2. Magical Family History
His uncle brought his family to the Apricot Blossom Restaurant on the fourth road. It was an old restaurant that featured Cantonese cuisine. The four of them went up to a window seat on the second floor and sat down. The 4th Road was now Fuzhou Road. At that time, Nanjing Road, Jiujiang Road, and Hankou Road were called Da Ma Road, Er Ma Road, and San Ma Road respectively, and Guangdong Road was called Wu Ma Road.
After the waiter served the tea with a smile, he handed the menu to the customer and asked him to order. Uncle asked Yao Shunru what dishes she liked to eat?
"I'm never picky about food. Uncle, don't spend money. Just eat anything.”
"That won't do. You're new here, so I should at least do my best to treat you to a good meal.”Seeing that he was unwilling to order, his uncle took the initiative to order honey barbecued pork, crispy roasted duck, braised yellow croaker, lotus root, cabbage lily, shiitake mushroom, water bamboo and white three-fresh casserole, five dishes and a soup, and a bottle of Huadiao wine.
While his uncle was ordering, Yao Shunru took a glance at the bright and clean windows in the hall. The redwood reliefs of the dragon embossed phoenix screens were spotless. The famous calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls. The antique style refreshed his eyes.
As they ate and chatted, his uncle said," This restaurant was originally called 'Xing Hua Lou Ao Cuisine Restaurant.' It was moved to Si Ma Road in 1874. At first, it was just a small shop that specialized in selling Cantonese snacks and refreshments.
One year, Wang Tao, a scholar of calligraphy from the Mohai Library, was invited to drink tea here. All the people present were friends from the business and literary worlds. Because of Wang Tao's outstanding talent and long-standing reputation, the owner of the shop begged Mr. Wang to give him another elegant name.
Wang Tao thought for a moment and casually recited a poem by Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. It rained heavily during the Qingming Festival, and the pedestrians on the road wanted to break their souls. Where can I find a tavern? The shepherd boy pointed to Apricot Blossom Village. He told the shop owner that it was better to replace the Apricot Blossom Building with the Apricot Blossom Building.
This word difference immediately made everyone applaud. This change was not only in harmony with the original name, but also contained poetry, which was in line with the elegance of the Four Road newspaper office and bookstore. Later, merchants, scholars, and tourists came from all over the world, allowing the shop to develop to its current scale.”
Indeed, there were many bookstores and newspapers in the eastern section of Si Ma Road, as well as some shops that sold paper, pens, and other cultural goods. There were famous Zhonghua Bookstore, Commercial Press, Enlightened Bookstore, Times, Huamei Press, and other news publishing houses. Naturally, there were many cultured people gathered here, thus enjoying the reputation of "the first cultural street in the Far East".
The western part of the city was a place of debauchery. It was where the high-class brothels of Shanghai, Shuyu and Changsantangzi, gathered. One of the most famous was Xinhuile. In a short alley, there were more than 150 brothels. The four roads were no less than the eight alleys in Beijing.
Yao Shunru suddenly had a sudden impulse and asked,"Uncle, I heard that our ancestors lived in Lake Tai, Dongting, and Xishan. Why did we move to Changsha? Can you tell me some family history?”
Yao Runcai saw that his family was longing for him, so he cleared his throat and told a little-known story,"
I heard from my dad that my Dia Dia is your great-grandfather. They came from Dongting West Mountain, Wu County, Suzhou. During the Qing Dynasty, our ancestors were engaged in water transport in Taihu Lake, transporting food for the court. The grain collected from Jiangnan, the land of fish and rice, was transported from the Taihu Lake water system to Shuntian Prefecture, Beiping, through the canal.
In the Qing Dynasty, the imperial grain was first transported by officials, and the local government and prefecture were responsible for collecting and transporting it. It was stipulated that each ship could not carry more than 500 stones of grain. Ten people per ship, ten ships per gang, ten ships mutually protecting each other. There were hundreds of thousands of soldiers and sailors responsible for transportation.
During the reign of Daoguang, the shipping of grain and the pro-citizen movement were opened. The General Administration of Marine Transport was set up in Shanghai and the Collection Bureau was set up in Tianjin. Private ships were allowed to carry 20% of duty-free goods and trade to encourage the pro-citizen movement. It was during this period that our ancestors engaged in water transport and became rich.
