Sword of Coming

Lu Chen drank the wine and threw the empty wine flask into the stream outside the window. It drifted away with the water. As expected, it would be picked up by a new river god downstream who knew the goods and put it in his pocket.

You, Gao Niang, and the young Yinguan are drinking buddies, and Chen Ping'an and I are Taoist buddies, so we are friends who have never met. A meeting gift that can be used to refine water transport is disrespectful.

Turning around and smiling at Ning Ji, he said, "Mr. Chen is going to teach students soon. You first come with me to the outside of the school to see some interesting things."

There was a string of bells hanging under the eaves outside the house, and a long rope hung down. The end of the rope was about the same height as Chen Ping'an's stretched arm. Master Lu was really short of hands, so he went to ring the bell, but Ning Ji stopped him. Lu Chen laughed. Except for you and me, they cannot hear the Word. Seeing that the young man insisted on his own opinion, Lu Chen had to give up and took the young man to see another object and asked if he knew what it was. Ning Ji couldn't explain clearly, so Lu Chen began to introduce it. It turned out that Chen Ping'an made a simple sundial with his own hands outside the school. It was engraved with the characters of the twelve earthly branches and was used to keep time by relying on the shadow of the sun. There are twelve hours in a day, and one hour is eight quarters.

It's just that it's not possible to confirm the time on a rainy day, so Chen Ping'an asked Zhao Shuxia to say hello and remind him at certain important nodes.

Lu Chen stretched out a finger, pressed the sun shadow on the sundial, and began to move. The sun shadow moved quickly with Teacher Lu's finger.

Ning Ji subconsciously turned his head to look at the school. The scene in the room was like a book with pages turned quickly. When Lu Chen took back his finger, the scene froze and everything returned to normal.

Then Lu Chen walked into Chen Ping'an's house. Although Ning Ji was curious, he just stood at the door. Unable to stop this Headmaster Lu, the young man could always suppress his curiosity.

Lu Chen looked at the stacks of books on the table. At least half of them were the first manuscripts compiled by Chen Pingan himself. He smiled knowingly. It seemed that Chen Pingan used beginner books for opening and enlightenment in this village school. Not only Yamashita The universal Sanbaiqianhe "Longwen Whip Shadow" and "Yuxue Qionglin" are the Mongolian books that are commonly used in schools under the mountain.

Walking in the long river of time, the young man wading in the water was completely unaware and didn't even feel dizzy at all.

It can be seen from this that the tenacity of Ning Ji's skin-skinned soul is extremely outstanding.

Lu Chen walked out of the room, shook his wrist, and held a pocket sundial in his palm, handing it to Ning Ji, "Next, you will control the speed of time."

Ningji shook his head.

Lu Chen smiled and said: "Ning Ji, remember one thing. Whether you have it or not and whether you use it are two different things. They are worlds apart."

Ning Ji hesitated for a moment and thanked Master Lu. The young man carefully took the sundial. It was a bit lighter than expected.

Then Ning Ji asked: "Master Lu, can you make time go slower or go back?"

Lu Chen secretly praised the young man for his ability to draw inferences from one example. He nodded and said calmly: "Of course, it's just a small skill that a god on the mountain can do. It's not worth mentioning. You don't have to admire the poor Taoist's methods at all."

The young man clicked his tongue. Are all the gods on the mountain so powerful?

Lu Chen was gloating over his misfortune. After all, he was probably not his direct disciple anymore, and he could only cheat him as much as he could. One day in the future, when the young man learns that Chen Ping'an can't even control a long river of time, and his eyes wide open, Lu Chen thinks about this scene and finds it interesting, exciting, and interesting!

In the school, some children's hands and fingernails were full of dirt.

There are also those whose families are poor, whose hands have been covered with calluses since they were young, who don’t wear shoes, or those who are better off and wear a new pair of shoes when they enter school.

There is the one who is very active by nature, as if he doesn’t have a butt. He either likes to roll around in class or teases the people at the table next to him.

Standing at the door, Ning Ji was a little afraid to enter the school.

Lu Chen stood aside, raising one leg and placing it on the window sill, bending over and pressing his leg.

Ning Ji asked in a low voice: "Why doesn't Master Wu use his real name?"

He never dared to speak with a normal voice. The young man always felt that he would disturb Daoist Wu's lectures.

Lu Chen said with a smile: "This habit is not very good. It is not fair enough. When I walk around the world, I always say that I will not change my name or my surname. As a friend, I have to give Chen Ping'an good advice if he turns around."

"Wu Di, whose homophonic pronunciation is invincible, the origin of this pseudonym, is that he and a good friend once visited the Suoyun Sect together. It is a sect with the prefix sect in Luzhou, Beiju. It is relatively well-established. When they arrived at the mountain gate Over there, he came up with an impromptu idea and called himself Chen Haoren, with the Taoist name "Wudi". He said he liked to walk on a straight road and wanted to move the ancestral mountain blocking the road of Suoyun Sect. Listen and see, what do you think? When the concierge of Suoyun Sect hears such bastard words, do you want to beat him up?"

Ning Ji said: "Taoist Master Wu always has his own reasons for doing things."

Lu Chen smiled knowingly, "What a coincidence, his friend's name is Liu Jinglong. He said that he was his disciple at that time, so he changed his name as well. He didn't have a nickname for the time being, so he called him Liu Lili. A person who will always believe that good people will be rewarded. Chen Haoren, Liu Lili, who is very patient in reasoning and firmly believes that he can always make things right with others. If we focus on the key points, wouldn't he be a good person who can reason well? In this way, it is indeed a beautiful vision. "

Ning Ji said: "If Mr. Lu is traveling abroad, he doesn't need a pseudonym?"

