Textual research on Zhang's A Dream of Red Mansions

The fourth part "The Red Chamber Collection"

Zhang Rugui's Examination

It is said that A Dream of Red Mansions is cause and effect, and there are ambushes everywhere. Say that day, in the village wine shop in Weiyang, Zhang found someone who was talking about the rise and fall of the world with Leng Zixing in Hu Kan, and told Yucun that he had played the role of a restorer. He didn't elaborate, but he left in a few words, and Zhang was never heard from again. The first eighty chapters in the existing books can't be found any more. Through the time and space in the book, in a dream on a certain day of a certain year, Mr. Cao Xueqin told Mr. Meng Ke the details of Zhang, and Mr. Meng Ke recorded them as follows.

According to the book, Zhang, a native of Weiyang, was dismissed for being involved in the Yucun case and now lives at home. Zhang's ancestors also had fame, but his fame was not too high. When Zhang's father was hereditary, he was already a civilian, but he managed well and his family was still prosperous. Zhang's father only gave birth to Zhang's only son, which inevitably led to the indulgence of love. On the one hand, the son is spoiled, on the other hand, he is obsessed with reviving his ancestral business. He pinned all his hopes on this son and found a Taoist in a fortune-telling class to change his character into yin and yang. According to the Taoist priest, he went to Baoshi Mountain on the West Lake in Hangzhou to collect a huge red stone for his home. According to the Taoist, this child was a stubborn monkey on the Gemstone Mountain in his last life. He was instructed by the old monk Fahai to keep watch on the broken bridge of the West Lake to ensure that Uber would not do harm to the men and women in the past. Putting the Red Cornerstone under his former life seat at home can protect his family and make a career, and give his son a name, which means forgetting justice before profit, and his nickname is like Gui. Zhang is also smart. At the age of seven or eight, he was able to recite the Four Books and Five Classics with the loving encouragement of his father and the urging of his strict teacher. However, he is more destructive and very stubborn. Whenever he has time, he runs to the street to play wildly and makes friends with some bad teenagers. They are good at fighting cocks and running dogs and making troubles. When he was a teenager, he set fire to a lonely old woman's hut for fun. Fortunately, he was saved in time, which made a life. His father donated his property to Zhang as the overseer of Baping county government. Seeing that Zhang was from Weiyang, a neighboring county, or a juren, he was eloquent, controlled the scene, was familiar with the surrounding customs, worked diligently, and used it well, so he handed over all the difficult cases that he didn't want to bother and didn't need to be tried in the yamen.

This Guichang's weak white eyes, the image of big bones, thin and beautiful, slow speech, hard volume and heavy depth. He always seems to have foresight and can make cold decisions. The ancients rumored that the scholar was born in the market, and the words that were most prone to debauchery seemed to be dedicated to him. Although Zhang was strictly controlled by his father for several years after setting fire to make trouble, he also studied hard and won prizes. But after all, a leopard cannot change his spots, which is purely accidental. I think he also knew the ending of the examination room and went to Beijing several times for reference. It was just a show. He didn't expect to get lucky again in the examination room. After winning the bid, my father was moved and delighted, and his self-esteem was not enough, so he no longer restrained Zhang. Those little brothers who grew up with Zhang came to congratulate him. Zhang has many crooked ways, which are very different from other miscellaneous places. He is proactive and gentlemanly, willing to listen to him and find any disputes and entanglements that the government is too lazy to manage on the ground. Zhang arranged his brothers in the order of becoming sworn brothers, and Zhang was regarded as the eldest brother. When Zhang donated his official position, he was very good at pleasing his boss. Jia Yucun is greedy for money and doesn't want to get his hands on it. Zhang often surmises the meaning and doesn't ask questions indiscriminately. There is always a way to get things done. Zhang consciously works for the government and is willing to be driven by Yucun. He doesn't care if he hurts good people. Of course, he also made a lot of benefits by the way. People privately say that he is a fake good man and a ruffian leader, who only cares about the gains and losses of interests and doesn't care about his reputation. In this case, Zhang has his own relationship with and was involved in this reform.

Zhang took part in the revolution and had nothing to do at home. Because he has no official background, he is mixed on the ground as before. Although he is not as proud as the officialdom, a group of brothers say that his eldest brother is also very decent.

