Chapter 259: Falling into a Trap
"So what arrangements did you make for Wang Zhongxuan?"
When Guo Jia heard about this when he came to Qiao Yan to report on his work, he laughed for a long time, and his depressed mood, which had been strictly prohibited from drinking before the alcohol restriction regulations were issued, dissipated a lot.
Seeing how the people of Chang'an were recently shocked by the new road, he couldn't help but think of the situation when he first arrived in Leping.
At that time, he was not yet considered a member of Leping's family. Also, because all the novel things in that place were new to him, he even mixed toothpaste in water and swallowed it directly.
Now, there are people in Chang'an City who are chopping the concrete floor with knives, and they are deliberately guided by Qiao Yan, so it is not a big problem.
But when he thought that someone had written an article "The Goddess's Ode to the Expedition" for the goal of that year and submitted it at such a perfect time, and that Qiao Yan had organized an essay competition to solve the problem of how to properly present this article to the public, Guo Jia found it very interesting.
Especially when he heard that after being invited by Qiao Yan, Wang Can took out the policy paper she wrote eight years ago and asked her to write an inscription on it, Guo Jia found it even more interesting. He didn't know whether this rare situation would happen a second time.
Qiao Yan glanced at him and saw the look of anticipation on the mischievous face.
When Qiao Yan first realized Wang Can's idol-chasing behavior, he was still a little hesitant, but he had seen many big scenes, and now his subordinates had expanded their business, so it was just a piece of "The Goddess Sending Off the Expedition" and it was not something that made him feel at a loss.
At most, if Wang Can really got the top three places, he would have to hide it from others and say less that he was just chasing after a star because of the article "Theory of Feudalism of Provincial Governors" eight years ago and then made a big move today.
Otherwise, there would be little point in holding this essay contest.
In the end, no matter how you look at it, it's still just self-boasting.
Of course, if Wang Can himself were to say, he wasn’t entirely looking at Guanzhong through the filter of an idol.
As Qiao Yan knew, Wang Can was indeed better at realistic writing. Because of his gift of photographic memory, he habitually observed the details of life and recorded the words and deeds of others.
Therefore, while watching the new Chang'an Road being displayed, he was also paying attention to the performance of the people around him. Compared to how special the material of this road was, how indestructible this road was, and how elite the troops under Marquis Qiao were, nothing could compare to the various performances of the people of Chang'an that he saw, which touched him more.
Especially the innkeeper, who saw that Wang Can was thin and mistakenly thought that he was missing his hometown, so he couldn't eat, so he gave him half of his egg, which gave Wang Can a direct impression that the world still had rituals and music.
It was these things that prompted him to write this article, and not entirely because of Qiao Yan's foresight and the role model she played.
At this time, Wang Can had already returned to the guesthouse with satisfaction, taking with him the silk cloth with the handwriting of Marquis Leping.
At this time, Qiao Yan replied to Guo Jia: "I told Zhongxuan that his father was the chief secretary of General He Jin's mansion. Now he, as his son, can come to my Grand Marshal's mansion to be the chief secretary. It can be considered a good reputation for two generations."
Now it was Guo Jiamu's turn to stay where he was.
Now the Chief Secretary of the Grand Marshal's Mansion, Qiao Yan, is none other than Guo Jia.
If Wang Can were to take this position, wouldn't he have to abdicate and let others take over?
But when he saw Qiao Yan's hilarious expression, he suddenly realized that this was just a joke.
"I'm just kidding you. How can the situation of the General's Mansion back then and the Grand Marshal's Mansion today be the same? Naturally, the position of the Chief Clerk will not be handed over to someone else. I intend to let Zhongxuan be the clerk of the Grand Marshal's Mansion first and temporarily take charge of the clerical duties."
"Recently, I need someone to help me with the new paper in Chang'an. I can't put all the heavy responsibility on Zhao Ji alone. Let him be responsible for this matter in ten days. There will also be someone to write the correspondence in the future."
Guo Jia pretended to be relieved, then sat down opposite Qiao Yan, "That's good."
Although he knew that Qiao Yan would not make any random personnel transfers, he pondered that if he really had to write it, he would probably not be able to write Wang Can's "The Goddess Sends Off the Expedition". At most, he could write about the fancy uses of cement.
