My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 431 Meeting the Saint
Less than an hour later, the palace examination ended.

It is different from the first and second rounds of the imperial examinations - after the examination, the candidates can leave on their own and only need to leave the examination papers on their seats;
After the palace examination today, candidates were asked to stop writing and stay seated, not moving around, while the examiners collected the test papers first.

Then~
There's no after that.

——The test papers were taken away;

The examiners left with the test papers.

Apart from the examinees, the only people present were the imperial warriors who were there to maintain order.

No one told the candidates whether they should leave or stay;
So the candidates could only look around and continue waiting in their seats.

What are you waiting for?
no one knows.

I just felt that if I just left like this, something bad would happen.

Although I have no reason to stay and it seems like something is wrong, it still feels better than just leaving...

"Hey, Brother Zheng;"

After about an incense stick of time, they found that the warriors had not moved at all and were still standing there like sculptures. The candidates began to whisper to each other tentatively and cautiously.

The person Ni Kuan sought out was naturally Zheng Dangshi, who had the most connections and the broadest network of contacts among the friends he met in Chang'an, and who also knew the current Liu Rong best.

"Your Majesty, what is this~?"

"——Is Thunder angry?"

"Even if you are angry, there should be some rules, right?"

"Just leaving us like this, what's the point???"

As one of the few representative figures of the younger generation of Confucianism, Ni Kuan has a very strong Confucian color.

To put it bluntly, he is very human, and attaches great importance to personal connections and friendships when dealing with people.

It’s like going to Chang’an to take the exam this time.

As the grandson of Jinan Fusheng, Ouyang Hebo's most outstanding disciple, and the only contemporary inheritor of the "Shangshu", Ni Kuan did not have to worry about anything after arriving in Chang'an even if he did not use any connections or make any connections.

——The court in Chang'an would give face to Jinan Fusheng, to Ouyang Hebo, and even to the young hero Ni Kuan, and would arrange all his daily affairs properly.

But as a Confucian scholar, the first thing Ni Kuan did when he arrived in Chang'an was to find the person with the most powerful "connections" and "friendships" among the Confucian scholars in the court: the Imperial Censor Dou Ying, Marquis of Weiqi.

As a great scholar of the time, Dou Ying naturally treated Ni Kuan, a younger generation, with great courtesy and fulfilled his duties as a host.

Later, with the help of Dou Ying, Ni Kuan made his first "friend" in Chang'an: Zheng Dangshi, the former prince's attendant.

This may be abstract;

A good Confucian student and a chivalrous man from Liang and Chu and a former prince's attendant who had never made it far - these two people don't seem like they should be together?

But in fact, among the thousands of candidates and dozens of "talented men" taking the imperial examination this year, the one who was most suitable for Ni Kuan to make friends and get close to was Zheng Dangshi.

Let’s do a process of elimination first.

Except for Zheng Dangshi, none of the other candidates who had some fame and ability were compatible with Ni Kuan, the good Confucian boy.

Lord Father Yan?
——The heretic strategist!
Wang Wenshu?
——A cruel official of the Legalists!
Han Yan?

——A dandy boy!
Dou Pengzu?
——The second generation of meritorious marquis, a relative of the emperor!

The only person who seemed suitable for Ni Kuan to get close to and make friends with was Gongsun Hong, who also came from a Confucian family.

But it is a pity that more than 30 years ago, Gongsun Hong was appointed as the Doctor of Poetry by Emperor Taizong;
In the past few years, Gongsun Hong turned his attention to the study of the Spring and Autumn Annals, and he was the most radical of all the schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Annals, with the style least like that of a Confucianist!
Therefore, although they were both from Confucian backgrounds, Ni Kuan, who studied "Shangshu", did not think that Gongsun Hong, who studied "Shi" and "Spring and Autumn Annals" - especially Gongsun Hong, who studied "Qi Shi" and Gongyang Chunqiu - could be on the same page with him.

Furthermore, Ni Kuan is now in his twenties, an age of innocence and naivety;
In contrast, Gongsun Hong had served as a doctor of two thousand stones more than thirty years ago.

Now he is entering the court again and taking the examination. Even if he cannot become a general or a prime minister in the future, at least he can guarantee himself a position as one of the Nine Ministers and strive for one of the Three Dukes.

Ni Kuan didn't think that he, who was so young and had "accomplished nothing", could get in touch with Gongsun Hong just by relying on their friendship as both were Confucian scholars.

After all, Ni Kuan himself knew very well that scholars from Confucian background, no matter how old or talented they were, were all a bit arrogant in their bones.

Just like Ni Kuan himself, who couldn't see clearly those seniors of Feiwu who had achieved nothing and hadn't made any progress in decades - in Ni Kuan's opinion, Gongsun Hong, the big boss, would definitely look down on a young man like himself.

Dou Ying was different.

