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The King of Contemporary Martial Arts Novels, Master Huanzhu Tower

Xu Yin

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Recently, Li Guanxian, a three-girl of the Hongzhu Tower owner, received a letter from Li Guanxian, talking about several seniors in the academic circles in Beijing. He plans to establish the "Hangzhu Tower owner Research Association" and plans to hold an international seminar within the year. The preparatory meeting of the research association has been formed, and the authors are invited to participate in the work of the research association...

Receive the letter, and the heart beats: Old friends have a descendant, old friends have a soulmate, and their long-cherished wish is about to come true. Suddenly, I remembered a past event:

The autumn of the previous year, the author went to Anhui to travel to Tianzhu Mountain in Qianshan. Qianshan is the hometown of Zhang Henshui, a senior journalist in the press industry. At the welcome banquet of the county leaders, the head of the "Zhang Henshui Research Association" talked to the author about Zhang's life and works, and said: "Mr. Zhang wrote more than ten thousand words in his life, and can be called the most prolific writer in China." The author immediately replied: "No!" This person was stunned, and the author slowly spoke a name: "China's most prolific writer, and may also be the world's most prolific writer, and he is the master of Huanzhu Tower. The world's longest novel, namely his masterpiece "The Legend of the Swordsman in Shushan", has five million words." When this person heard this, he nodded without saying a word.

The authors admire three most: first, Lu Xun; second, the master of the Zhu Lou; third, Zhang Henshui. The master of the Zhu Lou was the friend of the author forgot his age. He met him and felt that he had met him too late and treated him sincerely. After that, he almost talked about anything. In 1961, he died of illness in Beijing. The bad news came, and he was unhappy in his life, unwilling to eat, and restless. He thought: Such a great writer, how can he make him lose his work? His works are lost. If I have the chance in the future, I will make him famous behind him. However, with a blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed, but no word has been written. In recent years, martial arts novels have been spread all over the world. Although there are many excellent works, they are far inferior to "The Legend of the Swordsman in Shushan", "The Nineteen Heroes of Qingcheng", "The Story of the Sea of ​​Clouds and Seas", etc. So the old thoughts are back in my mind.

While cheering, he flew to Beijing. Guanxian's brothers and sisters not only answered questions and answered questions, but also picked up all the precious pictures and materials at home and the handwriting of the master of Huanzhulou. He also handed over the only "The Legend of the Swordsman of Shushan" to the author and entrusted full authority to handle it. Guanxian said with a smile: "It is not because of your special friendship with the old man, I will never take out these things."

At this point, the author felt like he had found a treasure. He hurried to write this article without waiting for dawn.

First meet the owner of the Zhu Tower

This is a scene fifty years ago.

There were crowds of people outside the fence of the racing hall on Jing'an Temple Road in Shanghai, competing to see the scene of the racing in the venue. During the break, a primary school student glanced back and saw a rickshaw driver sitting in the car reading a book. He felt strange and looked carefully: the cover was white and red on the cover - "The Legend of the Swordsman of Shushan" was very eye-catching.

When I got home, I went to a book loan stall and rented a book called "The Legend of the Swordsman in Shushan" and started reading it. I couldn't stop reading it. I had a copper plate in my hand and rented the book. In just one or two years, I read all the martial arts novels of the Zhu Lou Master who could borrow at that time. I became a standard "Shu fan" and the admirer of the Zhu Lou Master. This elementary school student is just below.

In 1946, the reporter returned from Chongqing and passed through Nanjing. He once visited the senior Mr. Liu Chengyu (a member of the Xingzhonghui and then a member of the Nanjing Government Supervision Committee). Seeing this old desk, he placed the "Book of the Swordsman of Shushan" on his desk.

In 1948, the reporter studied at Shanghai Minzhi Journalism College and visited a classmate's home. His father was a famous scholar Xu Baoju (and his younger brother Baocun, Baoluo, collectively known as the "Three Masters of Xu in Hangzhou"). Hearing this with his own ears, the old man said to his daughter, and his son-in-law: "I saw the book of the master Huanzhu Lou on the street, and I bought it for me no matter what." His daughter told him: "A father never finished reading the book of the master Huanzhu Lou."

