In Shexian Shimen Township, there is a carpenter named Li Mingde, he is a master of craftsmanship, but also talented, every time to the proprietor of the work is done, but also send a picture of the word to the other side, so in the vicinity of the area is very popular.
It is said that Li Mingde was a carpenter before he was a scholar, originally to take the career path to become an official, and then because of the death of his parents, the family was too poor to cook, so he had to give up the pen from the work, followed the village behind the old man Liu to do a carpenter.
Carpenter this line, do apprenticeship is the most bitter, to do full three years of apprenticeship, the master will really lead you into the door, so the wood industry has been popular in the phrase: three years of apprenticeship, five years and a half feet, seven years in order to become a master.
Li Mingde do apprenticeship, Liu old man treat him well, in all aspects of regular care. The reason for this, in addition to his family's poverty, there is also that Liu likes to read people.
On one occasion, Mr. Liu drunkenly revealed that he had built a palace for the court when he was young, and almost became the minister of the Ministry of Public Works, but he read fewer books that year, and that's why he missed the opportunity.
Perhaps it is because of this incident, so Liu old man is very strict on the acceptance of apprenticeship, this year he is almost 50 years old, only Li Mingde so a disciple.
Generally, after the apprentice is introduced, are the first to do rough work, such as water, sweeping, pulling saws, grinding planer blade, filing saw. Only after a year or so of work will the master let the apprentice follow and learn to push the planer, chisel the eye and other underhanded work.
Li Mingde worshipped Liu Laohan as a teacher, the first year learned to catch the adze, swing axe, playing line, open material, and do out of the work can not be picked out what is wrong, Liu Laohan see also very satisfied.
Prior to the Song Dynasty, the status of artisans in the agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors has not been high, until the Northern Song Dynasty, but there has been a great improvement in the social status of artisans gradually improved.
This can be seen from the talent policy at that time, Kai Bao three years the court had issued a "filial piety and fraternal duty edict", requiring "filial piety and fraternal honor, virtue and notoriety, trespassing on the reputation of the countryside, for the king of the common people served by the people" can be lifted, but then stipulated that "there is a strange talent and different line, not bound by the limit! "
These are the boundaries.
After the boundaries were broken down, more and more people were engaged in craftsmen's work, so it was not easy to make a living by craftsmanship without having a specialty.
On this day, Liu Laohan saw his disciple planing wood at the door, he went to the other side and said:""If you want to be a good carpenter, you have to keep the rules as well as break them, do you know what the master is talking about?"
Li Mingde thought for a moment and said: "I understand, my master told me to hold fast to my nature and conscience and not to use what I have learned to harm others, but to carry forward the carpenter, I need to refine my skills and break them first."
Liu nodded after listening to the old man, carpentry this line of learning is deep, easy to learn the essence of learning, want to learn thoroughly is very difficult, to rely on this craft to settle down, you have to break out of their own way.
When the carpenter's grandfather Lu Ban, is relying on their own continuous research, will learn the art of Zhouyi and the combination of wood technology, so that people have a new perception of the carpenter.
The reason why carpenters ranked first among the "Nine Brothers and Eighteen Craftsmen" and were honored was because of the "rule-keeping" and "rule-breaking" of countless forefathers.
Liu took the side of the chisel and said: "Today, I will teach you the art of mortise and tenon joinery, and when you learn it, you will be able to leave the school."
Li Mingde listened to the face of a happy color, this carpenter mortise and tenon art is the invention of the master Lu Ban's divine skills, can not use any wooden pegs and iron stick, can be very exquisite two and more components connected together, and do not see a trace, more reliable and practical than the use of foreign objects connected.
Li Mingde after half a year of study and research, and finally the work of mortise and tenon art learned.
Liu old man looked at his pupil, very pleased, said: "child, you now craft, in the future a little refinement, will be better than blue, I have nothing to teach you."
Li Mingde knelt on the ground and kowtowed to his master, although this moment he had been looking forward to for a long time, but in his heart he could not say how much he missed it.
Before he did well master will praise, do wrong master will also be on the side of the correction, can after the days can only rely on their own, if the work of the East is not satisfied, the smash is their own rice bowl.
