"Okay, let's not mention this matter again!" Liu Yang waved his hand half-heartedly and said conclusively. After pondering for a while, he changed his question and asked, "How much do you know about Master Li's sons?"
Upon hearing the question, Murong Defeng suddenly remembered the scene when he said goodbye just now, and said softly: "Is His Highness happy to see you?"
Of course, the more important thing is to cherish Li Fang in my heart and intend to give him some compensation. Li Fang's status is here, and the matter of his external transfer has been decided. If it is inconvenient, the only way is to take care of this blessing to his son.
Liu Yang nodded: "I think Li Zongna is quite elegant, but I have never understood him due to negligence in the past. If I want to promote him, he is not suitable for the position."
Murong Defeng understood, thought for a while, and said: "Mr. Li is an upright man, with a very strict family tradition. He holds a high position, but he has never sought any official position with his children, including his eldest son Li Zongna, who has already reached the crown, and still has no official position. .You know, Li Zongne is one year older than Chen.
I am not familiar with the members of the Li family, but I have heard of Li Zongna's reputation. Although he is young, he is particularly good at calligraphy and is famous for his regular script.
It is said that when he was in Luoyang, Li Gong held a peach garden party in his mansion and wrote a poem "Yi Yun and Feelings of the Last Spring", which was written by Li Zongna. Later, this calligraphy spread and was purchased by a Luoyang merchant for 500 yuan..."
Hearing such anecdotes, Liu Yang became interested and said with a smile: "Of these five hundred strings, I'm afraid Li Gong's poems will account for 80% of them!"
Murong Defeng didn't say anything, and just responded with a tacit smile. For the people, five hundred guan is not a small amount of money, just a piece of calligraphy, which is obviously luxurious enough.
But it is not surprising that Li Fang has reputation, status, and talent. The poems he wrote and the words written by his son are worth this price in the eyes of some people. If he could really establish a relationship with him, the merchant would be happy to do it twice as much.
"Do you know whose pocket those five hundred strings ended up in?" Liu Yang asked immediately.
"It is said that after Li Gong learned about it, he left nothing behind and spent another 500 guan from his family. A total of 1,000 guan was donated to Raoyang to support poor students in his hometown, as well as the orphans, the elderly and the weak!" Murong Defeng said.
In response to this, Liu Yang finally showed a smile, thought about it for a while, and then murmured as if he was asking himself a question: "Is Wu Jichuan included in the donation?"
Hearing what Liu Yang said, Murong Defeng couldn't help but be slightly shocked. He couldn't help but raise his eyes and saw the prince's face was calm, as if he just said it carelessly.
"Since you are good at calligraphy, let's find a position as a calligrapher in the court!" After thinking for a while, Liu Yang said, "Go to the Secretarial Department and become a secretary!"
Hearing this, Murong Defeng took a pen and paper and wrote it down. Although Murong Defeng now holds a position in the Ministry of Finance, in fact, he is still the prince's secretary-general.
"Does His Highness go back to the palace directly?" Outside the car, Ma Huaiyu, who was still serving as the prince's bodyguard, asked for instructions.
Ma Huaiyu, who is already eighteen years old, seems to be getting stronger and stronger, and his position has been officially promoted from bodyguard to general of the left side of the East Palace. According to his wishes, Liu Yang also obtained Emperor Liu's order and decided to put him in the border army for some training, only in areas to be determined.
After listening to his request for instructions, Liu Yang pondered for a moment and then ordered: "Go and have a look at the Flower Picking Building!"
"yes!"
Obviously, even if he seemed fair on the surface and didn't want to go into details, Liu Yang was still worried about this scandal.
Zhihua Building is not as famous as Taihe Building, Yujing Building and other famous buildings in Tokyo, but the threshold is lower and the consumption is lower. Although the name of the building is elegant, it is more down-to-earth. All three religions and nine schools are tolerated, even street vendors and lackeys, and even dung pickers, as long as they have money, they can enter.
Adhering to this business philosophy, the popularity of Zhaihualou has always been very high. There is never a lack of excitement, let alone people watching the excitement. And the most unique thing is that in this restaurant, you can hear all kinds of dazzling news, true and false, from inside and outside the city.
With the arrival of summer, some vendors have popped up in the markets, selling iced drinks and herbal teas with seasonal flavor. Relying on a crowded place like Zhaihua Building, business is also exceptionally good.
Stopping outside the flower-picking building, the noise is overwhelming. You can feel the hustle and bustle inside without even going in. In this regard, Ma Huaiyu did his duty, frowned and reminded: "Your Highness, this place is too noisy, is it..."
Rather than being afraid of the noise, I clearly feel that the place is too chaotic, which not only affects my fun, but also worries about safety issues. It’s not like Liu Yang has never visited a private place before, but this is the first time for such a mixed place.
Liu Yang stretched out his hand to stop Ma Huaiyu and allowed him to enter the building with only two guards, Liu Yang, Murong Defeng and his master and servant. Before entering, Liu Yang asked the guards to wait by the side of the restaurant.
Liu Yang did not take a ceremonial chariot during this trip, but even an ordinary carriage and horse would be extraordinary with the blessing of the prince's status. For ordinary people, they may only be able to see the elegance of the car's decoration, but for those who are knowledgeable, they can see the special status at a glance. And the car parked in front of the public seemed to be announcing that His Royal Highness the Prince had personally visited the Flower Picking House.
