Text丨"Those Years" Li Teng The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty have always been famous for their high difficulty. They were once described as "the thirty-year-old Ming Jing, fifty-year-old Jinshi". In other words, it is too late to pass the Ming Jing Examination at the

文丨"Those Years" by Li Teng

The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty have always been famous for their high difficulty. They were once described as "thirty old Ming Jing , fifty young Jinshi" . In other words, it is too late to pass the Ming Jing Examination at the age of thirty, and it is considered young to pass the Jinshi Examination at the age of fifty. This shows how difficult it is to pass the Jinshi Examination. Even the genius Bai Juyi when he passed the Jinshi examination at the age of 27, he wrote excitedly: "The nomination office under the Ci'en Tower is the youngest among the seventeen people" . However, in the early Tang Dynasty, there was one person who was more defiant than him. He became a high school scholar at the age of twenty-five and was one of the revolutionary figures in poetry and literature in the early Tang Dynasty. He was Chen Ziang.

So the question is, how did Chen Ziang stand out in the imperial examination? This also starts from his journey to the imperial examination and a successful self-marketing.

The imperial examination path for the rich second generation?

Chen Zi'ang, whose courtesy name is Boyu, was born in a wealthy businessman family and is an out-and-out second-generation rich man. How rich his family is. To give a simple example, one year there was a famine in the local area, but the Chen family did not say a word, "A person can scatter thousands of dollars without asking for repayment" , which shows how rich the Chen family is. When he was a teenager, Chen Ziang, like other dandy boys, lived a life of cockfighting and horse racing. He was high-spirited, frivolous in making money and good at charity. He was proficient in shooting, hunting and gambling, but he had never read a book. History books say that he "Ziang is eighteen unknown" Book ".

According to the normal trajectory, Chen Ziang will continue to be like this to a large extent. He will eventually inherit the family business and become a wealthy businessman or a prodigal son. However, after visiting a rural school, Chen Ziang's life trajectory was reversed. "The next day he entered the rural school, he regretted it and immediately repaired it" . I don’t know what Chen Zi’ang saw in the rural school that deeply touched him, but he suddenly understood that only by the practical principles in books can he truly calm the people, build achievements, and realize his own values ​​and ambitions.

Chen Ziang, who was ambitious and determined, turned on the academic master mode. He declined his old friends, stopped following his friends in his indulgence, and concentrated on studying classics and history behind closed doors. In 679 AD, twenty-year-old Chen Ziang left the Three Gorges and went north to Chang'an, where he entered the Imperial College, the highest institution at the time, to study, and participated in the imperial examination in the second year. Unfortunately, this year's pre-examination tutoring class did not allow Chen Zi'ang to win the gold medal. After failing the exam, Chen was not discouraged. He returned to his hometown and built a villa on the mountain specifically for studying behind closed doors. This villa was also called "Chen Gong School" by later generations.

Chen Ziang was talented and intelligent, and coupled with hard work, he soon made progress in his studies. "I have read hundreds of classics and history. I am especially good at literature, and his elegance has the character of Xiangru and Ziyun" . In 682 AD, Chen Ziang, who was full of confidence, took the imperial examination again. As a result, his wishes did not come true, and Chen Ziang failed again.

After studying hard for three years and failing twice, Chen Ziang carefully thought about the reasons for his failure. It turns out that in addition to the imperial examinations at that time, examination and examination papers were also very important. Chen Ziang was unknown before the examination and was not supported by nobles. His talents were not known, and failure was reasonable. He understood the examination rules. , Chen Ziang began his self-marketing journey.

The brilliant "self-marketing" of the top student

After failing in the exam, Chen Ziang was wandering in the market one day when he suddenly saw an old man surrounded by people on the roadside. Chen Ziang also squeezed into the crowd, wanting to find out. It turns out that the old man is selling pianos, asking for a million dollars, and does not negotiate. The onlookers were all shocked. They looked left and right and couldn't see anything special about this piano. Chen Ziang had an idea at this time and said loudly, "I bought this piano. Anyone who wants to listen to the piano can come to my humble house tomorrow and play for everyone." The mysterious buyer spent a lot of money and bought millions of pianos. It successfully aroused the interest of the onlookers, and everyone was eagerly looking forward to his performance.

The next day, everyone came to Chen Ziang's mansion as scheduled, preparing to listen to a famous piano concert for free. Unexpectedly, Chen Zi'ang held the qin and sighed: "Chen Zi'ang, a native of Shu, has hundreds of articles, but no one knows about it. How should we pay attention to this pleasure of cheap work?"" As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Ziang threw it hard, and the million Huqin immediately fell apart. Presumably, the crowd of onlookers put on various emoticons at this time, and before everyone could recover, Chen Ziang distributed his collection of essays to everyone , everyone rushed to read it and praised it. Wang Shi, a famous scribe at that time and one of the ten friends of the Immortal Sect, even declared: "This person must be a domestic literary sect!" "

After this incident, Chen Ziang became an instant hit in the capital. He was spread by ten people and hundreds of people. Chen Ziang was finally famous in the capital for his talents.

His extraordinary talent did not allow for a low profile.

After his ingenious self-marketing, Chen Ziang participated in the third party. This time, he finally got his wish and won the Jinshi. At this time, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty passed away in Luoyang. Wu Zetian took charge of the government and decided to bury Emperor Gaozong in Qianling. Chen Zi'ang, an official, immediately wrote a thousand-word "Letter to Remonstrate the Ling's Journey to Beijing" . The main idea was that the court was not wealthy now and the people's lives were still very difficult. It would be good to bury Gaozong on the spot in Luoyang. Why bother transporting people and money back to Chang'an for burial?

Although Wu Zetian, who loved talent, did not follow Chen Ziang's advice, he still got the favor of the queen and granted him an official position with the title of Lintai. After that, Chen Ziang was promoted several times and quickly became the official. Go to right to pick up .

Sometimes to realize one's own ideals and ambitions, necessary self-marketing is essential. Chen Ziang may be the next master of self-marketing.

Creative self-marketing is not a fig leaf for unlearned people to gain fame and reputation. It is another way for talented people to express themselves. Learning to self-market is not about advocating wantonness. Brag, but let others discover how special you are more quickly