How can you sleep in the dark if you don't choose cows? I also admire horses and chariots. What does it mean that the predecessors left it to future generations?

Father and son generals and their generals' mansion

The core hint is that he is the commander-in-chief of Zheng 'an (now Fenghuang County) in Hunan Province, and was awarded the title of General Jianwei by Guangxu of Qing Dynasty in 14 (1888), and the ancient Fenghuang city wall was finally perfected in his hands. He is upright and honest, and there is only a small house in his official residence, leaving "the adopted son is stronger than me, so why buy land?" The adopted son is weaker than me. Why buy a field? "Family precepts. His name is Zhou Ruilong. In the first year of the Republic of China (19 12), together with his eldest son Zhou Zan, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general by Sun Yat-sen's order.

The two father and son generals are from Parkin Village, Baota Street, Yuetang District, Xiangtan City. There are still three main rooms in their general mansion, which are located on the east side of Jianshe South Road and behind the wall of No.12 Middle School.

A century-old house reveals pride in its simplicity (a small problem)

Inquire about the "Old House of Zhou Jia" near Xiangtan Hotel on Jianshe South Road, which is also the "General House". As long as you are a local or a foreigner who has lived in this area for several years, you can basically tell its specific location.

One afternoon in the dead of winter in 2009, a group of young people interested in "Xiangtan Discovery" came to the "General's House" to pursue its glorious past. Walking along a gravel road behind Xiangtan Hotel for about 200 meters, an old adobe house surrounded by modern high-rise buildings suddenly appeared in front of me. The afternoon sun was warm, and a woman was sitting at the gate taking a nap. She is the present owner of the old house, 69-year-old Guo Yuee, and the wife of Zhou Xun, the great-grandson of the original owner of the old house. After listening to the visitors' purpose, Guo Mian politely called everyone to sit down for tea, and then showed them around the old house.

The two big wooden pillars standing at the entrance of the main hall are more than 6 meters high respectively. Due to more than a hundred years of wind and sun exposure, longitudinal cracks appeared in wooden columns. Although the builders of that year thought of this long ago and nailed many bamboo nails on the pillars, the outermost two or three layers of wood still peeled off along the traces of the annual rings. The lintel, windowsill and wood carving board on the eaves are basically gone except for the one between the right column top and the beam.

Three old houses are scattered around, with the hall for family gathering and discussion in the middle and the living room on both sides. The living room on the left is basically unchanged, while the load-bearing wall on the right has been repaired. There is no floor in the hall, so you can see the tiles when you look up. There is a wooden beam with a height of about 60 cm across the back. Under the front of the girder, there are a pair of finely carved little lions with iron rings on them, which are used to hang the gold-plated plaque of the general's office.

There are two ancient camphor trees with the same root on the soil slope near the back eaves of the old house, and their diameters are about 1 m respectively. The large canopy covers most of the ceramic tile surface of the old house.

Guo Miao proudly said that this house was "given by Empress Dowager Cixi after Zhou Ruilong returned to his hometown". When she married the Zhou family, the gold-plated plaque of "General House" was still there, shining and very beautiful, but somehow it was taken down, and now it is impossible to know whether it was preserved or destroyed. Then, Guo Miao showed everyone the pattern of "one lock" of the old adobe house: three main rooms in the middle, two horizontal rooms at both ends of the main room and seven rooms. In addition, there is a moon pond and a lotus pond in front of the house, and a garden behind the house. The whole house is surrounded by a big wall. Now only these three renovated main rooms, horizontal houses on both sides and other courtyards and ponds are left, which were transformed into brick buildings by other weeks.

The prestige of father and son generals in Xiangxi (secondary issue)

About the life story of the father and son generals, Xiangtan city records this:

Zhou Ruilong, whose real name is Jiaxuan, whose real name is Fengting and whose real name is Daonan, was born on the eighth day of February in the twenty-first year of Qing Daoguang (184 1) in Tang Yang village, Yu Xia. In the first year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1862), he joined the army at the order of his father, joined the Guo Songlin Department of Huai Army, and moved to Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi and Liaoning provinces. He was promoted to general and deputy commander for suppressing Taiping Army. Vigorously advocate the construction of the Yangtze River Tianjia Zhenjiang defense line to resist foreign enemies. In the first year of Guangxu (1875), it was taught by Hunan Yongshun Association. Later, he successively served as deputy commander of the guerrillas in Zuo Ying, Hubei Province, Zhushan Xietong, Hanyang Xietong, Huguang Zhongxie Town, etc. In the 13th year of Guangxu (1887), he was promoted to be the general of Zheng 'an (now Fenghuang County) in Hunan, and served as the magistrate of Hunan the following year. Later, Ren Zhengan Town was appointed as the company commander of Hualing, and was awarded the title of General Jianwei.

Zhou Ruilong has been in Xiangxi for decades, with no tiles on the top and no hilly fields on the bottom. He said, "The godson is better than me, so why buy fields?" The adopted son is weaker than me. Why buy a field? "Family precepts, warning future generations.

In the first year of the Republic of China (19 12), Sun Yat-sen, the interim president, issued an order to reward Lieutenant General Zhou Ruilong, who had rendered meritorious service to the Rebel Army, and awarded Hu Wen a third-class medal. In the second year of the Republic of China (19 13), Zhou Ruilong retired and returned to Xiangtan. In the third year of the Republic of China (19 14), he died in Parkin Village on August 13th at the age of 74.

