Chapter 67 Teacher Wang
Three days later, the yellow list originally posted on the palace wall would be taken down and forwarded to the Imperial College by the Cabinet, where the names of the successful candidates would be engraved on a stele.

The yellow list will then be kept in the Imperial College for future generations to review.

During these three days, Ou Zanghua received as many invitations as snowflakes. Qu Feiyan sighed again that she could save some money on buying firewood.

Ou Zanghua naturally would not pay attention to these. He, Yang Shen and Zou Shouyi agreed to visit the Prime Minister Li Dongyang together the next day.

In the Li Mansion in Yongfang, Li Dongyang sat in the main seat, and the three newly-appointed Jinshi sat on the left and right below.

In the small courtyard on the side, there were two or three maids playing music.

After listening for a while, Li Dongyang looked at the three people and asked gently: "What do you think?"

Yang Shen said indifferently, "It's like listening to the sound of pines in the valleys, and the lingering sound of frosty bells."

Zou Shouyi thought for a moment before saying, "The sound of the zither is clear, elegant and beautiful, the sound of the pipa is like the hum of a bee, and the sound of the Qiang flute is like the chirping of a cicada. It's very good."

Ou Zanghua feels that there is still a lot of room for improvement. If he were to come, he would add a few more instruments to amplify the appeal and expressiveness. However, considering these are private gatherings, the music cannot take the lead and the performance stage can be moved back a bit.

But this is the leader's home, so it's better to be low-key: "The sound goes up like a good wind, and the voice lingers in the heart."

"Hahahaha" Li Dongyang smiled and nodded at the three people and said, "We can only cultivate an honest king!"

Zou Shouyi smiled awkwardly, but Ou Zanghua was not panicked at all. He never said that he was an honest man.

Yang Shen was a little embarrassed. He cupped his hands and explained, "I just think that music and poetry are good for entertainment in my spare time."

Li Dongyang nodded, his expression a little serious: "The current national affairs are difficult. Last year, there was the rebellion of Prince Anhua, the rebels in Guangdong and Tingzhang areas repeatedly invaded southern Fujian, and Liu Jin fell. Outside, there is the disaster of Yibuqi Altus. In the fourth year of Zhengde, he rose up against the Mongolian Khan Dayan. After his defeat, he led the remnants of more than 10,000 people to Qinghai Lake and Haixi area to graze, and then broke through the four guards outside the Great Wall."

"The country is facing internal and external troubles. As court officials, you should focus on state affairs."

"Students are welcome to learn from you." Ou Zanghua and the other two stood up and bowed.

"I am already in my sixties, and the future of our country still depends on you!" Li Dongyang smiled again and encouraged the three of them.

When I came out of Li's house, the lights were already on.

The three of them tacitly did not take the carriage, but walked side by side on the cobblestone road.

Yang Shen looked at the two of them and sighed in his heart, wondering how long this friendship between the same age could last.

Zou Shouyi, on the other hand, was more open-minded. He looked at his two friends and asked with a smile, "What are you two thinking about?"

Yang Shen looked at Ou Zanghua and motioned for him to speak first.

"Hmm, Yibuci Altus. This name reminds me of an old friend."

"who?"

"A famous filial son"

Yang Shen and Zou Shouyi looked at each other. How come they didn’t know that there were famous filial sons among the Mongolian tribes?

On March 19th, Ou Zanghua put on the Jinshi robe again. This time, Xiang Danian was not qualified to see him off because a carriage from the Ministry of Rites came to pick him up.

Since the eighth year of Xuande, the banquets for honoring Jinshi scholars have been held in the Ministry of Rites.

The emperor would not attend the banquet in person, but in order to show his respect for the new scholars and the examiners of the palace examination, he would appoint a minister to represent him and go to the "host banquet".

The examiners of the palace examination were the heads of the civil officials, so only a military general could preside over the banquet on behalf of the emperor.

Led by an official from the Ministry of Rites, Ou Zanghua entered the banquet and came to his seat.

He looked around and found that there were quite a lot of "outsiders" present.

For example, there were four censors in charge of supervision, two of them stood at the east and west corners of the banquet hall, and two stood on the steps.

The Imperial Guard, the Honglu Temple, and the Ministry of Rites all sent officials to assist. Their task was simple, which was to record the names of officials who committed "improper conduct" during the banquet, such as arguing over seating arrangements, dropping wine vessels, making loud noises, or being untidy in their clothes, and then wait for their punishment.

