Chapter 488 If the Queen were here!!
The drizzle is as soft as butter and falls gently.
Clouds and mist surround the mountains and rivers, and an old man is fishing in a painted boat.
This is truly the end of the world.
With such a beautiful scenery, what else could you ask for!
Mu Xu, the chief priest, stood on the Yunmu Pavilion, which is known as one of the wonders of the world, and looked at the world-famous Yunmu Lake filled with mist in the rain, with praise in his heart.
Especially in the mist and drizzle, there are small boats ferrying on the lake, and an old man fishing in a straw raincoat on the boat, fishing quietly, which is so pleasant.
Mu Xu was extremely envious, but envy was useless, he was destined to be busy and there was nothing he could do!
When he thought about his hard-working life, Mu Xu lamented, "My old waist and bones~~"
An old man in plain clothes heard this and walked up to Mu Xu with a wine glass in his hand: "Why are you hiding from the kids and running here?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xu looked at the richest man in Yunxiang, old man Qian Long, and said with a smile: "Looking at the scenery of Yunmu Lake, I can't help but sigh a few times."
After saying that, he turned around and looked at the scene inside the Yunmu Pavilion. The two floors were filled with guests, and even the aisles and corridors were crowded with people.
The women from the south of the Yangtze River dance gracefully, and the dignitaries sit around them. Wearing gold and silver is a trivial matter. The scholars all have to spend one or two taels of silver to buy half a foot of cloth. The most important thing is the dishes. Take out any one of them and ask the price. It is enough for ordinary people to have food for a year. How luxurious!
So, Mu Xu looked at the old man Qian and said, "You are still rich."
After drinking a glass of wine, Mu Xu was filled with emotion. It was said that the high officials in the capital were extravagant, but compared with the banquets in Jiangnan, none of them could compare.
After coming to Jiangnan for a few days and attending so many banquets, Mu Xu felt sorry for the money.
Looking at today, it is even more luxurious!
However, the people who came today were quite interesting.
There were many students and teachers, but the one in white was particularly drunk, lying on the steps, drinking red wine from a glass bottle.
There was also a handsome man in his thirties wearing a blue shirt, who was gentle and elegant, and whose speech and manners were quite like those of an ancient scholar.
There were people surrounding both of them.
The drunk man on the ground is called Bai Qi, one of the thirteen best in the world today [Painted Armor]!
That handsome man in blue shirt was once number one on the poetry list, "Wen Junzi" Qiu Shui'an.
Apart from these two, at a glance, there are more than a dozen talented men and women who are well-known.
As for those children from aristocratic families who are well-read in poetry and literature, there are many of them.
Mu Xu narrowed his eyes and looked at these people a few more times. He had been to some of them, but there was no need for him to visit some of them.
In other words, it is the old man Qian Long who can be called upon and can afford to hold a literary gathering of this scale in the Yunmu Pavilion.
Qian Long laughed when he heard this: "I donated money to you to build a school, but you refused it. Now you say I have money. What's wrong? I stole it from your house."
He and Mu Xu had known each other for decades. In the past, Mu Xu had no food to eat, and he wanted to make a name for himself in the capital, so he invited Mu Xu to have a meal. Mu Xu drank up all the wine that time, and later said that it was expensive, so he had to drink it all.
Mu Xu smiled and waved his hand, not wanting to say more about this matter. Some money is not worth having. It's not that Qian Long's money is dirty, it's earned from legitimate business, so it's very clean.
The reason why he didn't ask for money was because if Qian Lang paid to build the school, then the school would no longer be clean. After all, after it was built, it would belong to the Qian family and those dignitaries. If those from poor families wanted to go, it would be no problem if he was still there, but after he left, then it would be impossible.
The noble families valued family background, but the merchants valued it more than the noble families! They all wanted to change from being a merchant family to a noble family.
The place of knowledge is not just for one family, but a place for students from all over the world who want to learn.
