My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 430 Talent~
Sitting on the 'examination desk' in the middle of the imperial steps, Liu Rong was daydreaming, with a myriad of thoughts already in his mind.

In the square below the imperial steps - or the examination room, the candidates had already received the rewards promised by Liu Rong: the four treasures of the study, as well as gold and cloth.

In fact, this was a method that was devised to ensure Liu Rong's life safety.

——Safety within the palace is undoubtedly the top priority!
Especially the life safety of Liu Rong today is related to the ancestral temple, the country, and even the future of Chinese civilization!

No matter how thorough the political review of the candidates is, there is still no 100% guarantee: among the nearly 1,000 candidates, there are not one or two idiots who think they have "made an enemy" with Liu Rong for various bizarre reasons.

For example, last year, Liu Rong heard that a sour Confucian scholar who had become stupid due to reading too much appeared in Lu and said that Liu Rong was disrespectful to the Eastern Palace and was not a good son!

As expected, he was suppressed on the spot by two yamen runners and handed over to the Chang'an Tingwei, where he was charged with "great disrespect".

Furthermore, although Liu Rong had been on the throne for just over two years but less than three years, if we add the three years of the previous emperor and the fact that Crown Prince Liu Rong was regent - all together, Liu Rong had been in power for almost six years.

Six years.

The late Emperor Xiaojing reigned for a total of only six years.

During these six years, Liu Rong did a lot of things, especially many things that harmed the interests of the old aristocracy and old powerful people.

To say that there is no madman who bears a grudge against Liu Rong, or even wants to use Liu Rong as a scapegoat, is probably just deceiving himself.

Therefore, for the safety of the palace, especially the life of the current Liu Rong, the three rounds of examinations - the palace examinations - must ensure that the candidates entering the palace to take the exams cannot bring any potential weapons into the palace.

The best way, of course, is to search you.

But after thinking it over again and again, Liu Rong finally rejected the proposal.

——It is said that military men are very concerned about their reputation, but in fact, scholars are the group of people in the world who care the most about their reputation.

And unlike the warriors who are straightforward and "happy when praised and angry when scolded";
Intellectuals are very concerned about their reputation and are more or less a bit arrogant.

Even if you treat him with courtesy and respect, he may not necessarily be grateful. He may even stroke his beard and sigh in a pretentious manner, acting as if "that's how it should be".

But if you humiliate him or belittle him, he will jump up and down at you on the spot, or even fight you with a sword!

To put it bluntly, it's actually inferiority complex.

Unlike warriors, they are strong and capable, have made contributions to the country, and have military honors.
In contrast, literati have no military exploits to make them stand tall, and no opportunities or conditions to "fight to the death for their country."

If we have to say something exists, it is the kind of morality, righteousness, and knowledge that cannot be seen or touched, and it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false.

If you lack confidence, you will inevitably care about what others think.

The praise from others only makes him feel a little relieved;

But criticism from others would make him feel like his fig leaf has been torn, and he would immediately become angry...

In order to take into account his own stereotype of the intellectuals' common tendency to "care about face" and "have a strong sense of self-esteem", Liu Rong had no choice but to reject the body search plan.

Is there any other solution besides body search?

The answer is that candidates are not allowed to bring stationery.

——For candidates entering the palace to take the examination, the only place on their body that could hide a weapon is the stationery they use for the examination.

Instead of allowing the candidates to bring their own stationery, they were allowed to travel light and enter the palace to take the exam, and the problem was naturally solved perfectly.

Since the candidates don’t bring their own, Liu Rong naturally has to prepare it for them.

Since everything is ready now, instead of "borrowing" it, it would be better to just give a set of four treasures of the study, thus maximizing the influence of the imperial examination at a very low cost.

At this moment, the stationery that the candidates are using in their hands, without exception - all of them have the words "In the autumn palace examination of the Guiyi year, the emperor bestowed the title to so-and-so" written on them in different places on the pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

These stationery items will obviously become heirloom souvenirs, or even symbols of identity and status.

At the same time, when returning candidates show off these "souvenirs" to others, they are also promoting the imperial examination for free.

——Hey, your money is good, isn’t it?
——Where are you from?
--What?
——Granted by the Emperor? ! !
——Oh, the imperial examination…

——Ahem, what the hell is this imperial examination?

In this way, safety issues are taken care of, and the emotions of the examinees are taken care of;

By the way, he also asked Liu Rong to show some favor and promote the imperial examination.

Even paper, which has never been widely distributed since its introduction, was vigorously promoted by Liu Rong through this opportunity!
I can’t even count how many benefits I get from one move.

As Liu Rong thought so, he kept adjusting the list in front of him which contained thirty names.

However, Ji An, who was accompanying him, could not suppress his curiosity.