It is precisely this kind of constant contact that the reporter deeply admired the person who was the one who was unable to see him at first sight.

This is also a fate to meet each other: One day in 1952, the reporter happened to pass the Tianshan stage and saw the poster just posted: Shang Changchun and Shang Changlin performed a new Peking Opera. He swept the signature of the director and was shocked - the master of Huanzhu Lou! This person actually made a play, so he could not miss the opportunity, so he hurried in and asked the theater staff: "Where is the master of Huanzhu Lou?" This person pointed and said, "He is!"

Looking up, a man, with a big head and brain, thick eyebrows on the national character face, big eyes, garlic nose, wide mouth, wearing an old Zhongshan suit, with two arms spread out, two big hands supporting the railing, standing on the stairs, watching the ticket window: Obviously, he was fully focused on the ticket sales situation.

Take two steps at the same time, step up the stairs, reach out and introduce yourself: "Hello, I am your loyal reader."

He was stunned at first and asked me that I was a staff member of the Liberation Daily. He immediately greeted me warmly and led me to his studio on the third floor of Tianchan Stage.

In fact, he and I have never met each other. Perhaps because I have admired him for a long time, the reporter seemed to be acquainted with him. As soon as he sat down, he asked: "Why don't you write novels and write scripts?"

Although he is twenty-four years older than the author - he is Wang Yin, I, and I, Xiao Laohu, don't care about this unpleasant question, but instead feels a little embarrassed: "When you are liberated, why can you write such things?"

"Who said I can't write anymore? There are so many people who want to read your books, and you have so many books that you haven't finished."

Hearing this "childish" answer, he was confused. After a while, he said, "These are all harmful things. The old society had no choice but to write it for the sake of having a meal. How could the new society still write it again!"

"Who said that it hurts people? I have loved reading martial arts novels since I was a child. I have read them for almost twenty years. From the book, I know that it is to eliminate violence and safeguard the good, to help the weak, to help the poor, and to help the poor. From then on, I think of the great injustice of the old society, which should be revolutionary, and to support ******* to eradicate inequality in the world..."

The reporter's discussion was obviously very enthusiastic about him. He probably never thought that a party newspaper staff member would openly praise martial arts novels. Secondly, although he repeatedly criticized himself for writing martial arts novels in the past, which harmed the people and the country, he always had his own thoughts in the depths of his thoughts and had never forgotten his feelings. Therefore, after hearing the reporter's words, he was like a reporter, as if he had met his old friends again, and the little restraint he had just existed was wiped out.

"Do you still have "The Legend of the Clouds and Seas" at your home?"

This question was even more abrupt, but his answer was obviously a bit gloomy: "It's all burned! There is not a single book left in the room!"

"Ah! What a pity, what does it do for burning it?"

Then, the reporter made a big talk and "commented" his works: "Shushan" is of course brilliant, with delicate descriptions and rich imaginations, and has created a new era of combining martial arts novels and myths; "Qingcheng" and "Shushan" are similar to "Sea of ​​Clouds"; "Sea of ​​Clouds" are the most popular, and the characters are all lively and distinctive; "Shan of Wildness" writes about the customs and cultures of "Shan of Wildness", which integrates the soft and chivalrous body, and is full of scenes, but some places are too detailed and become cumbersome, and become travelogues..."

Happy to talk loudly in front of "Gaoming", as if no one else was around. This is a major shortcoming in the life of the reporter. But this man was not ashamed of, but nodded from time to time. When he first met, he talked for three hours. It was not until he shouted for supper below that the reporter stood up and said goodbye.

Intersecting

Both sides were very impressed. After Er Shang left, Tan Yuanshou and Li Lifang entered Tianchan, and soon Xiao Wang Guiqing, Xiao Er Wang Guiqing, and the mistress Wang Guiqing and the mistress Wang Guiqing came together. The hospital renewed the recruitment of the master of Zhulou as the director. After about a year, the reporter almost went there when he had time; he also asked for something, and he always talked about it for several hours. During this period, the reporter also introduced him to his colleague of the Liberation Daily, Comrade Mou Chunlin, who was well-read, and also hit it off at first sight. During this period, he wrote scripts such as "Snow Fight", "The Legend of White Snake", and "The Legend of Yue Fei". He wanted to write a book. , he always had to talk to reporters. From the creation process and the rambling process of these scripts, the reporter found that his knowledge was profound, his agile, his writing style, and his amazing memory were hard to imagine. For example, in order to write "The Biography of Yue Fei", he asked the reporter to borrow several books from the Liberation Daily Information Room, mainly "History of Song", "History of Jin" and other discussions. Today he just sent the book to him. When he went there the next day, he could recite the main paragraphs of "The Original Annals of Emperor Gaozong", "The Biography of Yue Fei", "The Biography of Qin Hui" and other chapters.