"One day for the teacher, life for the father.
"Master, in the future you will rest at home, I go out to work to give you old age," Li Mingde said with confidence.
"What a good boy!" Liu Laohan smiled, he knew that the child in front of him understood and was filial, he had not raised him in vain.
The next day, Li Mingde woke up and went to his room to call for his master, only to find that his master was not in the room, a letter was left on the side of his pillow, which reads, "My son, a true carpenter can build a home in a small way, and a country in a big way, I hope that when I see you again, my master will be proud of having taught a disciple like you."
Li Mingde held the epistle in his hand and read it back and forth several times. He didn't know why his master left without saying goodbye, but he secretly vowed in his heart that one day he would become a true carpenter in his master's heart.
After Liu's departure, the nearby neighbors, who were building furniture and houses, looked for other carpenters, and they saw that Li Mingde was too young to be good at his craft, so they refused to come over to work for him.
To this end, Li Mingde came up with a solution, he went to the mountains to cut down some wood, and then made very delicate objects to take to the town to sell, so that the townspeople can see his craftsmanship.
After he did this, it really worked, and soon a few people took a liking to those exquisite little objects he made. It was then that people realized that the young carpenter was so good at his craft that they asked him to build furniture and houses for them.
Li Mingde was very careful when he was working for the proprietor, and once when the town's Mr. Liu was moving to a new house, he saw Mr. Liu's worried brow, so he went over to him and asked, "Dare I ask Mr. Liu what's troubling him?"
Liu pointed to the front door of his house and said: "My father will soon move into this new house, but there is not a good couplet on this door, if my father knows about it, I won't be able to avoid a reprimand again."
"Counselor, how old is your father this year?" Li Mingde asked.
Mr. Liu casually replied: "Father is sixty this year, this new mansion is precisely built by father to take care of himself."
"How difficult is that? Do you have a pen?" Li Mingde asked with a smile after hearing this.
Member Liu looked at the other with a curious face and asked, "Could it be that Worker Li still has research in pen and ink?"
"A little bit." After Li Mingde finished speaking, he took the brush handed over by the steward of the Li Mansion and wrote on the spread out paper: "Years Mian Xinjiazi, Virtue Thickness Rich Spring and Autumn."
Liu outside a look at the other side of the couplets written, not only neatly, and that the handwriting majestic, pasted in the new house on the very appropriate, could not help but praise: "Li Gong is really a great talent, just ......"
Liu outside the words did not say out! However, Li Mingde was aware of what the other party wanted to say, so he humbly said: "Liu outside the officer is laughing, I am a craftsman, how much skill can I have."
Mr. Liu looked at Li Mingde's departing back and shook his head and sighed: "If the imperial court had this kind of talent, why would it be in this situation!"
Li Mingde because of this incident in Shexian County fame, many rich families to build a new house to play furniture have to come to ask him to go over, and even the nearby counties are also people come to the name.
Li Mingde heart clear, some people come to ask him, perhaps not to do wood work, but in order to ask him a word. However, he did not deliberately show off his talent by writing for a living, but instead concentrated more on his carpentry skills.
One day, when he was returning home from the mountains, he saw a middle-aged man standing in front of the door looking forward to seeing him, and then hurriedly welcomed him, saying, "Mr. Li, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Li Mingde recognized this man, the other party is exactly the chapter housekeeper that he met in the Liu House some days ago, but the other party came to seek his so-called what is the matter today?
So he politely saluted and asked, "What is it that Butler Zhang has come to find me for?"
The Zhang housekeeper said directly to the point: "My young lady will be married in a few days, the master would like to invite Mr. Li to go to the wedding banquet, I hope that Mr. Li can find the time to go."
There are many people who come to invite Li Mingde to go to the banquet these days, but he politely declined them, just that Liu Wenwai is considered to have the favor of knowing him, so it is not good for him to excuse himself from this kind invitation.
"I'm sorry to hear back from housekeeper Zhang, I will definitely go." Li Mingde arched his hand and returned.
After a few days, Li Mingde answered the appointment, and just as he arrived at the Liu Mansion, Elder Liu personally went out to greet him.
