Chapter 127 Selected Poems
It is the Double Ninth Festival, and the weather is clear and cool in autumn.
In the afternoon, Wanqi, a military officer of the Privy Council, was ordered to go to meet Emperor Zhao, but before he left the camp, his colleague Hu Hongxiu caught up with him. After asking a little, he found out that it was Prime Minister Lu Yihao's previous words that came true. When the news of the fall of Nanjing reached the southeast, Prime Minister Li Gang immediately sent the rear army of the imperial camp to the front line. As a result, the troops mutinied before they even crossed the river. The commander Wang Yi directly broke away from the command, forcibly occupied Jiangning Prefecture, and allowed his soldiers to plunder. Li Gang had no choice but to try to quell the rebellion first.
The news had just arrived by express delivery, but no one knew what the current situation was.
Besides, this kind of bad news is similar to the siege of Tokyo. They were all prepared for it, but in fact, it still made people feel powerless. Wanqi Xie and Hu Hongxiu discussed it for a while, and they were both worried, but they couldn't help but speed up and prepare to tell the emperor as soon as possible.
However, when the two of them arrived at Mount Yu with due diligence, they did not see Emperor Zhao's concern for the country and the people as Wang Shuxiang had reminded him. On the contrary, the emperor was in casual clothes and without a hat, enjoying himself on the top of the mountain. On his left was his favorite concubine in military uniform, on his right were his poets drinking from cups, and even his trusted generals bent over and took off their helmets to accompany him, without any rules at all.
If we use a famous poem by Gao Changshi of the Tang Dynasty, which goes like this, 'The soldiers are half dead on the battlefield, while the beauties are still singing and dancing in the tent', I think it may not be a bad idea.
Seeing this, Hu Hongxiu felt depressed and was about to step forward to give some advice, but was stopped by Wanqi Xie on the side.
When Emperor Zhao, who was sitting cross-legged on the top of the mountain, saw the two, he was slightly startled, but then smiled and said, "What business has Lord Wanqi and Lord Hu brought you here for? Did Lord Wang or Lord Lu urge you to come, or is there some military intelligence?"
"Your Majesty." Without waiting for Hu Hongxiu to speak, Wanqi Xie quickly put away his thoughts and bowed to him. "I was indeed sent by Prime Minister Wang, but he did not urge me. He just asked me to accompany him. And Hu Canjun came here to inform the emperor that Wang Yi, the commander of the rear army of the Southeast Imperial Camp, did not obey orders and occupied Jiangning Prefecture and plundered without restraint. It turned out that Prime Minister Lu was right."
Zhao Guanjia, who was holding the wine glass, was slightly startled. He paused for a moment before slowly nodding his head: "I see. This matter was expected a long time ago. I will ignore it for now... Since you two are here, it's just right for you to come. Come sit down and drink with us."
General Wanqi, who had previously criticized the emperor in his heart, of course did not object. Instead, he immediately thanked the emperor, tidied his appearance, and then walked forward and carefully sat in the same row with Liu Yan. After Ban Zhi presented him with a wine glass, he took the initiative to hold the pot.
However, Hu Hongxiu was a little flustered by Wanqi Xie's actions. After hurriedly catching up, he seemed to be neither here nor there and was embarrassed for a moment.
"We are discussing poetry about the Double Ninth Festival. Both of you are students of the Imperial College, and Wanqi Qing has also served as a professor. So even though you were appointed officials through the temporary palace examination in the secondary capital, you should all be experts in writing. Let's listen to what you have to say." Emperor Zhao accepted a glass of wine from Wanqi Xie before he spoke casually.
Hearing that Emperor Zhao used the word "I" instead of "I", Wan Qi Xie, who had just poured a glass of wine, became even more excited. However, he suppressed his emotions and poured another glass of wine for everyone at the table except for Madam Wu who was holding the pot. Then he spoke: "I don't know what the emperor, Madam Wu, and Mr. Lin and Commander Liu had discussed before?"
"It's just nonsense." Zhao Jiu casually pointed at the people beside him and answered. "I am an unlearned person. This Madam Wu is said to be both civil and military, and has read a lot, but how many years of education has she had at her age? It's nothing more than that Lin Xueshi and Pingfu (Liu Yan's pen name) have good memory and mentioned some Double Ninth Festival poems. I randomly commented on them, and she brought a book of Tang Poems and flipped through it randomly... and just now we talked about the best Double Ninth Festival poems. Which poem do you think is the best? Which poem is the best for Double Ninth Festival?"
It is probably true that Mrs. Wu has not read many books and brought a book today to cram for an exam, but if Wanqi Xie believed that Mr. Zhao was "unlearned and incompetent", he would be stupid.
In fact, in Wanqi Xie's opinion, if the emperor who always quotes "Old Works of Yi'an Jushi" before him is considered unlearned, then there are not many people in the world who are talented in poetry... It can only be said that, because the image of the Taoist Emperor who was too talented was too impressive, the new emperor who inherited at least five or six levels of ability was obviously dissatisfied with the emperor, and did not want to show too many similarities, so he deliberately concealed it.
It's just a pity for Mr. Yi An and his wife. They are almost 50 years old, and when they get old, they have to deal with this official who makes random levies. The couple is now in discord because of this.
Back to the present, as Emperor Zhao said, Wanqi Xie is a cultured man after all. He does have some talent and is older. He is much better than Hu Hongxiu who likes to wield swords and sabers beside him.
Therefore, this person has gained something from his wild thoughts.
"I'm sorry... If we want to talk about poetry, we have to look for it in Tang poetry." Wanqi Xie glanced at Hu Hongxiu who was still thinking, then he slightly became serious and began to speak. "As the saying goes, 'As a stranger in a foreign land, I miss my family even more during festivals. I know my brothers are climbing high, but there is one less person wearing dogwood branches.' This poem written by Wang Wei at the age of 17 expresses the mentality of many wanderers, and it can be said to be the best among the Double Ninth Festival poems."
After these words were spoken, Liu Yan and Mrs. Wu laughed together, while Hu Hongxiu nodded in sudden realization.
As for Zhao Jiu, he also nodded slowly: "Wanqi Qing said it very well, and it is exactly what we discussed before. The great scholar Su said that Wang Wei's poems contain paintings and his paintings contain poems. This poem was written by Wang Wei when he was seventeen years old, but it already has both spirit and form. The so-called poetic meaning is repeated, but the beginning is simple. The key is that the homesickness described is something that everyone can have, so it is widely sung, enough to suppress other Double Ninth Festival poems and stand at the top position... What about the Double Ninth Festival lyrics?"
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