Chapter 107: Men and Women (Thanks to the reader Nanmu’s Curry Fan for the generous reward)

Chapter Yue’s words truly made Wu Anshi and Huang Haoyi look at him with new respect.

Especially the lines, “The greatest peril in the world is to claim peace and order while secretly harboring unforeseen worries,” and “If one seeks extraordinary achievements, one must not cling to self-preservation,” were phrases that invited deep contemplation.

The former referred to the current court situation: blindly pursuing peace across the land would inevitably bring grave concerns. The latter meant that overcoming this crisis required those willing to take on great endeavors, even at personal risk, to accomplish unprecedented feats. History had proven this true, as ten years later, such an extraordinary man did indeed rise.

At this moment, Wu Anshi thought to himself that no wonder Chen Shengzhi had valued this young man so highly and wanted to recruit him as a clerk. It turned out his own vision had been shallow. Fortunately, after hearing this speech today, he would not miss out on such a talent. Even his elder uncle and father would surely praise this insight.

Wu Anshi grew even more enthusiastic and unusually called Zhang Yue a confidant. This embarrassed Huang Haoyi, who had always considered himself above Zhang Yue. Yet, Zhang Yue’s words were truly impressive. He was no longer the scholar Zhu at Wu Anshi’s residence, who demanded Zhang Yue say something like “You know yourself but feel no shame” to shame him. Good was good, bad was bad. It was just unexpected that a mere classics student could speak so profoundly.

Wu Anshi said, “With your talent, Third Young Master, passing the nine classics examination would be a given. With such insight, you might even succeed in the imperial examination.”

Zhang Yue was now somewhat familiar with Song Dynasty imperial exams. The “imperial examination” referred to the “Zhike” or special imperial exam. Passing the Zhike was even harder than topping the jinshi exams. Achieving the third rank in Zhike was more difficult than becoming the champion graduate. Since the Zhike was instituted, only one person had ever attained the third rank: Wu Anshi’s elder uncle Wu Yu.

The Zhike had three major difficulties, the first being that two ministers must jointly recommend the candidate, which eliminated countless hopefuls at the outset. Huang Haoyi interjected, “The Zhike requires two court officials’ recommendation. Third Young Master is but a humble scholar; where would he find two ministers to endorse him? If only such a path existed.”

This was the nature of the Zhike. The jinshi exams were regular exams intended to select talent from the common people, allowing even impoverished scholars to participate. The Zhike, however, was a special imperial decree aiming to recruit talent in specific fields, nominated by ministers. There were various categories such as “Loyalty and Integrity,” “Border Security,” “Music and Administration,” “Straightforward Remonstrance,” “Elegant Literature,” and “Broad Scholarship,” reflecting the talents sought.

Su Zhe once failed to handle his criticism tactfully in the “Straightforward Remonstrance” category, almost driving Emperor Renzong into seclusion and angering the chief examiners, sparking controversy. Emperor Renzong said he established the category to hear remonstrance, not to make things difficult. Yet more dramatically, Wang Anshi, though not an examiner, was appointed to draft imperial edicts after Su Zhe’s exam but refused to draft Su Zhe’s appointment edict, sowing lasting enmity between the two.

Huang Haoyi fully grasped Wu Anshi’s implied meaning and felt a conflict of admiration and jealousy but admitted Zhang Yue’s talent before Wu Anshi. Wu Anshi had hoped Zhang Yue would raise this question, but when he did not, Huang Haoyi asked instead, prompting a faint smile from Wu Anshi.

Zhang Yue understood Wu Anshi’s attempt to win him over. Having browsed forums, he knew Wu Anshi’s father, Wu Chong, later became a chancellor of the old faction. Zhang Yue’s own political leanings favored the reformist New Party. History showed that under such governance, the Song Dynasty would inevitably decline. If political views clashed, and he accepted patronage, he would become a double-faced man. Wu Anshi’s brother, Wu Anchi, was Wang Anshi’s son-in-law, so he was more eager to know him.

Zhang Yue smiled wryly, “Brother Huang speaks truly. Not to mention the Zhike is as difficult as climbing to the heavens, I come from a humble family and have no such ambitions. Passing the nine classics as a student would be enough; I dare not think beyond that.”

Thus, Zhang Yue lightly declined the olive branch Wu Anshi extended.

