Ryukyu is not much bigger than a county in the Ming Dynasty, and the prince of Ryukyu is equivalent to the son of the county order, and now he is still under the fence, so this Ryukyu prince Shangfeng is very humble, and when he saw Zhang Yuan and the two brothers coming over, he stood aside and bowed his hand, Zhang Yuan and Zhang Dai naturally wanted to return the gift, and the official of the Gongyuan urged: "Go quickly, go quickly, don't affect others' composition." ”

The three of them came to the "Zhigong Hall" and presented the examination papers, sitting in the hall was Li Weizhen, the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, Li Weizhen recognized Shang Feng, the prince of the Ryukyus, and immediately took Shang Feng's craftsmanship to see, but more than 300 words, he read it in a moment, nodded and said: "Shangsheng literature and science, calligraphy have considerable points, it can be seen that Ping said that he has put in the effort, it is rare." ”

After receiving Li Shangshu's praise, the Ryukyu prince Shang Feng was overjoyed, bowed down and said: "Thank you for your encouragement, the dean, the students must work hard to study, day and night." ”

Li Weizhen asked Shang Feng which hall he was studying in now, and Shang Feng replied that it was "Justice Hall", and Li Weizhen said: "Wait a minute, the old man said to Gu Xijiu, Shang Sheng can be promoted to Chongzhi Hall-okay, you can step down." ”

The Ryukyu prince Shang Feng was even more happy, thanked Dean Li, and was about to step back, when he suddenly heard Dean Li in the hall say in surprise: "You are Zhang Yuan?" ”

When Shang Feng raised his eyes, he saw Dean Li looking at the two young scholars beside him, one of the young scholars took a half step forward, bowed down and said, "Student Shanyin Zhang Yuan Zhang Jiezi, please meet Dean Li." ”

"San'in Zhangyuan!"

Shang Feng, as the prince of the domain, likes to inquire about the current affairs of the Ming Dynasty, such as the change of cabinet ministers, military and political trends, major events in various places, various rumors, and even what clothes and utensils are popular among the people of the Ming Dynasty recently, he wants to understand, Zhang Yuan has been in the limelight recently, it can be said that there is no other thing for a while, Shang Feng naturally heard Zhang Yuan's name and deeds, and was very interested, but he didn't expect to meet it, but he was such a gentle young scholar, I can't see the arrogance of a hundred people who violently pour Dong in response, it's really unseemly--At this time, Gu Qiyuan, the southern priest wine, came out, and Li Weizhen said: "Gu sacrificed wine, the first one on the left is Zhang Yuan——"

Gu Qiyuan glanced at Zhang Yuan, and said quietly: "Did Dean Li read his exam papers?" ”

Li Weizhen smiled: "I haven't had time to see it yet." Immediately unfolded a list of scrolls, a small round and beautiful show, although it is not excellent, but it is decent, blameless, "um" sounded, read the question: "Infer the things and hearts of benevolence, and each has its own specialty-" asked Gu Qiyuan sideways: "Gu sacrificial wine is a famous artist, how is Zhang Yuan's problem?" ”

Gu Qiyuan said: "It's still novel-Dean Li will take a break and wait for the next official to read it." ”

Although the Nanjing Ministry of Rites has no real power, the grade is the same as that of Yanjing's Ministry of Rites, it is a high-ranking official of the second grade, and Gu Qiyuan, the southern supervisor of the sacrificial wine, is the fourth grade, of course, he must call himself a subordinate official - Gu Qiyuan took the examination paper and read: "Covering ghosts and gods is also the existence of righteousness, and it is difficult to obtain the test and the first thing to do is not existing, this is the matter of knowing benevolence and desire." And there are people in the world, and their quantities are incomprehensible, and the accumulation of their life skills must not be mixed with their ways——"

Thinking of this, Gu Qiyuan paused slightly, and Li Weizhen praised his head: "The beginning of this article is considerable, and this son is worthy of his name." ”

