After the shock, countless questions were thrown to Ma Zhou.
"King Wu Du Fuwei?"
When the words King Wu finally came out of Ma Zhou's mouth, the two men were completely confused.
These people are at the bottom of the food chain of literati. They are stronger than the wild ones, but not much better. Entering the palace of the powerful is the most helpless choice for the literati of the world. The better ones are, for example, those who are talented and famous.
People will be respected.
But most of them are no different from slaves. The most typical ones are actually those later masters who did this out of no choice. It is equivalent to bending down to serve others just for a mouthful of food. It is not embarrassing enough to say it.
Some scholars with integrity would rather set up a stall in the market to sell calligraphy and paintings. In fact, it is just for the sake of their own reputation.
Of course, if you are serving the top nobles, it is a different matter. After all, it is different for a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister to serve such people.
Zhang Junzheng and Zhou Bobao are naturally not included in this list, so their vision and the people they associate with tend to be ordinary, and their information is not well-informed.
They only knew some rumors and had no idea who King Wu Du Fuwei was or what his current situation was.
So when they heard that Ma Zhou had gone to serve Du Fuwei, their faces suddenly turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In their view, the princes like Du Fuwei and Dou Jiande who came to surrender were disaster stars. They might lose their heads at some point, and then the people around them would suffer as well.
Ma Zhou looked at the two people gradually showing frightened expressions, and said to himself that this was the case as soon as he knew it, so he waved his hand to stop the singing and dancing, and asked everyone to get down, and then he said calmly: "The Supreme Lord gave the surname to King Wu as Li. From now on, the two of you can
Don’t call it wrong…”
After saying this, he took a sip of wine and then continued: "You two, don't be so frightened. King Wu has been here for a year, and he has been highly valued by the Supreme Being. He has been given many rewards. Now it is normal to enter the palace to see him.
King Wu had no worries about going in and out of Chang'an. You two must have heard some rumors, so I won't say more.
It was for this reason that I had never invited people to get together before, but now that the situation is stable, because the King of Wu once led his people to the sea, the Supreme Being ordered the King of Wu to build an academy to teach people how to practice maritime affairs. Since I traveled there for a long time, he ordered me to offer wine to the academy.
As for me, I have always been alone. I have been in Chang'an for many years but have never made any friends, so I would like to invite you all to come. If there are people who want to enjoy the grand event with me, Mr. Ma will not refuse you. Unfortunately, only two people came to keep the appointment.
, the others are afraid that I am from a despicable background and do not want to interact with each other, right?
Brother Zhang, why don't you think about it? Serving in the Changfu is not a long-term solution after all. Brother Zhou Xian is living under someone else's roof, and his life is not going well, so why not come to me... With the help of two people, I can feel more at ease. I don't know, you two.
how about?"
Zhang Junzheng and Zhou Bobao looked at each other with confusion in their hearts.
I almost thought that King Wu Du Fuwei had come to surrender to the princes, and it would be extremely dangerous to follow him. I also thought that the future was bleak, and it seemed that there was indeed an opportunity in front of me. The main thing was to use Chang'an Academy as a comparison.
Nowadays, there are many famous literati in Chang'an Academy. It is only a matter of time before they become famous. Everyone in Chang'an Academy is someone they can only look up to. If another academy appears and they can serve in it, wouldn't it be great?
Say they can be compared with those people?
This is undoubtedly a good opportunity to make a name for yourself.
But it suddenly occurred to me that it seemed extremely inappropriate to entrust my life and property to someone like this.
Both of them are scholars, and they have more thoughts. The more they need to make a decision, the more they hesitate. This is a common problem among many scholars. Otherwise, why would there be scholars who failed to rebel for three years? This is actually what they say. The more you read, the better you will be.
That's true.
Whenever a dynasty comes to an end, the first people to rise up are definitely illiterate people, mainly because these people have never read and don't have so many scruples.
People like Zhuge must have stayed aside to see the situation clearly before deciding what to do...
So there is a saying that good birds choose trees, good ministers choose masters, and they certainly cannot say such words as princes, generals, and ministers, they would rather have seeds.
Ma Zhou saw them stunned and did not rush him. He poured himself two cups and drank two glasses of wine. His condescending feeling of superiority gradually emerged. He stayed with Du Fuwei for half a year and advised Du Fuwei on several major events. His vision has indeed reached today's level.
Not what it used to be.
Now that he is recruiting talents, even if it does not go well, the feeling is something he has never experienced before. Even if the two people reject him at this time, he will not be unhappy, he will only say in his heart that it is not enough and there is no plan.
The psychological changes made him even more calm.
It was Zhou Bobao who spoke first. Young people always make decisions quickly, "Brother Meng, I should not give up. I should obey your orders, but I heard that the imperial court will start taking the exam next year. I still want to pass the exam. If I fail,
Let’s talk about other things.”
The answer was no surprise. Ma Zhou enjoyed the feeling of having a pearl of wisdom in his hands. He smiled slightly and said: "There are no outsiders here. Brother Yu just said a few unpleasant words.
The selection of candidates for the imperial examination should be next year. If everything goes well as I expected, the subject will start in the autumn of next year, and the Beijing examination will be held in the spring of the following year. If I want to give it a try, I should apply for the examination in Beijing.
I won’t talk to my good brother about anything else, let’s just talk about Jingzhao Mansion. This is where talented people gather. There are so many children of powerful people. If I were to take the exam for my brother instead, I would definitely go back to my hometown to prepare for the exam next spring and compete with others in the county.
The chances may be better.
But if you think about the situation in the countryside, who can we people compete with? The Beijing Examination may be more fair. As for the county, I don’t need to elaborate on the faces of the wealthy families in the countryside, right?"
Ma Zhou had paid close attention to the imperial examination before, and considered these matters extremely carefully. At this time, he explained the shortcomings of the upcoming imperial examination clearly and clearly without even thinking about it.
And since he relied on Du Fuwei, he had gained some confidence. Although the King of Wu had no real power, there should be no big problem in sending people to Beijing for examination.
As long as he enters the Beijing examination, his ranking will be second, and the chance of becoming an official is already more than 90%, unless he is rejected from the examination room for some reason.
Finally, he added another layer, "In the first examination of the imperial examination, I think the court will not consider too much. I advise you to wait. After the first examination, the court must eliminate the evil of love. At that time, the atmosphere will be clear and bright, and if a good brother is
If you are interested in this, you can show your talents.
My dear brother is so young, it shouldn’t be a big deal if he waits for a year, don’t you think that’s the truth?”
These words completely silenced Zhou Bobao. This was not what he was thinking before. What he was thinking was that during the imperial examinations in the former Sui Dynasty, there were very few candidates, and it was probably the same in the Tang Dynasty. He wanted to take advantage of this.
I never wanted to be poured a basin of cold water on my head, and my heart was so cold that I didn't know if what Ma Zhou said made sense. Anyway, I was at a loss.