In real terms, Tang Fan and the other party had not seen each other for almost five or six years, but this did not prevent him from immediately recalling familiar memories as soon as he saw the other party's face.
The other party must have long known that it was Tang Fan, so he didn't look surprised like Tang Fan, but looked at him with a smile.
Fan Lezheng's eyes were sharp, and he immediately noticed Tang Fan's unusual attitude towards the magistrate of Luling.
Tang Fan smiled slightly: "It's not just an old acquaintance, Ziming and I even became good friends, but later Ziming left Beijing and lost contact. ?"
Hearing that he was named, Ji Min stepped forward and saluted: "Xiaguan Luling county magistrate pays a visit to Master Tang."
Tang Fan supported his arms and didn't let him bend down. He said angrily, "Why do you need to be more polite?"
Ji Min smiled and said: "Personal friendships are personal friendships, and you can't abandon the public for personal reasons. Please don't stop them."
Having said that, there was no strangeness in his tone, Tang Fan was slightly relieved, knowing that he didn't want to be truthful, so he didn't stop him any more, and let him bow respectfully.
The old friends reunited, although the two had a lot to say, but due to the wrong occasion, they could only temporarily suppress their thoughts, and Tang Fan cast an apologetic look at him.
Ji Min seemed to understand what he wanted to say, and nodded slightly to Tang Fan with a smile in her eyes, just like before.
There were quite a lot of people who followed Fan Lezheng to welcome Tang Fan, and they were basically officials from Ji'an Prefecture and local gentry. Compared to them, Ji Min, the county magistrate of Luling, was too inconspicuous.
Among the crowd, Shen Kunxiu did not appear, which is also natural. Shen Kunxiu has a third-grade learning platform, of course there is no need to condescend to come to please Tang Fan, although Tang Fan still has a halo of imperial consignment on him, if Shen Kunxiu wants to No one would say anything if he came to greet him personally, but with his temperament, he would definitely not do such a thing.
However, after Fan Le was introducing some important people to him one by one, he pointed to a young man and said to Tang Fan, "This is the son of Xuetai University's family."
What
Shen Kunxiu's son
Tang Fan thought something was wrong with his ears
In a daze, the other party has already saluted Tang Fan: "I have only seen Master Tang in deep thought."
In fact, one can roughly see the temperament of the other person from the way he dresses. For example, whether Sui Zhou's clothes are in color or style, he always gives people a meticulous and rigorous feeling, which is not unrelated to his behavior.
In front of him, Mr. Shen wears a dark red Tang scarf on his head with a huge piece of emerald jade inlaid with gold on it. He is wearing a purple sauce-colored Suzhou silk straight robe, with a string of gold silk jade sash on the side. , Even the belt is also a cloud pattern with colorful embroidery patterns, which is really golden.
It's just... unbelievable.
Could it be that Shen Kunxiu was inconvenient to come by himself, so he let his son come forward on his behalf
But what kind of style is this
Shen Kunxiu is also a dignified third-rank student of politics, and his taste should be close to those of today's scholars who advocate elegance. How could the son he taught turned out to be so extraordinary
After all, Tang Fan has a deep sense of self-discipline, even if he was stunned for a short while, he immediately returned to his normal expression and smiled back: "Mr. Shen is polite, I wonder if Shen Xuetai is okay?"
Shen Si laughed and said, "It's not very good, he has been losing his temper recently, which makes me unable to stay at home, so I ran out!"
Tang Fan was stunned for a moment before laughing: "Tomorrow I will visit Shen Xuetai in person, and I will tell you when I have to work for Young Master Shen to go back."
Shen Si nodded whether or not he heard it.
After this conversation, Tang Fan understood that it was definitely not Shen Kunxiu's idea that the meditation would appear here.
Not to mention Shen Kunxiu's temper, he has not been freed from the human life lawsuit, how can he let his son come here to please the imperial commissioner? Such an odd person.
For the first time in Tang Fan's life, he didn't know how to talk to others. Fan Zhifu seemed to sense his embarrassment and quickly relieved: "Master Tang, Xiaguan has prepared a banquet for you to wash away the dust, please enjoy!"
Unlike other places this time, Tang Fan did not refuse, he nodded with a smile: "Then there is the prefect of Lao Fan."
