"This friend, it seems strange to me, are you also a friend of Third Young Master?"
Although Wan Yufei is a relative of the emperor and has a very high status, and everyone respectfully calls him Third Master, he still has to decide who he wants to be with.
Those present were all direct descendants of aristocratic families from the land of Jiangnan. They had seen a lot of people in the world, and those were just like the relatives of the emperor.
Not to mention having a sister who is a noble concubine, even if she is a vassal king, what can she do? When you reach the land of Jiangnan, you are not at the mercy of others.
That is to say, Concubine Wan Gui was so favored that everyone took a high look. Otherwise, seriously speaking, even the royal family of the Wu family was just on an equal footing with them in the previous dynasty, so who could be more noble than the other.
"Wang Xu, the Wang family of Jinshan Mansion, has met all of you brothers."
Wang Xu smiled and cupped his hands to the person who came to talk.
"The Wang family of Jinshan Prefecture, oh, I know, is the small family that makes glass beads."
"It turns out it's him, tsk tsk. He's here to prepare for Enke's exam. I heard this guy is very talented!"
"What a talent. If we didn't need to keep a low profile, there would be nothing wrong with these four talented people."
"That is, the so-called four great talents, some of them can be named on the gold medal list, and some of them can become great Confucian scholars. Just listen to it and don't take it seriously."
When they heard that Wang Xu introduced himself, everyone present started talking, but few took him seriously.
An aristocratic family, what is an aristocratic family? A family that can influence the government and even the emperor has to give in is an aristocratic family.
The most powerful families, the most prosperous dynasties, the truly top families have great Confucian scholars from generation to generation. The books that many scholars regard as classics were themselves written by the ancestors of these families.
A child from a poor family can only afford to support a scholar by scrimping on food and clothing.
After reading the book, you have to worry about your livelihood at the same time. How many people borrow money to take the exam?
Not to mention apprenticeship, most of the children from poor families don’t have teachers at all, and those who do have them are only registered disciples.
Even before Wang Xu became a disciple of Xue Mushan, the Queen Mother's greatest expectation for him was to become a disciple of Zhang Juren in the county.
Zhang Ju is already seventy-six years old, and he has to control four women every day and night. How much knowledge can he still have in his head?
This is true for the legitimate son of a squire family, let alone a true disciple of a poor family.
How do children from poor families study? When they were young, they were sent to the town to attend elementary school. If they studied well, they would be among the top 18 or 19 students. Then they would go to the county school for further studies, hoping to become a scholar in three to five years.
Their books were all borrowed, and the teacher would explain them in detail, and then they would read and ponder them by themselves when they got home.
If you don't understand something, ask the teacher, but the teacher will only know a little bit about it, because he also read it in the same way back then, and he had to understand the lecture notes on his own.
In the hearts of ten thousand people, there are ten thousand Analects of Confucius. The benevolent sees benevolence and the wise see wisdom. Mencius read out benevolence and righteousness, and Xunzi even read out that human nature is inherently evil.
As for the annotations, I'm sorry, this is not allowed to be revealed by aristocratic families, and it is also a literary blockade.
Even if there are comments, a sentence can have many meanings under different circumstances and there is not only one answer.
There are many people who only read one kind of annotation and then scribbled it in the examination room. There are many people who don't understand the title.
Among the great families, there is more than one great Confucian. According to their different understandings, a Book of Songs may have more than a dozen annotations.
After reading a lot, there are many conditions to choose from. If you don't understand something, you can just ask the elders in the family for advice. Therefore, since ancient times, it has been difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son.
It’s not that it’s impossible to get out, it’s that it’s very difficult.
Just like in modern times, two peasant parents can't answer their children's questions if they don't know math in the sixth grade.
Tuition is even more difficult. Parents have low education levels. Unless they are doing business, they make a living by farming or working in a factory. The salary is just enough to cover daily expenses. How can they have the spare money to tutor their children?
Therefore, the gap has always existed. The son of a university professor will not go to the construction site to carry cement.
The son of a bank president is not afraid of not being able to get a loan.
Throughout the ages, there has always been a saying about talented people in the land south of the Yangtze River.
