60 Chapter 60
◎Teacher◎
"Oh, silly boy, you're so lucky!" Old man Yang clapped his hands excitedly, not even caring about knocking over his own teacup. He never thought that Jiang Jingyun just went to ask his superiors for approval to print the book, and then asked for a preface for the book, and even got himself a teacher halfway.
This man was a well-known cold-faced devil, honest and upright, rigid and strict, and even he, who "did not stick to three things", had been reprimanded in public.
Although he has become more restrained in his temper as he grows older, when he was young, he was very upright and hated evil. However, he had a strong temper and would not give up until he had done something wrong to the other person. Sometimes even the emperor would want to hide when he saw him. He was like a stubborn donkey who would not turn back even if he hit his head against a wall.
"So, why would such a person be willing to accept you as his disciple?" Old man Yang didn't understand.
Putting aside his bad temper, in terms of talent, he could be considered the best in the dynasty. He was the only top scholar to have won three top honors in the imperial examination since the founding of the country. In terms of status, although he was only a fifth-rank Hanlin scholar, he had already stepped half a foot into the cabinet, and it was only a matter of time before he would become a high-ranking official.
This was the second person to ask this question today. Jiang Jingyun himself didn't know the answer and smiled helplessly, "Maybe I'm more honest, so I look more pleasing to the eye?"
Looking at the little rascal pretending to be shy in front of him, the old rascal was speechless: Honest? Don't you feel guilty when you say this?
"That's enough." Not wanting to see Jiang Jingyun taking advantage of the situation, Old Man Yang waved his hand to dismiss him. "The gift cannot be wasted. Remember to pay the apprenticeship gift later."
Jiang Jingyun took the opportunity to ask Mr. Zhao about his preferences.
"What does he like?" Yang Shidu raised his head and thought for a while, as if he was recalling something unpleasant. He replied with an unhappy face, "Who knows? Maybe he likes to chew on hard bones. After all, he has a sharp mouth."
Whenever he finds someone making a mistake, he'll scold them. Humph.
Of course Jiang Jingyun couldn't really give him a bone stick, unless it was his leg bone.
But he was young and didn't want to be a cripple, so after much thought, he simply tinkered with something he had wanted to do before but had never been able to do.
I believe that no scholar can refuse these two things.
Sure enough, when receiving the gift, Mr. Zhao's usually calm face also showed some ripples. After asking about the process, he raised his eyebrows, said nothing, and accepted Jiang Jingyun's gift of apprenticeship.
The next day, after the morning court session ended, the gift was presented on the desk in the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Looking at the extra things on the table, the emperor looked at the attendant beside him and asked, "Where did this come from?"
"Your Majesty, it was sent by Master Zhao from the Imperial Academy," the eunuch bowed and replied, "He said it was a new thing sent by a student. He had never seen it before, so he specially presented it to you. Please help take a look."
"Oh? Zhao Juelu is now accepting students. When did this happen?"
"I heard that it happened a few days ago, and the student he accepted was last year's top scholar."
"Tanhua Lang?" There are more famous scholars than crucian carp in the world, and so many people pass the imperial examinations every year that I really don't have any impression of them.
If the master can't remember, the servant will naturally remind him, "It's the one with the most outstanding appearance in the palace examination last year... You have also seen his paper, which says that although he is young, the words between the lines of his essay are full of thorns..."
"He, I remember now," the emperor nodded, "his writing style is indeed somewhat similar to when he was young."
Same, choking.
The emperor sat down on the dragon throne with a majestic sword and casually flipped through the memorials on the desk. "Where is Zhao Mengcheng? Let him come in."
"Yes." The eunuch bowed and walked out.
He had been waiting outside the door. When he heard the summons, it didn't take long for Zhao Xueshi to come before the emperor, kowtowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, I am your humble servant."
"Stand up." The man on the dragon throne had gray hair on his temples, but he still had the majesty of an emperor. His eyes were sharp as ever, and his words were filled with unquestionable authority. "Lord Zhao, since this is something you sent, then come over and tell me what's so special about it."
"Yes." Scholar Zhao bowed and came to the desk. The clever eunuch had already taken out the items in the wooden box and carefully placed them on the table. He pointed to one of the items and introduced it, "This is lotus silk ink. It has a bright and beautiful luster. It does not solidify in winter and does not leak oil in summer. It does not rot when soaked in water, but leaves marks when burned." [1]
"Oh, it does sound interesting," the emperor seemed to be interested and ordered, "Come here, bring me my private seal."
The agile attendant quickly presented the seal with both hands.
The seal on the paper was bright in color and shiny, indeed different from ordinary ink. The emperor nodded with satisfaction, but before he could give any instructions, a servant with a sharp eye had already brought over a porcelain basin filled with water, with a small brazier next to it.
After testing them one by one, it was confirmed that what Zhao Xueshi said was true. The emperor turned his head to look at another one and asked curiously, "What's so special about this one?"
Scholar Zhao continued to introduce, "This is pine soot ink, it goes on paper like lacquer, the color is dark and moist, and it will not fade for a long time." This time, he did not need the attendant to do it. He stood in front of the table, holding the ink stick and grinding the ink himself, and spread out the rice paper for him, "Your Majesty, please."
The emperor held the pen in the air and wrote with ink as fast as a flying dragon.
