The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 401

Zhang Zhou wanted to regard this return to Nanjing as a trip to find his roots. Naturally, he couldn't focus on official business when he came to Nanjing, basically "eating, drinking and having fun".

That day, he and Lin Yi, who was dressed in a scholar's uniform, went to the Nanjing theater together, but before the show started, Lin Yi kept looking at Zhang Zhou.

"I said Yi'er, ever since I came back from Liaodong, you always look at me like this, and often make me careless as a husband. Do you know that this is a crime?"

Zhang Zhou laughed and joked, then pinched Lin Yi's cheek with his hands.

Feels pretty good.

Lin Yi blushed a little, probably knowing what Zhang Zhou meant, and she said, "I... just want to learn more."

Zhang Zhoudao: "If you love to study, you are a good student. You also need to have a good teacher. The repertoire on the stage today is reserved for you to learn. Listen carefully later, and when you learn it, go back and sing it to me."

"Qupa?" Lin Yi asked curiously.

Zhang Zhou nodded lightly and said, "Forget it, study hard, female classmate. There are still guests to receive in the private room next to my husband, and I will come back later to test your study results."

"Hmm." Lin Yi suddenly realized something and asked, "Just...just me?"

A woman, or a married woman, is alone in public, even though it is in a private room, but she also feels very uncomfortable.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "If you want to see a guest, come as soon as you go."

……

……

In the private room next door, Tang Yin and Xu Jing were sitting there, even though refreshments were on the table, they were not in a good mood.

They didn't know the purpose of Zhang Zhou's summons, especially Tang Yin. After arriving in Nanjing, he was very confused about his errand and didn't know how to start it.

"Boom." The door opened.

Seeing that it was Zhang Zhou, the two hurriedly stood up to meet him.

"Sit, sit, sit, I've called you here to relax, listen to the music, and meet a guest by the way." Zhang Zhou said with a smile.

Tang Yin looked around the stage outside the window of the private room, and there were guests gathering. His expression told Zhang Zhou that he didn't think there was anything that had to be discussed in such an open place.

After waiting for Zhang Zhou to sit down, Xu Jing quickly got up and poured tea for Zhang Zhou, and asked by the way: "Master Zhang, who is it?"

"You'll know when you see him. He's a celebrity in the Ming Dynasty." Zhang Zhou seemed to be playing a riddle, "It's closely related to the three of us."

Tang Yin and Xu Jing looked at each other, when they were confused and couldn't figure out who it was.

The door opened again, this time it was Liu Gui who opened the door, but there was a smiling old man standing at the door, it was Cheng Minzheng.

Originally, Tang Yin and Xu Jing seemed to get up casually to receive the "special guest". When they saw Cheng Minzheng, their waists straightened immediately, and their muscles twitched slightly, as if they were petrified in an instant, and they stood at attention as punishment.

"Scholar Cheng... No, I should call him Cheng Shilang." Zhang Zhou said to Tang and Xu with a smile, "You must have heard about it. Cheng Xueshi has moved to the left servant of the official department, and he will return to Beijing to take up his post soon."

"Everywhere, I serve the imperial court." Cheng Minzheng's face was naturally full of joy.

After being dispatched to Nanjing for more than a year, he was finally able to see the moon when the clouds opened, and he was able to return to the capital as the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, which meant that he was only one step away from being a minister.

Tang Yin came to his senses first, cupped his hands and said, "Student Tang Yin, see the Bachelor of Process."

"Oh, Bohu, why are you still so out of touch? You don't need to be a student or not, and being a minister in the same dynasty doesn't matter so much." Cheng Minzheng is not out of touch.

He has an easy-going personality, otherwise he would not have the problem of liking to see ordinary scholars, and even didn't know how to avoid suspicion when he might be selected as the chief examiner of the examination, so that he almost ruined his political future.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Cheng Shilang, please sit down."

"Okay, okay." After Cheng Minzheng took his seat, Tang Yin and Xu Jingcai sat down awkwardly, their previous slackness was gone, and they changed to a cautious and slightly panicked look.

The two of them thought of Zhang Zhou's words again, and instantly understood what the so-called "wealth and sorrow" meant.

The time is not too long. A year and a half ago, wasn't he tied to a rope?If Zhang Zhou hadn't untied the knot, he might be wandering where he is now.

……

……

Xu Jing still served the tea, Cheng Minzheng accepted it with a smile.