"I'm flattered that you are so kind!" Li Mingde said with a polite arch.
"My daughter is getting married, but I'm honored that Li Gong is willing to come, please come inside." Mr. Liu said as he led the way.
When Li Mingde entered the Liu Mansion, the two men sat down and exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes, he saw that there seemed to be a touch of sadness in the eyes of Mr. Liu, so he opened the door to ask: "Mr. Liu, you invited me to eat this wedding banquet today, there should be something else, right, but also please tell me."
Liu sighed y and said: "Li old brother, the truth is not to be deceived, brother really encountered a difficult situation."
Li Mingde saw that the other party suddenly changed his name, knew that today this matter is afraid not simple, so cautiously asked: "Since the member does not see outside, I will call you a brother, brother to me have a favor, if it is the younger brother can help, will not excuse!"
"In fact, the person my daughter married today is not what she wished for, the other party is Zhang Jue's son Zhang Sheng." Said Mr. Liu.
Li Mingde's eyes instantly widened when he heard the name, apparently he had also heard of this person that Eunuch Liu had just mentioned.
It turned out that Zhang Jue had passed the entrance examination in his early years, and went out to serve in the Liao, reaching the rank of deputy envoy of the Liao Xing army section. Later, when the Jin soldiers attacked the Liao, and surrendered to Wanyan Zonghan, worship for the Linnian Navy Festival Minister.
"That Zhang Jue is a two-faced man, now he has returned to the Song Dynasty, but the Jin people will not let him go, if I marry my daughter, undoubtedly is to push her into the sea of fire ah!" Mr. Liu cried out sadly.
"There is something that I can help, brother but say no harm." Li Mingde asked.
Extension Liu pulled out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Li Mingde, saying, "Brother, please read it."
Li Mingde took the letter and opened it, it was a handwritten letter from his master Liu Laohan, he read it carefully before he understood it all.
It turned out that the Liu man in front of him was the descendant of Liu Yong, and the other party and his master were old friends. And his master's real name is called Liu Yanqing, from a general, has fought many times with the Western Xia, and has been promoted to Shanshan Yan Road Governor, and later followed the Privy Councilor Tong Guan to suppress the Fang La uprising.
Li Mingde read the letter and asked, "Where is my master now?"
"The Jin soldiers are attacking, and General Liu has been summoned to the capital to guard it." Officer Liu said.
"Then what can I do now?" Li Mingde understood in his heart that his master must have a mission in mind when he passed on all his skills to himself.
"That Zhang Jue is now the Linhai Navy Festival Minister, and he has the Yanzhou City Defense Map on him, if he lets it fall into the hands of the Jinns, the consequences will be unimaginable." Officer Liu said with a worried face.
"Brother wants me to go to Zhang's residence to retrieve the cloth defense map?" Li Mingde asked as he looked at the other man.
Mr. Liu nodded and said, "This time, my daughter is ostensibly marrying that Zhang Sheng, but in reality, she is trying to steal the Yanzhou cloth defense map. But when my daughter steals the cloth defense map, there is still one person missing outside to receive it."
"Brother said I understand, I'll be the one to take over outside." Li Mingde said.
"The reason why General Liu made such an arrangement, the truth is that that Zhang Jue is cunning by nature, and he also has an old Taoist by his side, it is difficult to get out of Zhang's house with the means of an ordinary person, so it is difficult to be competent." Officer Liu explained.
"Thank you for reminding me, brother, I will definitely bring the Yanzhou Layout Map home safe and sound." Li Mingde confidently assured.
"Master, the procession to welcome the bride is here." At this time, Zhang Butler hurriedly ran in and said.
"You go and inform Miss." Elder Liu commanded, then looked at Li Mingde, bowed and said, "This matter concerns the survival of my Song, please."
"Don't worry brother, I will not dishonor my mission, I will go!" Li Mingde finished, turned around and walked out of the Liu Mansion.
He was going to disguise as the Liu family's family delivery team to go to Pingzhou together this time, as long as he waited for Ms. Liu to steal the cloth defense map, he would bring it back at the first opportunity.
From Shexian to Yanzhou, the team rushed for several days day, night and stars to reach the place.
