Chapter 23

In Xie Zongjia's house, the father and his two daughters sat with their heads hanging low.

An old maid entered the room with a tray of tea. Xie Zongjia glared at her and shouted, "Get out!"

The old maid, knowing Xie's temper, dared not say a word and retreated with the tea.

Xie's youngest daughter, with her head down, said, "Father, the villagers of Hongshan are all siding with Lin Gaozhe. They argue with us every day, and this time Lin Gaozhe has exempted the miscellaneous services. It will be hard to deal with him in the future."

Xie Zongjia scolded, "Nonsense, do you think I don't know?"

After Xie scolded his son, his wife cried, "Father, you must stand up for me! Are you just going to watch them bully your daughter?"

Xie Zongjia, irritated by his daughter's crying, said after a while, "Do you think I don't know? If I don't suppress Lin Gaozhe this time, those peasants from Hongshan will rebel. We won't be able to make them comply with the household services as before."

"Father, come up with a plan. The old and young in our village all listen to you," Xie's youngest son said.

Xie Zongjia snorted, "I have a plan. If the crooked way doesn't work, we'll go straight. If the covert way doesn't work, we'll go overt. We'll sue Lin Gaozhe in the magistrate's office!"

"Lawsuit? Father, this isn't a game. What charge will we use?"

"Of course, it's to get back at my daughter. Lin Gaozhe unjustly divorced his wife. There are seven grounds for divorce, but there are also three grounds for not divorcing. The Lin family also swallowed our five acres of dowry land. They must return it."

Xie's youngest son thought for a moment and asked, "Father, the notice at the village proclamation pavilion states that after a woman marries, her dowry belongs to her husband's family. The five acres of dowry land now belong to the Lin family. How can we get it back? I may not have read much, but don't lie to me!"

"Don't lie to you, you fool!" Xie Zongjia slapped his youngest son's head and scolded, "What do you know with your half-baked knowledge? Your sister isn't remarrying. As long as we find fault with the husband's family, the Lin family has no right to divorce her on the seven grounds. Once the magistrate rules in our favor, not only will the dowry be returned to us, but Lin Gaozhe will also be punished. Tomorrow, I'll go to the county office and consult with Mr. Huang. We'll hire the best lawyer from the provincial city to show them what it means to have two mouths in the government!"

For the past two days, Lin Yanchao had been reading and practicing calligraphy at home.

Although that day when Xie's youngest son proudly came to demand the Lin family's service, he was sent away by his uncle and great-uncle with a document, Lin Yanchao guessed that with Xie's character, he wouldn't let it go and would surely seek revenge.

Lin Yanchao decided to stay at home and prepare to face the challenge. During his time at home, he didn't idle. He continued to read and study, carefully reading the book "The Great Learning" given to him by Lin Chengyi.

In the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, "The Great Learning" was not considered one of the classics. Whether it was the Five Classics of the Han, the Nine Classics of the Tang, the Twelve Classics, or the Thirteen Classics of the Song, "The Great Learning" was not included.

It was later that Zhu Xi extracted "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" from "The Book of Rites" and combined them with "The Analects" and "The Mencius" to form the Four Books. "The Great Learning" was written by Zengzi, and "The Great Learning with Commentary" was Zhu Xi's commentary on "The Great Learning."

"The Great Learning with Commentary" was the first classic Lin Yanchao read. According to the traditional reading order, ancient scholars usually started with the "I Ching," the first of the Five Classics. The "I Ching" was believed to have been passed down from the ancient sage Fuxi and was the earliest written work, so it should be read first. Some also believed that the "I Ching" was the most difficult of the Five Classics and should be understood first.

However, after Zhu Xi annotated the Four Books, he believed that reading was a gradual process. The order of reading the classics was to start with the Four Books and then the Five Classics. The Four Books were easier, while the Five Classics were more difficult. The Four Books were written after Confucius, while the Five Classics were written before him.

Among the Four Books, "The Great Learning with Commentary" was Zhu Xi's most dedicated work. To ensure that others could understand his intentions, Zhu Xi wrote that one should first read "The Great Learning" to set the foundation, then read "The Analects" to establish the fundamentals, next read "The Mencius" to observe the development, and finally read "The Doctrine of the Mean" to understand the subtleties of the ancients.

Following Zhu Xi's guidance, the village school usually taught the students to start with "The Great Learning" to set the foundation, though there were some exceptions, such as starting with the most difficult, "The Mencius."

Some village schools, after completing the basic education, started with "The Analects" in the classics. This was to ensure that the students, who might lack patience, could first learn the most important book and benefit from Confucius's teachings for life. Other classics were not as essential unless one planned to take the imperial exams.

Lin Chengyi gave "The Great Learning with Commentary" to Lin Yanchao, intending for him to start with "The Great Learning" to set the foundation.

Lin Yanchao read the book again, thinking that scholars often said it took ten years of hard work to achieve great success, which was often referred to as "ten years of cold windows."

He thought about his unreliable cousin, Lin Yanshou, who claimed to have finished the Four Books, which was quite impressive, considering he was only thirteen. No wonder his great-uncle boasted about him to everyone.

