Bachelor

Chapter 188 If You Are Qiu Shizhou
"Three feet of clouds and twelve emblems, which were created by Hunyuan in the years of calamity. The rhyme of the jade rhyme is excellent, and the sound of Zheng is clear and clear. I have been assisted by ghosts and gods since I entered the earth. Don't be greedy for glory or humiliation..."

This poem is "Song of the Blue Sky" written by Quanzhen Immortal Qiu Chuji in the late Southern Song Dynasty.

The Longmen Sect is one of the largest schools of Taoism in later generations. Baiyun Temple, where the Taoism is located, is also the headquarters of the Chinese Taoist Association.

But the Baiyun Temple at this time is not very big, there are only three or two main halls in the front and back, and seven or eight courtyards.

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Qiu Chuji visited Genghis Khan from the Daxue Mountain in the Western Regions, returned to Yanjing in the east, and gave him a residence in Taiji Palace.At that time, the palace was desolate and full of rubble, so Changchun Master ordered his disciple Wang Zhijin to lead the construction. It took three years and the palace was completely new.In May of the 22nd year of Yuan Taizu, Genghis Khan ordered Taiji Palace to be changed to "Changchun Temple".In July, Qiu Chuji passed away in Changchun Temple.In the following year, Yin Zhiping, a master apprentice of Changchun real person, built a Shun Tang in the lower courtyard on the east side of Changchun Temple to hide Qiu Zu Xianshui.At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the original palace of Changchun Temple gradually declined due to successive years of wars.In the early Ming Dynasty, the temple was rebuilt with Chushun Hall as the center and renamed as Baiyun Temple.

From the year of Hongwu to the present, more than 100 years have passed, and the Baiyun Temple is still simple and dilapidated, looking lifeless.Compared with Biyun Temple, the royal temple in Xishan, it is much smaller in scale.It is also understandable that Emperor Zhengde believed in Buddhism, and the royal family donated a huge amount of incense money every year. Over the years, the incense in Biyun Temple was naturally very prosperous.

Of course, only Sun Dan knew that Emperor Jiajing, who was about to succeed him, was a devout fanatic of Taoism.As soon as he ascends the throne, as the largest Taoist temple in the capital, the Baiyun Temple will usher in a heyday.

It's just that the Taoist priests in the audience haven't realized this yet.

It is now the beginning of April in the 16th year of Zhengde. If there is no accident, Zhu Houcong is still on the road. He needs to take a boat along the Yangtze River to Nanjing, and then go north from Nanjing along the Grand Canal. He should be able to reach Beijing by the end of the month.It has never been an easy task for a new monarch to ascend the throne, not to mention the huge waste, and the reception along the way is also quite time-consuming.

Lu Bing was Zhu Houcong's bodyguard, and Huang Jin was Jiajing's companion, so they naturally had to accompany the escort team back to Hubei.Sun Dan already knew that Huang Jin was the treasurer of Golden Huang, and he didn't care about Eunuch Huang's intentional concealment of his identity.If there is no accident, Huang Jin should be the palm seal of the future supervisor of ceremonies, the future internal minister of the empire, who can be popular on behalf of the emperor, and is now a first-class and hot-selling figure.

As for Lu Bing, because he is still young, he should not be able to hold an actual position yet.The post of commander of Jin Yiwei should fall into the hands of his father, Lu Song.

Of course, these are not what Sun Dan needs to worry about.He devoted himself to the imperial examination to become an official, and now he is still a small scholar. Although he played a huge role in Jiajing's succession to the throne, if he is now allowed to rely on this credit to become an official, he is not very willing in his heart.

After all, he is a careless member of the scholastic community, but his fame is obtained from the examination room.If he takes the path of being a sycophant, he is afraid that he will be looked down upon by those Qingliu who have a so-called sense of justice in the future.Scholars in the Ming Dynasty were very particular about their backgrounds. No matter how big an official you were in the future, the first thing officials would do when they met was to show off their qualifications: who was a Jinshi in which year, and who ranked in the exam.If you haven't even entered the examination room, you will never even think about raising your head in front of your colleagues for the rest of your life.Even Zhang Cong, the future chief assistant of the imperial cabinet, had poor grades in the Jinshi examination because he only passed [-] or so in the second class.

Although Sun Dan has an opportunistic gene in his character, he wanted to take shortcuts and struggled for 30 years.But he still has an ambition in his heart, wanting to make a difference, so that the time travel is worthwhile.To be an official, to be a high official is his ultimate ideal.

The pinnacle of being a minister is to enter the cabinet as a prime minister, and to be a first-rank official.