"Here it is, be careful with everything." Li Mingde looked up, the Yanzhou Festival Minister's mansion in front of him was decorated with lights, he looked down and reminded Miss Liu in the sedan chair.
"Uncle Li, after you get the stuff, leave me alone and send it to a safe place as soon as possible." Miss Liu lifted the curtain of the sedan chair to look at Li Mingde outside.
This is the first time Li Mingde met Miss Liu, he didn't expect the other party to be so young, looks no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, but there are no waves in his eyes, doesn't the other party know that this time nine deaths in the bureau?
"Welcome the bride to welcome the bride, I see the bride good appearance, a step peach blossom, two steps apricot blossom. Three steps to the lotus knot, four steps to attract a man to come." At this time, someone outside sang, Zhangfu quickly came to people in the lower sedan chair place set up a red felt.
When Miss Liu was led out of the sedan chair, someone next to her began to scatter grain beans.
It is said that in those days, when a marriage was solemnized, the beans were scattered to ward off evil spirits, and the felt mattresses were turned around for the sake of wealth and prosperity.
Because the flat ground is the harmonic of "poor ground", so the bride can not step on the flat ground after getting off the sedan chair, otherwise it is unlucky. In the case of a large family such as the Zhang family, a red felt was placed where the bride got out of the sedan chair, so that the bride could step on it and walk to the new house.
Li Mingde swept his gaze and took advantage of the chaos to walk into the Zhang Mansion, he wanted to familiarize himself with the surroundings in advance so that he could escape as soon as possible after he got the layout map.
Because he walked too quickly, he bumped into a person when entering the door, and when he looked up, the other person was dressed as a Taoist priest.
"Sorry, sorry." Li Mingde was shocked in his heart, how did he bump into the old Taoist at this time that Elder Liu said.
"Hmm? What are you doing panicking?" The old Taoist asked with a stare in his eyes.
"Back to Your Excellency, I am a house servant of the Liu Mansion, here to deliver the dowry." Li Mingde lifted the box in his hand.
"Go on, next time walk with longer eyes." The old Daoist scolded in a cold voice.
After Miss Liu entered the new room, the Zhang Mansion held a big banquet in the courtyard, and all those rich and big families in Yanzhou came to congratulate her today.
Halfway through the banquet, the bride and groom, dressed in red, toasted the guests with wine glasses, but the bride was wearing a red head, so the guests couldn't see her face.
Soon, the two walked near this table where Li Mingde was, and the bride judged where the other was by the shoes on the soles of her feet, and then inadvertently approached over and slipped a piece of cloth to the other side, and then whispered in the middle of the toast, "Pretend to be drunk and run away quickly."
Li Mingde hid the cloth map handed to him by the other party in his sleeve, he knew that Ms. Liu had already won, the next step was to escape from the Zhang residence.
When the toast was over, Li Mingde pretended to be drunk and left the banquet early, he went around the back garden to the front door of the front hall. Only just as he stepped out of the gate, he was stopped in his tracks by a man.
"Humph, hand over the stuff, you can't escape me." The old Taoist priest looked at Li Mingde on the opposite side with a sneer.
"How did you recognize me?" Li Mingde was a bit surprised, this old Taoist seemed to have known that he was going to leave the Zhang Mansion early, and only came here to block it on purpose.
"Didn't your master tell you that he has a fellow senior brother? Speaking of which, you should call me elder brother." The old Taoist sneered.
"If you are in the same sect as your master, why are you blocking my way." Li Mingde questioned.
"The paths are different, Shifu he is willing to be loyal to the country, while I only do things to sell my life for money." A cold smile flashed across the old Taoist priest's face, as if he was scoffing at his senior brother, Liu Laohan's approach.
"The Jin people will not let Zhang Jue go, if he offers the Yanzhou fortification map to Wanyan Zongwang, it will jeopardize the entire Song dynasty, do you know what's at stake?" Li Mingde questioned the other party.
