Xu Xiake devoted his life to the four directions, taking heaven as the quilt and earth as the bed, and traveled all over China 16 provinces. Xu Xiake's outlook on life is mostly influenced by his parents. Xu Youmian, the father of Xu Xiake, was unwilling to be an official all his life and didn't want to make friends with dignitaries. He likes to see mountains everywhere and play with water everywhere. Influenced by his father, Xu Xiake really wants to go out and see the famous mountains and rivers. At the age of nineteen, his father died. His desire to go out and see the world is even stronger, but according to the moral standards of feudal society, "parents are here, don't travel far", and Xu Xiake suppressed his thoughts because his mother was alive. Xu Xiake's mother is a sensible woman. She encouraged her son to say that a gentleman should aim at all directions.
Xu Xiake's ancestors were famous families in Jiangyin, and his great-great grandfather was also called a very rich man. When his grandfather's family declined. His father Xu Youmian worked hard to start a business, and the Xu family business resumed. But is this family business enough for Xu Xiake to travel for decades from the age of 22 to 55, regardless of travel costs? I don't think I can reach this level.
Xu Xiake's friend Qian, a famous person in the late Ming Dynasty, wrote in Xu Xiake's Biography that "he worked hard to serve his mother". Will people who need to farm have the money to travel for a long time? Of course, Qian's "ploughing" may be exaggerated, but as a good friend of Xu Xiake, he must not be groundless. Suppose that Xu Xiake had a fortune left by Xu Youmian when he was young, but he was basically not engaged in production for decades and was keen on traveling. In his later years, the family property was almost used up. When he spent the last four years of his life on his last and most important trip, his financial situation was already stretched. Let's take a look at how Xu Xiake solved the problem of travel expenses through the records in his travel notes.
5 1 year-old Xu Xiake met with Shang Wenjing. The monk said that he used the blood of his tongue to copy a golden eye and wanted to go to Jizu Mountain in Yunnan to worship, so Xu Xiake followed. Chongzhen left home on September 19th and entered Hangzhou on the 30th of that month. On the same day, Xu Xiake wrote: "It is a day to borrow twelve taels of silver from Zhanrong to facilitate hot money." He started to borrow money only 1 1 day after he went out, which shows how much his travel expenses are. But don't sigh yet. Let's look back. There is still a lot of money waiting for Xu Xiake to borrow.
In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Xu Xiake suffered a great setback during his trip-Xiangjiang River was stolen. On February 1 1 day of that year, Xu Xiake and Wenjing went boating in Xiangjiang River. When bandits attacked that night, Xu Xiake threw his luggage into the river and dived naked to escape. After the robbers left, except Xu Xiake? A tremella excavator sent by E has little left, so we have to replace it with a neighboring boat, which temporarily solves the urgent need. "Neighboring states guest surnamed Dai, very pity, from the identity of the clothes, pants, one by one. I have nothing on me, but there is still a matter of digging tremella in the bun, so I will give him money and ask his name urgently. " With only clothes, the trip can't continue. What shall we do? Borrow.
Fortunately, not far from Hengyang city, there is Xu's friend Jin Xiangfu. On February 13, he abandoned the ship and went straight to the Kim family. Xu Xiake wanted to borrow dozens of taels of silver to tide over the difficulties, but no one asked for money. So I have been living in the Kim family to find a way, and I don't forget to go out to play a few times. It was not until the 26th of that month that Jin Cai got 100 taels of silver from the Freemasons and lent it to Xu Xiake at the cost of 20 taels of land rent for the Xu family. "There will be a while. If you get more than one hundred gold, you will know. If it is difficult to resign, I will let you keep 20 gold and pay 20 mu of land rent. " As for whether Jin Xiangfu got the land rent later, it is unknown.
With these twenty taels, Xu Xiake is on his way again. Unfortunately, Friar Wen Jing soon died of this shock. Xu Xiake burned Wen Jing, determined to take the ashes to Jizu Mountain.
The journey is not always smooth. In that year 10 in Guangxi, Xu Xiake got a good thing and helped him a lot. 10 10, China soldier Tang Yuping gave Xu Xiake a horse card, which is "a horse card". What is a horse brand? Horse brand is a token given to the post station by soldiers in Ming Dynasty. China has a postal system since ancient times, and the postal station is responsible for providing accommodation and travel tools for mail delivery personnel, military personnel and some officials. In the Ming Dynasty when Xu Xiake lived, the post office was responsible for the accommodation and travel of important officials and personnel with military tasks. The management of the post station in the early Ming Dynasty was very strict, and it was a felony for non-soldiers to use the post station. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, various systems were relaxed, but Xu Xiake, a self-funded tourist, had no right to use the resources of the station. But with the horse brand, Xu Xiake turned into a government civil servant with a mission.
After a while, Xu Xiake used Marca to solve the accommodation problem. Along the way, the post office began to requisition civilian workers to carry his sedan chair, and some people supplied him with food. In this process, some civil servants are unwilling to serve him, and various situations have arisen. 1On October 25th, Xu Xiake came to a mountain village, and all the villagers fled to the mountains to avoid him. I finally found a man who was chased by him and climbed the beam. Xu Xiake forced him to come down and take his own luggage. Then he ordered an old woman to cook for herself. Grab a cripple and find yourself a porter. This state lasted until he entered Nanning1February.