Prime Minister

Chapter 306 Reading Chinese Books

It is a sunny day.

Huaiyuan Station in Bianjing is the place to receive envoys from Kucha and Jiaozhou.Now the two brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe are living in the post.

The two brothers returned to Bianjing with their father last year, and passed the three tests of Liuneiquan. Su Shi was divided into the master register of Fuchang County, and Su Zhe was the master register of Mianchi County.

The two brothers wanted to take office, but Ouyang Xiu and Yang Tian were elected to the university in July.

Therefore, the two brothers have been studying in Huaiyuan Station.

In the apartment of Huaiyuan Station, the two brothers sat together at the table, and there were thick books on the table.

The two brothers sometimes sit side by side reading, sometimes one paces outside and the other sits at the desk.

It would be hard work for others to study hard every day, but the two brothers enjoy it, and the more they read, the more enjoyable they are.

Soon the post officials from Huaiyuan Station came with a food table.

Su Shi put down his book and greeted with a smile: "Jiusanlang, it's time to eat."

Su Zhe had a sullen look on his face, and put down the book after hearing his elder brother's greeting.

Su Shi skillfully cleared the table and cases, put the books aside, and asked the post officials about the foreign envoys in the post.

Su Zhe opened the food box, and did not sit down until his elder brother sent the postman back to the case.

Su Shi saw a pinch of salt, a white radish, and a bowl of rice on the tables of the two of them, and immediately smiled and said, "Very good, very good."

Su Zhe presented the chopsticks to his elder brother and asked, "What's so good about eating this every day?"

Su Shi said seriously: "Jiusanlang, you don't know where this food comes from. The salt is white, the radish is white, and the rice is white. This is called rice. The ancients enjoyed this food every day without knowing what eight treasures taste like."

Su Zhe laughed when he heard the words, and immediately took the rice and smiled while eating the white radish: "Brother, this radish is very crisp."

Su Shi smiled and said, "Jiusanlang, I'll just say yes."

The two of them ate most of it, and Su Zhe said, "Brother, I have been reading this Hanshu but have never been able to understand it. I always feel that there are thousands of clues that I can't get in."

Su Shi didn't answer when he heard the words, and continued to grill rice.

"elder brother?"

Su Shi put down his job and said with a smile: "I didn't answer just now because you remembered, when my father brought you and me to see Zhang Gong (Zhang Fangping)."

"Father met Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Zhang asked me what book I was reading. My father was not without complacency. The dog was rereading Han books. Mr. Zhang asked in surprise, it is enough to read the book once, so why read it a second time."

Su Zhe said with a smile: "I remember, Mr. Zhang is extremely intelligent, and he never forgets reading, so he never reads it a second time. I remember my brother said at that time, Mr. Zhang may not know, and I have to read it a third time. "

Talking about the past, the two brothers laughed together.

Su Shi reminisced: "If it weren't for the appreciation and promotion from the lay people, the three of us, father and son, are still living in Shuzhong."

Su Zhe said: "Brother, if you don't come out of Sichuan, you don't know how big the world is, and you don't know how rich the products are. Then brother, after all, I need to read more of these Han books, or just read it once."

Su Shi smiled and said: "Every time I read it, I get new ideas, but now it makes sense to come to Mr. Zhang to read it again. This is just a general idea."

Su Zhe nodded and said, "Mr. Zhang is indeed a man like Kong Ming."

Su Zhe still remembers that Zhang Fangping set a question to test the two. Su Zhe didn't know the source of a question. Su Shi raised the pen tube upright and blew into it.

Su Shi picked up the Hanshu and said to Su Zhe: "I was just like you when I read the Hanshu. I read it several times before I understood it. For example, the 120 volumes of the Hanshu include governance, characters, geography, official system, military law, Wealth and the like, every time you read it, you only want to focus on one thing. It doesn’t take a few years, but everything in the book is very clear.”

Su Zhe pondered for a while and said, "Brother, this method seems to be unheard of."

Su Shi said with a smile: "Jiu Sanlang, this is my own method of reading. It is first Hanshu, and then extended to other bibliographies."

"You are as rich in reading books as you are entering the sea. There are all kinds of department stores. You can't read them all with one person's energy. Therefore, when you are reading, you should first ask yourself what you are looking for in reading?"

"So every time I read a book, I seek it with one intention. If I want to seek the rise and fall of ancient and modern times, and the role of sages and sages, I only seek it in the book with this intention, and don't dwell on it."

"Read it again, looking for stories and facts, and the same is true for laws and cultural relics. Every book is like this. Although this method is dull, but he will learn it in the future, encounter enemies on all sides, and use it inexhaustibly. It is the same as every book. Those who stop are not the same.”

Su Zhe thought about his elder brother's words again and again, and felt that it seemed feasible, so he said, "I still like it, but it's a rough idea, but what my brother said seems to be useful in the system, so let's give it a try."

Su Shi smiled and said nothing.

After the two brothers had finished their meal, Su Zhe cleared away the table.The two read the book again, immersed in the sea of ​​books.

The sky outside the station stretches with white clouds, and the leaves in the courtyard sway gently. It is a good weather for reading.

But at this moment outside Bianjing Nanxun Gate, when Zhang Yue looked at the tall city gate building in front of him, he almost said, I, Zhang Yue, came back again.

However, Zhang Yue couldn't help guessing in his heart why Ouyang Xiu asked him to return to Beijing.

When Zhang Yue drove into the south gate, he collided with someone.Seeing that there are many people here, the other party is also ready to calm down.

Zhang Yue was worried about whether the big bully the small, so he asked Tang Jiuhao to persuade him.But the other party has a polite face.

Zhang Yue saw that the other party was so sensible, so he lifted the curtain of the car and said, "Please forgive me for offending this brother."

