Liaozhai: A scholar should draw a sword

Chapter 257
Wei Zheng found a senior scholar surnamed Wei in the court, and the two changed into common clothes, and went to find Zhou Yu together.

The two did not reveal their identities, but Zhou Yu could tell at a glance.

Wei Zheng has always been very conceited, after all he is a person with real skills.

Wei University scholar is also a famous Confucianist in the dynasty, so he is also very noble.

Both of them are well-educated people and have been in politics for many years. Talking with Zhou Yu will inevitably involve some major decisions that affect the course of history and the development of Confucianism.

At the beginning, the two of them were calm and composed, and what you said and what I said was very exciting.

But while chatting, the two suddenly discovered that the knowledge they were proud of was far from enough in front of Zhou Yu.

Yes, it is far from enough.

After returning to the palace, the two went to face the saint together, and praised Zhou Yu in front of King Tang.

The King of Tang had always trusted Wei Zheng, and he also knew that it was rare for Wei Zheng to convince someone, but now he looked sincerely convinced, and suddenly he loved talents, and decided to go out of the palace to meet Zhou Yu for a while.

So, under the protection of Wei Zheng and a group of guards, he quietly left the palace.

Of course, this time I went out of the palace in micro-clothes, including the palace guards, who were all dressed up and scattered around for secret protection.

Upon seeing Zhou Yu, Tang Wang couldn't help being shocked.

Zhou Yu smiled and stepped forward and cupped his hands: "Next week, Zhou Yu, see the Holy One!"

Wei Zheng and the others couldn't help being surprised.

After all, there are very few people outside who know the emperor, why does this person call the emperor as soon as they meet, and the salute is just an ordinary meeting salute?
Tang Wang was stunned for a moment, finally came to his senses, and hurriedly returned a salute: "I never expected that the Shangxian is here. Last time, I was grateful for the advice of the Shangxian!"

Shangxian?

Hearing this, Wei Zheng finally realized suddenly.

Last time, Zhou Yu entered the Tang King's dream, reminding him of the grievances between Jinghe Dragon King and Yuan Shoucheng.

Tang Wang was very angry after knowing the whole story, so he arrested Yuan Shoucheng and beheaded him, thus ending the grievances of the Dragon King of Jinghe.

Wei Zheng also heard about this matter from King Tang, so he just knew that the person in front of him was the one that King Tang had mentioned.

"Your Majesty's words are serious, and I also learned of the Jinghe Dragon King's grievances by accident..."

After some courtesies, King Tang sat down and chatted with Zhou Yu.

This chat has the meaning of seeing each other late.

After all, King Tang is quite an ambitious person.

During his reign, he listened to the opinions of his officials and accepted advice with an open mind.He ruled the world internally, practiced strict economy, encouraged farming and mulberry, achieved recuperation, peace and prosperity of the country, and created the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

It can be said that he is a rare monarch who is eager for talents.

Listening to Zhou Yu talk about the way of governing the country, it can be said to be enlightened.

Zhou Yu roughly stated some of his own views from the aspects of agriculture, industry, commerce, and soldiers.

Of course, these views of his are based on the successful experience of later generations, combined with the current world and the background of the times.

Aggressive, but not too far ahead.

Finally, some comments and suggestions are made on the imperial examination system.

Initially, court officials were generally served by the children of nobles, which was equivalent to hereditary.

Later, the method of township election was added, that is, some respected people in the township selected local sages and recommended them to the localities.

In the Sui Dynasty, the embryonic form of the imperial examination finally emerged.

After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination became more and more mature. There were various subjects such as Xiucai, Mingjing, Junshi, Jinshi, Mingfa, Mingzi, and Mingshu.

Zhou Yu expressed some of his own views based on the pros and cons of the imperial examinations in the past dynasties.

That is, the more mature and complete children's examination, hospital examination, rural examination, general examination, and palace examination.

However, regarding the content of the exam, Zhou Yu also put forward his own point of view. To put it simply, it is not possible to cultivate the habit of reading books by rote, and it is necessary to combine theory with practice.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was because of the prevalence of stereotyped essays that scholars became pedantic and even lost their blood.

Due to time constraints, most of what Zhou Yu said was to the point, but Tang Wang couldn't stop listening to it.

Ever since, Zhou Yu was kindly invited into the palace, saying that he wanted to have a good chat.

Tang Wang felt that he had benefited a lot from this conversation, so he specially asked someone to record it, and recorded all Zhou Yu's words, so that he could study it later.

At the same time, some important courtiers, princes, etc. were invited to listen to the lecture.

A few days later, the king of Tang made a major decision: Canonize Zhou Yu as the national teacher of the Tang Dynasty.

To this, Zhou Yu did not refuse. After all, the national teacher is not a real job, and he does not need to go to court like ordinary courtiers to handle official duties.

The king of Tang discussed with him, and Zhou Yu entered the palace from time to time to discuss state affairs with him.

