If we talk about the most famous person in Zhejiang literary world recently, it must be Xu Yan.
He could compose one beautiful poem after another effortlessly, stealing the show.
The poem "If Life Could Only Be Like Our First Meeting" written in Broken Bridge Osmanthus Collection pushed him to a new height.
Countless talented and famous people came here one after another, wanting to form a society with Xu Yan.
Gushan Academy suddenly became lively.
Xu Yan was naturally happy to see this.
Gushan Academy is a typical place where strength is greater than fame. All the senior brothers in the academy are talented and speak well. He really likes staying there.
Xu Yan was quite proud that he could bring fame to Gushan Academy and let his senior brothers have a touch of immortal aura.
More and more people came and it became more and more famous.
Until one day Zong Chen and Xu Zhongxing came together, which surprised Xu Yan.
These two people are not ordinary people.
Xu Zhongxing was from Changxing, Huzhou, and was born in the 12th year of the Zhengde reign.
Zongchen was from Xinghua, Nanzhili, and was born in the fourth year of Jiajing.
Although Xu Zhongxing is eight years older than Zongchen, the two have known each other for several years.
The two of them later passed the imperial examination together in the 29th year of Jiajing, and later formed a society with Wang Shizhen and others, known in history as the Later Seven Masters.
The two of them came here because they admired his reputation and wanted to make friends through poetry and literature and have a long chat with Xu Yan.
Naturally, Xu Yan couldn't refuse, so he welcomed the two into the academy.
It was the golden autumn season, and the courtyard was covered in golden color.
The three of them sat around the stone table, drinking tea and reciting poems, how happy they were.
Xu Yan still admired the poetry of the two. After thinking for a moment, he took the initiative to say, "Brother Zi Yu and Zi Xiang are both talented. I wonder what you think of the current literary and poetry circles?"
This question was exactly what the two of them wanted.
Xu Zhongxing, the oldest of the three, spoke first, "The literary world of the Ming Dynasty is now decadent and devoid of any masculinity. If this continues, it will be worrying. In my opinion, if you don't write poetry, then forget it. If you do, you should emulate the styles of the previous dynasties. As the saying goes, prose must be like the Qin and Han dynasties, and poetry must be like the Tang dynasty."
The view raised by Xu Zhongxing was not unfamiliar in the Ming Dynasty.
Li Mengyang, He Jingming and others once advocated retro style.
The Later Seven Masters were merely a continuation of this tradition.
But in this kind of decadent atmosphere, it is not easy to persist in putting forward this point of view.
Zong Chen nodded repeatedly upon hearing this and continued, "Brother Ziyu is right. Poetry should naturally have the flavor of poetry. Those verses that just moan without any real reason are truly disgusting to listen to."
Compared with Xu Zhongxing, Zong Chen's views are more radical.
Because his idol was the poet Li Bai, Zong Chen often imitated Li Bai's style in writing poems. Although it was impossible for him to produce masterpieces that would be remembered for thousands of years, he did gain some fame during the Jiajing period.
As a scholar, I can't help but get impatient while chatting.
Xu Zhongxing saw the beautiful autumn scenery and chanted:
"In autumn, reeds and rushes crisscross the great river; when I recover from my illness, the rain begins to fall. The vast sea and white clouds accompany me as I sleep; I stop drinking as I see the setting sun over the Central Plains.
"An official has already failed Tao Qian's ambition, and who would pity Song Yu's talent? I remember my peers in Yan City, where we would take the stage every festive occasion."
Zong Chen was not willing to be outdone and said in a deep voice:
"The gates of heaven are never shut at night, when will the wine star be banished to the mortal world? I will give you five dou of golden stem dew, and I will make you drunk and kill thousands of mountains in the south of the Yangtze River."
Seeing the two of them coming in full force and staring at him, Xu Yan knew that he would have to come up with a good piece of work, so he pondered for a moment and said:
"Cormorants and lotus leaves fill the autumn mist; Taiye and Hutuo rivers connect everywhere.
