I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 292 The World Has Not Changed
The sedan chair was carried straight to the sedan chair hall of Zuifeng Tower. Everyone got out of the sedan chair, stopped, and looked up at this large restaurant, one of the most famous in the capital.

There is a main building and two auxiliary buildings on the left and right, connected by a cantilevered corridor in the middle.

The main building is six stories high. It is said that the main body is built with reinforced concrete, and a wooden shell is built around it. The red roofs, green tiles, painted beams and carved pillars are magnificent.

At night, the lights and the night life are even more magnificent.

When I walked in, the front hall was very empty.

The roof goes straight up to the sixth floor. Looking up, one can see rows of corridor railings, window lattices, door openings, pearl curtains and beautiful windows. It is a gorgeous scene that is like a different world.

A waiter came forward to greet them, but saw Wang Shizhen in the front but did not say hello. Instead, he walked around and went straight to Wan Quan and Li Shizhen.

"Dr. Wan, Medicine King Li, you two are here!"

The sound of surprise and joy rose several octaves, like a steel string thrown straight into the clouds.

"Shopkeeper, the Godly Doctor Li Yaowang, has brought four guests with him!"

The crisp sound swept into the hall like a breeze.

As the six people walked to the door of the hall, they saw that the space inside was twice the size of the front hall, with a height of more than twenty feet, and the beams were hung with red and green ribbons.

Before I could take a closer look, the shopkeeper came out with a big smile on his face, bowed and said, "Mr. Wang, Dr. Wan, King Li, and these three distinguished guests, it is a great honor for us to have you here!"

He was the shopkeeper, but only the fourth shopkeeper, roughly equivalent to a lobby manager. He was very smart in welcoming and seeing off guests, and he understood the ways of the world better than the previous clerk, so he put Wang Shizhen's title in front.

He holds an official position, including Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites. According to the latest official system, he is a third-rank official.

"Boss, I have booked a private room." Wan Quan bowed.

"Doctor Wan, don't worry, the private room is ready for you. Five-story Tianxuan Treasure Pavilion, six of you, please come this way!" The shopkeeper invited the six people to the stairs and handed them over to another older waiter.

"I'm sorry, everyone. There are so many guests today and I'm sorry for the poor hospitality. I have two regular customers I need to greet. If you need anything, just say hello to Jia San."

Jia San stepped forward and said with a smile on his face, "Six gentlemen, please go upstairs."

We walked to the second floor, which was also a hall, with 20 or 30 tables, all filled with people. There were all kinds of delicacies and different kinds of wine on the table, and the people at the table were drunk and talking big.

Several acquaintances greeted them.

"Hello, Master Wang!"

"Doctor Wan, my father is ill. Can we go to the Medical Saint Hall tomorrow and ask you to take his pulse?"

"Just go."

"Thank you, Doctor Wan Shen."

"Li Yaowang, the Liuwei Dihuang Pills in the pharmacy are sold out. Can you spare me two bottles?"

"Medicine is three-quarters poison. Medicine is for curing diseases, not for eating."

"Hehe, I'm weak and need to replenish my body."

The third floor is full of private rooms, each of which is very small and cannot be considered a private room.

The fourth floor and above are all private rooms, and the surrounding windows are all made of glass, which is spacious and bright.

I also met many acquaintances here.

"Brother Fengzhou, oh, Mr. Dongbi, Mr. Mizhai, it turns out that it was Brother Fengzhou who set up the game and invited the two of you."

"Ah, three friends are here to welcome them."

Occasionally, one or two people recognized Wang Daokun and said, "Ah, isn't this Brother Boyu? You're back in Beijing! Good news, good news! Which private room are you in? Come over and have a drink with me later."

Going up to the fifth floor and walking along the corridor, I heard the sound of singing coming from the private room.

"The study hall hides the Confucian scholars, and the court and the country open up the way for the wise. I am glad that the imperial examinations will be held next spring. Don't waste your time in front of the window, and read the brief articles under the lamp."

First, a beautiful female voice sang, and then a male chorus sang at this point: "If the time is not right, I will hide it in a box. When the time comes, I will ask for a price and wait for it to be sold."

"Good!" There was a round of applause. Wang Daokun nodded, "Well, this is a passage from The Story of the Thorny Hairpin, and it's sung quite well."

From another private room came the sound of singing: "Thinking of him, her eyebrows are lightly drawn, her face is lightly made up, her neck is rubbed with powder and fragrance. Her green skirt is embroidered with small golden lotus, and her red sleeves are embroidered with long jade bamboo shoots."

The six people looked at each other. This was "Romance of the West Chamber", which was an obscene and erotic song in the eyes of some moralists.

"Well, what are you guys doing? People outside are advocating for the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition, what are you doing here, singing erotic songs! What nonsense! Hehe, singing erotic songs, come, come, Xi Sanniang, let's drink a cup of wine and then sing another erotic song.

I want to sing erotic songs, and I want to conquer the world of romance!"

