In the understanding of later generations, the Dragon Boat Festival has always been a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, and because Qu Yuan was martyred on this day, it has added a layer of patriotism. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

But in fact, the ancients attached much less importance to this festival than major festivals such as the New Year's Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Shangyuan, and even many people still have some taboos about this day. Because according to a certain statement, May is the evil month of the year, and the fifth is the evil day in January, and the Dragon Boat Festival is the evil day in the evil month, so it will naturally be taboo.

However, when this saying was transmitted to the Ming Dynasty, it has changed significantly, and it has become more close to the people, and the customs such as dragon boat racing and wrapping zongzi that people are accustomed to in later generations have long been widely used at this time. In the officialdom, such festivals have become an excellent excuse for some people to visit and socialize with each other, and in front of the homes of some officials who hold real power, many guests come to visit them at dawn on this day.

As the most powerful and most prestigious first assistant Zhang Juzheng of the imperial court today, the visitors in front of his house on this day were like carp crossing the river. Although most of the people who came over didn't even have the possibility of putting the post in, it didn't prevent them from trying their luck. After all, as long as Zhang Ge Lao can be asked to take a look at himself, his identity in the court will be very different in the future.

It is precisely because everyone has such an idea, so even if it is almost dusk, it is still crowded in front of Zhang's house, and many people are waiting patiently with gifts and their own greetings, hoping to say a few words to the Zhangjiamen who has his head raised high, even if it is to take a face-to-face.

But seeing that it was getting late, these people waiting outside the door were a little discouraged, seeing that there was no chance today. At this time, a carriage came, which immediately attracted the attention of most of the waiters.

It's not that this carriage is luxurious and enviable, on the contrary, this carriage that has been coming for a long time is very simple, just like the carriages that can be rented in the carriages and horse shops that can be seen everywhere in the capital, even the horses that pull the carriage are all variegated. Compared with the high-end carriages parked in front of Zhang's house, which are richly decorated, royal horses and shiny coats, the carriages here are really shabby.

But because this carriage is so ordinary and ordinary, it is particularly eye-catching among the Chinese cars, and it also makes people wonder in their hearts: "Who is such a big shelf and so late to come to the door of Zhang Ge's hometown?" ”

The carriage soon stopped not far away, and the road inside was already crowded with other people's cars. Then, a person who looked like a housekeeper jumped down from the wheel, and under the gaze of a crowd, came to the door of Zhang's mansion, handed over a big red post in his hand, and whispered something.

Before, these people waiting outside the door also learned how arrogant Zhangfu Menzi was, and generally the posts of officials below the fifth grade, he just glanced at them and said that he would tell the housekeeper that they came to pay their respects, and then sent people away. So in everyone's mind, this belated guy will only touch the dust in such a way.

But what happened next came as a big surprise to everyone. After taking the big red post, Menzi, who had been looking at the top and not taking all the guests seriously, suddenly showed a respectful look on his face, and he agreed with a bow, and then turned around and went in to report.

"This ...... How so? Everyone outside the door was stunned, and then they all looked at the low-key carriage again, and began to guess who was sitting in the carriage. It's a pity that until this time, the curtains of the carriage were low, and it was naturally impossible for everyone to see the situation inside.

And a moment later, a scene that made people drop their eyes even more, only to see that Zhang Xian, the chief butler of the Zhang family, who had to greet the three or four officials of the DPRK and China with a smile on his face, hurriedly greeted him - as far as they knew, it was only the six Shangshu of the DPRK and the Central Committee or the cabinet ministers that they could be treated like this.

Zhang Xian didn't care about the surprised eyes of the people around him at all, he came to the carriage and whispered to the people inside: "Your boss has finally arrived, my lord has been waiting in the house for a long time, please get off the car and go inside to talk." While talking, he was very enthusiastic to help the other party lift the car curtain.

After a while, a middle-aged man wearing an ordinary man's robe bent down and walked out of the car, and accompanied by Zhang Xian, with a strange look, passed through the onlookers of a group of envious people and entered the gate of Zhang's house.

Seeing this situation, the people waiting outside the door were even more surprised. You must know that the height of Zhangjiamen is second only to the Forbidden City in Beijing today. The names of ordinary people can't be put in, and those who can enter the house are already amazing characters. And those who can be greeted by the housekeeper of the Zhang Mansion in person are even rarer, and they are enough to shake the big names of the Jingshi.

