Chapter 103 Li Nuo Encourages Learning
Ministry of Personnel.
Langzhong Yamen.
After lunch, Li Nuo and his wife came to the Ministry of Personnel.
Song Zhe handed a thick booklet to Li Nuo, frowned slightly, and asked, "Do you want to take the imperial examination?"
Li Nuo did not hide it, nodded, and said: "If you want to be a legalist, you still need to have an official position, you can only try to take the exam..."
Song Zhe was silent for a moment, then said, "There are still more than four years left. Since you have to take the exam, prepare well and don't embarrass your father."
Li Xuanjing won the top spot in six subjects that year, which was unprecedented and unparalleled.
It would have been fine if his son did not take the imperial examination. If he did, he could not expect him to be the top scorer, but at least he had to pass the imperial examination, otherwise it would have brought shame to the Li family.
He never thought that Li Nuo would take part in the imperial examination half a year later. After all, two months ago, he was still the stupid son of the Li family.
To go from knowing nothing to mastering the six arts and passing the imperial examination within half a year is something that even Li Xuanjing couldn't do.
Li Nuo did not explain more to his father-in-law. His goal was very clear. After getting the list of previous successful candidates, he turned directly to the 30th year of Zhisheng, which was the last imperial examination.
This year, a total of one hundred Jinshi were admitted.
He didn't need to look at the rest of the list. Li Nuo's eyes were fixed directly on the first few rows.
The number one scholar in the 30th year of the Zhisheng reign was named Cui Shu. He was the number one scholar in the imperial examination that year, but not the number one in any single subject.
This means that this person is well-balanced in all subjects, with no obvious strengths or weaknesses. He is a person with balanced abilities, but this is not what Li Nuo wants.
What he needs are those war gods who are good at one subject.
Li Nuo simply skipped the name of the top scorer in the imperial examination.
The top scorer in music was Liu Shang, the top scorer in archery was Wang Shao, the top scorer in rites was Zheng Zhan, the top scorer in charioteering was Du Tong, the top scorer in calligraphy was Pei Ziyi, and Li Nuo mainly focused on the three subjects of music, archery and charioteering.
Calligraphy is a miscellaneous subject, and the essay of the top scholar in calligraphy may not be the best. It can only be said that he has the highest comprehensive ability in calligraphy, painting, law, and essays.
There was another candidate for the Rites Department, Li Nuo. How could a young candidate like him understand etiquette as well as the Deputy Minister of Rites?
We still have to find a suitable opportunity to send my second uncle in.
Li Nuo wrote down the names of the three people on a piece of paper and said to Song Zhe, "Father-in-law, can you show me the files of these three people?"
He needed to know where these three people were working now. If they were not in Chang'an, he would need to find other candidates.
Song Zhe looked at the names of the three people and asked, "What do you want the files of these three people for?"
Li Nuo said honestly: "These three people are the top scorers in the recent imperial examinations. I would like to ask them if they have any tips for these subjects..."
This is a very good reason.
In his previous life, when he was in high school, the school would invite some previous top scorers in the college entrance examination to share their college entrance examination experience with younger students.
Song Zhe picked up the paper, walked outside the government office, and said, "Mr. Feng."
An officer immediately trotted over.
Song Zhe handed him the paper and said, "These are the three top scorers in the last imperial examination. Go to the case library and get their files."
"yes."
Feng Lingshi responded and immediately trotted towards the document library.
Song Zhe walked back to the duty room and said to Li Nuo, "Your idea is not wrong, but most Jinshi will neglect the six arts after passing the imperial examination. It has been more than three years since the last imperial examination. If they were asked to take the imperial examination now, let alone become the top scorer, I'm afraid it would be difficult for them to even pass the spring examination..."
Having said that, Li Nuo still has to give it a try.
After a while, Feng Lingshi came in holding three files.
These three files were all very new, with only a few pages on them. Li Nuo flipped through two of them and felt a little disappointed.