But there was an unwritten rule in the Ming Dynasty, if you want to be a prime minister, you must first look at the results of the imperial examination.A first-class Jinshi is the first condition, and at least one should be a Shujishi.If an ordinary scholar wants to be a minister in the cabinet, first of all, you need to get a good grade in the imperial examination, and then enter the Imperial Academy to study politics.In this way, from the center to the local area, and then from the local area back to the central area, there is a cycle.Only with a view of the overall situation and working experience at the grassroots level can it be possible to achieve a high position in a country.

In a sense, the Ming Dynasty's official selection and personnel system is still scientific.

If history does not undergo major changes, Jiajing and his party should arrive in Beijing by the end of this month.

With the new emperor ascending the throne, Vientiane will be renewed, and the political situation in the capital will also be adjusted accordingly.All ministries and halls should have a major personnel change, a new monarch and a new policy, as long as they need to deploy their own personnel.For the vested interests, it is a difficult test.For the depressed people who have been suppressed for a long time, it is not a good thing.

Of course, if Sun Dan is willing, it is common for him to become a high-ranking official with his merits.

However, he is still willing to enter the officialdom from the imperial examination in the normal way.After all, he has a certain reputation in Shilin now, and he is considered a moderately gifted scholar. If he enters an official position by relying on the emperor's favor, not only will his situation be too small, but his own reputation will also be greatly damaged.

When the new king ascends the throne, according to the previous rules, the emperor must open the Enke, hold the imperial examination in advance, and the emperor himself will be the examiner.The first thing the emperor did when he ascended the throne was to select the talents he needed. Because he was the chief examiner himself, once the candidates were selected as Jinshi, they were easy to be reused because they had no messy relationship with the so-called teachers and students in the examination field, and their backgrounds were clean.Therefore, these people are also called disciples of the emperor.

With a super question bank in hand, Sun Dan has nothing to worry about in the future imperial examinations.By the end of the Qing Dynasty, it can be said that all the topics that should be published have been exhausted, and every sentence of the Four Books and Five Classics has a corresponding model essay.At that time, Sun Dan only needs to select a copy to complete the task, not to mention that he is well aware of what problems will arise in the future Qiu Wei and Chun Wei.

The death of Zhengde is a national mourning, but it may not be a good thing for scholars all over the world, at least it can give you one more chance to take the exam.

As soon as the news came out, the morale of the entire Northern Zhili was gearing up, preparing for the rural examination in autumn, and coming in to covet the general examination and palace examination next spring.

The exam period of the three exams is connected together, and the time is very tight.However, this also made it possible for Sun Dan to win three consecutive yuan within a year, and he is also full of confidence in this.

There should be no suspense about becoming an official through the imperial examination. What Sun Dan thinks about now is how to get along with his future boss.

Although he is a hero from the dragon, throughout the ages, many heroes from the dragon have been killed by the emperor.For example, Nian Gengyao in the Qing Dynasty didn't know the political art of how to communicate with the boss, so Yongzheng couldn't bear it, so he got rid of him and died.

As far as Sun Dan knew, Jiajing was not an easy person to get along with.This person is shrewd and capable, with extremely clever political methods, and he can be regarded as a top man among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.But he is also mean and ungrateful and can't tolerate others.

Sun Dan felt that he had to sort out his thoughts carefully, to see how he could go on smoothly in the officialdom, and spend a hundred years of wealth and honor, so as to benefit his descendants.

To be honest, although he has made great achievements, Sun Dan doesn't think that Jiajing will have a good impression of him.First of all, Jiajing is a qualified emperor. The biggest characteristic of a qualified emperor is that he has no normal human emotions, and he hates others to show his qualifications in front of him. Therefore, the so-called Conglong status is better not mentioned.

Secondly, Jiajing is a fanatical Taoist.And Sun Dan had written "Journey to the West" before. In that book, the original author tried his best to restrain the Tao and worship the Buddha. Sometimes it was too extreme, and it was impossible not to arouse Jiajing's disgust.Moreover, Zhengde believed in Buddhism, and Sun Dan often talked about Buddhism with Zhengde when he was in contact with him, and he was also a well-known layman in the palace.

Combined with several factors, Sun Dan is likely to be regarded by Jiajing as an enemy of faith.

This is a bad thing, and we have to find a way to turn it around.

After thinking about it, Sun Dan thought.Both Buddhism and Taoism have been thoroughly secularized in China.Moreover, ancient scholars also dabbled in the theories of Buddhism and Taoism, and studied them as a kind of knowledge, but they did not really believe in them.

