Chapter 47

"My ancestors have lived in Gu Lin for generations."

Lu Beigu answered, but he could not answer the subsequent questions.

"My parents passed away early, so whether I entered officialdom is unclear to me. I vaguely remember living in Kaifeng when I was young, but later, for some reason, we moved back here."

Hearing this answer, Zhao Bian felt quite curious and continued to ask.

"Oh? Do you still remember where in Kaifeng you lived?"

Lu Beigu racked his brains, but his memory fragments contained only extremely vague images.

"Roughly by the riverside."

Saying this was tantamount to saying nothing; after all, since Emperor Yang of Sui dug the Grand Canal, the Bian River, serving as the most important waterway connecting the Yellow River and the Huai River, became the central hub for north-south material transport, causing Kaifeng to rise, and the city's water systems became even more numerous.

Lu Beigu thought for a moment and said, "In my impression, there seemed to be a pagoda towering into the clouds nearby?"

"A pagoda towering into the clouds."

Zhao Bian pondered for a moment; there were many temples in Kaifeng, including quite a few famous ones, but few pagodas were extremely tall.

Moreover, although children are short, if looking up they feel it reaches the clouds, that can also reflect that its height is indeed extraordinary.

Those meeting such conditions were probably only the Fan Pagoda at 240 feet and the Iron Pagoda at 180 feet.

"Do you remember what it looked like? Was it dark or bright under the sunlight?"

Although he did not know why Zhao Bian was so curious, since it was just idle chat, Lu Beigu thought for a moment and answered.

"Dark."

"The Iron Pagoda was built in the first year of the Huangyou era; it is an octagonal, thirteen-story glazed brick pagoda. Although its color resembles iron without light, if there is light, the glazed bricks reflecting it would surely be dazzling. Furthermore, the Iron Pagoda is much shorter than the Fan Pagoda. Thus, your father and ancestors in Kaifeng probably lived around the Fan Pagoda."

"The Fan Pagoda?"

Lu Beigu had never been to Kaifeng in the modern era, and his predecessor had almost no memory of Kaifeng, so naturally he did not know what Zhao Bian was talking about.

"Yes." Zhao Bian nodded and said, "The Fan Pagoda is inside the Tianqing Temple. The Tianqing Temple, along with the Xiangguo Temple, the Kaibao Temple, and the Taiping Xingguo Temple, are known as the 'Four Famous Temples of Jingcheng'. This Fan Pagoda, because its body is embedded with over 7,000 Buddha image bricks, one brick one Buddha, is also hailed as the 'Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda', is very famous, and is the tallest pagoda in Jingcheng."

"I see." Lu Beigu had gained some useless knowledge again.

"However, if living around the Fan Pagoda, it should not be a very wealthy family."

Kaifeng had three layers of city walls; from inside to outside, they were the Imperial City, the Inner City, and the Outer City.

The Tianqing Temple was in the southeast corner of the Outer City; the surrounding environment was actually quite good, but those living here were basically ordinary citizens or merchants; even if there were officials, they certainly would not be high-ranking officials.

Because the Great Song gave extremely good treatment to scholar-officials, if they were high-ranking officials, the Emperor usually bestowed a mansion upon them, mostly located near the Inner City or the Imperial City, such as the famous 'outside the Donghua Gate'.

As for mid-to-low-ranking officials, their residences were scattered across the wards of the Outer City, though people certainly lived around temples as well.

"It must be so."

Lu Beigu really wanted to retort; if it were truly a very wealthy family, how could he have ended up in such a state at the start?

It was obviously because the family fortune declined and they could not stay in Kaifeng anymore!

As for why they moved out of Kaifeng, he had no way of knowing.

And just then, Zhao Bian seemed to suddenly remember something and looked at Lu Beigu suspiciously.

Afterwards, he inexplicably shook his head.

"What is wrong, Mr.?"

Zhao Bian looked at Chengdu's grey sky and changed the subject: "Nothing, I just feel Kaifeng is good; among all the scenery under heaven, none surpasses it."

Lu Beigu asked curiously: "People say 'do not enter Sichuan when young'; is it more livable than Chengdu?"

"Of course." Zhao Bian smiled, "When I served as the Palace Censor in Kaifeng in my youth, on every rest day I loved to climb high and gaze into the distance."

Zhao Bian stroked his beard and sighed, his eyes filled with a look of reminiscence.

"Standing at a high place, half of Kaifeng City was visible at a glance; on the Bian River, transport boats were like woven threads; on both sides of the Rainbow Bridge, shops stood in rows, and the shouts could be heard clearly even across the street."

Lu Beigu could not imagine what it looked like; he only felt it should be somewhat similar to the scenes in the 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival'.

"One year during the Lantern Festival, I remember the Ao mountain erected on the Zhuque Street that night was fully ten zhang high; fireworks and lights never ceased; all the citizens of the city came out to admire the lanterns; the Emperor even ordered people to scatter gold coins in front of the Xuande Tower; that scene, borrowing a line from Ouyang Yongshu, was truly 'The lights shine brightly, the sky is not night; the music and songs are noisy, the earth is eternally spring'."