Du Tong, the top scorer in the imperial examination, and Wang Shao, the top scorer in the archery examination, after becoming Jinshi, one served in the Imperial Household Department and the other in the Imperial Guards Department.
These two temples are in Chang'an, but these two people were promoted one year ago and half a year ago respectively and were transferred to the border army, thousands of miles away from Chang'an.
Song Zhe glanced at the file and said, "The imperial examination and archery examination are originally related to military formations. If they cannot stay in the Ministry of War, they can still take the path of military officers. However, their promotion speed is a bit too fast. The Du family and the Wang family are both large families. They must have used the power of their families to transfer them away."
There was only one file left in front of Li Nuo.
The top scorer in the music exam was Liu Shang.
After opening the file, Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Shang was also promoted half a year ago and is now the Minister of Music of the Taiyue Bureau.
The Taiyue Bureau was a subordinate department of the Taichang Temple, responsible for music performances at various grand events.
The Taiyue Ling was the head of the Taiyue Bureau, a seventh-rank official, and was in charge of thousands of musicians.
Musicians were summoned at any time for various activities of the imperial court, and the Imperial Music Bureau was of course in Chang'an.
Soon, Li Nuo and Song Jiaren left the Ministry of Personnel.
A moment later, a young figure walked out of the Ministry of Personnel and got into a sedan chair.
Jingzhao government office.
This was the second time Zhao He stepped into the Jingzhao government office. This time, he was brought into a tall government office and waited for a long time before a figure walked in.
Zhao He looked at him and immediately bowed and said, "Sir!"
The middle-aged man raised his hand, motioning him to sit down, and personally poured him a cup of tea. He then asked, "Did something happen at the Ministry of Personnel again?"
Zhao He immediately said, "Your Excellency, Li Nuo went to the Ministry of Personnel again today and reviewed the files of three officials."
The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows, put down the teacup he had picked up, and asked, "Which three officials?"
Zhao He said: "They are the three champions of the last imperial examination, Liu Shang, the champion of music, Wang Shao, the champion of archery, and Du Tong, the champion of imperial examination..."
The middle-aged man picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. Then he said, "The court doesn't allow him to investigate the case. He wants to get an official position through the imperial examination. It's a good idea, but even if he is Li Xuanjing's son, can he catch up with other students in just a few years?"
When he heard that Li Nuo was looking up the files of these three people, the middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief.
He had a rough idea of what he was going to do.
Do you want them to share their experience in the imperial examinations?
As long as he was not checking the information of those officials, he could do whatever he wanted. There had been no unusual movements for such a long time, and the last incident seemed to be just a coincidence.
At this time, Zhao He took a sip of tea and asked carefully: "Sir, the promotion you promised me last time..."
Those three people were Jinshi in the same year as him. All three of them were promoted in the past few years, but he was still in the Ministry of Personnel to look after the warehouse. He was very anxious...
The middle-aged man glanced at him and said calmly: "Look at you, you are anxious again..."
…
Back at the Song Mansion, Li Nuo walked into the yard with a piece of paper in his hand.
There was a line of words written on the paper.
The Order of Taiyue, Liu Shang.
The goal this time is different from the past.
In the past, those he arrested were either ordinary people or the second generation of officials and powerful people.
Even though these people had prominent family backgrounds, they themselves could be said to be ordinary people and could be dealt with by the Chang'an County Court.
But this Lord Liu is a real court official.
The seventh-rank Taiyueling.
For an official of the seventh rank, let alone the Chang'an County Yamen, even the Ministry of Justice only has the power of investigation but not the power of trial.
This time, he had to ask his father for help.
Li Nuo called Butler Wu over, handed him the paper, whispered a few instructions, and then started playing Go with Mu'er.
After they played a few games, Butler Wu came back and handed Li Nuo an envelope.
Li Nuo opened the envelope and thought that Mingjingsi was worthy of being called Mingjingsi. What they had investigated was even more detailed than the files of the Ministry of Personnel.
