"Don't be so polite, I haven't attacked the lord yet, and now I have no official or position, one in white, and I am also a grass citizen. Feng Zhiping sat down, smiled and pointed down, "Sit, don't be so restrained." ”

"Xie Shizi. ”

Zou Xun sat next to him, his expression seemed calm, and his eyes were uneasy.

Feng Zhiping smiled slightly, and said softly: "I heard that you were injured, what's wrong?"

Zou Xun bowed his head: "Back to the world, it's no longer in the way." You have rescued you twice, and you are very grateful, and you will remember your great kindness!"

"It's not enough to raise your hands. Feng Zhiping waved his hand, "I heard that you fell off the list?"

Zou Xun bitter: "I'm ashamed, this department... It really missed. ”

"Do you know the reason?" Feng Zhiping asked again.

Zou Xun was even more bitter, did not answer, and sighed silently.

Feng Zhiping restrained his smile and said lightly: "It seems that you know, do you feel that the imperial examination is erosive and there is no justice at all?"

Zou Xun hurriedly waved his hand: "Don't dare, don't dare, it's because you're not good at learning and your skills are not as good as others." ”

"Let's be honest. ”

"This..."Zou Xun hesitated for a long time and gritted his teeth, "I am indeed unwilling." ”

Feng Zhiping sat back, supported his cheek with one hand, tapped the armrest with the other, and said slowly: "I asked someone to inquire, your paper may not be on the second list, but the third list is more than enough." ”

Zou Xun raised his head suddenly, with anger and grievance in his eyes.

Feng Zhiping turned a blind eye and continued: "You know the reason for not being successful, I don't need to say more, I know that you are very unwilling and angry, but there is no need, because this is the rule of this game." It's like playing chess, if you don't follow the rules, no one will take you to play. ”

Zou Xun was filled with righteous indignation: "Shizi, I understand what you said, but I just don't accept it, is there no justice in the world? The imperial examination is for the selection of meritocracy, it is of great significance, and it is related to the rise and fall of survival, how can it be such a child's play? If you act like this, in the long run, you will not be afraid of the hearts of our poor students, and you will not be afraid of the leisurely mouth of the people of the world? I believe that if Your Majesty knew that this was boring, he would not sit idly by!"

"So if I don't bring you back, you are going to go to the heavenly drum to sue the emperor, and if necessary, I will give you a life to force Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the case of fraud in the imperial examination?"

Feng Zhiping's eyes were gloomy, and he saw that Zou Xun's heart was cold, he did have this thought, but...

"Don't dare. Zou Xun smiled bitterly, "I fell off the list this time, I had similar thoughts in the next, but I just thought about it, and I didn't have the courage to take action." I am ashamed to say that I am free to study hard, admiring the demeanor of the sages, and thinking that I can be as proud as the sages, but when it comes to the end, I find that I am not enough, alas! Ashamed, ashamed!"

Feng Zhiping sneered: "Come on, what's there to be ashamed of, since ancient times, how many of those hard bones you admire have died well?"

Zou Xun's face was ugly, he was grateful to Feng Zhiping, but it didn't mean that he could accept Feng Zhiping's humiliation of his heart.

Feng Zhiping turned a blind eye and said lightly: "You just said that the purpose of the imperial examination is to select meritocracy, which is true, but what kind of person do you think is meritocracy?

Zou Xun was stunned and argued: "I think that reading well may not be virtuous, but those who don't study must not be virtuous!"

Feng Zhiping said with a smile: "During the period of Emperor Chongjing, Lin Minlin did not take the imperial examination, and he relied on the shadow to enter the office, and he couldn't memorize the "Thousand Family Poems" in a hundred capitals, and the copywriting was all written in the vernacular, but he still rose all the way from a small secretary to the position of the head of the household. Emperor Deren succeeded to the throne after the death of Emperor Chongjing, because the new emperor was young, Emperor Chongjing entrusted him to assist the new emperor as a minister of care before his death, and in the 16 years of his reign, the national strength of our dynasty did not decline but increased, nearly doubled compared with the period of Emperor Chongjing, therefore, the descendants respected him as one of the sons, and the summary of the "Lin Zi Digest" is also a rare classic written in the vernacular. Mr. Fang Zhou's person who can't recite a few poems in five words, do you say he is virtuous or mediocre?"

Zou Xun was dumbfounded, and said after a while: "Lin Xiang is naturally talented, but he is an example, which is not enough to rely on." ”

"What about Xu Ge Lao, what about Yongyi Hou? I can cite a lot of examples, and I don't need to talk about these far ones, let's just talk about the near ones, my father Chijian Hou You know, open his mouth and close his mouth to speak rudely, three sentences without a dirty word is uncomfortable, do you think he is mediocre?"

Zou Xun was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Ling Zun is a hero of the world, of course, he is a hero! But Yongyi Hou and Ling Zun are both martial marquis, different from civil officials. ”

"You mean my father only fights wars and doesn't know how to do politics?"

"I didn't mean that!"

Zou Xun was covered with cold sweat, stood up Teng, and waved his hand again and again.

He didn't know if Feng Moxiu was not familiar with government affairs, but Quanzhou City did develop rapidly after he came, and it was certainly the result of the hard work of officials from various ministries and departments in Quanzhou, but it was also the political achievement of him, the uncrowned king of Quanzhou.

"Shizi, what exactly do you want to say?" Zou Xun asked, going straight to the point, really not daring to talk deeply.

Feng Zhiping picked up the tea bowl and gently stirred it, and said lightly: "I want you to understand, although it is important to read good books, but it is not the only one, good reading may be a talented person but not necessarily a capable minister, the imperial examination selects capable ministers and officials, but fundamentally selects the people His Majesty needs." ”

"The people Your Majesty needs..."

