The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 175 Talented but not official

The three theories of "maintaining success, sending envoys, and expediency" were articles written by Zhu Geng, a later cabinet scholar, against the mining supervisory tax and profit policy.

In Wang Wenlong's memory, this article was unanimously recognized by the chief assistant Shen Yiguan and the elder Shen Li.

It is not easy for three pavilion elders who belong to different factions to gain unanimous approval from everyone.

The three arguments in the article were all written after careful selection by Zhu Geng. They were able to express objections while saving face for Wanli, and even proposed a compromise plan.

This is an excellent article that is passable among courtiers but not popular among Wanli.

Wang Wenlong read this article carefully in his previous life. At that time, he was impressed by Zhu Geng's writing style. It was so awesome that he could dance on a few eggs of the emperor's civil servants and even the tax inspectors and eunuchs, and he could dance like flowers.

——The writing style of any provincial secretaries in later generations is inferior to that of Mr. Zhu Ge.

So don't think that this group of pavilion elders in the late Wanli period are old and useless when they are sixty or seventy years old.

Which person who can achieve that position is not a human being? The reason why he shows his uselessness is just because he doesn't want to do anything for the sake of profit.

They are very smart, but they don't really want to use their smartness to benefit the people.

In the end, this article was submitted to the cabinet as a minister, and all three cabinet ministers signed their names in the article. After reading it, Wanli could only pinch his nose and praise it. Although it was not implemented in the end, it also gained great popularity among the courtiers. good reputation.

At this time, Xu Xueju was pleasantly surprised when he saw the three arguments written by Wang Wenlong.

"These three arguments are well chosen. Does Jianyang have any further extensions?"

Xu Xueju also had a background in science and education, and his political acumen was not unusually high. When he saw Wang Wenlong's three theories, even though they were just an outline, he knew there was something.

Wang Wenlong explained: "This article must walk on the wall. It cannot swing too far from left to right. The specific content and even the choice of words and sentences must be carefully considered."

"Sir, is it okay for me to write like this?"

Wang Wenlong had read this article more than once in his previous life, and the specific content was in his mind. However, after all, this article would not be written until several years later in history. Many things cannot be quoted directly.

In order to explain to Xu Xueju and to clarify his own thinking, Wang Wenlong directly split the outline of this article into pieces, and then filled in the muscles again.

After this period of training, Wang Wenlong's literary level was also able to write classical Chinese.

In Xu Xueju's opinion, some parts of Wang Wenlong's writing are fair, peaceful and wonderful, but some parts are really hard to praise.

Fortunately, Xu Xueju was a good player. He kept making suggestions on the side, and Wang Wenlong revised them accordingly, and an article was gradually published.

The two of them didn't say anything else while writing. They were completely absorbed in writing official documents until it was getting late. Only then did Xu Xueju take the article that Wang Wenlong copied for the last time and read it carefully.

Then he praised him.

"The writing in this article is peaceful, the reasoning is sophisticated, and the writing is powerful. Even if it was written by a cabinet minister, it is only of this level!"

Xu Xueju repeatedly lamented: This article written with Wang Wenlong is more beautiful than all the scientific articles he has written.

Even Xu Xueju felt a sense of pride that he could actually write such words!

If he had been able to write such words when he was doing the six subjects, he would definitely not be an official. With such writing skills, if he joined any party in the court, he would be praised as a favorite, and his status would not be as high as that of Li Li today. Three talents are even lower.

Xu Xueju then looked at Wang Wenlong and praised him repeatedly: "Jianyang has such talent, even if Xu Wenchang were alive, he would not be as good as him!"

After thinking for a long time, Xu Xueju asked with a serious face: "How about taking the scientific examination in Jianyang? Not many people in the Imperial Academy can write this."

Wang Wenlong couldn't help but blush when he heard this.

Xu Xueju felt that this article was better than all his previous articles, and thought that all this was attributed to Wang Wenlong’s help in correcting it. As for Wang Wenlong’s writing, some places are mature and some are immature. In Xu Xueju’s view, this is normal. Everyone is like this when writing a draft of an article. If there are three or four golden words in ten sentences, it is considered good.

But Wang Wenlong clearly knows the reason why this article is amazing:

Xu Xueju felt that those sparkling words were basically Zhu Geng's original text or slightly modified. But those classical Chinese texts that Xu Xueju felt were immature were Wang Wenlong's own additions.

Only one or two sentences of Wang Wenlong's text remained in the final product, and the rest were changed by Xu Xueju...

Blushing, Wang Wenlong said calmly: "My personality is really not suitable for being an official. It's easier to be a staff member."

Xu Xueju looked at him for a long time, shook his head and persuaded: "Although you have this intention, why don't you want to improve your family's reputation and gain fame?" "Jianyang, you are young now. Don't just think about your happiness when doing things, but also think about being buried in the family." Western parents.”

"If you can become famous, you may be able to ask them to make up for the death of your ancestors in the future. Your parents will be happy to know that."

