Chapter 409: A Pigherd in Qi
"Cang Jie created writing to teach his descendants
Youngest son obeys the edict ~ be cautious and respectful ~
...
Try to recite ~ day and night ~
Dedicated to the history, planning and debate~~~"
In the second year of Emperor Rong Xinyuan's reign, Qi moved its capital to Linzi.
The sun rises in the east.
From a quiet courtyard, the sound of children babbling and reciting can be heard from time to time.
The children were either dressed in fancy clothes or in rags, but all of them sat upright in front of their desks.
The old scholars in scholarly caps hunched their backs, held the ruler behind their backs, squinted their eyes, and patrolled the school while listening attentively to what the children were reciting.
Outside the school, the older children, around ten years old, were busy with their work while silently reciting the enlightenment book of that era - "Cangjie Pian" in their hearts.
Someone was chopping wood;
Some people are carrying water;
There were even a few people who rolled up their sleeves and were busy cooking in front of the stove, reciting silently in their hearts: A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen...
The entire courtyard exudes a strong Confucian atmosphere from the inside out.
Of course, it is not the kind of "Confucianism" of later generations that cannot be carried on the shoulders or lifted with the hands, cannot be used with the limbs, and cannot distinguish between the five grains;
Rather, it is a "characteristic Confucianism" that is extremely rich in the legacy of the Warring States Period and unique to this era.
——In the open space in the backyard, young men in their twenties were "getting up and dancing at the sound of the cock-crow", wearing Confucian hats and swords!
On the hill not far from the courtyard, there were several people playing the piano and singing under the shade of the trees, studying music.
Such a scene, illuminated by the slowly rising morning sun, exudes a feeling of prosperity that makes people feel relaxed and happy.
However, in the obviously more secluded side yard, the atmosphere was inexplicably gloomy.
Under the roots of an old tree, an old man with a scholar's cap was lying on a reclining chair that had only become popular in Chang'an in recent years.
The old man frowned slightly and held the scroll in one hand, but his mind was obviously not on the book in his hand.
Three or two steps in front of the recliner, a slightly younger old man with gray hair and a scholar's cap on his head, was kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to the recliner with a pleading look on his face, acting respectfully like a nephew.
It is like a younger generation praying to their ancestors to grant their request;
But this young man is already over 50 years old...
"Since the fall of the Qin Dynasty and the rise of the Han Dynasty, our Confucianism has been despised by many people in the world."
"——Especially back then, Emperor Taizu Gao preferred to appoint Shusun Tong as a ritual official rather than to use our orthodox Confucianism: when the Lu Confucianism started, our Confucianism could hardly move forward."
"Not to mention the anecdotes like 'Gaoyang Drunkard', or Emperor Taizu Gao, who always makes fun of us Confucian scholars, which is even worse, humiliating..."
The long silence was finally broken by the old scholar sitting on the recliner.
Although he was speaking, the old scholar's eyes were still fixed on the bamboo slips in his hand.
After saying these words, the old scholar looked at the book in his hand for a long time before he let out a long sigh.
Then he threw the bamboo slips in his hand onto his legs and slowly turned his head.
"Secretary, have you really made up your mind?"
"Do you really want to go to Chang'an just for the word 'imperial examination'?"
Ciqing is the courtesy name of the kneeling man.
The man's surname is Gongsun, and his given name is "Hong".
As for the man on the recliner, he was none other than the famous Confucian scholar in Qi County and even in the whole world: Huzi Du - Hu Wusheng.
During the reign of the previous emperor, Hu Wusheng and his fellow student Dong Zhongshu, who studied the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals together, served as doctors in Chang'an.
Later, when he got older, he felt that there was no point in staying in Chang'an, so Hu Wusheng retired and returned to his hometown in Linzi to teach and educate people.
——Speaking of which, the recliner that Hu Wusheng is sitting on at this moment was a reward from the late emperor!
As for where the late emperor got such a wonderful thing, no one knows...
"Reply to the teacher."
"Students, give it a try if you're willing."
After Hu Wusheng's questioning, Gongsun Hong finally spoke and expressed his wishes.