Fan Lezheng saw him admiring his face, and his smile became more sincere: "Sir, please."
Don't look at the large number of people who came to greet him. In fact, when they arrived at the restaurant, the other gentlemen were arranged in the outer room. In the end, there were only a few people who could eat at the same table with Tang Fan in the private room.
With the help of Tang Fan, Ji Min, the county magistrate of Luling, also got a seat.
In addition, there are Ji'an prefect Fan Lezheng, Ji'an Tongzhi Sun Yu, Shen Kunxiu's son Shen Si, salt merchant Xu Bin, and cloth merchant Fang Huixue.
Then there are Tang Fan and Lu Lingxi.
In this case, ranking is very important.
Although Lu Lingxi was a trusted confidant brought by Tang Fan, he had no official position and no position, so he couldn't sit next to Tang Fan because he was arranged to sit with Ji Min.
It goes without saying that Tang Fan is in the top seat. His lower left head is Fan Lezheng, the prefect, but his lower right head is not the same as Sun Yu, but the cloth merchant Fang Huixue.
Xu Bin seemed a little unhappy about this, but he didn't say anything in the end.
This made Tang Fan a little curious about Fang Huixue.
Businessmen can sit at the same seat with officials and sit next to Tang Fan, of course they won't be ordinary businessmen.
With the introduction of Fan Lezheng, Tang Fan learned that Xu Bin had an affair with an official in Nanjing, and that Fang Huixue's daughter was married to the provincial governor as the successor.
Xu Bin is not bad. Fang Hui is in his early forties, with five long beards, and is elegant. He doesn't look like a businessman, but a scribe, which can make a good impression, but in this way, his daughter's The age must not exceed 20. Thinking about the age of Jiangxi's political envoy, Tang Fan shook his head slightly and declined to comment.
Fan Zhifu thought that Tang Fan was not very interested in these two people, and thought that he, like other officials, had the same problem of belittling businessmen, so he deliberately said a few words when introducing the two: "Sir, you don't know anything. , This brother Fang is known as Fang Dashan. Apart from becoming rich in business, he has also done a lot of good deeds for the local area. When building bridges, paving roads, and providing porridge for disaster relief, Brother Fang is indispensable. When I heard about Brother Fang’s righteous actions, he personally wrote the words “Help in Distress and Relief in Difficulties”, and now it is hung in the main hall of Fang’s house!”
So it was, Tang Fan thought.
Peng Shi is a veteran of the three dynasties, with high prestige and good beginnings and ends. He is from Luling County, Jiangxi Province. Although he passed away a few years ago, the local people still respect him very much. Taishan, who has become the governor of the province again, naturally has to respect and give up three points.
He smiled slightly: "If you can get Peng Wenxian's praise, there must be something extraordinary. Another day, you will come to the door to look at the plaque in person. It's better that Fang Dashan doesn't rush this official out!"
Fang Huixue said again and again: "This is all the love of the prefect, how dare the grass-roots people, if the adults are willing to come in person, the abandonment will definitely be full of brilliance!"
After a few people were joking and laughing, Fan Zhifu asked someone to serve the food, and said: "Xiaguan knows that the lord is here to find out about the imperial examination case, and he doesn't dare to disturb it, so he has already prepared a room for the lord at the official post. Please, the lord. Check in, after today, if the adults are called, just send someone over to say, and the next official should go to meet."
Tang Fan waved his hand: "Delicious food is at the table, talking about business is not a bad sight, it's better to have fun, and it's not too late to talk about other matters after today."
Fan Zhifu wished that he would not talk about it, so he smiled and said, "Your Excellency is very right, how about a toast to Your Excellency first?"
After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere at the banquet became lively, because Tang Fan no longer accepted toasts from everyone, and only let everyone do what they wanted. Others saw that he was indeed more interested in dishes than drinking, so they put down their wine glasses and turned around. And introduce Tang Fan to the dishes on the table.
