Outside Qujiang Pavilion, the crowd's voices gradually became quiet.
Li Xuan looked calmly at the short men on both sides, the new scholars in neat official uniforms, and the failed students with tired looks and envious eyes. Everyone's eyes gradually revealed a hint of fear.
Just now, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted "imperial examination fraud", and the entire Qujiang banquet suddenly seemed to explode.
Among the scattered crowds, there were also words such as "The number one scholar Xu Qi".
Xu Qie, who was sitting in front, was already frightened and turned pale.
At this time, Li Xuan stood up, then took a step forward, standing in front of the officials, looking towards the commotion, looking everywhere.
His eyes glanced at Zhou Zhi, who was slightly behind, with a playful expression on his face, and then looked away.
Under the cold gaze, the voice gradually became colder.
Holding the wine glass, Zhou Zhi looked at everything with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
…
Li Xuan turned around, faced Li Jingxuan, the Minister of Civil Affairs, who was sitting in front of the pavilion, cupped his hands and said: "Jingxuan Gong, at Qujiang Banquet, there has always been a style of reciting poems, talking freely about one's thoughts, learning from each other, looking for chapters and sentences, and composing poems to express one's feelings. "Since everyone is so kind today, I think I might as well ask the number one scholar, the second best scholar, and the third flower to each compose a poem and compare them with each other to clear up everyone's doubts."
Regardless of whether it was a scholar or a commoner in the Tang Dynasty, when commenting on the talent of a Jinshi, one would only look at his poems and not his scriptures and strategies.
But that's fine, as long as they compose poems, they can determine who is the best, and I don't know how much trouble will be saved.
Li Xuan slowly turned around, looked at the fellow scholars and said: "Among the people present here, if there are those who feel they can surpass the three of them, they can directly display their poems in front of everyone; if there are indeed those who are not inferior, I will make the decision to send you The test paper of the Huixi Palace will be transferred out, and then displayed in front of everyone. If there is any fraud, I will personally reverse the case for you; but if it is messed up..."
"Then he will be deprived of his qualifications for the imperial examination in the past three years." Li Jingxuan added with a calm expression.
Li Jingxuan has been serving as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel for three years. The emperor will not let a person serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel for too long. This will cultivate too many cronies.
In one sentence, Li Jingxuan clearly told everyone that if someone messes around, then when he is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, that person will never have a chance to be elected.
People who know the rules of officialdom know better. If you are rejected by this Minister of Civil Affairs, then none of the subsequent Ministers of Civil Affairs will be admitted, because none of them know who you will be in the future. , is it still nonsense.
In a word, if someone really talks nonsense, his future will be ruined.
"Then let's get started," Li Xuan then looked at Cheng Xingmou, Xu Qie and Zhuge Minghui on one side.
There was already a waiter behind, bringing pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
The leader, Cheng Xingmou, bowed slightly to Li Xuan, then slowly sat down and began to think.
A waiter had already arrived in front of everyone here with pen, ink, paper and inkstone. If anyone dared to compete in poetry with Cheng Xingmou, Xu Qi, and Zhuge Minghui, someone would immediately bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone to them.
However, as the pens, inks, paper and inkstones passed by in front of everyone, no one dared to reach out for the pens and ink.
Scholars who have already won the Jinshi naturally don't dare to talk nonsense anymore, because they know that if they have trouble with the official minister, they will have trouble with their lifelong career. No one dares to do this kind of thing casually.
Only among the unsuccessful candidates, some people in twos and threes began to write.
Zhuge Minghui is the most calm among the three. He can prepare a poem in the blink of an eye.
Today's banquet in Qujiang is a common occurrence, so these students are naturally well prepared.
When the poem written by Zhuge Minghui fell into Li Xuan's hands, the eyes of countless scholars present fell on Li Xuan at the same time.
If Zhuge Minghui does not do enough, someone will immediately pounce on him and scold him.
As soon as it starts, countless people will rush towards it.
Literary people look down on each other, even if they are just as different as each other, they can belittle you as nothing.
Even Confucius Sheng didn't pay attention to some crazy students, so Zhuge Minghui's poems still need to be of sufficient level.
Li Xuan nodded lightly, and then handed the poem in his hand to Li Jingxuan.