"Well, Chen Sanxing, you have great manners and spirit! Let those warriors and soldiers deal with the dirty things like fighting. We just sing our songs and drink our wine. Being romantic, unrestrained and carefree is what we scholars should do."

"Yes, scholars should do what scholars do. The streets are making a commotion. A bunch of poor scholars from the Taichang Temple are running around the streets like stray dogs without food. What kind of propaganda are they doing? It's a disgrace to civility, a disgrace to civility!"

"A bunch of losers who couldn't pass the entrance exams and enter the Imperial College can only make a living by singing songs and telling stories on the streets!"

"That's right. Who told them that they couldn't even understand the books of the sages, had no chance of passing the imperial examinations, and had no hope of a career in government? Let alone them. Mentioning them is an insult to us, the scholars of Hua Han!
Drink, drink! "

"Yes, drink."

Wang Shizhen shook his head, glanced at Wang Daokun, who had a complicated expression, and forced a smile, saying, "A bunch of ignorant children from the Imperial College, who have no knowledge and are very self-righteous. Brother Boyu, you don't have to pay attention to them."

Jia San hurriedly said in front: "Six masters, we will arrive just around the corner."

Before he turned the corner, a fierce roar came from the private room next to him: "The imperial court is so aggressive and aggressive, the treasury will be empty and the people will suffer!"

Another high-pitched voice echoed: "Now the military is monopolizing power. If this continues, the country will no longer be a country. We are well-read in the books of sages and have ambitions to rule the world. Are we going to sit here and wait for death?"

Another male voice shouted, "The biggest traitor in the world is Hu Zongxian! He first attached himself to the traitor Yan Song, and then took advantage of the young prince to usurp power and act against the will of the state! Now he has left the capital and headed for Lingnan. It is time for us righteous people to clear up the chaos in the court!

We will go to the Meridian Gate to knock on the sky, and we will go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to weep for our ancestors!"

Wang Daokun was shocked. If these people really made a fuss like this, it would be like poking a big hole in the sky.

Seeing that he was about to knock on the door of the private room to find out what was going on, Wang Shizhen hurriedly stepped forward to grab him, and hurriedly pulled him into the private room of Xuanbao Pavilion.

After closing the door, Wang Shizhen said, "Brother Boyu, they are a group of drunken, ignorant juniors. Most of them are Jinshi who were admitted in the 45th year of Jiajing and this year. They have found a way to stay in Beijing and become officials. They are thinking of seeking a bright future.

Some time ago, the Censorate rectified administration and corrected discipline, and these people were punished.

Later, the Guanglu Temple and the Ministry of Personnel carried out a central restructuring. Because these people were punished, they were sent to work in local prefectures and counties, but they refused to go. While trying to find a way to get in, they drank and talked nonsense here to vent their anger.

Don't bother with them. The Ministry of Personnel has issued an order that you must leave Beijing to take up your post before the 15th of next month. Anyone who disobeys the order will be stripped of their post and sent back to their hometown. I will leave when the time comes."

Tu Long asked curiously, "Just now they said they were going to the Heaven Palace to make direct appeals."

Wang Shizhen said disdainfully: "When they were drunk, they dared to punch even the Lingxiao Palace. When they were sober, they didn't even dare to look directly at the Xi'an Gate of the Western Garden. They must have the guts to knock on the sky and make direct appeals! Don't bother with them!"

Wang Daokun sighed, "I just got off the boat and saw a surprising and delightful scene at Chaoyang Gate. After entering East City, what I saw and heard made me think that the world has changed.

After entering Zuifeng Tower and seeing the drunken life and the crazy talk of the scholars and officials, I finally understood that the world has changed, but it has not completely changed. "

Wang Shizhen shook his head and replied, "Brother Boyu, the world is not so easy to change. In my opinion, it is a good thing if it can change."

Wang Daokun's eyes lit up, "Brother Fengzhou has become the prince's tutor, and his knowledge has greatly improved."

Wang Shizhen wanted to smile bitterly, but he didn't dare to. He could only say awkwardly, "Being the Crown Prince's tutor is not an easy job. Don't mention it too much."

Wang Daokun glanced at him and asked, "Hu Ruzhen left Beijing?"

"I left the capital six days ago. I boarded a large ship in Dagu four days ago and set sail southward. I said I would meet up with the Xuanwu Navy at Weihai Port. Then the Xuanwu Navy would be renamed the Suzaku Navy, and the Nanhai Jinghai Navy, which was reorganized from the naval camps, would go south together."

"Four days ago, we went from Dagu to Weihai? It turns out that the fleet we encountered on the sea of ​​Dengzhou must be Hu Ruzhen's.

The old friends I met in the southeast to suppress the Japanese pirates, Hu Ruzhen went south, Qi Yuanjing went north, and Wang Zijian stayed in Huai'an. We are all drifting with the tide of the secular world, and it is difficult to see each other again. "

Wang Shizhen smiled and said, "Bo Yu will stay in the capital and wait for them to return triumphantly. Then we can meet again, right?"

(End of this chapter)