Chapter 296: May God bless our Chu Kingdom

Heavy snow for three days.

When the cold weather hit, scholars never thought of burning books to keep warm.

Unexpectedly, it was taken away and burned by the children in the village for heating.

The scholar went home and burst into tears when he looked at the only two books he had left.

How can a scholar be considered a scholar without books? After the scholar finished crying, he returned to his room, changed into Confucian clothes, tidied his clothes, and then walked out of the hut.

The snow melted away and the sun shone brightly.

The scholar walked towards the mountain.

Looking back over the past twenty years, I have studied the books of sages diligently, served as an official in the court, and had a heart of loyalty to the emperor and the country.

However, treacherous ministers were in power and he only served as an official for a year before he was framed by them and forced to leave the court.

The scholar was disheartened and came to Wuyi Mountain, intending to live out the rest of his life as a country bumpkin.

Read in free time and farm in busy time.

The burning of books was the last straw that broke the camel's back in his belief in being a scholar.

The child is carefree, but the scholar has no desire to live.

"Sour Confucian."

On Mount Wuyi, the young Taoist priest looked at the scholar standing on the side of the cliff with a look of contempt on his face.

A scholar is good for nothing.

If he had not tampered with the weather at the last moment, the scholar would have frozen to death in the snow while holding his books.

"Senior is right."

The Jiao Snake on the side quickly agreed. Although he did not understand the meaning of the word "sour Confucian", he believed that what the senior said must be correct.

He has also noticed over the years that this senior seems a little different from the previous one. The previous senior had a very clear style of doing things, but this senior seems... seems a little evil.

He had to serve carefully.

"He wants a book, so I'll give him a book."

The young Taoist priest waved his hand, and a academy appeared out of thin air.

"Why are you standing here, sir?"

The figure of the young Taoist priest appeared behind the scholar.

The scholar turned around and saw the young Taoist priest. He was stunned for a moment. There seemed to be no Taoist temple in this mountain. Where did this Taoist priest come from?

"Who is this Taoist priest?"

"I am a Taoist priest in a mountain temple. If you happen to meet me, why don't you come to my temple and have a chat with me?"

The scholar thought about it and finally nodded. He was also very curious about where the Taoist temple in the mountains was.

Passing through a peach blossom forest, the scholar saw a Taoist temple.

What shocked the scholar even more was that there was a library inside the Taoist temple, which contained tens of thousands of books.

"I am not good at reading. These books are kept in the Taoist temple for many years. If you like, Mr. Zhang, you can read them at will."

On the way here, the scholar introduced himself as Zhang and his courtesy name was Juxian.

Zhang Juxian was very excited, and he quickly stood up and bowed to the young Taoist priest: "Thank you, Taoist priest."

In the days that followed, Zhang Ju still lived in the thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain during the busy farming season, and came to the Taoist temple's library to read during the slack season.

After several years, Zhang Juxian had read most of the books in the library.

"Master, I am here to say goodbye to you."

"Oh? Sir, are you going to leave the mountain?"

With great learning and profound knowledge, one should serve the country.

"I no longer have the ambition to be an official. I want to open a private school at the foot of this mountain to teach and educate people."

Zhang Juxian shook his head. He was disappointed with the officialdom. Nowadays, corrupt officials are in power in the officialdom. It would be better to teach and educate people in this rural place.

"As you please, sir."

The young Taoist priest did not stop him and personally sent Zhang Juxian down the mountain.

Half a year later.

Zhang Juxian built a private school at the foot of Wuyi Mountain.

It was called a private school, but in fact it was just a few thatched huts. Zhang Juxian even specially found a young Taoist priest and asked him to name the private school.

If it weren’t for the Taoist gift of books, there would be no private school.

The young Taoist priest did not delay and wrote down four words: Three visits to the thatched cottage.

In the first year after the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, there were only twelve children coming to school. The oldest was ten years old and the youngest was only three years old.

However, Zhang Juxian didn't care at all and taught seriously. But even so, three students still left after two years, and eventually only nine were left.

The peach blossoms in the Taoist temple bloom and fade, fade and bloom again.

Ten years later, the people of Lantian County, where Wuyi Ferry belonged, were shocked by a piece of news.

In this county examination in Lantian County, nine high school candidates came from one village.

In a short time, Zhaojia Village at the foot of Wuyi Mountain became famous in the whole Lantian County, and the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage also became a holy place in the hearts of scholars in Lantian County.

Many dignitaries came to invite Zhang Juxian to teach their children, but no matter how much tuition these people offered, Zhang Juxian refused.

The next best option for these dignitaries was to send their children to Sanguthatched cottage for school.

For the first time, the remote Zhaojia Village also welcomed the scene of an endless stream of horse-drawn carriages. Outside the thatched cottage, there were horse-drawn carriages coming and going every day to pick up and drop off children.

The original three huts were expanded to ten, and the number of Zhang Juxian's students reached fifty.

