Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 212: Boring and Interesting
Just as Zhang Shou expected, the first young man who came in seemed to be one or two years older than him, but the confusion he felt when he was caught off guard was clearly written on his face. Especially after he performed the ceremony stiffly and the emperor asked the first question, he realized that the young man was stunned.
"Since this is your first time meeting me, then please introduce yourself and tell me about your strengths and weaknesses."
This seems a bit like a self-introduction in an interview...
When Zhang Shou was thinking this, the emperor said with a smile: "When Emperor Taizu was recruiting heroes from all over the world, it is said that every time he met someone, he would ask them to describe themselves, just like I am now. Oh, at that time, the world was in chaos, and they also asked them what martial arts they were good at. It's a pity that later, the imperial examination system became more and more complete, and the emperor rarely had the opportunity to ask his subjects these most simple questions in person."
The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly as he spoke, feeling a little emotional. In the past , those who could come before him were all officials who had a seat in the court. Everyone's resume was clearly laid out before him, but he didn't know their personalities. For example, small details such as hobbies, temperaments, and character that could not be fully explored depended on the little tricks of his father, Emperor Ruizong, at the end of his reign.
His father entrusted such a place to a surrendered minister who was regarded as a northern barbarian by others, but that surrendered minister managed it very well. He still remembered what his father said when he entrusted him with the task before his death.
"I came from a foreign vassal state to rule the world, and many officials and civilians in the world are not obedient in spirit. I have no choice but to use crooked ways to explore the personalities of officials and civilians. When you work hard to govern the country and the world prospers, remember not to use such tricks again."
The emperor did not expect to find out the ministers' secrets, but when people are extremely relaxed, they often reveal their true nature. And a person's true nature will affect the decisions and choices they make. Now that he has been on the throne for 26 years, he had originally planned to completely open up that place, but to his surprise, Zhang Shou actually contributed an interesting idea to Tingyu Cottage!
At this time, the emperor was thinking about these irrelevant things. It was not until he saw the first candidate trembling and failing to express himself clearly that he could not help but frown. Then he looked at Zhang Shou. They were about the same age and had very different family backgrounds. Why was there such a big gap between them?
Zhang Shou was also troubled by the incoherent words of the second son of the Ministry of Works. Seeing the emperor looking at him, he did not care what the emperor meant. He coughed lightly and said in a gentle tone: "What the emperor wants to hear is very simple, for example, who are the people in your family, what books you like to read, what are your hobbies, and what are your ambitions in the future."
Hearing someone talking, Xu Fan, the second son of the Ministry of Works, subconsciously looked in the direction of the voice. When he saw a young man with clear features and eyes like morning stars sitting on the emperor's lower right hand, whose appearance was so handsome that all his peers he had met were eclipsed, his original seven points of nervousness suddenly turned into ten points, and his mind was full of messy questions.
Who is that? Is that one of today's examiners? No, no, this isn't an imperial examination, where does the examiner come from...
After Xu Fan left the Qianqing Palace in a daze, he suddenly came to his senses. What did I just say? What did I just do? This was a rare opportunity for the emperor to meet me, and he even asked me to introduce myself, but I messed it up!
Xu Fan was so annoyed that he almost wanted to die, and he slammed his forehead hard until he heard a cough from the side. He suddenly woke up as if from a dream, and looked to the side in panic, only to see that Lu Chan, the attendant of the Imperial Household Department who had brought him here, smiled at him kindly.
"Mr. Xu, you are the first one. If there is any mistake, don't worry too much. The emperor just said that you just need to practice courage in the future." If today's matter is not serious, there is no need for Lu Chan to take responsibility personally. He said a few words of comfort according to Chu Kuan's secret instructions. Seeing that Xu Fan's face has obviously improved a lot, he smiled and said, "Okay, you can leave the palace first!"
When Xu Fan heard that he didn't need to go back to the corridor room but went out of the palace directly, he regretted it, but at the same time, he felt a little gloating. In this way, the people behind him might not know what happened in front of him, and his embarrassing incident would not be known to everyone. It would be best if everyone was as nervous as he was, so that he could be more mentally balanced.
Perhaps Xu Fan's sincere prayers worked, for the second person's performance was not much better than his. He stuttered and stumbled, and to Zhang Shou it was almost like he was writing an essay in front of the emperor about the members of his family. When it came to his interests and hobbies, he even blurted out that he liked to read the Spring and Autumn Annals, but was speechless after the emperor asked him two questions about the Spring and Autumn Annals.