Although half of the lake is as blue as a mirror, a silver saddle is not as good as a boat for ten miles.
The embankment is similar to the Sui Garden where willows can be planted, and the song I sing is about the Wu girl remembering picking lotus.
It’s not because of the lack of fish that I miss my homeland, but because the scenery in a foreign land is inherently desolate.”
After writing the three poems, comparison is inevitable.
Xu Zhongxing and Xu Yan wrote seven-character regulated verse, and Zong Chen wrote seven-character quatrain.
Judging from the number of words, Zong Chen is at a disadvantage.
But in terms of momentum, Zong Chen's poems are not inferior at all.
The last sentence "Drunk to death thousands of mountains in the south of the Yangtze River" has some of the meaning of Li Bai.
Wow, he is indeed an extraordinary figure who deserves to be recorded in history!
After a discussion, the three of them couldn't decide who was better, so they smiled at each other.
"Brother Yishi is so talented at such a young age. His future is limitless."
Although Xu Zhongxing was only in his early thirties, he could have been Xu Yan's father in Ming Dynasty. He had endured for more than ten years to gain his current fame, while Xu Yan was already famous in Jiangnan at the age of fifteen or sixteen, which is why Xu Zhongxing said that.
Xu Yan quickly said, "Brother Ziyu, you are too kind to praise me. I really don't deserve it."
Zong Chen smiled and said, "Don't be so modest now. There aren't many people who can be praised by Brother Ziyu."
Xu Zhongxing coughed awkwardly and said, "Prime Minister, I want to stay in Hangzhou for a while. What do you think?"
Zong Chen thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible. Studying is studying anyway, no matter where you are. This is a good opportunity to exchange some ideas with Yishi."
Xu Zhongxing was overjoyed, and then turned to Xu Yan and said, "My dear brother, I wonder if you and I could stay at Gushan Academy for a while?"
"Well... I have no problem with that, but I still need to ask my master."
Xu Yan did not say anything final, after all, Mr. Qian had the final say in Gushan Academy.
"It's natural."
Xu Zhongxing nodded and said, "Respected Master, are you Mr. Xushan, a disciple of Mr. Yangming?"
"Yes."
"No wonder Yishi is so talented, he is actually a disciple of Wang Xue."
Zong Chen suddenly realized.
"I've heard of Mr. Xushan's great name since I was in Xinghua, but I never thought I'd have the honor of meeting him in person today."
"It's really unfortunate. My master went to Lingyin Temple early this morning and I'm afraid he won't be back until later."
Xu Yan hurriedly explained.
"It doesn't matter, we can wait."
Xu Zhongxing continued the conversation.
The atmosphere was awkward for a moment, but Zong Chen was the first to break the silence, saying, "I heard that after destroying the Twin Islands, the Minister had the intention of sweeping away all the trouble, ordering the army and navy to search the mountains and seas. This is truly a blessing for the Ming Dynasty."
Zong Chen is a descendant of Zong Ze, a famous general who fought against the Jin Dynasty in the Song Dynasty.
Perhaps due to his family background, Zong Chen was not only interested in the literary world, but also paid close attention to the Ming Dynasty's border defense, especially the southeastern coastal defense.
Zhu Wan's series of actions restored the Ming army's lost momentum, and Zong Chen was naturally very excited.
To a certain extent, Zong Chen cannot even be considered a pure literati. He even organized the people to resist the Japanese pirates while serving in Fujian.
"It takes time to eradicate the Japanese menace in the southeast, but I believe that as long as the court trusts you, the Japanese menace will be eradicated sooner or later."
As soon as Xu Yan finished speaking, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
I turned around and looked, it was not Xu Wei but who else?
"Why is Wenchang here?"
Xu Yan stood up and walked forward with a smile.
When Xu Wei saw that there were other people in the yard, he was stunned.
"Who are these two?"
"I forgot to introduce them to Brother Wenchang. These two are friends I just made. This one is Brother Ziyu, and this one is Brother Zixiang."
Xu Yan brought Xu Wei closer to the two of them and introduced them one by one.
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