One month later, the results were released in Chunwei.
After the most important imperial examination in history, the civil literati seemed very quiet.
Regardless of whether they passed the exam or failed, everyone's mood was very stable, even a little heavy.
There are some individual cases among the many candidates, and they are simply those with family backgrounds in Chang'an City.
Of course, Lin Xun also came to the Beiding Palace as soon as possible to announce the good news, and he also passed the exam.
Although he took the exam for ranking, he received a notice from the court asking him to stay in Chang'an for deployment. Apparently he was going to be assigned to serve as an official somewhere.
Bai Song was not in the palace today and went to the palace early in the morning.
This is a point in time, two months have passed since he accepted the mission.
Today he wanted to show Li Shimin the editing process of "History of the Tang Dynasty".
In the past two months, Bai Song did not put any effort into the writing in books. He had a "History of the Tang Dynasty" that was not in line with this era. Today, he excerpted part of the content and brought it to the imperial palace.
Li Shimin was very attentive in examining the history of the Tang Dynasty, even more attentive than reviewing memorials. He asked Bai Song to wait outside and read a book for a whole day before coming out of the back hall.
Li Shimin had a sullen face, obviously not satisfied with the content submitted by Bai Song, because there were many obvious errors in it, and the most critical content of Xuanwu Sect was not mentioned at all.
Li Shimin put the manuscript on the table, and after sitting down, he said to Bai Song: "I have read it, and I have corrected the errors in my own hand. You don't seem to be paying much attention, and you have not noticed many obvious errors and omissions in it."
Bai Song had already said: "Your Majesty, I am really in a difficult situation. I have only been in Chang'an for a few years, and I know very little about the past more than ten years ago. I also hear about various major families and various events. My seniors have collected them.
The information is too messy. Just for a trivial matter, there are several versions of the story in the collected information, and it is really time-consuming to compare them one by one."
Li Shimin nodded. He didn't care much about these details. Even if he wrote it wrong, it didn't matter. The most important thing for him was the Xuanwu Sect.
"Have you summarized and understood the Xuanwu Sect? Why didn't you mention it?"
Bai Song gave a wry smile: "Your Majesty, I have read some information, and the content that the Emperor likes is really lacking in truth."
"Huh?" Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and looked at Bai Song, his eyes focused together.
The so-called content that the emperor liked more was actually some stories rewritten by Li Shimin himself.
The story written by Li Shimin is naturally completely from his perspective, highlighting his innocence and coercion in various ways.
This kind of story is so false and bizarre that no one will believe it.
Faced with Li Shimin's question, Bai Song also smiled and replied: "Your Majesty, I have collected a book, the content of which is deeply loved and trusted by the people in the Jiangnan area. Now this story has been accepted by the people in the Jiangnan area. If it can be
Revising it based on this story may be more realistic."
After saying that, Bai Song presented the biography of heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties that had been prepared long ago.
Li Shimin looked at the title above and frowned: "The Heroes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties? Isn't this a story-telling novel?"
"Exactly."
“Isn’t it a joke that literature and history should be based on story-telling novels?”
"I suggest that the emperor read it first and then weigh it. Recalling that "Three Kingdoms", which is the most widely circulated among the people, has replaced the content of history books in the hearts of the people. People think that the stories in the Three Kingdoms are true stories. As for whether they are historical books or not,
What’s the relationship?”
Li Shimin thought for a while, nodded and said: "You wait here, I will take a look and tell you."
After saying that, Li Shimin returned to the apse again, lit candles, and started reading.
Bai Song waited all night. He slept twice in the hall. It was not until the afternoon of the next day that he saw Li Shimin coming out of the back hall.
The emperor attached great importance to the history of this period. After staying up for nearly two days and one night, he did not show any signs of fatigue. On the contrary, he was very excited. After coming out, he asked: "Who wrote this book? I will reward him heavily!"
"This book is a folk storyteller."
"Mr. Storyteller?" Li Shimin was greatly surprised, "What is your name?"
"Wang Xiaohua, people have been waiting outside the palace for two days."
"Oh?" Li Shimin exclaimed and waved immediately, "Then what are you waiting for? Call someone over quickly."
"Xuanwang Xiaohua enters the palace."
An old eunuch shouted loudly.
Soon, Wang Xiaohua walked slowly and tiredly to the front of the palace, knelt down and saluted, her legs were shaking: "See...see the emperor."
"Give me a seat."
Wang Xiaohua stood outside for two days and felt like she was about to die. Finally, she was able to sit down. She almost fell asleep while sitting there.
Fortunately, it was an interview with the Emperor. Wang Xiaohua could not relax at all, but gathered her energy to listen to the Emperor's words.
"I didn't expect that there would be such a young and promising person among the people of the Tang Dynasty. My life was actually reflected on the page and entered your book! Tell me, how did you learn about the story in this book?
"
"Back to the emperor, the common people visited the people and collected stories about the Sui and Tang Dynasties from all over the world. After their own understanding and conception, they came up with today's book."
"Why was such a masterpiece not revealed to the world earlier?"
"Most of the people think that the emperor is evil, and the legends of heroes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties are mostly based on facts, which runs counter to popular opinions. If they are made public, they are afraid of being reviled and despised. As early as two years ago, Mr. Bai came to Jiangnan. At that time, there were many people in Jiangnan.
The rumor is that Mr. Bai encouraged ordinary people to make the book public and restore justice to the world."
Bai Song continued: "This book has been the closest to the truth from the beginning. Just because I was afraid that the folk literati would not accept it, I used it as a storybook novel. It was precisely because of the publication of this book and the continuous spread of Wang Xiaohua's
Only after talking about it did some people among the people begin to rectify the emperor's name."
"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Li Shimin laughed loudly, "Hahaha, Bai Song, Bai Song, I didn't expect that you have made such great contributions to me and you didn't even mention it. What? Are you afraid that I won't reward you?
"
"Your Majesty, I don't want to say this unless I am forced to do so. Mr. Xiaohua only wants to talk about books and does not want to accept any fame or fortune, so he never mentioned it."
"I understand your embarrassment. From now on, I will dismantle the contents of this book and include it in the history of the Tang Dynasty. These stories are the best for me."
Bai Song handed over his hand: "This is brand new content, so the emperor will have to wait a little longer to get the revised version."
"Don't worry, I believe in your ability, just go ahead and do it. As for Mr. Wang Xiaohua, since he has come to the palace, I can't turn a blind eye to your achievements. If you want anything, just ask."
"Your Majesty, I was lucky enough to meet a woman in the Imperial Palace. I was shocked when I first saw her. After Lord Bai informed me, I found out that she was a relative of the emperor."
"Oh? But it doesn't matter. No matter who it is, as long as it is not my concubine, I will allow it."
