As soon as all the evidence that can clarify Zheng Jiaqing's reputation has been prepared, Li Tang called Xie Wenyu to Pei's house to clarify the matter. Although Xie Wenyu can't help with some things, due to her identity, Pei Yuanying will more or less Give it some thin noodles. In fact, Zheng Yaozu's case has nothing to do with the county magistrate. If he handed over the evidence to the county magistrate, once the case is verified, not only will Zheng Yaozu have a hard time, but he will be implicated together with Pei Yuanying. This is Li Tang's current concern. The situation I would like to see.
Li Zongye had told Li Tang earlier: "You have already learned all my skills, but unfortunately you lack experience in dealing with them. Your heart is still too kind. Some things must be ruthless. If you are not ruthless, you will not be able to stand firm. This is how I can stand tall." It is one of the magic weapons from court to Duke.¡± However, Li Tang didn¡¯t take this sentence seriously at the time, he laughed and perfunctory Li Zongye, and finally let it go, he didn¡¯t expect to suffer from this aspect so soon deficit.
The soldiers who searched back and forth on the street yesterday have all returned to the Captain's Camp. Lingxi Town has returned to the tranquility of the past, presenting a peaceful situation. Occasionally, people gather on the street to discuss Zheng Yaozu's bad deeds in the past few years. , It¡¯s clear and sharp, rumors have started to spread that he privately recruited the army and colluded with the soldiers of the captain¡¯s camp to prepare to rebel. The four people who disappeared in the captain¡¯s camp yesterday were inserted in private by Zheng Yaozu. After the incident was revealed, the four fled. So far none of them are missing.
Not only that, even the news that Zheng Sanyou was imprisoned together has been uploaded on the street. Good things don't go out, and bad things spread thousands of miles. Sanyou is a kind person, and he often gives porridge at the door of his house to help the people. His reputation is still good. However, some people slander him in words and deeds, saying that he is hypocritical.
Li Tang didn't want to hear such words at all. After all, there were not many people who knew the truth like him, but Xie Wenyu, who followed Li Tang, listened attentively and imitated what he heard. Don't express any opinions, let her do everything, as long as you don't delay today's business, you can talk about everything.
Soon, the two came to the gate of Pei's mansion. Pei Yuanying seemed to be ready to lead a group of students wandering around the door. Pei Yuanying pretended not to see, turned her back to Li Tang, and talked with the scholars about Huayue. It wasn't until Li Tang appeared in front of the scholars that the scholars reminded Pei Yuanying that he turned around leisurely and greeted Li Tang with a smile. The scholar came to hinder his purpose.
Last time, the blocking of the scholars was wiped out by Li Tang's "A branch of lotus out of the mud". This time, a group of new faces appeared again. Li Tang pretended to be nonchalant and greeted the scholars. He didn't want to offend these literati. , Once they feel something dissatisfied, they go back and scribble on paper, which can easily make a person notorious. Last time it was purely out of help, but this time he did it cautiously.
Seeing that everyone was polite to each other and there was no conflict, Pei Yuanying immediately invited Li Tang into the mansion politely, and the group immediately entered the hall where the Lotus Poetry Club was held before. Since it was still morning and it was not time for lunch, at this moment There is a piece of paper spread out on each table, and the ink has been ground, just waiting for the scholars to take their seats. If there is no accident, the kitchen has already started to prepare the food and wine for the lunch.
When everyone was seated, Pei Yuanying immediately said: "Scholars and students who have come from far and near, you are here today. The talented Li Tang and Li Jinli don't often come to my place as guests. I guess you were early in the last poetry meeting." I heard that Li Jinli satirized those ignorant and incompetent fake scholars with the phrase "the lotus grows out of mud", I hope you don't do this, the road to learning is long and difficult, and the road ahead is long, let's encourage each other."
The scholars sitting below immediately cupped their hands and said in unison: "Let's encourage each other!"
Pei Yuanying continued: "Yesterday I heard that you were coming. Today I asked my servants to prepare pens, inks, papers and inkstones for you. The world said that Cangzhou is located at the border and lacks the fragrance of books and ink. Why don't you take advantage of this good time to write an article for each book?" , to show the knowledge of all the talents, so that I can see the literary heritage of our Cangzhou, so that everyone in the world knows that Cangzhou is not short of talents, so I won¡¯t bother you any more. For an hour, if you have any request, just ask, and I, Pei Yuanying, will do my best to meet it."
"Beautiful!" Everyone cheered, some of them wrote their beautiful articles immediately, and some of them asked for some things from the servants, such as wine, peanuts and other things to add to the fun.
