The sound of "We are all old" deeply shook Ouyang Xiu. He lowered his head and said: "The official family is in its prime..."
"Don't talk about those clichés," Zhao Zhen sat down cross-legged on the low couch, motioned for Ouyang Xiu to sit down, and said with a smile: "Aren't you always opposed to the Taixue style? In my opinion, the so-called Taixue style is nothing but strange.
There is also a false sky." He chuckled and said, "Don't just allow the state officials to set fires and not allow the people to light lamps."
Ouyang Xiu nodded and said in a deep voice: "I understand, I will only tell the truth today." After the official's signal again, he sat on the edge of the couch.
"That's right." Zhao Zhen looked at Ouyang Xiu's white hair and asked leisurely: "Ai Qing, in these thirty years of officialdom, what is your proudest moment?"
"Wei Chen..." This question was too big. Ouyang Xiu had to think about it for a while before he said with a bitter smile: "I'm ashamed. In the thirty years before I became the emperor, Wei Chen stumbled and suffered bruises and bruises. There is nothing to be proud of."
"You can't be miserable all the time. There should be times when you are proud, right?" Zhao Zhen shook his head and smiled: "For example, as the leader of the literary world, Uncle Ouyang Yong, all the scholars in the world are looking up to you and putting your words into words.
Isn’t it something to be proud of if we regard it as economical?”
"I don't know who named the leader of the literary world, but made the officials laugh." If it weren't for such an environment, Ouyang Xiu would have thought that this was a hint that he was too ostentatious. But at this moment, it was definitely not the case. He smiled bitterly and said: "Besides, in today's world
Scholars are all proud of showing off their knowledge, and they are afraid of writing articles that can be easily understood at a glance. This is completely different from the ancient prose advocated by Wei Chen, so who am I to be the leader of the alliance?"
"I have heard many people talk about your ancient prose movement. They said that you favor the past over the present. It seems that the articles of the ancients are good everywhere, but the articles of the modern people are worthless." Zhao Zhen laughed.
road.
"The articles of the ancients are of course mixed in quality, so what can I say?" Ouyang Xiu shook his head and said sternly: "But the articles of the ancients are used to talk about things and make sense. The first thing is that they must be understood by others, like this
Only when articles are useful can they be talked about and convey the truth." After a pause, he said: "In Weichen's view, articles are just words that are spoken with a pen. How you usually speak is how you write articles."
"Then why is there a distinction between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese?" Zhao Zhen asked.
"The reason is very simple. The books of the ancients were not made of paper, but bamboo slips or silk books." Ouyang Xiu laughed and said, "Weichen tried it when he was young. He used a carving knife to write on bamboo slips. Before he could write dozens of words, his hand became numb.
It's so sour. What's more, the bamboo slips take up too much space. The ancients taught a lot of things, but in fact they didn't have many books. When Confucius selected 300 poems, the bamboo slips filled several carriages. This makes people unable to be as long-winded as talking.
, cut out the complex and simplify it, use the fewest words to express the meaning, this is 'classical Chinese'."
"As for silk books, they don't take up much space and are easy to write, but they are too expensive. If you write a book in a row, your family will be completely broke. So we have to use 'classical Chinese'."
Ouyang Xiu's erudition and humor can always fascinate listeners. Zhao Zhen suddenly said: "It turns out that speaking and writing are so separate."
"So ancient classical Chinese is both concise and easy to understand. For example, the Analects, Mencius, Mozi, and Historical Records are all close to vernacular and easy to understand. The later they become, the more difficult they become to understand.
"Ouyang Xiu nodded.
"Think about it." Guan Jia smiled and said, "Why does it become more difficult to understand the later it gets?"
"Nothing else. This is caused by the literati showing off their talents." Ouyang Xiudao.
"Haha..." Guan Jia laughed and said, "Are you talking about Song Zijing?"
Song Zijing's name was Song Qi, and he was a famous scholar in the Song Dynasty. Like Wang Anshi, he originally won the first prize, but was artificially dropped. The reason was that his brother Song Xiang also passed the same subject. At that time, the Ministry of Rites reported Song Qi's first prize
1. Song Xiang was ranked third. Empress Dowager Zhang Xian did not want to put her younger brother before her brother. So she promoted Song Xiang to be the first, and placed Song Qi as the tenth. Therefore, the brothers are known as the "double champions".
As a result, Song Xiang achieved great success in the provincial examination, joint examination, and palace examination. Song Qi Ze not only lost the first prize, but also failed to enter the Three Cauldrons. How could he not feel grudges in his heart? He was not like Wang Anshi, who regarded fame as such.
Dung Tu, in the following years, he showed off his talents everywhere... Of course, he was the number one scholar, so he made great achievements in the literary and political circles and had a very high reputation. In other words, Ouyang Xiu could beat him.
Last year, the officials felt that the "Book of Tang" compiled during the Five Dynasties was too crude, and issued an edict to revise it. In any dynasty or generation, compiling history is the ultimate honor for literary ministers. Only those with "talent, learning, and knowledge" are superhuman.
Only those who are qualified can do the job. As expected, Ouyang Xiu was appointed as the chief executive, and Song Qi was his deputy. He also convened a group of outstanding literary figures to study the "New Book of Tang".
When Ouyang Xiu took office, he summoned his subordinates to announce the outline of the compilation of history, which included the requirement that the text should be written in order and be concise and easy to understand. However, the writing style that has been frozen for many years cannot be changed by simply changing it.
