On the fifth day of June in the 37th year of Jiajing, the backyard of Chun'an County Yamen, Yanzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.
Fourteen year old Haizhongtang sat under the eaves, with a dog tail grass in his mouth, and looked at the moon on the eaves in boredom. The wooden door next to it was mottled and squeaked when the wind blew.
"It's so boring. I've been staying at home for almost two years. How can I go out for a walk?"
He has been in Daming for two years, and passed through Haizhongtang, which did not exist in history. The year he first came here, Haizhongtang felt very complicated when he saw his famous father Hairui. He himself was a fanatical lover of Ming history in his previous life.
How could the brilliant Ming Dynasty, "The Son of Heaven guards the country's gate, and the king dies", not let him fall?
Naturally, he knew Hai Rui, who was known as the most upright official in the Ming Dynasty. The spiritual benchmark of this group of literati and officialdom wrote the "Honest Comments on the First Things in the World", which criticized the evils of the emperor system, and the famous "Mr. Bijia" Hai Gangfeng.
But he also knew that Hairui was very indifferent to his wife and children in addition to being filial to his mother. It's a bit difficult for Haizhongtang to be his father.
The cheap father soon poured cold water on Haizhongtang. He selected Zhu Xi's "The Doctrine of the Mean" to test Haizhongtang's knowledge.
Hai Rui has great expectations for his eldest son. The most regrettable thing in his life is that he didn't get the entrance exam. He is just an outstanding person. Since the beginning of the imperial examination, everyone has been proud of being admitted to the imperial examination. Although the whole life seems superior to the people, it is not enough for the Jinshi.
In officialdom, discrimination is very serious. Therefore, Hairui has great expectations for Haizhong Tang, hoping that he can make up for his regret and become a young scholar who "sees as many Chang'an flowers as possible every day".
Haizhong Tang felt confused and didn't drink a few glasses of wine himself? Why do you suddenly feel so dizzy? I know these four words separately, but I don't know them when they are connected together.
Hairui, the 44 year old father, can be said to be burning with anger. He thought that Haizhongtang might stumble on his back, but he didn't expect that his children would have such difficulty in opening their mouths to speak.
The old father, who always attached importance to education, was so angry that he stopped Haizhongtang for two years and asked him to study hard at home. He was not allowed to go out with his brother.
But Haizhongtang also felt his father's warmth. The Hai family is very poor. How poor are they? The only meat eaten at home usually belongs to Hai Rui's mother.
Haiwang's mother loves her husband, and she will try her best to give him some meat. Hairui saw the little meat, looked at his two sons in his bowl, smiled and shook his head, and distributed the minced meat equally to them. Haiwang always knocks on the heads of the two boys.
Today's Haizhong Tang is different from the past. The script is written in regular script, which is better than the "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" twisted into hemp rope.
The great Confucian commentaries on the four books and five classics examined in the eight part essay are also familiar. The usual questions of Comrade Lao Hai can no longer defeat today's Xiao Hai students.
But let alone say that Haizhongtang's brain is much faster after crossing, which may be the invisible welfare of crossing.
"Brother Tang, the night is cold, go back to the house and rest." The old wooden door was slowly pushed open by his mother, Haiwang. Whether this wooden door can work hard, or whether it can be repaired if it breaks is a question of two.
"I see, mother." Haizhong Tang responded with a "bah" and spat out the dog tail grass on his mouth. He followed his mother into the house.
There is a lot of heat in Chun'an in June. There are three other people, big and small, lying on several beds in the room. Hairui is leaning against the bed, studying books carefully by the flickering candle light.
Devoted, he did not care about the end of his eldest son's cool. His younger brother Hai Zhongdi is now two years old, lying in a small bed waiting for his brother to sleep together.
Hairui's mother, Haixie, has already fallen asleep. There is only a curtain between her and Hairui's and Haiwang's sleeping places.
"I can't help it. My family is still too poor. My father just took office as the magistrate of Chun'an County, and he had no income before. Now when my family cannot make ends meet, my father still needs to take his salary to help the poor."
Now Haizhong Tang is used to this. He didn't complain about his father, Hai Rui. Instead, he admired such people.
The salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty was still very low. During the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang may have been used to living in poverty before, and the salary for officials was very low.
In the Ming Dynasty, the salary of a county magistrate was 90 stone a year, and it would be very good if the superior paid 80 stone a year. The life of the parents in a county is so hard, let alone the people below, they live even harder.
Therefore, Haizhongtang has no resistance to Hairui's act of helping the poor people. He can at least eat half full, while those people have nothing to eat.
He has pity for these people. The 37th year of Jiajing was in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and Japanese pirates plundered and looted seriously. In particular, in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, Japanese invaders continue to suffer.
It was late at night, Haizhongtang went to his little bed with his brother and took off his clothes. When his brother Haizhongdi saw his brother coming up, he gave way to the inside so that he could have more space.
Although my younger brother is usually a little naughty, he is his own brother. He is inseparable from urination. Haizhong Tang touched his brother's head and whispered.
"Brother, go to bed. It's late."
Haizhongdi obediently closed his eyes and rubbed his head against his brother's arm.
Hairui has no children all his life. He crosses Haizhongtang which doesn't exist, but his younger brother Haizhongdi is different! In history, he died early. Some people said that it was caused by the hereditary disease of the Hai family. Hai Zhongtang did not know about this.
He is not a doctor. He is just an ordinary college student who likes to point out the history of the Ming Dynasty. He is not very clear about these pathological knowledge.
But there was a miracle doctor of the same era. Yes, Li Shizhen, who wrote the Compendium of Materia Medica.
During the Jiajing period, he made friends with his father Hai Rui and served as a medical officer in the Palace of Prince Yu, but now they don't know each other. However, he believes that one day there will be a way to break the situation.
"No matter, go to sleep first." Haizhongtang helped Haizhongdi tuck in the quilt corner.
"Dad, go to sleep. It's late at night, go to bed." Haizhong Tang saw that his father Hairui had not yet gone to bed, and Haiwang's family had already rested. Hairui was still holding a book and studying it carefully.
"Well, go to bed first, and I'll see it later." Hairui's eyes strayed from the book and glanced at his eldest son.
"You can go out tomorrow. You've learned enough, so you should go out for a walk." Hairui suddenly said.
"... OK." Haizhong Tang was stunned, and then he could not suppress his excitement.
"God, I can finally go out, and the life of an otaku is finally over!" Haizhongtang cried.
"Well, you will recite your lessons tomorrow." Hairui poured cold water again without accident.
"How can you water a kettle so well? You can't open it." Haizhongtang thought viciously, so he turned over fell asleep.