Lu Chen intertwined the fingers of his hands, raised them high above his head, repeatedly pressed his legs sideways, and said with a smile: "I prefer to use my real name when I go out, but most people just forget it, even if they know that there is such a thing as 'Lu Chen' in the world. The high-ranking figures will probably not take them seriously. Some people have heard that as long as the poor Taoist does not want them to think too much, they will not be able to think too much about Bai Yujing and Master Lu. There are only a handful of monks on the top of the mountain left. We are friends who have known each other for a long time, so there is no need for Pindao to hide his identity."

"As for the origin of the traces."

Lu Chen pointed to the willow Yiyi in the distance, "You see, every winter turns to spring, the willow branches are newly pruned, and the scenery is familiar. The traces of the past, the traces of the past, have a sense of sadness and remembrance. Life Going around in circles is like grinding an ox, stepping on the old traces step by step. Don’t say anything again when you go, it’s so bitter and sad.”

Having said this, Lu Chen felt proud, narrowed his eyes and smiled and said: "If you read more in the future, you will find an interesting thing. If you really want to think about it, the term "Chen Ji" actually originated from Pindao's "Tianyun Chapter". Ning Ji, let me tell you not to brag. In the past six thousand years, there have been several worlds. It doesn’t matter who they are or what their origins are. As long as they have some knowledge, each family will write a book and make a statement. If there is a person mentioned the most in the book, If a good person can make a summary, then Pindao will definitely be ranked among the top three, not to mention firmly ranked first. Even in the Buddhist koans, there are many quotes from Pindao, which can be used to make points."

Having said this, Lu Chen patted his stomach and said, "There is no better place to eat in the world. Are you hungry?"

Just as Ning Ji was about to shake his head, his stomach growled uncontrollably. It seemed as if Director Lu had reminded him, and the young man realized how hungry he was.

Lu Chen put away his legs and ran to the yellow mud stove that was also used to store sundries and where martial artist Zhao Shu made a floor. He started tinkering on his own and soon made two large bowls. After handing a bowl of wontons to Ning Ji, Lu Chen sat on the threshold of the kitchen with a celadon wine pot at his feet, which contained the bayberry shochu brewed last year. While eating the wontons and taking a sip of the wine, Lu Chen's cheeks bulged. , tapped the mouth of the bowl lightly with chopsticks, and asked with a smile: "Ning Ji, do you think studying can be used as food?"

The young man squatted aside, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Hearing Daozhang Lu's question, he quickly swallowed the innermost wonton and said, "Now that the world is better, if you have skills, I believe you can always have enough to eat and clothing to keep warm."

Lu Chen lowered his chopsticks like flying, wolfed down the food, picked up the last wonton from the bowl, and said with a smile: "In the past, there was a very powerful Taoist cultivator on your Aquarius Island, a sword cultivator with a clear Taoist heart, named Li Tuan Jing, he has a very interesting saying, saying that in today's world, the reason why Qi practitioners are masters in the mountains is because God rewards food for them to eat. The Qi practitioners are just this bowl, which seems to be the largest. The food in the bowl is nothing but It turns wontons into the aura of heaven and earth. If God had used a different approach at the beginning, such as who was the best at weaving straw sandals, who had the best craftsmanship, and who was the master, then it would have been a different situation."

Ning Ji wondered: "Why is Master Lu telling me these great principles?"

Lu Chen drank the remaining soup in the bowl, burped, put the empty bowl at his feet, put the chopsticks on the bowl, picked up the pot of green plum shochu, and took a big sip of the strong liquor. The Taoist priest suddenly shivered and laughed. Said: "We always do too much and think too little. We eat too much and have nothing to do when we are full. So in the eyes of the poor Taoist master, what is a Taoist? He only has 'more than enough to serve the world'."

Ning Ji asked tentatively: "Is it like I was hungry but my hands were empty, and Director Lu was kind enough to make a bowl of wontons for me?"

Lu Chen let out a sigh and said with surprise on his face: "Is the young man so enlightened?"

Ning Ji hesitated, "But the ingredients and the kitchen belong to Taoist Wu."

Lu Chen suddenly laughed loudly, and finally suppressed his laughter. He raised his head and drank the bayberry shochu in one go. Then he turned back and blinked at the young man, "Then you think you are between being hungry and having a good meal. How can you be so stupid?" What have you done?"

Ningji subconsciously glanced at the empty bowl at Riku Daochang's feet and the pair of chopsticks placed on it, then looked at the bowl and chopsticks in his hands. The young man shook his head, feeling that the answer in his heart was wrong after all.

"Lending money is like giving, and collecting debt is like asking for money."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "This has happened since ancient times."

Ning Ji didn't think too much, and he couldn't figure it out anyway. He just put away Lu Daochang's bowls and chopsticks, walked into the kitchen, cleaned them first, and then put the bowls and chopsticks back into the cupboard and bamboo tube respectively.

Lu Chen put his hands on his sleeves and turned his head to stare at the man in green shirt over at the school.

The school starts on time at noon every day, and the morning class memorizes, which lasts two and a quarter hours, which can be regarded as reviewing the past and learning the new.

Children who are late will be punished by standing against the wall in the classroom. If they happen too often, they will be slapped on the wooden plank and given three strokes of the ruler. Among them, those Meng children who are very playful, forgetful and have not completed their homework have a special table and stool behind them besides the punishment station and ruler, so that they can make up for their homework before returning to their seats.

The seats in the school are divided into three rows according to age groups, namely those aged six to eight, eight to ten, and those above ten.

There are more than a dozen children, each with his own desk and bench. Because there were not many students, it didn't seem crowded.

Chen Ping'an sat on a chair, facing the Mongolian children, seemingly closing his eyes and concentrating, but in fact he was listening carefully to the different sounds of the three rows of children reading.

Lu Chen smiled and asked: "Ning Ji, do you know what the sound of books is?"

The young man shook his head.