But a few of those talented people became great Confucian scholars, and the vast majority of so-called talented people could not even pass the Jinshi examination and spent their whole lives wandering around in the imperial examination.
As soon as Wang Xu announced his door, everyone present looked at him with contempt in their eyes.
Wang Xu didn't care about this. The difference between him and these people was not in family, but in time.
Those who look down on him today will not be qualified to send him greeting cards ten years from now.
These people looked down on him, and he still looked down on these people. If he couldn't use the waste, Wang Xu would not come to Zuiyang Tower at all.
"Wang Xu, do you still remember me? Six years ago, Xue Daru took you to visit the West Lake. We had a chance encounter on the West Lake. At that time, my second uncle was painting and asked you to compose an impromptu poem. You wrote one
The mountains are colorful when you look at them from a distance, and the water is silent when you hear them up close. My second uncle admires your poetry and calligraphy."
Among the crowd, one person stood up and approached Wang Xu.
Wang Xu looked at this man for a long time. He was only 11 years old six years ago and had only met him once. He didn't dare to recognize this man without speaking.
"You are Min Hui, the great-nephew of Grandmaster Min Daozi!"
Wang Xu recalled for a long time that Min Daozi was the painting master that his teacher took him to visit before leaving.
At that time, there was a child about Min Daozi's age beside Min Daozi, who seemed to have invited him to touch shrimps in the river with him.
After all, he was not a child, and he was not interested in getting into the water to touch shrimps, nor did he want to play with naughty children, so he broke up a bit unhappy.
"Haha, I said you looked familiar, but I didn't expect it was really you."
Min Hui laughed, then changed the subject and added: "Over the years, my second uncle has been saying that you are the most talented young man he has ever seen, and you will definitely achieve great achievements in the future. Seriously, I
If you are not convinced, you composed an impromptu poem back then and won the praise of my second uncle. If you can compose an impromptu poem today, I will be convinced."
After hearing Min Hui's words, everyone present became interested and eager to give it a try.
They were all from Jiangnan, disciples from major families, and their talents and learning were quite good. However, their family's habit of keeping a low profile prevented them from attracting much attention.
The four great talents in the south of the Yangtze River have always been famous. As Wang Xu is the most valuable among the four great talents, it is not that they have not secretly compared each other.
Although Wang Xu's halo is a bit dazzling, he will not be convinced.
After all, poetry is just a minor path, and the real avenue is articles and strategies for governing the country.
They didn't believe that they would be inferior to others in writing and governing the country, and they really didn't like Wang Xu who was always in the limelight.
"I have pen, ink, paper and inkstone here. Everyone says you are a talented poet. Let's see today whether you are that talented."
Someone who was not afraid of serious trouble brought pens, inks, paper and inkstones and spread them out to Wang Xu himself, hoping to see him make a fool of himself in public.
Poems are not so easy to write. Cao Zijian, who is said to be extremely talented and capable of poetry in seven steps, cannot write famous poems every time.
Someone has already thought that as long as Wang Xu can't write it, he will go out in person and fight with him about his articles and governance strategies.
At that time, people will also see that the so-called four great talents in Jiangnan are not as good as them, a group of dandy children from aristocratic families. Compared with Shen Shui in aristocratic families, the so-called talents are nothing more than a joke.
"It's interesting. My poetry and calligraphy have been praised by more than one great scholar. I didn't expect that after so many years, there are still people who are dissatisfied with me!"
Wang Xu picked up the brush and did not write immediately. Instead, he smiled and said: "If I lose, my wisdom will be discredited. If I win, there will be no benefits. This is not good. Why don't we make a bet? If my poems are good, you will choose
If nothing goes wrong, you should unite and treat me to a drink together. If the writing is not good, I will tell everyone when I meet that the four great talents are deceiving the world and stealing their reputation, and they are all a bunch of showboats. What do you think?"
When everyone heard this, they asked for a drink if they lost, as if they had nothing to lose, and they all said in unison: "A gentleman!"
"It's hard to chase the horse!"
Wang Xu laughed, how could he dare to go to Liangshan without San San San? Why should these people fight with him?
Could it be that just because they come from a wealthy family, have a good father, and have a good worth?