In the Taoist temple on the mountain, the young Taoist priest raised his hand and there were streams of green smoke in front of him, which quickly sank into his body.

"The soul of reading, the way of the literati?"

…

…

Seven years later, Zhang Juxian's first nine disciples passed the imperial examination and became officials in the court.

Zhang Juxian has also entered the age of fifty, and in addition to teaching and educating people, when he has nothing to do, he goes to the Taoist temple to drink and chat with young Taoist priests.

Mount Wuyi is steep, but Zhang Juxian never felt tired every time he went up the mountain. Zhang Juxian occasionally talked about it out of curiosity, and the young Taoist priest just smiled.

Three years later.

Several letters came from the distant capital. After receiving the letters, Zhang Juxian locked himself in his study and remained silent.

Soon, the people of Wuyi Ferry also heard the news.

A neighboring country invaded the border and an army of 200,000 was approaching. The soldiers in the three cities on the border fought desperately. On the day the city was captured, the general of the neighboring country ordered a seven-day massacre, and the people in the three cities were slaughtered.

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This was the news that the people learned, but Zhang Juxian knew more details from the letters sent back by his disciples.

The enemy army was offensive, but the treacherous prime minister, out of selfish desires, prevented the dispatch of troops to reinforce the three cities.

Three cities were breached and a massacre took place over seven days. When the news reached the capital, the court was furious and the treacherous prime minister was thrown into prison. The treacherous prime minister who had held power for thirty years finally stepped down and his entire family was executed.

However, the invasion of the Wu army was a fact, and after losing the three border cities, the Chu State was left with no defenses.

The reason why Zhang Juxian locked himself in the study for a day was that his three disciples were preparing to go to the frontier.

Be loyal to the emperor and serve the country.

This is the idea he imparted to his disciples.

"Although I am weak, I will go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. If we allow the enemy's cavalry to enter, the mountains and rivers will be broken and the people will suffer."

The next day, Zhang Juxian wrote back with just two words: "Take care."

Zhang Juxian's disciples went to the border. Many young and energetic people in Wuyi Ferry heard about the massacre in Wu State and responded by signing up to join the army.

Before these young men left for the frontier, the county magistrate of Lantian County came to see them off with the gentry and the common people also lined the streets to see them off.

The crowd was huge.

"May God bless our Chu Kingdom!"

I don’t know who shouted, and instantly everyone at the scene started shouting together.

Zhang Juxian was also in the crowd. He was a fifty-year-old man, and he was also shouting with his neck stretched and his face red.

"May God bless our Chu country on this journey."

…

However, the Chu State had been corrupt for thirty years and its national strength had declined. It was no match for the Wu State and bad news kept coming back from the border.

Every household hung white cloth.

This day.

Zhang Juxian went up the mountain again.

"Master, I came here to say goodbye to you."

"You are a fifty-year-old scholar. What's the use of going to the battlefield?"

The young Taoist priest knew the purpose of Zhang Juxian's visit. The State of Chu had suffered a series of defeats, and the government had begun to arrest able-bodied men everywhere, even fifty-year-old men were not spared.

However, Zhang Juxian had a very high reputation in Lantian County, so he would not be drafted into the army.

"My nine disciples have all gone. How can I, as a teacher, just sit there and do nothing? All my students have gone, and now it's my turn."

The young Taoist priest looked at Zhang Juxian silently, and the next moment he raised his hand, and a table of food and wine appeared out of thin air.

Zhang Juxian blinked as he looked at the wine and food that suddenly appeared, but he was not too shocked. He had long known that the Taoist priest was extraordinary.

After so many years, his temples are already white, but the Taoist priest's appearance remains the same as it was back then. How can an ordinary person do this?

"Since you have already decided to leave, this table of wine will serve as a farewell to you."

"Thank you, Taoist Priest."

Zhang Juxian was not polite. He did not ask the Taoist priest for help. How could a master like the Taoist priest be influenced by him?

After the banquet, Zhang Juxian went down the mountain.

The next day.

Zhang Juxian, who was on his way to the border with the captured troops, suddenly shouted, "May God bless our Chu State!"

However, this time, the only response he got was silence.

The people in the team were all captured by force, so why would they care about the State of Chu?

There was only resentment left in the eyes of the people.

On Mount Wuyi, the young Taoist priest said helplessly: "This is really second-year."

Zhang Juxian went to the border but failed to change the situation of the war.

Three months later, the State of Wu captured the capital of the State of Chu and the State of Chu was destroyed.

The magistrate of Lantian County immediately submitted a letter of surrender to the State of Wu and informed the people in the jurisdiction that from now on they were the people of the State of Wu.

For the first time, the young Taoist priest on Mount Wuyi showed anger on his face.

"When a person dies, all things are over. You should go and take a walk."

The dragon snake beside him nodded. He knew what the senior was talking about.

(End of this chapter)