Three days later, Zhang Chengzhao sent me a court report and told me happily: "The official family has asked Wang Gongchen to return to Yingzhou." ”

The Imperial Newspaper is a news volume edited by the Jinjuyuan, which records the emperor's recent edicts, daily life, the appointment and dismissal of officials, the chapters of the ministers, and the war reports.

I took a look at today's book, and saw that the first item in yesterday's news listed above was: "Wang Gongchen, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, the bachelor of Hanlin, and the bachelor of Longtu Pavilion left Beijing, and he was also the pacification envoy of Gaoyangguan Road, and he still knew Yingzhou." ”

That's to be expected. Now that he knows that he has presented Dingzhou red porcelain to Zhang Guifei, he will not keep him as a Beijing official in anger.

It's a pity that he doesn't actually look like a courtier. I sighed in my heart. Maybe it was because he was isolated and helpless to see Zhang Guifei take the initiative to show goodwill, so he reciprocated with peach, not to mention that he must know what impression his previous actions would leave in the heart of the middle palace, so he showed his inclination towards the lord of the harem with a generous gift, how could he do it too obviously, and committed a big taboo today.

The news contained in the newspaper was extremely brief, and the chapter was only a few important sentences. Looking further down, most of them are someone who has been removed, someone who has moved out, someone who has entered the right and so on, and what is slightly more special is the news about the palace test: "It is planned to be in March Yisi, the Imperial Chongzheng Palace, and the trial department will play the name Jinshi." The following is a list of the top 10 jinshi in the Ministry of Rites.

Zhang Chengzhao leaned over, glanced at the court newspaper, observed my face, and said: "The current court newspaper is not good-looking, everything is brushed over with a stroke, and there are no details." If Su Shunqin was to write Wang Gongchen's departure from Beijing when he was lifting into the Academy, he would definitely describe the incident of smashing Dingzhou red porcelain in anger below. Most of the Jinshi who are named in this ritual department will also have one or two sentences of introduction under each person's name......"

He wasn't wrong. At that time, Su Shunqin edited the court newspaper, and described the major events in great detail, the language was concise, but he was able to explain the cause and effect clearly, and sometimes even attached comments to the end, but he was also impeached because of this, saying that he was arrogantly talking about the court newspaper, and then went up to the emperor and spread it to the Quartet, which was not only a matter of overstepping the times, but also an attempt to speak for the king. In the end, the Privy Council worked out a model for the court, and the court was not allowed to change it, so the courtroom became as simple as it is today. One of the reasons why Su Shunqin was framed to the point of being removed from the list and "never recounted" was that he presided over the work of the court newspaper and tended to select news and chapter content in favor of the New Deal faction, which offended many people.

I put down the newspaper and asked Zhang Chengzhao, "How did you get today's newspaper?" ”

He smiled and said, "I have something to do today to go to my brother who is serving in the Jinjuin Academy, and I see that he is sorting out the court newspaper and preparing to send it to the divisions. I caught a glimpse of Wang Gongchen's news on it, and I thought you must be interested, so I followed it. ”

I couldn't help laughing, but I still didn't forget to warn him: "Don't take it at will in the future, we are doing things in the harem now, and it is not good for people to know that we read the morning newspaper." ”

He waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, how can I be discovered with my skills?" As long as you don't say ......"

Before the words fell, he heard a person suddenly push the door in, and laughed: "I found out!" ”

We were all surprised, but we soon found out that it was the princess who had come in.

She walked up to me quickly, stretched out her hand and asked me to go to the newspaper: "Show me, or I'll tell somebody else." ”

I had to give her the newspaper. She lowered her eyes and read it, and first saw Wang Gongchen's article. After reading it, she asked me with some confusion: "Is this Wang Gongchen a good person?" Dad told me about his resignation and praised him for his integrity, but the vase he gave to Mrs. Zhang was not like a good official......"

In the hearts of the world, there are only black and white in her clear eyes now, and she will only use "good officials" or "bad officials" to distinguish between the sergeants and doctors. So I was hesitant to find a suitable answer to her question.

