“In the Bell and Drum Tower, the bells ring continuously all night long.”
"In the Jinke Field, only the names on today's gold list are named."
"How right, Sheng Zhongjiyan!"
At the family banquet, You Shixiong and Zhong Shidao were full of praise and were in high spirits.
As a classmate who also studied under Zhang Zai, Huang Shang naturally invited them after returning to Kaifeng.
After meeting, the two couldn't help but complain about leaving without saying goodbye last time, but Huang Shang selectively told them his adventure.
This also lays the groundwork for future demonstrations of strength.
In this era, civil servants rode horses to and fro, and there were many who knew martial arts.
What they suppressed was the power of military commanders, not the force itself, so the two of them didn't take it seriously and were eager to try it out, quite interested in discussing it.
Huang Shang had no intention of showing off in front of his classmates. He smiled and bypassed the topic and began to inquire about the people in his class.
Zhong Shidao was still young and did not take part in the imperial examination, but You Shixiong had passed the examination and was about to take the provincial examination.
Therefore, Huang Shang just wanted to know which competitors are worth paying attention to this time.
Zhuangyuan means first.
Since ancient times, there has been no first place in literature and no second place in martial arts. One can imagine how tempting it is to be the official number one scholar.
In the Song Dynasty, where big bosses emerged in large numbers, sometimes whether you were the top pick in high school depended not only on talent, but also on time and luck.
In some subjects, if the competitors are weaker, it will be relatively easy to come out on top.
And some subjects are really as good as heaven.
For example, in 1057, six years ago, Zhang Zai was ranked first in the imperial examination in one subject.
The examiner was Ouyang Xiu, and those who passed the imperial examination included the aforementioned Su Shi, Su Xun, Zhang Zai, one of the second Cheng Hao, Wang Shao, who later expanded the territory, and Zeng Gong, who was also one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Gong alone was not enough. Four brothers in his family and two brothers-in-law were awarded Jinshi at the same time.
Crazy!
The most exaggerated thing is that a total of nine people from this department later became prime ministers.
It is indeed well-deserved to be praised as the number one in the millennium.
But the top pick is not the famous person above.
During the provincial examination, Su Shi had the opportunity to beat everyone and become the provincial leader, but he missed it because of a very funny reason.
Since the test paper had to go through two procedures, the examiner Ouyang Xiu mistakenly thought that Su Shi's paper was written by his student Zeng Gong when he was correcting the test paper. In order to avoid suspicion, he changed his name to the second place.
Su Shi:???
Sometimes when people are unlucky, it's just like that and there's no way to explain it.
It can be seen from this that winning the top prize requires luck.
If Huang Shang only sought official position, a Jinshi pass would actually be enough.
But the top prize is related to the cultivation of literary spirit.
A No. 1 Scholar may be worth ten years or even more of hard work, but he has to fight for it.
Huang Shang knew full well that he had some knowledge, but no matter how talented he was in reading, in terms of talent, he still couldn't compare with Su Shi.
Even a big shot like Su Shi missed the number one spot due to ridiculous reasons. He wanted to ensure that nothing was wrong, so he could only prepare more fully.
Fortunately, we are only two rounds away from the subject where all the stars gather.
Generally speaking, weakness is inevitable after a major outbreak, and now is the period of weakness.
Zhongshidao saw Huang Shang's ambition and said with a smile: "Does Shengzhong know about Shen Cunzhong in Qiantang?"
Huang Shang thought for a while and nodded slightly.
I actually forgot that there is such a fellow student.
Shen Kuo, courtesy name Cunzhong.
Erudite and good at writing, he was famous throughout the ages. He was a great scientist of the Song Dynasty. He made great achievements in mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, water conservancy, medicine, music, calligraphy and painting. He was the most outstanding figure in the entire history of science in China.
However, I remember that later generations evaluated him as a man of low character, a man who worked hard and acted according to the prevailing circumstances, so Wang Anshi disliked Shen Kuo very much.