Seeing that his teacher Hu Wusheng remained unmoved, and still looked hesitant, as if he wanted to persuade him again but didn't know where to start, Gongsun Hong could not help but smile bitterly and shook his head, and let out an inexplicable sigh.
“Teachers know students’ lives very well.”
"When I was young, I was appointed as a prison guard by my father. But within a few years, I was persecuted by scoundrels and dismissed from office because of my crime."
"Later, he studied the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents. When he was no more than twenty, his talent became known throughout the prefectures and counties."
"——Come to think of it, Jia Yi and Jia Changsha are also the same age as me."
"When Emperor Taizong appointed Jia Changsha as a doctor, the student was also appointed as a doctor by Emperor Taizong at the age of 20."
...
"Students still remember clearly that at that time, everyone said that the Han family had produced two young doctors at the age of 20."
"But no one has ever cared about who the other one of these two young doctors was besides Jia Yi..."
As he spoke, a look of loneliness could not help but appear on Gongsun Hong's slightly old face.
Another sigh was heard, and Gongsun Hong continued, "Jia Yi's talent is beyond my reach."
"To say that you are not jealous is a lie;"
"But even if there is a little envy, it is just to look up to others and strive to improve oneself..."
...
"I know that I am not as good as Jia Yi, so at the age of forty, I resolutely gave up the doctoral position I had held since I was twenty."
"——Student, it's not that I don't want to stay in Chang'an;"
"It's that the students don't want to be a so-called 'doctor' in Chang'an who is unknown and unrespected, and no one even knows who Gongsun Hong is."
"So, the student returned home and studied the Gongyang Commentary again, shamelessly calling himself a 'disciple of Hu Sheng Hu Zi Du', becoming his teacher's disciple in such a despicable way."
“Although I only received instruction from my teacher for a few years and was far from reaching the pinnacle of mastery, I did learn something after all—at least a little.”
"If it weren't for the letter from Chang'an about the imperial examination, I might have stayed in Linzi forever, receiving guidance from my teacher, and might not even have returned to Chang'an for the rest of my life."
"but……"
At the end of his speech, Gongsun Hong lowered his head involuntarily, and clenched his fists lightly like a stubborn teenager, with a hint of unwillingness quietly rising on his face.
——At the age of 20, he was appointed Doctor of Poetry by Emperor Xiaowen of Han Dynasty, and was ranked alongside Jia Yi and Jia Changsha who were of the same age!
This was the most glorious moment in Gongsun Hong's life.
At the same time, it is also a past that Gongsun Hong will never forget and still feels unwilling to accept.
Why?
Why is it that Jia Yi can attract the attention of the whole world, while Gongsun Hong can only be a foil with no sense of existence at all?
Not to mention being a foil - ask the old officials who are still active in the court of Chang'an today, does anyone remember that more than 30 years ago in Chang'an, there was a young man who was the same age as Jia Yi and was also appointed as a doctor?
Most people would not say "I remember". Even if someone occasionally said: Oh, yes, it seems that there was such a thing. In addition to Jia Yi, there seemed to be another young man in his twenties who was also appointed as a doctor.
But Gongsun Hong was very sure: there was no way that there was even one person in Chang'an who remembered that the young doctor, who was also 20 years old, was Gongsun Hong from Qi...
Just as Gongsun Hong said just now: Gongsun Hong feels ashamed of himself for being inferior to Jia Yi in terms of talent.
It can even be said that at the age of 20, when he served as a postdoctoral fellow of Emperor Taizong, Gongsun Hong devoted most of his energy during his 20-year doctoral career to learning, furthering his studies, and catching up with Jia Yi.
But Jia Yi died of depression, and Gongsun Hong lost the direction of his efforts;
Furthermore, Gongsun Hong gradually discovered that in Chang'an, the prosperous imperial capital, he simply could not calm down and concentrate on his studies.
So, facing the puzzled gaze of the whole world, Gongsun Hong resolutely gave up his doctoral position which offered him an annual salary of 1,800 dan without having to do anything, and came to Linzi.
Recalling the difficult years when I was young - whether it was working as a jailer in Xue County, my ancestral home, being bullied by those old-timers at the same time, or even being framed and losing my official position;
Later, after losing his source of livelihood, he could only herd pigs while studying "The Book of Songs" and "The Book of History" hard.
