In the Tang Dynasty, a scholar named Ma Zhou looked for Yuan Tiangang, and Yuan Tiangang said: You can't live for more than a year! A year later, Ma Zhou came again, and Yuan Tiangang was shocked: You will be a very human minister, how did you do it?
In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poor scholar named Ma Zhou. Ma Zhou was born in a scholarly family and loved to read since he was a child. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, Ma Zhou's father died early, and the family was in the middle, so Ma Zhou had to live a poor life.
Ma Zhou wants to change his fate by studying and taking the imperial examination, but it is a problem to buy books, paper and pens. For this reason, Ma Zhou could only find someone in the village to borrow books and copy. Every winter, Ma Zhou is always so cold that his fingers are shivering and his handwriting is scribbled.
Sometimes even the fingers are blistered because they have been writing for too long, and the white manuscript paper is stained red with blood. Ma Zhou often put his fingers in his mouth and sucked, warmed up and continued to write.
One winter, when it was particularly cold, Ma Zhou went to the squire's house to borrow books. When the steward saw that he was in rags, he scolded him for being a poor ghost and that he should not read any more books. Although Ma Zhou was sad, he still insisted on borrowing the book.
In order to complete the copying and return it as soon as possible, Ma copied it day and night, often staying up all night. He even divided the few remaining bowls of cold rice into several batches to copy the book faster.
On this day, Ma Zhou finally finished copying the book, but he was so hungry that he couldn't move. It wasn't until it was dark that Ma Zhou staggered up and reluctantly returned the book.
Ma Zhou wanted to explain why he hadn't returned the book for a long time, but was scolded by the squire, saying that he had delayed paying it. After the news of this incident spread, Ma Zhou was regarded as a person who did not do his job properly.
Undeterred, Ma Zhou began to borrow books from villages farther away. Sometimes the distance is long, and Ma Zhou walks alone on the deserted mountain road. The beast howled in the middle of the night, and Ma Zhou's heart beat fast, but he still moved forward step by step. For the sake of his studies, Ma Zhou is willing to eat.
Later, the private school teacher in the village saw that Ma Zhou was studying hard and had no money to buy food, so he accepted him as a teaching assistant. But the rich student bullied the poor scholar Ma Zhou, and deliberately made trouble or teased him during class.
Ma Zhou was very sad and could only use wine to drown his sorrows. Once, when he was in class, he was told by a student to go to the teacher, and Ma Zhou had to leave gloomily.
Ma Zhou thought about it, and the only way to get out of this secluded village was to go to Beijing to take the exam. So Ma Zhou embarked on a long journey, bringing only a few clothes and a box of paper and pencils. In order to save travel expenses, Ma Zhou walked for several years and finally came to the capital.
Ma Zhou helped people write letters on the street and barely earned some copper plates. He tried to find a place to rest, but was chased away by the shopkeeper. A fortune teller, Yuan Tiangang, saw that he was depressed and predicted that he would only have one year left to live, and Ma Zhou heard about it and drank sullenly on the street in frustration.
At this time, an official stood in front of Ma Zhou and looked at it, it was Ma Zhou's fellow countryman Chang He, who had already become a general. Chang He took Ma Zhou home and found that he was full of wealth and was very helpful, so he recommended Ma Zhou to Tang Taizong.
Taizong saw that Ma Zhou was extraordinary and knowledgeable, and immediately arranged him to Menxia Province. Ma Zhou finally ushered in a turning point in his life, and Taizong urged him to take office four times.
Ma Zhou was about to go to the duty officer, and met Yuan Tiangang before him on the way. Yuan Tiangang said in surprise: "Not only did you not die, but you became a very human minister, how could you be so fateful?" Ma Zhou told what happened to him, and Yuan Tiangang smiled and praised Taizong as a wise lord.
Ma Zhou soon took office smoothly. He is fair and quick-witted, and he has won the favor of Taizong and accelerated his ascension. Finally, Ma Zhourong served as the prime minister, and he and Taizong jointly governed the country and became famous.
Ma Zhou went from a helpless poor scholar to a generation of celebrities, which shows the power of reading to change fate. Ma Zhou's life was bumpy, but he did not give up the pursuit of knowledge, and he never lost his expectation of a better life.
It is Ma Zhou's tenacious and unyielding spirit that allows him to still show the light of life in desperate situations.