For example, when Mu Xu built so many schools, with the sound of reading aloud, everyone knew that if you come to study, the door is open, regardless of your identity or anything else.
Otherwise, with his current status as Mu Xu, would he still live such a tight life, even snatching the salaries from his own disciples?
With just a call, countless wealthy families and businessmen came pushing carts to give silver.
Qian Long saw that Mu Xu was unwilling to talk about this matter, and also knew that Mu Xu was worried about the future, so he did not talk much, but said: "My grandson, do you really not like him?"
Qian Long glanced at the young man who was squatting beside Bai Qi and staring at him.
Mu Xu said frankly, "Of course I look up to you. How dare I look down on the future God of Wealth of the Qian family? But, you are not good at studying. You didn't make any progress in the White Horse Academy. If you give it to me, it will be even worse. You might as well learn how to do business. If you have this intention, I can help you get in touch with Su Liheng of the Su family. That kid is doing business in Yangzhou now."
Qian Long sighed, then smiled bitterly: "It seems that my Qian family will never produce an official."
Mu Xucai is about to speak
But at this time, someone in the crowd spoke up: "I think that Mr. Shui An's Lantern Festival poem is much better than the Queen's "The Lights Are Fading!"
Many people heard it, and as soon as these words were spoken, the originally noisy Yunmu Pavilion suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at the student who shouted these words.
The student was a little at a loss when he saw that he had spoken loudly in excitement and attracted so many people to look at him.
Seeing that the student was silent, someone on the second floor shouted, "Why don't you tell me what you are inferior to us? What's the point of just shouting?"
When these words were spoken, many people's eyes were filled with mockery.
Is it possible for a student like you to comment on whether the Empress's poems are good or not?
Not to mention that everyone present knew about the [Qingyu'an], but you said it's not as good as the one by Wen Junzi?
After hearing what happened at Qingyu'an that day, Wen Junzi tore up the poems he had written for the Lantern Festival on the spot, saying that he was too embarrassed to show them.
Mu Xu looked at the man with a smile, without saying much, and did not talk to Qian Long either, just waiting for what to come next.
However, the blue-clothed man known as the "Wen Junzi" stood up, bowed to everyone and said, "My child is ignorant and disturbed you all. Please forgive me. Qiu's poems are indeed not as good as the Queen's. For example, "The clouds resemble clothes and the flowers resemble face" and "When will the bright moon appear" are poems that Qiu could not think of even if he tried his best, not to mention "That person is at the end of the dim lights." "
Having said that, Qiu Shui'an bowed again.
The student who made the statement also bowed hurriedly.
Naturally, there were many people who were curious about the matter, especially when it came to the Queen Mother.
Looking at the person who was shouting, those from the Wu family naturally wanted to embarrass him, and those with more ulterior motives were thinking about whether they should humiliate the reputation of that "Wen Junzi".
After all, not as good as it is not as good as it is. What does it mean when your people shout this?
But Qiu Shui'an admitted it in public, which was a bit disappointing. Even those who wanted to gossip kept their mouths shut. After all, Qiu Shui'an did this in public, and they still refused to give in. If they stood up and spoke out about it, they would inevitably be despised.
A little farce.
Mu Xu smiled and stopped looking. This was all thanks to the fact that it was in the south. Although the Queen had a huge influence, it was not as great as that in the capital.
If you dared to shout like that in the capital, you would have been surrounded and beaten up by now!
Qian Long, who was beside Mu Xu, glanced at Wen Junzi, then looked at Mu Xu and asked in a low voice, "The Queen's demeanor is really the best of her time? The way she recites poems and lyrics is far superior to that of Wen Junzi, an ancient and elegant gentleman?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xu stood up, smiling but looking solemn: "Do you think my student Xu Zuiyin's knowledge can be ranked higher than those here?"
Qian Long immediately asserted: "If the knowledge of the King of Poetry is here, I dare not say it is in the top five, but it must be in the top ten! If it is poetry, it must be in the top three!"
