Peerless Pirates

I am also sad, I am also sighing, I am also seeking drunkenness, I am singing and laughing, and I am sailing on an endless journey.

After six days of trekking, Song Zheng and others arrived at Fengjie. Starting from Wushan City, Song Zheng, Zu Jie and others were "protected" by Shu warriors. With a team of more than 200 people, the Shu Kingdom used a thousand The strength of the men and the four large ships made Zu Jie and the Qi army very nervous. On the contrary, Song Zheng changed his dejection and became energetic.

Fengjie was known as the "Thousand-Year Poetry City" in later generations. The scenery of the Three Gorges has left countless literati and poets with many moving poems. Among them, Li Bai and Du Fu, two of the most outstanding masters, used their wanton pen and ink to depict the magnificent and picturesque mountains and rivers here. .

"The morning clouds enter the place where there is no way to go at night, and the water flowing across the sky does not even flow."

"The falling trees rustle from the endless trees, and the endless Yangtze River rolls in."

…

The heroic sentiments in the poem inspired Song Zheng to become a poet. He composed several poems himself and asked Su Chan to compose music and play and sing on the boat all night. The fine wine that had not been used was also continuously delivered to the bow of the boat. Song Zheng The wine never left his body, and he drank and sang at the same time. His boldness made the Shu army dumbfounded.

Not only the Shu army, but also Zujie was confused and couldn't figure out why Song Zheng seemed to have changed into a arrogant scribe as soon as he entered the Shu kingdom. This made him quietly ask Zhang Chong for the details, and Zhang Chong How do you know? Zu Jie could only secretly guess whether Brother Zheng was under too much pressure, which made him look like this.

Fortunately, Su Chan quite liked Song Zheng's current state. The poems he recited casually, as long as they were set to music, would be a masterpiece that would reach the sky.

Su Chan's favorite is Zhuzhi Ci, which was originally a folk song with rich charm in Kuizhou. Liu Yuxi served as the governor of Kuizhou in the Tang Dynasty. He compiled the Zhuzhi Ci and imitated some of it, which became a popular song among literati. There are many excellent works in the form of literature and art. Song Zheng was not keen on this kind of charming tone at first, but this time he became interested. The sentence "The sun rises in the east and rains in the west, the road is not clear but there is sunshine" made him and Su There is an air of ambiguity among the cicadas.

Passing through the Qutang Gorge and past Baidi City, the river becomes wider and the water calms down. Although the scenery is still beautiful, it no longer has the thrilling feeling of "flying boat over the waves".

When they were about to land, Song Zheng freshened up and changed into the official envoy uniform. Still holding the wine bottle, he stood at the bow of the ship.

At the bank of the Yangtze River under Fengjie City, a young Shu official wearing a curly headdress and a wide green robe stood at the front. This man was about 20 years old, with a broad forehead, slightly protruding cheekbones, and thin lips. And his chin with a short beard makes him look quite angular.

Song Zheng secretly thought that this person should be Xue Qimeng, the imperial examination candidate of the Shu Kingdom last year. He was notified by the Shu Kingdom in Wushan City. This time he was greeted by a well-known scholar in Shu, Xue Qimeng, a Hanlin scholar. Although Xue Qimeng was admitted last year A handsome man from Shu Kingdom, but his talent and reputation are the most famous, especially his poems.

The agency in charge of Shu's diplomacy is also called the Lifang, but it is directly under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. In order to welcome Song Zheng, Xue Qimeng was appointed as the Lifang to Shizhong, a sixth-rank official. Most of Shu's official system followed the Song system, with fifth-rank and above Officials wear red robes, and those above the seventh rank wear green robes.

Song Zheng shook his head secretly. The Shu people were too arrogant. Even if it was not grand to welcome Da Qi envoys, they should at least send an equivalent official such as a ceremonial minister. By sending Xue Qimeng, he might not be targeting Zizheng. The Shu people wanted to use his talents to suppress Song Zheng's prestige first.

