Pig Killer

Chapter 307

"If the children of the nobles don't farm, what do they do on weekdays?" Huang Zhongchang asked his teacher curiously.

"He's never idle! He has a full schedule of classes all day long, both civil and military! He reads books by sages and learns horse riding and archery." Zhang Jixian raised his eyebrows and looked at him and said, "If you want to talk about a dandy, he only eats, drinks and has fun!"

"I think I'm too full." Huang Zhongchang said without thinking.

Zhang Jixian's mouth twitched when he heard this. "From what you said, let the young master and the others learn how to farm."

"My son already knows how to farm," Huang Zhongchang said proudly with a smile on his face. "It should be my grandchildren who will learn how to farm."

"Brother, why do we need to farm the land ourselves in the future?" Zhang Jixian lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Those who work with their minds rule others, and those who work with their hands are ruled by others."

"What do you mean?" Huang Zhongchang looked at him with confusion.

"Father means..." Da Chong explained the meaning of this sentence.

"Mr. Zhang wants to say that I will be a person who works hard in the future." Huang Zhongchang looked at him with his dark eyes and said.

"Yeah!" Zhang Jixian nodded slightly when he heard that.

"But I don't think it's a big deal. I'm doing this for my children. I don't want my grandchildren to be unable to tell the difference between grains." Huang Zhongchang looked at him with his distinct black and white eyes and said, "Agriculture is the foundation, and the upper level should follow suit, right? You should set an example yourself!"

Zhang Jixian blinked and looked at him with his jaw clenched.

"Mr. Zhang, having enough food is the most important thing." Huang Zhongchang looked at him and said with a smile, "By the way, all the vacant land in the county magistrate's mansion can be used to grow vegetables for me. Don't plant flowers or grass."

"Ahem..." Zhang Jixian coughed twice in shock, "Are you serious?"

"How can this be false?" Huang Zhongchang looked at him with clear eyes.

"Those flowers and plants are very precious. It's a pity to pull them out like this." Zhang Jixian reminded him.

"Then transplant it somewhere else." Huang Zhongchang scratched his head and said, "It seems there are no flowers or plants. It's bare in the winter." His eyes flickered and he said, "Let's keep the flowers and plants in the pots!"

Zhang Jixian had no choice but to say, "Okay then!"

"Those precious flowers and plants are delicate. I wonder if they are easy to grow!" Huang Zhongchang said worriedly.

"It shouldn't be difficult, right?" The big bug said with a smile, "If it doesn't work, ask someone."

"That's right!" Huang Zhongchang said with a smile, and said with disdain, "Look how troublesome it is that it requires special people to take care of it. The wild flowers are so beautiful! They grow and bloom as they please, all over the mountains and plains."

Zhang Jixian's mouth twitched when he heard this. How could they be compared?

"Growing vegetables is good! This land can't be wasted." Shen Hui'e looked at Zhang Jixian, who was speechless, and said, "Mr. Zhang, only when you are well fed and clothed can you pursue higher spiritual things, such as seeing beautiful flowers and beautiful scenery, and then you will be in the mood to enjoy them. People who are struggling on the survival line may have a broad spiritual realm, but most people still care about their stomachs." She smiled and said, "Once they have a full stomach, the common people will be better than us. The energy they burst out will make the culture flourish."

"You're being too confident!" Zhang Jixian raised his eyebrows and looked at her and said, "This requires education and cultural literacy."

"The Book of Songs!" Shen Hui'e said, looking at him with a smile in her eyes.

Zhang Jixian closed his eyes upon hearing this, leaving him unable to refute.

"What's wrong?" Huang Zhongchang looked at the two of them in confusion.

"I know!" Li Nu said with a smile, "It is said that in the Zhou Dynasty, there was an official in charge of collecting poetry. Every spring, he would go deep into the folks with a wooden bell and collect folk songs. He would sort out the works that could reflect the joys and sorrows of the common people and hand them over to the Grand Master, who was in charge of music, to compose the music and sing it to the Zhou emperor for reference in his administration. The works of these unnamed folk authors occupy the majority of the Book of Songs."

"A reference for policy implementation." Huang Zhongchang looked at him with his distinct black and white eyes.

"Oh! These poems reflect the farming conditions of the common people." Li Nu said simply.

"How much can we see?" Huang Zhongchang raised his black eyebrows and looked at them and said, "And who knows if these people who gave it to Emperor Zhou have been screened."

Shen Hui'e looked at him with sparkling eyes and said, "Of course! It's human nature."

"You still have to go and see it in person. Seeing is believing." Huang Zhongchang said with emotion.

"Can't see it?" Shen Hui'e looked at him with her ink-black eyes.

"We can see it when we get to the destination. How can we not see it?" Huang Zhongchang looked at her suspiciously and asked.

"I'm deliberately taking you to a good piece of land, or moving good seedlings from other places to you..."

Before Shen Hui'e finished speaking, Huang Zhongchang stammered, "This...isn't this fake?"

"I just faked it! The little emperor in the deep palace doesn't recognize his own family, so I just fooled him!" Shen Hui'e said sarcastically, looking at Zhang Jixian who looked unnatural, "Mr. Zhang, is this the case?"

"Mr. Zhang?" Huang Zhongchang looked at him and said, "You have met this before."

