Liu Zongzhou is a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and Huang Zunsu is also a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, but the former is from Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture, and the latter is from Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture.

The county seat of Shanyin and the city of Shaoxing belong to the same city of the county and are not far from the county seat of Yuyao.

In addition, the study style in the two places and the two places is prosperous, and Wang Yangming, who is also a local, is respected as a model for learning, and the scholars are also very close to each other.

And Liu Zongzhou and Huang Zunsu are not only fellow villagers in the region, but also in learning, and after they became officials in the Jinshi examination, they supported each other and took care of each other, and the relationship was very good.

Liu Zong's time of Jinshi in the Zhou Dynasty was very early, and he was admitted to the Jinshi in the twenty-ninth year of Wanli, but this person had a strange personality, and he was very dissatisfied with the practice of Emperor Wanli dropping out of the dynasty and the situation at the end of Wanli, and often wrote to criticize the emperor and reprimand the government.

Behavior like his, even in later generations of so-called democracy, could not be tolerated by those in power, let alone in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, in the fortieth year of Wanli, Liu Zongzhou was once again driven out of the Beijing court and dismissed from office and went home.

Many years later, the Wanli Emperor died, and the successor Taichang Emperor died again, and when he arrived at the newly succeeded Emperor of the Apocalypse, he, a figure who had almost been completely forgotten by the Jingshi court, ushered in a turn of fate.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse, who had just succeeded to the throne, humbly accepted the proposal of the then imperial historian Huang Zunsu, reinstated his position, and let him return to the court as an official.

It is precisely because of such a relationship between Liu Zongzhou and Huang Zunsu that after Huang Zunsu died in prison, Liu Zongzhou took such care of Huang Zunsu's sons.

In the history of the late Ming Dynasty, the first three of Huang Zunsu's five sons, Huang Zongxi, Huang Zongyan, and Huang Zonghui, who were later known as the "Three Yellows of Eastern Zhejiang", were all Liu Zongzhou's personal disciples.

Now Huang Zongxi's third brother Huang Zonghui is still young, and every time he reaches the age of bunching his hair and studying, he has not yet joined Liu Zongzhou's disciples.

However, the twenty-one-year-old Huang Zongxi and his fifteen or sixteen-year-old second brother Huang Zongyan have been taught for a period of time at the home of Liu Zongzhou, the head of Dali Temple in the Ming Dynasty.

And the slightly older Huang Zongxi has been taught by Liu Zongzhou for several years.

On this day, it was the first day of the fifth month, and it was the Shuo Ri court meeting of the imperial court as usual, and Liu Zong, one of the "Nine Qings", had already gone to the court on Monday.

When Huang Zongxi was studying in Guozijian, he ate and lived in Guozijian most of the time, and he easily did not have the opportunity to come out and move freely.

It's just that it's different now, after graduating from high school, he naturally moved out of Guozijian, and now he is living in the side courtyard of his mentor Liu Zongzhou's house.

Huang Zongxi and his younger brother Huang Zongyan talked about the fourth year of Chongzhen today, which is also related to Liu Zongzhou's current ascension.

Because on the first day of the fifth month, the Shuori court meeting of the Jianji Hall decided the distribution of the new science and technology scholars in Chongzhen's four years.

"Brother, don't worry! Whether or not you can go back to Jiangnan to take up a post is not a big deal! Even if you enter the southwestern provinces, or even go to the northwestern provinces, you can still serve His Majesty the Emperor and benefit the common people in the world! ”

After Huang Zongxi was admitted to the Jinshi, he originally wanted to stay in the Beijing Division, but when he learned that the Sanbang Jinshi did not have a special purpose to select all the foreign officials, he was a little disheartened and began to think about going back to Jiangnan.

However, Huang Zongyan has some different views on this.

"Second brother thinks I'm picking fat and thin? Not really! My brother has been away from home for several years, living and studying in Beijing, and all the family affairs are not taken care of, so tired that my mother works hard day and night to provide food and clothing for my younger brothers! For my brother these days I think about this at night, and I often feel uncomfortable!

"Since the Jingshi is here, there is a chance that my brother will not be able to stay, and in the next few years, there will be no force in the affairs of the court! If you can go to a certain place in the south of the Yangtze River to serve, you can serve the imperial court on one side, and on the other hand, you can be close to home, connected by mountains and rivers, and you can also take care of your mother nearby! ”

When Huang Zongyan heard his brother say this, he felt a little ashamed for a while, so he stopped talking.

The two brothers were silent, holding food and feeding the goldfish in the pond, while waiting for their mentor Liu Zongzhou to return from the last dynasty.

The two of them didn't wait long before they heard a commotion in the main courtyard.

The two brothers glanced at each other, and they all knew that this was the sound of their mentor's Dali Temple Zhengqing Liu Zongzhou's carriage and horse returning home.

Liu Zongzhou is extremely rigid as an official, and even on the issue of governing the family, he also acts very strictly in accordance with the Confucian system of etiquette and music.

Especially after serving as the Zhengqing of Dali Temple, whether he went out, returned home, or even just stayed at home to study and teach apprentices, all of them were carried out in accordance with the etiquette system set by Zhou Gong and Confucius, and the rules were very big.

It's not that Liu Zongzhou likes to put on a score, but this person thinks from the bottom of his heart that doing so can lead the world to the world.

When the brothers Huang Zongxi heard this noise, they glanced at each other, hurriedly threw down the fish food that had not been fed in their hands, tidied up the following clothes, and walked quickly to the central hall of the main courtyard.

