Chapter 69 Work is work, life is life

Xiang Danian and Qu Yang searched Chongwenmen Street, Xuanwumen Street and Chengtianmen Street according to Ou Zanghua's request.

It was discovered that the houses in this area were either owned by high-ranking officials of the imperial court, or occupied by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot.

In desperation, they could only expand the scope and found a courtyard with four entrances and exits on Dongzhimen Street.

The two of them liked it very much after seeing it, so they immediately returned to Cheng's house and told Ou Zanghua the news.

When Ou Zanghua heard this, he immediately went to Dongzhimen Street before he officially reported to the Hanlin Academy.

The Guangliang gate faces southeast. As you enter the yard, you can see a row of three rooms. This type of room is called the South Back House in the courtyard and is for servants to live in.

Walk around the screen wall and a few steps inside, you can see a hanging flower gate and a corridor separating the outer courtyard from the second courtyard. On rainy days, you can walk through the corridor into the second courtyard.

After Ou Zanghua entered the second courtyard, the first thing he saw was a courtyard with a very Jiangnan style, a small pond with a rockery and a pomegranate tree, which was like a shed or a canopy. The plaque on the main hall read "Qinglian Hall".

It comes from the line "The river is clear and rippling" from "The Book of Songs·Weifeng·Fadan".

The three characters have a sense of graceful flow between the strokes, and the dynamics and bearing of the characters are superior to those of Ou Zanghua.

It is obvious at first glance that this is the garden owner's favorite place to entertain guests.

There is a corridor on the left, leading to the third courtyard, which is divided into the main house, left and right ear rooms, and east and west wing rooms.

There is also a corridor. Through the archway, you can reach the back room on the second floor, which is where the women live.

After a walk around, I saw that the wooden decoration in the yard was exquisitely carved, and the delicate stalagmites, stone peaks and rockery, winter plums and bamboos echoed each other. It can be seen that the previous owner took good care of it.

"Let's do it here!" Ou Zanghua said with satisfaction.

"Okay!" Xiang Danian responded happily, turned around and went out to look for Fang Ya.

After hearing this, Fang Ya was naturally even happier to know that the master was satisfied, and he immediately contacted the landlord.

The homeowner was at his other second-floor courtyard at the moment. When he heard that his former residence had been coveted by someone, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Who would sell their beloved yard unless they had no other choice?
When Xu Zhenqing thought about his own experience, he felt exhausted.

When he was young, he was as famous as Zhu Yunming, Tang Yin and Wen Zhengming, and they were known as the "Four Talents of Wuzhong".

After passing the imperial examination, he was known as one of the "Four Heroes of Hongzheng" along with Li Mengyang, He Jingming and Bian Gong.

He would never forget the day in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign when he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, which was the proudest moment of his life.

However, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty sent eunuchs to inquire about the names of Xu Zhenqing and Lu Shen. As a result, Lu Shen became an editor of the Hanlin Academy because of his handsome appearance, and he was appointed as the deputy of the left temple of the Dali Temple.

Life's ups and downs come too fast
That time, he was able to ease the situation by recalling the troubles of his good friend Tang Yin.

This time, after years of hard work, he finally succeeded in demoting himself from the deputy of the Dali Temple to the doctor of the Imperial College. When he was hit so hard that he had to sell his house to live in the capital, it was his good friend who saved him again.

In the sixth year of Zhengde, Zhu Zhishan succeeded in failing the seventh imperial examination.
Xu Zhenqing felt deeply moved that he had made a group of good friends.

"Who has taken a fancy to my house?" Xu Zhenqing looked out the window and asked himself, "Will he take good care of it?"

"Please rest assured, sir," the servant replied, "The Fang Ya said that the buyer of the house is a new top scholar, who is as knowledgeable and talented as you are, and he likes the house very much."

"Tanhua?!"

A drop of ink fell on the paper, and a good piece of calligraphy became flawed.

"Yes, yes." The servant boy was startled by his master's reaction and answered carefully.

Xu Zhenqing gritted his teeth and said, "Add more money!"

"W-what?" The servant boy was stunned, thinking he had heard wrongly.

"Add five hundred taels, or I won't sell it!" Xu Zhenqing lowered his head, his eyes slightly red. This was his last stubbornness.

