"The so-called Debate of the Classics is to use the scriptures as the topic. Two people ask questions and one answers. The questions are all from the Confucian classics, and the person being asked has to explain the meaning within. These classics include but are not limited to the Thirteen Classics. When Prime Minister Qin was young, he was famous in the capital city for his Debate of the Classics, but he was not as good as the Great Scholar of the Qi Kingdom. If you want to win, not only do you need to memorize the meaning of these classics, you also need to have your own understanding.
"Really two months?" Li Yi asked again with some uncertainty.
"An emperor does not joke." Jing Emperor nodded with a faint smile.
Li Yi touched his nose and pretended to be enlightened. "Your Majesty, I suddenly remembered that I seem to … know a little about classics."
"You have to think about it carefully. Those classics are enough to fill half a room. The great scholar of the Qi Kingdom has been studying classics all his life. Even the Grand Scholar of the Hongwen School may not be able to beat him in classics. If you lose, I will not punish you. I will allow you to take Yongning out of the palace. Just pretend that I never said anything."
Li Yi secretly despised Jing Emperor. Just now, he said that an emperor does not joke. In the blink of an eye, he wanted to go back on his words. If it were not for his identity, he would have spat at him with contempt.
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. It happens that I have some confidence in classics." Li Yi looked at Jing Emperor and said with a smile.
Jing Emperor's face finally showed a trace of seriousness. "Are you serious?"
"Two months? Your Majesty is also serious?" Li Yi said again.
Since it was a deal, he had to confirm the chips again and again.
Jing Emperor thought for a moment and nodded. "Tomorrow morning, I will send someone to pick you up. If you can win for me again, I will raise your title by one level. You will become a county uncle at the age of twenty. I am afraid that the capital will be shocked. What do you think?"
"I will go back to prepare." The title of nobility was not important. Even if he were to be promoted one rank higher, he would only be a county earl. It was far from being comparable to a duke. Li Yi cupped his fists and prepared to leave. After taking two steps, he seemed to have thought of something and turned back.
"What other requests do you have?" Jing Di looked at him and asked.
"I don't have any request …" Li Yi's expression was a little puzzled. He looked at Emperor Jing and asked, "I just want to ask Your Majesty, what are the Thirteen Scriptures?"
"…"
"Was I too hasty this time?" Li Yi had been gone for a while. Jing Di rubbed his eyebrows and asked with some doubt.
"Your Majesty, can you allow this old servant to say something?" Changde, who was usually silent in front of Emperor Jing, suddenly said.
Emperor Jing waved his hand and said, "You don't have to be so polite between us."
Chang De thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, do you think that County Magistrate Li will agree to something that he has no confidence in?"
Emperor Jing was stunned for a moment. He shook his head and said, "From the moment I began to pay attention to him until now, except for the incident where he beat the King of Shu, which surprised me, he has always been calm in doing things. He would not easily take risks if he was not 100% sure."
"In that case, Your Majesty doesn't have to worry." Changde said with a smile.
Jing Di thought for a while and smiled. He nodded and said, "I was thinking too much. Let's see what kind of surprise he will give me, the court officials, and the people of my Jing Kingdom tomorrow …"
…
…
When they came back from the Hall of Diligent Government, they left a little of every dish for themselves. Li Yi ate and asked MIngzhu, "How do I get to Hongwen Building?"
"What are you going to Hongwen Building for?" MIngzhu asked with her eyebrows raised.
Hongwen Building was the national library. Most of the people in the building were old scholars who managed and corrected books. In her opinion, Li Yi did not look like a person who liked to read.
Li Yi glanced at her and said, "Your Majesty asked me to debate with Great Scholar tomorrow. I have to go and see what it is …"
MIngzhu's beautiful eyes widened. "Debate? You?"
"What's wrong with me?" Li Yi looked at her discontentedly. "Don't look down on me. Who says that the older you are, the more powerful you are. This era belongs to the young people. Don't you understand that the later waves of the Yangtze River beat the waves in front?"
MIngzhu asked with furrowed brows, "Are you serious? You have already won the poetry contest; there is no point in trying to show off. Do you think you are better than Prime Minister Qin and Grand Scholar Zhou when it comes to the interpretation of the scriptures? "
Li Yi snorted, "You will know how good I am in the future."
