The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 040 I Like Spicy Food Part 2
Half an hour later, they were eating the fish, rabbit, and chicken Tang Shen had released.
After the meal, Tang Shen took his leave. Surprisingly, this time Wang Zhen personally saw him off.
Under the bright moonlight, Wang Zhen in a white brocade robe looked like a celestial from the heavens. Before leaving, Tang Shen paused and asked, "Was your behavior today meant to tell me that to succeed, one must rely on their own efforts and not seek out vain things?"
Wang Zhen looked at him in surprise, then turned to the steward and asked, "Did I say anything like that today?"
The steward honestly shook his head, "You did not, gongzi."
Wang Zhen seemed to have undergone amnesia and turned back to Tang Shen, saying, "You heard him, I didn't say that."
Tang Shen, amused, said, "Thank you, Senior Brother. I shall take my leave."
After a year in Shengjing, Tang Shen had known Wang Zifeng for a year.
As he judged when he first met Wang Zifeng, he was unfathomable, and Tang Shen still hadn't figured him out. However, he gradually understood that his senior brother liked to speak indirectly. This time, he didn't want Tang Shen to follow the other juren in releasing animals, but instead of saying it outright, he pretended to let him release them, when in truth he disliked the superstition.
In modern terms, this would be called, "Not speaking human!"
Yet, this might be what it means to be an official.
This is what it means to be an official!
Walking home, Tang Shen looked at the bright moon and sighed quietly.
On February 9th, the huishi began.
Before dawn, candidates arrived at Shengjing Examination Hall, waiting outside for a long time. Feng Bi carried a long-eared exam basket, and Yao San draped a fur coat over Tang Shen. It was still chou shi (1-3am), yet they saw the steward from the Minister Residence at the gate. Just like when Tang Shen took the xiangshi, the steward carried a long-eared exam basket.
Wang Zhen came from the Wang clan of Langya, who have access to many items even Tang Shen couldn't buy, like non-smoking silver thread candles. After checking the contents of the long-eared exam basket, Tang Shen exchanged a few words with the steward before the imposing gates of the examination hall opened. Two rows of government officers emerged, shouting, "Candidates, enter!"
One officer finished, another continued shouting.
Twelve calls echoed, ensuring every candidate outside heard.
Tang Shen picked up his long-eared exam basket and said, "I'm going in."
The steward said, "Tang gongzi, one more thing."
Tang Shen stopped, "What is it?"
The steward said, "Before I came, gongzi instructed me to tell you—people remember the zhuangyuan, but rarely the huishi top scholar. Are you prepared for next month's dianshi?"
Tang Shen was stunned. After entering the exam hall and finding his cubicle, he looked at the silver thread candle in the long-eared basket and pondered for a long time, finally saying helplessly, "Wang Zifeng, Wang Zifeng, why can't you just say what you mean directly? Why do you have to beat around the bush? Where did you learn this bad habit!"
A zhuangyuan is renowned throughout the land, but the huiyuan is rarely remembered.
This was Wang Zhen comforting him, indicating that even if he didn't achieve the top spot in the huishi, he shouldn't be too disheartened. He was also worried that Tang Shen, in his effort to achieve a good result in this examination, might exhaust himself and make mistakes, failing to even become a jinshi!
However, there was one thing Wang Zhen was right about. Tang Shen's eyes shone with determination: "Ten huiyuan can't compare to one zhuangyuan! This time's huishi is filled with talent, and aiming for the top three is as hard as climbing to the heavens. What I seek is to be selected by the emperor himself in the golden throne hall and rank in the top three! The dianshi doesn't test eight-legged essays or poetry; it only tests current affairs policy questions. At that time, argumentation is primary, while rhetoric is secondary. This is my chance!"
On the ninth of the second month, he entered the examination hall, and the topics were only revealed at midnight on the tenth. Tang Shen had already taken a nap and woke up before midnight, sitting upright in his assigned room, waiting for the officials to hand out the questions. Like him, there were thousands of other examinees. This was the huishi, the most important test of their lives. Not everyone could score high in the dianshi, but reaching the dianshi meant they had passed and it was just a matter of ranking.
On the Mingyuan Tower, Chief Examiner Li, a Grand Secretary Li, struck the drum hard, signaling the official start of the examination.
Tang Shen received the exam paper, took a deep breath, and opened them.
The first question was an eight-legged essay topic: "The official from Yi requested an audience."
In the winter night, a cold wind blew, and all the examinees shivered and felt their hearts sink as they read the question. Even Tang Shen, upon seeing the topic, looked up towards the Mingyuan Tower. Although he couldn't see Grand Secretary Li, the chief examiner, and the other deputy examiners standing there, he wanted to curse.
"What shamelessness!" The examinee in the neighboring room cursed on his behalf.
