Later, Zhao Yang followed Fan Chunren and others to Fan's Restaurant in Xiaotianshui Lane and found a private room on the third floor.
Wang Zhongzheng and others did not stay away, and simply ordered a table in the private room next door. Anyway, as long as they closed the door and made no noise, they would try not to be discovered by Lu Dafang and others.
As for if they were discovered, it would just be that the two parties could no longer maintain a tacit understanding. How could Shen Yu, Qian Gongfu, and Lu Dafang believe that the bodyguard could leave the person he was protecting at will?
Although Lu Dafang was naive, he was not stupid. He offered to contribute some money for Zhao Yang, obviously to make up for his previous recklessness, but asking him to spend more than two thousand dollars all of a sudden made him feel heartbroken, and Zhao Yang was right This person had a good impression, so he helped him out. In fact, Fan Chunren, Qian Gongfu, and Shen Yu all saw clearly what happened before and after the whole incident, including Lu Dafang himself. That was why he came to rescue Zhao. Yang talks.
And Qian Gongfu and Shen Yuna are even more shrewd people.
It can be said that apart from Qian Gongfu's grudge against Zhao Yang's suspected relative who was a middle-ranking official in the palace, Lu Dafang and Shen Yu's first impression of Zhao Yang was very good.
In the elegant room, everyone sat around the square table. The tea doctor first brought tea and two plates of dried fruits for the few people to enjoy while chatting before waiting for the dishes.
During this period, Zhao Yang secretly observed Qian Gongfu, Lu Dafang and the Shen brothers.
According to his guess, Qian Gongfu was the oldest among them, and he was estimated to be in his mid-twenties. Fan Chunren, Lu Dafang and Shen Yu were younger. Later, his guess was proved to be correct. Qian Gongfu was indeed There is 28 years old, followed by Shen Tuo who is 24 years old, and then there are Fan Chunren and Lu Dafang. They are the same age, both 22 years old. It is no wonder that he feels that Fan and Lu have the closest relationship.
Except for Shen Liao, who accompanied his brother to Beijing to take the exam, who was only eighteen years old, Zhao Yang was the youngest in the room, only fifteen years old - this was also the age that the officials asked him to declare to the public.
This also surprised Shen Liao, Shen Yu's younger brother: "Are you two years younger than me?"
Shen Yan immediately scolded softly: "Xuda, I want to call you Mr. Zhao..."
"Huh." Zhao Yang waved his hand and said: "A few of them are older than me, and they are friends of Chunren. They must be both good in character and learning, and have extraordinary talents. I also want to make friends with you... Some of them call me Just a name.”
Although Shen Yan admired it very much, he also felt that it was inappropriate. He shook his head and said: "How can this be done?...Does Mr. Zhao have a name?"
Zhao Yang shook his head slightly, realizing for the first time that he should choose a cousin, otherwise it would be difficult to make interpersonal relationships.
From the side, Lu Dafang said enthusiastically: "In my opinion, you should choose one. You can discuss it with your distant cousin. If...well, if there is any inconvenience, you might as well visit the famous people in Bianjing based on your cousin's relationship." . If there is a way to find the Xianggong of the current dynasty, that would be the best, such as Xianggong Wen and Xianggong Song. Asking them to give you a nickname will be of great benefit to your reputation."
Wen Yanbo and Song Xiang...
Unfortunately, the former had just fallen out, and the latter didn't have much friendship with them.
With an inexplicable smile, Zhao Yang nodded slightly and said, "I'll go back and discuss it with my uncle."
But what was it called before that?
Qian Gongfu thought: "I wonder where Mr. Zhao ranks in the clan?"
Zhao Yang, who did not want to be called Da Lang, had a strange expression: "I am the only son in the family. Now I have no worries and I am alone."
"Feel sorry……"
"Brother Gongfu is not to blame." Zhao Yang shook his head slightly.
"Then how about calling me Brother Zhao first?" Shen Tuo said with an idea.
In the Song Dynasty, there was also the custom of calling the younger brother brother, just like Zhongqian and Zhongzhen called the old five kinds of e as fifth brother. Considering that Zhao Yang was the youngest among several people, there was nothing wrong with calling him brother, compared to Xiaolang. Have more respect.
Everyone also agreed.
At this time, people in the restaurant were serving wine and food one after another, and everyone was eating wine, eating food, and chatting.