The other party was about to answer and couldn't help wondering: "Isn't this the champion? Why is your honor here?"

Zhang Yue knew that he had met an acquaintance, and saw that the other party looked familiar, but he didn't explain much.

Immediately, Zhang Yue's car drove away, and the other party said with a surprised face: "I saw our Zhuangyuan Gong in the suburbs of Bianjing the day before yesterday, why is it that he is dazzled today?"

Zhang Yue arrived at Ouyang Xiu's residence in a carriage.

It was dusk at this time, Ouyang Xiu hadn't gone to court, and Ouyang Fa was not in the mansion, so Zhang Yue simply sat and waited.

The servant brought the noodle soup, and Zhang Yue washed his face with a hot towel. At this moment, Ouyang Xiu returned home.

Ouyang Xiu looked at Zhang Yue in a hurry and asked, "Has Du Zhi eaten?"

Zhang Yue said: "Knowing that my uncle is dead, my nephew rushed back from sixty miles away from the capital, and he has not eaten in the city yet."

Ouyang Xiu was very satisfied when he heard the words: "Duzhi will accompany me to eat, we will talk while eating."

So Zhang Yue was entertained by Ouyang Xiu.

The servants of Ouyang's mansion brought the food to the table, Ouyang Xiu ate a few mouthfuls before saying: "Mr. Han just discussed with me, it's too late."

Ouyang Xiu talked about some political affairs in the court, and he was telling himself about the situation in the court. Zhang Yue listened carefully and did not dare to intervene.

Ouyang Xiu wiped his face with a towel and said, "I called you back this time, do you know what happened?"

Zhang Yue replied: "My nephew doesn't know?"

Ouyang Xiu smiled and said, "It's for the major in July, would you like to give it a try?"

"Big Ke?" Zhang Yue didn't expect it at all.

Ouyang Xiudao: "It is true that there are very few champions who go to university, but after careful investigation, this old man is not without such a precedent."

"Even Zhang Ledao has been admitted twice. Do you have any concerns?"

Zhang Yue said: "I do have concerns. I originally planned to be an official in the local area, but now I have to take the exam. This is not wrong. But if I refuse to take the exam, wouldn't it be a loss of face? What's more, the big exam is in July. It’s less than three months now, so I’m really not sure.”

Ouyang Xiu laughed and said: "You are also afraid of making mistakes, this is not your temperament."

Zhang Yue remained silent, the most important thing was that Ersu was there.What kind of person is Su Shi?

As for scholars, some people write good articles, some people write good poems, some people write good theory, as long as one of them can reach the ultimate level, they can be included in Chinese textbooks.

But Su Shi is all-rounder.

Zhang Yue really sighed that this era is really a fight between gods and gods.

As for the erudition of human beings in the examination of the system, don't think that reading Su Shi's poems, thinking that people travel all day long and like to make friends everywhere, they don't seem to be the kind of scholars who wait all day long.

In fact, Su Shi is more diligent in reading than anyone else. He has a poem that reads all the characters in the world and reads all the books in the world.

There was a man who admired Su Shi and went to pay a visit, but he waited for Su Shi for a long time and did not come out. When he finally met, the man asked Su Shi what he was doing?
Su Shi said that I was really sorry for being late in class.

The man asked what is the daily lesson?
Su Shi said that he copied Han books.

The other party asked the gentleman how to copy by hand if he has a good memory when he reads books.

Su Shi said no, I rely on diligence in reading, and I have already copied Hanshu for the third time.

After finishing speaking, Su Shi showed him the copy, and said that I copied three characters of each story in the first pass, and two characters in the second pass, and now I can copy one word.

The other party raised a word at random, and Su Shi recited the following story. Hundreds of words are not bad.

The man was amazed when he saw it, and went home and said to his son, a genius like Su Shi is so diligent, how dare we ordinary people not work hard?

Zhang Yue himself abused Wang Kui once and succeeded, but the chances of winning against Subi are really not great.Before, he was secretly happy that Wang Kui and Ersu were in the same place, but now it's his turn to slap him in the face?If you can't provoke me, can you still hide?

Don't go, don't go, resolutely don't go.

Zhang Yue said: "Master Shu knew that I didn't have anything to eat on the way, so he specially called me back to Beijing to treat me to a meal. Du Zhi is very grateful. Now that I have a full meal, I will go to Chuzhou to take up my post."

After finishing speaking, Yue got up and thanked him, then turned around and was about to run away.

Unexpectedly, Ouyang Xiu yelled loudly behind him: "Stop, old man."

Zhang Yue had no choice but to turn around.

Ouyang Xiudao: "Actually, this is not the idea of ​​Xiu alone, but the idea of ​​Fu Xianggong and Han Xianggong."

Zhang Yue thought to himself, what?
Ouyang Xiu smiled and said, "Why do you want to recommend you to the University?"

"I don't know."

Ouyang corrected his expression and said: "The imperial examinations in this dynasty have always been criticized by people. Now those who think about it are not talented because they say that they use regular laws and irregular laws."

"Today, the Holy Lord is looking for the heroes of the world, so he restores the holy career and jointly manages the merits. The Holy One has obtained eleven sages since the establishment of the system, which is to use extraordinary methods to obtain extraordinary talents."

"Nowadays, the state affairs are in dire straits. The two ministers of the rich and the Han are also considerate of the holy will. Selecting talents from the common people is also for the future protection of the sky and the country."

"Since you have won the first place in ordinary subjects and the first in extraordinary subjects, you can abide by the common law and adapt to the extraordinary law. Then the court will definitely have you as a good minister in the future."

"This matter can't be shirked by the country or privately. Xiu has already agreed to Fu and Han for you."

(End of this chapter)