Zhou Zan, the son of Zhou Ruilong, was born on September 10th, the first year of Guangxu (1875). The Korean exam is judged for external use, and the Korean discussion is awarded to the doctor and promoted to the senior minister. In the 29th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1903), he was appointed as the field supervisor of the prime minister of Yongjing Army in Chen Yuan, Hunan Province, and was promoted to the magistrate of Zhili Prefecture because of his meritorious military service. He was awarded a flower feather medal and was rotated to lead the navy forward. After Xuantongyuan (1909), he worked in Hubei.

During the Revolution of 1911, Zhou Zan participated in the Hubei Uprising and was ordered to instigate the Xiangxi Uprising after the Revolution of 1911. After arriving in Xiangxi, he used his father's influence to lead some soldiers in Zheng 'an Town back to Phoenix and supported Tian Yingquan in planning the uprising and recovery. After the recovery of Fenghuang, he was appointed as the special envoy of Xiangxi to command the land and water army of Hunan West Road. In the first year of the Republic of China (19 12), Sun Yat-sen ordered Lieutenant General Zhou Zan and Third Class Hu Wen to be awarded. Subsequently, he served as the company commander of Suijing Town (now Huayuan County) in Hunan Province. In the fifth year of the Republic of China (19 16), he was awarded a general in a military residence. Later, he was transferred to the commander of the guerrillas in northern Henan, the military adviser to the presidential palace, and the Commissioner of the Military Commission. In the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942), he died in October at the age of 68.

Father and son moved together twice (minor problem)

Zhou Ruilong and Zhou Zan's "second move" is hidden among pines and cypresses on Baotaling in Hunan Institute of Science and Technology East Campus of Donghu Road, Xiangtan City. Climbing up the stairs, the first thing that comes into view is the tomb door surrounded by two hemp pillars, engraved with a couplet: "Don't choose cows to sleep, how can the shade be so thoughtful?" I also admire the horse, which was left by my predecessors to future generations. "In front of the tomb, there stood a pair of stone horses on both sides of Shinto, followed by a pair of stone generals, commonly known as' Weng Zhong', that is, civil servants and military commanders. The stone tablet of Xiangtan Cultural Relics Protection Unit stands next to Weng Zhong.

According to "Yuetang Historical Relics", the tomb of General Zhou and his son was originally located in Parkinling, which is now the campus of No.12 Middle School, behind the "General House". Later, due to the expansion of the school playground, it moved to the southwest of the campus in the late 1970 s. 10 years later, with the construction of Furong East Road, the tomb is facing relocation again. 1995, the municipal government moved the tomb to Baotaling, 3 kilometers away. Now, after the expansion of the new campus of Hunan Institute of Technology, the tomb of the general and his son has become a campus scene again.

The general's cultural relics were completely lost (minor problem)

The new edition of Zhou Jiapu records that General Zhou Ruilong has five sons, the eldest son, the second son Zhou Hansheng, the third son Zhou, the fourth son Zhou Esheng and the whole son. Up to now, among the descendants of Zhou Ruilong living in Xiangtan, there are 16 males, and the highest generation is one of his granddaughters and Zhou Zan's daughter-in-law. The original old genealogy, portraits, furniture and other objects at home have been scattered all over the place, even damaged, and it is difficult to find them. Only in Zhou Zan's daughter-in-law's home, there is still a photo of Zhou Zan's military uniform.

In addition, in the home of Zhou Xun, the great-grandson of Zhou Ruilong and the son of Zhou Hansheng, there are two complete granite epitaphs, each 80 cm square and about 15 cm thick. Judging from the above contents of "sealing Mrs. Yipin, Mrs. Zhou and Mrs. Xu", it should be made by General Zhou Ruilong for his mother. According to Zhou Xun, it was excavated in Baotaling behind the house in the 1970s. He heard from the old people that Mrs. Xu, the late Mrs. Xu, was first buried in Xianxiang Electric Appliance Group. Later, due to the construction of Xiangdian Group, the tomb was moved to the back of Pan Jinling's house, but I don't know where it is. It is estimated that these two epitaphs were hastily buried in the soil at that time.

The origin of the old house is well documented (minor problem)

Zhou Lei, an expert in Xiangtan literature and history, firmly denied that the old house "General House" was given by Cixi. He quipped: "It's too stingy for Empress Dowager Cixi to give a big official such a small and humble house!"

In order to find out the real origin of the "General's Mansion", Mr. Zhou Lei, who is nearly eighty years old, visited all the descendants of Zhou Ruilong in Tan and finally found a copy of Xiangzi's Mansion Records, which strongly confirmed his previous judgment. The main idea of the transcript is that in the 29th year of Guangxu (1904), Zhou Ruilong wrote to Yu Lian, then the governor of Hunan Province, to buy 56 mu of paddy fields in Xiangtan, his hometown, and a farmhouse named "Geng Xin Villa" in Jiujiaba Jintang, the twelfth capital, asking future generations not to sell or pawn it.

"This is equivalent to the official private property declaration now. It can be seen that the property declaration system existed more than 0/00 years ago. " Zhou Lao explained.