Chapter 150: Who Is the Goddess? |
All the Grand Secretaries collectively became honest.
Just like how "An Exhortation to Learning" was undoubtedly first place back then, and no one could compete with it on the same level, this "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo" also left this examination without suspense.
If "Ode to the Mountains and Rivers of Great Yu" scored 9.5 points, then "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo" scored a perfect 100.
Originally, they had intended to create advantages for Sun Qian and tailor first place for him, but they never expected to force out such an immortal masterpiece.
The Prince of Jin even privately asked Gu Yixin: This "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo" is certainly excellent, but is it really incomparable?
He was still fantasizing.
In terms of visual impression, he felt that "Ode to the Mountains and Rivers of Great Yu" was equally good.
"Originating from Kunlun's mystical garden, pouring down the jade streams of constellations.
Splitting the Qilian and opening vast chasms, piercing through Qin and Long, flowing down Dragon Gate.
These descriptions weren't necessarily much worse than "graceful as a startled swan, gentle as a wandering dragon," right?
Laypeople really would think this way.
But Gu Yixin immediately pointed out the essential difference between the two.
Sun Qian's composition was like a twenty-year-old who already had ten thousand books in his chest, knew all historical allusions, and had read books so thoroughly that he could draw upon them effortlessly—a good student that all the Grand Secretaries would be proud to have as a disciple.
His essay was like an immortal personally descending to the divine realm, generously recounting what he encountered and witnessed to mortals.
To put it more plainly:
"Originating from Kunlun," "pouring down constellations," "nurturing spiritual veins," "hidden dragons"—these were borrowing classical allusions, paying homage to predecessors.
But "graceful as a startled swan, gentle as a wandering dragon"; "obscured like light clouds veiling the moon, drifting like flowing wind returning snow"—who had used such expressions before?
"Ode to the Goddess of the Luo" had a plagiarism rate of zero percent!
This was where the Grand Secretaries' vision differed from ordinary people.
When reading literature, one must not only look at the work itself but also whether it has pioneering and original qualities.
Don't talk about how the Yangtze's later waves push the former waves forward.
In any field, the first one is always the most impressive.
No matter how excellent derivative works are, they're still secondary creations.
Those who borrow can never qualify to trample on those who opened the path.
This resulted in everyone's thoughts being entirely focused on that work destined to be passed down through generations during the third day's policy essay grading.
Leader of the literary world—there was no doubt about it anymore.
Moreover, someone who could write such an article might not even want to lead this literary world.
Song Shi'an was bound to make all the scholars of this era pale in comparison.
"Teacher Gu, do you think this Luo River goddess has a real prototype?" someone asked for guidance.
"There must definitely be a prototype." Before Gu Yixin could speak, Sun Kang said with considerable certainty, "Clearly, there's someone in reality who makes Song Shi'an yearn deeply, thinking of her day and night, which is why he poured so much emotion into her and wrote such a goddess with flowing ease."
"Mm." Gu Yixin also agreed with this view. "The ethereal woman Song Shi'an described in 'Ode to the Goddess of the Luo' should correspond to a noble and beautiful woman in reality."
"Isn't Song Shi'an's hobby listening to music at pleasure quarters and courtesans?" someone wondered. "Could it be someone from the red-light district?"
"You dare place this ode on a prostitute—what were you thinking!" One person unhappily raised his finger and harshly criticized and scolded.
That person also felt embarrassed and didn't talk back.
"He's just over twenty years old—how many women has he even met?" Sun Kang speculated. "The most beautiful one should be the Minister's youngest daughter he saw at Minister Sun's estate, right?"
"Noble, beautiful, and carrying divine qualities—it's indeed quite appropriate."
"Yes, beauties of the realm come from Jiangnan, and Minister Sun's youngest daughter is the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan. This is entirely possible."
"Perhaps it's also a way of showing goodwill?"
"Or even a marriage proposal."
"But then how do we explain the 'po' character?"
"Po—soul, plus the fact that she disappeared at the end—could it be talking about a ghost?"
"This explanation is very reasonable... Does Song Shi'an have such tragic experiences at such a young age?"
"What other meaning does 'po' have? Dregs—that's derogatory."
Just as everyone was speculating, Gu Yixin slowly said: "The place where the moon has no light is called 'po'."
When he said this, everyone seemed to think it made some sense too.
Like the soul interpretation, it was also a reasonable explanation.
"Then the woman Song Shi'an likes is...?"
But everyone was still completely confused, looking toward Gu Yixin.
The old man was immediately speechless and asked back: "How would I know who he likes?"
………
The scholars at the Imperial Academy were working hard to grade the policy essays—nearly a hundred per person per day, their eyes about to blur, their fingers about to smoke from all the page-turning.
Policy essays were different from lyrical compositions—they directly examined one's ability to govern "on paper."
But don't look down on this "armchair strategizing." The reason Zhao Kuo could be crowned with the title of "armchair strategist" was precisely to acknowledge his ability in a certain aspect—his level of armchair strategizing was exceptionally high.
Being able to thoroughly explain military strategy and make others feel you truly have substance requires considerable skill.
Therefore, the differences in quality were vast.