Huang Shang recalled this and didn't care much about Shen Kuo.
Knowledge has nothing to do with character, and it is not because Shen Kuo was not the number one scholar in history, but because a person is too distracted and will inevitably focus on one thing and lose another.
The exam is not just about showing one's knowledge, but also many tricks. Shen Kuo obviously doesn't pay attention to those, so he is not a competitor for the top prize.
You Shixiong also named a few names, including Xu Jiang, the number one scholar in this subject in history.
Although this man is not well-known, he is very powerful. He won the first prize at the age of twenty-seven, was both civil and military, and later became the prime minister.
Huang Shang didn't know General Xu, but he wrote down the names of these people one by one, preparing to study them and use their strengths to avoid their weaknesses.
If you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
You Shixiong was really looking forward to Huang Shang becoming the number one scholar, so he talked about everything he knew.
Zhongshidao was a little hesitant, but finally said: "There is a person, Shengzhong, you may want to pay attention to him. He comes from the Han family in Xiangzhou."
Xiangzhou Han family!
Family!
As we all know, aristocratic families arose in the Eastern Han Dynasty, reached their peak in the Jin Dynasty, and began to decline in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
With the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the aristocratic family basically withdrew from the stage of history.
But they still exist. For example, the Yang family generals are actually branches of the Hongnong Yang family.
The Han family in Xiangzhou is naturally far inferior to the Yang family in Hongnong. Their ancestors can only be traced back to the mid-Tang Dynasty. They have been officials for several generations, and their heritage can be regarded as accumulated.
In this generation, it has finally reached its peak.
Han Qi.
Prime Minister Han Qi!
Seeing Master Zhong's fearful expression, Huang Shang raised his eyebrows slightly: "Please make it clear that if it reaches my ears, it will never be spread outside."
Zhong Shidao glanced at the boy Murong Fu who was standing behind him, met Huang Shang's gaze, and nodded slowly: "Han Zhongyan, courtesy name Shipu, is the eldest son of Mr. Han Xianggong, and his father Yin is the general in charge of the prison. Now,
If you want to be promoted to Jinshi again, that's fine. He once criticized you for relying on your talents and being arrogant, and he was quite dissatisfied..."
Father's shadow means that one obtains an official position because of the titles of his father's generation.
However, the Song Dynasty paid too much attention to the position of Jinshi. As long as these second-generation officials had some knowledge, they would still pass the Jinshi themselves as capital for future promotion.
As the eldest son of the current prime minister, Han Zhongyan, whether for his father's face or his own future, the position of Jinshi was indispensable.
Historically, Han Zhongyan was also the prime minister.
He was the first prime minister after Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty succeeded to the throne.
A minister at that time commented that Song Huizong’s four prime ministers could be summarized in four words:
Cowardly, corrupt, stupid, domineering.
Among them, Han Zhongyan is mediocre and cowardly, while Cai Jing is domineering.
Huang Shang, the prime minister of Huizong of the Song Dynasty, knew Cai Jing, but he had no choice but to be so notorious that he didn't even think of Han Zhongyan.
But he knew that Zhong Shidao's solemn warning showed that Han Zhongyan really had opinions about him.
It's strange. The two of them have nothing to do with each other. Where does this grudge come from?
…
…
at the same time.
In the wing room of Huixian Building.
Xu Feng strode in: "Sister, according to your method, we found out that Chen Sheng's death is related to Han Zhongyan, the eldest son of the current Prime Minister Han Qi!"
Xu Yue felt strange: "What's going on with the disparity in status between these two people?"
Xu Feng said: "Han Zhongyan is surrounded by a group of scholars who are fawning over him. There is a very famous person among them. His name is Cai Jing. I guess he is the mastermind behind this piece of shit!"
Xu Yue thought: "It's interesting, it involves three prime ministers..."
Xu Feng clenched his fists: "I just like this kind of excitement. I will do it for Huang Shang!"