When he got together with this great writer, he felt that it was getting worse because the time was too short. A year later, he and Tan Yuanshou, Li Lifang and others participated in the Peking Opera Troupe of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army of China, and went north of Shanghai. Although they were thousands of miles apart, there were often letters from Hongyan, especially during the "Anti-Rightist Movement" period in 1957, he sent a letter almost every week, reminding him: "Be careful when speaking, and be sure to listen to the party..." This is naturally because of the lack of "sentences" in reporters.

Who knew less than one year? In the summer of 1958, the reporter was exhausted from making steel. Suddenly his daughter Guanxian wrote: My father had a stroke and hemiplegia not long ago. I miss you very much

The news surprised the reporter: This old man is open-minded and has a strong body, so why does he suffer from this evil disease? This thought always lingers in his mind.

In the winter of 1959, my mother was critically ill in Beijing, and the reporter rushed to serve. The next day, she went to No. 29, Xidan Piku Hutong. At this time, he was still bedridden, but because his sister-in-law and her children were well cared for, and they were very clear, they held me tightly when they saw the reporter and asked me to sit by his bed. At first, they looked at each other and were in tears. When talking about the cause of the stroke, he said: "A man started to say all kind words in order to pursue my daughter; we did not agree, so he scolded me in the magazine, saying that I continued to release poison in the "Drama" and wanted to kill me." After that, he hit the bed with his hands and gritted his teeth.

The old sister-in-law said, "Is this article written by him? I can't say that you are so arrogant, why are you doing?"

He said: "It must be him, otherwise it wouldn't be that coincidence!"

When the reporter heard this, his anger rushed up and was speechless for a while. Finally, he recited two Du poems: ": Your body and reputation are destroyed, and the rivers will not be destroyed forever." Then he changed his words and sat for more than an hour before shook hands and said goodbye. He repeatedly reminded: "You want to come again!"

Regret! In just a few days, Shanghai urged her to return. Before leaving, she was unable to visit again. This farewell became a lasting fate. Today, she talked to Guanxian about this past, and she also said: After you left, the old man still nagged for several days: "Have Xu Yin been here, is Xu Yin coming?"

The origin of the pseudonym

The original surname of the Lord Huanzhu Tower is Li and his name is Shanji. Why did he take the pseudonym "The Lord Huanzhu Tower"? To clarify this matter, we must first start with his origin.

Li Shanji is from Changshou County, Sichuan Province. His father, Yuanfu, had two Jinshi. In the Guangxu year, he was once the prefect of Suzhou. Because he was not good at A Tan and refused to exploit him, he was like a traitor in the officialdom. Soon he gave up his post and returned home and opened a school to teach his disciples. He had three sons and one daughter, so he used Shanji.

In 1914, Mr. Yuanfu passed away and his family was in trouble. His wife, Zhou, and his children traveled thousands of miles to Suzhou. Mr. Yuanfu was a prefect in Suzhou, and there were many old friends. Zhou lived in relatives and friends, and lived in a family in the nurturing lane, and worked hard to survive.

In the yangxi lane, the boys and girls in the neighborhoods were happy to play with Xiao Shanji. One reason was that he had learned Qigong since elementary school and had martial arts function "to help the weak" to "swallow the strong and help the weak". The other reason was that he was omnipotent in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was also good at "setting up the dragon gate formation". The vivid stories were endless after another.

Among these friends, there is a girl named Wenzhu, three years older than Shanji, with a pretty face, a slim figure, a gentle personality, extraordinary intelligence, and good at playing the pipa, which can be called "beautiful and wise". Whenever she has the chance, Shanji asks Sister Wenzhu to play a song clearly. As she listens, she is often fascinated, especially in "Xiaoxiang Night Rain". When Wenzhu plays it, she seems to be resentful and admiring, and like a position and a complaint, it can actually make Xiao Shanji cry.

