Looking at Ji Zhibai's appearance and listening to Fang Yun's words, the people present deeply realized that not only Fang Yun's status had changed, but also his attitude towards doing things had changed. He finally looked like the Duke of Zhenguo and the Xusheng.
Before, Fang Yun would either be insincerely polite to Ji Zhibai, or veiled a veiled attack on Ji Zhibai. But now, he followed his heart and spoke his mind openly without caring about the reaction of Zuo Xiang and his party.
Then a Jinshi official not far from Zuo Xiang Liushan said, "Sheng Fang Xu's threats are too overbearing!"
"Send someone with a higher rank out." Fang Yun ignored the man and sat down after saying that.
Everyone was stunned, and suddenly realized that Fang Yun, wearing a white and black plum robe, was already a Hanlin!
Even in the saintly families, Hanlin is considered a senior official. Even in the Wu Kingdom, where soldiers are like rain and generals are like clouds, Hanlin can lead an army of 50,000 and is a powerful official.
In Jing State, Hanlin is at least a third-rank official.
"Saint Fang Xu is so majestic, but what if I say you are overbearing?" an old man said in a deep voice.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw the old man in Hanlin uniform with gray hair and beard. It was the new Minister of Personnel, Gu Mingzhou, a senior Hanlin. After this gift of literature, some people said that he could become a Grand Secretary in two years at most.
"Oh, so are you planning to kidnap people with your whole family and then kill the officials, or are you planning to stop Jingguo from resisting the barbarians?" Fang Yun asked.
Gu Mingzhou was not affected by Fang Yun's words at all, and said: "The Holy Court has not yet made a final conclusion on the Changxi Village incident. Jingguo impeaches you every day. You are too cruel to use this incident as an example."
"Yes, you didn't say that Changxi Village has been trafficking people for many years, you didn't say that it's insane, you didn't say that it's insane to imprison and kill hundreds of people, you didn't say that it's insane to kill police officers who resisted arrest with weapons, I just used them as examples, and you said that I was insane. It's ridiculous. The monsters and barbarians are heading south, the war is about to start, and Jingguo will soon mobilize all its people to become soldiers. I don't have time to argue with you, those who have the guts and the ability to do it, come and compete with me in killing monsters and barbarians. Otherwise, you are just fighting for your power and your interests, and I am not interested."
Fang Yun was not polite at all.
Gu Mingzhou was about to argue, but the Queen Mother said, "Well, today is a happy day, so please don't mention anything else. Now let's start evaluating the poems of all the Jinshi candidates who passed the palace examination this year. After the evaluation, all the Jinshi candidates will be officially awarded official positions."
Gu Mingzhou had no choice but to shut up.
Next, some young scholars or some old scholars who wanted to be famous for their literary works went to the platform one after another to evaluate the works of the candidates who took the palace examination this year.
Seventy percent of the people reviewed Fang Yun's works, and the other thirty percent had to switch to alternative poetry reviews because the previous people reviewed it too well.
Appreciating poems and essays was a common occurrence, especially at the No. 1 Scholar Banquet, where everyone was trying to promote their own literary reputation and to praise the successful candidates. Almost all of the essays were filled with praise, and if someone really didn't like a certain poem, they would criticize it after the No. 1 Scholar Banquet.
A man had just finished commenting on a poem by Gao Yong, the runner-up, and before he stepped off the stage, Ji Zhibai stepped up.
Many people present frowned. Since Ji Zhibai went up, it meant that today's top scholar banquet would not be smooth sailing.
Some people looked at Liu Shan, who had a kind expression on his face, as if he had really integrated into this festive day.
Ji Zhibai walked up to the high platform and said with a smile: "You must think that I am criticizing Fang Yun's poems, then I can only say that I disappoint you. I came to the stage to praise Fang Zhuangyuan's poems! Since I like all the poems written by Fang Xusheng in Ning'an, I will comment on them one by one."
