surnamed Wang

Chapter 282

On the second floor of Yanque in the capital city, two young men sat by the window.

The two wore azure blue and indigo scribe gowns respectively, no different from the large number of scholars who came to Beijing for the exam recently.

The man in the azure blue gown stood up and poured a cup of tea for the other party. The latter's expression was slightly cramped and fidgeting.

The man pouring tea smiled and said:

"Even the son-in-law doesn't have to be overly cautious. We are all from our own family. It is only natural for me to pour a cup of tea for your brother-in-law."

The son-in-law Lian Li squeezed out a smile when he heard the words, nodded yes, the other party called him brother-in-law out of politeness, he didn't dare to call himself an elder, the person in front of him was the emperor who had just ascended the throne, and the title of emperor was Shun.

Although Lian Li didn't set foot in the court, he also knew that being with the king is like being with a tiger. The king holds a lot of power, and he is the most prone to moodiness, not to mention that this is the emperor who got the throne by seeking power to usurp the throne.

Seeing that the other party was still a little nervous, Shun Emperor Bingde turned his head, looked out the window at the main street and said:
"A lot more scholars entered Beijing this year to take the imperial examination than in previous years. Among them are many well-known rising stars in the literary world. I believe Enke can recruit many pillars of talent this time."

"This is also thanks to His Majesty's martial arts." Lian Ma said.

"You and I are young people, so we don't have to be as tactful as those old loaches in the court. I heard that many of the scholars rushing for the exam this year are from the south of the Yangtze River, and even you, the son-in-law, are from the same hometown."

Lian Li nodded when he heard the words, "Recently, some fellow countrymen have come to visit Lian, and some of them have excellent literary talents. If your Majesty is interested, I can recommend you." Until now, he is still not sure about the new emperor. What are you looking for?

Wang Bingde shook his head, did not beat around the bush, and said directly:

"I have an appointment today with Lian Ma, because I want him to be the chief examiner of the Enke, and to serve as an official in the court after the scientific examination is over."

Although Lian Li had guessed this possibility, he was still a little surprised when he heard the other party say it himself, and asked:

"As your majesty said, there are quite a lot of sons rushing to take the exam this year, and there must be no shortage of capable people among them. Besides, there are all the adults in the court to assist you. Why did your majesty choose Lian?"

Wang Bingde put a paper fan in front of the other party and said:

"Even the son-in-law studied under Taifu Zhang and was the number one scholar in the scientific examination back then, it would be a pity if he was only inferior to a son-in-law.

Now that the situation in the world is uncertain, it is the time for employing people. Although there are many scholars in Beijing, most of them are rote readers. What I want are ministers who govern the country. Even if you look at the entire court, there are only a handful of such people.

I want to take advantage of this imperial examination to completely change the declining situation of the government and replace all those downcast officials with energetic young people.As the leader among young people, Lian Ma Ni is naturally the first choice. "

Lian Li unfolded the paper fan with doubts on his face, his face showed horror at a glance, Wang Bingde calmly took the fan again, and said flatly:

"Once people get older, they tend to be timid. Not only are they more tactful in doing things, but they are also very 'hands-on' in dealing with people. If only this is the case, it will not endanger the country.

But this group of people shouldn't only heat up their own stoves in winter, regardless of the lives of the people.At the end of last year, many people in various places died of freezing and starvation, but the capital did not get any news.

At the court meeting not long ago, they kept saying that the world would be peaceful this year, and that people from all over the place would all praise the emperor's virtues, which is simply ridiculous.

These people are recorded on the fan, and I have ten such fans.Among them are the powerful officials of the court and the small officials with tolerance, but without exception, they are all guilty. "

Speaking of this, Wang Bingde paused, and then looked at Lian Li with burning eyes.

"What I envision is a truly prosperous and peaceful world, where the officialdom is clear and the people live and work in peace and contentment. Even if I suffer infamy because of this, I don't care. The merits and demerits will be left to future generations to discuss.

Consort Lian, are you willing to help me finish it? "

Although Lian Li, the son-in-law, remained silent from the beginning to the end, his opinion of the emperor changed greatly.

At the beginning, Wang Bingde's words only made him feel cold all over, but as the time passed, the murderous intent in his words became more serious, and this cold feeling faded away.

When he heard the last word, Lian Li had forgotten his fear, and only felt something beating in his chest.

This feeling is very familiar, it seems that he was like this when he was young, he always had the world in mind, wishing to kill all corrupt officials with a single sword, and return peace to the common people.

Later, his teacher became seriously ill, and before he passed away, he left an entrustment to prevent him from becoming an official in the court. Lian Li didn't understand it at the time, but later he gradually understood that the current officialdom is deep and muddy. Without the teacher to rely on, he must be eaten up. Not even a bone left.