Of course, the reason why the Shu Kingdom is like this is also related to the size of Da Qi's "mission". In the former Song Dynasty, the size of the envoys was generally about a hundred people, including chief envoys, deputy envoys and three sections, collectively called envoys, plus other Most of the attaches were around a hundred people. However, Da Qi did not pay attention to diplomacy, and even if it sent an envoy, the scale was not large. This time it was even more extraordinary. Song Zheng only brought Zhang Chong, a personal guard, and entered Shu alone. The people of Shu decided Thinking that Da Qi was deliberately looking down on him, he sent a person like him, who was lower in rank than Song Zheng but quite famous, implying humiliation.

If Xue Qimeng can defeat Song Zheng, the people of Shu will naturally be happy. If he cannot win, he will not lose his position. Our top pick and second place winner are both unbeaten? Song Zheng has already expected that this journey will not be peaceful.

After the boat docked, Song Zheng handed the wine bottle to Zhang Chong, then held his fist in the distance but said nothing. Xue Qimeng also returned the salute and looked Song Zheng up and down.

The two didn't speak for a long time, leaving people on both sides looking at each other. Zu Jie and Zhang Chong unconsciously pressed the handles of their knives, and the sergeant behind Xue Qimeng also became nervous. The two sides gradually became tense.

Song Zheng was not anxious at all. He looked at Xue Qimeng from head to toe with great interest, and then looked around, with the corners of his mouth turned up, as if he didn't take the other person to heart. Prince Chenghuang. He had just taken the initiative to offer Xue Qimeng his hand, and he had already He expressed his friendly intentions first. If the other party knows the right rules, he should speak first, so that he can be in harmony. Unexpectedly, the other party is eager to give me power and treats him completely as a subordinate official, which is too much.

While the two sides were stretching a cup of tea, Song Zheng simply looked up at the sky and admired the rolling clouds. Xue Qimeng's face gradually darkened. He wanted to leave the Qi envoy here. First of all, it was disrespectful of the Shu Kingdom, but he took the initiative to greet the other party. , but unwilling to do so.

Xue Qimeng was worthy of being the flower hunter of Shu, and he quickly figured out a way to deal with it. He laughed loudly and chanted, "Where can the grass carp in the pond get its golden scales?" This means that Song Zheng was originally a grass carp and a mandarin fish in the pond. How did the fish turn into golden scales that could turn into dragons?

Song Zheng smiled softly and responded quickly, "The phoenix on the branch is coming to ride the east wind!"

Xue Qimeng looked shocked. He did not expect Song Zheng to respond so quickly. However, it was impossible for Xue Qimeng to be convinced by just such a response.

"If there is no storm, it is hard for the golden scale to transform into a dragon."

"When the mist meets the clouds, the golden phoenix is ​​at its best."

"The mandarin fish enters the Ba River and lives among the rocks."

"The luan and the phoenix soar across Sichuan and travel to the top of Emei"

…

The two of them spoke very fast, and everyone was dumbfounded. Xue Qimeng spoke more than fifty sentences in a row, and sweat broke out on his forehead. Song Zheng, on the other hand, remained calm. He even had time to call Zhang Chong over, He took the jug back into his hand and took a sip, saying the same thing. Not only was he very neat, but he was also calm and measured.

Xue Qimeng was already riding a tiger and his face was getting uglier and uglier. Judging from the situation, Song Zheng was able to handle it with ease, but Xue Qimeng felt that his talents and ideas were gradually exhausted.

This was completely an encounter. Xue Qimeng had already received instructions from his superiors. The envoys should not be rude, but they should also offend the other party's face. When Song Zheng took the initiative to hand over the opponent's hand just now, Xue Qimeng was secretly proud. He did not expect that Song Zheng only saluted, not After speaking, Xue Qimeng made a temporary decision and used his own strengths to dampen Song Zheng's limelight.

What made Xue Qimeng ashamed was that his poetic talent, which he was proud of, could not match his opponent's power. How dare the little monkey dare to saw the tree in the deep mountains?"

Song Zheng was puzzled, how could Xue Qimeng come up with this famous phrase in later generations? He couldn't help but frown slightly and took a deep look at Xue Qimeng. After a slight hesitation, he resolutely said the next sentence, "A horse fell into the mud. , how dare the old beast step out."

