The sixteenth day of the first lunar month is the second day of the Lantern Festival.
Wang Yuan was quite good to his servants. During the ten-day lantern festival, he gave them holidays in turn to go to the city to watch the lanterns.
Today is the day arranged by Lize Club. Wang Yuan took Zhou Chong and Yuan Da out. Wang Yuan went to Juxian Tower for a banquet, while Zhou and Yuan went to watch the lanterns. They figured they would come back to pick him up in time.
"Can't you just leave this broken knife at home?" Wang Yuan said with a smile.
Yuan Da held the steel knife and shook his head: "Abba said, if the knife is with the person, the person will die if the knife is lost."
"This is the capital, not Guizhou." Wang Yuan said.
Yuan Da had a point, and said in a deep voice: "You have to use a knife to kill people in the capital. When we go out to watch the lanterns, there are many people, and if we encounter a thief and cause trouble, I will chop him with a single knife!"
"It's up to you." Wang Yuan was too lazy to persuade him.
There are two boys from the Yuan family, the eldest, Yuan Gang, is bold and bold, while the second, Yuan Da, is calm and thoughtful. It is precisely because of his calm personality that Song Ling'er sent Yuan Da to deliver the message. She would not be at ease if it were anyone else.
Two days ago, Wang Yuan tried Yuan Da's martial arts.
It had only been two or three years since we last met. This kid had grown half a foot taller and much stronger. Perhaps due to his experience on the battlefield, his sword skills had become stronger and more effective. He abandoned all the previous tricks and struck at the vital point with his sword.
The three masters and servants strolled into the city. The northwest part of the city was not very lively. There were many large warehouses here. To prevent fires, lantern gatherings were prohibited.
Go eastward along Xizhimen Street, pass through Huanyiju Hutong and Yangfang Hutong, and then arrive at Shichahai.
Shichahai was called "Shichahai" in the Ming Dynasty because there were many temples and ancient temples around it. Some people also called it "Jishuitan", which was passed down from the Yuan Dynasty. The Jishuitan in the Yuan and Ming dynasties represented the entire Shichahai.
Since the birth of Li Dongyang, Shichahai has been known as the "West End" again.
Before Li Dongyang was granted a house by the emperor, he had been renting by Jishuitan because the rent here was very cheap.
Literary people have to be more elegant.
Whether it's Shichahai or Jishuitan, they both look particularly tacky.
Li Dongyang lived on the west bank of Jishuitan, so he called the place "Xiya", and Xiya became his nickname. Literati then called the entire Shichahai Sea Xiya.
Although Shichahai is located within the city of Beijing, there is also a lot of farmland, and land reclamation from the lake is becoming increasingly popular.
What should we do if the water area decreases? We need to release floods.
So a channel was dug to connect to the Qianhai Sea, and it passed through the gate into the Imperial City and was divided into the northwest. The northwest flow passed the Yinding Bridge, and then flowed back to the Houhai. It actually formed a landscape of "Yinding Viewing the Landscape and the Water Flow Backward", attracting countless literati and poets to relax and entertain here.
Today we said we were meeting at Juxian Tower, but in fact we were meeting at Shichahai.
Invite the Qing Guan people from Juxian Tower to rent a big boat and cruise the Shichahai Sea. The lights reflecting on the water are really beautiful - this is something that literati can do.
Wang Yuan, his master and his servant, walked out of Yangfang Alley and saw lanterns everywhere on the lakeside, and the lake was also filled with bright lights.
Although the lantern market along the street is lively and beautiful, it inevitably looks vulgar, but here it adds endless elegance.
Shichahai in the mid-Ming Dynasty was much larger than that in later generations!
On the pier near Li Guangqiao, there was a painted boat. As soon as Wang Yuan walked over, a teapot from Juxian Tower came to greet him: "Xueshi Wang, please come on board!"
Lanterns were hung everywhere on the boat, and everyone on the boat carried lanterns.
Wang Yuan asked Zhou Chong and Yuan Da to go to the lantern market and followed the teapot to the boat. Soon he saw Huang Qiao on the boat.
"Brother-in-law, you're finally here!" Huang Qiao said happily.
Yang Shen also came to greet him: "Brother Ruoxu, please come inside!"
"You're welcome!" Wang Yuan said, cupping his fists.
There were already several people sitting in the cabin, all members of the Lize Society, some who were already officials, and some who had not yet been awarded the Jinshi.
For example, Zhang Han, a native of Yunnan and the founder of the Lize Society, is already thirty-three years old. He passed the imperial examination in the second year of Zhengde and is still an imperial examination until now. His family is not short of money and he has been studying in the capital all year round.
Jinshi has no intention of returning to his hometown.
There was also Wang Tingbiao, who was also from Yunnan and a student of Yang Shen's fifth uncle Yang Tingxuan. He passed the national examination in the same year as Wang Yuan, both took part in the provincial examination in Kunming, and they had met once at the Luming Banquet.
