The scholars have finished reading the list, and the scholars who were on the list are calling their friends and preparing to go to some fun places to celebrate.
They gathered together in small groups, and as soon as they came out of the street where the Gongyuan was located, they saw a group of warblers riding in carriages, surrounding the street entrance with water.
The scholars were blocked in the street, and the carriage could not get in. The carriage was blocked at the entrance of the street, and the scholars could not get out. The two sides suddenly reached a stalemate at the entrance of the street.
Ouyang Xiu, Wen Yanbo, Han Qi, Bao Zheng, Su Xun and other famous scholars made an appointment to celebrate together. When they reached the street entrance, they saw a large group of people blocking the street entrance.
The good-hearted Su Xun squeezed through the crowd, inquired carefully, and returned to Ouyang Xiu and others.
Su Xun curled his lips and said very boringly: "The girls from Fireworks Liu Lane learned that Liu Yong was successful, so they came together to congratulate Liu Yong."
Han Qi asked slightly curiously: "How many are there?"
Su Xun glanced at Han Qi and said seriously: "You absolutely don't want to know..."
Ouyang Xiu said slowly from the side: "There should be a lot of people..."
Wen Yanbo said with some sourness: "We are both scholars, Liu Yong is more popular than us."
Ouyang Xiu said with a little envy: "Liu Yong, the leader of the Flower Garden Alliance, is not in vain."
Han Qi glanced at a few people and sighed slightly, "Then we still go to Yihua Building?"
Su Xun shouted: "Go, why don't you go."
Bao Zheng, who had been silent all this time, glanced at Su Xun and said in a neutral tone: "The women from Yanhualiu Lane are all gathering at the gate of Gongyuan. Why are you going to Yihua Building? Drinking tea?"
Su Xun was speechless by Bao Zheng's rebuke, and could only glare at Bao Zheng complainingly.
Ouyang Xiu thought for a while and said: "Let's go to Fanlou. I have long heard that Fanlou's wine and food are the best in Bianjing City. I have never had the opportunity to try them before. Now that I have the opportunity, I will naturally go there."
Wen Yanbo hesitated and said: "Fan Lou's food and wine are not cheap..."
As soon as these words came out.
Ouyang Xiu and others looked at him together.
Wen Yanbo stared at them blankly and said, "What are you looking at me doing?"
Ouyang Xiu said unceremoniously: "Your treat!"
Before Wen Yanbo could refuse, Han Qi and others said in unison: "Your treat!"
Wen Yanbo shouted: "Why..."
"Your father is a transporter..."
"You pretended to be poor and deceived us for several years..."
"You've been cheating on us with food and drink all these years..."
"..."
Ouyang Xiu and others each said one sentence, leaving Wen Yanbo speechless.
Wen Yanbo reluctantly took out his wallet and shook it. There seemed to be nothing in it.
Ouyang Xiu and others watched indifferently.
But Bao Zheng was kind. Seeing Wen Yanbo shaking his wallet, Bao Zheng hesitated a little, "Otherwise... I'd better not go..."
Ouyang Xiu heard what Bao Zheng said and said decisively: "We are in the same class, in the same year, and from the Kou Mansion together. We can be regarded as brothers. We are celebrating, how can you be absent."
When Ouyang Xiu said this, he rushed forward unceremoniously, snatched Wen Yanbo's wallet, took out a large-denomination Jiaozi, raised it at Bao Zheng, and then said with great disdain: "Wen Yanbo, Mr.
This guy likes to pretend to be poor. He has lied to us for many years, and now is the time for us to eat his food, drink his food, and come to him to collect debts."
When Wen Yanbo saw that Bao Zheng was too kind and didn't understand the jokes between them, he stopped pretending to be poor.
Wen Yanbo smiled at Bao Zheng and said, "It was just a joke. Brother Bao Xian, don't take it to heart. Although I, Wen Yanbo, am poor, I still have no problem treating you to Fanlou for ten days and a half."
When Bao Zheng heard this, he was stunned for a moment. When he saw Ouyang Xiu, Han Qi and others looked at him, he could only nod his head and said: "Then... let's go together..."
"I'm not going!"
Ouyang Xiu, Bao Zheng, Wen Yanbo and others had discussed it and were about to rush to Fanlou when Su Xun shouted.
