No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 2: Wang Anshi of Linchuan

Wang Anshi of Linchuan?
Isn’t this the famous stubborn prime minister in later generations, the famous prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty who presided over the political reforms?

No, it is the first month of the second year of the Qingli period. Wang Anshi passed the imperial examination and started his official career this year. At this time, he should be studying in Bian Jing like himself, waiting for the results of the provincial examination.

The imperial examination system of the Song Dynasty was different from that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where the examination papers were rotten. It was not that difficult to take the provincial examination.

If you pass the state examination, you will be qualified to go to Bian Jing to take the provincial examination.

Scholars in Bianliang could obtain the qualification of Jiesheng as long as they took the examination of the Imperial College, which was even easier than the local examinations.

Therefore, although they are all students, their levels vary greatly. There are those like Wang Anshi who have real talents and knowledge, and there are those like Su Ze who are just filling in the gaps.

In the Song Dynasty, the qualification of Jiesheng was worthless, and sometimes even Jinshi was not worth much. After passing the Jinshi examination, one had to "Houque" and wait for an official position to become available. Only when a vacancy appeared could one become an official. This was unlike the Ming and Qing dynasties, where one could have the opportunity to become an official after obtaining the qualification of Juren.

Why did Wang Anshi come to him?

Searching his memory, Su Ze remembered that it was his mouth that caused the trouble.

The reason was that Su Ze, at a banquet held in Baihua Tower, made arbitrary comments on the young scholars who were now gaining fame in Bianliang, including Wang Anshi, who was known as a child prodigy when he was young and had long been famous in Bianliang.

Su Ze commented that Wang Anshi was "pedantic", rigidly following classical Chinese and lacking in originality in his scholarship.

Who knew that Wang Anshi was such a pedantic person? After hearing Su Ze's evaluation, he came to the neighborhood where he lived early this morning to ask for advice from him.

Su Ze felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

In the impression of later generations, Wang Anshi is first and foremost a politician and reformer. Only a few people know that he is one of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties and a literary figure who advocated classical prose.

But Su Ze, a failed writer who loves history, knows that Wang Anshi himself is also a genius among scholars.

If he wasn't a genius, he wouldn't have passed the imperial examination at the age of 22, and ranked fourth at that!

How capable was my predecessor to dare to judge the scholars of the world with such a lousy mouth?

But Su Ze changed his mind and realized that the person outside the door was Wang Anshi, one of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties!
As long as he wrote something for himself, wouldn't he be able to gather the "literary spirit" needed for Peach Blossom Spring?
Su Ze quickly put on a single layer of clothing and hid the Peach Blossom Spring close to his body. Then he shouted to the outside of the door:

"Wang Lang, please wait a moment. I will see the guest once Su finishes washing up!"

After hurriedly washing up, Su Ze walked out of the courtyard. After opening the door, he saw a young man with a straight back.

Is this Wang Anshi?

All I saw was that he was not tall, with a straight nose, tightly closed lips, a firm jaw, and large ears that stood out on his thin face.

But all these facial features are controlled by a pair of bright eyes.

Anyone who sees Wang Anshi will be attracted by his eyes.

Su Ze recalled that in the notes of later generations, Wang Anshi was once called "Ox" - "with ox eyes and tiger head, and he sees things like shooting arrows."

Of course, that was a description of Wang Anshi in later generations after he became prime minister. At that time, Wang Anshi was still a student waiting for the provincial examination. He had not experienced the trials of life, but his vision was sharper and clearer than others.

Wang Anshi was also looking at Su Ze.

The Su family's ancestral home is in Bashu, but they have lived in Bianliang since the early years of the Ming Dynasty.

But Su Ze was born with a good appearance. He was much taller than the normal Bashu people, and his face was as white as jade. Therefore, he was well-known among the young scholars in Bianjing City and was often invited to banquets.

Su Ze knew, however, that he was nothing more than a figurehead. Many of his peers who had invited him were simply treating him as a joke, waiting for him to say something outrageous after drinking, drawing laughter from the crowd. A good appearance always attracts attention, and Wang Anshi was no exception. Just as he was about to speak, a commotion erupted from outside the alley.

Immediately afterwards, Su Ze heard the cry of a small animal, and a red object flashed by, as if it had crawled into his house.

A group of constables in short uniforms rushed to Su Ze's door with nets in hand.

The leading middle-aged constable, with a round face, pointed at Su Ze's house and shouted:
"He ran into that room, chase him!"

Just as the group of detectives were about to rush into the yard, Wang Anshi stood in front of them, blocking their way.

"You are the constables of Kaifeng Prefecture. Do you have a notice to search the house?"

The notice, also known as the order, was issued because there were many powerful people in Kaifeng and the police were worried that they would accidentally offend the nobles. Therefore, the police in Kaifeng Prefecture had to hold a notice signed by the prefect before they could enter the house to search, otherwise it would be regarded as an illegal order.

This group of detectives obviously didn't have a list of names posted. The round-faced middle-aged detective in the lead said angrily:

"We are helping Princess Fukang chase Li Nu! The princess's newly engaged Yan Zhixue is missing. Can you afford to offend her?"

If it were a constable from another place, he would have rushed into the house by now.

However, Kaifeng Prefecture was full of hidden talents. Wang Anshi and Su Ze were both men of extraordinary appearance, and the constables did not dare to offend them rashly.

So the round-faced constable was just being tough, but he didn't rush into the house.

Wang Anshi took a half step back and said:

"The owner of this house is here. This is the residence of this year's provincial examination candidate. If the books are messed up and Su Lang is delayed from studying, it will hinder the future of this talented person."

"You go into the house with us and search alone. Don't rummage through anything."

Hearing this, the round-faced constable looked at his men and, not wanting to argue with Wang Anshi, said:
"Then I'll do as this young master says and go in alone to search!"

Su Ze walked in front and opened the door of his house. The round-faced constable went in and looked around, but as expected, he didn't find anything.

However, Su Ze saw a ball of orange-red hair on the beam, but thinking of the arrogant attitude of these constables, he did not say anything.

At this moment, the other detectives outside the door shouted:

"Captain Sun, there's something over there!"

The round-faced Captain Sun immediately rushed out of the yard with his net, cursing as he ran towards the next house.

After the noisy group of constables ran away, Su Ze bowed to Wang Anshi sincerely and said:
"Thank you, Wang Lang, for your help."

Su Ze certainly knew that Wang Anshi had helped him a lot.

The constables of Kaifeng Prefecture were not the people's police who served the people in later generations. In the Tang Dynasty, urban hooligans were recruited to serve as bad guys and use the method of fighting poison with poison to maintain urban security.

The quality of the constables in the Song Dynasty was not very high either. The one they used just now was the "rushing into the door" tactic.

The so-called "rushing into the door" means rushing into people's homes in the name of performing official duties, and then rummaging through the houses in the name of searching. When the group of detectives have finished searching, all the valuable things in the house will be taken away by them.

The story of Princess Fukang losing her cat spread throughout Bianjing City a few days ago. Many people were rushed to their homes by police because of this, and Su Ze had also heard about it.

If it weren't for Wang Anshi's quick wit and familiarity with government laws, which prevented the detectives from acting rashly, Su Ze's meager property would have been completely looted.

(End of this chapter)