Chapter 29 Literary Talent

"Did Mr. Wu agree?"

The rich businessman kowtowed respectfully, not daring to be negligent in the slightest:

"To reply to the factory manager, I personally saw him revising the outline."

"How did you change it?"

"He changed several of the original chapters. After being expelled by Tang Monk, Sun Wukong returned to the Flower-Fruit Mountain and lived a carefree life. He became the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Monkey King. It was only when Tang Monk and his disciples encountered a disaster that they had to send Zhu Wuneng to respectfully invite the Monkey King back..."

Hearing this, several eunuchs in dragon robes breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and their expressions immediately relaxed. The leader, Eunuch Huang, even praised his subordinates:

"They are indeed the good kids you recommended. They are very capable! It is inconvenient to reward them openly, so let's reward them secretly."

The rich businessman was delighted, kowtowed to express his gratitude, and then carefully left. The eunuchs in the room had happy expressions on their faces, but at the same time they looked towards Eunuch Huang who was sitting in the middle, waiting for the chief eunuch to speak.

I don't know if there really was something wrong with the pills he took, but now the master's temper is getting stranger and stranger, and his actions are bizarre. Even his trusted eunuchs are often at a loss. The eunuchs from the Eastern Depot gathered here today, not to discuss the recent major case of colluding with the Japanese and accepting bribes, but merely to supervise a manuscript in accordance with the strict order of Master Feixuan.

The Director of the East Depot, the Admiral of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the most elite and well-trained secret agents of the dynasty came out in full force, just to urge for an update. Probably since the establishment of the Censorate and Guard System during the reign of Emperor Taizong, there has never been such a crazy and strange thing in the world. But for several months, the eunuchs were really exhausted by the madness and insanity of their master, and now they were really in no mood to be surprised by such trivial matters.

The Dongchang's skills were well-known throughout the world. It was said that it could extract information from the mouths of the dead, let alone a mere scholar. If they really want to get serious, there is no need to resort to torture. Just put them in a sack and throw them into a small dark room. Let alone the three fights with the White Bone Demon; even if someone named Wu made a cross-book fantasy combination of Sun Wukong's three fights with the White Bone Demon and Emperor Zhaolie's three visits to the thatched cottage, he would probably have to comply.

But Master Feixuan had already issued a strict order, not allowing them to interfere with Wu Chengen's creation, so all the cruel means had to be put aside. The supervisors of the Eastern Depot had no choice but to select a bookseller who was proficient in vernacular novels from among their spies. Under the pretext of being an "enthusiastic book fan", they approached and tried to get close to Master Sheri, and finally tricked Wu Cheng'en into letting down his guard and agreeing to this crucial term.

Now that the work has been done, I still need my superior’s nod to show his opinion. Perhaps only Huang Shanggang, a close follower since childhood, could tell whether such an arrangement was in line with the holy will of Master Feixuan.

Eunuch Huang did not embarrass them and nodded directly: "I think you have done a good job, and the master will certainly praise you. But judging from the outline, the following chapters of Journey to the West may be quite long. What if there are more incidents like the three fights with the White Bone Demon and Tang Monk expelling Sun Wukong? After all, today's method cannot be used for a long time!"

The spy disguised as a bookseller was able to persuade Wu Cheng'en not by his eloquence, but simply by the silver note of one hundred taels. According to the current market conditions, one hundred taels of silver notes are enough for the Wu family to live comfortably in the capital for more than a year. When more than a year's living expenses come to you, you will really feel a little relieved - it's just too much.

But Mr. Sheri is not stupid. It would be fine for a fanatical book fan to spend a large sum of money just to follow the next book, but how could he justify spending money over and over again? Not to mention that Wu Cheng'en was on good terms with Li Jurong, the Lord Li. If he let anything slip in their conversation, the secret operation of the East Factory might be discovered by the civil servants.

The dignified head of the East Factory, the eunuch who was notorious for his ability to stop children from crying at night, actually formed a group to wait for the updates of an unknown scholar's novel! If this matter were to be spread out, the eighteenth generation head of the East Depot would be embarrassed enough to lose face. If Zheng He and Wang Zhi knew about this, they would definitely take drastic measures to put Eunuch Huang in a separate category and make sure he was not mixed up with the little brother.

The thousand households nearby understood this very well and bowed and reported:

"What the factory manager said is right. Wu Cheng'en has a lazy personality and is hard to control. If he continues to wander around, won't it delay the update? It will be difficult for our people to intervene. In my opinion, it is better to find him a leisurely job so that he can be disciplined."

People who are happy and free are the most difficult to manage. You have to find them a job and let them become corporate animals before you can control them.