Immediately Zhang Zhou asked about the schedule of Cheng Minzheng's return to Beijing, Cheng Minzheng said with a smile: "Your Majesty has an order to come, and he said that there is no rush, as long as he arrives within two months."

Zhang Zhoudao: "Cheng Shilang is really calm."

"Damn!" Cheng Minzheng sighed in a different tone from others, as if he was old-fashioned talking to young people about his life experience, "I have been an official for half my life, and I have seen everything through. Since I don't rush, why do I have to make myself unhappy? The land of the capital is no different from a dragon's pond or a tiger's den. This city of Nanjing is a good place to raise idlers."

Zhang Zhou smiled and asked: "Cheng Shilang is wrong to say that. Your Majesty is full of expectations for you to return to Beijing. I still have to assist His Majesty with all my heart."

"That is, that is." Cheng Minzheng said while giving Zhang Zhou a blank look.

It seems to be saying, what kind of pretense is it, I don’t know your personality, and you don’t know my personality?

Both of us are the kind of people who can dawdle and never bump into the cusp of the storm, just find our own freedom.

Tang Yin asked: "Why is Your Majesty so... lenient on Cheng Shilang's return date?"

Cheng Minzheng laughed and said, "I still want to help Nanjing's prosperous literary world, but said that there are many scholars who came to Nanjing this time, and famous Confucian scholars are not uncommon. Those from Lingnan, Jiangxi, and by the way, Xue Jingzhi from the Weinan School has also arrived, and a group of people from eastern Zhejiang have also come..."

When it comes to people from various schools, Cheng Minzheng is like a treasure, his eyes are full of excitement.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Cheng Shilang has seen a lot again?"

"what?"

Cheng Minzheng suddenly misfired, and then smiled awkwardly, "It's a little problem, and it can't be changed in this life."

Zhang Zhou shook his head with a smile and said, "If you meet people in the literary world, it's a problem. Then there are many people with problems in this world. Finding faults is not the foundation of scholarship. I believe that His Majesty will not let Cheng Shilang preside over the test in a short time. Cheng Shilang can rest assured to see him."

"Mr. Lai, what you said... the old man sounds very pleasant. In fact, the old man has also met Zhan Yuanming from Lingnan. He came here in filial piety, and his heart is full of obsession. This old man is sweating for you."

Cheng Minzheng didn't think it was a big deal to watch the excitement.

Xu Jingdao: "The Lingnan school has only grasped the superficial aspects of mind learning, how can it be compared with Master Zhang's attainments?"

Cheng Minzheng glanced at Xu Jing.

That weird look seemed to be satirizing Xu Jing, your surname Xu is so unprincipled, and you are a classmate who took the exam in the same subject, and now you call him "Master Zhang", demeaning yourself, shameless?

But Cheng Minzheng thought about it again, isn't he on the same generation as Zhang Zhou, or even inferior to Zhang Zhou in terms of status?

No one needs to laugh at anyone.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "I think I want to have a good discussion with people from the Lingnan School. However, my own reputation doesn't matter. I am looking for Cheng Shilang this time to discuss a more important matter."

"Oh?" Cheng Minzheng asked curiously, "The name of the literary world involves the peace and prosperity in the academic circles of the Ming Dynasty. Don't you care, Mr. Lai?"

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "It's just a name outside of me. Outside of me, it's just floating clouds."

"Hehe." Cheng Minzheng smiled.

He didn't have the nerve to ask.

You don't care about your own reputation, what do you care about?
Zhang Zhoudao: "Does Cheng Shilang know that the crown prince is also going south, and that he may arrive in Nanjing in the next two days?"

"Ah!?" Cheng Minzheng was so shocked that he almost couldn't sit still.

"Cheng Shilang, don't be surprised. The prince left the palace on his own, and was only found by the Jin Yiwei after many days. Because Xuzhou has passed, if he escorts him to the north, it is better to follow the prince's wishes and come to Nanjing. It can be regarded as allowing the prince to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles, so as to broaden his knowledge." Zhang Zhou stated the benefits of Zhu Houzhao's visit to Nanjing.

Cheng Minzheng said with a nervous expression, "I'm afraid that something might go wrong."

Tang Yin said: "It doesn't matter if you arrive. On the way to the south, the crown prince walked with a few scholars from Beijing to the south. Therefore, he avoided the pursuit of Jin Yiwei at the beginning of the journey. It was not until His Majesty passed the letter to Duke Lai that..."

