White-robed Minister

Chapter 238 0236 [Reflections Beneath the Glamorous Atmosphere]

"Aren't you dressed yet?" Xu Lai smiled and pushed the door open to enter.

The maid hurriedly said, "The flower ornament is crooked; it needs to be redone with hot water."

"I'll do it," Xu Lai said, walking over.

The maid immediately stepped aside and handed Xu Lai a silver foil pearl hairpin.

She turned around and gave him a sweet smile.

Pianpian's attire today was similar to that of the noblewoman Xu Lai had seen at the Lantern Festival. Her high bun was adorned with willow branches and a pair of moths. The moths' wings were as thin as cicada wings, and they fluttered as she turned her head.

It's like a masquerade ball.

Xu Lai dipped a brush in some fish glue, a substance made from fish bladders, which was used to glue bows and arrows together. He spread the glue evenly on the back of the flower ornament and then straightened Pianpian's body.

She smiled sweetly at her husband.

Xu Lai reminded him, "Close your eyes, don't laugh."

She smiled and then closed her eyes.

Xu Lai carefully placed the flower ornament between her eyebrows, then examined it closely before saying, "It's ready."

Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt increasingly satisfied.

The maid flattered, "Sir, you've pasted it so neatly. Your hand is always more steady than mine when you hold a pen."

Xu Lai chuckled and said, "You certainly know how to talk."

This maid was also a member of the Yu family. When Yu'er ran away to Yingtian Prefecture to take care of Xu Lai's daily life, Pianpian chose a new personal maid.

After looking in the mirror, Pianpian stood up and said expectantly, "This is my first time watching lanterns in the capital with Sanlang. I wonder how the Lantern Festival in the capital is different from those in Guangzhou and Shaozhou."

"It's much more lively now." Xu Lai led her outside.

Yu'er, Dingxiang, and Dou Niang were already prepared, and the family, along with their servants, quickly arrived on the street.

So congested!

Because Xu Lai's residence was surrounded by temples, monasteries, and entertainment venues, and further away, besides restaurants, there were two brothels. It was a major gathering place for people, and during the lantern festival, it was packed with people.

Wang Hou spontaneously led the way with Chen Xiaoyi, occasionally glancing back at Dou Niang, who was dressed exceptionally beautifully today.

Yu Shanyuan, Ding Zhengchen, and others had already left the capital. They couldn't wait to get to their new posts before the Lantern Festival was over.

Xu Lai held his second son in his right arm and held his eldest son's hand with his left.

The two little kids looked around curiously, finding the colorful lights quite novel.

Today is the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, just a day for testing the lanterns, but the atmosphere is just as lively as the Lantern Festival itself.

"Wow, that lantern is beautiful," said the damsel, pointing to a scrolling lantern.

Upon hearing this, Wang Hou immediately ran to buy it and handed it to the damselfly without saying a word.

The damsel instantly blushed with embarrassment, took the lantern, and lowered her head without saying a word.

Pianpian said softly, "Let's write a letter to Wang Zichun (Wang Shao) and finalize the engagement first. We can't keep things unclear."

"I'll write it after the Lantern Festival." Xu Lai actually thought Shen Kuo's son would be a good match because Shen Boyi was particularly honest and steady.

It's a pity that Shen Boyi is too reserved. He clearly has feelings for Dou Niang, but his letters only discuss mathematics and rarely touch upon everyday anecdotes. Even when they occasionally meet, he doesn't dare to speak much to Dou Niang.

Now, Dou Niang clearly prefers Wang Hou, and Xu Lai, as her uncle, naturally won't object.

Looking at the lanterns on the street, Dingxiang said, "As expected of Bianliang, the lanterns have more styles than those in Guangzhou. Is that an Aoshan lantern over there?"

You can see it from this far away.

Xu Lai nodded and said, "The Aoshan Lantern in the Imperial City is much larger than the Aoshan Lantern in Guangzhou."

Yu'er said to Xu, "Let me carry Erlang, and let Dalang see the lamp too."

Xu Lai then handed his second son to Yu'er, picked up his eldest son who was being led by the hand, and put him on his shoulders to ride on.