Zou Xun played with it repeatedly, and he realized something.

Feng Zhiping blew the tea, took a sip, raised his eyelids and said: "My Tianyuan is now peaceful on the surface, but in fact, the torrent is surging, the prince and the king of Rui are fighting each other, and the court is divided into two factions because of them. If you carefully study the list of current subjects, you will find that high school students can basically belong to these two factions, and there are very few pure and chaste people like you, what does this mean? This shows that the imperial court does not need a centrist person like you now, and there is no need to support people like you to warm the hearts of poor students, so when you decide to be a pure candidate, you have already failed. ”

Zou Xun smiled bitterly: "But people like me, even if I want to find a way, I can't find it!"

"Really?" Feng Zhiping raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure?"

Zou Xun was puzzled, and arched his hand: "Please give me advice." "I read books

"Alas, am I overestimating you, or are you too simple?" Feng Zhiping shook his head helplessly, "To give you a hint, think about when we met that day, and think about why Tang Hai went to you to play that game of chess." Don't you understand? Tang Hai's cousin, you always know who it is, you should have heard of who the Meng family is close to, right? If you still don't understand, the door is there, you can go by yourself. ”

Zou Xun suddenly, secretly scolded a fool, lowered his head and smiled bitterly.

Tang Hai's cousin is the sister-in-law of the Meng family, and everyone who is close to the capital knows that the chess game on the day of daring to love is not an ordinary game, but also a temptation and invitation.

No wonder Tang Hai refused to go even after losing two sets, he had to play the third set, and his words and deeds were very different from before.

The first game was a temptation, the second game was an invitation, and I didn't wake up and "shame on my face", so I had the third set, which was pure revenge.

Zou Xun sighed, clenched his fists and bowed his head: "Thank you Shizi for your advice, the student is really stupid." ”

"Stop, I don't dare to be your teacher, let people know that it's not a joke. Feng Zhiping waved his hand and said with a smile, "Now that you know, do you still feel unwilling?"

Zou Xun shook his head with a wry smile.

In the past, his teacher once told him that officialdom is like a sea of clouds, fickle, and its depth is like an abyss, and there are more personnel who are one step of Shura and one step of Buddha, and his human nature is not suitable, so it is better to stay and experience to learn and educate people, and he can also achieve a meritorious career.

At that time, he didn't understand, thinking that his teacher was thinking about the past and beating him, but now he really realized the heaviness in this sentence.

didn't even see such a simple temptation, if he was an official, it would be difficult for him to be promoted if he was not killed.

Feng Zhiping comforted him gently: "Don't be depressed, in fact, you are very good like this, my maternal great-grandfather likes people like you the most, if you can meet you earlier, I will help you introduce you, you will definitely be able to go to high school." ”

Zou Xun smiled bitterly: "Thank you for the kindness of the prince, but forget it." Originally, I was unwilling, and I thought about going home to study hard for three years and then take the exam, but now it seems that Zou is indeed not the material for an official, so he should return to his hometown to teach. ”

"No one is born with everything, eat a trench and grow a wisdom, sharpen and grow in the blow, and over time will be able to achieve a meritorious career, and knowing mistakes can improve a lot!"

These comforting words sound really awkward, Zou Xun is in a complicated mood, and secretly thinks that if the prince is out, he must be a traitor.

"Don't gossip, get down to business. Feng Zhiping put away his smile and said, "The reason why I called you here must be clear to you, I have three ways for you to choose - out of office, staff, and business." Of course, you can choose none of them, I don't embarrass you, and you can leave when the injury is healed. ”

The first two Zou Xun expected, the last way...

Business?

Let yourself be a man who can only gnaw on books in business?

What does Shizi think?

"Why me?" Zou Xun finally asked, "When you meet you in Pingshui, you can only find anyone with your power, why did you choose me?"

"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?" Feng Zhiping asked.

"Naturally, it's the truth!" Zou Xun did not hesitate.

Feng Zhiping's eyes immediately flashed with little stars: "Because you are only eight years old, I admire your talent!"

The expression was exaggerated sincerely, Zou Xun almost lost his smile, and hurriedly covered it up with a heavy cough.

"Well, I'd better listen to the lie. ”

Feng Zhiping put away his smiling face and sighed faintly: "I am respectful and handsome, the world only dares to look at me from a distance and dare not get close, there is no way, I can only find a helper by myself." Alas, it's cold from above!"

This is ridiculous, and his demeanor is even more ridiculous, but Zou Xun can't laugh.

True and false, false and true, this false is true.

The inside story of the Jianhou Mansion has been spread too much and widely, and he has already heard about it, and now it seems that many rumors are not made up, and the situation of the prince is indeed not as good as it seems.

Zou Xun was a little excited and struggling.

It is true that this is an opportunity, with the sword marquis as a backer, he will get twice the result with half the effort no matter what he does.

But the blessings and misfortunes depend, and at the same time he will also face a number of unknown dangers, and the exaggerated things in the dramas in the books will fall on him, can he afford it, a grass man, a little scholar?

Under Feng Zhiping's slightly expectant gaze, Zou Xun was silent for a long time, and he clenched his fists a little stiffly.

"Shizi, in the next... Can you let the villain think about it?"

Feng Zhiping smiled and nodded gently: "No problem, think slowly, give me the answer before the injury is healed." ”

Zou Xun breathed a sigh of relief and asked curiously: "Shizi, if you agree, what do you want to do below?"

Feng Zhiping smiled even more and gently spit out two words.

"Doing business. ”