At this time, at the gate of the Yu family mansion, which is in the center of Jinling City, there was an altar and a Taoist temple, with countless people watching around.
On one side were the eminent monks of the Qixia Temple, and on the other side were the Taoist priests of the Baiyun Temple. Normally, common people worshipped and believed in them, and only the wealthy families in the city could afford to invite them. But both parties came at once, and no one had ever seen such a scene before, so naturally everyone wanted to join in the fun, and at the same time kept leaning forward to look ahead.
It turned out that not only the young master of the Yu family was here today, but even the eunuch Liu from the palace was here as well.
It is now the end of May, the weather is getting hotter day by day, the summer cicadas are chirping in the trees, and the summer heat is noisy.
Eunuch Liu was sitting on a high chair with a large curved-handle umbrella above his head and someone fanning him from time to time behind him.
Eunuch Liu squinted his eyes and watched the situation for a while. He couldn't help but wipe the sweat off his face with a handkerchief. Then he said to Yu Chuxi beside him half-believingly: "Young Master Yu, can they really calculate an address? We can't delay the deadline given by His Majesty..."
Seeing Eunuch Liu urging him, Yu Chuxi just smiled and said, "Don't worry, Eunuch Liu. I have been coordinating with various merchants these days to prepare everything needed to build the palace. The only thing left is to choose a location. Eunuch Liu, you don't know that Jinling is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, but during that period, there were many changes of dynasties and many killings. Therefore, there are often residual evil spirits in the area. If people in Jinling want to choose a house address, they need to calculate and ask for divination... These two families who perform rituals have always been famous in Jinling and are very effective. Eunuch Liu, don't worry."
Hearing Yu Chuxi's words, Eunuch Liu showed satisfaction. He smiled and nodded without saying anything more. In fact, Eunuch Liu took Yu Chuxi's words to heart. The palace also believed them. The emperor even built a royal temple in the forbidden garden. It would be bad if something really hit His Majesty...
Of course the most important thing is that Eunuch Liu saw that although Yu Chuxi was extremely beautiful, she was efficient and thoughtful in her work, so he stopped asking questions.
Not long after, there was movement in the central government. On one side, there was a big scene of praying to the emperor, and on the other side, the Dharma drum was sounded and the fortune was issued.
Unexpectedly, the results came out at the same time. When the people around saw this, they couldn't help but argue in low voices. If the results calculated by the two sides were too different, which one should they believe?
Suddenly, someone in the crowd gasped and exclaimed that it was miraculous. Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it. They took a quick look and realized that the places calculated by both sides were exactly the same!
Wait, why does this place look familiar? It's near the West Garden built by the Salt Inspector Gu Zhong! Logically, they had heard that the West Garden had a unique scenery. Is there any other place more suitable for His Majesty's palace than this?
Seeing the crowd suddenly become agitated and everyone excitedly discussing the result, Eunuch Liu was also very curious and hurriedly invited the magicians and Taoist priests from both sides to come over.
Hearing the same result, a trace of surprise flashed across Eunuch Liu's face. However, Eunuch Liu was not familiar with the terrain of Jinling and did not know where this place was in Jinling. So he asked Yu Chuxi: "Young Master Yu, how is this place?"
Yu Chuxi said softly: "This is a rare Feng Shui treasure land, not far from Jinling City, with Qishui in the east and Hanshan in the west..."
But at this moment, Yu Chuxi looked embarrassed and said, "However, Eunuch Liu, I'm afraid we can't build a temporary palace here."
Eunuch Liu originally thought that the matter was settled after hearing the first half of the sentence, and that he could get rid of everything, but he didn't expect Yu Chuxi to say this, and he couldn't help but frown and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yu Chuxi then slowly explained the whole story and said, "Eunuch Liu, there is already a manor built here..."
Hearing that it was such a "small matter", Eunuch Liu stood up and waved his hand casually before Yu Chuxi finished speaking, "What's the point of bothering about this? Since everyone has calculated that the site of His Majesty's palace is here, this is God's will. As long as you spread the word, who dares to disobey? As for how to deal with it later, I don't need to teach you, right?"
Yu Chuxi looked behind him, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and he said softly: "Eunuch Liu is right, I understand."
On that day, as soon as the calculation results came out, they spread like wildfire. By the time Gu Zhong found out, the whole city was already in an uproar.
When Gu Zhong heard the news, his face changed drastically and he almost broke the teacup in his hand. He never thought that he would be tricked like this!
This Xiyuan Gu Zhong took a full three years to build, and was only completed two years ago. During that time, a huge amount of money was spent. He himself had only been there a few times, but now someone has set his sights on it!
At this time, Gu Zhong knew very well that the trick involved, the divination and fortune-telling, were all done by Yu Chuxi. Yu Chuxi was so bold that he even dared to set his sights on his Xiyuan.
Even if the person giving way is the emperor, how can Gu Zhong be willing to accept it?
Now Yu Chuxi didn't come to him, but Gu Zhong felt even more uncomfortable than if he did!
If Yu Chuxi had directly asked him to give up Xiyuan, Gu Zhong could still fight back, but now that public opinion has come out, even if Gu Zhong is reluctant, he has to shut up the public.
This person was clearly waiting for him to deliver it personally!
