Scholars’ Grand Contest

The news that the Dragon Cavalry Army had been trained to readiness filled Li Shimin with great anticipation.

He even forgot to continue pressing Li Zhi on just how far he had managed to learn.

With a sweeping gesture, he said, “Very well. You shall choose a date and hold a grand gathering of poetry, and while you are at it, offer a proper welcome and refreshment for My Dragon Cavalry Army.”

Fang Xuanling said, “Since this is a contest among scholars, how can it be limited to poetry and prose alone? In my humble opinion, we might as well compare the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting as well.”

Changsun Wuji, standing nearby, immediately said, “Lord Fang’s idea is excellent. I, too, support it.”

The others were all in the mood of people watching a spectacle and never fearing it would grow too lively; they all chimed in, agreeing to add more events.

Thus the matter was settled according to everyone’s wishes, with Wang Gui, Fang Xuanling, and the others jointly deciding the date.

Even the judges were chosen on the spot, four in all.

They were Assistant Director of the Imperial Library Yu Shinan, Assistant Director of the Directorate of Construction Yan Liben, the foremost master of the qin Zhao Yeli, and Censor Xiao Ji.

Among them, Yu Shinan was unrivaled in calligraphy, Yan Liben excelled in painting, Zhao Yeli’s mastery of the qin was without equal under heaven, and Xiao Ji was famed in his own age for go.

Their learning needed no praise; each of them was a giant of the literary world.

Of all the people, Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji, and Li Jing were the most enthusiastic about this competition.

They too wanted to use this opportunity to let every scholar in the realm see Li Zhi’s attainments in all respects.

They had originally been troubled that Li Zhi was plainly accomplished in the qin, go, calligraphy, and painting, yet had never been willing to reveal it before others.

Especially after hearing the rumors outside, they almost wanted to seize Li Zhi themselves and drag him to compete with those scholars.

Not for any other reason, but because they themselves also hoped to borrow Li Zhi’s performance to shine a little brighter.

After much discussion, the venue was set at the Hibiscus Garden within Qujiang Pond.

The date was fixed for the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which happened to be the day the Dragon Cavalry Army would return to the capital.

Li Jing specially sought permission from Li Shimin so that the Dragon Cavalry Army could enter the city and enjoy the competition together.

Nearly everyone in Chang'an was looking forward to this grand event.

For the mood of opinion had already swept through the city in waves.

There had even been several fierce quarrels over it.

The cause was simple: almost all the scholars and men of letters were not optimistic about Li Zhi.

They believed he was too young and possessed no real reputation for talent.

Therefore, everything he had accomplished must surely have been arranged by capable men under his command.

Those who favored Li Zhi, on the other hand, were all common folk, especially the disaster victims who had fled there in exile.

They had personally witnessed nearly everything Li Zhi had done, and so they firmly believed him to be a prodigy of the age.

In such circumstances, argument was inevitable.

The only person in all of Chang'an who showed no interest in the contest at all was Li Zhi himself.

He truly did not want to reveal too much of his strength, because even he felt somewhat afraid of his own abilities now.

Over the past year he had discovered that his powers of learning and memory were becoming stronger and stronger, far surpassing even those of his previous life.

In his former life, his memory in mathematics had indeed been very good, but it had still been nowhere near photographic.

Moreover, his practical hands-on ability had actually been rather ordinary.

If not for the constant experiments he had done in school and the occasions during his years of entrepreneurship when he had had to do things himself, he could even have been described as clumsy.

Yet in this life, everything seemed to have become astonishingly good.

When he had only just begun studying, he could probably remember eighty percent of what he read after reading it twice.

A few months later, reading it twice was enough to leave a deep impression.

By the middle of the year, he could already remember anything at a glance with ease.

If one said this was because he had read a great many books in this life and had thus undergone special training, then that might explain it.

But his ability in other areas was truly impossible to account for.

The teacher who instructed him in the qin was only a somewhat skilled musician, teaching nothing more than basic finger techniques and notation.

And yet, in only a few days, his fingers were already able to play pieces fluently.

In barely a month, he could hear the mistakes in his teacher’s playing.

After only two months, his teacher was too embarrassed to continue teaching him.

For he had copied out several melodies he had heard in his previous life; they were not necessarily exact, but he could adapt them into something very pleasant to the ear.

That performance nearly frightened his teacher to death.

Could anyone possibly believe that a person who had studied the qin for only two months could compose music on his own?

Li Zhi’s calligraphy had also reached the level of having a style all its own, bearing both Li Shimin’s upright severity and a trace of transcendent grace.

In painting, Li Zhi studied Yan Liben, but he also incorporated some of the realistic techniques from his previous life.

This made his paintings look even closer to the real thing.

As for go, there was no need to mention it at all.

A person with exceptionally powerful calculating ability, paired with a mind that never forgot what it had seen, was nothing short of a bug in the eyes of everyone else.

Li Zhi felt that he already looked sufficiently outstanding now; if he displayed all of it, he truly feared that someone might regard him as a monster.

Unfortunately, Fang Xuanling and the others did not think so. They insisted that Li Zhi must put on a proper showing.

The reasons they gave were such that Li Zhi could not refuse.

They told Li Zhi directly that they wanted to become famous, and wanted the world to know what an enlightened decision it had been for the emperor to choose them as Li Zhi’s teachers.

And so, with great reluctance, Li Zhi agreed to take part in the competition, and was even forced to promise that he must win a place of honor.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, many commoners in Chang'an came early to Qujiang Pond.

All wanted to witness this grand occasion with their own eyes.

Soon after, the scholars and men of letters began arriving in twos and threes, entering the Hibiscus Garden together.

As the competitors in this event, they were soon admitted without obstruction into the inner area.

Among them were many students from the Imperial Academy, who also hoped to take this chance to measure themselves against scholars from other regions.

The carriages of Li Zhi and Li Tai arrived at Qujiang Pond almost at the same time.

After they got down outside the crowd, the two immediately put on an act of fraternal affection.

Their words were full of courtesy, yet when they stepped forward, neither wanted to lag even half a step behind the other.

Thus, one a little round and the other very small, the two of them entered the Hibiscus Garden together.

Last to arrive were the four judges. Being famous masters, they naturally had none of Li Zhi and Li Tai’s petty calculations.

So after a brief exchange of courtesy, they ascended the Purple Cloud Tower one after another.

The Purple Cloud Tower had four stories, and the floor chosen for the event was the second.

This allowed the spectators to see the contestants while also carrying the speakers’ voices far and wide.

At this point, the great loudspeaker invented by Li Zhi came into use.

As the oldest among them, Zhao Yeli, representing the judges, stepped first before the loudspeaker.

After clearing his throat, he said, “Today, at a time when scholars from across the realm gather to take their examinations, by imperial command we hold this competition for men of letters in the Hibiscus Garden...”

After Zhao Yeli had droned on through a long stretch of formal proclamation, he finally raised his right hand and shouted, “Next, I hereby declare the literary competition... begin!”