Du Zhongxiao smiled bitterly: "The officials came at the right time. Early this morning, someone bought spirits from the Wu family's restaurant, and they made it clear that they had stolen the method of making liquor from my house. How can the affairs of the world be cut off by a word from the government? ”

Mei Yaochen has just stepped down from his post as the magistrate of Xiangcheng County, and he is no stranger to what Du Zhongxiao said. However, Xiangcheng is a mountainous area, much poorer and more desolate than Linying, and there are not many merchants in the county, let alone a big family like the Wu family. In the past two years, Mei Yaochen has mostly been in Xiangcheng for disaster relief, and he has cleaned up a lot of the people who hoard Juqi, but he didn't expect this kind of thing to happen here.

Looking at the sky, Mei Yaochen said: "Little friend, with all due respect, your way of dealing with this matter is wrong. Ling Zun is a township tribute jinshi in Benzhou, and you are also a scholar, so you have to go to the government for help from the beginning. According to what you said, the Wu family is rich and powerful, and you are desperately trying to do business with them, isn't it attacking the enemy's strengths with your own shortcomings? You make wine from sake lees, and then buy porridge and give alms, and you are doing good deeds, which is exactly what the officials should advise. If this kind of government doesn't help it, can it allow the powerful people to do whatever they want? It's not early now, you have a table here, please come to Fan Zhixian from this county, and I will talk to him. There is an official government coming forward, I don't know how much hard work you have. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head when he heard this: "The officials don't know, the Wu family also has strong relatives. He has a cousin in Changshe County, and he is the same year as Su Tongju in Benzhou, so it is not good to force it too hard. Because of this, I don't want to be too embarrassed to know the county officials. Besides, they are all ordinary people, each with their own ability to find some food and clothing to live, how can they come to the enemy and me. ”

Mei Yaochen said with a smile: "In life, who doesn't have some relatives and friends? Although relatives, it's just enough to help once or twice, the Wu family has been doing so nonsense, has the He family always helped him? Dr. Ho, I also know that he is definitely not like that. You can rest assured, stealing your family's recipe for making wine is the Wu family's mistake, and the county will not sit idly by. As for what you said about doing business with peace of mind, haven't you heard of no business and no treachery? There aren't many honest people like you. You opened a restaurant here, making it difficult for the Wu family to do business, don't they regard you as an enemy? ”

Speaking of which, Du Zhongxiao didn't know how to do it. At the moment, he ordered the little servant to prepare a table of good dishes, and took Mei Yaochen's name to invite Fan Town, Zhixian County. Mei Yaochen went to Xuzhou to visit relatives, and lived in a post house outside Linying City, and was scheduled to visit Fan Town at the county government in the afternoon. Now that there is a matter of the Wu family's method of stealing wine lees to make wine, they invited the magistrate over by the way. This is a gathering of literati, and the affairs of the Wu family are incidental.

Mei Yaochen is the nephew of the governor of Benzhou, and no one will say anything if his identity is there.

found a quiet small pavilion, set a table of good dishes, Du Zhongxiao and Mei Yaochen waited for the arrival of Fan Town.

It was almost noon, Fan Zhen changed into civilian clothes, took two dukes, and came to the "Drunken Immortal Residence". He and Mei Yaochen are old acquaintances, and when they were studying in the Beijing Pavilion, the two often sang poems and answers. I haven't seen him for a few years, and he is naturally very affectionate.

Let the two of them into the pavilion, Du Zhongxiao arched his hand and said: "The small place is shabby, the two officials have arrived, and they are shining." There are no good dishes in this season, so I have to prepare some fish and meat, and put some melons and fruits, which is simple and strange. ”

Fan Zhen said: "I am the lord of a county, and it is inevitable that people will gossip when I go to the homes of the people under my rule to drink." I let you open this restaurant, and I have been collecting sake lees to make wine, buying rice and porridge, and I am very well-behaved. A few days ago, I heard that the county calls your father and son good people, and they are very popular. Today, Sheng Yu came from afar to visit relatives, borrow your place to meet friends, and by the way, also see how your restaurant is doing. ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly thanked him: "Xiaomin is very grateful when he learns that the county officials have been gracious, they have escaped from prison, and they have run such a restaurant. I also thought of thanking the county government, but the officials were busy with political affairs and never saw it. ”

