Song Qingshu had an idea in his mind, he laughed lightly and said, "What relationship can this person have with me? It's just that when I heard his surname is Wu, I could not help but think of that Ping Xi Wang who rebelled at Shanhai Pass, he really gave our two countries a headache."
Mentioning this matter, Songgotu also had a distressed expression on his face, "Isn't that so? In order to pacify the rebellion of the three border defenses, we spent countless money and rations, mobilized several hundred thousand troops, only then did we have no choice but to stop the war with the Golden Snake Camp. Moreover, Li Kexiu … cough, cough …"
Speaking to this point, he immediately realized that he had made a slip of the tongue, so he casually laughed it off.
The Yangzhou officials below did not dare to continue this conversation, one after another they looked at their ears, their noses, their noses, and their hearts.
Wu Zhirong hastily tried to clear his name, "Two daren, please understand, although my surname is also Wu, I do not have the slightest relationship with that traitor Wu Sangui."
Song Qingshu said with a smile that was not a smile, "Is that so? But I heard that Wu Sangui is from Yangzhou's Gaoyou, he is from the same hometown as Magistrate Wu."
"No, no, absolutely not," Wu Zhirong shook his head like a rattle drum, "Although lowly officer holds the position of Yangzhou's magistrate, I am not a native of Yangzhou, this matter is recorded by the Ministry of Appointments."
"Looks like I wrongly accused Magistrate Daren." Song Qingshu noncommittally drank his tea, letting him continue to kneel there.
"Lowly officer does not dare." Wu Zhirong was drenched in cold sweat, he did not know how he had offended this Jin person, that he was always targeting him.
It was Songgotu who came out to smooth things over, "Since it is a misunderstanding, then Magistrate Wu, please get up, we are still waiting to see what program you have prepared today."
"Yes, yes, yes, please come this way, two daren." Wu Zhirong scrambled to his feet, he bowed his head and bowed his waist as he led the way in front.
The group of people arrived at Chanzhi Temple in a grandiose manner. As soon as they got off the sedan chair, they saw a large expanse of brilliant Chinese peonies outside the temple. The sunlight shone on the several thousand Chinese peonies, they were resplendent and magnificent, just like a tapestry.
"It is indeed worthy of being called Yangzhou's scenery." Songgotu could not help but exclaim.
Wu Zhirong was pleased with himself, his previously panicked heart finally calmed down a bit. He had always been good at monopolizing things, and as early as a few days ago, he had already built a flower shed by the bank of the Chinese peony garden. He had ordered skilled craftsmen to build the shed with pine trees that had not been peeled, the branches and leaves of the trees were still the same as before. The tables and chairs inside the shed were made of natural tree stones, the shed was filled with flowers, trees and green grass, and then he used bamboo joints to draw water to circulate around the shed, making a gurgling sound. It was indeed a very ingenious idea. During the banquet, it was as if one was in the wilderness, compared to the carved beams and jade inlaid halls of the rich and powerful families, it had a different flavor.
In his opinion, the two of them were in high positions and had seen all kinds of magnificent things. Perhaps they were already tired of it. His ingenuity would definitely win the favor of the two of them.
"Shu" from him that the two, "He Qing Shu", "Temple", "Song", and "I", "It" is "," "" "" I "Wu" "," Wu " "Ah, that's right," Wu Zhirong said, "It must be the monks of the temple who came here to perform religious rites, so that they can set fire to the fire, so that they can give food to the hungry ghosts."
Wu Zhirong's painstaking effort was completely wasted, he could not help but feeling very embarrassed. It was unclear if he did not have half a graceful bone in his body, or if he was being sarcastic. He had no choice but to laugh along and said, "Lowly officer's knowledge is shallow, the arrangement here is not in line with Daren's intention, I deserve to die."
On the side, Songgotu also frowned; he did not expect this newly sworn brother of his was unexpectedly a boorish man; he did not know how he became the number one man in the Jin country.
