Chapter 317

The golden light on the sky screen swirled, and lines of poetry emerged—

【Sky Screen Ranking · Top Ten Famous Poets in History — The Landscape Hermit Immortal · Meng Haoran】

【Dwelling in Lumeng with rare talent, in a prosperous age, he harbored a failed ambition to save the world.

One poem on Dongting Lake sought a path to office, several verses of pure rhyme stirred the dust.

In the spring breeze, morning dreams of birds chirping softly, on the river at night, the lone boat and moonlight are beautiful.

Never seeking wealth at the gates of the powerful, his romantic spirit belongs to Xiangyang for a thousand years.】

Once the poem appeared, the hall suddenly fell silent.

This poem was written about a frustrated man, a scholar with talent but who failed to find his place in a prosperous age, a hermit who ultimately chose to return to the mountains and forests.

Between the lines, there was regret, respect, and more importantly, a resonance of "I understand him."

Fang Xuanling pondered for a moment and was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, although this poem is a commentary for the ranking, it is written extremely well."

"'Dwelling in Lumeng with rare talent, in a prosperous age, he harbored a failed ambition to save the world'—"

"This man lived in seclusion on Lumeng Mountain, possessed rare talent, but living in a prosperous age, he could not realize his ambition to save the world; the contradiction and pain in this are written out in just fourteen characters."

Du Ruhui added: "'Never seeking wealth at the gates of the powerful, his romantic spirit belongs to Xiangyang for a thousand years'—the last line is the finishing touch."

"This man never bowed to the powerful in his life and ultimately became famous through the ages for his poetry; this is the backbone of a scholar."

Wei Zheng stroked his beard and said slowly, "Observing this poem, I have developed some curiosity about this Meng Haoran."

"What kind of person is he to receive such an evaluation?"

Zhangsun Wuji smiled. "Lord Wei Zheng is always serious; it is rare for him to be interested in a poet."

"Literature is to carry the Dao, and poetry is to express one's aspirations."

Wei Zheng said sternly, "If one can pass down poetry and prose for a thousand years, that is true ability, and I naturally respect it."

Ying Zheng finished reading the poem with a blank expression and suddenly spoke: "This man never served in office in his life?"

Gu Shanhe nodded. "Never served."

Ying Zheng was silent for a moment and spat out two words: "A pity."

Just two words, but everyone present could hear the weight behind them.

To be able to make the First Emperor, who unified the six states, say "a pity," this Meng Haoran had already successfully aroused everyone's interest.

Li Shimin also nodded and said, "It is indeed a pity."

"In my prosperous Great Tang, to let such a talented person drift among the common people, I, as the emperor, have not done well enough."

Gu Shanhe almost laughed out loud—

Well, this Emperor Taizong of Tang has already started taking the blame upon himself; he really is quite the actor.

The scene on the sky screen continued to flow, golden light spread out, and a passage of text slowly emerged—

【The Era of Meng Haoran】

【Prosperous Tang · Kaiyuan Era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (689 AD—740 AD)】

【The prosperous Great Tang, the national fortune was at its peak, the poetry scene was filled with brilliant stars; it was the golden age of the comprehensive prosperity of Tang poetry.】

Seeing the three characters "Emperor Xuanzong of Tang," Li Shimin's eyebrows raised slightly.

"Kaiyuan Era?"

He turned to look at Gu Shanhe. "What descendant of mine is that?"

Gu Shanhe thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth: "He is your great-great-grandson."

"Your Majesty Taizong—you—are the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang is your great-great-grandson, the seventh emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

"In the early part of his reign, he created the 【Kaiyuan Prosperous Age】, which was one of the most prosperous periods of the Great Tang, but in the later period, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, and the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline."

Li Shimin's expression suddenly became subtle.

The atmosphere in the hall also became somewhat strange—

His own great-great-grandson brought the Great Tang to its peak and then personally pushed it toward decline; which ancestor could feel good about that?

Liu Che laughed heartily. "Your Majesty Taizong, this great-great-grandson of yours is quite a character!"

"First he expands the family business for you, then he squanders it all; looking at this operation, even I admire it!"

Li Shimin's face turned dark for a moment.