"A scholar is a scholar, and when he reads, he naturally reads it word by word."

Lu Chen leaned against the window sill, holding his hands in his sleeves, and explained with a smile: "The original meaning is the sound of metal and stone hitting each other. The quality is like a clear chime and the sound is like a solitary tung tree. The sound is like a pristine rock and a peak. Later generations felt that the meaning of this stack of words is really beautiful. , is used to describe the pleasant sound of reading, and now it is."

Chen Pingan will teach different levels of lessons to three different age groups.

For example, in yesterday's school teaching and this morning's endorsement, if the child feels that he has memorized it well, he can raise his hand to indicate it. Chen Ping'an will ask him to come to his side and check it again. If the recited content is accurate, he will pass it. Meng Tong himself repeated the rough meaning of the passage he had memorized. At that moment, it seemed as if the identities of teacher and student were reversed.

If the words are fluent and roughly correct, Chen Pingan will nod and let the child return to his seat. If Meng Tong only endorses the words accurately, but the meaning is still not accurate enough, or there are omissions in the content, Chen Pingan will help correct and check for omissions. Fill in the gaps and let the child go back and continue reciting.

In the past few days, Lu Chen, who had not disturbed Ning Ji's viewing of the time scene, finally reminded him: "Ning Ji, don't underestimate Meng Tong's re-teaching. This is the essence of both teaching and learning. In the future, This all depends on whether the students can make a career after leaving school, or even whether they can come up with new ideas, come up with original ideas, and stand up for the sages."

The teacher taught the book, then the teacher endorsed it, and then the identity was reversed. The student talked and the teacher listened.

There is a sequence here, and there is a sequence. This is to know what it is, know why it is what it is, and know its sequence, which is the shortest way.

Ning Ji said: "Master Lu will also give lectures at Bai Yujing's side, right?"

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Too lazy, I do it occasionally. On the twelfth floor of Baiyujing's five cities, there are too many smart people, and there is almost no stupid person. This is the reason why I don't want to preach."

In terms of breadth and depth of knowledge, apart from a handful of people in the human world for thousands of years, the only difference between everyone and Lu Chen is one Lu Chen.

Ning Ji didn't think much about it and just assumed that Master Lu thought those "gods" in Bai Yujing were smart enough not to need to listen to the lectures.

In fact, it's just the opposite. Just as Lu Chen once joked with Chen Ping'an, Cui Dongshan's sleeve is called "beating up stupid places", and his sleeves are "beating up smart places in the world".

After the morning class endorsement is over, the next step is the formal classes every day.

Chen Pingan first led the Meng children to read the "Study Book" for about half an hour. There were three rows of students, with different reading contents. From the lowest age to the highest, Chen Pingan read in order.

The remaining two columns of Meng children can read books by themselves, or read books by themselves, but their voices should not be too loud. Read it a hundred times, and its meaning will become apparent after reading it a hundred times.

Of course, you can also listen to your teacher's lectures. For example, children aged six or seven, as long as they are interested, can listen to their teacher give lessons to students over ten years old.

Generally speaking, in rural villages, families do not have high expectations for their children to go to school. They just want their children to learn some words, be able to do accounting, and write a few couplets during the Chinese New Year. . Therefore, ordinary private school teachers mostly follow a step-by-step process, asking the children to read, recite, and learn to write. The masters will explain the words and sentences word for word. In schools with good conditions, the teachers will first teach the students how to hold a pen, raise their wrists, and help with handrails. There are specially printed copies and calligraphy sheets for embellishment and calligraphy. Over time, students can write by themselves, and the teacher will teach them penmanship. In addition to the few Confucian classics officially recognized by the Confucian Temple and the imperial court, they will also read ancient Chinese. At this time, You can start learning composition. In rural areas, the conditions are simple. I only have calligraphy lessons, and I can only make do with what I have. Most of them use charcoal pens, or use stones with a texture similar to yellow mud to write on a thin bluestone of medium size. , easy to apply and reuse, or fill a wooden sandbox with a layer of fine sand collected from streams and rivers, and use branches or cut bamboos as brushes.

Just like here, there is a green bamboo pen holder on every desk, filled with thin bamboo pens, and a square wooden box sand tray is placed in the desk drawer.

In addition, there is a thick book about the size of a palm, with a strange title, "The Book of No. 2". It is more than 3,000 words that Chen Ping'an specially selected from 300,000 other enlightenment books. Each character is divided into several contents, including a thick italic character, the pronunciation, meaning, and several common combinations of words in thin italics.

Ning Ji was a little bit greedy for the book "Fu Er Zi". Master Lu was considerate, so in addition to the pocket sundial, the young man had another book in his hand.

The young man asked: "Do you have to recognize so many words before leaving the school?"

Lu Chen smiled and said: "Of course, as long as you can recognize three or four thousand characters, what book can't you read in the future?"

The young man asked again: "Can you do it?"

Lu Chen said: "You can definitely do it. As for a child in this school who studies hard, assuming he is enlightened at the age of six and has studied for five or six years, he can recognize him. As for the child who doesn't want to study, or that kind of thing Indeed, it is difficult to say that he is a Mengtong who is not suitable for studying by nature."

The young man hesitated to speak.

"That day" after school, Mr. Chen and the young man named Zhao Shuxia ate at the same table, and Zhao Shuxia helped Ning Ji ask a question.

What should we do about those Mengtong who just can't read well?

Mr. Chen smiled and gave an answer. Studying is hard and studying is difficult, but there are many difficulties. It is not as difficult as "working hard" to be more difficult.

As long as you learn the word "hard work" in your young school life, you will have acquired a true duty and a real skill. No matter what profession you are engaged in in the future, you will have a skill. However, if you lose it early during the early school years when all your peers are suffering, With the word "hard work", what will be easy to do after you leave school in the future? Let's not talk about everyone, but the vast majority of people are prone to self-suggestion when encountering difficulties, feel lazy, are unwilling to persist in something, and give up early. This means that everything is really difficult at the beginning.

