The onlookers were in an uproar. The Minister of Rites, who originally admired Xiao Feng, was caught off guard. He retracted his chin so fast that he almost bit his tongue.
Are these the words of a dignified governor, a dignified real person, and a dignified person?
Everyone was dumbfounded, everyone's face was red, and they didn't know what to say. Xiao Feng pointed at Zhao Wenhua.
"Mr. Zhao is much better than you. Not only has he married a wife, but he also has three concubines. This shows that his abilities in the boudoir are not even slightly better than yours!"
Zhao Wenhua found it difficult to tell whether Xiao Feng was scolding him or praising him.
Originally, although I was a little embarrassed to say this to my face, any man would be very proud to be praised for being strong in this area.
But the problem is, for no reason, in public, suddenly praising yourself for this is actually a little bit that.
The tall scholar blushed and protested with a trembling voice: "Although your Excellency has a high and powerful position, scholars cannot be killed and cannot be humiliated. You must explain to all the scholars in the world why you insult students like this!"
Xiao Feng said with a smile: "Have I ever insulted you? Mr. Zhao has one wife and two concubines, which naturally shows that he has extraordinary ability. If a man has at least one wife, his ability is not strong, but it is still enough.
But what about you? At your age, without a wife or concubines, doesn’t it mean that you are incompetent in that area? Otherwise, why would you be like this? "
The tall scholar's hands trembled with anger: "This, this is simply unreasonable! Can you judge whether a man is good or not based on the number of wives and concubines?
There are many reasons for an unmarried wife to take concubines, such as poor family background, being obsessed with studies, being filial and filial..."
Xiao Feng put away his smile and said coldly
Looking at him: "The number of wives and concubines cannot reflect your ability. Can the ratio of admissions reflect the ability of candidates?"
There are many reasons why you don’t marry and take concubines. Why did you decide that when the admission ratio was originally set, the only reason for admitting fewer scholars from the north was their ability?
Do you really not understand, or do you want to cause another bloody storm in the scientific examination? What are your intentions?"
Although Xiao Feng's words were ridiculing, the truth behind them was self-evident: the scientific research ratio itself was a by-product of the incident that year. It cannot be said to be a reasonable rule, let alone an eternal rule.
The tall scholar was at a loss for words, shaking his head and muttering: "It's an insult to politeness, it's an insult to politeness." But he couldn't say anything more practical.
The short scholar, who had been silent all this time, bowed his hands and saluted, and when he opened his mouth, everyone in the audience was shocked: This humble-looking dwarf actually had an incomparably clearer and louder voice, which made people forget their common sense.
"What your Excellency said is not unreasonable, but since your Excellency believes that the establishment of the scientific examination ratio is not because the scholars in the south are stronger than the scholars in the north.
The most fair way is to cancel the scientific examination ratio and let everyone take the examination based on their true ability. This is only fair!"
This sentence resonated with everyone present. They knew that even today, the scientific examination ability of southern scholars must be stronger than that of northern scholars.
Xiao Feng also knew this, and people in warehouses knew etiquette. This was an eternal truth. Although the Ming Dynasty had its capital in the north, the general pattern of wealth in the south and poverty in the north had always existed.
There is not enough food to eat, so the proportion of scholars is naturally small. In addition, there are frequent wars. Under this situation, the north and south of the imperial examination are required to be fair.
It is an unfair thing in itself.
But saying these words in this situation will not only not help the matter, but will further arouse the antagonism between the north and the south.
If that situation really happened, Zhao Wenhua would probably sit up suddenly in the middle of the night, laugh three times and go back to sleep.
So Xiao Feng could only use another way to reason with these Jiangnan scholars, using a way that scholars like best.
Xiao Feng looked at the short scholar and suddenly asked: "What level are you three among the Jiangnan scholars? Are you worthy to speak for the Jiangnan scholars? Or do we need to find a few people who have won the Jinshi?"
This is the most poignant thing to say to a scholar. Since ancient times, there has never been a first-class scholar. Even a poor scholar who has never won an exam in his life will never admit that his own level is not good. The examiner must be blind.