There is also a vacant position at the Imperial College, and I go to the Imperial College to give lectures to a group of students when I have free time.

As a result, Zhou Yu became famous for a while.

As the first student he accepted, Wu Yongchuan was naturally very handsome.

Of course, he was also very competitive, and with his own efforts, he won the exam with an excellent score of No.1.

Later, recommended by Zhou Yu, he stayed in Guozijian as a teaching assistant.

Moreover, this is just the beginning, and there will be opportunities for promotion in the future.

……

Let's talk about the other side, Tang Seng, Monkey King, and Zhu Bajie went all the way, and after going through several disasters, they came to Liusha River.

The Quicksand River is a dangerous place, known as the Eight Hundred Quicksand Realm, with a depth of three thousand weak waters.The goose feathers cannot float, but the reed flowers sink to the bottom.

There is a demon in the river named Drifting Monk.

Sand Monk was originally the general of the Tiangong Roller Curtain, but was demoted to the mortal world because he accidentally broke a treasure at the Pantao Festival.

To put it bluntly, this is to demote him on purpose, otherwise how to get together the quartet of master and apprentice?
The three monks, master and apprentice, came to the Liusha River. They had to fight with Monk Drifting, and later Avalokitesvara came forward. In this way, Monk Tang accepted another disciple and gave him a dharma name: Wujing.

Wukong, Wuneng, and Wujing are all alive.

On this day, the master and apprentice passed by Wuzhuang Temple.Although it is a contemplation, Tang Seng saw its extraordinary momentum, so he proposed to go to worship and borrow a night by the way.

Entering the mountain gate, a pair of boys greeted them, calling themselves Qingfeng and Mingyue.

Looking at the appearance of this pair of boys, they are very proud, and looking at the appearance of Tang Seng and the other four, they also have a sense of superiority.

However, he didn't reject the door and welcomed him into the hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, Tang Seng was about to worship the statue, but when he saw that the hall was empty, there was no statue, only the word "heaven and earth" was hung.

Sun Wukong smiled and said, "The tone is not small..."

"Wukong, don't be rude, Buddhism and Taoism belong to the same family, and heaven and earth must be more respectful."

However, I was still puzzled, so I asked the two boys: "May I ask why this hall didn't enshrine the Sanqing, the Four Emperors, and the gods of Luotian? Only the two characters of heaven and earth are enshrined?"

The two boys smiled: "To tell you the truth, master, the word "heaven and earth", the ones at the top can still be worshiped by my master, and the ones at the bottom... can't stand our incense."

Tang Seng was taken aback: "How do you say that?"

Qingfeng said triumphantly: "San Qing is a friend of the family teacher, and the Fourth Emperor is an old friend of the family teacher..."

Hearing this, Tang Seng was even more surprised.

Afterwards, a boy asked: "May I ask if Master is the elder Tang who went to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures?"

"It's the poor monk!"

"My teacher told me, Elder Tang is like passing by, let me treat you well."

"Amitabha, I thank you two fairies."

After a while, two Taoist boys came in carrying a plate with two fruits in it.

"Master, we have nothing to entertain in the mountains, please eat two vegetarian fruits to quench your thirst."

Of course, this is just polite talk.

Tang Seng raised his eyes and turned pale with shock.Because those two fruits looked like babies.

"This...this...this..."

Seeing Tang Seng's frightened expression, the two Taoist boys couldn't help but smile at each other.

"Master, don't misunderstand, this is a tree, whether it is in the sky or in the world, only our Wuzhuang Temple has it.

This thing is called ginseng fruit, which blooms in 3000 years, bears fruit in 3000 years, and matures in another 3000 years. It takes ten thousand years to come and go.

Ordinary people can live hundreds of years if they smell it.If you eat one, you can live for 7000 years. If Master can eat it, it is good fortune. "

"Amitabha, even if it is a fruit that grows on a tree, this baby-like fruit, the poor monk said so, take it away."

The two boys persuaded Tang Seng not to eat.

Just take it away.

As soon as they went out, the two boys began to taunt: "The second disciple of the Tathagata turned out to be a mortal child with naked eyes."

"That's right, Master doesn't know what to think. Such a mortal actually wants us to wait on him and give him such precious ginseng fruit."

"Hee hee, brother, if he doesn't eat, it's just cheaper for us."

"Yes, yes, exactly one person..."

Unexpectedly, all of this was seen by Zhu Bajie, who was so greedy that his mouth was watering.

Ever since, I hurried to find Sun Wukong to brag about.

Sun Wukong was also excited when he heard it, so he ran to have a look quietly, and sure enough, the two boys were eating happily.

After eating, he carefully hung a golden scorpion on the wall.

After the two boys left, Monkey King sneaked into the room, took off the golden scorpion and ran to the backyard.

He flew to the tree and knocked it with a golden hammer, and sure enough, the ginseng fruit fell down.