Thinking about himself, who had just started reading "The Great Learning," the gap was significant.

Lin Yanchao wished he could immediately study hard, but with his remarkable memory, he could recite the entire "The Great Learning with Commentary" fluently in just two days. However, he still didn't fully understand the profound meanings.

Just then, his cousin, Lin Yanshou, returned from the village school.

"Father, Father, I'm hungry! I'm hungry!" Lin Yanshou exclaimed as soon as he arrived.

"My great-uncle went to the market."

Lin Yanchao responded, thinking this was a good opportunity to ask for help. He approached with the book and said, "Cousin, I have some questions about 'The Great Learning with Commentary.' Can you help me?"

"Brother, I'm busy. I haven't finished today's lessons. Come back after I'm done," Lin Yanshou coldly refused.

"Stingy!"

Lin Yanchao walked to the side, took a drink of water, and thought about how to get his cousin to teach him.

Lin Yanshou wasn't intentionally refusing Lin Yanchao; he was just really hungry. He took a flatbread from the cupboard and started eating. After satisfying his hunger, he opened his book and began reading, which happened to be "The Great Learning with Commentary."

"The Great Learning, the book of ancient times, the method of teaching in the ancient university, from the heavens, the people were born..."

Puff!

Lin Yanchao couldn't help but spray out the water he was drinking.

"Yanchao, what are you doing? I'm trying to study, and you're making a fuss. How can I concentrate?"

Lin Yanchao wiped the water from his mouth and said, "Brother, you're reading it wrong. It should be 'The Great Learning, the book of ancient times, the method of teaching in the ancient university, from the heavens, the people were born...'"

Lin Yanshou, unhappy at being corrected, said, "What's wrong with you? My teacher taught me to read it this way. Is he more knowledgeable than you? He's a scholar, you know."

"Your teacher taught you this?"

"Yes, he said that wherever there's a 'zhi,' you can pause."

Wherever there's a 'zhi,' you can pause!

Wouldn't Wang Xizhi be furious? Lin Yanchao covered his face and said, "Brother, I'm wrong."

After this incident, Lin Yanchao felt that Lin Yanshou wasn't very reliable and decided to study on his own.

Just then, a voice came from outside.

"Yanchao, Yanshou!"

Lin Yanshou immediately dropped his book and ran outside, saying, "Father, what did you bring me from the market?"

"Hmm, a piglet?"

"Right, it's a piglet now, but it will grow into a big pig. The big pig will have piglets, and the piglets will grow into big pigs. We'll have meat every day in the future."

Lin Yanchao walked outside and saw his great-uncle holding a piglet. He asked, "Great-uncle, why did you buy a pig? Where did you get the money?"

His great-uncle smiled and said, "I borrowed the money from a friend. Don't worry. We've been exempted from two years of service, so our life has improved. I think it's not a good idea to just idle around. As the saying goes, 'People get tired of raising people, but pigs don't get tired of raising pigs!'"

Lin Yanchao was relieved. After this incident, his great-uncle seemed more reliable and willing to do some proper work. However, he was too optimistic, thinking Xie would let it go.

Suddenly, Lin Yanshou asked, "Father, is this pig from the south or the north?"

His great-uncle, confused, asked, "What's the difference, son?"

Lin Yanshou coughed and said, "The sage said, 'Southern pigs are stronger than northern pigs!'"

His father asked, "Strange, why would the sage say that?"

Lin Yanshou said, "Father, how could I lie to you? It's in 'The Doctrine of the Mean.' Zilu asked about strength, and Confucius said, 'Is the strength of the south greater, or the strength of the north? Or is your strength greater? Teaching with gentleness and not retaliating, the strength of the south is greater.'"

Is that what it says? Lin Yanchao thought for a moment, recalling Lin Yanshou's misreading, and realized, "It's 'zhi,' not 'pig.' In Min dialect, 'zhi' and 'pig' sound the same. 'The strength of the south' was read as 'the strength of the southern pig.' I'm really impressed!"

His great-uncle, who always had confidence in his son, immediately believed him and said, "My son is so smart, he even knows this. Don't worry, our pig is from the south, so it must be strong!"

The southern pig must be strong! Lin Yanchao almost burst out laughing but managed to hold back.

His great-uncle praised Lin Yanshou, who proudly said, "Of course, my teacher always praises me for being smart. He says I'll at least become a scholar, and becoming a junior official will be easy!"

Lin Yanchao couldn't help but think that the teacher was probably just flattering him because his grandfather was Xie.

His great-uncle said to Lin Yanshou, "Yanshou, you're so good at reading. Teach your brother, and let's have another scholar in our family."

Before Lin Yanchao could speak, Lin Yanshou said, "Brother, he's not good at reading! He doesn't even know that you can pause wherever there's a 'zhi.' I won't teach him."

Lin Yanchao quickly nodded and said, "Brother, you don't need to bother. I'm just not smart enough, and you can't help me!"

"Father, see what he says."

Lin Yanchao couldn't bear to look and decided to go back to his studies. He preferred to study on his own rather than ask Lin Yanshou for help with the parts of "The Great Learning with Commentary" he didn't understand. He would wait until he returned to the village school to ask.