A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 185 His poems are not antithetical!

Perhaps it was the emperor's excitement just now that made Empress Guo a little dazed.

After all, he had just acted considerately to please the emperor.

I never thought it would turn out like this.

She thought she could just teach a few servants a lesson and then enter the emperor's room.

Others are not qualified to enter, so is she not qualified to enter?
At this time, Empress Guo was only twelve years old. When she heard the emperor's weak voice, she immediately gave up her thoughts.

"I am right!"

"I'm just here to care about the Emperor."

"It's the Emperor who is irritated by the government affairs."

"I'll talk to my mother tomorrow."

Queen Guo quickly found an excuse for herself, then forced a smile on her face and took her leave from Emperor Zhao Zhen.

When Zhao Zhen saw that Empress Guo still had a smile on her face, he became even more furious.

"provocative!"

"She totally disregards my feelings!"

"She took advantage of my mother's favor to wantonly bully me!"

Zhao Zhen's fists were clenched so tightly that they hurt.

He subconsciously wanted to slide everything on the table to the ground to vent his anger.

But in the end he supported himself on the table with both hands and sighed silently.

"When will I, the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, be free?"

the next day.

The memorial from Yan Shu, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, was finally delivered to the court.

After all, killing an official in the street is a very bad thing.

Fortunately, Judge Gu was treated by Doctor Wang and was able to save his life.

Especially since the killer Fire-Eyed Suanni came from Tokyo City, I hope Kaifeng Prefecture can cooperate in his capture.

Even though these prime ministers had experienced political struggles, they had never experienced being assassinated in the street.

This must be something that is outrageous to God and man. Did Gu Zimo steal someone else's wife?
So they hired people from Tokyo to kill him.

Liu E raised her eyebrows slightly. In all these years, she had never heard of an official being assassinated in the street.

At most, Prime Minister Wang Dan was hit by books thrown at him in the street.

But she has been in power for many years and has not spoken first.

Emperor Zhao Zhen, who knew the truth, sat upright on the dragon throne. He knew the truth of the matter.

However, Yan Shu unexpectedly did not report the truth and concealed the news that Song Xuan had treated his enemy.

He couldn't understand why he didn't tell the truth.

But Zhao Zhen was also accustomed to keeping silent.

Lu Yijian immediately spoke up, "This is truly a terrible thing. If the murderer is not apprehended and punished, the dignity of the Song Dynasty will be shattered."

Even if the Song court's policies were generally relaxed, many people dared to beat drums to sue officials and even try to manipulate them.

But they all did not quarrel with each other, and the operations were allowed because there was no threat to life.

But assassination in the street is different!

If the imperial court does not punish severely, will there be more people who will follow suit in the future?
Once those criminals kill officials, will they rebel next?

This is such a threat to the entire Song Dynasty regime that we must strike hard.

"good."

Wang Zeng was also very angry about the killing of officials.

Are we going to go back to the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, where people were not treated as human beings?
"We must punish them severely and send people to Songcheng to investigate the cause."

Wang Qinruo naturally looked up at the Empress Dowager.

Liu E simply nodded and said, "Send the people from the Imperial City Bureau to investigate as well."

When Zhao Zhen heard this, his heart trembled a little.

How could the Queen Mother send someone from the Imperial City Bureau?
"Empress Dowager, let's leave this matter to the Ministry of Justice."

Lu Yijian didn't want the people from the Imperial City Bureau to investigate the case, especially since it involved the lives of officials.

"Yes."

In this matter, Wang Zeng also preferred that the government officials investigate the case rather than the Imperial City Bureau:

"Ever since Emperor Taizong established it, although it is not a permanent establishment, it has played a certain role."

The Ministry of Justice was decided to be established as a permanent institution after Song Renzong took power. It was sent by the central government to represent the central government in supervising the prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction.

Song Ci's position is equivalent to the director of the provincial procuratorate.

Liu E looked at Wang Qinruo who was standing beside her.

Wang Qinruo also agreed that the Ministry of Justice should handle it.

"In that case, let's nominate someone so that we can investigate this matter as quickly as possible."

Empress Dowager Liu E did not insist that people from the Imperial City Administration go.

She actually knew that the emperor had sent people out.

I just mentioned it to warn the emperor.

In fact, no matter what happened in the palace, Liu E could not be hidden.

She was also aware of the quarrel between the emperor and the empress at night, but she did not intend to intervene and even wanted to indulge them.