As soon as the two of them came to the courtyard of Erjin, they saw an old servant beside their teacher coming in a hurry.

When the man saw Brother Huang Zongxi, he immediately bowed down and saluted, and whispered, "Big Yellow Boy! The lord has returned home! We're looking for you! ”

After speaking, the old servant took the lead and led Huang Zongxi to the middle hall of the second courtyard.

The front yard is a place to meet foreign visitors, and the middle hall of the second courtyard is Liu Zongzhou's study, which is also the place where he usually reads, writes, writes and speaks, and teaches the Huang brothers and several other disciples.

Huang Zongxi and Huang Zongyan brothers were very familiar with this place, and soon followed the old servant to the outside of the second hall.

After the old servant finished passing the word, Huang Zongxi and the two stepped into the study in the east wing of the second hall, and then knelt on the ground and saluted.

Liu Zongzhou sat behind a square table, with pen, ink, paper and inkstones on the table, and all kinds of books neatly placed on the bookshelf behind him.

"Too rushed, too rushed! The teacher told you that now that you have been selected as a jinshi, even if you are an official of the imperial court, even if you can't be an official in the same dynasty for a while, but in the etiquette of the master and apprentice, you can't be like the past! Get up! ”

Taichong is Huang Zongxi's table.

After listening to the last words of his mentor, Huang Zongxi immediately got up from the ground, tidied up his clothes, and then bowed down, which was regarded as another salute.

As for Huang Zongyan, who was kneeling on the ground, Liu Zongzhou didn't say to let him get up, so he could only kneel first.

It's just that he is deaf and clear-sighted, first he heard the words from his teacher's mouth that he couldn't be an official in the same dynasty for a while, and then he looked up and saw Liu Zongzhou's face was vaguely unhappy, and he sighed in his heart, knowing that this time his brother's affairs were afraid that there was no hope for him to come true.

Sure enough, Liu Zongzhou thought for a moment with the tea bowl, took a sip of tea, then put down the tea bowl and said to Huang Zongxi:

"The jinshi of your department, the official department took out the article of conferring officials today, and as for the result, the teacher also listened to it and read it at the court meeting."

Speaking of this, Liu Zongzhou looked at Huang Zongxi and said: "The practice of the national dynasty, the three lists of jinshi, if there is no special purpose, they will all be let go!"

"Taichong, your arrangement has also come out, this time you have to give the order of Hancheng County, Shaanxi! The twenty-one-year-old prefectural order is also available! ”

After Liu Zongzhou said this, he picked up the tea bowl and drank tea again, but what he said was like a big stone thrown into a small pond, which made Huang Zongxi's heart suddenly churn:

"Shaanxi Hancheng!? Teacher! Students are willing to go back to Jiangnan, even if they don't go to Nanzhi, they can go to Fujian and Jiangxi, and students don't want to go to Hancheng, Shaanxi! ”

"Nonsense! Which Jinshi in the world doesn't want to go to Jiangnan, you are from the top three lists, where is there room for picking!? ”

As soon as Huang Zongxi's words came out, he attracted a reprimand from Liu Zongzhou.

Especially the words of the three lists of Jinshi in Liu Zongzhou's words, which made Huang Zongxi blushing for a while, and he had always been extremely sharp-tongued, but at this time, he only dared to babble and say:

"If the disciple can't go back to Jiangnan this time, he is willing to resign and return home, serve his mother, take care of his younger brother, and fulfill the responsibility of the eldest son and eldest brother!"

Huang Zongxi's somewhat angry words made Liu Zongzhou's beard tremble, and he put the tea bowl in his hand on the square table heavily, making a bang, and the tea in the tea bowl also splashed out.

Liu Zongzhou stared at Huang Zongxi, who was red-eared and bowed down, looked at it for a long time, and finally sighed and said to him:

"Your Majesty's culture and education in the northwest and three sides of the country are not prosperous, which has led to the prevalence of the local Musuman's worship of the religion and customs, which has continued to this day, which is a serious disaster!

"And the southwest Miao Barbarian land is lined with Tusi, and the officials are scarce, so that its land has been incorporated into the territory of the Emperor and Ming Dynasty for three hundred years, and it is still not prosperous!

"Therefore, the Ministry of Officials, among the new science and technology scholars, selected those who were born in the heyday of Jiangnan culture and education, and used them in the northwest and southwest to make up for the shortcomings!

"Jiangnan is rich and crowned in the world, who in the world doesn't want to go?! It's just that if everyone thinks like this, who else can they rely on in the future? !

"And the fierce general will be sent to the army, and the prime minister will come from the state and county! In the past, there was Jinshi Li Xin who asked himself to prepare for the war in Liaodong, and then there was a Guozi Jian Sheng, a member of the military machine house, and Ma Gan asked himself to be stationed in central Burma!

"Li Xin, you may not be familiar with it, but Ma Gan was a classmate with you in the Guozi Prison, and he is not as good as you in terms of talent and learning, but he is far above you in terms of practice!

"Too rushed, too rushed! For the sake of the teacher, you have always taken the world as your own responsibility, but if a man has ambitions, he can't just sit and talk about the scriptures and the righteousness, and talk about his heart!

"I was a teacher who had this disease back then, but fortunately, I had the guidance of Mr. Jing'an, the teacher's teacher, so that I can make progress as a teacher today!

"My generation of Shaoxing sages has clouds, and the paper is shallow, and I never know that I have to do it! There is also an allusion in history, saying that a house can sweep the world without sweeping! The truth of this, you brothers must remember to remember! ”