Know Yourself and Your Enemy (Please Recommend and Bookmark!)

"The bells in the Bell and Drum Tower rang through the night without a pause."

"Today, the names on the golden list were inscribed at the imperial examination hall."

"What a fine couplet! Shengzhong, those are auspicious words!"

At the family banquet, You Shixiong and Zhong Shidao clicked their tongues in admiration, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

As fellow students under Zhang Zai, Huang Shang had naturally invited them after returning to Kaifeng.

When they met, the two couldn't help reproaching him for leaving without saying goodbye last time, so Huang Shang selectively told them about his extraordinary encounter.

This also laid the groundwork for showing off his abilities in the future.

In this era, civil officials rode horses wherever they went, and quite a few knew martial arts.

They kept military officials' power in check, not their physical strength, so the two thought nothing of it. In fact, they were eager to test their skills against him.

Huang Shang had no intention of showing off in front of his classmates. Smiling, he steered the conversation elsewhere and began asking about the notable candidates sitting the same examination.

Zhong Shidao was still young and hadn't taken this year's imperial examination, but You Shixiong had already passed the Provincial Examination and was about to sit the Departmental Examination.

So Huang Shang had the perfect chance to find out which competitors were worth watching this time.

The top scholar meant coming in first.

Since ancient times, there had been no first place in literature, but only second place in martial arts. One could imagine just how tempting the officially recognized first place of top scholar was.

In the Song dynasty, which produced one great figure after another, whether one could become top scholar sometimes depended not only on talent, but also on timing and luck.

In some years, the competition was weaker, making it relatively easier to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

But in other years, you practically had to reach for the heavens.

Take the year 1057, six years earlier, when Zhang Zai passed the imperial examinations. That year's list was hailed as the greatest examination results of the millennium.

The chief examiner was Ouyang Xiu. Among those who passed were Su Shi and Su Xun, whom I mentioned earlier; Zhang Zai; Cheng Hao, one of the Cheng brothers; Wang Shao, who would later expand the empire's frontiers; and Zeng Gong, another of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song. Zeng Gong alone wasn't enough: all four brothers in his family passed, along with two of their brothers-in-law.

Absolutely insane!

Most outrageously, a full nine people from that year's examination would go on to become chancellors.

It was truly worthy of being called the greatest examination results of the millennium.

But the top scholar wasn't any of those famous names.

During the Departmental Examination, Su Shi had a chance to outshine everyone and become the top scorer, but he missed out for a rather ridiculous reason.

Since the examination papers went through two steps—having the names sealed and then being recopied—the chief examiner, Ouyang Xiu, mistook Su Shi's paper for one written by his own student, Zeng Gong. To avoid any appearance of favoritism, he ranked it second.

Su Shi: ???

Sometimes, when bad luck struck, there was simply no reasoning with it.

That showed that becoming top scholar also took luck.

If Huang Shang only wanted an official post, passing the imperial examination as a Presented Scholar would be enough.

But becoming top scholar was tied to cultivating Literary Qi.

The distinction of top scholar might save him ten years of arduous cultivation, perhaps even longer. He had no choice but to fight for it.

Huang Shang knew perfectly well that he had the knowledge, but no matter how gifted he was at studying, he couldn't match Su Shi in sheer talent.

Even a great figure like Su Shi had missed out on becoming top scholar for such a ridiculous reason. If Huang Shang wanted to make absolutely sure, he had to prepare even more thoroughly.

Fortunately, the year that had gathered so many stars was only two examination cycles in the past.

Generally speaking, a spectacular year was inevitably followed by a slump, and now was that slump.

Seeing Huang Shang's ambition, Zhong Shidao smiled. "Shengzhong, have you heard of Shen Cunzhong of Qiantang?"

Huang Shang thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.

He'd forgotten there was another candidate sitting the same examination.

Shen Kuo, courtesy name Cunzhong.

He was learned and skilled in writing, and his name had been passed down through the ages. A great Song scientist, he had made contributions to mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, hydraulic engineering, and even medicine, music, painting, and calligraphy. He was one of the most outstanding figures in the entire history of Chinese science.

But Huang Shang remembered that later generations had judged him to be a man of poor character—a schemer who changed his tune with the wind. Wang Anshi, in particular, had little regard for Shen Kuo.

