"Zhang Cheng" is one of the few masterpieces in Liaozhai that praises brotherhood. In the text, the mother is virtuous, the son does not become as bad as the mother; the stepmother abuses him, and the stepson does not hate but pity; the father is cowardly, the brother has no resentment, but finally reunites the family. Pu Songling said that he wrote and wrote, and he cried unceasingly.
究竟是怎样的故事呢？
相传，明末年间清军入关，战乱不断，在这朝代更替中百姓们不知要遭多少难。 It is said that there was a businessman in Shandong surnamed Zhang, who saw that the war was about to burn to their area this day, so he quickly packed his bags, took his wife who had just become pregnant, and fled to Henan with his neighbors.
Who would have thought that halfway through the encounter with the Qing soldiers, in the vast escape procession, the people were frightened to flee everywhere, and the crowd suddenly became chaotic. At this time, he and his wife were scattered by the crowd, and the cries and screams around him were all over the place, and no matter how he shouted, he could not hear his wife's half response.
In desperation, he had to continue to Henan. In the first few years of his stay in Henan, while doing business, he inquired about the whereabouts of his wife and children, and all the neighbors advised him to marry another wife to continue the incense. He thought it made sense, so he married his wife and settled in Henan. Within a few years, the wife gave birth to a son, named Zhang Ne, and the family was happy and harmonious, and the life was relatively happy. However, the good times did not last long, and when Zhang Ne was 5 years old, his wife unfortunately fell ill and died.
In order to take care of xiao'er, he married Niu Shi as his successor, who was fierce and mean, and later gave birth to a son named Zhang Cheng. With her own flesh and blood, where can she tolerate her stepson Zhang Ne. On weekdays, he was either beaten or scolded, and coupled with the fact that her husband had been out doing business for many years, there was no time to take care of things at home. Within the Niu Clan Lord, Zhang Ne's life was a miserable word.
The younger brother eats fish and meat, and he only has leftovers; the younger brother sleeps on a warm bed, and he can only rely on straw to keep warm in the firewood room; when the younger brother reaches the age, he can go to school to read and read, but he has to go up the mountain day after day to cut firewood.
Fortunately, Zhang Cheng is different from Niu's, he has a mellow temperament, filial piety and understanding, so he often advises his mother not to be so mean to his brother, Niu does not listen, but scolds him as a white-eyed wolf.
One day, Zhang Ne went up the mountain to cut firewood, and it rained heavily in the middle, so he hurriedly carried firewood and hid in a cave to avoid the rain. When the rain stopped, it was dark, there was no food for a day, and the hungry stomach was ruddering, so I had to go home.
Niu Shi looked at it, only to order such firewood, angry: "The firewood has not been cut enough, where is the face to eat, hungry!" Zhang Cheng returned from the school and heard that his brother had not eaten. He secretly filled the flour and begged the neighbor to give it to his brother. The brother cried while eating, and Zhang Cheng signaled his brother to make a small voice: "Shh, don't let your mother find out, you just eat, don't say it." My brother is already weak, so he needs to eat more! ”
The next day after dinner, Zhang Cheng did not go to the academy, but secretly went up the mountain to help his brother chop wood, Zhang Ne saw his brother, a surprised face: "Who told you to come!" Zhang Cheng said: "I want to come myself, I want to help my brother cut more firewood, so that my mother will not be embarrassed for you." No matter how Zhang Ne urged him to go back, he did not listen, and he worked harder, hands and feet and pulling wood, until his fingers were bleeding, and then he went back with pity.
The next day, Zhang Cheng came again, this time with an axe. The brother said in horror, "I told you not to come, why are you so disobedient?" Zhang Cheng smiled and did not speak but only cared about chopping firewood, about enough for a bundle, he happily bid farewell to his brother. Zhang Ne was afraid that his brother would encounter danger on the mountain road, and escorted him all the way back to the school, seeing that the teacher wanted to beat him for skipping class, Zhang Ne quickly went forward to explain, and the teacher nodded his head in praise after listening to it. Later, Zhang Cheng went up the mountain to help his brother, and the teacher never punished him again.
One day, the brothers were chopping firewood on the mountain when suddenly a tiger came out and took Zhang Cheng away. The tiger ran slowly with the man in his hands, and Zhang Ne chased after him closely, throwing an axe at him, right in the tiger's crotch. The tiger ran wildly in pain, Zhang Ne really couldn't catch up, and he couldn't catch up with the crying. The nearby mountain people also rushed to hear the news, and Zhang Ne cried and said, "My brother died for me, what does it mean that I am alive!" After saying that, an axe slashed at his neck, and suddenly the blood gushed out, and he directly passed out. The crowd quickly tore his clothes and wrapped his wounds and carried him back home, where it took a long time before he opened his eyes slightly.
Niu Clan cried and scolded, "You broom star, killed my son, do you think you can prevaricate it with a shallow wipe on your neck?" ”
Zhang Ne groaned and said, "Mother don't be annoyed! My brother is dead, and I will never live! Day after day he didn't eat or drink, so he sat against the wall and wiped his tears. His father was worried that he had a three long and two short, and he stayed by the bed day and night to take care of him, but Zhang Ne never wanted to eat, and he died three days later.
After death, Zhang Ne's soul fluttered and encountered the wizard in the village, and the wizard could pass through the Yin Division, and Zhang Ne went forward to inquire about the whereabouts of his brother's soul. The wizard led him to a city gate, and when he saw a man dressed in black come out, he went up to ask Zhang Ne about it.