Even the number of times to drink was regulated: nine times for a grand banquet, seven times for a medium banquet, and five or three times for a regular banquet.
It is indeed a civilized country and a country of etiquette.

To be more particular, even the literati who were the ruling class felt uncomfortable with it.

Eh?
Ou Zanghua suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the emperor did not come to the banquet. With so many restrictions, he did not want to come.

After the new scholars took their seats, the examiners of the palace examination entered one by one, including the chief examiner, Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Li Dongyang, and Duke of England, Zhang Mao.

Zhang Mao is already seventy-one years old this year, but he looks more energetic than Li Dongyang, who is in his sixties.

He even had to slow down a few steps on purpose to wait for Li Dongyang because he was walking too fast.

As the one with the highest status and the oldest age, Zhang Mao naturally sat in the main seat in the middle, while Li Dongyang, Liang Chu, Liu Zhong and other cabinet ministers sat on his left and right sides.

When everyone was present, the officials from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward and kowtowed first to express their gratitude for the emperor's great grace and then to express their gratitude to their teachers for their kindness. After going through the whole process, Ou Zanghua had some sweat on his forehead.

As the music played, the Enrong Banquet officially began and various delicious dishes were served one by one.

Nominally, it was a banquet hosted by the emperor, and the wine used was naturally tribute wine, which was the legendary Emperor Minghuang's favorite, Qiulubai.

It is called this name because the wine is made from sorghum in autumn.

Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica commented: "The autumn dew in Shandong is white, pure in color and strong in flavor."

As you can imagine, its degree is not low.

When Ou Zanghua took a sip, he knew that many people would "behave improperly in front of the palace" today. No wonder the Jinyiwei, the Honglu Temple, the Like, and the Censorate were all here. Isn't this a perfect way to boost performance at the end of the month?
Sure enough, after four rounds of drinking, some young scholars began to lose control of their voices. Even though they were sitting down at the table, their voices could be heard at the middle table: "Zhu Zi said, 'Read widely and then return!' What's wrong with that?!"

Another voice seemed to be inspired and also raised its voice: "Mr. Xiangshan's words of 'first discovering people's original mind and then letting them read widely' are the correct way!"

As soon as Ou Zanghua heard it, he knew that this was the famous "Ehu Meeting·Debate between Zhu Xi and Lu Xun".

In the second year of Chunxi in the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to reconcile the theoretical differences between Zhu Xi's "Neo-Confucianism" and Lu Jiuyuan's "Xinxue" and make the two people's philosophical viewpoints "reunite into one", Lu Zuqian invited the brothers Lu Jiuling and Lu Jiuyuan to meet Zhu Xi.

Thus, there was a debate that influenced future generations for hundreds of years.

However, by the Zhengde period, the man who attained enlightenment in Longchang had become a dominant force, and Neo-Confucianism was just a spent force.

Speaking of which, where should Teacher Wang be now?

He remembered that Teacher Wang had been persecuted by Liu Jin. Now that Liu Jin has fallen, he thought he would be back soon, right?

Ou Zanghua was lost in thought when he suddenly heard a Jinshi bring up the topic with them: "May I ask the three of you fellow first-class students, what do you think of the method of teaching people?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Yang Shen and Zou Shouyi began to think. The Jinyiwei, Honglu Temple, Like, and Yushi around them all had shining eyes and wrote quickly with their pens.

Ou Zanghua lowered his head slightly, somewhat speechless. What does your dispute over psychology and philosophy have to do with me?

And no matter which side you stand on, you will be preached by the other side.

It's so annoying!

Then, he activated his internal energy, and his blood surged up, turning his handsome face red.

He looked up again, his eyes a little hazy, and said, "I'll sit and watch."

"Pfft!"

Zou Shouyi couldn't help laughing. After noticing the censors looking at him, he quickly sat up straight and said with a dull look like Ou Zanghua, "I'll sit down and listen."

Yang Shen looked at the second and third brothers in disbelief, "Is this how you guys play?"
Then what’s the use of the draft I just prepared?

So, the top scholar showed off his exaggerated acting skills, rubbed his temples, and said like he was drunk and had a headache: "I'll sit down and think."

(End of this chapter)