A high-gate mansion in the north of Suzhou City, there is a plaque hanging on it, on which are written "Zhufu" two big characters, if people who know calligraphy see this plaque, they will definitely stroke their hands and praise "good words!" ”。

Today, the door of Zhufu is full of traffic and guests, one by one wearing a scarf, wearing a shirt of the scholar or walking or by car, from all over Suzhou gathered in front of this mansion, when meeting familiar friends, immediately will come forward to say hello, and then give hands to enter the Zhufu.

The identity of the owner of this Zhu Mansion is not simple, he is Xu Shenzhong's teacher Zhu Zhishan, and Tang Bohu is one of the four talents of Wumen. In addition, Zhu Zhishan's background is not simple, his grandfather's name is Xu Youzhen, because of the meritorious service of supporting the restoration of Ming Yingzong, he was named a martial artist and a scholar of Huagai Palace, and for a time the power leaned towards the government and the opposition, but unfortunately he later had a bad relationship with two other powerful figures, and as a result, he was exiled to the people, and later lived in Suzhou.

Xu Youzhen's talent is world-famous, astronomy, geography, art of war, water conservancy, yin and yang, the book of magic, all study, and is one of the most famous calligraphers at that time, Zhu Zhishan has been learning calligraphy with Xu Youzhen when he was a child, and later Zhu Zhishan can become the most representative figure of Wumen calligraphy, and Xu Youzhen's teaching is inseparable.

In addition to Xu Youzhen, Zhu Zhishan's grandfather Zhu Hao is also very famous, also famous for calligraphy in Suzhou, but also made a political envoy to participate in politics, it can be said that the Zhu family is also an official eunuch, coupled with a strong calligraphy atmosphere at home, so that Zhu Zhishan has been nurtured since he was a child, at the age of five he can write a foot square of big characters, at the age of nine will compose poems, becoming a famous prodigy.

At the age of thirty-three, Zhu Zhishan was admitted to the examination again, and by this time he had become a leader among the young scholars in Suzhou. However, after being promoted in the examination, Zhu Zhishan's good luck seemed to be used up all at once, and he failed to succeed in three consecutive examinations, and now he is in his forties. According to the original history, Zhu Zhishan tried the Ministry of Rites seven times in his life, and only after the last did he get a petty official in the county, that is to say, Zhu Zhishan had to wait at home for more than ten years before he could realize his dream of becoming an official.

Today is Zhu Zhishan's forty-fourth birthday, although he suffered several setbacks in the imperial examination, but this does not prevent Zhu Zhishan from gaining prestige in the local area, especially the Zhu family is also a local rich man, Zhu Zhishan is funny and free, good to travel in the mountains and rivers without being informal, so the popularity among the local scholars is very good, Tang Bohu, Shen Zhou, Liu Jue, Turin and other Suzhou celebrities are his close friends, so Zhu Zhishan is a birthday, and almost all the local readers in Suzhou have come.

Zhu Zhishan stood in front of the door with a few students to greet the guests, and Xu Shenzhong was among them. Zhu Zhishan, who is just forty-four years old today, is fat and big, and is very conspicuous among the generally short southerners, with a big-eared lion nose and a wide mouth, looking like a kind of heroic momentum, with a half-foot-long oily beard under his chin, and his right hand brushing his beard from time to time, probably because of his longevity, Zhu Zhishan's face has been smiling, and he bows to acquaintances from time to time.

After the guests arrived, the birthday banquet began immediately, Zhu Zhishan took the students to toast each table one by one, and then came to the inner hall, where only one table of wine was placed, and the people sitting were all Zhu Zhishan's close friends, such as Tang Bohu, Wen Zhengming, Yang Xunji and others were all present.

Zhu Zhishan was also very happy today, chatting with these close friends while drinking, and the atmosphere was also very warm, but just when the drink was in the mood, several students from Zhu Zhishan came in to send their congratulatory gifts.

Originally, when the guests arrived, they would immediately give birthday gifts, but in this era of respecting teachers, the relationship between students and teachers is actually similar to that of father and son, so Xie Shenzhong and his students did not immediately give the birthday gifts they prepared, but sent them together in front of teachers and friends, in order to show their filial piety.

"Teacher, this is a pair of words that the disciple found from Nanjing, it is Mi Fu's "Fangyuan Nunnery", specially dedicated to the teacher!" The first disciple presented the birthday gift he had prepared, and although he tried his best to make a calm appearance, there was still a hint of pride in his tone.

Hearing that it was Mi Fu's words, Zhu Zhishan and Tang Bohu and others were also shocked, and hurriedly opened the word to watch, and the result was amazed while watching. Mi Fu is one of the four Song Dynasty, the achievements in calligraphy are very high, especially the literati of the Ming Dynasty to Mi Fu is particularly respected, Zhu Zhishan's calligraphy is deeply influenced by Mi Fu, and he has always wanted to collect a pair of Mi Fu's words, but unfortunately has not been able to do so, which shows how rare Mi Fu's words are, so the students who give gifts naturally have reasons for pride.

