The story of the great wealth of Chunlan

Chunlan is rich and noble.

Eight points long to four points wide, enough bearing to put the root in the corner. If I have such a flower in the future, I will have nothing to ask for in my life. This is an impromptu poem written by a visitor in Orchid Ya Collection 50 years ago. It praises the detached and refined spirit of Chunlan's rich and noble leaf capital and flower appearance. After reading it, it naturally reminds people of the story about the great wealth of Chunlan in the year of Xuantong Yuan (1909) in the Qing Dynasty. Legend has it that in the southern suburbs of Huzhou, a water town in northern Zhejiang, there is an ancient town called Shuanglin, where there was a rich family surnamed Zheng. Its owner, Mr. Zheng Tongmei, was a scholar and almost had to read books in his life. However, with a full of experience, he is very pessimistic about officialdom and career, and has been unwilling to take part in the imperial examination, let alone to pursue any fame. Relying on the rich legacies such as the fields and houses left by his ancestors, it was enough for him to live an affluent life for the rest of his life. Usually, Mr. Zheng Tongmei lives a frugal life, speaks and behaves very well, and likes to make friends who read. In addition, he likes to raise orchids and appreciate orchids. There are orchids cultivated by him in the courtyard of his home, regardless of the variety or quantity. They are all sizeable orchids, which are well-known around Hangjiahu. It is said that not far from Zheng Jiadong, there lived a neighbor surnamed Wang, whose wife and children were a total of three. On weekdays, the couple often came to do some rough work for the Zheng family. In addition to providing some financial and material assistance, the Zheng family often tutored the studies of the children surnamed Wang. The child is smart in business, especially likes to think and ask questions about some problems in society and books, and makes rapid progress in his studies. This makes Mr. Zheng like it very much. But "unexpected events happen in the sky"! Just as the child surnamed Wang was reading the book until he was 13 or 14 years old, his father died suddenly because of a sudden illness. Then it made matters worse, and her mother finally became ill because of the grief of her husband and overwork on weekdays, and left her own son to die in less than half a year. The child is still young, but he has become a helpless orphan. What a great misfortune fate has given the child! This deeply sympathized with Mr. Zheng and his wife. After some discussion between the couple, the Zheng family resolutely took up the double burden of teaching and raising the child surnamed Wang. After a few days, Mr. Zheng Tongmei personally went to the Wang family to take the child to his own home, and solemnly said to his family, "this is your home." they're all your relatives. " Wait for the children surnamed Wang to call their mother, sister and brother one by one. After that, he was immediately let into the Zheng family's study. After that, she let her children read with him at last, while Zheng Tongmei herself stayed with the children with an indefatigable attitude, guiding and urging them from time to time, and was more able to enlighten and explain patiently the questions raised by the children and the truth in books in a profound and simple way. It is precisely because of Mr. Zheng's persuasion that the two brothers with different surnames have made rapid progress in their studies. But in comparison, the children surnamed Wang are more motivated to study their lessons and have more hungry learning spirit than Mr. Zheng's own children, no matter in terms of reading, writing, writing, and so on. are obviously better than Mr. Zheng's children. In the face of the current situation that "good bamboo shoots come out of the fence", Mr. Zheng not only has no displeasure in his heart, but also encourages the children surnamed Wang to guard against arrogance and rashness and continue to make progress. "seven points of hard work, three points of harvest." The child surnamed Wang finally became a scholar at the age of seventeen. In the twinkling of an eye, after three years of diligent study, in the first red day of frost, Zheng Tongmei unexpectedly asked the child surnamed Wang to take the entanglement to Beijing to take part in the palace examination. Time flies, in the blink of an eye, Jiangnan is the season of spring flowers in full bloom. During the days when the child surnamed Wang left home, Mr. Zheng thought about the child almost every night. At night, he dreamed several times that the child surnamed Wang was shivering with cold in the examination room, but he was still dancing and taking the exam with all his strength. One night, when the moon was high in the sky and everything was quiet outside the house, Mr. Zheng, who was sleeping in bed, suddenly saw the father of a child surnamed Wang, who had been dead for many years, coming to the Zheng family. He was grateful and bowed his hand and said, "the child is finally an adult thanks to Mr. Wang's upbringing and instruction." he is hopeful of success when he goes to Beijing to take the exam. if it comes to glorifying the family lintel, it should be the husband. " Then he added, "I know Mr. Ailan Rubao. Today I have come to inform you that there is a lame orchid seller on the street in recent days. His orchid load has the best orchid in it, which is worth almost even a city. If you can choose it carefully, you will certainly be able to pick it out."