Sun Yu said with a smile: "My lord has just come from Suzhou, so you must have eaten everything finely, but don't think that Jiangxi is not as finely cooked as Suzhou and Hangzhou. When it comes to eating, there are quite a few that are on the table, and It's not available in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Take this loach drill tofu as an example, you have to use the bones to boil the broth for seven or eight hours, then put it out and let it cool, and then combine a whole piece of tofu with the live loach. Put it in the soup, once the stove is heated, the loach will try to dig into the tofu. When the heat is enough, the tofu and the loach are cooked thoroughly, and the two flavors will penetrate each other. This tofu is fragrant and soft. The umami taste is the most delicious.”
The other party's introduction was so enthusiastic, Tang Fan naturally wanted to join in, he scooped up a piece of tofu into the bowl, lowered his head and tasted it, and finally nodded in praise: "It's really delicious!"
Sun Yu was not only introducing dishes to Tang Fan, but also hoped to take the opportunity to impress Tang Fan.
He had several friends who worked in the capital in the same year, and they often exchanged letters with each other. Sun Yu learned from one of them that their military department had a chief surnamed Weng, who was originally a county magistrate in a small place, because he assisted Tang Fan in handling the case , outstanding ability, well-known, so after the expiration of the county magistrate's term, can be transferred to the Ministry of War as the head of the first division.
The six departments of the capital are not all fat and poor, and sometimes the oil and water of some yamen are not as good as that of the local yamen, but the status of the central yamen is not the same as that of the local yamen. Anyone who wants to go up will definitely hope He was able to enter the Sixth Division, and if the principal surnamed Weng hadn't been favored by Tang Fan and recommended by him, who would have noticed a small county magistrate
Therefore, ability is very important, but it is also very important to have the appreciation and support of noble people.
Sun Yu didn't have any background or connections, and the advantage was that he was well-informed. He learned that Tang Fan was capable, so he naturally wanted to flatter him more. If Tang Fan could also take a fancy to himself and support him, it would be even better.
But he didn't know that Master Tang himself was addicted to food, and he was a real foodie. Seeing Tang Fan's support, he thought he was flattering the right method, and he was more delighted and introduced it more.
But he heard Young Master Shen suddenly say: "It's boring to chat all the time, why don't you have some fun, this meal will be more delicious!"
As soon as Fan Zhifu heard that it made sense, he smiled and said, "According to Young Master Shen, what kind of fun would you like to find?"
Shen Siwei didn't even think about it and said, "Why don't you find a few prostitutes over to play and sing for fun?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room twitched their mouths in unison.
The officials of this dynasty who took prostitutes and resident prostitutes would be dismissed from their posts and would never be hired.
The problem is that the imperial ministers came to investigate the case, and the investigation is still your father's case, but you still have the mood to have people come over to sing songs, is that all right
Shen Si also seemed to realize that his words were inappropriate, so he hurriedly called haha: "I'm a layman, and I can't say anything elegant, why don't you decide?"
Fan Zhifu said: "Why don't you come to the pair, if you can't be right, you will be punished with drinking, how about it?"
Xu Bin said with a smile: "Everyone here, except me, who has no knowledge and skills, are all learned people. If you play like this, the loser will always be the next, so if you have a crooked idea, it's better to use your teeth. Put it up and play a twisted wine order, whoever turns it has to answer everyone else's pair, and if they don't match, they will be fined a glass of wine, what do you think?"
The so-called twisting wine order is actually a drinking order. The popular tooth chips are not dominoes or ivory cards, but use a mud-feet tumbler doll to turn on the table. In the end, whoever the tumbler faces will have to answer the others. Questions asked in turn.
Everyone felt that this gameplay was more exciting, and they all applauded, and Tang Fan had no objection, so Fan Zhifu, who started at the beginning, turned first.
Fan Zhifu twisted the painted "tooth chip" hard, and the tumbler spun quickly on the table, then slowed down, and finally stopped facing Lu Lingxi.
Lu Lingxi scratched his head and smiled shyly: "I'm not good at pairing, can I change it?"
There was no honor or inferiority at the banquet, not to mention that Lu Lingxi was only brought by Tang Fan, not Tang Fan himself, so everyone naturally laughed and said no.
Lu Lingxi reluctantly handed over his hands: "Boy is incompetent, please be merciful, lords!"
Fan Zhifu came first: "Bamboo blooms and frost comes later."