Gu Qiyuan smiled slightly and continued: "...... Accustomed to the festival of the monarch and the minister, the father and son, so that it does not move to a foreign body, and the right can be kept; Swim in the path of poetry, books, rituals, and music, so that you are not confused by different words, and virtue can be achieved and art can also be observed...... If this is the case, a word is pragmatic and righteous, and a word is difficult first, if it is not reasonable, it is not enough to know, and if it is not selfish, it is not enough to be benevolent, and it is not easy to say that it is benevolent. ”

Gu Qiyuan finished reading, Li Weizhen looked at Gu Qiyuan, and waited for Gu Qiyuan to comment, although Li Weizhen was older than Gu Qiyuan and had a high official position, but Gu Qiyuan was the first in the Wuxu Branch Examination, the palace test flower, and entered the Hanlin Academy, Li Weizhen was the twenty-fifth in the second class of Wuchen Branch, and the officialdom of the late Ming Dynasty was very particular about this. The second class is lower than the first class, but the difference between the prison and the jinshi is not as obvious, so Li Weizhen has to see how Gu Qiyuan evaluates first-Gu Qiyuan has Jiao Hong asked to take care of Zhang Yuan, at this time, it is not good to praise Zhang Yuan, and said politely: "Let's still comment on Dean Li." ”

Li Weizhen was no longer polite, and said: "This article is closely related to knowledge and benevolence, repeated and smooth, and combines Su Shi's arrogance and Zeng Gong's simplicity, discussing unique customs, and having the ambition of ups and downs - what do you think of Gu Sai Wine?" ”

Gu Qiyuan said with a smile: "Dean Li praised him too much, this son is only seventeen years old, how dare he compare with Su Shi and Zeng Gong." He said to Zhang Yuan: "I haven't thanked Dean Li for his praise." ”

Zhang Yuan hurriedly thanked Li Weizhen, knowing in his heart Gu Qiyuan's care for him.

Gu Qiyuan looked at Zhang Dai's craftsmanship again, nodded, praised them twice, and waved them to retreat.

Li Weizhen said: "Jiao Taishi's disciple is really extraordinary, and he is righteous and magnificent, which is rare!" ”

Gu Qiyuan said: "The fame of a young man does more harm than good, this son is too sharp, because of the matter of Huating Dong Hanlin, he has a mixed reputation in the southern capital, since he came to Guozi to study, I should guide him well." ”

Li Weizhen said: "Gu Xijiu presides over the Southern Prison, when there is a new atmosphere, the next year will be examined, and the Southern Prison should not be as depressed as in previous years." ”

After Jiajing, the Nanjing Guozijian will try the Chinese style to decrease year by year, in recent years it is even less like the morning star, far inferior to the Shuntianfu Guozijian - Gu Qiyuan said: "These officials surveyed the geography of the mountains and rivers around the Nanjian, and learned that 50 years ago, there was a high Fu behind the Mingde Hall of the Guozijian, and then it was leveled by Chen Gongfengwu of the Imperial History and built a Zunjing Pavilion. ”

Late Mingshi doctors are good at talking about easy reason, fate, and Kanyu, Gu Qiyuan is proficient in the Xuannu house scripture technique, Li Weizhen didn't feel that what Gu Qiyuan said was ridiculous, and said: "Then how about demolishing the Zun Jing Pavilion?" ”

Gu Qiyuan said with a smile: "Both built, and then demolished, for fear of disaster, the South Jian Confucian Temple sits on the dry to Xun, the Mingde Hall behind the temple, the Zun Jing Pavilion behind the hall, the two doors are subject to the dry gold of the Ke, when a high pavilion is set up in the South Jian Kan, it is called 'Qingyun Pavilion', it should be higher than the Zun Jing Pavilion, in order to vent the gold of the dry, and then build a star pavilion in the position, so that the two trees of Zhenxun make a fire, in order to send a show of civilization, the screen wall in the Taixue Gate should be removed, so, within three years, the South Prison will have a first and first. ”

