Rise From the Humble

There was no need for watermelon. Zhu Pingan bought some lychees, cherries and other seasonal fruits, packed some snacks, and took them to Zhang Siwei's house. Later he said goodbye to Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, and went to Huaihe again. Visit the teacher Xu Jie in the tree alley.

On the way, Zhu Ping'an spent two taels of silver to choose a pound of West Lake Mingqian Longjing at a tea shop, and asked the store owner to wrap it up carefully and take it with him. Longjing tea has always been said to be "the best before the rain and the treasure before the Ming Dynasty". The Longjing tea picked before Qingming is called Mingqian Longjing, and the Longjing tea picked after Qingming and before Grain Rain is called Yuqian Longjing. The price of Mingqian Longjing is about 100 yuan. Twice the former Longjing tea, it belongs to the aristocracy of Longjing tea.

It is not good to go empty-handed when visiting a master. It is too vulgar to give gold and silver, and I am not rich myself, so I chose this top-quality Longjing tea as a gift. There is also a top-quality Longjing tea in the tea shop, which costs more than ten taels of silver, which is too expensive.

This trip was not to ask for Xu Jie's care, but to pay a visit to the master in accordance with official customs.

The memorial before returning home is not a trivial matter, and getting married after returning home is even more of a major event in life. In addition, I was not in the capital during the Dragon Boat Festival some time ago. Although Wang Shizhen and Zhang Siwei got a boxing gift for me, they were not there after all. After so many things, both emotionally and rationally, I had to go visit my next master, Xu Jie, otherwise I would be accused of not respecting my master.

"Please inform me that my disciple Zhu Ping'an has come to pay homage to the Master."

After entering Huaishu Hutong and arriving in front of the Xu Mansion, Zhu Pingan honestly passed the greeting card through the concierge.

While waiting outside the door, the side door of the Xu Mansion opened, and a handsome young man wearing a jade hairpin and a blue cocoon silk skirt walked out. He walked steadily and was greeted by the servants of the Xu Mansion. , walked out of the door, a sense of elegance and handsomeness hit his face.

The breeze suddenly picked up, carrying a faint smell of balsam.

Seeing this person, Zhu Ping'an took the initiative to bow his hands and salute him, with a simple and honest smile on his face, "Zi Hou has met Senior Brother Zhang."

This person is none other than Zhang Juzheng. Just like in the past, Zhang Juzheng pays great attention to appearance, his clothes are spotless, and he applies makeup and powder. This trend is hundreds of years ahead of those Korean poppies who wore makeup and powder in later generations.

Zhang Juzheng also returned the favor with a smile on his face, and the two briefly exchanged greetings at the door of Xu's mansion. However, before they even exchanged a few words, the concierge of the Xu Mansion came over to invite Zhu Pingan into the mansion, so Zhu Pingan said goodbye to Zhang Juzheng and entered the Xu Mansion.

The exterior wall is bright and the interior is elegant. This is the second time Zhu Ping'an has stepped into the Xu Mansion.

"Lord Zhu, please sit down for a moment. The master is currently in the study writing a poem for the emperor." The servants of Xu Mansion invited Zhu Pingan into the reception room. The maid came in and poured a cup of tea and asked Zhu Pingan to sit for a while.

"Thank you." Zhu Pingan nodded and sat down, thanking the maid who brought the tea.

Zhang Juzheng just went out, is Xu Jie writing Qing Ci here? Was it because of the memorial that he deliberately neglected himself and showed his favor to Yan Song? Or did the Holy One really suddenly have a request from Qing Ci, and Xu Jie worked overtime to meet the Holy One's needs?

Judging from Zhu Pingan's understanding of Xu Jie, the latter is more likely.

Xu Jie had a habit of encouraging and supporting junior students. When Xu Jie was still the president of the Hanlin Academy, Xu Jie often took time to talk to the new Hanlin Academy, encouraged the juniors, discovered useful talents, and cultivated a team for his own use. . This is how Zhang Juzheng came into Xu Jie's sight. Thinking about it, you wouldn't be so bad that Xu Jie would give up on you so quickly, right?