The difficulty of the first league is very low. Of course, Fan Zhifu will not deliberately make things difficult for Lu Lingxi. Hearing that his self-confidence level is not good, he hastily came up with one that is almost without difficulty.
Lu Lingxi thought for a while: "Mei Dongxue frost."
Tang Fan knew that this person was obviously pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger. He even had a reputation as a scholar, so how could he not even be right? He glared at him secretly, and then said, "There is nothing in the way of high vision."
Lu Lingxi smiled: "When the heart is open, there are waves."
Of course, Sun Yu and the others would not have trouble getting along with Lu Lingxi. They all made a mediocre first couplet, and Lu Lingxi got it right and avoided the fate of being punished for drinking.
However, when it was Xu Bin's turn, the other party smiled and said, "Young Master Lu is by the side of Master Tang, and he is very familiar with his eyes and ears. He must have read poetry and books. If it is too easy, he will be disrespectful to Young Master Lu. no?"
Lu Lingxi smiled: "Xu Yuanwai thinks of me too much. Even though I'm not talented, I can't lose face of Master Tang, and ask Xu Yuanwai to write a question."
Xu Bin said: "Someone asked me about a couplet before, but I couldn't understand it. Now that I have met a crowd of wise men, I can just ask for advice. The first couplet is, rivers and rivers, rivers and lakes surging."
Everyone was stunned.
This upper couplet sounds unremarkable, but in fact, it is all composed of three-dotted water characters, so that the lower couplet has to be matched with the corresponding method.
It's just that the drinking order for this reception was originally meant to be a fun and entertainment, but Xu Bin came out with such a first couplet. The target was still young and unknown Lu Lingxi, which was a bit difficult.
Tang Fan's eyes flashed slightly, and he couldn't help but glance at Xu Bin, but saw that the other party was no different, just looked at Lu Lingxi with a smile, and waited for him to meet the next couplet.
Others were also aroused by this first link, and they all started to think about it.
Fan Zhifu inevitably blamed Xu Bin secretly, thinking that if Lu Lingxi couldn't come out, wouldn't it smear Tang Fan's face. As the saying goes, if you beat a dog, it depends on the owner. Tang Fan will be unhappy at that time. Isn't he the prefect who is unlucky
Tang Fan didn't seem to be worried about Lu Lingxi. Sure enough, just as he took a sip of soup, Lu Lingxi said, "Thunder in the sky, thunder in the sky, and thunder in the rain. Outside member Xu, do you think this lower link is neat?"
Xu Bin smiled and said: "Neat, really neat, Mr. Lu is really talented! It seems that I have to punish myself!"
After all, he picked up the glass and drank it three times in a row, and it was dripping with joy.
Everyone also opened the page with a smile.
When it was Mr. Shen's turn to come out of the first league, he racked his brains to come up with one, as if it wasn't the person who faced the second league who was in trouble, but he, the one who came out of the upper league.
Shen Si twisted his eyebrows and thought for a long time: "Well, that, that... Now, the restaurant is full of hot food and delicious spring!"
Everyone: "… "
Lu Lingxi held back his smile: "The windows are bright and the guests are like clouds."
Shen Si was greatly relieved, he also knew that his level was not very good, he laughed: "Lu Gongzi is brilliant!"
Lu Lingxi smiled and said, "Shen Gongzi fits the situation and is simple and unpretentious. It really makes me feel more cordial!"
Shen Si was overjoyed and felt a confidant. Immediately, his impression of Lu Lingxi changed. It happened that the two of them were sitting next to each other and were of the same age, so they quickly chatted and speculated.
The tumbler turned around again, and it was Fan Zhifu and Fang Huixue's turn. It was not uncommon for Fan Zhifu to be a jinshi on the two lists, and Fang Huixue, a businessman, turned out to be most of the time. He was only punished for drinking once. It can be seen that Although he is a businessman, he is not completely devoid of ink.
Tang Fan was sitting next to him. Seeing that this man had a good demeanor and demeanor, and he didn't speak with a smell of copper, he couldn't help but feel good about him. He took the initiative to chat a few words with him. Fang Huixue was flattered. He was able to do business all over the southern provinces. Ordinary businessmen are comparable, and the topic of talking with Tang Fan must not be too vulgar.