Li Jingxuan glanced at it, nodded with satisfaction, then handed it to the back and said in a deep voice: "Nian..."
Standing behind Li Jingxuan was his son, Li Sichong.
Li Sichong took Zhuge Minghui's poem, took a look at it, and then his expression suddenly softened.
Just listen to Li Sichong read in a deep voice: "Zhuge Minghui wrote:
Zaoyi is in front of the court, and he is diligent and sincere. This is a time of leisure and opportunity, which coincides with the festive season.
Quchi is clean and cold, and the cuckoo is refreshing. The universe is full of refreshing energy, and the terraces and palaces are clear in autumn light.
The government and the public hope for a prosperous year, and there will be much joy at high meetings. Always cherish the unforgivable precepts, and good men share the same sentiments. "
The government and the public are looking forward to a prosperous future, and there will be much joy at the high meeting... After hearing the last sentence, everyone's brows suddenly furrowed tightly.
It is difficult to surpass Zhuge Minghui's poems. Many people have good poems in their hearts, but few are sure to surpass them.
At this time, Xu Qie also completed his poem.
After Li Xuan and Li Jingxuan read it one after another, they finally handed it over to Li Sichong.
I saw Li Sichong, looking at the poem in front of him, and slowly said: "Xu Qie's poem:
The spring is clear by the water pavilion, and the fairy apricot hair is in the south garden. The wind is blooming at the beginning of dawn, and the scenery is full of fragrant fragrance.
The brilliance is near the imperial road, and the color is relative to the empty door. The snow in the wild is clear in the distance, and the mountain smoke is thicker in the distance.
The land is divided into deer gardens, and the scenic spots are like peach fields. The situation is a new sunny day, with fragrant branches holding colorful mandarin ducks. "
The spring is clear by the water pavilion, and the fairy apricot hair is in the south garden.
The first sentence of Xu Qezhi's poem quickly catches the attention of others, which is surprising.
Xu Qezhi's poems describe emotions and scenery, almost bringing the entire Qujiang Pavilion, Qujiang Garden, and the entire Qujiang Pond to life.
Even Li Xuan, who has always been strict, couldn't help but nod.
…
A piece of rice paper was placed in front of Li Xuan's eyes. With just one glance, Li Xuan's brows jumped wildly. This poem was actually written by Cheng Xingmou.
After Li Jingxuan took it, he glanced at it with a look of surprise on his face.
Although Cheng Xingmou's previous poems were quite good, compared with others, they always felt inadequate. But today's poem is astonishing as soon as it comes into view.
Under the gaze of everyone, Li Sichong finally spoke slowly: "Cheng Xingmou's poem:
The bank of the Qujiang River is leaning against a railing in the north, and the water surface is cloudy. There are many green robes walking on the dusty road, so the wind pavilion has been standing for a long time and its white beard is cold.
The poem is written secretly in leisurely mind, the mountain is so far away that I can see it from the sick eye. Without being recognized by Ma Qi, who would believe that he is a Langguan? "
Everyone present was an elite of the Tang Dynasty. Cheng Xingmou had already silently metaphorized today's events into his poem.
The poem is written secretly in leisurely mind, the mountain is so far away that I can see it from the sick eye.
Dark, idle, stealing, sick, these four words make the person who is being ridiculed almost unable to hold his head up.
Without being recognized by Ma Qi, who would believe that he is a Langguan?
Everyone talks about cheating, but in fact everyone knows in their hearts that all of this is directed at Cheng Xingmou, the number one scholar.
Although some people were dissatisfied with Cheng Xingmou's success as the number one scholar, many people also admired him.
But in the eyes of everyone, Xu Qie may be the only one who can say that he can definitely defeat Cheng Xingmou.
After all, before the examination, although both of them had literary names, they were not outstanding.
Before the examination, it was He Zhizhang of Li Xuan's family who was the most popular.
He Zhizhang has an unparalleled talent and reputation. In addition, he also has two uncles who work in Hongwen Hall, and one cousin serves as an official censor. His grandfather He Deren was the Facao of Hedong County in the pre-Sui Dynasty and was the subordinate of Prince Yin Li Jiancheng in his early years. For a time, he became Li Jiancheng's crown prince and his wife, and the prince washed his horse.
