Chapter 65 It's not the top students you should fear, it's the top students secretly...
Wang Anshi was speechless for a moment.
Head to the border to uncover the truth?
Even with all his calculations, he never expected that the important task entrusted to him by the Emperor would be such a sensitive and dangerous mission involving state secrets. Logically speaking, this was originally the responsibility of the Imperial City Guard, and should not have been assigned to him, a lowly official who had just entered the bureaucracy and was unknown.
An ordinary, cowardly person would have subtly implied their incompetence and made up an excuse to avoid the matter, assuming the emperor, known for his benevolence, would not hold it against them. But who was Wang Anshi? He wasn't afraid of the danger of the mission, but rather of the emperor not valuing him. He immediately bowed with great fervor: "Your subject is willing to go! Even if it costs me my life, I will seek the truth!"
The situation startled Emperor Renzong, who had been prepared to be refused. At this moment, Xin Zhineng couldn't help but think to himself: So what Su'er said in his letter was true. Wang Anshi and Wang Jiefu are truly courageous and insightful men, daring to agree to anything involving border affairs.
If Fusu knew what the Emperor was thinking, he would surely say, "What does a mere border matter matter? When he implemented his reforms, he dared to push forward despite the opposition of the entire court. His stance was many times more assertive than the opposition to the Qingli Reforms today."
Therefore, upon hearing about Apu's master, Fusu came up with this idea. No one was more suitable than Wang Anshi to conduct a secret investigation at the border. He possessed the courage to oppose everything, the ability to lead nationwide reforms, and his competence was undoubtedly considerable. Moreover, he knew Apu, the person in question.
Isn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
The Emperor's interest was immediately piqued. He hadn't held out much hope before, but Wang Anshi's performance had changed his mind: "Minister Wang, take this imperial edict to the Imperial City Guard shortly and have them arrange for your entourage to travel north from the capital. If anyone questions it, simply show them this imperial edict..."
If the truth comes out, he wouldn't mind handing over more power.
"I obey the order."
Wang Anshi bowed deeply, accepted the order, and left.
That night, when the moon was high in the sky, he finally returned home from the Imperial City Guard. Pushing open the door, he saw a lamp already lit in the main hall. Seeing him return, his wife breathed a deep sigh of relief: "You're finally back. For some reason, I felt uneasy all day, as if I was about to lose sight of you."
Wang Anshi remained silent.
Because his wife's premonition was about to come true.
He licked his lips with difficulty: "Tomorrow, I'm going on a long trip. I won't be in the capital for a while..."
Where are we going?
Wang Anshi fell silent again.
The matter he was about to undertake involved crucial border affairs and might even implicate high-ranking officials in the court. His ignorance was, in fact, a form of protection. He pretended to ignore his wife's worried gaze: "I don't know when I will be able to return either. You should stay in the capital alone and simply live a quiet life behind closed doors. If you encounter any difficulties that you cannot resolve on your own, go to the Imperial Academy and find Zeng Gong or Zeng Zigu. Tell them about your troubles, and they will surely help you."
After saying this, Wang Anshi closed his eyes.
He had expected to face round after round of questioning, but when he opened his eyes again, he was met with a pair of gentle eyes, filled with boundless tolerance and understanding: "I understand. I hope you will return safely soon."
"..."
Wang Anshi let out a long sigh.
"Soon" and "peace" are words he dared not promise.
But he finally said, "Okay."
The following day, the former minor official, who had served as the magistrate of Huainan, vanished in the blink of an eye in Bianjing. Aside from the questions left for passing officials at the Chuigong Hall that day, and a troop of fully armed elite imperial guards, he took nothing with him. Very occasionally, some people remembered his disappearance, assuming that his rare audience with the emperor must have been due to offending someone during a court audience, and he had been sent to some remote, impoverished place.
Tsk tsk, to offend even a benevolent and kind ruler like the Emperor, what kind of extraordinary person must he be?
That's hard to say.
Fusu thought of it.
The emperor's leniency and Wang Anshi's stubbornness are both recorded in history. One could wipe his face and pretend nothing happened even when Bao Zheng spat in his face while advising him. The other was so stubborn that he banished all his opponents to the ends of the earth.
The strongest shield, the sharpest spear. What would happen if these two became partners in the reform? Fusu couldn't help but think as he looked at the letter Renzong had written to him.
But he had no time to think about it now; even reading letters home had become a rare pastime. Ever since the doctor and his senior classmates found out that the entrance exam had been moved up, he and Su Shi had been in hell mode. He swore that even the intensity of his high school years in his previous life couldn't compare to this.
In high school, at least I had subjects I liked, subjects that served as a buffer. At the very least, I could appreciate the articles that came with the reading comprehension sections in Chinese class. But now, there's nothing; all I have are the words of sages, the words of sages, and more words of sages.