At the dinner table, Chen Pingan suddenly asked: "Zhao Shuxia, do you think whether a person works hard is also a kind of talent?"

Zhao Shuxia thought carefully for a moment, but still seemed unable to give an answer, so he just said: "Sex is similar, but habits are far apart?"

Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded, "If you are not strict in teaching, the teacher will be lazy. Starting tomorrow, you will be hit harder."

Zhao Shuxia held it in for a long time and said: "Those girls in the school occasionally forget their homework. Why don't they see the master punish them? It seems they haven't even used a ruler."

They just went to the back to stand as usual, crying. When the master saw it, he immediately relented and quickly found a compromise. He asked them to recite a few sentences of a certain passage, which was mostly very difficult homework. They passed the exam. , they will be asked to return to their seats to read.

Chen Pingan glared and said: "They are girls after all. Besides, as you said, they just forget their homework occasionally. Can they be like those naughty boys?"

Zhao Shuxia remained silent and just said casually, Master, why are you so impatient.

After reading "raw books" every day, the next step is to review "familiar books".

Since we are teaching children of three age groups separately, it takes about half an hour.

As a starting point for young children to learn, Chen Pingan not only teaches the Four Books and Five Classics, which is a bit rigid and follows the rules, but also teaches content in strict order. In addition, he also teaches passages from several classics and books that he has carefully selected and feels pure and rational. The purpose of teaching is naturally to take the most authentic books of the ancient sages and learn from them. Therefore, these sentences or paragraphs do not need to be so step-by-step. They are relatively simple and easy to understand sentences.

There is also a "Book of Filial Piety".

While reading familiar books, Chen Pingan would also follow certain sentences and make some extensions to the point, and emphasize with the Meng children some basic etiquette of being a child and dealing with others.

"The word "Li" is easy to fail, and it is not as solid as the word "Li".

Lu Chen sat on the table on the back wall, holding the back of his head with both hands, and said with a smile: "Filial piety comes first. Ning Ji, have you noticed that there are many local ruffians and libertines, fighting and killing no matter how hard they are outside? When you get home, you either meet your father as soon as you see him, or you don't dare to be called an unfilial son no matter what the reputation is. There are also some children who were particularly naughty when they were in school. When they grow up, they meet the old people on the road. The teacher will still be respectful, and he may be willing to pinch his nose, bite the bullet, and accept a few words of instruction."

Ning Ji usually sits on the bench, upright, like a fugitive boy, listening carefully to Mr. Chen's lectures.

Ning Ji wondered: "Master Lu, is there a big difference between the course that was originally arranged by Mr. Chen?"

Previously, Professor Lu showed him a piece of paper that recorded the course schedule in detail. In many places, it was different from the currently implemented academic plan.

Lu Chen smiled and said: "He overturned it himself. To be precise, Chen Ping'an was planning to take it easy first. He probably thought that it would be too difficult to teach like this from the beginning, and Mengtong would not be able to keep up with the progress. If he is not careful, They easily lose interest in studying. Although studying at school is inherently a hard job, if a teacher can make the children feel less boring at the beginning of teaching, of course it will be more boring. alright."

Lu Chen flipped his wrist and took a book from the desk drawer of Chen Ping'an's residence and handed it to Ning Ji, "Let's see what's different."

Ning Ji opened the pages of this school textbook and found many annotations written in small regular script in the upper margins next to many words. The text content is several times that of the book itself.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "This is the notebook used by Chen Ping'an to teach. Meng Tong will not know the thoughts and efforts of the teacher."

Ning Ji curiously asked: "Are all teachers in the world like this?"

Lu Chen said: "The thoughts and ideas are pretty much the same, it just takes different lengths of time and different levels of effort."

Lu Chen shook his sleeves, threw out a stack of papers, and handed it to the young man, "This is the explanation of Chinese characters by the Zhaoling sage who is not a sage of the Confucian Temple but a sage, Master Xu. These scattered pages have not yet been compiled into a volume. They are It is a manuscript in the true sense, and it is not considered a so-called master copy that was later published. You keep it, you don’t have to return it, and you don’t have to ask what I want to do with it in the future. It’s all up to you to make your own arrangements. You can keep it or send it away as you like. Don't be pretentious and think that you will not be rewarded for your efforts, I met you by chance, and I will definitely meet you again in the future."

Except for reading books and familiar books, there is not much difference. They just changed a few book lists. However, after that, Mr. Chen directly deleted the "Teaching Books" item on the paper and wrote " The word "shelved".

The subsequent "reading", for example, the earliest course formulated by Mr. Chen, was to read a certain person's general knowledge, examine the differences, observe provincial records, and develop correct writing and vocabulary, three pages each week. Zhuzi Elementary School, one page per day, etc. Moreover, in this column, Mr. Chen showed signs of changing the number of ink pens several times. He kept checking it out and rewriting it more than once. In the end, Mr. Chen finally replaced it with a simpler and more superficial book, and added one more column. This drawing book, of course, is also from Mr. Chen's manuscript. It depicts various mountains and rivers, hundreds of techniques, etc., supplemented by text, with pictures and texts.

Just talking about this book, the pages in the front are mostly content closely related to rural villages and secular life, such as spring plowing, farming season, grains, various trees and fish, etc.

At the same time, the calligraphy class, which is the last item in the morning every day, has also undergone a lot of changes. For example, the earliest plan was for Mongolian children of different school ages to "write every day, the cross on the forehead of the ancient stele", "Shuowen Jie Pian, three It can range from one to five characters. During the calligraphy teaching period, the music, exegesis and other contents can be roughly explained." "The Xiao Jing or Huang Ting Jing should be written in block letters, with large characters in thick strokes, for two pages."