Over the years, Zhang followed the business and instructed his little brothers to manage the black and white business in this land. Naturally, I earned a lot of money, so I bought a house with a farm property, married a concubine and lived a relaxed life. From time to time, I will get together with the housekeeper of the local government to eat wine in the pub, and by the way, I will clear my eyes and ears. My little brothers listened to him and did some modest things on the ground, but they just lost their original housekeeper status, and they were afraid that they would not be able to clean up after making a big fuss, so they converged a little.

Zhang is complacent about the news that Kyoto has played the role of a veteran. His father has been urging him to find love quickly. Although money is no longer a thing, it is helpless that he has no other backer in officialdom and is surrounded by peddlers and pawns. No one can give him advice. Although he was in a hurry, there were no clear doorways in the east, west, north and south, and he didn't find a place to start for many days.

Zhang Zaozhi went to Yangzhou and made a guest appearance in the palace. Jia Yucun is his former boss. He knew that Jia Yucun was always capricious and arrogant when he worked in the government, and he had to wait on him carefully anytime and anywhere. Now Jia Yucun is also an official. The threshold of this Fu Lin is high and deep, and it is not easy to get in. Besides, it's not a good thing to be involved in a dismissal case together, and it's boring to find. I also thought that even if I met in the market, I really should consider whether to avoid suspicion. Besides, I really didn't get anything to ask Jia Yucun for help. It's just that after I moved my mind to return to work, I couldn't find a way to think about it, and finally I thought of Yucun. I think I was dismissed because I was involved in Yucun's case. If Yucun can be recovered, I also have hope, or I can lend my strength to Yucun's forces. I just want to know how to inform Yucun about it. Zhang usually eats and drinks with his little housekeeper, so that they can pay attention to their whereabouts and make good collectors in the yamen to inquire about their going out. As it happens, on this day, a buyer outside Fu Lin's office was drinking with several lovers in the hotel he supported. It is said that the principal of the young lady went to the suburbs alone after going out that day, and Zhang followed her all the way after receiving the letter.

I am familiar with my hometown, so I found the place in Jia Yucun easily. When I saw Jia Yucun talking to people while drinking, I was not easily disturbed, so I waited not far away. When I saw Jia Yucun get up and leave, I happened to have a detailed talk. I also look forward to listening to some of Jia Yucun's guidance doorways, but Jia Yucun seems lukewarm, and it is not good to talk with Jia Yucun in detail, so he has to look for a way out regardless of other troubles.

Unlike Jia Yucun, who got Leng Zixing's counsel and climbed to Jia Zheng in Fu Rong through Lin Ruhai, Zhang had no energy from it, much less the sophisticated means of Jia Yucun officialdom, and made some twists and turns in Kyoto. At first, I just used the trick of drinking to make money, sending some money to the east and some gifts to the west, and even being cheated by a liar who pretended to be a guest of Xinyi Wang Fu. I'm so angry that he won't swallow this cowardly spirit on the ground in Weiyang, but on the ground in Kyoto, I can only endure it, even though my heart hurts. I heard that I was absent without leave, and in a rage, I spent a lot of effort to catch up with the loyal and obedient king.

Everyone who works with Zhang in the yamen of punishments is mixed up. Some of them won a reputation in scientific research, but they were too bookish to be recommended by serious people before they were assigned to do such work. Some have been doing Grade 8 for many years, and two others are said to have been demoted because of mistakes. Although their level was as high as five, they are now supervised and controlled to do some hard work that others don't want to do. Ironically, rural local tyrants and urban gentlemen who are even more illiterate get the job by sending money through various joints. These people don't care about official positions and don't want to make progress. They just want to take a place in the yamen and get a salary. Compared with the people around her, Zhang feels that her talent is many times higher, and among all these people, she consciously stands out. She thought it was a waste to do this job, and she was very depressed when she thought of many mistakes she had experienced. I want to be ahead like Jia Yucun, but even if it is not as good as Jia Yucun, there should not be such a big gap. Because I am unwilling, I have been thinking about finding another way, but there is no other way at present, so I have to go one step at a time and make plans again.

There are more officials in Beijing than a dime a dozen. In the eyes of ordinary people, the seven products below Kyoto yamen are not called officials, but generally called servants or servants. Zhang, the page of punishments, only did a few things to escort Qin criminals to preach the number and purport. He is paid very little and has no extra money. This year, he didn't even earn a fraction of the original principal. Most of my colleagues are resentful, and their behaviors are hostile to the world. They behave like sheep in the world, but they bully their weak colleagues, abuse the innocent, and even vent their anger on the prisoners who are going to court or send them to prison during the escort. Zhang has the ability to mix in Weiyang, which is more than enough to deal with local ruffians and hooligans. Unlike other colleagues, he does evil things, and sometimes even secretly takes care of the prisoners who are being escorted. At the same time, he gradually gets used to this unsatisfactory job and stares at the promotion opportunities.