It was not until the emperor patiently met the fifth boy who had applied for the election that he began to introduce himself calmly. Unlike the other timid boys, he noticed Zhang Shou at the first moment, stared at him for a long time, and then calmly saluted the emperor. When introducing himself, he not only reported the resumes of his three generations of ancestors, but also emphasized their merits.
"Although my grandfather only passed the imperial examination and became a juren, he served as an instructor and was not afraid of the remoteness of the area. He served as a county magistrate in Yunnan and Fujian. He was diligent and cared for the people, and was well-received when he left office. My father passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi. He first served as an official in the Ministry of Personnel, then as a director and a deputy director. Now he is a langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department. He works diligently and has never made any mistakes. I have been influenced by them since I was young..."
Seeing him calmly talking about the books he had read and having already stood out in the college entrance examination and passed the exam as the fifth scholar, Zhang Shou could not help but say in his heart that this man seemed to be a scholar who was devoted to the imperial examination. He guessed that he either wanted to take this opportunity to show himself or he thought that marrying a princess would be beneficial to his future.
As for whether one really wants to marry a princess, it depends on what one expects of his future. Is he satisfied with being a provincial governor, or is he determined to become a prime minister?
He performed very well, so he certainly didn't need to remind him, let alone ask casually. Instead, he sat quietly aside, looking at this young man who seemed to be excellent in every way with interest. After he finished speaking, he was thinking that he had nothing to do, when he suddenly heard the emperor ask: "Zhang Qing, what do you think of this Xiao Lang?"
Zhang Shou was slightly stunned, then he smiled and said, "He is very graceful and eloquent, and can be said to be a talented person."
Being affectionately called "Xiao Lang" by the emperor, Xiao Yun couldn't help but feel excited. Although he tried to suppress his happiness, he couldn't help but show it on his face. Although he had never seen Zhang Shou, he knew who he was by looking at his appearance and hearing the emperor's address of "Zhang Qing". Hearing Zhang Shou's evaluation, he couldn't help but feel even more proud.
Even if Zhang Shou was appointed by the emperor as a doctor of the Imperial Academy, and later promoted to the position of Imperial Academy Attendant and Zuo Zanshan of the Zhanshi Palace, and was about to become the son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao, so what? Could we still lie with open eyes and say that he was not good enough?
When the emperor heard Zhang Shou's evaluation, he suddenly smiled and asked, "How do you think Zhang Shou compares to you?"
When the emperor suddenly asked him what he thought of him, Zhang Shou had a premonition that he was going to do something. Seeing that it was indeed the case, he said calmly: "My grandfather was a commoner, my father was a scholar, my family background is not as good as Mr. Xiao's. I have only been studying for a few years, so I am not as good as Mr. Xiao. I have lived in the countryside for many years and have little experience. I am not as knowledgeable as Mr. Xiao who grew up in the capital."
"I used to stop reading at night for fear of hurting my eyes. I am not as good as Mr. Xiao who never puts down his book and studies day and night. Therefore, I have never taken the imperial examination and have no official title. I am not as good as Mr. Xiao who has already become a student at a young age."
He paused, and seeing that Xiao Yun couldn't even hide his pride, he continued slowly, "I am better than him in only two ways. One is that I have some knowledge of mathematics, so I have a little reputation. The other is that I have some experience in teaching and educating people, and I was lucky enough to be able to make a few prodigals turn back, so I finally lived up to the emperor's trust."
"Zhang Qing is a candid person, no, I should say he is humble." The emperor laughed out loud. Seeing Xiao Yun standing there with a gloomy face, he couldn't help but glance at Zhang Shou. He knocked on the armrest and said, "But you are right. It is rare for Xiao Lang to study hard despite his good family background. By the way, what else is Xiao Lang good at besides poetry and songs?"
Xiao Yun was glancing at Zhang Shou, thinking about the series of "not as good as" he had just said. Was it a veiled praise or a covert criticism? When he heard the emperor ask him what he was good at, he was stunned for a moment, and then he said aloud: "When I was a child, I had some talent for playing the zither, but later my father taught me that playing with things would lead to wasting my ambition. Instead of wasting time on these things, it is better to embark on a career as an official as soon as possible and use all my knowledge to comfort the people. So I gave up the zither art later, and now I am no longer good at it."
"Oh." The emperor nodded slightly, neither saying yes nor no, he just smiled and said, "Come here, give Xiao Lang a new book printed by the Jingchang, you can leave now."
