In this prefecture examination, three people from Ziyang Academy participated, and all three of them passed.

Sun Yue held no hope at all but when he saw his name at the last spot on the list, the little fatty was so excited that he clamored that it was his treat.

“Tomorrow at noon, Qianqiu Tower! All classmates are invited!”

Tang Shen gave him a thumbs up: “Rich!”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Sun Yue said with a smile: “Tang an shou, what are you talking about? I have been very happy these past two days. I actually became a xiucai. I, Sun Yue, was actually able to become a xiucai at the age of fifteen. Sure enough, I am a genius.”

Tang Shen thought to himself that these words sounded familiar.

Tang Shen: “Are you going to invite all your classmates to eat at Qianqiu Tower tomorrow?”

“That’s right, you have to come too and build a good relationship with your classmates. Let me tell you, you are a thorn in the eyes of many people now. If you want to study comfortably in Ziyang Academy for the next two months, you must come tomorrow at noon.”

Tang Shen said in amusement: “Why am I a thorn in other people’s eyes? What have I done?”

Sun Yue’s eyes widened: “What did you do? Do you know that you are the an shou twice in a row? What does this mean?”

“What?”

“It means that in the academy examination in two months, you will most likely still be the an shou!”

“You have so much confidence in me?”

“Heh, what confidence do I have in you? The academy exam is not a county or prefecture exam. Half of the students in our Ziyang Academy will take part. Although you, Tang Shen, are talented, you have only been studying for a few years, so how could you compare with these old scholars. It’s just that you have already obtained the an shou twice. As long as you perform well and there are no outstanding candidates this time, Magistrate Jia will definitely give you the position of an shou and achieve your three in a row top spot in the tongshi.”

“It can be like this?” Tang Shen didn’t know that there were such unspoken rules in the ancient imperial examination.

Sun Yue said with emotion: “I am satisfied. I am a xiucai now, and my mother will not bother me in five years. I am not sure about the academy examination, and I am just going to give it a try. Unlike you, you have to work hard. Tang sanyuan!” (TN: candidate who gets the top spot three times in a row)

Tang Shen actually had no interest in the title of an shou, and he did not have obsessive-compulsive collecting disorder. He was not expecting to get the top spot twice. Tang Shen actually didn’t attach much importance to the last of the three tongshi examinations, the academy examination. Even if he took the top spot again this time, he would still have to sit in the exam booth out in the great examination hall and take the exam with all the candidates the next time he took the xiangshi.

There were no extra rewards, so why bother trying to pass the exam as high as you can, the most important thing was as long as you could pass it!

On the second day, Tang Shen came to Qianqiu Tower. Sun Yue said that he would invite all the classmates to eat, but not everyone came.

Students from poor families account for the majority in Ziyang Academy, and those from rich families were half their numbers. This time, several young masters from wealthy families who played well with Sun Yue came to support him. The students from poor families who came only filled two tables and sat separately from them without much interaction.

After they had had enough wine and food, these scholars from the government school were no different from ordinary people and began to make bluffs.

A scholar from a wealthy family said: “Tang Shen, you are the an shou twice in a row now. Congratulations! Gusu Prefecture is not one of those remote places. We have a strong reputation for academics and many scholars of poor families have become the zhuangyuan. In our Ziyang Academy, it has been three years in a row in which the an shou of the tongshi comes from poor families. You have to get back our dignity in the academy exam in two months.”

Tang Shen smiled and said: “Although it is not decided by me, all of us here, classmates, will give our best in the academy examination. At that time, I can only say, do the best I can and listen to fate.”

“What a good saying to do your best and obey fate!” said the young master of the Wang family in the east of the city, “Tang Shen, I heard that you are a student of Liang Bowen, Liang daren?”

This matter spread throughout Gusu City at some point. Tang Shen felt that he did not spread it intentionally, so he wondered why did everyone know about it.

If Liang Song knew of his confusion, he would definitely kick this scoundrel out of his study.

But thinking about it. Every time he did marketing and promotion, Tang Shen never failed to use Liang Song’s name. He must squeeze a pot of oil out of Liang Song everytime. It was already like this, even a blind person could see that Tang Shen and Liang Song had an unusual relationship!

Tang Shen: “Yes, I am his student.”

Wang xiucai raised his cupped hands and said, “I am so envious of you!”

Someone said: “I heard from my cousin who works in the government office that Liang daren has been away from Gusu City in recent months and often goes to Jinling to do business. I wonder what he is doing. Is there something that would make Liang daren leave our Gusu City?”

For anyone else it was a great joy to become the governor of Gusu Prefecture. But with Liang Song’s literary reputation and status, he could become a powerful official in the capital, Shengjing, and coming to Gusu Prefecture was instead a sense of demotion.

Tang Shen didn’t want to reveal his teacher’s thoughts. Of course, he didn’t talk with Liang Song about these things either. He remained silent and ate his food with his head down.

Wang xiucai said: “Ai, don’t make wild guesses. Gusu City is the hometown of Liang daren. How could Liang daren leave so casually? I also heard from my family that Liang daren went to Jinling not for other reasons but for the great scholar Mr. Zhong who had been in prison for twenty-five years!”

The customs of the Song Dynasty were open and generous to scholars. Taizu once made a special law: Do not kill scholars! (TN: founding emperor of a dynasty)

When Wang xiucai talked about current affairs in the country, no one stopped him, in fact everyone participated in it.

