Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 590 Tao Gu is an idiot
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At this time, Zhao Kuangyin was waiting for the final results of the Ministry of Rites Examination to be delivered. Because it was a temporary imperial examination, there were relatively fewer famous candidates among the candidates than in previous years. Compared with the first year of Jianlong, the second year of Kaibao, a gathering of heroes, was compared.

After much deliberation, the only person Zhao Kuangyin can look forward to is Ye Chen's literary disciple—Kou Zhun, the senior brother of his son Defang.Zhao Kuangyin's expectation of Kou Zhun is not due to Kou Zhun's reputation. In fact, Kou Zhun does not have the slightest reputation among scholars. Everyone, including Zhao Kuangyin, values ​​Kou Zhun, or at present, it is because of Kou Zhun is Ye Chen's disciple.And only Ye Chen, Ye Fu and a small number of people in the Huaxia Weifu know how extraordinary Kou Zhun is.

The door of the pavilion outside the hall sent the young eunuch Xin Shi in to report that the people sent to the tribute court had returned.

"Here?" In the Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Kuangyin finally got the news, and he cheered up, "Let them in quickly!" He really wanted to know the ranking of Ye Chen's disciple Kou Zhun.In his opinion, Ye Chen's disciple will definitely be on the list.

Lu Duoxun, Tao Gu, and Xu Xuan came in to greet the emperor, and then Lu Duoxun presented the admission list of the Ministry of Rites that had been sealed with wax paint, and Zhao Kuangyin immediately asked Xin Shi, who was accompanying him, to open it .Don't ask Lu Duoxun what they have to report about this ritual examination.After receiving the disassembled scroll of the list, he immediately unfolded it and began to look through it.

Among the dozen or so people at the front, Zhao Kuangyin did not find the name he wanted to see.Feeling slightly disappointed, Zhao Kuangyin looked all the way to the left.

But until he finished reading, he didn't find Kou Zhun's name, so he couldn't help but frowned slightly, and sighed: "It seems that Ye Chen doesn't know how to teach his disciples! That's right, since Defang kid has worshiped Ye Chen as his teacher, although Mature, stable, sensible and clever, but not much improvement in literary talent."

Next, Xu Xuan hesitated for a moment, and was about to come out to say something. Unexpectedly, Lu Duoxun jumped ahead of him, bowed to the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, I dare to guess that your Majesty may be interested in the paper of Kou Zhun, a disciple of King Xiangfu, so I deliberately Bring Kou Zhun's paper, do you want to take a look at it?"

Seeing this, Xu Xuan took a deep look at Lu Duoxun, and then backed away.But Tao Gu's expression changed slightly, he secretly scolded all eight generations of Lu Duoxun's ancestors, and at the same time, he could only hope that the emperor would not pay too much attention to Kou Zhun's papers because Kou Zhun's literary talent was too mediocre.

Zhao Kuangyin's eyes were like lightning, but he had already seen the changes in the expressions of Lu Duoxun, Tao Gu, and Xu Xuan just now, and snorted coldly. Before he could order, Xin Shi next to him stepped forward to take Kou Zhun's hand from Lu Duoxun's hand. The paper was handed to Zhao Kuangyin.

After a while, Zhao Kuangyin raised his head, first closed his eyes and meditated for a while, then heaved a long sigh, a light flashed in his eyes, and said: "As expected of Ye Chen's disciple. I heard that he is only 16 years old, so he has such an opinion. , It’s really rare, from my point of view, most of the officials who have been in the court for more than ten years don’t have this kind of brain. After a few years of cultivation, they will become prime ministers!”

Hearing this, Tao Gu staggered and almost fell to the ground, but his face was ashen. Even though Lu Duoxun and Xu Xuan knew that Kou Zhun's strategy question was very good, they didn't expect that His Majesty the Emperor would give it. Such a high rating.

They didn't know that Zhao Kuangyin was probably the most pragmatic of all the emperors in the past dynasties. As for his literary talent, it was enough to be straightforward as long as he could understand what he meant. What he valued was the content itself.Under the training and influence of Ye Chen, Kou Zhun considers problems and works based on being pragmatic and effective. His attitude towards written language is similar to that of Zhao Kuangyin. It is only a tool for communicating, expressing, transmitting, and recording objective facts.

Zhao Kuangyin raised the paper in his hand, looked at the three examiners below, especially at Tao Gu's unbearable appearance just now, and thought of the enmity between Ye Chen and Tao Gu, he already understood it, and said with a sneer: "Lu Duo Xun! You are the chief examiner and my deputy prime minister, so tell me what's going on here?"

Lu Duoxun immediately said: "Your Majesty, Kou Zhun's test papers, Zichen and Master Xu are both rated as top-notch, but Master Tao will judge whether or not. According to the rules of the Ministry of Rites Examination, as long as one of the chief examiners judges or fails, he cannot become a new Jinshi. so…………"

There was a bang, and before Lu Duoxun could finish speaking, Zhao Kuangyin slapped the imperial table in front of him, and shouted: "Tao Gu! I just read Kou Zhun's paper carefully. What the answer said is also an extremely rare and feasible strategy. Why do you want to judge or reject it?"

