Chapter 12: Outflow and Inflow

  Xiao Jiading stopped and turned around, only to see that it was the chubby young scholar who had been shouting for Zhong Wenbo to jump into a ditch, accompanied by several servants rushing up quickly.

  Just now he was among the onlookers, but didn't greet him. Instead, he followed him for a while before speaking up. It's clear that although he had some preconceptions about Zhong Wenbo, he still didn't want to let people know he stood on Xiao Jiading's side. At this moment, Xiao Jianding smiled and stopped to look at him. Seeing that he was wearing brocade, extremely luxurious, obviously a young master from a wealthy family. Only after he approached did he cup his hands in greeting and say: "Brother, do you have some business?"

  A plump young scholar said: "My younger brother's name is Zhu Haixin, and he is a clerk in the county government office. Just now I saw you defeat that whatever dog thing Yi State's number one talented person Zhong Wenbo, it was truly exhilarating! Your poetic talent is really too good, I admire you very much, and would like to invite you to go with me to Cuixiulou to drink wine, don't know if Brother Xiao is willing or not?"

  Xiao Jiading listened and thought to himself, "Just as I expected, this fat scholar is indeed not on good terms with Zhong Wenbo, and they might even be enemies." He then heard that the fat man was actually a clerk in the county government office. Seeing his high-end clothing, he must have been quite wealthy, so why would he still go to the government office to work? It really didn't make sense. Now Xiao Jiading himself was thinking of entering the county government office, and it was inevitable that they would meet in the future. Being able to recognize each other now would be best. However, he had just refused Ya Niang's invitation, and going back now would be somewhat awkward. Moreover, whether or not he could enter the government office as a clerk was still unknown, so there was no need to rush into making acquaintances with colleagues from the government office. He cupped his hands and said, "It's truly an honor for me to meet you, Mr. Hua, thank you for your kind invitation. However, I really have something to attend to tonight, perhaps we can do it another day?"

  "Where's your place? I'll come find you tomorrow."

  Xiao Jiading thought to himself, "I've already agreed with Du Erniu to meet tomorrow at noon, and by then I should know if it's possible to enter the yamen. If not, maybe I can still use this fat clerk to pull some strings." He smiled and said, "For now, I'm staying at the Yizhou Inn."

  "Alright! It's settled then, I'll come find you tomorrow night! We've got a deal!"

  "Let's go!"

  Xiao Jiading and Na Zhuhai bid farewell, then returned to the inn. He waited for the next day to meet with Du Erniu, to see how much help this little girl had been able to provide.

  He slept very soundly until the next day when the sun was high in the sky, and he finally woke up. He called for the shopkeeper Li San to bring water for him to wash his face, and then ordered a plate of fine pastries for breakfast. After that, he asked Li San to go to the most luxurious Yizhou wine house near the county government office to book a quiet and elegant private room for himself.

  It's almost noon, so he wrapped two strings of cash around his waist and deposited the rest with the cashier at the inn counter before stepping out.

  He arrived at the gate of Shaocheng County, now it's already scattered, there is no one in and out of the gate, two doormen are sitting lazily on a bench, chatting occasionally.

  He looked around, wondering if Du Er Niu had arrived, but instead heard a surprised cry from behind: "Young Master Xiao!"

  Xiao Jiading turned around and saw Du Erniu standing not far away, with an old man with white hair beside her, scrutinizing him.

  Du Erniao ran over, looked him up and down, and said: "You are indeed a scholar, dressed like this yesterday, they probably wouldn't dare to bully you so much." She pulled the old man over and said: "This is my grandfather. Grandfather, he is Xiao Gongzi, very righteous and talented, you must help him!"

  That voice is full of spoiled tone, it seems that this Du Er Niu is very pampered by her grandfather.

  Xiao Jiading had already learned from Du Erniu that his grandfather's name was Du Dahu, a retired old clerk of the county government office, and also the key to whether he could enter the government office to find a job. He hurried forward, with a smile all over his face, and bowed to the ground: "Late-born Xiao Jiading, see Grandfather!"

  Du Er Niu heard him calling out intimately, and she liked it even more. She held onto Du Da Yan's arm, looking at his reaction.

  Du Da Yin also smiled and nodded frequently, saying: "Xiao brother doesn't have to be so polite!"

  Xiao Jiading said: "I have booked a private room at the Yizhou wine house, and I would like to invite Grandfather and Second Sister to have a cup of water wine with me. Would you two be willing to grant me this honor?"

  Du Er'niu saw Xiao Jia Ding handling things so well, she was overjoyed and hurriedly shook her grandfather's arm, saying: "Let's go! It's rare for Mr. Xiao to have such a kind intention, Grandfather, let's go!"

  Du Da patted her hand and said, "Alright, then let's trouble Xiao Brother."

  "I've heard that the two of you said that your grandfather is a veteran of the yamen for decades, and I'm honored to be able to hear his teachings in person. Please, come this way."

  At this time, three people entered the wine building. Xiao Jia Ding reported his own pre-ordered elegant seat, and the shopkeeper hurriedly led them inside.

  This Yizhou wine house is also one of the most luxurious in Yizhou, so the guests inside are almost all with some status, among which more than half are scholars.

