Volume 2 Clouds Chapter 37: Nine Bows
Luo Youdu continued to look at the case files of Kaifeng Prefecture during the half year since he left. The more he read, the deeper his understanding of the situation of the Ministry of Justice became.
It is necessary to find a talent who can take on the heavy responsibility of the Law Department, otherwise the efficiency of the Law Department will be criticized sooner or later.
Seeing that it was getting late, Luo Youdu planned his schedule for the next day in his mind and rode home.
Looking at nearly a hundred workers working busily on West Street, Luo Youdu couldn't help but find it funny. He really became a popular commodity.
Glancing next door, I saw a manager dressed in simple blue clothes directing the workers to work.
What's strange is that the other party has left a large piece of land on the right side of his mansion empty, and no one knows what they are going to do with it.
He actually chose to move next door to me, so why did he move so far away?
I don’t understand!
Luo Youdu shook his head.
When the steward met Luo Youdu, he bowed deeply with great courtesy.
Luo Youdu responded with a fist salute and returned home.
While Hu Bo was preparing dinner, Luo Youdu went to the bedroom first and picked up the "Incomplete Copy of Wei Gong's Art of War" to read it carefully.
This era is progressing, and military strategies, battle formations, and military equipment are also progressing.
The closer the military books are to this era, the more practical they are. Compared with "The Art of War" and "The Art of War by Wu Zi", the "Incomplete Copy of the Art of War by Duke Wei" that he bought from the bookstore gave him more inspiration.
However, this incomplete copy is not a rare treasure. It is just a common copy with only a few hundred words.
"My dear, someone handed me a visiting card."
Lao Hu suddenly walked into the room and handed over a very formal visiting card.
Luo Youdu reached out to take it, opened the visiting card and read it carefully: Dou Yujun and his son and four others came to visit.
Dou Yujun?
who is it?
Luo Youdu had never heard of it, but when he looked down, Dou Yujun also introduced his family background in his visiting card, saying that he was from Yanshan and held the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue and Shaoqing of the Ministry of Rites.
"Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue?"
Luo Youdu thought about what Wang Pu said today that he would notify the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Could it be because of this matter?
He continued to look down, and suddenly a look of shock appeared in his eyes. He almost shouted "Oh shit".
The eldest son, Dou Yi, whose courtesy name was Kexiang, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the fifth year of Tianfu in the Western Jin Dynasty.
The second son, Dou Yan, whose courtesy name was Wangzhi, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the sixth year of Tianfu in the Western Jin Dynasty.
The third son, Dou Kan, whose courtesy name was Youbo, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the early years of the Qianyou period of the Western Han Dynasty.
The fourth son, Dou Zhen, whose courtesy name was Zhang, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the second year of Qianyou in the Western Han Dynasty.
The fifth son, Dou Xi, whose courtesy name was Huida, was admitted as a Jinshi in the early years of Guangshun in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Five Jinshi in this family?
That’s so awesome!
"Dou Yujun, Yanshan..."
Luo Youdu muttered to himself, and suddenly clasped his hands together and said, "Dou Shilang of Yanshan has a righteous way of educating his children. One old Lingchun tree, five fragrant osmanthus branches!"
These are Feng Dao's words praising Dou Yujun.
He had specifically studied Feng Dao in those days and knew about this.
There is a similar record in the Three Character Classic : "Dou Yanshan has a righteous way. He taught his five sons and all of them became famous."
This Dou Yujun is Dou Yanshan. His five sons are collectively known as the "Five Dragons of the Dou Family".
The top literary figure of this era.
Luo Youdu hurriedly got up and walked out to greet him.
Six people stood in front and behind outside the yard.
The leader was a man in his fifties, dressed in a colorful robe and shirt, a standard Confucian scholar's attire, and in high spirits. Behind him stood five people of varying ages, the oldest had a full beard and was in his thirties, while the youngest was in his early twenties.
Luo Youdu stepped forward quickly and said, "Junior Luo Youdu greets Mr. Dou..." He was just about to bow to the five dragons of the Dou family behind Dou Yujun.
Dou Yujun hurried forward to stop him and said, "Sir, please don't embarrass me and my sons. I am so generous that I dare to befriend you as an equal. How can we accept your kindness?"