Xu Xueju was really emotionally moved. The two had been together for more than a year, and Xu Xueju already treated him as a nephew.

Xu Xueju actually did not want Wang Wenlong to leave to take the imperial examination out of selfish motives. It would be much easier for him to do things if Wang Wenlong was left in the palace. However, Xu Xueju still reluctantly made the suggestion that Wang Wenlong take the imperial examination. This completely brought him into the identity of Wang Wenlong's relative and friend. Don't ask for suggestions. If Wang Wenlong goes to take the scientific examination, Xu Xueju will definitely do his best to help.

Wang Wenlong was slightly moved when he heard this, but he knew his abilities very well and quickly said: "My parents were just businessmen during their lifetime, and they did not want me to return to the Ming Dynasty to be an official. They grew up in the West and their ideas are different from those born and raised in the Ming Dynasty."

Xu Xueju was hesitant when he heard this: "Are there such parents in the world?"

Wang Wenlong hurriedly made nonsense: "My parents really thought so. If not, they would not have asked me to learn all kinds of other skills since I was a child. Since I only asked my husband to enlighten me, I have not learned much about classics and meanings."

Hearing Wang Wenlong's words, Xu Xueju believed it a little, and then said with regret: "It's a pity. If the talents of Jianyang are determined to take the imperial examination, they will definitely achieve success in the future."

Wang Wenlong nodded and said a few words to fool him.

In fact, Wang Wenlong did not consider taking the imperial examination for more than a year, but after thinking about it, he decisively gave up.

Now Wang Wenlong can write a little bit of classical Chinese, but his level is not high.

Although Wang Wenlong also read several eight-part essays in his previous life, they were all number one essays, and the content of the imperial examinations were always those arguments. The number one essays in his previous life may not have been on the right topic, but he would always encounter similar questions after several years in a row, and most of them had Chance to pass.

But even so, Wang Wenlong could only pass the exam.

Although they are all eight-part essays, the requirements for eight-part essays in different eras are also different. The writing style of eight-part essays in this dynasty changed during the Hongwu and Yongle years, and the writing style during the Chenghua and Hongzhi years changed again. There are countless small changes at this time, and even the selected articles will be different a few years apart.

If you put the simple style of articles in the Hongwu and Yongle years into the Chenghua period, you will not be able to pass the exam at all, and if you put the complicated style of articles in the Hongzhi period into the current Wanli era, you will probably not get high marks.

The eight-part essays that Wang Wenlong had read in his memory were all from the Qing Dynasty. Although they were well written, using them to take the imperial examination was basically equivalent to translating a high-scoring IELTS essay and then taking the college entrance examination Chinese composition.

The article is certainly good, but at most it will only allow Wang Wenlong to pass the provincial examination, and the probability of passing the Jinshi examination is very slim.

If he just passed the examination, it would not be of great benefit to Wang Wenlong to obtain a meritorious title at this time.

At this time, many literati who abandoned the scarf, such as Chen Jiru, were already famous all over the world, but they would not take the imperial examination again.

Because if you don't take the exam, you will abandon your status as a scholar. If you fail the exam, you will be laughed at.

——A mountain man and a hermit said that he was so powerful, but it turned out that it took him more than ten years to pass the examination. This is a very demeaning thing.

For example, the "Three Feng in Wuzhong" family of Feng Menglong suffered greatly. The examination was too difficult. Historically, Feng Menglong was directly depressed. Passing the examination has become an obsession. The three of them were still taking the examination until they were sixty or seventy years old. , none of them passed the test.

When they were in their teens and twenties, the three of them would be bright-faced if they were told that they were talented people. But when they were sixty or seventy years old, they were still bald and talented people.

If they voluntarily give up the exam when they are twenty years old and concentrate on being a famous official from then on, their reputation will definitely be higher than that in later generations.

Therefore, people like Chen Jiru are actually smart. After they failed to pass the exam, they saw clearly their future path. They directly held a large party and burned the Confucian scarf at the party, using performance art to show that they would never take the exam again. , and by the way, it can also create a character of a famous official.

For Wang Wenlong, his identity is even cleaner.

Chen Jiru was deeply involved in the scientific examination and quit in anger, but Wang Wenlong did not enter the scientific examination at all. He came and went - now his reputation is better than Chen Jiru.

And now that Wang Wenlong has such a reputation, it is not difficult to become an official. At this moment, he only needs to use his connections to get a tribute, and in two years he will be assigned to a minor official at the county level.

Even if he continues to create a famous official character, it is possible to become a county magistrate in a few years. Of course, he will most likely have to go to a remote place in a poor country - but this is still much higher than the probability of success in his own scientific examination.

After the two of them finished writing the article, it was already dinner time. Wang Wenlong ordered the food to be served again. While the two of them ate, Xu Xueju read the article several times and still felt it was good.

When the samples of the latest issue of "Xunbao" were sent in for Wang Wenlong to review, Xu Xueju got up when he saw that Wang Wenlong had something to do, and Wang Wenlong hurriedly sent them out.

(End of this chapter)