Liu Shang, the Prince of Music, was 26 years old and had become a Jinshi in the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Zhisheng. Although his overall ranking was not high, he was extremely outstanding in the music subject and was specially recruited by the Taichang Temple. In less than four years, he jumped two levels from a small musician of the eighth rank to the Prince of Music, a seventh rank.
Before he passed the imperial examination, he came from a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River and had considerable wealth. After passing the imperial examination, he married the daughter of a powerful official in Chang'an.
The Taiyue Bureau was responsible for playing ceremonial music, but its authority was not broad, and things like disregarding human life, taking bribes and breaking the law were generally not related to the officials of the Taiyue Bureau.
Liu Shang is not short of money, so he has no need to be corrupt, and he does his job very well.
During the years he has been an official, his resume has been remarkable and he has not made any major mistakes, otherwise he would not have been promoted so quickly.
However, Mingjingsi still found out some things.
Liu Shang and his wife at home do not have a harmonious relationship.
The daughter of that powerful noble was a fickle-minded person before she got married. She had long-term improper relationships with several men and she did not stop even after she got married.
Although Liu Shang was dissatisfied, he did not dare to show it because of the power of the other family.
After completely giving up hope, he often lingered in brothels in Chang'an, seeking pleasure and comfort himself.
The couple usually play their own games.
Every family has its own problems. Li Nuo did not comment on this.
For young officials with shallow backgrounds, this is the price they pay for marrying noble ladies from wealthy families. The reality is often not as good as imagined. Some noble ladies in Chang'an have more fun than the men.
But Liu Shang was an official of the imperial court, and the imperial court prohibited officials from visiting prostitutes.
Although this law was not strictly enforced and the punishment was not severe, even the censors who could not tolerate any flaws did not bother to care, it was still a violation of the law.
If things were really serious, Pei Zhe would be locked up for a few days every month to reflect on himself.
Although Li Nuo sympathized with the Taile Ling, for the sake of his own life, he had to let him suffer a little more injustice.
When it was time to go to bed at night, my wife returned to the room.
The two of them tacitly did not mention what happened yesterday.
Smelling the familiar fragrance beside the pillow, Li Nuo felt extremely at peace. When he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard his wife's voice.
Song Jiaren closed her eyes and suddenly asked, "Do you want to take the imperial examination?"
Li Nuo was half asleep and uttered a soft "hmm".
Song Jiaren thought for a moment and said, "If you want to learn horse riding and archery, I can teach you..."
In fact, Li Nuo had other choices for horseback archery.
Although the two top scorers in the last imperial examination were no longer in Chang'an, the new imperial examination was approaching, and he could find out who was most likely to win the top prize in the riding and archery subjects in the four major academies in Chang'an.
But since the lady is willing to teach him, those candidates will step back for now.
Imagining the scene of two people riding on the same horse and drawing the same bow, he suddenly felt less sleepy...
The next morning, after breakfast, Li Nuo and his wife went out.
I agreed with her yesterday that she would teach me how to ride today.
Horse riding is a compulsory subject in the imperial examination, so there are many horse farms near Chang'an.
Most horse farms are located outside the city of Chang'an. After all, the area required for a horse farm is not small, and purchasing or leasing land is a considerable expense.
Land in Chang'an is extremely expensive. If you open a horse farm in the city, the profit will not be enough to pay the rent, and it is basically impossible to make a profit.
Li Nuo chose a horse farm in Chang'an City.
One reason is that it is close and you don’t have to spend a lot of time on the road.
Another reason is safety.
Last time, someone sent out eight fourth-level masters in an attempt to kill him.
They are so bold in Chang'an City. If they leave the city, the insecurity factors will increase greatly.
Of course, although the horse farms in the city are convenient, they are much more expensive.
However, for the Li family and the Song family, things that can be solved with money are naturally not a big deal.
This horse farm in the city belongs to Yunmeng Academy.
Students of Yunmeng Academy can use the horse farm for free with their academy ID cards.
If you are not a student of Yunmeng Academy and want to use the horse farm, you will have to pay ten taels of silver per hour.
The vast majority of people in Daxia earn less than ten taels of silver a year.
