After singing Lu Ming's poem, Chen Bin picked up the wine bottle and said, "Everyone has a full drink of this cup. I wish you a bright future!"
All the officials picked up the wine bottles in front of the case and said, "Thank you, sir, for the banquet!"
At the Luming Banquet, they sat at separate tables according to the local drinking ceremony, one seat for each person, and they were arranged in order according to the admission order. Jie Yuan sat at the head of the chief envoy and the examiners. Each table was set up before the banquet started.
The dishes at the Lu Ming Banquet were richer and more exquisite than the previous Hairpin Banquet. The chef began to prepare the dishes for the banquet a few days before the banquet. There were nearly twenty dishes at the banquet alone. Among the dishes to eat, the main course was even more abundant, with frosting, lamb, beef, roast goose, chicken in soup, preserved venison, etc. on the table.
After studying hard for decades, Han Chuang finally made it to the top of the list. Everyone present was very happy and high-spirited. There were only 40 or 50 people in attendance out of the 90 people present this time. This was mainly because it took half a year from the completion of the provincial examination to the release of the results. For months, many poor scholars, because they could not afford the fees in the provincial capital, hurried back to their hometowns after taking the exams, and had no choice but to miss the Lu Ming Banquet.
After Chen Bin finished speaking, the examiner Zhang Yuanzhen continued his speech, which was nothing more than quoting scriptures and encouraging the scholars to keep up their efforts. After that, the banquet officially opened.
Under the light of red candles as thick as a baby's arms, the banquet was filled with people drinking and drinking, melodious elegant music was played again, laughter and laughter gathered together, and the wine was full of wine. Of course, poems and prose to cheer up the banquet are indispensable for literati banquets.
Zhang Yuanzhen said: "Today is a feast given by God. The host and guest are all happy. I have always heard that there are many talented students in Fujian. What I saw in this review is indeed worthy of the reputation. I think the poems are as beautiful as the articles. Why not compose a poem? Mr. Zhang, What do you think?"
Zhang Bin replied: "Okay! Let's take bamboo as the title among the Four Gentlemen."
Lin Tingang saw that the chief envoy and the examiner were in high spirits. He had always been quick in thinking and gained something in a blink of an eye. He stood up and bowed and said: "There is no talent in sight, but I have gained a little. I hope my work can inspire others."
I heard a loud voice say: "The new bamboo branches are higher than the old bamboo branches, and they all rely on the support of the old branches. Next year there will be new ones, and the ten-foot-long dragon and grandson will surround the Phoenix Pond."
Zhang Yuanzhen nodded slightly and commented: "He has outstanding talents and is quite like his father."
Someone started to throw out his poems one after another. At this time, Li Jie was already hungry, his chest pressed to his back with hunger. He was competing with the delicious food on the table, and he had no intention of attending the poetry meeting. , he had no interest in poetry, so he did not delve deeply into it, and only wrote down some poems to respond to emergencies. There were only so many good poems in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and one was missing.
Zhang Yuanzhen saw that the poems and essays written by the other four people in Wu Jing Kui were quite good, but he only knew Yuan Lijie less, so he asked: "Xie Yuanlang, do you have any good works?"
When Li Jie heard the examiner's question, he knew that he couldn't escape this time. He pondered for a moment and said: "Stick to the green mountains and don't let go. The roots are still in the broken rocks. It has been strong despite countless blows, regardless of the east, west, north or south wind." "
After listening to Li Jie's poem, Zhang Bin said: "Okay! You can write such a poem in such a short time, you live up to your reputation!"
When everyone heard Li Jie's poems, they immediately felt that other people's poems were eclipsed and cheered one after another. Only Lin Tingang's poem in the field could compare with Xie Yuanlang's. The other poems were like grains of light, how could they compete with the bright moon.
After a few rounds of drinking, the Luming Banquet was about to end. Finally, Zhang Bin, the chief envoy, presented a ceremonial gift to the people present, which was used to finance their studies and to cover their travel expenses to Beijing to take the examination next year. Each person received 10 taels. silver.