Working in Beijing, the money is basically spent, and the salary is only enough for daily food and shelter. Zhang sent a message to tell his family that he had won the official position, but he still had to pay a sum of money, so that his family could send a silver ticket and some exquisite antiques collected at home, and give a sum of money to the historian of Zhongshun Wang as a thank-you gift. Another conspiracy to make money and try to promote it.

Since having a relationship with the historian of Zhongshun Wang, Zhang has visited both ends every three days. He really wants to climb the backstage of Zhongshun Wang Yefu with the help of the ladder of the historian. Many things happen. This Dragon Boat Festival sent a gift of filial piety to the chief historian, and tried to put a carved mountain ornament of Yangzhou red sandalwood pedestal and suet white jade to settle the right and wrong for others, and gave it to the prince who has been familiar with it these days, saying it was filial piety to Prince Zhongshun, and attached a famous card. Prince Zhongshun is also recruiting cronies, so he summoned Zhang in the palace. Seeing that Zhang was smart, talented and familiar with the long history, he learned that he had worked as an academic supervisor in the county government before, so he recommended Zhang to be a six-product inspector in the government office. After two years, he was promoted to a four-product inspector.

Here has been promoted to fu, when presiding over the trial joint department, Zhang followed to the yamen department, and before Zhang climbed up, he leaned over and pulled him up. A few days later, when I was free, I quietly found a conversation and said that there was a vacancy for an assistant minister in the Ministry. He has made a recommendation, but many people are looking for this position, so Zhang has to work hard to find a way. Zhang asked Wang Zhongshun for help, and Wang Zhongshun only greeted him. Zhang got his wish and became an assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance.

Zhang has long recognized the ability, and he also heard that the government has recognized the same clan. He knew that the relationship between Rongning House and Zhongshun Wang Fu was not harmonious. Because there are rules in rivers and lakes that don't ask about the past and don't work hard, Zhang didn't deliberately care about too many rules. Some things are convenient for both sides, try to avoid both sides.

When Zhang was a policeman in the punishments department, he often thought of it and took his behavior as an example. Jia Yucun was promoted from Yingtianfu to Beijing. At that time, Zhang was also an envoy of the governor, and they also met in the court. Due to the inconvenience of the occasion, he could only say hello respectfully. He felt that Jia Yucun responded to him with his eyes. He also inquired about Jia Yucun's residence and visited Jia Yucun's residence to find out. He just felt that Jia Yucun seemed unable to manage his affairs at this time, but he was bent on relying on this obedient sovereign. Later, he was promoted to Fu, and he couldn't wait to see the opportunity to express his congratulations and thoughts, but he hasn't come to the door yet. Yucun was very close to him when he was interrogated by the joint department.

Zhang was promoted to assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry, that is, he came to Kyoto with his parents, wife and children. At this time, many of his younger brothers who used to be on the ground in Weiyang also came to Kyoto with him. Although I don't know, they actually came to find him to fool around. These people gradually took root in the market, and they were called Yangzhou Gang. On weekdays, they collected some black money such as land security money, and some of them got jobs in yamen through channels. Zhang Ziran took more photos of these brothers, so I won't list them here.

It is said that in the troupe of Zhongshun Wang Yefu, there is a Jiang Yuhan who can sing and knock. He is an excellent actor in the play, and has been favored by Zhongshun government and won many awards. I didn't want to be hooked up by people outside, but I also got in touch with the king of Beijing, the water god, and had a relationship with my precious jade. The Yangzhou gang got involved in this matter inexplicably, and Wang Fu, a loyal historian, received an order from the loyal report and vowed to chase Jiang Yuhan back to find out. See things make big, Beijing officialdom is bound to shake, Wang Jing, Jia Zheng and Feng Ziying's family and other parties don't want to see things get worse. Zhang also thought that some means should be used to avoid getting burned, so he ordered Yangzhou people to find a loyal and obedient chief historian Wang to cover up the facts. There is a distant relative in Jiang Yuhan who is doing a lot of iron goods business near the North Gate and has been relying on Yangzhou's help. The distant relative is willing to pay a sum of money in order to settle the matter. Official historians also know that it is not worth making a fuss about a player. After he got the money, he found an excuse to downplay the matter in front of the obedient prince, and then he didn't study it again. After this incident, I saw Zhang's potential, Jia Zheng vomited an one mouthful air conditioning, and Zhang's face in officialdom rose a lot.

