"Abacus, have you told Aba everything?"
The person who spoke was the frail scholar sitting opposite Wang Zhi, who they called a 'scholar'. The scholar's real name was Chen Yuyi. He was a real scholar of the Song Dynasty. Unlike Wang Zhi and the other three, he was not a son of an official, but an ordinary civilian in Luoyang. Common people's family background.
There are two categories of Taixue students in the Song Dynasty. One is the children of officials from seventh-grade and above in the Song Dynasty, who are exempted from the examination. The other is the children of common people. There is no shortcut to enter the Imperial College. They can only get it by passing the local county school and government school examinations. Recommended quota, if you have a quota, you still need to pass the Taixue exam to enroll.
However, the number of places in Taixue is limited, and most of them are occupied by the children of officials. Therefore, it is ten times more difficult for ordinary people to be admitted to Taixue than it was to become a scholar in the imperial examination ten years ago. Therefore, in the eyes of Wang Zhi and the others, Chen Yuyi is a scholar. , genuine.
As for the three of them, in terms of academics, Uncle Xu, the fat man opposite him who was full of grease, was a little better, but he also took the exam for three years before entering the inner house. Compared with Chen Yuyi, who entered Taixue in one year and entered the inner house in two years, he was still far behind.
Xu Shuweixu, Fatty, also finished the food on his tray at this time. Not a single grain was left, and he licked it even cleaner than his face. He just looked at the food on Wang Zhi's tray and couldn't help but get another bowl of rice. Wang Zhi started eating the food on his plate again. He was the least opinionated among the four. He had no right to speak about this kind of thing, so he just ate it.
"I told you, but this guy..."
Qin Jiuzhao nodded his head to Wang Zhi, who was working beside him and said, "Look at him like this, it's obvious that he doesn't take it seriously."
"Dang Dang Dang..."
Chen Yuyi picked up his chopsticks and tapped Wang Zhi's tray and said, "Hey, hey, brother, what on earth do you think? This is really not a joke."
Wang Zhi raised his head and glanced at him, then lowered his head to eat and said, "Oh, it's not that big of a deal. Let's eat first and then talk about it after we finish eating."
He had to eat quickly, otherwise it would be gone. After all, there were more than one pair of chopsticks stuck into his plate.
"It's not that big of a deal. Believe it or not, once your new knowledge spreads to the Imperial Academy, we will have to go to your house for dinner the next day."
Chen Yuyi looked at him and said seriously: "This matter must be resolved as soon as possible, sooner rather than later."
"Hmm, yes, you have to do it early." Fatty Xu took a mouthful of food and said with a bulging belly.
You damn fat guy, you just want to finish all my food while I’m talking!
Wang Zhi hurriedly put a few pieces of good meat into his bowl, then raised his head and said indifferently: "How should I put it? I know that this matter is taboo, but I don't believe him in saying that no one is ever punished for speaking out in this dynasty. What can Zhao Guan's family do to me under the clear sky?"
Unlike later generations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, who were often convicted of speeches, or where literary inquisitions were instituted, in the Song Dynasty, although you were not allowed to eat indiscriminately, you could say whatever you wanted. As long as what you said was reasonable, even if you spit on the faces of Zhao and Song officials, nothing would happen. On the contrary, you may be praised.
This kind of thing is not unheard of. During the Renzong period, Bao Zheng, who was the governor of Kaifeng at the time, once pulled Renzong's sleeve and sprayed saliva on his face because of something. Not only was he okay afterwards, but he was also praised by the officials.
However, there are also cases of people being punished for speech. For example, the great writer Su Shi and Su Dongpo during the Shenzong period once offended Wang Anshi's new law because of an inappropriate complaint. At that time, the mainstream tone of the entire court from top to bottom was reform. Naturally Su Shi could not be allowed to slander him, so he was demoted since then.
Of course, Su Shi was demoted because he conflicted with national policies and was fundamentally different from Wang Zhi's thoughts and theories. This dynasty has never banned these thoughts and theories, otherwise there would be no such thing as Guan Xue, Shu Xue, and Cheng Xue in the Song Dynasty. Various schools of thought such as psychology, psychology, and Neo-Confucianism have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
However, Wang Zhi’s theory is still different from the above-mentioned schools. School refers to systematic knowledge, which requires a systematic summary and explanation from the birth of heaven and earth to the sophistication of human beings, and the theory is only a kind of derivative from it. Claims and theories.
At least on the surface, no one would argue that the doctrine is inappropriate.
"Do those people above need a reason to kill people? Just a few clicks of their fingers are enough to kill us little people ten thousand times."
"Even if it's easy to dodge an open gun, what about a hidden arrow?"
Chen Yuyi said earnestly: "Listen to my brother's advice. If a gentleman does not stand behind a dangerous wall, we still have great years. If you have ambitions, you can also pursue them slowly."
Although the three of them were good friends with Wang Zhi, they didn't know the details of Wang Zhi's family, and they had no way of knowing about an invisible behemoth like the Langya Wang family. They only knew that Wang Zhi's family had served as generals for generations and was very wealthy, that's all.
But even if you know that Wang Zhi's family is very powerful, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether you are a wealthy family or a prince. Throughout the ages, many emperors and I have been assassinated.
"Brother, hahahaha, why are the circles under your eyes so dark? You are almost turning into an iron-eating beast. If you go too far, you may still have a good life."