  As they passed through the large hall downstairs, they heard a group of scholars at a table in the hall eating and drinking while excitedly discussing. One scholar said: "You didn't see Gongzi's sorry state yesterday, haha, I've never seen him so embarrassed before, it was really funny."

  Another scholar full of envy and jealousy said: "That so-called poet who makes friends with poetry, can he really compose a poem in seven steps?"

  "That's for sure, under the watchful eyes of so many people, how could it be fake? Someone asked Zhong Gongzi to compose a poem on the spot, and he came up with three poems just like that. You think about it, Zhong Gongzi is the number one talented scholar in Yizhou Province, how could he possibly cheat? Not a single flaw can be found. In the end, he even had the nerve to take out his own poem 'Zhaoyun' which won first prize at the Cuilou Tower, trying to turn defeat into victory. But unexpectedly, Xiao Gongzi composed a seven-character long poem in just seven steps! The poem was too long, and he only recited it once, I couldn't remember it all, but I remembered two of the most exquisite lines: 'One goes to the purple platform, connected to the vast desert, alone leaving the green mound facing the sunset' - how vividly and movingly did it depict Wang Zhaojun's sorrow! Everyone present, including Huajie Yanniang, unanimously agreed that Xiao Gongzi won. Hehehe"

  Another scholar said: "Such a good poem, unfortunately it wasn't copied down. I really want to read and appreciate it."

  "This is easy, Miss Ya has a naturally good memory. After hearing the seven-character poem only once, she remembered more than half of it and wrote it down. She also said that Mr. Xiao had promised to meet with her tomorrow, at which time she could fill in the rest. The part she remembered was widely circulated among many people."

  "Did you copy it?"

  "What? What am I, a scallion? How can I meet Miss Ya Niang? It's all just nonsense. However, I believe that once this poem is completed by Xiao Gongzi, it will surely spread far and wide, along with the three preceding ones, especially the second and third, which are equally brilliant. My memory is poor, so I only recall one line: 'As long as the host can get the guest drunk, who knows where his hometown is?' Ha! Listen to that! When you're in a foreign land, as long as there's wine in your cup, you can forget your homesickness; when you're drunk enough, even a foreign land becomes your hometown! This Xiao Gongzi is indeed a thoroughgoing drunkard! Hahaha!"

  "Is this Xiao Gongzi truly a dragon among men, yet not of noble birth?"

  "This I remember, he said his name was Xiao Jiading!"

  When these scholars said this, Du Er Niu and the others had already walked halfway up the stairs. Hearing this, they all stopped in their tracks, looking at Xiao Jia Ding with questioning eyes. Xiao Jia Ding smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

  Du Daliang and Du Erniu exchanged a glance, both smiling. Du Erniu was even more excited, directly taking hold of Xiao Jiading's arm, going up the stairs together with him. The three arrived at the elegant hall. After the host and guests took their seats, Xiao Jiading ordered the shopkeeper to bring up a table of exquisite dishes.

  After he finished arranging the banquet, Du Er Niu was anxious and shook Xiao Jia Ding's arm with an excited face: "Is it true what those scholars downstairs said? Are you that scholar who won against Zhong Wenbo in a poetry contest?"

  "Haha, yeah, but that's just the way it is. I know that to become an official, talent isn't enough, you also need money to grease palms, which is an unwritten rule. But I don't have any money, all I can do is write a few lines of bad poetry. So I came up with this silly idea to try and make some money to get things done. Can't let you spend your own money to help me out, haha."

  He was honest and straightforward, only because Du Dali was an old bookkeeper in the yamen, he was very familiar with the implicit rules of the yamen. After clarifying things with him, it would be easier to talk later on. Moreover, being so frank could also show his sincerity and easily win over the other person's favor.

  As expected, Du Da stroked his beard and smiled: "Very good, you child speak frankly, the news of your victory over Yi Zhou's number one scholar, Zhong Wenbo, spread throughout Yi Zhou city overnight. I've also heard about it, since you have such talent, why not take the imperial examination and enter officialdom? Why bother with a small county government clerk position?"

  Xiao Jiading still has some self-awareness, plagiarizing later generations' Tang poetry is what he's good at. If he were to write one himself, he'd be stuck. Moreover, the imperial examination isn't just about reciting a few Tang poems, otherwise Li Bai and Du Fu would have been top scholars long ago. At the same time, with the extremely low passing rate of the Tang dynasty's imperial examinations, and his knowledge of historical laws and institutions, Xiao Jiading knows that the main paths to becoming an official in the Tang dynasty include the imperial examination, hereditary privilege, and entering through other means, among which the imperial examination is not the primary path, but rather the latter two.

  The gate shade is the official and noble who relies on the merits of their ancestors to inherit the position. The flow outside and inside is also from the officials without official rank to the officials with official rank. It's like now, starting from clerks, going up to county-level, prefecture-level or even provincial-level cadres. This is actually the main way for ordinary people to enter the official career. There was no insurmountable gap between officials and clerks in the Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, it was very common for clerks to become officials through the flow of outside goods. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, the number of people who took this path by first being a clerk and then an official was more than ten times that of those who became officials directly through the imperial examination. So, taking this road is more stable for Xiao Jiading. Besides, he finds it boring to listen to things in the official circle, and it's better to be a carefree small clerk.