I don't know what will upset the balance of officialdom. Once out of balance, a group of people will be unlucky. This year, the Zhen Shi family in Nanking was consulted by the imperial censor, saying that the Zhen Shi family embezzled tax money to intervene in tribute property, and the emperor also wanted to kill the chicken to show the monkey, so Jia Yucun asked people from the official department and the punishments to investigate. Jia Yucun works as a teacher in Zhen's home. He not only knew that Zhen's family was an old relative, but also knew that Zhen's family was his grandmother's maiden, so he didn't dare to be careless. When a group of people arrived in Nanjing, they raided Zhen's house. Maybe the Zhen family has a hunch about things, or maybe the Zhen family is innocent. They turned the Zhen family upside down and didn't copy down any conclusive physical evidence, but when Zhang counted the population, he found that several men were missing from the roster. When checking things, I really wanted to avoid the face. Zhang got the report and had to come over to check. Although Zhen Baoyu people have grown up, they are still a pair of idiots. They knew that the adults in front of them were former teachers, and they knelt down and pulled Jia Yucun's trouser legs. I am at a loss, and Zhang used to be a policeman in this land. He had to ask Zhen Baoyu to pull him along. It turns out that the living conditions in Zhen Fu have been very bad in recent years, and several people who have seen through the world of mortals have become monks. When Jia Yucun saw this scene, his heart would naturally sigh. Tell Zhang and others that he was hired to teach at Zhen's home, and attach a detailed explanation. It is said that the emperor read the newspaper and asked Zhang why, but he didn't get an answer, so the case fell through. It's just that the Zhen family was robbed and completely destroyed, so Zhen Baoyu also went to Putuo Mountain to become a monk.

Made a well-organized case, which provoked Jia She and Jia Zheng to regard Jia Yucun with special respect in Wang Ziteng, and it was not as pleasing to the eye as before. Provoked the family of fellow villagers here, but also had to prove that it had nothing to do with the case, and did not see the emperor's idea. Jia Yucun's heart had an inextricable knot from then on.

Later, Jia Yucun was also investigated. The emperor didn't let Zhang ask about it, but after being dismissed, he went down to Iraq and let Zhang temporarily take charge of government affairs. All court officials are staring at this position. Unexpectedly, Zhang, who was much worse than the official qualification, was in office, which attracted the attention of the court. In the following three or two years, Zhang participated in many major cases, such as the case and the case, and became a red man in the court for a while. Later, Liu Xianglian led a robber to attack the palace and tried to break the rules. The gangster confessed that he was a branch brother of Yangzhou Gang and the relationship between Yangzhou Gang and Zhang. The emperor was furious and asked Zhang to commit suicide. Prince Zhongshun visited the emperor to intercede, and was later demoted to Ninggu Pagoda. As a result, the prestige of Prince Zhongshun was also affected, and the whole court personnel were reshuffled. Later, the new emperor succeeded to the throne, and soon wrote a letter to Wang Ziteng and Rong Ning Palace to rehabilitate the previous case, and Jia Lan was also appointed as a top scholar in scientific research. This is another story, put aside for the time being.

I went back to Zhang's errand and stopped. When Zhang was a policeman in the punishments department, he got along well with his colleagues. He also took care of some prisoners and accumulated a lot of good karma. On the way to Ningjiata, Zhang was a former colleague. Before leaving, he ordered the Yangzhou gang brothers who had nothing to do with the case to send a large amount of silver to their colleagues' homes. The guard regarded this chore as a long journey, along the way. As for the transfer of Ningguta, the pawn was the prisoner he took care of when he was a policeman in the punishments department. Among the people in the frontier fortress are the apprentices of Yangzhou gang. Zhang Ziran received a lot of care. Although his life in Ningguta was difficult, he died at the age of 80.

Mr. Meng said: I don't have an outline. For example, the standard watch encounters continuous rainy weather. There are no people who don't go with the flow in life, and things are changeable, so we can't just let nature take its course and pay for the past, let alone the truth, and never just sigh.