But Zhang Chengzhao opened his mouth first: "Princess, I heard that the official family asked you to recite "The Story of Yueyang Tower" and "The Story of the Drunkard Pavilion" in the past two days? ”

"Yes," said the princess, distressedly, "it's hard to carry." I memorized it for a day and seemed to remember it, but when I got up after a sleep, I found that "The Story of Yueyang Tower" I only had one sentence in my mind: 'The worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world'. "The Story of the Drunkard Pavilion" is even worse, I only remember that Taishou Le came and went, why couldn't I remember it...... Daddy wants me to recite it to him tomorrow, what should I do? I want to hit the wall! ”

Zhang Chengzhao bowed down to listen and couldn't help but make sympathies, but then the words he said were like a threat to the princess: "Take care of the princess, you can't be tired of endorsing, otherwise how can you continue to memorize "The Legend of Canglang Pavilion" tomorrow?" ”

The princess was shocked: "Do you still have to memorize "The Legend of Canglang Pavilion"? ”

Zhang Chengzhao said: "Yes, the minister figured out how to choose the article that the official family recited to the princess." ”

The princess hurriedly asked, "How did you choose that?" ”

Zhang Chengzhao pointed to Wang Gongchen's name in the court newspaper: "Whoever this Wang Gongchen harmed, the official family will let you recite whose article." ”

The princess was stunned. Zhang Chengzhao continued to explain: "Back then, Wang Gongchen impeached Fan Zhongyan's friend Teng Zongliang, saying that he embezzled the minister's money, made him guard Baling County, tossed and turned, and finally demoted Fan Zhongyan to Dengzhou. In the second year, Teng Zongliang repaired Yueyang Tower, so he specially asked Fan Zhongyan to write "The Story of Yueyang Tower". Then Wang Gongchen instructed his subordinates and friends to impeach Ouyang Xiu, but he didn't participate in it once, and he came a second time, and finally demoted him to Chuzhou, where Ouyang Xiu wrote "The Story of the Drunken Man's Pavilion...... So next, the official family will definitely let the princess memorize "The Legend of Canglang Pavilion", because Su Shunqin went to Suzhou to write this article, and it was all thanks to Wang Gongchen. ”

When the princess heard this, she sighed: "This Wang Gongchen is really annoying. ”

Zhang Chengzhao immediately nodded in response: "It's really annoying." If he hadn't made up so many things, why did the princess still need to memorize these articles now? So the princess should know whether he is a good official or a bad official, right? ”

The princess smiled: "Of course it's a bad official to make me memorize so many articles!" ”

I couldn't help laughing when I heard this reason, but I still explained to the princess: "Princess, the quality of the minister cannot be distinguished by the number of endorsements you make, and the good and evil of people cannot be judged by just one or two things. What's more, a wicked person may do several good things in his life, and a good person cannot guarantee that he will not do a little foolish thing that hurts others in this life. Wang Gongchen is diligent and honest, these are his strengths, there have been some commendable political achievements in the past, and the resignation of the champion and the introduction of the emperor's robe have even been passed down as a good story, but later the attack on the new ministers, especially the matter of the concert he did too much, not only is it a dispute between friends, but also to vent personal anger, harmed a large number of pavilion celebrities, now and in the future, there will be many people scolding him for this. ”

The princess asked me curiously, "From time to time I have heard about going to the Concert House, but I never know what it is. How did Wang Gongchen harm Su Shunqin and others? ”

"The minister used to serve in the former province, and he often listened to the Wenchen discussion, and the minister knew the ins and outs of this matter very well!" Zhang Chengzhao didn't wait for me to answer, and said to the princess happily.

The princess also commanded him, "Then you can speak." ”

Zhang Chengzhao began to narrate: "Back then, Fan Xianggong attracted talented people and gathered in the pavilion...... Does the princess know what the pavilion is for? ”

The princess said: "The pavilion is the History Museum, the Zhaowen Museum, the Jixian Courtyard and the Secret Pavilion, and the people who work in them are responsible for repairing history, repairing books, managing books and documents, etc., and sometimes explaining the scriptures to Daddy. ”

"Not only that," Zhang Chengzhao explained, "the pavilion also doubles as a training apprentice, and it is a place where the imperial court stores materials." Those who hold the position of the library can often become a member of the two systems after a few years, and become a scholar of the intellectual system, a scholar of the Zhongshu or a bachelor of Hanlin, and then rise to the ranks, and may also enter the second government as a prime minister or privy envoy. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to enter the pavilion. Usually take the top five scholars, put them in the field to be officials for a few years, the first three to return, four or five to go through two terms, back to Beijing, recommended by the important ministers of the imperial court, and then by the emperor to call the examination, and then take another exam, pass the customs before entering the pavilion. Of course, in addition to this, there are years of remuneration, Tern is dismissed, but the courtesy scribes of this dynasty, the official family attaches great importance to the imperial examination, and now non-Jinshi can not get a beautiful job, so the people in the pavilion are also divided into ranks, Jinshi was born, and the self-esteem of those who have been called to the test is very high, often more arrogant and profligate than those who are removed from Terne. ”

The princess smiled and said, "Su Shunqin, those people must be the Jinshi who were admitted?" ”

