Zhengjiang Village in Xingning, Guangdong, is home to the Le Shan Wei compound

Le Shan Wei, also known as 'Zeng Ju Hua', is located on Yangling of Zhengjiang Village. This house was built during the Qing Dynasty's Xianfeng era by six brothers of the 18th generation of the local Zeng family. Facing from southwest to northeast, it is a two-hall, four-wing, and two-enclosure dragon house, with a grain terrace and a geomantic pond in front of the house. Above the front door hangs a wooden plaque reading 'Scholar's Residence', and upon entering, a wooden screen is seen with another plaque that reads 'Cheng De Residence'. The compound covers an area of 4,500 square meters, with the buildings occupying 2,956 square meters. To the left of the house, there is a well. The couplets by the entrance of the house, 'Find joy in what I do, share goodness with others' and 'Joyful heart touched by the sun, virtuous air filled with the spring breeze', reflect the ancestral spirit of valuing kindness and goodness as the family's guiding principle. The house has a profound cultural heritage and has produced many talented individuals. Stone tablets with inscriptions such as 'Scholar's Residence' hang above the main gate, and plaques awarded by the government such as 'Talent and Virtue', 'Cheng De Residence', 'Top Scholar', and 'Five Generations Under One Roof' are displayed in the lower hall. After the establishment of New China, the house has seen 4 bureau-level officials, professors, senior engineers, hydroelectric experts, and other highly skilled professionals, boasting the remarkable achievement of 'two Tsinghua University graduates from one family'. The descendants of the house, such as Zeng Hong, the former Director of the Guangdong Provincial Justice Department, are well-known for their enthusiasm for public welfare, their emphasis on education, and their willingness to help others. However, the house also has touching stories about its ancestors' construction and their charitable deeds. The 17th generation ancestors, Zeng Guobiao and Zeng Guoliang (whose grandfather was the imperial scholar Zeng Jianlong in the ninth year of Qianlong's reign), originally lived in a lower-lying joint house under the bamboo lake of Diaofang Santan. Due to poverty, they made a living by raising ducks and fishing. Once, while herding ducks in the wild, the ducks wandered towards the northwest. The brothers followed the ducks to a higher ground and decided to rest there. While resting, Zeng Guoliang was reluctant to leave, 'Brother, it's really comfortable to rest here.' Zeng Guobiao also felt the same, 'I like this place very much. How about this, let's enclose this area with bamboo poles now, and we can rest here when we herd the ducks in the future?' So, the brothers worked together to gather bamboo and enclosed the mound overnight. They often rested there while herding ducks and eventually built a thatched shelter to protect themselves from the elements. Their mother duck often laid eggs under the shelter, which made them believe this place was a geomantic treasure. They settled down here, convinced that they would prosper. They bought the nearby mulberry garden from the Luo family under the bamboo garden to cultivate. As time went by, they married and had children. The brothers had six sons named Zeng Kangsheng, Ansheng, Xingsheng, Huansheng, Qingsheng, and Shousheng. As the children grew up and the brothers saved some money, they decided to build a house on the site of the thatched shelter. They mobilized their grown-up son Kangsheng and Zeng Ansheng, who was doing business along the coast of Guangdong and Fujian, to contribute money and effort to demolish the thatched house and build a brick and tile house, starting with the main structure named 'Le Shan Wei'. Zeng Xingsheng and Zeng Huansheng grew up and started workshops, pawnshops, and medicinal herb businesses. They traveled to Sichuan to purchase white fungus and other medicinal materials. With the money earned, they continued to build the second and third enclosures with their brothers and descendants. Because Zeng Huansheng's business 'Ju Hua' was quite famous locally, people also referred to Le Shan Wei as 'Zeng Ju Hua'.