The story of businessman Cui Ju.
Cui Shi's original surname was Jiang. Jiang Taigong's grandson, Sun Shuyi, inherited the fief and went to live in Cui Yi because he thought it was his surname. Cui Ju was born in Zaoqiang, Hebei. In the flood at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the sixth ancestor moved to Yang Qiu (in today's Shandong) and lived there. Generation after generation, people get rich by doing business. Cui Ju's great-grandfather and grandfather have been lost. His father is Quan and he has four sons. Cui Ju is the eldest son. He is brilliant and sociable. When I was a child, it happened that the Jin Dynasty was in turmoil, and all the property in my family was gone. After entering the Yuan Dynasty, Cui Ju came of age, so as the eldest son, he took on the important task of revitalizing his family business. The principle of his business is based on credit and sincerity, flexible trading and adhering to the principle of thrift. No matter whether it is cold or hot during the day and night, he is conscientious in calculating whether the goods are in or out, and never slackens. After the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, Cui Ju expanded the scope of trade to Hunan and Hunan, so his family was huge and there was no richer person in the local area.
Now that her family business is abundant, Cui Ju is more cautious, kind, generous and sincerely blames herself. Borrowing money, money and people, if they are sages, often do not charge interest; If you can't pay back the money when you are poor, simply destroy the IOUs and don't want them. If the kitchen is broken, give it at once, for fear that it won't help. Everyone in the village knows his virtue.
Cui Ju has five sons. One night, he suddenly realized that he was old, so he divided the property equally and gave each son a share, telling them not to ruin the industry. He walked calmly to visit relatives and friends on crutches, "running around and enjoying himself." He died at the age of eighty.
All the above are about Cui Ju, a person recorded in the "memorial tablet". What kind of business he runs is not clear from the inscription. When writing the inscription, it was impossible to even investigate the name of Cui Juzu's father, but the inscription still linked the family with the grandson of Jiang Taigong in Shang Dynasty. These two points very typically reflect the spiritual temperament and fashion of the Yuan society.
The activities of businessmen are sometimes vividly depicted in poems. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Yang Weizhen wrote an ancient poem "Salt Storage": "I don't want to live in a million households, but I hope that salt will benefit me in the west. Life does not seek wealth, but salt merchants are rich in material things. Agricultural class, salting out, people dare not fight for awl knives. Salt merchants used to be a poor family, living together with the Wangs. Ting Ding Jiao first burned the sea que, and salt merchants washed their hands to keep them transported. A big cushion contains a bag of 300 catties of cattle and 1000 hooves of horses. Salt merchants have no choice but to change the law and open a new river. Who dares to hang thallium when the ship goes down the river? Persuade Neptune not to love Bao. It's too overbearing to subdue me. How to legislate strictly in future generations can we be rich together with salt merchants. Lu Zhongqi, a Luoren in Shu, started with salt. Only today, whoever supplements it will pass it on, and then it will always be Jiazhou County. "
Businessmen have been running around for years. Leave your wife alone in the boudoir. Businessmen are no less wronged than women. Yang Weizhen also wrote "The Merchant's Word", saying that "a prodigal son can lift a boat and take Wan Li Road to Wan Li. I am willing to cut the Xijiang River with golden scissors. " Cut the river short with scissors, so that the husband who is a layman can return as soon as possible. How deep is the resentment of women in the workplace!
The story of "martyr" and "good wife and mother"
Hu, wife of Bohai Sea. In the seventh year of Yuan Dynasty (1270), Liu Ping was stationed in Zaoyang (now Henan) and used his car to carry his family and luggage. Stay overnight in Shahe (now south of Xingtai, Hebei). Suddenly, a tiger jumped out, grabbed Ping Liu and ran away. Hu woke up with a start, hurried to catch up, grabbed the tiger's leg, and shouted to his son to kill the tiger with a knife in the car. After the tiger died, she helped Ping Liu to seek treatment in a nearby town. Because of her injuries, she was not saved in the end. Hu was ordered by the court. Known far and wide. At that time, many people drew a picture entitled "Kill a tiger by fooling around". Someone wrote a poem on the picture, saying, "A healthy woman can be a thorn in the tiger's side if her husband doesn't kill dragons.". Try to see the five elements participating in the transportation, and the two yin (referring to Hu and his son) are prosperous and yang! "
Appreciation of Ancient Landscape Paintings The Huo family has two daughters-in-law, one is Yin, the other is Yang, and the other is Zhengzhou. In Zhiyuan, Yin's husband Huo Yaoqing died. My mother-in-law wants Yin to remarry. Yin said: "A woman's virtue is only chastity. I don't want to remarry and lose my virginity. " Mother-in-law asked her, "All women in the world have to remarry after their husbands die. People don't think there is anything wrong with them. Why are you the only one who is ashamed? " Yin replied, "People have different aspirations. I only know that I want to do what I want to do. " My mother-in-law will no longer force her. Then Huo Xianqing died again. Worried that her mother-in-law would tell her to remarry, Yang first said to her mother-in-law: "I heard that my sister-in-law is like brothers and sisters, and should love each other. Now that your widowed wife hasn't left, can I leave home alone? I am willing to cultivate female morality with her and serve my mother-in-law all my life. " My mother-in-law said, "If you can really do this, what can I say!" "So they lived together for more than 20 years. The matter was reported to the court and received instructions from the government.
