Smuggling Daming

"Brother Tang, Mr. Zhou has heard of your name as early as in Songjiang, and Mr. Zhishan. Speaking of which, Mr. Zhishan has a high-ranking apprentice who is also a good friend of Mr. Zhou. It's a pity that we haven't seen each other for more than a year! Zhou Zhong sat in the living room and said with a smile. When talking about Zhu Zhishan, he thought of his good friend Xu Shenzhong. Since he returned to Suzhou, they have never met again.

"Hehe, Mr. Zhou should be talking about Shen Zhong. When he celebrated Brother Zhishan's birthday, he also personally presented the Journey to the West that he and Mr. Zhou copied together. That birthday gift really made Brother Zhishan very happy. Afterwards, he kept it very tightly. Even I borrowed it for only three days before being asked to go back. Moreover, when Journey to the West was published, he was the first one to buy ten sets, two sets for collection. , and the rest are used to give away.”

Tang Bohu also smiled at this time, before Zhou Zhong proposed that he was visiting in a private capacity, and he didn't need to care about the title in the officialdom, plus Wang Lun's relationship, so Tang Bohu let go, and sincerely regarded Zhou Zhong as a visiting person Friends, not your own boss.

Zhou Zhong was very happy when he heard that Zhu Zhishan liked Journey to the West so much, but he still said modestly: "Journey to the West is just a game for the next time. I didn't expect Mr. Zhishan to like it so much. If I knew it, I just wrote it. When it’s finished, send him a set of manuscripts.”

But when Tang Bohu heard Zhou Zhong say that Journey to the West turned out to be his game, the expression on his face became very strange, as if he wanted to say something, but he was a little embarrassed, and finally held back.

But Tang Bohu didn't say what he said.But his expression was noticed by Zhou Zhong, and he said in a strange way: "Brother Tang, just say what you have to say, don't have any scruples!"

"This...haha, it's actually okay. Jiuniang's food should be ready, why don't we serve it up and let's talk while eating!" Tang Bohu laughed, although he felt that Zhou Zhong's temperament was easy-going, but After all, he is his boss.There are some things that he really can't say.

Seeing that Tang Bohu didn't want to say anything, Zhou Zhong didn't want to ask any more. Tang Bohu went out for a while, and soon he and Shen Jiuniang put the food and wine on the table. After all, Zhou Zhong came here with great difficulty, so naturally he was invited to have a light meal .Moreover, these dishes were all made by Shen Jiuniang. Tang Bohu praised his wife's cooking skills several times, so Zhou Zhong naturally wanted to try it.

The wine is rice wine bought from a small shop on the street, and the dishes are Suzhou dishes cooked by Shen Jiuniang herself. Although the ingredients are not expensive, they are very delicious.At least it suits Zhou Zhong's appetite, which made him secretly think.Should I hire a chef from Suzhou?

After drinking for three rounds, the two chatted a few gossips. Although Zhou Zhong said that they came to visit in a private capacity, they were all officials after all. What is the opinion of the Shipbuilding Department?After all, although Tang Bohu was talented and famous before, it was his first time as an official.It doesn't necessarily work well.

Hearing this question, Tang Bohu shook his head with a wry smile and said: "In the past, Tang thought that as long as he became an official, he would immediately benefit the common people, but it was only after I took office that I realized that my previous thinking was too naive. Now, it is not so easy to be an official, it is not enough to rely on enthusiasm, the most important thing is the way of handling things, otherwise it is very likely to do bad things with good intentions!"

Since Tang Bohu took office, especially after Zhou Zhong took over the Shibo Department, he has truly realized the difficulty of being an official, and he also suddenly discovered that the talent that brought him great prestige in the past is not that great in the officialdom at all. On the contrary, some ways of dealing with people are more practical.

Seeing Tang Bohu's dejected look, Zhou Zhong smiled and didn't speak immediately. For a traditional scholar like Tang Bohu, they felt that as long as they read the sage books well, it would be easy to become an official in the future, but when they really did Only after you become an official, you will find that what you have learned before is not of much use at all.This is the same as the students in Zhou Zhong's era. They studied hard for more than ten years, but only found out in the society that what they learned was useless at all, and some people were even fooled by the things in the books. In the end, I couldn't integrate into society at all, and as a result, I couldn't even find a job.

Thinking of some things about future generations, Zhou Zhong shook his head helplessly. He is now in Daming, so the future generations have nothing to do with him. In comparison, scholars like Tang Bohu are much better than the students of future generations. At least they have learned After getting the grades, he can be directly appointed as an official, but doing so is prone to problems. For example, as Tang Bohu is doing now, his outlook on the world and life have undergone considerable changes after becoming an official.

