But seeing this senior sitting upright and still write a hundred characters at a moderate pace, the young man was a bit anxious. He reminded in a small voice, "Sir, can you write a bit faster?"
Duke Yansheng nodded and smiled, "Okay."
Seeing that he really did speed up, the young man who was worried that the ink stick would not be enough to finish copying the inscriptions let out a sigh of relief. But after that person wrote another two hundred characters, the young man could only thicken his skin and say, "Sir …"
Duke Yansheng said apologetically, "I know, faster."
As time went on, the young man started to get anxious again. But it did not happen more than three times. He really did not have the face to nag this kind senior scholar. But today, he had finally managed to get a place to copy the inscriptions. He might not be so lucky tomorrow. The capital had a night ban. Only those who were close to the water pavilion could do it.
Only those who were from the Imperial College could make the government turn a blind eye and let them copy the inscriptions in the night. And even if he was lucky enough to study at the Imperial College, he really did not want to spend money on lamp oil. So, he could only get a place under the hot sun.
Although he did not raise his head, he seemed to have sensed the young man's anxiety. The scholar wrote as he said, "It really cannot be faster."
The young man probably had nothing left to lose. He gritted his teeth and smiled, "Sir, there is no rush."
That middle-aged Confucian scholar seemed to have taken advantage of the situation and said in a serious tone, "Writing and writing, reading and studying, these are all things that take a lifetime to do. Slow down and be more solid, then you will be able to see results."
The young man whose legs were numb sat on the ground. After hearing the somewhat sour scholar's words, he could not help but laugh, "Sir is right."
Duke Yansheng did not take his eyes off the inscriptions. As he wrote, he smiled and asked, "Listening to your accent, you are from Beiliang?"
The young man made a sound of acknowledgment and said softly, "I come from Yanzhi County in Youzhou. I failed the examination."
Duke Yansheng continued to ask, "What, you did not find Sir Chen or Sir Yan of Dongyuan Pavilion? Or you can find the Imperial College's Left Chancellor, Sir Yao. These are all important figures from Beiliang. It is said that they have taken great care of the scholars of Beiliang. "
The young man said frankly, "It's not that I haven't thought about it. It's just that I can't enter the Imperial College. As for the Grand Secretary's mansion and Chen Shaobao's home, it would probably be even more difficult. Everyone in the capital said that the Prime Minister's concierge was a seventh-ranked official. I was a thin-skinned person. I was afraid that I wouldn't even dare to knock on the door after walking for more than a dozen li.
Besides, if I have the time to go back and forth, I might as well copy more scriptures. "
Duke Yansheng smiled and said, "From what you said, he doesn't seem to be an impatient person. Why?"
The young man said awkwardly, "I'm always thinking that I can write faster so that I can use less ink. We are not like you scholars in the capital who pay attention to thick ink, thin ink, withered brush and thirsty brush. Like my fellow countrymen who study hard in Beiliang, they dip their fingers in the water by the stream and write on the limestone. To the ground with a reed pole
To write. In the winter, in the snow, holding a broom can also be used to write. Hey, in the capital, even if it is snowing, at my place, there is still some snow in front of the door. Early in the morning, every house has to clean it up. "
Duke Yansheng smiled knowingly and half-jokingly said, "You said that the people in the capital pay attention to a lot of things. Then I really have to tell you something. No matter if it is the Metropolitan Examination or the Palace Examination, writing requires a lot of knowledge. For example, when the Song father and son presided over the Imperial Examination in the early years, there was a difference in the rankings between articles written in the Song style or not. As for the next Imperial Examination in the spring, if nothing goes wrong, the Minister of Rites, Sima Pihua, and the Left Assistant Minister, Jin Lanting, will be in charge. Among them, Sima Pihua's writing was previously ignored. After he became the Minister of Rites, 'naturally' it became more widespread. Although it is not easy to copy, it is not too difficult either. Remember, there is no big mistake in using regular script. As to that Jin Third Lang, he is proud and arrogant. He is not interested in writing at all. "
Even a hawker selling tanghulu in the capital dared to say that he had seen seven or eight of them. The young man was not surprised by the kind words of a Confucian scholar. He gratefully said, "This student will remember."
Duke Yansheng nodded and said, "It is very good that you are not pedantic. You cannot be a scholar. "
The young person couldn't help but laugh again.
Duke Yansheng suddenly asked, "In the last Palace Examination, there seemed to be no scholars from Beiliang?"
The young person made a sound of acknowledgement and did not speak. Great Peace City was well aware of the inside story. One reason was that the Liyang imperial court had limited the number of scholars from Beiliang in the Imperial Examination. The other reason was that in the last Imperial Examination, the new King of Liang had succeeded in inheriting the throne. The refusal to accept the imperial edict had made things difficult for the Imperial Court. If the scholars of Beiliang wanted to stand out, they did not have the right time, place, and people.
The young person thought and grimaced. "Of the five people who came to Jing together, four of them went back at the beginning of this spring. The Lower Maji Post Station will give travel expenses for the scholars of Beiliang who have fallen behind. So the four of them gave the rest of their money to me. In reality, their morals are not any worse than mine."
Duke Yansheng was puzzled. "Why did they go back? You will have a much smoother time in the next Imperial Examination. Even if you did not know this … … the five of you came thousands of li to Jing, why didn't you try? Also, wasn't Beiliang going to war at the time? "
The young person grinned and said, "That is why we went back."
Duke Yansheng stopped writing and was deep in thought. He turned and asked, "If I may ask, how is your King of Beiliang?"
The young person said self-mockingly, "I am a poor scholar. In Beiliang, other than two county magistrates, I have never seen any high officials. I do not dare to comment on the good or bad of the King."
Duke Yansheng returned the brush to the scholar of Beiliang.
The two switched places.
This time, the young person was not in a hurry to write. He looked at the stone stele close to him and then turned to the scholar whose identity he could not guess. "Teacher, do you know how many stone steles we have in Beiliang? Maybe one day, there will be more than all the stone steles in the Imperial College. I am staying here not because I am afraid of death, but because I am afraid that there will only be Beiliang people like Jin Lanting in the Imperial Court. I am afraid that all of Liyang will think that we Beiliang scholars are all as bad as Jin Lanting! I have been weak and sickly since I was young. If I go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, I am afraid that I will only become a Beimang barbarian. But if I stay here, maybe I can only say this to you today, but maybe one day, even if Beiliang is gone, I can still say this to a hundred or a thousand teachers. "
Duke Yansheng did not say anything else. He stood up and walked a few steps. He turned to look at the thin back of the young Beiliang scholar.
This young person who had urged the scholar twice to write faster would never have thought that there could be a few or even a dozen emperors in the world at the same time. But for eight hundred years, or even a thousand years later, there was only one Saint of the Zhang family, Duke Yansheng, from generation to generation.
At this time, the young person who was focused on copying the book did not notice that there were thousands of students gathered at the gate of the Imperial College. They were all staring dumbfoundedly at him chatting with the "unknown" scholar.
Under the restrictions of the officials of the Imperial College, no one dared to cross the gate and disturb Duke Yansheng.
On this day, the current Duke Yansheng left the capital.
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