The beginning of August in the fifth year of Wanli is the season of early autumn tonic. In the lobby of Jingshi Shunfu Mutton Farm, three well-dressed young people came in.
"Sir, please come inside!"
"Young masters, please take a seat~" The waiter in the shop didn't know where he was from. After welcoming the guests, he shouted in the direction of the counter. The word "oh" was raised high, tactfully and high-pitched, like singing. A smile appeared on Shen Maoxue's lips.
He smiled and said to the people around him: "Brother Daiyu, brother Changqing, and brother Yu like the authentic mutton in this restaurant. Today we are here to get drunk together."
The brother Daiyu mentioned by Shen Maoxue was Zhang Sixiu, the second son of Zhang Juzheng. After taking the high school examination in the fifth year of Wanli, he was named Daiyu.
The other brother Changqing was Tu Long, a weirdo among the five sons in the late Ming Dynasty. Tu Long's nickname is Changqing, and his nickname is Hongbao Jushi. Apart from the normal characters, this name and nickname are just deliberately funny in the eyes of later generations.
Shen Maoxue invited Zhang Sixiu to dinner today just to take care of his friend Tu Long. This Tulong is well traveled, knowledgeable and proficient in folk arts. He once wrote and directed a play that had no music at all, which was the prototype of later dramas. In the northern part of the empire at that time, he was even more famous than Tang Xianzu.
This Tu Long is also a Jinshi this year. He is in the same class as Shen Mao. However, although Tu Long is highly talented and well-off at home, he is a typical romantic and talented man, a super scumbag, the kind who specializes in hooking up with married women and married women - yes, this guy is also a double plug. .
After he entered the capital, in just six months, he already had three lovers in brothels in the capital, had an affair with a marquise, and had two wives. Tang Xianzu, who participated in the Ding Chou examination with him but failed, once gave his good friend two lines of poetry: "How can a witch interpret spring beauty, how can a bright boy interpret poetry." This exposed his dissolute and indulgent temperament.
In the late Ming Dynasty, prostitution was rampant, and it was a chaotic period in which "the peace lasted for a long time, and the people lost their ambitions for prostitution." From emperors and princes to civil and military officials, from literati to traffickers and pawns, from the secret recipes of aphrodisiacs to erotic albums, from the groups of singers to the brothels - the people are full of thoughts of excess and individualism, which also provided the basis for the emergence of Li Zhi The emergence of thinkers such as Mao Zedong, Luo Rufang, and Wang Gen laid the foundation of society.
Tu Long had too many good friends in the capital, so he was unwilling to be sent to other prefectures and counties. He was too tired to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to select officials, and he wanted to stay in the capital to observe politics. Since I had a good relationship with Shen Maoxue, I asked him to follow Zhang Sixiu's path. After all, we were in the same department in the Prime Minister's office. It would be a fool not to use this relationship.
...
Shen Maoxue got the secret information from Ding Chou Ke, and because of his talent, he became the top scorer in high school. Zhang Sixiu was also ranked second in high school in the undergraduate program. The two of them were outstanding undergraduates. They were both selected as Shujishi and were awarded the Imperial Academy editorship. Zhang Sixiu's elder brother Zhang Jingxiu, the aforementioned Zhang Siwen, lost his reputation - this can also be evidence that Zhang Juzheng did not manipulate Ding Chou's examination.
Because the court wanted to change the law, Ding Chouke postponed the exam for two months and did not start the exam until April. As the Prime Minister of the Reform Movement, Zhang Juzheng had the right intention to serve as the examiner. As the emperor's representative, Zhang Siwei served as deputy examiner.
Because Zhang Sixiu participated in the undergraduate examination, Zhang Juzheng avoided suspicion without anonymizing his name. Zhang Siwei and the officials from Jiuqing were exhausted to death, and Zhang Sixiu was ranked first in the second class. After Zhu Yijun read the list, because he wanted to express the emperor's favor to Zhang Juzheng, he raised Zhang Sixiu's ranking to the second place on the list - the top three did not need to take the test of common people and were directly ranked as Hanlin editors.
Among the three people traveling together, Tu Long's ranking was low, but his literary name was already famous in the world at this time, so the three of them had similar status, so it was not against the rules to eat together in a small area.
The three of them entered the upstairs seating area of Shunfu Restaurant, and the waiter served them the recently popular mutton-shabu hot pot in Beijing, along with some vegetables, tofu, and sesame sauce. Shen Maoxue picked up his long chopsticks, pointed at the hot pot and said, "Brother Daiyu, do you often eat this flavor at home?"