Naturally, I couldn't afford the cost of learning horse riding.
Having lived two lifetimes, Li Nuo still knows nothing about horse riding.
He didn't even know how to get on a horse.
Song Jiaren had no choice but to teach him from the very basics.
She first taught him how to mount and dismount a horse in place. After Li Nuo had mastered it, she rode slowly along the horse farm to develop a sense of riding.
Of course, she stayed with Li Nuo throughout the whole process.
Even though he has successfully entered the Legalist world, he is still a mortal.
If you fall off a galloping horse or are trampled under the hooves of a horse weighing hundreds or thousands of pounds, you will be seriously injured even if you don't die.
Under his wife's patient teaching, Li Nuo quickly mastered the skills.
His movements went from being awkward and stiff at the beginning to becoming more and more skilled and relaxed, and he also began to intentionally increase his speed.
However, he was able to control his body as he rode slowly along the track.
But when the horse's speed increased, he felt uncomfortable and bumpy while riding, his center of gravity became unstable, and his body began to shake violently.
At this moment, a figure dropped from the sky and sat steadily behind him.
Song Jiaren leaned against Li Nuo's body and whispered, "Lean forward and clamp your legs against the horse's belly. Don't be afraid, I'm here..."
With his wife around, Li Nuo is certainly not afraid.
He believed that even if he fell off the horse now, he would not fall on the ground, but in his wife's arms.
After changing my body posture as my wife said, I became much more stable.
And his wife is right behind him, so he doesn't have to worry and can act boldly.
At this moment, there were still quite a few people on the racecourse.
Most of them are students of Yunmeng Academy.
The man and woman attracted everyone's attention from the moment they entered the racecourse.
It is actually normal to see women on the racecourse.
Students of Yunmeng Academy often have intimate contact with the young ladies under the pretext of teaching them horse riding.
In this circle, no matter how openly you play in secret, you still have to be careful about the difference between men and women in public.
Even if you are a couple, you cannot behave overly intimately in public.
But riding a horse is such a dangerous thing. If you are not careful, there is a risk of serious injury or even death. Of course, someone must be there to protect you.
In the face of life and death, the barriers between men and women can be temporarily put aside.
The horse racing track is probably the only place where young men and women can openly engage in intimate contact.
But in other cases, men teach women, but for this couple, it is the other way around.
This was the first time anyone had seen such a scene.
…
As soon as Song Yu and the other two walked into the horse farm, they saw Song Jiaren and Li Nuo being affectionate on the horse.
At the horse farm, a man and a woman were riding the same horse, their bodies pressed tightly together. If they were not taking the opportunity to be intimate, could they be learning how to ride a horse?
Who in their right mind would come here to learn horse riding?
Under the protection of his wife, Li Nuo galloped around the horse farm several times and had already adapted to the pace of the fast horse.
Seeing Song Yu and others standing by the horse field watching, he tightened the reins in advance, and the horse walked in front of Song Yu and the other two and slowly stopped.
Song Yu looked at the two people on the horse and asked tentatively: "Brother-in-law, beautiful lady, what are you doing..."
Li Nuo took the initiative to explain on behalf of his wife: "I am preparing to take the imperial examination, and the beautiful lady is teaching me horse riding."
Song Yu looked at the two people on horseback, thinking of the scene of the two people galloping around the horse field just now. He was silent for a while, but couldn't help asking: "Brother-in-law, you know that the imperial examination competition is not about who can ride a horse faster, right?"
Song Jiaren was slightly stunned and asked, "Isn't it?"
Song Yu lowered his head silently.
"Yu" in the Six Arts refers to driving a carriage, not riding a horse.
These are two completely unrelated things.
When driving, do not sit on the horse at all times.
Excessive pursuit of riding skills may even affect the results of the imperial examination.
After a while, he led the two to the other side of the horse farm, pointed to the crisscrossing roads with many obstacles on them, and said: "The Imperial Examination refers to driving a carriage, which is different from riding a horse..."
Song Jiaren lowered her head slightly. This was the first time she heard of these things.