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Wu Anshi masked his expression behind tea. He had initially asked Prefect Li to recommend Zhang Yue to promote him and later ask for a favor in return. But unexpectedly, Li informed him that Zhang Yue earned his place at the academy purely on his own merit. This blocked Wu Anshi’s most important move.

Wu Anshi knew that if Chen Shengzhi failed to recruit Zhang Yue, his own failure was unsurprising. Yet he did not understand why this humble scholar was so confident. What was it that Zhang Yue truly sought?

During the tea break, Fan and Seventeen had changed their clothes.

Fan said, “Seventeen, what do you think this young man really wants? Is he pretending to be lofty or waiting for the right price?”

Seventeen, distracted, replied, “Since you cannot see through him, how could I?”

Fan laughed, “You’re hiding your thoughts again.”

“But a poor family’s son without patronage—how far can he go? He might not even pass the academy’s exam in the capital. If he fails, it will be a mere pipe dream.”

Seventeen smiled, “You almost seem to hope he fails.”

Fan asked, “Oh? That’s not it. Seventeen, you seemed distracted earlier, which is unusual for you.”

Seventeen chuckled, “Sister-in-law, I climbed the mountain all day and am a bit tired. A night’s rest will fix it.”

Fan smiled, “I thought so too.”

Fan then instructed the servants to prepare and tell the young master to depart immediately.

Wu Anshi and the two left the tea house. A servant brought a horse for Wu Anshi, but he waved it off, saying, “No need to ride. The three of us will walk.”

The three walked side by side down the ridge, chatting and laughing. Though Wu Anshi had a somewhat playboy demeanor, he was generous and did not mind Zhang Yue’s refusal of his offer. Zhang Yue admired this magnanimity.

At the foot of the ridge was a small town for travelers to rest. Zhang Yue thought to himself that he had finally left Fujian.

The scenery here was different. Entering the town, they saw several brothels in the busiest area. Many courtesans wore bright clothes, soliciting business.

Huang Haoyi turned his face away, prompting Wu Anshi to ask, “What’s wrong?”

Huang said, “I’ve heard these women are fox spirits who seduce men, then drain their essence.”

Zhang Yue smiled secretly, and Wu Anshi laughed heartily, “Fourth Young Master, where are your thoughts? You haven’t even thought about women?”

Huang replied, “I have, but they say marry a virtuous wife, not a beauty. Beauty is the greatest harm. I dare not provoke trouble.”

Zhang Yue knew Wu Anshi often warned him of such things.

In Song Dynasty popular tales and later Ming-Qing stories, two common plots were men ruined by lust and women eloping with men. Since marriages were arranged by matchmakers and parents, such stories reflected market demand.

Yet many men knowingly risked danger for beauty. Plays like “Romance of the Western Chamber” were popular, but in reality, even wealthy families’ daughters did not hear of such affairs, as Grandmother Jia in “Dream of the Red Chamber” noted. Such tales were often written out of envy or to warn against madness.

Whether true or not, Zhang Yue thought, stories like Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun’s were hardly happy.

Having come to the Song Dynasty, he intended to follow local customs but found it dull to rely entirely on others’ words to pursue women.

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Wu Anshi laughed, “What harm is in beauty? Look at their delicate bound feet, crescent-shaped and small enough to hold in the palm—how exquisite to admire.”

Hearing this, Huang blushed but showed a longing expression. Zhang Yue could not help laughing. As Elder Ji said, a twenty-year-old’s mind is filled with nothing but...

Indeed, foot-binding had begun in the Song and was widespread by Emperor Huizong’s time. Some said modern breast augmentation was no different.

But foot-binding was more harmful; women barely had the strength to walk and had to be carried. Yet among the literati, it was considered a unique, if pathological, beauty.

Wu Anshi asked Zhang Yue, “Do you like bound feet?”

Zhang Yue quickly replied, “No.”

He thought, Wu Anshi, why ask this? Since you can’t recruit me, are you trying a beauty strategy?

He considered countering with a clever ruse.

Upon hearing Zhang Yue’s response, Wu Anshi sighed, “What a pity! Let me tell you how wonderful such women are...”

Wu Anshi launched into a detailed explanation of the virtues of foot-binding. Seeing Zhang Yue’s uninterested expression, Wu Anshi suddenly asked, “Could it be you prefer widI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.