Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 108 Su Shi's Competitive Spirit
A few days later, at the Meizhou Prefectural School.

Su Shi was leaning against the bamboo window, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan and reading Zhuangzi, when he suddenly heard familiar footsteps coming from outside the corridor. It was his younger brother Su Zhe's footsteps, light and steady, always so unhurried.

He put down his book, a smile playing on his lips as his eyes unconsciously narrowed.

"Brother!"

Su Zhe stepped across the threshold, covered in dust from his journey. He took off his headscarf, revealing his cheeks, which were slightly flushed from the summer heat, but his excitement was undeniable.

"You're finally back." Su Shi pushed his palm-leaf fan aside and picked up the now-cooled teapot on the table. "Did you bring the fresh lychees from Luzhou?"

During the early Tang Dynasty, if Yang Guifei wanted to eat lychees, they had to be transported from the mountains in the south through Luzhou to Chang'an. However, with the development of the times, in the present Song Dynasty, Luzhou has begun to widely cultivate lychees due to its excellent climate conditions. Moreover, Luzhou lychees are quite famous and are often presented to the imperial court as tribute.

However, the best quality lychees are usually harvested in July. At this time, the lychees will be smaller and taste more sour and less sweet.

However, Su Shi didn't care.

"I brought it. This thing is easy to break, but luckily it's nearby."

Su Zhe took out a dozen or so carefully wrapped lychees from his pouch.

Upon seeing the green and red lychees, Su Shi's eyes lit up immediately. He eagerly untied the string, and a sweet, fragrant aroma wafted out.

"Good! Good! You are truly my good brother!"

He exclaimed in admiration, his fingers already pinching one up. He didn't care that the prickles were slightly painful; he simply gave it a gentle prick, and the shell cracked open, revealing the glistening white flesh inside.

"Ziyou, look!" Su Shi held the lychee up to his eyes, squinting as he examined it closely in the sunlight. "The flesh of this lychee is so translucent when you shine it in the light; it looks delicious!"

After saying that, he put it in his mouth and took a bite. The flesh burst between his teeth, and the sweet and sour juice instantly filled his mouth.

Su Shi squinted, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Hmm, although it's not yet July, these lychees are sweet and sour, which is quite refreshing!"

Seeing his elder brother enjoying the lychee, Su Zhe couldn't help but laugh and say, "People in Luzhou say that this kind of lychee is called 'early red.' Although it's not as sweet as the later lychees, its unripeness makes it less prone to spoilage. You can leave it for another day."

"Rotten?" Su Shi scoffed, peeling open another one. "With me here, how could it possibly have a chance to rot?"

He pinched another lychee open with two fingers, tilted his head back and tossed it, the flesh landing precisely in his mouth. He chewed it, the juice splashing everywhere, even getting a few drops of glistening juice on his beard.

As he enjoyed the meal, Su Shi laid out the lychees one by one on his desk, peeling them as he said, "Du Zimei wrote, 'Remembering the envoy from the South China Sea, who rushed to present lychees,' how extravagant that was! Now we can taste them right here in Sichuan, isn't that wonderful?"

Su Zhe shook his head and chuckled. Seeing his brother's hands covered in juice, he handed him a handkerchief: "Slow down, no one's going to take it from you."

Su Shi didn't care at all, and only vaguely replied, "Such a delicacy cannot be waited for even a moment!"

The cicadas chirped noisily outside the window, and the summer breeze rustled through the bamboo curtain, bringing a touch of coolness.

Before long, the lychee shells in front of Su Shi had piled up into a small mountain. He licked his fingertips with lingering satisfaction and sighed, "It's a pity there are too few. If I have the chance, I must go to Luzhou and eat my fill!"

Seeing that Su Shi had eaten all the lychees in no time, Su Zhe shook his head helplessly and said, "If you eat like this, you'll probably get a sore throat tomorrow."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Su Shi laughed heartily. "Even if my throat is on fire, I'll gladly endure it!"