At this moment, Tao Gu had no choice but to bite the bullet and hold on, calmed down, gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, as a minister of the Imperial Academy, I have the responsibility to check the literary talents of the candidates. Although Kou Zhunce asked It’s not bad, but his words and expressions are too mediocre. The minister’s decision on whether to judge or not is just acting impartially.”

Zhao Kuangyin sneered and said, "Mediocre? Why don't I feel that the words and expressions are mediocre? Not only do I feel that I am not mediocre, but I also feel that it is more comfortable to say things this way. You may not know that every time Ye Chen gives me a memorial, the words and expressions are as simple as Kou Zhun is like this, simple and direct, without nonsense. The same thing, such as the memorial that you Tao Gu sent me, I have to read it for an hour, and ignore most of the nonsense before I can understand what it is. Ye Chen's memorial, I can easily understand it. If I remember correctly, Ye Chen's literary name is probably not weaker than your Tao Gu!"

Tao Gu's face was flushed red, and when his brain got hot, he blurted out: "That's because your majesty's level in poetry and poetry is limited. Although your majesty is the son of heaven, you can't humiliate me and other literati like this."

"Bold!" Zhao Kuangyin yelled, Tao Gu suddenly realized what he said, and immediately knelt down with a thud, his face was pale, cold sweat flowed from his forehead and neck, and he said in panic: "Your Majesty, forgive me, I made a slip of the tongue. "

However, looking at Tao Gu's reaction at this time, and remembering what Tao Gu said just now, the anger in Zhao Kuangyin's heart suddenly dissipated, because he suddenly remembered that he wanted to sit firmly in the world, but he couldn't do without these all-day "Zhe Zhe Ye" The literati, the so-called Wenzhiwugong, Wenzhi ranks first, has its own reason.Although literati have their hypocritical and pragmatic side, they play an irreplaceable role in ruling the world and stabilizing the behemoth of the court.

Thinking of this, Zhao Kuangyin didn't want to say anything more about this issue, and didn't want to pay attention to Tao Gu, but said to Lu Duoxun: "Reassess Kou Zhun's paper."

Lu Doxun immediately bowed and said yes.Seeing that Zhao Kuangyin did not pursue him, Tao Gu, who was kneeling on the ground, secretly heaved a long sigh of relief, but at the same time he already hated Lu Duoxun to the bone.

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This rain is not spring rain, nor autumn rain, nor is it a drizzle; it is not like ox hair, not like pine leaves, and it is not like any string of beads.It is summer rain, summer downpours.It can bring cool summer rain to everything in the world.

It fell like a bullet and landed on the ground, making a ticking sound.

Its powerful little body fell to the ground, splashing small dimples one by one, sometimes resembling a blooming water flower.It and its companions slowly merged together, forming a stream of flowing streams, which can be seen everywhere on both sides of the street.When it falls on the plants, it becomes the best bath water for plant bathing.

It takes all the heat and dust away and brings a cool world.The rain stopped, and there was still some humidity in the air, and the little birds were flying low: the music on the awning also stopped, only some raindrops fell from it from time to time, the roar of the gods came from the sky, and the sound of thunder Again and again, but it didn't stop for a long time.But this terrible thunder did not affect people's emotions. On the contrary, more people came out for a walk today than before.Because today is the day when the results of the scientific examination will be released.

However, looking out the window at the courtyard bathed in summer rain, Kou Zhun remained in a daze, his face full of sadness. He had completely forgotten that today was the day when the rankings would be announced.

Although Kou Zhun is young, his character and behavior make him not used to exposing his weak side to others.Only when you are alone, the emotions hidden in your heart will emerge.Naturally, what he was worried about was not whether he could be named on the gold list, but whether Ye Chen could tide over the difficulties and survive with a [-]% chance.

After being dazed for a while amidst the sound of rain, Kou Zhun's scattered eyesight gathered again.I laughed at myself, Master was poisoned, and I couldn't do anything at all, and it didn't make any sense to be flustered or calm.The result will not change because of my current mood, there is no need to think too much.

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Not surprisingly, with what the emperor said in front of the three chief examiners in the Chongzheng Hall, Kou Zhun was on the list in the provincial high school examination.

The so-called 'the palace test determines the superiority, the provincial test determines whether to stay or not'.In extreme terms, the last place in the provincial test is the same as No.1.To distinguish between superior and inferior, it is decided in the palace examination.That's what I said, but Kou Zhun didn't have the slightest interest in competing for a top ranking at this time.

However, when Xu Xuan came to Ye Mansion, he didn't tell him about it, but asked him to check the list himself.Xu Xuan is the most orthodox kind of scholar. In his opinion, for a scholar, one of the four great joys in life, the title of the Gold List must be experienced personally. This in itself is a very important and rare experience.

Xu Xuan was a secret child of Ye Chen in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and played an extremely critical role in breaking Jinling City. This matter is no secret among the core personnel of Ye Chen's line, and Xu Xuan himself once Possessing the literary name of the number one talented scholar in the south of the Yangtze River, his status in Ye Chen's faction is relatively special. These days, Kou Zhun has not given much advice on economics, righteousness and policy. I don't want to go to the list, but it's hard to refuse.

(End of this chapter)