However, the good times did not last long. In 1853, the Taiping Army took over Jinling, and soon Suzhou fell. Water transport was interrupted, and all the ships were requisitioned by the Taiping Army, causing the Yao family to be destroyed. Yao Dongshan, who was coquettish, fled to Changsha with his wife and opened a grain and oil business on Xiahe Street.
One winter, it snowed heavily several times in a row, and ice that was more than a foot long hung down from the eaves. In the morning, when she opened the door of the shop, she saw an old man lying on the stairs, dying from the cold. He quickly asked his disciple to carry the old man into the shop. He lit a pot of fire and fed the old man a bowl of ginger soup before the old man could catch his breath.
The old man had been lying at home for nearly a month. He had asked three doctors to treat him. Every day, he asked his disciples to boil medicine and porridge. He took care of him as if he was a family member. Unfortunately, nothing could be done.
Before the old man died, he said,"After I die, I will ask you for a straw mat to wrap my body and bury it in the unmarked graves. In my next life, I will do my best to be a cow or a horse."
She said coquettishly,"This is all fate. Don't let your imagination run wild. Maybe there will be a turning point in the sticky spring." You and my mother are from the same family (same surname). Perhaps we were from the same family 500 years ago. If the day doesn't forgive you, I'll also take care of your funeral like how I treated my uncle.
The old man was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He held his coquettish hand and said, I am not talented, but I know a little about geomancy. You are really a good person. I have no way to repay you. I will give you two places of wealth. If you get one of them to bury the old madam, you will definitely be rich and noble.
She smiled coquettishly and said,"If it comes true, I will definitely bury you and make your descendants rich and noble."
The old man shook his head and said,"Remember not to. Everyone has their own fate. This will break your feng shui. Remember not to!"
Therefore, the old man told Dia Dia that Liu River flowed through Changsha, circled two large lakes, and settled down two places of wealth. He explained the specific location and geographical features clearly. In the end, he told her to cultivate first and then bury him. It was best to do it personally. After that, she died!
Cute to find the first place, because the price is too high, failed to close the deal; In the end, he spent 50 silver dollars to buy the second piece of land, which was now the Yao family's graveyard.
A few years passed in the blink of an eye. When she saw that the Empress, who was over sixty years old, was unwell, she suddenly remembered what the old man had said and took her disciple to the cemetery she had bought to check.
This was a high ground covered in thorns, and there was no one around. The master and disciple climbed up the high slope to look out. The surging water was like a silver snake riding on a vermilion bird. It shook its head and wagged its tail as it headed straight for the white tiger. It was really a treasure land.
There was a basin halfway up the plateau, and a pool of clear water glistened like a mirror in the sun. She suddenly had an inspiration-this was a treasure bowl! My mother's tomb should be built here.
He turned to his apprentice and said,"Hire a few farmers to dig a ditch along the slope, drain all the water in this pond, and clean up the mud."
When he returned home, he repeatedly thought about the words 'cultivate first and then bury it hands-on'? When commoners held funerals, they would hire a group of people to carry the coffin up the mountain and bury it on the spot. There must be a reason for this. Could it be that there was a treasure underground and he was afraid that the news would be leaked?
After a few days, his disciple came back from work and reported coquettishly," The water had been drained, and most of the mud had been cleared. A stone tablet appeared beside the pond, and on it was engraved the words 'Tomb of General Chu Yao Shizhong.'
When Jiaojiao heard this, she was shocked. At night, she flipped through a large number of ancient books and finally found out that this Yao Shi Zhong was the fifth generation general of the Chu Country, Yao Yanzhang. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, when Huang Chao rebelled, he followed Ma Yin, the king of Chu, and joined Qin Zongquan. Later, he supported Ma Yin as commander and made great contributions. Ma Yin called him queen and appointed him as the left minister and minister.
According to historical records, Ma Chu State had existed for more than 50 years. Twenty years after Ma Yin's death, the Southern Tang Dynasty took advantage of the chaos of the five horses and destroyed the Chu State in one fell swoop. Bian Gao, a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was ordered to escort Ma Chu's royal family and more than a thousand civil and military officials to Jinling. When they boarded the ship on the Xiangjiang River, their cries were earth-shattering.
Our Yao surname originated from Yu Shun, one of the Five Emperors. His descendants mainly lived in the Henan region and later migrated to various places. This Yao Yanzhang, also known as Jiwei, was from Runan, Henan Province. As the saying goes, the same surname was a family 500 years ago. After thousands of years of vicissitudes, the Great General Yao's tomb that had been abandoned and buried had returned to the hands of the descendants of the Yao family today. Could it be a coincidence?