Ouyang Xiu heard what Su Xun said and asked, "What do you want?"
Su Xun shouted: "I want to go to Yihua Building..."
"Oh……"
Ouyang Xiu and others were not as kind to Su Xun as they were to Bao Zheng.
Ouyang Xiu went up to Su Xun unceremoniously and grabbed one of Su Xun's ears. Han Qi stepped forward and grabbed the other one.
The two of them dragged Su Xun and walked towards Fan Tower.
Su Xun opened his teeth and yelled, but the two of them were indifferent.
Wen Yanbo trotted to catch up with them and asked, "Where is Brother Fu Xian?"
Ouyang Xiu glanced at him and said, "You want Brother Fu Xian to help you pay? That's a good idea."
Wen Yanbo smiled sarcastically.
Han Qi said from the side: "Brother Fu Xian's sister-in-law Tian Kuang has been promoted to Taichang Cheng. Brother Fu went to congratulate him, so he can't celebrate with us."
Wen Yanbo heard this and said enviously: "Brother Fu Xian's sister-in-law is not very old, right? He has been promoted to Taichang Cheng, and his future will be bright."
Ouyang Xiu and Han Qi looked at each other, shook their heads, and said nothing.
They rarely comment on other people's housework.
Several people were preparing to take a detour to leave the gate of Gongyuan, but just after taking a few steps, they bumped into Liu Yong, who had just finished reading the list.
Although Liu Yong did not live in the Kou Mansion for a long time, he often went in and out of the Kou Mansion, and he could be considered acquainted with several people.
Ouyang Xiu and Han Qi let go of Su Xun and saluted Liu Yong together.
"Brother Liu is polite..."
"You are of the same age, so polite..."
Liu Yong returned the gift very politely.
Just as they were saluting each other, Su Xun shouted from the side: "Liu Yong, there is a group of girls waiting for you at the street entrance."
Liu Yong knew Su Xun and knew that Su Xun was a carefree person.
So Su Xun called him by his first name, and he didn't care.
Hearing that a girl was waiting for him at the street entrance, Liu Yong guessed who it was.
If it were in the past, Liu Yong would naturally not be able to leave those girls alone. He would definitely appear in front of them with his head held high, recite a poem or two, and express his emotions at the moment.
Now Liu Yong, after several years of training at Wenchang Academy, has become much calmer and no longer has the desire to be in the limelight.
After thinking about it for a while, he ordered the maid who was following him to take pen and ink, write a poem, and then ordered the maid to send it to the girls.
The maid is Chong Niang's personal maid. After Chong Niang followed Liu Yong, the maid also followed Liu Yong.
On weekdays, when Liu Yong went out, Lady Chong would tell her maid to follow him.
It's not that Chong Niang is worried about Liu Yong, but that Chong Niang is worried that Liu Yong is out alone and there is no one around him to help him.
The maid took the words and rushed to the street entrance.
Liu Yongze said to Ouyang Xiu and others: "Where are these worthy brothers planning to go? Can you take Liu with you?"
Ouyang Xiu said with some surprise: "You really can't bear to let go of those girls?"
Wen Yanbo, Han and others stared at Liu Yong, waiting for Liu Yong's answer.
When Liu Yong wrote the lyrics just now, he did not avoid them, so they saw the content of the lyrics Liu Yong wrote.
The meaning expressed in Liu Yong's words is that he is no longer the Liu Yong of the past, and he will not often go to the land of fireworks and willow lanes in the future. He hopes that the girls will forget him, and he also hopes that the girls will cherish him.
Facing Ouyang Xiu's question, Liu Yong said calmly: "One white lotus at home is better than thousands of peonies..."
When Ouyang Xiu and others heard this, they were slightly stunned.
Liu Yong continued to smile and said: "Sir's poem "Love Lotus" made Liu see many things clearly. It also made Liu understand many truths. In this life, only the insect lady is Liu's true love."
When Ouyang Xiu and others heard this, they were all shocked.
Chong Niang's background is not very good. Liu Yong is now considered to be half an official. It takes a lot of courage for him to block other people's faces and freely admit that Chong Niang is his true love.
Because after this word spread, he had to face a lot of pressure from the world.
In the future, when Liu Yong enters the court and meets political opponents, people may use Chong Niang's background to criticize him.
