Traveling south, they mostly traveled by water. When they reached Guangxi, it was almost the third month of spring, and the weather in the south was getting warmer. Daiyu and her nephew got off the boat and planned to pass through Guangxi and head to Yunnan.
Guangxi was located in a remote area, and it was hot and humid with many forests and miasma. However, they picked a good time to travel. The heat was not hot, the cold was not cold, and the miasma had not risen.
Moreover, along the way, the uncle and niece mostly chose to travel in cities and towns. They also prepared anti-miasma and other measures early on according to Lin Ruoshan's local friend's instructions.
Therefore, although Daiyu's body was not very good, there were no problems. After a period of time, she slowly adapted to the local environment.
Along the way, there was no communication. After getting off the boat, Daiyu's first thought was to inquire about the response to 《Fierce Maiden Temple》.
However, Guangxi was remote, and it was difficult to transmit information. No matter what was popular outside, it was always a bit slow to reach here. Only when they reached the capital of Guangxi, Nanning, did they have a bit of an idea.
On this day, Daiyu was sitting in the small courtyard she rented temporarily to read.
Lin Ruoshan went to a famous teahouse in Nanning where scholars often gathered. When he came back, he brought a stack of paper for Daiyu.
Lin Ruoshan gestured to her, "Read it."
Daiyu opened it and read. Her expression became like a rainbow, and she quickly flipped to the end.
It turned out that after Zhang Daoheng's incident, 《Fierce Maiden Temple》, which was originally only spread in a certain area, became popular.
Zhang Daoheng was a famous scholar of the present age, a great scholar. Although he did not have an official's salary, he had many disciples. The reason he came to the capital was precisely because a disciple who was an official in the capital invited him.
Since he commented on 《Fierce Maiden Temple》, although he was referring to literary traitors, everyone was curious and wanted to see what kind of "literary traitor" was.
Therefore, this book spread on the streets.
After reading the book, although many people agreed and accused Xiaoxiang of being a literary traitor, there was another group of people who did not think so.
Gradually, a big debate was set off. Among them, the focus of the debate was the coastal area south of the Yangtze River.
First of all, the place described in Brave Maiden Temple was the south of Zhejiang. Secondly, the students and old friends of Governor Xiaoxiang from the Zhu Family joined forces to attack him. They started a war of words one after another, scolding Xiaoxiang Gentleman. They said that among the scholars, there was a person who specialized in writing obscene stories called Xiaoxiang Gentleman. They said that he was a disloyal and unfilial literary thief and wrote a petition to Zhejiang Province to ban this book.
Generally speaking, the more books were banned, the more people would break the ban.
Since Jiangzhe, prosperous and affluent, merchants have gathered, but there are also many rebellious fanatics. These fanatics loved to go against people who claimed to be righteous and upright. As soon as they heard that it was a forbidden book, some people fished it out to read. When they saw it, they exclaimed that it was wonderful! They immediately opposed each other and wrote articles to complain about the injustice for Xiaoxiang Gentleman.
Among these people, the ones who complained about the injustice for Xiaoxiang Gentleman were a group of "unfilial disciples" led by the famous scholars of Jiangnan. For example, Li Baiquan, who was famous for his "childishness theory", often criticized the imperial court for emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, and once mocked Confucius Sage.
He even pointed the tip of his pen at Zhang Daoheng.
The two sides fought fiercely, and most of the scholars from the two factions were involved. The center of the debate was how to evaluate the heroine of Fierce Maiden Temple, Yulan.
On one side, they said that she was a pitiful person, and on the other side, they said that she was a disloyal, unfilial, unfilial, and deserved to die a slut.
Daiyu read ten lines at a glance and sighed, "I didn't know that a book of mine could cause so much trouble."
Lin Ruoshan glanced at her, "Are you going to cry?"
Daiyu had finished reading. She slapped the stack of paper on the table, gritted her teeth and smiled, "Why are you crying? It's just funny. "
She was half angry and half laughing, "That Zhang Daoheng, a great scholar of his generation, said these kinds of nonsense. It's really refreshing to me. In all my life, this is the first time I've been a literary thief!"
Lin Ruoshan said, "Daiyu, Zhang Daoheng is not wrong. You are indeed a 'literary thief'. "
Daiyu heard this and was stunned, as if she was struck by lightning, "Uncle, you!"
Lin Ruoshan looked at her expression, stood up with his hands behind his back, shook his head, and said, "You wrote 'Fierce Maiden Temple' yourself. Don't tell me you don't know what you wrote? "
He picked up a piece of paper, flicked it, and read, "'Using warmth to cover up disobedience to etiquette and law, using pity to cover up disloyalty and unfilial piety, using the feelings between men and women to cover up unchastity and unfilial'."
