Qin Mubai closed the invitation and asked, "Second brother, this is for no reason, why did King Wei want to feast guests, and how did he know that I came back from vacation?" ”

"You are a big tree now, it is not easy to know that you are back, your appearance in the world's first wine yesterday is enough to let King Wei know the news. The scholars who drank and entertained there did not know how many of them were the disciples of King Wei. Qin Bin said, "As for the reason for the treat, the foolish brother seems to have heard that it is - the king of Wei wants to invite all the Confucian talents to play a game of Qushui Liuzhen." ”

"Flowing water? Funny! It's summer, what kind of water is flowing? Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh.

Qushui Liuzhen is an ancient custom that has been passed down from the beginning of the Jin Dynasty. According to legend, 42 people, including the famous calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty and Wang Xizhi of the history of Huiji, together with his relatives and friends Xie An and Sun Sui, held the "Qushui Liuzhen" activity of drinking and writing poems after repairing in Lanting, which was cited as a good story through the ages. This Confucian custom has been passed down to this day. At that time, Wang Xizhi and others sat on the ground on both sides of the Lanting Qingxi after holding the ritual of repairing and sacrificing, put the wine in the stream, floated slowly down from the upstream, and passed through the winding stream.

In this game, there are 11 people who write two poems each, 15 people who write a poem each, and 16 people who can't write poems, and each person is punished for drinking three times. Wang Xizhi collected everyone's poems, used silkworm cocoon paper, and a mouse whisker pen to make a preface, and wrote the world-famous "Lanting Collection Preface".

Today's emperor Li Shimin is in love with Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, which has caused a calligraphy boom in the Tang Dynasty. As a result, the elegant entertainment method of Qushui Liuzhen has also spread among the literati of the Tang Dynasty today. It's just that the Qushui Liuzhen is generally held on the Shangzheng Festival in the spring of March, and now it has reached the summer solstice.

"This fool doesn't know." Qin Bin shook his head and smiled, "I heard from the guests that it was in March of this year that King Wei was ordered to accompany His Majesty the Emperor in the palace to discuss the revision of the "Chronicles of the Ancient Land", so he missed this year's Qushui Liuzhen. So I took advantage of the time I had now and made up for it. The relationship between King Wei and many literati is very close, and Qu Shui Liuzhen has always been an important form of his contact and affection, so he must not want to waste it! ”

"I see," Qin Mubai shook his head and smiled, "I'......m a martial artist, and I only have a one-sided relationship with King Wei, so why do you invite me to do it?" Isn't this just trying to embarrass me by rushing ducks to the shelves? ”

"Third brother, do you really understand, or are you fake?" Qin Bin smiled, "This has been made clear, King Wei wants to pull you!" ”

Qin Mubai chuckled: "Then go!" Anyway, it's definitely not good for me to write poetry, so let's go and see the excitement. The king of Wei took the initiative to invite him so face, if I didn't go, wouldn't I slap him in the face? It's just that the second brother, I want to ask - how is your relationship with King Wei now? ”

Qin Bin smiled indifferently: "Father's teachings, you don't know it. Although the foolish brother met with the King of Wei in Hongwen Hall and Wude Hall for three days, he rarely spoke and could not talk about friendship. King Wei seems to be ignoring me, a school scrivener who is not as talented as Bandou and has a low official position. The main reason why you invited me this time is to invite you through me, right? Hehe, the foolish brother followed you to get naked. ”

"Haha, isn't it just eating and drinking? - The second brother will wait a while, and when the younger brother changes his clothes, he will set off with you. ”

Soon after, the two brothers packed their clothes and left their house in a carriage to the palace of the king of Wei.

Li Tai, the king of Wei, can be said to be the most favored prince of the emperor today, even far better than the crown prince Li Chengqian. In the past few years, the emperor Li Shimin, who has always advocated frugality, has continuously personally allocated funds to Li Tai to repair the mansion, and the money and silk provided by him are almost on a par with the East Palace. For this reason, many old ministers have put forward opinions to persuade the emperor, but Li Shimin, who has always been humble and acceptable, is still the same and favors Li Tai. In addition, Li Tai himself does have some ability, and his expertise in 'cultural governance' is not comparable to that of ordinary princes. In recent years, he has edited a large number of books with a group of scholars, among which the most famous is the "Chronicles of the Universe", which includes the introduction of the ten prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor's preference, Li Tai's own drill camp to forge ahead, made the forces gathered around him more and more huge. Nowadays, it is a secret that the emperor has the intention of abolishing the establishment and Li Tai has the intention of competing for the prince.

On a hot day, Li Tai also set a precedent for "Qushui Liuzhen". In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that Li Tai is now busy competing for reserves, which can be called 'every day', and every minute and every second is very precious, and the reason why he invited a large number of people to play with great fanfare is nothing more than to take the opportunity to win people's hearts. In the era of the Tang Dynasty, imperial power was a tree, and Shizi literati were the roots of the tree. It has been supported and supported by the scholars, and is undoubtedly the most powerful arm of the prince. Although Li Tai is only twenty years old, he is obviously a scheming political class, and he will not do some meaningless things when he has nothing to do.