And such a man who came in such a simple carriage was really too far from the big man they imagined -

"Who the hell is this man? It doesn't look like a high-ranking official of the imperial court. ”

"Could it be that there are no celebrities in any place? But it doesn't look like it's old. ”

Everyone whispered and discussed, and they speculated about the identity of this person many times. Suddenly, someone let out an exclamation: "I remember, this is the reign of the country...... I saw him at the wedding celebration of the Son of Heaven in February! ”

"Guozhang? Do you mean the father of the current queen, the royal prince who didn't even get the title? ”

"It's him, and although he was dressed differently than he was that day, his appearance hasn't changed much."

"This is strange, how can he, a powerless and powerless royal prince, get such a courtesy from Zhang Ge's hometown, it is really unreasonable......

When the identity of the person who came was revealed, everyone talked about it more, but no matter what they thought, they couldn't figure out what the reason was.

This belated guest was none other than Wang Wei, the national abbot.

Although after receiving this invitation from the Zhang family yesterday, he felt that there was something strange in it, how could the dignified head of the court take the initiative to invite him to the banquet? But he didn't dare not be invited, otherwise he would offend Zhang Juzheng, so after thinking about it again, he pressed the time to come to the door.

In addition, when he came to the door of Zhang's mansion, he also thought of something else, and only asked his housekeeper to report to him, and it was best for Zhangfu to arrange his own carriage to enter the mansion directly, so that it would be more low-key. But I didn't expect Zhang Xian to come here like this, and personally came over to invite him out, so that it won't be long before the news of his visit to Zhang's house will be known all over the city.

With apprehension, Wang Wei walked through the side door and the instrument door, and then turned the front hall, and walked for half a day before coming to a guest hall in the atrium. Because he had something in his heart, he didn't take a good look at the internal environment of Zhang's Mansion all the way, but felt that there was ingenuity and atmosphere everywhere, and there was a momentum that made people feel awe.

When Zhang Xian led him to the hall and was about to report his guilt, with a loud laugh, a man in his fifties, with long hair and chest, greeted him: "Haha, Zhang has missed the distance, and I hope that the national uncle will forgive more sins." He came out with two young scholars dressed as scholars.

Although Wang Wei hadn't seen Zhang Juzheng a few times, let alone had any dealings with him, he still recognized the identity of the other party at once, hurriedly stepped forward and bent down rudely, and hurriedly replied: "How dare you!" It's too late, and I should be ashamed. In addition, it is really flattering to be invited by the elders. Before coming here, he had already thought about his attitude towards Zhang Juzheng, that is, neither arrogant nor humble. So I also used the most neutral in the self-title.

"Haha, the national lord is serious, please come in and take a seat, we have been waiting for you for a long time." Zhang Juzheng's eyes flashed, and he took Wang Wei's hand very enthusiastically and invited him into the hall.

Sure enough, on top of this rather luxurious guest hall, a banquet had already been set up according to the ancient rites, and judging from the layout inside, the host and guest positions on the top were still empty.

Zhang Juzheng smiled and led Wang Wei to that position and said, "Wang Guozhang, please take a seat." ”

"How does this make ......" Wang Wei is still self-aware, although he doesn't know the identities of the other two, but just in front of Zhang Juzheng, he doesn't dare to take a seat.

But Zhang Juzheng insisted on it, and the other two persuaded him, but Wang Wei couldn't push it, and although the place here was big enough, there were only four seats, so he had no choice but to sit on it with his heart.

Just sitting in this position, it made him deeply understand what it means to sit on pins and needles, and what it means to be roasted on the fire, and he has already sweated a lot in just a few moments.

Subsequently, Zhang Juzheng introduced the identities of the other two to him: "This one is the most powerful assistant in my cabinet, Qin Gang and Qin Sheren. As for the other one, it is Zhang Qian, a distant nephew of mine. These two are characters I regard as juniors, and there are no outsiders today, so you don't have to be too restrained. ”

After hearing his words, Wang Wei became even more nervous in his heart, knowing that today's banquet must not be so easy to deal with. He and Zhang Juzheng have never had any intersection, and the other party is so enthusiastic that he clearly wants to borrow himself to do something.

However, he tried to talk several times, but Zhang Juzheng changed the topic with a haha, and just asked him to eat and drink.

It wasn't until after a few decades of wine that everyone was obviously letting go, that Zhang Juzheng raised his wine glass and said: "I can't hide it, today I invite you to come for two things......