All Sun Dan needs to do now is to get in touch with Taoist figures in the capital and be accepted by them. Only in this way can he change his image in Jiajing's mind.

Anyway, since he had nothing to do, Sun Dan came to Baiyun Temple to see the scenery and gain a preliminary understanding of Taoism.

Thinking of this, Sun Dan simply talked to Zhi Niang, planning to live in Baiyun Temple for a while.For one thing, the time has come to the fourth month of the lunar calendar, and the weather in Beijing is also a bit evil, with more than ten days of sunshine a year.The temperature suddenly rose, and it was estimated to be at least 26 degrees Celsius.Since Sun Dan practiced Feng Zhen's boxing skills, his body has become stronger and healthier, and he has gained a lot of weight.In addition, I was not resistant to heat and felt even more uncomfortable, so I couldn't stay in the alley any longer.

Moreover, he also intends to organize the information in his mind to prepare for the township examination in a few months.

After the news of Zhengde's death came out, not only scholars from all over Shuntian Prefecture went to the capital to seek teachers and friends, but even past recruits from various provinces came to Beijing to prepare for the next year's meeting.Many of them had been waiting in the capital after the last imperial examination, and they had been waiting for several years.If you stay in the capital for a long time, staying in an inn is not an option. If you are from a good family, you can simply buy a house in the capital to live in it.

Therefore, many scholars lived in Baiyun Temple.If you can live in it for a while, you can also find the feeling of reading.

This situation reminded Sun Dan of the time when he carried a backpack of books and went to a relative's vacant room in the county to review during the college entrance examination.Looking back now, it is really embarrassing.

What surprised Sun Dan was that it was compared with the grandeur of Baiyun Temple in later generations.Today, this Taoist temple looks very dilapidated and shabby, which is also understandable. After all, many buildings here are products of the Yuan Dynasty. After 160 years of ups and downs, the moss marks have been green and the grass is green.Even when entering the door, grass grew on the four characters "Eternal Evergreen" written by Zhao Mengfu on the screen wall.

However, this kind of dilapidation has a kind of quaint charm.This made Sun Dan, who was used to seeing man-made ancient buildings in later generations, very interested.

Recently, Baiyun Temple seems to have received a fortune. The main hall is being repaired, and a circle of scaffolding has been set up outside. A dozen workers are singing Changchun Zhenren's "Song of the Blue Sky", beating and beating non-stop.

Just as he was fascinated by watching, he heard a fat black Taoist shout loudly to a human being who looked like a scholar: "Chen Xiucai, this matter must be a bit difficult. You are also a man of fame and fame, and there is no problem with eating and living in the temple." But you also know that our Taoist temple is very poor, and the murals on the wall are just a few craftsmen who randomly painted a few heavenly officials and other occasions. Just do it at this price."

"Ten essays, it's too...too few." The scholar surnamed Chen was a little depressed: "Baiyun Temple is also a thousand-year-old temple, solemn and majestic, it is not appropriate to draw some heavenly officials at will. Besides, I am Chen. My son, how could it be possible to retouch the pen for ten pennies a day?"

The black fat Taoist asked: "Then, how much do you think it is suitable. I have heard of the name of the Chen family in Yuancheng."

"Two walls... It will take ten days. Can you give me two taels?" Chen Xiucai was a little embarrassed. The gentleman didn't talk about profit, and he was very embarrassed when he mentioned A Duwu.

"Erliang...haha, Erliang can hire ten painters, and the painting can be completed in one day, and it only costs one penny." The fat Taoist smiled sarcastically: "Chen Xiucai, you are just a collateral child of the Chen family. The famous players in your family are worth the price. It's a pity..."

"What's the pity?" Xiucai's face began to turn red, and it could be seen that this person had no life experience and was a very simple person.

"It's a pity that you are not Qiu Shizhou. If that Qiu Ying came to paint these two walls, not to mention two taels of silver, even if it is 20 taels, Pindao would not even frown."

Qiu Yingqiu Shizhou, as said by the Taoist population, is the most famous painter in the world. Together with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin, they are called "Four Masters of Ming Dynasty" and "Four Masters of Wu School" by later generations, also known as "Four Masters of Tianmen". .The three schools of Shen, Wen, and Tang not only win with paintings, but also with poems and postscripts. In terms of painting styles, Tang and Qiu are close.

