Chapter 951: Too Arrogant (Reward for the book friend "Nerd")
This pen is more expensive than a good book. Bai Shan's was the most expensive. Among the three pens he picked, the most expensive one cost eight taels of silver, but he paid the money without blinking.
The shopkeeper brought a box and carefully packed the pens they had selected. He also packed the ink sticks. Then, with a smile, he took a box from the clerk, opened it, and asked, "Sirs and Ladies, would you like to see the inkstone? This is the best inkstone in our store, and it is made by a famous artist."
The three of them took one look and shook their heads. This inkstone looked very expensive, and they were still young and couldn't quite understand why adults liked to collect inkstones.
The shopkeeper was slightly disappointed to see how decisive they were, but he still smiled and sent them out.
After spending a lot of money in a bookstore, people look at the various exquisite, beautiful or ingenious things on the street and think they are very cheap.
The three of them couldn't suppress their burning desire to shop. Just as they were about to leave, Daji put the box down and turned back to say, "Master, Master Tang, Miss Man, we should go home. It's almost time for dinner."
The three of them stopped and climbed onto the carriage, then leaned against the window reluctantly, looking at the stalls on both sides of the street.
Manbao touched his heart and said, "I really can't bear to let you go."
Bai Shan was reluctant to part with them, but now he had regained his composure. "We don't need all these things right now. We should just play with them after we buy our own house."
Bai Erlang was fascinated by what he heard. "Can I buy a house in the capital?"
Manbao counted his money and said, "We can't afford a big house, but we can afford a smaller one. However, we're not sure if we'll live in the capital for a long time, so there's no need to spend money on it now."
"That's right. If the King of Yizhou comes to Beijing and wants to destroy us, we have to escape," Bai Shan said. "We can take the money with us, but we can't take the house with us."
Now sitting in the carriage, they all knew each other, and the driver was Daji, so Bai Erlang didn't hide his feelings and clearly expressed his concerns, "Does the King of Yizhou really not know about us?"
"You don't know," Bai Shan said, "Look, we passed the exam successfully and are about to enter the Imperial College. If there was any possibility that he could know, Lord Tang would have written to tell us."
Bai Erlang lowered his voice and asked, "So, are you really going to beat the Dengwen drum in the future?"
Bai Erlang looked at their small bodies and said, "Can you withstand that big stick?"
Manbao said, "We are not stupid, so we won't go and beat the drum to report the incident."
Even if I want to avenge my parents, I can't risk my own life. It's not worth it.
Bai Shan also nodded. "There are many ways to file a complaint, but this is the worst option. Unless someone guarantees that I won't be caned, I won't beat the drum to file a complaint."
Bai Erlang breathed a sigh of relief. "I was thinking that if you went to knock on the drum to report the incident, I would have to find a doctor to wait nearby."
"Thank you, I am a doctor myself." Manbao said.
Bai Shan was concerned about something else, "I don't know when the King of Yizhou will come to the capital."
Other ministers in the court were also concerned about this matter, because in less than a month, the emperor had proposed twice to let the King of Yizhou come to the capital, and each time the court officials expressed opposition.
It was postponed from June to July, and July was the Ghost Month. The Queen Mother thought it was unlucky to go out in this month, so she was very angry. For two consecutive days, she summoned the families of several ministers to the palace and left them sitting on the bench.
Those ministers were the ones who were most opposed to the King of Yizhou coming to the capital early.
I thought they would take a step back, but who knew that the ministers were aroused to rebellion and opposed it even more strongly. In the past few days, the emperor didn't even mention this matter, because every time he opened his mouth, the ministers would spit in his face.
But strangely, Lord Wei Zhi was not among them this time.
Although he also expressed his disagreement with the King of Yizhou coming to the capital at the court meeting, he was not the most vehement opponent. Therefore, his wife escaped and was not summoned to the palace. She was not remembered by the Queen Mother for the time being.
The Imperial College did not announce the results until early the next morning, but in fact the results came out very early.
After all, there are only forty-eight students taking the exam this time, and each exam lasts half a day. The remaining half day is for the examiners to go over the test papers and the results will be announced.
So just two hours after the poetry and prose exam yesterday afternoon, all the results came out.
Today is mainly about rankings.
The Imperial College first ranked the number of places internally, and then presented the top ten papers they thought were the best to the emperor, asking him to choose the three best ones.
After all, the top three will enter the Imperial College.
Of course, this matter was not entirely up to the emperor. The opinion of the Imperial College's chief academic officer was also very important, and the Imperial College's chief academic officer represented all the officials of the Imperial College.
The emperor read through the essays and poems of all ten people. The only two papers that were controversial were the two papers. The answers in the essays and the commentaries were almost fixed, so there was nothing to argue about.
The three papers on top are the three best papers selected by the Imperial College.
The emperor spread out the papers in a row and picked up the one in the middle to look at it. It was Bai Shan's paper.
Kong Jijiu saw this and said, "Bai Shan, only fourteen years old, is so young, but his writing is full of talent. What's most valuable is that he is well-versed in both ancient and modern times, and his words are meaningful. It's obvious that he has not only read a lot of books, but also has some experience."
The emperor asked with a smile, "Why did Mr. Kong only rank him second? I think his essay is even better than Peng Zhiru's."
Kong Jijiu said, "But this man is too arrogant. I feel that he is too assertive and lacks refinement, so he needs to be polished."
"Oh?" The emperor closed their papers and asked in confusion, "But why haven't I heard of his name? I often hear Peng Zhiru's name, but he's obviously very low-key."
Kong Jijiu shook his head. "Your Majesty, you can tell a person by his handwriting. You can tell a person by his writing. There's a sense of arrogance in his writing. And the fact that we haven't heard much about him only proves his arrogance."
"Who would enter the capital for the imperial examination without submitting an essay first? Even if they didn't, they would have found other ways to spread their fame, spreading their talent so that others would know they were truly talented." Kong Jijiu said, "Peng Zhiru arrived in the capital only two days before him. After arriving, he already made a name for himself in the Zhuangyuan Building and submitted his poems and essays to us. But he remained silent, concentrating solely on the exam. Clearly, he was overconfident, believing he would definitely be admitted to the Imperial Academy, and disdained fame."
emperor:……
Kong Jijiu stroked his beard and shook his head, saying, "He's only fourteen. To be exact, he's not even fourteen yet. He's so arrogant. I'm afraid he'll become arrogant because of his talent in the future. This is not advisable, not advisable."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
