Chapter 167 Secret Calculation
Song Mansion.
Inside the courtyard.
Li Nuo sat beside the stone table. An old man with white hair and beard stood beside him, bending over respectfully and asking him something from time to time.
Li Anning sat in a small pavilion not far away, supporting his chin with one hand, watching the scene without blinking.
Painter Chen had been a court painter for decades, and had even once been the chief painter of the palace. When he was young, he was a famous painter in Chang'an. But he actually asked Li Nuo for advice on painting like a student...
Could it be that Li Nuo was good at flower and bird painting, and the spring exam happened to test his weak points?
What if the imperial examination really involves flower and bird painting..., thinking of the possibility, a smile appeared on her face.
Painter Chen clasped his hands together, bowed to Li Nuo as a disciple, and said gratefully: "Thank you for your guidance, Master. I never thought that I would be able to see such a masterpiece in my lifetime. I will die with peace of mind..."
Li Nuo touched his nose embarrassedly. All the existing painting masters in Daxia were captured by him, and all the portraits were integrated into one. Isn't it a culmination of work?
Painter Chen asked again: "Excuse me, Master, do you know Zhao Yuan, Liu Qian, Shen Nian... and other masters?"
Li Nuo didn't even know the names of some of them. Hearing this, he said, "I don't know them, but I have studied their works."
Painter Chen sighed secretly.
He lived for sixty years in vain, and only today he realizes how vast the world is.
How many people in the art of painting spend their entire lives pursuing a state that is easily achieved by others.
Painter Chen left the Song Mansion.
Before leaving, he left behind a stack of banknotes.
He was originally here to give instructions to others.
I didn't expect that I would be the one being pointed out in the end.
He doesn't deserve this money.
Li Nuo picked up the stack of banknotes and counted them, then looked at Li An Ning and asked, "For this trip, you gave them three thousand taels of silver?"
Li Anning snatched the banknote from his hand and said, "This is what I saved myself. I can spend it however I want."
Although she was a princess, her only income was the salary from the royal family.
Three thousand taels of silver was not a small sum for her.
She just thought the money was worth spending.
Li Anning glanced at Li Nuo and asked, "Where's your wife?"
Li Nuo said: "I went out with Mu'er and should be back soon."
Li An Ning put away the banknote and said, "I'm leaving now. You should study hard and don't be lazy..."
She had already walked out of the door, but she stopped, turned back, and reminded him again: "Don't be lazy!"
Not long after Li Anning left, several figures walked into the courtyard.
Li Nuo turned his head and took a look, then said, "President Tang, gentlemen, long time no see..."
The visitors were Tang Xian, the president of Qingfeng Academy, and several old gentlemen. They came to deliver the academy uniform and student ID card to Li Nuo.
When registering for the spring exam, candidates need to fill in the name of their preferred college.
Most people would choose one of the four major academies. If one could rank in the top 100 in the spring exam, they could be admitted directly.
Even if you rank after 100 and cannot enter the four major academies, it will not affect your entry into other small academies.
Li Nuo filled out the application for Qingfeng Academy at that time. Usually, after the spring exam, candidates need to go to the academy to register themselves.
Li Nuo accepted the admission gifts and said with a smile, "I'm sorry, I was quite busy these past two days and didn't go to the academy. I'd like to trouble you gentlemen and Dean Tang to go there..."
Tang Xian smiled and said, "Mr. Li, please don't say that. It is our honor to have you enter Qingfeng Academy."
Mr. Chen clasped his fists and said, "Congratulations to Mr. Li for getting first place in the spring exam."
After the other three old men congratulated Li Nuo, they also looked at him with disbelief.
Getting first place in the spring exam is nothing, but the only person who got first place in six subjects in the spring exam was Li Xuanjing back then.
They are truly father and son.
After some pleasantries, Tang Xian looked at Li Nuo and asked, "Mr. Li, are you going to take part in the imperial examination this year?"