Later, there was another idea that Mr. Chen finally gave up, which was to teach Mongolian children to learn to write, not starting from the regular regular script, but completely following the origin of the fonts, starting with Xiaozhuan, then official script, and finally regular script. As for running script and cursive script, as well as the more ancient Chongniao Seal script, Mr. Chen first commented that it was "inappropriate". Then he thought of several alternative methods, such as whether he could only teach a few characters so that the students could learn more about it. Tong knew that there were only these types of fonts in the world...but they were still checked out with a red pen. Mr. Chen commented again, "It's still inappropriate to think about it."

There is also a pile of paper placed alone on the table, with many notes written on it.

For example, regarding "filial piety" and "filial piety", Mr. Chen wrote several words to remind himself, and they were obviously his handwriting and thoughts at different time periods.

"Should I talk about it?" "The difference between the two needs to be explained carefully and with caution." "If there is no absolute certainty and the right time, don't mention it."

Another example is the saying, "Everything in the world starts with determination." Then Mr. Chen had a question, can the determination of children and students be distinguished by high or low, big or small, and in sequence?

Confucius said that when parents are present, if they don’t travel far away, they will travel in a suitable way. But when you are with your parents, you must not know them. One is happy and the other is fearful. The two languages ​​​​can be explained together.

There are also some questions and thoughts, which are written in small regular script or running script at the back, filling a whole page of paper, but they are still unfinished. There are dense words related to them on the back.

There is also a manuscript booklet that has not been used in the school for the time being. It is still handwritten by Chen Pingan.

It collects mottos and aphorisms of famous ancient and modern figures, simple sayings and good words of ancient people, interceptions of some popular poems, etc.

There is also a thin abridged version, which is catchy to read because it rhymes and sounds like a jingle.

In his early years, Chen Ping'an went on a long trip alone, and later used it when he took Xiao Heitan on a night trip to Tongyezhou.

They are all rhymes compiled based on the manuscripts of Li Juro who traveled to the city on a night voyage.

Thirty-six excellent essays by famous writers of the past dynasties who specifically described landscapes were selected and divided into three volumes by Chen Pingan. Each volume has its own simple and beautiful prose.

In the calligraphy class at the school, Chen Ping'an first taught the Meng children to write their own names. They had already attended school for several years to write their own names, so they learned to write sentences similar to "Learn and learn from time to time", otherwise it was the same as in the village ancestral hall. The contents of the plaque and the couplets.

In addition, there are some popular but easy-to-understand poems, such as looking up at the bright moon, the spring grass in the city is deep, and the sun is shining over the mountains. Spring is late, and the flowers and trees are luxuriant... While the Meng children are immersed in writing, the teacher in a Confucian shirt, long coat and cloth shoes walks among the three rows of desks with his hands behind his back. Occasionally, he reaches out and twists the Meng children's hands with his fingers. "Pen tube", if Chen Ping'an mentions it lightly, he will remind them to pay attention to holding the pen and writing, to concentrate and learn to concentrate. Or stop and point out something wrong with a certain stroke when the child is writing.

Wait until the calligraphy class is over, and at noon, the get out of class ends on time. Mengtong could go home for lunch and have half an hour to spare.

If there are only two meals a day, morning and evening, they can just play by themselves, go up trees to catch birds and go down to rivers to fish as they please.

Lu Chen and Ning Ji were like two complete "outsiders", watching the bustle of the open space outside the school.

At this time, Zhao Shuxia, who looks tall and muscular, comes in handy, because the master will ask him to practice a set of boxing techniques.

Zhao Shuxia was thin-skinned, and was actually quite embarrassed from the beginning. The key master also told him to make some noise, dust was flying, and his sleeves were crackling and vibrating.

For those restless boys, watching that Zhao tree boxing is not much worse than following the elders in the family to go to the county town to go to the county fair, watch the temple fair, or buy new year's goods during the new year.

Chen Ping'an himself went to the kitchen to eat, holding a bowl, leaning against the door, and stood there watching Zhao Shuxia's jokes.

There were three girls in Mengtong who liked to play shuttlecock, so Chen Pingan made a few copper-money feather shuttlecocks and a feather duster at the same time.

Occasionally, Chen Ping'an would call a sallow-faced Mengtong to have lunch with him. This child sat in the middle row of the school, but he looked shorter and thinner than the five or six-year-old Mengtong who had just entered school. He only called him twice, and the child turned red. Without nodding, Chen Pingan thought for a while and stopped insisting.

Because the tuition fees were low and there were not many Mongolian children, Chen Pingan opened a vegetable garden near the school, surrounded it with a bamboo fence, raised some chickens and ducks, and rented them from the villagers at a low price. A small bamboo forest and tea garden were reclaimed on the mountain with Zhao Shuxia, and some crops such as corn were planted, as well as peach, loquat and other fruit trees. Originally, Chen Pingan was thinking about building a pigsty and buying two piglets. He also thought about planting some mulberry trees. However, whether raising pigs or silkworms, the smell was strong, so he thought about it.

If you really want to improve the food, you can go to the mountains to lay traps and set traps. If that doesn't work, just let Zhao Shu catch muntjacs and wild boars.

Lu Chen leaned against the sundial, stretched out a finger, and wrote the character "丂" one after another in the air. The handwriting was like thick ink and heavy pen, hanging in the air for a long time.

The Taoist priest and the young man beside him smiled and explained: "This word later evolved into 'yu', which in ancient times means the appearance of relaxed Qi. In two days, there will be an old Taoist immortal who will make a ritual that matches the Taoist galaxy." Feat, Lao Zhenren has this surname, and the mountain custom calls him Fu Lu Yu Xuan, which is a bit similar to the Yin Yang family's 'Talk about the sky Zou, Shuo Di Lu', and of course one of Haoran's three great swordsmanship Pei Min."