The little guy, who had previously been led around and could only see the lights through gaps in the crowd, now rode on his father's shoulders, his view suddenly opened up, and he cheered excitedly.

As the group strolled along Horse Street, their pace noticeably slowed down.

There were not only many people here, but also a large number of carriages and horses. The officials responsible for maintaining order could only prevent carriages and horses from entering the outer city, but they could not stop them from running around freely in the inner city.

"Make way, make way!"

The voices of the coachman and servants came simultaneously from both the front and the back.

Xu Lai was speechless. Were all these powerful and wealthy people in the inner city crazy? Even though the traffic was already jammed, they still insisted on taking cars. The speed of taking a car was slower than walking.

There were snack vendors on the street ahead, so Xu Lai asked Chen Xiaoyi to go and buy some snacks.

Pianpian and Dingxiang were both very conscious of their image and didn't eat while walking. Yu'er, however, didn't care about such things. She handed her son to a maid and ate as she walked with Dou Niang.

"What is this?" Dou Niang walked to the edge of the crowd and stood on tiptoe to look inside.

Wang Hou forced his way in, glanced inside, and said, "Sha Shudi Mi."

The sand-writing riddle is similar to the later white sand writing game, combining calligraphy, magic tricks, and riddles. When the spectators saw that officials' families were coming, they made way for them, and Pianpian, Yu'er, Dingxiang, and Dou Niang watched with great interest.

"Do it! Do it!"

Xu Lai heard someone calling his name and turned around to search for him in the crowd.

But then they saw the Shen and Lin families standing in the middle of the road not far away, with Shen Kuo waving frantically at Xu Lai.

Lin Yi was promoted thanks to Xu Laifu, but he still did not become a government official. He continued to compile medical books and also served as a part-time professor of mathematics, which was the principal of the Central Mathematics School.

Of the four people who co-authored "Mathematics" and "Geometry," the other was Su Song. However, Su Song offended Wang Anshi and lost his position as Prefect of Wuzhou.

Shen Kuo and Lin Yi arrived with their wives and children to pay their respects, and the three families decided to tour the lantern festival together. The women huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, occasionally letting out soft laughter.

Not far away, two scholars watched them.

"Brother, did you run into someone you know?"

"The tallest one in front is Master Xu Lai."

"How do you recognize your brother?"

"Last time I heard someone call him by his courtesy name."

'

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The people talking were the brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian. They passed the imperial examination last year, but their ranking was relatively low, so they had to wait a year before being officially appointed.

In his youth, Cai Jing actually had remarkable political achievements.

Cai Bian said, "I've heard that many people have gone to Master Xu's house to give gifts, but Master Xu hasn't accepted a single one. He's truly as incorruptible as water!"

Cai Jing said, "He is about our age, but he is already a Hanlin Academician. With our abilities, as long as we actively promote the new laws, we can surely rise quickly based on our political achievements. We can also become Hanlin Academicians."

"Indeed," Cai Bian nodded.

They believed themselves to be highly capable, far more useful than many local officials who supported the new laws. They were certain they could quickly achieve political success and attract Wang Anshi's attention.

Xu Lai continued walking forward, encountering many acquaintances along the way, and even meeting Su Shi near the imperial city.

Su Shi's wife, Wang Fu, is alive and well, and even gave birth to a daughter last year. It seems that the poem "Ten years have passed, and we are separated by life and death" will truly never be repeated.

"Have you heard, Xingzhi? This year, poetry, calligraphy, and ink writing will be officially abolished," Su Shi said.

Xu Lai asked, "Wasn't it already scrapped last year?"

Su Shi said, "Last year, only the palace examination for poetry and prose was abolished; the Ministry of Rites examination remained the same. This year, it is completely abolished. Moreover, the Mingjing examination will also be completely abolished."

"You object?" Xu Lai asked.

Su Shi said, "What the imperial examination tests is just a formality; the real purpose is to select people. Minister Wang changed poetry and prose to classical texts, and even wanted to abolish the Spring and Autumn Annals. He said the Spring and Autumn Annals was like a tattered and broken court report. Before you returned to the capital, it was already brought up for public discussion last year. Because there were too many opponents, he added the Spring and Autumn Annals to the imperial examination."