Liu Yong could regard a woman from a prostitute as his true love, but Ouyang Xiu and others could not, so they were shocked.
"It's a blessing for Lady Chong to meet Brother Liu..."
Liu Yong's courage deserves to be admired, so after Ouyang Xiu came to his senses, he said very sincerely.
Liu Yong shook his head and smiled, "Liu is very lucky to have met Mr. Liu. If not for Mr.'s guidance, Liu would have wasted his whole life."
When Ouyang Xiu and others heard this, they nodded together.
"Sir is one of the few outstanding men in the world..."
"We are going to Fanlou to celebrate. Brother Liu, would you like to go with us?"
"It's what I wish for..."
"..."
Liu Yong, Ouyang Xiu and their party went to Fanlou happily.
The girls at the entrance of Gongyuan Street burst into tears.
The leading girls really have feelings for Liu Yong. As for what kind of feelings they have, only they themselves know.
After they received Liu Yong's "heartless letter", they cried softly one by one. When the other girls saw them crying, they also cried together.
Then the street outside Gongyuan instantly turned into a sea of crying.
When Kou Ji arrived at the street entrance by car, he saw the girls huddled together in pain, with a confused look on his face.
After sending someone to inquire, we found out why the girls were crying.
Kou Ji actually agreed with Liu Yong's approach.
Since you want to serve as an official, you shouldn't have too much involvement with women in the world of romance.
If a leader of the Flower Garden Alliance becomes an official, no matter how many political achievements he makes, others will look at you with colored glasses.
If Liu Yong couldn't make peace with his past now, he might never be able to get rid of the title of Leader of the Flower Garden after he became an official.
It can be said that it is just right to take this opportunity to make a break with the past.
It's just that Liu Yong's way of doing things was too rough, and he directly wrote a "heartless letter", which made the girls burst into tears at the entrance of Gongyuan Street.
Kou Ji couldn't use force to drive them away, so he could only watch the girls crying and blocking the street entrance for most of the day.
He could also leave via a trail like Liu Yong and others.
But Fan Zhongyan and Chen Yaozi who were traveling with him did not agree.
Fan Zhongyan and Chen Yaozi both felt that everything they hosted in the Spring Festival was upright and they could not leave any regrets at the end.
Then, the three of them stayed with the girls until noon.
The girls had enough crying and slowly dispersed.
Kou Ji and the others left the street where Gongyuan was located when they had the opportunity.
But this matter didn't end there.
The news that Kou Ji was blocked at the gate of Gongyuan by the women from Fireworks and Willow Alley spread like a gust of wind.
There are no serious rumors, and everything at the gate of Gongyuan has been restored 99% of the time.
However, some of the unorthodox rumors that were spread were completely different from what actually happened at the gate of Gongyuan.
There are rumors that Kou Ji took the woman from Yanhualiuxiang as his concubine, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the women in Yanhualiuxiang. The women from Yanhualiuxiang blocked Kou Ji at the gate of Gongyuan.
There are also rumors that Kou Ji spent the night in a woman's boudoir in Fireworks Willow Lane and she got pregnant. Kou Ji was not responsible, so the women in Fireworks Willow Lane blocked Kou Ji together to seek justice for their sisters.
In short, there are divergent opinions and all kinds of rumors.
None of them are tenable.
Even the people in Bianjing didn't believe some rumors, but that didn't stop them from using them to deceive others.
In short, the rumors became more and more sinister as they spread.
Koufu Courtyard.
backyard.
In the bedroom.
While Xiang Yan was instructing the maid to help Kou Ji tidy up his court clothes, she smiled and said, "I heard that my husband robbed a woman from Yanhualiu Lane to be my concubine. I didn't see her in the house. I wonder where my husband is hiding her?"
"
While Kou Ji was putting on his tooth tag, he rolled his eyes and said, "I want to take a concubine, do I need to rob it? I just need to let the news go out, and Kou's house will be filled in no time."
All of them are yellow-flowered maidens.
Do I need to rob a prostitute?"
Xiang Yan said with a smile: "A yellow-flowered girl doesn't understand anything, but a prostitute knows everything."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "You actually believe the rumors that no one else believes..."
Xiang Yan smiled and said: "I don't believe it either, I just think it's interesting. So I brought it up and talked about it. It's strange to say that the scene at the gate of Gongyuan was caused by Liu Yong. Why did the rumor finally spread to the husband?"
