Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 415: Deer Singing Banquet at Jiuqu Cong Temple

Riding a horse in a parade is a spectacular event.

Even the scholars who walked behind received less attention and cheers.

However, many of the onlookers were unable to move with the procession and would instead stay behind to comment on the scholars following behind.

This was enough to make them feel a little tipsy and full of themselves.

But as he walked, a faint sound floated into the ears of Tanhua Lu Chengze on the wind.

"What? This third place is far inferior to the first place."

"That's right. Compared with the No. 1 scholar, this No. 3 scholar doesn't look good at all."

"Isn't it said that the most handsome young man among the Jinshi candidates is chosen as the Tanhua candidate? Is that it?"

"I like the No. 1 Scholar! I like the No. 1 Scholar! If I could follow the No. 1 Scholar, live happily for one night and then die, I would be willing to do that!"

Who?
How dare you say such shocking words?
Oh, it’s a brothel girl, that’s okay.

Lu Chengze's face gradually became ugly.

"Does a man need to care about his appearance? What matters is his inner qualities and talent! Who would think a man is ugly? You are just a bunch of unsophisticated people who are not presentable!"

The winner of the third place in the imperial examination is shouting in his heart!
Although he is not handsome, he is actually not ugly.

The problem is that, as the third place in the imperial examination, people already have expectations of him in terms of appearance.

And he happened to be standing next to Yang Yuan, who was very handsome.

It would have been better if there was no comparison, but such a direct comparison would highlight his appearance problems.

And when Lu Chengze's face turned blue, his lips pursed, and his brows furrowed, it was even worse.

She had an ordinary appearance to begin with, but now it looked a little ugly.

This was even more disappointing when compared with Yang Yuan, the young, handsome and energetic top scholar.

Walking along the way, riding a horse in a parade is a very honorable thing.

But for Lu Tanhua, it turned into a nightmare in which he was constantly humiliated along the way.

……

The Ministry of Rites held a Deer Ming Banquet at the Honglu Temple, and the chief examiner, deputy chief examiner, paper reader, paper receiving officer, paper holder, supervisor, and inspector during the "Ministry of Rites Examination" all attended.

"Palace examination officials" during the palace examination, such as Zhang Xiaoxiang, also came to the banquet.

As the top scholar, Yang Yuan sat alone.

The second and third place winners sat at one table, and the other new scholars sat at one table for four.

After everyone sat down, they sat upright and properly, only whispering to the people around them, not daring to speak loudly.

Because the emperor is coming.

Yang Yuan, who was the leader, sat there without anyone to talk to. He felt a bit lonely at the top.

After a moment, the official in charge of ceremonies shouted: "The emperor has arrived, the King of Jin has arrived..."

All the examiners and scholars stood up to welcome the emperor and the Prince of Jin.

The emperor and the prince of Jin sat at the same table, but the emperor sat in the middle, facing the ministers, while the prince of Jin sat on the side, accompanying him.

Zhao Yuan seemed to be in a good mood. He said a few words of encouragement to the new scholars with a smile on his face, and then announced the start of a banquet.

This time's banquet is not like the working dinner in the palace last time.

The table was full of fruits and food, all of which were delicacies.

As the emperor, Zhao Yuan first raised his glass and gave fine wine to 157 Jinshi candidates.

All the scholars raised their glasses and drank.

Then, Zhao Yuan bestowed wine on Yang Yuan alone. The eunuch came forward and poured wine for Yang Yuan. Yang Yuan thanked the emperor and then drank the glass of wine.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, do you have a letter?"

Yang Yuan's heart moved, and the next moment he saw the Goose King secretly glanced at him, and he knew that something good was going to happen.

Yang Yuan hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I haven't chosen a name yet."

Zhao Yuan said: "In this case, I will give you a name."

The emperor bestowed a name on Yang Yuan. This time, not only the scholars were envious, but also the ministers were very envious.

However, even if they passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer, it would be useless because they had already chosen a name.

Zhao Yuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "How about I give you 'Zi Yue'?"

