One
In 1839, Gong Zizhen was particularly busy.
He left the post of struggling for half a lifetime, leaving only a letter: "The world is so big, I want to see it." "I didn't even go through the formal resignation procedures, so I rolled up and left."
When I got to Jiangnan, I found that something had happened.
When Gong Zizhen went south from Beijing, he was estimated to be in a bad mood, so he went south with a strong sullen head. Walking along, I looked: "I went, my family is still in Beijing!" ”
Although Gong Zizhen's career was not smooth, he would not abandon his wife and son.
So he turned his head and went north to Beijing to pick up his wife and children. Two months later, when Gong Zizhen reappeared at his home in Beijing, he was probably waiting for him with the roar of the Lion of Hedong.
"You're running away, you don't even go home, you don't love me anymore..."
"Daughter-in-law, I was wrong, and I don't dare again."
Family affairs are small things, and state affairs are big things.
At this time, the Qing Empire was no longer a scene of "Kangqian's prosperous world", but a dull world during the Daoguang years, with mediocre officials and exaggerated society, all of which made Gong Zizhen feel sad.
In times like these, patriots have no way out.
Gong Zizhen struggled hard all his life, only mixed with a few idle posts, never had the opportunity to realize his ideals, a small angry youth, he stumbled into an old angry youth.
On the way south, Gong Zizhen used poetry to spit on life and shake the air, if there was a circle of friends at that time, he was the hated brush screen king.
Later, he compiled and published these 315 poems and named them "Miscellaneous Poems of Self-Hai". Unexpectedly, this collection of poems went viral as soon as it was listed, occupying the first place in the best-seller list for 70 years.
Until the Republic of China, it was still rated by Liu Yazi as "the first class in three hundred years." One of them appears in our text:
Kyushu was angry and thunderous, and Wan Maqi was secretly sad. I advise Tiangong to shake things up and demote talents in an eclectic manner.
If Gong Zizhen knew that "Yi Hai Miscellaneous Poems" could be so hot, it was estimated that he would cry and faint in the toilet: "Don't take me to play when you are alive, let me fire when you die, is it useful for hair?" ”
Two
In August 1792, Gong Zizhen was born in Hangzhou to a family of eunuchs.
His father, Gong Li, was a scholar-type official, who had served as the prefect of Military Aircraft Zhang Jing and Huizhou, and also published academic papers with extremely high gold content, "Annotations to the Chinese" and "Examination of Chu Ci Famous Things".
It belongs to the typical example of the "two blossoms of style and style" in the Qing Empire.
Her mother, Duan Tao, is a female poet who published the "Luhua Yinxie Poetry Grass" with an online score of 9.0, occupying the list of "Top Ten Talented Women in the Literary World" for many years.
Born in such a family, Gong Zizhen won at the starting line.
In 1815, the 24-year-old Gong Zizhen used his debut novel "The Theory of Ming Liang" to send the first greetings to the world. One of them satirizes reality, which makes him famous:
"Avoid the prison of words, and write books for rice grain."
After reading the "Theory of Ming Liang", his grandfather Duan Yujie pinched the beard of the white flower and showed a happy smile: "I am old, and I can see my own wizards before I die, and I have no regrets." ”
But Grandpa couldn't help but be a little worried.
Talented young people always like to be arrogant and arrogant. If you can't sharpen your mind and do your studies in a down-to-earth manner, you are in danger of becoming a "keyboard man" and a "troll".
Therefore, Duan Yujue warned his dear grandson:
"Strive to be a famous Confucian, a famous courtier, and don't want to be a famous scholar."
But history did not fulfill his wishes.
Because in Gong Zizhen's time, there was no need for famous courtiers and famous Confucians.
Three
September 1792, United Kingdom.
A large mission set off from portsmouth, they will follow the coasts of Europe, Africa, through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and then into the Indian Ocean, all the way east.
The destination of the Magalni mission was the Qing Empire.
The delegation brought advanced British technology, ship models, guns and guns, hoping to make the Qianlong Emperor issue a sigh of "sleeping grooves" and then talk about a warm love.
To Magalni's disappointment, Qianlong did not say what they wished, but said another sentence: "I don't like you." ”
The Qing Empire rejected the only suitor.
If you want to write a propositional essay on "How Single Dogs Are Made", I am afraid that Qianlong is the author with the most right to speak.
Since then, the Qing Empire has been on the road of single dogs.
That year, Gong Zizhen was only 1 year old and had not yet been weaned.
Although he did not go abroad, did not study foreign languages, and did not get a doctorate when he grew up, Gong Zizhen can clearly feel the loneliness of single dogs.
In terms of economy, the Qing Dynasty, like previous empires, lived on agricultural taxes. It is equivalent to moving bricks to get a dead wage, until one day of old age and falter, I can't move, and my income is broken.
And this era is infinitely close to that day.
In terms of spirit, the nerves of the Qing Empire are very sensitive. Just like when his unassuming single dog walks in the middle of the crowd, he always feels that someone is pointing behind his back, and as a result, when he turns around, no one pays attention.
Therefore, the emperor repeatedly raised up the "word prison" to fight against the enemy in the darkness.
What is even more frightening is that the rest of the Qing Empire is still proud of it.
They felt that they were not single dogs, but single aristocrats. "I earn 2,000 a month, go out on the bus, move bricks to work stably, do not dare to fall in love, afraid of the other party to figure out my money."
Hi yo, I feel that life has reached its peak.
Although Gong Zizhen does not know how others fall in love, he knows that single dogs are not right: "I can't chase others, I don't take the initiative to kiss, but I feel good about myself, which is particularly a disease." ”
In addition to being single, the Qing Empire had other problems.