"This……"

Cheng Minzheng was too embarrassed to mention it just now.

The emperor looked at the prince like a treasure, but he could actually let the prince leave the palace?Can you still leave the capital?How could it travel thousands of miles south to find it?

Do all the court guards eat dry food?
In the end, it was Zhang Zhou who came out to find him?

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It is inevitable for the prince to go south to Nanjing. I want to take advantage of this grand event in the Nanjing literary world to make the prince famous, let the scholars of the world feel the prince's desire to learn, and show the attitude of the prince of the Ming Dynasty in academics. Let him win the respect of the scholars all over the world."

"Cough cough cough..."

Cheng Minzheng originally planned to take a sip of tea to suppress the horror in his heart, who would have thought that Zhang Zhou's words would make him choke on the tea.

Sure enough, the words are not amazing and endless.

"Duke Lai... the identity of the crown prince... should not be made public... or... ahem..." Cheng Minzheng couldn't speak clearly.

From the perspective of Cheng Minzheng's way of dealing with the world, he still can't accept such an out-of-the-ordinary idea.

Not to mention him, even Tang Yin and Xu Jing next to him were dumbfounded.

No wonder Mr. Zhang was not in a hurry to send him back to the capital after finding the prince, but even secretly escorted him all the way to Nanjing. Feelings are planning an overall situation?Make a name for the prince?Where can the reputation of a brat who is only ten years old go?

Zhang Zhou sighed: "I also know that the crown prince has a special status, and it must be very difficult to help him succeed, but there are Cheng Shilang, Bohu and Hengfu, too? Let's work together."

Cheng Minzheng almost wanted to say something.

do not.

Just go up, don't take me a little bit.

I don't have that ability.

Xu Jing's head was alive, and he said: "Mr. Lai, do you think this is the case? When discussing studies in the literary world, let the prince go out to sit and discuss with scholars, and then you openly recruit him as a disciple. This not only shows the name of the prince, but also shows your status?"

Tang Yin said with a straight face: "Don't talk nonsense."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "I think Father Heng's suggestion is quite good. It doesn't have to be done according to what you said, but the way is right."

Cheng Minzheng was listening, feeling a little dazed.

Mr. Zhang, you still say that you don't care about false fame?I think you want to make a name for yourself by accepting the prince as your disciple, right?And there is a prince who endorses your Xinxue, what Lingnan School, Weinan School, don't you all stand aside?
A person who can accept the prince as a disciple, who dares to question his academic thinking?
If you say you can play, it's you Zhang who can play.

Tang Yin said with a look of apprehension: "Will this put the prince in danger?"

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Bohu, don't you just say that the crown prince has participated in many literary meetings on the way south, and it is said that many people appreciate him and think that he has a lot of attainments in the study of mind. This shows that the crown prince is not only talented in learning books and scriptures, but also has an early reputation in academics. His Majesty taught the crown prince... It took a lot of painstaking efforts, and Cheng Shilang knows this."

"Ah."

Cheng Minzheng nodded helplessly.

As a former Hanlin scholar and one of the lecturers in the East Palace, Cheng Minzheng certainly knew how messed up Zhu Houzhao was, and also knew how much the emperor went to great lengths to teach his son.

It is said that a loving mother often loses children, which is reflected in Zhu Houzhao, that is, without a strict father, a good son cannot be raised.

Zhang Zhou continued: "If the prince can increase his confidence in learning by participating in the literary conference, and can devote his mind to studying and studying after returning to the capital, then it will not only be helping His Majesty and the prince, but also for the long-term stability of Daming."

Tang Yin was speechless.

Sure enough, the more the hat was buckled, the bigger it was. Shouting slogans was also Zhang Zhou's specialty.

Tang Yinxin said, no wonder I am not as successful in official career as this one, the feeling is that I am not thick-skinned enough.

Cheng Minzheng nodded helplessly and said: "In this way, it is indeed a good thing, but I am afraid that things will backfire... Uh, can everything go forward as planned?"

"Doesn't Cheng Shilang need your full help?" Zhang Zhou looked at Cheng Minzheng with a smile, "The prince's reputation in the literary world must be entrusted to you, Cheng Xueshi. This will be very helpful for Cheng Xueshi to return to Beijing to take up his post."

Cheng Minzheng understood it as soon as he heard it.