She thought that the imperial examination was about riding a horse, and the imperial examination was about who could ride a horse faster. Isn't that right...
Li Nuo glared at Song Yu.
Of course he knew that "御" means driving.
Does he need to say more?
If Song Yu hadn't said too much, he could have stayed with his wife for a while longer in the name of the imperial examination, instead of standing here and listening to him popularize what the imperial examination was...
Song Jiaren looked at Li Nuo.
Li Nuo was confused at first, then he said in surprise: "So that's how it is..."
Song Yu shook his head after hearing this.
They really are worthy of this title.
There are hardly any rich and powerful children in Chang'an who don't know what the "御" in the Six Arts means.
If you had skipped a few classes when you were a child, you would not have confused riding and imperial examinations.
Although he didn't know why his brother-in-law suddenly wanted to take the imperial examination, he still patiently explained: "You misunderstood. The imperial examination does not refer to riding a horse, but to driving a carriage. There are five types of imperial carriages, namely Mingheluan, Zhushuiqu, Guojunbiao, Wujiaoqu, Zhuqinzuo..."
After deciding to take the imperial examination, Li Nuo did enough paper work.
Of course he knew what Song Yu said.
To put it simply, the Imperial Examination is equivalent to Daxia's driver's license.
The so-called Five Guards refer to five subjects.
That is what Song Yu said: the phoenix sings, follows the water curve, passes by the emperor, dances at the crossroads, and chases the birds to the left.
The imperial examination system underwent some changes based on the original Five Guards, but it was still basically the Five Guards technique.
That is, when driving, the car responds to the sound of the phoenix, and the car rushes along the curved bank without falling into the water. It can drive freely through narrow roads and drive back and forth through forks in the road. While driving, it can shoot arrows at the target from the left.
These five subjects are designed to test the vehicle's stable driving skills, accurate cornering skills, fast narrow road passing skills, fast turning skills at intersections, and shooting skills while the vehicle is driving.
Being able to master these five techniques, one can drive a carriage within the city and a chariot on the battlefield. These are skills that all officials of Daxia must possess.
By analogy with later generations, civil servants were probably required to be able to both serve as drivers to pick up and drop off their leaders and drive tanks to defend the country.
After Song Yu finished explaining this, worried that Li Nuo didn't understand, he said to Zhou Yu, "Go and demonstrate it to your brother-in-law."
There was a row of carriages parked not far away. Zhou Yu heard this and walked to a carriage without saying anything. He smiled and said to Li Nuo, "Brother Li, please get in."
This carriage is smaller than the one Li Nuo rides every day, and it is open-top and has only a soft cushion at the back, which can accommodate only two people sitting side by side.
Li Nuo got on the carriage, and Song Jiaren also got on and sat next to him.
Zhou Yu sat at the connection between the shaft and the carriage. He shook the reins, and the carriage started slowly and gradually accelerated.
When the vehicle passed the first section of bumpy road, Zhou Yu did not slow down. The reins in his hand moved left and right. Li Nuo, sitting in the carriage, did not feel much bumps.
Not only that, the two bells hung in different positions on the carriage were also not out of order, making regular and rhythmic sounds.
Li Nuo was amazed. Even though Zhou Yu had no skills, he drove the carriage more steadily than Butler Wu.
This is the first of the Five Imperial Chariots, and is called "Ming he Luan". "He" and "Luan" refer to the two bells on the chariot.
When driving over bumpy roads, the "和" and "露" sounds will make noises.
This item requires smooth driving. When the vehicle passes through uneven roads, the rhythm of the two bells ringing cannot be disordered and the passengers cannot feel too bumpy. The requirements are quite high.
Li Nuo had only seen the corresponding description in a book, and this was his first experience.
After driving over this bumpy road, the road ahead suddenly narrowed.
Not only was the road narrow enough to accommodate only one carriage, but the route also became extremely tortuous.
At first glance, there are several extremely sharp "S" bends, and on both sides of the road are two deep ditches.
