Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 199 Thank you Mr. Chen

Cui Xinming placed the teacup in his hand heavily on the table, his eyes filled with anger, and he growled: "It's too much to bully others, it's too much to bully others."

Cui Xinming was the most outstanding talent of the Cui family in Qinghe in the past century. He was well-read, had a strong memory, and had a photographic memory. He was outstanding for his beautiful writing style. He was upright and proud. He boasted that he was the contemporary Cao Zijian. His articles were unparalleled in the contemporary era. He was one of the most talented people in the world. Because he looked down upon the articles written by others, he often recited his own articles to amuse himself.

He had two great hatreds in his life: one was hatred for Zheng Shiyi of Xingyang, and the other was hatred for being a man of high talent but not a high-ranking person.

Zheng Shiyi ruined his poems and essays, and they hated him to the utmost.

Cui Xinming believed that Li Shimin was narrow-minded because of his high talent and low position, and he did not dare to use himself who was born into a noble family.

When the results of the imperial examination came out, Cui Xinming felt like he was slapped in the face. The son he had carefully cultivated only got fourth place. He just lost to the boy from the Li family, and a commoner got the first place.

What's even more annoying is that he failed to find a venue. Xiang Yu took advantage of Liu Bang's Hongmen Banquet, which suddenly turned into Liu Bang's counter-pressure against Xiang Yu.

This aggressive visit to Beijing has not yielded any benefits, and I don't know how to explain it.

During today's palace examination, Cui Xinming had an ominous premonition.

During Li Shimin's period, he needed the support of public opinion due to his improper position. In the early stage, he did not suppress the five surnames too much. He only reused Guan Long Xungui who helped him conquer the world. In the later period, when the Li family was firmly in power, they began to suppress them clearly, and their time was running out.

Li Zhi had no such concerns, and his methods were more violent than his father Li Shimin's.Especially after Qiankun's arbitrary decision, the suppression against them was obvious.

Cui Xin knew that today's palace examination was unlucky, but even though he knew that Li Zhi would not give them a good ranking, he never expected that they would not even be in the top twenty, and his son would be ranked 33rd.

Cui Xinming relied on his talent and arrogance, how could he bear such humiliation.

Li Xiaoqing also stared angrily and whispered: "Narrow-minded, self-interested, and so stupid that he should be despised by thousands of people."

His son was ranked second in the provincial examination. Even if he was unfairly treated, he would not fall to the 25th place.

Lu Renzhen had a heavy look on his face and raised the corners of his mouth slightly. Why was his son one step ahead?
An unexpected surprise, an unexpected surprise.

Li Xiaoqing vented his anger and said with humiliation in his eyes: "Brother Cui, how should I explain this to the clan elders?"

Cui Xinming had a sullen face and could not say a word.

There is no doubt about the influence of the Five Surnames, but they really don't dare to challenge Li Tang.

What they held was a pen, but what Li Zhi held was a knife.

If they really wanted to overturn the table, it would indeed shake the foundation of the imperial court, but what they faced was disaster.

If they really had this kind of backbone, they wouldn't have been passed down for thousands of years.

"The younger generation is incompetent, so we, the older generation, naturally have to step forward. If we ask about the reputation of this capital, no one is more famous than Mr. Qingxi Chen Qingsi..."

He shook his head helplessly, waved to the maid in the distance, asked for paper and pen, and said: "March [-]rd, the Shangsi Festival, I will invite Chen Qingsi to travel to Qujiang to meet this talented man from the south of the Yangtze River who is stirring up trouble."

He was high-spirited, finished it with a wave of his hand, called the steward, and said: "This letter must be delivered to Chen Qingsi in person."

As Cui Xinming from Guandong, he couldn't even look down on the children of the fifth surname, let alone a talented man from the south of the Yangtze River?

……

Chen Qingsi has returned to the Imperial College to serve as his eunuch.

But today, Chen Qingsi was free at home, so he sent Zhou Kui to find out the names of Zhang Jianzhi, Wei Yuanzhong, and Ruan Ning, plus the rankings of Li Yuanzhi, Cui Dongri, and Lu Zhaolin.

