Sui and Tang Dynasties: Awakening the Supreme Skills at the Beginning

Li Shutong called the servant over and asked him to deliver the ten poems written by Li Zhen to the residence of Mr. Zhang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

In the pavilion where Zhang Mingjiong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was, there were only Zhang Mingjiong and a few Confucian scholars.

One of the men with a short beard frowned and pondered for a long time, occasionally writing a few strokes on the rice paper in front of him, then shook his head and sighed.

"This couplet is really hard to come up with. Where can I find such a suitable couplet in such a short time?"

An old man with white hair and eyebrows beside him chuckled and said, "Why, Zhenguo, it's just a couplet. Can it stump you, the first scholar of the Tang Dynasty?"

The short-bearded man was none other than Sun Fujia, the first number one scholar in Chinese history, selected by Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, in the fifth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty.

"It's not that this couplet is difficult, I think you, the number one scholar, have just run out of ideas!"

A man in a blue robe next to him said.

Sun Fujia rolled his eyes and said.

"With Wen Yi, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, here, what does a top scholar like me count for?"

Another middle-aged man in a black robe looked at the two helplessly and suddenly raised his eyebrows, "I do have a couplet, I wonder if it's appropriate?"

"Don't hesitate, tell me, tell me!"

Those people hurriedly urged.

"The first line of the couplet is: If there are worms in the water, it will be turbid; if there are fish in the water, you can fish; water, water, water; the rivers and lakes are vast."

"My answer to the second line: Gold becomes bells because of the ring, gold becomes jade because of the jade, gold, gold, gold, hairpins, bracelets and ornaments are bright and shining."

When the other people heard this, they were stunned for a moment, and then burst into thunderous applause.

"it is good!"

"wonderful!"

"As expected of a literary master with a family background!"

Only Sun Fujia disagreed and glared at the man.

"You are such a good fellow, Li Chunfeng. You have a good couplet, but you don't show it to us. Do you want to see us laugh at you?"

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhang Mingjiong, watched the crowd making noise but did not stop them. He just sat there and sipped his tea with a smile on his face.

Each of these people has a prominent identity. If it weren't for chance, he wouldn't have been able to invite them even with his status as the Minister of Personnel. Now, he just took this opportunity to invite them all together.

There is no greater joy in life than this!

At this time, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and a servant came in with a stack of manuscript paper in his hand.

"Sir, there is a poem coming!"

"Who did it?"

Zhang Mingjiong is a man of great official authority.

The servant bowed respectfully and said, "It's Chang'an County, Li Zhen!"

As soon as the servant finished speaking, the eyes of the people present suddenly lit up.

Here, it’s not that Li Zhen is so famous, but the couplet just now made them suffer a lot. At this moment, hearing Li Zhen’s name again, of course they have some expectations.

Sun Fujia stood up and snatched the manuscript paper from the servant.

"Hehe, let me check it for you first! If it's not good, I will send it back for redo!"

"Oh, there are quite a few, a total of ten poems! Could it be that Li Zhen is worried that his poetry talent is not up to par, so he just wrote a few more poems to show off?"

As soon as Sun Fujia finished speaking, his eyes fell on the paper and he couldn't take his eyes away.

"How...this...is possible?"

Sun Fujia muttered to himself, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Li Chunfeng, who was standing beside him, couldn't wait any longer. "What kind of poem could make our number one scholar lose his composure like this? Let me take a look first!"

As he said this, he reached out and took the stack of manuscript paper.

After a moment, Li Chunfeng was dumbfounded, and a series of exclamations echoed throughout the pavilion.

"Ah! Ah! Wonderful! What a talent!"

……

The rest of the crowd was immediately filled with curiosity. What kind of poem could have made these two literary masters lose their composure like this?

As soon as they took the manuscript from Li Chunfeng, they couldn't take their eyes off it.

"The jasper is as high as a tree, with thousands of green silk ribbons hanging down. I don't know who cut out the thin leaves. The spring breeze in February is like scissors."

This is a poem about willows. The words are apt and very appropriate here!

"Two orioles sing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascends to the blue sky. The window contains the snow of Qianqiu in the West Ridge, and the door is docked with a ship thousands of miles away from Dongwu."

This is a seven-character quatrain, which, with its horizontal and vertical lines, unfolds a very bright natural scenery.

"The rain on the streets is as soft as butter, and the grass looks green from a distance but is not green when near. Spring is the best season of the year, far better than the willows and mist in the imperial capital."

What a beautiful early spring scene, as if the early spring rain is right before your eyes, wonderful, wonderful!

"How is Mount Tai? The green of Qi and Lu is endless. Nature has endowed it with divine beauty, and yin and yang divide the day and night. Clouds rise from my heart, and birds fly back into my eyes. I will climb to the top and look down on all the other mountains."

What a great poem "Viewing the Mountain"! In just a few sentences, it outlines the admiration for Mount Tai!

wonderful!

That's great!

……

"Brother Mingjiong, this Chang'an Li Zhen is a poet of unrivaled talent. Each of his ten poems can be passed down through the ages. This is a blessing for Chang'an and the Tang Dynasty!"

Wen Yi, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, bowed to Zhang Mingjiong and congratulated him.

"Join us! Rejoice together!"

Zhang Mingjiong bowed, a look of joy on his face.

As the chief official, he was proud to have selected a great talent at the poetry meeting. The current emperor likes poetry and the officials below followed suit and reciting poetry became a trend.

"Such a great talent cannot be wasted, brother Mingjiong. I want to recruit him into the Imperial College and hire him as a doctor of the Imperial College. Please help me!"

Wen Yi bowed to Zhang Mingjiong.

"No, although the Imperial College Doctor is respected, it has no rank or grade. For a talent like Li Zhen, it is a waste of talent. It would be better for him to serve as a Councillor in the Ministry of Rites. After all, it is a ninth-rank official position. Many people want to go there but can't!"

When Sun Fujia saw it, he rushed forward to grab it.

"Okay, since the top scholar has spoken, I, as the chief officer, will go and recruit that student Li Zhen to be the councillor!"

"Thank you, brother Mingjiong!"

Sun Fujia bowed to Zhang Mingjiong to express his gratitude.

"This poem is selected..."

"Of course Li Zhen won the championship, the best choice!"

Zhang Mingjiong waved his hand and made the final decision.

"I want to go to the pavilion where Chang'an is and see who this Li Zhen is and how he could come up with such a quatrain!"

Sun Fujia said loudly.

"We will naturally go together!"

Li Chunfeng also nodded in response.

When the news about the Minister of Rites spread, it caused an uproar among the people.

Chang'an County, which was originally in the middle, unexpectedly produced a big upset. The student Li Zhen produced ten excellent works in a row and won the first place in one fell swoop. Chang'an County also surpassed ten thousand years and ranked first.

All previous poems were rated as below average in the eyes of many experts.

"This Li Zhen is really good. With ten poems, he has surpassed Chang'an by ten thousand years. This is cause for celebration!"

"From now on, Chang'an County can finally stand up straight in front of Wannian County. This Li Zhen is truly a great talent. We will definitely get close to him in the future!"

"Yeah yeah!"

……

The students from Chang'an County praised Li Zhen highly.

However, in the pavilions of Wannian County, there is a completely different scene.

"I'm so angry, is this Li Zhen really my mortal enemy?"

Upon hearing that Li Zhen won the first place, Lin Feng changed his usually gentle demeanor and became furious.

"In this life, I, Lin Feng, will fight this Li Zhen to the death!"

Lin Feng slammed the table, stood up suddenly and said fiercely.