Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 13 The banquet is pretty good

Lai Shangrong agreed to go to the banquet with Baoyu, not as an excuse to stay so that Pan Youan could retreat.

The main reason for his troubled life was that modern people's ideas were deeply ingrained and it was difficult to substitute the thinking of ancient people.

The Qiuwei examination is not bad. After all, it is based on provinces. Although the admission rate is pitifully low, the eight-part essay can still win over a large number of people.

The next few games should be done step by step, not seeking merit but seeking no faults. It is not too difficult to pass the stereotyped stereotypes.

But Jinshi is different. Juren from the whole Xia Dynasty gathers in the capital. Although stereotyped essays can be selected because of different topics, it is impossible to think of high school if you do stereotyped essays well.

In addition to the admission rate, if you want to go to high school, you have to show outstanding performance in the subsequent strategies.

Because he was focused on studying hard and had little contact with the outside world, it was inevitable for him to introduce modern concepts when answering questions such as policy essays.

Perhaps because the idea was too advanced and inconsistent with the times, it was difficult for the examiner to accept it, so it failed repeatedly.

This is one of the reasons why he agreed to teach in the school, and it is also the reason why he is willing to attend the banquet today. He still has to stay close to the times.

The carriage drove for most of an hour and stopped in front of a restaurant called Dingshiju located in Xuangfang.

"Baoyu!"

"Brother Feng!"

Lai Shangrong followed Baoyu and got out of the carriage. He saw a young master with good martial arts holding Baoyu's arm. He must have been Feng Ziying from the title.

Seeing Lai Shangrong get out of the carriage, he asked doubtfully: "Who is this?"

"Brother Lai is the son of housekeeper Lai, and he was invited by his father to teach in clan studies."

"Oh! Could it be Brother Lai who won the exam as a young boy?"

"Brother Feng is too famous!"

Lai Shangrong didn't expect that Feng Ziying actually knew about him, but on second thought, it was normal.

The military system of the Great Xia Dynasty generally followed the guard system of the previous Ming Dynasty, but local guards and capital captains were commanded by military envoys.

Feng Ziying's father, Feng Tang, was the captain of Zuowuwei, the eighth guard in the capital.

The Jia family and the four princes and eight princes have deep roots in the military. The Jia family has been in the position of Jiedu envoy in the Beijing camp for decades, and has already laid a large network among officers at all levels.

However, the Jia family had no heirs, so they had no choice but to arrange a political marriage between Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang's brother Wang Ziteng also took charge of the post of Jiedushi of the Beijing Camp.

This can also be regarded as a transfer of political capital. After all, there is no one in the younger generation who can use it, so it would be good to have an in-law as a spokesperson.

If Feng Tang wanted to secure his position as the captain of Zuowuwei, he had to attach himself to the Jia family.In the original work, Feng Ziying is always present when anything happens to the Jia family, and Feng Ziying takes the lead in congratulating her during the ritual ceremony at Qingxu Temple. This is also why.

Youdao is a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister, not to mention the Lai family, the housekeeper of Ning Rong's second house. Although he is a slave, in the eyes of those who are interested in clinging to him, he is still a target that needs to be won over.

This is one of the main sources of income for the Lai family, and it is also an unspoken rule of the times.

The three of them arrived at Dingshi Juya's elegant room, and the two people who were whispering in the room quickly stood up to greet them.I saw the fat man with big ears shouting: "Baoyu! What's so good about Lao Shizi's studies? It's just wasting time for us to wait!"

"Brother Feng didn't say anything when he was treating us. What are we in a hurry for?" Another handsome young man said with a smile.

"Brother Xue! Brother Wei!"

After Baoyu greeted them, Feng Ziying led everyone to the table, and at the same time pulled Lai Shangrong to introduce them to them.

After the banquet, when the food and drinks were served, Xue Pan and Wei Ruolan were seen toasting to Feng Ziying frequently. Baoyu asked curiously: "Is there any other reason for Brother Feng's treat today?"

