When talking about Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty, we have to mention the so-called "Leyouyuan".

Among the 108 squares in Chang'an City, Leyouyuan is located in the southeast, approximately at the position of the four squares: Xuanping, Xinchang, Shengping, and Shengdao. Xuanpingfang is located in the northwest corner of Leyouyuan.

Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty had six hills from north to south, and the terrain coincided with the six lines of the Qian hexagram in the "Book of Changes", that is, from the place of Jiuyi to the place of Jiu5. This was the ingenuity of the design and location of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. place.

Among them, the Nine-Yi Land is the Dragon Head Plain, which symbolizes the hidden dragon in the abyss. It is a royal forbidden garden where no one is allowed to live.

The land of 92 is the Daming Palace area, which symbolizes seeing a dragon in the field and is reserved for the use of the emperor;

The Jiu San area is the northwest area of ​​Xingqing Palace, which symbolizes the work of a gentleman and is planned to be a hundred official offices;

The most supreme place in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, which symbolizes the perfect location of "flying dragon in the sky", is Leyouyuan.

Mortals cannot live in it and can only be left to gods and Buddhas. In the planning of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty, there were many temples and Taoist temples here, such as Xingshan Temple, Qinglong Temple, Chongzhen Temple, etc. The residential buildings here are very narrow and are Officially restricted occupancy.

The house in front of Fang Chongyong is also very narrow and inconspicuous at all. It's just this excellent location that makes people couldn't help but applaud. Looking north from here, Chang'an Palace is right at your feet.

Bai Juyi's poem describes it as: "Thousands of houses are like a chess board, and twelve streets are like vegetable beds. From a distance, you can see the fire in the morning, and there are five stars in the west."

This is not an exaggeration or description, it is just a realistic work of standing in Xuanpingfang and looking into the distance.

"Whose house is this?"

Fang Chongyong stopped, looked at Zheng Shuqing doubtfully and asked. Having been in Chang'an for several months, he had already found out clearly that not just anyone with any status could live in Xuanpingfang.

Even though the house itself doesn't look like much.

"Master He."

Zheng Shuqing said calmly.

"He Zhizhang?"

Fang Chongyong blurted out, but was immediately interrupted by Zheng Shuqing: "He will be your teacher from now on. Do you also call your teacher by his first name?"

Zheng Shuqing couldn't help scolding him in a low voice.

"How does this work?"

Fang Chongyong exclaimed, he didn’t know how Lao Zheng did it, but asking He Zhizhang to be a teacher. How can the connections and favors needed be measured by money?

"Don't talk too much. I have the final say today. If you have any questions, we will hold them back until the apprenticeship is over."

Zheng Shuqing said solemnly, the expression on his face was unprecedentedly solemn.

Fang Chongyong could only nod silently. As the saying goes, an arrow has to be fired when it is on the string. Everyone has walked to Xuanpingfang. If he passed He Zhizhang's house without entering, what would people think if they knew about it?

Because your father is Fang Youde, is he qualified to come here to show off?

How stupid is this, offending people for no reason.

With mixed feelings, Fang Chongyong followed Zheng Shuqing into the lobby. As expected, the furnishings here are very simple, but very elegant. There are only four or five wing rooms and a courtyard, but there is also a viewing attic built inside.

Considering He Zhizhang's official position as Minister of Rites and Bachelor of Jixian Academy, it is not unusual for him to receive such treatment.

It doesn't matter how well the house is built, what matters is where it is located. Being able to settle down in Xuanpingfang has already proved his status in the court.

"We're all here, sit down, sit down."

As soon as he entered the lobby, Fang Chongyong saw He Zhizhang, who had a kind smile and a slim figure, coming to greet them without any airs.

Fang Zhongyong sat down dumbly and saluted He Zhizhang with his hands clasped together.

"This is the son of Fang Jieshuai. There is no one to teach him yet. I hope that Bachelor He can give him some advice."

Zheng Shuqing said humbly and bowed his hands.

"Okay, I'll be on duty for half a day every day and come back in the afternoon. You come to Xuanpingfang every afternoon to practice calligraphy, every day, can you do it?"

He Zhizhang looked at Fang Chongyong and asked.

"Please follow the teacher's instructions in everything."

Fang Chongyong kowtowed generously.

"Haha, let's start tomorrow. I'm going to drink today. Please come back."

He Zhizhang laughed and raised his right hand, signaling Zheng Shuqing and Fang Chongyong to leave. This was the first time Fang Chongyong had seen him drive away guests so neatly.

Zheng Shuqing was an old bureaucrat. He took out a gift list from his sleeve, handed it to He Zhizhang carefully, then stepped in and bowed to leave.

"this……"

He Zhizhang looked surprised when he saw the gift list, then nodded slightly, put it into his sleeve, and said nothing more.

In this so-called "apprenticeship ceremony", there is no gratitude, no mutual appreciation, and no humility and filial piety.

No matter how it looks, it looks like a transaction.

Returning to the Fang family house and coming to the study, Fang Chongyong waited for Zheng Shuqing to explain all this.