The two of them spend time together day and night, and a love network naturally formed.

It was strange that Mrs. Zhou never interfered with the couple's relationship. She only reminded her son one thing: "Don't delay her studies because of this." At that time, Shan Ji was studying in the famous Suzhou Middle School. He knew his mother's intentions and studied harder, and was ranked among the top in every semester. Good grades not only comforted the widow's heart, but also protected her love.

The couple is Tiancheng, but the old man doesn’t make any connections. Shanji and Wenzhu have been in love with each other from childhood to adulthood. Due to the decline of the Li family, they cannot "finally get married".

At the age of 22, in order to shoulder the burden of family, Shanji went north to Tianjin to make a living. Before leaving, he swears. After leaving, he fell in love with him and continued to fall in love. After a year or two, although Shanji always led and looked at him, he always "flying clouds passed by, and the return geese were untrustworthy", and his heart was burned and he was unable to go south to find out. Finally, bad news came: "Wenzhu was unfortunately in peace!" This bolt from the blue made him dizzy and almost in pain. Fortunately, news came soon: Wenzhu was lucky to meet a good man, and was redeemed by a lawyer named Zhu, and married him to his wife. Shanji finally breathed a little relieved after being sad. However, his old love was unforgettable. Until he was twenty-six years old, he did not have any female friends. This was quite rare in the old society where early marriage was advocated.

In 1931, Shanji and Miss Sun Er had made a date for a long time after inquiry. Miss Sun Er heard her fiancé narrate this past, and learned that Shanji's pure and deep feelings were always buried in her heart. In the summer, Shanji accepted the appointment of Tianjin's Tianfengbao and began to write his debut work "The Legend of the Swordsman in Shushan". At first, he was hesitating for the pen name. At this time, Li Shanji had changed his name to Li Shoumin, which was the meaning of a small person in Changshou County. Occasionally, he wrote some small articles for newspapers and magazines, and often used "much chicken" (self-sarcasm a little dumb.

Brain), "Shouqi" (because the nine brothers of the Li family, he ranked seventh). Today, he published "The Legend of Swordsman in Shushan", both of these two pseudonyms are inappropriate, so why? One day, he was holding his pen and pondering, his fiancée Miss Sun Er walked behind him gently and said with infinite affection: "Shoumin, I know that there is a 'building' in your heart, and there is a bead hidden in it, so use 'Return of the Pearl Tower Master' as the pseudonym!" Shoumin was shocked when he heard this, and couldn't speak for a long time. It took him a long time to hold his fiancée's hand tightly: "Jingxun, I will never let you down."

Since then, the pseudonym of Huanzhu Tower has accompanied his long writing career.

In the 1940s, the owner of the Zhu Lou went to Shanghai. At this time, he had a reputation throughout the country and found that the Zhu family lived in No. 16 Tongyili, Nanjing West Road, and had come to see him. Lawyer Zhu was gentle and open-minded and generous, and asked him to meet his wife and welcome him warmly. Later, Mrs. Li and his third daughter Guanxian and the fourth son Guanding came to Shanghai one after another. Shanji brought him to meet him and ordered Guanxian to worship Wenzhu as his mother-in-law. The two surnames became a favorite of the Tong family.

Before and after the publication of "The Legend of Swordsman in Shushan"

When it comes to the author of Huanzhulou writing "The Legend of Swordsman in Shushan", people will think of his tortuous marriage. This unusual marriage caused a sensation in Tianjin in the early 1930s.

Li Shoumin (at this time Shanji had changed to Shoumin) first arrived in Tianjin, and he attracted a designer named Hou Shaobai. Hou had a close relationship with Fu Zuoyi, the commander-in-chief of Tianjin's garrison, and recommended Li to Fu as a Chinese secretary. Another English secretary, named Duan Maolan, was a British student and the nephew of Duan Qirui, the leader of the Anhui warlord. Li and Duan fell in love with Jinlan at first sight. General Fu Zuoyi was quite talented and was quite capable of Li Qingnian.