"Yes"

The book boy left the study room in confusion and told Fang Ya what his master meant. Fang Ya was also stunned. How could he raise the price at the last minute when the deal was almost done?
He gritted his teeth and returned to the house and explained the situation to Xiang Danian.

Xiang Danian was also furious, so he had to go into the study and tell Ou Zanghua: "Brother, this person is too much. I will find a better courtyard for you!"

“No thanks.” Ou Zanghua put down the copybook and said with a smile, “Pay now!”

"Why?!" Xiang Danian asked in confusion.

"Because of this!"

Ou Zanghua patted a drawer in the bookcase. There were several copies of calligraphy that he had not taken away. They were all authentic works of the Four Talents of Wuzhong. These things were not valuable now, but in a few hundred years, they would be worth a lot of money.
Eh? !

Wait a moment.
Ou Zanghua stroked his chin and thought, with his current fame, if he continued to work hard for a few more years, would the original copy of the calligraphy be worth a house when passed down to future generations?
Suddenly, Ou Zanghua remembered something.

The invitations that Qu Feiyan burned were all authentic ones from Jinshi or Juren who passed the imperial examinations in the sixth year of Zhengde. There were more than 2,000 of them, and there must be a dozen cultural celebrities among them.

So what Feiyan burned was not paper, but a suite!

At this moment, Ou Zanghua had a very deep understanding of "spendthrift women".

Since Ou Zanghua likes it and agrees to buy it at a high price, then this matter will be much simpler.

With Fang Ya's help, Xiang Da Nian paid the money and got the land deed, and successfully bought the house.

Originally, Qu Yang wanted to hold a housewarming party, but was rejected by Ou Zanghua.

He really didn't have the energy to deal with his peers who were worried about finding ways to curry favor with him.

So, the editors of the Imperial Academy moved, and the move was so small that only three carriages were involved, and everything was done in half a day. Only Wang Qin, on behalf of Cheng Zhirou, delivered a potted Huangshan pine.

As for the remaining corners in the house, Qu Feiyan will fill in the gaps.

Now that I have a home, it’s time to marry the mistress.

Ou Zanghua stood in Qinglian Hall and looked up at the full moon in the sky.

Even though he missed Xiang Danian so much that he didn't want to go to work, Ou Zanghua had no choice but to get up at dawn, then get on the carriage in a half-asleep state, and have Xiang Danian take him to the Hanlin Academy to report for duty.

Fortunately, except for the Minister of Rites who also serves as the President of the Hanlin Academy, all other people in the Hanlin Academy do not have to attend court.

Otherwise Ou Zanghua would have to get up even earlier.

The work content of the editors in the Hanlin Academy included drafting imperial edicts, compiling historical books, and lecturing at imperial lectures.

But in fact, the Hanlin Academy still has high-level official positions such as bachelors and tutors. Jobs that require high professionalism, such as drafting imperial edicts and giving lectures at imperial lectures, are not yet the job of these newcomers.

The compilation of the remaining historical books was much simpler. For example, the task assigned to Ou Zanghua was to proofread "Compendium of Comprehensive Mirrors of History".

During the Chenghua period, the trend of popularizing historical knowledge through concise general history began to take shape.

The imperial court ordered a revision of the "Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu", corrected the errors, removed the content that was guessed by later generations, and then attached "Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu Fameng" and "Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu Jilan" and other contents.

In the 15th year of the Hongzhi reign, after the completion of the "Da Ming Hui Dian" freed up manpower, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty ordered the compilation of "Lidai Tongjian Zongyao" the following year.

This was to integrate the officially recognized historical system and historical perspective, and serve as a blueprint for historical books for future monarchs and ministers to study, master and lecture on.

The book was completed in the second year of Zhengde. Now the editors' job is to proofread it. After confirming that everything is correct, it can be finalized as a book.

Of course, there is no rush to work, just make a cup of tea first.

After all, if you don't do it, your colleagues will do it for you.

Right?

Brother Qianzhi!
However, just as Ou Zanghua was slacking off, an eunuch suddenly walked in, bowed slightly to Ou Zanghua, and said, "Pass on His Majesty's oral order to summon Hanlin Academy Editor Ou Zanghua to the palace to answer your questions and resolve your doubts."

(End of this chapter)