latelenovela Chapter 228 The Key to Success for the Poor Scholar
Chapter 228 The Key to Success for the Poor Scholar
Xiao Si: Your Majesty, have you heard? Someone recommended a recluse to Lord Song Jing and even presented him with a treatise entitled "On a Good Minister".
Sanlang Zian: Oh? After Lord Song Jing saw this, did you feel that your image had become even more impressive? Did you feel that you were particularly valuable?
Xiao Si: Haha, I was quite happy at first, after all, who doesn't like to hear nice things? But later, when a servant who went to investigate whispered a few words to him, Lord Song suddenly slammed his hand on the table—guess what? The Vermilion Bird Soup bowl jumped up and splashed eggs all over the clerk's face, and he flung his sleeves!
Sanlang Zian: Oh, quite the temper! That clerk might have to change his name to "Sleeve-Swept Noodle-Loving Gentleman"! And then what happened?
Xiao Si: Lord Song frowned and wrote, "Flattery is as sweet as honey, it gnaws at my pillars!" He then turned and said, "If you were truly talented, you would be famous for performing on the streets of Chang'an. How dare you call yourself a hermit? If you're so talented, why don't you take the imperial examinations?!"
Sanlang Zian: (Pfft) That's just his personality! He's really sharp-tongued! That hermit probably changed "On Good Ministers" into "The False Hermit's Poor Man's Art Performance" overnight?
Xiao Si: That's more than that! I heard that Fan Zhirui cried for three years while holding the imperial edict, and finally shouted in a tavern: "If I had known that Song Jing was such a stubborn person, I should have written an article called 'How to Elegantly Eat a Cornbread'!"
Sanlang Zian: Hahahaha... Now the sycophants of Chang'an have finally found a new profession—studying "Nine Out of Ten Flattering Steamed Buns Are Undercooked"!
Xiao Si: In that year in Chang'an, the imperial capital, beneath the official robes of the Three Departments and Six Ministries lay the untold mysteries of officialdom, a secret that had persisted for millennia. When the newly appointed scholars, clutching their copies of the *Five Classics: Correct Meanings*, stepped into the Ministry of Personnel, they would finally understand that passing the imperial examinations was merely the first stepping stone in their quest for officialdom—in this colossal bureaucratic machine, outwardly based on the *Tang Code* and inwardly grounded in worldly wisdom, the art of "serving the emperor" was far more deadly than the writings of sages. The upright and incorruptible figures depicted in the historical records were merely the monument erected by a man without any real power or influence.
Sanlang Zian: I remember the story of how my father once asked Xu Jingzong, "What do you think of the ministers?" It is like a mirror reflecting the palace and officialdom.
Xiao Si: That's right. This prime minister, who made his name in history by flattering Wu Zetian, was already well-versed in the "aesthetics of praising the emperor" when he compiled "Yaoshan Yucai". At that time, in the sandalwood incense of the Hall of State Affairs, although the likes of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui became prominent with "Fang's planning and Du's decisiveness", in fact, "New Anecdotes of the Tang Dynasty" secretly recorded their official mindset of "always trying to understand the emperor's intentions in every audience".
Sanlang Zian: The fragrance of ink from the imperial examination list had not yet faded when the newly selected candidates suddenly realized the true meaning of survival before the scrutinizing records of the Ministry of Personnel. The "Tongdian·Elections Records" states that during the Kaiyuan era, "of those who passed the examinations each year, not one in a hundred entered the high-ranking positions," while those poor scholars who were skilled in the art of writing and reviewing their examination papers could often use "poetry and prose as gifts" to knock on the doors of the powerful and wealthy.
Xiao Si pushed up her non-existent gold-rimmed glasses: Welcome to the special program "Survival Guide to the Workplace in the Tang Dynasty". I am your host, Xiao Si.
Having lived through Mei Xiaosi's life, I finally understood that behind Bai Juyi's later saying "It's not easy to hold a high position" was actually the secret submission of his job-seeking guide, "Seventy-Five Essays on Policy," to the prime minister's family. This was an unspoken wisdom of seeking favors.
The xiezhi crown of the Censorate and the pipa music of Pingkang Ward represent two contrasting aspects of Chang'an's officialdom. This is practically the name tag of an ancient disciplinary committee member! By day, they wear a stern face at work, mimicking Bao Zheng (a famous upright official); by night, during team-building activities in Pingkang Ward, they're clutching their pipa, shouting, "Miss, play one more song!" They're perfectly adept at this divisive survival strategy.
The story of Song Jing's "uprightness and refusal of flattery" recounted in "Miscellaneous Records of the Court and Countryside" ultimately cannot compare to the reality of Li Linfu's "honeyed words and daggers" path to becoming prime minister! Wouldn't it be more conscientious to summarize a set of "108 Ways of Backstabbing"?
In the Right Chancellor's office during the Tianbao era, the "Prime Minister with a cane" was ridiculed as having "the wisdom of playing with deer," but he was well-versed in the secrets of officialdom in the "Changduan Jing" (a classic text on long and short affairs): "to measure power and ability, and to understand feelings and intentions."
In this bureaucratic administration governed by the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty," true sages often emulated Wei Zheng's survival dialectic of "abolishing reform and promoting literature." The "Anecdotes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" records that his remonstrances were always "burned before being submitted!" Each time he confronted the boss, he would burn the drafts to avoid being killed—a way to conceal his merits and fame!
How can we guard against ministers who "sell their honesty for personal gain," turning outspoken criticism into sophisticated emotional manipulation? This is too similar to the saying in the Dunhuang manuscript "Official Admonitions": "The rigid lose their crown, the yielding stain their robes," and Liu Gongquan's theory that "a righteous heart leads to a righteous pen." Let's not forget the pale inadequacy of scholarly political discourse revealed in the bloodshed of the Ganlu Incident, vividly illustrating what it means for "keyboard warriors to encounter true scoundrels"!
While Han Yu satirized those who "served at the gates of high officials" in his "Preface to Sending Li Yuan Back to Panggu," he himself wrote the "Stele for Pacifying Huaixi" in Pei Du's office, and could only sigh at those helpless actions...
This spiritual dilemma of the literati evolved into a poignant survival strategy amidst the vortex of the Niu-Li factional strife—Li Deyu's upright stance in "On Petty Men" ultimately had to be maintained through the art of memorials in "The Collection of First-Rank Officials of Huichang".
Amidst the evening drumbeats of the 108 wards of Chang'an, true winners in officialdom often deeply understood the essence of Yao Chong's "Ten Essentials": behind the moral veil of "The Guide to Ministers" and "The Classic of Loyalty," they transformed their understanding of human relationships into management strategies.
Which of the ministers who left their mark on history wasn't well-versed in both "The Art of War" and "A New Account of Tales of the World"? The key to rising from humble beginnings to success has always been the profound understanding of human nature hidden deep within the classics and historical texts...