While differences in depth of thought could be observed, literary skill was also required.
That's right—policy essays also needed to be beautifully written.
For a time online, the "shenlun style" became popular, and quite a few masters emerged. Writing shenlun essays on the earth itself was the highest praise. Those who tried to follow the trend and imitate the shenlun style could also be distinguished at a glance by their quality. This shows that genuine official writing isn't something just anyone can produce.
Having both depth and literary skill, plus excellent calligraphy—possessing all of these simultaneously, maybe one in ten existed, and they went directly into the top two hundred of yi-grade.
Of course, there was also a prerequisite—a clean paper.
However, this didn't even need to be mentioned. For jinshi examination papers, this wasn't a bonus point item but a mandatory requirement.
So when seeing a paper with black smudges directly on it, the grading scholar immediately showed disgust...
Fortunately, the calligraphy was good.
"The Wealth of Nations"... What an arrogant title, but truly attention-grabbing.
One grading scholar was directly attracted and read carefully.
Reading on, he felt the ruthless vigor within.
This was all excellent strategies for governing the nation.
For this examination, the Grand Secretaries had all said not to worry about anything—if it's well-written and can make money for the court, then it's good.
This "Wealth of Nations" was entirely about scheming wealth for the emperor.
Good essay, absolutely a good essay.
The black smudges were no longer very important.
After finishing it, he wrote without thinking in the suggested grade section: jia-grade.
Another scholar cross-grading this paper had exactly the same mental journey—first angered by those arrogant black smudges, but while reading, became satisfied.
Similarly: jia-grade.
After finishing, this scholar browsed through it again and confirmed a fact.
Isn't this damn well the jieyuan kid who wrote "Strategy for Military Farming"?
………
The day before the examination results were posted, morning.
In the Scholar's Inn, the better-quality rooms were basically all filled.
After all, these weren't poor xiucai coming to take the examination—at minimum they were candidate officials, or rather young and promising juren who were clerks in key departments. Everyone's financial resources were decent.
After arriving in the capital and forming groups, their small circles were basically organized by region.
Some were from the same county.
When certain counties produced few candidates, it was the same commandery.
From the same place and being juren of the same period—that was no different from being blood brothers, naturally inseparable.
By a second-floor window, Fan Wuji and Gao Yunyi were together, watching the marketplace life while chatting casually.
"Fan-xiong, do you think we'll be jinshi of the same class?" Gao Yunyi asked.
"I certainly hope so," Fan Wuji said.
"Among military descendants, are there jinshi?" Gao Yunyi asked.
"Aren't there quite a few? Though not many," Fan Wuji said. "If one emerges per cohort, that's about right."
"Then Fan-xiong, will you still go to the military?"
"You're already thinking about after becoming a jinshi?"
"Of course I have to think about it." Gao Yunyi smiled, then said in a low voice: "If we're jinshi of the same court, should we form an alliance?"
Fan Wuji turned his head, slowly looking at him.
After their eyes met, they both turned back.
"What are you thinking?"
Fan Wuji asked.
"His Majesty won at Shuofeng, land reform is inevitable," Gao Yunyi said. "Since it's reform, naturally old bureaucrats can't be used."
"When power changes hands is also when carp leap through the dragon gate," Fan Wuji said.
"You think so too?" Gao Yunyi said.
"But don't rashly become part of the Song faction," Fan Wuji said. "He acts without regard for consequences—too dangerous."
"Now is the best time to become part of the Song faction, you know," Gao Yunyi reminded.
Fan Wuji also reminded: "His Majesty also needs people. The Prince of Wu also needs people."
The two were considering risks.
Power emerges through struggle.
But the whirlpool of struggle is also full of deadly dangers—one wrong step and the whole family is finished.
Their family backgrounds weren't bad; they didn't need to gamble on achieving merit from following the dragon.
But pledging allegiance to the Prince of Wu to participate in the "succession struggle" didn't seem bad.
After all, investing now was already considered slow—they wouldn't reach the front ranks. If they lost and were liquidated later, how would it fall on those in the second or even third tier?
Don't blame them for being timid.
Actually, being able to make a decision was already very brave.
At least they'd made a choice between Wu and Jin, hadn't they?
Just then, on the road below, a group of young nobles descended from several carriages, traveling together.
"A group of Yangzhou people," Gao Yunyi introduced. "Received by Sun Qian, touring Sheng'an."
"Han Zhongchen, that Si Prefecture man, is also mixed in with them."
Fan Wuji saw the "traitor of Si" and felt disgusted.
"All the young masters from prominent Yangzhou families participating in the jinshi examination are being received by the Minister," Gao Yunyi said. "All expenses in the capital are covered by the Minister's estate."
"That's really high-profile," even Fan Wuji felt the Sun clan was going a bit too far.
"If Sun Qian becomes zhuangyuan, wouldn't that be something?" Gao Yunyi showed a teasing smile. "This group would also bask in reflected glory."
"Seems like it's not as simple as ordinary hospitality," Fan Wuji murmured.
"If I were... cough cough."
After manually muting the keyword, Gao Yunyi said forcefully: "Except for Sun Qian, I'd fail all the rest of these Yangzhou people."
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