Appreciate, but sometimes the drafts made by the secretary are not in line with their own wishes, and they are inevitably disgusted. However, this young man is very scholarly and very conceited. In addition, he is always a bone-like person and has never been willing to flatter and flatter. When he encounters a scolding, he is not only unwilling to be timid, but often contradicts him according to reason. In less than a year, both sides felt awkward. After a conflict, Li brushed his sleeves and left, and wrote a likable poem to scold his boss.

After stepping out of the security headquarters, Li Shoumin was introduced by a friend and worked as an editor and reporter of Tianfeng Daily, but not long ago. Later, he joined the Tianjin Post Bureau and became a clerk. In order to support his mother and cultivate his younger siblings, he had to work as a part-time tutor to supplement his family income. After being introduced by someone, he was asked for the second lady of Sun Zhongshan, a wealthy Tianjin rich man, and the eldest young master Jing Tao taught calligraphy and ancient Chinese.

Li was proficient in ancient Chinese since childhood. In his childhood, he was able to write large characters, lift up the pen, use the pen, and put down the pen, and all had confidence. Teaching these two subjects naturally convinced the students as soon as they came up. Sun Jingxun had a unique eye and felt good about this teacher when he met. Li lived a difficult life. Every time he went to the Sun family to teach, he would not have lunch, but wait for the snacks to be used. When the snacks arrived, he would eat a pot of sweet food. At first, the second lady didn't care. After several observations, she knew that the teacher was very filial to her parents, and she actually taught at the sabbath.

Love is more caring in life. Li Shoumin was thirty years old because of Wenzhu's work, and he was still ashamed of his heart and did not think of a writer's family. When he first met the second lady, his appearance was average, not as far as Wenzhu, and he did not pay attention to it. Over time, the other party's tenderness came frequently through various channels, especially her ladies' temperament, gentle and elegant demeanor, loyal and kind morality, and strong and stubborn personality, which made this talented man feel that it is valuable: both not like Wenzhu and even better than Wenzhu.

As soon as he realized the other person's tenderness and sweetness, Li Shoumin's almost dead love rekindled. On Sun Jingxun's 22nd birthday, when the teacher's handwriting was given a painting of orchid, and a letter was attached to express his love.

There is no airtight wall in the world, and this matter soon came to the ears of Sun Zhongshan. Sun Zhongshan was also from Changshou County, Sichuan. He was originally a person who "sells cars and pulp". Later, he left home and left Sichuan and came to Tianjin. He made money by foreigners and founded a large-scale bank, becoming a well-known businessman. This is also helpless: the more nouveau riche, the more he is a family concept, the more he is from a humble family, the more he looks down on the poor scholar: "You Li Shoumin has no wealth and power, and it is not right to be in the same family as my Sun family. Isn't it a toad who wants to eat swan meat!"

The boss first persuaded his daughter, and Sun Jingxun's answer was firm: "I either don't get married, but if I want to get married, I will marry Li Shoumin!"

The boss rejected Li Shoumin, but the answer he received was tit-for-tat: "As long as the second lady said 'severance' in person, I will fly far away and never come to the door."

The next day, the wind and snow were storm, and Li Shoumin was uneasy, but he still twitched the bullet to go to class. Sure enough, the servant of the Li family said, "Take a master, Mr. Li doesn't have to go to class anymore." He asked again, "Where is the second lady?" The answer was only three words: "I don't know!"

"The Marquis's family is as deep as the sea, Xiao Lang becomes a passerby"? Sun Jingxun is not Wenzhu. She refused to accept feudal ethics. However, in that society, the girl's family was confined by her parents and could not fly. The lovers could not meet, so what to do in the future must be secretly informed. The third sister Jingyi came up with a good idea: since then, the license plate behind the car became the postbox for the lover, and put the credit adhesive plaster tightly behind the license plate, one by one, and the love letter was passed on for a day.

However, this good situation was not long. Soon the driver exposed him. Boss Sun was furious and knocked his daughter to the ground with a slap.

Sun Jingxun was hit by this and cried all night. Finally, she thought that this old feudal country would never change her mind. If she didn't make up her mind, something more serious might happen. "Thirty-six strategies are the best", otherwise her lifelong happiness would be ruined. In the early morning, she took off her jewelry, took off her clothes, brought only a few clothes, took a dollar fare, and resolutely left the house and embarked on the path she chose - first join the Tianjin Women's Association and requested support for her marriage autonomy. The Women's Association could preside over justice and took her in.

