Chapter 241: Worthy of the Name

It didn't take long to meet Hangzhou's Zhizhou and Tongju, but chatted with them about the recent events in Bianliang City, Chu Zhi retreated and left, people are noble and self-aware, Chu Zhi understands very well, this is not Bianliang City, people may know the poems they wrote, but compared with many famous literati and celebrities, whether it is fame or prestige, they are dwarfed, without the support of teachers and elders, and Hangzhou is far away from Bianliang, people may not know themselves.

Standing next to the sedan chair, Chu Zhen hesitated, not knowing whether to visit the Shuai, Cao, Xian, and Cang divisions of the next two passing roads, how to say that they are also the superiors of the superiors, and the official office is also in Hangzhou City, thinking about it for a while, Chu Zhen decided not to go, after all, the divisions are nominally the superiors who lead the prefectures, but the rank is not very high, and the local governors, such as the prefect and the governor, are all officials in Beijing, and the taste is above the divisions, which is slightly the same as the relationship between the state assassin history and the county guard in the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, the county government usually does not need to deal with the divisions, it is directly under the jurisdiction of the state government, and the existence of the divisions is originally to supervise the states, if you rush to visit, who knows if the state has any ideas in her heart, more things are better than less things, there is a decision in your heart, Chu Zhen did not hesitate, and waved his hand directly: "Get up the sedan chair and go back to the county office." ”

The state government and the county government are only separated by two streets, and when traveling, Chu Zhen did not intend to be public, he deliberately changed into civilian clothes, and the sedan chair driver and his entourage were also dressed up, and there was no government servant to open the road in front, although the speed of the sedan chair was a little slower, but it was just enough to carefully look at the situation in the city.

Lift the corner of the sedan wall, Chu Zhi looked out curiously, only to see the streets of Hangzhou City people coming and going, gathering and scattering, on both sides of the street are two rows of undulating brick houses, the shops are clear, the wind is waving, the teahouse wine shop mule and horse shop, the jewelry fat powder hook fence yard, the pedestrians are bustling, in and out, the cows neighing and donkeys barking, and the hawkers walking the streets and alleys are endless, but it is similar to Bianliang City for five or six points.

When I was watching it with relish, I suddenly felt that the sedan chair slowly stopped, but before returning to the county office, I was slightly stunned, and Chu Zhen didn't get out of the sedan chair, and asked directly: "What's the matter, why didn't you stop?" ”

"My lord, it's the lower officials who have something to report." In front of the window, Liu Renzhi's figure of bowing his hand was revealed, with a smile on his face: "My lord, just now there was news from the Shen family, Lord Shen is ready to set off for his post, and the Qiantang gentry heard the words and wanted to set up a banquet for him." ”

"Where?" Chu asked, wearing regular clothes, and just went directly.

"The Xinghua Restaurant next to the West Lake." Liu Renzhi said.

Xinghua Restaurant is built next to the picturesque West Lake, the building is three floors high, brick and wood structure, painting carved beams, the decoration is quite gorgeous, the restaurant is surrounded by ginkgo biloba, so it is named, under the guidance of Liu Renzhi, carrying the sedan chair of Chu quality, leisurely come to the front of the restaurant, and then slowly stop.

With the support of his entourage, Chu Zhi got off the sedan chair, and looked at the ancient ginkgo trees in front of him, which were more than five zhang high, with a trunk circumference of two zhang and eight feet, shaped like a hill, the crown was like a canopy, the leaf color had faded, the dragon was in a tiger's position, and the appearance was majestic, the first reaction was to pick a few baskets of apricot leaves to dry and make ginkgo tea and give it to Zhao Zongshi, and then chuckled, what is the identity of the person, it is not simple to want ginkgo biloba, and his eyes fell on the lake next to the apricot tree.