Having said this, Lu Chen raised his hand, and two hiking poles made of green bamboo appeared in his hand. He threw them to the young man and said with a smile: "Let's take you to visit the nearby mountains and rivers."

Ning Ji reached out and took the green bamboo stick in his hand and said, "Director Lu, my leg strength is not bad."

Lu Chen took the lead to move out of the grain drying field next to the school and walked along a streamside path to the village next door. He smiled casually and said, "Whether it's a literati's sightseeing tour or a wading through mountains and rivers to make a living, There will always be times when your physical strength is not enough, so take a step back and say, no matter how strong a person's feet are, his heart is still there. Just hold on."

The young Taoist priest wearing a lotus crown on his head, with a black bag hanging on his waist and poking the ground with a bamboo stick, said leisurely, "When a person is young, in addition to studying and increasing his knowledge, he also needs to pay attention to cultivating his energy, nourishing his spirit, strengthening his body, and stabilizing himself." physique."

"We must always let the Consciousness God abdicate and return the Yuan Shen to its place. This is what we Taoists call 'always protecting the pure child.' As for what the Consciousness God is and what the Yuan Shen is, if you have the opportunity to practice in the future, you will understand it. Remember to share it with you. My mentor, please ask me one more question about the origin of Yuanshen and Yuanying."

"In the future, you will definitely meet a kind of tangled person on your way to study or practice. It has nothing to do with good or bad, good or evil, but just an unstable mind."

"Know that you have done something wrong, be willing to say sorry to others, and be brave enough to say no when encountering excessive demands from others. In this way, life will be easier and refreshing, and life will not be awkward. Therefore, the spirit When I feel at ease, I am still me. When things change, I am who I am."

When he came to the stream, Lu Chen washed his face with water. There was a green old camphor tree on the bank. Lu Chen sat on the stone and rested for a while. He took out an annotation book from his sleeve that Chen Pingan had written in the blank space with small words. He smiled. Said: "Don't blindly admire the ancients, blindly read ancient books, and only focus on digging into the pile of old papers. If you don't come out, you won't be able to come out."

"Just like Chen Ping'an, when reading, you must first make the book thicker, then thin the book, and finally achieve one thing, leaving behind a few words that are closely related to the book, or one or two truths, any book, no matter it is said to be a century-old book Whether it is an unshakable classic or a miscellaneous book that is not orthodox enough or even regarded as inferior, it is already a rare thing to be able to get one or two truths that truly belong to you from it, and it is not considered a waste of reading.”

Having said this, Lu Chen stretched out his left hand, put his fingers together, and twisted them gently to make several circles. The young man was horrified to find that the greenery in the shade of the trees had been condensed by the Taoist priest. Lu Chen looked into the stream again. Then, with a flick of his fingers, a piece of wet bluestone jumped out of the water. He held it in his right hand and rubbed it. The debris fell, and finally turned into two long green-green seals. The Taoist held the seal with two fingers. He used the fingers of his left hand as a carving knife and began to carve seal words, which were "Opening the book is beneficial" and "Ning Ji has read it". He handed it to the young man and said with a smile: "When you encounter a favorite book in the future, you can seal this on the page." Seals of both parties.”

The young man was really happy to see him, so he was not polite, and quickly thanked Master Lu. Lu Chen smiled and waved his hand, "Why are you so polite to a poor Taoist? I really feel sorry for you. In the future, in addition to the registration number, you can add In a word, Lu Chen is your little master. Although you and I are no longer the kind of masters and disciples, we must remember the past, and we still need to talk about the love we had in the past."

Then the young man walked along the mountain road with the Taoist priest. There were dark clouds overhead and thunder bursts. It looked like it was going to rain.

When they came to the top of a mountain, the local natives commonly called this place Sendjialing.

In an instant, it rained heavily and the sky and earth were dark.

Lu Chen handed Ning Ji an oil-paper umbrella.

The rain fell in torrents like a gap in the sky.

The two of them stood there holding umbrellas. Lu Chen smiled and said, "What does it mean to be a perfect person? One's nature is stretched out without leaving anything behind."

"The first-class scholars in heaven and earth, who study in the word "ritual", either open or stabilize the road, so that the road in the world will not be dry in drought and not muddy in rainy season. Just like the road we came from."

"The second-class scholars spend their whole lives studying the word 'reason', striving to obtain its purity and integrity, inheriting the Taoism and continuing the incense. Just like the house over there, and the umbrellas in our hands."

"Third level, studying in the study room, reading the Sutra, and going around and over on the 'character' can also benefit the cultural context. Just like every three or five miles, there is a roadside pavilion to rest."

"The next level is one who has read many books by saints and sages, but is still half-full. They seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, but have no intention of harming others and are willing to do good things within their ability. Nine out of ten scholars in the world are like this. . The next level is the corrupt Confucian who is too vulgar. He is sanctimonious, old-fashioned and pedantic. He regards himself as a gentleman, acts harshly and is unreasonable. The last level is the hypocrite, a real villain. The more knowledge they have, the more they learn. , the greater the harm to the world. Just like a certain kind of person said in a Buddhist scripture, he enters my Dharma, lives in my temple, and destroys my righteous Dharma."

Raindrops the size of soybeans made the oil-paper umbrella tremble.

Ning Ji vaguely saw someone walking as fast as flying on the muddy mountain road in the distance, rushing towards this side.

The young man has a good memory and is good at capturing details. He keenly discovered that the Zhao Shuxia who came here to climb the mountain was not the Zhao Shuxia "today".

Lu Chen said: "Zhao Shuxia came here to practice boxing. At the school, his hands and feet were tied up. He couldn't perform this boxing move, and the punch was too loud."

Cui Chan has a boxing technique called Yunzheng Daze Style.

