Outside Dinghuai Gate in Jinling City, it is close to the Yangtze River and is also the entrance to the Qinhuai River flowing into the Yangtze River. Every year when the rain is heavy, it is very easy to be submerged. Especially when there is heavy flooding in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the river water may irrigate into the Qinhuai River, which will cause huge losses to Jinling City. Therefore, the imperial court named the city gate here Dinghuai Gate, but unfortunately it has no effect. It will be flooded every year or flooded.

Similar to Dinghuai Gate, a Dragon King Temple was built on the shore at the entrance of the Qinhuai River to the Yangtze River. Every year before the rainy season comes, many people come to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King, hoping that the Dragon King can bless the safety of the people.

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However, ironically, every year when floods occur, the Dragon King Temple is the first to be flooded. Over time, no one is willing to come to worship. The entire Dragon King Temple is also dilapidated due to floods and disrepair. Only one old temple still lives in the temple. However, every year when floods occur, he also moves to a high place to hide.

It was already dark, but the lights were on in the Dragon King Temple. The old and dim temple Zhu went to bed early, but Luo Guanzhong was still sitting under the lamp, revising his manuscript. From time to time, he would stop thinking for a while, and then he started writing, but after writing for a while, he stopped again soon.

Today, Luo Guanzhong felt that his thoughts were not smooth. He revised the text several times, but it still made him feel dissatisfied. Finally, he suddenly dropped his pen and sighed, then looked around at the simple room he was in, which made him sigh again, and his somewhat faint old eyes also showed a bit of depressed look.

Luo Guanzhong was originally from Taiyuan, but when he was a child, he moved to Hangzhou with his father. His father was in the silk business and his family was quite good. Luo Guanzhong started studying since childhood and had great ambitions when he was young. Later, during the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he devoted himself to Zhang Shicheng as an aide.

Unfortunately, Zhang Shicheng was not a big deal, especially when he was king. Many staff members advised him not to be too anxious to be king, so as not to be the first to be the first, but Zhang Shicheng just refused to listen. This made Luo Guanzhong see Zhang Shicheng's character clearly, so he left disheartenedly. Later, Zhang Shicheng was indeed defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang.

After leaving Zhang Shicheng, Luo Guanzhong once went to his hometown in Taiyuan and later returned to Hangzhou. At that time, he also began to turn his interests to zaju scripts, so he injected some of his own experiences into the book. Among them, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" took most of his life and was finally completed a few years ago. Now he has begun to help his deceased teacher Shi Nai'an revise "Water Margin".

However, Luo Guanzhong's life has not been satisfactory in recent years. Writing books is just his interest and cannot bring him much income. Especially after he finished writing the Three Kingdoms, he once wanted to find someone to print it into a book. For this reason, he also went to Jianyang, Fujian, where the printing industry is the most prosperous. Unfortunately, because he had no money and could not find rich people to sponsor it, the printing workshops were not willing to help him print.

Years of displaced have long exhausted Luo Guanzhong's wealth. In recent years, he has been able to make a living by writing letters to others. Occasionally, he will receive some small books and cannot make much money.

However, just last year, Luo Guanzhong suddenly received a message sent by Li Hong, saying that Li Shanchang's grandson Li Jie wanted to find him, and Li Jie didn't know where he knew about the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin he was writing, and he actually promised to pay to help him print and distribute the two books.

Luo Guanzhong was also a little suspicious of this sudden appearance of Li Jie at the beginning, but Li Hong was an old acquaintance he met in Zhang Shicheng's mansion back then. Although the two did not have much deep friendship, they were also familiar with each other. Even if the two sides had not met for so many years, there was no need for the other party to lie to him.

Under this situation, Luo Guanzhong was also a little shaken. He was already in his sixties, and his health was getting worse and worse in the past two years. In addition, his income from writing letters was meager, so it was impossible for him to print two books himself. Now some people are willing to invest, which is the opportunity Luo Guanzhong has been looking for for many years.

The most important thing is that shortly after Luo Guanzhong received the news, Li Jie's name spread throughout the coast of the Ming Dynasty. The main reason was that he and Tang He wiped out the Japanese pirates who had been harmed for many years. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and even Guangdong were all celebrating the names of the two. After all, the harm caused by the Japanese pirates to these coastal areas was too great.