Feelings are a test for me.

Help the prince to become famous, so that the prince can change his mind, become interested in learning, and at the same time make the emperor look good... Then when I return to the capital, I can be the left servant of the official department first, and then I can aspire to the top officials, ministers of rites, etc., and even have the opportunity to join the cabinet... If I can’t do this well, then Zhang Bingkuan will tell His Majesty that I have no great ability, and then the left servant of the official department may be the end of my official career.

A soldier can be killed but not humiliated...

"I will do my best, this is also my duty as a lecturer in the Eastern Palace." Cheng Minzheng clasped his hands.

Tang Yin glanced at Cheng Minzheng, and said to himself, if you say you have no principles, your old Cheng's principles are like paper.

……

……

That's it for business.

It's time for fun...

There were no performers on the stage, but two women, one tall and one young, who were born like sisters. To say they are mother and daughter...is far-fetched, because Zhang Lushui looks young, that is, the posture of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, and Xiao Changjin is much taller than when he left North Korea.

"Who?"

Around the stage, spectators are already questioning.

"Don't be noisy, this is the Fanbang girl who sang ditties these two days, if you don't want to hear it, get out and make room."

"Shh!"

All the audience held their breath.

Because most people also "come here for fame", mainly because the pair of women in exotic costumes look very gimmicky, and the songs they sang are indeed highly recognizable.

"Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, there are green grass and green sky..."

Fanbang concert begins.

The first is "Farewell".

The tunes were all brought over by Zhang Zhou. It seemed meaningless to ask Daming women to sing directly, but it seemed very interesting to let Zhang Lushui and Jang Geum sing out, and the number of listeners increased dramatically.

Moreover, it is still a relatively affluent place in the south of the Yangtze River. Because of its rich products, the south of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty was less prone to natural and man-made disasters. Especially during the Hongzhi period, the society was enlightened.

If the concert is held in an area like the capital, where the folk customs are relatively conservative and the people's ability to accept new things is average, it will not be easy to make a name for itself.

The second girl sang with all her concentration.

no way.

This is not only their means of earning a living, but also almost the foundation of their lives. If not... the ghost knows how their master, that evil Lord Lai of Ming Dynasty, will deal with them.

In addition, it is not too difficult for them to sing songs.

At most, he would sing what he had learned and act as a good performer... Zhang Lushui had spent more than 20 years in this kind of entertaining work, and he was very used to it. He just changed the guests he entertained from North Korea's high-ranking officials to ordinary people who paid for tickets in Ming Dynasty.

Sing a song.

The scene was quiet, no one applauded, and no one said anything bad.

For ordinary people, this kind of singing is too strange. How can ordinary guqin and pipa music be so tactful?

Then came the second song.

It's The Calling.

It is a song "created" by Zhang Zhou for Jang Geum and copied over.

Perhaps Zhang Lushui and Jang Jin felt a sense of loss of being away from home like duckweed, or it might be that they felt that the song itself was sung by themselves. When they sang this song, they seemed to be more devoted to it.

When the song was being sung, the audience below had long forgotten the meaning of arguing, and gathered around the stage as much as possible, even ignoring the refreshments on the table, just to hear more clearly.

……

……

The second song ends.

There could have been other songs, but after the two daughters saluted with the etiquette of Korean women, they turned and went backstage.

The audience below immediately clamored: "Don't go, sing a few more verses."

"Sing it twice!"

Those who paid for tickets only listened to two songs, so they naturally felt that it was not enjoyable.

The shopkeeper of the theater hurriedly came to the stage and said: "All judges, please forgive me. The two young masters are from the noble family. They only come to sing a few lines occasionally. If you want to hear it, please come early next time."

"What little master? Do you know what kind of site this is? If you let me out to sing, come out and sing! Believe it or not, you smashed your theater building?"

There are always arrogant and domineering people in the audience.

The shopkeeper was also very polite: "My little master followed our Lai Guogong to the south."

In a word, the following is quiet.

Someone shouted: "Who is going to smash the building? Count me in?"

"Hahaha……"

The audience were booing.

"There are other performances coming up. If you want to watch it, you can continue to watch it. If you don't watch it... there will be no more performances today. Please forgive me. Venerable Master!"

The opera building hurriedly greeted the troupe of Nanxi opera, and came to the stage to sing some clichéd Nanxi opera.

(End of this chapter)