Chapter 3493 Mr. Zhuang 8
"I heard he expressed doubts about Mr. Zhuang's character in front of the Imperial College officials. So when Mr. Zhuang failed the exam, he thought about taking the imperial examination and wrote a poem to submit," the man sighed. "Alas, it all went wrong because of that poem. That classmate bribed a close friend of Mr. Zhuang's to steal the poem, and then he recited it before Mr. Zhuang at the poetry gathering."
"Mr. Zhuang knew nothing about it and submitted the poem the next day. When word spread, everyone started saying he had stolen the poem."
Everyone was surprised. "What a vicious mind! Once this reputation gets out, Mr. Zhuang's career path will probably be cut short."
"That's why Mr. Zhuang had to leave the capital. Later, he had the opportunity to accept three disciples from Master Zhou. This is what they call a blessing in disguise."
"Who is that classmate? He has such a vicious mind. Tell us so that we can avoid their family members when we meet them in the future."
"Ah, although the characters in The White Prince Consort's book use pseudonyms, their official titles are clearly stated. I've carefully compared and researched them. During the time of the previous emperor, when Lord Zhou and his companions entered the capital, the Ministry of Revenue's doctor was a man named Chen Fulin." The man's eyes lit up with excitement. "I looked it up again, and sure enough, Chen Fulin is also from Jiannan Road, and was a student at Yizhou Prefecture School at the same time as Mr. Zhuang..."
"...Why are you taking so much trouble?"
"Oh, I'm a fan of Bai Fu Ma's books. It's said that every one of Bai Fu Ma's books has a prototype. Isn't the prototype of his first and world-famous book, 'Biography of Xiang Xia', the now famous chivalrous merchant Xiang Mingxue?"
"Did you also fall in love with the White Prince Consort after watching 'The Biography of Xiang Xia'?"
"Yes, scholars value poetry and prose over vernacular novels. Anyone who writes some bizarre and eccentric pieces in their spare time would hide them and not dare show them to others. Even if they couldn't resist printing them and disseminating them widely, they wouldn't dare use their real name," he said. "How many people in the world are as frank and sincere as Prince Consort Bai, who isn't afraid of gossip?"
One person added: "And he is of noble status."
"That's right."
The newcomer had heard the story of the White Prince Consort many times, so he wasn't very interested in it anymore. He was more curious about Mr. Zhuang, so he brought the topic back to the topic, "So, this Master Zhuang has endured hardships and finally achieved great success, a late bloomer?"
"No one can say for sure whether this is good or bad. Do you think this is the only injustice he suffered? 'Dreams of the Past' says that after Mr. Zhuang was driven out of the capital, he lived in poverty for a while, and was even humiliated and oppressed while working as a staff member in Longzhou."
"I don't know who it is, but is he still in the court?"
"If we were in the court, it would be very embarrassing to run into each other during the court session. I wonder if we would regret it to death."
Someone who has already read the entire "Dream of the Past" said, "I don't know if I'll regret it, because it's not mentioned in the book. However, I carefully checked the court reports and found that the governor of Longzhou, who lived in a similar timeline to the book, was later dismissed and investigated for corruption."
"I calculated the time. At that time, Mr. Zhuang had only been away from Longzhou for more than three years..."
"...Brother, you're amazing. You even went so far as to check the court gazette." This kind of book friend is too terrifying. Someone asked cautiously, "Brother, you didn't check every single person in the White Prince Consort book, did you?"
"Well, I did want to, but the information is limited. The time span involved is long, the area is vast, and the news lags behind, so I can only find some people with well-documented records. For others, I can't find them no matter how hard I try," he said, thinking about it. "For example, the cliff where Xiang Xia fell off and obtained the martial arts secret manual of the predecessor. I went to Jiannan Road specifically for this purpose and searched the areas around Luzhou, Yuzhou, Suizhou, and Hezhou, but I just couldn't find that cliff."
Everyone: ...
Someone said cautiously, "Perhaps it was made up by the White Prince Consort?"
"It can't be fabricated. It's described in such detail." He said, "Look at Mr. Zhuang's experiences in 'Dreams of the Past'. They all match up. It's clear that Prince Consort Bai was serious about writing books. He could even write such a realistic title. What's more, 'Xiang Xia Ji' is known as the biography of Xiang Mingxue."
Generally speaking, biographies are more real than dreams and the like.
But they didn't know that Bai Erlang was still young when he wrote "Xiang Xia Ji", and the things he added to it made the protagonist Xiang Mingxue feel unfamiliar. It felt like he was looking at another person. Except for the name and identity background, everything else was completely different from him.
"I've read 'Xiang Xia Ji'. I wonder where I can buy 'Qianchen Meng'. I want to buy a copy too."
"I wonder if those who once suppressed and targeted Master Zhuang regret it now?"
In fact, Governor Du had regretted his decision long ago. When he regretted his decision, Mr. Zhuang had not yet made a name for himself and was still working as a teacher in Luojiang County.
After Zhuang Xun left, he quickly hired another legal advisor for himself. This advisor was very much to his and Mrs. Du's liking. He was very pleasant in both speaking and doing things, but his ability to handle official business was slightly worse than Zhuang Xun's.
But it doesn’t matter, the merits outweigh the flaws.
His assessment was average that year, and poor the following year...
When the performance evaluation came out, Governor Du was shocked to realize the difference in ability between the new advisor and Zhuang Xun. He finally became a little unhappy and continued to look for a useful staff member.
He recruited two more aides, thinking that three fools can always be better than one Zhuge Liang, right?
As a result, they fought for power and profit among themselves, which in turn aroused the unrest among Mrs. Du and other wives and concubines in the backyard, and they began to fight each other.
So today, Madam Du accepted money from the East Family and tried to make decisions for them, and tomorrow, her favorite concubine accepted money from the West Family and whispered in Governor Du's ear...
Governor Du's family background was decent, but not enough to cover up everything. It happened that at that time, the princes in the court were fighting fiercely, and they were so angry that they had no place to vent their anger, so the emperor took control of the civil service and made an example of Governor Du and his group.
He was dismissed from his post and investigated, his property was confiscated, and he was sent back to his hometown. Of course, his family's property was still there, and they lived a good life, but...
The loss of both face and dignity made the power-loving Governor Du feel as if his heart was burning with pain. He regretted it immediately and could not help complaining to his wife every day, "If you hadn't driven Zhuang Xun away back then, how could our family have made such a big mistake?"
He even disliked his own son. "You're more of a hindrance than a helper. Every son helps his father win over his staff, but you're the one wasting talent. You're really like a son selling his father's land without any regret."
Mrs. Du would not stand by and let him scold her. She said, "You didn't stop me at the time. It was you who wanted to drive them away. What does it have to do with me?"
The couple had a big quarrel, but they were unwilling to give up the opportunity to make a comeback, so Governor Du went to seek an official position whenever he had time. For more than ten years, he spent a lot of money but could not get an official position.
The emperor had employed many tainted officials who had been dismissed for corruption, dereliction of duty, cruelty, and other reasons. After a few years, as long as they sincerely requested an official position, the emperor would most likely agree.
But those people all have their merits. Either they have made great contributions, and the emperor turned a blind eye to them because their merits and demerits offset each other; or they have outstanding talents, and although they made mistakes, as long as they were used well, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.
However, Governor Du had neither of the two. He had no achievements and no talent. How could the emperor forget his mistakes?
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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