The man in black took out the document and examined it carefully, and there were more than a hundred men and women's names on it, but there was no surname Zhang. The wizard suspected that on the other papers, the man in black said, "This road is all under my control, how can there be a mistake?" "Isn't my brother dead?" Zhang Ne did not believe it, and begged the wizard to take him into the city to find it, new ghosts and old ghosts in the city came and went, and no one had heard of a new ghost named Zhang Cheng.
张讷仰天长叹，突然看到云中有一高大身影浑身散发着金光，正缓缓而来，又听见众鬼欢呼：“菩萨来了！ The wizard said happily to Zhang Ne, "Great Lang is really blessed, the bodhisattva only came to Yinji once in thirty years to help the ghosts and save them, and today you happened to meet him." He said and pulled him up and knelt down together. The bodhisattva drew willow branches from the jade vase and sprinkled it with nectar, and the dew fell on Zhang Ne's neck to cool down. When the bodhisattva disappeared, the wizard took him home with him.
Two days later, the dead Zhang Ne suddenly woke up, touched the wound on his neck, and miraculously got better. He told his father what he had seen after death, and then he knelt down and said, "The younger brother is not dead, and the son will bring him back even if he goes through the clouds and into the sea. ”
Zhang Ne searched for his brother in the streets, and soon the coils given by his father were used up, and he had to rely on food to support himself. On this day, on the way, he happened to encounter more than a dozen people riding high-headed horses, and one of them was a teenager riding a pony who kept looking back at him. Because the other party was a noble prince, Zhang Ne was ragged and did not dare to look up. Without taking a few steps, the teenager suddenly strangled the horse and jumped down, shouting at Zhang Ne: "Isn't this a brother?" Zhang Ne looked up and looked closely, and it turned out that the teenager riding the horse was Zhang Cheng.
"How did my brother end up here?" 张讷把事情经过细细道来，张诚更伤心了，还是先带哥哥回自己的新家吧，新家的主人是张千户。
It is said that after the tiger took Zhang Cheng, because the injury was too serious, he threw him in the middle of the road, and Zhang Cheng lay on the side of the road for a night, and he did not know where he was. 恰巧张千户路过这里，便将他带回家中治好了伤病。 张千户没有儿子，见张诚小小年纪相貌文雅，举止有礼，就认作了义子。
得知弟弟的遭遇，张讷很是感激，就向张千户拜谢救弟之恩。 对于张讷千里寻弟，张千户也甚是感动，备了一桌酒菜款待他。 席间不免问及家里情况，“听诚儿说，你们以前是山东的？ ”
Zhang Ne replied: "My father was from Shandong, and later fled to Henan to settle down. ”
"I'm also from Shandong, where was your hometown under the jurisdiction before?"
"I heard my father say that it is under the jurisdiction of Dongchang Province."
张千户惊喜不已：“如此说来，我们真的是同乡啊！ ”
Zhang Ne said: "At that time, the Qing soldiers entered, and my father and ex-mother were scattered by the crowd during the escape, and the ex-mother was pregnant. 后来父亲来到河南定居，前母缺怎么找也找不到。 ”
问到张讷父亲名字后，张千户惊的目瞪口呆，急忙进里屋请出了太夫人。
Madame Zhang asked Zhang Ne, "Are you Zhang Bingzhi's grandson?" Zhang Ne said, "Yes." ”太夫人哭着对张千户说：“他们俩是你弟弟啊！ ”
The Zhang Ne brothers did not know what was going on, and Mrs. Zhang said, "I went to the north with your father for three years, and then I was robbed by the Qing army Heigu mountain, followed him for half a year, and gave birth to your brother." 又过了半年，黑固山死了，你哥哥补官在旗下，如今已解任，改回了原籍。 We have sent people to Shandong many times to inquire about your father's whereabouts, and who would have thought that you are now in Henan? ”
说着太夫人已经泣不成声，过一会又责备起千户说：“你把弟弟当儿子，真是罪过！ ”张千户回道：“以前我问过诚儿，他只说父亲是山东人，别的也不知道，想必年纪太小记不清了。 ”
按年龄排次序：张千户三十五岁为大哥，张讷二十二岁为老二，张诚十六岁最小为老三。 千户得了两个弟弟，非常欢喜，一家人高兴地商量着回家去见父亲的事情。 几个月后，他们卖了房产，置办行装，定好日子起程。
Speaking of Zhang Laohan, since Zhang Ne left, Niu Shi has also died, leaving him alone and lonely, sighing at Ying. 如今，忽然见张讷张诚回来，高兴的直抹眼泪。 The brothers also told that the ex-mother and brother were coming immediately behind, and Zhang Laohan could not say anything in shock. 不多会儿，千户进来，拜见父亲，太夫人和张老汉几十年后再重逢，惊喜的抱头大哭起来。
Zhang Cheng did not see his mother for a long time, and when he asked, he realized that his mother had long since died, and he almost fainted when he was overly sad. 后来，张千户出钱建造宅院，又请了先生教两个弟弟读书。 Since then, the Zhang family has prospered and gradually become a large local household.
Pu Songling said that he had shed tears for this story several times, probably thinking of his own life. According to legend, Pu Songling had three brothers, because of the discord between each other, the two sisters-in-law were arrogant, and when the family was separated, Pu Songling was only given a little thin field and three broken houses, which is the reason why his life was poor.
Therefore, when he saw the young brother Zhang Cheng in the text secretly helping his brother cut firewood, he could not help but have mixed feelings and feelings.