However, compared to elegance and whatnot, naturally profit was more important. Although he rather liked Wu Zhirong's arrangement, his mouth still agreed with Song Qingshu, making Wu Zhirong's heart and liver tremble, he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Song Qingshu saw the guests were already standing respectfully, he knew that he was not their direct superior after all, if he continued to act like this, it would be hard to avoid everybody's face being embarrassed; thereupon he greeted them and took his seat. The governor-general of Liangjiang had already returned to his office the day before, the inspector-general and administrative secretary were still in Yangzhou, accompanying the imperial envoys of the two countries. The rest of the guests were either famous scholars, or salt merchants with great scholarly honor.
Yangzhou's banquet was extremely exquisite and rich, just the tea and fruits before the banquet alone had several dozen kinds. Although Song Qingshu came from the later generation, he was experienced and knowledgeable, yet he could not know everything.
After drinking tea for a while, Song Qingshu was inattentively responding to the guests. Everybody could see that he was not in a good mood, plus with Wu Zhirong's example, nobody dared to provoke him; everybody fawned on Songgotu. Songgotu was a smooth and slick person, with just a few casual words he was able to make the officials feel as if they were bathing in the spring breeze, they were unable to contain their joy.
Song Qingshu was pondering over the matter of the Song Dynasty's envoy, he was worried about how to seize the opportunity to investigate the Temple, when suddenly he heard a certain official bragging about all kinds of good things about Yangzhou. He could not help but having an idea, he suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Everything about Yangzhou is good, but the monks are not good."
Everybody at the banquet looked at each other in dismay, they did not know what he meant by this sudden remark. The administrative secretary Mu Tianyan was an astute and knowledgeable man, he continued, "Marshal Daren is right, Yangzhou's monks are snobbish, they fawn on the government, they bully the poor, since ancient times."
This time it was Song Qingshu's turn to be startled. Originally he was deliberately looking for trouble, but listening to the other party's words, it seemed there was an allusion. Thereupon he followed along and asked, "That's right, Mu Daren is a human, you know what is written in the book."
Mu Tianyan said, "The story of the Tang Dynasty's Wang Bo Bi Sarong, didn't it happen in Yangzhou?"
Song Qingshu's face darkened, he had never heard the story the other party was talking about. Fortunately he was playing the role of a boorish Jin man, he did not mind carrying the reputation of being ignorant and incompetent. Thereupon he laughed and asked, "What story about the Yellow Cloth Bi Sha Long?"
Hearing Wei Xiaobao's vulgar words, Songgotu almost choked on the mouthful of tea in his throat. As long as it was a human, there was not a single person who did not know this story. However, he was worried that the other party would lose face, hence he did not show it, he pretended that it was the first time he heard it.
"Reporting to Daren," Mu Tianyan said, "It was Wang Bo, not Yellow Cloth. The story happened in Yangzhou's Chanzhi Temple. During the first year of the Tang Dynasty, this Chanzhi Temple was still called Mulan Courtyard. When the poet Wang Bo was young, his family was poor, he lived in Mulan Courtyard. When the monks in the temple ate, they rang the bell as a signal. When Wang Bo heard the bell, he also went to the dining hall to eat. The monks hated him, one time they all ate first, and then after the meal they rang the bell. When Wang Bo heard the bell, he went into the dining hall. He saw the monks had already dispersed, the food had already been eaten clean.
At first Song Qingshu was just asking casually, but hearing this, he was filled with righteous indignation. Slapping the table, he angrily said, "Damn it, the monks are detestable."
"That's right," Songgotu echoed, "How much does one meal cost? These monks are indeed detestable. “
Seeing the two imperial envoys' interest was aroused, Mu Tianyan was greatly delighted; he continued, "At that time Wang Bo was ashamed, he wrote a poem on the wall: 'Everything has been settled in the upper hall, I am ashamed to return to Li after the meal'."
"Return to Li?" Song Qingshu was startled.
The officials had been with him for a while now, they knew that this imperial envoy from the Jin Kingdom was not a human at all, it could even be said that he was ignorant and incompetent. Therefore, Mu Tianyan very considerately explained, "Return to Li means a monk."
Song Qingshu swept his gaze over everybody's expression, he could guess their thoughts pretty well; he could not help but snickering inwardly, "This time you have wrongly accused Tang Kuo. Not to mention him, even I did not know."
"And then?" Song Qingshu hastily asked.
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