He still has to admit that in this regard, every profession has its own specialties.
He said with emotion: "Fortunately, Wang Zhongxuan is here, so you can initiate such an event. Although it is themed around Chang'an, if there is no one who has set a good example to show the style of this competition, some people probably won't participate."
This is also why Qiao Yan asked Wang Can to post the poem on the third day.
Whoever makes the fish take the bait must be considered a technical job.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." Qiao Yan said, "After Zhongxuan comes to work at the Grand Marshal's Mansion, let him follow you to recuperate."
Even if Wang Can had not stepped forward first, the Chang'an Road display yesterday would have been enough to make some people weigh the pros and cons. It's just that the situation might not develop so quickly. Generally speaking, the progress at this time is still under Qiao Yan's control.
In comparison, the news revealed by Yuan Yao is even more special.
It is suspected that Yuan Shao's second son Yuan Xi arrived in Chang'an to meet with Tian Feng. How will they make good use of this situation?
Qiao Yan asked Guo Jia, "What do you think we should let Yuan Xi take back to Jizhou?"
Guo Jia smiled and said, "Your Excellency, have you confirmed that this is not the son of Yuan Gonglu who is dazzled by the crowd?"
Qiao Yan raised his eyebrows. "Feng Xiao, if I remember correctly, it was you who came up with the idea of publishing Tian Feng's deeds in the Leping Monthly, right?"
When Guo Jia proposed this idea, Qiao Yan and the Qiao family of Yanzhou had just fallen out.
As a bystander at the time, Tian Feng did not realize the "sinister intentions" of Guo Jia in proposing this idea. He just thought that this was a competent subordinate comforting his superior. He never thought about the conspiracy behind Guo Jia's idea.
In this case, now that we have really lured the person here, it seems only natural to leave this matter to him.
"I have a hunch that the person who came is indeed Yuan Xi." Qiao Yan said confidently: "So I'll trouble Feng Xiao to take care of this matter."
At this moment, Yuan Xi, who was in the guest house, sneezed and felt a chill on his back, but he did not realize that he had been targeted.
He came down from upstairs in an inconspicuous outfit and asked the front desk to send a dinner to his room. While paying for the meal, he heard people on the street outside talking about what happened yesterday.
A look of worry appeared on his face.
He didn't know that his cousin Yuan Yao was also in Chang'an City at this time. He was more worried about his father's situation.
The strength and style of the Chang'an court formed a sharp contrast with the Yecheng court.
Yuan Xi had no doubt that even if Yecheng suddenly obtained some new and rare things and sent people to Chang'an to show off, just like what Princess Yang'an did in Yecheng last year, public opinion here would not be easily stirred up.
Thinking about what he saw and heard yesterday, Yuan Xi felt more and more like he was shouldering a heavy responsibility.
He could fully imagine how much waves this news would cause in Yecheng once it was passed on to the city.
This development made matters worse as his father had already lost the initiative in the battle for Yuzhou.
What made Yuan Xi even more worried about Yuan Shao's situation was that when he was walking on the streets of Chang'an the next day, preparing to go to the Hongwenguan to observe Tian Feng as he had done a few days ago, he suddenly heard a piece of news -
The Grand Marshal intended to use the word "Chang'an" as the title and collect manuscripts, ink and pens from all parties, one to celebrate the completion of the Chang'an Road, and the other to test the effects of these newly made papers in retaining ink and color.
Two thousand sheets of new paper were moved to the end of Chang'an Road, instantly attracting a wave of onlookers.
To be honest, this second reason sounds like a makeshift one.
As the one who made these two kinds of paper, Qiao Yan must be aware of the performance of these new papers. If worst comes to worst, there are many people in her Leping Academy who can complete the test for her. There is really no need to rely on others.
So in general it is still for the first purpose.
But the existence of these two reasons seems to be a way for some people to save face.
Yuan Xi looked at the two stacks of papers and wanted to take a few to make sure he could explain to his father after returning to Jizhou. Unfortunately, when he followed these people to watch the fun, he found out that the papers needed to be collected with real name.
