Chapter Ninety-Two: Standing Tall with Unbending Pride

So this was the hidden bond and tangled history between Zhang Dun and Su Shi, a source of such bitter grievance that Li Sannjian could only sigh in wonder after hearing Zeng Bu's account.

In his youth, Su Shi had been on intimate terms with Zhang Dun. The two had hit it off at first sight and grown into confidants who could speak without reserve, closer than brothers, their affection as intimate as blood kin. For years before the Yuanyou era of the Song, their friendship had been beyond reproach, so close that even sharing a single coat would have seemed too spacious.

When the late Chancellor Wang Gui, driven by jealousy and malice, twisted lines from Su Shi's poetry into a charge of disloyalty, Su Shi was imprisoned and nearly died there. This was the infamous Crow Terrace Poetry Case.

By then Zhang Dun had already risen to high office, yet he disregarded his own safety and threw himself into rescuing Su Shi, coming into fierce and open conflict with Wang Gui. In the end, it was through Zhang Dun's maneuvering that Su Shi emerged unharmed, and Su Shi was deeply grateful to him for it.

Their friendship soured only after the Yuanyou years. When Su Shi returned to court, he leaned on his talent and quick wit, speaking too freely and too often, and made jest of Zhang Dun time and again. Repeatedly and without restraint, he stirred resentment in Zhang Dun's heart.

There was a rumor in the capital that Zhang Dun had been born of an illicit union and that, at birth, he had nearly been drowned in a basin of water before someone intervened and saved his life.

Because of this, Zhang Dun was exceedingly secretive about his origins.

Later, when Zhang Dun was demoted to an appointment in Lake State, Su Shi sent him off with a poem that enraged him to the point of fury, though he did not yet act upon it.

From the lofty abode of an immortal, vast and mist-bound,
Your noble spirit still loves the waters and clouds of home.
Who has given fame and rank three straight triumphs?
By what bond is one made to forget alike self and fate?

These were the lines Su Shi had written. He had meant only to console Zhang Dun, but while the speaker had been innocent, the listener took it to heart, and Zhang Dun was greatly displeased.

Yet this was not the chief cause of their falling out. The real reason was a difference in political views, a clash born of faction.

Zhang Dun followed Wang Anshi and stood as a pillar of the reform movement, whereas Su Shi remained aligned with Sima Guang and his circle. The two were thus often at swords' points. Su Shi was broad-minded and easygoing, and did not shun friendship over differences in policy, but Zhang Dun nursed his resentment in silence and in the end came to hate Su Shi to the marrow of his bones.

When Zhang Dun finally came into power, he demoted Su Shi again and again, employing every possible means, nearly destroying him on the road into exile.

The grudges and entanglements between Su Shi and Zhang Dun made Li Sannjian sigh inwardly at the cruelty of one kin to another.

At that moment, Li Sannjian was profoundly puzzled. Why had Zeng Bu told him all these old stories?

What was Li Sannjian, after all? Only a youth of not yet seventeen, a mere student. He had made some small name among the scholars, even earning the nickname Li Sentence Breaker, with a hint of mockery in it as well. Though he had shown a little edge, to a man like Zeng Bu he was no more than an ant, perhaps less than an ant, not even worthy of a raised eyelid. And now he had failed the tribute examination; a failed candidate was worth less than a chicken. Why, then, was Zeng Bu behaving so? Li Sannjian was bewildered beyond measure.

"Because of this, I... I was failed?" Though puzzled, Li Sannjian hesitated before asking another question.

"Yes and no. Not entirely," Zeng Bu replied.

Li Sannjian fell silent. Zhang Dun was now in control of affairs, and from what Li Sannjian had learned through Zeng Bu, Zhang Dun was a man of fierce temper and petty mind, one who repaid every slight with vengeance. If so, his own dismissal by such a man was not all that surprising; there had been a chain of causes behind it. Given the enmity between Zhang Dun and Su Shi, and Zhang Dun's temperament, how could he possibly tolerate one of Su Shi's disciples serving in the court?

At the same time, Li Sannjian finally understood another matter: why Su Shi had inexplicably cast him out of the master's gate.

It had been to protect him. It had been so that Li Sannjian might succeed in the examination unhindered. For this, Li Sannjian could think of no other reason.

How was his revered teacher now, I wonder? Li Sannjian thought, deeply moved. The faint resentment he had once felt toward Su Shi vanished without a trace.

But as Zeng Bu had said, it had all been useless. Li Sannjian had still been mercilessly rejected, and worse, he had now drawn Zhang Dun's attention. He was already in peril.

A chill suddenly ran through Li Sannjian. Cold sweat had soaked the padded robe on his back.

He knew well that if Zhang Dun truly meant to strike at him, it would be no harder than pinching an ant to death.

Perhaps I should find a chance to take my family and flee the capital, vanish into thin air? Li Sannjian thought.

He immediately rejected the idea. If Zhang Dun truly wished to move against him, then even if he fled to the ends of the earth, there would be no escape from death.

"Graduate Li," Zeng Bu said, seeing Li Sannjian still pale with shock, and smiled faintly. "What do you plan to do in the future?"

