10 15 years, 26-year-old Fan Zhongyan was admitted to the Jinshi, and Ren Guangde joined the army and embarked on his career. His career in the past 40 years has been ups and downs, and there is only one principle for doing things for officials: everything is based on whether it is beneficial to the country and the people, and never cares about personal gains and losses. Therefore, the famous book Yueyang Tower, which has been demoted many times and passed down through the ages, was written when he was demoted. 1043, Fan Zhongyan guarded the border for four years to resist the invasion of Xixia and was appointed as the deputy prime minister. He was ordered by Song Renzong to preside over the political reform together with Fu Bi, that is, the "Qingli New Deal" in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan considered the country's prosperity day and night, assessed officials, simplified the complexity, and prospered in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, because the New Deal restricted the privileges of bureaucratic landlords, it was strongly opposed. The New Deal was only implemented for more than a year. The emperor issued a letter to abolish all reform measures, and Fan Zhongyan was demoted all the way. When he experienced such ups and downs in life, he still did not change his initial intentions of "not being happy with things, not being sad for himself" and "worrying about the worries of the world first, and enjoying the joy of the world later", expressing his open-minded attitude of belittling fame and his noble feelings of compassion for others.
Fan Zhongyan once said that no good doctor is a good doctor, because both good doctors and good doctors save lives. He was in danger all his life and did countless good deeds. When he was a professor of government studies, he often used his salary to help students from poor families. When Fan Zhongyan was in his hometown of Suzhou, he bought a piece of land to build a house for the elderly. When he heard that it was a land of feng shui, he changed his mind and built an official school on that land. He said, "I live here, and only my family can get rich." Students who finish their studies and receive education here can get the protection of good feng shui. "After the completion of Fu Xue, he invited some famous scholars to give lectures, which affected the whole country. One year in Shangqiu, he ordered his second son, Fan Chunren, to go to Suzhou to transport 500 welcome wheat back. Ren Jun was still very young at that time and had sailed in Danyang. He ran into his father's old friend Shi Yannian and learned that Shi Yannian's family had lost three people. Because he had no money to go back to his hometown for burial, he stayed in Danyang for two months. He gave Shi Yannian the wheat and the boat. When Ren Jun returned home, he reported what happened to Shi Yannian to his father. Fan Zhongyan immediately said, "Why not give him the wheat and the boat? "After learning that my son did this, he repeatedly said yes.
Fan Zhongyan's father died young, and the Fan family didn't take good care of their mother and son. Because his mother had nothing to live, she had to take him to remarry, which made it impossible for Fan's mother to be buried in front of Fan Jiazu's grave after her death. However, after Fan Zhongyan became an official, he did not bear a grudge against the clan, but often took care of the poor in the clan. In his old age, he creatively made an amazing move, took out all his savings and bought 1 1,000 mu of land near Suzhou to build Yizhuang. Different from simply subsidizing the poor with money, Fan Yi Zhuang contains Yi Tian, Zhai Yi and Yixue, and Yi Tian's income is used to maintain Zhai Yi and Yixue. Fan Zhongyan also personally formulated the rules of Yitian, stipulated the management mode and support standard of Yizhuang, ensured that the poor could get food and clothing, receive education and complete weddings and funerals, and stipulated that the poor with foreign names in the village could also get relief. Qian Gongfu, a poet in the Song Dynasty, recorded this in "Eternal Reliance".
Compared with the "fraternity" of the people, Fan Zhongyan is "stingy" to himself and his family. Many people who experienced poverty when they were young, once developed, tend to be arrogant and extravagant, spoil their children more, and even accept bribes for their children. Fan Zhongyan, on the other hand, has maintained a hard and simple life style all his life, requiring his children to be thrifty and housekeeping. His family life is just food and clothing. He has never eaten more than two kinds of meat except guests. His four sons have only one decent dress, and they have to wear it in turn before they can go out to receive visitors. At home parties, sons wear cloth shirts and two-sleeve poems. When the second son, Fan Chunren, got married, he hoped to make the marriage decent because his wife was also the daughter of a noble. Fan Zhongyan showed no mercy and demanded all frugality. When Fan Zhongyan heard that her family brought silk as a dowry, she taught Chunren, "My family has always been frugal, and my daughter-in-law can't use Luo Qi to break the house rules. If I bring Lingluo into my house, I will burn it in public. " After the daughter-in-law knew it, she had to have a simple wedding.
Fan Zhongyan died at the age of 63. On the way to change the official position, he left no material legacy to future generations. His family is too poor to buy new clothes for burial and have no money for burial. He had to rely on the support of his friends to rest in peace. However, his spiritual legacy is very rich. His political achievements, military achievements, literary attainments, great love and good deeds have been passed down from generation to generation, illuminating future generations. Compared with all material heritages, this is the eternal wealth of future generations. His descendants also inherited his benevolence and righteousness and managed Yizhuang from generation to generation. Fan's Yizhuang lasted for 900 years, from 1000 mu in the Song Dynasty to 5,300 mu in the Qing Dynasty, benefiting one party.
The ancients said, "Where there is a good house, there must be Qing Yu". Although Fan Zhongyan didn't buy a house with good feng shui, his four sons, except Junyou, the eldest son, guarded the border with him when he was young, all had heart disease at home, and the other three sons were among the officials. Fan Chunren worshiped Buddha twice, being loyal, forgiving and kind. Like his father, he spent most of his salary on Yizhuang. When his family asked him how to become a gentleman, Ren Jun said, "Only thrift can help honesty, and only loyalty and forgiveness can realize character." The deeds of Fan Zhongyan and his son are enough to prove the sentence: "Good people live in a blessed land", and the real good feng shui lies in people's kind hearts.
The power of example is infinite. Fan Zhongyan is knowledgeable, noble in character, romantic in style and numerous in disciples. Under his example, the literati at that time began to rectify the world, be strict with themselves and advocate moral integrity. After Fan Zhongyan established Suzhou official school, Song Renzong ordered all counties in the country to establish school palaces, which led to the prosperity of education in the Song Dynasty and laid the foundation for political clarity and cultural prosperity in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan built Fan's Yizhuang, which opened a precedent for folk charity and mutual assistance. Driven by his initiative, since the Song Dynasty, there have been many imitators in public and private institutions, and charities such as Yizhuang have emerged constantly, and this charity has gradually developed and expanded. By the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 60 "righteous villages" in Gusu alone. Fan Zhongyan only lived in his sixties, but his charity has continued to this day, benefiting countless future generations.
Fan Zhongyan used his life's good deeds to interpret the sentence in the Book of Rites Li Yun: "The trip to the avenue is also business ... People are not only close to their relatives, but also only sons and sons." Whether he lives in a temple or a secluded place, he can do his best for the country and the people. "History of Song Dynasty" commented on Fan Zhongyan: "Since ancient times, emperors have prospered, and there must be a generation of famous ministers. Zhong You drowned all the sages in Song Dynasty. He deserves this ... Although he can't last long, he has the ambition to worry about the world first, and enjoy the world afterwards. He already believes that he has Hongyi's tools, and he has the responsibility to do whatever he wants, so let the ancients do it! " Zhu in the Southern Song Dynasty praised him as "the first person in the world", which is true!