Qingjing Palace.
After the banquet, Li Jie left Kou Zhun alone and invited him to the Qingjing Hall for communication.
"Mr. Kou, I think back in those days, it was here that I received the title of Yuangui. In the blink of an eye, four years have passed, and everything has changed."
Perhaps because of his age, Kou Zhun suddenly felt sad when he saw the officials' slightly childish faces and the scene's layout as before.
Things are different and people are not the same.
"The old minister vaguely remembers that the official family at that time was only this high."
As he spoke, Kou Zhun stretched out his hand to indicate the height.
"In a blink of an eye, I have grown up now."
This sentence is a pun, which not only shows that Li Jie is as tall as an adult, but also implicitly expresses that Li Jie's current behavior is not like a child.
After saying this, Kou Zhun picked up the wine bottle on the table and took a sip.
"Mr. Kou, although the wine is good, don't be greedy."
As Li Jie spoke, he waved to Liu Maoqin who was standing aside, and Liu Maoqin took out a handwritten letter from his arms.
Taking the handwritten letter, Li Jie spread it out.
"Before leaving, the husband of the Kou family specially gave it to Mao Qin."
Kou Zhun laughed when he saw this: "How can Kou Sui understand the joy in a cup?"
"Mao Qin, I will go to the Hanlin Academy tomorrow and order Lanzhang Academy to send some imperial doctors to the Kou Mansion."
Li Jie himself is a master of medicine. Although he did not take the pulse and diagnose it himself, he could see the hidden dangers in Kou Zhun's body just by looking at it.
Drinking is the most harmful thing to the body. Kou Zhun is already old and drinks heavily all the year round. It would be strange if he doesn't have any health problems.
Fortunately, Kou Zhun takes good care of himself, so the problem shouldn't be a big problem. If he can get proper treatment and live for another five or six years, it probably won't be a problem.
"yes."
Liu Maoqin quickly claimed yes.
Hearing this, Kou Zhun pouted, wanting to say something, but in the end he swallowed his words back. After all, the officials had good intentions, so there was no need to freeze.
Next, Li Jie and Kou Zhun chatted for a while about the current situation in Luoyang, and while chatting, they talked about Zhang Fangping, the child prodigy of Yingtian Academy.
"Kou Lao was also known as a child prodigy when he was young. He became a Yonghuashan master at the age of seven."
"Only the sky is above, not to mention the mountains. The sun is approaching when you look up, and the white clouds are low when you look back."
"Even if we look at it for a hundred years, this poem is still a famous masterpiece."
"It's just a humble work from my youth, and it doesn't deserve such high praise from officials."
Kou Zhun smiled slightly, showing rare humility.
"As the officials said, poetry is just a small way of thinking, especially the poetry in the imperial examinations. They are all piled up prose, which is of no benefit to the country or to people."
Generally speaking, most of the poems in the imperial examinations are mainly about praising virtues and virtues. Words like "Shengde" and "Zhaosheng" are very repetitive.
In addition to such poems for examinations, the rest are either 'encouraging learning' or praising the 'imperial examination system'.
All in all, poetry in the imperial examinations is clearly defined, and very few people use poetry to express their ambitions in the imperial examinations.
After all, the risk is too high.
In fact, there are already people in the scholar community calling for a change in this trend, but they are only a minority, and the majority of people still support the selection of scholars by giving gifts.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination has been like this for hundreds of years.
Why did a large number of poets and lyricists emerge in the Tang and Song Dynasties?
Is it because the younger generations are inferior to their predecessors?
it's not true.
The reason is just the social atmosphere. The imperial examination system that selects scholars based on Ci Fu destined scholars to focus on studying Ci Fu.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were fewer poets and poets, which was also related to the imperial examination system at that time.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the imperial examinations mainly used eight-legged essays to select scholars and study poetry. Apart from spreading literary names, what other use was there?
People are very realistic, especially scholars who hope that the imperial examination will change their destiny.
Since poetry is useless, then put it down and focus on the meaning of the scriptures.
"I feel deeply."
Li Jie pretended to sigh: "Looking through the collections of Jinshi over the years, there is no need to say much about the poems and diction, but the content is rarely related to current affairs."
"Young people don't know the feeling of sadness. They fall in love with the upper floors and the higher floors. They forcefully express their sorrow in order to compose new words."
"Good sentence!"
When Li Jie read Xin Qiji's masterpiece, Kou Zhun couldn't help but praise it.
"This sentence has put an end to those useless moaning articles, and we should congratulate each other with wine."
As soon as he finished speaking, a glass of wine had already been consumed. Kou Zhun seemed to feel that he was not satisfied, so he directly reached out to the wine bottle beside him.
pause!
pause!
pause!
After draining half a bottle of wine in one go, Kou Zhun just picked up the silk on the table and wiped the wine stains on his beard.
"The wishes of the officials are known to the old ministers."
"Leave this matter to the veteran minister, and we will definitely give the officials a satisfactory answer."
Speaking of this, Kou Zhun's tone suddenly paused, and a hint of narrowing appeared in the corners of his eyes.
"However, the veteran needs to make one condition."
"Please speak."
Kou Zhun chuckled and pointed to the wine bottle on the table.
"I have a problem now. Without wine, I have no energy to do anything."
"This wine must be prepared in sufficient quantity."
Li Jie nodded slightly and glanced at Liu Maoqin.
"Remember, leave this matter to the Minister of Guanglu Temple."
Guanglu Temple specializes in wine, fruits, vegetables, charcoal, and meals for official meetings, among which wine making is the main function of Guanglu Temple.
Most of the wine used by the court in the Northern Song Dynasty was brewed by Guanglu Temple.
The wine made by Guanglu Temple is also known as the "national wine", and its status is comparable to that of Moutai in later generations.
Because it supplies the royal family, the brewing raw materials and craftsmen of Guanglu Temple's "inner brewery" are carefully selected.
Therefore, the quality of the wine brewed by Guanglu Temple is far superior to similar products on the market.
Even well-known restaurants such as Bailun Restaurant, Xuancheng Restaurant, Baxian Restaurant, and Renhe Restaurant cannot compare to the 'National Wine'.
The reason for this is, on the one hand, because the quality of the wine brewed by Guanglu Temple is indeed high enough, and on the other hand, because it does not dare.
Although Quyuan (selling wine and koji) is an institution affiliated with Sinong Temple, Guanglu Temple is still one of the superior institutions of many hotels.
In addition, the wine brewed by Guanglu Temple was generally only drunk at palace banquets. Of course, the emperor would occasionally reward courtiers.
But that's just a reward, it doesn't come often.
Therefore, for people like Kou Zhun who love wine, the 'national wine' is not something they often drink.
Kou Zhun clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Guan Ieyasu!"
"Kou Lao serves the country by recruiting scholars. His contribution lies in the present time and his benefits will be felt in the future. All he wants is a mere royal wine. How is that righteous?"
With that said, Li Jie picked up the spare wine bottle on the table.
"Mr. Kou, drink up this cup!"
…
…
…
Ding Mansion.
Ding Wei, who had just returned to his mansion, immediately received news like a bolt from the blue.
Liu Demiao is missing!
The person responsible for escorting Dingji was not dead or missing. When the people from the Prime Minister's Office rushed to the scene, they only found that Dingji had been knocked unconscious and dumped on the roadside.
Fortunately, the incident occurred near the official road and there were not many wild dogs. Otherwise, Dingji would not have been able to wait for the rescuers to arrive at the scene.
