Chapter 1622: 1622
"The river comes from west in turns; I am startled by the featured scenery . Hundreds of houses gather here to form a county; although having no city walls, they lean against a mountain . The shadow of the sail is looming in the river not far away from the maple leaves . Water gurgled near my bed . In straw rain cape, I am close to Yan Ling; pitifully, I could only look at the crystal river and pass by . . . What a nice poem! This poem could at least stay in the list of Talents' Pavilion for one year . It's said that it was written by a talent surnamed Xu in Xintong City . Not bad! Not bad . . . "
"Look at this one . I feel this poem is more artistic . The wild wind blows my white coat; I move on the river by boat . As the sun sets in the distance, green contours of mountains undulate . Feeling cold, flowers drop their heads; being tired, birds twittered occasionally . After seeing smoke rising, I anchor my fishing boat and come to Zhuxi Temple . . . "
"I don't agree with you, brother Ou . If this poem appears in a remote hotel or a residence of a hermit in the deep mountain, it would be amazing . However, it appears in the Talents' Pavilion . Therefore, I think the poet perhaps want to show off his talent; instead of aiming to be a real hermit . I would not vote him . . . "
"You're right, brother Li; you're right . . . "
In the afternoon, after circling around the city for a few hours, Zhang Tie was finally sent to the Talents' Pavilion in Datang City cordially by the taxi driver . Through the constant introduction of the taxi driver, Zhang Tie gradually learned more about Datang City and Xuanyuan Wuji and acquired a lot of useful information .
Xuanyuan Wuji's position in Datang City was like that of Zhang Tie in Fiery-Dragon Bounty Territory . Each action of him would be eye-catching . Therefore, Zhang Tie easily got the message that Xuanyuan Wuji was in Datang City these days from the taxi driver .
According to the taxi driver, at the end of each year, the adorable third prince would host philanthropic campaigns like providing porridge and money and giving condolence to soldiers, civilians and students in the city . Therefore, Xuanyuan Wuji would always stay in Datang City in the entire December . After hearing this message, Zhang Tie finally felt relaxed .
After making a plan to pay a secret visit to the third prince's mansion tonight and kill him when possible, Zhang Tie finished his lunch in a hotel before being led to the Talents' Pavilion by the taxi driver . With the attitude of doing as the Romans do, Zhang Tie started to wander in the Talents' Pavilion .
Talents' Pavilion was a vast octagonal traditional Hua building . Being located in the west of Datang City, Talents' Pavilion was in a hill not far from Datang Learning Academy . It was surrounded by beautiful scenery . No ticket was required to enter the Talents' Pavilion . Instead, each one could get a ticket for free at the entrance . As many people came here, after receiving tickets, they would vote for their most favorite works, political opinions, poems or essays of those "talents" by putting their tickets into the ballot boxes under the creators . In each fixed period, the ballot boxes would be opened and the tickets would be counted . Those with more tickets would rank higher on the list and would win chances to be promoted to high-level officials .
On the taxi, Zhang Tie had been told about the game rules in Talents' Pavilion . After entering it, Zhang Tie felt strange watching those literati concentrating on those works .
As for Zhang Tie, the so-called Talents' Pavilion was just a trick that Xuanyuan Wuji used to buy the hearts of people at the bottom of the society and control the public opinions . As he wanted to fight for the throne, Xuanyuan Wuji had to act like a "sagacious emperor" . Such a trick would work more or less . However, the so-called talents in the Talents' Pavilion were actually some bottom literati in Datang City and nearby provinces or prefectures . What about those knights of Taixia Country if these people could be called talents? Real knights always neglected these things . A real knight didn't need to show off his literary talents for fame and wealth here .
These literati had a big say at the bottom of society, who could influence many people's opinions . That might be the reason that Xuanyuan Wuji played such a trick .
In a world dominated by knights, literati who only thought about reading instead of cultivating their battle strength would not enjoy high positions . Even if these literati could make some achievements in literature, most of them could at most be some grass-root clerks and officials . Very few of them could become the trusted subordinates of third prince like Fang Qingming on His Majesty's side . Right because of this reason, so many literati were longing for showing off their talents in the pavilion as they all dreamed to be the very trusted subordinate of the third prince and provide political suggestions to him .
Zhang Tie was not interested in poems and essays; however, he was clear about the function of Talents' Pavilion . Standing behind those literati and listening to their comments, Zhang Tie revealed a despised look as if he was watching some kids building a castle using sand .
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