In the past, when Zhao Yang was away, they naturally talked about topics related to the provincial examination, but today Zhao Yang was here and it was difficult to leave him alone, so they took the lead in chatting about Zhao Yang's military position.
Shen Tuo, Qian Gongfu, and Lu Dafang were not surprised that Zhao Yang was appointed as the battalion commander of the Tianwu Army, one of the four armies, when he was only fifteen years old. After all, there are not many Yinbu at this age who have obtained official positions. , they were just curious about whether Zhao Yang could control the five hundred forbidden troops under his command.
Especially Lu Dafang, who had a very good impression of Zhao Yang, was obviously worried.
Seeing this, Zhao Yang told them half-truthfully: "I was also worried that I would not be able to convince the public, so I invited Zhong'e to serve as deputy commander. This man is the fifth son of Zhong Shiheng, a famous Shaanxi general..."
"Zhong Shiheng?" Lu Dafang and others were greatly surprised.
Even Fan Chunren heard Zhao Yang mention it for the first time, and nodded secretly in his heart - although he did not believe that Zhao Yang's ability and the degree of favor he received from officials would be difficult to convince his five hundred forbidden troops, but there was a sense of world balance. If his son helps, it will naturally be safer.
Moreover, Zhong Shiheng was considered a subordinate of his father Fan Zhongyan in the past, and the Fan and Zhong families also had friendship. Unfortunately, Zhong Shiheng died young.
While discussing this matter, Zhao Yang could actually see that Shen, Qian, and Lu, including Fan Chunren, did not attach much importance to the position of commander of the Tianwu Military Camp.
After all, these people are all students taking the exam. Once they reach high school and pass the imperial examination, they must at least start from an official rank below the ninth grade.
Don't think it's low, after all, this is an official rank that has already entered the rank. The official rank is basically the level of county magistrate or chief secretary. Compared with ordinary people, it may be difficult to cross the gap between "officials" and "officials" in their lifetime.
Therefore, the main reason why several people are talking about military positions at this moment is not to neglect Zhao Yang.
However, Zhao Yang didn't have much to talk about. After chatting for a while, he changed the topic back to this imperial examination.
The imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty was divided into three levels: state examination, provincial examination and palace examination.
The state examination is a scientific examination organized by local governments in each state. It is usually held in the autumn. If you pass the provincial examination, you will be granted the status of a scholar and be qualified to go to Beijing to participate in the provincial examination in the spring of the next year. The provincial examination is a scientific examination organized by the Ministry of Rites and Provincial Affairs. After passing the provincial examination, You can obtain the qualifications for the palace examination, and the officials will personally test the students' talents.
Those who pass the imperial examination will be awarded the title of Jinshi. They do not need to go through the civil service examination and will be directly awarded officials. Compared with officials without Jinshi background who can only be promoted by rank based on Mokan. Officials with imperial examination background can be promoted across the ranks during Mokan. Therefore, There are also many people who have been promoted to the fifth rank of Beijing officials at the age of forty - such as Qian Mingyi, who was the top scholar in the imperial examination.
It is worth mentioning that due to the serious phenomenon of favoritism and malpractice in the imperial examination, in the past, even if the candidates took the provincial high school examination, they might be dismissed during the palace examination. In serious cases, even one-third of them were dismissed, until Zhang Yuan was born.
Because of his abnormal performance in the palace examination, this person was suspected of cheating and was deposed. He defected to Xixia in anger and was reused by Li Yuanhao. He was awarded the status of military advisor and state minister of Xixia. Later, he assisted Li Yuanhao in defeating the Song army at Haoshuichuan, and in two battles A sarcastic word was written on a remnant wall at the border of the country: Xia Song never stood tall, Han Qi is not surprising. Sichuan is full of dragon and tiger chariots, and they still talk about military plans.
Since then, the imperial examination of the Song Dynasty has no longer deposed candidates. As long as the provincial high school examination is carried out, you can basically obtain the status of Jinshi. I am afraid that there will be another Zhang Yuan.
As for the types of imperial examinations, the Song Dynasty initially followed the Tang system. The examination subjects were numerous and impractical. Later, they were gradually reduced. It was not until the reform of the "Jinggong Examination" by Fan Zhongyan and others in the Qingli Year that the imperial court gradually changed the original emphasis on poetry in the Jinshi Examination to In policy theory, the memorizing and filling in the blanks in the Ming Dynasty Classics were replaced by elaborating the meaning and principles of the scriptures, and gradually focused on practicality.