Within three years, the first and first, that is to say, in the spring of the following year, there will be the champion among the prisoners, the list of eyes or the flowers——...... Where would Zhang Yuan know that Li Shangshu and Gu Xijiu were talking about the feng shui of the country, for the feng shui of fate, Zhang Yuan was holding a respectful and distant attitude, people are arrogant to win the sky, and it is boring to resign themselves to fate, both of them go to extremes, he just works hard to do his own thing, Mencius said, "Seeking things is in people, and success is in heaven", as for the results of his efforts, it is not something he can control, like Wen Zhenmeng, who participated in ten examinations, the first nine times fell to Sun Shan, and the tenth time he became the champion of Dakui, Could it be that Wen Zhenmeng suddenly advanced in the sage possession article during the tenth examination? Of course not, this is luck - walking into the aisle of Mingyuan Building from the Lieyue, it was shady, and the Ryukyu prince Shangfeng quickly chased after him, and arched his hand: "Two brothers, Ryukyu Shangfeng is polite." ”

Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan returned the salute and said: "Shanyin Zhang Dai (Shanyin Zhang Yuan) has seen His Royal Highness the Prince. ”

Shang Feng hurriedly said: "The two brothers Zhang must not be called like this, they are people who are humiliated by the country, they are allowed to study in Jinling by the grace of the country, and they are willing to be the people of the country, and they dare not call themselves the princes of the feudal kingdoms." ”

Shang Feng's words were extremely humble, more modest than ordinary prisoners.

Zhang Yuan was quite surprised when he heard Shang Feng say "the humiliation of the country's destruction", and thought: "Could it be that Ryukyu has been invaded and occupied?" When we met for the first time, I didn't want to ask carefully, so I said: "Okay, I'll be commensurate with brothers, it's noon, can Brother Shang be willing to appreciate his face and go to have a drink or two together?" ”

Shang Feng was overjoyed, although he was the prince of the Ryukyus, but not the prince, living in Jinling, helpless, from the officials of the six departments to the prisoners, he was lukewarm, few people took the initiative to associate with him, this Zhang Yuan was talented and famous, but he was so polite to him, which made Shang Feng overjoyed, and said busily: "Since I should be in the next treat, although it is a foreign domain, but at the beginning of the year I arrived in Jinling, the two Zhang brothers have just arrived, and they should be treated under it." ”

During the greetings, Shang Feng's two courtiers also handed over the volume out of the house, trotted to catch up with Shang Feng, Shang Feng introduced him to the Zhang brothers These two courtiers, one is called Cai Qixiang and the other is called Lin Zhaoqing, both of whom are in their twenties, quite a fierce color, Cai Qixiang said to Zhang Yuan and Zhang Dai: "In Putian, Fujian, the ancestor is Su Huang Mi Cai's Cai Bachelor. ”

Lin Zhaoqing said: "In Quanzhou, Fujian, the ancestor is Mr. Lin Hejing, the ancestor of the plum wife and crane. ”

It is not uncommon for descendants to climb the ancestors of the previous generation of people with the same name, Shang Feng said: "Emperor Hongwu was invited by the first king of our country to enter Ryukyu with the thirty-six surnames of Fujian, and the Ming Dynasty is the state of my parents in Ryukyu. ”

Zhang Yuan invited Cai and Lin to drink together, and the five of them went out of the Longmen of the Gongyuan, but saw that Zhang Cao had been waiting outside for a long time with Fu'er and Feng Hu, Zhang Cao opened his mouth and said: "The house has been rented, barely able to live, I have asked Laifu and Nengzhu to buy new ones, and the house under Jiming Mountain is being sprinkled and weeded, and it will be ready to move in tomorrow." ”

Shang Feng and the three of them hurriedly greeted Zhang Cao, Zhang Cao also likes to make friends, as long as he does not provoke him, he is very righteous, I heard that Shang Feng is the prince of the Ryukyus, and said with a smile: "Today, it is interesting to make a prince - Brother Shang, how about inviting a few of my brothers to visit your country in the future?" ”

Shang Feng said: "As long as Xian Kunzhong is willing to appreciate his face, he can't ask for it." ”