Eunuch Huang was very pleased:

"What you said is exactly what I was thinking. But this business needs to be carefully considered. The place where you stay cannot be too far or too close, and you must not let anyone notice anything."

The matter of urging for more updates is a secret entrusted to them by the emperor, and no outsider is allowed to know about it. If Wu Cheng'en was given a job directly in the royal or Eastern Depot's industries, Li Jurong might be able to smell something immediately. However, if they were to place a position in an outsider's shop whose details they were unaware of, they would be afraid that the Jinyiwei would come and go frequently and attract unnecessary attention from the owner. This kind of position really requires some thought.

——So, is there any noble family in the capital who has a large fortune and is close to the royal family, so it is convenient to place people in the capital at any time; but at the same time, he is a confused, unreasonable and crazy man who is completely unaware of the little tricks of the Jinyiwei?

Sure enough, the first principle to solve a problem is to sort out the problem. Now that the problem is sorted out, Huang Gonggong's thoughts immediately become clear:

"I heard that Duke Mu's Mansion has been recruiting scholars all year round and has organized people to copy the great ceremonies of Emperor Taizong." He said slowly, "I think it shouldn't be a problem to take the East Factory's name card and ask the Duke's Mansion to arrange for someone to go in, right?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell silent for a moment. Everyone was so surprised that they were speechless for a moment.

After a moment of stunned silence, everyone gradually reacted and realized that although this suggestion seemed absurd, it seemed to be somewhat feasible. only……

The eunuch sitting beside him hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:

"Master, the actions of the Duke Mu's son are not..."

——Isn’t this a bit too crazy? It would be fine on normal days, but if Wu Chengen was involved, wouldn't everyone in the East Depot be wailing?

Faced with such questioning, Eunuch Huang just smiled slightly and was very confident. Judging from the short dozen days he spent with the Prince of Mu, although the Prince's behavior was indeed a little contrary to common sense (well, sometimes it was more than just "a little"), his loyalty and love for the emperor were sincere and unquestionable.

——If you were not bent on licking the emperor’s boots, could you have come up with such a trick as the Qingci exam?

So, he just made a light promise:

"Don't talk about these nonsense. I'm afraid that the abilities of the Duke Mu's son are even greater than yours..."

At this point, Eunuch Huang couldn't help but have something in his mind: Among the hundreds of eunuchs in the East Factory, who could have come up with such a trick? The emperor's most beloved servant, a maid born and raised in the palace, couldn't even flatter an outsider. It was really ridiculous! Gentlemen, do you feel guilt-free as you are eating the emperor's food?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh:

"...What a pity! How come the prince is hanging out with the nobles? Our East Factory is in need of such talents!"

·

Mu Qi shuddered violently and felt a sudden chill rising up his back.

He looked around suspiciously, but didn't see anything unusual. He could only carefully shrink his neck to avoid the cold draft coming from the door.

Gui Zhenchuan and Hai Gangfeng, who were sitting opposite, were unaware of this and were still carefully studying the imperial edicts copied by the prince to instruct the cabinet. They were basically talking about the important matters of the imperial examination and ordering the cabinet to "handle them as soon as possible."

A few days ago, the situation changed suddenly. The scholars of the Hanlin Academy were either dismissed or abolished; the bigwigs of the Ministry of Rites were also reprimanded in court by the East Factory and their influence was greatly reduced. The ministers of literature and calligraphy were wiped out, and the court situation changed drastically. The rest of the matters are not a big deal, but for the scholars taking the imperial examinations, the most important thing is the direction of the imperial examinations, which is likely to change!

Given Master Feixuan's suspicion and cruelty, how could he hand over the country's talent selection ceremony to the civil servants whom he had severely abused several times from top to bottom? For this imperial examination, Master Feixuan will definitely spare no effort to remotely deploy and review all the papers one by one. He may even set the questions himself to let all the scholars truly appreciate the cultural level of our Emperor Zhu.

Then what? And then it's all over!

Lao Deng never understood human reason in his life. Even the imperial edicts issued to the cabinet were always vague and unclear, which fully demonstrated the mysterious mental state of Master Feixuan after his in-depth study of the Tao Te Ching. It’s more of a riddle than an instruction, and the main point is that it’s bullshit. Not to mention the few human models in Beijing who are studying the eight-legged essay for the imperial examination, even artificial intelligence with powerful computing power and advanced technology would probably just delete the data as junk after a detailed analysis, and at the same time solemnly warn users not to go crazy and waste computing resources.

Therefore, in the whole world, the only people who can understand these imperial edicts and grasp their profound meaning are probably a few ministers in the cabinet. As the saying goes, survival of the fittest, in the cruel and rapid natural elimination, thousands of ministers of Da'an finally completed their spiritual evolution and evolved into a special species that could resonate with the ideas of Master Feixuan.

