The competition for the Literary Saint List is still fierce.
Although Zhushan did not launch a battle for the ranking this month, there were many scribes competing for the ranking.
Li Changan also wanted to try "Two Songs of Lovesickness", but the completion task of the bookstore has not yet been determined, so he can't compete for the list yet.
In the outside world, news of Congwen Bureau's foreign affairs mission has spread in the three southeastern prefectures of Shanxi Province.
"Bailu, Songyue, and Xiangshan, these three academies are no longer content to compete on the literary saint list."
"This kind of thing happens all the time. The four major academies and the Imperial College don't deal with it at all... Wansong Academy and the Imperial College are not involved this time, and I don't know who wins and who loses among these three."
"Songyue should have a greater chance of winning. You can see the clues in the January Literary Saint Ranking. Without Taibai, White Deer Academy wouldn't even be able to break into the top five."
"Xiangshan is not bad either. Last month, Taibai suddenly emerged and snatched the number one spot from Songyue. However, among the top ten songs on the Literary Saint List, three of them are by Xiangshan."
"I heard that the White Deer Academy was originally selected for this foreign affairs assignment, but it was rejected seven times, so Congwen Bureau sent the foreign affairs assignment to the other two academies."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... If the poems from White Deer Academy are not selected in the end, my face will be swollen."
Wherever literati gather, in addition to discussing poems and articles on the Literary Saint List, most of them regard the "fight" between the three academies as a topic of conversation.
"This time Congwen Bureau invited Huang Qinshan, a master of the storybook, to take part. Master Huang Qinshan has a delicate writing style and is best at writing about the tenderness of women. It is a bit difficult to write poems that fit the storybook."
"Isn't it just a little difficult? Master Huang Qinshan is good at scripts, but he also has some achievements in poetry."
"I'm afraid that he has already written several alternative poems. If in the end, the poems produced by the three academies are not as good as those written by Master Huang Qinshan, he will be very embarrassed."
"In terms of poetry, Huang Qinshan is not a master, but the words he wrote were written by himself. Who else can understand the words he wrote better than him?"
Because it concerns the three major academies and the Congwen Bookstore.
Everyone's enthusiasm for discussion was unprecedentedly high.
Everyone can clearly see the competition in the Literary Saint List. The foreign affairs mission of the Congwen Bureau this time is completely a continuation of the war in the Literary Saint List.
Just waiting for the final results to come out.
It is clear at a glance who wins and who loses.
Most people are optimistic about Songyue Academy, followed by Xiangshan Academy and Bailu Academy at the bottom.
Who made White Deer Academy fail seven times before?
Songyue Academy and Xiangshan Academy are also pushing behind the scenes, hoping that Bailu Academy will fail in this foreign affairs task.
——————
February 15th,
Ding'an Fucheng,
When Huang Qinshan walked into Cong Bookstore, people kept saluting him.
Huang Qinshan also nodded slightly and went straight to the third floor.
"Master Huang." The shopkeeper of Cong Bookstore led a dozen bookstore managers to stand at the entrance of the third floor and clasped their fists towards Huang Qinshan.
"Shopkeeper Yu." Huang Qinshan clasped his fists in return.
A large group of people walked straight to the room that had been prepared.
"The Dong family is in the capital and cannot welcome Master Huang in person, so I have been asked to make a confession to Master Huang." Shopkeeper Yu walked in front to lead the way, and at the same time turned slightly sideways and said,
"Young Master Lin, you're welcome."
A group of people filed into the largest room on the third floor.
Shopkeeper Yu placed all the poems and essays from Bailu, Songyue and Xiangshan academies on the table.
"On the first day of March, "Ballam" will be officially sold in all bookstores of Cong Bookstore. Time is not very generous."
Shopkeeper Yu said to Huang Qinshan,
"The engraved boards of the storybook of "Ballam" have all been proofread, and the printing process will be very fast after the start of printing. However, the matching poems still need to be prepared, and it will take time to complete the storybook."
"Today I will ask Master Huang to choose the poems."
Huang Qinshan nodded, "That's what I had in mind when I came today."
Having said that, Huang Qinshan took out a piece of folded rice paper from his arms, spread it out on the table,
"Congwen Bureau has assigned foreign affairs tasks to three academies. I have also written two poems here, which can be used for comparison."
As soon as these words came out, shopkeeper Yu and the stewards present all looked pale.
"Master Huang, what are you..." Shopkeeper Yu looked at a middle-aged manager next to him and saw that the other person shook his head, so he had to bite the bullet and said,
"If we just choose from the poems submitted by the three academies, I believe Master Huang will definitely be able to choose the right one."
"But now, Master Huang, you have come up with poems yourself, I'm worried..."
"Shopkeeper Yu is worried that I am being unfair?" Huang Qinshan glanced at everyone present and saw worries in their eyes.
"Don't worry, everyone, since I took out the poem, I naturally want you to help me taste it."
Huang Qinshan pushed the poem in front of Shopkeeper Yu,
"It's all for "Babble", you don't have to worry. The two poems I wrote are compared with the poems from the three academies."
"If it's better than mine, I'll choose again; if it's not as good as what I wrote, then of course it won't be needed... What do shopkeepers Yu think?"
Shopkeeper Yu had a standard smile on his face, "Master Huang really shocked us. You wrote "Babble" yourself. Who else understands this book better than you? I'm just worried..."
"worry about what?"
"If these thirteen poems from the three academies are not as good as your masterpiece, Master Huang." Shopkeeper Yu rubbed his hands and looked a little stiff.
"If they all go back, wouldn't it be a huge loss to the three academies?"
Huang Qinshan sneered, with a touch of arrogance emerging from his body, "The academy is domineering, but there are so many people in the world, how can they stop them all?"
"Good is good, bad is bad. I only look at the quality of poetry, no matter which academy it is from."
Shopkeeper Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead with a smile on his face, but felt bitter in his heart.
Master, you are indeed not someone to be trifled with.
Huang Qinshan stood up slowly, "I'm afraid I'll disturb you all here...I'm going to have a cup of tea first, and you can call me after you make your choice."
After that, he left the room without giving shopkeeper Yu and other managers a chance to speak.
Everyone in the room looked at each other.
A steward complained dissatisfiedly, "What was once a simple matter has now become so complicated."
"Thirteen poems from three academies. Master Huang has selected them and that's it. He has an explanation for everyone."
"The results are good now. Master Huang himself has to intervene. What will happen next?"
Another steward shook his head helplessly, "There's no other way. Let's take a look first. We'll discuss it after we've seen it."
"How can this compare? Who is more familiar with his books than Master Huang?" Someone spread his hands helplessly,
"It's better to simply choose his own poems. Why waste this time and assign foreign affairs tasks to the academy?"
"Speaking of this, I am even more surprised by what White Deer Academy did. Songyue and Xiangshan academies each submitted as many as six poems, but White Deer Academy only submitted one."
Shopkeeper Yu took the lead in picking out the poems from Bailu Academy.
"I guess I've given up, and I feel like I can't live without poetry."
"White Deer Academy has always felt that there are some problems recently, which I can't explain...forget it, it's not our turn to discuss this kind of thing. Let's share a song for each person and finish it quickly."
The room quickly became quiet, and the only sound was the sound of people passing papers around.
Shopkeeper Yu turned his attention to the poem in front of him, "Two Poems of Lovesickness"?