This point has not changed again even if the Qingli New Deal reform failed and Fan Zhongyan and others were demoted from Bianjing one after another.
Of course there are many opponents.
Zhao Yang was also very interested in this and listened with interest to Fan Chunren, Lu Dafang and others talking about the upcoming provincial examination.
He asked curiously: "Approximately how many people are going to Beijing to take the exam this time? How many people are expected to pass?"
Qian Gongfu stroked his beard and replied: "I'm afraid there are 30,000 people, but only three or four hundred can pass..."
Don’t think that this is a ratio of only one in a hundred. After all, a large number of people have been eliminated in the previous round of state examinations. According to Fan Chunren, he once heard his father Fan Zhongyan mention that the number of participants in the state examinations in the Song Dynasty was already three or four during the Zhenzong Dynasty. One hundred thousand, let alone today.
Of course, compared with the college entrance examination that Zhao Yang remembered in later generations, it was not much easier.
Seeing that Lu Dafang was worried about this, Zhao Yang smiled and encouraged: "With your talents, I believe you will definitely be able to reach high school, and you may not be able to be number one, number two, or third overall."
Everyone laughed, but shook their heads: "It's difficult."
It is not easy to stand out among more than 30,000 candidates. Even Fan Chunren and others dare not ask for anything else.
Then everyone started talking about the candidates of this class. Zhao Yang was mainly interested in it and asked curiously: "Are there any famous students in this class?"
"Reputation?" Qian Gongfu touched his chin and said, "The most famous one should be Wang Anren, right? Jianghuai students are vying to be their teachers..."
"Wang Anren?" Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment, feeling that the name sounded familiar. After all, it was just one character different from a famous person in his memory.
As if he guessed what he was thinking, Fan Chunren chuckled and said, "You want to talk about Wang Anshi, who was a Jinshi in the second year of Qingli, right?"
Zhao Yang looked surprised and said, "Are the two really related?"
Fan Chunren nodded and said: "Yes, Wang Anren is Wang Anshi's half-brother..."
"How did Yaofu know about it?" Qian Gongfu and Shen Yu also became interested.
Fan Chunren explained: "My father was in Bianjing at the time, but he also learned about it from the drunkard Ouyang Gong..."
"Drunkard Mr. Ouyang?" Zhao Yang was stunned and guessed: "Mr. Ouyang Xiu?"
"Yes." Fan Chunren nodded and said: "It is said that Ouyang Gong highly praised Wang Anshi's literary talent at that time. Unfortunately... I heard that Wang Anshi was originally ranked first by the examiner at that time, but he was offended because of something he said when answering the official's question. The officials were displeased, so they missed out on being the number one scholar and ended up in fourth place..."
Zhao Yang was quite excited to hear another familiar celebrity and asked curiously: "What's the word?"
"Uh..." Fan Chunren hesitated for a moment. It wasn't until several people asked him many times that he whispered: "A boy has his own friends."
Shen Yan was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said: "What a Wang Anshi..."
Zhao Yang was not sure about this and asked humbly: "What's wrong with this sentence?"
Shen Tuo smiled and explained: "This sentence comes from "Shang Shu·Zhou Shu·Luo Gao". The original text is 'A child has friends, a child has friends, and he will go'. It is the words of Zhou Gong who warned the emperor to become a king. It means...well, that is, long. The author warned the young monarch to get along harmoniously with his ministers as relatives and friends..."
Good guy...
Zhao Yang almost laughed.
Qian Gongfu from the side also shook his head and said: "If it is not a mistake, this person is too arrogant. This fourth place is not unjust."
"How does it compare to Feng Jing?" Shen Yu said with a smile.
"Ha." Qian Gongfu snorted softly.
"Feng Jing?" Zhao Yang was also somewhat impressed by this name and asked in surprise: "What's wrong with this person?"
"Without him, he's just too arrogant." Shen Yu chuckled.
From the side, Lu Dafang explained in a low voice: "Brother Zhao, I don't know, this person is quite famous among the people, but he doesn't have a very good reputation. Everyone who has come into contact with him says that he is too arrogant and arrogant." Since he came to Beijing, he likes to compete with others in knowledge. If someone can't answer the answer, he will tease and ridicule him. At the beginning of the year, Yao Fu and I went to visit him. He heard that Yao Fu was the son of Fan Xianggong, so he wanted to compete with Yao Fu in knowledge..."