Although he was a great Confucian scholar of his time, Dou Ying actually did not specialize in any particular school of thought. He dabbled in poetry, calligraphy, rites, the Spring and Autumn Annals, and even the Book of Changes.

In addition to Confucian classics, Dou Ying was also influenced by the Empress Dowager Dou and the Dou family's in-laws since he was a child, and he also had certain attainments in Huang-Lao school of thought.

From this perspective, it is not so much that Dou Ying, the "great scholar of the time", became a great scholar because of his good Confucian scholarship;
It would be better to say that it was because Dou Ying's learning was comprehensive and extensive, and with the added bonus of his status as a relative of the emperor, that he was given the title of a great Confucian scholar by Confucianists who wanted to curry favor with him.

Therefore, in Ni Kuan's view, Dou Ying, who is "unworthy of the name", is a "great scholar of the time" who was promoted by Confucianists in order to curry favor with them. He is not specialized in any particular school and has no bias towards any school within Confucianism. He is the person he should really build relationships with.

Before becoming the Grand Censor, Dou Ying started out as the Prince's Secretary during the previous emperor's reign when the crown prince had not yet been appointed and the Prince's Palace had no owner. Later, he was promoted to the Prince's Grand Tutor for his contributions in pacifying Wu and Chu.

Taking into account that the prince that Dou Ying "taught" at that time has now become the emperor of Han Dynasty, it can be said that Dou Ying is a well-deserved imperial tutor of the current dynasty.

Therefore, to be close to Dou Ying, in a sense, is actually to be close to the emperor, and to the most powerful foreign relatives of the time behind Dou Ying: the Dou family.

As for Zheng Dangshi, he was an old acquaintance of Dou Ying, whom he met in Liu Rong's palace when Dou Ying was the Prince's Tutor and whom he admired highly.

Dou Ying said that Zheng Dangshi was a person who could be a friend, so naturally Ni Kuan agreed without any objection.

In addition to the key factor of "Dou Ying's introduction", Zheng himself at that time was actually more satisfied with Ni Kuan, a good Confucian boy,'s criteria for selecting political allies.

——Few people know, or rather, few people remember: Zheng Dangshi, who was rough, straightforward, and once a hero from Kanto, also had a very impressive background.

——The nineteenth generation grandson of Duke Huan of Zheng!
——Another object of the Han Dynasty’s unspoken rule of ‘survival and destruction’!

This is the descendant of royalty and aristocracy, with noble blood, which is in line with the value advocated by Confucianism: a dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse's son will dig holes.

A descendant of a royal family, how could he not be worthy of friendship? Are you kidding me...

Secondly, with regard to the group of knights, among all the doctrines and schools of thought that still exist in the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has the most moderate attitude towards them.

The Legalists, needless to say, swept the knights-errant and the Confucian scholars into the category of the "Five Idiots";

Huang-Lao school of thought is similar. It looks lazy and calls for "ruling by doing nothing" whenever there is something to do. But if you really push Huang-Lao school of thought to the limit, they will shout "do nothing, and yet do everything"!
You are more ruthless and your methods are more cruel than those of the Legalists!
It is Confucianism instead.

On the contrary, the Confucians, who have powerful landlords as their base and insist on "distributing salt" to the powerful, have a very high tolerance for the ranger group because of the financial backers' need for black gloves.

——After all, the Confucians of today still talk about the four principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom!
Let’s not talk about other things about the rangers - on the point of "righteousness", there is really nothing to say.

Therefore, Ni Kuan was not opposed to Zheng Dangshi, a "bad official" who came from a heroic background.

In addition to Dou Ying's introduction and the presence of the knight-errant, the energy of Zheng Dangshi, the "former prince's attendant", also aroused Ni Kuan's great interest.

Just think about it and you will know: a "sovereign son of the sect" like Ni Kuan, who does not have to do anything and can become a two thousand stone "Shangshu" doctor in a few decades, would not come all the way to take the imperial examination for an official position of four hundred stones.

To put it bluntly, if Ni Kuan wanted to be an official, the recommendation of his teacher Ouyang Hebo alone would be enough to secure him an official position lower than the two thousand stone official.

Therefore, the real value and significance of the imperial examination for Ni Kuan was not to seek an official position;

Instead, he took advantage of the trend of "responding to the call of Liu Rong today" to successfully enter Liu Rong's field of vision, wait for an opportunity to get close to Liu Rong, and subtly change Liu Rong's stereotype of Confucianism.

——Brainwashing the Han emperor so that he no longer hates Confucianism is the work that Confucianism has always insisted on promoting since the establishment of the Han Dynasty.

Everyone in the world believed that during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, Confucianism did an extremely poor job in this area. Not only did it not produce any results, but it made Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, who already hated Confucianism, hate Confucianism even more. He even kept shitting and pissing on Confucianism's faces.