Zhang Sixiu and his brother Zhang Jingxiu have different personalities and are somewhat funny. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "This Jiuqing flavor is also popular among the people now."
Shen Maoxue and Tu Long were surprised when they heard this. They thought that the knowledge of this heirloom was too complicated. Shen Maoxue smiled and said, "I would like to hear the details."
Zhang Sixiu said with a smile: "This is a variation of 'strike the bells and row the cauldrons and eat', 'a man is born to eat five cauldrons', and the emperor eats nine cauldrons."
After hearing this, both Shen Maoxue and Shen Maoxue clapped their hands and laughed. Tu Long said: "Brother Daiyu's explanation is wonderful! Not to mention, after hearing what you said, this copper pot looks particularly pleasing to the eye. Haha! Please, please!"
The three of them talked while eating and drinking, and the first thing they talked about was the imperial edict on reform that was about to be promulgated.
Although Zhang Sixiu was able to receive some edification from Zhang Juzheng's side, Zhang Juzheng was busy with everything and did not spend much time on his son's education. He could only revise eight-legged essays to practice writing, and relieve the pressure accumulated in the court.
Therefore, Zhang Sixiu's emotional intelligence was not even as good as Zhang Jingxiu's. Although he felt that it was inappropriate to show off, it was rare for him to show off in front of his colleagues, so he opened up the conversation and said: "Although my father did not tell us about the government affairs when he came home, he has been chatting with his staff in recent days. Much more, I actually heard a little bit."
Seeing that both of them stopped and listened carefully, Zhang Sixiu smiled and said: "On the 15th of this month, the imperial edict will be issued - the general outline of the reform has been decided."
"I heard from my father that this edict of reform was actually drafted by the emperor himself, and the officials and attendants only polished it a little. The first paragraph talks about the general outline - describing the hundred-year vision; the second paragraph talks about the plan - divided into fifty years and thirty years. The reform policy will be clearly planned in the years, ten years, and five years; the third paragraph only talks about this year and next year - we will first start the reform in fields, soldiers, postal services, horses, ships, etc."
Shen Maoxue and Tu Long were dazzled after hearing this. Shen Maoxue sighed: "This is really a big-hearted and generous move! Only someone as experienced as your father can realize the emperor's plan!" After saying that, he gave an exaggerated thumbs up.
Zhang Sixiu felt a little proud after hearing this, but then suppressed it. He smiled and said to Tu Long: "Brother Changqing intends to stay in the capital. There is really a chance." At this point, he lowered his voice and said: "There will be many vacancies for officials in the capital next year - this is all I know."
When Shen Maoxue saw that Zhang Sixiu had pointed out the purpose of the meal, although he felt a little embarrassed, he immediately said: "Where can Brother Daiyu have a say in selecting the person in charge of the lawsuit? If it is convenient, I will help you." He said Knowing that it was difficult for Tu Long to open his mouth, he accepted the favor, which was regarded as a debt he owed to the Zhang family.
Zhang Sixiu was in the yamen of the prime minister's office. Of course he could hear that Shen Maoxue had promised a favor to the Zhang family. He didn't even frown and said with a smile: "What's so difficult about this? Tan Zili always wants to give Yudi some face - don't worry about this." Okay." Directly record this matter on Shen Maoxue.
This medley between the two is actually a small investment by the Zhang family in Shen Zhuangyuan's future. Tu Long is nearby, but he is not even qualified to participate - he is a top three, unless he is as defiant as Hai Rui. What value does it have to the Zhang Juzheng family to reach the fourth rank?
Shen Maoxue knew this well, and when he heard Zhang Sixiu referring to the newly appointed Heavenly Official Tan Lun by his name instead of his title, he was secretly speechless, and he had a deeper understanding of the Xuanhe power of Zhang Juzheng's family.
After talking about the serious business, you can talk about casual things. The three of them talked about some more Ding Chou test questions, and Tu Long said that all these questions could be guessed, and it was nothing more than a change of methods - it's a pity that although I won the question, I didn't get into the second class, because there were too many monsters in this class.
Shen Maoxueruo said to Zhang Sixiu thoughtfully: "Brother Daiyu, your eldest brother failed in this subject, but you passed it first. Your Majesty didn't deal with him?"