At this time, the sun is shining, the blue sky and white clouds, reflected in the lake, the clear and transparent lake water dyed blue, the blue pure, the blue is deep, and the blue is gentle and elegant, the blue brocade-like lake, undulating a layer of slight ripples, such as the dreamlike West Lake, the heart has been admired for a long time, and now only see the tip of the iceberg, Chu Zhi has already felt that the name is well deserved, I can't immediately take a boat now, but unfortunately the timing is not right, fortunately, the coming day is long, and there is no need to rush for a while, Chu Zhen comforted himself, and reluctantly retracted his gaze.

The banquet is set up in the apricot blossom building, but the place is not upstairs, but in the garden near the apricot forest, after all, the large-scale banquet, the guests seem to gather, the ancient pavilion is exquisite and gorgeous, but can not accommodate so many guests, and can only find another way, the banquet is set in the open place, and in the middle of summer, the wind and the rising sun, it is the best time to visit the garden, set up a banquet here, naturally won the literati love.

When it comes to gardens, of course, it is the most in the south of the Yangtze River, which is characterized by following the principle of nature, as if it is made of nature, in order to meet the feelings of people close to nature, imitating the road pavilion and water pavilion that closely integrates the countryside and natural landscapes, the architectural beauty and natural beauty have a full blend, although the gate of the garden does not know Chu quality, but has seen the county government Liu Zhushu, naturally let them in, Chu quality strolls in it, there is a feeling of being in the beautiful landscape painting.

In the garden, there is no banquet yet, but it is a lively scene, the so-called ten years of cold windows no one asks, in one fell swoop to become famous all over the world, it is Shen Yu's current situation, not before the admission to the list, in Hangzhou Qiantang Bo has a small name, afraid out of Hangzhou City, no one knows, and now famous all over the world, the clothes are back to the hometown, not only the local hometown father Yu has honor, I heard that Shen Bangyan is about to set off for the post, have come to see off, even the foreign businessmen and passers-by, know the news, but also want to come to witness the demeanor of the list, but unfortunately there is no invitation, There is a relationship with nature, and there is no relationship, you can only watch people laugh and laugh in the garden.

Looking around, the figure swayed, looking at its dress, it was a literati, a wealthy squire, Chu Zhen glanced at random, and immediately found Shen Yu's figure, after all, he was surrounded by people and showed the trend of the stars holding the moon, with a graceful demeanor, and a kind and friendly smile on his handsome face, which was naturally difficult to ignore.

Recognizing the direction, Chu Zhen hurriedly walked over with a few people, and Shen Yu seemed to be aware, turned his head to look, and found that it was Chu Qian, and then his smile became brighter and brighter, and he signaled to the person next to him and greeted him.

"Jing Chun, you're here." Shen Yu smiled, directly pulled Chu Zhen to the side of everyone, and said with a smile: "Wait for me to introduce you to the local gentlemen and celebrities and fathers." ”

Gentlemen refer to retired officials, of course, including landlords and squires, celebrities are famous people, which naturally include literati, and fathers and elders do not only refer to relatives in their hometowns, in ancient society, fathers and elders have a special significance, in fact, they refer to the patriarchs of various clans in the countryside.

The ancient society is a very strong patriarchal society, the clan has its own family law, the court and the emperor also recognize the effectiveness of these private laws, the reason why the court can rule such a large empire, itself also has to use the patriarchal law and the family for grassroots management, these gentry in the countryside formed a very stable class, to ensure the stability of the countryside, a county officials are dozens of hundreds of people, want to effectively manage tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, absolutely inseparable from the help of these people.

Due to the restrictions of various reasons, it is impossible for the decrees of the imperial court to penetrate directly into the countryside, and they can only remain these gentry who are inextricably linked with the officials and the people, and take on the responsibility of educating the people to do good, so as to supplement the deficiencies of local administration, so the gentry class is a bridge between the upper magnates and the lower peasants, if the local officials do not cooperate with them at all, then it is possible that nothing can be done, and there is also the danger of losing their officials, after all, it is not a lie to rule the world with the scholars.

Of course, the interests of the local officials and the gentry are the same, the gentry want the local officials to protect their own interests, and the local officials want the gentry to help maintain the stability of the locality, which can be said to complement each other, you must know that in the feudal dynasty, the landlord class is the foundation of the rule, and in ancient times to say that to preach democratic rights is purely self-defeating.