?
What's more, there are still people who are proud of this and want to go against him. The leader is Vice President Song Qi, and Ouyang Xiu decides to give this guy a beating.
One day, Ouyang Xiu wrote eight words on the wall of his office: "Late night sleep bandits Zhen, Zha Da Hong Xiu." Recently, ordinary officials have not understood what this means. But it is not difficult for Song Qi.
When he saw it, he smiled and said: "President, is this 'Ominous dream at night, good luck to the family'? Why use such difficult words!"
When Ouyang Xiu heard this, he smiled and said, "I learned this from your brother."
"Learned from me?"
"Isn't there a lot of content in "The Biography of Li Jing" written by my brother like 'The thunder has no time to hide its cleverness'?" Ouyang Xiu said with a smile: "Don't you know this, isn't this bad? Then why use it?"
Song Qi blushed at what he said and hurried back to write it again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Actually, although Song Zijing's articles are difficult to understand, they are still meaningful." Ouyang Xiu was a kind man and refused to speak ill of Song Qi anymore, saying, "But how many people in the world are as talented as him? Most people write articles
Before I learned it well, I put all my energy into pursuing "difficult and weird" writing. The articles I wrote were nonsense and people couldn't understand them. How do you ask the court to distinguish the good from the bad and select talents? It's a shame.
I mean, people who write articles like this are mostly opportunistic people, and they won’t be good officials if they become officials!”
Ouyang Xiu is still the cannon in the world, and he must speak to the point. Zhao Zhen laughed, picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "This is why I keep you, Ouyang Aiqing, the imperial examination is the country's talent promotion ceremony.
Don't be emotional." Even so, the officials still looked calm.
"Since it is a talent promotion ceremony, it is natural to select real talents for the imperial court." Ouyang Xiu said solemnly: "We should not hold personal anger, but justice."
"There are many people writing about Taixue style in the world, especially many students, who regard Taixue style as the benchmark for academic articles. How can you kill them all?" Zhao Zhen said sternly: "I remember, you wrote about Han Yu back then.
The article he wrote was disqualified twice, but he later rewrote the article and won the first place. Uncle Yong, it is not easy to judge others by oneself, and it is not easy to show mercy to students."
"I don't dare to agree with the official's words." After hearing what the official said, Ouyang Xiu stood up and saluted after a while, saying, "It's not easy to show mercy to students, so I want to suppress luck and let those who are truly talented and practical learn.
There is a way out.”
"Let's start from the next term and change slowly." Zhao Zhen said.
"The official's words are wrong. Everything in the world will become obsolete and will never be mentioned again... Are there many such examples?" Ouyang Xiu said with some excitement: "Long-term pain is not as good as short-term pain. This time it will be cut with a sharp knife."
No matter how messy you are, you will get immediate results!”
"..." Seeing Ouyang Xiu's sudden excitement, Zhao Zhen sighed softly and said, "I know you are still complaining about me."
"I don't dare." Ouyang Xiu lowered his head and said.
"What are you afraid of?" Zhao Zhen said with a sad expression: "I am indeed at fault for the failure of the Qingli New Deal." How can such a vigorous reform be ruined by a little Wang Yirou and a drunken rant?
At the pass, the officials were still afraid, afraid that the Gentlemen's Party would seize power, afraid of chaos in the world, and afraid that the Liao and Xixia people would take advantage of the chaos and invade.
The emperor has always been right and will not admit even if he is wrong. Although Zhao Zhen just said something vague now, it made Ouyang Xiu burst into tears: "I was young and young at that time. I didn't know how high the sky was. I thought I had learned two books about Confucius and Mencius."
, you can govern the country and bring peace to the world. Especially the humble ministers, who always think that the world is black and white, and that good and evil are not mutually exclusive, will take the lead at every turn, overturning a whole boat of people with one stroke. This has caused fierce party disputes and let down the officials.
His lofty sentiments also delayed a generation of the Song Dynasty!"
"Uncle Yong..." Zhao Zhen's eye circles were also red, and he nodded: "It seems that I underestimated Uncle Yong's mind. I didn't expect that you already understand everything."
"I understand. When is the time to retaliate? Party strife is absolutely out of the question! In the court of the Song Dynasty, there needed to be different opinions and arguments, but such different opinions and arguments were not for personal gain, but for the sake of the country and the people.
Ouyang Xiu said what he had been thinking about for more than ten years before he understood: "The sea is open to all rivers, and tolerance is great. The atmosphere of the Song Dynasty should be like this!"
"Well said!" Zhao Zhen said with admiration in his eyes: "Uncle Yong's hardships over the years have not been in vain. Aiqing finally found the spirit that the Song Dynasty needed most!" He looked deeply at Ouyang Xiudao: "Love
Dear, Ouyang loves you! It seems that I have chosen the wrong person. After the failure of the New Deal, the disease of the Song Dynasty became more serious. With our generation, we can only barely maintain it, but we still have to change it after all." He said.
He said word by word: "Our generation will never succeed. I believe you will definitely select a group of seeds of hope for the Song Dynasty!"
"Let the officials say this." Ouyang Xiu said with a bitter smile: "Even the humble ministers don't know whether they should stick to their own opinions."
"You have to overdo it, and there is no way around it." Zhao Zhen laughed and said, "Just do it, I have my own way of doing both, and it won't be a huge loss to the hard-working scholars all over the world."
