Chapter 149
Chapter 149
The fatty, Jin Mucong, trembled so violently he was on the verge of tears. Then, suddenly, he felt something was strange and began to search his memories.
‘Why do these two questions seem familiar?’
The fatty finally remembered. Yes. These were among the practice questions his brother-in-law, Shen Lang, had prepared for him. Shen Lang had made him memorize nineteen essays and one hundred fifty poems. He had said the practice questions were chosen based on the king's tastes, drawn from his favorite books. Looking at the two questions before him, he saw his brother-in-law's predictions had been spot on. His brother-in-law had told him the essay was a masterpiece for the ages, and the poem on the tortoise was a timeless masterpiece. At the time, Jin Mucong had desperately copied and recopied them until he had memorized them all.
‘Yes, yes!’
The essay and the poem instantly surfaced in the fatty's mind. This must be why they say that no matter how good your memory is, writing things down helps you remember them better! The fatty's clothes were soaked with sweat. A moment ago, he had nearly wet himself from shock.
‘Brother-in-law, you’re too much. Tricking me again, I almost died of fright. Hahahaha! I, Jin Mucong, will defy the heavens. Tang Yun, just you watch. I'm going to crush you. Hahahaha! Hehehehe!’
To select these practice questions, Shen Lang had input and processed a vast amount of data in his mind. He had analyzed which books King Ning Yuanxian liked and which passages he favored. The key to the literary examination was the king's personality and habits. What kind of person was the supreme king? Intelligent, extreme, and severe. Throughout history, the more severe rulers were in reality, the more they tried to prove to the world that they were benevolent and magnanimous.
The Jiajing Emperor, for example. He was an unrestrained, extravagant, and petty man, yet he postured as if to say, ‘I am a sage king,’ adopting an air of being as clear as the sky, above worldly strife.
The Yongzheng Emperor, who had held back the decline of the Qing Dynasty, was also attacked by the scholars of his time for being not only severe but also for harming his brothers, plotting against his parents, and killing both loyal and corrupt officials. Displeased, he wrote a book titled *Record of Great Righteousness to Awaken the Deluded* to defend himself.
The current King of Yue was pushing his New Policies with all his might. He was stripping long-established noble families of their fiefs, revoking their military authority, and seeking to destroy aristocratic houses with over a century of history. In response, some slandered the king, calling his nature severe and cruel, claiming he was killing off the old nobility to fill the empty state coffers. Thus, the king sought to prove to the world that he was benevolent and magnanimous, and that he implemented the New Policies for the sake of the people and the State of Yue.
To match the king’s personality, Shen Lang had chosen "On the Ultimate Principle of Loyalty and Magnanimity in Punishment and Reward" as a practice question. This topic discussed the dialectical relationship between loyalty, magnanimity, reward, and punishment. As words are a reflection of the heart, this topic perfectly suited the king's desire for self-justification. It was the second of the nineteen essay questions Shen Lang had prepared.
And the second test of the literary examination was to compose a poem on the theme of "Xuanwu," the Black Tortoise. This was an exceptionally insidious topic. Several hundred years ago, the world was in turmoil, and powers vied for control on all sides. The ancestor of the Jin Clan had poured out his family's fortune to hire warriors, not merely to contend for supremacy, but to defend his land and protect his people. For over two decades, the cycle of killing continued, and countless families across the land rose and fell. Only the Jin Clan, with its thousands of warriors, defended the several hundred leagues of land around Xuanwu City, neither expanding nor shrinking its territory.
‘I won’t bother you, so don’t you bother me.’
It was truly the posture of a tortoise. To be precise, it wasn't that no one attacked Xuanwu City, but that those who attacked could not win. They fought to the death to protect their family and people. As time went on, everyone eventually realized there was little to be gained from attacking Xuanwu City, and they ceased their assaults.
‘After all, this fellow keeps his head tucked in and doesn't leave his home, so he won't come to seize our lands.’
Thus, the Jin Clan became famous. Everyone called them the Tortoise Clan. However, "tortoise" was not a pleasant name, and their actions of defending their land and protecting their people were righteous, so people began to call them "Xuanwu."
Later, as the realm gradually stabilized and the Great Yan Empire came to rule, the lands of the south were taken by the Ning Clan, who established the State of Yue. The first King of Yue was a martial man, a conqueror. After occupying most of the southern lands, the first king sent an envoy to the Jin Clan, asking if they would join him in pacifying the realm. The Jin Clan of that time agreed, and from then on, they became vassals of the Ning Clan. The King of Yue was overjoyed by the Jin Clan's declaration of vassalage. Knowing their nickname was the "Xuanwu Tortoise," he personally took up his brush and enfeoffed them as the Count of Xuanwu, naming the Jin Clan's stronghold Xuanwu City. This was the origin of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate.
The first king considered scholars to be all talk and despised their grumbling. Thus, he bestowed the name "Xuanwu" upon the Jin Clan as he pleased. Xuanwu is one of the Four Celestial Symbols, an ancient divine beast. How could it be used as a title for a noble? If Xuanwu could be used as a noble title, then why were there no Marquis of the Azure Dragon or Marquis of the Vermilion Bird? Every successive King of Yue since then had wanted to change the Count of Xuanwu's title.
Furthermore, the capital of Yue had a grand gate called Xuanwu Gate, and people often felt as though they were passing through the Jin Clan's gate every time they went through it. So, later kings repeatedly expressed their desire to change the title, but the Jin Clan had always refused.