"The official from Yi requested an audience" comes from "The Analects of Confucius, Bayi," and the original sentence is: "The official from Yi requested an audience, saying, 'When gentlemen come to this, I have never failed to see them.' The followers took him to see [Confucius]. When he came out, he said, 'Why are you concerned about the loss of men? The Way of Heaven has long been without the Way; Heaven is going to use your master as a wooden tongue for a bell.'"
It means that an official from Yi heard that Confucius had arrived and requested to see Confucius. He said, "I have never failed to see every gentleman who comes here." Confucius' followers took him to see Confucius. After meeting Confucius, the official said to the followers, "Why are you worried about the loss of men? The world has long been without the Way, but Heaven will use your master to educate the people and restore order to the world."
This sentence praises Confucius's excellent character and actions from the perspective of an outsider.
But Grand Secretary Li, the chief examiner, chose this topic, "The official from Yi requested an audience"!
If one connects the full text, the topic can be easily understood. However, no matter what, the essay must always revolve around the phrase "The official from Yi requested an audience."
An official wants to request an audience with Confucius.
Writing an essay based on this phrase is easier said than done!
In the examination hall of the capital, the examinees were pulling their hair out, staring at the papers, not knowing how to proceed. Grand Secretary Li had passed the imperial examinations and became a famous grand secretary, but the examinees in the examination hall were still striving for success! Giving them such an obscure topic made them curse "shameless" with some justification.
However, no matter how much they cursed, the essay still had to be written.
Tang Shen held his pen and made some notes on the draft paper. He wrote down a few points to break down the topic but found none of them satisfactory. This kind of topic could easily lead one off course, and once off course or if an essay appeared to be disrespectful, it could mean the end of one's chances in this year's dianshi.
Wang Zhen had told him to play it safe, not to aim for the first place, but to aim to pass and reach the dianshi. Only after guaranteeing that, then could he strive for ranking.
Tang Shen bitterly thought, did Wang Zifeng know in advance that Grand Secretary Li would come up with such an obscure topic, making it easy to go off track?
Then he thought again, that was unlikely. Because of him, Wang Zhen had already avoided any suspicion and did not become a chief examiner for this year's huishi.
The huishi was different from other exams. The chief examiner had to be a high-ranking official from the Palace Secretariat, and even the three deputy examiners had to be high-ranking officials from the Palace Secretariat. Wang Zhen had become a zhuangyuan at seventeen, and in the past two huishi, he had been a deputy examiner because of his insufficient qualifications and had never been a chief examiner. There were rumors that he was highly likely to be the chief examiner this year, but because his junior brother Tang Shen was participating, he had to avoid suspicion and didn't even become a deputy examiner this time.
Being the chief examiner of the huishi was a great achievement for any official and a milestone in their career.
However, next time, given Wang Zhen's qualifications, he was highly likely to become the chief examiner for the huishi three years later, with a higher probability than this time.
After a bit of random thinking, Tang Shen sighed and continued to ponder the topic.
An official wanted to visit Confucius and praised him after meeting him. Before meeting Confucius, he already praised Confucius as a gentleman. So "The official from Yi requested an audience," requested an audience... What a "request"! The word "request" shows the official's respect for Confucius and indicates that the official visited Confucius to meet a sage.
Whether it was the official's respect for Confucius before meeting him or his admiration after meeting him, it was all about praising Confucius's noble character and actions.
An official from Yi wanted to see Confucius. Who in the world wouldn't want to see him?
Even a thousand years later, the thousands of examinees buried in their exam cubicles writing essays also wanted to see him!
Although it was inappropriate, Tang Shen suddenly thought of a poem: "You were born before I was born, and I was born when you were old."
Born at the wrong time!
Inspiration struck him, and Tang Shen quickly wrote on the draft paper: "The official wished to see the sage and requested it. After seeing the sage, he praised his conduct. If Heaven gave birth to the sage but we couldn't see him, we would request three times to see his sage words, seeing the sage without knowing it..."
After breaking open the topic, Tang Shen carefully considered each sentence, polished his writing, and after two hours, finally finished the essay.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
The first question of the huishi was very difficult. He didn't aim for perfection but just hoped to avoid mistakes. Tang Shen believed his essay was already quite innovative, and under the guidance of Liang Song and Wang Zhen, his eight-legged essay was always well-structured and orderly. As long as he broke open the topic correctly, there would be no mistakes.
After resting for a while, he copied the essay onto the examination paper and then looked at the second question.
Seeing the second question, Tang Shen's eyes widened, and he exhaled a breath, looking towards the distant Mingyuan Tower: "What shamelessness!"
In the twenty-seventh year of Kaiping, the second question of the huishi in Shengjing was—
"Those who flee from Mohism will inevitably return to Yangism"!
TN: Neighbor Wang: What a coincidence, I also like spicy rabbit.