Chu Zhen is not a stupid person, he naturally understands this truth, and he also knows that Shen Yu is matching up for himself, and he is grateful, showing a warm and warm smile, and walks towards the landlords, gentry, literati and celebrities in Hangzhou.

"This is a bachelor, a servant, and a magistrate." Although they are all in the past, but their connections are still there, they are very influential in Hangzhou City, Chu Zhi naturally does not dare to slack off, and he bows, and he is pretentious, late life, post-learning, the end of progress, long-term admiration, disrespect and other words are endless, these people are already seventy or eighty, and they have the right to carry forward the traditional virtues of respecting the old and loving the young, and they will not suffer anyway.

When introduced to a certain former county, Chu Zhen finally stopped bowing and changed it to the etiquette between the peers, Shen Yu seemed to forget to point out Chu Qian's identity, so he hurriedly introduced him to the gentleman, so everyone thought that Shen Yu was deliberately promoting the "juniors", seeing that this junior kid was so rude, which made the former Zhixian feel a little unhappy.

"Brother Wentong." A former magistrate shouted, don't feel strange, ambition is not in old age, but in status, people's status is respected, it is their honor to be called a brother, or they have become accustomed to nature, seeing a white-bearded old man calling himself a brother, Shen Yu still did not change his face, and smiled in response.

"But I don't know who this little man is." A former magistrate deliberately hesitated.

"Look at my memory, I actually forgot it, it's really confused, rude." Shen Yu stroked his forehead and sighed lightly, after all, when he was in Bianliang City, he didn't need to introduce him at all, everyone knew that the famous Chu Zhen was next to him, and now in Hangzhou, there are really few people who know who Chu Zhen is.

"Qiantang Zhixian Chu Qian, give you a gift to your seniors, and please give you more guidance in the future." Chu Zhi said sincerely, after all, they are officials who have returned to their hometowns, whether it is experience or influence, they have natural advantages, and if they can get their help, they will definitely take many detours, and Shen Yu's enthusiasm to introduce everyone to Chu Zhen is also for this purpose.

"It turns out that the county magistrate is here, it's really disrespectful." A few high-ranking gentry still haven't moved, but those landlords and wealthy businessmen in Qiantang County can't sit still, and their parents and officials are in front, and they don't obediently come up to greet them, and dare to be indifferent, and they don't want to mix in Qiantang County in the future.

"I didn't expect that Wen Tongxian's nephew and Chu County Ling are still old acquaintances, and it is really rare for two young talents to gather here." A white-bearded old man stroked his beard and sighed, after all, he was the head of the Ministry of Rites before he retired, and he had more or less something to do with the Shen family, so naturally he didn't have to be so rigid about etiquette.

"Celebrate with a big white float." Someone interjected, everyone agreed, this person is the master of ceremonies, responsible for receiving guests, since this is said, in fact, this is a reminder that the banquet can be held, obviously the guests are almost here, Shen Yu naturally understood, enthusiastically invited everyone to sit down together, and sat down peacefully.

Meals such as melons, fruits, refreshments, etc., have been placed in front of the table, and when they saw everyone sitting down, the guys who had already prepared them brought up the wine and delicacies, and the first cup, needless to say, was naturally respected by everyone, hoping that he would have a smooth journey to any station, be healthy and rise step by step.

As soon as the wine glass was put down, the pleasant sound of silk and bamboo strings sounded quietly, a group of brightly dressed girls stepped on light steps, Yingying walked into the middle of the banquet from the side door, with the soothing melody, dancing leisurely, rolling up a burst of fragrant wind, the waist and arms twisted gently, and the graceful and convex figure was then shown in front of everyone, singing and dancing, enjoying the light dancing posture of the pretty girl, staggering, enjoying the wine and food, and the banquet atmosphere slowly became warmer.

