Although Meng Xinghe agreed to accept the assessment, he was not sure whether these old men would focus on historical knowledge that he usually did not want to spend time memorizing. If he were asked later about the events that happened hundreds of years ago, Details of major events in Chronicles. Meng Xinghe may not be able to answer fluently.
The old man in charge of asking questions was surnamed Zhang. He was a young eunuch from the Secretary Province, and everyone called him Mr. Zhang. He had been in the Hanlin Academy for no less than ten years. Although his official position was not high, he was very knowledgeable and broad in terms of knowledge. There was no such thing in the Tang Dynasty. There are few people who can stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Seeing that Meng Xinghe, a new member who has just arrived, is not too arrogant and suits his taste. Zhang Shaojian did not embarrass him.
Calling Meng Xinghe to the office, Old Man Zhang pointed to the pen and paper on the desk and said, "First, take a look at two random articles excerpted from the "Book of Sui" that has not been proofread on the table."
This question is simple. Isn't it just copying books? Meng Xinghe sat at the table, picked up the brush and started copying on the paper.
"Not bad. Not bad. The handwriting is quite like that of King Youjun of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. You have passed this level of calligraphy." Several old men, including the young man Li Tai from before, stood around Meng Xinghe's table and watched Meng Xinghe copying books. They saw that he was writing like this. The form and spirit are as refined as dragons and phoenixes. No one can write such powerful running script Feibai without decades of hard work. The compilation of history books requires very high calligraphy. Therefore, all the old men had no objections to Meng Xinghe's assessment and all passed it.
Fortunately, the only test was writing. Meng Xinghe, who was barely passable with calligraphy, thought that after he finished writing the "Book of Sui", the old men's assessment of him had been completed. From then on, he would be a historian who could pick up the ink pen. Who knew that he would not wait any longer. Meng Xinghe relaxed his guard. The second test waiting for him had already begun.
The assessor Zhang Shaojian threw a thick book in front of Meng Xinghe. "The second assessment. You must memorize the contents of the book verbatim within two hours. If you memorize a word wrong, you will fail. close."
Meng Xinghe took the book and flipped through a few pages. It was full of obscure ancient texts, and they were basically historical events that had happened before and were recorded by people. Most of them had not been professionally edited. The text was long and drawn out. It is very difficult. It is no wonder that the old saying goes: a pen writes for the ages, and a mind for the world. It seems that it is also so difficult to be a qualified historian.
Fortunately, Meng Xinghe is not the kind of person who just memorizes by rote because of his smart mind. He spent an hour reading the entire book. Then he made a few key notes on the paper. There was still an hour left. .Meng Xinghe memorized the entire thick book without any suspense.
He does not have an extraordinary memory. Instead, he has developed a good habit since he was a child. He has already mastered the books. Normal recitation is completely out of the question. It is just Meng Xinghe's abnormal memory that makes the examiner Zhang Shaojian in charge of the review dumbfounded. .Not only did he memorize word for word a book that took Shaojian Zhang a month to fully memorize in two hours. What was even more horrifying was that while Meng Xinghe was reciting, he could even come up with two words that even Shaojian Zhang could not remember. It was not until I finally opened the book to verify that Zhang Shaojian realized that this person was indeed a child prodigy. He could recite a book he had never studied before and master it by heart after just reading it twice. It must be said that they are hiding in the dark all day long. The old historians of the Hanlin Academy are no longer useful. It is time to be replaced by young people.
No faults could be found. Meng Xinghe passed the second round of assessment directly. This made the four old men in the Hanlin Academy have a good impression of him. The young man has a good memory. When there are any obscure history books to be compiled in the future. Just let Meng Xinghe go. This is what several old men agreed to do.
After consecutive assessments of calligraphy and memory, Zhang Shaojian did not give up on Meng Xinghe's assessment. As long as Meng Xinghe passed the last item, he would be able to take on the important task of compiling history books.
Zhang Shaojian picked up the brush and wrote one word on the paper: "Endure." Then he didn't say anything. He just asked Meng Xinghe to copy what he wrote. He didn't put any conditions on Meng Xinghe. He just sat with the other three old men. In the office not far from Meng Xinghe, he started to work on the things at hand.
Meng Xinghe is not stupid. He knows that this third item is a test of his patience. They say that writing books is boring. You have to be able to endure loneliness. Just by Zhang Shaojian's word "forbearance", you can see how boring it is to work in the Hanlin Academy. Today is his first When you come here, you should act like you are familiar with this place. It’s also good to practice calligraphy. Picking up a pen, Meng Xinghe would write and draw on the paper at will.
Zhang Shaojian glanced at the slightly frivolous Meng Xinghe. He shook his head in disappointment and continued to compile history books with his colleagues. The Li Tai who greeted Meng Xinghe before was obviously also working in the Hanlin Academy. However, he was only responsible for the collection of historical materials. He didn't write the pen himself. Meng Xinghe didn't know it. This dear friend only passed the first level when he accepted the assessment of Young Supervisor Zhang.