After a few breaths, the vigorous and powerful characters "Heaven moves with vigor and self-improvement never cease" appeared on the paper, and faintly emitting a faint pine scent.
Looking at the writing on the paper, the emperor raised his head and laughed in satisfaction. His laughter resounded in the hall like a bell. He looked at Scholar Zhao and said, "My dear minister, what reward do you want?"
Scholar Zhao did not refuse and said directly: "I have a new book and would like to ask Your Majesty to give it a name."
"There are quite a lot of tricks today," the emperor raised his eyebrows and said in a good mood, "Show them to me. I want to see what else you can come up with."
Scholar Zhao presented Jiang Jingyun's book. "This is my humble student, co-authored with several colleagues. It is an annotation on the Four Books and Five Classics. The content is different from previous books, especially the second volume. I think it is worth reading for candidates taking the imperial examinations."
After hearing what he said, the emperor turned directly to the second half of the volume, which was full of questions from previous years' imperial examinations. Some of them were analyzed from different angles, trying to find answers from different paths; some of them were compared with similar situations, so as to summarize and find commonalities and rules. The content was varied, but there was no fixed, accurate answer.
The emperor read the book with great interest, as it was the first time he had compiled such content. He smiled and asked, "It is quite ingenious. Whose idea was this?"
"It was proposed by my student Jiang Jingyun," Zhao Xueshi replied, emphasizing it inconspicuously, "and completed by the three of us in collaboration with Zhang Zhengbai and Su Yuheng from the academy."
As if he had heard the hidden meaning in his words, the emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at him, "You are fair and not biased towards your own students at all."
Facing the pressure from his superiors, Scholar Zhao was not afraid at all, and replied neither servilely nor arrogantly: "I am just telling the truth."
The emperor snorted coldly, but he also knew Zhao Mengcheng's virtue. He closed the book, picked up a pen and wrote the words "Examination Papers" on the cover, then threw the book back to him. "Since that's the case, I will give each of you 100 taels of gold and a set of four treasures of the study."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward." Scholar Zhao kowtowed to express his gratitude.
The emperor was quite bored watching Zhao Juelu, whose expression remained unchanged, and continued, "As for Jiang Jingyun, transfer him to serve in front of the palace and let him start his shift tomorrow."
"yes."
"Okay, go down." The emperor was also very busy and had not had time to read today's memorials.
"I'll take my leave." Scholar Zhao bowed and left the hall.
After returning to Hanlin, he immediately sent someone to call Jiang Jinglin over.
Jiang Jingyun had nothing to do recently, so he followed Yang Shidu every day, drinking tea and reading books. So when he was called over, he was holding a box of snacks in his hand, and he handed it directly to Zhao Xueshi with a smile: "Teacher, this is the snack made by my chef. It tastes very good. You can try it too."
Seeing his unreliable look, Master Zhao couldn't help but frown and said, "I asked you to learn how to deal with people, not to fool around with Yang Hao."
Jiang Jingyun's heart tightened when he heard the serious tone. He subconsciously stood up straight and lowered his head to listen to the lecture.
In the past few days, he had heard a lot from Old Man Yang about Teacher Zhao's glorious deeds, and he was convinced and did not dare to act rashly.
Seeing Jiang Jingyun shrinking back when he was scolded, Master Zhao couldn't help but frown. They say that one should judge a person by his writing. Could it be that he had made a mistake? The first recycling student actually found a coward who has no integrity and can only show off his power on paper?
Scholar Zhao held his forehead with his hand, and after a long while, he let out a long sigh: Forget it, it's better to be a little timid, so as not to be reckless in front of the palace and rush forward without thinking when something happens. Those heads are not enough for him to lose.
After thinking it through, he stopped talking nonsense with him and directly returned the book to Jiang Jingyun.
"The emperor has already given the book a title. You can arrange for its printing and sale."
"As for the reward for writing the book, someone will deliver it later."
"As for you," Scholar Zhao paused, "starting tomorrow, you will take turns to be on duty in front of the palace."
Listening to the series of arrangements, Jiang Jingyun nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, okay, ah, ah?"
shock!
Aren’t we talking about printing books? Why did his workplace also change?
Can this jump?
Seeing his dazed look, Scholar Zhao frowned and said, "The emperor likes smart people, and dislikes timid people. If you have the opportunity to show up in front of the palace, remember to restrain your stupidity!" The emperor, who has seen countless people, is not like him, and he would make mistakes!
"Yes, I have noted it down." Although the teacher looked stern, he was sincerely thinking about the students. Otherwise, how could he be the only one who had the opportunity to see the emperor when the book was co-authored by three people? He looked serious and bowed respectfully to Master Zhao, "Thank you for the promotion, teacher. Ying Xing will not let you down."
Mr. Zhao nodded. Fortunately, he was not too stupid.
He patiently advised: "Don't worry too much. The current emperor is a wise ruler and has a broad mind. As long as you don't act smart and commit heinous crimes, your life will be fine."
"Yes." Jiang Jingyun agreed and went back with an uneasy heart.
【Author’s words】
【1】From Baidu - Lotus Silk Ink Pad (Longquan Ink Pad)
【2】From Baidu-Hui Mo
In fact, it seems that both of these things would take a year or more to make, but for the needs of the plot, it is assumed that the protagonist has already prepared the main materials and only needs to perform the last step to complete it. >-
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