Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 306 Li Xin
Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. The ancients were absolutely right.

Xu Xiancheng entered school at a young age and passed the imperial examination when he was young, which made him a "child prodigy". However, studying hard behind closed doors is fundamentally different from studying abroad. Since leaving home to study abroad 10 years ago, Xu Xiancheng's horizons have been broadened. Whenever he went to a place, he would visit the local academy, discuss articles with the teachers and classmates in the academy, and learn from the teachers.

At the same time, I also made several good friends during my study tour. They were young and energetic, full of scholarly spirit, and I gained a lot from them.

Along the way, Xu Xiancheng walked and stopped, staying in some places longer and shorter. In late November, Xu Xiancheng came to Kaifeng, the ancient capital of eight dynasties and the site of Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty. In Kaifeng, Xu Xiancheng met several like-minded friends, studied hard while visiting ancient sites everywhere, and sometimes drank and wrote poetry with friends, commenting on political affairs, free and easy.

After staying in Kaifeng for more than half a month, Xu Xiancheng originally planned to continue southward from Runing Prefecture to the east into Nanzhili, then go to Zhongdu first, and then to Nanjing. But a few days before Xu Xiancheng was about to leave Kaifeng, a good friend took him to meet a man who was also from Kaifeng and lived in Qi County, Kaifeng.

This man's surname was Li and his given name was Xin. He was two years older than Xu Xiancheng and was a scholar in the same year as Xu Xiancheng.

Li Xin was quite famous in Qi County, and the Li family was also a wealthy family in the local area. Although Li Xin was a scholar, he was generous and magnanimous, and liked to fight for justice. He had the spirit of ancient chivalry. He liked to make friends on weekdays. He and Xu Xiancheng hit it off at first sight and soon became good friends.

Compared to Xu Xiancheng who was not married yet, Li Xin was already married. His wife, Tang, also came from a wealthy family in Qi County. She was well-educated, virtuous and a perfect match for him.

Because of Li Xin's enthusiastic retention, Xu Xiancheng settled down in Li's home in Qi County. He talked about poetry and discussed political affairs with Li Xin every day. As the two had similar views, their friendship became increasingly deep.

Moreover, Li Xin was not only a scholar, but also a good boxer. Zhu Shenzui had taught Xu Xiancheng martial arts when he was in Pingyang. Although he did not practice for a long time, Xu Xiancheng was very smart and willing to work hard, and his boxing skills were not bad either. Sometimes the two would compete with each other when they were in a good mood.

Just like now, Xu Xiancheng is wearing shorts and fighting with Li Xin. Compared with Li Xin who has practiced martial arts for many years, Xu Xiancheng's moves are not so fancy. He only uses a few moves over and over, which looks simple, but Li Xin can't break Xu Xiancheng's defense. He was hit twice by Xu Xiancheng without paying attention. Fortunately, Xu Xiancheng's strength is not great, otherwise it would be enough for Li Xin to bear.

"No more fighting." Li Xin leaped back, distanced himself, waved his hands and smiled bitterly.

The two fought for nearly an incense stick of time. On the surface, they seemed evenly matched, but in fact, Li Xin suffered a little loss. This made Li Xin, who had been practicing martial arts since he was a child, very depressed.

It was cold, and sweating during martial arts training needed to be wiped off immediately, otherwise it was easy to catch a cold. Li Xin took out a sweat towel and handed it to Xu Xiancheng, and then he took another one to wipe himself, and then put on his overalls. Then, he invited Xu Xiancheng into the house, which was much warmer because of the fire. The servants brought hot tea, and Li Xin drank a sip of the hot tea. He couldn't help but ask Xu Xiancheng: "Brother Xiancheng, have you really only practiced martial arts for one year?"

"How can this be false?" Xu Xiancheng also drank the tea and immediately said with a smile: "I learned a few moves from my brother-in-law last year. It has only been a year."

"How strange..." Seeing that Xu Xiancheng did not seem to be lying, Li Xin couldn't understand why.

Since he was young, he had been taught martial arts by famous teachers. He was not only good at boxing and kicking, but also good at using a stick. His stick was so powerful that it was almost impossible to get water into it.

After practicing martial arts for more than ten years, Li Xin believed that he was an extraordinary martial artist. In addition, he was well-known in the countryside for his chivalrous heart, and was even called "Master Li" by the villagers. But Li Xin couldn't understand why Xu Xiancheng could fight him evenly after only practicing martial arts for a year, and Xu Xiancheng's moves were so simple, or even without any moves, just a few moves back and forth, but he couldn't get the upper hand at all.

Seeing Li Xin's confused look, Xu Xiancheng laughed. Xu Xiancheng was a teenager now, and teenagers naturally had teenagers' temperaments. Especially today, he not only did not suffer any loss but also gained the upper hand in the fight with Li Xin, which made Xu Xiancheng secretly proud. However, Xu Xiancheng still admired this friend who he had just met for a short time. He not only admired his talent, but also admired Li Xin's temperament, especially his chivalrous behavior, otherwise Xu Xiancheng would not have become friends with him.

In fact, when Zhu Shenzhui taught Xu Xiancheng martial arts, Xu Xiancheng was also confused, because Zhu Shenzhui did not teach him any fancy moves, but just let him practice these simple back and forth moves. This puzzled Xu Xiancheng, so he asked Zhu Shenzhui about it. Zhu Shenzhui also explained to him that martial arts is not practiced for show, and beautiful moves are useless at best. They are just tricks.

