Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 15 Are there any other good works?
Mr. Zhou clapped his hands three times, and the maids came in one after another, holding cups and cutlery and placing them on the tables.

"No matter the format, poetry, songs, novels, or prose are all welcome. The elders will be responsible for judging, and the best one will receive a top-grade She inkstone."

Lu Beigu noticed that the inkstone was placed on the main table. The stone was dark blue in color, and there were natural ice patterns formed in the inkstone pool.

Considering the Zhou family's financial resources, since this item can be placed here as a prize for a banquet, it must be quite valuable.

After all, the Zhou family had ruined the brewing industry around Anle Creek.

——This must be why the other party chose "wine" as the topic.

In later generations, Chishui River became the most important production area of ​​Maotai-flavor liquor in China, and many famous liquor brands originated here, such as Langjiu.

The reason why the brewing industry here is so developed is due to its unique geographical conditions. The valley has a high temperature, frost-free, humid microclimate, coupled with clear water and excellent glutinous sorghum. It can be said that there is no place in the world more suitable for brewing sauce-flavored liquor than here.

In the Song Dynasty today, the predecessor of Langjiu, the "Fengqu Fajiu" brewed with the high-quality Daqu from Erlangtan, was already a very famous wine, and it was this wine that was placed on the table for them.

After everyone raised their glasses, Lu Beigu carefully sipped the "Fengqu French Wine".

This wine is mellow and soft when you take a sip. You will first taste a sweetness on the tip of your tongue, and then a slight heat, as if a warm current is flowing down your throat into your stomach.

He took another sip and found the aftertaste was long and somewhat similar to the Qinghualang he had drunk before.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, it was such a delicious taste, no wonder this wine was famous in Shu and even sold as far as Kaifeng.

"How does it taste?" asked Lu Guangyu, who was sitting at the long table next to him.

“It’s really good wine!”

"My home is in Erlangtan. You can come and see me when you have time these days. We can study together or go sightseeing. I will take Brother Lu to visit Tianbao Cave, where the wine is stored."

"Okay, I'll trouble you, Brother Lu, then."

At this time, Mr. Zhou's speech was coming to an end.

"Everyone, please feel free to come and enjoy. Today's literary banquet has no time limit, but we only ask for excellent works."

During the banquet, some people were busy eating, some were thinking hard, and some drank a few glasses of wine and then became inspired to write poetry.

Lu Guangyu came over and whispered, "Brother Lu, do you have any ideas?"

"I don't have any draft in mind, but I'm really hungry."

Lu Beigu said sincerely, "As for what to write, I do have some ideas. Anyway, let's see what everyone else is up to first. If there are already some excellent ones, there's no need to steal their limelight."

He thought very clearly that the purpose of the Zhou family holding this book club and literary banquet was nothing more than to make Zhou Mingyuan, who had prepared in advance, famous.

People provide you with food, drink and books to read, so you have taken all the benefits you deserve. If you want to show off, then go ahead.

However, while Lu Beigu was enjoying the food, something unexpected happened to Wen Yan.

Some readers who have already written their works will have them read aloud by their page boys, and the distinguished guests in the inner circle will be responsible for evaluating them.

Zhou Mingyuan even carefully prepared a poem titled "Fengqu Fajiu".

"Phoenix song condenses into cloud liquid, and the secret method of jade disk is passed down.

The fire in the stove burns red marrow, and golden waves emit purple smoke.

One drink leads to the true realm, another drink leads to the blue sky.

The fragrance permeates the Jade Pool Banquet, and the immortals are drunk and forget their age.

This poem cannot be called a masterpiece, but it can be seen that Zhou Mingyuan wrote it with all his heart.

Overall, it read quite well, and considering Zhou Mingyuan's identity, everyone applauded after listening to it.

But Ji Yun, who had put down his pen, sneered inappropriately. "What do you mean, young master Ji?" Zhou Mingyuan was a little annoyed.

"Not much."

Ji Yun's words are ambiguous. Whether he means that the other person's poem is meaningless or that he has no other meaning, it depends on personal understanding.

Then, Ji Yun dusted the rice paper in his hand.

He had just recalled some strange stories from the countryside that he had heard in his childhood, and combined them with the strange stories he had read recently, he wrote this poem inspired by a burst of inspiration.

