On September 9th, the scholar-bureaucrats brought wine to the summit meeting, and the chrysanthemum bottles were filled with flowers.
Minghe Mountain in the western suburbs of Jurong.
There are many tourists, old and young, and talented people come in groups.
Gu Zhengchen, dressed in a Confucian robe, looked calm and gentle, and discussed the past and the present with Liu Gui, Sun Tong, and others.
Jurong is mountainous, and in the southeast there is Maoshan, Jurong’s first scenic spot.
However, Maoshan is more than 30 miles away from the county seat, which is quite far. People in Jurong mostly choose Minghe Mountain to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival.
Guo Xu hung the dogwood on his sleeve, Luo Shao put it in the sachet, and Zhao Qian, who may be more feminine, hung it on his ear.
The bright red dogwood trees are like a string of red agates, dotting every pedestrian.
A woman opened the curtain of the carriage, and her hair was dotted with the bright red color of dogwood, which was crystal clear and even more beautiful.
The naughty children jumped up and ran far away, waving dogwood in their hands and looked back, oh, a man caught up with a stick, tsk tsk, childhood memories are always indispensable without a stick...
A group of people surrounded the old man and walked slowly. The old man sat on the cart, with a smile on his face that dug into the wrinkles. He looked around from time to time. The autumn wind blew, making his white hair look even more blurry.
This is a vivid picture, with flowing crowds, each with his own happy face, restrained, indulgent, graceful, bold, all kinds of colors, rough outlines, all natural.
Minghe Mountain is not high. You can reach the top in half a quarter of an hour by climbing up the steps. The mountain is gentle and the view from the top is wide. You can stand along the ridge to see far away, and you can sit and taste wine.
Liu Gui and others found an open space, spread out straw mats, sat around, took out the chrysanthemum wine and wine utensils they brought with them, and placed the Double Ninth Festival cakes.
Gu Zhengchen raised his wine glass, looked at everyone, and said with a smile: "It is a great fate that I can come to Jurong and meet all of you. Ascend here, I should have a drink with you, and I hope that we can work together to govern the people well. Serve the imperial court."
Liu Gui, Sun Tong and others raised their glasses and said in unison: "Let's encourage each other."
The chrysanthemum wine is sweet in the mouth, with a floral aroma, and a hint of bitterness in the aftertaste.
After the scene is finished, the poem is recited and composed correctly.
Liu Gui stood up, weighed his hands, and recited with a smile: "Last year on the Double Ninth Festival, the dogwood trees bloomed in the middle of the night in Nancheng. When I went out to attend a call, but when I came back, the wind was high and my temples were white..."
After everyone praised him, Sun Tong stood up and said: "It's the Double Ninth Festival and the weather is cool, so I picked chrysanthemums to fill my sleeves with fragrance..."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly.
After Tang poetry, Song lyrics and Yuan music, came the Ming and Qing novels.
They are all writing novels. Who is still studying poetry? If you can write seven words that match the rhyme, it is already good. It is impossible to expect a few people to do it.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were only a limited number of poems that could be called standard works, let alone these few who could leave some shocking works.
In the face of invitations from everyone, Gu Zhengchen declined repeatedly. He could still write simple poems, but it was easy to write poems and it was also easy to cause trouble.
Poetry is afraid of being extended, associated, and over-interpreted.
Although Lao Zhu has not yet become suspicious and has not resorted to the literary inquisition at this time, Lao Zhu has a good memory. If one day old scores are revealed...
It doesn’t matter how other people write poems, you have to keep your mouth shut.
"Liu Jiaoyu, ah, this is not the county magistrate. I am disrespectful and disrespectful."
Guo Shan, who was over fifty years old, came over and saluted quickly after seeing Gu Zhengchen.
Liu Gui introduced: "The county magistrate, this person is Guo Shan, the second old man of the Guo family in Jurong."