"Wentong, I am going to Jiangning to take up my post, and those who are away from home are no better than having someone at home to take care of, and we must be cautious in our words and deeds." The wine was hot, and some fathers and elders began to speak from the bottom of their hearts and give advice.

Shen Yu naturally nodded again and again, seeing this familiar scene, listening to the familiar words, Chu Zhen was in a trance, thinking of his relatives and friends who were far away in Bianliang.

Drink for a while, a piece of bamboo music, the dancing girls also stopped, of course, will not let the banquet go down, the banquet immediately mentioned to the wine order, in order to help the wine, this is the interest of the banquet, naturally get the approval of everyone, the problem is that there are too many elegant and interesting wine orders, guessing riddles, throwing pots, craps, word orders, leaf plays, etc., it is difficult to decide for a while, and finally it is decided by a respected old man, since there are many visitors, Then let's beat the drum and pass the flowers.

"What should the loser do?" Someone asked a nonsense.

"Naturally, it's a punishment for drinking." Someone subconsciously replied.

"It's not enough to be punished for drinking, but you have to enter and dance with the ladies." The man who asked the nonsense smiled and proposed, obviously the drunkard did not mean to drink, and after a silence, a group of young men immediately shouted in agreement.

"These boys, really." An old man with a serious face said, "A little bit of my demeanor back then." ”

When the invited Maiko heard this, they bowed their heads and looked at each other, but no one expressed their disagreement, after all, the purpose of inviting them was to add to the atmosphere of the banquet.

Drumming and passing flowers, this is a lively and tense way to punish wine, by one person to beat the drum, the place of drumming and the place of passing the flowers are separated, in order to show justice, when the drum begins, the bouquet begins to pass in turn, as soon as the drum falls, if the bouquet is in someone's hand, then the person has to punish the wine, so the bouquet is passed quickly, everyone is afraid that the bouquet will remain in their hands, and the drummer also has to have some skills, sometimes tight, sometimes slow, causing an unpredictable atmosphere.

At the beginning of the wine order, the drum sounded softly, speeding up, slowing down, sometimes slow, and the common flowers made of various colored silks were also passed on at the banquet, shuttling between the banquets, of course, there was a time limit for beating the drums, generally at the end of a song, so when the drum sounded, there was a girl with a sweet voice who sang in a tactful voice:

"The slave has a flower, pour some wine. Only the heart of the flower is like my heart, and I will stay together at a few years. Full of pan-gold cups, heavy flowers to smell. I don't want to be by my side and give it to others. ”

The lyrics are also slow and fast, and the drum is very tacit, at the end of the song, everyone will invariably turn their eyes to the flower recipient, but it is a middle-aged literati, at this time everyone laughed, the tense atmosphere dissipated, and they all opened their mouths to urge him to drink, the middle-aged literati was also simply, raised a glass and drank without leaving the slightest, and when someone asked him to enter the dance, he didn't want to say anything, and a green beard and white face were red.

After all, in front of everyone's eyes, and also passed the age of youth and frivolity, even if there are thousands of wishes in the heart, but also take into account the calm demeanor, so as not to make people laugh, a few handsome Maiko, but also very funny stepped forward to pull the middle-aged scribe on the stage, just between this half-pull and half-pull, the coaxing and cheering suddenly pushed the banquet atmosphere to the **.

Of course, everyone is a person with status, naturally will not be difficult, and finally the middle-aged scribe escaped, but punished himself with three cups of pure wine, and then began a new round of drumming and passing flowers, afraid of being like a middle-aged scribe, hearing the drum is naturally to pass the flowers as soon as possible, and some scholars who have different hearts can't hold the flowers tightly until the end of the drum.

"Brother Wentong, Brother Ling can be in the banquet." There were many people at the banquet, and the flowers couldn't reach him for a while, so Chu Zhen simply chatted with Shen Yu quietly.

