surnamed Wang

Donghan and Beitu have the same roots, and they are both wolfish ambitions. When the capital was established, they thought that one day they could go south and rule the Central Plains. Therefore, Lanjiang is only three days away from the capital.

Wang Gangquan followed the route given by the spy of the dynasty for two days, and encountered no obstacles along the way except for routine interrogation.

As he got closer and closer to the capital of Eastern Han Dynasty, he met more and more scholars on the road.

In the past ten years, the Eastern Han Dynasty has been promoting literature. Compared with the dynasty, its literary atmosphere is closer to that of the Sui and Tang Dynasties in the Central Plains, and various famous poems have also become the objects of pursuit of literati.

Although the Eastern Han literary world is weak, and there is a gap with the Central Plains that may not be able to match for decades, but every once in a while, there are still a few excellent poems.

Later, a rising star with the surname of Yelu came out, overwhelming the entire literary world. Not only did he make the terrifying feat of "Hundred Poems for Fighting Wine", but all of his poems were written by gods, so he won the title of "Contemporary Poetry Crown".

Yelu is a common surname in Eastern Han Dynasty, and has been inextricably linked with the royal family since ancient times. This identity will naturally arouse the jealousy of others.

So those who have good things spread his poems to the Central Plains, trying to take the opportunity to humiliate him, but they did not want to be self-defeating. Even the scholars of the dynasty with high eyesight, after careful reading, couldn't help but praise him.

A contemporary leader known as the "Little Poet Fairy" in the Dynasty directly challenged this "Poem Crown", and the latter also gladly accepted the challenge.

The two sides met on the banks of the Lanjiang River, and the building boat they took was packed with scholars from the two dynasties.

The two of them drank and wrote poems. When the wine reached the point of intoxication, the song was high and low, or the artistic conception was far away. From dawn to dark, until they were all drunk, they came and returned with excitement.

Although there was no winner until the end, there were still many masterpieces that made people slap their thighs, and this matter became a good talk for a while.

Under the influence of this trend, even the king of Donghan liked to write a poem every now and then, but most of them were nonsense, and Prime Minister Wen Jiang even bluntly said that it was insulting to gentlemen.

……

Donghan's selection of literati has always been eclectic, no matter whether he is free and easy or follows the rules, the court always looks like a young lady who has been a widow for 30 years, as long as he has real skills, he will not refuse anyone.

Like those that Wang Gangquan encountered along the way.Some are only in their early twenties, opening their mouths is the way of ministers, and shutting their mouths is the life of the common people; He's being rude.

For these two types of people, Wang Gingquan is not optimistic, and the prime minister of Donghan is not a stick, even if he is eager for talents, he must at least be a "virtuous", right?
Arriving at a restaurant, Wang Gingquan chose a secluded place to sit down, and several young scholars next to him were talking nonsense, but Wang Gingquan turned a deaf ear to them.

"Xiaoer, come and have something to eat."

Wang Gangquan spoke in a broken Eastern Han dialect.

A few young people next to him looked towards this side, and then their faces were full of undisguised contempt, thinking that there was another dynasty scholar who was robbing them of jobs.

The dynasty's literary background is profound, and even a small scholar surpasses most of the scholars in Donghan. It is not difficult to get an official position, so the scholars of Donghan reject these outsiders very much.

"Hey, did you come to us because you couldn't get along in the Central Plains?"

One of the Donghan scholars said sarcastically, which immediately caused a burst of laughter from the surrounding companions.

Wang Gangquan was expressionless. In his eyes, these scholars are no different from scoundrels.

In the dynasty, if literati wanted to run on others, they used soft knives that killed people without blood.

Seeing that he was indifferent, the few people on the side were still conscious of some scholars. They didn't roll up their sleeves and stepped forward to find fault, but just whispered gossip like a group of village women.

The small restaurant is not big, but it also has a few decent special dishes, so there is no shortage of customers.

As dinner approached, 30 to [-] people came in one after another, and soon the small shop was full.

At this time, an old man dressed as a Confucian scholar walked in from the door. He looked around and found that only Wang Quanquan had a vacant seat, so he stepped forward, cupped his hands and said:

"My little brother, I don't know if it's convenient for Fang to share a table with you." He said it in Central Plains dialect.

A few young scholars at the next table turned their heads when they heard the sound, with sarcasm on their faces, they babbled a long passage of Eastern Han, and laughed again.

The old man's expression remained unchanged, as if he didn't understand at all, while Wang Gangquan nodded calmly, remained silent, and didn't intend to start a conversation.

The old Confucian scholar didn't feel embarrassed, thanked him, and then sat down calmly.

"Brother also came to Donghan for his future?" The old man asked with a smile.

Wang Gangquan shook his head, still not intending to reply.

The old man stroked his beard, didn't bother himself anymore, and had a difficult conversation with the buddy at the side.

Not long after, the food was brought to the table. Although Wang Gingquan's order was not rich, it was two dishes and one soup. On the other hand, the old man was much poorer, with a pot of the worst wine and a plate of peanuts.

The old Confucian scholar lifted up the sleeves of his shabby gown, threw a peanut into his mouth, chewed it crunchily, then took a sip of the muddy wine in his glass, narrowed his eyes, and enjoyed it all over his face.

Seeing this, Wang Qingquan finally took the initiative to speak:

"If you don't dislike it, eat it with me, I can't finish it alone."

The old man seemed to have been waiting for his words for a long time. After saying a worthless polite word, he directly picked up a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing and saying:
"Brother, have you ever heard that this year's Imperial Palace Examination has a first-class result?"

"tell me the story."

Although Wang Gingquan didn't want to talk to this old Confucian scholar of unknown background, he still couldn't help being aroused. He left in a hurry and just missed this year's scientific examination.

The chicken legs had been gobbled up by the old man all day long. While chewing on the chicken bones, he looked at the mutton in front of Wang Gangquan, his intentions couldn't be more obvious.

Wang Gangquan pushed the plate forward helplessly, the old man grinned, unceremoniously picked up a large piece of fat and even lean mutton, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then drank the wine at the bottom of the glass in one gulp. Only then continued:
"The old man heard that there are many scholars in the dynasty this year, and the number of Jinshi alone is double that of previous years. Even so, the first three are still as noble as ever.

Tanhualang is still from Jiangnan, where talented people are frequent, and he was born in a noble family. Presumably, the family has already paved a broad road for him in the court.

Zhuangyuan Lang is even more powerful, Lianzhong Sanyuan, the undisputed No.30 in the dynasty for 1 years, it is said that he came from a small clan in Jiangdong. "

Wang Qingquan's expression remained normal and he said:

"Then there is one more person?"

The old man used his nails to pick out a piece of meat between his teeth, sniffed it and threw it back into his mouth, then said with a smile:

"This second place is really good, but at the age of [-] or [-], I was stunned to take the second place in the general examination, and also the second in the imperial examination.

Although it was not as shocking as the No. [-] Scholar, but with such talent and learning at such a young age, even the emperor was alarmed and summoned this person in private.

Moreover, it was rumored that he had never shown himself before, and had never appeared in the literary world. Presumably he was also the young master of a wealthy family. "

After the old man finished speaking, he saw that the other party was still in a daze, so he concentrated on dealing with the roast chicken.

Wang Gangquan's heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface. Although he was not shocked, he was still a little surprised. He didn't expect that one of these two people would win three consecutive awards, and the other would enter first class.

Thinking back to the bet he made with the boy back then, the teacher probably believed it himself.

……