Zhang Chengzhao nodded and continued: "Yes." Su Shunqin was originally the son of a family of Xiangmen, his grandfather Su Yijian was the champion of the Taizong Dynasty, the official to the deputy prime minister and the governor, his father Su Qiguan to the Ministry of Industry Langzhong, and his grandfather Wang Dan was the prime minister of the Zhenzong Dynasty. He originally obtained the official position of a county lieutenant because of his father's shadow, but he disdained to be a junior official, resigned, participated in the tribute examination, and was awarded the jinshi. Later, after being recommended by Fan Zhongyan, he was called to take the position of the library, in addition to Jixian School Manager, and supervised the Academy. After entering the pavilion, most of the friends he made were talented people like him. These people all support the national policy of Fan Xianggong, although they are all gentlemen, but they are used to being crazy, pointing out the country, looking down on the powerful, and often mocking the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory for not learning and not knowing, which angered Wang Gongchen, who was out of harmony with Fan Xianggong and Du Xianggong. What's more, the pavilion is a place for storing materials, and the scholars who are now opposing him are likely to be important ministers of the court in the future, so he has always wanted to expel the pavilion celebrities from Beijing, but he has not found a countermeasure, until the Jinju Academy holds the autumn competition god meeting......"

"Is it the kind of sacrificial meeting held by the people in the capital every spring and autumn?" The princess asked.

Zhang Chengzhao said: "Yes." It was a custom for the people of the capital to hold banquets and gatherings. At that time, Su Shunqin sold a batch of old papers according to the practice of the Jinjuan Academy, and he paid another 10,000 yuan to prepare a banquet for his famous friends in the pavilion......"

"You're the one who only got in, right?" The princess laughed.

"That's right." Zhang Chengzhao took advantage of the situation to flatter, "The princess is really ice and snow smart, she can guess it!" At that time, there was a prince named Li Ding, who also wanted to participate in the Race God Club of the Jinju Academy, but was rejected by Su Shunqin, and said to him with a smile: "There is no steamed bread in the food, and there is a country on the seat?" 'Manrabi is a meat cake of the Tibetan people; Guoshe Yutai refers to the official positions of Dr. Guozijian, Prince Zhongshe, Yu Ministry, and Bibu members, which are used to supplement the children of high-ranking officials. The implication is that we only invite Qingliu Yashi to the banquet, and you don't have to participate in the high-ranking officials who can't be on the table like the Fan people's meatloaf. ”

The princess laughed: "Comparing people to human meatloaf, where does this make Li Ding's face...... He couldn't swallow this breath, and he would definitely take revenge. ”

Zhang Chengzhao clapped his hands and said, "Isn't it! Li Ding held a grudge, and although he did not go to the God Race, he planted eyeliner in the banquet. Those pavilion celebrities are not cautious, when the wine is drunk, the history museum review Wang Zhu ordered people to summon the two military female prostitutes to sit and have fun, the palace Cheng, Jixian school manager Wang Yirou even improvised a "proud song", there are two lines in the poem said: 'Drunk lying in the North Pole sent the emperor to help, Zhou Gong Confucius drove as a slave. ’”

When the princess heard this, she suddenly became angry and reprimanded: "You want the emperor to help him? That's not true! ”

Zhang Chengzhao immediately slapped himself and said: "The minister was careless for a while, and bluntly relayed it, asking the princess to forgive him." ”

The princess was still annoyed when she heard this sentence, and her mood when she heard it today can be imagined. I bowed at this time and persuaded the princess: "This is Wang Yirou's young man's crazy words, which is an unintentional mistake. ”

Fortunately, the princess was anxious to hear what was going on, so she didn't think much about it, waved her hand and said, "Forget it, anyway, he also suffered later." Let's go on. ”

Zhang Chengzhao obeyed, and said: "As soon as Li Ding's eyeliner heard this, he went out to tell him, and Li Ding immediately went to Wang Gongchen to relay the matter. Wang Gongchen quickly entered the palace to face the saint and reported the matter of entering the theater. The official family was furious and immediately ordered the Imperial City Division to capture the people at the banquet. At that time, the streets of Bianjing were full of chamberlains armed with weapons and galloping on horseback to arrest people, and the subjects did not know what was happening, and the whole city was in an uproar, and the sound of shouting and screaming could even be heard in the palace. ”

"All caught?" The princess asked, wide-eyed.

