Chapter 456 Deer Ming Banquet
The so-called Deer Singing Banquet was a banquet held in each province to entertain examiners and new successful candidates after the results of the provincial examination were announced.
The origin of the Deer Singing Banquet can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. At that time, after the local tribute was completed, the chief officials would meet with their subordinates to set up the host and guest, set out the sacrificial vessels, prepare musical instruments, use small sacrificial animals, and sing "Deer Singing" as a poem to entertain the guests.
The Lu Ming Banquet was held at the Governor's Office.
At that time, the chief examiner, deputy chief examiner, academic official, supervisor, invigilator, co-examiner and deacons will all attend the banquet.
The chief examiner, wearing court robes, first performed a ceremony of thanksgiving with the other officials, and then entered the banquet one by one.
The newly-appointed candidates were ushered in with drums and music, and after meeting the chief examiner and other officials, they took their seats.
After the banquet began, they sang the song "Deer Singing" and performed the Kuixing Dance.
The Lu Ming Banquet was a grand banquet during the imperial examination era and it was the banquet that thousands of scholars most wanted to attend in their lifetime.
The first visit to Luming represented that they had obtained the qualifications to become officials.
Sun Shan chose the time carefully and was neither the first nor the last to arrive. He walked into the banquet room in a proper manner following the flow of people.
As soon as you step through the door, you should smile, greet people, and say a few words: Hello, you are here too, I am here...
And so on and so forth. Nonsense.
Sun Shan had not walked a few steps when he met his old acquaintance, Chairman Liu Zhiyan.
Liu Zhiyan was also very happy to see Sun Shan and quickly greeted him, "Ashan, you are here too."
Sun Shan hurried over to greet him, and then Liu Zhiyan introduced his friend who had also passed the imperial examination to Sun Shan.
Liu Zhiyan smiled and said, "Ashan, if you are free in a few days, come and find me and we will have tea together."
Sun Shan quickly agreed, "Okay, if I haven't returned home yet, I'll go find you."
Sun Shan has not yet decided when to return to Sunjia Village, because Dagu Sun and Bomin Sun are busy looking for a blind date for him.
He said frankly that he wanted to stay in Guangzhou for a few more days, and it would be best if the blind date was successful before going home.
After returning home to hold a banquet for the candidates, they got engaged.
After the engagement was completed, Sun Shan went to Beijing to take the imperial examination.
Whether it hits the mark or not is not important.
If you pass, you will get admitted to the imperial examinations at the same time. If you fail, you will come back and get married quickly, and next year your grandson will be mine.
Aunt Sun and Sun Boming had made all the arrangements, and all they had to do was use Sun Shan as a tool.
In this regard, the tool man Sun Shan had nothing to say, he had become numb.
Sun Shan chatted with Liu Zhiyan for a few words, and then saw this year's top champion Han Mengyuan.
As soon as Jie Yuan arrived, he immediately became the focus of the whole audience, and everyone came over to greet him.
Sun Shan was no exception. Looking at Han Jieyuan's young and promising face, he was really envious.
As for Yayuan, he was a middle-aged man. In comparison, he looked much inferior and the attention he received dropped dramatically.
Poor passerby Jia Yayuan.
Han Jieyuan smiled slightly, very politely, nodded to his classmates who came over to say hello, and said with a smile: "Thank you very much, Han is not talented, this time it is purely luck that I won the Jieyuan, thank you for your kindness."
He speaks neither hurriedly nor slowly, and you can tell at first glance that he is well-educated.
According to Liu Zhiyan, Han Jieyuan is from the Han family in Huizhou. The family has produced two Jinshi (imperial examination candidates) and is a large family in the local area.
He did so well in the exam this time, entirely based on his own strength, so when many scholars talked about Han Jieyuan, they did not feel jealous or hateful, but only envious.
Han Jieyuan comes from a wealthy family, and he is the embodiment of the saying that a good father will have a good son. He deserves the title of Jieyuan.
Sun Shan studied Han Jieyuan's poems and articles, and found that they tended to be ornate.
The language is rich, the words are rhymed and well-arranged, and it sounds exaggerated, majestic and colorful when read.
The writing style is quite similar to Du Mu's "Fu on Afang Palace".
Sun Shan read Han Jieyuan's articles and was extremely impressed. If Sun Shan were asked to write, he would probably never be able to write such poems and articles in his entire life.