Later, he became a son-in-law, and he learned useless things with his full stomach. After being pampered for many years, he almost forgot that he was only in his early thirties, and the frivolity of his youth had long been buried by him.

He himself has become another person, gentle and refined, with a modest bearing.

It seems that the son-in-law should be like this.

……

However, being used to being a canary, Lian Li was still unable to break free from the shackles of his mind. He was silent for a long time before saying:

"I'm afraid the third princess will not like this matter."

Wang Bingde was taken aback when he heard the words, and then burst out laughing until tears came out.Not to mention Li Li, even Nie Yingxue, who was close to him, had never seen this expression on his face.

"Lian Li, oh Lian Li, I think highly of you, and it's in vain for Taifu Zhang to give you the elegant word 'singing white'.

Forget it, even if you and I haven't met each other today, I won't embarrass the Princess Mansion, so let's go. "

After Wang Bingde finished speaking, he picked up the cold tea and ignored him.

Even the son-in-law's eyes were tangled, how could he not see this obvious provocative method?
But just as the other party said, when the rooster sings, the world is white. The teacher bestowed this word on me at the beginning, just to let me change the world. Right now may be the only chance in this life. If I miss it, I can only go back to the cage. There is no future.

Wang Bingde was not in a hurry, he still drank his tea slowly.He didn't believe that a man would be willing to be a supporting role for the rest of his life, just like he didn't want to be second to others for the rest of his life.

Sure enough, the former No. [-] scholar thought for a full cup of tea before opening his mouth again:

"Return to Your Majesty, I have agreed to this matter."

Wang Bingde did not show too much surprise, calmly said:

"Report to the cabinet tomorrow."

After speaking, he put down a token, got up and left.

Lian Li picked up the gold-plated token on the table, looked at it for a long time, and then said with a wry smile:

"In the future, let alone a bed, I'm afraid you won't even be able to enter the door..."

When Wang Bingde left the restaurant, there was a woman beside him.

"Have you pulled him into the water?" The woman smiled.

Wang Bingde nodded, "It is indeed as you guessed, Lian Li will not be content with mediocrity, but whether he can take the position of the first assistant minister depends on his ability."

Nie Yingxue played with her drooping hair and said with a smile:
"Mr. Zhang's vision is not bad. The old ma'am was an extremely talented minister back then, but he only accepted such a subordinate. If he hadn't left in a hurry, the son-in-law might have become the chief assistant of the court.

These years of keeping a low profile will not only not wear down his talent and learning, but will make his background more profound. I think you have probably picked up a treasure this time. "

Hearing this, Wang Bingde smiled noncommittally. Compared with Lian Li, he was more curious about this woman who was about to become a queen.

"In the past, I only knew that you were good at catching thieves, so how can you be so eloquent when discussing state affairs?
The last time I listened to your suggestion, I rewarded Chen Jingye in the court, and publicized the matter through spies from all over the country. After that, the number of scholars rushing to take the exam increased a lot.

But Chen Jingye is also strange, I don't know whether he is grateful for my behavior, or just learned to be obedient, he actually changed the history book, not only deleted the part of treason, but also gave me a good name of surrender. "

Wang Bingde was lamenting that he could finally live forever, but the woman beside him suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's wrong?" Wang Bingde was puzzled.

"I'm laughing at you being kept in the dark and not knowing it."

"What do you mean?" Wang Bingde had a faint feeling.

Nie Yingxue restrained her smile a bit, and said:
"As you know, history books are divided into official history and unofficial history.

Needless to say, the official history was written by the official historians of the court and was praised by the kings of all dynasties. Only they themselves know how much water is in it.

Unofficial history is to make up for the lack of official history. It is written by private individuals. Because there is no restraint, it is more credible than official history in some respects. "

"You mean, Chen Jingye wrote this unofficial history behind my back?" Wang Bingde was not stupid, he knew everything.

Nie Yingxue smiled all over her face, "I guess that's probably the case. You, you are destined to 'leave your name in history'."

Wang Bingde couldn't laugh anymore at this moment, "I said why he is so easy to talk, and he changed it on his own initiative without mentioning it."

"Then what are you going to do, scold him again, or cut him off?"

Wang Bingde smiled wryly and shook his head, "Forget it, I've rewarded you all, so that's it. But I've discovered that these scholars always like to be serious in inexplicable places."

Nie Yingxue smiled without saying a word.

……

"Oh, by the way, Emperor Xiaocun has been found." Nie Yingxue suddenly remembered the business.

"Where is it?" Wang Bingde also restrained his smile.