Seeing his father's rare look of exasperation, Gu Yuanke felt bad. He had thought he had won a reputation for being a playboy at the poetry gathering in Xiyuan, but he had never expected that it would lead to all these disasters. All this started when he and Shao Zhen met Xie Shu...
Xie Shu, ah Xie Shu, since you want to go against my Gu family, don't regret it.
Gu Yuanke took a deep breath and said, "Father, we have to give up the West Garden now, but we can't let them get away with it. This place was built by my Gu family. If they forcibly requisition it like this, we will be punished even if we file a complaint in front of the emperor."
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhong immediately shook his head and said, "No, Yuanke, you must understand that this matter must not be told to His Majesty in this way. If His Majesty knew that I had built such a place in Jinling, given His Majesty's character, how could he not be suspicious? However, after it is built, His Majesty will come to Jinling for a southern tour. At that time, I can reveal this matter again, and perhaps His Majesty will do justice for me."
Hearing his father's words, Gu Yuanke immediately understood, his eyes lit up and he said, "Father, what you said makes sense. I am really stupid, and I don't know when I can help you share your worries."
Gu Zhong laughed out loud, feeling much relieved. He couldn't help but look at his son again. In the past, Gu Zhong always felt that his son was too lenient towards others, but now he seemed a bit cruel.
This is also a good thing.
On the second day, the Gu family handed over the West Garden to Yu Chuxi, and public opinion was quickly calmed down.
Seeing that Gu Zhong made the decision so decisively and acted so quickly, Yu Chuxi couldn't help but feel a little surprised and even a little apprehensive.
However, now that we have a ready-made garden, it is no longer a difficult task to repair the palace on this basis.
The March deadline is coming in the blink of an eye.
It is now August, the height of summer. It has not rained in the city of Jinling for a whole month. The sky is cloudless and the scorching sun is as hot as a steamer.
On July 23rd of the third year of Tai'an, the current emperor was escorted out of the capital by the Crown Prince Shao Angong, who was accompanied by the three dukes and nine ministers who were ordered to stay in the capital, under the guard of 10,000 imperial guards.
The emperor brought a large number of people with him this time. In addition to the empress and favored concubines, there were also several other princes, including the third prince Shao Zhen, the fourth prince Shao Ning, and the young fifth and sixth princes.
Before leaving, the emperor issued an imperial decree of amnesty for the whole world, which made people all over the world grateful and shed tears. Along the way, people flocked to the streets, vying to see the emperor's style.
However, after arriving in the south, the emperor took a dragon boat to travel by water. Because there were so many people accompanying him, there were thousands of dragon boats in the canal.
Everything was fine originally, but who knew it didn't rain for a month in a row. It was said that the canal was blocked in Huai'an, and now they are recruiting able-bodied men to dredge the canal.
Therefore, the trip to Nanjing will probably have to be postponed for some time.
At this time, Xie Shu was at Jiang Hong's home. During this period, Jiang Hong asked him to learn two ways of writing fu. Xie Shu had almost mastered them and had actually written several poems and fu of different types.
Jiang Hong unfolded the scroll and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, your "Sunrise Fu" has reached a certain level. The rhythm I set for you is to use the rhyme of "virtue and beauty" and "shaking the universe". It is not easy to reflect this eight-character rhythm in the text. However, you were able to write such a beautiful, natural and elegant fu under such strict regulations. It is not easy, which shows that you really put in a lot of effort.
I also use eight characters to describe this fu, "There are things that are natural, born before heaven and earth", which is in contrast to your previous fu, "Chang Xiao Fu", which is "wind, sun, clouds and fields, the army and the country are clean and solemn."
Unexpectedly, the teacher would give him such a high evaluation. Xie Shu smiled slightly and said respectfully: "Thank you for the praise, teacher. I don't deserve it. It's because of your good teaching."
Jiang Hong smiled and commented: "This art of poetry and prose relies entirely on daily accumulation. It cannot be accomplished without excellent learning and talent. The best is to quote from classics without leaving any trace. Nowadays, it is even more important to refine sentences. It is easy to get stuck in a dead end. In fact, the words are used throughout the poem and prose to make the sentences smooth and neat. It is good to be able to express the matter. Then, you can refine the sentences, but you cannot reverse the order! As the saying goes, the theme is common but the idea is new, and the idea is common but the words are new.
Well, since you are already proficient in poetry, I will teach you about theory and strategy. Rongzhan, do you know the difference between theory and strategy? "
Xie Shu recalled for a moment and said: "Theory is to express opinions based on historical allusions, and strategy is to propose solutions to existing problems."
Jiang Hong nodded and said, "Yes, the ce is based on current affairs, and the thesis is like poetry and prose, which takes a sentence from the Four Books and Five Classics as the title, but the thesis takes a historical fact.
For example, the exam I presided over that year was to quote a sentence from the biography of Jia Yi in the Book of Han: "Tang and Wu placed the world under benevolence, righteousness, propriety and music..." and asked students to discuss it based on this sentence. This question may seem simple, but did you know that there are many derivative meanings of the question? Candidates need to express not only the meaning of the question, but also the background, tasks and concepts of the question, so the format is also very important! "
The author has something to say:
Because it is an imperial examination essay, some imperial examination content will be included~~which paves the way for Xie Shu to pass the exam and gain fame in the future, and it should also be more convincing. I hope you can understand!
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