Feng Ziying smiled and said: "What reason can we have for brothers to gather together!"

"Baoyu, you are too closed-minded about this information!" Xue Pan shook his head and stood up, exaggeratedly raising his thumb at Feng Ziying and said: "Brother Feng is too humble. Who in the capital doesn't know that you have single-handedly picked dozens of enemies? , if I did such a big thing, I would have to brag about it for a year and a half."

Feng Ziying shook her head and said with a smile: "For this matter, my father gave me a hard lesson, and made me swear not to be impulsive in the future, don't bring it up again! Don't bring it up again!"

Immediately afterwards, Xue Pan described what happened to Xiang Baoyu and Lai Shangrong vividly, as if he had experienced it himself.

Qiu Duo was the captain of the Yulin Guard, an outlier among the Eight Guards in the capital. He had never dealt with the four princes and eight princes of the Jia family.The adults are quarreling with each other in the court, and the dandies from several families will naturally not be idle.

In the past, it was mostly domestic slaves who fought each other. The day before yesterday, Feng Ziying happened to be alone, and was spotted by Qiu Duwei's youngest son, who secretly brought the domestic slaves to beat him.Unexpectedly, seven or eight people were knocked down by Feng Ziying alone, because they were attacked by surprise because they beat less, but they had no worries, and beat the enemy boy together.

After describing what happened, Xue Pan beat his chest and said angrily: "It's a pity that I can't be with Brother Feng this time. Next time I have such a chance to become famous, brother, please don't forget to take me with you!"

Baoyu was not interested after hearing this. He thought he was going to share some anecdotes, but he didn't expect it to be a fight.

"It's all your constant instigation, but you just beat up Qiu Yiwu. If his boss Qiu Yijun is, I'm afraid he may not be able to escape unscathed, so how can he publicize it everywhere."

Feng Ziying’s words were not polite.

First of all, among the eight guards in the capital, the Yulin Guards and the Long Imperial Guards are different from the other six guards. They guard the imperial palace, while the other six guards guard the capital.

Feng Tang had insufficient foundation and did not want to offend the emperor's confidant Captain Qiu, so Feng Ziying was taught a lesson by her father after she returned.

Secondly, he didn't think much of Xue Pan. Although the Xue family, Jia, Shi, and Wang families were known as the four major families of Jinling, it was actually far-fetched.

There is no need to mention the Jia family and the historians. One is a duke of one clan, and the other is a marquis. Although the Wang family was not prominent in the early years, Prince Teng's grandfather only obeyed orders under Jia Yan and Jia Yuan, but he has made many military exploits. , After the Great Xia Dynasty established the Dingding, it was in charge of overseas commerce and trade, and with a lot of accumulation, there was a prince Teng who had succeeded Jia Daishan as the envoy of the Jingying Jiedu.

The ancestor of the Xue family was only Ziwei's family, and after the second or third generation, he no longer had an official position. He was just an imperial merchant who bought money from the family. The family actually lost his imperial business job and was demoted to the Ministry of Household Merchant.

Although these merchants from the household department were said to be running errands for the imperial court, most of them were idle positions held by unworthy sons of common people from official families, which was completely different from those of imperial merchants.

Moreover, when the Xue family's mother and son came to Beijing to seek refuge, they should have stayed at the home of their brother-in-law, Wang Ziteng, but instead they moved into the Jia family instead of following common sense, which inevitably made him wonder whether he was not welcomed by Wang Ziteng.

A few days ago, Xue Pan kept urging him to treat guests, but he pretended to be deaf and ignored him. It was not until he said that he wanted to call Baoyu that he relented and arranged a small gathering today.

Xue Pan never cared about these details. How could he taste them? Instead, he felt honored to hang out together all the time. He smiled and said, "Hey! Big or small, I only know that my brother has given us a face this time. No one can compete with me today!"

Feng Ziying pretended to refuse a few words and then agreed.

(End of this chapter)