"Good~ Good! Liangkuan, your vision is good, this is indeed Mi Fu's true handiwork, must have spent a lot of silver, right? Zhu Zhishan waited until his friends finished reading Mi Fu's words, and then said to the students standing below with a gratifying face.

"Students prepare birthday gifts for teachers, naturally can not be sloppy, and even if it costs more money, can buy a pair of Mi Fu's real handwritings, it is worth it!" Hearing the teacher's praise, the student named Liangkuan said excitedly. His family is a well-known wealthy businessman in Suzhou City, as long as he can make the teacher happy, he doesn't care how much money he spends.

Zhu Zhishan also knew the situation at Lu Daoliangkuan's house, and the other party was his own student, so he asked people to put the words away, and then take them out to appreciate when they were free in the future, and then other students came forward to offer birthday gifts.

Zhu Zhishan is famous for calligraphy in Suzhou, so many young students want to come to the door to apprentice, but although Zhu Zhishan has an easy-going temperament, and often points out the shortcomings of others' calligraphy, he is still very strict with accepting disciples, plus some disciples have already become officials, so there are only seven students who give birthday gifts in person today.

These students are rich and poor, and the birthday gifts are also different, rich students such as Liangkuan, send are precious calligraphy, painting and antiques, etc., the birthday gifts sent by students without money are very ordinary, and even some people only send a birthday message written by themselves, Zhu Zhishan did not dislike it at all, and still smiled and praised a few words to accept, for him, no matter what these birthday gifts are, they are a piece of the student's heart, as long as the mind arrives, it doesn't matter if the gift is expensive or low.

Soon it was Xu Shenzhong's turn to send the birthday gift he had prepared, only to see him take a few steps forward, bow down to Zhuzhishan and say: "Congratulations to the teacher Songhe for a long time, the disciple's congratulatory gift for the teacher is a book manuscript, because the time is in a hurry, the most copied by the disciple and two friends respectively, so it is a birthday gift for the three of us, but unfortunately they are far away in Songjiang, unable to come to Suzhou, specially let the disciple to congratulate the teacher on their birthday!" ”

"Oh? Manuscript? Zhu Zhishan was a little surprised when he heard this, and immediately took the box containing the manuscript in Ji Shenzhong and put it on the table, and then opened it gently, and there were three big characters - "Journey to the West".

"This ...... Could it be that this is the manuscript of Journey to the West that caused countless people to rush to copy during this time? Tang Bohu, who was next to Zhuzhi Mountain, was also very surprised when he saw the name of the manuscript. Tang Bohu is a middle-aged man in his thirties, elegant and handsome, but his spirit does not look very good.

Tang Bohu is ten years younger than Zhu Zhishan, only thirty-four years old this year, it can be said that he is in the golden age of a man, but because of the examination room fraud case four years ago, his road to the imperial examination has been completely blocked, and his wife at home has also left him, which has hit Tang Bohu hard, and his mood and personality have also changed. Therefore, the spirit is naturally not much better.

"That's right, this is the manuscript of Journey to the West!" I saw Zhu Zhishan pick up the manuscripts in the box and read them a few times, and suddenly found that something was wrong, "Hey, how can there be so many manuscripts, isn't there only the first ten episodes of this Journey to the West?" ”

With the circulation of storytellers and Zhou Chong's release of the first ten manuscripts, now Journey to the West is no longer limited to Songjiang, but to Nanjing, Suzhou and other places, and has caused huge repercussions among the people and readers, especially those who read, are vying to copy the first ten manuscripts of Journey to the West, but unfortunately because the time is too short, there are not many manuscripts circulated, so many readers have no place to copy if they want to.

Zhu Zhishan and Tang Bohu only read the manuscript from a friend, and both of them loved the book very much, and even stayed at that friend's house for a few days without going out, and read it ten times before coming back. Now that they have got the manuscript of Journey to the West, they are all very happy, and the other people at the table have also heard of the name of Journey to the West, so they have gathered around to watch.

Seeing that several elders showed their love for the manuscript, Xu Shenzhong explained with a smile: "Teacher Qiyu, some time ago, the student went to Songjiang to visit his father, and happened to meet the author of Journey to the West, this person's surname is Zhou's name is Wenda, and he is a talented young handsomeman, and the student and Wenda hit it off at first sight, so they copied the manuscript of Journey to the West to him......"

Xu Shenzhong told Zhu Zhishan about his acquaintance with Zhou Chong, as well as copying Journey to the West with Zheng Jing and Zhou Chong, especially when everyone here heard that there were thirty times of these manuscripts, which were more than half of the ones circulating on the market, and aroused the envy of countless people.

Just when Xu Shenzhong was in the limelight at the birthday banquet with Journey to the West, in front of the Zhou Mansion in Songjiang City, a carriage that looked very ordinary stopped there, Zhou Zhong carried a burden in his hand, waved goodbye to Steward Xu standing on the steps, and then stepped into the carriage, and with the whip of the coachman, the carriage slowly left the Zhou Mansion.

PS: Today is the first day of Sanjiang, I hope that book friends who have Sanjiang tickets in their hands can vote for Lao Yu, thank you!