Half an hour later, Zhao Yang, Fan Chunren, Wang Zhongzheng and others rode the carriage rented by Zhang Yaozuo and arrived at the latter's mansion located in the second lane of Chengdong East Street.
In fact, Zhang Yaozuo did not plan to hold a banquet in his house to entertain Zhao Yang and others at the beginning, but intended to invite Zhao Yang and others to have a drink in the house. Although even he would feel pain after eating and drinking there, Zhao Yang was worth it. He does.
However, Zhao Yang declined. Firstly, his friendship with Zhang Yaozuo had not reached a certain level. Secondly, for the time being, he could not help but go to Fanlou and other places where people talked. What's more, before leaving the palace today, he vowed to tell the officials that he was going to do something big. After one scene, less than half a day later, he went to the fan building to drink. This is unreasonable.
So Zhang Yaozuo retreated and invited Zhao Yang and others to drink at his house.
By the time we arrived outside Zhang Yaozuo's residence, it was already around 2:00 p.m.
Zhao Yang and his party got off the carriage and looked at the mansion in front of them.
To his surprise, although Zhang Yaozuo was the uncle of Concubine Zhang, the mansion he lived in was far inferior to that of Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong.
Of course, this is not surprising. After all, Chen Zhizhong’s father, Chen Shu, had been the prime minister for twenty years, and he himself had been a prime minister and deputy minister for more than ten years. How long had it been before Zhang Yaozuo was transferred to the capital? It only takes eight or nine years at most. It is not easy to save such a house.
In fact, this mansion was privately subsidized by Concubine Zhang. Otherwise, Zhang Yaozuo's salary alone might not have been able to purchase such a mansion with at least two rooms.
After walking into the mansion gate and passing through the outer courtyard, Zhang Yaozuo led Zhao Yang and others to the main house in the front yard.
While he was ordering people to prepare tea, wine and dishes, Zhao Yang and Fan Chunren looked at the furnishings in the main room.
Compared with the furniture in the house, the first thing that struck Zhao Yang's eye was the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the inner wall of the main hall. These calligraphy and paintings were both copybooks and paintings. They were supposed to give people a scholarly atmosphere, but because they were hung too high There are too many and too dense, as if you want to hang all the calligraphy and paintings in your home, which makes people feel weird.
What's more important is that none of the dozen or twenty calligraphy and paintings are signed by Zhang Yaozuo himself. They are all with different names. They may be famous calligraphy and paintings purchased by Zhang Yaozuo for a large sum of money.
The more talented literati are, the more they will look down on such arty practices.
No, Fan Chunren snorted softly and couldn't help but sneered: "Shilang Zhang, did you spend a lot of money to acquire these calligraphy and paintings?"
"It's a lot, but it's all worth the money." Zhang Yaozuo didn't seem to hear the sarcasm in Fan Chunren's words, and introduced the authors of the calligraphy and paintings to Zhao Yang and Zhao Yang with great interest. Although Zhao Yang didn't recognize any of them, he looked at them. Zhang Yaozuo had a look of smug praise on his face. These authors should be famous painters and calligraphers in Bianjing in recent years.
"Are you really famous?" Zhao Yang asked Fan Chunren in a low voice, but Fan Chunren rolled his eyes and made a "speechless" expression at him.
Zhao Yang understood immediately and shook his head slightly.
No wonder Zhang Yaozuo was looked down upon by officials in the court even though he held the cabinet position of "Bachelor of Duanming Palace". His cultural background was indeed a bit poor, and he looked like a nouveau riche.
Not long after, when the servants of the house served tea, Zhang Yaozuo, who was still not satisfied, invited Zhao Yang and Fan Chunren to sit down and have tea.
He had already seen that Zhao Yang was very polite to Fan Chunren, but he did not know the latter's specific identity. At this time, he couldn't help but ask: "Have you asked this little official about his name?"
Fan Chunren calmly replied: "My surname is Fan, my first name is Chunren."
"Fan?" Zhang Yaozuo was slightly startled, "Could it be..."
"That's right." Zhao Yang nodded and added for Fan Chunren: "Brother Chunren is the second son of Mr. Fan's family."