It's good that he carries a fake ID with him, but in order to prevent his identity from being exposed, he should probably be more cautious.
However, what surprised him was that not many people came to collect the papers.
"Maybe he is just waiting and watching," someone said. "After receiving the paper, you have to write something. This is somewhat different from boasting about the splendor of Chang'an in conversation. If you really put it into words, you will show your position."
"Besides, who would be willing to put his writing to the test against that of a peddler?"
Yuan Xi really wanted to say that peddlers and hawkers could not see the usefulness of these papers at all, so how could they be compared with each other.
But if you think about it, there is some truth in what he said. For a competition that divides people into different levels, there must always be an authoritative standard of judgment.
However, probably because the winner's poems could be copied into the Leping Monthly and then published, it was still a great temptation for some scholars who wanted to get a chance to stand out, and people continued to sign up to get the papers with name tags and travel passes.
The change happened on the third day of the event.
A young man with an unremarkable appearance and a thin stature posted his work in the poetry selection area, and shocked many people who were watching with his poem.
The name of the goddess delivering the conquest tribute immediately became a hot topic among everyone.
Even though the appearance of this poem inevitably makes people feel that it is flattering, after they shift their attention to the name of the person who wrote the poem, they immediately withdrew this evaluation.
This is Wang Can!
Although the descendants of the Shanyang Wang family, whose ancestors had produced two generations of three ministers, no longer had prominent financial resources and official power, Wang Can's status meant that there was no need for him to say anything against his will.
Moreover, according to the views of today's literati, articles can reflect the literati's image.
This is indeed a good essay!
Although he is young, he has directly proved his ability with this poem, and also proved that this selection can be very valuable, so there is no need for him to do such a disgraceful thing.
So even if all Wang Can did was to post his manuscript on the essay contest wall as arranged by Qiao Yan, after his action, those who thought they could compete with him in poetry and prose had already started writing furiously.
It is still unknown whether he really has the strength to be compared with others, but there is a saying that there is no best in literature.
For example, Yang Xiu saw Ni Heng also took the paper and started writing.
Previously, Ni Heng took advantage of his drunkenness to make indirect accusations against Qiao Yan for his plan to implement a prohibition on alcohol, causing Yang Xiu to be punished by being made a receptionist. Now he was biting the pen and choosing his words carefully, which really made Yang Xiu laugh and cry.
Ni Heng said frankly that he wanted to tell Wang Can in this way that in order to get the first place, it was not necessary to rely on such stories of gods, ghosts and monsters.
"Then what should we go through?" Yang Xiu asked.
He was keenly aware that Ni Heng, a guy with a sharp tongue, did not say at this time that Wang Can was being flattering, which seemed to be a special signal.
But there is no need to bring this discovery up to Ni Heng and explain it specifically.
Ni Heng rolled his eyes and said, "Use objects to illustrate the meaning."
Yang Xiu wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't want to say another word.
But it was not just Wang Can's submission that caused this stir.
On the same day when "The Goddess Sends Me to the Expedition" appeared on the streets of Chang'an and became the talk of the town, another piece of paper was posted on the wall around dusk.
It’s not the poetry and prose group, but the calligraphy and painting group.
It was a Chang'an Fu written in official script, written by Zhang Chang.
Although Wei Ji had visited Zhang Zhi and Zhang Chang at the instruction of Qiao Yan earlier and invited Zhang Zhi to teach in Leping, Zhang Chang had actually been labeled as a member of the Chang'an court. However, when Zhang Meng jumped out and tried to chop the ground, Zhang Chang felt that he had to eliminate the subsequent impact of this incident, which led to the creation of such a work.
This poem is far inferior to the one written by Wang Can in terms of literary quality, but the brushwork in this official script is indeed an extraordinary performance of Zhang Chang, so that it forms a three-legged tripod with Wang Can's work.
But afterwards, Qiao Yan talked to Zhang Chang again, and they were still talking about Zhang Meng.
"I know that you are trying to make amends for your brother's outspokenness, but who can really be responsible for a person's entire life?"
Qiao Yan had no intention of rashly employing Zhang Meng just because he had some martial arts skills and was Zhang Huan's son.
