Boiled peanuts, tofu with scallions, hand-shredded roast chicken, sweet and sour canal fish, West Lake beef soup, these four dishes and one soup plus a pot of Suzhou wine were quickly brought into the study by You Qi. After delivering the food and wine, You Qi took his leave, closed the door, and went to guard outside the yard.
"It's just a simple drink and some snacks. I hope you won't mind." Zhang Juzheng picked up the wine pot and poured a glass for Yang Jisheng, saying with a smile.
"It doesn't matter what the wine is, it doesn't matter what the food is, as long as Uncle is at the table, it's a feast for Sheng. Uncle, please."
Yang Jisheng curled the corners of his lips slightly, his tone was half joking and half sincere, and then he raised his glass and toasted Zhang Juzheng.
"Brother Nian, you are teasing me. How dare I... Brother Nian, please." Zhang Juzheng held up the wine glass with both hands and toasted to Yang Jisheng.
"please."
The two men drank a glass of wine together. After drinking, they turned the glass over and found it was empty, without a drop of wine left.
"Haha, uncle, in fact, the more cunning you are, the happier I am." After drinking the wine, Yang Jisheng suddenly changed the subject and looked at Zhang Juzheng with a smile, his eyes flashing with an unfathomable gleam.
"Uh, why do you say that, Brother Nian?" Zhang Juzheng said in surprise.
"Haha, if Uncle Da was a scholar with a reckless attitude and a simple mind, Sheng would not have come today. Only when you have a simple mind can you accomplish things; if you act on impulse, I'm afraid it will be difficult to accomplish anything."
Yang Jisheng stood up, picked up the wine jug and poured a glass of wine for Zhang Juzheng, then laughed and said meaningfully.
Zhang Juzheng's eyelids twitched again when he heard this, and an idiom flashed through his mind - the real purpose is revealed.
Next, Yang Jisheng should state the purpose of this trip.
In fact, Zhang Juzheng had already vaguely guessed the purpose of Yang Jisheng's visit without Yang Jisheng saying anything. If Yang Jisheng was simply discussing with him the matter of Zhu Ping'an's impeachment of Gao Botai, Zhang Juzheng would not have been so cautious and asked You Qi to guard the yard to prevent eavesdropping.
But...
Yang Jisheng is really brave.
Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but think...
"Uncle, isn't that right?" Yang Jisheng raised his wine glass and looked at Zhang Juzheng with a smile.
"Haha, Brother Nian, you're joking. Come, Brother Nian, try this fish. This fish was just caught from the Tonghui River by the servants in our mansion today. It's extremely fresh and the meat is of excellent quality." Zhang Juzheng said perfunctorily after raising his glass to drink with him.
Yang Jisheng raised the corner of his mouth and looked closely at Zhang Juzheng.
"Ahem, brother Nian doesn't eat fish, why are you looking at Juzheng like that?" Zhang Juzheng coughed.
"The more Sheng looked at Uncle Da, the more he felt that it was the right decision to come to Uncle Da today instead of Yuan Mei."
Yang Jisheng said with a smile.
Yuanmei?!
When Zhang Juzheng heard the name, he was slightly stunned, but then he quickly remembered that Yang Jisheng was talking about Wang Shizhen, the fellow Jinshi who was very close to Zhu Ping'an and a student of their same teacher Xu Jie.
To be honest, when Zhu Ping'an, Wang Shizhen and Zhang Siwei came to pay a visit to their teacher Xu Jie's house, I was most impressed by Wang Shizhen, followed by Zhang Siwei, and finally Zhu Ping'an.
On the one hand it is age, and on the other hand it is the overall demeanor.
There was no way, because Zhu Ping'an was the youngest, and he looked rustic and honest. However, as time went by, he paid more attention to Zhu Ping'an, and paid less attention to Wang Shizhen and Zhang Siwei.
Wang Shizhen’s words.
Although he exchanged poems with Li Panlong and others and formed a poetry society, calling themselves the "Later Seven Masters", and was famous during this period and had a great reputation in the circle, he himself could not attract much attention.