After a pause, he asked again, "Or perhaps... what ambitions do you have in your heart?"

"A man who has failed the examinations hardly dares speak of ambitions," Li Sannjian said with a wry smile. "As for plans, I only wish to earn enough to keep body and soul together."

Zeng Bu laughed. "There is no need for that. I have two paths to offer you, Graduate Li. Would you care to choose?"

Two paths? Li Sannjian rose and clasped his hands. "Please, Lord Zeng, speak plainly."

"One is to receive special imperial recognition as a presented scholar. The other is for me to recommend you for office elsewhere," Zeng Bu said, stroking his beard.

"Special imperial recognition? A recommendation?" Li Sannjian asked in surprise.

In the Song dynasty, passing the provincial examination was known as gaining the regular degree. The counterpart was special imperial recognition, also called an imperial grace degree or grace list: the court granted rank or office to those who had repeatedly failed the examinations or were elderly, in order to comfort and win over the hearts of scholars who had not succeeded, so they would not grow embittered.

Yet the requirements for receiving such special recognition and taking the palace examination were extremely strict. Only those who had taken the tribute examinations five or six times, even seven or eight times without success, and who were fifty or sixty years old, might qualify. Alternatively, if one possessed some exceptional ability and obtained the emperor's approval, one could also sit for the palace examination and gain rank and office.

Even so, official posts obtained in this way usually carried no real power; they were merely stipends for one's later years.

Moreover, men who obtained rank by such means were often looked down upon by scholars and even by common folk.

Recommendation, or elevation by nomination, was another Song system for appointing officials. In simple terms, a candidate was recommended by a sponsor and thereby granted office, while the system also imposed joint liability on the sponsor. Recommendation covered the nomination of scholars, officials, persons of lofty virtue, profound learning, filial piety, chaste widows, and the transfer of civil appointees, among other categories.

As a rule, if the sponsor was a powerful minister, even a chancellor or chief minister, the recommended man could obtain office far more easily. That was the true reason why the gates of high officials were always crowded.

Still, among those who gained office by this path, almost none could rise to high rank, and none could sit as chancellors or chief ministers. Only those who had passed the jinshi examination were eligible for such heights.

If Zeng Bu truly recommended Li Sannjian now, Li Sannjian would stand a good chance of entering official service. But whether he would be made an official or merely a clerk, whether civil or military, could not be said. He would very likely be sent to some remote place, perhaps back to the Southern Border Circuit.

This was an opportunity that any ordinary person would dream of, and yet it now lay before Li Sannjian.

At last, Li Sannjian understood Zeng Bu's meaning.

After thinking for a long while, Li Sannjian bowed deeply to Zeng Bu. "I am but a humble and insignificant man, and one who has failed the examinations at that. How could I be worthy of such kindness from you, Lord Zeng? I am deeply ashamed. Still, I must decline your gracious offer."

"Thank you nonetheless, Lord Zeng," he said again with another deep bow, then turned to leave.

Special imperial recognition? With Zhang Dun in power, Li Sannjian could not even secure the regular degree. What hope was there for such a demanding special degree? There was not the slightest chance. He saw this with complete clarity. If so, why seek further humiliation and vexation?

As for being recommended to office, he was even less willing. First, he still did not know Zeng Bu's true purpose, and so he had no wish to trust another man's words lightly. Second, however poor his family might be, he still had some backbone. He could not endure the mockery and humiliation of others.

"Y-you... why are you refusing?" Zeng Bu cried in astonishment, halting Li Sannjian as he turned to depart.

Zeng Bu had meant this as a tremendous favor. In any ordinary case, the recipient would have been on the ground calling him grandfather. Yet Li Sannjian did not even care to listen, and simply turned to leave. Moreover, Zeng Bu knew full well how dire Li Sannjian's circumstances were. If he chose to shelter him, Li Sannjian's days would be far easier. And yet...

"This proverb, Lord Zeng, have you ever heard it?" Li Sannjian asked, turning back slowly.

"What proverb?" Zeng Bu asked.

"Where one falls, one rises again," Li Sannjian said calmly. "I have made up my mind. I intend to sit for the examinations again next year."

What was the civil service exam? What was an examination? What was writing essays? Li Sannjian cursed inwardly. Zhang Dun, you set a trap and made me fail this time? Very well. I will try again next year. Then let me see what you can do.

If he had fallen, he would rise. He would stand tall with all the pride in his bones.

"Aren't you afraid of failing again?" Zeng Bu countered.

Li Sannjian replied indifferently, "The world has its own judgment."

"Where one falls, one rises again?" Zeng Bu murmured after Li Sannjian had gone.

Three months later, on Qiong Platform in Danzhou.

"Father, no. Hanren has failed," Su Guo, Su Shi's son, said, holding a court bulletin as he spoke to Su Shi.

Su Shi nodded. "As expected."

"But why were you so determined to cast that child out of the master's gate?" Su Guo asked in confusion.

"Have you not heard the words he spoke?" Su Shi glared at him. "From this day on, everything he does has nothing to do with me."

Su Guo fell silent.

"Still, write him a letter in your own name," Su Shi said at last.