Gong Zizhen summed up the context of the times as "ruling the world", "chaotic world", and "declining world". ”
In a chaotic world, force is the king, as long as the hero is born, he can sweep the world. Then be diligent and thrifty, and be able to do it... Soon there will be a reign in the world, which is equivalent to a charge to send.
And "decay" is the period of decline after the rule of the world.
At this time, people are immersed in the bustling dream and have not yet awakened, feeling that they are still great. But if you let him rise again, but helplessly find that he has long been powerless.
This is the physiological characteristic of "decay".
Low income, poor looks, addicted to the unreal world, still incompetent... target...... Single dog, do you feel that life has no hope?
Gong Zizhen felt this way.
"Left without talent, right without talent, talentless general, order without talent, Long without talent... If the city has no talent to steal and Ze no talent to steal, it is not only a fresh gentleman, but also a villain. ”
Meaning: I'm not targeting anyone, everyone here is garbage.
Four
When most people are sleepy, Gong Zizhen is the only one awake.
He wanted to awaken his sleeping compatriots, he wanted to change the dull world, which was Gong Zizhen's ideal for a lifetime.
If you want to realize your ideals, you must become a mid-level soldier and become a high-ranking official.
But how can a person who has already seen through the world's tao return to chaos and take the Four Books and Five Classics as the golden rule?
Gong Zizhen took the exam 5 times in a row, all of which failed the list, and did not barely pass the exam until the 6th time.
He was 38 years old.
Even if he passed the entrance examination, he did not enter the Hanlin Academy, which cultivated the prime minister.
Examination papers must be written in a uniform "pavilion style", which is dull and boring, just like the mediocre who "does not seek merit, but seeks no fault".
But Gong Zizhen is not a mediocre person, how can he write in the style of the pavilion?
Using his own style of font, he imitated Wang Anshi in the examination paper to write "Imperial Examination anBian Fu Yuan", and wrote down his opinions on the governance of Xinjiang from the aspects of governance, employment, and water management.
As soon as you read the article, you know that this guy is a thorn.
The calm lake is always in accordance with the rules, the fish and shrimp occupy their own advantageous positions, according to the unspoken rules step by step to swim to the feed of the feeder, for all the "scum" that may break the unspoken rules, they will inevitably rise up and attack.
As for whether the lake is stenchy, what is the matter with me?
Just live.
Cao Zhenyong, a university scholar, is a big fish, and his motto is "prostrate more, talk less", and he is not welcome to "scum" like Gong Zizhen.
Gong Zizhen became the nineteenth place in the top three and was not allowed to enter Hanlin.
Throughout his life, he never became a member of an important department, and only worked as a cabinet secretary and the head of the ceremonial department, and his tragic life in capital letters.
Gong Zizhen does not belong to this era, and the times do not welcome him.
Five
In his lonely life, Gong Zizhen changed.
He wrote in poetry his thoughts and judgments about the situation.
"After meditating on the affairs of the past fifteen years, it is only when the tears are also crossed that that the tears are also crossed, and the name of the sword is doubled."
I have material, give it a chance? NO！ This dog day of the world can not tolerate me, even the first daughter-in-law left me, life, ah, all tears.
If it is Haojie's light weight Kyoshi, then the mountain is heavy. The day of the Kyoshi is short, and the day in the mountain is long.
According to today's trend, the rebellion of the common people is a matter of certainty, and the imperial court must make preparations early. As a result, no one took it seriously, and 10 years after his death, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came.
The hair of an ancestor is all hidden, and the opinions of a thousand husbands are all swept away, rather than giving vigorous reform, why reform itself?
The ancestral law has never been a panacea, and sooner or later something will go wrong. Instead of leaving the problem to future generations, how good is it to solve it in advance?
Gong Zizhen's acupuncture was basically not responded to.
Like a lone traveler, he saw that there were countless hidden pits in front of him, standing on the side of the road and shouting: "Don't go, let's fill the pit together." ”
But passers-by scolded him for being neurotic, and then fell into the pit one by one.
The dazed and ignorant are the happiest, and the most painful thing is to be a sober bystander, but there is nothing they can do.
People's anger actually comes from powerlessness.
Six
Since ancient times, the fate of the talented son has been divided into two types:
Able ministers who govern the country and the state, such as Yelü Chucai and Zhang Juzheng;
Famous people who point out the country, such as Tang Bohu and Zheng Banqiao.
The intersection of life's path is character.
Gong Zizhen only wants to be a capable minister who governs the country and the country, but his fate is uncertain, he does not want to join the dark world, and he goes to the extreme of madness in the turmoil of life.
He was a tragic figure.
But the times also gave him a unique mission.
Gong Zizhen's changes and innovative ideas influenced several generations in the late Qing Dynasty. Until the Guangxu years, the thinkers and reformers who accepted the new learning basically worshipped Gong Zizhen.
Liang Qichao also said: "The whole country is intoxicated by the Taiping and prosperous world, but Gong Zizhen can plan the world's grand plan, and he is a mentor of my generation." ”
Gong Zizhen's fate is like a poem he wrote:
The vastness is slanted away from the melancholy day, and the whip is the end of the world. Falling red is not a merciless thing, and it is more protective of flowers when turned into spring mud.
Let's go, let's go, and don't look back all the way to your ideals.
The judge who evaluates success or failure is never status or wealth, but time. Everything you do, every word you say, time will make a fair assessment.
It requires you to do only one thing: hold on to the light of your heart and walk through your life.