Before Xue Qimeng fainted, Song Zheng laughed loudly and said, "Song admires Mr. He bowed deeply.

Being scolded as an "old beast", Xue Qimeng's head was covered and he almost spit out blood. Unexpectedly, Song Zheng changed his face very quickly and saved Xue Qimeng's downtrodden face and gave it to him.

Xue Qimeng didn't dare to feel any more arrogant. He immediately took a deep breath and bowed deeply to return the salute, "Master Song's talent is famous all over the world. I am very lucky to see you. Master Song, please!"

The dark clouds in the sky dispersed instantly, and the soldiers on both sides became relieved.

After Song Zheng exchanged a few words with Xue Qimeng, he called Su Chan out and introduced him to Xue Qimeng. Xue Qimeng had heard that Song Zheng was on a mission with a prostitute, and he didn't believe it at first, but when he saw Su Chan actually coming out of the cabin, he was secretly envious.

During the pre-Song Dynasty, many talented people emerged in Shu, and Sansu was even more famous all over the world. During the war in the late Song Dynasty, Shu was not affected, and the literati became more prosperous. The rich cultural atmosphere and beautiful mountains and rivers gave birth to many romances and sentiments. , a talented literati.

This caused a very strange phenomenon to occur in Shu: the etiquette here is the most ancient and well-maintained, but the literati here are proud of not following the etiquette. People like Song Zheng, who brought prostitutes as envoys, were Qi, Dajin and Xixia would be considered incredible. But in Shu, it has a romantic atmosphere that is very popular.

Xue Qimeng is a representative of this kind of literati. He is indeed the number one scholar. It is only because of his wild personality and unobstructed speech that he is ranked among the top talents.

Before Song Zheng went to Shu, he tried every means to collect a lot of information. Although it was not very detailed, he was familiar with the characteristics of Shu people. He had also heard about this Xue Qimeng. During the imperial examination, this person actually proposed to stay in the harem of Shu. Open a school to improve the knowledge and accomplishment of the concubines in the harem, and give Emperor Shu a good cultural atmosphere through his pillow companions.

What is strange is that Xue Qimeng can actually become the third flower. It would be great if Xue Qimeng was not imprisoned in Daqi, where Neo-Confucianism is prevalent. Things between the emperor and his wives, how can a small act be criticized?

The founding emperor of Shu was Lang Yucheng, who was stationed in Sichuan during the Song Dynasty. After Lang Yucheng's death, his son Lang Yu only served as Emperor of Shu for two years before he died of illness. Lang Dekun came to the throne, the previous generation of Emperor Lang Dekun. He had no children, so he adopted his younger brother's son Lang Zhengchun. The current Shu Emperor Lang Zhengchun is 48 years old and has five sons and three daughters. The eldest son Lang Bochuan is the crown prince, and the second son Lang Boyan is the fiefdom of Kuizhou and concurrently serves as the magistrate of Kuizhou, commanding military affairs.

Lang Bochuan's generation was all well-educated. Lang Bochuan, in particular, was known as the "No. 1 Prince". During the imperial examination a few years ago, Lang Bochuan secretly inquired about the examination questions, and then made an answer sheet based on the imperial examination questions. Then, he He recommended him under a pseudonym to the examiner at the time. The examiner was shocked and thought he was the top scholar, so he reported it to Lang Zhengchun. Emperor Shu asked the prince to recommend this talent, and after asking around, he found out that Lang Bochuan had answered the question himself.

After this incident, the name of "the number one prince" spread throughout Shu.

Unlike his elder brother, Lang Boyan was the only prince among the brothers who specialized in martial arts. Seven years ago, Da Qi invaded Shu and suffered a disastrous defeat. Rumor has it that the commander behind the scenes was Lang Boyan, who was only 21 years old at the time.

Lang Zhengchun was very satisfied with his two sons, Lang Bochuan and Lang Boyan, and often boasted that "I have two thousand-mile horses in my family."

When Song Zheng arrived in Fengjie City, the first person he wanted to visit was the second prince Lang Boyan.