★ Tourist locations: Reading Platform on Qionglong Mountain in Suzhou, Ningbang Temple

Climbing a mountain road from here is the Zhu Maichen Reading Platform hidden in the dense forest. This is one of the five famous platforms in my country. However, it is reasonable to say that the five famous platforms in Chinese history are Yuewang Terrace in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Congtai in Handan, Hebei, Horse Racing Terrace in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, Gefeng Terrace in Pei County, Jiangsu, and Baijiang Terrace in Hanzhong, Shaanxi. It is estimated that the five famous stations mentioned here only refer to reading stations.

Although it is famous, in fact, Zhu Maichen is relatively famous. This so-called reading treatment is as simple as a big stone, five feet high, six feet wide, and fifty feet long.

It is said that Zhu Maichen, a famous official of the Western Han Dynasty, was born in poverty and low, but he loved reading very much. At that time, most of the books were made of bamboo slips. A book was not light. It was naturally extremely inconvenient for him to go out to collect firewood and sell firewood every day, but he still read while walking on the firewood road. This was the story of "reading on a paycheck". The wife didn't understand this and couldn't help but laugh and scold. Later, he thought of a way. He would sneak a peek at the big stone for a while, and hide the book under the stone when he went home. In order to commemorate his hard reading spirit, later generations named this big stone Zhu Maichen's Reading Desk. Later, Zhu Maichen's "reading on salary", together with Li Mi's "hanging books on horns" and Che Yin's "reading on fireflies at night", were regarded as typical examples of diligent reading by famous sages in ancient China.

However, in ancient times, most people couldn't afford to read books. It should be that their ancestors had a small family property, but they lost it when they were grandfathers or fathers, but they still had books to read at home. You know, ancient books are not like modern people, who can buy books for a small amount of money. Most people really can't afford to read books.

Next to it is the Zhu Gong Temple, which houses the sitting portrait of Zhu Maichen, carved out of white stone. Compared with Sun Wu's statue, Zhu Maichen's statue seems very sloppy. Of course, although Zhu Maichen is also a famous minister, he is still a little far behind the unique military saint in Chinese history. Even the ending was a bit tragic. Although Sun Wu finally retired into seclusion, he was at least successful and retired. Zhu Maichen became the prefect of Kuaiji, put down the rebellion in the East Yue, and was awarded the title of Duwei, ranking among the nine ministers. Unfortunately, a few years later, he was dismissed for breaking the law. It was not easy to restore the appointment, but in the second year of Yuanding, he participated in framing the censor Zhang Tang and was put to prison and executed.

However, when it comes to framing Zhang Tang, it is also because there is a conflict between the two. Zhang Tang turned out to be just a petty official. He and Gongsun Hong had similar temperaments and became close friends. The two recommended each other, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued Zhang Tang as Tingwei. Zhang Tang falsely accused Zhu Maichen's friend of being related to the rebellion of King Liu An of Huainan. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Yan Zhu to be beheaded, so Zhu Maichen naturally hated Zhang Tang. When Zhu Maichen was restored to the post of Prime Minister's chief historian, Zhang Tang deliberately bullied and insulted the three chief historians of the Prime Minister's Mansion, so the three chief historians all held a grudge against Zhang Tang. If it is said that Zhang Tang falsely accused Yan Zhu in the past, and later became very arrogant, the grudge he had with Zhu Maichen would be really big. The money buried in the tomb of Emperor Xiaowen was stolen. Zhang Tang blamed the entire case on Prime Minister Zhuang Qingzhai, intending to take the position of Prime Minister himself. When Zhu Maichen learned the news, he and two other chief historians went to inform Zhuang Qingzhai. The three of them arrested businessman Tian Xin and tortured him to extort a confession. Tian Xin had to confess. Zhang Tang knew that he would definitely die, so he wrote a suicide note saying that the three chief historians had framed him and killed himself with his sword. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty read Zhang Tang's suicide note and ordered the arrest of the three chief historians. Zhu Maichen and others were beheaded. Therefore, when it comes to framing, they are actually not fair and selfless people. Zhang Tang finally put all his eggs in one basket and dragged Zhu Maichen down. It shows that none of them are easy to deal with.

There is a pavilion halfway up the mountain called Cuifu Sandie. But apart from the gazebo and a small water flow next to it, it is not even a waterfall. We really can't see where the "triple stack" is reflected. It is said that the "triple stacks" can only be seen during the rainy season. Spring water seeps out of the cracks in the stone and falls layer by layer on the stone wall. The weather is really sunny today, and there was no rain in the past two days. No wonder we couldn't experience the artistic conception of three layers of green floating. However, it was very secluded. There were hardly any tourists coming here. Basically, they were all at Sunwu Garden and the Reading Desk.

When I reached the fork in the road, I hesitated and chose the bamboo archway with "mirrors made by the heart" to the left first, which looked a bit like Zen.

After walking through a long mountain road, fortunately for the gentle slope, we quickly reached the top of Ermao Peak. There is a magnificent pavilion in front of us. The practical one should be two-story. There is also a loft-like building on it, with double eaves resting on the top of the mountain, and a plaque reading "Ciyun Fa Rain". It turns out that this is Ningbang Jingshe.

It is 288 meters above sea level, which is a good place to view the scenery. It is said that in the bell tower of Jingshe there is a Buddhist bell donated free of charge by believers, weighing 10,000 kilograms. Every year, when bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, there will be 108 knocks, which means that all living beings can be freed from 108 kinds of troubles. So if you still have worries, it is not among these 108.

Poems chanting Qionglong Mountain are engraved on the rocks next to them. Many of the names are really familiar and detailed. Li Genyuan wrote the stone wall when he visited Qionglong Mountain in the 15th year of the Republic of China.

If your physical strength permits, you can continue to move forward and lead to the highest peak of the dome. You can overlook the mountains there from here, and there should be several buildings. It is said that there is a play platform there. However, looking at the winding and winding mountain road, it seems that it is a bit far away. If I really walk, I probably won't be able to pass through it for a while. Looking up and looking at the sun, which was already slightly west, playing with the moon... it was definitely impossible to play, so we still chose to return.

On the other side is the Zhaohe Pavilion, but the style is a bit strange. There is a round arch below, and there is a square pavilion above, surrounded by guardrails.

Wanghu Pavilion was built during the Qianlong Southern Tour. Emperor Qianlong wrote a poem for the first time, and later it was the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time... Anyway, every time during the southern tour, people would write something., poetry or leave some calligraphy treasures. This emperor's calligraphy is really rare. He is quite confident in his poems and poems. Coupled with the fact that He Kun and others have repeatedly flattered him, he is naturally very happy to splash ink.