On the evening of the second day, Qian Jin and Jin Taiming came to the office of the chief secretary. After the official in charge of the investigation saw the two of them, he led them in.

Entering the main entrance is the public court, and the backyard is Xu Baolu's private residence. The officer led the two of them through several corridors to a courtyard and left.

The entire courtyard is surrounded by a pond, and a water corridor leads to an attic in the middle, which should be where Xu Baolu usually meets guests in his own office. In front of the attic is a wide wooden platform, half of which is built on the water, on which more than a dozen tables of banquets have already been placed. There is a rockery on the right hand side of the attic, and there is a woman in a white dress sitting next to it, with a guzheng in front of her, which should be a courtesan invited by Xu Baolu to help the fun.

When Liao Donglin saw Qian Jin and the others, he beckoned them to come over from afar. His table is the place where the top ten people can sit in the current imperial examination, and it is also the position closest to Xu Buzheng and several chief examiners in the waiting meeting.

Qian Jin and the two sat down, and saw that the middle-aged Confucian student he met in the Zhuangyuan Building at noon yesterday was also there, so he bowed to him with a fist. Although his cousin had made disrespectful remarks in the Zhuangyuan Building yesterday, Qian Jin and the others were not stingy people.

Seeing this, the middle-aged Confucian also returned a salute, but his old face was red with shame.

Liao Donglin whispered on the side: "This middle-aged Confucian student's name is Sun Gang, a person from Yongan County. ”

After a while, Xu Baolu, Lin Youtang and others came out of the attic talking and laughing, and all the new imperial examination people got up and saluted.

Xu Baolu walked to the front of the attic and raised his hand to press it, motioned for everyone to sit down, and said loudly: "You have studied hard for ten years, and today you have become famous in one fell swoop. This is one of the four happy events in life, and the title of the gold list is one of them. According to the usual practice, the official prepared a few glasses of thin wine to express his gratitude. Before the table begins, please come with me for three drinks. ”

After that, Xu Baolu took a glass of wine from the plate that the family had already prepared, and said:

"This first glass of wine, to the monarch. As the saying goes, 'learn literature and martial arts, and sell them to the emperor's family'. In the future, you will eat the king's fortune, and you will be loyal to the king's affairs and bear the king's worries. Even if you enter the cabinet to pay respects to the prime minister, you must keep this in mind and do not do what the thousand men are referring to.

This second cup of wine, to the sages. The sages enlightened the people and enlightened all the people. When my generation reads the books of the sages, we should be a model for the people, respect etiquette and abide by the law, and do not do the things that fly camp dogs.

This third glass of wine, why don't we respect Lin Youtang and Shen Kui. Without these two Cybernauts, even if you are a Maxima, I am afraid that you will be unknown to everyone. ”

The students toasted in agreement.

When everyone sat down, a long guzheng sounded, like a waterfall coming from the sky, like a high mountain endlessly. Xu Baolu cleared his throat slightly, and then began to sing:

Yo yo deer chirping, eating wild apples. I have guests, drummers and shengs. Blowing the sheng drum spring, bearing the basket is the will. People are kind to me, show me to walk.

……

……

This Xu Baolu sang "Deer Singing Poem". After the release of the autumn list, the political envoy of a province will invite the new imperial examination people to the deer banquet and sing the deer poem.

Xu Baolu's voice is rich and infectious. When the second stanza was sung, the crowd began to echo it. The courtyard reverberated with the chanting of the people, although there was not much peace, but it was far away and heavy.

After eating the deer feast, he has been an official family since then; sang the deer song, and supported each other more in the future.

Being able to sing deer poems is the pride of every reader and the dignity of every reader. Without a cold bone, how to get the fragrance of plum blossoms? Even if you are in power and in the opposition, or rich in the world, no one dares to touch this dignity at will, it will be an enemy of the world's scholars.

After everyone sang, Xu Baolu was seated. The new imperial examiners began to talk privately, and some had already begun to toast each other.