To this day, the elders in Xue County, Zhichuan Commandery still remember that there was a young man named Gongsun Hong who always wore rolls of bamboo slips around his waist when he was herding pigs for a rich family.
Some people still remember the young man named Gongsun Hong, who was always too absorbed in reading and let the pigs run away, so he had to eat the spoils of his employer every now and then.
After those difficult twenty years, there were another twenty years that seemed respectable but were actually extremely empty;
Today, Gongsun Hong is already fifty-two years old, but he is still concentrating on studying in order to "reach a higher level".
Although he didn't know how far he was from being the Jia Changsha who once amazed the world, Gongsun Hong still didn't dare to relax at all.
If nothing unexpected happened, Gongsun Hong's life would have been like this.
——If you are still "learning" in your fifties, you may die of old age while learning;
Even if he had lived longer, by the time he had achieved academic success and his talent had been noticed by the court in Chang'an, Gongsun Hong would have been an old man on his deathbed.
But this accident happened.
The word "imperial examination" caused Gongsun Hong, who had been heartbroken by Chang'an and beaten to pieces by Jia Changsha, to start to feel ripples again...
"Now that you have made your decision, just go for it."
"Why are you bowing and resigning now?"
After Gongsun Hong expressed his true feelings, Hu Wusheng roughly understood: this "student" in front of him, who was not much younger than himself, was most likely not going to listen to his advice.
So he took advantage of the situation and Gongsun Hong said, "I am so shameless that I would like to ask you to write a letter to me."
"——Although I have been a doctor in Chang'an for more than 20 years, I have never had any old friends or close friends except Jia Sheng."
"If the teacher is willing to write a letter and ask Uncle Dong to take me in for a while, I will be very grateful..."
The 'Uncle Dong' that Gongsun Hong mentioned was naturally the Doctor of Spring and Autumn Annals Dong Zhongshu, who was appointed as a doctor together with Hu Wusheng by the previous emperor, but did not return to his hometown with Hu Wusheng, but is still in Chang'an today.
Hu Wusheng didn't believe Gongsun Hong's explanation that he didn't know anyone in Chang'an and had nowhere to stay.
But Hu Wusheng also knew that what his disciple Gongsun Hong wanted was not a place to stay, but someone who could show him the way and help him avoid harm in Chang'an.
Obviously, among Hu Wusheng's connections in Chang'an, the one who could best help Gongsun Hong was Doctor Dong Zhongshu.
However, no matter how shameless Gongsun Hong was, he still didn't have the nerve to say "Please find someone to help me", so he said tactfully: I have nowhere to stay in Chang'an, I don't know if I can stay at Uncle Dong's place...
“I understand how difficult it is to be a PhD student.”
“——Can endure poverty and loneliness;”
"It's easy to say, but how easy is it to do it?"
"So, when the Deputy Minister resigned and returned home, I never said that he was 'unwise'."
"Because I myself resigned from my post and returned to Linzi to study for similar reasons."
These words expressed his approval of Gongsun Hong's "resigning from office to pursue further studies", and Hu Wusheng was silent again.
After a long time, he sighed again, picked up the bamboo slips again, and returned to his previous state of reading and chatting incoherently.
"Although I have only been in Chang'an for a few years, I do have some acquaintances."
"I have also received some information about this so-called 'imperial examination'."
"——Even if you pass all three rounds of examinations, you will only start as a 400-koku assistant clerk;"
"Second Minister, you resigned from your position as a 2,000-stone doctor and returned to Linzi to study..."
"After studying for more than ten years, he returned to Chang'an to compete with the younger generation in literary competition, but in the end, he only became a minor official with a salary of 400 shi?"
"Second Minister, do you really wish this?"
After Hu Wusheng finished speaking, Gongsun Hong couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Gongsun Hong once discussed his future with his teacher Hu Wusheng.
If he continues to study hard for another ten years, after he turns sixty, with the fame of his teacher Hu Wusheng, Gongsun Hong's academic attainments and academic status will most likely reach the level of a "celebrity".
