Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Xu Guangqi was still presiding over exercises in western Beijing, so naturally he had no time to accept disciples for the time being.

Chen Zilong could only prepare himself and settle down in the Imperial College. Occasionally, at Zhang Pu's invitation, he would write articles for Ming Pao to strengthen his reputation.

Because of his passionate, generous and fluent style, Chen Zilong's articles were very popular in newspapers and he began to become famous in the capital.

Many scholars knew that a talented man had come from Jiangnan and was valued by the emperor.

Especially his good friend Zhang Pu, who was also Xu Guangqi's student, said with some envy after learning that he was ordered to preside over the editing of the "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration":
“Agriculture is the foundation of the country.”

"Brother Chen's compilation of the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration is a feat that will go down in history."

"The one who was specially granted the title of Yuanshi as a student representative this year is most likely Brother Chen!"

Chen Zilong smiled but said nothing when he heard this, and he knew why Zhang Pu said that.

After coming to the capital to enroll in school, he now has some understanding of the topics circulating among the students in the capital.

Gu Yanwu, who became a Yuanshi as a student representative last year and is now interning in the new army, is one of the most mentioned people among the students in the capital.

Because of Gu Yanwu's age and his background in a normal school, the students of the Imperial College in the capital were quite indignant, and many people believed that the first student, Yuanshi, should have come from the Imperial College.

Some students even started to build momentum, vowing to promote the Yuanshi from the Imperial College.

Zhang Pu was one of the most popular candidates. As the editor-in-chief of Ming Pao, he was quite influential in the capital and was pushed forward by many people to compete with representatives of other academies.

But Zhang Pu himself did not have this idea. He could even see the emperor, so what was the status of a mere Yuanshi?
As long as he made achievements, he didn't believe that the emperor would not grant him the status of Yuanshi.

But what he wanted more was to pass the imperial examination with his own strength and directly become an official of the seventh rank or above.

He was already 28 years old, not as young as Gu Yanwu, so it didn't matter if he started from the ninth rank.

He also wanted to pass the imperial examination and enter the Hanlin Academy to prepare for becoming a prime minister in the future.

So he rejected the recommendation of the students, under the pretext of giving other students a chance.

Chen Zilong, who knew about this, smiled and said to him:

"If you submit Brother Tianru's name, you will be the winner of this year's Yuanshi."

"As for the editing of the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration, if Brother Tianru participates, will the teacher not allow it?"

Zhang Pu was invited to participate in the editing and proofreading, and his name was also left on this matter.

Zhang Pu was actually quite excited for a moment, knowing that this would leave his name in the eyes of future generations.

But thinking about his studies and the hard work of running a newspaper, he finally shook his head and said:

"never mind!"

"I am busy preparing for the exam and cannot get away from Ming Pao."

"The compilation of the Complete Book of Agricultural Administration still depends on Brother Chen."

Skipping this topic, Zhang Pu said to Chen Zilong:
"The Royal Auction House is holding a calligraphy and painting exhibition. Not only will the Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" be exhibited, but Dong Gong was also commissioned to paint "Beijing Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in the first year of the Chongzhen reign, which will also be shown at this exhibition."

"It's a pity that Qiu Ying's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival in Suzhou" that was exhibited last year has been taken back by the Xiang family. Otherwise, putting the three paintings together would be an even more rare event."

"This is the invitation letter from the auction house. Let's go together then!"

An invitation letter was sent to Chen Zilong, allowing him to enter for free.

Chen Zilong was quite interested in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and knew that this kind of royal collection was rarely seen in normal times.

But when he heard that Dong Qichang's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival in Beijing" would also be on display, he frowned.

As a fellow student from Songjiang Huating, he had a bad impression of Dong Qichang. At that time, some students instigated "people to raid Dong's official position", and Dong Qichang wanted to kill ten students to vent his anger. His father and other scholars jointly wrote a petition to appeal for the injustice of those students.

Therefore, he was reluctant to support Dong Qichang and declined Zhang Pu's invitation, saying:
"I just arrived in Beijing and haven't settled down yet."

"When I have some free time, I will go to the art exhibition."

Zhang Pu shook his head repeatedly and said:
"The exhibition is only open for a few days. How can we have another chance in the future?"

"This exhibition not only includes Mr. Dong's paintings, but also his calligraphy."

"Mr. Dong was the chief examiner for last year's Mingshu exam."

"Looking at his handwriting more often will make it easier to pass the exam in the future."

As the host of the first Mingshu exam in the Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang had a great influence. The subsequent Mingshu exams were also influenced by him.

Even if Chen Zilong disliked this person, he had to learn his calligraphy.

In addition, his second sister is about to marry a member of Dong Qichang's family, so he will inevitably have to deal with the Dong family in the future.