Qian Jin was burying his head and eating and drinking, firstly, he was really hungry, and secondly, he hadn't figured out how to toast with Xu Baolu later. It's been so long since he came to Haifu, and he hasn't come to visit, and he will definitely be scolded later.

At this time, Liao Donglin said to Jin Taiming: "Brother Jin, you are the leader of the current imperial examination, so how about leading us to pay tribute to Xu Buzheng and the two masters?" ”

So everyone walked to Xu Baolu's table with wine glasses, and Qian Jin followed behind. A group of people were about to salute, and Xu Baolu over there had already seen Qian Jin who was dodging, and scolded with a smile: "You monkey cub, are you finally willing to come to see me?" ”

Everyone looked at each other. Lin Youtang looked at Xu Baolu with an inquiring expression.

Xu Baolu pointed at Qian Jin and said, "He is the Qian Jin I mentioned to you just now." It's been more than half a month since this monkey cub came to Haifu, and he didn't come to see me. It is estimated that it is to avoid suspicion. ”

Qian Jin hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, and said with a smile: "Xu Buzheng taught a lesson. ”

Fortunately, Xu Baolu did not pursue him for being polite, but only asked him a few words of gossip. Qian Jin saw that Jin Taiming next to him was a little embarrassed with wine glasses and waiting, so he introduced them to Xu Baolu one by one.

When introducing Jin Taiming, Xu Baolu had a slight impression of him, knowing that this benevolent brother had handed in the examination papers in the vernacular. This time, Jin Taiming won the leader, and Xu Baolu naturally had to praise him, saying that he 'lost his way and returned to his hometown, and he was very good'. Lin Youtang commented on his article again: The battle is neat, the pen is elegant and natural, and it is a rare work.

Then, Lin Youtang commented on Liao Donglin's article, saying that his article contained the ambition of Qingyun, but warned him not to rush for quick success. Later, I asked him where he was from and when he was going to take the entrance examination.

Lin Youtang and others were obviously more enthusiastic about Liao Donglin than Jin Taiming. It's no wonder that Liao Donglin has a good skin. This way of fame is not only to write a good article, but also to look at the looks. If you are good-looking, it will be easier to be promoted in the future.

Xu Baolu is a good example. Although he has slightly dark skin, he is six feet tall, with a Chinese character face with sharp edges and corners, and he is not angry and arrogant, and he looks like a typical decent person.

Looking at Jin Taiming again, although his stature is not bad, he has sharp-beaked monkey gills, and it is easy to give people a treacherous feeling when they meet for the first time. With this appearance, it is inevitable that the officialdom will suffer some dark losses in the future. But it can't be helped, who says it's innate?

When Lin Youtang commented on Qian Jin, he said that his article was not ancient, but it was better in terms of neat format and brilliant argument.

Everyone got Lin Youtang's comments, and naturally they couldn't help but be overjoyed, and even thanked them.

Lin Youtang and the others were also very happy. This time, Qiu Yu found a lot of good seedlings, and the two of them have the skill of knowing people. In the future, these lifters will naturally be their protégés. I can't guarantee that any of these people will be able to be named a high school jinshi on the gold list, or even a champion.

……

After the Luming banquet, the two chief and deputy examiners of Lin Youtang and the crowd said goodbye one after another, and Xu Baolu was sent to the door of the Chief Minister's Office.

Qian Jin originally planned to go back to the inn with Jin Taiming to rest, but when he left, Xu Baolu stopped him and left him to stay for one night. Qian Jin is not polite, and if he refuses again, it is estimated that Xu Baolu will go crazy.

After drinking more wine today, Xu Baolu asked someone to get money to go into the wing room to rest.

Qian Jin took a look, and it was Niu Er who was Guanhaiwei who led the way. Last time, Xu Baolu went to Guanhaiwei to inspect, and saw that Niu Er had no children and no daughters, so he felt compassion, and later learned the inside story of Guanhaiwei's victory from Niu Er's mouth, so he promised him an errand. When he left Guanhai City, Xu Baolu took Niu Er with him.

When salvaging the artillery, Niu Er and Qian Jin already knew each other, and the two chatted about the sea and sky along the way.

Nothing happened that night......