Master Xia didn't care about such a trivial matter as refusing to see Qin Dewei, and continued to discuss with several other people.
Only one of them said: "I always feel that this list of ten people is tailor-made for the Eight Talents. Otherwise, why would the number of people be so close by chance? I don't know who pushed it."
Another person said: "In recent years, among the official circles of the capital, the Eight Talents have the highest talent and reputation, and their reputations are very good. The list of these ten people has attracted much attention. If the Eight Talents are abandoned and others are recommended, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public."
The person who spoke first asked again: "Can we win over these eight talented people? Even a few of them."
Xia Yan shook his head: "I don't know if I can win him over, but I really can't believe it. Six of these eight talented people were Jinshi in the eighth year of Jiajing, and the examiner of this subject is Huo Tao."
In other words, theoretically these six people are all Huo Tao's disciples.
Although it was rumored that the Eight Talents of Jiajing looked down upon the Yili Sect and did not respect Huo Tao very much, but Xia Yan would not dare to believe things in the officialdom if they were true or false.
A middle-aged man who had been listening and said very little suddenly said: "Is the Qin Dewei who I just mentioned coming to visit the one from Nanjing?"
Xia Yan replied: "It is this person."
The middle-aged man sighed: "I heard that at the Taibai Lou Cultural Conference a while ago, Qin Dewei followed the General Xian Wang to attend the conference and faced Wang Shenzhong, the leader of the Eight Talents.
Then Wang Shenzhong was pointed in the nose and lectured by Qin Dewei, belittling everything from his character to his literature. But Wang Shenzhong had no power to fight back and could not win a single round."
Xia Yan was stunned. Is this still happening? Is it true or false? Qin Dewei is so capable that even Wang Shenzhong, a famous angry young man, cannot criticize Qin Dewei?
The main reason is that Master Xia's current literary level is too high, and he only focuses on the skills of writing Yingzhi poetry and Qingci. His readers are generally only the emperor, and he doesn't pay much attention to the dynamics of the low-end literary world.
Another person said: "Then you mean to let Qin Dewei suppress the momentum of the Eight Talents?"
The middle-aged man who had pulled Qin Dewei out earlier said: "At least this person is available, and he is very promising. Even Wang Shenzhong can't stand in front of him.
After all, the Eight Talents are anti-retrograde and are in conflict with Prince Zongxian. I also heard from the prince that Qin Dewei supports the anti-retrograde faction and is destined to be the enemy of the Eight Talents."
Another person slapped the table and said: "Excellent! We just lack someone who can defeat the Eight Talents head-on!"
Xia Yan: "..."
After all, are you going to invite Qin Dewei back again? Doesn’t the Minister of Rites have no face?
"What do you think, Mr. Xia?" someone else asked.
Xia Yan replied thoughtfully: "It's too late to invite you today. I'll ask Wang Zongxian tomorrow before making a decision!"
Yongfang, where Xia Yan's residence is located, is close to the imperial city and is a famous noble community densely populated with official residences.
At dusk, from time to time, you can meet officials returning home from office or going out to enjoy the nightlife. There are junior officials walking alone, and there are also senior officials with car and sedan attendants.
But no matter what level he is, with Qin Dewei's status, he must avoid the road as a courtesy when he encounters him, even though he has two big men accompanying him.
There are too many officials in the capital, and it is impossible for them to enjoy the treatment of local officials when they go out to clean the streets. Therefore, there is a set of rules for avoiding roads, otherwise it would be chaotic if they all rush to get out of the way.
Qin Dewei, who left Xia Mansion, walked to the entrance of an alley and saw two officials walking side by side from a distance, talking and laughing.
The alley here is not wide, and the two officials on the opposite side were walking side by side, so Qin Dewei could only continue to avoid the road. He stood on the roadside at the entrance of the alley, thinking about his thoughts, while waiting for the other party to pass first.
But one of the two people opposite him raised his eyes and caught a glimpse of Qin Dewei, said "Hey" and stopped.
A fellow traveler asked: "What's wrong with you?"
The person who stopped first pointed ahead and said, "Look ahead, this person is Qin Dewei."
The people walking with him also looked up and said in surprise: "You are so young. Brother Nanjiang has really been humiliated by him?"
After saying that, he added: "Ah, there was a slip of the tongue. Brother Nanjiang has already changed his name to Zunyan."
The person who stopped first said: "This person is eloquent and cunning, and is very difficult to deal with. Brother Zunyan was unprepared at that time, and his face was completely disgraced."
A fellow traveler chuckled and said, "You are just a teenager. It is common for you to be able to shine for a moment by relying on your talent and making clever tricks.
It would be better to meet him by chance than to meet him today. Let him learn a lesson and let him know that the capital is not allowed to run wild."
After finishing speaking, he took the lead and walked towards Qin Dewei.
At this time, Qin Dewei was still thinking about his own thoughts, and accidentally discovered that the two officials on the opposite side did not pass, but instead stood in front of him.
Qin Dewei asked in surprise: "What do you two adults do?"
One of the short officials, Pi Liyangqiu, greeted him: "I haven't seen you for a few days. How are you, my friend Qin?"
Qin Dewei looked at him suspiciously, "This gentleman looks familiar, have you seen him before?"
The short official was speechless at first, and then introduced himself: "Lu Gao, the head of the household department!"
Hearing this name, Qin Dewei suddenly realized that the man who sat next to Wang Shenzhong at the last literary gathering in Taibai Tower was also one of the Eight Talents of Jiajing.
But this person's literary status among the Eight Talents is a bit like Wang Tingxiang's position among the Seven Ancient Scholars...
How could Qin Dewei leave a deep impression on such a person with no sense of existence!
Qin Dewei looked at another official and asked curiously: "Who is your Excellency?"
He is about the same age as Lu Gao, and they are so close together. Could it be that he is also one of the Eight Talents of Jiajing? Could he be Tang Shunzhi, the number one tool in the Jiajing Dynasty?
Then I heard this person say proudly: "I am Li Kaixian, the head of the Department of Civil Service Examination!"
Sure enough, he was one of the Eight Talents of Jiajing, but it was a pity that he was not Tang Shunzhi. Qin Dewei was not interested at all, so he nodded to these two people and walked away.
If you don't leave even if you avoid the road, then I have no choice but to leave first.
"Wait!" Li Kaixian had a slight smile on his face, approached Qin Dewei, and whispered: "Although not many people know about it, I know that Liaocheng County Zeng is your father."
Qin Dewei really didn't understand why Li Kaixian mentioned this.
Although he didn't deliberately hide anything, most people really didn't know the relationship between his stepfather and himself. After all, they didn't have the same last name.
But it's not surprising that the people in the Ministry of Personnel knew about this father-son relationship. After all, after he had made great contributions to catching the giant bandit, the imperial court rewarded Zeng's stepfather, and the Ministry of Personnel was responsible for this matter.
Li Kaixian's smile remained unchanged and he continued: "Do you believe that I can make your father-in-law incompetent after completing his term?"
As the name suggests, the Ministry of Civil Service's merit examination department is responsible for the performance evaluation of officials all over the country. It is indeed not difficult for a director of the merit examination department to be determined to improve a county.
Qin Dewei snorted coldly: "Is your Excellency going too far? This joke is not funny."
Li Kaixian approached Qin Dewei, standing at a distance that Qin Dewei could punch with, still with a slight smile on his face, and responded:
"You ignorant people, do you know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is? Do you still think this is a joke?
I can also tell you that I can even directly depose your father in the nine-year world plan presided over by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. As long as I want to, there will always be a chance."