MIngzhu looked at him, a suspicious expression on her face. It was not his style to debate the interpretation of the scriptures with Great Scholar Sect for no reason. She looked at Li Yi and asked, "What benefit did my father give you?"
Li Yi put down his chopsticks and sighed. He looked at her and said earnestly, "What benefits can there be? As a citizen of the Jing Kingdom, you must always take the rejuvenation of the country as your responsibility. How can you disregard the honor and disgrace of the country? You must be able to stand up for the country at critical moments. Even if you have to sacrifice yourself, you will not hesitate …"
"Did my father agree to promote you to a higher official rank?" MIngzhu asked again.
"Not a higher official rank, just a title …"
…
…
The Hongwen Building was the place where the officials of the imperial court retired, so it had always been a leisurely place. Besides a few old scholars, there were only some servants who did the chores here. Once in a while, some young officials who were disliked would be transferred here. Soon after, they would either resign or find a way to be transferred to another place. It was evident how boring it was to work here.
The Hongwen Building was not as peaceful as it used to be today. The scholars were baffled as they looked at the young man walking around in the building from a distance. He didn't even read the books but merely touched the bookshelves casually.
"What's wrong with Li Xianzi?"
"Why did he come to our Hongwen Building? Why is the Princess by his side?"
"What is he doing there? The books are all the scriptures. If he is reading the books, why don't I see him reading them? Is it possible that he can memorize all the contents of the books by touching them casually?"
"I'm not sure. It's said that this Li Xianzi suffers from some kind of hysteria. It looks like the rumor is true. We shouldn't provoke him, otherwise …"
Thinking of the miserable fate of the King of Shu, the scholars immediately retreated more than ten steps.
"What are you doing?" MIngzhu, who was standing beside Li Yi, couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"
"You don't understand. The competition is tomorrow, so I need to familiarize myself with it today …" As Li Yi spoke, he picked up another book. At the same time, a book appeared out of thin air on the bookshelf in his mind. Li Yi put down the book and picked up another one …
"Familiarize, familiarize …"
Li Mingzhu looked at him and shook her head helplessly. No matter when or where, he always did things out of the blue, and no one could guess what he was thinking.
However, looking at his appearance, it seemed that he was already confident of winning the competition tomorrow.
MIngzhu shook her head and didn't think too much about it. Thinking that he wouldn't finish in a short while, she simply walked out of the hall and waited …
The Hongwen Building was unusually quiet. Only a few footsteps could be heard from time to time. However, outside the Imperial Palace, the people in the Capital City were already boiling because of a certain piece of news.
Li Xianzi had defeated the Qi Kingdom in the poetry competition today and won back some ground for the Jing Kingdom, which made the people in the Capital City heave a sigh of relief.
The two poems he composed in the Golden Hall had already been posted. When the palindrome poems, which could be read vertically and backwards, were published, it not only blinded the eyes of countless people, but also made countless scholars exclaim in admiration. It turned out that poems could be composed in this way!
In addition, some gossip that people took delight in came out from various brothels in the Capital City.
For example, Zhao Xiuwen of the Kingdom of Qi, who was known as the "Best Poet in a Thousand Years", did not even manage to compose a poem today. The moment he saw Li Xianzi's poem, he immediately admitted defeat and admitted that he was "ashamed of his inferiority". He even asked for Li Xianzi's poem manuscript back …
Of course, some people also revealed that Zhao Xiuwen was actually one of the admirers of Li Xianzi's poems. He carried Li Xianzi's poetry collection with him and could only fall asleep after reading Li Xianzi's poems several times at night …
For the people in the Capital City, what could be more satisfying than winning today's competition?
Of course there was.
That was, they not only had to win, but they had to win beautifully. They had to win so that the people of the Qi Kingdom would be convinced. And Li Xianzi had achieved this.
On this day, the haze and worry on the faces of the people in the Capital City was swept away. There was no longer any depression in their hearts. On this day, the brothels in the Capital City were almost full. Scholars and scholars recited poems and tried their best to release their passion. On this day, countless girls in the boudoir were holding a copy of the "Collection of the Bright Moon". They copied the latest poem, "The Duanwu of the Huan Xi Sha", and their faces were flushed as they recited the words "Beauty meets for a thousand years" …
On this day, Li Yi, the County Magistrate of Chang 'an, became famous in the Capital City!
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