When one organism exerts pressure on another organism, thereby affecting the latter's evolutionary process, from a biological point of view, this should be called co-evolution.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gui Zhenchuan has not yet evolved to this level. After reading the imperial edict, he was completely confused. He tried to figure it out over and over again but still could not understand it. He could only find another way. He specifically asked the Prince of Muguo about the poems composed by the current emperor, trying to get a glimpse of Zhong Zhenjun's inner world through his works. But the facts have proved that people who have been at the top of the literary world for too long have too little common sense about the emperor's general literary level.

After being questioned, Mu Qi was silent for a moment, but quickly recalled a masterpiece of Zhenjun.

——Of course, he must declare his innocence: no matter how poor his aesthetic level is, he would not be interested in Lao Deng's works. The reason why he was so familiar with the so-called "imperial poems and essays" was purely because whenever Lao Deng was in high spirits, he would often ask the sons of nobles to recite them aloud during banquets to boost his reputation. As the Duke Mu's Mansion was the head of the noble families, it certainly could not escape this torture.

Maybe this was the punishment for him being distracted and talking in Chinese class. If you don't want to recite "Red Cliff Fu", "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" and "Fu on Afang Palace", then just recite the works of Master Feixuan!

Recalling the humiliation he suffered that day, Mu Qi rolled his eyes in pain, but still recited it reluctantly:

"During the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet in the palace, the emperor looked at the moon and missed his mother. He once wrote a poem." The prince recounted the past torture expressionlessly: "The general content is: 'At dusk, the sky is sad, and I swallow the cake with a painful heart. My heart is so painful, but I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't see my mother today...'"

Gui Zhenchuan: …………

Hai Gangfeng: …………

In just a moment, the only two intellectuals in the room were speechless - especially Mr. Gui Zhenchuan, who was probably so shocked that he regretted talking about this topic.

——Sir, all the trouble and hard work are due to you! Mr. Gui was born into a family of upright scholars, and loyalty to the emperor and patriotism were his bounden duty; but in the face of such poetry, Mr. Gui just couldn't bear it!

After a moment of silence, perhaps realizing that this atmosphere was somewhat insulting to His Majesty, Hai Gangfeng reluctantly spoke:

"Your Majesty's writings are indeed - indeed, vigorous and simple, without any embellishment, and quite reflect the family tradition..."

Before he finished speaking, Mu Qi suddenly turned his head to look at him with a look of astonishment:

You, Hai Gangfeng, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have actually learned the flattery tricks from us nobles? !

Mr. Gangfeng couldn't resist and could only sigh:

"This is not my opinion. It is the opinion of a scholar named Zhang Taiyue who attended a poetry gathering the other day."

Mu Qi exclaimed, and immediately understood; at the same time, he couldn't help but feel great admiration - SSR is indeed SSR, and his reputation as a top figure is well-deserved. Look at what he said, so harmonious, clever and unfathomable, neither going against his heart nor offending Lao Deng, it can be called the top skill in the world of emotional intelligence, and can stand on equal footing with the "holy nature as before" of the Western Jin Dynasty!

High EQ: "robust and simple", "unpretentious"; low EQ: "drooling", "sparkling", basically nonsense

As for the phrase "quite a reflection of the family tradition"... Emperor Gaozu openly cursed people as "asshole" and "despicable" in his vernacular imperial edicts!

With such profound and exquisite Yin-Yang magic and such subtle Spring and Autumn style of writing, it is no wonder that others will be able to rise to the position of Regent in the future. Mu Qi prostrated himself with utmost respect.

...However, judging from Mr. Gangfeng's tone, he seemed to be quite familiar with Zhang Taiyue at the poetry meeting? ——Tsk tsk, the Chinese Divine Sword versus the Pillar of Heaven, such a dream linkage really makes people ecstatic.

Gui Zhenchuan knew nothing and was just watching from the sidelines. After hearing his friend's explanation, he became quite curious: "Do we also discuss the emperor's writings at the poetry meeting? I wonder if the emperor writes poetry?"

"Your Majesty rarely writes poetry, but there are some famous ones." Mu Qi's mind was full of the fierce clashes between SSRs and the peak confrontation. At this time, he added: "I remember that Your Majesty once wrote a poem to General Mao who was conquering Annan. There is a famous line in it: 'The hibiscus tent is warm and the spring night is spent. I and the general take off our battle robes'..."

After reciting this famous poem, Mu Qi was suddenly stunned.

He turned around belatedly and saw two frightened faces.

"...Did I recite the wrong words?" he muttered.