"However, what was most unforgettable was the steamed buns from the Zhou Bridge Night Market; steamed buns fresh from the oven filled with roasted pork, then drizzled with a spoonful of apricot paste; this taste has not been eaten in Chengdu for a long time."

At this moment, drum sounds came from afar; Zhao Bian seemed to suddenly wake up: "Why talk about these old matters? Are you not returning to Luzhou tomorrow? Just wander around Chengdu City today."

"Yes, thank you, Mr., for your teachings these past few days!"

Lu Beigu bowed sincerely.

Although he had not stayed for many days, during this time in Chengdu, his gains were very great, especially the poetry and literature studies taught by Zhao Bian, which were extremely helpful for him in dealing with the county examination.

It could be said that in just a few days, his level of poetry and literature achieved a rocket-like leap!

And towards Zhao Bian, who had taught him with care, he inevitably felt a bit more gratitude and reluctance to part.

Zhao Bian reached out and stroked the plum tree beside him, which had already withered completely, looking at the young Lu Beigu, his eyes seeming to flash with the shadow of his own youth.

And at this moment, he suddenly asked: "Do you know why I am especially strict with you?"

"I do not know."

"You indeed possess talent for governing the world, but in the Great Song imperial examinations, if one fails the poetry and literature section, no matter how good the policy essay is, it is in vain; I cannot bear to see a good material destroyed in this place."

"Mr..."

Seeing Lu Beigu moved in expression and speech, actually, after getting along for these few days, Zhao Bian also felt somewhat reluctant to part with this student of extraordinary talent and high comprehension; he thought for a moment and said.

"In my life, I do not keep wealth or precious ornaments; at the time of parting, I have nothing presentable to give you, so I will give you a poem."

Afterwards, Zhao Bian took up a brush and wrote a poem on a blank sheet of paper.

"To Student Lu Beigu

A strict teacher sharpens the blade with determination, waiting for you to leap through the Dragon Gate.

In the past, I had black hair; now, you are dimmed by yellow scrolls.

The cold plum endures snow tempering; its strong bones survive the frost.

Do not sigh that the Spring Examination is far; diligently plow, and you will repay the grace."

Lu Beigu took the paper; indeed, the great poet lived up to his reputation. Zhao Bian had not given this poem a single thought, composing it the moment he picked up the brush, yet it achieved near-perfect flawlessness in regulated verse.

Looking at the tonal patterns, rhyme, and structure.

The four rhyme words "Men, Hun, Cun, En" all belong to the same rhyme group, fully complying with the regulated verse rule of maintaining a single rhyme throughout.

As for the opening line "The strict master sharpens the blade with resolve," it deliberately did not rhyme, because the first line of a five-character regulated verse in the oblique-starting form does not enter the rhyme.

Furthermore, the parallelism between "In the past, I" and "Now, you" in the second couplet, and between "Cold plum" and "Sturdy bones" in the third couplet, is meticulously balanced, fully meeting the requirement that the two middle couplets of a regulated verse must be parallel.

Add to this the several contrasts of time and space, color, and nature versus humanity, along with the concluding couplet urging study echoing the opening couplet; structurally, there is not a single point to criticize.

Of course, these are actually unimportant; what matters most is that in this poem, Zhao Bian expresses his recognition of Lu Beigu and the hopes he places in him!

"This student will certainly keep it safe, hanging it daily by my desk to spur my diligence!"

Hearing this, Zhao Bian sighed with relief and said.

"The path of the imperial examinations is like a mountain at every step."

"All talents under heaven who choose this path have hard-won their way through one mountain range after another; after passing each mountain, one reaches a new realm, and looking back, the entire path appears smooth."

"Your poetry and prose are now sufficient to handle the county examination. Study and reflect deeply on the draft I gave you; I believe that with diligent practice, it is not impossible for you to pass the Department Magistrate's examination in one go this year."

Lu Beigu hurriedly asked, "If I pass the Department Magistrate's examination, may this student come to Chengdu again to seek out Mr.?"

"By then, you will likely not be able to find this old man."

Zhao Bian looked at him and said, "Once the autumn grain collection for this year is completed, I will be transferred to the Censorate to serve as a Remonstrator."

Such is the Song Dynasty's civil service system; to prevent anyone from entrenching themselves in one place and becoming a local tyrant, the assignments of almost all civil officials are rotated every few years.

Thus, one often sees certain Department Magistrates being shuffled back and forth between various prefectures like walking a dog.

Seeing Lu Beigu somewhat dejected, Zhao Bian patted his shoulder and encouraged him, "The white crane should harbor the ambition to pierce the sky; the voice of the young phoenix is clearer than that of the old phoenix. Young man, do not waver! With your talent and insight, I believe you will continuously break through in these challenges."

Lu Beigu nodded vigorously.

Tomorrow's self is not today's self.

Although he still has this or that flaw, Lu Beigu believes that as long as he masters the correct method and studies diligently, not only the county examination where he already has an eighty percent chance, but even the Department Magistrate's examination, he has some confidence.

Moreover, as time passes, his strength will only grow ever stronger!

Seeing Lu Beigu's firm conviction, Zhao Bian said no more.

"Go."

Zhao Bian waved his hand, saying, "—I hope to hear your name outside the Donghua Gate next year."

(End of this chapter)