After learning about Li Jie's fame, Luo Guanzhong finally made up his mind. He sold his last bit of property and left Jianyang with a box of manuscripts on his back. He had no money to take a bus, so he hiked north. Sometimes he used up all his money, so he set up a stall on the road to earn some money and then set up a stall on the road.

During this period, Luo Guanzhong also heard about Li Shanchang's execution. When he heard the news, he thought Li Jie was also killed, so he cried because of this. He did not cry for others, but for himself. He thought this was an opportunity, but he didn't expect that God would not even want to give him this opportunity. Is it true that he and his teacher's life hard work really have no chance to make it happen?

Fortunately, later, news came, and Luo Guanzhong realized that Li Jie was not dead, which made him cheer up again. He traveled through mountains and rivers and took a full year to arrive in Jinling. This was a miracle for an old man over 60 years old.

However, after coming to Jinling City, Luo Guanzhong spent all his money. Everything in Jinling City was expensive and he had no money to stay in a hotel. So he shamelessly asked the old temple to take in the Dragon King Temple. The old temple to see him pitiful, so he asked him to stay in the temple for the time being.

After Luo Guanzhong had a residence, he did not rush to visit Li Jie. After all, he didn't know much about Li Jie. In addition, Jinling City is so big that he didn't even know where Li Jie lives. So he set up a stall in the city during the day to help people write letters, while making some money to make a living, while inquiring about Li Jie's situation. The more he inquired, the more excited he became. Unexpectedly, Li Jie was already named Jinghai Bo and was engaged to the prince's daughter.

What made Luo Guanzhong even happier was that Li Jie actually had a relationship with the famous Academy of Quiuzhen. It is said that this academy was founded by him. Luo Guanzhong also found an opportunity to go to the academy for two classes. Although he couldn't understand many of the things he said in the academy, he still felt that this academy was quite extraordinary.

A young and noble person who is willing to study should be very likely to be willing to pay some money to print for him. This idea also made Luo Guanzhong finally make up his mind. So this afternoon, he specially changed into his latest piece of clothing and came to Li Jie's house to visit him.

Unfortunately, Li Jie was not at home at that time, and the manager of the Li family saw that he was dressed poorly and didn't even invite him to drink a cup of tea. This made Luo Guanzhong feel that his blood was poured into a pot of cold water by reality.

But it is normal to think about it. Li Jie was successful at a young age and received the attention of His Majesty early. He also made great achievements repeatedly. He was named Jinghaibo at a young age and was also the son-in-law of the prince and the future son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty. When he invited him, it might have been a whim. He might have left his affairs behind afterwards, and even forgot his name long ago.

Thinking of this, Luo Guanzhong was even more depressed. He thought that he had wandered all his life and had ambitions when he was young. But now he is old and only wants to print the manuscripts he wrote in his life into books. However, he did not expect that after wasting so many years, he still could not fulfill his wish. With his current physical condition, he didn't know how many years he could live. Maybe he would never see the day when the manuscripts were written until his death.

"The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, and the waves wash away the heroes.

Right and wrong, success and failure turn into nothing.

The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red for several times.

The white-haired fisherman and woodcutter are on the river bank, and are used to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze.

A pot of turbid wine meets happily.

How many things happen in ancient and modern times are all laughing at.”

Luo Guanzhong whispered Yang Shen's poem Linjiangxian again. He loved this poem very much, so he also used it as the beginning of his Three Kingdoms. However, when he read the sentence "Green-haired fisherman on the river bank", he couldn't help but burst into tears. His beard and hair had long turned white, but unfortunately he could not do anything to laugh at.

"Forget it, time! Life is good! I think my life is ups and downs. Maybe God is unwilling to let me achieve this last wish!" Luo Guanzhong whispered again, then raised his sleeves to wipe away his tears, took a few deep breaths to cheer up, then picked up the pen again, and turned his eyes to the unrevised manuscript.

But at this moment, suddenly, there was a burst of rapid horse hooves coming from outside the Dragon King Temple, which made Luo Guanzhong raise his head in confusion. It was so late. The Dragon King Temple was already very desolate, so why would anyone ride a horse to come?
Chapter completed!