Liu E was not strict with Zhao Zhen, but had her own thoughts.

Your father was addicted to women at a young age and died of illness. You must never follow in his footsteps.

Taizong had three sons at that time.

Emperor Zhenzong was the third son and wanted to be a leisurely prince, but fate played a joke on him.

For some unknown reason, the eldest son, whom Taizong had high hopes for, went crazy.

Of course, this was after the rumor that Taizong, who was good at using poison, killed his eldest nephew.

The second son was indeed ambitious, but died young.

In the end, the position of crown prince fell to Zhenzong, that's it.

Taizong saw that Zhenzong had a sallow complexion and knew at once that he was addicted to women, so he ordered Liu E to be sent out of the palace.

That is, Zhenzong's good friend Zhang Qi gave his own village to Liu E to live in. In order to avoid suspicion, he did not go home and lived in the office for nearly ten years.

When Emperor Zhenzong came to power, Zhang Qi naturally received great rewards.

Of course, the prime minister Lu Duan, who was not confused about major issues, was also indispensable. He personally confirmed Zhenzong's succession to the throne and prevented Taizong's queen from staging a coup.

Because Zhenzong was the first crown prince to succeed to the throne normally in hundreds of years, it was the normal transfer of royal power that the whole world had been looking forward to.

Although Emperor Taizong had the ambition to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he was not only incompetent in military skills, but also narrow-minded. He even got angry when others praised his own son.

But then again, it was precisely because Liu E had been caught in the rain.

So she also wanted to tear Zhao Zhen's umbrella.

She must not let Zhao Zhen follow the same path as her husband at such a young age.

How does Mr. Zhao feel about women with great looks? How could she, who relied on her looks to get to the top in the early days, not understand?
Liu E thought so, but it did not prevent her from having a strong desire for power.

During those ten years, she actively read and learned to read, paving the way for herself.

After entering the harem, he used his Shu identity to establish an alliance with the concubines and make friends with court officials.

Because Emperor Zhenzong was not as powerful and scheming as his two ancestors, he could not completely control the court. In addition, due to the style left over from the Five Dynasties, the nobles and literati looked down on the southerners.

Liu E actively contacted the oppressed southerners and helped Zhenzong maintain the balance of the court.

The power of the southerners began to grow rapidly during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, which was also a need of imperial power.

During this period, Liu E found her own position. She and Yang Guifei were often taken by Zhenzong to participate in government affairs, which further conveyed to the southerners the intention of using them.

Liu E has gone through many ups and downs to reach her current state.

So even when her son Renzong grew up, she was unwilling to return the power to him.

The Empress Dowager spoke, and everyone looked at the Emperor again.

Regardless of whether he is in power or not, he must never deny the emperor the opportunity to speak.

"Then, let's do as the Queen Mother said."

Next, several prime ministers began to discuss who should be sent to preside over this matter.

"Minister Cao is in charge of the exam in Songcheng. Why not let him take the lead in handling this matter?"

"We need to send two more people to assist."

In short, even if Cao is just a figurehead, the actual operations still need to be done by the people below.

Let’s put the military generals aside, he can take the blame.

"I recommend Pang Ji, the Dali Temple Secretary."

"I recommend Han Yi, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple."

"can."

Everyone looked at the Queen Mother again. Liu E thought for a while:
"Send the eunuch Yang Huaimin to accompany him."

No one objected, as long as no one from the Imperial City Bureau was accompanying them.

The struggle between the power of the monarch and the power of the ministers never stops.

……

After Yan Shu took the time to write a memorial to the court, he arranged for everyone to live in the Imperial Examination Hall.

Many people began copying test papers to avoid any unnecessary questions.

Time is tight and the task is heavy, and the results must be out within ten days.

Cao Li put his feet on the table and squinted slightly.

He actually wanted to go out, there was no point in staying here.

As the deputy examiner, Song Shou had seen Song Xuan's poetry and prose paper in advance, but he still pushed it to Yan Shu.

"This candidate's poem isn't very good. This Red Cliff Fu is quite beautiful, but it doesn't conform to the strict parallelism of Fu."

After Yan Shu took it, he looked at it carefully and confirmed that Song Xuan's fu was well written. However, compared with the fu, the poem was simply worlds apart.

"I've also read this. Although the poem isn't particularly good, it confirms that this boy has read a lot. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come up with such an allusion that even we don't know."

Su Qi followed with a comment.

However, Yan Shu didn't believe how many books Song Xuan had read.

