"Thank you, Lord Li, for the report." Zhu Ping'an bowed to Li Chunfang to express his gratitude.
"Zihou, there is no need to be polite to me. The Prime Minister is waiting for you inside, so please go in quickly." Li Chunfang smiled and shook his head slightly.
Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly, bowed to Li Chunfang again, then straightened his appearance and walked into the room where Yan Song's office was.
"I, the humble student Zhu Ping'an, come to see the Prime Minister."
Zhu Ping'an walked into the room, bowed and saluted in the direction of the seat without saying a word, and called himself a junior student with a look of utmost respect on his face.
"Haha, Zihou is here. No need to be polite. Please stand up quickly." Yan Song, who was sitting upright in the main seat, stood up with a gentle smile. His attitude was very kind, just like an old grandfather next door.
"That's right, Zihou, why don't you get up quickly? Our Lord Yan admires young talents like you the most. You are being too polite, aren't you?"
Then, a strange yet somewhat familiar voice sounded above Zhu Ping'an's head, and then a pair of hands helped Zhu Ping'an up.
Zhu Ping'an stood up and looked up at everything in the room. The first thing that caught his eye was the kind-looking, white-bearded old man who stood up from the main seat and walked over. It was none other than Yan Song, the Prime Minister. Then came the middle-aged official with a square face who helped him up. He was none other than Zhao Wenhua, who presided over the imperial examinations in Yingtian back then and is now the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works and the Chief Envoy of the Ministry of Public Security.
"Thank you, Prime Minister, and thank you, Lord Zhao." Zhu Ping'an bowed to Yan Song and Zhao Wenhua to express his gratitude.
"Look at you, why are you becoming so polite again while talking?" Zhao Wenhua held Zhu Ping'an's hand, then turned to Zhu Ping'an and patted him on the shoulder, then smiled and shook his head.
"Okay, stop standing, let's sit down and talk. I'm an old man, not like you young people."
Yan Song was very kind. He smiled and teased, then waved his hand to signal Zhu Ping'an and Zhao Wenhua to sit down and talk.
Then the three of them took their seats as host and guest. Zhu Ping'an took the initiative to sit in the lowest seat, sitting upright, taking up half of the chair to show his respect.
"Actually, I can be considered Zihou's teacher." Zhao Wenhua said with a smile after sitting down.
"Oh, Wenhua, what do you mean?" Yan Song was quite interested in this and asked with a smile, stroking his beard.
"Haha, godfather, you don't know. The year before last, I was transferred to Sichuan as the educational commissioner of Nanzhili, and I took over as the educational commissioner of Nanzhili and presided over the provincial examination. It was also that year that Zihou went to Yingtian to take part in the provincial examination. Speaking of which, it was me who tested Zihou in the imperial examination before the provincial examination." Zhao Wenhua explained with a smile.
It was no longer a secret that Zhao Wenhua recognized Yan Song as his adoptive father. Everyone in the court knew about it. Zhao Wenhua had long been accustomed to calling Yan Song his adoptive father and did not feel embarrassed about it. Yan Song was over eighty years old, old enough to be his grandfather, let alone his father.
Well
Zhu Ping'an was slightly stunned when he heard this. In fact, generally speaking, this is the case, but strictly speaking, it is not like what Zhao Wenhua said.
"Zuoshi" is a respectful title used by Juren and Jinshi to address the chief examiner of the provincial and metropolitan examinations.
However, as the educational commissioner, Zhao Wenhua was only the chief examiner of the imperial examination before the provincial examination, and the chief examiner of the subsequent provincial examination was not Zhao Wenhua. The chief examiners at that time were Hanlin academicians Zhang Tao and Wang Da. So strictly speaking, the instructors for the provincial examination were only Zhang Tao and Wang Da.
However, generally speaking, the imperial examination is also a part of the provincial examination, and Zhao Wenhua was the chief examiner of the imperial examination, so he could also be considered a teacher.
Especially since Zhao Wenhua said this in front of Yan Song, and Yan Song seemed to be happy to see it happen, Zhu Ping'an would not get stuck in a dead end and engage in a debate with his teacher at this time.
Just be the master.
Too many lice won't be a burden, and one more won't make a difference.
