The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 033 Top Three
After classes at the Imperial College, Tang Shen took the test poem he had written today and went to the Minister Residence to find Wang Zhen.
As the Minister of Revenue, Wang Zhen was busy with official duties every day. Of the ten times Tang Shen visited, six times Wang Zhen was not there. Usually, Tang Shen would hand his completed assignments to the steward, who would then give them to Wang Zhen for review. The next day, Wang Zhen would make time to wait for Tang Shen at the residence. But today, after much consideration, Tang Shen said to the steward, "May I wait here for Senior Brother Zi Feng to return?"
The steward was taken aback and said, "Tang gongzi, if you have the time, of course you may."
The steward welcomed Tang Shen inside and treated him with respect.
When the moon was high and the stars filled the sky, Wang Zhen returned from outside, dressed in a crisp crimson official robe. The steward informed him that Tang Shen was still waiting at the residence. Wang Zhen paused slightly, whispered "Is that so," and then showed no surprise, as if he had already known Tang Shen would wait for him today.
Tang Shen was drinking tea in the flower hall. When he heard footsteps, he turned around and saw Wang Zhen coming to find him still in his official attire. In the interplay of candlelight and moonlight, Wang Zifeng's handsome and elegant face appeared very gentle and approachable. He smiled gracefully and said, "Little Junior Brother, have you been waiting long?"
Tang Shen: "Only an hour."
"Have you had dinner?"
"Waiting for Senior Brother, I didn't dare to eat."
Wang Zhen turned to the steward and said, "Little Junior Brother has been here for so long, and you haven't offered him a meal. This is neglect."
The steward repeatedly apologized to Tang Shen.
Wang Zhen said, "Then have dinner with me."
The two went to the main hall. Tang Shen sat at the dining table and waited for a while. Wang Zhen went to change into a white brocade robe and came out from the inner room. Without his official robe, he looked like a handsome and elegant scholar, truly deserving of the phrase "Unparalleled Scholar." Tang Shen thought that even when wearing official attire, his Senior Brother was very different from other high officials, outstanding and remarkable.
The maid served the dishes, including braised sturgeon slices, yellow cabbage braised with ham, four seasonal dishes, and a scallop soup.
Both Tang Shen and Wang Zhen were from Jiangnan, and their tastes were similar, so most of the dishes were in Jiangnan style.
As the saying goes, "Do not talk while eating, do not speak while sleeping." After finishing their meal, they went to the flower hall to drink tea. Wang Zhen took Tang Shen's test poem and read it several times. This time, he didn't comment on the quality of the poem but asked, "How long have you been practicing the calligraphy of the 'Famen Temple Stele'?"
Tang Shen didn't understand why he asked this: "Almost two months."
"Little Junior Brother's calligraphy has improved quickly."
"Senior Brother overpraises me." Tang Shen's expression was calm, without a hint of pride in his tone.
In Gusu, he practiced fifty sheets of large characters every day. In Shengjing, he had already practiced the 'Famen Temple Stele' one thousand three hundred and twenty-one times. He didn't want to waste any time; in the August autumn exam, he was determined to achieve a good ranking, at least in the top ten. This way, he wouldn't be too far behind other candidates in the spring exam next year.
Wang Zhen lightly recited the poem written by Tang Shen: "The moon shines brightly across the sky, stars hang over the fixed sea tower..." After reciting, Wang Zhen paused for a moment and sighed regretfully, "Little Junior Brother's eight-legged essay is novel in its conception and rigorous in structure. As long as it is not off-topic, it will not be wrong. But your test poems can only be described as average."
Tang Shen also knew that his test poems were quite average.
If the eight-legged essay tested mainly the candidate's logical thinking and argumentative structure, the test poem tested a person's literary talent. No matter how good Tang Shen's memory was, even if he could recite texts backward, he couldn't suddenly transform from a student of the sciences into a great literary talent. Writing poetry relied not only on skill but also on a sudden flash of inspiration and true talent.