Even in the small town of Lema, the teaching staff of private schools is extremely poor.

The reason why academic geniuses like Song Xuan and Zhang Fangping were not buried was entirely due to their own strong abilities.

Yan Shu understood Song Xuan's deeds better than anyone else. The allusions in his poem that no one had seen before must have been compiled by him.

"Let's write an A grade and put it aside for now."

Yan Shu did not directly decide on anything like the top scorer in the Jieyuan exam.

It is possible that a student who performs better than Song Xuan will appear.

Besides, Song Xuan’s poems and essays are still debatable.

Cao Liyong was bored, so he took the paper and started reading it. The poem was a bit difficult to read.

Then he began to recite Red Cliff Fu.

"In the autumn of the year Renxu, on the 15th day of the seventh month, Song Zi and his guests were boating at the foot of Red Cliff. Tsk, damn it, Song Zi! Why didn't he write about Confucius, Mencius, or Laozi?"

"Hahaha."

Everyone should still applaud the jokes told by Minister Cao.

"Not very good. The beginning doesn't make any sense at all. Even I can see that. How can you give it an A?"

Cao Liyong began to count on his fingers: "It was only two years ago."

Yan Shu was stunned for a moment.

Could it be that Song Xuan really went to Chibi for a visit two years ago?
Because he subconsciously thought that Song Xuan wrote it casually, and just messed it up for decades.

Given Song Xuan's wild nature and the fact that no one is looking after him at home, it's normal for him to run away!
Then Yan Shu said:

"Minister Cao, please stop reading. It will disturb the other examiners. Please give this to me so I can take another look."

Cao Liyong handed it directly to Yan Shu.

He wanted to see Song Xuan's paper, but all the names were covered.

Cao Liyong didn't think at all that this was Song Xuan's paper.

Based on his understanding of Song Xuan's academic genius, how could he possibly write such a non-parallel poem?

Although Song Shou, Su Qi and Yan Shu all knew about Song Xuan's paper, they subconsciously did not tell Cao Liyong about it.

After all, this way of handling things is an old habit of civil servants!

Yan Shu carefully read the fu written by Song Xuan again.

He found that according to Song Xuan's temperament, he could write in a fresh style of "using literature as fu".

Because this article not only retains the poetic characteristics and charm of traditional fu, but also absorbs the style and techniques of prose, breaking the constraints of fu in terms of sentence structure, rhythm and parallelism.

It contains more elements of prose, which makes the article have the profound emotion of poetry and the insightful ideas of prose.

The style and momentum of the prose make the whole article full of emotion and momentum, like "a thousand buckets of spring" gushing out.

I really agree with Song Xuan's literary talent.

Yan Shu felt that Song Xuan was not only very brave and cruel, but also very ambitious.

It seems like a school of its own.

But the literary style of the Song Dynasty is not like this at present, and the literary style of the imperial examination is not like this either!

Even if you want to become a literary giant in the future and pass the imperial examination, you must honestly follow the requirements of the imperial examination.

Don't always think about taking shortcuts.

Yan Shu thought about it and directly gave Song Xuan the Ding grade.

"That's right."

Cao Liyong patted Song Xuan's paper and said, "This poem is not well written. How can you give it an A grade?"

"Wait, give it to Ding, that's a bit too much, Uncle Tong."

However, Yan Shu ignored Cao Liyong's words.

However, Song Shou and Zhang Qi were a little surprised. Even if Song Xuan's poem was not written in accordance with the rules, there was no need for him to be dismissed from the rank of Ding.

"No need to say more, just mark the papers quickly."

As the chief examiner, Yan Shu still has a certain say in handling the test process.

A few days flew by.

Cao Liyong looked at Song Xuan's paper, the one that was graded D.

He didn't understand for a moment.

"Uncle Tong, there's no need to rank Song Twelve's paper as D. His policy paper is also well written. I'm afraid no one can surpass him."

Cao Liyong also knew that although the Jinshi examination in the Song Dynasty mainly consisted of four subjects, the candidates were mainly selected based on their poetry and prose.

The higher this one is ranked, the greater the possibility of admission.

Because the other two subjects rely on memory, and most candidates cannot write anything good in the policy essay, so what governance experience can they have?

Yan Shu nodded and said, "It is well written, but your Minister Cao also said that his poems and fu are not well-balanced."