The future seemed bright, but suddenly, He Deren died of illness, also because he avoided the Xuanwu Gate changes that followed.
But no matter what, He Zhizhang's two uncles have been serving as bachelors of Hongwen Hall for many years and cannot make any progress.
Not only that, even He Zhizhang was forced to give up the imperial examination this time because of the prince's affair.
Of course, although it is said that He Zhizhang has the talent of number one scholar, those are just the names of poems, and the imperial examinations never look at the names of poems.
How many poets are extremely talented, but they fail in the imperial examinations many times.
He Zhizhang said that he had the talent to be the number one scholar, but if he really knew how to pass the imperial examinations, he might not even be able to get into the third one.
Li Xuan also doesn't understand why people in Chang'an like to identify people by their poetry names, like Cheng Xingmou and Xu Qie now.
Xu Qie's poems have always used gorgeous words, and his imagination is extremely magnificent, but among the three poems, the one that most people remember is Cheng Xingmou's "Leaning on the railing in the north on the bank of the Qujiang River, the water is cloudy, and my feet are disabled."
Li Xuan raised his head and looked at Li Jingxuan, cupped his hands and suggested: "Mr. Li, why don't you send these three poems to the palace, and feast all living beings in Qujiang to compose poems and have great literary talent? They should also be dedicated to Your Majesty, the Queen of Heaven, to wish me the new crown prince of the Tang Dynasty." There are many talented people coming out, and it looks like a prosperous age."
"The words of the King of Nanchang are very kind." Li Jingxuan touched the long beard on his chin, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "That's it, Sichong, you personally send these three poems to Danfeng's sect."
"Here!" Li Sichong immediately raised his hand and looked up at Li Xuan.
Li Xuan smiled and nodded slightly. Li Sichong immediately breathed a sigh of relief and walked quickly outside Qujiang Pavilion.
Seeing this scene, many Jinshi and low-ranking scholars present had extremely complicated expressions. This move by the King of Nanchang directly eliminated all doubts about Cheng Xingmou's No. 1 Scholarship.
Even Xu Qie had a complicated look on his face.
Xu Qie subconsciously raised his head and saw Li Xuan looking at him solemnly.
Xu Qie immediately felt a chill in his heart, as if a basin of cold water was pouring down on his head. A thought flashed through his mind: Oh no, someone used a gun as a weapon today.
Xu Qie didn't know what happened in the Zichen Palace, but later someone suggested that Cheng Xingmou was not worthy of the position and was not worthy of being the number one candidate. The real candidate was Xu Qie. Although Xu Qie vaguely sensed something was wrong, he did not stop him. , because he also has hope in his heart.
But now, everything is clear. Cheng Xingmou's talent is not inferior to his, but even faintly superior to his.
Although Xu Qie was still a little unwilling, he was convinced in his heart.
Putting aside his delusions, he suddenly woke up.
What is involved here is not only his battle for the top spot, but also the battle between aristocratic families and poor families.
Even though the Xu family in Anlu was not as good as the Xu family in Wu County, they still had several high-ranking officials.
Xu Shao, the Duke of Qiao and the Governor of Jingzhou; Xu Shao, Duke of Anlu County, Prince Sheren, Xu Shan, the governor of Xuancheng; Governor of Liangzhou, Xu Boyi; Xu Zhiren, the governor of Wenzhou, the third rank of Huangmen Shilang, Tongzhong Shumen, and Xu Yushi, the governor of Xiangzhou...
Although he was involved in some hidden prince affairs back then, he was still reused in the current government...
Xu Qie suddenly felt chilled. He suddenly thought of Prince Yin and He Zhizhang. Now he finally understood where he had lost Cheng Xingmou.
Compared to He Zhizhang, he was extremely lucky. At least he still had the opportunity to participate in the imperial examination, rank second, and be appointed to the Hongwen Academy. However, He Zhizhang did not even have the chance to be on the imperial list.
If we continue to cause trouble and make the emperor angry, the consequences will be...
Thinking of this, Xu Qie stood up solemnly, raised his hands to Li Xuan and Li Jingxuan and said: "Brother Cheng's literary talent is natural, and now it has even reached a higher level. I admire you very much..."
The entire Qujiang Banquet truly became quiet.
(End of chapter)