Looking at the banquet carefully, it was not good to get up and watch it directly, and did not find Shen Liao's figure, Shen Yu said strangely: "I was still next to me just now, but for some reason I disappeared after the banquet." ”

"Maybe I'm busy greeting guests and friends." didn't care about this, Chu Zhen said softly: "Presumably, Brother Wentong has already conveyed my meaning to Brother Ling, but I don't know how he responded?" "It is always easier to understand the situation in Qiantang by having a staff member who is familiar with the situation of the county government than if he spends time exploring.

"He's a little moved, but he hasn't made up his mind yet." Shen Yu said: "I said I wanted to meet you." ”

"That's nature, find a time, I'll pay a visit." Chu Zhen smiled and said, the staff is not a subordinate, if you want to use the invitation, you can't use the hired, naturally you have to go in person to appear sincere, even if it is a subordinate, people are talented, it is impossible to choose the master at will, otherwise where will there be an allusion to the three visits, after all, from ancient times to the present, talented people must be a little temperamental, change places, if someone wants to invite themselves as a wingman, there is only one sentence, even if you don't see anyone, you will definitely refuse to accept it.

"Jing Chun, rest assured, I know Ruida's sex best, as long as you." Shen Yu pointed softly, Chu Zhi naturally listened carefully, and suddenly felt that someone next to him touched him to signal, Chu Zhen didn't react to what was going on, but subconsciously took something stuffed by the person next to him, and when he was about to take a closer look, the drums and singing stopped.

The banquet was quiet, everyone's eyes looked at Chu Qian, to be precise, it was staring at the flowers in Chu Qian's hands, after a while, no one cheered and laughed, if it was a random person in the field, I am afraid that everyone had urged him to drink and dance, but the person who received the flowers was Chu Qian, but he was a county official, who knew what his temperament was, annoyed him, and there would be no good fruit to eat in the future, which also showed from the side that everyone did not regard Chu Zhi as their own person.

Blinking his eyes, Shen Yu laughed and said, "Jing Chun, spend it in your hands, punish it according to the order, and drink." ”

Sensing the strangeness in the banquet, he was confused, and then guessed a little bit of the psychology of the crowd, seeing Shen Yu urging, Chu Zhen naturally took advantage of the situation to chuckle and toast and admit punishment, seeing this situation, some landlords and rich households hurriedly applauded, it stands to reason that Chu Zhen should have danced with the female playwrights, but everyone seemed to forget that there was such a thing, and chose collective amnesia.

Besides, Chu Zhen's identity is here, who has the courage to urge, however, there are always one or two people in the world who don't know the general situation, and they say from a corner: "I can't only drink, I haven't danced yet." ”

The dignified court magistrate of the county, danced and played with a few female actors, spread it out, what kind of system, was heard by the official imperial history, I am afraid that it will be impeached as soon as possible, this is obviously someone deliberately embarrassed, but unfortunately there are many people at the banquet, and the evacuation is dense, and I don't know who spoke out, of course, there are also people who know, but they don't want to say it.

Shen Yu's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he raised his eyebrows, and was about to open his mouth to relieve Chu Qian, but when he saw him waving his hand gently, he got up and smiled: "I'm really embarrassed, I don't know how to dance, and I am reluctant to play for fear that I will be embarrassed and ugly, and I am willing to dance with poetry to please everyone, but I don't know what you think?" ”

Nonsense, who dares to say no, silent, everyone echoed it, and the banquet also regained a bit of a lively atmosphere, and when Shen Yu ordered the servants to come up with pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, he also smiled and said: "Jing Chun's poetry, articles and calligraphy are famous all over the world, and they are rare to see on weekdays, so don't miss it." ”

What is famous all over the world, everyone only thinks that Shen Yu is talking politely, and they don't care, of course, there are a few people with a heart, with a thoughtful face, Chu Qian, this name feels a little familiar.

"Brother Wentong praises and praises, you must not take it seriously." Chu Zhen said with a smile, slightly let go of the way by half a step, and let the servants supplement the pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

didn't take it seriously, some people pouted and sneered, sat still peacefully, and most people chose to go up and watch, but the family is also a local parent official, so why should they give some face.

"Lord Magistrate, please." Someone diligently presented the good lake pen stained with good ink to Chu Qian, and the demeanor of slapping the horse made some people feel deeply angry, how to let this kid take the lead.