So the three of them immediately stood up straight, and the judge said proudly: "Although the three of us are low-achieving students, we have little reputation in Nanjing.
Although my fate is unlucky and I have not yet passed the examination, I am still capable of self-education, otherwise I would not have been recommended by everyone to pay homage to you!
The works of the three of us are widely circulated in the south of the Yangtze River. This brother Ai is good at lyrics and music. He is a guest of Qinhuai in Jinling, a famous figure in the world. Which flower boat does not sing his masterpieces? "
The judge pointed at the short scholar, and it turned out that this was Brother Ai. The short scholar waved his hands modestly, but his face showed that he was doing his part.
"Students like music and music, so they always write lyrics and music together.
Therefore, the girls on the Qinhuai River prefer to sing, but it is just convenient, not that they can write better than others.
I heard that your Excellency composed a song "Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger" when the cavalry came out of Beijing, which has become the military song of the Ming Dynasty army. Little man
I admire you very much."
The judge pointed at the tall scholar again: "This brother Gao is good at Tang poetry and Song poetry. Which of the famous teahouses and restaurants in Nanjing does not have his calligraphy on the wall?"
The tall scholar repeatedly raised his hand and said, "It's a lot of praise, but it's just that the great talents don't bother to compare with the lesser men, so they let the students take the spotlight for a while."
Xiao Feng nodded: "Then what is Mr. Zhong good at?"
Everyone was stunned: "My surname is not Zhong?"
Xiao Feng exclaimed: "I saw that the short one's surname was Ai and the tall one's surname was Gao. I thought you, the middle one who is neither tall nor short, should be named Zhong."
I'm still thinking about it, people say that a book with a good name is good. Is it so random to choose a name? It's too careless."
Ju Ren held back his anger and said: "My student named Ju is not particularly good at anything, but he can do whatever he wants with his poems, lyrics, songs and ancient folk songs."
Xiao Feng smiled hoarsely: "That's sloppy, it turns out you didn't choose the name based on your head, but based on your identity...
Since the three people consider themselves to be representative of the scholars from the south of the Yangtze River in terms of their knowledge, today I will represent the scholars from the north and compete with the three.
If the three of them win, I will write to the court to fight for more imperial examination opportunities for the scholars from Jiangnan; if I win, the dispute between the scholars from the north and the south will be over, how about that?"
The three of them were stunned and immediately became alert. The three of them gathered together, whispered a few words, and then raised their hands and saluted.
"I don't dare to respond to my lord's orders. I wonder how your lord is going to compete?"
Xiao Feng smiled calmly: "It's better than what you are best at. The three of you, each compete for one game. If you win one game, even if the Jiangnan scholars win, I wonder if anyone in the audience will object?"
In fact, some of the scholars in the hall did want to object, because they felt that Xiao Feng was well-known and a top talent in modern science, so he thought he had some real talent and learning.
If you gamble rashly, you may not be sure of winning. If you lose, you will lose the face of Jiangnan scholars. But after hearing Xiao Feng explain the conditions of the competition, these people immediately suppressed their objections.
That’s crazy! It’s so fucking crazy!
These three people also count as celebrities from the south of the Yangtze River. If you compete with three against one and let others choose the one who is best at competing with you, if you win one game, you will win! Do you really think you are a god?
Zhao Wenhua pretended to be dazzled by the sun, raised his sleeves to cover his face, and laughed so hard that his whole body trembled.
Xiao Feng, Xiao Feng, madness brings misfortune, and madness brings rain. I think you are really crazy today!
The sleeves were suddenly pulled off by someone. Because it was too sudden, Zhao Wenhua's face burst into laughter before he had time to put it away, and he was exposed in front of Xiao Feng and in full view of the audience.
"Master Zhao? What's wrong with you? Did you think of something happy?"
Zhao Wenhua was very embarrassed: "No, no, no, the sun is a bit dazzling, so I blocked it. This expression is because, by the way, the sun is dazzling, so isn't it reasonable to squint your eyes?"
Xiao Feng looked up and said: "Master Zhao, it's cloudy today, where is the sunshine coming from?"
