Chapter 14 1. Master Kuang Heng

35 BC, spring, the first month.Zhizhi Shanyu's head was sent by Chen Tang to Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty, by courier.Throughout the ages, the most exciting and proud thing is not the head of Shan Yu, but a book sent to Chang'an City with the head. It was a memorial letter written by Chen Tang to Emperor Liu Shi. The content is very long.The ministers Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang led the righteous soldiers to punish the heavens, and beheaded the heads of Zhizhi, who were below the kings, to show their ten thousand miles. The most exciting thing is the following sentence: Anyone who commits crimes against a strong man will be punished even if he is far away.

Iron bones, sonorous words.Traveling through the cloud of smoke for thousands of years, I seem to see Chen Tang waving a long sword, with heroic pride, heading straight to Yunxiao, and his power is shaking the world. Liu Xun was very excited.For forty years, his life has been almost a history of soft eggs.Before Liu Bing was alive, he once pointed at his nose and cursed that it might be him, a mollusk that didn't evolve, that defeated the Han family.Now, Liu Shi could straighten up, run to the temple of Liu Bingji, burn incense and light a fire, and show off proudly. Who said I was a prodigal son, what my ancestors couldn't do, I did it.Below Gaozu, I am not the best, at least not the worst.

Is not it?Liu Xi didn't just say cursing and cursing in his heart.Chen Tang made him hold up his dignified head proudly, and he had to tell his ancestors.Therefore, it was rare for him to be decisive, and without any explanation, he ordered that Zhizhi Shanyu's head be hung on the top of the city for ten days.Immediately afterwards, he went to the Taimiao in person to offer sacrifices to his ancestors and forgive the world. Throughout the Han Dynasty, from the central to the local, there was a sea of ​​joy and excitement everywhere. There is always something special about everything, beheading Zhizhi Shanyu, some people are happy, some people are not.If there are at least two people, you can't get excited.One of them is Shi Xian, a celebrity in the palace, and the other is the prime minister Kuang Heng.

Someone may ask, didn't Yu Dingguo do a good job?Where has he gone? Let me tell you!Yu Dingguo has already been laid off!Along with Yu Dingguo, Da Sima Shigao was also laid off.In September of 43 B.C., frost fell in the Han Dynasty, the crops were not harvested, and the whole country suffered from famine.Because of this natural disaster, three senior officials including the Prime Minister Yu Dingguo, Da Sima Shigao and Yushi collectively took the blame and resigned. Time flies so fast, as if in the blink of an eye, eight years have passed since this incident. In the past eight years, the official stage of the Han Dynasty has already changed several groups of people.However, those who can get on the table are not small.For example, Kuang Heng in front of me.

Kuang Heng, courtesy name Zhigui, was originally from Donghaicheng (now Lanling Town, Cangshan Mountain), and he is a fellow villager with the once great man Xiao Wangzhi.Xiao Wangzhi has been farming for generations, but in his generation, he resolutely abandoned farming, started academic studies with famous teachers, and became famous all over the world, which is really not easy.Coincidentally, Kuang Heng has also been farming for generations, and in his generation, he also decided to abandon farming to study and started academia. Xiao Wangzhi was engaged in academics, and I didn't hear that the funds were tight, but I heard that he had hired many famous teachers, such as Xia Housheng.We won't say much about Xia Housheng's story.This talented person has accepted students like Xiao Wangzhi and Huang Ba, he has enough money in this life, and he has no regrets.

But it is not easy to find a way out for Kuangheng's transformation.The main reason is that he is poor.How poor are you?Poor enough to work for others to make a living.This is not a big deal, he is so poor that he can't afford to light a lamp to read at night.But he is so energetic that he can't sleep without reading.Ever since, he thought of a trick—excuse the light. In Chinese history, there are countless versions of scholars studying hard.However, the ones that can become classics are nothing more than the following three: Yingying Yingxue in the bag, hanging beams stabbing thighs, and gouging walls to steal light.

The protagonist of Nangying is Che Yin; the protagonist of Yingxue is Sun Kang; the protagonist of Hanging Liang is Sun Jing; The so-called, if you don't endure hardships, how can you be a master.The energetic Kuang Heng, after several years of work-study program, finally practiced the miraculous skills.This miraculous skill is—interpretation. In the Han Dynasty, if you wanted to be in academia, you had to be proficient in Confucian classics.The bibliographies stipulated by Confucian classics are the "Six Classics": Shangshu, Yili, Yuejing, Zhouyi, and Spring and Autumn Annals.Don't say that you are familiar with the "Six Classics", as long as you become a master of one of the classics, it is enough to eat for a lifetime.

Xia Housheng is proficient in "Shangshu", and he also created Xiao Xiahou Xue, which is invincible in the world.Xiao Wangzhi's "Qi Poetry" is well-written, so he enjoys it very much, and he played triumphant songs all the way in his official career.Kuang Heng has reached the point of proficiency in speaking.Some people even made up a nursery rhyme saying: Don't talk, Kuang Heng is here; when Kuang Heng talks about poetry, everyone who listens is smiling. However, Kuang Heng, who is proficient in interpretation, still lives in a bad way.The problem is nothing but the exam.

In the Han Dynasty, no matter how much knowledge you have, if you want to get an official position, you have to take the exam in a proper manner.If you pass the first subject, you can be a doctor; if you pass the second subject, you can be a prince;But Kuang Heng, who is academically superb, has a mess of exam skills.Passed the exam one after another and lost one after another.Repeatedly failed in the exam, it was horrible. To what extent?He took the exam eight times in a row and failed in any subject.However, he has the spirit of stealing light and studying hard, and he has been defeated repeatedly. He took the exam for the ninth time and finally won a disastrous victory - he passed the third subject.