Yang Yuan didn't have time to think about it, and immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for the gift of calligraphy."

After hearing this, others couldn't help but think about it.

The word "zi" is a commonly used honorific title and also a supporting word.

Because a single surname's courtesy name usually needs to be read together with the surname, it still doesn't sound close enough.

When using two characters as courtesy names, people often add a "zi" or a "zhi" in the courtesy name. In addition to the original meaning of this character being very good, its greater function is to set off the rhyme of another character.

So the other word is the most important.

Another character given to Yang Yuan by the government was "Yue".

Yue is a tall and strong mountain!
Yang Yuan’s real name is “Yuan”, and “Yuan” means the water of Yuan River.

And you can interpret this mountain in various ways.

In addition, Yang Yuan had spoken before the emperor during the palace examination and redressed the injustice done to General Yue Fei.

Now that the government has given him the character "Yue", is there any other meaning?

It was unclear whether Zhao Yuan had other meanings, but in just a short period of time, the ministers and scholars had already made countless interpretations.

The candidates had done their homework in advance and knew that when the emperor gave them the third cup of wine, it would be time for him to leave.

Therefore, at this time, everyone raised their glasses and toasted the official.

Of course, Yang Yuan was still the leader, this was the privilege of the top scholar. After Yang Yuan finished his toast, the King of Jin Zhao Yu suddenly laughed and said, "Ziyue, you were chosen as the top scholar by the emperor, why don't you write a poem to thank the emperor for his grace?"

Yang Yuan had done his homework before attending the Lu Ming Banquet.

Shishi had already prepared a "poem of gratitude" for her little man.

"Poems of Gratitude" are too limited and have nothing to express, so they are just praising the merits and thanking the king for his grace.

Therefore, even though the poems of the great scholars of the Tang and Song dynasties were almost all masterpieces, the "poems of gratitude" they wrote were only mediocre, and there were no popular masterpieces passed down to later generations.

But Yang Yuan knew his own business. What he lacked was the foundation of classical Chinese literature, and his weakest point was poetry and songs.

After becoming the top scholar, he would inevitably have to drink and feast with others and compose impromptu poems.

Even an impromptu drinking game requires a lot of knowledge.

What will he do then?
It’s better to establish a personal profile from the beginning: I am not good at poetry.

Moreover, a poem of his has been hung in "Between Water and Clouds".

In the morning at the gate of the Imperial College, he presented another poem to the runner-up Xiao Yiran. No one would think that he couldn't write poetry.

Therefore, Yang Yuan said solemnly: "I, your Excellency, would like to thank you for your grace with my official reputation and achievements!"

When Zhao Yuan heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He was a pragmatic emperor who also believed that poetry was just a minor matter.

As far as culture is concerned, it is a treasure.

But it is of no use at all in governing the country and managing the world.

Haven’t you seen that Emperors Huizong and Qinzong were both masters of poetry and painting? What about Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who was a master of poetry?
When Zhao Yuan ascended the throne at a young age, it was the time when he worked hard to govern the country, and naturally he attached great importance to actual results.

Yang Yuan's words touched his heart, and Zhao Yuan praised: "Good! What Ziyue said is exactly what I want. I will build you a stone archway with four pillars, three rooms and three floors, with dragons coiled on the pillars!"

Yang Yuan quickly expressed his gratitude.

Lu Tanhua, who was reciting a "poem of gratitude" silently in the back and preparing to toast, was furious.

You have been asked to do all the good things and say all the good words, so Lu’s “poem of gratitude” was prepared in vain.

If I write another poem, wouldn't it mean that I don't want to repay the emperor's kindness with my official reputation and achievements?
The emperor then accepted toasts from the scholars. With Yang Yuan's unique answer in mind, everyone's toasts became quite conventional and unremarkable.

After Zhao Yuan drank a few glasses of wine, he gave wine to all the Jinshi candidates again.

This means that the emperor is about to step down.

The fact that the emperor could come to the "Luming Banquet" was a great honor to the Jinshi scholars.