"The first poem, Dinghai Zhi, is quite extraordinary. The last couplet of this poem, 'I don't want to be a marquis, I just hope the sea waves are calm', forms a powerful war poem, which in exchange for Li Daoyuan's map of the world's water, killed hundreds of thousands of aquatic creatures, and can be called the nemesis of aquatic creatures. However, I personally think that although this poem is powerful, it is not because of the Dinghai that has been passed down through the ages, but because of the sentence 'I don't want to be a marquis'. In Fang Xusheng's eyes, being a marquis, a duke, or a king is not a big deal at all. Fang Xusheng's real intention is naturally to be above being a king! Fang Xusheng expressed his feelings so directly, and I admire him. I, Ji Zhibai, am just thinking about it, and I would never dare to be as domineering as Fang Xusheng!"
"I have no desire for the title of marquis, but I wish for peace at sea" originally meant that Fang Yun did not care about official positions or titles, but only hoped to drive out the aquatic creatures and bring peace to the human race's sea borders.
But now, Ji Zhibai misinterpreted it as the title could no longer satisfy Fang Yun, and Fang Yun needed a throne and wanted to be the emperor!
Ji Zhibai continued, "Fang Xusheng's ambitions are beyond the reach of ordinary people. I was skeptical at first, but after this poem "Dinghai Zhi", Fang Xusheng suddenly wrote "Fu Ju"! Is this a poem? The emperor's war poem! It is connected with 'It is not my intention to be a marquis', which is Sima Zhao's intention... Ahem, I used inappropriate words, I apologize to Fang Xusheng. I recite this poem to let you feel the murderous intent of this emperor's war poem! 'Wait until September 8th in autumn, my flower will bloom and all other flowers will die. The fragrance will penetrate Ning'an, and the whole city will be covered with golden armor'! Is it domineering? What is a chrysanthemum?"
After Ji Zhibai finished speaking, he paused for a moment and scanned the venue.
"Chrysanthemum, in Tao Yuanming's poems, is a noble flower. Tracing back to ancient times, in Emperor Wu of Han's "Autumn Wind Ode", it only represents the fragrance of a beautiful woman, which is more delicate. However, in Fang Xusheng's pen, it is full of murderous aura and has become a killing flower! If it was written by someone else, it would simply be an anti-poem! Of course, Fang Zhuangyuan is a virtual saint, with the same status as the monarch, so how can the anti-poem he wrote be considered an anti-poem!"
Many people off the field wanted to refute, but if they spoke before Ji Zhibai finished speaking, not only would they be accused of being unruly, it might even have the opposite effect.
At this point, everyone knew Ji Zhibai's intention. He didn't need to attack Fang Yun. He just needed to misinterpret the poetry and make the Jing royal family be on guard against Fang Yun.
Before the Ten Kingdoms, there was more than one important official who usurped the throne and seized power.
"I admire Fang Zhuangyuan too much. If he didn't have a broad mind, how could he write such a war poem? However, this poem has a small flaw, which has been pointed out by someone on the discussion board. This poem was written by Fang Yuncheng when he was a temporary imperial scholar. It not only strengthens the armor of soldiers, but also makes weapons sharper. But the problem is that it is only as powerful as an imperial scholar's war poem in autumn! Once used in spring, summer and winter, its power is only equivalent to that of a juren poem, and even the number of people it affects is much smaller."
Now many people were speechless. Ji Zhibai was right. Unless Fang Yun could make up for the flaws of this war poem, it would probably become the weakest Hanlin protected war poem.
Ji Zhibai smiled complacently and said, "The following "Caisangzi*Chongyang" is magnificent and makes up for the lack of imperial spirit and talent in "Fuju", especially the line "The vast river and sky are covered with frost for thousands of miles", which further shows the loneliness of Fang Xusheng in his heart. I'm afraid he thinks that only he can support Jingguo! Well, I have taken up too much of your time, so I'll end it here!"
As soon as Ji Zhibai finished speaking, the whole audience burst into objections.
"Ji Zhibai, you deserve to be killed! You are bringing disaster to Jing Country!"
"Fang Xusheng worked so hard to write two war poems that have been passed down through the ages, but you used them to sow discord. This is simply a disgrace to scholars!"