Xiao Yun didn't know what the emperor thought of him, but he didn't dare to delay. After someone gave him a book, he hurriedly thanked the emperor and bowed to leave. When he walked out of the door, he happened to hear Zhang Shou talking to the emperor: "If time is not limited today, I would like to ask for advice from such a young man with a profound family background, hard work and great ambitions."
"There are still more than thirty people behind us. If we delay any further, I'm afraid we won't be able to see them all today."
As the thick door curtain fell, Xiao Yun felt relieved, and his steps became much lighter. By the time he got down the stairs, his mood had completely calmed down. What Zhang Shou said before was just a statement of facts, without any whitewashing, and he had done his best. As for the rest, he would just leave it to fate!
It would be best if he could marry the princess, but if not, at least he left a good impression on the emperor!
After making sure that the person had gone far away, the emperor sighed and said, "If we are selecting a local official, someone like Xiao Yun is certainly good, but he even gave up playing the zither for studying, which shows that he is a relatively old-fashioned person. I am afraid that my daughters and nieces will dislike such a man because he is too rigid and boring."
Zhang Shou couldn't help coughing, and then he said seriously: "Your Majesty, I don't know how to play the piano, chess, calligraphy, or painting, and I'm just a beginner in riding a horse. In fact, I'm a very rigid and boring person at heart."
"Yes, yes. You can say that a dancing beauty is singing to the sky in a place like Tingyu Cottage. If you hadn't met Yingying, what would you do with your life if you are so rigid and boring?" The emperor teased Zhang Shou in a bad mood. Seeing the innocent face of the man, he looked at that gentle and handsome face and suddenly felt that he was exaggerating.
Men love beauties, and women also like handsome men. Don’t say that Zhang Shou is not really boring. Even if he is, I am afraid there are still many girls who are willing to throw themselves into the fire… Ahem, no, not the fire, but the trap!
After Xiao Yun, it was the turn of some students from ordinary families in Banshan Hall. Because some people knew that Zhang Shou would be there to participate in the selection, they pretended to be surprised, and then bowed to Zhang Shou respectfully, showing their respect for their teacher in front of the emperor. Of course, they secretly hoped that Zhang Shou would say something good for them.
The emperor knew about this intention, but when he saw Zhang Shou's helpless face, he was too lazy to expose it. However, what surprised him was that several guys who were obviously descendants of officials but had no good reputation were quite calm when facing his questions, at least they were not stage-frightened.
Someone admitted that he had difficulty studying when he was young and had wasted a lot of time. But when he was asked about his interests again, the person immediately said that he was fascinated by exotic flowers and plants, and talked to him a lot about his thoughts on flowers and plants. In the end, he realized that he had said a lot of nonsense and apologized awkwardly.
Someone admitted that he had limited reading ability and could not remember what was written before and after, but he loved collecting calligraphy works of his predecessors. His home contained at least hundreds of famous and unknown calligraphy works. However, his handwriting was still ugly, which made the emperor laugh.
There were also people who confidently said that after marrying a wife, they would do their best to treat her well and would never take concubines or maids, and would be happy to accept the roar of a lion. Unfortunately, they were choked to death by Zhang Shou's words, "What if she punishes you to kneel on the washboard?" After a long while, they replied angrily, "Beating is love and scolding is care." The emperor then laughed and scolded them and drove them away.
The emperor originally thought that this audience would be like the one with Xiao Yun, where the people below were very awe-inspiring as if they were meeting a distinguished guest, and it would eventually become boring after meeting too many people. However, after meeting more than 20 people, although he had only tea and snacks for lunch, he found it more and more interesting. Finally, when Zhang Wu came in, he heard him introduce himself as the fifth son of Marquis Nanyang, and he could not help but laugh playfully.
"Zhang Wu, I heard Yingying talk about you. I heard that you are the fifth child, and your father named you Wu. Have you ever hated your father for being so lazy and careless, and not caring about you, his son?"
"Your Majesty..." Zhang Wu was completely confused. What kind of question was this? How could the emperor be so tricky?
However, when he saw Zhang Shou, who was sitting next to him, looking relaxed, he suddenly calmed down. It was easy to deny, and it was also easy to describe himself as a filial son, but since Zhang Shou had such an expression and had said before that it was okay to be frank and honest, he made up his mind and immediately lowered his head.
"Your Majesty, I am not a saint, so I naturally had resentment in the past." He took a deep breath, then boldly raised his head and looked directly at the Holy Face, and then said word by word, "But after meeting Dr. Zhang and living in Rongshui Village for so many days, I figured it out. No matter how many sons my father has, I was somewhat neglected in the past, but at least I never suffered from hunger and cold!"