After asking Liu Rong for instructions, he tiptoed down the imperial steps and, like most invigilators in later generations, subconsciously scanned the test papers of the candidates under the pretext of inspection.

As the saying goes;
The most trusted and confidant people are those who always keep up with the thinking of their superiors and make it a habit.

——Ji An’s focus was naturally on the thirty or so people who had been selected by Liu Rong, passed the exam, and were listed on the top list.

It doesn’t matter if you just don’t watch it;
This sight frightened Ji An greatly...

"His Majesty……"

When Liu Rong was struggling over whether to choose Gongsun Hong or Gongsun Hong as the top scholar in this imperial examination - the first top scholar in Chinese history, Ji An, who had returned, whispered in his ear, which finally drew Liu Rong's attention back to the present.

Following the sound, he turned his head and calmly raised his pen to signal Ji An that it was okay to speak directly. Liu Rong then lowered his head again and wrote Gongsun Hong's name on a brand new piece of golden silk - the first position in the upper right corner.

no way;
In this imperial examination, no matter whether it is Zheng Dangshi who is rehashing old stories, Han Yan, the "favored concubine of Emperor Wu" in history, Zhufu Yan, the last swan of the school of diplomacy, or Ni Kuan, the legitimate successor of the Confucian "Book of Documents", they can only be regarded as young talents.

If Liu Rong chooses any one of them, he will be troubled: Is this one better? Is that one more suitable?
Only Gongsun Hong made Liu Rong find no reason to establish another person as the first number one scholar in Chinese history.

——More than thirty years ago, Gongsun Hong was already a 2,000-stone Doctor of Poetry, as famous as Jia Yi.

Although compared with Jia Yi, the Doctor of Spring and Autumn Annals, the value of Gongsun Hong's work on Book of Songs is relatively low, he is still a Doctor and a rank of two thousand stones!

The most important thing is: except for the "Book of Songs" he worked on, which is slightly inferior to the "Spring and Autumn Annals" worked on by Jia Yi in terms of gold content, in other aspects, Gongsun Hong is almost not inferior to Jia Yi at that time.

Both are twenty years old!
They are both famous in the county for their virtues and abilities!

They were also promoted to Taizhong Doctor just after serving as a doctor for only one year!

Although Jia Yi later rose to fame and became the famous Jia Changsha in the entire Chinese history, it is undeniable that Gongsun Hong was by no means inferior to Jia Yi in terms of talent or ability, as he was the same age as Jia Yi and both became two thousand stone doctors of the Han Dynasty.

Another factor is age and experience.

Gongsun Hong is already over fifty years old;
He became a 2,000-stone doctor at the age of 20 and remained so until he was 45, when he resigned and returned home in the later years of Emperor Taizong, where he continued to improve his academic studies, studying the various schools of "Spring and Autumn Annals" learned by Jia Yi, and finally chose Gongyang as his main focus.

When he was forty-seven years old, Emperor Taizong passed away and the former Emperor Xiaojing ascended the throne; when he was fifty-four years old, the former emperor passed away and the current emperor Liu Rong ascended the throne.

More than two years later, he came to Chang'an to take the imperial examination. Gongsun Hong was already 56 years old this year.

It is not to say that Liu Rong wanted to implement seniority and order in the imperial examinations;

Instead, Gongsun Hong started as a 2,000-stone Doctor of Poetry and Taizhong Daifu at the age of 20, and for the next 36 years he continued to make progress and improve his knowledge.

If such a person - such an old scholar who is as famous as Jia Yi and is well-read, is not worthy of being the top scholar in this imperial examination, then Liu Rong really can't think of anyone else who is more worthy of the honor of being the top scholar.

There is no need to say anything else, just this one point.

Except for Gongsun Hong, no matter who Liu Rong chooses as the top scholar, everyone else will definitely be dissatisfied.

Whether choosing the old friend Zheng Dangshi or the ruthless Lord Father Yan;

Whether it is choosing the Confucian scholar Ni Kuan or the cruel official Wang Wenshu Ni Kuan;

Or maybe it was the imperial relative Dou Pengzu or Emperor Wu's favorite concubine Han Yan.

No matter who you choose, others will ask: Why?!

Only Gongsun Hong became the top scholar. Everyone else, one by one, would bow their heads, suppress all their resentment, and say respectfully: "It is the old doctor who deserves this honor of being the top scholar..."

"It's time~ It's fate~~~"

"Back then, when Gongsun Hong was just beginning to show his talent, he ran into the extraordinary Jia Yi, Jia Changsha - it was really like if Yi was born, why Hong was born."

"Now, Gongsun Hong's luck has turned, and by coincidence, he has become the first number one scholar in the Chinese Empire."

"If nothing goes wrong, Gongsun Hong, who is now 56 years old, can still shine for our Han family for another 20 years."