As expected, Zhao Shu came down to the top of the mountain, stood firm on his feet, breathed out of his dantian, opened his fist, and started punching the sky.

Lu Chen explained to the young man: "This boxing has a great origin. There was an old man named Cui who was a scholar of the Yasheng lineage. He read a lot. One day, he saw an allusion in the book about a barnyard official and an unofficial history. It said that in ancient times, there were successive great powers on the earth. After several years of drought, the people were in dire straits. A woman, the Rain Master, took pity on the common people and did not hesitate to violate the laws of heaven by raining rain on the world without permission. As a result, she was punished by the heaven, who imprisoned her golden body on the beating altar and tortured her day and night until she was killed. He broke the golden body and demoted her to the mortal world. According to legend, in the edict issued by the Emperor of Heaven, there was the phrase "it is your own fault." When the old man surnamed Cui saw this, he was filled with resentment and rage. It happened to be the plum season, and it was raining heavily outside the house. , he walked out and got such a punch."

Ning Ji subconsciously looked up at the sky and asked, "Master Lu, is this really happening?"

Lu Chen smiled and said: "I am a lazy Taoist with poor skills. I dare not easily travel to the time ten thousand years ago, so I dare not say whether this matter is true or false."

The boy from Mu Ping Alley in Lizhu Cave, the sissy kiln worker, and Cui Cheng who later entered the down-and-out Shanzhu House, I believe none of the three of them could have imagined that they would be connected in a weird way.

A downpour, like a god pouring ink on the human world, comes and goes as quickly as it comes.

After Zhao Shuxia punched more than ten times, he was exhausted. He took a short rest, stabilized his breathing, and then walked down the mountain and returned to the school.

Lu Chen then took Ning Ji to the top of a mountain elsewhere, called Wunitan. The fish in the pool were different from those elsewhere. The crucian carp and loach here all had a golden thread on their bodies.

This is also a place to pray for rain every time there is a severe drought. The elderly village elders need to fast for three days in the ancestral hall, and then go up the mountain to pray for rain. It often rains before the team comes down the mountain to return to the village. There are signs, very effective.

Ning Ji asked: "Did the Rain Master, who was demoted from the sky to the mortal world, settle here back then?"

Lu Chen said with a smile: "It's impossible to say for sure. Who knows. Local legends and local county annals only say that it is related to a certain passing dragon, but do not mention the rain master."

The school starts at noon in the afternoon and ends at noon, and Mengtong is considered to be out of class.

At the end of the day, it lasts almost three and a half hours. In addition to daily classes, the school also offers three monthly classes every month. On a certain afternoon when classes end half an hour early, starting from 11:00 a.m., Chen Pingan usually teaches Mengtong additional reading and calligraphy lessons. There are no academic requirements other than elementary school textbooks. Chen Pingan will take out more than a dozen books in different categories, covering phonology, epigraphy, heavenly calculations, water and land, laws and regulations, etc., and let the children read them by themselves. If they have any questions, You can ask him about rare words or the meaning of a certain sentence.

Chen Ping'an would also take out some physical objects and put them on the table, such as a few tablets and inscriptions that can be bought in general bookstores, several seals carved by himself, porcelain, etc., which gave Meng Tong the most intuitive impression. Be clear about what one is.

In some busy farming seasons, rural schools will only hold classes for half a day.

The teacher would also help with the field work, so some old people got together behind the scenes and laughed and said something like Mr. Chen doing farm work. He was really a good hand, better than teaching.

In order to grab water, fights often break out between the upper and lower villages, and large-scale armed fights are possible, but as long as no one is killed or injured, the county generally does not care about these.

The village below the school, where almost everyone has the surname Chen, and Wuxi Village, the largest village at the entrance of the mountain col, are the most fiercely competing for water. There was a fierce fight not long ago, and almost all the young people in the two villages participated, because There was a child in the school, and his father was among them. This seemingly dull and dull man was ruthless. I guess the people in Wuxi Village knew the truth. Several people surrounded him and beat him. He was originally squatting in the distance with his hands in his sleeves. Chen Ping'an, who was watching the excitement, saw the man knocked to the ground by giving him a shoulder pole, so he had no choice but to run over. Amidst the rain of sticks and hoes, he found an opportunity to pick up the fallen man and ran away.

Several women in Wuxi Village either felt that the teacher really deserved a beating, or they felt that the man in a blue shirt and long coat with cloth shoes was different from the ordinary farm men who were tired of seeing them. They laughed and went up to block the road. Fortunately, the teacher wiped the soles of his feet. The oil ran faster, but the man, after taking a breath, just nodded to the teacher. The country villagers didn't say the polite words, they just grinned. The simple man's eyes were full of gratitude, and then he Use the local dialect to exchange some curse words with those in the neighboring village, and strode back to the "battlefield".

The next day when the two old masters in Wuxi Village heard about this, they cursed at the wine table. It was so insulting to the gentlemen, how unbecoming it was! For that tuition fee, this kid really didn't give up any face.

At that time, outside the "battlefield", the Taoist priest and the boy squatted by the roadside, eating melon seeds and watching a play.

Lu Chen smiled and said: "It's the same on the mountain and down the mountain. There are only two important things. You can fight and you can escape."

Ning Ji was puzzled and couldn't help but ask: "Master Lu, isn't Mr. Chen a monastic?"

Lu Chen said: "I'm learning from someone."

Ning Ji now stopped seeing Master Lu and curiously asked, "Who is this person?"

Lu Chen smiled and said: "He is to Chen Pingan, just like Chen Pingan is to you. As for who this person is, you don't need to know for the time being."