Wang Zhen: "If Little Junior Brother's test poems improve, you should be able to rank in the top three in this year's Imperial College final exams."
Suddenly mentioning the Imperial College's final exams, Tang Shen's eyes flashed as he looked up at Wang Zhen.
Tang Shen specifically waited at home today for Wang Zhen to return, not because he wanted to see Wang Zhen, but because—The Son of Heaven Comes to Biyong! He wanted to know why the emperor suddenly decided to give a lecture at Biyong Palace and whether there would be any issues with this lecture.
After a moment of contemplation, Tang Shen said, "In the monthly tests at the Imperial College, because my test poems are average, I've mostly received B grades and never an A grade."
Wang Zhen smiled and said, "Ordinarily, that's fine, but if you can place in the top three during the Son of Heaven Comes to Biyong, the benefits will be considerable."
Tang Shen was stunned, staring fixedly at Wang Zhen in shock, "Senior Brother?!"
Tang Shen rarely had such a startled expression, his eyes wide and round. Wang Zhen was intrigued. He gently lifted Tang Shen's chin with a white fan, his voice soft and smiling, "Junior Brother, can you place in the top three?"
Ten days later, on the first day of June, the Imperial College's examination began.
Hundreds of students sat upright in the lecture hall, opening the exam questions with expressions more serious and solemn than ever before. Tang Shen sat in the middle of the main hall, opening the question for the eight-legged essay, which read “Heaven is so high."
From "Mencius • Li Lou": "Heaven is so high; the stars are so distant. If we investigate their works, through the solstices of a thousand years, we can sit and attain them." This means that although the sky is vast and the stars are endless, as long as their patterns can be calculated, even festivals a thousand years later can be determined according to these patterns.
Tang Shen frowned deeply.
This question seemed simple, discussing the idea that everything has its own rules. As long as these rules are followed, success is certain. This is a common philosophical theme in "Mencius." Using "Heaven is so high" as a topic one could start writing from the complexity of all things or delve into the essence of universal rules. The former was safer, while the latter was too broad and easy to stray from or even get wrong.
However... he had to place in the top three this time!
Tang Shen hardened his resolve and began to write, "To seek the greatness of creation, one must exhaust the subtleties of ethics. All eight trigrams lead to the ultimate, all things must have one..."
After spending a full two hours writing the essay, Tang Shen checked for errors and neatly copied it onto the exam paper. Then he opened the topic for the test poem.
The Imperial College's monthly exam only tested two questions: one eight-legged essay and one test poem.
This time, the test poem's topic was "The stars are clear." The original line was "The stars are clear around me," from a poem by a poet from the previous dynasty about climbing a mountain to watch the stars.
Climbing a mountain, watching the stars...
Tang Shen pondered deeply. After nearly half an hour, he wrote the first line on the draft paper, "The wind stirs the mountain's fluff, shadows enter the marks of stars and moon."
This line was actually an inverted sentence, describing the wind blowing the leaves on the continuous mountains, and the shadows of the stars and moon blending into the mountain's reflection, disappearing. But after writing it, Tang Shen quietly looked at the line, remaining silent.
The Imperial College had 561 students, with two over forty years old and seventy-six over thirty. These people had experienced many exams, and everyone wrote excellent eight-legged essays. The Imperial College had two famous individuals: one was Liu Fang, thirty-two years old, whose eight-legged essay was once praised by the head examiner as the best among his peers; the other was Tang Shen's friend, Mei Shengze, whose test poems were exceptional and full of talent.
These two were almost certain to take the top two spots, leaving only one spot open.
The Imperial College was the place where all the talents of the Great Song Dynasty gathered. Since Wang Zhen had hinted that the top three would receive great benefits, it must be an enormous benefit, one that even Wang Zhen valued enough to give Tang Shen a hint.
Tang Shen silently looked at the lines he had written, sighed deeply, and thought, "Poet Saint Azure Lotus, I must apologize and offend you." (TN: Li Bai's art name is Householder of Azure Lotus, and is also known as Immortal Poet, Poet Saint, etc.)