The location of the flowing water is in the huge and magnificent back garden of the Wei Palace.

As soon as the Qin Mubai brothers arrived at the mansion by car, a doorman came to greet them. After the invitation, Menzi pulled his neck and shouted-"The hundred horsemen envoy Qin Mubai and the school secretary of the Hongwen Pavilion Qin Bin have arrived!" ”

It's a bit like the little two in the wine shop welcoming guests and singing promises.

At this time, the gate of the palace can be described as a busy traffic, and there are many people entering and exiting like carp crossing the river, most of them are young people dressed as officials. Menzi's voice attracted many people to look sideways, and some people whispered.

"Look, those should be the two sons of Uncle Qin's family!"

"The taller one is Qin Sanlang, the current emperor's hot general of the hundred cavalry, right?"

"I didn't expect him to come together with King Wei! King Wei is so fast, it seems that his strength has increased greatly! ”

……

Menzi led the two to the back garden, and saw a large number of young gentlemen along the way, gathering in groups under the pavilion in front of the flowers, or talking with laughter, or pushing cups and changing lamps to make the moon. The decoration of the Wei Palace, in addition to luxury, exudes a literati atmosphere everywhere. The stele archway can be seen everywhere, and many excerpts from the wonderful poems of the ancients. The scenery of the back garden is also quite ancient, and it has the meaning of "Orchid Pavilion" in those years.

Along the way, Qin Mubai saw no less than three or five hundred scholars. He was a little surprised that most of these people were very young, and it was rare to see a middle-aged person over thirty-five years old.

"Second brother, this King of Wei's friends are interesting but most of them are young people." Qin Mubai said.

"King Wei has always been like this." Qin Bin said in a low voice, "Most of the people gathered around him are the sons and nephews of some meritorious veterans, or the rising stars of the new imperial examinations. You should be able to imagine why. ”

Qin Mubai twisted his brows lightly and thought carefully, and gradually understood in his heart.

Now Datang has a prince. No matter how much Li Chengqian disappointed the emperor and was not favored, he was still a genuine prince. According to the usual practice, Li Shimin must arrange many important ministers of the court to work part-time in the East Palace, so that they can assist the crown prince Li Chengqian. And the courtiers were also bound by the traditional concept of 'the prince is the foundation of the country', and most of them were biased towards the prince in their positions. For example, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, the two most influential ministers, have always had a clear attitude and strongly supported the prince.

Due to etiquette and stereotypes, Li Tai, the king of Wei, could not win over these current court ministers, so he had to set his sights on their descendants. Datang attaches great importance to the background of the door, and maybe in ten or twenty years, these "princeling" members will completely replace those old ministers once they gain power. As for those young scholars and literati, not to mention, they can be accepted and promoted by the famous King Wei when they first enter the official career, how can they not be desperate to repay? At that time, it will be the world of King Wei.

"King Wei's deep concern is not far-reaching!" Qin Mubai smiled and said in a low voice.

"King Wei has always been a great wisdom and a foolish city." Qin Bin said concisely, "Third brother, don't underestimate him. ”

"Little brother knows."

The brothers wandered around for a while, and they had never met a few acquaintances. About half an hour later, a sound sounded: "King Wei has arrived!" ”

Three or five hundred young people crowded towards the edge of the back garden, and many of them looked a little anxious, for fear that if they ran slowly, they would not be able to occupy a good position.

This flower creek was obviously artificially opened and smashed, and was built for the entertainment of the meandering water. A small creek that zigzags through the back garden. There are a lot of strange pine stones placed on the side of the stream, everyone sits on the ground with a futon, and a few inks are placed in front of them, and there is no shortage of dim sum and zither.

It was really a literati event.

The chubby Li Tai had already arrived, and there were too many people present, so he couldn't greet them one by one, and after saying an opening remark, he asked everyone to sit down. When the music was played, the atmosphere became relaxed and elegant, and the music began immediately.

Li Tai himself did not rush to sit down, but walked back and forth on both sides of the Huaxi, laughing and talking with a few young people from time to time. Most of the people with whom Demeng spoke were flattered. And most of the others cast envious eyes on them.

The Qin Mubai brothers sat in an inconspicuous small corner, looked at each other and smiled, silent.

This Li Tai is very popular.

As if inadvertently, Li Tai walked to the side of Brother Qin Mubai. At first glance, Li Tai sighed in astonishment: "Oops! Aren't these Qin family brothers, how can you sit in this last position? Foolishness, foolishness! ”

After that, Li Tai shook off the fat on his body, and walked quickly towards the two of them: "Forgive sins, forgive sins!" Please ask the two Qin brothers to sit with Xiao Wang to the first residence! ”

"King Wei is polite. If you're not good at poetry, you're just watching when you come, so you don't have to, right? Qin Mubai replied.

"Brother Mu Bai, what are you talking about?" Li Tai squinted his eyes with a smile, grabbed Qin Mubai's wrist with one hand and dragged him forward, "No, no, how can a top-notch romantic person like you hide at the end of the stream?" Hurry up and change seats with Xiao Wang! ”

There was a low exclamation in the audience, and hundreds of pairs of eyes froze on Qin Mubai's body together.

"It turns out that he is Qin Mubai! ——”