If he waits for an opportunity to be recommended by some high-ranking official or nobleman - or even just needs to be recommended by his teacher Hu Musheng himself, Gongsun Hong will most likely be recruited by the court in Chang'an and be recognized as a virtuous and upright person.
In the original history, Gongsun Hong was recruited into the court at the age of 60 by the newly enthroned Emperor Wu of Han, who issued an edict "forcing the two thousand stone officials in the counties and states to select virtuous and upright people".
But at this moment, Gongsun Hong didn't think at all that there was anything wrong with starting as a minor official with a salary of 400 stones.
So what if I have two thousand koku?
Can a doctoral official who looks respectable but actually has no power at all and is not summoned by the emperor for three to five years really be better than the so-called "petty official of a hundred stones"?
At least in Gongsun Hong's opinion, this is not the case.
——A small official with a salary of four hundred stones, even if he is just an "official", can finally participate in the governance of the country and do something practical.
However, most of the doctors with the rank of 2,000 stones were unable to do even one practical thing for the ancestral temple, the country, or the people of the world throughout their entire lives.
Take Hu Wusheng, for example. He worked as a doctor for five years, and was rewarded with a reclining chair when he met the late emperor.
His fellow apprentice Dong Zhongshu was even more miserable - he had been a doctor for almost nine years, and neither the previous emperor nor the current Liu Rong had ever summoned him privately even once.
After all, what Gongsun Hong wanted to do was never to be a pure intellectual who talked big and went with the flow.
Gongsun Hong’s target is Jia Yi and Jia Changsha!
Even if he could not become a brilliant figure like Jia Yi, Gongsun Hong would do his best to leave his own unique style in the history of China.
"Student, I do wish for this!"
Gongsun Hong gave this answer with absolute firmness.
A moment later, Hu Wusheng took out a "letter of introduction" that had been written long ago from his pocket and handed it to Gongsun Hong without even raising his head.
"When I got to Chang'an, I first went to visit Weiqi Hou Dou Ying."
"Wei Qihou and I have some connection."
"——Go~"
"If things can't be done, you can just go back to Linzi;"
"My master and I can still teach everyone and help spread Confucianism..."
(End of this chapter)
"Cang Jie created writing to teach his descendants
Youngest son obeys the edict ~ be cautious and respectful ~
...
Try to recite ~ day and night ~
Dedicated to the history, planning and debate~~~"
In the second year of Emperor Rong Xinyuan's reign, Qi moved its capital to Linzi.
The sun rises in the east.
From a quiet courtyard, the sound of children babbling and reciting can be heard from time to time.
The children were either dressed in fancy clothes or in rags, but all of them sat upright in front of their desks.
The old scholars in scholarly caps hunched their backs, held the ruler behind their backs, squinted their eyes, and patrolled the school while listening attentively to what the children were reciting.
Outside the school, the older children, around ten years old, were busy with their work while silently reciting the enlightenment book of that era - "Cangjie Pian" in their hearts.
Someone was chopping wood;
Some people are carrying water;
There were even a few people who rolled up their sleeves and were busy cooking in front of the stove, reciting silently in their hearts: A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen...
The entire courtyard exudes a strong Confucian atmosphere from the inside out.
Of course, it is not the kind of "Confucianism" of later generations that cannot be carried on the shoulders or lifted with the hands, cannot be used with the limbs, and cannot distinguish between the five grains;
Rather, it is a "characteristic Confucianism" that is extremely rich in the legacy of the Warring States Period and unique to this era.
——In the open space in the backyard, young men in their twenties were "getting up and dancing at the sound of the cock-crow", wearing Confucian hats and swords!
On the hill not far from the courtyard, there were several people playing the piano and singing under the shade of the trees, studying music.
Such a scene, illuminated by the slowly rising morning sun, exudes a feeling of prosperity that makes people feel relaxed and happy.
However, in the obviously more secluded side yard, the atmosphere was inexplicably gloomy.
Under the roots of an old tree, an old man with a scholar's cap was lying on a reclining chair that had only become popular in Chang'an in recent years.
The old man frowned slightly and held the scroll in one hand, but his mind was obviously not on the book in his hand.
