I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 71 Who knows about tribute?The blockbuster Zhang Fangping

New Year's Eve.

All the streets in Bianjing City were packed to the brim.

All kinds of houses, restaurants and tea shops are crowded and bustling.

The lights on the streets were as bright as day.

Various juggling, comedy, riddles, and snack vendors can be seen everywhere.

In the streets and alleys, everyone is wearing new clothes.

All kinds of shouts, sounds of carriages and horses, and laughter intertwined together, making the sky and the earth move.

If every state and city in the Song Dynasty was like this, it would definitely surpass the heyday of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

After dinner, Su Liang, Tang Fuzi, Tang Wanmei and Taoer also went to the street to play and feel the flavor of the New Year.

He didn't return until late at night.

That night, Su Liang did not keep vigil. After drinking a few drinks with Master Tang, he lay down and fell asleep.

Because he had to attend the court meeting tomorrow, he had to get up in the middle of the night to wash up.

……

On the first day of the first month of the sixth year of Qingli.

Su Liang got up before midnight, put on his official uniform and went straight to the palace.

The etiquette system of the Song Dynasty was quite complicated.

The officials queued outside the palace for more than half an hour.

Later, as the sky grew brighter, all civil and military officials came to Daqing Hall.

Zhao Zhen was wearing a Qiu Mian (a formal ceremonial dress for the emperor), holding the emperor's scepter in his hand, and said a prayer for peace in the world and peace for the country and the people.

Immediately afterwards, the second link started, and envoys from various countries entered the palace to congratulate.

There were envoys from Liao, Xixia, Srivijaya, Dali, Dashi and other countries.

Su Liang looked at the cold expression of the Liao envoy and suddenly thought of Bao Zheng.

He predicted that Bao Zheng would be even colder than the Liao envoy.

This great meeting lasted until nearly noon.

Then came the luncheon.

After Su Liang had lunch, he slipped away and went home.

On the one hand, the official uniform was really uncomfortable, and on the other hand, he didn't need his company.

The officials accompanying envoys from various countries came from Taichang Liyuan and Liyuan.

These officials and thieves are carefully selected for their ability to drink.

While ensuring that you are not embarrassed, you can also embarrass the envoys of other countries.

Countries seem to be in harmony, but in fact they are still secretly competing with each other.

Especially in the Song, Liao, and Xixia kingdoms, the envoys' minds were comparable to the holes in a honeycomb.

The sixth day of the first month.

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were eager to take up their posts, so they left Bianjing early in the morning after Su Liangxiang saw them off.

Su Liang's husband, Mr. Tang, also boarded a merchant ship bound for Yangzhou after watching the Lantern Festival.

Mr. Tang was used to teaching and educating people.

There are still a group of children waiting for him to go to class in Yangzhou, but he has no friends in Bianjing and is tired of staying there.

Before leaving, Master Tang once again told Su Liang and Tang Wanmei that having a child was the most important thing this year and they must pay attention to it.

The two of them also promised that they would work hard to achieve it.

……

Early in the morning on the [-]th day of the first lunar month, we inspected the court.

As soon as Su Liang entered the room, he saw Zhou Yuan writing furiously, and he saw that most of the paper had been written.

"Brother Zixiong, just after the New Year, there is such an urgent memorial to write?"

"The provincial examination is coming soon, it's time to recommend candidates for Zhigongju!" Zhou Yuan put down his pen and said with a smile.

At this time, Su Liang realized that the three-year provincial imperial examination was about to begin again.

"May I ask who Brother Zixiong recommended?" Su Liang asked curiously.

"At present, the court should know that there are only three people who should be honored as tribute. Bachelor Ouyang, Bachelor Wang and Wang Zhongcheng."

Bachelor Ouyang refers to Ouyang Xiu, and Bachelor Wang refers to Wang Yaochen.

At present, both of them are serving as Hanlin bachelors in the Bachelor's College.

"Scholar Ouyang was burdened by his nephew's case and his reputation was damaged. Wang Zhongcheng's literary talent and knowledge are not as good as those of Ouyang and Wang, so..."

at this time.Censor Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen strode in from outside.

Su Liang and Zhou Yuan quickly stood up and held their hands, they still had to be polite when they saw the director.

Zhou Yuan looked embarrassed and turned his face away.

Although he hadn't finished speaking yet, it was obvious that he was recommending Wang Yaochen to Zhi Gongju.