"Of course," Zhang Chengzhao said with his eyebrows fluttering, "Those pavilion scholars are all scholars, how can they resist!" After a while, they were all arrested and put in prison. Then Wang Gongchen led the imperial history platform to impeach Su Shunqin for stealing from the prison master, Wang Yirou slandered Zhou Kong, Wang Zhu and others sat with prostitutes, etc., and demanded that the officials punish them one by one, and even asked the officials to kill Su Shunqin and Wang Yirou. And Han Qi admonished vigorously, saying that since His Majesty ascended the throne, he had never done such a thing as killing a scholar, and once he did so, he would be shocked. ”

The princess nodded, "Although they are a little arrogant and presumptuous, they are not going to let them lose their heads." ”

Zhang Chengzhao said: "The princess really deserves to be the emperor's daughter, the same as the official family thinks." Later, the official family removed Su Shunqin from the name of the people, and the rest of the celebrities were demoted to the outside world, and the pavilion was suddenly empty, and for a long time to repair books, history, and scriptures, they could not find a suitable person, and the court newspaper also stopped for a long time. Because it was impossible to find so many outstanding people among the scholars to fill in the pavilion for a while, and the officials intended to punish the disadvantages of the talented and thin, Wang Gongchen's party accepted the intention and invoked a few simple and incompetent people to enter the pavilion......"

The princess's eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked, "That Yang Anguo, is that what he made up at this time?" ”

Zhang Chengzhao smiled and bowed his head: "Yes, yes, that living treasure was added to the pavilion at this time." ”

When I heard Yang Anguo's name, I couldn't help but want to laugh. This person is shallow in learning, and his words and deeds are simple, and every time he talks about the scriptures and reads the scriptures for today, he often mixes them with slang and the language of the city, so that the courtiers and officials in the palace have laughed first when they see his behavior. One day, he explained "a spoonful of food and a scoop of drink" for today, and said in a full native accent: "Yan Hui is very poor, and there is only a Luo of corn and rice and a gourd of syrup water at home. On another occasion, he said the sentence in the Analects: "I have not tasted no teachings if I have restrained myself or above." The belly is dried preserves, and ten are a bunch. When the ancients saw each other, they would insist on the etiquette, and the restraint was the thinnest of the concubine. This is what it says, "From the moment I came to see me with a bundle of bows, I have never failed to teach." And Yang Anguo's explanation is: "The official family, Confucius taught people in the past, and they also needed money. "I'm shocked when I hear this. The next day, the lecturer was given, and the rest of the people all pleaded and did not worship, but Yang Anguo accepted it calmly. These things have long been rumored as jokes in the palace, and even Jinshang once mentioned them with a smile when he explained the "Analects" to the princess.

"Yang Anguo is not the only ridiculous person in this," Zhang Chengzhao said again, "The remaining Peng Cheng in the pavilion is also a wonderful person!" After entering the Academy, there was a vacancy in the Hanlin Bachelor, and the official family wanted to choose one from the pavilion and the ministers to make up for it, but they couldn't find a good one, so they chose the eldest Peng Cheng. Later, he drafted an article for the official family, and his choice of words and sentences was particularly ridiculous. Once, a marshal guarding the border asked for Hajj, and the official summoned Peng Cheng, told him what he meant, and asked him to draft a reply, and later Peng Cheng wrote in the edict of reply: 'When Xiao Xiao waits, he can make a beautiful trip. ’”

The princess was puzzled, and asked me, "This sentence is so obscure, what does it mean?" Waiji, can you understand? ”

I smiled and said, "I can only guess." Maybe he was trying to say that he could leave when the weather was cold. ”

Zhang Chengzhao smiled: "That's what it means." The official's original words were: 'When autumn is cool, you will come back.' After this edict came out, Shengsheng laughed at a few Hanlin scholars. Then Peng Cheng likes to use this sentence. Later, the minister Tian Guo knew that Chengdu Mansion, at that time Xishu was in a famine, Tian Guo had just entered the precipitous Jianmen Pass, that is, he sent a warehouse for relief, and then waited for the crime, Peng Cheng and the edict replied: "Only the danger of the rock and rock, then the compassion will be happy." It's a joke again. This year, Peng Cheng died of illness, and his colleague Wang Qi wrote an elegy for him, and couldn't help but laugh at him, and wrote in the elegy: "The most Xiao Xiao sentence is the most popular, and no one will follow him." ’”

The princess smiled for a long time before she said, "It turns out that there have been such rabble among the Hanlin scholars in the past few years. Investigating it is also Wang Gongchen's fault. ”

It is precisely because of this that Wang Gongchen is even more criticized by the world's talented people. In view of the fact that there were many people with superficial knowledge in the pavilion of the Zhenzong Dynasty, the present specially instructed: "The museum should be a person who is worthy of the name of a literary scholar." "For this reason, the conditions for entering the pavilion were raised, and the elites of the world were selected for a while, so the dynasty produced many talents, and many ministers had both political voices and literary names, which were enough to be famous for the country. And the matter of entering the theater led to the change of the principle of the pavilion, although there are more simple and serious people, but there is no aura, all the interpretation of the scriptures, but the interpretation of the exegesis, but the exhortation is just that, and Yang Anguo Peng Cheng is mixed in it, in the long run, it is always unfavorable to the country and the community.