Mu Xu then asked, "What do you think of my student Xun Kuang?"
Qian Long immediately said, "There are ten talents in the world, but is there any need to talk about someone who has seven?"
But after he finished speaking, Qian Long asked, "Ask your Majesty, Queen, why are you saying all this? Are you praising your own students?"
Mu Xu smiled, pointed at himself and asked: "So what do you think of me?"
Qian Long didn't want to talk.
Isn’t this nonsense!
Although this literary giant was criticized for his cynicism, people never talked about the academic work of Grand Master Mu Xu because they could not find any fault with him and had no right to criticize him.
Mu Xu smiled and said, "In front of the empress, the three of us, the master and the apprentice, only discuss poetry and prose, regardless of status, none of us dare to fart."
But after saying that, Mu Xu added: "But if it really was a fart, and the queen smelled it, she wouldn't be angry, and might even smile and tell us to stay away."
Qian Long listened to Mu Xu's irrelevant answer, but inexplicably, he understood it clearly.
It can be seen that there is someone who can make Mu Xu so self-deprecating and praise him.
Mu Xu looked back, only to find that the rain had stopped at some point, and the dark clouds had dispersed. A ray of sunlight shone through the clouds onto the misty Yunmu Lake.
Especially under this golden sunlight, when you look from the Yunmu Pavilion to the Yunmu Lake in front of you, in the narrow gap in the sky, the water and the sky are reflected, and you don’t know which is the lake and which is the sky. It is truly a magnificent sight!
He immediately sighed, "Many people have written poems in Yunwu Pavilion, and there are good poems and lyrics, but there is no poem that can be engraved on the tombstone. So I have been thinking, how great it would be if the queen was here."
After a brief moment of seriousness, Mu Xu turned around and looked at Qian Long and said, "You don't know that there are many troublemakers here, right? There are even more in the capital! However, whenever the queen attends, those self-righteous kids are all very quiet, and no one dares to write poetry. What do they do at the literary gathering? First, to see the queen, and then to wait for the queen's poetry. If the queen were here today, I guarantee that every one of you would be quiet, especially those who are the most arrogant."
What kind of person is Mu Xu talking about?
But Qian Long knew that Mu Xu was talking about the people from the Zuo family and the Xu family. In other words, they were the families from the Shangjun Chamber of Commerce and the Wanli Chamber of Commerce.
Qian Long didn't say anything, just smiled. Although he seemed to be in a good position, he was actually surviving in the gap between the two major chambers of commerce. His chamber of commerce had to be disbanded last year.
If it weren't for its strong foundation, it might have been swallowed up by these two chambers of commerce.
But think of this
Qian Long was thinking about what Mu Xu had just said about Su Liheng.
Red lips?
Qian Long thought about it and couldn't make a decision yet. After all, the current situation was unclear. If he cooperated with Su Liheng like this, he would be tied to him. If the Zuo family, Qi family, Ouyang family and other big families were fine this time, he would be ruined.
Mu Xu glanced at Qian Long and knew what the old man was thinking, but he didn't expose it.
But he knew in his heart that in order to complete His Majesty's grand plan, especially what the Queen said about building a state-owned commercial industry, using commerce to support the military and increase the silver reserves in the treasury, he had to take down the old man Qian Long. But there was no rush. The situation was unclear and these old foxes in the south would definitely not express their opinions.
Although he, as a lobbyist, is needed at this time, didn't his mention of Su Liheng just now have an effect?
But at this time.
There was a commotion in the pavilion again. Mu Xu and Qian Long looked over and saw that old master Gu Quezhi had arrived.
Mu Xu immediately smiled and said, "Old man, you're finally here!"
But just as I reached the stairs and was about to go downstairs, I said, "Gu Quezhi, you are already so arrogant. Why did you take so long to come?"
But this raises his head.
"Um?!"
(End of this chapter)
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