Luo Youdu complained in his heart, if this dog can teach five Jinshi (Jinshi degree), then wouldn’t 90% of fathers in the world be worse than dogs?
"Please come in, gentlemen!"
Luo Youdu warmly welcomed people into the house.
When I was in South City, I didn’t have money to buy chairs.
Later, he moved to a new house, got a promotion and received a salary. He had money, but the house was not spacious enough and it seemed crowded if he bought some chairs for it. He still continued with the traditional way and did not follow the trend.
Old Hu took out six mats and spread them out on both sides of the hall.
Luo Youdu invited six people to take a seat at the top.
Dou Yujun sat at the seat, but Dou's Wulong stood obediently, not daring to sit at the same table with his father.
This shows that the Dou family’s education is indeed extraordinary.
Luo Youdu smiled and said, "The room is not big. You are blocking the light by standing together. Please take your seats together!"
Dou Yujun said: "The master has spoken, thank him and take your seats."
After the five of them expressed their gratitude in unison, they sat down.
Luo Youdu did not dislike such etiquette, even though as a person of later generations, he no longer cared about it. But the longer he lived, the more he felt that some etiquette was still necessary.
Luo Youdu said: "I have heard Mr. Feng praise Dou Shilang of Yanshan for a long time and I have always respected him. Today I am able to meet Mr. Dou and Wufang. Their reputation is well-deserved."
When these literati meet, they can't help but praise each other.
After showing respect to each other, they got down to business .
Dou Yujun said: "Your words, 'Be the first to worry about the world, and the last to enjoy the world,' have made us think deeply. Knowing that you live here, I can't help but follow the example of Meng Mu and move to live next door to you. I hope you won't mind."
Luo Youdu suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Dou Yujun came at such a timely moment. It must have been the butler who informed him.
"It is my great honor to be Mr. Dou's neighbor."
Luo Youdu was thinking about how to start a conversation and show off his unique conversation skills.
Dou Yujun suddenly stood up, bowed to the ground, kowtowed nine times in one breath, and said, "I came to see you today, I want to ask you to give me some articles and calligraphy to boost the backbone of the scholars in the Central Plains."
The five sons of the Dou family also bowed to the ground and kowtowed nine times in a row.
Bow nine times!
Luo Youdu stood there in shock. What was going on? He said with a bitter face, "With my level of ability, how dare I say that I can raise the backbone of scholars in the Central Plains? You think too highly of me!"
Dou Yujun suddenly burst into tears: "Since you don't want to, then I'll ask you to write another piece of calligraphy, 'Worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy after the world is happy', and display it outside the school."
Luo Youdu saw that Dou Yujun's expression was sad and he was not acting, so he asked, "What is going on, Mr. Dou? It's just a piece of calligraphy, why is it so serious?"
Dou Yujun laughed bitterly and said, "Sir, you have never seen the crimes that my students in the Central Plains have suffered. I have a disciple who is extremely talented and won the first place in the imperial examination. He was praised by scholars, but because he corrected a word of a powerful official in our dynasty, the powerful official thought that he looked down on him and slapped him ten times in public. He was so sad and angry that he hanged himself and left a suicide note, hoping that he would never learn literature again in his life."
"In my dynasty, a great general was inspecting a tower. He saw a scholar passing by below the tower, so he drew his arrow and shot him dead. When he asked him why, he replied: 'It was an eyesore.'"
"During the Former Han Dynasty, Murong Yanchao passed by a private school on his way home. He found the sound of reading irritating, so he massacred all the 36 students and 160-year-old teacher in the school."
…
"The list is long and long, too numerous to count. I am fifty-six this year, and what I have seen and heard is that rebellion is rampant, rituals and music are in disarray, and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are extinct. Scholars like us are like dogs with broken backs, living in misery in this world."
"Your previous words, 'Before you worry about the world's worries, and after you enjoy the world's happiness,' made me exclaim that the heaven has a vision, and our Central Plains finally has the soul of a scholar. But at that time, you were not able to shoulder the great responsibility and did not dare to ask for help rashly. Now that you have been favored by the emperor, why don't you set an example and revitalize the spirit of our Chinese nation?"