She now has no shortage of generals under her command, especially those who are not very capable but have a high opinion of themselves.
What's more, Zhang Meng is thirty years old this year, not three years old. Why should he make a brother who is nearly sixty years old worry about him?
Seeing that Zhang Chang was still a little entangled, Qiao Yan said, "Sir, don't think too much about it for now. Let's take a look at the winners of this round of submissions. Anyway, your brother's arm injury still needs treatment, so you have to stay calm for a few days."
The recoil caused by Zhang Meng's slashing blow cannot be healed by just leaving it alone for two days.
So when Fan A was summoned from Bingzhou to Chang'an by Qiao Yan, he first treated Zhang Meng before following Yuan Yao to Yuzhou.
He is still drinking the medicine with the bitter taste added.
But how can I put it? Compared to Zhang Meng, who is feeling bitter both in his mouth and in his heart, Yuan Xi's life may be more difficult.
Wang Can's poems and Zhang Chang's calligraphy not only triggered a wave of submissions in Chang'an City, but also made Yuan Xi more convinced that the opponent his father was facing might be more terrifying than he had imagined.
So he didn't have much time to waste.
Fortunately, through his observations over the past few days, he was able to confirm that Tian Feng's behavior was not like that of a person who had really been promoted in Chang'an.
It’s not that he didn’t want to return to Yecheng to inform his father, but his situation did not allow him to do so.
As an assistant in the Hongwenguan, he was paid quite well. He no longer had to live in a crowded courtyard with other people, but could have his own residence.
But in Chang'an, the imperial capital that had restored order, residential space in the inner city was very limited.
So after such a centralized arrangement, Tian Feng had to face such a situation -
When going in and out of Hongwenguan, there would always be colleagues doing the same work, and all the neighbors were "the same people".
Everyone knows him, so any unusual behavior of his can be seen clearly.
At most, he would seemingly unintentionally look towards the east on the way home, and when people traveling with him asked him about it, he would say that he was missing his family in Jizhou.
But in the eyes of Yuan Xi who was following behind, this was undoubtedly a sign that Tian Feng was in Qiao's camp but his heart was with Yuan.
Then you can find him!
Yuan Xi could not help but feel fortunate that, due to the new roads and literary activities in Chang'an in recent days, most of the literati who stayed in Chang'an stayed in the Hongwenguan to chat, or to exchange poems, or to write quickly, or to judge the new manuscripts that had been submitted. This made it not too conspicuous for him to sneak into the Hongwenguan to discuss with Tian Feng.
Yuan Xi changed into a scholar's attire and walked in with the crowd. While no one else noticed his actions, he quickly rushed in front of Tian Feng.
He was smart enough not to reveal Tian Feng's identity out loud, but instead, just as his father had told him, he quietly called out "Mr. Yuan".
Tian Feng stopped what he was doing and looked up at him.
It would have been fine if he hadn't looked at it, but once he did, he almost dropped the pen in his hand.
Why is Yuan Xi here?
Countless thoughts flashed through Tian Feng's mind in an instant.
He was indeed waiting for Yuan Shao to send someone to contact him, but this person could be an inconspicuous subordinate, but definitely not the Second Young Master!
After all, this is Yuan Shao’s son!
He grabbed Yuan Xi's hand and said anxiously, "Let's go! I'll take you away from here first."
The Hongwenguan is a place where good and bad people mix together, and there is no guarantee that there might be someone who has happened to have met Yuan Xi.
Tian Feng trimmed his beard and deliberately ate more to gain weight in the past six months. He looked a little different from the original Tian Feng, but if he stood next to Yuan Xi, their characteristics would be much more obvious.
Due to the recent beautiful scene, Chang'an City has greatly increased its appeal to scholars. I am afraid that those who come here under the banner of waiting and watching will make their final choice as soon as the content of the alcohol restriction order is announced.
It is hard to guarantee that some of them would want to take the lead, especially those scholars from Hebei.
Who says that taking down Tian Feng and Yuan Xi is not a credit?
But before Tian Feng could take two steps, he saw Guo Jia walking towards him.
Guo Jia looked at the two of them and asked, "Your son?":, w,
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