Prime Minister

Chapter 309
The Dragon Boat Festival is very lively in Bianjing.

Bianjing's festival items include Baisuo, Aihua, dragon boats, rice dumplings, sachets and so on.

Children in every household wear sachets on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. The sachets contain cinnabar, realgar, velvet slices and fragrant medicines, and then carry them on their bodies.This not only has the meaning of warding off evil spirits and plague, but also has the effect of embellishing the lapel.

And until the day before the Dragon Boat Festival,
The markets in Bianjing all sell peaches, willows, sunflowers, cattail leaves, and Buddhist and Taoist mugwort.The next day, every house is spread out at the front of the door, offering rice dumplings, five-color water balls, tea and wine, and nailing ai people on the door.

After the Dragon Boat Festival.

Zhang Yue was not at home after the festival, so he went to Taiping Xingguo Temple and rented three monks' rooms to study behind closed doors.

There are too many subjects in the system examination. Although I am familiar with the scriptures, I haven't read the books on Shi Wuzi and other subjects.

The scope of the system examination can be said to have no scope. In short, it is all the subsets of classics and history. These days, the chapters must be read and recited.

In order to find a clean place to study, Zhang Yue simply did not stay at home, and moved to Taiping Xingguo Temple to study in seclusion.

Before leaving, through Ouyang Xiu, Ouyang sent three ox carts to Taiping Xingguo Temple to sort out the test preparation bibliography that Ouyang sent to Zhang Yue.

The ancients said that there are five chariots rich in learning.

At that time, the books were still made of bamboo slips, but now Zhang Yue pulled three carts of books in order to take one subject.

Thanks to Ouyang Xiu, Ouyang Fa and his son are addicted to collecting books, and they really couldn't collect so many books.And when Fan Zhongyan asked Fu Bi to prepare for the examination system, he also asked him to read a roomful of books.

As for Zhang Yue's work in less than three months, it may not be three years in the eyes of outsiders.

But that's the case with exams.

As far as Zhang Yue is concerned, Er Su, the biggest opponent in the department, has been preparing for half a year in Huaiyuan Station. In terms of age, Su Shi is 26 years old, Su Zhe is 24 years old, and Zhang Yue is only 17 years old.

Now Zhang Yue really owes him the time to drink his saliva, so he entrusts Ouyang Xiu and Ouyang Fa to handle everything.

But Zhang Yue didn't know that although he had gone to study hard in closed doors, the fact that he had written [-] articles and the emperor refused to sign up had already spread in Bianjing.

Who can not pay attention to the papers of Jiayou's six-year top-ranked scholar?
Ouyang Fa got Zhang Yue's entry book and sent it to the ministers with more than two systems as soon as possible.

But when Ouyang sent it to Wang Anshi's home, it was Wang Anli who got Zhang Yue's entry.

Wang Anli and Zhang Yue were Jinshi in Jiayou for six years.However, Wang Anli's ranking was not good, he was the fifth best, and he had to wait for the selection by the Ministry of Officials as usual.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of staying in Beijing, Wang Anli also got engaged.

It was Ouyang Xiu who brokered the marriage.

With the help of Ouyang Xiu, the younger sister of Xie Jingwen, a transfer judge on Jiangdong Road, married Wang Anli.

Xie Jingwen and Ouyang Xiu are very friendly, not only him.When Xie Jingwen's father, Xie Jiang, was in Xijing with Ouyang Xiu, Mei Shengyu, Yin Zhu, etc., they climbed mountains and waters, wrote articles and poems, and were also close friends.

I heard that Xie's wife is well educated, gentle and virtuous.Therefore, Wang Anli was very satisfied, and his elder brother Wang Anshi was also very happy that his younger brother had such a marriage, and he and Xie Jingwen also had a good friendship.

Wang Anli met Ouyang Fa and asked him to come in and see his elder brother.However, Ouyang Fat saw that Wang Anshi was a bit apprehensive, so he politely declined.