It was a little bit worse, and finally passed the exam.Kuang Heng, who passed the exam, was immediately supplemented as Pingyuan Literature.The road is long and long, look up at the sky, look down at the road, Kuangheng's road is still very long. Kuang Heng was very frustrated, but he couldn't express his depression.Many of his colleagues expressed dissatisfaction with his cold reception, so they wrote to the emperor one after another, saying that talents like Kuang Heng should not stay in the local area, but should be transferred to the central government to do literature. At that time, Liu Shi, who was good at Confucianism, was still the prince, so he could only stand aside and couldn't get in his mouth if he wanted to speak.Only Liu Bingji can make a final decision.Liu Bing, who speaks for Kuang Heng, has also seen it.He thought for a while, and found Xiao Wangzhi, who was the prince's tutor at the time, and said: "It is rumored that Kuang Heng is very knowledgeable, please come and help me to verify it."

Xiao Wangzhi found an assistant, summoned Kuang Heng to the capital, and had a face-to-face chat.After the assessment, Xiao Wangzhi reported to Liu Bingji that Kuangheng's academic level was not just boasting, he was really good. Liu Bing heard it and squeaked: "Oh, I see." At that time, Kuang Heng remained in the capital because he had to wait for the emperor's reply.From fellow Xiao Wangzhi's admiring tone towards him, he has reason to be full of hope and confidence.However, it didn't take long before there was an echo.Kuang Heng only waited for a cold sentence: first go back to the plains and continue doing literature! In this way, Liu Bing sent Kuang Heng away.In his life, Kuang Heng has been poor, suffered, and fell down many times, but he has never regretted it.He knew that he was born with ill-fated fate, and he had to respect God's arrangement.However, this time, he was at a loss for Liu Bingji's cold reception, but he was inexplicable. If you love me, you can call me to the capital; if you hate me, you can also call me to the capital.But does the emperor love me or hate me?If you really love me, even the academic master Xiao Wangzhi is full of praise, why don't you keep me in the capital, the emperor?If you hate me, why bother to hit a small person like this and make life difficult for me? Kuang Heng suddenly understood a truth: life is like a play, and fate often plays tricks.In the long journey of life, the enemy is not scary, but the scary thing is that you can't stand it.Gritting your teeth, holding back your tears, you must hold on. As it turned out, he made it through. If winter comes, can spring be far behind?It is undeniable that Liu Bing is already Kuang Heng's winter, and the spring that belongs to him is Liu Shi.After Liu's illness had collapsed and Liu Shi took over, Kuang Heng was like a good horse that had been stuck in the quagmire for a long time, and suddenly he came out and ran on the Kangzhuang Avenue. The person who promoted Kuang Heng was none other than Da Sima Shi Gao.We know that the reason why Shi Gao ascended to the high position of Da Sima was not because of his ability, but because of the honor of his relatives.Therefore, his deputy, Xiao Wangzhi, did not like him very much. So Xiao Wangzhi, who respects academics, united with others to make Da Sima Shi Gao empty.Whatever Xiao Wangzhi said, Liu Xi did, and Da Sima Shigao became a pure spectator and a decorative figure.So, when Shi Gao thought of that, he wanted to scold his mother.However, he could only curse in his heart, not out of his mouth. At that time, a political speculator approached Shi Gao.He analyzed Shi Gao: "Do you know why you have such a high position, but no one cares about you? That's because you are a noble relative and have a bad reputation. Why do you have a bad reputation? Because you only care about yourself and don't know how to recommend sages." .If you want to gain fame, you have to be talented." In the end, the eloquent lobbyist changed his words and got to the point: "I think Kuang Heng is a rare sage, and you should use him more." Shi Gao thought the speculator was right.The above words, to put it nicely, is Renxian, but to put it vulgarly, it is to be elegant, to favor scholars, and to form cliques for selfishness.It can be said that listening to your words is better than reading years of books!Ever since, Shi Gao met Kuang Heng immediately, and then recommended it to Liu Shi. All of a sudden, Kuang Heng seemed to have hitched a ride. He was first appointed by Liu Xi as a doctor, and soon he was promoted to a doctor, and soon he was promoted to give a job.If you want to be a doctor, you must first be a doctor.If Kuang Heng tried his best and failed the exam, the emperor solved it with one word, and paved his way in the future. The reason why Kuang Heng was favored by Liu Xi was not only due to speculators and Shi Gao, but more importantly, Liu Xi really liked Kuang Heng too much.The reason why Kuang Heng was liked by Liu Shi can be deduced seriously, and Xiao Wang's contribution is indispensable. Back then, when Liu Shi was the crown prince, Xiao Wangzhi was his grand tutor.Under Xiao Wangzhi's teaching and guidance, Liu Shi not only fell in love with Confucianism, but also fell in love with Confucian scholars.This kind of advantage is exactly what Liu Bingji lacks.Liu Bingji respected Confucian scholars on the surface, but he stubbornly believed that Confucian scholars were pedantic and unreliable. Among the "Six Classics" of Confucianism, Liu Shi is the favorite, and Pian Kuangheng is a master of research.Therefore, the encounter between Kuang Heng and Liu Shi is like the encounter between fish and water, and it is difficult to give up their love.Because of this, Kuang Heng finally waved his hand to bid farewell to the gloom in the west, and made great strides all the way to become the prince and Taifu, and then moved to the position of Yushi doctor, and finally ascended to the position of prime minister. Among the prime ministers of the Han Dynasty, Kuang Heng can also be regarded as an epoch-making figure.Calculating flexibly, he should be the first person to ascend to the political summit as an academic master.Back then, Xiao Wangzhi was only one step away from the prime minister, and he never reached the peak.Now, all the blanks and glory are filled by Kuang Heng. I finally believed in the old saying: If you don’t endure hardships, how can you be a master of others!