Beijing

At dusk, the streets were bustling with people, and the shops and restaurants along the way were all lights, making them look bright and colorful. There were small poles, wontons, dumplings, oil cakes, and buns everywhere.

Baihua Building stands on the north side of this street, with green steps facing the street, with lights hanging. There are thirty or forty guests sitting in the hall downstairs, gathering together in groups of three or four, and their faces are blushing when they drink.

Ren Wei was wearing plain clothes and looking at the window on the third floor, as if he was worried. A scholar beside him was wearing a white robe, washed clean, looking about thirty years old.

Ren Wei turned around and said, "Zhou Zhiyuan, do you know everything I told?"

Zhou Zhiyuan said: "Mr. Ren, since you paid 100 taels of silver, I must do your business beautifully."

"Okay, I'll depend on how you arrange it." Ren Wei smiled, and Zhou Zhiyuan didn't say much. He just bowed his hand and went down, not going to the hall, but just waiting at the entrance of the second floor.

Someone came up to the stairs and saw that they were all elegant seats, the floor was shiny, and there was a case in the corner, with all the pens, inks, paper and inkstones, and there were already people, more than a dozen people, in groups of three or five, chanting poems and lyrics, discussing the eight-legged art, and Zhou Zhiyuan welcomed him out: "Brother Li, you are here, please."

Li Shusheng was a middle-aged man and nodded: "I'm late, I'm sorry for my sins."

Before he finished speaking, he heard someone inside say, "You heard that? King Lu called the capital and fell into another city."

Hearing the voice, Zhou Zhiyuan's face froze and sighed: "Brother Li, the world has only been peaceful for a few years, and it is chaotic again, so please speak."

"please"

This is a small gathering banquet for scholars. It is not big, but they are all famous scholars in the circle and have a significant influence in Shilin.

As soon as Li Shusheng arrived upstairs, someone shouted: "Li Sheng is here."

"I've met Brother Chen."

Zhou Zhiyuan took his seat and looked around. Seeing that all the people he invited came, he said, "All brothers have arrived, let's have a banquet."

"Excellent, great." One of them tapped the table with a fan.

Zhou Zhiyuan shouted: "My man, serve the food, and another jar of jade dew."

Yutanlu is a good wine in the capital. After hearing this, the guy quickly responded, and for a moment, he put the wine and food on it one by one.

When scholars use wine, they naturally have to make some literary talent. The one they are given is Liushang Order, which is a wine order. There are 48 wine chips, which are different from "red chips" and "green chips".

The top of the red chip is carved into a convex shape and painted in red; the top of the green chip is carved into a concave shape and painted in green. The red chip is carved into someone's wine, that is, who pours wine for the meal, and a corresponding sentence of ancient poem is carved into how to drink and what orders to do.

"I'll do it!" One person rushed up and drew a lottery and read: "Zu Zuo drink for him, haha, Brother Shen, you'll be at my home, drink a drink!"

Everyone started to cheer and then listened to the sound of pouring wine. The man gusted and sucked the wine, chanting: "Drinking the first drink, hurry up, Brother Zhou, you can draw a lottery."

Zhou Zhiyuan had no choice but to draw a green chip in the chip tube containing green chips. After looking at it, he smiled and said, "Please pass the bamboo joint three times, if you don't pass, drink a drink by yourself."

The sound of pouring wine, sucking, laughing endlessly, and suddenly I was drunk and hot. Seeing that it was almost done, Zhou Zhiyuan glanced at it and sighed: "Brothers, the world has been in chaos recently. The emperor is sick. The prince is in charge of the country. First the rebellion of Yingzhou, and then the King of Lu rebellion. How can we, scholars, stand by? Although we are in the people, we should work hard for the court and think about the people. This is the time for us to offer suggestions."

The scholars’ comments on the world are naturally a major event, and this is a question that is appropriate. After listening to this, everyone present responded: “Brother Zhou said very much, how can we, as scholars, stand by and watch.”

Speaking of Yingzhou's quelling the rebellion, someone said: "Although Pei Ziyun has made little contributions, he is a Taoist. If he is officially rewarded and ranked among the princes, he will be a Taoist chaotic government."

"Yes, that's right, the Taoist is not an official in the court, how can he interfere in politics?"

The scholars all responded, with anger on their faces. Although this person was once a Juren, it was really abominable that he betrayed Shilin when he became a Taoist.

People who are usually a little jealous are even more righteous: "Is it true that the Taoist Chang Zhenzi and Yuan Huanzi of Zeng Chao have no merits, but they have caused great disasters, led to civil strife, and caused Emperor Zeng Jing to die suddenly."

"It can be seen that even if such a Taoist makes little achievements, it will lead to a great disaster."

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at him and saw that the person who was speaking was a scholar who was as famous as his. Zhu Zi, who was a little extreme in nature, spoke loudly, which aroused the response in the venue.

"We will read the books of sages after being taught. The strange powers and chaos of the gods do not speak. How can we allow the great power to be rampant? Everyone, in the rebellion of King Lu, Pei Ziyun must not be in charge of military affairs. Can we find a good minister in our great Xu? We have to let a Taoist overtake officials? This is a shame for the court. I am going to advise the court and make the Taoist who is in trouble and disrupt the government and the Taoist who is in trouble and chaos in the government will be punished with the justice of the Taoist."

A little mature man heard this and smiled: "Brother Zhu, Taoist has not done any great evil yet, and he heard that the prince appreciated it. It is probably not easy to do it."

"It is because the prince appreciates that this disaster has to be eliminated. If the prince ascends the throne, wouldn't this kind of demonic path become a climate?" Zhu Ziyi seemed to hate Pei Ziyunji and shouted.