Wang Anli took Zhang Yue's entry paper and presented it to Wang Anshi.

When Wang Anshi heard that it was Zhang Yue who entered the paper, he asked Wang Anli to put it aside and continued talking to his friend Sima Guang.Wang Anli was sitting beside him.

Wang Anshi lived very close to Sima Guang's family.The two of them practiced daily notes together again, which made them even more intimate.Now Sima Guang knows the patent.

In Wang Anli's eyes, his elder brother Wang Anshi was a bit stubborn and radical in character, while Sima Guang was calm and sophisticated.Therefore, my elder brother's official career has not been very smooth, and he didn't get along with the emperor and Han Qi. Compared with Sima Guang, his journey was much smoother.

And speaking from the bottom of his heart, he prefers to discuss scriptures with Sima Guang in private.In his eyes, a scholar like Sima Guang is more in line with a Confucian than his elder brother in every respect.

Right now, the elder brother and Sima Guang are sitting together chatting, while Wang Anli is naturally listening from the sidelines.It is of great help to him to be able to listen to a few words and benefit from a few words, and he will not miss this opportunity.

Sima Guang didn't care about Zhang Yue's entry into the paper at first.Of course Wang Anli wanted to help remind him, so he said to Sima Guang, "Twelve feet, this is the entry for today's number one scholar."

After Sima Guang heard that it was Zhang Yue who entered the scroll, he said: "So it was Zhang Duzhi who entered the scroll. It really made people wait. Why don't Jiefu take a look?"

Wang Anshi thought about it after hearing Sima Guang's words.

Wang Anshi said: "The recent selections are not like those selected in the past, and they may not all be desirable talents."

Sima Guang said: "Does Jiefu mean the new top scholar?"

Wang Anshi said: "It's not him, I'm talking about other people who should be restrained this time, such as Ersu."

Sima Guang was puzzled and said: "Everyone in the world praises Ersu's writing talent, why doesn't Du Jiefu like it?"

Sima Guang had a good friendship with Su Shi and Su Zhe. When Su Xun's wife died of illness, he still asked Sima Guang to write the epitaph.

Wang Anshi said: "I have met Sansu and his son several times in Ougong's mansion. To be honest, meeting is not as good as being famous."

"It's something to be willing to hear about."

Wang Anshi said: "The father and son are all well-educated Confucianists, and their literary talent is unmatched by anyone in the world, but it is a pity...the whole life is just the generation of Su Qin and Zhang Yi."

After a pause, Wang Anshi said: "Su Qin and Zhang Yi are good at diction and eloquence. Although they can dazzle people for a while, they have no merit in the country or the world. Such knowledge is really not long."

Sima Guang thought for a while and said, "Er Su is only in his 20s, so it's hard to make any achievements in learning for a while, and it can be avoided if it is miscellaneous and gratuitous."

Speaking of which, Wang Anshi picked up Zhang Yue's paper from the side and said, "This son is similar to Ersu."

Sima Guang said: "Even if they are about the same, Zhang Duzhi and Ersu are talents that come out only once in a hundred years. I was not as good as them back then."

Wang Anshi said: "It's only published once every ten years, not a hundred years, but his articles are still worth reading."

After finishing speaking, Wang Anshi took a closer look and couldn't help laughing: "It's actually bound into a book, which relieves the old man's worries."

After speaking, Wang Anshi read Zhang Yue's book.

Wang Anshi reads very fast, it can be said that ten lines can be seen at a glance.

But seeing that he read Zhang Yue's book very quickly, he flipped through ten or twenty pages at once.But stopped halfway through reading.

Wang Anshi actually turned the page and re-read it again, this time it was much slower.

Sima Guang and Wang Anli knew that Wang Anshi had always been a fast reader, but that was not always the case.