Among them, Qiu Ying is best at landscapes, and the most famous masterpiece is "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".Of course, unlike Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in the Northern Song Dynasty, Qiu Ying's "Along the River during the Qingming Festival" depicts the scenery of Suzhou.When Bi Yi first fled from Beijing to Shenyang, she brought four copies of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", in addition to Zhang Zeduan's copy, there was also Qiu's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

Tang Bohu is over 40 years old this year and has been famous for many years. He is a famous player in the south of the Yangtze River. According to Sun Dan, Tang Yin will die in three years after Jiajing.Now he is old and his creative peak has passed.And Qiu Ying is still a young man in the next year, and he is the leading figure of the Wu School of painting.Even in the northern painting circles, his reputation was thunderous, and he was a first-rate master figure at that time.

The black and fat Taoist used Qiu Ying to talk about things, obviously to make fun of this scholar surnamed Chen.

That Chen Xiucai looked only sixteen or seventeen years old, he looked very embarrassed, his shoes were so torn that Thumb was exposed, and the blue skirt on his body was washed white.Fortunately, this Tsing Yi is the uniform of a scholar, issued by the state, and finally maintains a bit of decency as a scholar.It is estimated that as long as this coat is taken off, the underwear inside will be broken into what it looks like.

He should be a poor scholar, otherwise it would be impossible for him to live in a remote Taoist temple like Baiyun Temple.It is estimated that he can also draw a few paintings. Seeing that the Taoist temple is under construction and he wants to paint murals on the walls, he feels itchy for a while and wants to earn some pocket money.But I don't want to, the Taoist priests of Baiyun Temple have no requirements for the quality of the murals, they only want to be cheap, and they are not willing to spend a lot of money
Chen Xiucai is obviously an honest person, but an honest person also has a bit of a temper.Hearing the black fat Taoist's teasing, he blushed with anger, and said: "Master, what you said is unreasonable. There is only one Qiu Shizhou in the world. You can't invite him from Jiangnan, right?"

The black and fat Taoist priest saw that the scholar surnamed Chen was not pleasing to the eye. Hearing this, he sneered and said, "Hehe, so you think you can draw better than Qiu Ying. As far as I know, your Chen family in Yuancheng seems to be It’s for New Year’s pictures, a few random strokes of Guan Gong, Qin Qiong, Zhong Kui, Nian Wang, etc. I’m guessing it’s fine, and it’s best compared to Qiu Ying in green landscapes, flowers, birds and figures, can you compare?” After finishing speaking, he waved his sleeves and walked away.

The scholar surnamed Chen gritted his teeth in anger and stayed on the spot unconsciously.

Listening to Chen Xiucai talking with Heipang Taoist priest for a long time, Sun Dan was amused in his heart, and was about to leave, but his heart was moved.

The Chen family in Yuancheng, the painter, isn't this the family of Empress Chen, the first empress of Jiajing?

Speaking of Xiaojie Empress Chen, this woman's life is very bitter.She was born in a small family, and the Chen family was a small family in Yuancheng.There have been scholars in the clan, and her father was also a sixth-rank petty official.However, the Chen family has produced excellent paintings for generations, and the New Year pictures painted by the family during the New Year and festivals are very good.

Empress Chen finally became a queen for a few years, but because of her strong personality, she is a person who does not rub the sand in her eyes, and because of her personality, she has a bad relationship with Jiajing.In the seventh year of Jiajing, one day, she was sitting together in Jiajing, Zhang Concubine and Fang Concubine were offering tea, the emperor suddenly got excited, grabbed the hands of the two concubines and smiled, "What a pair of gentle and jade-like little hands!" Empress Chen next to her was jealous and threw her teacup on the ground in a rage, which made Jiajing unhappy.So the emperor was furious.The queen was terrified. She was pregnant at the time, but failed to keep the child, and collapsed due to abortion.

Sun Dan didn't expect to meet Queen Chen's clansmen in Baiyun Temple, and was a little surprised, so he wanted to make friends.Although the ancestors and family laws of the Ming Dynasty did not allow foreign relatives to interfere in politics, it is impossible for this Chen Xiucai to become a high-ranking official in the future, but this person's conduct is also good.

Thinking of this, Sun Dan walked over with a smile, and said, "Wen Wu is the first, Wu Wu is the second, it is too much for this Daoist priest to compare you with Qiu Shizhou. It seems that he has only heard of Qiu Ying's name." Forget it, but use it to bury people, it's so hateful. Go, go, let me vent this anger for you."

Seeing a scholar coming, Chen Xiucai hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I'm Chen Rong, whose name is Shuzhi, and I'd like to ask you my brother's name."

Sun Dan grabbed Chen Rong's hand: "Brother Chen, I'll talk about it later, let's go, let's go to the master of the Baiyun Temple, Wang Li, for a review, no matter what, I have to shame this old bull-nosed person, Also let him know how good we are at reading seeds in Beizhili."

(End of this chapter)