Li Nuo nodded.
The reason Tang Xian came to Song Mansion today was actually to confirm this matter.
In previous imperial examinations, registration closed one month in advance. This year, due to changes in the rules, the spring examination was moved to before the imperial examination, and the registration deadline was pushed back a lot.
All major academies are required to submit the list of candidates taking part in this imperial examination before February 20th at the latest.
In fact, most of the candidates who pass the spring examination will not take part in the imperial examination.
Every student has three opportunities to take the imperial examination in his or her lifetime, and the age cannot exceed 40 years old.
The candidates who have just passed the spring examination and entered the academy are far inferior to those students who have studied in the academy for many years in terms of ability. Even if they take part in the imperial examination, it would be a waste of opportunity.
He was the top scorer in the spring exam. If he were to take the exam later, he would have four more years to study, allowing him to achieve a higher ranking and have a higher starting point for his career.
Moreover, the competition in this imperial examination was extremely fierce. Many students in the academy chose to avoid it. They would rather wait another four years than compete with the geniuses of this session.
After listening to Tang Xian's words, Li Nuo smiled and said, "It's okay, Dean Tang can just help me sign up. At worst, I can come back in four years."
After hearing this, Tang Xian did not try to persuade him any further and talked to him about some things related to the imperial examination.
The new batch of students were originally supposed to officially enroll after passing the imperial examination.
But Li Nuo wants to take part in this imperial examination, and the academy will arrange early admission for him.
During this period, he could go to the academy or not. After the imperial examination documents were completed, Tang Xian would deliver them to him personally.
The imperial examination was approaching, and knowing that Li Nuo needed to concentrate on preparing for the exam, the few people did not disturb Li Nuo and quickly said goodbye and left.
After leaving the Song Mansion and getting on the carriage back to the academy, Mr. Lu murmured, "Do you think Mr. Li can pass the imperial examination for the first time?"
Mr. Chen said, "Being the first in the spring exam is nothing, but being the first in five subjects with excellent results has never happened in history. In my opinion, Mr. Li will have no problem getting into high school. It's just a pity that if he waits another four or eight years, the top scorer will definitely go to our Qingfeng Academy..."
In fact, the top scorer in every imperial examination would mostly come from the four major academies.
To be precise, they are the three major academies: Qingfeng, Dongshan and Beixi.
Because Yunmeng Academy tends to train military generals, it almost always sweeps the top scorers in archery and imperial examinations every session, while the top scorers in the imperial examinations are produced in the other three academies.
The situation of this imperial examination was different. It happened to be the time when the young talents of the major wealthy families came of age. It could be said that there were many shining stars. And those wealthy families all had their own academies. It was undoubtedly very difficult for the four major academies to get the top scholar.
If you can get one of the top scorers in six subjects, you are already lucky.
The top wealthy families could hire calligraphers to teach their children calligraphy, painting masters to teach them painting, music, archery, and imperial examinations. They also carefully trained them from a young age. How could the students in the academy beat them in the exams...
Song Mansion.
Li Nuo sat in the room and casually wrote a few lines on a piece of paper.
Gu Yanran’s portrait was not lit up. Although his handwriting was not ugly, it was not very beautiful either.
A great calligrapher is not necessarily a painter, but a master of painting can generally write good calligraphy.
Li Nuo had hoped that he could turn calligraphy into a permanent skill this time, but the result was a bit disappointing.
Logically speaking, even if the calligraphy of these masters of painting cannot reach the top level, it can at least be considered first-class and should be able to meet the requirements of the code.
Could it be that their calligraphy abilities combined did not meet the requirements to be integrated into a permanent skill, but they were forcibly integrated, so they did not show it...
This is just Li Nuo's guess based on experience. Whether it is true or not needs further verification.