Wang Zhi finished his meal and put down his chopsticks before he noticed Chen Yuyi's two dark eyes and joked with a smile.
"Uh... don't interrupt. It's not because of your worries that I can't sleep well."
Chen Yuyi's face turned red. He had indeed been affected by Wang Zhi's incident in the past few days... half of his sleep, and the other half... was also forced by life. After all, he was just a child from an ordinary commoner's family. In Bianjing, he had to drink water. Where you spend money, if you don't go out and sell your talents, how can you survive?
Seeing Abacus and Fatty looking into his eyes, he quickly changed the subject and said, "Do you really think that those supporters of your new study really agree and support your new study?"
When the three of them heard this, they were all attracted.
Wang Zhi asked in confusion: "What if it's not the case?"
"Have you noticed who your new champions are?"
"I... never noticed it."
"If I guessed correctly, most of them should be descendants of officials."
Wang Zhi thought about it carefully. Indeed, he didn't know whether there were supporters of the new learning in other schools, but they did support all the children of officials. The other students who watched indifferently were ordinary people who were admitted to the Imperial College like the scholars.
"That's not right. My new idea is to promote equality for all people. Why are the officials and officials supporting it, but the common people are opposed to it?"
Not only Wang Zhi, but also Abacus and Fatty were confused.
"You are in the middle of the situation. If you care, you will be in chaos."
"Let me ask you, is the first rule of your new learning is to study things to gain knowledge?"
"Yes!"
"Then tell me, how many of your officials' children can study hard?"
"..."
The three of them were speechless. They were good at eating, drinking, and having fun. As for studying... let it take its course.
Chen Yuyi pondered for a moment, then continued: "If your theory of studying things to achieve knowledge is adopted by the higher authorities, then the traditional method of studying books to achieve knowledge will inevitably be shaken. I don't know if the method of selecting scholars in Taixue will be changed by then, but In addition, some ways to obtain scholars must be inevitable. If you want to be an official, then reading the books of sages must not be the only way."
"There is also the second rule of abandoning complexity and adopting simplicity..."
Chen Yuyi asked Xiang Wang Zhi, "Can you write parallel prose?"
The "parallel prose" in Chen Yuyi's mouth is a general term for a style of writing that pursues a gorgeous style of writing and blindly piles up rhetoric. This style of writing pays attention to neatly aligned words and sentences, attaches great importance to the harmony of pronunciation and rhyme, and mainly uses couplets. The style of writing has become despicable, and many idioms and allusions are quoted.
Parallel prose has been around for a long time, and can be traced back to the Han and Wei Dynasties. However, at that time, parallel prose was still mainly about words, supplemented by form.
Until this dynasty, perhaps due to the over-prosperity of literature, the articles written by literary masters were more gorgeous than the others, and even went to the extreme where every sentence must be parallel. This is not just that, every time they write articles, they must use some uncommon traditional Chinese characters. , as if the more unusual they are, the better they can reflect their literary level. Chinese characters have been played in various ways in the hands of these literary greats.
However, things must be reversed at their extremes. Excessive pursuit of formal beauty has gradually led to parallel prose becoming obscure and flashy. As a result, most articles have only form but no content, deviating from the original intention of literary creation.
However, Wang Zhi’s original intention of objecting to parallel prose was not that much thought. He just simply...can’t write!
"I won't!" Wang Zhi answered simply.
Chen Yuyi asked Qin Jiuzhao again, "Can you do it?"
Qin Jiuzhao smiled bitterly and said, "Neither can I."
Chen Yuyi looked at Uncle Xu next to him and gave Fatty a slight smile.
"I know a little bit."
Fatty Xu made a gesture with two fingers, which was about as big as a fingernail.
"Yes, none of you can, but I can!"
Chen Yuyi glanced at the three of them, pointed at himself and spoke slowly, "I have been studying parallel prose for more than ten years, and it is precisely because of it that I was admitted to the imperial college. In the future, I will rely on it to become an official and rely on it to make a fortune. You can abandon the complex and keep it simple." If you want to deny all my hard work and take away my wealth for the rest of my life, do you think I would agree?"
"I have been studying the books of sages for more than ten years. I have been studying them day and night, reading them word by word, and thinking about them word by word. Now you are telling me that the pattern is wrong, and you need to study things to gain knowledge? What do you mean? Would I approve of it?”
"Although I was born into a humble family, I yearn for wealth. Although I am humble, I yearn for being superior to others. Now that I have struggled for more than ten years, I will finally become that person who is superior to others. Now you are telling me that everyone should be equal? What do you mean? …”
Chen Yuyi paused, stared into Wang Zhi's eyes, as if to see through his heart, and then said word by word: "Do I agree?"
Wang Zhi was silent. He really didn't think of this. Now that he thinks about it...it's true.
Officials like them were born into wealth. They had no worries about food and clothing since they were young, and could not endure hardship at all, let alone learn the laborious parallel prose. Therefore, as soon as his theory of studying things to gain knowledge and abandoning the complex and adopting simplicity came out, he immediately gained popularity with him. The officials' children who were in the same group supported him.
But the civilian scholars who have read poetry and books are all masters of parallel prose. It is impossible for scholars who are not masters of parallel prose to be admitted to the Imperial College, where more than ten thousand people compete for every place.
If parallel prose is abandoned, it means that they and others are on the same starting line. Based on their ordinary backgrounds, in this era without imperial examinations, in this imperial college that only pays attention to status, the hope of getting ahead is too slim. .