Many times, the emperor would entrust the prime minister to host the "Lu Ming Banquet" on his behalf.

The prime minister also came, said some polite words, drank a few glasses of wine and left.

On the one hand, even if a newly-minted scholar is the top scorer in the imperial examination, although it is glorious, his status and position are still far from that of a prime minister.

Decades ago, he was also a Jinshi, so could he accompany you to drink happily?

Besides, the gap between their official status is too big. If he really sits here, the scholars will not be able to enjoy themselves.

As soon as the emperor and the Prince of Jin left, the older examiners, including the Minister of Rites Qu Mo, also left one after another.

However, this kind of official banquet is organized by personnel from the four departments and six bureaus dispatched by the imperial court, so there is no need to worry about it being a dull occasion.

The official prostitutes were then summoned to sing and dance for the scholars.

At this time, Yang Yuan, the top scholar, became the target of everyone's toasts.

Lu Chengze, the third place winner in the imperial examination, had a different stance from Yang Yuan. He was compared to Yang Yuan before and suffered humiliation during the horse-riding parade. He had no chance to show off the poem of gratitude he had carefully prepared, and he felt quite resentful towards Yang Yuan.

He then called a group of his classmates to come forward and take turns to toast Yang Yuan.

The runner-up Xiao Yiran knew something was wrong as soon as he saw it. The third-place winner Lu had bad intentions.

If the top scholar got drunk and made a fool of himself in such an occasion, how could this matter not spread?

Xiao Bangyan immediately called another group of Jinshi to come forward to help Yang Yuan block the wine.

Then, he continued his efforts and led a group of Jinshi to launch a "counterattack" against Tanhua.

The Tanhua scholar is responsible for livening up the atmosphere and hosting the drinking party at the Qionglin Banquet and the Luming Banquet, and he cannot refuse the role.

It didn't take long for Lu Chengze to be drunk by Xiao Yiran and a group of Jinshi.

"She was only thirteen or fourteen years old, too shy to raise her head. The dancing colts were bright and clear, the singing deer were wailing. The incense was first to rise near the seat, and the jade was even softer when she held the cup. The people of Gaotang have gone far away, who can I talk about the romantic life with?"

The drunken Lu Tanhua looked at the graceful singing and dancing girls in their prime and could not help but applaud them and recite a poem.

That erotic scent really suits his status as the third place winner in the imperial examination.

As for Yang Yuan, he is a gentleman, a wise man who is invincible and never looks away.

At this time, as the list of new Jinshi scholars spread, the remarks made by the top scholar Yang Yuanjun in the prelude were compiled into an article and spread.

The "Lin'an Tabloid" compiled the full text of Yang Yuan's memorial into a piece and published it early this morning.

Is Yang Yuan's prelude to the imperial examination just an essay for his personal examination?
This stone has stirred up a thousand waves.

At one time, ministers in the court, retired officials, students of the Imperial Academy and the Imperial College, and prestigious scholars among the people all realized that the wind direction in the court seemed to be changing.

Inspired by this, those who had always felt aggrieved for General Yue Fei were ready to write to the imperial court and appeal to the people to redress the grievances for Yue Fei.

It’s just that the identities of the military generals are sensitive and it’s not easy for them to get involved in political affairs, but there are also many military generals who are looking forward to the moment of sunny day.

Outside Qiantang Gate in the northwest of Lin'an City, next to the Wang Xian Temple in Jiuqu Congci, there is a small solitary tomb with two orange trees planted on it.

There is a dilapidated small stone tablet in front of the tomb, on which is written "Tomb of Jia Yiren".

When the "Luming Banquet" was being held in the Honglu Temple, a man named Wei hobbled to the tomb carrying incense, candles and a fruit basket.

He cleared the weeds that grew on the small grave mound and placed offerings of fruit, incense and candles in front of the grave.

Then, he sat in front of the grave, hugged his knees, and stared at the grave for a long time, tears in his eyes, and said softly: "General Yue, I have good news for you. Your grievances may be vindicated!"

(End of this chapter)