Wang Anshi once talked about his own reading, but reading the scriptures is not enough to know the scriptures.Therefore, from a certain school to a hundred schools of thought, as for "Nan Jing", "Su Wen", "Materia Medica", and other novels, they read everything; farmers and women workers ask everything.Then there is no doubt that Yu Jing can know its generality.

That is to say, he also reads novels and other leisure books, and uses this knowledge to support the scriptures.

On weekdays, Wang Anshi reads quickly when he reads leisure books, but he reads the classics very slowly.

Wang Anshi has a big bookcase with a lot of books in it, and he can read wherever he goes as an official.Once Sima Guang went to Wang Anshi's home and saw that the bookcase was covered with dust and asked Wang Anshi with a smile how long he hadn't read.

Wang Anshi took a look and said that I had already memorized these books, so Sima Guang picked them at will, and Wang Anshi memorized them fluently.However, it must be very remarkable that Zhang Yue's book can make Wang Anshi repeat and read it again and again.

But Wang Anshi read it for half an hour before finishing it.

During this period, Sima Guang and Wang Anli sat aside and waited for him without moving.

After Wang Anshi finished reading, he let out a long sigh, closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, and said, "Farewell for three days."

Wang Anshi handed Zhang Yue's scroll to Sima Guang without saying a word.

Sima Guang took the book and said to Wang Anli with a smile: "If you can make brother like this, this book must be extraordinary. I don't have the talent to make brother. I have to read the book three times if he read it once. I have to memorize the book three times.”

Wang Anli smiled, but he admired Sima Guang even more from the bottom of his heart.

It is true that Sima Guang is not as good as Wang Anshi in terms of talent and learning, but in terms of knowledge, he is solid and progresses step by step, which is unmatched by anyone in the world.

Wang Anli couldn't wait to ask: "Brother, what's so good about this article?"

Sima Guang also showed a look of all ears.

Wang Anshi said: "It's not about whether his articles are good or not, but that he has both scriptures and articles, and he has a master's degree and a college degree."

"Before the imperial examination, I read Zhang Du's articles. I have a few articles, but I have a lack of expertise. I don't have enough ambition and strength, or lack of thoughtfulness. Maybe others say that I am too harsh, but in my eyes, it is indeed the disadvantage of his articles. .”

"But now reading his articles, these fifty articles are integrated into one volume, which can be regarded as applying what you have learned. If you look at Ersu's volume, fifty articles discuss fifty things, even if the articles are colorfully written. , the point of view is sharp, but it can’t be unified, and it’s inferior when you see it.”

Sima Guang said: "Jiefu, from the point of view of my family, it's too harsh and harsh. It's better to use people like tools. It's better to learn from each other's strengths. Left and right prove each other, and pros and cons may attack each other without fail."

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Junshi is right."

After Sima Guang talked with Wang Anshi for a while, Sima Guang got up to leave, and went back to read Zhang Yue's masterpiece.

Wang Anli knew that a few days ago, the dowry envoy of his elder brother's eldest daughter Wu met his sister-in-law on the road.

My sister-in-law immediately asked the dowry envoy to find a teahouse and sat down for a while, asking about Wu's current situation.

The dowry maid hesitated at first, but later she could not stand up to her sister-in-law's careful questioning before she spoke truthfully.

It turns out that Mrs. Wu's life in her in-law's family has been very unsatisfactory for the past few months. The reason is that Wang Anshi insisted on taking Zhang Yue as No.6 in the palace examination, and Li Taijun of the Wu family knew about it.

Li Taijun didn't give Mrs. Wu a good look.

The sister-in-law knew that her daughter was not doing well in her husband's house, so she cried for several days after returning home, and her brother couldn't bear it anymore.

Now my elder brother is locked in the house to study when he returns to court, and he dare not see his sister-in-law.

Could it be that my elder brother suddenly changed his view of Zhang Yue today because of the Wu family?

Wang Anli thought about it carefully, but he didn't think so.

(End of this chapter)