The whole city knows we are locked

Shen Yu sent a letter to Yan Chuyin, in which he said that he had just had a dream, dreaming of a chubby son and his attendant standing in the garden talking, the content seemed to be heard biting the tongue by the old grandmother up.

Generally speaking, it is impossible for Shen Yu's letter to Yan Chuyin to fall into the hands of others.

But what if?

So the letter should be written in a more cryptic manner.Shen Yu said in the letter that this dream has no beginning and no end, and he is very curious now, what exactly did the fat man overhear, and whether there are some conspiracies and tricks in it?Shen Yu also said that he was about to usher in the imperial examination, in fact, he shouldn't be so cranky, but curiosity can't be stopped!

By the time Yan Chuyin left the palace after eating and drinking at the Queen Mother's place, the letter had already been delivered.

Yan Chuyin touched the marks on her face that had mostly disappeared, and groaned, "I have to write some nice words in the letter, right?" It's best to praise me!Otherwise, if he turns back and changes into Shen Yu's body, he will be marked as well!

As a result, when I opened the letter and looked at it, there was not even a single nice word!

Yan Chuyin understood the letter immediately. Although the sixth prince has lost a lot of weight recently, he is still fat compared to other princes, so the fat boy must be the sixth prince!The sixth prince doesn't go to the Empress Dowager's side on a daily basis, so the old grandmother must be the Empress Dowager!The Queen Mother is Yan Chuyin's grandmother, and she loves Yan Chuyin on weekdays, but the old lady is sometimes stubborn, and they are juniors who can't persuade her.

Yan Chuyin thought to herself: It's possible for the old lady to make a small fuss in the dark, but she definitely won't be able to make a big deal out of it!It's not that he underestimated his own grandma, it's that this old lady is really not that good at planning!

When the first emperor was the prince, the old lady was a quail in the first queen's courtyard; later when the first emperor came to the throne, if it weren't for the fairness of the Eastern Queen Mother, the old lady would not be able to live a good life in the palace.Later, after the death of the first emperor and his enthronement, the old lady was "poor and rich", and was praised by a bunch of people. She just said what she wanted, and she didn't need to use her own brain at all.So, she never learned to do big things in her life!

So Yan Chuyin didn't think that the sixth prince could overhear any shocking secret.

"You care so much about the sixth prince!" Yan Chuyin complained to the letter paper, "I don't even care if I'll be bitten by bugs if I hide in the grass! Damn it!" In the next exchange, I really want to smear Shen Yu ah!

"That's all, since you're so curious, it's not impossible for me to ask Xiaoliu to come out some time to find out." Yan Chuyin suddenly changed her tone, "Look at how kind I am to you! You, go prepare for the palace exam with peace of mind! "

Yan Chuyin picked up the letter and wanted to burn it on the fire.But after thinking about it, Shen Yu's letter was written in such a cryptic manner that even if someone read it, they would only think that he had really had a dream, and in fact they would not reveal their secret.

So, there is no need to destroy the corpse?

Yan Chuyin put the letter away calmly.Hmph, these are all Shen Yu's "criminal evidence"!

Tell you to only care about the sixth prince!

On April [-], Yan Chuyin was called away by the prince.The campaign to preach the Enlightenment Book to the countryside has begun, which is a nationwide long-term campaign.The capital has received some feedback one after another.The crown prince knew that Yan Chuyin was the one who started this matter. Although most of the subsequent work was presided over by the Ministry of Rites, now that there is feedback, why should Yan Chuyin listen to it?Yan Chuyin was dragged by the prince to listen all day.

In the evening, the officials were all resigned, and Yan Chuyin should go home after listening to it all day.Before he left the palace, he went to the sixth prince on purpose.For some reason, the sixth prince looked at him with complicated eyes.Yan Chuyin didn't care about these things, and said confidently: "Tomorrow's palace exam, you will have a day off in the study, so I'll treat you to dinner." The princes can leave the palace, and the emperor doesn't deliberately restrict them in this regard, as long as they don't delay their studies.

The sixth prince: "..."

Why are you so confident!Why!

Although I apologized to you during the Chinese New Year, it doesn't mean that we are in love with each other!

Invite me to dinner for no reason!

The Sixth Prince looked at Yan Chuyin with more complicated eyes.

"It's settled! I'll see you tomorrow at the Zhuangyuan Building outside the palace!" Yan Chuyin continued to speak confidently, "Although the food and beverages at the Zhuangyuan Building are just like that, there is nothing special about it. But the name of the restaurant is well chosen, I want to please it."

The sixth prince: "..."

If you don't take the imperial examination, you won't be able to take the imperial examination in your life, what a compliment!

Also, who made a deal with you!I obviously didn't say a word!

Facing Yan Chuyin's righteous gaze, the sixth prince squeezed out the word "um" from his throat.

Yan Chuyin smiled, stretched nonchalantly, and bid farewell to the sixth prince and left the palace.

On April [-]rd, the tributes lined up outside the palace early.When the time came, the palace gates were wide open, and they were led by the guards to Wenhe Hall in an orderly manner.The examination table has been set up in the hall.On the table are the Four Treasures of the Study and blank paper for answering questions.Candidates enter the arena according to the order of the eunuchs' roll call.The whole process was very quiet.After all the examiners took their seats, the emperor took his seat, and the emperor read out the exam questions himself, and the palace examination officially began.

Contrary to many people's expectations, the topic of this year's palace examination is very simple, with only one word "ritual".

