Speaking of the location of Maple Bridge, it is built on a tributary that branches off from the Grand Canal and leads to Suzhou City.
If you take a boat through the Fengqiao Bridge from south to north, you will enter the Grand Canal, marking your official departure from the greater Suzhou city.
The scene of Maple Bridge today is very different from the sparse and sparse scene when Zhang Ji wrote "Night Mooring on Maple Bridge".
Fengqiao Town is one of the largest towns and commercial centers outside the city, and may be the largest rice market in Jiangnan.
If you block your eyes from the poetic filter brought by "Night at Maple Bridge", you will only think that this place is a messy market full of people and vendors.
Not to mention that there is Hanshan Temple next to it, doesn’t the ancient temple do business?
Maybe this is a symbol, indicating that culture is spreading from elegance to vulgarity.
Qi Shaobao always traveled incognito in Suzhou, so the leader of the alliance Wang and Lao also sent him off in casual clothes.
In addition, there were also a number of celebrities, including Wang Daoguan, Wang Zhideng, Wen Zhengming's grandson and great-grandson, and Magistrate Feng of Wu County also came with them.
But the old leader Wang did not call Zhang Fengyi or Zhang Youyu this time, obviously he had some objections.
The farewell banquet was held directly on a building boat, and the building boat sailed all the way to the vicinity of Fengqiao.
In this way, you can successfully avoid the common people buying and selling rice and the hustle and bustle of the market, while still being able to see the famous cultural attraction Maple Bridge.
It's already afternoon now, because Maple Bridge is famous for its poetry at night, so Leader Wang insists on seeing her off in the afternoon.
Then we can eat and drink until the evening, which is perfect for publishing poems in conjunction with the night.
At this time, the drizzle began to fall again. It was so poetic and picturesque, just like the rain on the day of Qiuzhiyuan Gathering.
Leader Wang, holding on to the railing on the side of the ship, looked at the Maple Bridge in the misty spring rain, and sighed to Qi Shaobao:
"The capital has been calling me, and I wanted to accompany you to the north.
I don’t want to be frowned upon by those in power again in the near future, so in order to avoid trouble, I have no choice but to continue to live in the south of the Yangtze River.”
Qi Shaobao was confused, Leader Wang, what kind of monster are you doing?
The rest of the people are also puzzled. If I remember correctly, the last person in power who killed your old Wang family was the historical traitor Yan Song and his son, right?
Who wants to mess with an old man these days? Are you afraid of being knocked down and touched by you?
Alliance Leader Wang didn't let everyone guess, and directly revealed the answer: "Then Shen Mansion has been targeting me recently, which can't help but make people think deeply and be frightened."
Everyone was even more speechless. Everyone in Suzhou knew that the person who had been hotly discussing the old alliance leader was Lin Tailai.
And your old alliance leader has also determined that this thief is an enemy of the literary world.
What do you mean when you say that the Shen Mansion should be low-key and cannot be any more low-key?
But then I heard Old Alliance Leader Wang sigh and say: "Now I have discovered that the Shen Mansion is the black backstage of Thief Lin.
I really didn’t expect that at the age of sixty, I would still be attacked secretly by a kid like Shen Yongjia.
I was even careless and didn't dodge."
Qi Shaobao: "."
So he didn't want to play tricks with the literati, it was too tiring, so he decided to teach people how to learn marksmanship purely and simply.
No, the person who learned marksmanship is also very clever.
The old alliance leader Wang suddenly turned around and said to Wen Zhengming's grandson Wen Yuanfa: "Zi Qiu, how about asking for a favor from the son of Shen Mansion for me?
Just say that I am in my dying years and cannot withstand the storm, so how about asking him to spare me?"
The old alliance leader has spoken to this extent, what else can Wen Yuanfa do?
He could only reply quickly: "Brother Fengzhou, what are you talking about? I'll go to the Shen Mansion to make peace with you."
The Shen family has always been a small family and has not had much friendship with the local literary and artistic families in Suzhou. However, Shen Shixing has been in the capital since becoming the number one scholar and has no time to return to Suzhou to build relationships.
Therefore, there are not many people from local cultural families who can really talk to the Shen family and who are qualified to make peace.
One is the Xu family of Huqiu, and the other is Wen Yuanfa of the Wen family.
Wen Zhengming's grandsons, the Wen Yuanfa brothers, successfully inherited the Wen family's excellent imperial examination genes.