Fan Zhen said with a smile: "I am an official, you are a people, so naturally you have to avoid some suspicions and avoid gossip." As long as you are at ease and obey the law, why should you see each other? ”

Mei Yaochen saw the two of them talking endlessly, and said: "I haven't seen Jingren for several years, and I am about to tell about my parting, why do you keep talking here." It was cold outside, so we sat down and warmed up with a glass of wine. ”

The three of them sat down, and Mei Yaochen said again: "I heard that the wine made from sake lees in this restaurant is very powerful, so let's try it today." ”

Fan Zhen shook his head: "The wine here has strength and strength, but the mouth is spicy, but I am a little unaccustomed to drinking it." ”

Hearing this, Du Zhongxiao hurriedly said: "Spirits are different from water wine, as long as they are tightly sealed, they are not afraid of rancidity." And after a long time, the old wine is not as difficult to eat as new wine, and it is much softer. I started making sake a few months ago, and over time, I also have a few bottles of aged sake here. It's rare for two officials to come today, so how about a taste? This kind of wine, out of here, can no longer be drunk. ”

Most of the scholars in this era are good at wine, and after hearing this, Mei Yaochen applauded again and again, and asked Du Zhongxiao to get it quickly.

The old wine was specially put away, Du Zhongxiao got up, went to get it himself, and confessed to Fan Zhen and Mei Yaochen.

Du Zhongxiao went out, and Mei Yaochen said to Fan Zhen: "This Du Xiaoguan is extremely humble in his speech, but he writes well. A few days ago, an autumn fu made many friends in the literary world admire, has Jingren seen it? ”

Fan Zhen said: "I've seen it." It's a bit old-fashioned, and it's not like a young man at all. ”

After many years of studying in the pavilion, Fan Zhen was extremely familiar with the older generation of literati, proficient in contemporary literature, and disagreed with the ancient texts advocated by Ouyang Xiu and other young Zhuang literati. This is the difference between genres, what Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen like, he doesn't like.

Mei Yaochen sighed: "Speaking of the article being old-fashioned, I also feel the same when I read it. If I hadn't really met this person, I would have thought it was written by a dozens of years old Luotuo scholars. Experienced in the world, but also have an open-minded bearing, maybe familiar with Buddhist scriptures. It's just that a few years ago in the capital, I met his father Du Xun, who was in the first place in the provincial test together, and the two of them got drunk. I talked to Du Xun and knew that this person would never be able to write this kind of article, otherwise I would have thought that his father would catch the knife and fight for his son. ”

Fan Zhen nodded again and again: "That text does not match his age of less than twenty years old, I don't know what happened at that time." Sheng Yu, as we scholars know, sometimes the composition is not clear if there is divine help. After a while, I can't write the same essay myself. This is the case with the autumn fu made by this Du Xiaoguan, the article is old-fashioned, the grammar is mature, and it is not like a teenage young scholar. It seems to me that writing this kind of essay is not beneficial to him at all. If you are praised a lot and indulge in this, I am afraid that you will cut off the road to progress in the future. ”

Regarding Fan Zhen's words, Mei Yaochen disagreed. He chooses his own words and sentences, so he seeks curiosity from the ancients, and this is the kind of article he likes. However, due to the characteristics of the times, Mei Yaochen's style of writing is too weird, as evidenced by the fact that he has failed many imperial examinations. On the contrary, Fan Zhen represents the pulse of the times, and according to the initial ranking, he is the champion of this year. As for the afterlife, that's another matter. Ouyang Xiu, the original author of "Qiu Shengfu", is the same, he was the first to learn Han Yu's ancient texts, and he fell into high school twice after changing to hard work. is based on the same article, in the eyes of Mei Yaochen, and in the eyes of Fan Zhen, the evaluation is different. Fan Zhen has also read the article, but he doesn't even have the idea of praising Du Zhongxiao.

Mei Yaochen smiled: "What Jingren said makes sense. However, it was only after meeting Du Xiaoguan and talking with him that I understood why he wrote that kind of text. He was born in a poor family in the countryside, and he ran around for food and clothing all day long, so his mentality was naturally different. Let's just say that this restaurant has just improved a little, and there are powerful people who come to steal his recipe for making wine, who would have thought? After these things, people will inevitably become old-fashioned. ”