Confucianism values ​​etiquette.Li is a social hierarchy, but also a code of conduct and moral norms.Since ancient times, many classics have been related to the word "li".No matter which scholar, even if he has just started for two years, if you ask him to "talk about etiquette", he can speak clearly and logically.So this topic is not difficult, but it is not easy to write new ideas.

Shen Yu can completely quote the scriptures and write a gorgeous work with brilliant literary talent—presumably most of the Gong Yuan did this, as long as the point of view is correct enough, no matter how you write it, you can’t make mistakes, and in the end it’s nothing more than who’s literary talent is better—— —Shen Yu has already won five yuan in a row, as long as this palace examination is gorgeous enough, he must be the champion.

But Shen Yu didn't want to do that.

He thought to himself that in the middle of last year, the aristocratic Zhao family was driven back to their hometown, and at the end of the year a group of rats who wanted to restore the former dynasty were arrested. up...

At this point in time, the emperor issued an exam question calling the examinee to "speak the etiquette". What is the intention?

Your Majesty, this is a family with swords pointed at!

The aristocratic family prides itself on establishing the world with "rituals", and people also follow their set.The emperor asked, what is courtesy?

What is the gift?Is Li really the same as that of the aristocratic family?

Shen Yu's mind was opened immediately.

Most people in the world think that etiquette is indeed the way of the aristocratic family, so their code of conduct often attracts everyone to learn from it.Don’t you see how many officials from civilian backgrounds, once they become rich, they start to change the rules of the family, and everything has to move closer to the aristocratic family, so as to prove that they are not superficial; The aristocratic family made the rules more and more serious, in order to prove their "nobility".

Although the word "li" has become the shackles of the aristocratic family, the Zhao family got out of the capital just because of their disrespect (if Wu Xun committed the same thing, the whole family would not be unable to gain a foothold in the capital); It became the protector/protector/umbrella of the aristocratic family!The aristocratic family is still unwilling to obey sincerely, but the emperor can only turn a blind eye.

Therefore, the answer that the emperor wants to see must be - Li is definitely not the way of the aristocratic family!

After clarifying the answer and then conceiving the article, Shen Yu soon had a draft in mind.He can't open his eyes and tell nonsense, saying that many codes of conduct and ethics of the family are wrong.The fact is that the family is indeed polite.

Then, we can only completely magnify the idea, saying that the family understands etiquette, but the family cannot represent "ritual".

After Shen Yu typed up the draft in his mind, studied the ink and prepared the pen, he began to write smoothly on the paper.The opening chapter says that "li" originally refers to worshiping and worshiping gods, and represents a kind of norm and norm between heaven and earth.People conform to nature and the way of heaven, absorb "rituals" from the rules of heaven and earth to restrain themselves, and make themselves different from plants and beasts.

The world is infinite and vast, but human wisdom is limited and narrow.

Therefore, from ancient times to the present, although everyone is advocating rituals, the rules of the world are slowly changing.In the pre-Qin period, everyone had to sit on their knees when attending banquets; but nowadays people are more accustomed to sitting upright on chairs.Can it be said that the pre-Qin people were more polite than our current people?Or conversely, people today are more polite than people in the pre-Qin period?Of course not!Sitting kneeling in the pre-Qin period was also a ritual, and sitting upright is also a ritual today.

So is "ritual" changeable?Can it be changed at any time?

This is contrary to the words of the sages!

No, actually the etiquette has not changed at all.

Because the rules of heaven and earth have not changed, there were four seasons in a year in the pre-Qin period, and there are four seasons in a year now.In the pre-Qin period, winter was cold and summer was hot, and now it is cold in winter and hot in summer.What has changed is not "rituals", but people's understanding of "rituals".

The essence of "ritual" is respect for heaven and earth.Between the ruler and his ministers, the ruler is the minister's heaven; between father and son, the father is the son's heaven.Our so-called etiquette is to treat the king and father with the same reverence for heaven and earth.Therefore, if there is a person who stands up and says, I am Li, everyone come and learn from me, this person is too arrogant, it is simply intolerable.Only heaven, earth, sun and moon can represent rituals, because they are eternal.

……

With more than a thousand words eloquently, Shen Yu completed it in one go.

There is no mention of the family in the whole article, since the heaven, earth, sun and moon are brought out, it seems narrow to deliberately mention the family at this moment.Shen Yu's article seems to be saying, I am not targeting the aristocratic family, I am just talking about the principles of heaven and earth.It is an irrefutable truth to follow nature and the way of heaven.

Today is always merciful in some small things.

For example, during the palace examination, people today are generally used to sitting on the dragon chair for a long time, and will not suddenly get off the dragon chair and walk around among the candidates.Because this kind of walking will make many candidates who have never met the test feel pressured and will make them tremble.But this time, looking at Shen Yu's calm look, Imakami couldn't bear it anymore.

He wants to see what this young man who Yin Nu likes has written!

The emperor quietly walked down the steps, quietly walked to Shen Yu's side, and looked down.

I just watched it!

When Shen Yu wrote the pen, before he had time to check it, the emperor reached out and took the paper away.

"Good, good!" The emperor couldn't help but praise loudly. At this time, he had completely ignored the other candidates in the Wenhe Palace. He laughed and said, "As expected of the Qilin son of the Shen family, I am the number one scholar!" Lang!"

It was Jinkou Yuyan who directly decided the champion!