"Ms. Fan..." Zhang Yaozuo stood in awe, then his old face turned slightly red, and his expression suddenly felt a little awkward, probably because he finally realized the true intention of Fan Chunren's previous question.
Fan Chunren turned a blind eye to the embarrassment caused to the other party. In fact, if it weren't for Zhao Yang's relationship, he would not even bother to associate with someone like Zhang Yaozuo. After all, everyone knew that Zhang Yaozuo entered the imperial court through his niece Zhang Guifei.
In comparison, Zhao Yang was more thoughtful. After all, for now, his impression of Zhang Yaozuo and Zhang Guifei was not too bad, so he came to Zhang Yaozuo's rescue and said: "Brother Chunren came to Beijing this time to participate in the March Games. I will try..."
Zhang Yaozuo quickly took over: "What a coincidence, I have a nephew who is also going to take part in this year's examination..."
"Oh?" Zhao Yang responded casually out of courtesy, and Fan Chunren showed curiosity.
Seeing this, Zhang Yaozuo said excitedly: "This boy is studying hard in my house. I call him out to meet Fan Xiaoguan. Maybe he can become a confidant."
With that said, he hurried into the backyard without waiting for Fan Chunren's reaction, and later led out a young man of similar age to Fan Chunren.
Out of respect for both of them as students, Fan Chunren stood up and saluted, and the other party quickly returned the salute.
"This is my nephew. His surname is Shi and his name is Butong. Butong. This is Zhao Yuanwailang, who is deeply favored by the officials. This is Fan Xianggong's yamen. He came to Beijing this time to take the exam. You You two might as well have a chat." Zhang Yaozuo introduced the three of them.
"ah?"
Shi Butong first glanced at Zhao Yang in surprise, and then his expression changed slightly when Zhang Yaozuo introduced Fan Chunren.
He doesn’t seem very confident...
Zhao Yang glanced at Shi Butong, but Fan Chunren asked intentionally or unintentionally: "What books does Brother Shi read at home?"
"Well……"
Shi Butong continued intermittently: "Read The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Book of Songs, Shangshu, Book of Rites... and the like..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Yaozuo pretended to be polite and said: "Yamen might as well test him. Although he is not as good as Yameni, I still believe that he can be the top scholar in high school..."
Number one scholar, your nephew, the number one scholar, has turned pale...
Seeing Shi Butong's expression gradually turning white, Zhao Yang sipped his tea and smiled to himself.
Fan Chunren probably noticed it, and said with a slight smile: "I am very talented and have little knowledge. This time I am going to Beijing to take the test, it is just to increase my knowledge. It is better not to show my shame."
Zhang Yaozuo couldn't force him, so he couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Shi Butong was relieved when he heard this and said hurriedly: "Uncle, I'm going back to the house to read first..."
"Mr. Fan's office is here, you..." Zhang Yaozuo had no choice but to nod in agreement, "That's all, go and study hard so that you can help me in the future."
Seeing Shi Butong promise again and again, turning around and leaving, Zhao Yang and Fan Chunren looked at each other, and neither of them said anything.
On that day, in order to win over their feelings, Zhang Yaozuo ordered people to prepare sumptuous food and wine to entertain Zhao Yang and Fan Chunren.
Although Zhao Yang and Fan Chunren were more or less prejudiced against Zhang Yaozuo, after several rounds of drinking, the atmosphere gradually became more harmonious. Even Fan Chunren had to admit that Zhang Yaozuo was not arrogant or domineering at all in front of Zhao Yang.
It can be seen that Zhang Yaozuo's arrogance and domineering are also divided into people. For those who can't afford to offend, this uncle of Concubine Zhang seems to be quite aware of current affairs.
The meal lasted from noon to Shenshi. Zhao Yang originally planned to visit the first battalion of his Tianwu Fifth Army to review the 500 forbidden troops under his command, but this time he was delayed.
So he simply said goodbye to Fan Chunren and returned to the palace first.
He never wanted to return to the palace, but when he came to Chui Gong Hall, he saw the officials' faces were gloomy and seemed quite angry.
"What, the fish is dead?"
He asked curiously, drawing angry looks from the officials.
