Why did Zhu's frugality ruin his reputation?

Last time I talked about how Han Shizhong drank. Today, let's see how Zhu treats his guests.

Han Shizhong is a military commander and Zhu is a scholar. There are three similarities in this article: first, they are all celebrities in the Southern Song Dynasty; Second, everyone loves to drink; Third, don't eat big meals when drinking.

Han Shizhong drinking is drinking, and he doesn't want to "spoil" the taste of wine with that kind of snacks. Zhu doesn't think the taste of food will spoil the taste of wine. He is too frugal. He can save money by not ordering food.

When Zhu gave a lecture in Wuyishan, the food was simple: "The students only took off the rice until the eggplant was cooked, and soaked three or four slices of ginger in it." (Record of the Four Dynasties (Volume 1)) Students are usually given small grains of rice, and when the eggplant is cooked, it is mixed with Jiang Mo and rice vinegar. Zhu's meals are the same as those of students, and he doesn't cook.

It is right for a man to be harsh on himself, and it is also right to be frugal in his diet, but it is best to be frugal only to himself and not to others, otherwise it is easy to offend people.

There are examples to prove it. It is said that a man named Zhu visited him, where he ate eggplant with millet and his stomach was full of gas. He said to Zhu's students, "This is not a person, just a chicken and a bottle of wine. There is nothing in the mountains." How can this be called hospitality? Even if there is no good wine and food on the mountain, can I have a chicken and a jar of wine? It's obvious that your teacher looks down on me like that.

A few years later, Hu Bi became a scholar and an imperial envoy, trying to punish Zhu. If he criticized Zhu for his poor hospitality, he would certainly not show his face, so he created a rumor about Zhu, saying that Zhu was unfilial and refused to let his biological mother eat new rice, but let the old lady eat hairy old rice. With his encouragement, Zhu was knocked to the ground, and Neo-Confucianism was also dismissed as "pseudo-learning" by the court.