The next day, Dia Dia brought her disciple to the scene and saw that the stone tablet was indeed engraved with the words 'Tomb of the Chu General Yao Shizhong.' He was so excited that he kowtowed repeatedly and muttered, Ancestor, I've really wronged you. I've let you soak in this pond for a thousand years.
Obviously, this pond of clear water was formed by taking soil to build a grave. What made Dia Dia puzzled was that this tombstone should have been erected above the grave. Why did it sink into the pond?
From then on, Jiaojiao became very interested in the history of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. She flipped through a large number of history books, wanting to find some information about the past thousand years. It must have been at the end of Ma Chu's reign, when Bian Gao's 100,000 strong army besieged Changsha City, and Ma Kingdom was besieged on all sides. Gao was originally defeated by Yao Yanzhang. His family was afraid that he would seek revenge, so it was possible that they hid the tombstone in the pond.
He guessed that Yao Shizhong's tomb was under the mound above. He didn't dare to re-erect the tombstone because he was afraid of grave robbers. He ordered his disciple to dig a hole and bury the tombstone back into the soil.
Everything in the world had spirituality, and the gods and spirits had made Dia Dia bury the Empress in this basin. From then on, the Yao family's business prospered and the family became richer day by day. My father and Dia Dia both loved collecting antiques and calligraphy…
Yao Runcai finished the story in one breath, causing everyone to be amazed. "It's amazing," Yao Shunru said excitedly."We didn't know anything about it."”
His parents and cousins frequently toasted Yao Shunru with dishes. After a few glasses of wine, he was so excited that his face was full of peach blossoms. He was heroic and confident, as if Pan An had been reborn.
His uncle saw the situation when he first came to Shanghai from him and sighed."The world is unpredictable, life is short, opportunities and risks coexist. If he wanted to achieve something, he had to control himself at all times.”
Yao Runcai boasted that he had been cautious all his life and followed the golden mean. In the end, he could barely be considered half an investor and half a cultured person.
The so-called half-investor referred to the fact that he had invested his father's funds and all his savings in his life in business schools, the press, and the stock market.
The so-called half-cultured person meant that his assets were mainly invested in cultural industries. He was an economics doctor who had returned from overseas, but he had dealt with literati all his life. Together with many well-known cultural figures from the Party, the National Party, the Left, and the Right, such as: Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Guo Moruo, Zheng Zhenduo, Ye Shengtao, Liang Shiqiu, etc. all had contacts.
The books edited and published by him could pile up like a mountain. Unfortunately, he had no achievements in writing. He concluded that he could not do two things at once.
That night, Yao Shunru slept peacefully in his uncle's house. It was only later that he found out that the rooms on both sides of the door were used as guest rooms. The two rooms on the east side of the living room were the master bedroom, which was occupied by his parents. There were two rooms on the west side. One room was his uncle's study room, and the other room was his uncle's library.
Entering through the side door of the living room, there was a handrail ladder that led to the second floor and the turret. In addition to Sister Manli's boudoir upstairs, there were also two large book collections. Uncle's collection of paintings and calligraphy was no less than ten thousand pieces. On one side of the stairs was the kitchen, and on the other side was the storeroom.
The uncle and nephew talked until late at night. What benefited Shunru a lot was that his uncle told him earnestly,"Man is originally good, but God implanted a selfish factor in his body. There were two sides to human nature. There was a kind side and a selfish side.
Kindness extends human feelings, morality, justice, universal love, and civilization; Selfishness breeds ruthlessness, evil, cruelty, sin, and slaughter. When a person came to this world on a certain day, month, and time, they would become a young student's 'fate'. Their innate health, family status, social environment, and background of the times would determine their' luck'. This was what was commonly known as a person's 'fate'.
A person's fate greatly affected his humanity. Education and wealth affected the orientation of human nature. Therefore, human beings should enjoy a material life of food and clothing from a young age, receive a good education, and strive to create wealth to repay society when they became adults.
If he wanted to change the world, he had to change himself first, jumping out of the trap set by God. It was a pity that the current society did not have the basic conditions for fairness and justice for everyone. Everyone had to work hard to create a free, equal, fair, just, prosperous and harmonious welfare society.
Now that the white terror was present, it was best for the common people to stay away from politics because what they saw was only superficial. If they did not know the truth, they would be easily used by others. An ordinary person's contribution to the country and society was mainly reflected in living and working in peace and contentment, abiding by morality, upholding justice, and doing charity.”
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