Only Lu Huazhen, Mongolian. At the age of 26, her husband suddenly died of illness and vowed not to remarry and support her mother-in-law for more than 25 years. After the death of her mother-in-law, her clothes were dirty and dirty, and she stayed in the shack built by the tomb for life. Zhiyuan was commended by the court.
Feng Shuan, named Jing Jun, was born in a famous official family and was married as his second wife by Li Yin Ruzhong of Shanyin County (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province). Li Ruzhong's ex-wife was a Mongolian woman. She gave birth to a son named Ren and died soon. In the fifth year of Dade (130 1), Li Ruzhong was seriously ill and said to Feng, "I'm dying. What would you do? " Feng cut off his hair with a knife and vowed not to remarry. Two months after Li Ruzhong's death, she gave birth to her husband's posthumous son, named Li Fu. Li Ruzhong and his ex-wife are both in the north. I heard that Li Ruzhong died in office, leaving a lot of legacy, and the two families arrived in Yin Shan together. Feng is seriously ill. They took the opportunity to bring Li Ruzhong's wealth and Li Ren, born to a Mongolian mother, back to the north, leaving the coffins of Feng's mother and son, Li Ruzhong and his ex-wife. Feng ignored them, just crying in the morning and evening in the face of "one room is bare", and the neighbors were miserable. Later, she sold her dowry clothes and makeup, reluctantly buried their coffins at the foot of Ji Mountain (near Shaoxing today), and lived with Li Ruzhong's surviving son in a small house built next to the tomb. She was only 22 years old at this time. Weak body, self-sharpening, making a living by being a female teacher and apprentice. Later, when her parents heard of her visit, they couldn't bear to be separated from her loneliness and advised her to remarry. Feng's paw was bleeding, and he refused to agree. It took 20 years to raise enough money to move Li Ruzhong's coffin to his hometown in Wenshang for burial. Qilu people heard about her and sighed.
Li Shuner, the daughter of Li Rang, a Confucian scholar in Xuzhou (now Xuchang, Henan), is intelligent by nature and can read classics. Zheng Zheng was fifteen years old (1355), and she was 18 years old, and her family never got married. The Red Scarf Army captured Zhou Jun (now Yuxian County, Henan Province) near Xuzhou. Li Rang said to his wife, "My family has known books for generations, and now this daughter is going to get us into trouble." When the daughter heard her father's words, she cried and said, "Don't worry about me, even though my parents fled." She immediately ran to the backyard and hanged herself.
Chen Shuzhen is the daughter of Chen Bi, a native of Fuzhou (now Fengcheng, Jiangxi). Chen Bi is a very honest Confucian scholar. Chen Shuzhen could recite poems and play drums at the age of seven. At the end of Yuan Dynasty, his family fled Longxing (now Nanchang, Jiangxi). In the 18th year of Zheng Zheng (1358), Chen Youliang led an army to attack Longxing. When Chen Shuzhen saw her neighbor coming to change clothes in a hurry, she picked up the piano and sat down under the window to play. The song ended in tears and said, "I can't play the piano anymore!" " "My parents were surprised and asked her what she meant. Chen Shuzhen said, "After the city is conquered, I will be insulted. It is better to die early. " The next day, Chen Youliang's army entered the city. Chen's apartment is near the East Lake, and he threw himself into the lake.
Zhou Rudi, female, 19 years old, unmarried. Twenty years in Zheng Zheng (1360), villagers took advantage of the chaos in the world to rise up. Zhou Rudi's father, a historian in the yamen of Xinchang County (now Zhejiang Province), took his daughter to take refuge in Kesengling, west of the county seat. The daughter was captured by the rebels. The leader said, "I'm not married yet, so I'll take you as my wife!" " "Zhou said," I am the daughter of Zhou Dianshi. If I die, I will die. How can I promise you? "So he was killed.