But I only thought about these words in my heart, and did not say them to the princess. She laughed with Zhang Chengzhao for a while, and suddenly asked again: "But why does Wang Gongchen have so much power, and he can harm whoever he wants?" ”

"Because he was the middle of the imperial history at that time, and he was responsible for supervising hundreds of officials." Zhang Chengzhao replied, "The functions and powers of the Imperial Historical Observatory are to picket hundreds of officials, correct discipline, admonish the emperor, participate in court politics and try prisons. The imperial court also stipulated that if the imperial historian did not criticize the current affairs within 100 days, he would be dismissed as a foreign official. Even if Wang Gongchen has no personal grudges with other officials, he has to find someone to impeach, so don't offend Yushi if you have nothing to do...... Speaking of the rules of 100 days of speech, there is another joke in the DPRK and China: Yushi Wang Ping will be in office for 100 days, and he has not said anything yet. My colleagues were surprised, but after thinking about it, they said, 'Maybe the history of the king is waiting to be published, and if it is said, it will be a big deal.' One day, when they finally heard that he had been impeached, they rushed to tell each other, and together they quietly found his sword to study and study, but they saw that what he was playing was actually a matter of hair in the imperial diet. His lyrics also read: 'It is He Muruo's face, and he suddenly sees the scroll like this. ’”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Chengzhao laughed first, but the princess didn't fully understand, so she turned to me while eating the green plum fruit: "What does his bullet word mean?" ”

I replied with a smile: "He said that the emperor was preparing to eat, and how solemn and solemn the imperial face was, but suddenly he saw a strand of hair coiled peacefully in the dishes." ”

The princess immediately opened her mouth to laugh, but she was choked by the unswallowed green plum and coughed again and again. I was about to go over to take care of her, but Zhang Chengzhao had already rushed ahead to pat her on the back and bring tea and water.

The princess gasped and said, "In the past, people in the pavilion said that the Taiwan official was incompetent, but it turned out that it was not an unreasonable accusation!" ”

Zhang Chengzhao responded: "That's it! If it weren't for the fact that the Taiwan officials themselves did have shortcomings, Ouyang Xiu and his pavilion friends would not have frequently talked about this. ”

The princess smiled again: "Speaking of which, Yun Niang's concerns are similar to those of Wang Yushi. If I don't eat well, she'll challenge my sister for impeachment. Wait for the next time, I will also ask my father to make her the imperial history. ”

Yun Niang is her nurse Han. Soon thinking of Miao Shuyi, the princess said: "Sister too, if you think I don't listen to her, I will go to my father or impeach me...... However, her official son is older than Yun Niang, so let's make her the middle of the imperial history. ”

When I heard this, I bowed my head and smiled, and the princess looked at me, so she said seriously: "What are you laughing at?" You also often do bad things, and sometimes I don't want to write or study, and you will tell my sister about it...... can be regarded as a miscellaneous matter of serving the imperial history. ”

I restrained my smile, bowed respectfully to her, and said, "Princess, please forgive me for speaking out." The ministers thought that it would be more appropriate for the princess to move to a bachelor of Hanlin. ”

"Why?" The princess asked.

I replied, "Because the minister must be ready to respond to the princess's inquiries at any time, explain the scriptures and meanings to the princess, and stay on duty every day, and from time to time be appointed to prepare articles and poems for the princess......"

"Knock", there was a soft sound, and it was the princess who threw a green plum between my eyebrows. "You're making fun of me again!" She sneered, but the feigned anger quickly faded into the smile behind her.

I stroked my eyebrows and just smiled. She stared at me for a moment, and then suddenly said, "But, Huaiji, you are so studious, if you don't enter the palace, you are eighteen years old this year, you can also go to the top exam?" If you are a jinshi, it is really not difficult to become a bachelor of Hanlin. ”

My smile dissipated, and my heart was mixed, and I couldn't distinguish between joy and sorrow.

The princess unfolded the newspaper again, looked at the list of famous jinshi on it, and smiled again: "But if that were the case, I wouldn't know you." Maybe you can only go up to the Taiqing Tower to look at you from a distance when Daddy Yujiying Hall summons the new branch jinshi, and think in my heart: 'This champion is quite good-looking.' That's it. ”