Chapter 37: Literary struggle between two counties, one is slightly better
Shanyin and Kuaiji counties have equal status in Shaoxing Prefecture and are higher than the other six counties. This has caused the two counties to fight openly and covertly in many aspects. Most of the time, the two counties are equally divided. However, in the past two years, In the disputes between the Wenhui Society, Shanyin was repeatedly ranked at the bottom, which was naturally far different from Kuaiji, who sat two and watched one. And this became a place where Kuaiji could ridicule Shanyin.
At this moment, a group of scholars in Kuaiji stood with their heads held high, looking at the Shanyin Painted Boat with a bit of disdain. The leader was wearing a blue shirt with his hands behind his back. He looked to be about the same age as Wei Xun. He thought he was the magistrate of Kuaiji County. But he saw that the county magistrate Ling Weiwei paced and entered the boat directly, ignoring the words of the scholar behind him.
Wei Xun frowned slightly, but since the other county magistrate didn't say anything, he naturally couldn't say anything. He looked at the few Shanyin scholars beside him, and then turned around and left. However, when he passed by Shen Tang, When he was standing next to him, he whispered: "Don't let me lose my reputation as Shanyin!"
Shen Tang smiled bitterly when he heard this, but now that he was standing here to represent Shanyin, he had no choice but to do so. He only hoped that the "big people" in Shanyin could outdo Kuaiji County.
"You, Kuaiji County, have only come out on top a few times. Brother Lin Rui and I were traveling abroad last year, which made you, Chu Pengxing, stand out. This time, I, Shanyin, will definitely beat you, Kuaiji!"
The person who spoke out was actually Yu Fang. The Chu Pengxing in his mouth was actually the scholar headed by him.
Chu Pengxing smiled disdainfully, "Are you two worthy of suppressing me in Kuaiji? It's just wishful thinking!"
Suddenly, Chu Pengxing rolled his eyes, pointed at a group of goslings in the distance and laughed and said: "The white geese have not yet taken off all the yellow, and I don't know how high the sky is!"
Shen Tang couldn't help but smile when he heard this. This ancient man was so mean when he cursed people. However, the faces of the others were gloomy. They were thinking hard and trying to think of ways to retaliate. Suddenly, Lin Rui saw the painting boat not far away. There was an old turtle, its head stretched out blankly.
He immediately looked overjoyed, pointed at the old turtle and said: "The turtle's shell has been polished long ago, it can be regarded as a cunning old man!"
"good!"
All the scholars in Shanyin County burst into laughter. This couplet was not only correct, but they also scolded it back mercilessly. It made people feel happy!
"It's disrespectful to come and go without reciprocating!" Yu Fang sneered and said, "Young people bullying older people are considered superior!"
The people in Kuaiji were also very quick-witted and responded after a moment, "It's crazy for a stupid dog to claim the kingship!"
The two parties went back and forth, quarreling with each other, but no one was at a disadvantage for a while. The scholars in other counties watched the fun happily, and cheered for the good match of one party from time to time.
"Yu Fang, I will make another couplet. If you can match up, we will admit defeat. If you cannot match up, then everyone in Shanyin will retreat when they see us!" Zhu Pengxing shouted loudly.
Yu Fang and Lin Rui looked at each other, and then shouted at the same time: "I'm afraid you won't make it!"
I saw Zhu Pengxing and the people behind him discussing in whispers for a while, and then said again: "I, a Russian, ride a strange horse, draw a long bow, fight alone, play the harp, the harp, the pipa, the eight kings, the king is on top!"
As soon as this couplet came out, everyone present took a breath of cold air! Everyone in Shanyin even looked gloomy. This is a standard split word couplet. Is it difficult to say this couplet? If you have enough time to figure it out, you can analyze it. It’s not too difficult to match up. It’s easy to say, but it’s not easy at all. It’s really not easy to come up with neat and meaningful connections in a short period of time.
All the scholars from Shanyin had different expressions. They lowered their heads and walked around for a while, but it was difficult to deal with it. Even if someone occasionally came up with a word or a sentence, it was difficult to achieve it.
For a quarter of an hour, everyone in Kuaiji looked happy, and Zhu Pengxing even shouted, "Haha, do you want us to give you three days and three nights to go back and think about it?"
"Three days? I think it will take at least a month!"
"Since you can't match me, you must remember to stay away from me in Kuaiji in the future!"
"Yes, not only you, but even your county magistrate must avoid these three people when they see our Lord Wang!"
"We are both a large county in Shaoxing, but your Shanyin is obviously not as dense as ours in Kuaiji..."
