Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 491 Reunion with the Poet Saint

"Du Er, what are you doing here?"

Since their first meeting and subsequent parting in Luoyang in the fourteenth year of the Kaiyuan era, Zhang Dai had not seen Du Fu for several years. Today, he was quite excited to suddenly encounter him at the Taichang Temple office. He hurriedly stepped forward and asked in surprise.

After several years apart, Du Fu had grown much taller and thinner than before, his eyes filled with the joy of reunion. He bowed deeply to Zhang Dai before speaking, saying, "After leaving Luoyang last year, I traveled with my father between the Yellow River and the Huai River. This year, my father went to the capital to participate in the selection of officials, and I accompanied him!"

After an official's term of office expired, he would enter a period of rest, during which he would no longer hold an official position and could leisurely manage his family affairs. For example, Ma Lizheng, whose term of office had recently expired, was hired by Zhang Dai as the chief editor of a printing press because of financial difficulties.

As for Du Fu's father, Du Xian, he must have been quite wealthy, as he traveled with his son during his term of office and did not have to worry about making a living.

Of course, the so-called travel is not just about sightseeing; it also includes the purpose of visiting relatives and friends and deepening friendships.

The Du family of Jingzhao was a prominent clan in the time, and Du Fu's grandfather, Du Shenyan, was one of the Four Friends of Literature, renowned throughout the land. Although he had passed away, he still had many relatives and friends scattered throughout the country.

Last year, Zhang Dai and Du Fu left Luoyang one after the other and traveled east. When they arrived in Zhengzhou, they met Cui Shang, the governor of Zhengzhou, who mentioned that Du Fu had visited him with his father.

During his travels, Du Fu must have gotten to know many people of his time, but judging from their career development in history, these connections did not seem to play a significant role.

Du Fu, of course, had no idea what would happen to him afterward. He looked at Zhang Dai with a mixture of excitement and envy, and said with a touch of shyness, "I left the capital too quickly back then and missed many of Liu Lang's glorious deeds, but whenever I heard about them on the road, I felt honored to be a part of them!"

"This trip back to the capital, besides accompanying my father in his selection of officials, also harbors a secret ambition: to emulate him and attempt the imperial examinations this autumn at the Jingzhao Prefecture, hoping to take the exams next year. Sixth Brother, please don't laugh at my arrogance!"

"Are you going to participate in this year's imperial examination?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter, patting Du Fu on the shoulder and saying, "How could that be! Du Er, your talent is remarkable. In previous years you were just wandering around in the countryside, but now you want to take the imperial examination and serve the country. This is a great thing! Have you prepared your documents? Should I introduce you to the various scholars of the time?"

Du Fu's talent goes without saying; he is the only one in the long history to be called the Sage of Poetry. The imperial examinations emphasized poetry and prose, so by that standard, it was only a matter of time before Du Fu passed the examinations.

However, Zhang Dai had personally experienced the imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty and knew that besides testing talent, various external factors were crucial. Similarly, Du Fu's failure in the imperial examinations was not due to a lack of talent, but rather to a mismatch of external factors.

Zhang Dai became famous for stealing Du Fu's poems, and he did it more than once. He always felt a bit guilty and wanted to make amends. When he learned that Du Fu was preparing to take the imperial examination this year, he naturally wanted to help him.

As for whether this will drastically alter Du Fu's life trajectory, causing the premature death of this great poet in literary history, there's no need to consider that too much. Zhang Dai has been in this world for so long and accomplished so much; whether the An Lushan Rebellion will even happen again is still uncertain. Du Fu will most likely not experience the same painful trials and tribulations as in his previous life, so this one change won't make a difference.

If Du Fu were to fail to write those poems of extremely high artistic achievement in the future, causing a major loss to literary history, Zhang Dai could simply write them for him, have them printed and disseminated under the pseudonym of his own studio.

In short, as long as Du Fu was content to follow Zhang Dai in this world, Zhang Dai would not let him suffer any more hardship!

"Sixth Brother, you are already a highly respected young and talented official in the court. I am deeply grateful that you still remember me, Du Er, whom you met by chance. How could I dare to bother you any further! Now I only wish to make a name for myself in the imperial examinations, and then follow you to serve in the court, correct wrongs, and criticize the abuses of the time!"

Du Fu was somewhat flattered when he heard Zhang Dai say this, but he quickly waved his hand and said no.

Zhang Dai knew that from Du Fu's perspective, their friendship was not yet deep enough, so he was embarrassed to bother him too often. Moreover, the young poet saint probably had some youthful arrogance and was unwilling to lose too much to his peers. He also wanted to make a name for himself through his own efforts.

So he didn't say anything more about the matter, but instead smiled and said to Du Fu, "It's good that you have your own plans. Now that you've come to the capital, you can meet up from time to time. If you have anything to say, just come to my house and tell me. Wang Ziyu, the scholar, is now serving as a judge in the Censorate. I'll invite you to a gathering later."

Du Fu was very excited to see Zhang Dai's warm hospitality and nodded repeatedly in agreement. Then he suddenly remembered that he had companions with him, so he quickly looked back and waved, shouting loudly, "Wei Lang, come quickly, I will introduce you to the esteemed scholars in the court!"