10 taels was not considered a small amount at that time, and ordinary people could not save a few taels of silver a year after expenses. Although the Ming Dynasty stipulated that 1 tael of silver should be converted into 1,000 wen, in fact, only about 1,200 wen could be exchanged for 1 tael of silver. 10 taels It is almost more than 5,600 yuan today. One tael of silver can buy 1 stone of rice (188.8 jins), 30 dans of firewood (3,000 jins), 100 jins of salt, 150 jins of pork, and 3 pieces of fine cotton cloth (1 piece 10 feet, 33 meters).
These ten taels of silver are the icing on the cake. After all, after winning the imperial examination, the number of gifts sent by neighbors from far and near will be more than this amount. However, for some scholars who are currently strapped for cash, it can be regarded as a solution to their urgent needs.
At the end of the banquet, Li Jie was left alone by Chen Bin. The other scholars were all envious of him. Appreciation from a feudal official was very rare. Chen Bin was only fifty now, so he might be able to further his official career, such as Zuo Bu, the former Chief Secretary of Fujian. Political envoy Dai Shan was recently promoted to the right deputy imperial envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate (the Metropolitan Procuratorate is a central system, responsible for supervision, impeachment, and recommendations. It was developed from the Yushitai, and all governors are dispatched by the Metropolitan Procuratorate) , govern Yunyang and other places, and also supervise military affairs, manage one side, control the three local departments, and have great power.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a local administration department responsible for the administration of a province, a department responsible for judicial affairs, and a department responsible for military affairs. The administrative department, the administrative department, and the capital department were collectively called the three divisions (and the three divisions in the joint review of the three divisions). The departments are different, the Procuratorate, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Dali Temple are collectively called the Three Law Departments).
Zhang Bin led Li Jie to the side hall. After the two sat down, Zhang Bin's eyes suddenly turned into two sharp swords and stabbed straight at him, like a prey being stared at by a tiger. Li Jie stood on his back and his heartbeat was beating. Speeding up, subconsciously mobilizing the internal energy of the whole body, blowing the Confucian robe to a hunting sound.
Zhang Bin smiled and nodded when he saw Li Jie's reaction, his aura dissipated, and said: "Okay! Not only is he talented at such a young age, but he also has such profound skills. Mr. Baisha has taken on a good apprentice!"
After hearing Zhang Bin's words, Li Jie noticed that his back was already wet with cold sweat. Just now, Zhang Bin was so powerful that Li Jie thought he really wanted to kill him. After a while, he might not be able to help but fight back. Fortunately, Just to test, he calmed down and then said.
"Thanks to Sir Miao Zan, the students are just taking the first step."
Zhang Bin said: "Since I said goodbye to Mr. Baisha in the capital 10 years ago, I have never seen him again. I remember when Mr. Baisha was in the capital and had a verbal battle with the Confucian scholars. He fought against the world by himself, defeated the enemy in a single battle, and finally drifted away. I wonder how Mr. Baisha is doing now?"
"Oh? The teacher has never mentioned this past incident. Now the teacher concentrates on teaching and educating people, and is quite happy."
Zhang Bin nodded slightly, and then said: "I have nothing special to offer you, and I don't have much to give you as a greeting gift. Seeing that your martial arts breakthrough is imminent, I will tell you my experience in breaking through, hoping it will be helpful to you."
"The Way of Heaven is like stretching a bow! Those who are high suppress it, those who are low lift it up, those who have more are damaged, and those who are deficient are given it. The way of Heaven is to make up for the deficiencies by making up for the deficiencies. This is not the case with the way of humanity. If there are deficiencies, there will be more." . . ”
Zhang Bin's voice struck Li Jie's heart like a bell, and the internal energy that was already ready to move began to move spontaneously with the realization. He heard Li Jie sitting cross-legged behind him, hugging Yuan Shouyi, and his inner breath was like a volcano erupting, moving toward Ren. The pulse spurted away, and the pass that was usually like the Great Steel Wall was like paper under the impact of this internal energy. It broke through, and its momentum continued to charge towards the Du Vein. Unfortunately, after a few impacts, Returned without success after several attempts.
