Explore the adolescent era of Shandong's historical celebrities - the chaotic world of the late Han Dynasty

One autumn day in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in front of the heavily fortified Andzhou Thorn Shi Mansion, there came a young scholar who was a servant of the wind and dust, this scholar looked about 20 years old, thin and weak, dressed ordinary, not very eye-catching, but the natural flow of dashing atmosphere in his demeanor and the vague pity between his eyebrows made people think that he was something different. Only to see him go straight to the lieutenant who was holding the door and say, "Please report to Lord Shi, Shanyang Zhongchang asked to see him." The lieutenant went in to report, and the scholar stared at the Thorn Shi Mansion in front of him, frowning slightly, and a trace of unhappiness flashed on his face. This scholar is Zhong changtong, a famous scholar in Shanyang who is known for his erudition and good at writing, and is known as one of the "three sons of the late Han Dynasty". Shanyang is also the area around the current City of Zoucheng in Shandong.

At this moment, he had been away from home for several months. Originally, Zhongchang Tong's family was rich, he was fond of learning since childhood, and he read a lot of books, although his reputation was not as good as that of the "Seven Sons of Jian'an", but he was also quite famous in the surrounding states and counties. He was in the year of the weak crown, studying the scriptures every day, dancing and inking, chanting poems, strolling leisurely, but also at ease. However, the quiet life could not appease Zhong Changtong's young and turbulent heart, and the suffering life of the people around his "pure land" stimulated his nerves all the time, and he felt that he could no longer be silent, determined to explore a salvation strategy that could enable the people to live and work in peace and contentment. Therefore, he resolutely bid farewell to his parents and embarked on the road of studying abroad.

At that time, in the period of powerful and powerful struggle at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yellow River Valley in the Central Plains, which had always been the economic and cultural center, became a slaughterhouse and suffered unprecedented devastation. Zhong Changtong painfully found that today's Han Dynasty, "the name is empty, there are no people in the hundred miles, and there are innumerable", and the formerly rich Central Plains has become a wasteland, which can be described as "going out and seeing nothing, and the plains are covered with white bones". However, this is in stark contrast to the extravagance and debauchery of the rich and the rich, who live in hundreds of large mansions, occupy large tracts of fertile land, enslave thousands of slaves and slaves, raise countless horses, cattle, sheep and pigs, and "beautiful concubines, fill the rooms; advocate the pleasure of prostitutes, and list the deep halls." The flesh of the three animals is smelly and inedible; the salt of the pure alcohol is defeated and inedible." At the same time, Zhong Changtong also realized that although after more than ten years of great fighting, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zhan and other great warlords had achieved a temporary balance, each dividing one side, but they were all desperately accumulating strength and preparing to annex each other, and there was a great trend of "mountain rain coming and the wind filled the building", and the people's greater disasters were still to come. The harsh reality that he had witnessed in the past few months of running between Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Jizhou had gradually cooled Zhongchangtong's fiery heart of serving the country. Later, when he heard that Hezhou had assassinated Shi Gao's great talent, loved talents, recruited famous people from all over the world, and made a grand plan together, he lit up a glimmer of hope in his heart and hurriedly came to admire him. No, the first thing that catches your eye is the Thorn Shi Mansion, which is no different from the official residences of other dignitaries and nobles, and its grandeur and prestige are chilling, like a face that "has no reason and no money to come in", and can't help but make a big discount in my heart.