Moreover, since the Jiajing Emperor cultivated immortality, many officials who were good at writing Qingci have been promoted. Qingci has become a common practice in this dynasty. The first thing Yan Song did when he took charge of the cabinet was to build a Qingci room next to the Zhilu of the cabinet, so that he could write Qingci at any time. Provide green words. Yan Song could see the importance of Qing Ci, and Xu Jie could naturally see it too. Therefore, judging from his understanding since entering Beijing, Xu Jie, like Yan Song, regarded Qing Ci as the first priority in his work. If the Holy One had a need for Qing Ci, Xu Jie would definitely be the first to write Qing Ci for the Holy One.

Perhaps it was on the way to visit Zhang Juzheng that Xu Jie received the emperor's request for Qing Ci. Xu Jie had to work overtime to write Qing Ci, and Zhang Juzheng resigned.

Of course, it is not ruled out that Xu Jie would neglect himself in order to please Yan Song. After all, in history, Xu Jie followed Gou Jian's example and paralyzed Yan Song in order to get rid of Yan Song.

Less than half an hour later, Zhu Ping'an heard footsteps and looked up to see Xu Jie, wearing a Zhongjing crown uniform, walking quickly with a kind smile.

The Zhongjing crown uniform was designed by Emperor Jiajing seven years after he ascended the throne. It is a symbol of status. It can only be used by officials of the seventh rank and above and the Hanlin Academy, Imperial College, Xingrensi, as well as local palaces, prefecture and county main halls, and Confucian schools. Instructors can wear it. In the case of military attaches, only those with official positions above the Commander-in-Chief can wear it.

"The student has met the teacher."

Before Xu Jie reached the door, Zhu Ping'an quickly stood up and went to the door to greet Xu Jie with his hands in a bow.

"Zihou, welcome, come sit down in the room and talk." Xu Jie was very cordial, holding Zhu Ping'an's arm and walking into the room without any airs of cabinet ministers.

"The student got married at home a month ago without informing the teacher in advance, so I came here to apologize." After a brief greeting, Zhu Pingan presented Xu Jie with both hands the invitation for the thank you banquet ten days later.

Xu Jie took the invitation, read it and put it into his sleeve. He nodded and said happily: "Very good. Among my disciples, you are the youngest. I am very happy to hear that you are married. As the saying goes, if you have a family and a career, you will have a strong family." Now that it has been accomplished, why worry about the karma not being established.”

"Students have little talent and little knowledge, and they are afraid of failing the teacher's expectations." Zhu Pingan said a little embarrassed.

"Zihou is the number one scholar, so there is no need to be overly modest. Oh, yes, I know that Zihou also has a lot of research on Qingci. How about taking a look at this Qingci I just wrote?" Xu Jie said with a smile, and then took the Qingci from his sleeve. He took out a copy of Qingci and put it on the table.

"The student's candle light dares to compete with the teacher's sun and moon. Today, it is the student's great fortune to be able to read the teacher's masterpiece." Zhu Pingan stood up respectfully, picked up the Qing Ci that Xu Jie placed on the table, and gently unfolded it. on the desktop.

Xu Jie shook his head with a smile, looked at Zhu Ping'an with admiration, and said slowly: "I have seen Zi Hou's Qing Ci poem "Fu Wei Tiangong God is full of energy." It is only possible to write Qing Ci to such an extent. Yes, but not much."

Well.

Zhu Ping'an smiled bitterly. Of course, Qingci, which is widely circulated in modern times and has been selected into textbooks, is good, but unfortunately it is not his own original work. Although he has studied the "Zhaijiao Qingci Jing" presented by the mysterious old Taoist, his level of Qingci is also higher than that of ordinary people. It is much better, but compared with Xu Jie, Yan Song, Yuan Wei and other people who are really good at Qing Ci and take Qing Ci as their first priority in their work, there is still a gap. However, these words cannot be said by themselves.