"On the other hand, Jia Yi has already turned into a handful of yellow earth, which only makes people feel sad..."

Once the top scholar is decided, the subsequent nouns will be easy to arrange.

The second runner-up was the scholar Ni Kuan;

The third place winner was Han Yan, the illegitimate grandson of Marquis Gonggao - which was a good start for the good looks of the third place winner.

Then came Zheng Dangshi, Zhufu Yan, Wang Wenshu and others in order.

Anyway, it’s done.

After finishing all these, Liu Rong finally had the energy to raise his head again and look at Ji An who had something to say to him.

I thought that after Ji An went down to look around, he might have discovered a few talents that he had previously overlooked.
But unexpectedly, when he looked up, he met Ji An, who was looking solemn and nodded towards the direction of the examination room.

Liu Rong looked in the direction of the voice and saw that at least twenty of the people on the top list that he had selected had stood up with their test papers in their hands.

Before Liu Rong could react, he saw more than 20 people walked to the imperial steps, knelt down solemnly on the ground, and kowtowed to Liu Rong.

"The people, we bow our heads in respect, and we bow down to you even at the cost of our lives!"

"I beg your Majesty to show mercy!"

There were only about twenty people, which was obviously inconspicuous compared to the huge Weiyang Palace.

Even at this moment, Liu Rong was only twenty steps away from the twenty or so people, and he could only roughly see their faces but could not easily recognize who was who.

But it was the simultaneous shouts of these twenty-odd people that resounded throughout the entire examination room, echoing for a long time.

Realizing what had happened, Liu Rong couldn't help but frown slightly, and his expression immediately darkened.

He nodded to Ji An beside him, and after Ji An collected the test papers of more than 20 people, Liu Rong took a quick look...

"How brave~"

"So brave..."

As he said this, Liu Rong's face became increasingly gloomy.

——As Liu Rong expected, at this moment, there was not a single word about answers on the test papers of these twenty-plus people.

To be precise, these more than 20 people each submitted a letter of advice to Liu Rong using their own test papers.

As for the content of the remonstrance, it was just that Liu Rong had just issued an edict to punish all those who withdrew from the examination without reason, and to make them "never serve in office for the rest of their lives";
However, in the view of these outstanding talents, there is still room for discussion on this matter.

——In their letters of remonstrance and in their mouths, these people are saying: Your Majesty, please show mercy outside the law;
Ignorance is no fault. Let them off the hook. Starting from the next imperial examination, we will punish those who drop out of the exam without reason.

But the meaning behind the words is: Your Majesty~
There's no need to say this.
Even without such an imperial edict, Your Majesty could have banned them secretly, right?
Even if Your Majesty does not take any action, can these idiots who do not give face to Your Majesty and the imperial examination system become officials of our Han family through other channels?
On the contrary, it is your Majesty who speaks out so openly that gives others an excuse to criticize you.
Liu Rong has his own ideas about this.

——What Liu Rong wants is to kill the chicken to scare the monkey!
The chickens that were killed were those idiots who were "ignorant but blameless" in this imperial examination!

At this moment, the outstanding talents that I think most highly of are holding their exam papers and writing letters of advice to myself, urging myself to "think twice"~
Secretly, Liu Rong couldn't suppress the smile.

Talent!
They are all talents!

But on the surface, Liu Rong put on a gloomy expression.

With an attitude of "I am so angry, but I cannot lose my temper in this situation", he took several deep breaths in a feigned anger.

When they got off the imperial steps, the twenty or so people headed by Gongsun Hong were a little unsure. Liu Rong raised his head slightly and said in a cold voice: "The students' remonstrances, keep them."

"Give them another test paper and let them answer the questions."

"——The palace examination, three quarters of an hour and one stick of incense left."

"When the other candidates stop writing, you should also stop writing!"

After saying this, Liu Rong was so furious that he was afraid of a possible outburst. He turned around and headed towards the Xuanshi Hall above the imperial steps.

Looking at Liu Rong's receding back, the candidates who had been answering the questions honestly just glanced at Gongsun Hong and the others with a gloating look, and then devoted themselves to answering the questions again.

Even everyone, including Gongsun Hong, was feeling uneasy at this moment. It was obvious that the situation was beyond their expectations, making them a little unsure.

Only Gongsun Hong.

He calmly straightened his clothes and bowed solemnly to Liu Rong's departing figure.
Then he turned around, returned to his seat, and began answering questions on the newly distributed blank test paper without hesitation.

It was as if nothing had happened;
Just like just now, Gongsun Hong simply went to the toilet and then came back to continue answering questions.

Instead of joining forces with more than 20 other people to use the examination papers as a warning, which simply angered the chief examiner: the current Liu Rong...

(End of this chapter)