Chapter 53 Curved Water Flowing Goblet

Qin Mubai closed the invitation and asked, "Second brother, why did the king of Wei have a banquet for no reason? How did he know that I came back from vacation?"

"You are very popular now. It's not easy to know if you are back. Your appearance in the first wine in the world yesterday is enough to let the king of Wei know the news. I don't know how many of the officials who drank and entertained there were the guests of the King of Wei. Qin Bin said, "As for the reason for the treat, Brother Yu seems to have heard that it is - the king of Wei wants to invite all the Confucian talents to play the flowing goblet."

"The curved water of the water? It's funny! It's summer now. What's the flow of water? Qin Mubai couldn't help laughing.

The curved water goblet is an ancient custom that has been passed down since the Jin Dynasty. According to legend, 42 people, including Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher in the Jin Dynasty and Huiji's internal history, Xie An, Sun Zhuo, and other 42 people, held a drinking and poetry activity in Lanting, which was a good story for thousands of years. This Confucian style and customs have been passed down to this day. At that time, after holding a sacrifice ceremony, Wang Xizhi and others sat on both sides of Lanting Qingxi, put the goblet with wine in the stream, slowly went down from the floating water upstream, passed through the winding stream, and turned or stopped in front of anyone, who had to improvise poems and drink.

In this game, eleven people each wrote two poems, and fifteen people each wrote two poems. Sixteen people could not write poems, and each of them was fined three times. Wang Xizhi collected everyone's poems, used silkworm cocoon paper, mouse beard pen to make a preface, took advantage of the fun and wrote the world-famous "Lanting Preface".

Today's emperor Li Shimin loves Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, which has aroused a calligraphy craze in the Tang Dynasty. Thus, the elegant entertainment method of Qu Shuishui Goblet has also spread among the literati of the Tang Dynasty. However, Qushui Goblet is usually held on the Shangji Festival in March, and now it is the summer solstice.

"This fool doesn't know either." Qin Bin shook his head and smiled, "I heard from fellow guests that it was in March this year that the King of Wei was ordered to accompany His Majesty the Emperor in the palace to discuss the revision of Kuo Di Zhi together, so he missed this year's Qu Shui Shui Goblet. So I'll make up for it while I'm free now. The king of Wei has a very close relationship with many literati. Qu Shuishui Goblet has always been an important form of his contact relationship. I think he doesn't want to waste it!"

"So that's it..." Qin Mubai shook his head and smiled, "I'm a martial artist. I have only one fate with the king of Wei. What did you invite me to do?" Isn't this just trying to embarrass me by driving ducks on the shelves?

"Third brother, do you really understand, or are you confused?" Qin Bin smiled and said, "It's clear that the king of Wei wants to cage you!"

Qin Mubai smiled and said, "Then go! Anyway, it's definitely not good for me to recite poems. Let's go and have a look. The king of Wei took the initiative to invite him to show his face. If I don't go and don't hit him in the face? It's just the second brother, I want to ask - how is your relationship with the king of Wei now?

Qin Bin smiled indifferently: "It's not that you don't know my father's teachings. Although Brother Yu has been facing the King of Wei in the places of Hongwen Museum and Wude Hall for three days, it is rare to talk about friendship. The king of Wei also seems to ignore me, a school scholar with a low official position. The main reason for inviting me this time is that I want to invite you through me? Ha ha, Brother Yu followed you.

"Haha, isn't it just eating and drinking? - Second brother, wait a minute, wait for the little brother to change his clothes and set out with you."

Soon after, the two brothers ordered their clothes, left their homes in a carriage, and went to the Wei royal palace.

Li Tai, the king of Wei, can be said to be the most favored prince by the emperor today, even far better than the crown prince Li Chengqian. Over the past few years, the emperor Li Shimin, who has always advocated frugalism, has been personally allocated funds to Li Tai to repair the mansion, and the money usually provided is almost on par with the East Palace. For this reason, many old ministers have made a lot of suggestions to persuade the emperor, but Li Shimin, who has always been humbly advised, still prefers Li Tai. In addition, Li Tai himself is indeed a little capable, and the specialty reflected in 'Wenzhi' is not comparable to that of ordinary princes. In recent years, he has compiled a large number of books with a group of officials and literati, among which the most famous is the "Zhu Di Zhi" which includes the introduction of the ten Daozhou counties of the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor's preference, Li Tai's own drilling camp, made the power gathered around him more and more huge. Nowadays, the emperor has the intention to abolish and Li Tai has the intention to compete for the crown, which is a well-known secret in the world.

On a hot day, Li Tai was also a pioneer. In fact, everyone knows that Li Tai is now busy competing for storage, which can be called 'one day's money'. Every minute and first second is very expensive. The reason why a large number of people are invited to play is just to take advantage of the opportunity to win people's hearts. In the era of the Tang Dynasty, imperial power was a tree, and the official literati were the root of the tree. With the support and support of the officials, it is undoubtedly the most powerful arm of the prince. Although Li Tai is only 20 years old, he is obviously a resourceful political course. He will not do anything meaningless when he has nothing to do.

