Yi Song

Chapter 177 All celebrities

Yichun Garden is a garden in the east of Bianjing City with beautiful scenery. It has always been a good place for dignitaries to hold literary meetings and enjoy autumn outings.

Today, it is surrounded by Liu Erlang, the founding lord of Fenghua County and the governor of the Fengguo Army, and is used to hold cultural gatherings.

No one thought it was unusual for Liu Erlang to hold a tiger-fighting meeting, but to hold a literary meeting was unprecedented!

After hearing the news, the literati and idle people came and surrounded the gate of Yichun Garden with three floors inside and three floors outside.

"Liu Erlang holds a literary conference, and the sun really shines in the west!"

"Now that I am the founding prince and the governor of the country, I am no longer a vulgar person. Of course I have to pretend to be polite."

"I heard that Liu Erlang can write lyrics."

As soon as these words came out, countless people turned to stare at the speaker, and the thousands of glances were like arrows shot by the divine arm crossbow, which made him panic.

"Everyone, everyone, what do you mean when you look at me like this?"

"Liu Erlang can write lyrics? You can't lie like this."

"That's right, that's right! That's nonsense! If you say Liu Erlang can write lyrics, you might as well say Cai Jing is an upright official."

The speaker became anxious and straightened his neck and said: "Why am I talking nonsense? My wife's cousin is a maid in Master Li's family. She said that one time she heard Liu Erlang say a word in front of Master Li, "The wind blows in the west, people..." Thinner than red flowers.”

There was silence.

After a while, someone suddenly shouted excitedly: "Liu Erlang also became Li Xing's first guest?!"

"Haha, he and the official family are uncle and nephew. Unexpectedly, they all fell under Li Xingshou's pomegranate skirt!"

"An interesting anecdote through the ages, the aunt and nephew are guests of the same scene."

"Then what will they be called from now on? Will they continue to be uncle and nephew, or will they be brothers-in-law?"

Everyone laughed, and the scene was filled with joy.

"Coming, coming, someone is coming."

"Look, who did Liu Erlang invite?"

"It should be said that who would accept Liu Erlang's invitation?"

First, headed by a young scholar, forty or fifty scholars entered Yichun Garden one after another.

"Who is this?" Someone asked, pointing to the young scholar at the head.

"Zhang Jun, a tribute scholar from Western Shu, I heard that he and Zhang Guanren, the director of Kaifeng Prefecture and a military officer, are close friends for generations."

"No wonder he brought so many tributes to support him. Zhang Guanren and Liu Erlang have only known each other for a long time, and they have a real friendship. I heard that Zhang Guanren was promoted to the Kaifeng Prefecture, and Liu Erlang made a lot of efforts."

Then another group of young scholars came over, about fifty or sixty people, very loud and noisy.

"These look like they are Tai students. Are they also here to participate in the cultural gathering?"

"Last winter Liu Erlang dredged the Bian River, recruited hundreds of students from various schools in the Imperial College, and some even participated in the pacification of Tian Wenbao. They all listed their achievements one by one, and the lowest was from the ninth rank Chengwu Lang. I heard that two of them had meritorious service. Those who are outstanding will be directly recommended as imperial ministers."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, like a frog croaking in the rice fields in summer."

"Master Chengwu?" Someone who knew the inside story called out, "Just skip the selection and keep being a capital official?"

"That's right, I will be guaranteed to be an official in the capital directly. Liu Erlang's face will be worth three cents to all the officials."

Tsk tsk, the frog croaked more happily.

Many of the literati who were watching were filled with anger when they saw the imperial students who were entering. They wanted to drag them over and stand on top of them themselves.

"Why are there so few people? Didn't they recruit hundreds of students?"

"Those people were sent to work in various places by Liu Erlang. Many of them were occupied by the Changshui Army, Desheng Army, and Zhongli Army. I heard that some of them were placed in the General Supervisor, the Ordnance Supervisor, and the Bianhe River Repair Department. We are waiting for places, and some of them are staying in Beijing. They are all busy, and they probably won’t have time to come.

These imperial students are probably the relatives and friends of those people, and they all came to praise Liu Erlang, so that they could get into Liu Erlang's eyes and find a future. "

"General Supervisor, Ordnance Supervisor, River Repair Department, and Xiangjun." Someone said in a weird voice, "These yamen are not a good place to go. They get little money, a lot of mundane things, and are very dirty!"

Someone said quarrelsomely: "You are carrying Hedong's old vinegar and drinking it from jar to jar. These yamen are not good places, but you can get in! You don't have to pass the provincial examination or be a Jinshi, as long as you are diligent and know how to do things, you will be able to get in." If I have a fish bag, I would be willing to do it instead.”

"I see, it's good to go to these yamen. When you go to Zhongshu Provincial and Hanlin Academy, those Jinshi are not allowed to look at your Tianling Cap with their nostrils? If you go to these yamen that do practical things, you don't get to talk so much. It's good!"