Zhao Wenhua rubbed his eyes: "Ah, my eyes are dazzled, my eyes are dazzled, sir, please don't pay attention to my eye problems, let's start the game quickly!"
Xiao Feng let go of Zhao Wenhua's sleeves and turned to the three people with a big smile: "Which one of you will come first?"
The three of them discussed it again and decided that the tall scholar would take the lead and the short scholar in the second round. This was not because of the tall scholar.
The lyrics and music of shorter talents who are of the highest level need to be prepared for a longer period of time.
The Yuan Dynasty was the closest dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. Although Song Ci also had a brand of Ci, people had long forgotten the tunes of the Ci brand because of the passage of time.
Therefore, although Song poetry is elegant and elegant, later generations can only recite it, and very few can compose music to sing it. On the contrary, Yuan opera, although slightly inferior in terms of literary talent and rhetoric, is easier to sing because of the ready-made tunes.
Therefore, when comparing Yuan opera, we are not only comparing the ability to write lyrics, but also the ability to compose music. A true master of Yuan opera can not only fill in the existing tunes, but also create new tunes and compose new tunes.
Come!
They didn't expect Xiao Feng to compete on the spot, so naturally they didn't bring musical instruments.
Ai Xiucai immediately asked the scholars he knew in the hall to go to the flower boats on the Qinhuai River to find the most professional boat. He asked them to bring their musical instruments and said that Ai Xiucai was going to make a new song and would give it to them for free after finishing it!
Someone ran away from the hall. Gao Xiucai smiled reservedly and took a step forward: "Sir, it will take time to prepare Brother Ai's musical instrument. The student should ask for your guidance first!"
Xiao Feng smiled and nodded: "Do you want to make poems or lyrics? Do you want to limit the topic?"
Gao Xiucai said: "Since the adults asked whether it was a poem or a poem, it is obvious that the adults are confident, so the student might as well make a poem and then a poem and ask the adults for advice respectively."
Huh? Everyone in the audience was shocked by Gao Xiucai's shamelessness!
It was agreed that each person would compete with each other, but you are so good, you follow the stick and bite the end of Xiao Feng's sentence, and you just turned your one game into two!
With Xiao Feng’s current status, this poem and lyrics are
Why lose one game? According to the previous words, I'm afraid everyone has to admit defeat! In this way, winning one game in three becomes winning one in four!
Let's not call the scholar a thief. The onlookers were silently amazed. Zhao Wenhua happily raised his two sleeves as a double insurance. Even if Xiao Feng pulled one off at once, there would still be another one blocking it.
Xiao Feng's smile did not change, but the look he looked at Gao Xiucai suddenly became extremely sharp. In a flash, Gao Xiucai saw it and his heart trembled, but at this time, he had an arrow on the string and had to take action.
"Since today's topic arises from the imperial examination, students will use the topic of 'talent' to ask for advice from adults!"
Xiao Feng nodded slightly. It was not that he was as crazy as Zhao Wenhua thought, but he knew that Chinese culture had a long history and he had taken advantage of it for hundreds of years. Even if his literary talent was not good enough, there would always be great achievements.
I can stand up for myself.
Gao Xiucai pondered for a moment, then started walking in the lobby.
Damn it, what is this going to do? Is it possible to make a poem in seven steps? Some good people in the hall started to cheer and count.
"...Three steps, four steps, five steps, six steps, seven steps!"
"Eight steps, nine steps, ten steps..."
The voice went from high-pitched and excited to weak. Are you fucking sick? Since you can't come up with a poem after walking seven steps, why don't you just stand still? Why are you wandering around?
At the twentieth step, Gao Xiucai suddenly stopped, and everyone became more energetic.
"Read three hundred poems at night,
I will never get to Chang'an in this life.
I only wish that spring in the south of the Yangtze River is always there,
Who believes that it will be cold outside the window for ten years?"
The whole place was in an uproar, admiring and cheering. Xiao Feng also nodded silently. With such a great reputation, he does have talent.
This poem, the river
Nan Shizi's anger and injustice were written vividly and vividly, and the title was well chosen. He could write a poem in twenty steps, and his thinking was considered fast enough.