The servant took it and began to read it aloud in public, and everyone then knew the content.

It turned out to be a strange story novel with wine as its theme.

"The Drunken Goblin's Tale"

There is a sweet spring in southern Sichuan. A hermit is good at brewing wine. He stores it in jars under a green rock. Every year during the Cold Dew season, the wine is opened. The fragrance of the wine fills the forest and hundreds of birds gather around.

One day, a guest in brown clothes knocked at the door. His eyes were red as fire, and his fingernails were covered with moss. He smiled and said, "I heard you have Yaochi Juice. I'd like to exchange it for a precious treasure." From his sleeve, he pulled out ten black jade tablets, and the moonlight reflected in them turned into hard stone. The hermit silently pounded a song, and the guest left in anger.

The next night there was a heavy thunderstorm. The hermit saw the guest in brown clothes coming again. He suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "I am waiting for the distinguished guest to taste the new mash." He pointed to the jar under the rock, the cinnabar sealing it had not yet dried.

The guest was immediately intoxicated by the smell of wine and without giving it much thought, he drank three buckets of wine madly. Suddenly, the wine gushed out from his seven orifices, condensing like amber, and was inseparable from the moss on the soles of his feet, revealing its true form, which was the wood spirit transformed from the ancient pine knot.

The next morning, when I looked inside, I found no wood spirit. Only the pine root wine stains remained in the jar, a strange fragrance that lingered for years. A woodcutter said that from time to time, snoring sounds like thunder could be heard in the deep ravines. This was because the pine resin, meeting the spring water, condensed its spirit.

Although the writing style is not gorgeous and the story is simple, the advantage is that the plot is somewhat bizarre and it secretly fits the theme of "wine". It is quite interesting to read like the "Youyang Zazu" from the early Tang Dynasty.

In addition, since this was written on the spot rather than being brewed for a long time, Ji Yun's talent is even more highly regarded.

Several inner circle guests commented on them one by one.

“Although this article is unorthodox, it is interesting in its own way, and seems to be a remnant of Tang Dynasty legends.”

An old man glanced at it and laughed, "Interesting! This winemaker is quite clever. He used the wine jar to subdue the spirit that came to steal the wine. It's quite like 'giving way to others'."

"It's a bit scary when you think about it," someone muttered. Why does the wine smell so good? Who knows how many monsters they must have caught and stuffed into the jar.

"Today's literary banquet is meant to exchange ideas, so why not be so rigid? This piece of writing, as a novel, is relevant. How about temporarily listing it as the first choice?"

Mr. Zhou pondered for a moment, but ultimately did not want to refuse these distinguished guests, so he reluctantly nodded in agreement.

But when he looked at his furious son, he felt a little dissatisfied.

I spent a lot of money to organize this book club and literary banquet with the purpose of helping my son become famous, but now I have been making wedding dresses for the son of another big businessman in vain. Who would feel comfortable about this?
But who could be blamed for this? I had prepared for so long, yet I was still outperformed by someone else's impromptu performance.

So for Mr. Zhou, the current issue is no longer about making his son famous. Even the amount of money spent is no longer important. Instead, he has to offer a higher reward, hoping that someone among the people present can stand up and suppress Ji Yun, making him feel at ease.

"Since everyone here has such a high literary talent today, if you find the best, you can go to the library and choose three books to take away."

The Song Dynasty valued literature and enjoyed a long period of peace, so the prices of ancient books on the market were not only not lower than antiques of the same period, but often even higher.

There are certainly no ancient books from the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Zhou family's Shuyu Tower, but there are quite a few from the pre-Tang Dynasty. If you want to make money, you can choose three ancient books from the pre-Tang Dynasty and sell them. You may make dozens of strings of cash for free.

Mr. Zhou looked around the room and asked loudly.

"Are there any other good works?"

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① Liquan is located in the west of Meishan County, Sichuan Province. It has two sources, both of which originate from the confluence of Panlong Mountain and Songjiang River, and then flow into the Yangtze River.

②Xuan Gui, also known as "Xuan Gui", is a black jade artifact with a pointed top and a flat bottom. It was used in ancient times to reward people who had made special achievements.

(End of this chapter)