Real martial arts are killing skills, why so many tricks? One move is enough to kill. And this kind of skills are usually not so good-looking, on the contrary, they are extremely simple. But it is not so easy to practice, it takes thousands of times of practice to integrate these simple moves into one, so that they can be used naturally in a quick reaction. Xu Xiancheng did not hide it from Li Xin, and immediately told him what Zhu Shenzhu had told him at the beginning, and also gestured a few times the key points of Zhu Shenzhu's boxing, kicking and stick techniques.

After listening to Xu Xiancheng's explanation, Li Xin couldn't help but ponder. He thought for a moment and slapped his thigh and said, "So that's what's going on. No wonder I've practiced martial arts for more than ten years but I can barely beat you. All these years have been wasted!"

"You can't say that. My brother-in-law said that routines actually have their own uses. If you practice them deeply, they will have a good effect. But in real fighting, you can't follow the routines. Once you follow the routines, you will go astray."

"That makes sense!" Li Xin nodded. He had understood what Xu Xiancheng meant. Routines were only training methods, not fighting methods. If you used training methods to fight, they would just become a mere decoration and would be completely useless.

It was a pity that I had practiced martial arts for so many years but had never defeated Xu Xiancheng, who had only practiced martial arts for a year. The reason was this. Although Xu Xiancheng's moves were simple, they were extremely effective. Moreover, if Xu Xiancheng had not been inexperienced and weak in strength during the fight just now, I would have suffered a great loss.

Li Xin was a martial arts lover. He had never heard of these things before. The more he listened to Xu Xiancheng's explanation, the more he thought about it and the more he felt it made sense. He couldn't help but discuss it with Xu Xiancheng.

Xu Xiancheng did not hide anything and told Li Xin everything he knew. He even stood up and demonstrated a few times, telling him how he practiced on a daily basis, etc.

Listening to Xu Xiancheng's words and watching his demonstration, Li Xin became more and more interested. He simply stood up and imitated Xu Xiancheng's gestures. After the gestures, he concentrated and thought about it. He modified the routine he had originally practiced, removing a lot of complicated moves and movements. He simply threw a few punches in the hall, and after he finished punching, a look of joy appeared on his face.

The moves just now gave Li Xin a completely different feeling, which made him more convinced that Xu Xiancheng was right. Li Xin couldn't help but continue to ask Xu Xiancheng some questions. Xu Xiancheng racked his brains to answer, but after a while he really couldn't answer. He cried and told Li Xin that his questions were too deep. He had only learned martial arts for a year, and he had not been learning martial arts with his brother-in-law Zhu Shenzhu for a long time. There were some things he had not learned at the beginning, and Zhu Shenzhu did not explain them, so he could not answer them.

“What a pity… What a pity…” Hearing Xu Xiancheng’s answer, Li Xin shook his head regretfully. He was now like a gourmet, watching a delicious dish disappear just when he had tasted it. It was really not satisfying.

"Brother Li, don't feel sorry. You have practiced martial arts for many years and already have the basics. It's just that you are simplifying it now. Besides, my skills are really not worth mentioning. According to what my brother-in-law said, I can only beat ordinary people and have some self-defense skills. Compared with my brother-in-law, I am far behind. To be honest, if I fight against my brother-in-law, I am afraid I can't even take a single move."

"How could there be such a person in this world?" These words surprised Li Xin. He had seen Xu Xiancheng's abilities. He had practiced martial arts for more than ten years but could only fight on equal terms. If it was according to what Xu Xiancheng said, wouldn't he also be defeated in one move?
Immediately, he became very interested in the brother-in-law mentioned by Xu Xiancheng and asked who his brother-in-law was. Xu Xiancheng told Li Xin that his brother-in-law was from Pingyang, his family had some assets and did some business. He was not only proficient in martial arts, but also quite talented. He had lived in his brother-in-law's house for some time and benefited a lot.

"Since you have such ability, why don't you pursue a career in politics? Even if you don't take the imperial examination, you can join the army. Now that the Jiannu in Liaodong are rampant, the court is in need of people. Why don't you contribute to the court?" Li Xin couldn't help asking.

Xu Xiancheng smiled bitterly and shook his head. After hesitating for a moment, he told Li Xin the truth. He told Li Xin that his brother-in-law had a special status and could not choose these two paths, no matter how capable he was.

Li Xin found it strange and asked what was going on. Xu Xiancheng then revealed Zhu Shenzhui's identity as a royal family member. When he learned that Xu Xiancheng's brother-in-law was actually a member of the Ming royal family and a descendant of Prince Jin, Li Xin was speechless. As a scholar, he certainly knew the restrictions of the court on royal family members. Let alone Zhu Shenzhui, an ordinary royal family member, even if he was a prince, duke, or general, it would have been impossible for him to become an official since birth. No matter how great his abilities and talents were, he could only be a royal family member who lived a life of idleness and waiting to die.

Shaking his head and sighing, Li Xin felt a little regretful. He never expected that Xu Xiancheng's brother-in-law would be such a person. He obviously had a lot of skills but couldn't use them. As a member of the royal family, he was often worse than ordinary people. It was not easy to live a life that could be predicted at a glance. This was also the helplessness of the royal family.

"Brother Li, you don't have to be like this. My brother-in-law is an open-minded person. He once told me that one cannot choose one's birth, but one can choose how to live a good life. As long as one works hard and has a clear conscience, one will not have wasted one's life. My brother-in-law has really helped me a lot in my study trip this time. During the days I followed him, he taught me a lot of things, which benefited me a lot."

"What a remarkable man..." Listening to Xu Xiancheng's words, Li Xin's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Suddenly, a strong idea came into his mind. This idea was to go to Pingyang to meet the man Xu Xiancheng mentioned and see if he was really as Xu Xiancheng said.

(End of this chapter)