Zhang Sixiu laughed after hearing this and said: "How can this matter in the examination room be guaranteed? My father will not blame my second brother for this matter." The words made the point, Zhang Jingxiu was the second in the family - there was an eldest brother in front of them, Not raised.
Tu Long took over the conversation and said: "Brother Daiyu, why did your brothers change their names this year? Do you have any explanation?"
After hearing this, Zhang Sixiu smiled and said: "There is no explanation, it's determined by the ancestors of this family. Because someone got the first prize, my second brother and younger brothers all learned the word 'xiu'. Haha!" After saying this, he was extremely proud.
It turned out that this spring, Zhang Juzheng's father fell ill and wrote to the capital to talk to Zhang Juzheng about the Zhang family in Jiangling.
Zhang Juzheng's family belongs to the military family, and his grandfather Zhang Zhen was once a guard of the Liao Prince's Palace. He was drunk to death by the young Liao Prince when he was drunk. This is why the Zhang family spent a little money to seize the Liao Prince's Palace, The antecedents of the earth.
After the death of Zhang Juzheng's grandfather, the Zhang family could barely make ends meet before Zhang Juzheng became a scholar, so naming according to the genealogy list was a bit crude.
Zhang Juzheng's father's name was "Zhang Wenming", but he named Zhang Juzheng's eldest son "Zhang Siwen". His grandson's name violated his grandfather's taboo. Zhang Wenming had no idea at the time, but now he told Zhang Juzheng that he would be laughed at.
Because Zhang Juzheng was the eldest son and the heir to the clan, Zhang Wenming's letter meant that Zhang Juzheng should re-edit the character list so that it would be more regular starting from the generation after Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng was a scholar of nature and didn't care about this at all, but it was nothing more than the word "filial piety", so he had no choice but to change the names of all his existing children and make a new list of characters.
And because the second son was in high school, the court had already engraved the three characters "Zhang Sixiu" on the Jinshi inscription tablet and could not change it. Premier Zhang had no choice but to take out the character "Xiu" from the second son's name and compile it into a new character list.
Since then, Zhang Sixiu's eldest brother Zhang Siwen has adjusted his name according to the word "xiu" in his younger brother's original name and changed his name to Zhang Jingxiu - Zhang Juzheng means that I respectfully gave the character list of my branch to "xiu" according to your grandfather's wishes. After reading it again - Zhang Sixiu's younger brothers Zhang Maoxiu and Zhang Yunxiu also used the word "xiu" at the end of their names, indicating that the old Zhang family began to rebuild their family tree from this life on. [Note]
Zhang Sixiu should be most proud of this incident, because he won the Jinshi first, and he did not change his name or surname in this job - he could brag in front of Zhang Jingxiu for the rest of his life. Seeing that he was in high spirits, Shen Maoxue and Tu Long went around Zhang Juzheng's house and blew a few words.
After all, Shen Maoxue was the number one scholar. Although he was cited as Zhang Dang, he couldn't lose his status too much. Therefore, after eating a few chopsticks of mutton, he pointed to the hot pot and started the topic: "I heard that the Zhangde Mansion reported to the imperial court that Zhen destroyed the 'Dingming' pseudo-dynasty in Anyang. I wonder if the pseudo-emperor can use the 'Nine Tripods' to eat?"
After Zhang Sixiu heard this, he chuckled and said: "It's just a civil uprising, and the stupid people in the countryside are making people laugh. However, Zhangde Prefecture and Anyang County made great efforts to repay their merits. I heard that the emperor was not very angry with the rebels, so he imposed additional taxes on Anyang County." The money to build the river was very angry if it provoked a civil uprising, and it was said that an imperial envoy would be sent to investigate."
After hearing this, Shen Maoxue took a breath and said: "The imperial envoys sent out in the past two years almost never come back empty-handed. At least they have to return an official hat to the court. It is rumored that the inspectorate needs to return it every day. There are assessment indicators for how many official titles you can get - is this true?"
Zhang Sixiu shook his head after hearing this and said: "Imperial envoys investigate and deal with errands, but they are just seeking truth from facts. They can also make false accusations..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Sixiu was stopped when he saw a young man wearing a Ge robe and a boy's scarf at the door peering in. Tu Long stood up and asked, "What's wrong, little brother?"
The young man blushed and whispered: "Are you the second son of Premier Zhang's family? Alas, there is evidence of illegal abuse of people in Anyang County. Can you hand it to the imperial envoy for me?"
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