Monkey King also flew down, only to find that the ginseng fruit was gone.

In a fit of rage, Sun Wukong called out to the earth: "Old man bold, did you steal my old grandson's ginseng fruit?"

The land quickly distinguished: "The great sage doesn't know something. This ginseng fruit is in awe of the five elements. When it meets gold, it falls, when it meets wood, it withers, when it meets water, it melts, when it meets fire, it burns, and when it meets earth, it enters.

You see, you must use gold utensils when knocking, and you must have a silk cloth pad when you connect..."

After saying this, Sun Wukong finally understood, and he became smarter. When knocking, he used his clothes to follow up, knocked down three, and happily took them back to share with Bajie and Sha Shidi.

In the end, Zhu Bajie swallowed it in one gulp.

Therefore, there is a folk saying that Zhu Bajie eats ginseng fruit—swallows jujubes whole, and doesn’t know the taste at all.

After eating, Sun Wukong got carried away for a moment, and threw the golden bell into the house.

After Qingfeng and Mingyue found out, they couldn't help being shocked.Because the two of them clearly remembered that the golden bell was hung on the wall, why did it fall to the ground?
Feeling uneasy, the two rushed to the backyard to count ginseng fruits, but they were short of six.

Two of them were struck by the two of them before, that is to say, four were lost.

In a rage, the two ran to Tang Seng to reason.

The two were angry, and they stopped talking about etiquette, and when they saw Tang Seng, they began to groan.

"You monk is so rude, we kindly gave you ginseng fruit to eat before, but you said that you look like a baby and dare not eat it.

The result is too little?Turning around, you stole four. "

"That's right, what kind of eminent Tang monk, bah!"

"What?" Tang Seng was taken aback: "You two fairy boys, did you make a mistake? How could the poor monk steal it?"

Speaking of this, a flash of inspiration flashed, could it be the three apprentices?
Just because he can't do such a thing doesn't mean the three apprentices won't.

"What's the wrong count? There are only dozens of fruits on the tree, and we can't count them?"

"That's right, the gold hammer that knocked the fruit was also thrown on the ground, don't you admit it?"

"Rogue, you are simply a rascal..."

Tang Seng hurriedly said: "The two fairies calm down and wait for the poor monk to ask the three disciples."

So, they called Sun Wukong and three people to ask.

At first, Sun Wukong didn't admit it, but when Zhu Bajie heard that four fruits were missing, he suddenly became unhappy.

"Brother Monkey, you are so mean. You obviously picked four, but you lied to my old pig that you picked three..."

Sun Wukong: "..."

Tang Seng: "..."

Qingyue and Mingyue were even more angry.

"You still don't admit it? Are you revealing now?"

"You are so shameless. We entertained you kindly, but you stole our ginseng fruit."

"When Master comes back, I will definitely not spare you..."

After scolding, Sun Wukong was furious.

So, quietly turned into a clone and ran to the backyard, took out the golden cudgel, and smashed the ginseng fruit tree...

When the two Taoist boys found the tree destroyed, they were frightened and frightened, and locked the door to prevent the three masters and apprentices from leaving.

However, this is not difficult for Monkey King.

When it was dark, he opened the door with a little trick and took Tang Seng away.

Tang Seng wanted to stay and apologize to the owner, but Sun Wukong said that God knows when the owner will come back. After all, one day in the sky and one year in the world, maybe 100 years or 200 years or something.
When Tang Seng heard it, he also felt that it made sense, so he had to go to learn the scriptures first, and then apologize when he has a chance.

After all, he never thought how precious this ginseng fruit tree is, it can be said that it is more precious than the flat peach tree of the Queen Mother.

After all, there are many flat peach trees, but there is only one ginseng fruit tree.

Tang Tu and his party left at night.

Before leaving, Monkey King also cast a spell on the two Taoist boys.

Unexpectedly, not long after leaving, Immortal Zhenyuan came back.

After hearing the reason, I went to the backyard to have a look. No matter how deep the self-cultivation was, I couldn't stand it anymore.

Deceiving too much!

So, he immediately caught up with Tang Seng and his party by riding a cloud, and made a lot of accusations.

Unexpectedly, Monkey King refused to admit defeat, or in other words, the monkey didn't know how powerful Zhen Yuanzi was, but instead seemed plausible.

It was only after he started to fight that he realized that Zhen Yuanzi's supernatural power was not something he could resist at all.

This is also the reason why Zhou Yu avoided Wuzhuang Temple.

Because he knew that this was an inevitable catastrophe on the way west, and he was unwilling to confront Zhen Yuanzi head-on.

After all, Zhen Yuanzi's strength is unfathomable, maybe not as good as a saint, but he is also stronger than Da Luo Jinxian, so he should be considered a semi-sage.

In the end, Monkey King and his disciples were taken away by Zhenyuan Daxian and brought back to Wuzhuang Temple...

(End of this chapter)