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

Chapter 307 Yingshe
Xu Xiancheng stayed at Li Xin's house for more than a month and only left after the Chinese New Year.

In fact, Xu Xiancheng had intended to leave years ago. Although he and Li Xin hit it off right away, it was not a good idea to stay as a guest in someone else's home for a long time. Besides, Xu Xiancheng came out to study this time, so he couldn't just stay in one place and not leave, right?
According to the plan, he would go to Nanzhili next. After arriving in Nanzhili, he would go to Zhongdu first, then to Nanjing, then go north along the canal to Yangzhou, then from Yangzhou to Pengcheng and then to the capital. After arriving in the capital, he would stay for a few days and then return to Shanxi.

According to the time calculation, this round took more than half a year. When I returned to Pingshun, it was almost the end of summer in the fourth year of Tianqi. The next step was to prepare for the examination.

Although Xu Xiancheng said that he didn't care much about not passing the imperial examination last time, he was still a little disappointed in his heart. He had been holding back this feeling. In order to restore the glory of the Xu family, Xu Xiancheng must pass the imperial examination. Only by passing the imperial examination can he go to the capital to take part in the spring examination, wait for his name to be on the list, enter the official career, and live up to the expectations of the Xu family's ancestors.

However, because the Chinese New Year was approaching, Li Xin forced Xu Xiancheng to stay. Xu Xiancheng really couldn't handle Li Xin's enthusiasm, but he couldn't just leave without saying goodbye, so he had to spend the New Year at Li's house.

After the Chinese New Year, Xu Xiancheng once again said goodbye to Li Xin. This time, Li Xin knew that he could not keep Xu Xiancheng, so he held his hand and talked to him for a long time, and his words were full of reluctance.

"Brother Li, why do we have to be like this? A friend in need is a friend indeed. We are parting today, but we will not be separated tomorrow. Wait until we pass the examination. Wouldn't it be better if we meet again in the capital?"

"Brother Xiancheng is right. I lost my temper. If I hadn't just gotten married and had parents to support me, I would have loved to go on a study tour with you. Wouldn't it be great if you and I could go together?"

"Hahaha, Brother Li, you can say this to me in private, but don't let my sister-in-law hear it, otherwise she will blame me for abducting Brother Li away." Xu Xiancheng laughed in a low voice.

Li Xin also laughed. He was a free and easy person, and what he said just now was just what he said. Besides, his wife was well-educated and they had a very good relationship. How could she blame him and Xu Xiancheng because of what he said?

But before the separation, Li Xin was really reluctant to leave, but he also knew that although Xu Xiancheng was younger than him, he was also a very opinionated person, otherwise he would not have gone out to study alone. In order to bid farewell to his good friend, Li Xin set up a banquet before leaving, and wanted to get drunk with Xu Xiancheng. In addition, he specially prepared a generous amount of money for Xu Xiancheng.

Xu Xiancheng was touched by Li Xin's sincerity and drank the wine, but refused to accept the money. He didn't spend much on the journey. When he came out, he still had most of the money Zhu Shenzhu gave him. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu also gave him a waist badge. With his status as a scholar, he didn't have to pay for staying at the post station.

But Li Xin saw that Xu Xiancheng refused to accept the money and insisted on giving it to him. Xu Xiancheng could not resist Li Xin's enthusiasm and only took ten taels of silver. As for more, he refused to take it anyway. Seeing this, Li Xin was helpless and had to give up. The two friends drank until late at night. The next day, Li Xin personally sent Xu Xiancheng away ten miles away.

"Brother Li, please stay. After sending you a thousand miles away, we must finally part. You and I will say goodbye here." When they arrived at the farewell pavilion ten miles away, Xu Xiancheng bowed deeply to Li Xin who was seeing him off.

Li Xin did not refuse. Just as Xu Xiancheng said, they must eventually part ways. Li Xin stopped and watched Xu Xiancheng get on the donkey. He rode on the donkey's back, swaying away, and his figure got farther and farther away...

"Brother Xiancheng! I will go to Shanxi to find you after I pass the imperial examination this time, and we will go to Beijing together!"

"Okay! I'll wait for you in Shanxi! When you come, I'll treat you to a drink and we'll get drunk again!"

In the distance, Xu Xiancheng's voice came, and he turned around and waved to Li Xin while riding on his donkey. A smile could be vaguely seen on his face. Li Xin did the same, waving at Xu Xiancheng with a smile, until Xu Xiancheng disappeared, and then he put down his hand.

After bidding farewell to Li Xin, Xu Xiancheng first headed south and arrived at Runing Prefecture a few days later. He stayed in Runing Prefecture for a few days, visited local students, and made a few friends. Then he continued his journey and headed east. It took some time before he finally reached Nanzhili from Henan and came to the central capital Fengyang.

When he arrived at Zhongdu Fengyang, it was already the end of the first month of the lunar year. Xu Xiancheng did not stay there for long. He just rested for three days, wandered around Fengyang, and then continued to head east. His destination was Nanjing.

Nanjing, also known as Jinling, is one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the north, the literary activities in the southern Zhili are much richer than those in the north, and Nanjing is also a gathering place for scholars from the south of the Yangtze River. Xu Xiancheng wanted to visit Nanjing a long time ago, and this study tour to Nanjing can be regarded as fulfilling his wish.