"This." Cao Liyong was immediately annoyed. He then said, "But it's also acceptable to count it as a B-level grade. You can't grade the paper so unfairly just to dismiss such a good candidate."

"Yes, you can change it for him."

Yan Shu did not wait for Cao Liyong's rebuttal and took the initiative to say:
“But I don’t want to change it for him!”

When these words were spoken, the examiners were all a little surprised.

Even if Song Xuan is not good at making parallelism, it is not as bad as Ding in terms of emotion and reason.

"Uncle Yan Tong, what do you mean by this?"

Cao Liyong didn't think Song Xuan had offended Yan Shu in any way, and he also didn't think Yan Shu was someone who would retaliate against younger generations.

It is too late for him to be promoted by Yan Tongshu.

"Shi Er Lang is so young, yet he's not only showing off his talent, he's also showing off his arrogance. This is inappropriate!"

Yan Shu continued to review the scores of the remaining candidates:
"Of course, we need to temper his temper and stop him from always taking shortcuts."

"No, you."

Cao Liyong immediately waved his hand and said, "I don't agree with you deliberately deposing him under the pretext of tempering his temper."

"Besides, in my opinion, there is no one in the entire Yingtian Prefecture who can write better than him."

"Yes, I have."

"you."

Cao Liyong took the A-grade paper from Yan Shu and asked, "Han Qi?"

"Even if Han Qi's poem is well-balanced, can his Red Cliff Fu be passed down through the ages?"

"The imperial examination is not about passing down through the ages."

Yan Shu still ignored it, Song Xuan still had to practice!

"Come out with me."

Yan Shu was dragged to the side hall by Cao Liyong: "I don't understand!"

"What don't you understand?"

Cao Liyong pointed at Yan Shu:

"Song Xuan performed brilliantly in this exam. His essay was full of pearls of wisdom and beautiful sentences, stunning everyone. Yet you deliberately dismissed him!"

"His poems and essays don't match!"

"Song Xuan's poetry is excellent. Even if it's not antithetical, it's still beautifully worded, with coherent imagery and a rigorous structure."

"His poems and essays don't match!"

Cao Liyong was directly filled with anger at Yan Shu:
"How can you use my words as an excuse? I, Cao Liyong, don't understand the imperial examination and am talking nonsense, but you, Yan Shu, do understand the imperial examination."

"You idiots, you guys never listen to my advice on a normal day, and now you want to do something that might offend people and you listen to the advice of a warrior like me, right?"

Yan Shu stroked his beard and nodded:

"Of course I understand the imperial examination, so I'm going to give him a Ding rank!"

Cao Liyong was so angry that he swung his sleeves and paced back and forth in the room. He wanted to curse, but he didn't know what to say.

He is obviously a good seedling, but he is suppressed like this.

"Is Minister Cao trying to catch Song Twelve's son-in-law from the list?"

"What, no?"

Yan Shu snorted and laughed:
"Of course it's not impossible, but I want to ask, does Minister Cao want to capture any Jinshi like Song Xuan, or does he want to capture the Jinshi who won the top three prizes in a row?"

Yan Shu's promise immediately attracted Cao Liyong.

He turned around and said, "What exactly do you want to say? I, Cao, am a warrior and I don't understand."

"You know the current Prime Minister Wang Zeng, he even won the top three prizes."

"Ah."

Cao Liyong snorted. He and Wang Zeng did not have a good relationship.

A junior dared to compete with him for a seat in the court!

"Wang Zeng was a top three scorer in the imperial examinations, and was chosen by the Holy Prime Minister Li Hang as a husband. His daughter married him and died young, so he married another daughter to him."

Li Hang had no offspring. Three of his five sons died young, and his daughter also died young. When she finally got married, she died of illness.

Yan Shu mentioned Li Hang to compare him with Cao Liyong's current status. Both he and Wang Dan were worthy of being enshrined in the Taimiao.

I'm deliberately trying to hint at him, maybe in the future you, Cao Liyong, will also be worthy of being enshrined in the Taimiao.

"Now Wang Zeng, at a young age, wears a purple robe and becomes the prime minister of the Song Dynasty."

Yan Shu continued to point to the window outside:

"Song Twelve also has the ability to pass the imperial examinations, but he is too wild and doesn't take the imperial examinations seriously. He always thinks that just trying to perform well and passing the exam will be enough."

"Plus, a lot of things happened during those two nights that he took the test, which affected him. It's normal that he didn't do well on the test."

"So I'm going to deliberately depose him!"

(End of this chapter)