Liu Xiu hurriedly smoothed things over. "What His Majesty Gaozu said... every dynasty has its prosperity and decline; that the Great Tang could welcome the Kaiyuan Prosperous Age shows that the foundation laid by Your Majesty Taizong was deep."

"As for what happened later, that is also a matter of time and fate."

Ying Zheng glanced coldly at Liu Che and said faintly, "My Great Qin perished in the second generation; if we are talking about the speed of squandering the family business, it is not far behind."

The whole hall was silent.

Liu Bang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but after looking at Ying Zheng's cold face, he closed it again.

Gu Shanhe was frantically complaining in his heart:

Good heavens, these five emperors gathered together, it's simply a large-scale misery-comparison scene! Each one is better at stabbing the heart than the last!

Fortunately, the scene on the sky screen broke the silence in time.

【Name: Meng Haoran, courtesy name Haoran, pseudonym Meng Shanren】

【Native place: Xiangzhou, Xiangyang (modern-day Xiangyang, Hubei), known to the world as Meng Xiangyang】

【Identity: A commoner poet who never served in office, representative of the landscape and pastoral poetry school of the Prosperous Tang, known together with Wang Wei as "Wang-Meng"】

【Life: Born into a scholarly family, lived in seclusion on Lumeng Mountain in his early years;

Went to Chang'an at forty to take the imperial examination but failed, and his attempts to seek office through petitions were fruitless;

Later traveled through Wu, Yue, Jiang, and Huai, pouring his feelings into the landscape;

Lived in seclusion in his later years, passed away at 52 due to a recurrence of an old illness after a banquet.】

"Never served in office in his life?"

Liu Bang frowned. "This is interesting."

"In my Great Han, people with talent are all eager to come out and be officials, but this one is good; he never held an official post in his life, yet he became one of the top ten poets?"

Liu Xiu nodded and said, "What Gaozu said is true, but I think this just proves one truth—"

"Whether one is a good official and whether one writes good poetry are not necessarily the same thing."

Ying Zheng's gaze fell on the words "Went to Chang'an at forty to take the imperial examination" and he suddenly spoke: "This man went to take the examination at forty?"

Gu Shanhe explained, "Meng Haoran lived in seclusion on Lumeng Mountain in his early years, focusing on his studies, and only felt he had achieved success in his learning at forty, so he went to Chang'an to participate in the imperial examination."

"But unfortunately, he failed."

"Forty years old..." Ying Zheng repeated the number in a low voice, his gaze shifting slightly.

Liu Bang said carelessly, "Going to take the exam at forty, isn't that an old student?"

"Your Majesty King of Han," Fang Xuanling couldn't help but interject, "The imperial examination of the Tang Dynasty is different from the recommendation system of your time."

"Many people take the exam their whole lives and never pass; going to take it at forty is actually not too late."

Liu Bang shrugged. "I don't care about that; anyway, I don't have to take the exam."

Liu Che glanced at him and couldn't help himself: "His Majesty Gaozu was a pavilion chief, so he really didn't have to take the exam."

Liu Bang: "... Are you mocking me, kid?"

Liu Che: "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare; I am just stating a fact."

Seeing that these two were about to bicker again, Li Shimin hurriedly changed the subject:

"Master Gu, since this Meng Haoran never served in office in his life, what did he live on?"

"He couldn't have been drinking the northwest wind, could he?"

Gu Shanhe smiled. "Meng Haoran was born into a scholarly family, his family background was quite well-off, and he had ancestral property to maintain his livelihood in his early years."

"Later, although he wasn't wealthy, he wasn't destitute either."

"Besides, he was a hermit, not a beggar; he farmed a little, fished a little, wrote some poetry, and lived quite a carefree life."

"A hermit..."

Wei Zheng pondered. "I am reminded of someone—Tao Yuanming."

"Could this Meng Haoran be a figure of the same type as Tao Yuanming?"

Gu Shanhe gave a thumbs up. "Lord Wei Zheng truly has a discerning eye."

"Meng Haoran is indeed a successor to Tao Yuanming, but he is also different from Tao Yuanming."

"Tao Yuanming 'would not bow for five pecks of rice' and voluntarily resigned to live in seclusion; Meng Haoran wanted to be an official but couldn't, and was forced into seclusion."

"The two men's mindsets were different, and the poems they wrote were also different."

Wei Zheng nodded thoughtfully.