He is indeed a top scholar from a big family.
Everyone was chatting with each other, it was very lively. At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside. It turned out that the examiner and a group of officials had arrived.
Sun Shan quickly found his seat and sat down.
The seats were arranged according to the ranking in the provincial examination. Han Jieyuan naturally sat at the front and Sun Shan naturally sat at the back.
Han Jieyuan’s position is easy to find, and Sun Shan’s position is also easy to find.
After I sat down, I looked up at the examiner Yang Xun who was far away, but all I saw was a lonely figure.
Yang Xun sometimes stood up to speak, and sometimes stood up to raise his glass.
Sun Shan didn't know what he was saying. He raised his glass when others did. It seemed that the excitement above had nothing to do with him, and his loneliness had nothing to do with it either.
Sun Shan was eating at the banquet and listening to the laughter from above. It seemed like a situation where everyone was eating their own food and laughing their own food, and no one was interfering with each other.
After some eating and drinking, it is time for the most important and tense moment, also the moment when you will be closest to the examiner, which is - wearing flowers in your hair.
This time, the flower chosen by the examiner was still chrysanthemum, but the color changed from white to yellow.
The chief examiner Yang Xun first pinned a chrysanthemum on Han Jieyuan, and then came to Yayuan. By the time he arrived at Sun Shan, everyone had fallen asleep.
This process was a bit long, and Sun Shan was the last one, so he could only wait until everyone else had finished putting on their hairpins before he could do it.
This was the first time Sun Shan was so close to Lord Yang, and he got to see his appearance clearly.
Yang Xun looked just like the rumors said, with a normal appearance, gentle and calm, and a very easygoing smile. His slightly plump figure made him seem even more harmless.
However, none of those who can become the Censor and a high-ranking official of the fourth rank are easy to deal with.
Perhaps the calm exterior is just that, an exterior, not the heart.
Yang Xun patiently pinned a yellow chrysanthemum on Sun Shan's hair and said with a smile, "Not bad, young man. Study hard and keep making progress."
Sun Shan thanked him quickly and then stepped aside.
Don't misunderstand whether Lord Yang looks at him differently. Sun Shan heard with his own ears that Lord Yang said the same thing to every candidate.
The main feature is to soak up both rain and dew.
The chief examiner ate with the candidates for a while and then left with the other officials.
As soon as they left, the candidates present became more relaxed.
You said something, I said something, and immediately thousands of ducks appeared at the banquet, making quacking sounds.
What a bunch of noisy men!
Liu Zhiyan came up and said, "Ashan, would you like to go to Mingyan Tower tonight? Fang will treat you."
Weifang, Zhong Weifang, is a super rich second-generation, but he failed the provincial examination this time, along with his cousin Xie Ziyu.
He had a meal with the two of them before the results were announced, and after the results were announced, Sun Shan received gifts from them both.
As expected of someone from a big business family, he is very thoughtful in his work.
As for why Zhong Weifang, who failed the imperial examination, invited the guests, Sun Shan more or less guessed that it was definitely to curry favor, get to know more juren and expand his network.
This is what businessmen do. They have to spend money to do things, and there is no guarantee of any return, but they have to do it.
Sun Shan quickly shook his head and said, "President, I won't go. My aunt is going to host a banquet tonight. You know what I mean."
He gave Liu Zhiyan a confused look.
Liu Zhiyan had known Sun Shan's background for a long time and knew that he had taken refuge with his eldest aunt. He held a banquet in the evening to celebrate Sun Shan's success in the imperial examination.
Liu Zhiyan nodded and said, "Okay, let's make an appointment when we are free. I don't go home so early these days, so come and see me anytime."
Sun Shan quickly agreed, and Liu Zhiyan continued to invite the next scholar. It seemed that he was making an appointment on behalf of Zhong Weifang.
Sun Shan thought about it, recalled every detail of the past, and suddenly understood.
Liu Zhiyan and Zhong Weifang definitely have an extraordinary relationship. Perhaps Liu Zhiyan was also sponsored by the Zhong family to go to school, commonly known as "investment."
Now that Liu Zhiyan has passed the imperial examination, he must repay the Zhong family, so he is willing to act as a bridge.
In the past, when they were at Yuelu Academy, Zhong Weifang and Liu Zhiyan had a very good relationship.
It seems that their relationship is deeper than Sun Shan thought.