"Yes!" Mr. Zhang nodded slightly and said, "Everything is arranged for the king's travel. The roads are paved with yellow soil and the streets are sprinkled with clean water. The beggars are locked up." The dark eyes looked at him and said, "You forgot that when the emperor came to the imperial mausoleum, we were all driven into the house."

"How can we common people ever see the emperor?" Huang Zhongchang said as a matter of course.

"It's impossible for a commoner to do that!" Zhang Jixian looked at him with amusement and said, "Do you think any commoner can see the emperor? Those who can see him are arranged in advance."

"I..." Huang Zhongchang looked at him hesitantly, "I... really learned a lesson." He then said, "It's difficult for us to see the emperor, but I didn't expect that it would be difficult for the emperor to see the common people."

"This is called deceiving superiors and concealing the truth from subordinates, pretending to obey but secretly disobeying, and in the end, corruption and bribery are rampant." Shen Hui'e said with cold eyes, "There is nothing new under the sun. If you see it too often, you will get used to it."

"Does the emperor know?" Huang Zhongchang asked curiously.

"What if you know? What if you don't know?" Zhang Jixian said lightly, "If knowing can't change it, it's better not to know."

"How can it not be changed?" Huang Zhongchang looked at them puzzledly and said, "Isn't he the emperor?"

"The ministers have united and, in the name of safety, the emperor cannot even leave the palace." Shen Hui'e snorted coldly, "Even if he leaves the palace, they are like little white rabbits entering the forest, white and tender, and they have to help others count the money after being sold!"

"Really? Are you that stupid?" Huang Zhongchang looked at Mr. Zhang with disbelief and asked, "Mr. Zhang?"

"That's about right!" Zhang Jixian said, pursing his lips.

"How could this happen?" Huang Zhongchang looked at him in disbelief with his eyes as big as copper bells.

"This is what will happen if you're separated from the people and stay high and mighty for too long!" Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with clear eyes.

&*&

"Just like poetry, dance, folk songs and other works, they should come from the people and go to the people. They should be popular with the people." Shen Hui'e stroked her index finger across his brow and looked at him and said, "There are masterpieces handed down from generation to generation among the common people, and there are mediocre works among the elite. Elegance and vulgarity themselves have no praise or criticism, but are just some differences in the function and style of literary and artistic works. Appreciation by both the elegant and the vulgar is an aesthetic standard that has been generally recognized throughout the ages, and it is our common pursuit of artistic beauty."

"What is highbrow, and what is lowbrow?" Huang Zhongchang asked her with his big black and white eyes full of curiosity.

"To put it simply, Yangchun Baixue is the elegant art of the aristocracy, and what about Xilibaren? It is the songs and dances of us common people, just like when there is a good harvest, we beat drums and gongs to celebrate with singing and dancing. That's what it means." Shen Hui'e said simply.

"I see." Huang Zhongchang smiled and said, "A good harvest is better! If there is a good harvest, we won't have to starve."

"That also requires the court not to levy taxes, otherwise even if there is a good harvest, we won't have enough to eat." Li Nu said with deep resentment.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Huang Zhongchang nodded hurriedly upon hearing this.

"Zhuangzi Zhibeiyou said: Heaven and earth have great beauty but do not speak, the four seasons have clear laws but do not discuss, and all things have reason but do not talk. The Analects of Confucius records: When Confucius heard Shao in Qi, he did not know the taste of meat for three months. Confucius said of Shao: It is perfect in beauty and perfect in goodness. He said of Wu: It is perfect in beauty but not perfect in goodness. Our aesthetics have never changed. That is, beauty and goodness are in harmony with each other and share weal and woe. Beauty without goodness is not true beauty, and goodness without beauty is also a flaw. The harmony of beauty and goodness constitutes the inherent character of our literature and art. The unity of beauty and goodness emphasizes the harmony of content and form, and gentleness and quality, and then a gentleman." After a pause, he said, "The harmony of beauty and goodness is reflected in the storage of goodness with beauty and the pregnancy of beauty in goodness." Then he said, "Literary and artistic works are songs of righteousness, justice, strength, happiness, heroism, and victory. They have great tension for upward goodness, and contain aesthetic values ​​that inspire, motivate, infect, and shape people. Perfection and beauty and goodness are in harmony with each other."

"You've said so much, I just think it sounds good." Huang Zhongchang said very honestly.

Shen Hui'e smiled and said, "Yes! It's really nice!" She looked at Zhang Jixian and asked, "Mr. Zhang, can you draw?"

"I'm not a very good painter. I can't compare with my sister-in-law," Zhang Jixian said modestly.

"Then can Mr. Zhang draw a cow?" Shen Hui'e asked him with a smile on her face.

"Who can't draw this? Anyone who has seen it can draw it." Huang Zhongchang said cheerfully.

"A cow when plowing the land, a cow when eating grass..." Shen Hui'e said to him with her clear and bright eyes.

"Uh..." Huang Zhongchang tilted his head slightly and looked at him and whispered, "Will Mr. Zhang know how to do it?"

"I've never seen a cow plowing the land, how can I draw it?" Zhang Jixian said cheerfully, spreading his hands and gently stroking his forehead, "Don't you underestimate the power of the common people?"

"That's right!" Shen Hui'e looked at him with a smile and said, "The power of the well-fed, well-clothed and educated common people is immeasurable. A single flower blooming is not spring, only when a hundred flowers bloom together is spring!"