After he finished reading, he laughed, "What a good Zhang Daoheng. People say that he has keen insight and has the ability to see the big picture from small details. Sure enough, he lives up to his reputation. "
Daiyu was still stunned.
Lin Ruoshan laughed, "Don't let your emotions affect your decisions. Put aside your personal feelings, likes and dislikes. As the author of the essay, think about it yourself, is what Zhang Daoheng said right?"
Hearing his words, Daiyu was stunned for a moment. She remembered when she first started writing, a scene appeared in her mind.
At that time, she was sitting under the lamp, thinking about Du 'er, thinking about her second sister, thinking about what she had seen in the past few days. Her eyes were full of sullenness and anger. Facing the endless darkness outside the window, it was as if through the darkness, she saw something invisible, omnipresent, that caused Du' er to suffer, that caused her second sister to feel desolate, and that made her feel as if she was suffocating.
Daiyu could not see clearly what it was. But at that moment, her whole body trembled, as if only the pen in her hand could resist the fear and hatred that rose from the bottom of her heart.
She thought for half a night before she could barely grasp some clues about that thing. Instinctively, she wrote these clues in her essay, describing it as the evil force that destroyed Yulan.
Thinking of this, Daiyu was suddenly stunned. All her grievances from before turned into flames, burning fiercely, but were instantly sealed in ice.
With trembling hands, she snatched the paper from Lin Ruoshan's hands. She read Zhang Daoheng's comments word by word, and finally muttered, "Using warmth to cover up disobedience to the law, using pity to cover up disloyalty and unfilial piety, using love to cover up unchastity and unvirtuous …"
Clan, witch, young husband, county magistrate …
After a while, Lin Ruoshan heard the young girl laugh, muttering, "So that's how it is, that's how it is. I saw it … I saw it! "
Her eyes were as bright as stars.
It could be said that before this, Daiyu did not know what she was objecting to. She was only expressing what she saw, heard, and felt in her essay as a pity for Yulan.
But at this moment, she knew.
Seeing Daiyu's agitated expression, Lin Ruoshan smiled slightly, "Brother Daoheng, oh Brother Daoheng, thank you so much. From now on, this little niece of mine has really awakened. "
The only people who understand you the most are your enemies.
Zhang Daoheng was the direct beneficiary of the things that Daiyu objected to. And he was also extremely sensitive. He had long sensed that if everyone agreed with Daiyu's inclination in this essay, then it would be very bad.
With just a glance, he clearly pointed out the author's unwitting "objection".
Daiyu's approval of Yulan's warmth in the essay, her sympathetic description of Yulan's tragic situation, and her affirmation of Yulan and Ah Man's love, were actually against the law, against loyalty and filial piety, against chastity, against the clan, the witch, the young husband and mother-in-law, and the county magistrate!
She was not opposing a clan, a witch, a family, or a county magistrate in Pingyang County. She was opposing all of them.
Zhang Daoheng's accusation was like a bolt of lightning that lit up Daiyu's soul in disguise.
Daiyu's snow-white face actually flushed a little because of her agitation. She smiled and said, "Uncle, you're right. I'm a 'literary traitor', I'm a 'literary traitor'!"
To Zhang Daoheng and the others, she was indeed a 'literary traitor' who had hidden her intentions but was actually vainly trying to overturn the world.
She was both fearful and excited.
She was excited because from now on, she finally knew clearly what she was opposing.
She was fearful of two things. One was that the thing she was opposing was too big. Two was that she actually still wanted to oppose this thing.
Lin Ruoshan looked at Daiyu's expression and reminded her, "Daiyu, don't be too excited. You need to be careful of people like Zhang Daoheng in the future. "
Daiyu reacted. She couldn't help but tremble and nod her head.
Other people only thought that Daiyu had written an ordinary and touching story. However, people like Zhang Daoheng could see at a glance that Daiyu's story was a rebellion and harm to society and the orthodoxy. It could indeed be said that one could see the big picture from a small clue.
Not long after he finished speaking, Daiyu was still in a state of excitement as she paced around the courtyard. After a while, she thought of something and asked Lin Ruoshan, "Uncle, didn't you mention a Mr. Bai Quan before? What kind of famous person are they? "
Lin Ruoshan was startled. He smiled and said, "Li Baiquan and the others. They're fanatics." He briefly explained the ideas of Li Baiquan and the others.
Daiyu made a sound of surprise. Until now, she had always felt a sense of closeness towards those people who had deviated from orthodoxy. However, when she heard that he advocated the principle of paying equal attention to agriculture and commerce, she frowned instead.
Lin Ruoshan looked at her expression and asked with a smile, "Don't think that Li Baiquan and the others were at odds with the Zhu family and Zhang Daoheng purely because of your 'Fierce Maiden Temple', right? They helped you because they were doing it for themselves. Do you know what Li Baiquan and the others' families are like? "
Daiyu was stunned for a moment, "Their families?"