When Li Shoumin got the news, he immediately rushed to the women's meeting. Thinking of the rich daughter who was willing to run away from home to risk the big deal and run away from home, even if he was heartbroken, he couldn't help but hold his hands and sigh...

The second lady of the Sun family ran away and soon became the number one social news in Tianjin. Boss Sun was so angry that he was furious for several days. He thought about it and always thought that he had money and that he could make the "officials" push the grinding. Soon, a large sum of money was sent to the Tianjin British Concession Bureau. Foreigners got money to sell the law and immediately threw Li Shoumin into prison. The news came out, and the public was in a turmoil. When Li's friend Duan Maolan learned about it, he mediated from it. He was Duan Qirui's nephew, Fu Zuoyi's English secretary, and a British student. The British dared not offend him, let alone he could not provide any reason to arrest people, so he had to release Li Shoumin.

Boss Sun failed to make a plan, and another plan was made: accuse Li Shoumin of "avenging good women" to the Tianjin District Court and throwing Li into prison again. Since he sued the court, a trial must be held. One day in November 1930, the Tianjin District Court tried the case. Boss Sun considered his identity and ordered his eldest son Jing Tao to appear on behalf of the court. The judge sat down, and the plaintiff and the defendant arrived in court. First, the plaintiff accused, but the defendant had not yet responded, and suddenly a shout came from the audience: "Please wait!"

Who was it? The audience was in a commotion. Looking at the spokesperson, the people they knew were all screaming: "Miss Sun's second lady!"

In front of everyone, Sun Jingxun was upright and did not wince, questioning in Sichuan dialect: "I am twenty-four years old this year and my marriage is completely independent. I am in line with Li Shoumin and voluntarily united. The parents objected for no reason. I decided to leave myself. How could I say 'abduct'?"

These words sounded uncommon today. At that time, especially in the scary court, they came from a rich lady. Many people couldn't help but applaud. Sun Jingtao had no feelings for his father, but when he heard this, he felt unreasonable and bowed his head without saying anything. The judge looked at it and found out that he had just left the law and decided to follow the rules: Li Shoumin is not guilty, Sun Jingxun has autonomy in his marriage, and others are not allowed to interfere!

The lawsuit was won, but the lovers did not get married immediately. The reason was that Li Shoumin had a deep friendship with Sun Jingxun for taking risks and difficulties for him. He decided to save more money to hold a wedding, so he also demonstrated to the boss Sun. Where should he save money? It happened that at this time, a novel originally serialized by Tianfengbao was written in the middle of the process. The editor-in-chief knew Li Shoumin's talent and asked him to write a piece immediately and pay a lot of money. It came just right, and since then, the work of "The Legend of the Swordsman in Shushan" was written. If you don't write it, it would be like a river in the Yangtze River, and it would be endless. After two years,

The money has been saved a lot. In 1932, Li Shoumin and Sun Jingxun officially got married. Before that, they had lived together, eating at the same table during the day and sleeping on the same bed at night - but it was not as good as the backrest. Before getting married, they specially asked a gynecologist to verify the virginity, and then entered the newspaper to declare it before getting married. The wedding ceremony was hosted by Duan Maolan, and the person who pulled the bride was Yuan Shikai's granddaughter Gui Jie, who later became Sun's adopted daughter. Shang Xiaoyun, one of the four famous actresses, sent a full set of furniture. The wedding was lively and the marriage was upright. Although Boss Sun was angry, he could not do anything.

Li Shoumin was extremely grateful to Duan Maolan, the elder brother. He was born and named him "Huaihai" to show his nostalgia. Later, there were many children and they could not always "Huaihai", so he simply used the word "Guan" with Maolan's word "Guanhai" to rank it - Guancheng, Guanfang, Guanxian, Guanding, Guanding, Guanshu, Guanshu, Guanhong, etc. He was deeply resentful and hated by his father-in-law, and first wrote "Round Hoof" to outline his old feudal appearance. The original manuscript was written for his uncle.
Chapter completed!