Chapter 58 Flower Wine
Chapter 58 Flower Wine
Guard Wang couldn't help but speak just now, and he regretted it a little after he finished speaking. After all, he was a scholar of the third place, and sooner or later he would pass the imperial examination. What kind of status would that be?
After his sermon, the young man might hold a grudge against him, and the relationship between the two sides would become estranged.
Fortunately, Xu Qing's answer was still so appropriate and useful.
Guard Wang felt relieved.
Xu Sanyuan is indeed a man of great generosity, without any trace of arrogance that comes from being young and successful.
Xu Qing's subsequent words healed Guard Ma's broken heart, and suddenly spring came to life.
Well, Xu Qing took the initiative to invite the two guards to drink wine.
Our dynasty has only issued a clear order that officials are not allowed to visit brothels during work hours, and the same rule applies even after get off work, let alone scholars.
There are so many romantic places in Southern Zhili, but without scholars to support them, they would not be able to operate.
What's more, if there are scholars participating in visiting brothels, it is called literati elegance, but if there are no scholars participating, it is called visiting a brothel, which sounds unpleasant.
Xu Qing invited the two men to drink flower wine, on the one hand to comfort the two men for their loss of face, and on the other hand, it was also a convenient time to ask the two guards about their experience in practicing the Bull Demon Fist.
If you want to drink wine, it’s definitely not the time to go now.
Xu Qing set a time and the two sides met at Nanlou Street at dusk.
Nanlou Street is on the south bank of the Jiangning River. The street is lined with brothels and has a stronger commercial atmosphere. Compared with "Water and Clouds", fewer scholars come here.
The clouds on the water refer to the flower boats in the Jiangning River, all of which are houseboats. At night, there are bright lights and wine, and the fragrance of rouge floats on the water.
There are also many scholars and literati there.
These literati were able to enter and play because they were supported by big landlords and wealthy merchants. They were called literati, but they were not ordinary literati. Most of them were famous local talents, or juren, and officials who had not yet been reinstated...
To be able to keep a flower boat on the river, the person behind it is often not a simple person.
Don't think that Xu Qing can do the fishery salt business now, that's because the piece of meat is small, and he has the support of Prefect He and County Magistrate Wu behind him.
For bigger businesses, on the surface, they were controlled by local powerful gentry, but in fact, there were also high-ranking officials from Yingtian Prefecture who participated in the business. For bigger businesses, people from Beijing were involved.
So even if you can make soap, glass or something like that, it will be difficult to protect it.
Like the great eras of discovery in previous lives, there were often great nobles and royal families supporting them.
Xu Qing still has a long way to go before he can become a real big shot.
and……
The issue of life span has not been resolved yet.
Although the last time he took the imperial examination, he had the incident of the holy image, which gave him a ray of holy energy and extended his life by more than a year, but he never got it again.
Considering his current level of Kung Fu attainment, his short life span is definitely not due to any health problems.
If it is not an internal factor, then it is an external factor.
The black air in destiny reflects the recent fortune and cannot see too far ahead.
So the trouble probably came more than three years later.
"The provincial examination will be held in three years. If I encounter an imperial examination, it can be advanced by one or two years. I wonder if I can write an essay so good that it will astonish the saints during the provincial examination." Xu Qing has also been thinking about ways to obtain the aura of saintliness recently.
In the provincial examination, his writing impressed the emperor, but not in the academy examination.
The difference is not in his level, but in his essay for the provincial examination, he used some of the ideas of the School of Mind. Because the School of Mind had not yet appeared in this era, and the School of Mind was a great supplement to Confucianism, this may be the fundamental reason why his essay shocked the emperor.
This is just Xu Qing's current speculation and there is no empirical evidence.
However, he also slowly revealed some of his views on the philosophy of mind through the exchange of eight-part essays in the Fushe Society.
But it is not possible to directly open up a new discipline.
Because this can easily lead to being denounced as heresy.
If he wanted to give lectures, he had to have a strong background, or go public through a backdoor listing. As for which backdoor listing to go public through, Xu Qing was still considering it. Zhou Tixue and He Zhifu were both interested in him.
However, Prefect He and Governor Zhou have been busy with their own official duties recently and cannot take care of Xu Qing for the time being.
What's more, Xu Qing is still in the development stage. If he joins someone's ship now, he will offend the other party.
Alas, I can only be a green tea for the time being, not refusing, not taking the initiative, and not taking responsibility.
It’s a headache to say the least, because there’s a King Lin on Mount Qixia who’s thinking about him.
On the bright side, he now has a wide network of contacts, a bit like a monkey in heaven, he can get along well with people everywhere.
The downside is that if you are unlucky enough to be asked to settle the account one day, you may never know.
Anyway, just take it one step at a time, and the blacksmith must be strong himself.
After all, without an indestructible body, he is not even qualified to be suppressed for five hundred years, let alone go to the West to obtain the scriptures.
After going back to wash up, at the appointed time, Xu Qing met the two guards at Nanlou Street and entered an attic.
This shop is also very stylish, with a light and elegant fragrance, not too vulgar, and even artificial flowers made of silk. In this winter season, there is a special spring feeling.
Humans and animals are indeed different, and can experience spring in all four seasons.
Guards Wang and Ma had always followed Magistrate He to visit brothels in the past, but this was the first time they came as guests.
Xu Qing is willing to invest.
Even though he has a good relationship with Prefect He now, Guards Wang and Ma are still in front of Prefect He every day.
People's hearts are changeable.
Now Magistrate He appreciates and is grateful to him, but one day he might change his mind.
If the two guards had said something at this time, or secretly reminded Xu Qing, Xu Qing would not have been caught off guard.
The guests were drinking and chatting, and there was a prostitute playing the pipa and singing songs nearby.
After all, skills are more important than emotions.
Xu Qing didn't listen carefully to what was being sung, but it was probably something like the "Sheng Sheng Man" he had heard in his previous life.
Listening to the soft Wu dialect makes one feel weak and want to go to bed.
While they were drunk, Xu Qing asked Guards Ma and Wang about their experience in practicing the Bull Demon Power Fist. In fact, he had asked Niu Peng before, but Niu Peng had a problem. He was a gifted person. When practicing the Bull Demon Power Fist, he only took medicine and practiced martial arts, ignoring everything else and just worked hard.
So it's useless to ask.
Moreover, Guards Wang and Ma both came from the Dachan Temple and have a formal inheritance. As for martial arts training, they also have the experience and lessons learned from the Dachan Temple over thousands of years.
This is what Xu Qing lacks most.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to drink, the two guards got excited and, under Xu Qing's flattery, spoke without reservation.
This is also easier to ask questions at the dinner table.
If asked in normal times, one would inevitably act politely, or say one sentence and then hide the other.
As for the prostitute next to them, it doesn't matter if they hear it, because it's all drunken talk, and they don't talk about this all the time. If you're not an expert, you won't understand what they're saying.
And one needs to have a very good memory to remember some strange martial arts terms.
After all, when ordinary people pass on a message, out of ten sentences, seven or eight of them will be distorted after they reach several people's ears.
All in all, it was a worthwhile dinner.
Xu Qing got what he wanted, and the two guard brothers were very satisfied and each got what they wanted.
After returning, Xu Qing sorted out what he had learned and prepared to start practicing the Bull Demon Power Fist!
(End of this chapter)