mother tell stories.My mother's favorite story to tell is the night when I gave birth to myself.