Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 94: Literary Gathering? Organize one yourself

Zhao Yifu settled down at the Wen Mansion, but he didn't know why Senior Brother Wen always had a strange expression on his face. It was as if he had suddenly developed Tourette syndrome...

He couldn't help but comfort him: "Brother, Master said that there is still hope for you, as long as you work harder."

Wen Sheng forced a smile that looked uglier than tears and said, "Junior brother, there's no need to say more. I know how to handle this matter. But are you confident about your provincial examination, which is approaching?"

Zhao Yifu said, "I think I'm still somewhat confident."

He was right. In fact, after he determined the style and tone of his imperial examination essay, he knew that he would be successful in the examination.

He couldn't write a brilliant article, so only by finding another way could he have hope in this special exam.

But on the second night, Liang Zhongzhi's Yin Spirit did not come, but Zhou Su's Yang Spirit came.

He came to Zhao Yifu's room and asked, "Junxin, the provincial examination is just around the corner. How are your studies going?"

He could have brushed it off when Wen Sheng asked during the day, but now that Zhou Su was asking, Zhao Yifu could only answer truthfully, "Master Zhou, my academic ability is limited. I've only been able to memorize the Four Books and Five Classics and gain some superficial insights based on your guidance. It's too difficult for me to develop my own knowledge to participate in the imperial examinations."

"Perhaps this special examination is my only chance to succeed in the imperial examination."

Zhou Su nodded and sighed, "You have a clear understanding of yourself."

"You have developed a pragmatic style of writing. While this was certainly unpopular in previous imperial examinations, it is a very important criterion for evaluation this time."

"Let me tell you, this time we're recruiting scholars because the emperor is determined to survey the land! Do you know how offensive this is?"

Zhou Su, who had connections in the official circles, looked at Zhao Yifu seriously and said.

This is no wonder. No wonder the special examination for the selected candidates is regarded as consumables.

Zhao Yifu was curious when he heard this and asked, "Will all the candidates selected this time be sent to serve as county magistrates?"

Zhou Shun said, "You're not a county magistrate. Most county magistrates are successful Jinshi scholars who have been sent to other places. If you want to become a county magistrate directly with your achievements as a Juren, you must have strong connections behind the scenes."

"Normally, if you were sent to a lower county, you would be the county magistrate, and if you were sent to an upper county, you would be the chief clerk."

"In short, whether you are the county magistrate or the chief clerk, the main responsibilities of you, the candidates, are to survey the land and re-create the fish scale atlas."

This fish scale map was the basis for the imperial court to collect land taxes.

Zhao Yifu was quite disappointed when he heard this. He said, "If the county magistrate or the chief clerk were in charge, they would be more constrained in their work."

He was just a scholar, but he had already started to worry about the juren master.

Zhou Su laughed when he heard this and said, "Since the emperor wants to survey the land, then there will naturally be some safeguards."

"We'll have to wait until this class is over to see the details, but I can tell you that His Majesty is very determined this time."

Zhao Yifu hesitated slightly and said, "For... the Northern Expedition?"

Zhou Su said, "The Northern Expedition is something we have to consider after the Great Xu migrated south. Many Southern Dynasty scholars do not support the Northern Expedition; they have long been content with the status quo."

"But as the emperor of Great Xu, he couldn't do that. If he wanted to be the leader of a revival, he had to launch a northern expedition."

Zhao Yifu sighed after hearing this and said, "That's really difficult."

Zhou Su said, "It's indeed difficult. Our dynasty has always suppressed military men. Just before the Southern Expedition, there was a group of very powerful military men leading the Northern Expedition. But now, where are the voices of military men in the entire court?"

"Your Majesty is in need of more than just money and food; he also needs men to lead the troops..."

Zhao Yifu sighed silently.

Based on his understanding of Da Xu, he actually felt it was quite distorted.

The people of this country are actually very wealthy.

The arable land in the south has been developed, and some areas can produce two or even three crops a year.

Moreover, the prices of goods among the people are extremely stable and not high at all. As long as the people have some skills and do not have any ambitions and work diligently, they can live a good life.

But the problem is that the court is very poor.

Poor in every way.

On the one hand, high salaries are paid to the entire bureaucracy, while on the other hand, not even a decent project can be started, and the budget is overspent every year.

The same goes for the military.

On the one hand, it maintains a huge military structure to deal with invasions from the north, but on the other hand, military spending is insufficient every year.

This is the situation where "the holy emperor and the scholar-officials rule the world together."

This country belongs not only to the emperor, but also to the scholar-officials.

So some things are easy to explain.