After enjoying the meal to his heart's content, Su Shi remembered to ask his younger brother, "Did we win first place at the New Year's Gathering in the four prefectures this time?"

"I never got first place, I only got second place."

"Oh?" The sound of tea being poured into the cup suddenly stopped.

Upon hearing this, Su Shi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Second place? Who did you lose to?"

“Lu Beigu from Hejiang County, Luzhou.” Su Zhe vigorously dusted off the grime on his robe. “This man wrote ‘On the Six States,’ which argues for the rise and fall of states based on their systems. Even Mr. Baisha admires him greatly.”

How does it compare to your father's "On the Six States"?

Su Zhe was about to speak when he noticed his brother's expression, so he changed his tune: "Each has its merits. His analogy of the Qin system as a boat capsizing in a turbulent current is quite insightful."

Su Shi suddenly got up and paced back and forth in front of his desk in the room.

“Ziyou, recite his essay ‘On the Six States’ so I can hear it.”

Su Zhe shook his head helplessly as he watched his brother's incessant movements. He knew that whenever Su Shi spoke in this tone, it meant he was becoming competitive.

However, he had anticipated that his brother would ask this question, so he recited Lu Beigu's article in detail.

When Su Shi read the lines, "The people of Qin see war as merchants encounter a market, and hear the drums as tenant farmers long for autumn," he suddenly stopped, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

But when Su Zhe continued reading to the line "Laws have no benefit for all ages, and systems change with the times," Su Shi said something.

"That is a misconception! Shang Yang's laws were harsh and ungrateful. How could they be compared to the benevolent rule of the Three Dynasties? Although Qin was strong for a time, it eventually perished after only two generations. This shows that no matter how sophisticated a system is, if it is not based on benevolence and righteousness, it is ultimately just a castle in the air."

He didn't say the Qin system was perfect, but only discussed its advantages and disadvantages.

“Advantages and disadvantages?” Su Shi turned around, his sleeves billowing in the wind. “Since he knew that ‘the garrison soldiers rebelled and the prefectures and counties collapsed,’ why didn’t he mention that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were both commoners? It shows that oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger. Even with good systems, it still needs benevolent people to implement them.”

It's unclear whether this can be considered a consequence of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, but in any case, the Song Dynasty scholar-official class in this era highly revered benevolent governance and the way of the king.

For example, Su Shi's famous essay "On the Utmost Kindness in Punishment and Reward" is actually about the Confucian idea of ​​benevolent governance. Su Shi advocated that punishment and reward should be extremely kind and benevolent, and that the people should be treated with benevolence. The use of the stories of sage kings such as Yao, Shun, and Tang of Shang in the text was also to prove that "benevolence can be excessive, but righteousness cannot be excessive." That is, benevolence can exceed the norm, but morality cannot be transgressed.

This is why the article was highly appreciated by the chief examiner Ouyang Xiu and was praised as "revealing the essentials of benevolent governance and the way of the king".

This viewpoint can be considered a kind of official correctness, although ideals are never wrong, but in reality it is more like a slogan.

"Although this person's writing is remarkable, it is too much of a glorification of power and lacks the demeanor of a sage."

Seeing his reaction, Su Zhe couldn't help but smile: "Brother, are you now eager to win?"

Su Shi was suddenly speechless.

Su Zhe understood that all writers are proud, and the more talented a writer is, the more proud he is. His exceptionally talented elder brother certainly did not believe that other people's writing could surpass his own.

However, the fact that this essay, "On the Six States," caught his eye and was even carefully studied already indicates that it was an excellent work.

"In short, after I finish the state exam in August this year, I will have to go to Luzhou in person."

Seeing his brother's eager expression, Su Zhe couldn't help but chuckle: "Are you going to eat lychees or to meet Lu Beigu?"

"Both aspects are present."

(End of this chapter)