The carriage continued to move at a rapid speed, and Li Nuo was worried several times that the carriage would overturn into the ditch.
Facts proved that his worries were unnecessary, as the carriage was able to correct its direction every time before falling into the water.
This is the second control, "Zhu Shui Qu".
This item requires that when driving a horse-drawn carriage, one can control the direction of the vehicle as the waterfront turns without deviating or even falling into the water.
After successfully passing the winding ditch, the road ahead became straight, but there were several narrow gates on the road.
Li Nuo estimated that the width of these gates was no more than three fingers wider than the carriage.
But Zhou Yu was able to accelerate and rush through the gate without any scratches, and passed the next few forks in the road smoothly. On the last section of the road, he picked up the bow and arrow placed aside, bent the bow and shot, accurately hitting the target several feet away on the left side of the road.
These are the last three of the five imperial guards: passing the king's palace, dancing at the crossroads, and chasing birds to the left.
Pass through narrow passages quickly and without scratching, pass through designated forks accurately while maintaining speed, and conduct mobile shooting on a high-speed moving carriage...
Through this series of operations, the carriage returned to the original point.
Li Nuo got off the carriage, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Zhou Yu had changed.
You can't judge a book by its cover. I didn't expect this guy to have such amazing driving skills.
Li Nuo couldn't help but exclaimed: "Amazing, awesome..."
Zhou Yu felt a little embarrassed and kept saying, "No, no, no, my rhythm of Mingheluan is not stable enough, and Zhuqinzuo did not hit the bull's eye. There is still a lot of room for improvement..."
Song Yu rolled his eyes at him and said, "We are all family, yet you are being too modest. Your father is a doctor in the Imperial Academy. Let alone other subjects, who in the four major academies can compare to you in the Imperial Examination? I'm afraid you will be the top scorer in this year's Imperial Examination..."
Although Zhou Yu didn't say anything, the smile on his face showed that he was still very proud of his imperial examination.
Only Li Nuo knew that Zhou Yu was not humble.
He met Zhou Yu a month ago. On that day, he arrested Zhou Yu and his gang and took them to the Chang'an County Government Office, where they were beaten with ninety sticks.
If he was really good at imperial examinations, his portrait in the legal code at that time should have been bright.
His driving skills probably won't improve much this month.
That explains it.
In the Imperial Examination—he still has to practice.
Li Nuo was also thinking of capturing a student who was proficient in the imperial examinations, lighting up his portrait on the law code, and preparing for his own imperial examinations in half a year.
If even the top scorer in the imperial examination is of this level, he doesn't need to consider anyone else.
Li Nuo patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder and said seriously: "Practice well. There is still half a year before the imperial examination. I believe that your imperial examination performance can be greatly improved..."
Song Yu smiled and said, "This guy's father has forced him to practice the imperial examination since he was a child. In the imperial examination, not to mention the students in the academy, even the teachers are not as good as him. There is less than half a year left before the imperial examination. Even if he doesn't practice, no one can snatch his title of the imperial examination away..."
Li Nuo said solemnly: "Learning is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. Don't underestimate other students. Since Zhou Yu has such strengths, he should practice harder. Anyway, he has worked hard for more than ten years, so half a year won't make a difference. If he is overtaken by others in half a year because of laziness, won't he regret it for the rest of his life?"
Zhou Yu must be promoted.
The Imperial Examination is different from other examinations. After becoming officials, the court certainly has no time to continue honing their driving skills.
These students who have not yet passed the imperial examination, to some extent, represent the pinnacle of the imperial examination.
If even Zhou Yu, who is at the top of the driving skills, is looked down upon by Fadian, then who can Li Nuo turn to?
So Zhou Yu must practice hard.
Even if not for Zhou Yu himself, I have to practice for him.
Zhou Yu was deeply moved by these words of encouragement.
Brother Li is of such status and can say such words, it is obvious that he really regards him as a friend.
The expression on his face also became serious, and he said: "Brother Li, don't worry, I will practice diligently and will not let you down!"
(End of this chapter)
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