The first issue is cost. Su Shi holds this post in Huangzhou, and has a full name. What's it called? Please deputy Huangzhou Yingyong to settle down in the local area, and don't sign books or do business. What kind of official is this deputy Huang Zhou Ying Yong? This is hardly in line with the present situation. If you insist on correspondence, if you want to give everyone an impression, you can think of it as a deputy minister of the People's Armed Forces of Huangzhou City or Huangzhou County, which is such an official. However, local (state) resettlement is not allowed to sign books and do business. You have no right to sign, no administrative power and no decision. In other words, you are a criminal under the care of the local government and just gave you a name. Then according to the relevant regulations, such criminals are not paid. That would be very troublesome. Su Shi and his family came to Huangzhou from Beijing. There are more than 20 people. What do they live on? Moreover, Su Shi had no habit of saving all his life. He has eight words himself. What's it called? "What you earn, what you want to do." In our current words, we will spend as soon as we get paid, and as soon as we get paid. He has savings, but very little, but this can't beat Su Shi. Su Shi's attitude towards money is: I will spend if I have money, and I will make plans if I have no money. I have no money now. I still have some savings. I make a plan according to my current savings. He and his wife made a careful financial budget. Spend up to one hundred and fifty articles every day. What about every month? 4500 at most. With such expenses, his current savings can only be used for one year. The question is what to do after one year? In a year, let's talk about it in a year. A brilliant person never gets himself into trouble in advance. You can always see it.
Secondly, the housing problem. According to the relevant regulations of the imperial court, such criminals are not allowed to distribute their homes. Everyone can distribute it, but he can't. This court has rules, which is a punishment. Where do you live, sleeping on the street? This is also a problem. When they first came, with the help of friends, they lived in an abandoned house in a post station used by the government by the river, called Lin Gaoge. But we all know that the house by the river is very humid and hot. More than twenty people are crowded in it, and there is no place for any guest to live. Later, in a snowy season, Su Shi built five tile houses in one place, and then painted a snow scene on four murals of this house, giving a very romantic name "Tang Xue". This Tang Xue later became a very important place for him to meet guests, read, write and keep healthy. That is to say, he has a house by the river called "Lin Gaoge", and later he built a guest room-"Tang Xue". This is a temporary solution to the housing problem.
Third, the problem of eating. Without money, eating is a problem. What can we do? It's hard to beat Su Shi. Take off people's robes, put on farmers' bunts, and call on the whole family to do it themselves, have plenty of food and clothing, and launch a large-scale production movement. It's really a large-scale production movement. He applied to the local government for 50 acres of wasteland for farming. This wasteland is very barren. This land is on a slope outside the east gate of Huangzhou City, so Su Shi called it "Dongpo". He calls himself "Dongpo lay man". The name Su Dongpo is actually more influential among the people than Su Shi. Many people know Su Dongpo, but they don't know Su Shi. Dongpo lay man is also a very popular name. Some scholars say that you are a shame, but farming is a shame for scholars. Are you still Dongpo? You're a criminal, and you've been relegated to a place like this and watched by others. Are you not ashamed, but proud? You know, there was such a view in that society at that time. But Su Shi doesn't care. Who stipulates that literati cannot farm? Who stipulates that farming will make a fool of yourself? Who stipulates that a farmer can't be called a layman, right? I didn't eat. I planted the land. After planting the land, you reap it. After harvesting, I have food. I solved the problem of eating by myself. It's not shameful at all. The reason is very simple.
What is chic? Handsome is not walking in the street all day, swinging his sleeves. Handsome and single-minded. When you face every specific dilemma in your life, it will challenge your life and test your bottom line. In other words, as we all know, lay people originally refer to Buddhists who practice at home. Su Shi certainly has profound attainments in Buddhism, but his name as a layman far exceeds the original meaning of the layman. Yes, he is a laborer who works in the fields and gets food. At the same time, he is good at discovering some aesthetic tastes in the process of labor. He is still in the process of working, trying to get rid of the shackles brought about by realistic difficulties. He is also a philosopher, so in the eyes of future generations, Su Shi is a man who appeals to both refined and popular tastes and has won the double praise of "farmer" and "scholar-bureaucrat"