Especially during Count Jin Zhuo's tenure, the king caused a considerable stir trying to change the Jin Clan's title. But Count Jin Zhuo's unparalleled achievements caused the talk of changing the title to fizzle out, and no one discussed the name of the Count of Xuanwu anymore. In any case, that was before the New Policies and centralization of power had begun. The State of Yue was not the Son of Heaven ruling over the entire realm, and since the vassal was so unwilling, it was best not to force the issue.
However, the king of this generation possessed a severe and harsh nature and had always been particularly bothered by the Count of Xuanwu's title. So, when creating the exam questions, he instinctively chose the theme of Xuanwu. When preparing the questions, the king, considering that candidates might study predicted topics, tried to come up with a subject no one would ever expect. Thus, the questions in the first box were crafted with cunning ingenuity to be utterly unpredictable.
But since the backup questions were rarely used, the king let his guard down and revealed his true thoughts. As a result, both questions on the backup paper were from Shen Lang's predictions. The second question, being a poem on the theme of Xuanwu, was almost laughably easy to anticipate.
***
"Young Master Tang, Young Master Jin, have you both seen the topics?"
Ning Qi asked.
"We have seen them clearly. Thank you, Your Royal Highness," Tang Yun replied.
But Jin Mucong didn't even answer, his heart pounding wildly as he hastily moved his brush, engrossed in writing his answers.
‘Foolish child. You should have spent half a watch contemplating the topic before writing. What is this, moving your brush as if possessed the moment you see the title?’
Ning Qi saw this and chuckled once but paid it no more mind. He, too, had heard of Jin Mucong's reputation. To be honest, Ning Qi didn't dislike or hate simple-minded children; he was rather fond of them. A person with such a disposition would be loyal and steadfast, making for an excellent vassal. But with the New Policies burning fiercely, being merely loyal and kind was a disservice to one's family. The Royal Uncle Ning Qi even felt a pang of pity for Jin Mucong.
The Count of Jinhai glanced at Jin Mucong and inwardly scorned him. Starting to write the moment he saw the topic? What an absolute dolt. There was no thought process at all.
When taking an exam at school, a top student first reads the entire test from beginning to end, gets a feel for it, and then begins to write the answers. A poor student is different. There's no need to read to the end, nor is there a process of planning how to answer. Whether they plan or not, they won't know the answers anyway, so they might as well just pick up their brush and scribble away.
Some brave souls would spend an hour meticulously filling a math exam paper, only to achieve the grand feat of scoring a zero. Not a single one of the ten questions was answered correctly, even by chance. Everyone inwardly thought that Jin Mucong must be of that ilk.
The Count of Xuanwu and the Count of Jinhai exited the examination hall, while Tang Yun was contemplating how to structure his writing. But Jin Mucong was still writing, his brush flying across the paper.
The three proctors sat in silence. Why didn't they come over to look at the two candidates' answers? It was to avoid any action that might arouse suspicion of misconduct in the first place.
A quarter of an hour later, the fatty had written down everything he had memorized. For the essay on "On the Ultimate Principle of Loyalty and Magnanimity in Punishment and Reward," he wrote as follows. Ah, no. He *copied* as follows.
Conversely, if someone committed a wicked act, they would seek him out and punish him, pitying him even as they disciplined him, so that he might cast off his old habits and begin a new life. The praise and lamentations of the ancient sages, their expressions of joy and sorrow, can all be found in the histories of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou.
After King Cheng and King Kang passed away and King Mu ascended the throne, the Way of Zhou began to decline. He then dispatched his minister, the Marquis of Lü, and instructed him to administer punishments well. The King's words expressed concern but not grief, authority but not resentment or anger; they were compassionate yet decisive. Because this was a story of using punishment with a heart that pitied man and sympathized with the innocent, even Confucius considered it worthy of emulation.>
There are many paragraphs after this, but I won't write more for fear of the readers' curses. Who wrote this piece? It was written by the great master Su Shi, who ranks among the top three literary giants of China. At the time, his essay was so magnificent that it overshadowed the works of masters like Cheng Hao, Zeng Gong, Zeng Bu, Lü Huiqing, and Zhang Dun. Among the masters listed above, several were top scholars in the imperial examinations, and many had served as prime ministers. Any single one of their essays would have been more than enough to crush Tang Yun.
But Su Shi did not place first in that year's examination. The chief examiner was the legendary literary master Ouyang Xiu, who was utterly shocked upon reading this essay.
‘Why is this writing so incredible? How could it be so well-written? Could it be my student, Zeng Gong? No. If Zeng Gong gets first place, people will suspect I favored him. This essay shouldn't be first, but second.’
And so, the tragedy of the great master Su Shi occurred. With Shen Lang bringing out this essay, it would not only defeat Tang Yun in one blow but send him flying far, far away.
For the problem of composing a poem on the theme of Xuanwu, Shen Lang had chosen "Though the Tortoise Lives Long" by Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao.
Though the soaring serpent rides the mist, it will at last return to dust and ashes.
The old warhorse may rest in the stable, yet it still yearns to gallop a thousand leagues.
A hero in his twilight years may be old, but his great ambitions never fade.
The waxing and waning of a life, how can it depend on Heaven alone?
If one tends to body and spirit well, one may achieve great longevity.
How fortunate I am, to be able to sing of such aspirations in this song.>
This poem is not as masterful as Cao Cao's "A Short Song," but it is undoubtedly an outstanding and timeless masterpiece.
Besides, even if "A Short Song" were a superior poem, Shen Lang wouldn't have dared to even write down its title. That poem contains the ambition to "make the hearts of the world return to me." If he wrote such a poem, the king would surely think, ‘Why so audacious? Are you plotting treason?’ To openly display such ambition was to court death.