"It's hard, it's hard. King Lu led his troops to attack the capital. Pei Ziyun won a battle in Yingzhou. Not to mention rewarding merits, it's just to be prepared for any trouble. No one can be used. The court must protect it. It's unlikely that the Ming Zhengdian punishment will be punished at this time." Another scholar stood up and said, "I think it's better to destroy the power of this demonic path first, and then plan to annihilate it in one fell swoop. Things will take step by step."

"What this is said is, it is said very much."

Someone also said: "Zhongqin Bo is a scholar and is familiar with military books. When the dynasty was founded (founded), the emperor had already swore to know each other, and offered many strategies, practiced many wars, and made many achievements. I think this great victory in Yingzhou was Pei Ziyun who seized Zhongqin Bo's contribution."

"Pei Ziyun is only a Jie Yuan in Yingzhou, and has never fought for war, and is less than twenty years old. How can he win the overall united front?" The man swept the crowd around, raised his doubts, and then said, "I once heard that Pei Ziyun was a guest minister of the Crown Prince's Mansion. I believe that the Crown Prince was in charge of the state, and he was in love with him, blinded the crown prince for a while and seized the credit of Zhongqin Bo."

"Extremely, I want to give Zhong Qin Bo a fair." Someone's forehead was full of blue veins, and he shouted with his arms, as if he was irreconcilable with Pei Ziyun.

The atmosphere in the venue seemed to have reached the highest level. Although Zhou Zhiyuan was the leader, he had the urge to leave when he listened to these scholars' words.

"A literati are despised, and once they stop doing this, isn't it just jealous of Pei Ziyun's talents?" Zhou Zhiyuan thought so, but he still said sternly: "What you are saying is that I am taught by my teacher. The Taoist sect is just a small faith and a small way to cultivate the world's livelihood and people's livelihood, so the saints abandon it."

"If you steal the Taoist's residence in the court, even if you have a temporary achievement, you will cause disaster for a hundred generations. This is not the gain or loss of a person, but the rise and fall of the Taoist tradition of our scholars."

"I think Zhongqin Bo can pacify Yingzhou and must also pacify the northern chaos. We should support Zhongqin Bo and must not give Taoist Guan and Hou a second."

"Yes, we must not let the Taoist chaotic ruler be confused!" These scholars drank wine, and when they heard this, they felt that every word was spoken to their hearts, and they immediately shouted loudly.

One of them said, "I have a clan brother Zhu Cheng. I am now working in the Censorate and can write a letter!"

"My father has a disciple Li Zhi, who is now in the Ministry of Rites, so he can write a letter!"

"Yes, I know many students, and we can write a letter together." The scholar was filled with joy and connected together. One person shouted: "We are all in the morning, and we will be able to make trouble. Cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses together, and they were drunk. Everyone gradually left. They saw Li Shusheng and Zhou Zhiyuan at the end. Li Shusheng said with a smile: "Brother Zhou looks different recently, it seems that he has an opportunity."

"Brother Li is really smart, but this time you're not thinking about it." Zhou Zhiyuan waved his hand: "Brother Li, I'll give you a ride?"

"Forgive me, I'll go back by myself!"

Zhou Zhiyuan sent everyone away. After a while, Ren Wei turned around from the box next door: "Who is Li Sheng?"

Zhou Zhiyuan took the sober tea on the table and drank it: "It's Li Siwen, an old scholar. He has lived in Beijing for five years and has a reputation in the capital. However, he is cautious. Although he can guess that it was our intentional talk, he will not dare to act rashly."

"By the way, how do you think I'm doing this job?" Zhou Zhiyuan asked curiously: "Why did Pei Jieyuan take this self-deprecating strategy?"

Ren Wei couldn't help but smile and said, "You're doing it well, this is for you."

As he said that, he handed over a hundred taels of silver notes. When he saw Zhou Zhiyuan accepting it, Ren Wei sighed and said, "Why, you actually saw it too."

"Pei Jieyuan passed the imperial examination at the age of 17. Scholars all over the world are envious, jealous and hated, and have gained the reputation of poetry to spread throughout the world. Although they have to accept it openly, how many people have gritted their teeth in secret?"

"He led the army to quell the rebellion and made great achievements, at the age of twenty."

"Even if you, Zhou Zhiyuan, don't you hate it in secret?"

Zhou Zhiyuan was stunned and suddenly smiled and said, "Brother Ren is really interesting. It goes to my heart. I studied at the age of seven, passed the scholar at the age of fifteen, passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty, and passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty. I am still thirty, but I still have no chance of being a Jinshi. I am wasting my time in Beijing and only ate vegetables and tofu. When I think of someone who is less than twenty, I am so excited that I tossed and turned around and couldn't sleep in the bed."

After saying that, the two laughed, Ren Wei said in a serious manner: "Reward is a court ceremony, but people's hearts and public opinion also have to be considered. You see, it was really awesome to say, and my young master also had to defame himself."

Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "This is also a human nature. It has been things that have been done in all dynasties, so I am not ruthless with this money. I really don't dare to interfere in other things."

After saying that, Zhou Zhiyuan patted Ren Wei on the shoulder, and said nothing more. He walked out. Looking at the figure of this person, Ren Wei couldn't help but be stunned. This strategy went with the flow, and only used a little force. The Shilin bureaucrats boarded the ship automatically, and quietly arranged the overall situation, and the whole world changed. Zhong Qinbo was afraid that he would not be far from death.

If you don’t say it out loud, who would know that Pei Ziyun’s move was to kill Zhong Qinbo. Even if someone sees through it like Zhou Zhiyuan, he will only think that he is self-deprecating.
Chapter completed!