Gongyuan Longmen is not far away, is the small Qinhuai River, this is a tributary of the Qinhuai River, bifurcated at the Wuding Bridge, crossed the Taiping Bridge and re-entered the mainstream, this section of the river flows through the most prosperous place in Jinling, the so-called Gongyuan and the old courtyard across the river, refers to this section of the river - standing in the shade of the trees on the bank of the Qinhuai River, Zhang Cao pointed to the Zhulan Qiyuan and the terrace water building on the opposite bank with a folding fan, and said: "How about we go to visit Wang Wei in the Youlan Pavilion, the girl said that she wanted to invite us to drink, the three brothers, let's go together, ask the boatman to know where the Youlan Pavilion is." ”

Zhang Dai and Zhang Cao are all interested, Shang Feng and the three of them are looking at each other, Shang Feng has been in Jinling for half a year, so he naturally knows what the Youlan Pavilion is, with his current embarrassing identity, it is really not suitable to set foot in the land of fireworks.

Zhang Yuan intended to befriend this Ryukyu prince and said: "Eldest brother, third brother, you two go to find Wang Xiuwei, and I will accompany the three brothers to drink and talk in the restaurant here." ”

Shang Feng's face suddenly turned happy.

Zhang Cao said: "That's it, Youlan Pavilion will go back in the evening, and then accompany Brother Shang to have a few drinks." ”

A few people traveled north along the Qinhuai River for half a mile, and went to a restaurant called Xidenke, with good Huzhou fine wine, Jinling anchovies, salted ducks, plate ducks, and Jinling's famous snacks "Seven Wonders" and "Eight Uniques", which were full of a table, Cai Qixiang and Lin Zhaoqing did not dare to sit at the same table with the prince Shangfeng, and were glared at by Shangfeng, so they obediently attended.

After three rounds of wine, Shang Feng and the Zhang brothers became acquainted, and there were many words, Zhang Yuan learned that in the 37th year of Wanli, the Daimyo Shimazu clan of Kagoshima sent his retainer Kayama Hisadaka to invade Ryukyu with 3,000 troops, and captured more than 100 people including Shang Ning, the father of Shang Feng, to Kagoshima, and imprisoned for nearly four years, forcing King Shang Ning to cede the five northern islands of Ryukyu, and also to pay tribute to Kagoshima every year, Ryukyu since the five years of Hongwu to the Ming Dynasty, every two years to send envoys to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, all the Ryukyu kings have to ask the Ming Emperor to canonize, The Ming Dynasty rewarded the Ryukyus with far more property than the Ryukyu tribute, Zhu Yuanzhang let the 36 surnames of Fujian immigrate to the Ryukyus not to invade the Ryukyus, but at the request of the Ryukyu king, sent the past are skilled craftsmen, to help the Ryukyu people develop agriculture, handicrafts, Chinese monarchs are extraordinarily magnanimous to foreign vassals, in order to show the grandeur of the great country are to ask for less and reward a lot, what is to be a suzerain, but the Shimazu clan of Kagoshima wants the Ryukyuan people to pay tribute is not just a name, Every year, the Shimazu clan recruited thousands of people from the Ryukyus to serve in Kagoshima, and the Ryukyu king paid tribute to sea fish, bear's paws, medicinal herbs, and minerals...... Anyway, as long as Ryukyu Island produces something, the Shimazu clan will ask for something, extremely greedy———— King Shangning endured humiliation, four years ago he sent Chen Qingtong to Yanjing to ask for help from the Wanli Emperor, but the minister Ye Xianggao discussed it with the ministers of the Ministry of War, and felt that Ryukyu was far overseas, and the whip was out of reach, even if the sailor was sent to help the Ryukyu King drive away those Japanese invaders, but the Ming Sailor could not live in Ryukyu for a long time, once he returned to China, those Japanese would make a comeback, and the Japanese would be close to Ryukyu and could not be prevented, Wanli's 20-year war to aid the Ming Dynasty and drive out the Ming Dynasty greatly hurt the vitality, Ryukyu to the Ming Dynasty, of course, far less important than Korea, so Ye Xianggao only had good words for the Ryukyu envoys to send them back to China - Ryukyu since the sixteenth year of Hongwu often sent officials and students to Nanjing Guozijian to study, Nanjing Guozijian has a special accommodation for Ryukyu students Guangzhetang, Shangning's second son Shangfeng hated the Shimazu clan's conquest in the Ryukyus, so last year he asked King Shangning to come to the southern capital of the Ming Dynasty to study and make friends, These may be helpful to the Ryukyus in the future, Shang Feng is unwilling to be enslaved by the Japanese, but in Jinling, through the interaction with the Ming prisoners, Shang Feng found that the vast majority of the prisoners have no interest in the Ryukyus, only when talking about the Japanese will follow a few scolding, that's all, Zhang Yuan is the first person Shang Feng met in Jinling who has a strong interest in the Ryukyus, and Zhang Yuan's insight makes Shang Feng very surprised, Zhang Yuan is very familiar with the geographical location of the Ryukyus, and the relationship between the Ming and the Ming Dynasty, although Zhang Yuan is just a prisoner, no power and no power, I can't help Ryukyu, but I can't help it, but to meet such a Ming Zhusheng who understands and sympathizes with Ryukyu has made Shang Feng feel quite comforted - and for Zhang Yuan, helping Ryukyu fight against the Japanese is not in his goal, his most certain goal is to make the Ming Dynasty Guozuo more long-term, and never let the Manchus enter the Central Plains, but it must be beneficial and harmless to make a good friend of the Ryukyu prince, one more friend and one more way, as long as it is not an enemy, then try to win over to be friends - Zhang Dai and Zhang Cao listened to Zhang Yuan and Shang Feng talk, I was drowsy when I heard it, and I didn't understand why Jie Zi was so interested in talking so speculatively with this prince of an overseas domain!