Three or two steps in front of the recliner, a slightly younger old man with gray hair and a scholar's cap on his head, was kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to the recliner with a pleading look on his face, acting respectfully like a nephew.
It is like a younger generation praying to their ancestors to grant their request;
But this young man is already over 50 years old...
"Since the fall of the Qin Dynasty and the rise of the Han Dynasty, our Confucianism has been despised by many people in the world."
"——Especially back then, Emperor Taizu Gao preferred to appoint Shusun Tong as a ritual official rather than to use our orthodox Confucianism: when the Lu Confucianism started, our Confucianism could hardly move forward."
"Not to mention the anecdotes like 'Gaoyang Drunkard', or Emperor Taizu Gao, who always makes fun of us Confucian scholars, which is even worse, humiliating..."
The long silence was finally broken by the old scholar sitting on the recliner.
Although he was speaking, the old scholar's eyes were still fixed on the bamboo slips in his hand.
After saying these words, the old scholar looked at the book in his hand for a long time before he let out a long sigh.
Then he threw the bamboo slips in his hand onto his legs and slowly turned his head.
"Secretary, have you really made up your mind?"
"Do you really want to go to Chang'an just for the word 'imperial examination'?"
Ciqing is the courtesy name of the kneeling man.
The man's surname is Gongsun, and his given name is "Hong".
As for the man on the recliner, he was none other than the famous Confucian scholar in Qi County and even in the whole world: Huzi Du - Hu Wusheng.
During the reign of the previous emperor, Hu Wusheng and his fellow student Dong Zhongshu, who studied the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals together, served as doctors in Chang'an.
Later, when he got older, he felt that there was no point in staying in Chang'an, so Hu Wusheng retired and returned to his hometown in Linzi to teach and educate people.
——Speaking of which, the recliner that Hu Wusheng is sitting on at this moment was a reward from the late emperor!
As for where the late emperor got such a wonderful thing, no one knows...
"Reply to the teacher."
"Students, give it a try if you're willing."
After Hu Wusheng's questioning, Gongsun Hong finally spoke and expressed his wishes.
Seeing that his teacher Hu Wusheng remained unmoved, and still looked hesitant, as if he wanted to persuade him again but didn't know where to start, Gongsun Hong could not help but smile bitterly and shook his head, and let out an inexplicable sigh.
“Teachers know students’ lives very well.”
"When I was young, I was appointed as a prison guard by my father. But within a few years, I was persecuted by scoundrels and dismissed from office because of my crime."
"Later, he studied the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents. When he was no more than twenty, his talent became known throughout the prefectures and counties."
"——Come to think of it, Jia Yi and Jia Changsha are also the same age as me."
"When Emperor Taizong appointed Jia Changsha as a doctor, the student was also appointed as a doctor by Emperor Taizong at the age of 20."
...
"Students still remember clearly that at that time, everyone said that the Han family had produced two young doctors at the age of 20."
"But no one has ever cared about who the other one of these two young doctors was besides Jia Yi..."
As he spoke, a look of loneliness could not help but appear on Gongsun Hong's slightly old face.
Another sigh was heard, and Gongsun Hong continued, "Jia Yi's talent is beyond my reach."
"To say that you are not jealous is a lie;"
"But even if there is a little envy, it is just to look up to others and strive to improve oneself..."
...
"I know that I am not as good as Jia Yi, so at the age of forty, I resolutely gave up the doctoral position I had held since I was twenty."
"——Student, it's not that I don't want to stay in Chang'an;"
"It's that the students don't want to be a so-called 'doctor' in Chang'an who is unknown and unrespected, and no one even knows who Gongsun Hong is."
"So, the student returned home and studied the Gongyang Commentary again, shamelessly calling himself a 'disciple of Hu Sheng Hu Zi Du', becoming his teacher's disciple in such a despicable way."
“Although I only received instruction from my teacher for a few years and was far from reaching the pinnacle of mastery, I did learn something after all—at least a little.”
"If it weren't for the letter from Chang'an about the imperial examination, I might have stayed in Linzi forever, receiving guidance from my teacher, and might not even have returned to Chang'an for the rest of my life."
"but……"
At the end of his speech, Gongsun Hong lowered his head involuntarily, and clenched his fists lightly like a stubborn teenager, with a hint of unwillingness quietly rising on his face.