I just wish that spring in the south of the Yangtze River is always there, who would believe that it would be cold outside the window for ten years. It seems that he also knows what the court thinks.
My study environment is good, but it doesn't mean that I don't work hard and study hard. Why can't I have a fair fight with the northern scholars?
Xiao Feng could only smile bitterly. This matter is unsolvable. Not to mention that it cannot be solved today, it will not be solved in many years. The only thing is to work hard.
"Sir, please enlighten me!"
Xiao Feng took a deep breath, I may not lose to you if I compose a song on the spot, but today's battle is not fair, I must win by a big margin.
I must lower the morale of the Jiangnan scholars in order to maintain the balance between the north and the south and the stability of the Ming Dynasty. If I want to be worthy of my senior brother and the world, I can only be sorry to you.
"Kiuzhou is angry and relies on wind and thunder,
It is sad that all the horses are silent.
I urge God to cheer up again,
Recruit talents in any way."
No one spoke, everyone was shocked. What speed was this? Although Xiao Feng was sitting, if he stood up and walked, he would definitely not be able to exceed three steps!
Speed is only second, this poem... is so shocking. Don't you think the imperial examination is unfair to talents? But who stipulates that the imperial examination is the only way out for talents?
Before this, almost no one thought that there were talents outside the imperial examination. Except for those big-headed soldiers who fought hard to get there, otherwise even generals would have to take martial arts.
I advise God to cheer up and send talents of any kind. What does Mr. Xiao mean by this?
Did he want to fundamentally change the imperial examination system? If so, the dispute between the north and the south about the imperial examination did not have any
It makes sense!
Scholars are silently speculating on Xiao Feng's poems. People who have never read books can't think of it so deeply, but intuitively, they can feel that Xiao Feng's poem definitely crushed Gao Xiucai.
"Oh, Gao Xiucai is a bit overestimating his abilities. Have you never heard that the two poems hanging in the lobby of each state capital were written by Mr. Xiao?"
"Lobby of the state capital? Which two sentences?"
"You are blind, look up and see that it is also hanging in the lobby of Yingtian Mansion!"
"If you only care about the country's life and death, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings? These two sentences were written by Mr. Xiao?"
"That's right!"
"Comparing Tang poetry with Mr. Xiao is indeed a bit overestimating one's abilities..."
Gao Xiucai's face turned red. Listening to the discussion in the hall, he also felt that he had made a bad move. But after thinking about it, he seemed to have never heard of Xiao Feng's famous masterpieces on Song poetry. He still had hope!
"The adult's poetry is indeed superior, so the student admits defeat. Then, the student will ask for advice on Song poetry. This time, um, let's change the topic."
It's not that Gao Xiucai can't continue to write lyrics under the title "talent", but he always feels that Xiao Feng can beat him. I'm afraid he is always thinking about the issue of "talent". If he continues to write under this title, he may not be able to take advantage.
.
He thought for a while and decided to choose a question that Xiao Feng didn't usually think about. Yes, he was sure that Xiao Feng would never think about this question, because it was simply impossible!
"Sir, since ancient times, there have been many poems written about missing old friends, especially those about missing loved ones. For example, Su Shi's "Jiangchengzi" and "Businessman". Students should use these as their titles."
Now even the scholars in the hall felt that
Gao Xiucai was a little shameless. Xiao Feng was young and it was said that he had just married.
Regardless of whether it is the wife, the one who knocked on the door upside down, or the one who is crouching in the back hall from time to time reaching out to give compliments, thinking that others cannot see it, including the women in the mess in the house, they are all still alive and well.
Do you want such a man who is proud of the spring breeze and surrounded by green pearls to write words of condolence for his lover?
Why don't you write words of condolences to your parents? Isn't it because your talented parents are still alive and you can't express that emotion?
Everyone thought that Xiao Feng would refuse this extremely unfair competition. Even Zhao Wenhua felt that Xiao Feng would not agree. Unexpectedly, Xiao Feng just smiled faintly.
"Whatever, I told you to come up with the questions, just write them."
There was so much sadness and melancholy hidden in that smile that no one else could see. If Qi Jiguang were next to him at this moment, he would definitely jump up.