“Mr. Zhong has been in prison for twenty-five years. I was only five years old at that time, and now I have passed thirty. Time has really flown.”

“Twenty-five years of ups and downs, yet Mr. Liang has never forgotten his friend. He attaches great importance to love and righteousness. He is indeed a role model for scholars of our generation.”

After Tang Shen traveled to this era, the people he came into contact with were not only Tang Huang and Yao San, but also Madam Tang and Liang Song. Liang Song never talked about political affairs with him. When the teacher and student got together, he was like an ordinary teacher, teaching Tang Shen knowledge. Anything else he would not say to Tang Shen.

Tang Shen ate the food in silence while listening to these scholars talk. It was a pity that these scholars, even though they were from wealthy families, did not know much. After a few words, they started talking about the academy examination in two months.

Back home, Tang Shen came to Accountant Lin and asked, “Mr. Liang has been going to Jinling City to do work recently. As his student, I didn’t even know about it. I have really neglected my responsibility. Accountant Lin, have you ever heard of this person?”

“Who?”

“Mr. Zhong, the great scholar.”

Accountant Lin’s eyes dilated sharply, and he said: “Little boss, be careful what you say!”

Tang Shen noticed something was wrong: “Who is this Mr. Zhong?”

Accountant Lin sighed: “Actually, it doesn’t matter. The Song Dynasty never restrict the words of scholars. Mr. Zhong’s full name is Zhong Wei, and his courtesy name isa Tai Sheng. When the late emperor was alive, he was the left minister of the political affairs hall, and he was known as Zhong xianggong.” (TN: old form of access for prime ministers, can be translated as lord, similar to daren but daren is used for all officials)

Tang Shen was shocked.

The official system of the Song Dynasty followed the previous dynasty and was divided into three departments and six ministries. Among them, the Central Secretariat, also known as the Palace Secretariat, was one of the three departments and made up of the emperor’s trusted. In the Song Dynasty, the left was the most noble, and the left prime minister of the Central Secretariat was worthy of being known as being inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.

Accountant Lin: “When Zhong xianggong was in power, he pacified the northlands and conquered the southern barbarians. He is a hero of our Song Dynasty. It’s a pity that there was a coup in the palace twenty-five years ago. Zhong xianggong in a muddle-headed moment broke into the palace with the crown prince, intending to force a coup. The crown prince was shot to death by an arrow from the current emperor outside the palace gate, and Zhong xianggong was captured alive and has been imprisoned until now.”

Tang Shen immediately said: “Then what does this have to do with Mr. Liang?”

“Little boss should know that Liang daren is one of the four great Confucian scholars in the world, but I’m afraid you don’t know who the other three are. The other three are Zhong xianggong, Fu xianggong and Chen xianggong. Among them, Zhong xianggong can be said to be the head of the four great scholars! Alas, among the four, I don’t know much about Chen xianggong. But everyone knows that Liang daren, your teacher, has been a close friend with Zhong xianggong for many years. If it is true as the little boss said, Liang daren often goes to Jinling City for Zhong xianggong, then I am afraid that Liang daren’s efforts will be in vain.”

Tang Shen thought for a long time and asked, “Why did the crown prince want to force a coup?”

Accountant Lin was shocked and said: “Little boss, although the Song Dynasty is generous to scholars and does not kill them, and they are allowed to discuss government affairs. But after all, this is the emperor’s family matter, so you’d better not discuss it outside.”

Tang Shen smiled and said, “As you know, I just care about my teacher. And we are talking in private after all.”

“That’s fine too.”

Tang Shen: “Since the crown prince is already the heir, it makes no sense for him to force a coup. Or could it be that the late emperor’s life span is very long?”

Accountant Lin: “The late emperor was fifty-six years old when he passed away.”

Tang Shen frowned: “It’s not very long, not very short either.” It didn’t reach the point of forcing a coup, did it?

Accountant Lin: “Little boss, I am just an ordinary scholar. I only know a few things from listening to people discussing in teahouses. If you really want to know, why don’t you ask Liang daren?”

Tang Shen said: “My teacher has been very preoccupied in recent days. Since I got the top spot in the county examination, we have only met twice. I don’t want to bother him with this kind of thing.”

After Accountant Lin left, Tang Shen took a piece of rice paper and sketched on it.

According to Accountant Lin, the late emperor was fifty-six years old when he died. No matter how you calculate it, the crown prince would have been in his early forties at most. He was already the crown prince, and unless the late emperor showed signs of deposing the crown prince, he would not take the risk of forcing a coup.

Unless the forced coup was fake and there was something else hidden behind it.

Tang Shen didn’t know the truth of what happened back then, but he believed Mr. Liang. Since Mr. Liang was willing to go to Jinling Citu many times for Zhong xianggong, his choice was to believe Zhong xianggong, and Tang Shen also chose to believe that Zhong xianggong had not forced a coup.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

However, no matter what the secret behind it was, there was a saying in the modern world. If you want to know the truth about anything, you only need to look at the person who benefits from it. After the coup incident, the crown prince died, and the current emperor ascended the throne, he was the biggest beneficiary. Zhong xianggong was thrown into a prison and Mr. Liang wanting to save him was tantamount to going against the current emperor Zhao Fu.

How could Zhao Fu accept this?

Mr. Liang could not succeed.

Tang Shen sighed. Legitimacy belongs to the victor; might makes right. He just hoped that Mr. Liang would see through this soon and not fall into the danger.

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