In fact, when he heard the name Wang Shenzhong, Qin Dewei could probably guess some of the context. At any rate, in the history of Ming literature, this was a moderately famous person.
Between the two famous groups of the First Seven Scholars and the Last Seven Scholars in the literary world of the Ming Dynasty, there is a small literary group called the Eight Talents of Jiajing. Wang Shenzhong is the leader of the Eight Talents of Jiajing.
These eight people were all Jinshi in the fifth or eighth year of Jiajing reign. In recent years, they had all served as officials in the capital. They were all in their twenties to thirties. They rewarded each other and gradually made their debut in the literary world as a group.
The current situation in the literary world is like this. The older generation of the retro Seven Talents Group (the first seven talents) are gradually passing away. The leader of the group, Li Mengyang, died three years ago. He Jingming, who has a high level of literature and art, died earlier. Kang Hai, who has the strongest fighting ability, is retiring in his hometown in Shaanxi.
Studying opera, it is said that this is the founder of Qin Opera.
Therefore, in this older generation of heavenly groups, only Wang Tingxiang, who has the lowest level of literature and art, is still hanging around in the court. He is not very good at literature but is an official.
As for the subsequent seven-member group, we have also introduced it in the previous article. The leader of the group, Li Panlong, was still being beaten severely by Qin Dewei, and Wang Shizhen was still in his infancy.
In other words, the period from the 10th to the 20th year of Jiajing was a blank period between the two great groups of the Seven Sons, so the Jiajing Eight Talents group appeared.
Now that a new group has debuted, the fastest way to become famous is with the old group DISS.
The literary idea of the first seven scholars was to go back to the ancient times, so they proposed that "literature must be from the Qin and Han Dynasties". The literary idea of the Jiajing Eight Talents was to go back to the ancient times and called themselves the "Tang and Song School" of articles. As for poetry, everyone is a scumbag, let alone anyone else.
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Therefore, Wang Tingxiang, as the only remaining member of the senior group, naturally became a target.
The key is that Wang Tingxiang's own literary ability is not good. He was able to join the Seven Talents only because he was a mixed person. His reputation is greater than his strength, so his life in the capital's literary world was difficult.
And Wang Shenzhong is the leader of the Eight Talents of Jiajing, and he is also a super angry young man. By the way, it often appears in various online articles that Tang Shunzhi, the first tool of the Jiajing Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, is the second among the Eight Talents of Jiajing.
Thinking about Wang Shenzhong's angry youth character and looking at Wang Tingxiang's reaction, Qin Dewei could easily figure out the inside story. He was really a replica of his old leader Gu.
"This Wang Shenzhong is a rising star in the capital's literary world in recent years." Wang Tingxiang, the censor of Zuodu, said to Qin Dewei amiably: "You come with me in the evening, and I will introduce you to each other. One of you is in Nanjing, and the other is in the capital. It's rare.
I can meet you."
Under normal circumstances, Wang Dazhongcheng's behavior is called supporting the younger generation. You come to the capital as a foreigner and take you around the Beijing circle. What is this other than supporting?
Seeing that Wang Tingxiang did not explain clearly directly, Qin Dewei sighed and said: "I came to Beijing this time just to rescue Mr. Feng, and I didn't care about him!"
I'm here to save people, not to show off!
Besides, Li Panlong, the future leader of the literary world, has already seen it, and he doesn’t feel much good about others anymore. Wang Shenzhong is even less interested!
How could Wang Tingxiang let go of such a useful tool like Qin Dewei? In the capital, except for someone who was squatting in the prison next door, no one knew Qin Dewei's power better than himself!
"What I want to say is, how you treat Gu Dongqiao, you should treat Wang Shenzhong, and you must kill him for his momentum!"
Qin Dewei was speechless. You, Wang Dazhongcheng, are enough to leave a name in the history books just by relying on your political status. Why do you have to fight and kill in the literary world?
Wang Tingxiang said very tragically: "The reputation of the Seven Talents of the past is now only guarded by me! The reputation must not fall into my hands and be trampled by younger generations!"
Qin Dewei secretly complained again, "Wang Dazhongcheng, isn't it good for you to be an official honestly? Do you still need status in the literary world?"
If Qin Dewei was directly given the title of Zuodu Yushi after time travel, Qin Dewei would not be too lazy to gain face in the literary world.
Wang Tingxiang sighed sadly: "What's the use of an official position if you write about it for eternity? I have no interest in official positions! What I regret most in my life is that my official position has become bigger and bigger, so I have no time to hone my knowledge."
Qin Dewei almost knelt down. We are all our own people, don't do this!
Finally, Wang Tingxiang said: "So I'm leaving it to you. There's no need to say anything else. I've made it clear that I'm asking you to help me breathe a sigh of relief and help me regain my face!"
For this reason, he can be considered sincere. Qin Dewei could only leave the table and bow to him: "How dare you disobey me! I'll do my best!"
In fact, Qin Dewei didn't care at all about this genre of literature or that genre, but Wang Tingxiang asked him to help vent his anger and regain his position. This reason was enough.
And Qin Dewei knew very well that he not only vented his anger, but also supported and supported him with his strength. Since Wang Tingxiang cared so much about his status in the literary world, he should do a favor himself.
For some reason, Qin Dewei thought of Old Man Gu in Nanjing. He must have been longing for someone who could fight by his side in the past three years, right?
The cultural meeting was in the evening, and it was only noon now. Qin Dewei had lunch with Wang Tingxiang first.
Then Wang Tingxiang asked his chief attendant to talk to Qin Dewei. As the censor of Zuodu, he had some official duties in the afternoon.
Qin Dewei and Chang Sui were sitting in the foyer, drinking tea and chatting. Qin Dewei asked Wang Shenzhong and Wang Tingxiang carefully about things.
Na Changsui said angrily: "Because my master is among the seven talented people of the ancient times, his poems and articles have been repeatedly criticized and belittled by these young people! This is simply unreasonable. Is there any sense of superiority or inferiority?"
Qin Dewei still couldn't believe it. Then Wang Shenzhong was so fierce? He didn't even give him the face of Zuodu Yushi?
Na Changsui added: "Not only my master, but also Zhang Shoufu of the Cabinet and Xia Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, he has contradicted me!
The year before last, Zhang Shoufu wanted to promote him to the Hanlin Academy, but he refused directly, saying that he would rather lose his official position than lose his virginity. Last year, he was transferred to the Department of Guests and Guests of the Ministry of Etiquette, and when he took office, he defied Shangshu Xia in public, making it impossible for Shangshu Xia to step down."
Qin Dewei was speechless. He knew that Wang Shenzhong was an angry young man, but he didn't expect that the angry youth could reach this level.
You are a mid-level official in your twenties. Although you have a bright future, you have humiliated both the current chief minister and the future chief minister... Qin Dewei is also famous for being arrogant and aloof in Nanjing, but he is really inferior to Wang Shenzhong.
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No wonder, in my impression, most of the Eight Talents of Jiajing ended up resigning from office and returning to their hometowns at a young age, where they lived idle for many years.
In fact, Wang Shenzhong was also lucky. Before Yan Song's rise, he would not have lost his life by showing off like this.
In the Ming Dynasty literati tradition, being an angry youth is also a fashion, which has been practiced in all dynasties, and is even praised by public opinion. Li Mengyang, the first of the seven retro talents of the older generation, was also an angry youth back then.
By the time Yan Song rose to prominence, Wang Shenzhong had already been driven home by Xia Yan to teach until his death. If he had been born more than ten years later and had been such an angry young man during the era when Yan Song was in power, he might not have survived more than three years.