Gu Zhengchen's eyes narrowed slightly, he cupped his hands and said lightly: "It's not easy to meet people from the Guo family."
Liu Gui was a little confused and felt something strange.
Guo Shan smiled softly, narrowed his narrow phoenix eyes slightly, and raised his hand to stroke his three-inch gray beard: "What did the county magistrate say? The people of the Guo family just don't want to appear in places they shouldn't be, so as not to cause harm." It’s interesting to see how you feel. County Master, can we talk a little bit?"
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Guo Xu and saw that Guo Xu was quite cold towards Guo Shan. He looked away and stood up and said: "You have chosen a place to show up. If I don't go, wouldn't it spoil your interest? On Double Ninth Festival, respect the elderly. Festival, as a late student, I shouldn’t refuse at all.”
Guo Shan smiled and stretched out his hand: "Please."
Gu Zhengchen walked over, and Zhang Pei followed.
Guo Shan stretched out his hand to stop him: "Please allow me to have a few words with the county magistrate alone."
Zhang Pei subconsciously patted his waist and found that he was not wearing a sword, so he looked at Guo Shan coldly.
Gu Zhengchen turned sideways: "It doesn't matter, just wait here."
Zhang Pei frowned and said nothing more.
Guo Shan smiled and led Gu Zhengchen out for more than a hundred steps, passed the crowd, and arrived at a secluded place.
The mountain protrudes here, forming a natural viewing platform.
One table and two chairs.
The table has been set with two jugs of wine and two wine glasses.
Sitting on a chair was an old, strong and graceful old man, with a cane beside him.
"Brother, the county magistrate is here. County magistrate, this is Guo Dian, the old man of the Guo family."
Guo Shan introduced.
Gu Zhengchen pulled up his chair, sat opposite Guo Dian, and cupped his hands: "Mr. Guo."
Guo Dian raised his hand, Guo Shan filled two glasses of wine, turned around and retreated not far away.
"Gu Zhixian, I have admired you for a long time."
Guo Dian looked at Gu Zhengchen, his voice full of vicissitudes of life.
Gu Zhengchen met Guo Dian's gaze and said calmly: "Guo, who is already over sixty years old, can still be so energetic and good-looking, must be due to some unknown means, right?"
Guo Dian narrowed his eyes slightly, and a smile appeared on his face: "Gu Zhixian is already so sharp and aggressive at a young age. He must be inexperienced in the world and not familiar with the world, right?"
"Ha ha."
Gu Zhengchen laughed loudly.
Guo Dian laughed twice, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and put it on the table: "To be honest with the county magistrate, the Guo family values family ties and has always been united within the clan. If something happens to someone, as an ancestor, I will be distressed and unable to sleep. If the county magistrate shows mercy to the old and weak, then this gift..."
Gu Zhengchen glanced at it and when he saw "February Farm" written on it, he couldn't help but smile: "Isn't this land deed worth a lot of money?"
Guo Dian disagreed and said pointedly: "Money is an external thing. When I get old, I just hope that my descendants will be blessed and live longer."
Gu Zhengchen picked up the wine glass and said in a deep voice: "Longevity and happiness can't be bought with money, right?"
Guo Dian's eyes became cold and stern: "So, the county magistrate must make the old man sleepless?"
Gu Zhengchen stretched out his hand outside the table, tilted the wine glass, and let the wine pour on the stone table: "It's not that Gu doesn't respect the elderly. As far as I know, it is normal for the elderly to have many dreams and insomnia. Besides, you don't need to sleep too much during your lifetime. , you will definitely sleep forever after you die, didn’t Mr. Guo say that?”
Guo Dian picked up his crutch, stood up, and stared at Gu Zhengchen: "I invited you to drink, but you spilled it!"
Gu Zhengchen put the wine glass on the table, stood up and said with a smile: "When you invite someone to drink, you should at least send an invitation first. Besides, if there is wine but no food, what should I drink with it? If Mr. Guo serves three dishes, I might sit down for a while.