By this calculation, he had two teachers in Yan's party. One was Yan Maoqing, the teacher during the imperial examination, and the other was Zhao Wenhua, who could barely be considered the teacher during the provincial examination... Yan Maoqing was a capable general under Yan Song, and Zhao Wenhua was Yan Song's adopted son and a capable general. Both of them were pillars of Yan's party.
Haha, why do you feel that you are a genuine member of the Xiao Yan Party? Zhu Pingan smiled silently in his heart.
However, in fact, Zhu Ping'an also knew that because of the memorial impeaching Zhao Daying, all the members of the Yan Party hated him to the core.
Although Zhu Ping'an's mental activity seemed to take such a long time, it actually only took one second.
"Master Zhao is absolutely right. Ping An was rude. I hope you can forgive me. I, Zhu Ping An, greet you, Master."
Zhu Ping'an raised his head and glanced at Zhao Wenhua and Yan Song, then apologized with a slight smile, then stood up from his seat and prepared to pay his respects to Zhao Wenhua.
"Look at you, I was just joking, but you took it seriously." Zhao Wenhua shook his head and chuckled, then stood up from his seat affectionately, and courteously stretched out his hands to hold Zhu Ping'an's arm, not letting Zhu Ping'an bow down and perform the formal ceremony.
"I am grateful to my teacher for his kindness. I got first-class marks in the test and was able to enter the provincial examination. Once a teacher, always a teacher. How dare I forget you?"
Although he was stopped by Zhao Wenhua, Zhu Ping'an still acted as if he was paying homage, saying words against his will, with a serious look on his face. To anyone who saw him, he looked like a good student.
"You, just have the intention. Why bother with all the etiquette?"
Zhao Wenhua said with a smile, and kindly pulled Zhu Ping'an to his seat, pressed Zhu Ping'an's shoulders, and asked Zhu Ping'an to sit down, looking like a gentle teacher.
"Oh, there is such a thing. Why didn't Wenhua mention it to me?" Yan Song picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and looked at the two of them with interest.
"It's the child's fault. Last year, I was the education commissioner of Nanzhili, and it happened to be the provincial examination. As the education commissioner, I presided over the examination. Zihou handed in his paper very early. When I first saw him, I thought that such a young boy was a student sponsored by some noble family. I thought that he might not have real talent and knowledge. Considering his young age, I thought that if his writing was okay, I would give him a second or third grade. Unexpectedly, when I saw the paper Zihou submitted, I was impressed and praised him. Then I saw that Zihou was just a child, so I couldn't help but feel suspicious. I was afraid that he had already known the answer to the test question, so I gave him another question on the spot."
Zhao Wenhua stood up, picked up the teapot and refilled Yan Song's tea, then slowly recounted to Yan Song the scene of the imperial examination of Zhu Ping'an.
After Zhao Wenhua poured tea for Yan Song, he came to Zhu Ping'an with the teapot. Zhu Ping'an quickly stood up, took the teapot from Zhao Wenhua, filled Zhao Wenhua's cup with tea, and then poured himself a cup of tea.
"Oh, what question did you ask?" Yan Song asked.
"What is this, an impolite etiquette?" Zhao Wenhua replied.
"Wenhua, you are deliberately making things difficult for me." Yan Song smiled and shook his head. Yan Song was very familiar with the imperial examination. The imperial examination was just a formality. The question posed by Zhao Wenhua was difficult.
"My godfather has wronged me. Zihou's test paper was too good at that time, and he was only thirteen years old. I was curious about his talent, so I tested him. If the test paper was really written by him, ordinary questions would not be able to test his talent." Zhao Wenhua explained with a wry smile.
"Well, Zihou, how did you answer at that time?" Yan Song nodded and looked at Zhu Pingan and asked.
"Returning to the Prime Minister, this is what Ping An answered at the time. The ancients regarded this as etiquette, but I must follow it now, which may not be in line with the ancient etiquette; the ancients regarded this as righteousness, but I must follow it now, which may not be in line with the ancient righteousness..."
Fortunately, it was me who asked the question. If it was someone else, I'm afraid I would have forgotten the answer at that time. Zhu Ping'an has a photographic memory, not to mention the questions he had answered at that time. This kind of question is not difficult for Zhu Ping'an. Zhu Ping'an pretended to think about it, and then repeated his answer at that time to Yan Song.
"Good." After hearing this, Yan Song stroked his beard and nodded in appreciation.