Her uncle picked up the stack of papers and said, "Li Baiquan and the others were mostly born in wealthy merchant families. Most of their families have the background of sea merchants. Especially Li Baiquan. His family is a tycoon in Zhejiang. His family's textile factory stretches for ten li. The sound of weaving and weaving can be heard throughout the night. His family's silk and satins are sold as far away as Taixi. It can be said that his wealth is comparable to that of a country. "
Daiyu frowned and said, "I've long heard that in the south of Zhejiang, scholars and commoners have been fighting over the sea ever since Taizong. I didn't expect that they would go to such lengths to open up the sea privately. "
Lin Ruoshan smiled and didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "Daiyu, what do you think of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce?"
Daiyu shook her head and didn't say what she thought.
Lin Ruoshan seemed to be interested. He stood up and walked a few rounds. He raised a cup of wine and drank it in one gulp. He smiled and said, "In the land of China, merchants have always had a low status since ancient times. Most of them rely on officials, nobles, or big families. If the imperial court didn't secretly support this opening of the sea privately, it wouldn't be so grand. It's just that … "
Lin Ruoshan seemed to be in a good mood and was talking loudly.
Looking at his expression, Daiyu frowned and didn't say anything, which was rare.
Lin Ruoshan glanced at her expression and sighed. He stopped talking and asked, "Daiyu, I heard that Guilin's mountains and waters are the best in the world. Do you want to see it?"
Daiyu's eyes lit up when she heard this. There were very few people who didn't go to Guilin in Guangxi. It was said that Guilin's mountains and waters were the best in the world. She had been fascinated for a long time. It's just that … she glanced at Lin Ruoshan and hesitated for a moment. She said, "Uncle, I'm not against you. Along the way, I know that what you say makes sense. It's just that, just that, I can't accept it right now. "
Lin Ruoshan smiled and sighed. "You child! I just talked about 'rationality', 'materialism', and 'independent thinking' a while ago. Have you forgotten? Do you have to accept whatever I say? What kind of person would that make me? You've always been oversensitive. Don't be oversensitive with me. Okay? "
Daiyu's eyes reddened. She nodded and understood what he meant. She smiled and said, "Then let's go to Guilin quickly!"
They went all the way to the northeast of Guangxi and arrived at Guilin.
Guilin was indeed beautiful.
The mountains were misty, green trees, and red flowers.
The colors were unbelievably beautiful.
The water of Li River was calm and clear. It was like a big mirror, reflecting the sky on the river.
When the boat sailed across Li River, it almost made people wonder if it was the sky that was moving, not the boat.
The only thing lacking was that there were fishing boats coming and going on the river. The fishermen were both Han and strong. Most of them wore tattered clothes and were so thin that they were only bones. They hurriedly cast a few nets. It didn't seem like they were fishing, but more like they were running for their lives.
Lin Ruoshan saw this and frowned.
Not long after the boat sailed, the sky suddenly changed. In an instant, it became gloomy and heavy rain began to fall. Daiyu and Lin Ruoshan's boat didn't have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Their paper umbrellas were also blown by the wind.
In the rain and strong winds, the calm surface of Li River was also surging with waves. The boat was also not very stable. After a while, in the wind and waves, it seemed like an even bigger boat was approaching from afar. Lin Ruoshan squinted to identify it.
The boatman's expression changed greatly. He immediately turned his head and called for Lin Ruoshan.
The boatman was a simple and honest man from a strong family. He was introduced by Lin Ruoshan's friend. The Zhuang family and the Han people got along very well. As a result, most of the Zhuang family members could speak the Han language. It was just that they spoke the local dialect of Guang Xi and not the official language. Their pronunciation was also not accurate.
Lin Ruoshan had been to Guang Xi before and learned some of the local dialect. He could barely make out that the boatman was asking, "Do you guys know how to swim?"
Although Daiyu didn't know how to swim, he knew how to swim. Swimming with a thin and weak little girl like Daiyu wasn't a problem. Lin Ruoshan thought about it and nodded.
The boatman said, "Then hurry up and jump off the boat!" There seemed to be a dozen or so people standing on the boat. Most of them were holding knives in their hands.
"Are they pirates?" Lin Ruoshan asked.
"There's no difference! Hurry up and jump! "The boatman urged them again.
Lin Ruoshan turned his head and saw his little niece's frightened and confused expression. She clearly didn't know what was going on.
He composed himself and pulled Daiyu over. He whispered, "When we fall into the water, relax your body and grab onto uncle. Uncle will swim with you." Without waiting for Daiyu to react, they jumped into the water. Splash.
With another splash, the boatman also jumped into the water and signaled for them to follow.
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