——At the age of 20, he was appointed Doctor of Poetry by Emperor Xiaowen of Han Dynasty, and was ranked alongside Jia Yi and Jia Changsha who were of the same age!
This was the most glorious moment in Gongsun Hong's life.
At the same time, it is also a past that Gongsun Hong will never forget and still feels unwilling to accept.
Why?
Why is it that Jia Yi can attract the attention of the whole world, while Gongsun Hong can only be a foil with no sense of existence at all?
Not to mention being a foil - ask the old officials who are still active in the court of Chang'an today, does anyone remember that more than 30 years ago in Chang'an, there was a young man who was the same age as Jia Yi and was also appointed as a doctor?
Most people would not say "I remember". Even if someone occasionally said: Oh, yes, it seems that there was such a thing. In addition to Jia Yi, there seemed to be another young man in his twenties who was also appointed as a doctor.
But Gongsun Hong was very sure: there was no way that there was even one person in Chang'an who remembered that the young doctor, who was also 20 years old, was Gongsun Hong from Qi...
Just as Gongsun Hong said just now: Gongsun Hong feels ashamed of himself for being inferior to Jia Yi in terms of talent.
It can even be said that at the age of 20, when he served as a postdoctoral fellow of Emperor Taizong, Gongsun Hong devoted most of his energy during his 20-year doctoral career to learning, furthering his studies, and catching up with Jia Yi.
But Jia Yi died of depression, and Gongsun Hong lost the direction of his efforts;
Furthermore, Gongsun Hong gradually discovered that in Chang'an, the prosperous imperial capital, he simply could not calm down and concentrate on his studies.
So, facing the puzzled gaze of the whole world, Gongsun Hong resolutely gave up his doctoral position which offered him an annual salary of 1,800 dan without having to do anything, and came to Linzi.
Recalling the difficult years when I was young - whether it was working as a jailer in Xue County, my ancestral home, being bullied by those old-timers at the same time, or even being framed and losing my official position;
Later, after losing his source of livelihood, he could only herd pigs while studying "The Book of Songs" and "The Book of History" hard.
To this day, the elders in Xue County, Zhichuan Commandery still remember that there was a young man named Gongsun Hong who always wore rolls of bamboo slips around his waist when he was herding pigs for a rich family.
Some people still remember the young man named Gongsun Hong, who was always too absorbed in reading and let the pigs run away, so he had to eat the spoils of his employer every now and then.
After those difficult twenty years, there were another twenty years that seemed respectable but were actually extremely empty;
Today, Gongsun Hong is already fifty-two years old, but he is still concentrating on studying in order to "reach a higher level".
Although he didn't know how far he was from being the Jia Changsha who once amazed the world, Gongsun Hong still didn't dare to relax at all.
If nothing unexpected happened, Gongsun Hong's life would have been like this.
——If you are still "learning" in your fifties, you may die of old age while learning;
Even if he had lived longer, by the time he had achieved academic success and his talent had been noticed by the court in Chang'an, Gongsun Hong would have been an old man on his deathbed.
But this accident happened.
The word "imperial examination" caused Gongsun Hong, who had been heartbroken by Chang'an and beaten to pieces by Jia Changsha, to start to feel ripples again...
"Now that you have made your decision, just go for it."
"Why are you bowing and resigning now?"
After Gongsun Hong expressed his true feelings, Hu Wusheng roughly understood: this "student" in front of him, who was not much younger than himself, was most likely not going to listen to his advice.
So he took advantage of the situation and Gongsun Hong said, "I am so shameless that I would like to ask you to write a letter to me."
"——Although I have been a doctor in Chang'an for more than 20 years, I have never had any old friends or close friends except Jia Sheng."
"If the teacher is willing to write a letter and ask Uncle Dong to take me in for a while, I will be very grateful..."
The 'Uncle Dong' that Gongsun Hong mentioned was naturally the Doctor of Spring and Autumn Annals Dong Zhongshu, who was appointed as a doctor together with Hu Wusheng by the previous emperor, but did not return to his hometown with Hu Wusheng, but is still in Chang'an today.