"Don't tell me this, take someone's money to eliminate someone's disaster. That Zhao Ji reused the treacherous minister Cai Jing, they are doing nothing wrong under the banner of the new law of Shao Shu, sooner or later, the Song Jiangshan will be knocked down by the Jin people, only gold, silver and jewelry is the capital to live in the chaotic world, the master is too foolhardy and loyal, I did not expect to teach out the apprentice is also a foolhardy person." The old Taoist priest said disdainfully.
"In that case, let's see the truth under the hand!" Li Mingde took two steps back and pulled out his inkwell from his pocket.
At this time, the old Taoist priest across the street took out a mirror and recited a few incantations under his breath, the mirror suddenly reflected several lights to envelop Li Mingde.
The commotion outside had attracted many people to stop and watch, and they all stared wide-eyed when they saw this scene. That Zhang Jue muttered from the sidelines, "I didn't expect this old Taoist's Zhouyi technique to be so terrifying, looks like I'll have to guard against him from now on."
The fact that Zhang Jue betrayed Liao and surrendered to the Jin people in the first place, and later betrayed the Jin people and surrendered to the Great Song Dynasty, shows that he never trusted anyone even the old Taoist priest who came at a high price.
At this moment, Li Mingde was enveloped by the white light in the mirror, and the whole person seemed to be in the sand field, with countless soldiers holding blades charging towards him.
The situation was critical, he hastily pulled out the ink line and flexed his fingers, a green light directly crushed those soldiers on the opposite side.
"I didn't expect to still have some Taoist skills, let you taste my Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram again!" The old Taoist monk finished, bit his finger and squeezed out a few drops of blood pointing at the mirror.
Li Mingde was in the illusion of white light, and used the ink bucket to defeat wave after wave of soldiers that were besieging him, only to find that the soldiers came forward and back, seemingly endless, and that the waves were fighting more ferociously than one another.
Just as Li Mingde was on the verge of despair, his mind suddenly recalled what his master had once said:
"If you want to be a good carpenter, you have to follow the rules as well as break them."
The master's words were repeated over and over again in Li Mingde's mind, and he suddenly laughed out loud: "Master, I finally understand what you said."
When those words were finished, seeing that those soldiers were about to pierce Li Mingde's chest with a gun, but he suddenly closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth rose, a light smile showed on his face.
"Pfft!" A mouthful of blood sprayed out from the old Taoist priest, he didn't expect Li Mingde to be able to crack his White Light Mirror.
"Senior, what other means do you have, feel free to use them!" Li Mingde opened his eyes and looked at the old Taoist priest opposite him.
In fact, he had just realized that the other party's White Light Mirror was just an illusion, if he resisted it as a real scene because of his greed for life, in the end, he would only lose his strength and exhaust himself.
But at the last moment, he remembered what his master had once said, his own desperate resistance is not precisely because of the fear of death in his heart, so he has been keeping the rules? Then if you want to break the other side's illusion, you can only break the rules first, so that you can die and regenerate.
"You go, master brother can really teach a good disciple ah!" The old Taoist wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but he smiled with a pleased face.
"Puff," at this time, in the crowd's surprised eyes, a sword from the old Taoist priest back through the chest.
"Senior!" Li Mingde shouted, only to see Zhang Jue sneering as he walked out from behind the old Taoist.
It turned out that Zhang Jue had a murderous intent when he saw the old Taoist defeated, because the old Taoist knew too many of his secrets, so he absolutely could not keep this scourge.
"Those who came from the Liu Mansion, take them down for me, those who resist will be killed without pardon!" Zhang Jue ordered with a wave of his hand.
"Stop!" At that moment, a group of military horses came, and a general clad in armor walked out with a big sword.
"Wang Anzhong, what are you doing here?" Zhang Jue looked at the visitor and questioned in a cold voice.
Hearing the name, Li Mingde instantly knew who this person was, it turned out to be Wang Anzhong, Su Shi's disciple, who was now appointed as the Yanshan Prefecture's minister of propaganda.
"Zhang Jue, the Jin soldiers are coming, for today's solution, the only way to calm Wanyan Zongwang's anger is to take your head, in exchange for the peace of the people of a city in Yanshou, you die to thank for the crime." Wang Anzhong sneered.
