Zhou Huang was a native of Sichuan, a minister during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, an official to the Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, the Shangshu of the Bingbu, and also sent envoys to Ryukyu, and he could write poetry and good books, and there were many works. The following is a story about Yuan Ming's record of his grandfather in "Zi Bu Shu", which is quite legendary.
Zhou Huang himself said that his grandfather, who made a living by chopping wood, lived alone in the Emei Mountains, was over ninety-nine years old, and had not yet married. Every day, he went into the mountains to cut firewood, and then picked them down the mountain to sell to a boss surnamed Wu who made tofu. Boss Wu, husband and wife, only one daughter in the family, bought the firewood cut by Zhou Huang every day. Over time, Boss Wu and his wife and Zhou Huang's grandfather became acquaintances, trusted each other, and became old customers.
On this day, Boss Wu wanted to celebrate his sixtieth birthday, so he invited Zhou Huang's grandfather in advance: "Tomorrow is my birthday, you will come tomorrow to drink." Zhou Huang's grandfather immediately agreed to come down, but the next day, he never saw his shadow. Boss Wu's wife felt strange and said to her husband: "Old Man Zhou has always loved to drink, and today he did not come to sell firewood, nor did he come to drink, should he be sick, or something happened?" You might as well go and have a look. ”
The next morning, Boss Wu came to Zhou Huang's grandfather, saw that Zhou Laohan was at home, and his body did not look anything out of the ordinary, so he asked: "Yesterday when you came to drink, why didn't I see you coming?" Zhou Laohan smiled: "Thanks to your love, please drink on my birthday, and I don't have money to buy you a birthday gift, so I thought of chopping a load of firewood for a birthday gift." I didn't expect to go into the mountain, pass by a stream, and see that the water is full of yellow and white things, but isn't it what people usually call gold and silver? I did everything I could to transport them all back and pile them up under the bed of the house. If I go out and go down the mountain, who will guard this large pile of gold and silver? ”
Boss Wu listened to half-belief, and came to look under Old Man Zhou's bed, and sure enough, it was all gold and silver. Boss Wu thought for the sake of Zhou Laohan and said, "You can't live here anymore, you live here alone, there is so much gold and silver in your home, in case the thieves know about it, you will be in trouble." Old Man Zhou nodded, "I don't need you to say it, I thought of it too." Why don't you please come into town and give me a place to live in a crowded place?" Boss Wu helped Zhou Laohan find a place to live, and then helped him move and quietly transported the gold and silver to the city.
A few days later, Zhou Laohan came to find Boss Wu again, and he gave Boss Wu a hundred taels of silver, which was grateful to him for helping to move, and he said a little embarrassedly: "I have one more thing I want to ask you to help." I'll be a hundred years old in another year, and I haven't been married yet. I thought I was going to die, where else could I think? I didn't expect to suddenly get such a large amount of money now, what did a lonely old man of mine want this money to do, and what was the use? So I want to ask you to help matchmaking and marry me a daughter-in-law. Boss Wu and his wife listened to Zhou Laohan's words, and they both covered their mouths and laughed at each other, thinking that Zhou Laohan was so old and had the idea of marrying a wife and having children.
Zhou Laohan said solemnly, "Not only that, if I marry a relative, I must be a yellow flower girl." If you remarry or a widow, you will not live with me wholeheartedly, and it will not reflect the sincerity of my old man to marry his wife solemnly. If the woman's family thinks that I am old, I am willing to give 10,000 taels of silver as a dowry, and after the fact, I will give 3,000 taels of silver to thank the matchmaker. Boss Wu knew that this matter was not easy to handle, but he wanted to get the three thousand taels of silver from the xie media, so he agreed. Old Man Zhou was very grateful when he saw that he had promised to help.
After more than a month, Zhou Laohan came to see Boss Wu again and asked him about his matchmaking. Boss Wu also asked many families, and when people heard that they were marrying their daughters to an old man who was nearly 100 years old, they were eager to beat Boss Wu out with a stick. Boss Wu is not good at telling the truth to Zhou Laohan, and he does not want to let go of this fat gap, and he is embarrassed.
Boss Wu's daughter, who was only nineteen years old, suddenly came over, knelt down in front of Boss Wu, and said, "My daughter is willing to marry Old Man Zhou." Boss Wu and his wife felt very strange and did not know what their daughter thought. Boss Wu's daughter said: "The meaning of the parents is that the old Han people in Zhou are old, and they feel that their daughters are still young and do not match each other." But the daughter heard that everyone has a destiny, if the daughter's life is not good, even if she marries a peer, she may be widowed early; if the daughter has a good fate, even if Zhou Laohan is older, maybe she can give birth to a son, enough to support the portal, maybe not. Moreover, my parents have no sons, only one daughter, and I would like to be able to support my family like a boy and repay my parents. If I marry Zhou Laohan, he will send 10,000 taels of dowry, as well as 3,000 taels of silver to thank the media, enough for both parents to spend the rest of their lives, and their daughter's wish will be fulfilled. Moreover, the daughter felt that Zhou Laohan was so old that he could still get such a windfall, but he was afraid that Providence would not let him die. Boss Wu and his wife saw that their daughter was right, and saw that her mind was already decided, so they agreed.
Zhou Laohan came to the door again to inquire about Boss Wu's matchmaking, and Boss Wu told him what his daughter said, and Zhou Laohan immediately knelt down to kowtow to Boss Wu and called Boss Wu's husband and mother-in-law, and the marriage was decided. After Boss Wu's daughter married Zhou Laohan, she soon gave birth to a son, and Zhou Laohan let him study, participate in scientific expeditions, and win the lifting. Zhou Laohan's grandson was Zhou Huang, who later became a chancellor at the qianlong emperor's side, and posthumously gave him the title of crown prince Taifu (太傅) with the courtesy name "Wen Gong".
Zhou Laohan lived to be more than one hundred and forty years old, and Wu only lived to be fifty-nine years old, and died before Zhou Laohan. Zhou Laohan handled the aftermath for her and was very sad. After Wu's death, it was another four years before Zhou Laohan died. The village where he lived was known as the "Hundred and Forty Villages" by others.
Postscript: Checked, Zhou Huang's grandfather was a kangxi man, which shows that the above story is purely fabricated. However, Zhou Huang did have his own person in history, and he also left relevant historical materials on the Diaoyu Islands as Chinese territory. According to historical records, Zhou Huang's envoy to the Ryukyu Kingdom should have been in the twenty-first year of Qianlong (1756). At that time, the Qing government inherited the diplomatic practice of the Ming Dynasty and sent a fifth envoy to the Ryukyu Kingdom, this time two ministers.
At that time, the Sichuan Fuling people and the Hanlin Academy editor Zhou Huang were one of them. He was crowned as the deputy envoy of the King of Zhongshan, and was ordered to lead the team on an envoy to the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was an extraordinary sea trip, zhou huang was in distress several times, and the round trip took more than a year. During this time, Zhou Huang left behind a very important document, the Ryukyu Guozhiluo, and drew a "Needle Map".
Through actual investigation, Zhou Huang described the dividing line between the Diaoyu Islands and the Ryukyu Islands very clearly -- that is, with Kuroshio as the dividing line, the Diaoyu Islands are China's inherent territory and are subsidiary islands belonging to the island of Taiwan, which have nothing to do with the ancient Ryukyu State, let alone Japan.
The "Ryukyu National Chronicle" and Zhou Huang's diary of his visit have been repeatedly cited by the relevant departments of our country, and this batch of materials has also been one of the powerful evidence that the Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times, and has become an important reference material for experts in the history of East Asia around the world.