Nanjing is the ancient capital of six dynasties, and the Qinhuai River is even more famous. There are countless stories about talented men and beautiful women left in this place.

Nanjing was also the place with the most academic societies in the Ming Dynasty. Young students often gathered together to discuss political affairs and talk about the past and present. The literary atmosphere was extremely strong, which made Xu Xiancheng, who had just arrived in Nanjing, very excited.

Xu Xiancheng didn't know anyone in Nanjing, but one of the friends he made during his study abroad had a good friend in Nanjing. When he learned that Xu Xiancheng was going to Nanjing, he wrote a letter and asked him to take it with him. When he arrived in Nanjing, he could use the letter to find that person to introduce him to students in Nanjing.

Therefore, on the second day after arriving in Nanjing, Xu Xiancheng came to visit with a letter. This friend was also a scholar and was currently studying at the Imperial College in Nanjing. After meeting Xu Xiancheng and reading the letter, he was very enthusiastic about Xu Xiancheng. He not only took Xu Xiancheng to visit the Imperial College, but also introduced him to many friends in Nanjing academic societies.

They were all scholars and young people, so they naturally had a common language. Moreover, Xu Xiancheng was a young scholar who had traveled all the way from Shanxi to Nanjing to study, which made people admire him even more. In addition, Xu Xiancheng had brilliant articles and extraordinary conversation, so he quickly became friends with these students.

After getting to know these people, Xu Xiancheng felt at home in Nanjing, often visiting the Imperial Academy and various academies, listening to the teachers' lectures and students' discussions, including some comments on political affairs. He also got to know Chen Zhenhui and Zhang Pu, who were also students, and through Zhang Pu, he got to know Zhang Cai, Yang Tingshu, Yang Yi, Gu Menglin, Zhu Kui, Wu Changshi and others.

These students shared the same ideals and often talked together. They were particularly interested in political affairs. Influenced by them, Xu Xiancheng would express some opinions from time to time. However, compared with them, Xu Xiancheng's views were more practical, while these people's views were more idealistic and slightly different from each other.

But this did not hinder everyone's friendship. Although there were many heated debates during the discussion, everyone's starting point was still good. These young students had passion in their hearts and ambitions to serve the country and the people. Unfortunately, after the contact, Xu Xiancheng also found that many of them were full of empty talk but had no practical application. Some of their ideas and political propositions were unrealistic and seemed like castles in the air.

Although Xu Xiancheng was young, he was more down-to-earth than them. This was mainly because Xu Xiancheng's background and environment were different from theirs.

Compared with these students, although Xu Xiancheng was also a descendant of an official, his family had fallen into poverty many years ago, while most of these students came from well-off families. In addition, the Southern Zhili region was full of literary talent and rich in cultural atmosphere, and the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River was different from that of the north, so naturally their ideas and opinions were different.

At the beginning, Xu Xiancheng would debate with others, point out problems with the other party's arguments, and put forward some of his own ideas. But as time went on, Xu Xiancheng gradually stopped talking, because he cleverly realized that it was not a good thing to stand out among a group of people who talked big. Although sometimes these students would agree with his views, most of their ideas were completely opposite. As an outsider who had just arrived in Nanjing, it was not a good thing for him to do this often. As time went by, Xu Xiancheng expressed his opinions less and less in discussions, and more often just played the role of a listener.

As time went by, Xu Xiancheng discovered another problem. Although these students were ambitious and passionate, they were too naive. In addition, due to their background and family circumstances, they had only a superficial understanding of the suffering of the people and were too idealistic. Some of their arguments were really ridiculous, but they often argued until their faces turned red, which made Xu Xiancheng speechless.

In addition, many people said they would put the people first, but spent money on the Qinhuai River the next moment. The money spent on a night of drinking and drinking was enough to support an ordinary family for several years. What's worse, some families had tens of millions of acres of land, but they made their fortunes by annexing poor farmers and squeezing tenants, but they said that all people suffered and were righteous, which was even more ridiculous in Xu Xiancheng's eyes.

As time went by, Xu Xiancheng became more and more disappointed, and even felt disgusted with being associated with these people. Even though these students seemed to have a good relationship with him, their positions were completely different. In Xu Xiancheng's view, many of them were just boastful and their so-called ideals and ambitions were completely unrealistic. Moreover, once their own interests were involved, they would often have double standards, saying one thing and doing another.

After staying in Nanjing for more than a month, Xu Xiancheng gradually had the idea of ​​leaving Nanjing. At this time, Zhang Pu and others suddenly found Xu Xiancheng and told him that they had united more than a dozen students to form a school called "Yingshe". Yingshe's mission was to study the Five Classics and discuss the principles of morality, and invited Xu Xiancheng to join.

At first, Xu Xiancheng wanted to refuse, because he was not a student from Jiangnan, but just came to Nanjing to study. But he could not resist the persuasion of Zhang Pu and others, and considering that the purpose of Yingshe was somewhat related to his imperial examination, and that he could improve his writing skills through discussion, he finally agreed. In this way, Yingshe was soon established, and Xu Xiancheng became one of the first members as the founder of the society.

But he never imagined that this inconspicuous Yingshe, which he joined inadvertently, would gradually grow stronger after a few years and eventually swallow up more than a dozen other academic societies in Nanjing to form a new academic society, which was the famous Fushe in the history of the late Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)