Coincidentally, both sides are very interested in people's livelihood. Tang Fan is an official, so he naturally pays attention to people's livelihood. It is rare that Fang Hui is a businessman and knows a lot about people's livelihood, and he does not talk about making money like ordinary businessmen. Benefit for pleasure, but he highly respected the Spring and Autumn Yi Shang Xiangao.
He heard that Tang Fan had just come from Suzhou, so he asked, "Sir, I heard that there was a famine in Wujiang last year, and there were countless deaths. I wonder if it has improved now?"
Tang Fan said: "The years are better, but if the disaster victims want to go back to their hometowns to live, I'm afraid everything will have to start all over again."
Fang Huixue said: "It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. If the adults don't dislike it, the grass people are willing to invest in rebuilding the houses of the disaster victims, and give them some capital so that they can make a living on their own."
Tang Fan wondered, "Is this a free charity?"
Fang Huixue said with a smile: "Of course not, I said yes, I'm afraid the adults won't believe it. Those disaster victims have lived by the Taihu Lake for generations, and they have made a living by fishing and farming for generations. Now the craftsmanship is definitely still there, but their homes have been destroyed, and they have no capital to make a comeback. , I can help them buy a boat or re-lease the land, and within three years as long as the weather is good, they can return the principal and interest to me, and after three years, those things will be theirs."
In this way, Fang Huixue will definitely not be able to make any money, and maybe it will be posted backwards, Tang Fan smiled and said, "Suzhou is not my main business now, but I can convey your words on my behalf, just like this, your business You're going to lose money, have you thought about it?"
Fang Huixue smiled casually: "Being rich is not benevolent, and the world will be punished. What a person does and how much he does, God is watching, it's not that he doesn't report it, the time has not come. Besides, it seems that it seems to be losing money and losing money, but in fact, as long as the word of mouth of the grass-roots spreads After going out, everyone will know that Fang's cloth line is not deceived, but this will make Caomin's business bigger and bigger, so it is better to take a long-term view. Caomin has made a lot of money in business these years. If you don't understand the truth of what you have to give up, you will be in trouble one day, the grass people want to learn from Tao Zhugong, but they don't want to learn from Shen Wansan!"
Tang Fan admired his free and easy attitude towards money: "Great kindness, if all businessmen in the world can be like Brother Fang, the court will not have to worry, and the people will be blessed!"
Fang Huixue laughed at himself: "If that's the case, how could Caomin get Peng Wenxiangong and your lord?"
The two looked at each other and laughed.
The two here had a great chat, and the tumbler turned around again, and finally stopped facing Tang Fan.
Tang Fan smiled and said, "It seems that it's my turn to be ugly this time, so why don't you invite Fan Zhifu first?"
It’s not easy to make a pair for the imperial envoy. It’s easy. It doesn’t reflect the level of the imperial envoy. On the contrary, it seems to look down on the other party. It is too difficult. Bad luck.
Tang Fan is famous for solving cases, and everyone here knows it, but they know very little about Tang Fan's literary talent.
Although people like Fan Zhifu, Ji Min and others must have heard that he almost became the number one scholar in the Golden Palace back then, but later it was only referred to as an anecdote, but after Tang Fan became an official, there was no rumor about him in Shilin after all. What kind of article and poetry collection did Fan Zhifu dare not take risks, and after thinking about it, he finally came up with an upper couplet that was neither too difficult nor too low. After Tang Fan confronted it, he even breathed a sigh of relief.
When it was Ji Min's turn, the other party smiled: "I couldn't think of a good question for a while, so I took the picture of a squirrel on a peach branch on the wall as the top couplet, and the squirrel behind the branch looked at the peach and plum."
This is hardly difficult, Tang Fan said without thinking, "The Inoue Spirit Monkey is greedy for the sun and the moon."
The peaches and plums grow on the branches, and the sun and the moon may also be reflected in the well. Tang Fan's lower couplet is obviously more interesting, and everyone applauds.
Several other people also took turns to join the first league, but none of them were able to beat Tang Fan. When Xu Bin arrived, he said, "If Caomin remembers correctly, Master Tang was ranked first in the top two in the gold list back then. Wouldn't it be a shame to humiliate your lord, Caomin also has a first-line union here, please enlighten me."