This forced him to put aside his prejudice and said:
"Thank you very much, Brother Zhang!"

"I will definitely go there tomorrow."

I made an appointment with Zhang Pu to go to the calligraphy and painting exhibition together.

Not many students from the Imperial College were invited, and Zhang Pu only received five invitations from Cao Huachun.

Apart from Chen Zilong, all the people who went to the exhibition were reporters and editors from Ming Pao. They also had a mission to report on the exhibition in the newspaper.

In addition to them, there are some students who want to see the exhibition and have to buy tickets.

Chen Zilong, Zhang Pu and others entered through the VIP channel.

But the two paintings of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" were already crowded with people.

There were soldiers watching over the two paintings to prevent people from touching them and damaging the calligraphy and paintings.

Dong Qichang also explained some of the audience's questions in front of his paintings.

Chen Zilong looked up and saw Qian Qianyi, the leader of the current literary world, also looking at the painting. He also said to the crowd watching nearby:
"In my opinion, Mr. Dong's painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival is as good as any of his predecessors."

"The prosperous scene of the capital in the picture is no less than that of Bianjing in the former Song Dynasty."

"These are all the benevolent policies of the current emperor, which benefit farmers, businessmen and industrialists."

He praised the current emperor highly, especially for abolishing the system of merchants.

The people around also echoed it. How could they, such smart people, not know the emperor's intention in ordering Dong Qichang to paint "Along the River During the Qingming Festival in Beijing"?
It is nothing more than a record of the scenes in the capital, showing that the Ming Dynasty under his rule was in a prosperous era.

So they all praised the current emperor like Qian Qianyi did, but they didn't care much about the quality of the painting.

Chen Zilong felt a little nauseous after hearing this and was very disdainful of the ugly behavior of these people.

But he couldn't possibly do anything to sabotage them, because he couldn't afford to offend these people.

In addition, the emperor was kind to him and arranged a tutor for him, giving him the opportunity to leave his name in history.

This made it even more impossible for him to expose such things, so he just shook his head and looked at other calligraphy and paintings.

As a calligraphy and painting exhibition held by the royal family, there are many treasures on display. In addition to the two "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", there are also "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" collected by Dong Qichang, "Admonitions of the Court Instructress" brought out by the Xiang family, and "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" and other treasures.

Chen Zilong read it with great interest and wished he could save it and read it every day.

Unfortunately, most of these paintings were not for sale, and even if they could be sold, he couldn't afford them.

This left him with nothing but watching with emotion and writing a few poems as a souvenir.

After a round, Chen Zilong came to the main hall and saw Qian Qianyi and others still talking to Dong Qichang. This time the topic was not praising the prosperity of the capital under the current emperor's rule, nor was it even talking about Dong Qichang's "Beijing Along the River During the Qingming Festival", but about other paintings:

"Now that Mr. Dong has retired from worldly affairs and is focusing on government affairs, he should have more energy to paint images."

"I wonder when the portrait of the Purple Pavilion's meritorious officials will be completed?"

Chen Zilong had heard of the name of the Purple Pavilion Hero. It was widely reported in newspapers for a period of time last year.

Even until now, the "Dibao" publishes the deeds of the Purple Pavilion meritorious officials and wise officials, calling on Ming officials to learn from these people.

When he heard that Dong Qichang was commissioned to paint images of meritorious officials, he felt uncomfortable and listened attentively.

I only heard Dong Qichang say:

"The portrait of the Purple Pavilion's hero won't be finished so quickly."

"Your Majesty said that the portraits of meritorious officials must be authentic, and not all of them should look the same."

"So we are still collecting portraits of the ancestors of the meritorious officials, and then drawing the most representative images based on their achievements and official positions."

"However, the biographies and praises of the meritorious officials have mostly been finalized. Your Majesty has ordered people to compile a collection of articles about the meritorious officials. Once the images are finalized, they will be published immediately."

This is another grand event, and it can be said that there is no Ming official who does not yearn for it.

They also hope that they can become heroes a hundred years later.

Unfortunately, the qualification of a meritorious official is not so easy to obtain. During the more than 200 years that the Ming Dynasty ruled the country, there were only 18 meritorious officials.

Most of them don't have this opportunity.

So some people have their eyes on the qualifications of a wise minister, and even jokingly asked whether a portrait of the wise minister would be painted?

Dong Qichang was so amused that he just smiled but did not respond.

The eighteen portraits of meritorious officials had already made his hair turn white with worry, and it would be too difficult for him to paint portraits of hundreds of virtuous officials.

Moreover, there must not be many portraits of meritorious officials hanging in the Purple Pavilion, otherwise who would cherish them?

Dong Qichang himself felt that he might only be able to paint these eighteen people during his lifetime.

Moreover, there is one thing that cannot be said publicly: he was also assigned by the emperor to draw the "Ji Si Grand Review Map", which was another big task.