After Wang Gongchen walked around the room, he strode outside.

When he walked to the door, he suddenly turned back to look at Zhou Yuan: "Zixiong, if you are not very busy with official duties, you can take the time to read the previous memorials of this Zhongcheng to see if I am the one who is presumptuous in being the number one scholar?"

After that, he rolled up his sleeves and walked out.

Zhou Yuan shouted: "Definitely watch, definitely watch, you will definitely appreciate Zhongcheng's masterpiece!"

After finishing speaking, Zhou Yuan's forehead was already covered with beads of sweat.

He looked at Su Liang and said helplessly: "At the beginning of the new year, I offended Wang Zhongcheng!"

"It doesn't matter! Our stage director's mind is smaller than a pinhole, but to be honest, his memorials are indeed unique to a certain extent, but... but they are still a little worse than those of Ouyang and Wang!"

Zhou Yuan nodded in approval.

This is something that is recognized by the entire court.

At this moment, Wang Gongchen, who was lying at the window and eavesdropping, left angrily.

Wang Gongchen and Ouyang Xiunai were Jinshi in the same class and were brothers-in-law.

Although Wang Gongchen was the number one scholar, people said it was because Ouyang Xiu was too romantic that he did not win the first prize.

Wang Gongchen is a top pick.

Wang Gongchen wanted to compete with Ouyang Xiu in everything, but he was not as good as Ouyang Xiu in everything.

And Wang Yaochen was the number one scholar in the fifth year of Tiansheng, one year earlier than the two of them.

Both qualifications and knowledge are higher than Wang Gongchen.

Wang Gongchen is not bad, but compared with these two people, he is a bit shorter.

Su Liang sat at the table, thought for a moment, and finally decided to recommend Ouyang Xiuzhi Gongju.

I immediately wrote a letter of recommendation.

Two days later.

Nearly a hundred recommendation memorials have been piled on the imperial desk in Chui Gong Hall.

Ouyang Xiu was recommended because of his high talent.

Those who recommend Wang Yaochen are because of their virtue.

Those who recommend Wang Gongchen adopt the elimination method.

Ouyang's cultivation of personal ethics was detrimental, and Wang Yaochen was too obsessed with academics and was not good at innovation.

In this way, Wang Gongchen is the most suitable candidate.

Just when the officials in the court were discussing whether it was Ouyang Xiu, Wang Yaochen, or Wang Gongchen who was responsible for the tribute this time.

Zhang Fangping, the envoy of the third division, suddenly submitted a petition to recommend himself to the imperial examination, and also wrote a "Book on the Disadvantages of Scholarship".

The finger points directly at the former Imperial College who directly taught Shi Jie, and the current Imperial College directly lectured on Sun Fu.

This article is like a huge boulder hitting a lake.

"Following the regulations of the Ministry of Rites, it was determined from the previous dynasty, and there were procedures for promotion and demotion."

"Since the first year of Jingyou's reign, there have been those who promoted themselves to higher places through variations. They passed on the results later and forgot their original habits. The style of writing that you came to has lost its old style day by day. Each one has come up with new ideas, and it is surprising that they are better than each other."

"When the Imperial Academy was established, Shi Jie and Sun Fu were the first to pay more attention to it. Because of their favorite things, it became a trend. They took weird and slander as their top priority, and wandering and vulgarity as their support. They went beyond the rules and misled later students."

……

It probably means——

Imperial examinations have always had regulations.

However, since Shi Jie and Sun Fu entered the Imperial College, under their influence, the students of the Imperial College and the Imperial College have developed a grotesque, obscure and examination-oriented writing style that satirizes current affairs.

This style should be abandoned in this imperial examination, otherwise it will confuse future students.

Folk scholars call this style of writing: Taixue style.

Last year, state schools and county schools were expanded, and most of the students there studied exam-oriented styles such as Taixue Style.

Zhang Fangping is a blockbuster.

The provincial examination will be held in more than a month, but the official who is applying to be the examiner wants to change the examination syllabus!

If the imperial court does what it wants, the students will probably panic.

This is like practicing the art of killing pigs for three years, but when it comes to the stage, it suddenly changes to killing dogs.

　Thanks to book friends Spring Breeze Blowing the Fragrance of Osmanthus and 20220526140458056 for the reward, thank you very much!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)