Recalling this, Huang Shang didn't think much of Shen Kuo.

Scholarship and character were unrelated. And it wasn't because Shen Kuo hadn't been top scholar in history, either. It was simply that when a person spread himself too thin, he was bound to neglect one thing while attending to another.

Examinations didn't just test a person's learning; they also involved plenty of tricks. Shen Kuo clearly wouldn't pay attention to those, so he wasn't a contender for top scholar.

You Shixiong also mentioned several names, including Xu Jiang, who had been the top scholar in this year's examination in history.

Xu Jiang wasn't very famous, but he was formidable. He had become top scholar at just twenty-seven, was accomplished in both literature and martial arts, and would later rise to the position of chancellor.

Huang Shang didn't know Xu Jiang, but he committed all their names to memory, planning to study them and play to his strengths while avoiding his weaknesses.

Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

You Shixiong was eager for Huang Shang to become top scholar, so he held nothing back and told him everything.

Zhong Shidao hesitated, but in the end he still spoke up. "There's someone you may want to watch out for, Shengzhong. He comes from the Xiangzhou Han Clan."

The Xiangzhou Han Clan!

An aristocratic clan!

As everyone knew, aristocratic clans had risen during the Eastern Han dynasty, reached their peak during the Jin dynasty, and begun to decline during the Sui and Tang.

But with the fall of the Tang dynasty, the aristocratic clans had all but disappeared from history.

Some still remained, though. The Yang Family Generals, for example, were actually a branch of the Hongnong Yang Clan.

The Xiangzhou Han Clan was naturally far inferior to the Hongnong Yang Clan. Its ancestors could only be traced back to the mid-Tang dynasty, though several generations had held office, allowing the family to build up a certain foundation.

This generation had finally brought the family to its peak.

Han Qi.

Chancellor Han Qi!

Seeing Zhong Shidao's wary expression, Huang Shang raised an eyebrow. "Please, tell me plainly. Whatever you say stays between us."

Zhong Shidao glanced at the young book servant standing behind him, Murong Fu, then met Huang Shang's gaze and slowly nodded. "Han Zhongyan, courtesy name Shipu, is Chancellor Han's eldest son. He received an official post as Registrar of the Directorate for Palace Buildings through his father's influence. Now he's going to sit the imperial examination again. That much is nothing, but he once called you conceited and arrogant because of your talent, and seems to hold a grudge..."

A post gained through one's father's influence meant receiving an official position on account of a parent's rank and title.

But the Great Song placed such great importance on passing the imperial examinations that these officials' sons, if they had even a little learning, would still take the examinations themselves, as a stepping stone to promotion later on.

As the eldest son of the sitting chancellor, Han Zhongyan needed a Presented Scholar degree, whether to protect his father's reputation or secure his own future.

Historically, Han Zhongyan had also become a chancellor.

He was the first chancellor after Emperor Huizong of Song ascended the throne.

At the time, one official had summed up Emperor Huizong's four chancellors in four words:

Mediocre and cowardly, corrupt, foolish, and overbearing.

Han Zhongyan was the mediocre and cowardly one, while Cai Jing was the overbearing one.

Of Emperor Huizong's chancellors, Huang Shang only knew Cai Jing. He was simply too infamous to miss, and Huang Shang hadn't even thought of Han Zhongyan.

But he knew that Zhong Shidao's solemn warning meant Han Zhongyan really did hold a grudge against him.

That was strange. The two of them had never even crossed paths. Where had this grudge come from?

Meanwhile.

In a private room at Hui Xian Pavilion.

Xu Feng strode in. "Sis, I followed your approach and found out that Chen Sheng's death was connected to Han Zhongyan, the eldest son of the current chancellor, Han Qi!"

Xu Yue looked puzzled. "Those two are worlds apart in status. What happened?"

Xu Feng said, "A bunch of scholars who suck up to Han Zhongyan are always hanging around him. One of them is really famous: Cai Jing. I'd bet that bastard was the one who made the dirty move!"

Xu Yue mused, "This is getting interesting. It involves three chancellors, past and present..."

Xu Feng clenched his fist. "I love this kind of excitement. For Huang Shang's sake, let's take them down!"