He felt that he would paint for the rest of his life and it was impossible for him to have some free time.

As time goes by, more and more visitors come to visit the calligraphy and painting exhibition.

Even though the tickets for the exhibition were quite expensive, many people from Beijing came to join in the fun.

Especially those wealthy and idle people who come to the music festival will not miss the opportunity to join in the fun.

These people have money and free time, and are the main attraction of the auction. It can even be said that this music festival was held for the auction.

The invited literati like Chen Zilong were only there to promote the fame of the calligraphy and painting exhibition.

Because of this, Chen Zilong, who wanted to continue looking at the paintings, felt that the hall was becoming more and more full of the smell of money. The attitudes of these people were even worse than those of Qian Qianyi and others, and they did not even try to hide it.

This made him feel that he had lost interest and he had no mood to look at paintings. After discussing with Zhang Pu and others, he quickly walked out.

Wanting to return to the Imperial College, Zhang Pu and the others had not had enough fun, and they heard him say to everyone:

"I heard that Master Xu Fo was invited to the capital."

"I have heard her name for a long time in my hometown, but I have never had the chance to see her."

"Why don't we go visit her and see why she is so famous?"

Invite everyone to go and see the famous prostitute Xu Fo.

These people were all young scholars, and they responded enthusiastically.

The affairs between literati and famous prostitutes have always been romantic affairs. They are not officials, so there are no taboos.

Chen Zilong was also quite interested in this and went to visit with these people.

On the way, he heard why Xu Fo came to the capital.

It turned out that the court had made amends for the people the previous year and promoted the status of musicians to civilians, but those who sold their bodies were still kept in the brothel as lowly households.

As a famous prostitute, Xu Fo's talents were naturally her main concern. She was good at playing the zither, writing poetry and painting orchids, and was extremely famous in Jiangnan.

Therefore, when the distinction was made between musicians and prostitutes, she was naturally classified as a musician, which elevated her social status.

It can be said that being a good person was a good thing for Xu Fo, as it gave her the opportunity to become a good man's wife or concubine.

But another policy was not so friendly to her.

Because the imperial court stipulated that young girls who had not yet reached the age of marriage could not be trained as prostitutes, otherwise they would be charged with human trafficking.

When Xu Fo grew older, he made a living by training young girls to be singers and sometimes selling them to wealthy families as concubines.

Some people who were jealous of her reported her to the authorities, saying that she was committing a crime by trafficking in human beings.

As a last resort, Xu Fo had to close the Guijiayuan and bring the young girls he had raised to the capital, where he voluntarily handed them over to the Jiaofangsi.

Now she is temporarily staying in Bensi Hutong of Jiaofangsi, and Zhang Pu, who is well-informed, knows where she is.

The group came to Bensi Hutong and paid a courtesy visit. Unfortunately, Xu Fo was not at home, and even the woman she brought with her was not there.

It turned out that after Xu Fo came to Beijing, he heard that the Royal Orchestra was also recruiting, so he took his young daughter to participate in the selection of the Royal Orchestra. Now he is not in the Jiaofangsi.

"The leader of the Royal Orchestra is Li Yu from the Shen family, right?"

"He is also from Suzhou. Let's go together."

Zhang Pu always liked to join in the fun and had a press pass that allowed him to interview people at will, so he took a group of people to watch the Royal Orchestra.

When we arrived at the orchestra, an audition was going on. A young girl was singing on the stage, a song popular in Beijing called "The Female Number One Scholar".

But he lacked the energy to sing, so his singing was not very good. He was startled by Zhang Pu and others who suddenly barged in, and his singing became even worse.

So unsurprisingly, she was not selected and failed to join the Royal Orchestra's drama troupe.

However, she sang Kunqu opera well in the following performance and was eventually selected by the drama troupe.

Zhang Pu and others were watching with great interest, and were just about to greet Li Yu and interview him about the selection when they suddenly saw Li Yu walk up to a person, pointing at them, as if introducing their identities.

This made them pay attention to this person, and when they looked closely at the other person's clothes, they were even more shocked.

Because the other person was clearly wearing a prince's crown and clothes, and was a prince in Beijing.

This surprised them and they hurried forward to pay their respects.

They never imagined that a prince would be involved in the selection of an orchestra.

This prince was naturally Prince Lu, who was extremely fond of the zither and had a very good relationship with Li Yu.

After he came to Beijing, he never interfered in government affairs. He also spent a large sum of money to help Li Yu improve the piano. For this, he was commended by the emperor and had a good reputation.

At this year's music festival, he was selected as one of the judges to participate in the award selection.

The purpose of his coming here today was not to watch the Royal Band audition, but to discuss with Li Yu, who was also a judge, how to select the awards. (End of this chapter)