Kou Ji curled his lips and said: "There are many famous people and right and wrong..."
Xiang Yan was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "That's true..."
While talking, Kou Ji had already sorted out his court clothes, picked up the imperial hut and went out.
The sky outside the door is only three-thirds bright.
The carriage needs to be illuminated by lanterns when moving forward.
There are many carriages heading to Bianjing City.
Except for Kou Ji who went to court, the rest were all the scholars who participated in the imperial examination.
Now that the palace examination has not been held, the scholars who were selected in the spring are still scholars. Only after the palace examination has been held and the steward has granted the status of Jinshi, can they be called Jinshi.
When Kou Ji arrived at the gate outside Bianjing City, the sky was already bright.
The soldiers guarding the gate knew that today was a special day, so they opened the gate early.
After Kou Ji's carriage arrived, it entered Bianjing City smoothly.
When Kou Ji arrived at Donghua Gate, the civil and military officials of the entire court had already gathered in front of Donghua Gate.
The time has come.
The soldiers guarding the city opened the Donghua Gate, and civil and military officials from the Manchu Dynasty filed in.
Going to court today is different from the regular court days in the past.
At court today, the officials will leave the court after paying homage to Zhao Zhen, distributing government affairs.
In the end, only the Inner Court, the Privy Council, the Six Ministers and a few important ministers were left in the court.
Zhao Zhen ordered people to rearrange the Chui Gong Hall, and then set up seats. Together with the three prime ministers of the inner court, the second envoy of the Privy Council, and the six ministers, he invigilated the examination.
After the auspicious time arrives.
Chen Lin led the eunuchs to announce the admission of the scholars into the palace.
The scholars headed by Han Qi, dressed in official uniforms, entered the palace with their names announced.
Yes, Han Qi is Jinke Huiyuan.
Ouyang Xiu and Wen Yanbo were both older than Han Qi, but they did not win the position of Huiyuan.
It's not that their talents and learning are not as good as Han Qi's.
It's that their strategies are a little less sharp than Han Qi's.
When Zhao Zhen was showing his talents, he naturally preferred scholars with talents.
So in the Chunwei examination room, Zhao Zhen personally made the decision and named Han Qi as the Huiyuan.
Han Qi and a group of scholars entered the Chui Gong Hall and saluted Zhao Zhen according to etiquette.
After giving the gift.
Zhao Zhen didn't say anything and just announced the start of the exam.
What should be said, Zhao Zhen already said it during the interview.
This was not the first time for the scholars to see Zhao Zhen, so they were not so nervous and made no mistakes.
So everything in the imperial examination was as usual.
After the scholars sat down, Zhao Zhen ordered people to distribute the prepared test questions to the scholars.
The scholars got the test questions and began to answer them.
Zhao Zhen and others were like clay statues, sitting there to invigilate the exam.
Chen Lin led a group of eunuchs and brought food and water to the scholars.
The food is some simple pastries.
Scholars can use this to satisfy their hunger when they are hungry.
Three hours later, the scholars left their examination papers and exited the Chui Gong Hall. The eunuchs led them out of the Chui Gong Hall.
After the scholars had left, Chen Lin put away all the test papers and placed them in front of Zhao Zhen.
Zhao Zhen divided the test paper into several parts and gave them to several important officials to review together.
Kou Ji and others took their ink pens. If they thought the article was good, they would draw a circle on it. If they thought the article was not good, they would put a cross on it.
Finally, the ranking of the scholars was determined based on the number of circles.
Of course, Zhao Zhen has the right to change the ranking of any scholar at will.
Halfway through the marking, Kou Ji frowned.
Kou Ji picked up the paper in his hand and questioned Chen Yaozi's brother Chen Yaozuo.
"Chen Libu, were you unfair when you graded the papers?"
Chen Yaozuo was busy reading papers when he suddenly heard Kou Ji's words and quickly looked up.
Others were also busy reading their papers, and they raised their heads when they heard Kou Ji's words.
Chen Yaozuo put down the paper in his hand and slightly raised his hand to Kou Ji, "What does Privy Kou mean by this?"
Kou Ji raised the paper in his hand and said in a deep voice: "Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu and others proposed herder strategies, focusing on enriching the people. Isn't it unfair that you gave them all a cross?"