The Biography of Women in the History of the Yuan Dynasty recorded the deeds of more than 100 women, and described their "fierce festival" of being widowed, committing suicide or being killed in the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In the late Middle Ages, China had two bad habits, namely, foot-binding and no remarriage when her husband died, which prevailed in the Yuan Dynasty, especially in the Jiangnan area of the Yuan Dynasty. Through insidious praise and praise, the official ideology internalizes the cruel "ethics" into the conscious demands of more and more women, and then uses their actions to urge an invisible and powerful social pressure, gradually pushing the vast majority of women into the abyss of pain. The story of "virtuous women" in Yuan Dynasty can only be the history of women's blood and tears at that time.
The Biography of Filial Piety in the History of Yuan Dynasty has two volumes, which are respectively used for encouraging awards, loyalty and filial piety, mourning in the tomb, living together for generations, and dispersing wealth for urgent needs. Among these "good customs", of course, there are positive factors that can creatively transform the reconstruction of modern national spirit, but they emphasize the clan authority and patriarchy that devour individuals and personalities and block the living with death. Therefore, this kind of "goodness and vulgarity", even at that time, is often hypocritical and artificial; Today, it is even more grotesque, contradictory and even unnecessarily cruel.
Zhang Run, a native of Yanchang County (now Shaanxi Province) in Yan 'an, was a member of the Han army. This family has gone through eight generations and has never been separated. There are more than 100 family members, and no one gossips with each other. Every day, unmarried daughters and novice daughter-in-law get together in a room to be female red; Completed, collected and stored in the same warehouse, each small family has no private savings. When a young child cries, any woman with milk will be held and fed by anyone who sees milk. The married daughter-in-law went back to her parents' house to visit relatives, leaving her son behind, and everyone nursed her together, whether it was her own or not. Children often don't know who their real mothers are. After his brother Zhang Xian died, Zhang Run entrusted all his possessions to his nephew Zhang Ju. Zhang Ju declined and said, "Uncle is the father and should be presided over by uncle." Zhang Run said: "My nephew is a descendant of my father's branch and should be presided over by you." After a long period of mutual concessions, it was finally handed over to Zhang Ju. When the officials and gentry heard about Zhang Runjia's deeds, they all sighed. In the 28th year of Yuan Dynasty (129 1), the imperial watch was obtained.
Kong Quan was born in Lu Yi, Bozhou (now Anhui). When his father Kong was ill, he cut off his own flesh to make up for his father, so that he could be cured. Later, his father died, and Kong Quan was immersed in grief. He set up a shed beside the tomb to guard it, and personally transported earth to build his father's grave, 60 times a day. Because the wind and rain can't be counted, wait until the weather clears up. Because of this, in the past three years, graves with an acre width and more than three feet high have been piled up.
Zhang Zikai was born in Anxi (now xi 'an, Shaanxi). When my father died, I had to carry dirt at midnight every day. Touch the ground with your elbows and knees, climb to the place where your father was buried, and sift the soil for the grave.
Li Pengfei was born in Chizhou (now Guichi, Anhui). Yao's biological mother is my father's concubine. As a wife, I married her to a man named Zhu. Li Pengfei is too young to know about it. /kloc-when I was 0/9 years old, I learned about it and missed my birth mother, which made me sad. So I decided to study medicine to save people, hoping to accumulate some merits and see my mother as soon as possible. After visiting for three years, I found my biological mother in Luotian County (now Hubei Province). At this time, Zhu Jia was suffering from epidemic disease, and Li Pengfei took her back to her family to support her. After a long time, she was sent back to Zhujiajian. Since then, I have often crossed the river to visit. After his mother died, he always took his descendants to visit the grave when he visited the grave. He did this all his life.
Haduchi, mostly from Gu 'an Prefecture (now Hebei Province), is filial by nature. I lost my father when I was a child, but I supported my mother wholeheartedly. Mother is ill and can't be cured. Haduchi took off the knife he was wearing, sharpened it, prayed to heaven and cried, "It is not easy for a loving mother to give birth to me. Today I will donate my body to repay her. " So I cut the left half and took a piece of meat to make soup for my mother. Mother said, "What kind of meat is this, so sweet?" A few days later, she recovered.
Zhao Yide was born in Longxing Xinjian (now Jiangxi). In the 12th year of Yuan Dynasty (1275), the Yuan army cut the Song Dynasty and was captured to Dadu. He is a domestic slave left by Zheng, who has lived for three generations. In the first year of his freshman year (1308), he said to his master Zheng Alxilan and his mother, "Yide has been attached to his family for more than 30 years since he left his parents. Wan Li, my hometown, has never been back to visit relatives in the province. Although I miss my parents very much, I have been afraid to say it. Now that my parents are old, if there is any misfortune, I will always be an unfilial sinner between heaven and earth. " He fell to the ground crying and couldn't stand up. Erslan and her mother were moved by him and allowed him to go home for a year.