After enduring for an hour, Zhang Cao got up and said: "Okay, full of wine and food, Brother Shang, we will see you again, we will all be classmates in the future, there are many opportunities to meet, we will talk again, we will talk again." ”

Shang Feng is also a very knowledgeable person, knowing that Zhang Yuan's two clan brothers are in a hurry to visit Mingji, so he got up and said: "Today, I can see the three of Xian Kunzhong, and we are fortunate in the next three lives, so we will meet again." Ordered Cai Qixiang to settle the bill, but said that Zhang Cao's little servant Fu'er had already paid the bill, and Shang Feng said "ashamed", so he had to change his name and invite the Zhang brothers again.

Shang Feng and the three of them returned to the Guangzhe Hall of the National Son, it was the end of the afternoon, although the scorching sun had slanted westward, but the silver power was not reduced, the heat was pressing, Zhang Yuan and his party of five got on a small boat and went to the old courtyard on the opposite bank.

The old courtyard is the early Ming Dynasty set up the teaching workshop Si Fu Le Yuan, known as the song, the front door to the Wuding Bridge, the back door is in the banknote street, the memory of the family is rows, than the house and live, the song in the memory of the house and other places of the Qinglou Courtyard is very different, the song in the memory of the family is often the bustard mother raising two or three daughters, some are biological, some are adopted daughters, a family of the family only so three or two women, instead of a large group of people lined up on the corridor of the warbler Yanyan and other scoop guests picked, the old courtyard song is equivalent to a place of exchange, the poetry of the scribe will like to come here, Businessmen also like to come here to talk about business, there is a name around, the atmosphere is very different, can make the guests and hosts happy, fun and forget, but not as chaotic, not the kind of later generations to go straight to the skin and meat business - Zhang Yuan brothers three ashore, according to the boatman's instructions, to the Vermilion Bird Bridge, only to see the river house carved fence painting building, Qi window silk barrier, bead curtain half rolled, wonderful song when smelling, strange and beautiful grass, charming people want to get drunk, Zhang Cao praised: "It is really the first prosperous place in the world, do not come to the old courtyard for a visit, in vain." ”

After crossing a stone bridge, dozens of steps along the courtyard wall, he suddenly smelled the aroma of Jianlan, and Zhang Yuan said: "This is the Youlan Pavilion." ”

Fu'er went to knock on the door, knocked for a long time, and a boy with hair came to answer the door, it was Xue Tong, and said with a smile: "It's unfortunate that the three ministers came, my girl is not in the hall, but please come in and have a cup of tea——"

(To be continued)