"In Girl Mountain, I have already asked Zhao Hu to lead the troops there."

"Girl Mountain." Wang Bingde muttered the name, "is it Bai Zijing's site?"

"How do you know?" This time it was Nie Yingxue's turn to be surprised.

"When the father was in power, Bai Zijing was dismissed and returned to the farmland for no reason. I paid special attention to it. Later, he became the king of the mountain in Girl Mountain, and I even sent people to sneak into the village. It's just that in the next few years he was doing business by robbing houses, and he didn't show it at all. If I had other intentions, I didn't pay attention to him again.

The Girl Mountain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is an excellent and dangerous place. Now it seems that this is probably a step back for the royal father to leave for the descendants of the Wang family. "

"In this way, there is no way to attack?"

"Not really." Wang Bingde shook his head, "This is all thanks to Wang Bingquan."

……

"Therefore, the heavens will send a great mission to the people, and they must first suffer their minds and wills, exhaust their muscles and bones, starve their bodies and skins, empty their bodies, and disturb their actions..."

In a thatched hut in Longqi Bay, Ayue was explaining the contents of "Mencius Gaozi" to the students.

"Sir, what do you mean by that sentence?"

"That is to say, if God wants a person to take on a heavy responsibility, he must first let him suffer. For example, Guan Zhong, Sun Shuao, Sun Bin, Goujian and others are all like this." A Yue explained patiently.

"Sir, according to this, if you want to become a talent, you must go through hardships?" The bachelor continued to ask.

A Yue heard the words and smiled, and said:

"That's not necessarily the case. Many children from famous families have been familiar with it since they were young. They can use their fists and feet as soon as they become officials. They can handle everything with ease, and they hardly need to suffer.

On the contrary, many scholars from poor families finally jumped over the dragon gate with carp. Because they don't know the mystery, they can only cross the river by feeling the stones, and they will inevitably be cut by the gravel at the bottom of the river.

In my opinion, these words are more exhortations, to let those who are still going through hardships not to give up lightly. "

"Then sir, is there really God's will? Are there really immortals living in the sky?"

Children's thinking is always very jumpy, and they have already begun to be interested in the "day" at the beginning of the article.

Teachers generally don't answer this kind of question, because even they don't know it themselves, but Ayue is a little different. After thinking carefully, he said:

"I don't know about God's will, immortals, etc., but I know that the sky we see is not the real sky. In a place farther than the sky, there is a vast sea of ​​stars. There are many stars, big and small, living with us. The place is very similar, and it is also a round ball."

A quick-response schoolboy asked at this moment:
"Sir, why did Old Master Liu teach us that the sky is round and the earth is round, but you said the earth is also round? Who should we listen to?"

Ah Yue was taken aback when he heard the words, yes, the sky is round and the earth is an eternal truth, how could he feel that the earth is round?
He frowned, trying hard to find the source of this idea, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't remember it, instead it made his brain ache.

After a while, A Yue, who still couldn't figure out the truth, had to say embarrassingly:
"Let's stop here today, and I'll tell you tomorrow when I go back to check the books at night."

As soon as the students heard that school was over, they didn't care about the space. After bowing respectfully to the teacher, they ran away and disappeared, leaving A Yue alone facing the empty school in a daze.

This is not the first time he has done this. Before a student asked about the causes of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, he actually said something that he couldn't understand, such as water vapor, atmospheric pressure, electric charge, etc., and ended up saying nothing. Senseless.

"What's going on?" Ah Yue muttered to himself.

Just as he was thinking, a skinny old man with a cloth banner in his hand came to the door of the school, first took out a compass to play with, then stroked his beard and said to himself:
"It should be here."

After speaking, he raised his legs and stepped into the thatched cottage.

……

"Who are you looking for?"

Ah Yue saw a man dressed as a charlatan walk into the courtyard and went out to ask.

The old man was taken aback when he heard the words, as if he was a little surprised, then he carefully looked at the young man in front of him, and there was a sound of tsk-tsk from his mouth from time to time.

While he was looking at Ayue, Ayue was also looking at him.

This strange Taoist priest looked familiar no matter how he looked, and not only did he look familiar, but he also made people want to hit him with a stick on the head.

The little old man stared at A Yue for a while, and then said:
"Dare to ask my brother's name?"

The young man looked cautious, but he still replied:
"My name is A Yue, who is the old man?"

The old man stroked his beard, "Oh, my surname is Zhou, and I make a living by telling people's fortunes. Meeting each other is fate. I wonder if my brother would mind if I let the old man do the fortune-telling for you?"

A Yue shook his head, "I don't have any extra money."

"No money is needed." The old man grinned, and then took out a tortoise shell full of cracks.

……

(End of this chapter)