Because of this imperial examination, three people from the Imperial College entered the Jinshi, namely Zhang Jianzhi, Wei Yuanzhong, and Ruan Ning. Among them, Zhang Jianzhi and Wei Yuanzhong obtained good results, and Ruan Ning ranked quite low. But as a gentleman from the Imperial College, you have to know Ranking of own students.As Zhou Kui brought the news, Chen Qingsi was also a little dumbfounded.

He still underestimated Li Zhi's attitude towards the five surnames.

Not only Cui Xinming and Li Xiaoqing, but also Chen Qingsi himself could not have expected that Li Yuanyu and Cui Dongri, who were the top five in the provincial examination, dropped to 25 and 31.

Zhou Kui said: "Compared with Zhang Langjun's number one, Wei Langjun's name is second on the Jinshi list, and Ruan Langjun's name is a little lower. They are also 21st on the Jinshi list."

In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examinations were divided into three categories. In most people's subconscious mind, the top three were number one, second place, and third overall. This is wrong.

The top three are the three echelons of the imperial examination. The first is also called the Jinshi and the third one. Three people are selected, that is, the familiar number one, the second, and the third. The second is the Jinshi origin. Depending on the situation, the number of people selected is also different. This time, 50 People; the top three are from the same Jinshi family, take the rest.

Members of the top three are collectively called Jinshi...

"It's pretty good to be among the 2 people who took the exam."

Chen Qingsi was happy for the three of them.

At this moment, there was a noise outside the house.

Chen Qingsi was a little surprised. Someone was getting married?
It was such a big pomp, he could hear it clearly in the hall.

He didn't care at first, but then there was a knock on the door.

Chen Qingsi asked Zhou Kui to check the situation.

After a while, Zhou Kui came back, with a bit of joy on his face, and said, "Master Lang, it's Zhang Langjun and the others outside the house."

Chen Qingsi was a little stunned and looked at the sky. This should be the time to show off Suzaku Street.

After Li Zhiqin appoints Jinshi, the number one scholar, the second best scholar, and the third best scholar will ride on big horses, wear red clothes and red flowers, show off on Zhuque Street, and then return to the imperial city to participate in the Deer Ming Banquet.

Xuanyangfang, where I live, is located on the Third Street East of Zhuquemen in Chang'an. You can go shopping without passing by my residence.

With a puzzled expression, Chen Qingsi strode outside the house.

Seeing Chen Qingsi come out, headed by Zhang Jianzhi in the middle, second place Guo Daifeng and Xu Yanbo, three people on the left and right, bowed respectfully, "Students have met sir."

It turned out that Zhang Jianzhi was also chatting with Guo Daifeng and Xu Yanbo while they were parading.

Xu Yanbo was the first to start.

After the Xu family had been in decline for a hundred years, Xu Yanbo settled in the Taihang Mountains and studied by himself. Relying on his talent and hard work, he acquired a literary talent, which attracted the appreciation of the nobleman Xue Yuanchao, who stayed by his side and hired him as a teacher.

Xu Yanbo taught Xue Yuanchao's nephew to read, while Xue Yuanchao discussed with Xu Yanbo the methods of official administration.

At the time of the reform of the imperial examination system, Xu Yanbo participated with the attitude of giving it a try and did not want to be the top pick in high school.

Given his background, how could he have become what he is today if he hadn't encountered Chen Qingsi's reform of the imperial examination system?
Therefore, even if it was just when Chen Qingsi was inspecting the examination room, he would take a look at it from a distance and shed tears of gratitude.

Guo Daifeng's situation was different. He was threatened by Li Yifu and occupied his ancestral home.Li Yifu went crazy because of Chen Qingsi and was demoted to a commoner. The Guo family's ancestral home also returned to their hands.

Guo Daifeng also had a good impression of Chen Qingsi, and if it hadn't been for Chen Qingsi's restructuring, it would have been impossible for them to be ranked second because of their declining family fortunes.

Needless to say, Zhang Jianzhi, so the three of them joined forces and the last battle of the parade was at Chen's house in Xuanyangfang.

(End of this chapter)