A "please" interrupted Zhong Changtong's reverie, only to see that at the opening of the palace gate, a large group of entourage led by high-ranking cadres dressed in official uniforms greeted them out of the door. Zhongchang Tong thought that if he came here, he might as well act on the opportunity to see what kind of person the high-ranking cadre really was, and it was not too late to make a claim. Therefore, he hurried forward, greeted him a little, and entered with high spirits under the guidance of Gao Gan. At that time, Gao Gan was in charge of the military and political power of the prefecture, and his status was above that of other state officials, and his uncle Yuan Shao was the most powerful separatist in the north who occupied the four prefectures of Ji, Qing, You, and Hezhou, so the power was temporary, arrogant and lascivious, and the luxury of the furnishings in the palace was even more unexpected by Zhongchang Tong. Gao Gan has long heard of the great name of Zhongchang Tong, so he did not wait slowly because Zhongchang Tong was young, and specially set up a rich wine banquet, advised the dishes to toast, and was attentive and prepared. However, the table full of delicacies and the rouge and dancing that helped Zhong Changtong seemed to be transformed into the hunger and tired white bones everywhere in front of Zhongchangtong, especially the vulgar talk of high cadres and the sound of flattery and compliments, which made Zhongchangtong lose his appetite. Through careful observation, he became more and more aware of the high-ranking cadres. He found that this thorn history, who had the name of aicai, was actually a vassal with elegant style, no ink on his chest, and a straw bale that relied on Yuan Shao to climb to a high position. The so-called "celebrities" are just a bunch of wine sacks and rice bags that climb the dragon and attach the phoenix. Relying on them to save the people of Lai is tantamount to letting a pack of jackals protect the flock. The facts also confirmed Zhong Changtong's judgment, and he felt very disappointed, and his face was difficult to see. Seeing the tiredness on Zhongchangtong's face, Gao Gan thought that it was caused by the fatigue of the journey, so he persuaded Zhongchangtong to stay and live a few days of leisure in comfort, assisted him to become his "great cause", and asked Zhongchangtong with satisfaction: "What do you think of me as a person?" Zhongchang Tong looked around at the four seats and said without humility: "Jun has ambitions but no talents; he likes talents but does not know talents, I am very worried about Jun!" As for my Zhongchang tong's freedom and habituation, and there is no blessing of waiting for the nobles, please do it yourself! Leave. After saying that, he left the table and walked away, leaving only a tall cadre with a sullen face and a group of stunned "celebrities".

Tough search. Repeated encounters with walls, coupled with painstaking thinking, made Zhong Changtong more sober, and he realized that the Han Dynasty was like a building about to collapse, to the point of being incurable. But this soberness made him feel inexplicably contradictory and painful, and he was worried about the decline of his own class, but also lamented the misfortune of the toiling masses, and lamented that his own life was not opportune. In a troubled world, what can you do? He felt very confused for a while, and even once had a negative and reclusive mood, hoping to find a quiet house with a back to the mountain and surrounded by bamboo and trees, study the scriptures with his friends on weekdays, Zang Denied the characters, strolled between the pastoral trees in his leisure time, played in the cool breeze of the clear water, fished and shot geese, played the piano and sang, and lived a relaxed life. Fortunately, in the end, the simple conscience did not make him always depressed, and one thing he made clear was that he was in a chaotic world, and even though he did not have the power to return to heaven and could not save the people from water and fire, he still had to use the pen in his hand to expose the darkness of society, attack the bad deeds of the nobles, and never collude with those corrupt officials and warlords.

The last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty were one of the darkest periods in China's history, the people's livelihood was withering, the world was getting worse, and how many people were fighting for an official and a half-job. Zhong Changtong's behavior really puzzled many people at that time, and people called him a "mad student". Zhongchang tong ignored this, and became more arrogant and unworldly, often evading the summons of the powerful, acting uncertainly and silently. However, his sharp pen was not idle, he boldly disclosed what he saw and heard during his study tour to the world, and wrote a large number of essays that were acupuncture and bad, and he painted vividly the foolish lord at that time, the monarch and the lord committed adultery, the upper and lower levels were evil, the eyes were extremely, and the voice of the poor Zheng Wei was heard. When entering, they are delayed by the woman, and when they go out, they are hunted in the fields; so that the hungry wolves will guard the kitchen, and the hungry tiger will graze the dolphins, so that they will boil the fat paste of the world and cut the bone marrow of the living people. The dark inside story of "resentment and boredom, simultaneous disasters, disturbances in China, invasion and rebellion, disintegration, and going all the way", and profoundly refuted the "Heavenly Dao" learning of the ruling class to fool the people, paving a heavy elegy for the feudal class. At the same time, it also provided a solid historical evidence for future generations to know and understand the dark conditions at that time, which was unique in the brilliant forest of Jian'an literature and also left a monument in the history of Chinese philosophy.

P.S.

Zhong Changtong later went to Cao Cao's Xiangfu to do things at The Minister's Mansion after Xun Yu's recommendation, and the official Zhi Shangshulang joined the military, but in the end he was depressed and died at the age of 40, leaving behind works such as "Changyan", a total of thirty-four articles, with high philosophical and literary value.