Then he smoothly wrote a flowing poem on the paper.
The exam ended, and the examiners collected the students' papers.
The Imperial College's exams were not like the official imperial exams; there was no anonymous grading. Even the dean took this exam very seriously. He personally came to the grading hall and said, "Find the papers of Liu Fang and Mei Shengze, let me see."
The examiners quickly found the two papers.
Dean Lin first looked at Liu Fang's paper. The more he read, the brighter his eyes became, "Excellent! Though the complexity of creation is difficult to know, there is an easy method to understand it, showing that it doesn't need to be forced. This essay is extremely well-written, though the test poem, while proper, lacks spirit." Then he picked up Mei Shengze's paper.
Dean Lin said, "Using the complexity of all things to open the topic is clever but lacks originality. However, the essay is well-structured and well-reasoned, a good piece. This poem is excellent! What a line, 'The stars surge, the mountain moon is clear!' It seems that Liu Fang will surely be first, and Mei Shengze second."
Dean Lin solemnly said, "My colleagues, let me be frank. After the Son of Heaven Comes to Biyong, His Majesty will personally test the knowledge of the top three from this exam."
The hall was in an uproar.
Dean Lin continued, "I only learned this afternoon from Eunuch Ji. Therefore, we must grade the papers meticulously and without error. Otherwise..." He snorted coldly, "Otherwise, there will be severe punishment! At best, a reduction in salary; at worst, dismissal from office!"
Just then, a voice of astonishment came from the middle of the grading examiners.
Dean Lin looked at the man, "What is the commotion?"
A bearded examiner was holding a paper, wide-eyed in shock, not even realizing he had made a sound. Hearing the dean's question, he quickly apologized, "Please forgive me, daren. I was so engrossed in an excellent eight-legged essay that I didn't hear your words. But when I turned to the test poem, I couldn't help but exclaim."
Dean Lin walked over, "What is this eight-legged essay and test poem?" He took the paper and read it.
"To seek the greatness of creation, one must exhaust the subtleties of ethics. All eight trigrams lead to the ultimate, all things must have one..." The dean read carefully and said, "An excellent piece! I thought that among the students, only Liu Fang dared to take such a bold approach, discussing 'the rules of universal balance' and making a logical argument. I didn't expect anyone else to write such a fine essay. Huh, this is Tang Shen's paper?"
The examiner said, "Yes, it is the paper of Tang Shen from Gusu Prefecture."
Many examiners in the hall showed expressions of understanding.
"No wonder, being Fu daren's student, he can write such a fine essay, he is indeed talented."
It was no secret in the Imperial College that Tang Shen was Fu Wei's student. But the dean also knew that the recommendation letter for Tang Shen's admission to the Imperial College was not written by Fu Wei but by Wang Zhen! Wang Zhen personally brought Tang Shen into the Imperial College, showing that Wang Zhen was very fond of his junior brother.
Dean Lin became more serious and opened the second page of the paper. He had already decided that since Tang Shen was Wang Zhen's junior brother and Fu Xiru's student, and the eight-legged essay was indeed excellent, even if Tang Shen's test poem was very mediocre, as long as it wasn't completely terrible, he would give Tang Shen the third place in this evaluation, to gain favor with Wang Zifeng and Fu Xiru.
However, the moment he saw the test poem, Dean Lin's eyes widened, his face turned red, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.
After a cup of tea, he finally exclaimed three times, "Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Everyone, come and look at this extraordinary poem!"
The lecturers were very curious and immediately took the paper to read. Though they were officials, they were also scholars. This short five-character, four-rhyme poem made them all radiant with excitement and joy.
"The perilous tower rises a hundred feet, hands could pluck the stars...
Not daring to speak loudly, for fear of startling those in heaven!"
AN: Neighbor Wang: Sigh, my junior brother only waits for me so obediently when he needs something from me.
Little Tang: Can't you just be more straightforward? Stop being so secretive! Talking to people like you is exhausting!