Took the lake pen, Chu Zhi politely thanked him, waved his hand and pulled his sleeves, the tip of the pen hung in the air, mainly because he had not touched the pen for more than ten days, he had to warm up first, and after waiting for a while, everyone did not dare to urge, but it was difficult to say if there was an idea in his heart.

found the feeling, Chu quality did not delay, the pen went dragon and snake, like turning down, left to right, in one go, twenty or thirty breaths, put down the sleeve and draw the pen, stand aside, carefully look at his words, not bad, at least there is no regression.

"Outside the mountain, Qingshan Building, outside the building, when will the West Lake sing and dance be closed? The warm wind smokes the tourists drunk, and makes Hangzhou Bianzhou. After listening to people reciting this poem, they tasted it carefully, and suddenly felt that it was meaningful and lofty.

If this poem is placed in later generations, it must be said to be a metaphor for satirizing the imperial court, but there is no Southern Song Dynasty yet, and everyone present naturally does not know what happened more than a hundred years later.

While despising Chu Zhen for flattering and selling good poetry, all the people in Hangzhou present were deeply impressed by this poem and praised it again and again.

"This poem by Lord Zhixian is a masterpiece of scenes, scenes, and scenes." A certain fat-headed, big-eared, gorgeously dressed almost tacky, who knew at a glance that it was a wealthy businessman shouted excitedly, and the others were naturally not far behind, and the words of praise also poured endlessly, and a few old-fashioned and serious masters and Confucian scholars couldn't help but nod their heads in agreement.

"I think of it, coming from Bianliang, out of the mud but not stained, clear ripples but not demon Chu quality." Suddenly, someone exclaimed loudly, with the help of the majority of businessmen, Ailian, who is less than 100 words, has been flowing to all parts of the country with the flow of goods, and Hangzhou, as one of the commercial centers in the south, naturally has such goods for sale.

The sudden cry puzzled most people, but when they saw that the man took out a silk handkerchief with lotus patterns for a long time in his arms, he took out a silk handkerchief decorated with lotus flowers, pointed to the words embroidered on it, and said with a little excitement: "The flowers of land and water, plants and trees, the payment, Bianliang Chuzhi, has the same name as the county commander." ”

It's just the same name, the world is big, there will always be so many people with the same name and surname, it is not uncommon, although I think so, but everyone's eyes can't help but look at Chu Qian, this kind of thing is naturally not easy to say by yourself, fortunately, there is a Shen Yu next to him.

"Hehe, I wanted to see when you woke up, but I didn't expect you to find out so soon." Shen Yu smiled and said: "Didn't I already say just now, Jing Chun's poetry and articles are famous all over the world, but you don't believe it." ”

Celebrities, so young, everyone can't believe it, but everyone knows that with Shen Yu's status, he will definitely not lie about this kind of thing, and there are poems as evidence, people write it down at will, and it is the first masterpiece to be handed down, such a talented person, if he grabs a handful, then what else will others mix.

"Ah Ye, why didn't Brother Wentong say it earlier, it's really rude." In these years, the most valuable thing is fame, even if a person is penniless, as long as you are famous, do not worry about starving with the road ahead, naturally there are people scrambling to provide for it, no, it should be a friendly exchange with you, by the way to solve your food, clothing, housing and transportation, there is a coil to send each other when leaving, of course, Chu Zhi's fame has not yet reached this level, however, I believe that with the growth of time, there will always be a day.

This time, no one dared to underestimate the young magistrate, when they heard that Chu Zhen and Shen Yu were in the same year, and they were also the youngest and the first jinshi, some people began to wonder if their own daughter had allowed someone else, otherwise, marrying Chu County Ling as a wife should be a good choice, and being a concubine can also be considered, anyway, it is a concubine.

"Sure enough, it deserves its reputation, and it really has two hits, but it's not so easy to want me to be your staff." In a corner of the banquet, a gentleman wearing a silk robe with a handsome face muttered.