... After a while, Zheng Tongmei woke up from the dream. he recalled the dream with his eyes closed, and suddenly became suspicious, but later he felt that it was just a "dream" that he had been thinking about every day. After turning over several times in succession, he fell fast asleep again. When the clock woke him up the next morning, the scene in his dream had already been forgotten in his mind. One morning, the sun was warm and the spring was bright. Mr. Zheng was invited to appreciate the orchid at the home of Feng Lan you in Huzhou. He walked into an alley on foot. Suddenly I heard "sell orchids, sell orchids!" When Mr. Zheng stopped to look forward, he saw an old man with a stubble on his face limping along with an orchid. This scene suddenly reminded Mr. Zheng of the dream he had the other night, which made him feel somewhat coincidental and wonderful. He smiled and asked where the old man was from. The old man said that he was from the Anji Mountain of the West Marsh Creek. The eldest son and daughter in the family all wanted to eat with their mouths open. If spring rain was as precious as oil, since the beginning of spring, God really kept dripping rain, and when it was time to pick up orchids in the mountains, he had to go to the mountain to pick some orchids in exchange for some slim silver taels to support his family. The old man saw that Mr. Zheng was leaning over and his hands were constantly messing with bluegrass in the basket. knowing that he had met a pedestrian, he said, "Sir, these orchids have just been picked from the mountain, and the plants can grow, three or five coppers a clump, very cheap." Zheng Tongmei asked, "how much does it cost if you buy the whole load?"do you really want to buy the whole load?" The old man was a little surprised and then said, "if I buy a whole load, I will give it half free and half sell it. Please look at the price." After a period of polite concession, Zheng Tongmei paid five yuan to Longyang. The happy old man smiled from ear to ear and said again and again, "Thank you, thank you!" The old man took the money and picked up the orchid, followed Mr. Zheng home, happily held out the orchid, picked up the orchid in the sky and said goodbye. Over the past few days, Mr. Zheng has not been able to walk out of the door. he has been drilling wholeheartedly in a pile of bluegrass, carefully discriminating and comparing them based on experience. On the third day, it was found that a leaf was about six inches long and about four minutes wide, its shape was curved and slightly twisted, the color was dark green and shiny, the texture was fine waxy, the tip was blunt and pocketed, and the edge was smooth and toothless, with a number of about eight or nine seedlings. What is even more amazing is that its stamens are thick and short, purplish red like fingers, and its temperament is detached; the deep purplish red tendons on the core shell go straight from the base to the top, and the moss colors like smoke and fog are particularly bright and full of charm. However, Mr. Zheng feels that this clump of orchids is by no means ordinary and must be the best of the new species. There were ripples of surprise in the heart pool. When he got home, Zheng Tongmei washed the orchid plant, cut off the residual roots and dry foot leaves, tore it into two pieces after a little dry, smeared some charcoal powder on the wound of the orchid plant, and hung it on the eaves of the corridor for two days. After preparing some good soil, he planted them in two mud basins. He had no intention to pick up the rest of the grass, so he let the orchid friends who came home from far and near take it away as much as they wanted. However, it is said that Mr. Zheng's two newly selected "Xiashan orchids", because of their thick and strong roots, and in Shuanglin water village, an environment with suitable humidity and temperature, both bloomed in less than ten days. Their outer three petals are thick and deep concave pockets, the petals are like lotus flowers, have small pointed, bright green and bright color, and are very beautiful and dignified. Their inner two petals are as strong as a clam shell, short and round, clasping the core column (nose); a large white bangs with horseshoe-shaped erythema on the tongue, revealing the fragrant breath; the flowers blooming in the two pots are "juxtaposed" (a pair of scape flowers). Zheng Tongmei was so overjoyed that he immediately washed the two mud pots, put them in a porcelain glaze basin, and put them on several shelves in the living room to enjoy them. Over the past few days, he has been wandering around these two pots of orchids, thinking to himself: he has raised orchids for most of his life, and there are at least more than a hundred pots of orchids of different varieties. It can be said that