Wang Anshi did not pass the exam

Although the Kaifeng Province of Tokyo in the 11th century was located in the dry northern plain, the water system inside and outside the capital was very developed: the Yellow River was a hundred miles north of the capital, and there was a canal (Bianhe) leading directly into the city; The four canals of the Bianhe River, Huimin River, Wuzhang River and Jinshui River pass through the city, and are known as the "Four Waters Throughout". Located in the center of the canal network, Tokyo's water transport can be described as extending in all directions, especially the Bianhe River, connecting the Yellow River in the north and Jianghuai in the south, connecting the north-south water transport network. When people from the south enter Beijing, they can also take a boat up the Bianhe River to avoid the labor of cars and horses.

In the first year of the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song (1041), around the time of spring and summer, the twenty-one-year-old southeastern scholar Wang Anshi boarded a boat from the Yuhang ferry port in Hangzhou, entered Huai along the Jiangnan Canal, and then traveled north to the Bianhe River, arriving in Tokyo before June, preparing to participate in the Jingshi Liberation Examination.

The imperial examination of the Song Dynasty was divided into three levels: the primary examination was called the Fa Xie Examination, which was presided over by the prefecture and county governments, and was generally held in the autumn, so it was also known as "Qiu Yi", and all readers who were interested in meritorious fame could apply for the Fa Xie Examination in the prefecture capital, and those who passed the exam were given the relief quota to enter Beijing to participate in the Ministry of Rites Examination; The Ministry of Rites examination is the second-level examination, presided over by the Ministry of Rites of the central government, generally held in spring, so it is also called "Chunyun", Chunyun and the first jinshi can participate in the last level of examination - the temple examination; The palace examination is nominally conducted by the emperor (in fact, the person responsible for evaluating the papers and determining the ranking is, of course, the scholar who serves as the examiner), so the high school yellow list is known as the "protégé of the Son of Heaven".

Wang Anshi was originally from Linchuan County, Fuzhou (present-day Fuzhou, Jiangxi), Jiangnan West Road, and settled in Jiangning Fu (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) on Jiangnan East Road as an adult, and was supposed to be in Fuzhou or Jiangning Prefecture, but the Song government allowed the sons and sons of the princes and officials who had lived in Jingshi for a long time to apply to participate in the examination of Kaifeng Prefecture or Guozijian, and Wang Anshi's late father Wang Yinai was an official of the imperial court, and he himself had long been away from his hometown, so Wang Anshi could participate in the examination in the capital. The development index of the Beijing division is much more than that of the local prefecture and county, which means that there are more opportunities to participate in the development test in the Beijing division.

Sure enough, Wang Anshi successfully passed the exam and obtained the quota. Since next year was the year of the Great Competition, after Wang Anshi took the solution, he did not return to Jiangning and lived in Jingshi to prepare for the examination of the Ministry of Rites to be held next spring.

In the blink of an eye, in the spring of the second year of the Qing calendar (1042), Wang Anshi passed the ceremonial examination and entered the palace examination as he wished. Before the Shenzong Dynasty of the Northern Song Dynasty, the temple test questions were usually three questions: poem, fu, and thesis: "According to the examination of the "Dengke Ji", since the establishment of the long, every subject test is one fu, one poem, one theory, and all three questions. "On March 15, the temple examination opened, and the examination topics were "Ying Tian Yi Shi is not literary talent", "Blowing the law and listening to the phoenix song poem", and "Shunde Chang Theory". Wang Anshi stood out in the exam and finished fourth, the champion was Yang Yuan, the list was Wang Jue, and the tanhua was Han Wei.

According to the account of Wang Zheng's "Silent Notes" of the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi was originally the first place in the palace examination, and the fourth place was Yang Yuan. Yang Yu was a talent, and the history books say that he "had few talents, and in the second year of the Qingli calendar, he was promoted to the Shijing Division, and he was the first in the examination of the Guozijian and the Ministry of Rites", and won the first place in both the examination of the Ministry of Hair and the Ministry of Rites. The world's masters who participated in the palace examination all believed that the winner would be Yang Yuan. Yang Yu is also confident that he will win. His elder brother Yang Cha was the son-in-law of the privy envoy Yanshu, and according to the custom, before the palace examination was released, the examiner had to copy the proposed admission rank to the two provinces (Zhongshu and Privy Council), and Yang asked his brother to ask Yan Shuxiang how many places he ranked. Yan Shu quietly told Yang Cha that Yang Shu "has already identified the fourth person." Yang Cha also asked someone to tell his brother the news.

At that time, Yang Yu was drinking with the drinkers in the liquor store, and when he heard that he only won the fourth place, he was indignant, and couldn't help but hit the case with his hand, sighing and saying: "I don't know which guard took the crown!" "Weizi, another name for the donkey.

On the day of the list, before the roll call, the examiner will submit the admission list and the first place paper into the imperial court, and the first place is Wang Anshi. However, when Emperor Renzong saw that Wang Anshi's "Ying Tian Yi Shi is not written with literary endowment", there was a phrase "children and friends", and he was unhappy in his heart and said: "This language is taboo, and it is not allowed to dominate the world." ”

Why did the phrase "sons and daughters" make Emperor Renzong feel unpleasant? It has to start with the origin of this language.

"Xiaozi Qipeng" comes from the Book of Shang, which is the admonition of the Duke of Zhou to King Cheng of Zhou, and "Xiaozi" refers to King Cheng, because King Cheng was only twelve years old at the time. There are two interpretations of the meaning of the whole sentence, one is intended to emphasize that "friends and friends are corrupt, especially harmful, and fear of neglect by youth, so they specifically say 'children'"; One said, "The Duke of Zhou called Wang Yun 'his son's friend', and it was Wang who took his courtiers as friends (friends)". Whether it was to remind the Son of Heaven to be wary of the scourge of friends, or to persuade the Son of Heaven to take the minister as a friend, it was not taboo in the Song Dynasty. What made Renzong feel uncomfortable was the word "son", because this was the tone in which Duke Zhou taught the children. In the second year of Qingli, Wang Anshi is twenty-two years old, Song Renzong is forty-three years old, who is the son? No wonder the emperor was very upset when he saw the word "son".

Since the emperor did not agree to list Wang Anshi as the first place, he was postponed in order, and he was promoted to the second place as the champion, but the second place Wang Jue was an official (referring to a person with an official position to participate in the scientific examination), according to the practice of the Song Dynasty, an official could not be a champion; So it was postponed to the third place, but the third place Han Wei was also an official, so he had to take the exam paper of the fourth Yang Yuan, and Renzong looked at Yang Yuan's name and said cheerfully: "If Yang Huang is okay." ”

In this way, Yang Yin Yin mistakenly became the champion, and Wang Anshi ranked fourth. At the beginning, when Yang Yu cursed Zhuangyuan in the liquor store for being a donkey, he could not have imagined that this Zhuangyuanlang's hat would finally fall on his head.

Although Wang Anshi missed the champion, he did not linger, and he had never "briefly said to people to be the champion" in his life, and Wang Zheng, who recorded this incident, sighed: Jing Gong "has a high energy, depending on why Kedi and other things"!

For the first place in the examination and the official awarded after ascending, Wang Anshi really did not care much. For him, just to get the opportunity to benefit the world, what is the difference between the first place and the fourth place in the A section?

(Author: We All Love the Song Dynasty, Source: Beijing Youth Daily Client)