In this way, Meng Xinghe kept writing the word "forbearance" repeatedly for seven days in the Hanlin Academy. During these seven days, he became very familiar with the only five people in the Hanlin Academy. Except for Zhang Zhongzheng, the young prisoner The other three old men were all secretaries. Meng Xinghe jokingly called them Dauchi Secretary. As for the polite and scholarly Li Tai, during the chat, Meng Xinghe finally realized that this man was actually a pig pretending to be a pig. The master who eats tigers. There is an emperor named Li Shimin. He is served by a large group of palace maids and guards, but he has to come to the Hanlin Academy to do the boring job of compiling history books. However, he is also an honest person. He didn't have any intention to scheming. The more purpose was to study how to compile history books. He once said boldly to Meng Xinghe that when he is qualified to pick up the official historian's pen, he must write a biography of celebrities. What kind of prince is better? , all princes must be interesting.
With Li Tai as a talkative person, the Imperial Academy is not that boring. Although Zhang Shaojian is a bit more talkative and likes to talk a lot, he will inevitably get a little annoyed when he checks the history books he has written. But everyone knows him. He had good intentions and didn’t want everyone to be implicated. But Mr. Zhang took special care of Meng Xinghe. On the tenth day after asking him to write the word "forbearance", Mr. Zhang suddenly asked Meng Xinghe not to write it. He said that the third assessment had been passed. Starting tomorrow I started compiling history books with them.
Meng Xinghe nodded in agreement. After writing the word "forbearance" for ten days in a row, he seemed to have engraved the word "forbearance" in his heart. Now he can deal with anything he encounters calmly. Even Aunt Yun of the Meng Mansion said that Meng Xinghe I haven't been so frivolous lately. I've actually become more and more calm. This is a good thing.
Compiling history books was not as difficult as imagined. Zhang Shaojian and the other three secretaries were responsible for writing important historical texts. Meng Xinghe, who was luckier than Li Tai in being able to obtain the official historian's pen, copied the copies. Usually before they were printed, The compiled history book has two copies: the original and the copy. The original will be handed over to the Holy One for review. After the Holy Edict comes out, printing will be stepped up. The copy will be passed down to future generations as the only original copy to prevent the historical book from being lost due to unexpected events in the future. Backup. Although the historian is a leisurely official office, there are many things that need to be paid attention to. Meng Xinghe was still a layman before. After serving in the Hanlin Academy for a period of time, he learned a lot. He also increasingly admired those little historians who left precious classics for future generations. .In fact, what they think about every day, apart from writing history books, is to try every means to leave these things to future generations. In this way, they feel that they are worthy of their responsibilities as historians.
On this day, a few people had some free time and were chatting about the history of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in the Hanlin Academy. They talked about the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. Destruction. When they were having a heated discussion, Fang Xuanling, who had never been to the Hanlin Academy, came here for the first time. He saw a lively scene inside. This was something he had never dared to imagine before. Fang Xuanling coughed a few times and smiled. He interrupted their conversation and said, "What are we discussing? So serious."
Zhang Shaojian stood up: "It's nothing. What I just heard from Mr. Meng made us historians proud. I can't find words to describe it."
There is also such a thing. Of course Fang Xuanling knows who Zhang Zhongzheng is and discusses literature and history with him. There is no one in the Tang Dynasty who is more familiar with him. He is curious about what Meng Xinghe said. Even Zhang Shaojian is like this. He asked politely and with great interest: "Tell me what it is."
Zhang Shaojian replied: "Since ancient times, no one has ever died. Leave pictures to illuminate history."
When Fang Xuanling heard this, he didn't expect Meng Xinghe to be so broad-minded. If the Holy Master heard these two sentences, he would have framed them and hung them there. However, he did not comment. He also replied with a poem. He said: "Historians must have a right heart. A single stroke will last for thousands of years." After he said that, he asked: "Master Zhang, how is the compilation of "Sui Shu" going?"
"It has been compiled." Zhang Zhongzheng pointed to the large pile of books next to him. It was when they spent several years visiting people and compiling the history books of the previous dynasties.
Fang Xuanling took a few casual glances. There were only two strong laborers in the room, Meng Xinghe and Li Tai. The rest were frail old men. For reasons of physical strength, Fang Xuanling ordered: "Meng Xinghe, please hold Xiuzan." "Sui Shu" will go with me to meet the Holy One."
Meng Xinghe nodded in agreement. He couldn't take it all by himself. Li Tai volunteered to go with Meng Xinghe to meet the Holy Emperor with a thick stack of "Books of Sui" to wait for review.
Several people went out and walked directly to Chengtian Gate. When they arrived outside Liangyi Hall, Fang Xuanling went in first to report. After a while, Wei Ming, a loyal servant who was following Li Shimin, came out and invited them in.
In the Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin, who was sitting on the dragon chair and reviewing the memorial, saw that the two people delivering the letter were actually Meng Xinghe and his son. He put down the brush in his hand and stared at the two of them like a blazing flame. "Send it up. "
Meng Xinghe and Li Tai did not move. They both knew that someone would come to take the books in their hands.
The "Book of Sui" compiled by the Hanlin Academy was placed in front of Li Shimin. Li Shimin casually opened a few pages and glanced at them. Then he said to the two of them: "You all should leave. Meng Xinghe, you stay here. I have something to ask you. ."
After the edict came out, everyone else retreated. In the huge Liangyi Palace, only Li Shimin and Meng Xinghe were left confronting each other. The atmosphere was solemn and so gloomy that it made people breathless and depressed.
It was not a good sign. Meng Xinghe suddenly developed a sixth sense.