"Brother Tang, you don't have to worry. You have to adapt to everything you do, let alone an official who benefits the common people. There are more things to learn, but..." Zhou Zhong suddenly looked up at Tang Bohu when he said this, half-heartedly. Jokingly and half-seriously, "However, I feel that Brother Tang's life before was more carefree. If it were me, I'm afraid I would not choose to be an official, but to share the family happiness with my wife and children."

Although Zhou Zhong’s above words were somewhat joking, his heart was actually very contradictory. After Tang Bohu became an official, he certainly didn’t have much energy to write poems and paintings. In this way, his painting skills must be It cannot reach the original historical height. Although there may be a good official in Ming Dynasty, a great painter will be lost in the entire history of human civilization.

Tang Bohu didn't understand the real meaning of Zhou Zhong's words, he just thought he was joking, so he smiled and replied: "Wenda's words are wrong, although a carefree life is good, but we scholars should serve the country and defend the people." As your own duty, you must never disregard the common people just because you are greedy for a moment of comfort!"

Regarding Tang Bohu's words, although Zhou Zhong agreed with his mouth, he actually laughed secretly in his heart. In history, Tang Bohu also showed some disdain for being an official because of his unsatisfactory official career, but what he said now is probably what he said in his heart talk.In addition, his words also represent the characteristics of all scholars in this era, that is, they regard governing the country and the world as the task entrusted to them by God, as if no one in the whole world can govern the country except them.

After chatting for a while about the problems Tang Bohu encountered after becoming an official, and what he had gained during this period, Zhou Zhong suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Brother Tang, I heard from my father-in-law that His Majesty wanted to find some excellent Painter, so Jinyiwei sent you to the capital, but I don’t know why you came to Ningbo again, and you regained your fame and became an official?"

Zhou Zhong wanted to ask this question a long time ago, but he never found the opportunity.It's just that what he didn't expect was that after Tang Bohu heard this question, the strange expression before appeared on his face again, and he didn't answer his question for a while.

"Why, is it inconvenient for Brother Tang to say something?" Zhou Zhong asked strangely. So far, Tang Bohu had shown this strange expression twice, which made him a little curious.

"Cough~, there's actually nothing wrong with this, but Wenda, you really don't know why I'm here?" Tang Bohu coughed dryly, and asked a little uncertainly.

Zhou Zhong shook his head even more strangely at this time, why did Tang Bohu think he would know why he came to Ningbo?

"This..." I saw Tang Bohu hesitated for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Actually, the reason Tang was able to recover his fame this time, and was able to be sent as an official, is thanks to Wenda, and Brother Wang Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to be an official in my life."

"Brother Tang and father-in-law are old friends. It's not surprising that he helped Zhou, but why did Brother Tang thank me?" Zhou Zhong's curiosity had reached its peak, and he was eager to know what was going on?

"It seems that you really don't know, Wenda, but if it wasn't for the "Jin Ping Mei" you dedicated to His Majesty, Wen Da, which gave me the opportunity to meet His Majesty, I am afraid that I will only be in the mountains and rivers for the rest of my life!" Tang Bohu said. Shi finally explained the reason for his restoration of fame.

"Jin Ping Mei?" Zhou Zhong was taken aback when he heard the familiar name, and then he reacted, pointing at Tang Bohu with a look of shock on his face, "Brother Tang, did your majesty call you into the palace to make paintings for the purpose of showing Jin Ping Mei..."

Zhou Zhong's words did not go on, but Tang Bohu also understood what he meant, and nodded at the moment. Zhengde called him into the palace and asked him to draw a set of erotic pictures according to the content of Jin Pingmei. This is his specialty, even He is better than landscapes and scenery, so when he completed the painting in a few months, Zhengde Longyan Dayue immediately summoned him, and he was very sure of his talent, and even wanted to make him a court painter.

It was also by this opportunity that Tang Bohu risked his life to tell Emperor Zhengde his grievances. As a result, Zhengde sent people to understand the fraud case in the imperial examinations that year, and found that the matter was very complicated, involving a fight between several ministers Zhengde's father, Emperor Xiaozong, was also in a difficult situation. In the end, he decided to hold [-] boards. The ministers of both parties were punished, but the most wronged were Tang Bohu and another son Xu Jing. Both of them were implicated and were dismissed As a result, Xu Jing died of anger at a young age, and Tang Bohu was also hit hard. Even his original wife left him because of this. Fortunately, he met his third wife, and he barely cheered up.

After figuring out what was going on, Zhengde was also very sympathetic to Tang Bohu's experience, but he didn't want to overturn his father's verdict on this case, so in the end he didn't overturn the verdict at all, and directly restored Tang Bohu's fame. Tang Bohu was wronged at the beginning. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)

ps: Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival. Lao Yu’s family will go to his father-in-law’s house one day in advance, so today’s update will be different. Now the chapter at noon will be posted in advance, and the chapter at night may be later, at about nine o’clock It's okay, I hope everyone can understand.