When Zhao Yide came home, his father and brother were dead, but only his mother was still there, and he was over 80 years old. He buried the coffins of his father and brother in a selected place, hoping to stay a few more days to serve his mother, but he was afraid of offending the Lord, so he returned to Dadu as scheduled. Aslan's mother and son sighed, "He is a humble servant, and he can still keep his word like this. Can we not fulfill his filial piety? " Immediately destroy the contract and release him as a lover. Aslan was executed by unjust imprisonment, his family was copied, and Zhao Yide was preparing to go home. The slaves fled in droves. Zhao Yide stood up and said, "My family is in trouble. How do I look like a stranger! " He stayed in most places and went to Zhongshu Province with Max Zhang to complain. After all the stolen property was returned, Aslan's mother said to Zhao Yide, "When we were robbed, our relatives didn't care about each other. Only you took the risk to get back the injustice for us. I saw it in you. My family's property was restored after it was lost because of your help. How can I repay you? " So he gave him a beautiful house and fertile land. Zhao Yide said: "Although I am a humble person, I have never done this for the benefit. Because grief made the Lord innocent, I stayed to repay him. Now that my mother is over 80 years old, I can go back and nurse her, so that the gift from the Lord is thick enough. What do I need land and a house for? " Walk away unaffected. In the first year of the Qing Dynasty (13 12), the court announced his home.
Stories of ordinary scholars.
In the eighth year of Zheng Zheng (1348), more than 200 "xianggong Jinshi" were selected from the national 17 rural examination, and most of them took the examination hosted by the Ministry of rites. Wang Zongzhe is the first in the left list of this year's exam (the imperial examination in Yuan Dynasty was published in two lists, the right list was Mongolia and Semu, and the left list was Han and Nan). In the rural examination, the examination room is the first, and the harem exam is the first in the left list, so it is called "three principles". Wang Zongzhe himself did not think that he was the only "three yuan" in sixteen subjects in the Yuan Dynasty, but it was because the examiner wronged another candidate named Wang Bojun. It turned out that when marking the papers, an examiner was particularly satisfied with Wang Boyun's answer sheet, saying, "This man is a genius in the world and should rank first." However, Wang Boyun is a southerner. There are still people in the examiner who think it is not appropriate to let southerners live in the first place, and want to put him in the second place and set aside a second place for him in advance. However, the examiner who advocated "should be first" refused to give in, saying: "The examination paper can only be judged by talent and literary talent. How can we distinguish the north and south of the place of origin? To put him in second place, I would rather not admit him. " We argued with each other for several days, but there was no result. As the publication date approached, the examiner had to choose someone else to fill the vacancy of the second place, so Wang Boyun lost the election. After the list was published, the examiners themselves felt unfair and condemned each other; Scholars admitted to the school are ashamed of Wang Boyun; People who failed in the list also lamented for him.
Lu blunt, whose name is unknown, is from somewhere in the south of the Yangtze River. At the age of six, he loves reading and recites more than ten thousand words every day. 10 years old can write ancient poems; As an adult, he specialized in Spring and Autumn Annals. He looks so strange that he is considered a Uighur. He said with a smile, "If I come from the western regions, I can pass the imperial examination in one day and become the first person on the right list." It's a pity that he was born in Jiangnan. Therefore, I am lonely and noble in the lake and sea, and I do whatever I want and give up on myself. Cheap visiting organizations in Zhejiang once regarded him as a book history. Lu Congsheng deeply disagreed, holding a document in his hand, and said to the official, "This is not my profession, nor is it my ambition." But resigned and left. At this time, Yang Weizhen and Dongweizi were giving lectures in western Zhejiang, and Lv Cuosheng traveled with him to Tianmu Mountain. After drinking, he will sing, write and draw until he enjoys it. Lu Blunt is straightforward and can't tolerate other people's shortcomings. He often scolds them to their faces. People who live well will be full of praise. In his later years, he wrote a book named "Golden Horse". There is "Taiping Wanyan Book". One year, I suddenly visited Yang Weizhen from Ge Feng and said, "I want to travel all over the famous mountains and rivers like Tai Shigong. If a great man asks me who I am, I'm too lazy to introduce myself. Please write a biography for me. " Yang Weizhen wrote the famous biography of Lv Congsheng for him.