At its most extreme, Fusu even dreamt of Confucius and the Duke of Zhou compiling the book. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the characters carved on the bamboo slips weren't in seal script but in Song typeface… Good heavens, it looked just like the script he had memorized during the day!
With a "snap," the dream ended.
Even Su Shi took some time to complain to him: "I was wrong, I was really wrong. I no longer think that the Mingjing exam is easy, and that people who take the Mingjing exam instead of the Jinshi exam are not smart enough."
He made a vomiting face: "What kind of people can memorize all of this? I'm getting dizzy from memorizing it every day."
Fusu nodded sadly: "Don't forget, you still have to write an essay after you finish memorizing it."
"Policy essay?" Su Shi seemed to have thought of something, and a gloating smile appeared on his face: "Oh, I heard it from Dr. Mei. He knows you're going to participate in the autumn examination. He's very excited and even boasted that he'd personally guide your essay."
Fusu: "..."
He suddenly remembered that when he asked Mei Yaochen for advice on naming two new dishes, Mei Yaochen had tricked him into submitting an article. Afterwards, he was busy with many matters, including meeting the emperor, accompanying Miaowu shopping, and discovering cotton… so the article remained untouched. He even thought that since Mei Yaochen hadn't asked him for it, he might be able to get away with it.
It seems that won't work.
Fusu grew increasingly angry at Su Shi's gloating expression, and so, his anger flared, he lowered his voice and asked in a sinister tone, "Oh, right, I forgot to ask, where in the Book of Documents are you reciting?"
Su Shi was completely unaware of Fusu's sinister intentions: "'The foundation is firm and the country is at peace,' what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing much, it's just that... I've memorized the entire Book of Documents. And I've also memorized half of the three commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals."
Su Shi: "!!!"
The lingering smile on his face vanished rapidly, replaced by obvious terror. Any student who has ever been to school knows that top students aren't scary at all; what's scary is when a top student complains on the surface that "it's so hard" or "I can't learn it at all," while secretly working hard behind your back.
"How could you be so fast... This doesn't make sense..." he muttered to himself.
The smile shifted from Su Shi to Fu Su's face, and he felt a little more at ease. "Hmph, you may be one of the most talented people in the Song Dynasty, but so what? I came with a cheat code—specifically referring to various scientifically proven memory techniques from later generations."
How about that? Scared yet?
Su Shi seemed to be more deeply affected than Fusu had imagined. After all, one was three years old and the other seven; their mental capacities were worlds apart, and the underdog had somehow managed to surpass the former. How could young Su Shi, who always considered himself a child prodigy and thought himself a quick memorizer, possibly cope?
Anyway, after that day, Fusu rarely saw Su Shi stealing a moment of leisure from his busy schedule. This was unprecedented for him. Fan Chunren, who was in charge of supervising their recitation, also noticed something was wrong: "What's going on? Did you and Su Xiaolang have a falling out?"
Fusu blinked innocently: "What did he tell you, Senior Brother?"
Fan Chunren looked helpless: "How did you know I would ask him first?" Seeing that Fusu only smiled and did not answer, he had no choice but to take a deep breath: "He said he was deceived by you and must work hard to improve himself."
"Oh." Fusu nodded: "It's alright, it will be fine after the Shengzhai exam."
Clearly, Su Shi was only temporarily discouraged; as for his policy essays, he would surely surpass those of later generations. Fusu never doubted the quality of the essays written by the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Is that really the case?
Fan Chunren left with some doubt.
-
A month has passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the watchful eye of the Imperial City Guard, the unripe cotton bolls in the Court of State Ceremonial ripened, revealing soft, snow-white cotton fibers, and were handed over to the government. Wang Anshi, concealing his identity, arrived at the Song-Liao border and was searching for local residents, conducting a thorough investigation. Meanwhile, amidst the expectant gazes of the masses and the unappreciative eyes of the two little ones, the Imperial Academy's entrance examination was held as scheduled.
In the vast examination hall, besides Fan Chunren, who was in charge of proctoring, only Fusu and Su Shi were present. Fusu glanced out the window of the examination hall again and saw that almost all the scholars were there. Good heavens, even the chief examiner was there.
Even though he had memorized it perfectly, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous. He could only relieve his tension by reciting it silently. As for why he didn't talk to Su Shi? Sorry, he didn't want to openly break the rules and be expelled from the examination hall.
As soon as the test papers were handed out, the two of them started writing.
Meanwhile, the two little ones, engrossed in their writing, were completely unaware that outside the exam hall window, a quiet argument was brewing among the group of doctoral students watching them intently.
“I am most familiar with these two, so it is only natural for me to teach them literature.”
"Hey, you're wrong about that. Everyone knows you're good at poetry, but the current imperial examinations don't test poetry! I should be the one to do it."
"..."
"Chief Priest, what do you say?"
Yang Anguo stroked his well-maintained beard and said leisurely, "It was I who persuaded the two of them to participate. If we're talking about teaching literature, it should be me who takes on that responsibility!"
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