My elder brother Wen Zhaozhi failed the provincial examination ten times, one more time than his grandfather Wen Zhengming.
The younger brother Wen Yuanfa also remained a scholar all his life. When he reached middle age, he did not dare to take the exam, so he went to the Imperial Academy as a Gongsheng student to obtain a mixed degree.
Their father Wen Peng is said to have failed the provincial examination ten times.
From the Ming Dynasty to the present day, there have been three generations of six writers in this house, each of whom is famous for his calligraphy and painting. Together with his old disciples, he is said to account for half of Suzhou's literary and artistic circles during the Jiawan Dynasty.
However, the most conservative estimate is that the total number of failed provincial examinations for three generations and six celebrities of the Wen family is more than forty times.
Then Shen Shixing became prosperous at this time. In order to befriend half of the literary circles in his hometown, he helped Wen Yuanfa get an official position as a county magistrate in Zhejiang eight years ago.
Then in just five years, Wen Yuanfa, a man with a supervisory background, was promoted from the seventh-rank county magistrate to the fifth-rank tongzhi.
But Wen Yuanfa was not thick-skinned enough and was really embarrassed to be an official like this.
As a result, he did not take up the post three years ago and returned home to succeed his brother as the head of the Wen family, while focusing on cultivating the next generation.
Therefore, with these connections and friendships, Wen Yuanfa was able to talk to the Shen Mansion, and the old alliance leader Wang could only ask Wen Yuanfa to find the Second Young Master Shen.
But although Wen Yuanfa agreed verbally, he was actually quite speechless in his heart.
It’s not that he despises Shen Yongjia, but Shen Er’s level of “strategy” when he went to Zhejiang to take the provincial examination under false pretenses and was exposed by others, could he control Professor Lin who was criticized as a man who can govern the world and lead troubled times?
However, Wen Yuanfa, who also inherited Wen Zhengming's excellent social genes, still saw through it without saying anything.
In the seat, 12-year-old Wen Zhenmeng said to his father Wen Yuanfa: "Senior Wang is a bit pretentious. Father, you still feel so wronged to help him."
Wen Yuanfa scolded in a low voice: "Shut up! This is all to pave the way for your future!
I have been too relaxed for you these past few days. Go back and review the latest eight-part essay lecture notes three times!
Starting from my grandfather in Hengshan, it is up to you, the fourth generation, to avenge the shame of the three generations of our Wen family who failed fifty provincial examinations!"
Wang Zhideng, a close disciple of Wen Zhengming who was sitting next to him, sighed sympathetically towards Xiao Wen Zhenmeng after hearing what Wen Yuanfa said.
It can only be said that every family has sutras that are difficult to recite, but it is still as easy as his.
It is possible to succeed by changing the track, giving up the imperial examination and officialdom completely, and taking the commoner route.
Old Alliance Leader Wang invited everyone to take their seats on the deck, and then said: "Okay, let's not talk about those trivial matters. After all, today we are here to see Qi Shaobao off."
Since it was a farewell ceremony, he had to write a poem. Wang Zhideng, as the leader of the local literary circle in Suzhou, took the lead in writing one:
"The road to the west of the ancient temple is full of green mountains, and the road outside the gate is filled with candles, and the dusty river is covered with maples."
Then Wen Yuanfa said humbly: "My ancestor once wrote a poem for Maple Bridge, so I won't show my shame. Today I will just review my ancestor's old works."
The golden sword comes from the west to bring cold people, and the red maples fall into the mist and rain. The desolate ancient temple is foggy and foggy. Do Zhang Ji's poems exist today?"
After everyone finished composing their poems, it was the turn of leader Wang to lead the battle.
I saw the old alliance leader looking at the sun setting in the west, making a posture with blurred eyes, and said very skillfully: "The maple bridge is hidden in the dark color of the building and the ship, and the literary and colorful affairs are all in this feast."
Suddenly someone on the shore shouted: "How dare you, these traitors, bark here!"
The sound was really loud, like spring thunder, and could be heard clearly on the deck of the ship.
But this voice was even more familiar, and it had a magical power that made Alliance Leader Wang's blood pressure automatically soar, and his originally very skillful poetry reciting skills were actually interrupted.
It must be an illusion. They were all sent to Maple Bridge Town on horseback. Why can I still hear that evil voice cursing in the street!