The Yingtianfu Provincial Examination is not only an examination, but also a grand gathering of scholars. Some celebrities will specially rush to Nanjing at this time to participate in the grand gathering.
At the two large docks of Longjiangguan and Jiangdongmen, a large number of scholars from other places arrived every day, and the rituals of welcoming and sending them off were very frequent.
Today another small boat came from the lower reaches of the river, waiting to dock. Teachers and students Gu Xiancheng, An Xifan and others were sitting across from each other in the cabin.
Young An Xifan asked in confusion: "Why didn't the teacher return to the imperial staff and resume his duties? Instead, he took three years of leave and traveled back and forth in Jiangnan?"
Gu Xiancheng replied: "You should concentrate on the provincial examination first and don't be distracted by other things."
The leaders of their Qingliu faction are either from Henan or Hebei. In Jiangnan, where there are the largest number of scholars, their foundation is weak.
After all, there are too many people for Jiangnan scholars to rely on today. The first assistant, Shen Shixing, the great scholar Wang Xijue, and the literary leader Wang Shizhen are all from Jiangnan.
That's why Gu Xiancheng took three years off and went home to give lectures to build momentum. Of course, a young man in his early twenties like An Xifan couldn't understand.
An Xifan looked outside and saw a large group of scholars standing on the bank, all facing the river.
Then he said: "Is it possible that the teacher's reputation has spread far and wide, so that a large number of scholars who admire the teacher heard the news and came here to greet him?"
Gu Xiancheng wanted this to be the case, but thought it was unlikely. After the ship docked safely, he immediately left the cabin and stood on the bow.
However, there was no response from the scholars on the shore, so Gu Xiancheng was disappointed and determined that these scholars were really not here to greet him.
After he landed on the shore, he heard someone on the other side of the pier shouting: "Gu Jun!"
He turned around again and saw that it was his friend Li Sancai.
Originally, Li Sancai's official position had reached the position of Doctor of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but last year he wrote a letter to defend Wei Yunzhen. As a result, he angered his superiors and was transferred to the position of Doctor of the Ministry of Rites of Nanjing.
Although the rank has not changed, it has suddenly changed from an important position to a sinecure among the sinecures.
A few years ago, when Gu Xiancheng first entered his official career, he worked in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He was a subordinate of Li Sancai at the time, and the two of them compiled the "Wanli Accounting Records" together.
Logically speaking, Li Sancai was of higher grade than Gu Xiancheng in his junior year, so there was no need to greet him with courtesy.
However, the two were similar in age, and Li Sancai admired Gu Xiancheng's character and knowledge, so they usually treated each other with courtesy.
In addition, Li Sancai was good at sociability and good at dancing, so he condescended to come to greet Gu Xiancheng.
After seeing the ceremony, Li Sancai explained: "Since Haigong Gangfeng was in Nantai, the government examination discipline has been strict.
Nan Gao, Jian Quan and others are unable to escape, so they can only entrust me to greet them!"
Nan Gao was Zou Yuanbiao, and Jian Quan was Wei Yunzhen. They were both sent to Nanjing for their disobedience, and they were both in the same gang as Gu Xiancheng.
At this time, there was no such thing as the Donglin Party. They all called themselves "Qingliu" and flaunted their reputation.
Zou Yuanbiao, Li Sancai, and Wei Yunzhen were all famous figures in the history of party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty. It was only at this time that they first showed their talents, and they had only entered the officialdom for more than ten years.
Originally, the discipline of Nanjing's government offices was very lax, and there was not much work to do, let alone being late and leaving early.
However, after Hai Rui became the censor of the right capital of Nanjing, he paid close attention to discipline and culture. Most of the Nanjing officials were miserable, but they were intimidated by Hai Rui's prestige and did not dare to challenge him.
Therefore, Zou Yuanbiao and Wei Yunzhen, two people who usually pay great attention to integrity, could not escape. Only Li Sancai, who worked in the Ministry of Rites, could come to pick up Gu Xiancheng on the excuse of going out on business.
But at this time, Gu Xiancheng pointed to other people gathered on the shore and asked: "Who are you waiting for?"
Li Sancai replied: "It should be Wang Yanzhou, an old leader in the literary world. I don't know why he came to Nanjing. It is said that he is going to be the right minister of the Nanjing Criminal Department."
Gu Xiancheng suppressed his sour breath and commented lightly: "People who don't follow the right path, what use are they to the country and the people?"
An Xifan also quickly followed Teacher Gu and said, "It's a sad world to try to please others by grandstanding."
Although they are both known as scholars and belong to the same scholarly community, Qingliu and Wang Shizhen are not in the same circle.
Just like the public intellectual circle and the literary and artistic circle hundreds of years later, they are also different circles.
Suddenly, the large crowd burst into loud cheers, and a large boat slowly appeared on the shore.
Li Sancai quickly greeted Gu Xiancheng and said, "Get in the car! Let's go first, otherwise there will be more people and chaos later."
Gu Xiancheng looked back at the big boat in disgust, then scanned the crowd, and then boarded the boat and left.