"I know that you are smart, far beyond ordinary people. But what you lack most now is not knowledge, but fame. If you are always under the shadow of your father's reputation, you will always be just Fang Jieshuai's son.

And having the status of Master He's apprentice will make it easier for you to get along with all kinds of people in the future and get rid of the mark of a playboy."

Zheng Shuqing said seriously.

Why was Li Linfu not accepted by the scholars? Is it just because Li Linfu wanted to dominate the court?

Not exactly.

Because before Li Linfu became a high-ranking official, the scholars did not like him. For example, Yuan Qianyao said of Li Linfu, "A good official must have good practices to be highly regarded. How can Genu be a good official?" At that time, Li Linfu was a good official.

His official position is not worth mentioning.

Li Linfu was not a member of the literary circle, so he was bound to be rejected by those people. If Fang Chongyong was He Zhizhang's apprentice, as long as he was not obviously "ignorant", he would not encounter scholars when doing things in the future.

The natural resistance of human groups.

This is an advantage, but what are the disadvantages? Zheng Shuqing didn't say it, and Fang Chongyong doesn't know either. But the only thing that is certain is that if he doesn't invite a big boss to stand up and raise a tiger flag to boost his momentum, then when Fang Chongyong turns fourteen,

When the time comes, you have to go to the Imperial College, or go to Chongwen Hall to study, and then rely on "classmate relationships" to develop connections.

This started much later.

Otherwise, he will be reduced to the same status and background as Li Linfu and others.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, feeling a little moved in his heart. Zheng Shuqing's previous gift of "twin sisters' flowers" or something like that was just an exchange of interests by treating someone from the other side as a bureaucrat of the same level.

And now that he has asked He Zhizhang to be his teacher, this is a typical example of caring and caring.

This move is indeed worthy of Fang Chongyong's continuous suggestions for Zheng Shuqing.

"Well, Bachelor He is well-known in Chang'an. How did Zheng Shilang get him to agree to teach me knowledge?"

Fang Chongyong asked doubtfully.

"I gave Bachelor He a hundred pieces of Tang brocade as a reward from the saint... eighty pieces."

Zheng Shuqing said slowly.

"Such a madman also loves money? I thought they didn't want to live in the world."

Fang Chongyong was stunned and said, somewhat incomprehensible.

He Zhizhang's life was very comfortable. He went to the Yamen in Gongcheng every day to catch fish, and came back to rest after half a day's work. He only drank and had fun. Such a free and happy life was something that people like Zheng Shuqing could not pursue.

“Drinking, helping friends, traveling around, and socializing in officialdom, none of these things require money to support them.

Nowadays, Tang brocade is in the market and is priceless. If He takes out one piece, he can drink it for a long time.

If I just deal with you every day and give you a little guidance, I can make a lot of money, so what's wrong with that?"

Zheng Shuqing explained patiently.

I have to say that these words make sense. Fang Chongyong thought about it from He Zhizhang's perspective and couldn't help but nodded slightly in agreement.

Zheng Shuqing gave too much, and the chaste and loyal girl was also turned into a pretty fangirl who opened the door to receive guests.

He Zhizhang was well-known in the court for his bad taste in wine, so much so that at the last banquet, everyone unanimously elected him as the host, just to prevent him from drinking. When he was not drinking, he was quite polite, but after drinking, he was very polite.

Someone changed.

In Du Fu's famous poem "The Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking", He Zhizhang is first mentioned: "Zhizhang rides a horse like a boat, and falls asleep under the water in a well. It means that when he was drunk, he rode forward and backward on the horse, showing his ugly appearance.

It was like sitting on a boat. He fell into a well drunkenly and slept at the bottom of the well.

This is of course an exaggeration, but it is absolutely true that He Zhizhang likes to drink and does not care about his image after drinking.

Although he was well-known in Chang'an, He Zhizhang's salary was not a mountain of gold and silver. In fact, it was quite limited, no more than 50 guan a month.

Compared with the Jiedu envoys who supervise one side in border towns and can "flexibly use" the local treasury, courtiers like He Zhizhang all receive "dead wages".

Only when Li Longji showed mercy and rewarded the courtiers would he make them more generous.

The daily expenses of these central court officials were also very large. They were "moonlight tribe" themselves and could not save much money at all. Therefore, the "windfall" provided by Zheng Shuqing was far more attractive than Fang Chongyong imagined.

In fact, He Zhizhang did not have any resistance to this transaction and readily agreed to it. At that time, he did not know that what Zheng Shuqing sent was Tang brocade, but he just felt that this batch of silk was of "high quality".

"Scholar He is just your teacher in name. He can't really teach you anything useful. It's just calligraphy, writing beautiful articles and the like."

Zheng Shuqing patiently warned Fang Chongyong, fearing that he would get carried away. In his words, he seemed to be quite disdainful of He Zhizhang's knowledge.

"Does Mr. Zheng feel that Bachelor He's knowledge is actually of no use to the imperial court?"
To be continued...