Zhang Jue heard these words, immediately smelled the danger, but when he wanted to escape, but it was too late, the whole Zhang House was surrounded by Wang Anzhong and his men.
"Zhang Jue, you three-name slave, you really don't deserve to die!" Wang Anzhong sneered as he looked at the captured Zhang Jue.
"Wang Anzhong, fifty paces are just a hundred paces, you flatter Liang Shicheng in the imperial court, make friends with Cai You, and how much better than me, when the Jin soldiers hit in, sooner or later, this Song Jiangshan will not be able to hold on to it, and your fate will not be better than mine hahahaha ...... "Zhang Jue laughed loudly and wildly.
"Looking for death!" Wang Anzhong, in a fit of rage, swung his sword and directly killed his opponent.
"Thank you, Lord Wang for saving me!" Li Mingde walked to Wang Anzhong and thanked him.
"Give me the Yanshan defense map!" Wang Anzhong reached out to ask for it.
Li Mingde knew that in the current situation, I'm afraid it's not possible to not hand over the layout map to the other party, but it's fine to hand it over, as long as it doesn't fall into the hands of the Jin people.
Wang Anzhong thanked Li Mingde for his generous offer and finally hosted a banquet. After the meal, Li Mingde took Miss Liu back to Shexian County.
While he didn't bring back the Yanshan defense map this time, he brought back Miss Liu safely and kept the Yanshou defense map from falling into the hands of the Jin people, which is considered to be a successful completion of this mission.
After this incident, Li Mingde gradually realized the deep meaning of the words his master once told him, so he changed his name to Li Gong and began his life as a military horseman.
In the last year of Xuanhe, Jin Taizong Wanyan Sheng sent his troops to invade Bianjing in a big way, and the whole Song dynasty had an empty inner court, with a small army and few generals, so it was difficult to defend against the enemy, so the Emperor Zhao Ji called on the world with a sealed wax book, appealing to all parts of the country to rise up to defend the king.
Li Gong received the wax book is y anxious, immediately concentrated subordinate officials to discuss: "the Lord worried about the humiliation of the subject, the Lord humiliation of the subject to death, how can we use the road is far as the reason, and self-defense camps do not go to the rescue it?"
After a collegial discussion, he decided to recruit a death squad of 3,000 people to go to the king. Driven by loyalty to the king and patriotism, Li Gong went to great lengths to trek across mountains and waters, marching thousands of miles to the area of Hunan's Hengzhou.
Then tens of thousands of Jin soldiers intercepted Li Gong on his way, and the nearby counties all closed their doors to defend themselves, Li Gong could not get reinforcements, and finally even feed the problem.
In the severe situation of food and soldiers, some people advised Li Gong to retreat, but he was eager to save the country, like death, resolutely do not retreat. In the end, because of the single force, isolated, and 70,000 Jin soldiers after a few days of bloody battle, the whole army was destroyed.
Li Gong made a poem "cut robe" before he died: "Although I can live in the grass, my husband vowed not to do. I will die for the sake of loyalty and righteousness, and kill thieves even as a ghost."
Later, during the Jingkang Rebellion, Mr. Liu stood firm in the capital, and eventually the city was destroyed and the soldiers were defeated, so he died a martyr's death.
When Li Gong thousands of miles of diligence, heroic martyrdom feat spread to his hometown, the townspeople admire, will be honored as a national hero against the Jin Dynasty, and in the local construction of a more than 4 acres of Li Wang Temple.
Later Yongfu County lifer Zhang Shiji in order to praise Li Gong, in the "Zhongzhou defense assassin Li Gong" poem wrote:
Nandu Feishu urgent, diligent king hope rescue. The general was so brave that he wore his sword to the Thorn Gate. A battle scared the guts of the captives, the Jin people for me to run. The thieves in Hebei are in full bloom, and the wind and dust of another battle are dim. Heaven's will is hard to restore, I vow not to survive with the thieves. I promise to serve my country, and I am not afraid to talk about life and death. The ambition is the same as Zongyue, Fengshan altar and beans respect. The loyalty of the public is marvelous and cannot be learned. Matan left deeds, He Yue hanging loyal soul. After a thousand years, who is going to be able to honor the great festival?