There are several customs in the Yanzhou prefecture. In some rural villages, the clan temple often pays for the troupe to dance the bamboo horse. They use bamboo strips to weave the bamboo horse frame, paste various colored papers on the outside, and then tie the horse's neck Colorful bells are tied on, gongs and drums are beaten to bring good omens, and it is extremely lively. The children follow the bamboo horse procession, making a lot of noise, just like a new year. In addition, there are often two villages where men and women marry each other, and they are called world relatives. In the first month of every year, even if they are far apart, they will go to each other's ancestral hall to offer incense and set off firecrackers, just like visiting relatives. Have a meal locally. Just like the village in the middle, it is closely related to a large village dozens of miles away. Every time when fighting for water or encountering disputes with Wuxi Village, which has a large number of people, and if you are at a disadvantage and are bullied, there will be people that night. The villagers went to the top of the mountain to light a bonfire. The next day, there would be a large group of people in the Shiqin village. Before dawn, they prepared their own rations for the day and rushed here. Without saying a word, they went straight to the ancestral hall of Wuxi Village. .

Lu Chen once took the boy on a "far trip" and saw with his own eyes the erection and movement of boundary monuments in certain prefectures and counties. The boy also lived in a certain dynasty. On New Year's Day every month, there would be an old blind man holding a wooden duo, There is a kind of religious chant that is chanted on the road, most of which are concise and to the point, often just a few sentences and no more than 30 words. Chief Lu would explain to the young man roughly the pros and cons of a country's laws, imperial edicts, local township covenants, and clan rules.

In the school, there was a child who was often beaten. His family was in the village and belonged to a relatively well-off family.

The child didn't say anything, and he didn't complain when he got home. It was probably because the parents saw the red and swollen palms of their child's hands, and they immediately became unhappy. They went to Mr. Chen, who had done nothing serious, and complained endlessly, threatening to beat him like this again. My child, I will no longer study in this school. The gentleman said nothing and just nodded in agreement. As a result, the couple had just left, and the child sneaked over to the school, his face flushed. Mr. Chen touched his head and said with a smile, if you make a mistake again in the future, you will still be beaten by Mr. Chen. It will be lighter. The child grinned, scratched his head, and said nothing.

After school every day, Chen Pingan often goes fishing by the stream, and he can also let Zhao Shu cook and make a small stove for dinner.

There were a few Mengtong boys who were not good at reading and didn't seem to work very hard. They plucked up the courage and went fishing with their husbands. One of them, a tall man who never wore shoes all year round, had good fishing skills and soon he was skewered with dogtail grass. There was a long list of stream fish. Before leaving, I probably wanted to secretly put them into my husband's fish basket. Maybe he was too shy to do so, so he deliberately threw them near the fish basket and ran away.

Chen Pingan was not polite and threw the string of stream fish into the fish basket. As a result, the next morning, the child didn't turn in his homework, so he still got a slap in the face, grinning from ear to ear.

So the child received an extra chestnut blow and held his head in pain. The husband put a straight face on his face and lowered his voice and taught him a lesson. He is quite good at fishing. Do you remember all the fish on the page of that picture book? The child shook his head with a shy face, but he was not lying. He honestly said that he recognized the fish painted but not the words next to it. The husband laughed and scolded, "Don't you remember after eating? How come you are so smart when fishing? Is it more difficult to recognize a few words in a book that cannot move than to catch so many fish swimming around?"

In class this day, the child just stared at those pages of pictures and words, ignoring everything else. When Chen Pingan saw him deserting, he didn't care.

There was also the young boy who was so anxious that he couldn't hold back his pee in class, but he didn't dare to talk to his teacher, so he just peed his pants in the classroom.

After being discovered, the whole room burst into laughter, and the teacher signaled everyone to be quiet, and personally took the child to the stream to clean his pants, so that he would be bolder in the future and raise his hand in class, and then hinted to the teacher with his eyes, without saying anything. The teacher will find a reason to let him leave the school.

When a child went to school, he was depressed and drooped. The teacher asked him what was wrong. The child said that he had to reason with his parents yesterday and got a big slap in the face.

Chen Pingan asked the child what the truth was. The Meng boy was coquettish in learning and applying the principles in the book. Chen Pingan held back his laughter and comforted him with a few words.

When classes started that day, all the children found that the teacher was always smiling, much more than before.

There is a taciturn Mengtong who lives alone in a village in the mountains. The so-called village is actually only a few families, so he has to walk several miles of mountain roads every day to and from school. However, no matter what kind of bad weather it is, No matter how heavy the rain is, this child is never late. Chen Ping'an knew that there was a section of mountain road along the stream that was extremely narrow. During heavy rains, there were often flash floods. If he accidentally fell into the flood, it would be unthinkable, so Zhao Shuxia would ask Zhao Shuxia to take care of him every rainy day, if the child happened to be going to school or after school. Just escort him quietly.

Once the monthly class was over, Chen Pingan said with a smile that he went up the mountain with the Mengtong. The child who originally came and went like flying, probably walked the slowest ever when he followed the gentleman holding a green bamboo stick. At night, when we arrived at the door of his house, the child hesitated to speak several times. He probably wanted to invite his husband to sit and have a meal at home, but the family was too poor, so he was too embarrassed to speak. Chen Pingan said with a smile, I have to have a meal with you shamelessly. In that dim room, I had a meal with the family and drank some local brewed shochu. The teacher left drunk, and the child secretly gave away a lot of money. A long night journey.

Recently, Chen Ping'an has begun to collect prefaces and postscripts of various poetry articles.

Chen Pingan also prepared some paper and pen and ink, including red paper that can be used to write Spring Festival couplets and the word "Fu". After a year of preparation, we will select those Meng children who have excellent calligraphy lessons and those who work hard, and give them to them respectively before closing the school at the end of the year.

In addition, every night, Chen Ping'an would cut out wooden and bamboo tablets, totaling three to four hundred yuan, and write a poem or another name for this word. The latter, such as tea, is Never sleep.

The teacher wrote the bamboo and wooden signs one stroke at a time and calmly.