If it was just a vague feeling before, now Tang Fan can be completely sure that the other party is indeed targeting him.
But he didn't know Xu Bin, and he had never heard of it before.
Tang Fan smiled lightly: "But it doesn't matter."
Xu Bin sneered secretly, clearing his throat: "The Pulsatilla crosses the Changshan Mountain, but when the talc falls, the Achyranthes is broken."
This pair contains several medicinal names, Baitou, Qianniu, Changshan, Talc, and Achyranthes.
He thought that this pair was very difficult, but he didn't know that it was only a moment after the words fell out that Tang Fan said, "The yellow-haired girl burned the grass into the ground, and lost the wind and burned it into grass."
There are also five medicinal names, Huangfa, Zhicao, Shudi, Fangfeng, Caowu, which are neat and impeccable.
Xu Bin was not reconciled, and added a few more words to the upper couplet: "The Pulsatilla, holding a halberd, crossed the seahorse, and fought against the lily with the horseshoe pirates, and returned to the dynasty.
General and Guolao are other names for rhubarb and licorice respectively, and the rest of spurge, hippocampus, horsetail, grass pirate, and Xuanfu are also the names of herbal medicines.
Everyone could smell a hint of gunpowder at this time, and they couldn't help holding their breaths, for fear that Tang Fan wouldn't be able to tell him or come down to the stage.
Fan Zhifu's face became more and more ugly. This Xu Bin's backer was unusual. He didn't want to offend him. How could he have thought that the other party would insist on getting along with Tang Fan
Tang Fan smiled slightly: "Red Lady, with gold hairpins and silver flowers, is five times better than peony and peony. Cistanche leaves the pavilion, like a mica angel."
Fan Zhifu shouted: "Fantastic, wonderful!"
The others came back to their senses and applauded.
This second link is indeed wonderful, and the rest needless to say, the final mica angel is the finishing touch.
Mica can be used as medicine, and Tianxian refers to Tianxian grass. The wonderful thing is that it can also refer to people, and it just complements the general and the old man.
Before Xu Bin could speak, Tang Fan raised his eyebrows: "It is said that if one person makes a pair, Xu Yuanwai has broken the rules, should he punish himself?"
Fan Zhifu hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, you need to be punished, you need to be punished!"
Xu Bin was very unwilling. He thought he could make Tang Fan embarrassed in public and lose his face, but it didn't backfire.
He raised his wine glass and forced a smile: "If you are willing to admit defeat, you should be punished!"
In the end, I had three drinks in a row.
At this time, Shen Si shouted: "Everyone is full of knowledge, this is bullying me and I have no ink, and it is too boring to be a pair. Why don't you guess the charade!"
Lu Lingxi also echoed: "This is not bad, but don't play around with the wine order, just solve the riddle alone, and the one who answers correctly first wins, what do you think?"
Tang Fan smiled: "If you listen to me, you are welcome."
Fan Zhifu hurriedly said: "In the presence of Master Tang, it is up to Master Tang to come up with the mystery first!"
Tang Fan said, "Just now in Jizhi County, 'The squirrel behind the branch looks at the peaches and plums' as the top couplet, so I'll take advantage of it and use the squirrel behind the branch as the mystery."
While everyone was thinking about it, Ji Min smiled: "The answer to this mystery is hidden in the mystery, is the lower official right?"
After he said this, everyone suddenly realized that the loose back of the branch is not wood, and when the rat corresponds to the child, the wood plus the child is naturally the word Li.
Tang Fan smiled: "Zi Ming is talented!"
Ji Min: "Your Excellency deserves the prize."
In fact, Lu Lingxi had already figured out the answer, but after a while, he saw Tang Ji and the two smiling at each other, as if there was an infinite tacit understanding.
The author has something to say:
small theater:
Lu Lingxi: Eunuch Wang, isn't that right
Wang Zhi: What's wrong
Lu Lingxi: You clearly said that there is only one Suizhou I have to face, why is there another surnamed Ji? What does it mean to meet again after a long absence? What does it mean to look at each other and smile
Wang Zhi: It's none of my business, how do I know that Tang is showing mercy everywhere
Tang Fan: ... We are pure men, okay? !
Suizhou: My heart is congested.