Poetry and literary talent...
Can you govern the country and bring peace to the world? !
The scholarly spirit Yang Jisheng just mentioned was probably referring to Wang Shizhen. However, Zhang Juzheng did not reveal his thoughts at all. Instead, he smiled modestly and said perfunctorily: "Not long after Yuanmei arrived in Beijing, he formed a poetry club with Lord Li, Lord Xu and others. It is very powerful and he is the leader in the poetry world. His talent and reputation are far better than Juzheng. Juzheng has been in Beijing for several years and has wasted time until now. Brother Nian's words are to comfort Juzheng..."
"Haha... Uncle has already made up his mind. Why bother to be perfunctory with me?" Yang Jisheng poured himself a drink and pulled the corners of his mouth with a slightly cold smile.
That's a bit harsh.
For a moment, Zhang Juzheng didn't know how to respond.
"I am not as cunning as you, so I won't beat around the bush with you. I came to you today to discuss something important with you."
Yang Jisheng put down his wine glass, looked at Zhang Juzheng with burning eyes, and spoke in a crisp voice.
Important matters to discuss...
Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but twitch his eyelids when he heard this. Although he had roughly guessed the purpose of Yang Jisheng's visit before, he still couldn't help but feel palpitations when he heard Yang Jisheng say that he had something important to discuss with him.
Yang Jisheng's event was a matter of life and death. At this moment, Zhang Juzheng really wanted to close the door and send him away.
You said Wang Shizhen was a scholar.
actually
Aren't you a more scholarly person than Wang Shizhen
Current Affairs
General trend
Have you seen it? !
At this time, it is absolutely necessary to do such a big thing. Teacher Xu Jie, who is in the cabinet, still has his own ideas, wants to hide his identity, and act according to the situation. How can you and I go against the trend of the times? At this time, it is the time to keep a low profile, be cautious in words and deeds, and wait for the right time to act. To do such a big thing is to seek death and destroy your future.
Brother Nian, Brother Nian, it’s fine if you are just a scholar, but why do you have to pull me together
Zhang Juzheng's face changed and he hesitated to speak.
"Just now I said that Zihou was just scratching an itch through a shoe. In fact, Shuda's memorial was also scratching an itch through a shoe." Yang Jisheng did not allow Zhang Juzheng to refuse. He picked up the wine pot and poured himself a glass of wine. Then he said generously, "Zihou impeached Zhao Daying the first time, and Gao Botai the second time... They are all just jumping clowns. There are tens of millions of jumping clowns like them in the whole Ming Dynasty. If the real culprit is not eliminated, these jumping clowns will emerge in an endless stream, like leeks and grass, and they will never be eliminated."
At this point, Yang Jisheng poured himself another glass of wine, his face flushed, and he excitedly stretched out his hand, slammed the table heavily, and raised it up, making a hand gesture of pulling out the weeds and eradicating them by the roots, and said excitedly: "Only by getting rid of the culprit can we uproot these jumping clowns and eliminate the trouble forever."
Yang Jisheng slammed the table with great force, and all the food and drinks on the table bounced more than an inch, and several peanuts on the plate jumped out.
The more emotional Yang Jisheng became, the more Zhang Juzheng could see Yang Jisheng's determination, and his heart couldn't help but become more tense.
"Who is the culprit? Uncle Da dare not say, but Sheng dares. It is none other than the thief Song!"
Yang Jisheng said, knocking the wine glass in his hand heavily on the table, staring at Zhang Juzheng with burning eyes, "The thief Yan is causing trouble for the Ming Dynasty, and the whole court is keeping silent. The people of the world are suffering. Sheng, how can I sit and watch? It is urgent to eliminate the thief for the country. Looking at the Ming Dynasty, the only one who can do this great thing with Sheng is my uncle. Uncle, are you willing to join me in this great cause?"
"Why is there no more wine? Brother Nian, wait a moment, Ju Zheng will bring you another pot of wine."
Before Yang Jisheng had finished his words, Zhang Juzheng jumped up from his seat as if he had pins and needles, and was about to walk out with the wine jug in his hand.