However, Li Tang didn't have any thoughts at all. He stared straight at Xie Wenyu, who was beside Pei Yuanying, and his head grew dizzy when he saw the words. He gave Li Tang a hard look, and just lay down on the table.die.
Pei Yuanying discovered the unique Li Tang, and said loudly: "What is Li Jinli's request? Just ask it, what's the point with your second brother Pei."
"Second brother, I actually came here today to discuss something important with you. You asked me to sit here and write an article. I'm afraid I'm not in the mood."
"Hey," Pei Yuanying waved his hand with a smile, and continued: "Let's talk about it later, today is just a coincidence, everyone knows that I am hospitable, and I like to communicate with literati. It just so happens that scholars from all over Cangzhou came together , I might as well write an article, so as to show off my Cangzhou literati demeanor."
"Since the second brother said so, I can't say anything more. I hope this party can end quickly. I have a hundred thousand urgent things to talk to you, and I can't miss it at all." Li Tang said firmly, staring at Pei Yuanying's eyes. His eyes wanted to eat him, but he knew in his heart that Pei Yuanying was procrastinating, but now that he had come, he couldn't say go, so he just stared at him with big eyes and small eyes, and there were those serious and careful scholars beside him. Li Tang's shoulder, signaling him to make some contributions to Cangzhou together, but Li Tang didn't like to talk to him.
"Got it." Pei Yuanying said impatiently, suppressing the irritability in her heart.
Not long after, a scholar stood up holding a paper full of articles and handed it to Pei Yuanying. All the scholars were amazed at its speed, and the pen in their hand couldn't help speeding up, and no one dared to neglect. Pei Yuanying also read the words above with great interest, and cast a gratified look at the scholar. Li Tang stood up from his seat as if nothing had happened, and walked to Pei Yuanying's side to look at it together. " He said, provoking the anger of the scholar.
An hour passed quickly, and many scholars had already handed in their papers ahead of time, and a few scholars who hadn't finished writing scratched their heads, as if they couldn't believe that their literary background was so poor. At the end of the time, he stood up immediately, held back his anger with a deep salute and said, "Li Jinli, I don't know what is wrong with my article, but you are so contemptuous of me?"
Li Tang, who had been waiting for such a long time, had already become a little irritable, and hurriedly said: "Your article is full of gorgeous rhetoric and full of quotations, but the only thing missing is a trace of your true energy, as if vegetables from all over the southeast, north, and west gathered together. It is a hodgepodge, although the manuscript is smooth, but there are flaws in the ointment, it is not very good."
Unexpectedly, the scholar stood with his hands behind his back, pretending to confront Li Tang, and said: "You said that I lack genuine energy. Scholars continue to learn from the past, and continue to learn from the past, citing scriptures and classics. The true energy is naturally left by the sages and sages, so there is no such thing as true energy, maybe Li Jinli is not talented enough to understand the true meaning of it, haha."
The scholars in the audience also followed suit, and Li Tang continued impatiently: "Scholars are constantly self-cultivating, governing the country and the world, and only drop their book bags. They are all in Xinglin Academy. Compared with your successors, I appreciate Xinglin Academy¡¯s Dean Huang¡¯s words of ¡°for the family, the country, and the world, and for the common people.¡±
This sentence angered everyone, none of the people in the audience came from Xinglin Academy, someone stood up and shouted: "What do you mean, all Cangzhou scholars except Xinglin Academy are incompetent?" !"
"I don't know if I'm incompetent or not. It's not me who said this, but you. Brother Pei was also a student of Xinglin Academy, and we are still classmates. The highest standard for accepting students at Xinglin Academy is moral character. If this is not enough Guan, Xinglin Academy won¡¯t accept you even if you have the knowledge of the world, how can you know if you don¡¯t know?¡± Li Tang squinted his eyes and looked coldly at the shouting man, who was so frightened by these words that he lost his spine and collapsed on the ground It turned out that the man had also applied for the Xinglin Academy, but was rejected because of his misbehavior. Of course, he had no strength to refute Li Tang's words.
Many people expressed dissatisfaction, but they did not dare to continue to criticize Xinglin Academy, because Pei Yuanying was also from Xinglin Academy, and she was on someone else's land, so she wanted to come up to read that person's articles, and Pei Yuanying immediately asked his servants to copy all the articles Read it aloud to everyone, and Li Tang will make comments immediately after reading an article. If there are doubters, Li Tang will answer it on the spot. Everyone agrees with Li Tang's evaluation of all articles, but few One can enter Li Tang's eyes.
After this gathering of scholars, the reputation of Li Tang and Li Jinli instantly spread throughout Cangzhou. In the future, many people will come to Li Tang with their own articles and poems for comments. It can be easily found by them, everything is only by chance and coincidence.