Chen Yaozuo frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "The herdsmen's policy is of course based on virtue. If you blindly pursue interests, you will end up with a group of bloodthirsty wolves instead of a group of common people who practice morality."
Zhang Dexiang, the new Minister of Household Affairs, heard Chen Yaozuo's words and nodded in agreement.
Lu Yijian and the others stroked their beards and stared at Kou Ji, as if intending to see how Kou Ji would respond.
Kou Ji stared at Chen Yaozuo and said: "Food is the most important thing for the people. Only when they are full can they have the strength to practice virtue. If they are not full, they will starve to death. What is the use of virtue?"
Chen Yaozuo looked at Kou Ji and said: "What I mean by lowering my official position is not to deny the people enough to eat. What I mean by lowering my official position is that the herdsmen's policy should be based on virtue and wealth as a supplement.
Virtue is the most important thing.
If people only pursue wealth and honor and give up on cultivating virtue, over time, they will be swallowed up by money.
For money, they can betray their friends, betray their brothers, betray their families, betray their wives and daughters, and even betray their conscience.
At that time, everyone will only have money in their eyes, and there will be no morality, no benevolence, no loyalty and filial piety.
Without morality, benevolence and righteousness, without loyalty and filial piety, is a person still a human being?
Only by practicing virtue can people be moral, benevolent, righteous, loyal and filial.
Only in this way can we be called human beings.
Therefore, the herdsmen’s policy should be based on virtue.
The articles written by Han Qi, Ouyang Xiu, and Wen Yanbo all talk about strategies to enrich the people, but there is no strategy to educate the people to respect virtue.
The method they proposed to enrich the people was quite novel.
The official deduced it carefully, but there was something to be said for it.
But they did not give any strategies to teach the people virtues, so the lower officials could only give them a cross."
Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Zhang Zhibai and others, after listening to Chen Yaozuo's words, they all stroked their beards and nodded frequently. Obviously, they very much agreed with Chen Yaozuo's statement.
They believed that Chen Yaozuo's judgment on Ouyang Xiu and others was very fair.
The ancients knew morality, benevolence and righteousness, loyalty and filial piety, so the ancients valued morality, benevolence and righteousness, loyalty and filial piety.
Anyone who is moral, benevolent, loyal and filial will be looked down upon by everyone, even if he is impoverished.
Before the imperial examination system was introduced, the ancients selected officials through filial piety and integrity.
It is precisely because the ancients valued morality, benevolence, justice, loyalty and filial piety that China has the reputation of being a land of etiquette.
Through Chen Yaozuo's words, Kou Ji discovered a problem and his own shortcomings.
He only thought about making the Song Dynasty stronger and richer, but he never thought about making the people of the Song Dynasty improve in terms of etiquette and morality.
He felt that a prosperous and powerful Song Dynasty should be invincible and attract all nations to come to court.
But now after listening to Chen Yaozuo's words, he understood something.
True wealth and strength are not just in terms of money and strength, but also in spiritual terms.
Only when money, strength, and spirit become stronger together can the Song Dynasty be considered a sound and powerful Song Dynasty.
If you only focus on one, or two of them, even if the Song Dynasty becomes stronger, it will still be a deformed and powerful Song Dynasty.
It would be difficult for a deformed Song Dynasty to survive for a long time.
It is possible to die due to force, it is possible to be swallowed up by capital, and it is even more possible to be beaten to death for being poor and guarding one's own benevolence, justice and morality.
Since Kou Ji is determined to build a powerful Song Dynasty, he naturally hopes to build it into a truly powerful Song Dynasty instead of a deformed and powerful Song Dynasty.
Therefore, as money and strength increase, spiritual aspects must also keep up.
Kou Ji stared at Chen Yaozuo and said: "The imperial court can enrich the people and promote enlightenment at the same time."
Chen Yaozuo nodded and said: "With virtue as the main priority and enriching the people as the supplement, the Song Dynasty will naturally become stronger."
Speaking of this, Chen Yaozuo looked at Kou Jida and said, "But their papers didn't mention this, so I can only give them a cross."
Kou Ji no longer looked at Ouyang Xiu and others, but nodded slowly.
Then, everyone in Chui Gong Hall stared at Kou Ji in astonishment.