Zhou Su wants to build a new army to fight against the pirates?

This was a good thing, and the emperor approved it. However, the imperial court could not provide the money, so Zhou Su had to use his influence in the local area to form his own army.

If you can build it, it means that Zhou Su is a qualified scholar-official who can share the worries of the royal family, so it is natural that he should be promoted.

If it cannot be built... then just go home and lie down. The court will support you while you are alive, and if you die, you will die, and the world will have one less useless aristocrat.

This is the 'survival of the fittest' within the scholar-official class.

Anyone who can stand before the emperor naturally represents the ties of many forces, and the emperor only needs to understand whose interests the person in front of him represents, and he will then understand how to use these people.

Zhao Yifu took a political theory class with Zhou Su that night and understood the underlying logic of the court.

But as Zhao Yifu listened more, he felt it was too strange.

It is obvious that the underlying logic of the court has already determined that the emperor must rely on the scholar-official class to implement his rule. So why does he still need to survey the land to irritate the scholar-officials?
"Interesting..." Zhao Yifu's eyes lit up.

Zhou Su smiled and said, "It seems you have thought of it."

"Our Majesty, you want to restore the ancient monarchy and become a dictator."

Zhao Yifu smiled and said, "An ambitious emperor is always like this. If he succeeds, he will be an emperor of all ages. If he fails..."

Zhou Su shook his head and said nothing.

Zhao Yifu didn't say anything else.

It was hard for him to say about this matter. Perhaps the emperor just wanted to consolidate his royal power as much as possible and did not want to completely break off relations with the scholar-official class?

After chatting with Zhou Su about the preparations for the new army, Zhou Su's Yangshen returned to his original form when daybreak came.

Zhao Yifu was always particularly envious when watching this scene.

He didn't dare to think about the Yang God now, but he could think about the Yin God like Liang Zhongzhi.

When he forms the golden elixir and begins to refine Qi and transform it into spirit, he will be able to produce the Yin Spirit.

Just when Zhao Yifu was daydreaming, he didn't expect Wen Sheng to get up early today to come to him.

"Junior brother, someone sent an invitation to the literary gathering early this morning, specifically requesting you, a scholar from Mozhou, to attend."

Zhao Yifu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Is that so? Did you give the invitation to Senior Brother?"

Wen Sheng laughed heartily and said, "Of course. If there is a literary gathering in this provincial capital without my brother, it wouldn't be called a literary gathering."

Zhao Yifu said thoughtfully, "Brother, I think you shouldn't go to that literary gathering."

Wen Sheng was stunned: "Why is this?"

Zhao Yifu asked, "Have you forgotten Master's warning, Senior Brother?"

"You should focus on cultivating your character and practice instead of participating in those secular poetry gatherings." "Brother, it's rare for you to have such talent. You should be brave and diligent in your studies."

Zhao Yifu couldn't understand this man. He had such good conditions, yet he had wasted his time like this. If he had such literary talent, he would have already begun to ponder the mysteries of the Yang God by now, right?
Wen Sheng smiled wryly and said, "This is a rare opportunity. Not only the famous talents in the city, but also the talents from the entire province who recently came to take the exam have been invited."

"Don't you want to make friends through literature?"

Zhao Yifu shook his head and said, "No."

The answer was extremely straightforward.

He has a fucking talent for writing, and he's going to meet a fucking friend. Going there is embarrassing, so it's better not to go.

What's more, he felt that his future life trajectory would have little to do with these people, so why bother going?
But Wensheng was not happy. He said, "Junxin, how can you fit into the scholar circle like this? Don't be stubborn. Go pack your things and follow me."

As he said this, he was about to reach out and push Zhao Yifu to go back and change his clothes.

Then Zhao Yifu didn't move.

He said, "Brother, I'm not going, and you'd better not go either."

"Don't let your master down."

He advised earnestly.

Wen Sheng fell silent when he heard this, looked at the platinum invitation, and felt deeply shaken.

He gritted his teeth, sighed, and said, "Forget it."

Zhao Yifu's expression relaxed, thinking that his senior brother had finally changed his mind.

Unexpectedly, he said: "After this literary gathering, I will definitely cultivate my character."

Zhao Yifu: ...

How much does this person want to play to say such a thing?

Without saying a word, he grabbed Wen Sheng's wrist and said, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother. You can't go this time. This is for your own good."

Wen Sheng was stunned, and then he struggled desperately but could not escape from Zhao Yifu's iron-like claws.

He said, "No, let me go. I will definitely go this time."

Zhao Yifu held him still and said, "You are not allowed to go. Please concentrate on practicing."