Guo Dian understood that the "three dishes" Gu Zhengchen meant were Guo Jie, Guo Ning, and Guo Liang from the Guo family. Seeing Gu Zhengchen's toughness, he paused his cane and snorted: "I want to eat vegetables. Then you can cook by yourself. However, I need to remind the county magistrate to not hurt his hands when cooking and chopping vegetables."
Gu Zhengchen raised his hand: "Don't worry, Mr. Guo, I still have two butlers available. They are good at cooking."
After saying that, Gu Zhengchen turned around and left.
Guo Dian stared at Gu Zhengchen's back and said coldly: "Without the stove, there is no way to eat."
Gu Zhengchen slowed down, stopped again, turned to look at Guo Dian, and grinned: "The stove is gone, and someone else can rebuild the stove. If the head falls off, haha, there is no place to repair it. Ah. Mr. Guo, take care!"
Guo Shan came over, looked at Guo Dian who was on the verge of getting angry, and said in a low voice: "Brother, why are you doing this? Sheng'er has arranged for Liu Xian to go to Jinling. In a few days, this person will be impeached by the censor, and the emperor will hate his evil. Those who hate corruption and cliques the most are already dead.”
Guo Dian turned around and looked at the scenery in the distance. The river was passing by the mountain, and the golden wilderness was in the distance. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm worried that the court will move too slowly, and Gu Zhengchen will move too fast. After the Double Ninth Festival, he I will definitely go to Hezhuang."
Guo Shan nodded slightly and then said: "Guo Jie, Guo Ning, and Guo Liang have received the news, and Guo Baobao is there to explain how they should deal with it. Even if he joins the county government, Gu Zhengchen can't ask anything. "
Guo Dian walked around with a cane, his brows full of worry: "Although this man is young, he exudes a sense of arrogance. He must have some talent. Let Chen Zhong and others keep an eye on him and not lose sight of him."
"Brother, please don't worry."
Guo Shan smiled calmly.
Gu Zhengchen hadn't gone far when Zhang Pei came out of the darkness and followed Gu Zhengchen.
"Aren't you curious about what we said?"
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Zhang Pei.
Zhang Pei shook his head: "We are guards, not staff. We won't ask questions that we shouldn't ask."
Gu Zhengchen took a deep look at Zhang Pei, nodded slightly, and smiled softly: "This time when I climbed the mountain and looked into the distance, the old masters of the Guo family came forward. It can be seen that they all turned their attention to me. You said, Yao Can Zhen, Sun Shiba and the others bring this person back?"
Zhang Pei grinned: "If the cards are not dealt three times, the county government will arrest people. Anyone who dares to stop them will die. If they don't want to die, they can only follow them."
Gu Zhengchen nodded.
In times of peace, few dared to resist government officials.
Today is the Double Ninth Festival.
Minghe Mountain is just a plank road.
Xiaoyi Township is Chencang.
In the afternoon, Sun Shiba hurriedly climbed the mountain. After finding Gu Zhengchen, he whispered a few words.
Gu Zhengchen raised his hand, raised his glass and said, "The air is crisp in the autumn, it's rare to get together and have a drink."
"Drink wins."
Everyone raised their glasses.
On the other side, Guo Hu was kneeling on the ground, crying as he looked at Guo Dian.
Guo Dian slapped the table and shouted: "What, Guo Jie, Guo Ning, and Guo Liang were arrested? Aren't all the government officials here, who did it? Let's start from the beginning!"
Guo Hu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said angrily: "Guo Jie gave a chrysanthemum banquet to the Sixth Master. Guo Ning and Guo Liang also came to celebrate. When the banquet was in full swing, two yamen servants suddenly broke in and took out the yamen arrest documents. , Xinpai, and took action by force to arrest the three of them. Guo Jie ordered his people to fight back in anger. As a result, three of our men's hands were broken, and Guo Jie was beaten half to death and was taken away..."