There are quite a lot of people from Yunnan here, and Yang Shiyun is also from Dali, Yunnan. This person is Jieyuan of Yunnan in the 14th year of Hongzhi. He has not been admitted to the Jinshi in the 14th year of Hongzhi. He is much older than Yang Shen, but he became a registered disciple of Yang Shen.
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"Brother Ruoxu, this is Zeng Yu, whose courtesy name is Dongyu. He is from Luzhou, Sichuan. He is currently the head of the Jiangxi Qing Li Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs!" Yang Shen introduced.
Wang Yuan cupped his fists and said, "I have long admired your great name!"
As we said before, although Yang Shen took the mid-level examination in the sixth year of Zhengde, he considered the Jinshi in the third year of Zhengde to be the same year. Zeng Yu was one of them. He joined the Yang family very early, and within a few years he became the head of the household department.
Yang Shen then introduced: "This is Liu Damo, named Yuanfu, from Kaocheng County, Henan Province. He is currently the head of the Guangxi Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs."
"I've met Brother Liu!" Wang Yuan said with a smile.
Yang Shen introduced several people in succession, and there were actually five heads of the household department. There were only thirteen departments in the household department in total.
At this moment, Wang Yuan finally knew why Zhu Houzhao asked Yan Song to be the head of the Household Department. Yang Tinghe did so unscrupulously. He actually promoted a bunch of Zhengde Jinshi scholars to the post of head of the Cleaning Department of the Household Department, and they were all friends of his son!
No wonder Sun Jiao, the Minister of Household Affairs, resigns from time to time, and the Household Department has become the back garden of the Yang family.
Zhu Houzhao knew this very well, so a few months ago, he promoted Wang Qiong to the position of Left Minister of the Ministry of Hubu. Once Sun Jiao resigned, Wang Qiong would definitely be promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Hubu. Anyway, he could not let the Yang Party completely swallow up the Ministry of Hubu.
Before Yang Shen could continue his introduction, Wang Yuan clasped his fists and said, "Master Feng, long time no see!"
It was Feng Xun who impeached Wang Yuan at the court meeting and was also the head of the household department, the sixth head of the household department of the Yang Party.
"Well, Bachelor Wang!" Feng Xun said with a smile.
Perhaps because of Jiang Bin, Feng Zun never impeached Wang Yuan again. Instead, he caught Jiang Bin and opened fire. The head of the household department acted like a censor.
Strictly speaking, Yan Song was also a protégé of Yang Tinghe. He once visited his house when he was selecting concubines. Yan Song also had a good relationship with Yang Shen. Of course, that was in the early years of Zhengde. The Yang family's protégés had too many old friends, so they had to deal with him long ago.
Yan Song, whom he hadn't seen for many years, was completely forgotten.
In addition to the six heads of the Ministry of Household Affairs, there are also two heads of the Ministry of Personnel, as well as the heads of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of War.
Most of these people were Jinshi in the 18th year of Hongzhi and the 3rd year of Zhengde. Because they were attached to Yang Tinghe, they were able to be promoted quickly in a few years.
Facing a bunch of principals on the ship, Wang Yuan understood Yang Tinghe's power in the court more clearly and intuitively.
"sail!"
Yang Tinghe gave the order and the boat sailed away from the dock. Tonight's servants also appeared on the scene.
Yang Shen smiled and said to Wang Yuan: "If you know it, this waiter is the Lantern Festival Oiran who was freshly baked yesterday!"
"I see, I've learned a lot today." Wang Yuan said with a smile.
The matter of selecting courtesans for brothels began during the Hongzhi period. Before the Hongzhi period, the customs were not so open.
Historically, Yang Shen was exiled to Yunnan. Do you think his life was very hard? Someone wrote a book called "Jiang Hua Ping Zao", which specifically reviewed the famous prostitutes in Yunnan. It is a masterpiece about drinking flower wine in Yunnan. Only Huang E is the real one.
As a widower who stayed in Sichuan for decades, she had to help Yang Shen serve his parents and raise their children.
In the Ming Dynasty, the first works that commented on famous prostitutes choosing courtesans were "Liantai Xianhuipin" and "Yandu Prostitutes". The former reviewed famous prostitutes in Nanjing, and the latter reviewed famous prostitutes in Beijing, but they have not been published yet.
"Dong dong dong dong!"
The pipa sounded and the oiran from the capital began to play.
The portholes of the boat were all opened, so the literati could listen to music, drink, and admire the bright lanterns on the lake in the distance.
Moreover, the boat is still swimming, the scenery outside the window is constantly changing, and occasionally you can even hear singing coming from the nearby boat.
City people really know how to play!
(Tomorrow comes tomorrow, and I still owe an update.)