Wen Sheng said, "We can practice martial arts anytime, but a gathering of this magnitude only happens once!"

Zhao Yifu asked in confusion, "With your talent, even if you just write something in the inner chamber and post it outside, it would be enough to attract people, right?"

Wen Sheng said: "It's different, that's different."

"What's the point of my talent for poetry if I can't be appreciated on the spot?"

Zhao Yifu: ...

This time he completely understood that Wensheng couldn't wait to show off.

I'm addicted to pretending, and I feel uncomfortable if I don't.

Zhao Yifu could only hold him tightly and prevent him from going out.

The commotion here naturally disturbed the servants in the mansion. As a result, these servants saw their master crying and being held by the hands of a young and strong man, so they tactfully retreated...

Tsk tsk, I've heard that those literary circles are full of extravagance, and it turns out to be true...

As for Wensheng...

Now I finally understand what it means to be "a scholar unable to explain his reason when he meets a soldier."

He couldn't help but curse at Zhao Yifu, but the flowery words in his mouth had limited killing power when used for cursing.

Zhao Yi Fu just listened to it, and felt that he didn't have the urge to crush his senior brother to death, so he didn't care... right?

At this time, the old servant of the Wen Mansion came running over tremblingly and said, "Master, the literary association has sent someone to invite us again."

"Let me go, let me go..."

Wensheng resisted weakly.

Zhao Yifu still held his hand and wouldn't let him go.

At the same time, he gave his loyal servant a look, and then said to the old servant gently: "Please refuse it for my brother. Brother should go to literary gatherings less often in the future. After all, living this kind of life all the time is too unpromising."

Wen Sheng yelled, "I don't want to go on stage, right? I just like attending literary gatherings, so what?!"

"Don't hold me back, you ignorant and reckless man."

At first, the old servant was worried that Zhao Yifu might be a bad guest.
But now I feel relieved after hearing this. It turns out that it is a family member who encourages his master to make progress... No wonder the master said that the person who came up from Moshan is a family member. Now it seems that only family members who truly care about the good of the master can do this.

When the old servant returned to the door, he found that Wu Zhong had followed him.

The old servant clasped his fists and said, "My old friend, I, your old servant, will be the one to send you off at the door."

Wu Zhong smiled brightly and said, "I'm just worried that some people might be blind. Old brother, your body can't withstand the impact of those people."

The old servant laughed and said, "That's right, that's right..."

So Wu Zhong came to the door and took over the old servant's job as the doorman. He closed the door cleanly and refused to open it no matter who came knocking.

As time went by, Wensheng's struggle became increasingly powerless.

He stared blankly at the sky beyond the courtyard patio and said quietly, "Junior brother, I am now like a child in a well. I can only see the small world around me, but I cannot see the true vastness of the world."

Zhao Yifu had already let him go and was rubbing oil on Wen Sheng's wrist, which was red and swollen from being pinched.

After hearing this, he said, "Brother, are you mocking me for being a frog in a well, willing to stay in this small well and not see the vastness of the sky?"

Wen Sheng shook his head and said, “No, this poor frog is me, and you are surrounding my well.”

"I'm a frog who once lived outside and knew the vastness of the world, but ended up falling into this well. All I see when I look up is this well... How pathetic!"

That’s why they say that intellectuals’ insults sound particularly nice. Anyway, Zhao Yifu found it quite interesting.

He said, "Brother, just relax. The literary gathering should be almost over by now. There's no point in worrying about it."

Wen Sheng cried out, "That's why I feel bad."

"There is no greater sorrow in life than to have one's wisdom but no one to appreciate it..."

Zhao Yifu's mouth twitched when he saw this. He said, "Brother, if you really want to participate in the literary gathering... let me arrange something for you."

Wen Sheng turned his head in surprise: "Oh? My dear brother, you will also arrange literary gatherings?"

Zhao Yifu nodded and then shook his head and said, "To be honest, Senior Brother, I want to invite fellow disciples to participate in the literary gathering. I think the level of the literary gathering of fellow disciples should be higher than the one we just had this day, right?"

Wen Sheng was greatly excited upon hearing this. He said, "That's absolutely right. Junior brother is indeed very thoughtful. It would be a great event to invite all fellow disciples to come and exchange ideas."

Seeing that he had finally calmed down, Zhao Yifu said, "Brother, please wait a moment. I will write a letter to ask you a few questions..."

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of paper and began to write quickly.

Wen Sheng took a look at it and found that it was indeed an invitation to a literary gathering, so he happily returned to his room.

After a whole day of trouble today, he is really tired...

　One chapter today. I didn't have the energy to write more last night.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)