"Ji Zhibai is a clown, and his teammates are like pigs!"
Qiao Juze could not help but said angrily: "Ji Zhibai said it well, only I am allowed to sell out the country, but not Fang Yun!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the noise gradually died down. Qiao Juze was in the same dormitory as Fang Yun in the academy last year and had a close relationship with Fang Yun. He was usually a modest gentleman, but today he was forced to say such words, which was almost equivalent to accusing Liu Shan of being a traitor.
Ji Zhibai's face changed and he looked at his mentor, but Liu Shan remained calm, as if he didn't hear anything.
However, the gloomy and rainy scene in the distance reflected in Liu Shan’s eyes seemed to be even darker.
The atmosphere of the top scholar's banquet suddenly dropped to the lowest point.
After a moment, the Queen Mother said, "The poetry review is over. Please ask the cabinet to read out the appointment."
Afterwards, cabinet officials came to the stage and announced the appointments of hundreds of Jinshi.
Before the appointment, the cabinet had fully consulted all the Jinshi scholars, whether they wanted to go to ancient places, join the army, go into politics or go the literary academy, and then made assignments based on their intentions and their abilities.
The only difference this year is that 70% of the Jinshi will be assigned to the Northern Army, 10% will be assigned to other armies, and very few will enter the Academy of Literature or become civil servants.
Most of the Jinshi who were assigned to the north had no complaints. A few were dissatisfied, but they did not resist because it was the duty of every Jing citizen.
Scholars have lived safely to this day under the protection of others. After becoming Jinshi, they should also contribute to the country.
The top thirty people in the palace examination were treated differently. Some entered the six ministries, some entered the Jingguo Academy for further studies, and some were sent out to serve as county magistrates or officials in provincial prefectures.
There were some differences when Fang Yun was finally appointed.
Right Prime Minister Cao De'an personally went up to the platform. What he held in his hand was not a document from the cabinet, but a bright yellow imperial edict embroidered with a dragon, and it was much longer.
Cao De'an held the imperial edict in both hands, looked at everyone and said, "Last year, Fang Xusheng made great contributions one after another, and there was no reward for him, so the Left Prime Minister wrote a letter saying that after Fang Xusheng passed the imperial examination, all his contributions should be converted into literary merits and his official position should be promoted. So, today, as the Left Prime Minister wishes, Fang Xusheng will be promoted to a higher position."
This time, some people noticed that there was a subtle change in Liu Shan's expression.
In order to stop Fang Yun from gaining power, Liu Shan racked his brains.
And today, I will give it all back!
The ten countries are divided into nine grades and eighteen levels. All the literary merits gained by Fang Yun will be converted into official positions!
Cao De'an opened the imperial edict and first read out some common words in imperial edicts to praise Fang Yunhou, and then read out the main text.
"First in the double-class case, three poems shine together in the "Sacred Way", eliminating the desolation of Jingguo, restoring the literary reputation of Jingguo, and being promoted one level."
"Before becoming a saint, he was a scholar. He hunted down the turtle demon general with the pseudo dragon bloodline, saved everyone from danger, and was promoted to a higher rank."
"In the Dragon Boat Festival, he defeated Qing State and won the championship. Later, he single-handedly resisted Qing State in a literary duel. The two achievements were combined into one, and his rank was promoted one level."
"As soon as I went up to the Book Mountain, I defeated many crazy students from the Qing Kingdom and Wu Kingdom, won more imperial examination quotas for the Jing Kingdom, and was promoted to a higher rank."
"I discovered that the Jiaolong King was attacking Yuhai Mansion, and I was promoted one level."
"If you enter the Three Character Classic into the Holy Temple, you will be promoted one level higher."
"In the Holy Ruins, lead the human scholars to break into the Comet Corridor and be promoted one level."
"Wen Dou Xizhou, won ten battles in a row, and was promoted two levels."
…
Then they were promoted one level after another. At the end, Cao De'an said, "In summary, Fang Yun is promoted to the second rank! He will be promoted to the Prince's Junior Tutor."
Cao De'an's last words were like thunder exploding in the air. (To be continued...)