The old alliance leader Wang Shizhen came out of the cabin and waved to the crowd on the shore. He looked much better than when he left Suzhou.
At this time, he also saw the carriages and horses leaving behind the crowd, but he didn't pay attention.
As long as Xu Wenchang and Lin Tailai were not in front of two generations of literary thieves, Wang Lao, leader of the alliance, was still very generous most of the time.
Not many people accompanied the old alliance leader to Nanjing this time. Apart from the second son Wang Shisu, they were Feng Shike, the most loyal disciple of the retro sect, and Hu Yinglin, the youngest celebrity.
Leader Wang Lao claimed to the outside world that he came to Nanjing to take up the position of right minister of the Nanjing Criminal Department, and others did not doubt it.
But the three accompanying people all understood what Mr. Wang was thinking.
After arriving at his residence, Feng Shike asked: "Are we really going to hold another literary conference and not announce it in advance?
If this doesn’t give the world time to warm up, the effect doesn’t seem to be very good.”
Wang Shizhen replied: "After I returned to Taicang three months ago, I continued to think deeply, reviewed the pros and cons in my heart, and concluded three reasons for the failure of the Suzhou Literary Forum."
“The first is that the warm-up is too early and too long. It seriously consumes and distracts the energy of the participants, and when they get to the main topic, they often feel sluggish.
The second is that the sense of participation among scholars is too poor. Most scholars actually know that they will definitely not be selected as the Five Sons, so they need a sense of participation even more.
Third, if there were no external factors, we might still be able to maintain the superficial prosperity of the literary world. But with external factors like Lin Tailai, it is understandable that we will fall short."
Feng Shi didn't want to talk about the rights and wrongs of the past, so he asked: "When will the literary conference be held specifically?"
Alliance leader Wang Lao replied confidently: "It can be decided during the period after the exam is over and before the results are released."
After Feng Shike thought for a moment, he replied: "It's wonderful! It's just right for the event!"
If you think about it carefully, you will realize that there is really no more suitable time than this period.
This period of time is definitely the time when scholars are most relaxed and energetic.
If they wait a little later after the results are released, most of the students who failed will definitely just want to go home early and have no intention of being the backdrop for a literary conference.
And if the time had been earlier, the scholars would still be anxious about taking the provincial examination, so how could they be in the mood to do anything else?
Wang Shizhen instructed: "As soon as the examination in the township examination room is over, we will announce the matters of the literary conference immediately!
Then, it will reach its climax in a short period of time, without giving those with malicious intentions time to react!"
At this time, Wang Shisu came into the hall with a stack of greeting cards and reported: "Father just got off the passenger ship, and he actually received a large number of greeting cards!"
Wang Shizhen laughed a few times. Only at this time can he feel the joy of his existence.
Then he said to the people around him: "I haven't set foot in Jinling for several years. I wonder if Qinhuai Fengyue has a new talent?"
Feng Shike thought, there must be some rookies, but it's not clear whether the screams are high enough.
It seems that the criteria for selecting candidates for the old alliance leader are all based on the loudness of the voice.
On the road in Nanjing city, Gu Xiancheng and Li Sancai took one car together, while An Xifan and other entourage took another car.
In the car, Li Sancai asked again: "What are the arrangements for today? Do you want to take care of you?"
Gu Xiancheng replied: "Tell Nangao Jianquan that I am very sleepy due to fatigue from boating and carriage, so I will rest for now."
Li Sancai nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
In fact, Li Sancai knew that Gu Xiancheng had something to do, and he was probably anxious to see Fang Huan, the censor of Nanzhili, to study.
Gu Xiancheng didn't know Fang Huan before, and it was Li Sancai who introduced him through him. But Li Sancai didn't ask about the specific things he wanted to do.
After Gu Xiancheng and An Xifan were sent to the apartment they had prepared, Li Sancai left on his own initiative.
After that, Gu Xiancheng and An Xifan also separated, each doing their own things.
An Xifan is here to take the provincial examination, so of course he has to socialize with his classmates at this time.
Gu Xiancheng, on the other hand, went non-stop and secretly visited Fanghuan, the censor of Nanzhili.
There are three main things. The first is in terms of teaching. I hope Fang Huan can provide support. After all, Fang Tixue is currently the real leader among scholars in Southern Zhili.
The second is whether it is possible to use Fanghuan to fish in troubled waters and strengthen our own people in various examinations this year and next.
Although the influence of the imperial censor on the provincial examination is very limited, at least he can decide the admission of scholars in each county during his term of office.
The third is to eliminate evil spirits and maintain the dignity of righteousness. The evil evil that needs to be eliminated most at present is Suzhou Linsheng.
In fact, there is another thing that is hard to talk about. Gu Xiancheng has always told people that his idol is Hai Rui. I wonder if there is a chance to gain fame from Hai Rui.
In the minds of scholars in Nanzhili, Fang Tixue's character and reputation were not very good, and he was greedy and violent.
But he still received Gu Xiancheng warmly. Who in the officialdom is not a multi-faceted person?
To be continued...