The reason why he wanted to make calligraphy permanent was not because he was reluctant to give up his life that day, but he always felt insecure. He only knew Xiao Gu's hairpin-flowered small regular script. If hairpin-flowered small regular script was banned in the imperial examination, wouldn't he be finished?
Although this possibility is very small.
But it’s not impossible.
In order to target him, those people have done things like directly changing the rules to get rid of the root of the problem.
Yongshou Marquis Mansion.
Yongshou Hou sat on a chair, looked at the people around him, and asked, "What should I do? Do you have any good ideas? I have already asked several examiners of the six subjects. With his results in the spring exam, if nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely pass the imperial examination..."
Without an official position, he was already lawless. Now that he has an official position and Li Xuanjing is protecting him, how can he be allowed to do that? "
Lantian Hou said, "What good solution can we have? Those court painters have already been warned, and we can't stop him from taking the imperial examination..."
At this time, another person said: "Although we can't stop him from taking the imperial examination, we can stop him from passing it..."
Yongshou Hou looked at him and immediately said, "What good ideas do you have, Fengyang Hou? Tell me now!"
A man in fancy clothes stroked his beard and said, "I have investigated. Li Xuanjing's son can write in a hairpin-shaped small regular script that even women would be ashamed of. But other than that, his other handwriting is unbearable to look at. If we work on his handwriting, are we still afraid that he will pass the exam?"
Yongshou Hou said: "Please give more details."
Fengyang Hou stood up and said, "As far as I know, there are very few men who practice hairpin flower small regular script. There is no way to cheat in the three subjects of music and archery. However, calligraphy, essay, mathematics, and etiquette all require writing. As long as you can bribe the examiners of the examination hall where he is, they will lower the score when they see hairpin flower small regular script, and would rather kill the wrong person than let him go. Even if he can still pass the calligraphy subject, he will never be on the list of Jinshi..."
Lantian Hou thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to lower the score in mathematics, and the possibility of lowering the score in etiquette is not great either. There are indeed articles to write in the literature category, and the easiest one to start with is calligraphy. It would be great if calligraphy could ban the use of hairpin-flowered small regular script..."
Yongshou Hou shook his head and said, "This is not something we can decide."
Fengyang Hou smiled and said, "But someone can decide..."
The examination questions for each imperial examination are set and reviewed by dedicated personnel.
The people who set the questions and examiners for calligraphy must be well versed in calligraphy. They may be officials in the court, teachers in academies, or famous calligraphers.
There are three subjects in Le Yu Archery, and the examination format is fixed.
However, for the three subjects of literature, mathematics and etiquette, the question setters and examiners have a certain degree of autonomy.
Fengyang Hou looked at everyone and said, "The person who set the questions and the chief examiner for this imperial calligraphy examination is Mr. Wei. Don't forget, at whose hands did Mr. Wei's son die..."
Dali Temple.
A young man walked into the Dali Temple, bowed, and said to the elegant man behind the desk: "Sir, the young master has captured many painting masters through the Mingjing Division and asked them to write down their painting experiences. Just now, Butler Wu started to inquire about the calligraphy masters in Chang'an..."
Li Xuanjing said calmly: "It doesn't matter, just help the young master catch whoever he wants to catch."
After a while, the young man left the yamen.
He felt sad in his heart that the young master was making trouble and the adults just let him do it. Now, I'm afraid no one would dare to pass by the door of Mingjingsi.
After the young man left, Li Xuanjing looked at the list in front of him.
Gu Yanran, daughter of Gu Wenhan.
Han Zhuo from Qingfeng Academy.
The top scorer in music exam was Liu Shang.
Zhou Ting, a doctor in the Imperial Guard.
Lu Sheng, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites.
In addition to these, there are many other names on this piece of paper, such as Zhao Yuan, Liu Qian, Shen Nian...
…
A meaningful smile appeared on his face. He raised his head and looked into the void in front of him, his gaze lingering for a long time.
But there was nothing there.
(End of this chapter)
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