"What's the result?" Zhao Yang asked curiously.
Fan Chunren looked a little complicated, and said awkwardly for a while: "This person is indeed talented, but I am not as good as him."
Before Zhao Yang could speak, Lu Dafang retorted: "Yaofu, why should you belittle yourself? When it comes to classics and meanings, you are on par with him. As for policy...his so-called pointing out the shortcomings of Fan Xianggong's reform order is just nothing in my opinion. He was just talking about the administration of officials. He made fun of Fan Xianggong for talking too much and making it difficult to implement the matter. But is it because it is difficult that he should just let the administration go? Huh!"
"Calm down your anger." Shen Yu comforted Lu Dafang with a smile, and said with a bit of regret: "I have also dealt with this person. He is indeed talented, but as I said, he is too arrogant, regardless of his age. He is full of ambition and makes judgments about others. As soon as I heard about this, I went out to find him in trouble. Unfortunately...this man is indeed talented, and I can't defend him."
"After all, he is the state tester Jieyuan." Qian Gongfu said calmly, obviously he had heard of this kind of news.
Then several people talked about Zhu Lin, Huang Qi, Huang Xu, Liu Shu, Li Chang, Qiu Ziliang, Xu Yuandang, Li Shanfu, Wen and other dozens of people who had dealt with the same year. Unfortunately, Zhao Yang had no regard for these people. No impression.
Suddenly, Shen Tuo seemed to have thought of something, and took out a book from his arms and handed it to Fan Chunren: "I almost forgot, I hadn't finished reading this volume when Yaofu borrowed it from me last time, so I brought it to you today."
"Thank you." Fan Chunren happily took the book.
Zhao Yang took a glance and saw the four words "Wenyuan Yinghua" written on the cover.
Lu Dafang also took a curious look, and then said in surprise: "Is this an engraved book? Official or private? The price is not low, right?"
Shen Tuo smiled and said: "Where should I get the official engraving? This is my Lin'an inscription. The price is as follows. A volume like this only costs three to four hundred inscriptions."
"Three or four hundred liters?" Lu Dafang opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief: "If you ask someone to copy the book, a volume like this costs at least a thousand liters..."
Fan Chunren was also surprised and said: "Is Lin'an Square engraving so cheap? I used to buy books in Suzhou, and the same printed and engraved books cost seven to eight hundred words per volume."
Shen Tuo nodded and smiled: "It was true before. The price was also the same in Lin'an at that time. But at the beginning of last year, a man in Lin'an improved the engraving and printing and created the art of clay movable type..."
Um?
Zhao Yang was stunned, raised his head suddenly and asked: "Brother Wentong, do you know what that person's name is?"
"Bi Sheng." Shen Tuo replied.
As the saying goes, it takes no effort to find a place even if you break through iron shoes. Zhao Yang endured the surprise and asked: "How to write it?"
Although Shen Yu had a puzzled look on his face, he dipped his chopsticks in the wine and wrote down the person's name on the table. Zhao Yang could roughly identify the character Bi Sheng - even though the character Bi was in traditional Chinese.
"Can you lend me this book?"
"This..." Shen Tuo looked at Fan Chunren hesitantly, "I have borrowed it from Yao Fu, as long as Yao Fu..."
"I'm not in a hurry." Fan Chunren handed the scroll in his hand to Zhao Yang. He could roughly guess Zhao Yang's purpose.
"Sorry, let's continue chatting. I'll go and make it easier."
Putting the scroll in his arms, Zhao Yang stood up and left the private room, closing the door, leaving Lu Dafang and the others looking at each other in shock.
"cough!"
As Zhao Yang coughed heavily outside the closed door of the private room next door, the private room next door immediately opened. Wang Zhongzheng and Wang Ming stepped out and bowed their hands.
Zhao Yang glanced at Fan Runchun's elegant room, patted the scroll on Wang Zhongzheng's chest, and whispered: "This book was engraved by Bi Sheng. Immediately send someone back to the palace to inform...my cousin , this skilled craftsman is now in Lin'an on Liangzhe Road, please send someone to invite his family to Bianjing."
"Yes!" Wang Zhongzheng responded.