The location of Qushuishui Goblet is in the huge and magnificent back garden of Wei Wangfu.

As soon as the Qin Mubai brothers arrived at the house by car, a doorman came to greet them. After the invitation, the door pulled his neck and shouted - "The Hundred Horses Qin Mubai and the Hongwen Museum School Calligrapher Qin Bin arrived!"

It's a bit like the second child of a wine shop.

At this time, the gate of the royal palace can be said to be full of traffic. Most of the people entering and leaving are like crucian carp crossing the river, and most of them are young people dressed as officials. The voice of the door attracted many people's sidelines and whispered comments.

"Look, those should be the two sons of Qin Shubao's family!"

"The one who is a little taller is Qin Sanlang, the general who is hot in front of the emperor, right?"

"I didn't expect that he also got together with the King of Wei! The king of Wei is so fast. It seems that his strength has greatly increased again!"

......

The door led the two of them to the back garden. Along the way, they saw a large number of young officials gathered in groups under the flower pavilion, or talking happily with laughter, or pushing cups and changing the moon. In addition to luxury, the decoration of the Wei Palace is full of literati. The stele archway can be seen everywhere, and there are many excerpts from the wonderful poems of the ancients. The scenery of the back garden is also quite ancient, which has the meaning of "Lanting" in those years.

Along the way, Qin Mubai saw no less than three or five hundred literati. To his surprise, most of these people are very young and rarely see a middle-aged person over the age of 35.

"Second brother, this king of Wei's friends is interesting, mostly young people." Qin Mubai said.

"The King of Wei has always been like this." Qin Bin whispered, "The people gathered around him are mostly the children and nephews of meritorious old ministers, or the rising stars of the new officials in the imperial examination. You should be able to think of why.

Qin Mubai frowned gently and thought about it carefully, and his heart gradually became clear.

Now there is a crown prince in the Tang Dynasty. No matter how Li Chengqian disappoints the emperor, he is still a real prince. According to the usual practice, Li Shimin must arrange many important ministers to work part-time in the East Palace to assist Prince Li Chengqian. And the courtiers are also tied to the traditional concept that the prince is the foundation of the country, and most of them are biased towards the prince. For example, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, the two most influential ministers, have always supported the prince with a clear attitude.

Due to etiquette and stereotypes, it was not easy for Li Tai, the king of Wei, to attract the current court ministers, so he had to set his goal on their descendants. The Tang Dynasty attaches great importance to the origin of the family. Maybe after waiting for more than ten or twenty years, these members of the "prince party" will completely replace those old ministers. As for those young officials and literati, not to mention, those who are new to the official career can get the acceptance and support of the famous King of Wei. How can they not be willing to repay? At that time, it will be the world of the King of Wei.

"The deep concern of the King of Wei is not far-reaching!" Qin Mubai smiled and whispered.

"The king of Wei has always been a profound wisdom." Qin Bin said decisively, "Third brother, don't underestimate him."

"I know."

The two brothers wandered around for a while after the end of the flowers. They had never met many acquaintances. After about half an hour, there was a sound: "King of Wei is here!"

Three or five hundred young people flocked to the back garden. Many people looked up and looked a little anxious, for fear that they would run slowly and not occupy a good terrain.

This flower stream is obviously artificially smashed and is specially built for entertainment. A winding stream runs through the whole back garden. There are a lot of strange pines and stones by the stream. Everyone sits on the floor with futons, with a few cups of ink in front of them, and there is no shortage of dim sums and kites.

It's really a literati event.

The chubby Li Tai had arrived, and there were too many people present. He couldn't say hello one by one. After saying the opening remarks, he asked everyone to sit down separately. The elegant music was played, and the atmosphere at the scene became relaxed, casual and elegant, and the flowing water immediately began.

Li Tai himself was not in a hurry to sit down, but walked back and forth on both sides of the Huaxi River, talking with several young people with laughter from time to time. Most of the officials who talked to him looked flattered. And most of the others cast envious eyes on them.

The Qin Mubai brothers sat in an inconspicuous small corner, looking at each other and smiling silently.

This Li Tai is very good at the heart of an official.

As if inadvertently, Li Tai walked to the Qin Mubai brothers. At first sight, Li Tai sighed in astonishment, "Ouch! Isn't this the Qin brothers? How can you sit in this last seat? The domestic slave is ignorant and ignorant!"

After saying that, Li Tai shook his fat and quickly walked to the two of them: "Forgive me, forgive me! Two brothers Qin, please follow Xiao Wang to the top seat!"

"King Wei is polite. I'm not good at poetry. I'm just watching when I come. It's not necessary, right? Qin Mubai arched his hand and replied.

"What are you talking about, Brother Mu Bai?" Li Tai narrowed his eyes with a smile, grabbed Qin Mubai's wrist with one hand and dragged him forward. "No, no, no, how can a very romantic figure like you hide at the end of the stream? Hurry up and change seats with Xiao Wang!"

There was a low boo in the audience, and hundreds of pairs of eyes fixed on Qin Mubai's body.

"It turns out that he is Qin Mubai!"