Hu Wusheng didn't believe Gongsun Hong's explanation that he didn't know anyone in Chang'an and had nowhere to stay.
But Hu Wusheng also knew that what his disciple Gongsun Hong wanted was not a place to stay, but someone who could show him the way and help him avoid harm in Chang'an.
Obviously, among Hu Wusheng's connections in Chang'an, the one who could best help Gongsun Hong was Doctor Dong Zhongshu.
However, no matter how shameless Gongsun Hong was, he still didn't have the nerve to say "Please find someone to help me", so he said tactfully: I have nowhere to stay in Chang'an, I don't know if I can stay at Uncle Dong's place...
“I understand how difficult it is to be a PhD student.”
“——Can endure poverty and loneliness;”
"It's easy to say, but how easy is it to do it?"
"So, when the Deputy Minister resigned and returned home, I never said that he was 'unwise'."
"Because I myself resigned from my post and returned to Linzi to study for similar reasons."
These words expressed his approval of Gongsun Hong's "resigning from office to pursue further studies", and Hu Wusheng was silent again.
After a long time, he sighed again, picked up the bamboo slips again, and returned to his previous state of reading and chatting incoherently.
"Although I have only been in Chang'an for a few years, I do have some acquaintances."
"I have also received some information about this so-called 'imperial examination'."
"——Even if you pass all three rounds of examinations, you will only start as a 400-koku assistant clerk;"
"Second Minister, you resigned from your position as a 2,000-stone doctor and returned to Linzi to study..."
"After studying for more than ten years, he returned to Chang'an to compete with the younger generation in literary competition, but in the end, he only became a minor official with a salary of 400 shi?"
"Second Minister, do you really wish this?"
After Hu Wusheng finished speaking, Gongsun Hong couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Gongsun Hong once discussed his future with his teacher Hu Wusheng.
If he continues to study hard for another ten years, after he turns sixty, with the fame of his teacher Hu Wusheng, Gongsun Hong's academic attainments and academic status will most likely reach the level of a "celebrity".
If he waits for an opportunity to be recommended by some high-ranking official or nobleman - or even just needs to be recommended by his teacher Hu Musheng himself, Gongsun Hong will most likely be recruited by the court in Chang'an and be recognized as a virtuous and upright person.
In the original history, Gongsun Hong was recruited into the court at the age of 60 by the newly enthroned Emperor Wu of Han, who issued an edict "forcing the two thousand stone officials in the counties and states to select virtuous and upright people".
But at this moment, Gongsun Hong didn't think at all that there was anything wrong with starting as a minor official with a salary of 400 stones.
So what if I have two thousand koku?
Can a doctoral official who looks respectable but actually has no power at all and is not summoned by the emperor for three to five years really be better than the so-called "petty official of a hundred stones"?
At least in Gongsun Hong's opinion, this is not the case.
——A small official with a salary of four hundred stones, even if he is just an "official", can finally participate in the governance of the country and do something practical.
However, most of the doctors with the rank of 2,000 stones were unable to do even one practical thing for the ancestral temple, the country, or the people of the world throughout their entire lives.
Take Hu Wusheng, for example. He worked as a doctor for five years, and was rewarded with a reclining chair when he met the late emperor.
His fellow apprentice Dong Zhongshu was even more miserable - he had been a doctor for almost nine years, and neither the previous emperor nor the current Liu Rong had ever summoned him privately even once.
After all, what Gongsun Hong wanted to do was never to be a pure intellectual who talked big and went with the flow.
Gongsun Hong’s target is Jia Yi and Jia Changsha!
Even if he could not become a brilliant figure like Jia Yi, Gongsun Hong would do his best to leave his own unique style in the history of China.
"Student, I do wish for this!"
Gongsun Hong gave this answer with absolute firmness.
A moment later, Hu Wusheng took out a "letter of introduction" that had been written long ago from his pocket and handed it to Gongsun Hong without even raising his head.
"When I got to Chang'an, I first went to visit Weiqi Hou Dou Ying."
"Wei Qihou and I have some connection."
"——Go~"
"If things can't be done, you can just go back to Linzi;"
"My master and I can still teach everyone and help spread Confucianism..."
(End of this chapter)