But in fact, since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty has gone through seven emperors and one empress, and the most successful period of Confucianism's whitewashing was precisely during the reign of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang.

Because in that less than ten years, Confucianism successfully cultivated a crown prince who spoke of benevolence and morality, and who would mention "Confucius said" every three sentences!

Moreover, this crown prince who loved Confucianism, who even wanted to call himself a Confucian scholar and regarded Confucius as his ancestor, was successfully enthroned as emperor!
It is no exaggeration to say that Emperor Xiaohui and Liu Ying are the most successful and outstanding works of Confucianism in the past hundred years - more successful and perfect than Fusu, and more brainwashed!
It’s a pity that Emperor Xiaohui did not live long and never came to power.

After that, Empress Dowager Lü came to power, and the former and later Shaodi were in power, so Confucianism could only lie dormant. After all, during the reign of Empress Dowager Lü, not only did she destroy theories and schools of thought, but she also killed the descendants of the founding emperor and the princes in power.
Confucianism has always been good at judging the situation.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Confucianism experienced a turning point.

First, Jia Yi emerged out of nowhere, and Confucianism officially became popular in the political arena of the Han Dynasty!

As a result, Jia Yi was ostracized by the entire court just because of his background as a "Confucian scholar". He eventually suffered from bad luck and died in depression.

Then Chao Cuo, a doctor of Shangshu, appeared, which made the Confucians happy again.
Especially after Chao Cuo sneaked into the Prince's Palace, Confucianists from top to bottom were celebrating - everyone thought that the Han Dynasty was going to have a second Emperor Xiaohui.

As a result, the old thief Chao Cuo smiled and revealed his Confucian skin: Are you surprised?

Unhappy?
Hey!

I am a true legalist!

The Confucians were unable to criticize or say anything, and could only sulk on their own...

Let’s not talk about the previous emperor’s reign - Emperor Xiaohui’s 2.0 plan was stillborn because of the old villain Chao Cuo.

Looking back at the previous emperor’s reign, cruel officials were rampant, Huang-Laoism was lingering on, and Confucianism had no chance to speak at all.

During the reign of Emperor Liu Rong - to be precise, three years after the previous emperor, when Emperor Liu Rong took over the government, Confucianism began to take action again.

In order to show the most perfect attitude in front of the current Liu Rong, the Confucians even took the great risk of sending their most outstanding "holy son", Yan Yi, the descendant of Yan Hui, to Chang'an and stuffed him into Liu Rong's prince's palace as a servant.

The purpose is still the same: to brainwash the prince silently, subtly change his temperament, and ultimately cultivate the next Emperor Xiaohui.

Everyone saw what the result was.

Fortunately, the current Liu Rong is not very hostile to Confucianism - at least not as deep and pure as the Taizu Gaohuangdi;

So, Confucianists started to think about it again.

——The current Liu Rong has also reached adulthood.

The Pepper Chamber has a master, and the country will soon have a successor.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he sent Ni Kuan to take the imperial examination, so that he could become familiar to the then current Liu Rong and show off the academic level of a Confucian scholar.

After the royal heir is born, the biggest supporter of Confucianism in the court: Weiqi Hou Dou Ying, should also be able to sit on the position of prime minister.

When the heir to the throne - the eldest prince - reaches the age of enlightenment, with the help of the prime minister Dou Ying and the recommendation of Ouyang Hebo, it would be a piece of cake for Ni Kuan to become the prince's tutor or the prince's household steward.

Ni Kuan certainly knew his mission.

Of course, he knew that he came to Chang'an for the opportunity to be close to the crown prince in the future.

Therefore, any words related to the word "crown prince" will be the focus of Ni Kuan's attention.

At that time, Zheng happened to be a servant of the current Crown Prince Liu Rong, and a real confidant of the emperor.

Although she was eliminated during the competition for unknown reasons, she still knew more about the crown prince than those who had never been in the Crown Prince's Palace.

Considering all these, it is foreseeable that Ni Kuan, the good Confucian boy, and Zheng Dangshi, the rough and heroic man, would get together.

When Ni Kuan asked the question, he didn't really want Zheng to give a clear answer at that time, but just wanted to use it to calm his uneasy mood.

Unexpectedly, before Zheng could open his mouth to respond, a series of singing voices came from the direction of the Xuanshi Hall that seemed to tower into the clouds, coming from far away, from low to high, from unclear to clearly audible.

"Xuan, the former Doctor of Poetry, Gongsun Hong of Zichuan came to see me~"

"Announce, Huaiyang Zheng Dangshi, Linzi Lord Father Yan, Qiancheng Ni Kuan, Yangling Prince Wen Shu... and others, wait for your summons in the side hall~"

"The rest of you, leave the palace and return home, waiting for the announcement~"

(End of this chapter)