Chapter 712: Game over in the first round, Sun Shan is kicked out
Hometown associations are divided into three types.
The first type of guild hall was specifically for serving officials and gentry, and served as a gathering place for contacting all parties.
The second type of guild hall was used not only for the residence of officials and gentry, but also for scholars from the same hometown who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations.
These two types of guild halls were often set up in the inner city of Beijing.
The third type is a guild hall specifically for scholars to live in.
The fourth type of guild hall provides services specifically for merchants.
These two types of guild halls are often located in the outer city of Beijing.
Since there were few officials and gentry but many scholars and merchants, the number of the third type of guild halls was greater than the first two.
It is said that there is also a kind of overseas guild hall.
The difference between overseas guilds and domestic guilds is that overseas guilds have a certain degree of judicial power.
Since there were no state or county officials like the government overseas, many overseas businessmen would go to the leaders of the guilds for arbitration when business disputes arose.
The Bamin Guild Hall is located in the inner city, near the imperial city and not far from Minister He’s home.
The area near the Fujian Guild Hall is also a gathering place for Fujianese in Beijing, and there are many Fujian-style foods and buildings nearby.
The most famous poetry activities of the Fujian Guild Hall are "carving candles to urge poetry" and "beating the bowl to urge poetry".
"Carving a mark on the candle to limit the time for writing poetry" means making a mark on the candle and setting the time limit for writing poetry when the candle burns to the mark.
Meng Haoran wrote in his poem "Feast at Zhang Mingfu's House on a Cold Night": "The snow has just begun to accumulate, and the cold night is just beginning. I have invited my drinking companions to the banquet, and I have carved the candlelight to finish the poem."
It can be seen that the "Poetry Club" appeared a long time ago.
People felt that the candles still burned too long, so they started to "beat the bowl to urge poetry".
"Strike the bowl to urge poetry" means starting from striking the copper bowl and ending when the lingering sound ends. The time is extremely short and demanding.
The guild hall was crowded with people and in an uproarious atmosphere. There was a lot of noise and if you didn't speak loudly, you couldn't hear what the other person was saying.
Suddenly someone struck a gong, and soon everyone quieted down.
After a while, a host stood up and bowed to the students: "Dear gentlemen, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. It is the poetry conference held once every three years by our Bamin Guild Hall. Thank you all for coming."
After a pause, he continued, "Today's prizes are very generous. There are three prizes in total: Qingyun Bi Han, Jinwei Chaoqun, and Yushi Yaotai. The rewards are 100 taels, 50 taels, and 20 taels respectively."
The host then introduced the competition rules, the judges, and things to pay attention to during the competition.
Sun Shan couldn't hear clearly what the host said next, he only heard 100 taels, 50 taels, and 20 taels.
The yellow and white thing shocked Sun Shan.
Sun Shan finally understood why the poetry gathering at the Bamin Guild Hall became the largest poetry gathering on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
It’s not that the contestants are outstanding and beautiful, nor is it that the organizers are extremely powerful and have the power to do whatever they want.
But the most simple and practical reason is that the contestants come for the prize money.
The money attracts many talented students.
Back then, Sun Shan only received 20 taels of silver as "capital fee" from the government, so the minimum reward for winning the poetry contest was 20 taels of silver.
It is a huge sum of money for an ordinary family.
Sun Shan had attended many poetry gatherings in the capital, but none was as grand and straightforward as the one held by the Fujian Guild Hall, which offered cash rewards.
The participants of the poetry festival of the guild hall are the candidates who are taking part in this examination.
Around the Chinese New Year, candidates from all over the country gathered in the capital, and this rumor was the most widely spread among the candidates for the imperial examination.
Students who want to become famous in the imperial examination come to the poetry competition at the Fujian Guild Hall to compete and prove their abilities.
As soon as the host finished speaking, many candidates for the examination raised their hands to sign up.
Zhu Pengyun and Kong Yi also hurriedly raised their hands, wanting to participate in the competition.
Sun Shan didn't know about Kong Yi's talent, but he knew Zhu Pengyun's talent very well.
Zhu Pengyun went up there just to be cannon fodder and be a member of the denominator.
Could it be that after not seeing him for three years, Zhu Pengyun's talent has greatly improved?
Sun Shan looked over in confusion.
Zhu Pengyun raised his head and said confidently, "Ashan, the poetry contest held every three years cannot be missed. If you want to participate, you have to wait three years. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, the most important thing is to participate."
Qian Yingyang said with envy and jealousy: "Why am I on the second list? Why don't I have the opportunity to participate in the imperial examination? I also want to participate in the poetry meeting. When I am old, I can tell my descendants how our ancestors were not afraid of talent among a group of talented people and resolutely participated in the competition. Although they lost, they still won honor."
Sun Shan was very upset and finally understood Zhu Pengyun's ultimate purpose of participating in the competition.
It's just convenient for chatting later.
Even if you are the last one, you will still have something to talk about.
Kong Yi thought so too, and said with a smile: "Brother Sun, let's join together. Haha, I want to see Sun Shan's masterpiece."
Sun Shan: ...
Finally Sun Shan also joined.
Qian Yingyang was right. In the future, whether he was teaching or reminiscing about the past, he could tell others that he wanted to attend the most prestigious poetry meeting and write a poem on the spot.
Since there were so many talented people at the poetry meeting, I have no regrets even though I lost.
It’s like playing table tennis with Ma Long and Xiaopang. Although he lost, he is a loser among strong ones and his strength is still very impressive.
As there were so many participants, they were divided into several batches.
Sun Shan was drawn to be in the first batch. He was a little nervous as he didn’t expect to go on stage so soon.
Sun Shan walked to the front, and his younger brothers Zhu Pengyun, Qian Yingyang, and Kong Yi shouted "Come on" and almost started cheering.
As for Gui Ge'er, Sun Dali, and Sun Dingnan, where did they go?
I was stopped at the gate and was not allowed to enter unless I was a scholar, so I had to have tea in the teahouse opposite.
The host stood on the stage again and said with a smile: "Everyone, look at this candle and this mark. When it is lit, start writing poetry, and stop burning here."
Everyone understands the saying “carve a candle and limit the number of poems to be written”.
They were soon given pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and then a banner was lowered from high up on the beam.
It says: "A gift of goose feathers a thousand miles away is valued by the person who gave it". It is titled "Goose Feathers" and is a seven-character regulated verse written in Pingshui rhyme.
These two sentences are from Ouyang Xiu's "Mei Shengyu Sends Ginkgo". The so-called "goose feathers" are not real goose feathers, but ginkgo.
This question is about ginkgo. Please write a seven-character regulated verse describing ginkgo.
Ginkgo trees are common in Beijing. Hutongs, ancient temples, gardens, lakesides... every place has the extraordinary beauty of ginkgo trees.
This question is not difficult, but whether you do it well or not is another matter.
After the candles were lit, the host said, "Everyone, the timer begins."
The staff of the guild hall had already sharpened the pens and ink for the contestants, so they could just write their poems as soon as they thought of them.
Sun Shan frowned, and the poems about ginkgo in his mind were all those of ancient people.
The poems that Sun Shan came up with were mediocre and had no outstanding features.
When the candle was half burned, a student finished it and everyone was amazed when they saw it.
The candle had just been lit, and although it had only burned halfway, it had actually only been a quarter of an hour.
This student is too fast.
Sun Shan thought hard and decided that he could not lose the battle and hand in a blank paper.
When the candle almost burned to the mark, he immediately picked up the pen and wrote it down.
Needless to say, the game was over in the first round and Sun Shan was kicked out.