the good flowers seen by the orchids in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Su and other places are more than a thousand pots, but this is the first time they have met. He felt lucky and satisfied. Those orchid friends from far and near came to Zheng Jia to appreciate the orchid, all praised the flower is really novel, really is never seen before. Some people say: "this flower gives people a feeling of reunion, is a kind of blessed appearance." Some people say, "Flowers are like masters, with the appearance of great wealth and wealth." …… Just when people were enjoying and commenting on flowers, the sound of firecrackers and drums and gongs suddenly sounded outside the house, and a group of people came only towards the Zheng family. It turned out that the child surnamed Wang, who went to Beijing to take the exam, went to Jinshi in high school, and the government sent a good news to the Zheng family. At this moment, Mr. Zheng Tongmei felt a little in a hurry. At the reminder of others, he went up and stretched out his hands to receive the good news. He stood there moving his lips, unable to speak for a long time. Fortunately, some family members and some orchid friends arranged to receive and send away those business trips. "the orchid blossoms out of a Jinshi." The picturesque and colorful things that were spread by people at the moment were quite novel, and they told each other that the content was constantly embellished according to the different feelings of the people. Leading figures from some places also rushed to congratulate them: "it's really a scholarly family, a noble high school!" Someone sent a plaque of "double Happiness to the door" to congratulate the Zheng family on both the precious flowers and the Jinshi. Some Ailan people are also inspired by this. According to the characteristics of this new variety, and in connection with the traditional Chinese saying "splendor and wealth", they have given this orchid the name of "great wealth". This pair of flowers are rich and expensive, (strange flowers are rich, and Jinshi is expensive). Three years later, in the spring of 1912, the face of "Da Fu Gui" first appeared. Mr. Wang Shuping, an artist from Yuyao, was invited to come to Shuanglin in Huzhou as a guest. He was deeply attracted by the pure green, wide petal and flower shape of "Da Fu Gui". He said with great sigh: "what our ancestors said is true, one lotus is really the hardest to get!" Over the years, Wang Shuping also struggled to find the lotus, but never met. His words revealed his admiration and longing for "great wealth". Mr. Zheng understood his friend's mind and offered a bowl as a gift. On the way home, Wang Shuping was happy and happy, turned the basin immediately after arriving home, replanted it with the best Yan Wo Shan orchid soil, and always regarded "great wealth" as a treasure, especially nurturing it. Whenever spring comes, "Da Fu Gui" always smiles before the flowers in Wang's Orchid Garden, and its outer three petals form a big circle. The inner two lobes are closely connected to each other, just like a small ball. Wang Shuping gave it a new name "Tuanhe" according to the characteristics of the petals. Later, Zheng Tongmei died, and Wang Shuping renamed it "Zheng Tonghe" according to the surname of Zheng Tonmei, the original owner of the orchid, in memory of his best friend, Mr. Zheng Tongmei. Due to the differences in climate, soil and water and environment between Yuyao and Huzhou, the "Da Fu Gui" of the same variety has undergone some different changes over the years: the leaf shape of "Zheng Tonghe" planted by Wang Yuyao is a little thinner, and the light green color appears to be a hoof-shaped erythema at the front of the lip, while the "Da Fu Gui" planted by Zheng in Huzhou has a slightly wider leaf shape and a medium green color, and the left and right petals fall slightly over the shoulders. The erythema on the big round tongue looks like a yuan treasure. They are like siblings born to a mother, although they look the same at first glance, but as long as they take a closer look, they always have their own characteristics. Qu Zhi calculates that it has been nearly a hundred years since Chunlan Dafui (Zheng Tonghe) was discovered, during which people have found a number of lotus petal varieties one after another, but no matter in terms of flower shape and color, posture and charm, it is undoubtedly still the title of the crown of lotus petals. It is said that in the 1960s, a female American reporter from Anna and Louis came to admire orchids in the "National fragrance Garden" in Hangzhou. When she saw the flowers of "Da Fu Gui", she cried out in surprise: "Ah, other flowers!" She fell in front of the "great wealth". In his book "Orchid Spectrum," Yojiro Obuchi of Japan describes "great wealth" as "dark green and particularly brilliant."... reminiscent of the swallow out of the water, and has a soft curve beauty. " Praise it as "the most famous treasure in the lotus petals". Yes, through the ages, this famous species of Chunlan (Zheng Tonghe, Tuan he) has been dreamed of, and its beautiful flowers and leaves will make people feel leisurely "except Wushan is not a cloud".