Another young man of similar age stepped out of the crowd at Du Fu's call, approached Zhang Dai, and bowed, saying, "I am Wei Zhijin, a native of Weiqu in the south of the city. I have long heard of your reputation for integrity and uprightness, and I am honored to meet you today!"

The proverb "The Wei and Du families of Jingzhao are only a foot and a half apart from the heavens" is used to praise the two powerful families of Jingzhao, Wei and Du. Du Fu was also proud of his family's status and preferred to befriend members of the Jingzhao Wei family as family friends.

Wei Zhijin was also a very important friend in Du Fu's life. The two knew each other in their youth, and Du Fu went to visit him in his later years. However, Wei Zhijin suddenly fell ill and died, plunging Du Fu into poverty and a life of wandering. He died a little over a year later on his way north to Yueyang. Regardless of their future, the two were still young at the time. Du Fu introduced him, saying, "I met Wei Lang in Puzhou and we traveled west together to the capital. Wei Lang is also quite skilled in poetry and prose. When will you have time, Liu Lang, to test him a little?"

"No need for such formalities, Mr. Wei."

Seeing the interactions between people described in ancient poems appear before him, Zhang Dai was quite moved. He first greeted them with a smile, and then asked, "What brings you two to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices? I am still serving here and can offer you some assistance."

"We were recruited by the Henan Prefecture and are traveling to the capital with the selected actors from Henan Prefecture. Along the way, we compose lyrics for songs to prepare for the supervision of the performances, which is why we are traveling together here!"

Du Fu replied, not without a hint of pride.

Zhang Dai chuckled upon hearing this and immediately said with a smile, "In that case, I must hear how well the actors you teach sing!"

In addition to the musicians gathered by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, each prefecture would also select a group of performers to go to the capital for training every year. The first purpose was to enrich the performing personnel of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the second was for the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to teach these performers various songs, dances and musical programs, thereby achieving the purpose of ritual and music education.

For example, during this year's birthday celebrations, various states sent these entertainers to perform. Soon after, these people would return to their respective states and report back to the counties and cities the solemnity and grandeur of the celebrations, as well as the various birthday celebration programs, so that the people of the counties and cities could also celebrate together.

In Luoyang, the eastern capital, more than 1,300 male and female entertainers were directly selected. Although the number in other prefectures was not as high, the total number was still quite considerable.

When Zhang Dai saw that the Taichang Temple was packed with actors, he understood why Vice Minister Wei Tao had been looking so worried and searching for help everywhere that morning—he was truly overwhelmed!

Song Zhuo, also a music official, was busy compiling statistics on the actors who had come to the office. The actors sent from various prefectures had to be registered one by one before they could be accepted. When they were to be repatriated, the list would be checked against the list.

These are the most vulnerable points to error. Firstly, actors from other provinces might become enamored with the prosperity of the capital and escape, remaining there instead. Secondly, the officials in charge might become captivated by the actors' beauty and talent, thus protecting and concealing them. If there are too many vacancies, things will naturally become unacceptable.

Zhang Dai had originally said he would check on the work of Du Fu and his colleagues, but after arriving at the office, he could only help with the statistics and acceptance of the actors from various prefectures. He was busy from afternoon until nightfall before he finally finished counting the thousands of actors and temporarily settled them in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Fortunately, it is only early autumn in July, and the weather has not yet turned completely cold. Providing some felt tents and bedding is enough to temporarily settle these people in, so there is no need to prepare better accommodations.

After a thorough review, it was found that there were still several dozen fewer performers than those on the roster. The list mainly consisted of young women and young men, so there must have been a mistake somewhere. The heads of the music and entertainment departments and the relevant authorities would handle the matter and investigate. Zhang Dai and his team could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Du Fu and the others also helped with the statistics. After a flurry of activity, they were all sweating profusely. Once they were done, they followed Zhang Dai back to the office of the music director to rest.

When the group arrived, Zhao Ling was waiting there with several servants. Each servant carried a food box, from which a fragrant aroma wafted.

"Sixth Brother even specially sent someone to deliver food from outside, he's too kind!"

Smelling the aroma of the food, Du Fu and the others' stomachs rumbled, and they said to Zhang Dai with a smile.

"The temple's kitchen is still preparing the meal. You all can wait in the hall for now. I have other things to do."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai chuckled twice, waved his hand at the group, and then signaled Zhao Ling and the others to take the food boxes and leave with him, heading straight for the place where the actors had been settled, leaving Du Fu and the others standing there staring at each other.

"Who is Zhang Liulang going to deliver food to?"

After a while, someone spoke up: "When we were talking about the actors from various states just now, we saw that many of the female entertainers were flirting with Sixth Master and secretly giving him handkerchiefs. Could it be that they have already made an appointment with a beauty? This time, we are going to visit him with wine and food. We must spend the night in a fragrant tent and enjoy ourselves to the fullest!"

"Don't talk nonsense! How could Liu Lang be the kind of person who values ​​women more than friends?"

When Du Fu heard someone slander his idol, he immediately glared and muttered a rebuke. After a moment, he continued, "Even if it's to spend the night in a fragrant tent, it's only human nature. After all, youth is in its prime, and people are full of vigor and passion; everyone admires him and engages in flirtatious behavior!"
Since Liu Lang has not avoided us, it is clear that he is open and selfless towards us, and has nothing to hide. We should also cherish this kindness and refrain from speaking ill of him, lest we tarnish his reputation!

(End of this chapter)