As expected, the atmosphere in the building was lively. Even if I had an Accord room, it was still difficult to block out the various noises coming from the hall. There was no one to eat or drink. The five masters and servants just sat silently, listening to the discussions in the hall.
If there is something in Tokyo that can arouse widespread discussion among the people in the city recently, and it will last for a long time, then there is no doubt that it is the case of Denwen Drum, which has been finalized and concluded by the imperial court.
At this time, there was a group of people in the Flower Picking Building who were still talking about the follow-up of this matter, which attracted the attention of the melon-eating crowd.
"There is probably no more lively examination in the past than this examination!" In the lobby, a middle-aged man with a goatee and a slender face held a cup of tea in his hand and talked eloquently: "There are so many people disturbing these days. , it was indeed Song Zhun who got the benefit! Xu Shilian heard the petition and became famous in both the government and the public, but he ended up being exiled to Fengzhou.
It is said that Wu Jichuan was originally the first choice for the No. 1 Scholar, but in the end he didn't even have a first-class title. He didn't even have arrangements for Guanzheng, and was only sent to the Third Hall to study. "
"In this case, Song Zhunduan is lucky. He has become the number one scholar without doing anything!" someone said.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man shook his head and said: "Such a statement is wrong. This year's number one scholar does not rely solely on luck. It is said that he is knowledgeable and personable. He shows his talent. At the Qionglin Banquet, His Majesty recognized him at a glance. Take a fancy to him.
Moreover, he came from an official background, his father Song Peng had been a secretary in his early years, and Song Zhun had more than ten years of experience as a local official before taking reference, and was even about to be promoted to Shangzhou Assistant Officer.
From what I see, if you win the first prize now, you may be able to become a high official of the state government directly without having to experience politics in the bureau office! "
"Then Xu Shilian's efforts were in vain. He risked his life to beat the Dengwen drum. Instead of being ranked among the top three, he was demoted to the bitter cold place of Fengzhou. I wonder if there is still a chance to return to the Central Plains?"
"You can't blame others for this. Who taught him to be arrogant!" The middle-aged man said disdainfully: "It is taboo to slander the examiner without evidence. What's more, it is said that the reason why he was not admitted was because he was in charge of deliberation. , criticize the imperial policies, and even vaguely criticize the emperor. How can the imperial court tolerate this?
For this reason, the imperial court was tolerant by not jailing him for questioning. It’s ridiculous that Xu Shilian, who felt unfair and suffered from fraud, went to beat the news drum! "
"That makes sense!" Someone echoed: "I have heard of Xu Shilian. He is indeed a man who relies on his talent and is arrogant. On the other hand, Wu Jichuan, although he is ugly, his writing should be good. He suffered such an unreasonable disaster! The number one scholar is gone, and his future is also ruined. It’s dark and unclear!”
"That's not necessarily true!" The middle-aged man looked enigmatic: "It is said that before the exam, Wu Jichuan visited Academician Li with a gift. However, according to him, he was ashamed of himself because of his ugly appearance. He dared to come to the house, but finally accepted the gift he brought. To avoid ridicule, he lied about visiting when he returned to his place of residence. This explanation sounds too ridiculous to you, right?"
"Could it be that Academician Li is really showing favoritism?" Someone heard the implication.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man suddenly had a serious expression and shook his head: "I didn't say that. The imperial court has already announced this matter! However, I also heard that just yesterday, the imperial court issued an order to send University Scholar Li to Jiangling. We cannot speculate on the details of going to Jinghu North Road to be the envoy..."
After saying this, some people were confused, some understood, and some were moved.
"The lucky ones are that after the second review of the examination papers, the nine newly admitted Jinshi were originally ineligible. However, due to the incident, the imperial court simply admitted all the thirty-nine Jinshi who were admitted after the two examinations!" The middle-aged man sighed, seeming to envy the luck of those Jinshi: "Some people are already saying that Xu Shilian is like a wax torch, burning himself, but the light shines on the nine fallen scholars!"
This statement caused the whole room to burst into laughter.
The middle-aged man continued: "They are also disgraced scholars. Those hundreds of people who clamor for grievances in the imperial city will be in trouble. Their reputations and career will be ruined! There are hundreds of people, and the court is resolute enough to not tolerate them at all. Love, these people are afraid they will regret it now..."
The confinement under the instructions of Emperor Liu not only prohibited those scholars from participating in the scientific examination in the future, it meant that they had almost no possibility of advancement. No surprise, there was basically no future at all.
Among them, there may be some who are local officials. With such a bad record, it is unknown whether they can retain their previous official positions, but it is very likely that they cannot be retained. Local officials will not go against the trend. It comes from the court's will, especially the emperor's will.
Even if you can keep it, it may be difficult to take it into consideration for future promotions and transfers. Most of them will be inactive in the future.
The imperial examination was just one way for scholars to advance as officials, but it was not the only one. With the imperial court's ban, even if there were thousands of ways to advance in the official career, it would have nothing to do with those hundreds of scholars.
This explanation also made many people present sigh...