Wang Anshi's description of the Spring and Autumn Annals as "broken and tattered official documents" is quite apt.

Su Shi sighed, "Prime Minister Wang's suggestions are too broad; he wants to change everything, and he's changing things too hastily."

Wang Anshi did not ignore opinions; rather, he listened to an overwhelming amount of them. Even before he became Vice Chancellor, he solicited advice from local officials across the country based on their governing experience. This allowed him to gather a wide variety of opinions and select talent and reform plans from among them.

Sometimes, having too much information can be a bad thing if you can't effectively discern the information.

Su Shi said, "He also wanted to reform schools and gradually replace the imperial examination system with them."

Xu Lai listened carefully to Su Shi's story, and gradually frowned.

Wang Anshi envisioned establishing a nationwide school system, comprising primary schools, county schools, prefectural schools, and the Imperial Academy. Students would progress through the ranks via accumulated credits and final exams, with graduates of the Imperial Academy directly granted official positions.

However, this system was too advanced, leading Xu Lai to suspect that Wang Anshi might also be a time traveler.

If this school system is not properly supervised, it will eventually degenerate into a "recommendation system." Those who can attend school are basically from wealthy and powerful families. Those who can advance to higher levels of education are mostly from wealthy and powerful families. Those who can successfully graduate from the Imperial Academy must be even wealthier and more powerful.

Children from ordinary families will be completely abandoned!

Xu Lai would definitely stand up and oppose it, at least on one point: that children of officials should be allowed to enroll directly in school.

Damn it, if the children of officials can get into school directly, what chance do the children of ordinary people have?

Even in the current imperial examinations, to prevent powerful families from monopolizing the results, the sons of officials who take special routes are separated from other scholars from taking the exams.

Furthermore, the school system's examinations were simply not effectively supervised. This led to numerous problems, and students who wanted to advance to higher education either had to rely on family connections or curry favor with the principal.

In Xu Lai's view, what really needs to be changed is the reduction of quotas for the imperial examination system.

We cannot allow a large portion of the national quota to be concentrated in Kaifeng, nor can we allow local officials to allocate quotas based on their own preferences.

Some of Kaifeng's quota for dispatching officials must be allocated to other areas. The selection of officials for dispatch must be based on examination results, not on the prefect's decision!

After discussing education, Su Shi then talked to Xu Lai about the Baojia system.

This thing is already in a semi-implementation stage, but it is still under discussion. Su Shi also dislikes the Baojia system and even wanted to drag Xu Lai into opposing it.

Xu Lai said, "The Baojia system will definitely be implemented, because this system was created to complement the Green Sprouts Law and the military reform. If the Baojia system is not implemented, the Green Sprouts Law will be implemented in an even more chaotic manner. Unless the Green Sprouts Law can be abolished immediately, I will not oppose the Baojia system."

Su Shi carefully considered Xu Lai's words.

"Husband, the fireworks are on!" Pianpian exclaimed.

Xu Lai suddenly turned around and saw Pianpian smiling and waving at him. Fireworks erupted in the distance, their light flickering on Pianpian's body.

Yu'er and Dingxiang were teasing their second son, Xu Tao, while chatting and laughing with the women of Shen Kuo, Lin Yi, and Su Shi's families.

The city was brightly lit all around, and the entire capital was enveloped in a festive and prosperous atmosphere.

Who will protect this joyous occasion?

Xu Lai's original plan was to quietly develop his power. By the time Wang Anshi had angered both the people and the government, he would have already developed enough to step in and clean up the mess.

This is in his best interest.

But this situation suddenly changed Xu Lai's mind. He disliked Wen Yanbo intensely and also disapproved of certain aspects of the new law.

He intends to confront Wen Yanbo right now and explicitly express his doubts about the new law.

Xu Lai didn't want to wait any longer.

He wants to start this year to quickly build up greater prestige and gather a group of like-minded people.

Being demoted and sent to a remote post is no big deal; I'll always be able to come back someday.

I'm still so young, who's afraid of who?

Young people should be energetic and drivey; why pretend to be mature and composed? Just do it!

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