At this time, someone clicked on the most important sentence, "The key is to follow the right person!" "Yes, yes, yes! The key is to follow the right person! Follow Liu Erlang, you don't have to take off your book bag, don't have to stuff your wallet, and you will get the same promotion. This is The last word!”

Everyone echoed.

"Isn't this Li Gang, the judge of the left hall of Kaifeng Prefecture?"

"Yes, yes, who are the dozen or so people who came with him?"

"I know someone, Cheng Yu, Cheng Boyu from Fuliang, Raozhou. He is a student of Taipei University and is taking the exam this spring.

"I recognize that person. Mingzhou Quzhou, Li Ruoshui, and Li Qingqing are talented people from Hebei. They are also studying at Taixue and will take the exam this spring."

"The youngest one I recognized was Ouyang Che and Ouyang Deming of Chongren in Fuzhou. He was only twenty years old and was studying abroad. Tian Wenbao made a rebellion and divided his troops to plunder Bozhou. The famous people in the city fled one after another. Instead, he flowed back to Bozhou from Suzhou and volunteered. With the strong archers of the people, they patrolled the city to eliminate thieves and guard the city.

The field thieves retreated, and he continued his study tour. When he arrived in Caizhou, he heard that the imperial court had deposed Cai Jing and killed Zhu Meng. He walked from Caizhou to Bianjing. In one breath, he went through sixteen ways to control chaos and bring order. Several ministers were full of praise after seeing it. "

"and then?"

"And that was it."

There was silence again, and then there was the rising and falling sighs of each other.

"Ah, Mr. Zhang is here!"

"Shilang Zhang? Which Shilang Zhang?"

"That's Zhang Shilang of our Kaifeng Mansion, Zhang Shuye, and Zhang Jizhong, the minister of the Ministry of Rites."

"I know, I know. I heard that this man had done evil to Cai Jing because of his subordinate's affair with Kong Konghuang (Note 1), and was about to be demoted from the capital. Fortunately, God bless, Zhu Meng's case was discovered, the field thief was punished, and Cai Jing was given to Put it in. Only then did Zhang Shilang turn the corner."

"I see, who is walking with him?"

"The one at the front is Zhang Zeduan and Zhang Fusi, and the young one behind is Zhao Ding and Zhao Yuanzhen."

"Zhao Ding, is he the Tongzhou County magistrate who volunteered to go to Nanjing to promulgate the imperial edict, and then stayed behind to help Liu Erlang defend the city and defeat the traitors?"

"What about being a Tongzhou county magistrate? He was promoted because of his meritorious service. Now he is a meritorious Cao Cao of Kaifeng Prefecture who joins the military. He jumped from being an official to being a Feng Yilang."

"The meritorious Cao joins the military, dear, this is incredible. I heard that he is the same as the Fa Cao. He is also responsible for the inspection of Kaifeng officials, as well as sacrifices, rituals and music, schools, medical clinics and other affairs. He is known as the No. 1 Cao below the Sifu. !”

"You understand."

"He just became a Lang Qian Feng Yi Lang, moved from the eighth rank to the eighth rank, and was promoted half a rank. Why do I hear so many people congratulating him? What's the secret behind it? Does anyone know? Tell me."

"Being engaged in the eighth rank of Lang Cong is just a selection of official rank. The eighth rank of Fengzheng Lang is the rank of a court official." Someone explained aloud.

"What! Jump directly from the selection of people to the rank of imperial official? This step saves at least six years of life."

"It takes three years to select someone to transfer to the capital, and another three years to transfer from the capital to the court. My good boy volunteered to go south to Nanjing. Zhao Guanren made a profit this time."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but someone asked curiously: "Who is the older man who is following you?"

When everyone looked up, they didn’t recognize many people.

"No one knows you?"

Finally, someone spoke, "This one looks like Master Zong."

"Master Zong?"

"Zongze and Zong Rulin of Wuzhou Yiwu. He was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Yuanyou. He moved to many places in Hebei, Zhejiang, and Shandong, but could not get promotion. In the fourth year of Zhenghe, he became a staff member of Liang Daguanren (Liang Zimei), an educated youth prefecture official. .

In the fifth year of Zhenghe's reign, he was recommended by the officials of Liang Dynasty to be the general magistrate of Dengzhou. My third uncle works in Liang Daguan's family and is familiar with him. Hey, why did he come to Bianjing? "

"Who knows? He looks very familiar with Zhang Sifu."

"Haha, Zhang Sifu used to be a famous painter in the Imperial Academy of Painting, and he was famous for having a wide range of friends."

Liu Guozhang greeted the group at the entrance of the front hall of Yichun Garden.

They are all historical celebrities and must be caught.

Note 1: Konghuang is a special appointment certificate in the Song Dynasty. Filling in the name under the official title first and then filling in the resume can easily be used to avoid administrative procedures such as passing the examination, resulting in maladministration.

(End of this chapter)