The ridicule of the Kuaiji scholars made everyone in Shanyin turn pale with anger. However, they couldn't think of a good answer for a while, and they didn't know how to refute.
However, at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded, "You, my dear, are pretending to be a human being, and you are asking for clothes. You can take them as soon as you put your hands together. There are four little ghosts and ghosts around you!"
After saying this, there was silence. The next moment, all the silent scholars in Shanyin started to drink.
"good!"
"good!"
"What a demon..."
Everyone followed the sound, but saw that the person who made the sound was Shen Tang. Originally, Shen Tang was really too lazy to participate in this kind of competition, but when he saw that the words of the people in Kuaiji were actually insulting to Wei Xun, he had to speak. .
Shen Tang looked at the people in Kuaiji opposite with a smile on his face, and continued without waiting for the other party to speak: "I also have a couplet, I hope you can give me some advice!"
"If there are insects in the water, it will be turbid; if there are fish in the water, it will be fishy; water, water, water, rivers and lakes will be full of mist!"
This couplet is also a couplet with split characters, but compared to the couplet in Kuaiji, the skill and difficulty are even higher!
"Hahaha……"
Seeing Shen Tang using the same method to retaliate against his old rival, the Shanyin scholars finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. However, at this moment, those with livid faces turned into the people from Kuaiji.
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Shen Tang chuckled and said: "I'm tired of standing here for a long time. I hope you can let me know when you have a good match..." After that, he turned around and returned to the boat! Other Shanyin talents Seeing this, he turned around with a smile and followed Shen Tang back to the boat.
Returning to the boat again, the atmosphere among the people changed from the silence before and finally became enthusiastic. Especially the attitude towards Shen Tang has changed a lot.
"Cousin Shen, you are more intelligent than anyone else, no wonder he is favored by the county magistrate!" Yu Fang said with a mocking smile to Shen Tang.
Shen Tang waved his hand, "You guys are so ridiculous. Shen Tang is just a bit quick-witted, so naturally he doesn't dare to compare with you in literary talent."
A few people were being polite when they saw Yuan Chen coming. He first said to everyone: "Everyone, my lord has something to say, and I would like to write some poems to dedicate to the magistrate!" Then he called Shen Tang and told him that the magistrate welcome.
Entering the small pavilion, Wei Xun had a smile on his face. It was obvious that he was very satisfied with the unintentional competition between the talents just now. The little maid standing behind Shao Muyu even made a face at Shen Tang.
"Shen Tang is very resourceful and really powerful!"
When Shen Tang sat down, Wei Xun spoke with a smile. But Shen Tang didn't say anything, just smiled bitterly.
The gauze tent on the side was opened, and the scenery of distant mountains and rivers came into view. A few people were in this gallery, drinking tea and admiring the scenery, which was quite pleasant for a while.
From time to time, a young boy came in through the curtain and offered it to Wei Xun. After Wei Xun and the other three tasted it, they thought it was acceptable, so they sent someone to send it to Zhizhou's ship. If it was too bad, Wei Xun also sent someone to say a few words of comfort.
Shen Tang was happy to take some time off, reading other people's poems, occasionally praising them, but not saying much.
Time passed slowly, and in the afternoon, intermittent news came from Lord Zhizhou's painting boat. It is said that so far, Shangyu County is actually ranked first, and the second place is none other than the old man of Shanyin County. The opponent is Kuaiji County.
Compared with the previous two years, Shanyin County has also improved, ranking fourth. However, such results, especially being suppressed by old opponents, made all the scholars in Shanyin and the county magistrate Wei Xun dissatisfied. . However, poems are naturally created, and it does not mean that they are created. Therefore, although many scholars were eager, no good poems were born in a short period of time.
"Shen Tang, this county has invited you to take charge. Now that you have seen the beautiful scenery of this county and tasted Mu Yu's niece's tea, isn't it time to come up with a poem?" Wei Xun said slowly to Shen Tang.
Shen Tang smiled bitterly, knowing that it would be inconvenient to refuse, so he thought for a moment, ordered Yuan Chen to get pen and ink, and started writing on the table.
"The Chu River in Chu has a sandbar, and the sandbar has shallow water flow. The shallow water has sandbars and geese, and the sandbars have wild geese in Chujiangqiu."
The poem only had four sentences and more than twenty words, and it jumped onto the paper in an instant. However, when Shen Tang put down the pen and ink and handed the poem to Wei Xun and Shao Muyu, they couldn't help but He frowned, and then slowly started chanting word by word.
The reason why the two of them frowned was because this poem was so straightforward that even a child could write it. However, it was a bit weird when it was written by Shen Tang.