During the Qianlong period, after an imperial examination, the examiner gave the top ten examination papers to the emperor for inspection. Qianlong was first attracted by the beautiful calligraphy of one of them, and after reading the article carefully, he was even more impressed. So he summoned this talented man to take an imperial examination, hoping to personally select pillars for the country.
This talented man’s name is Liu Fenggao. When he was playing with his friends in childhood, he accidentally injured an eye and was left disabled. Although talented, he is often looked down upon by others because of his eye disease. Qianlong originally thought that his words were like his person, and that this man with excellent calligraphy and talents should be dignified in appearance and extraordinary in bearing. However, after meeting him, he turned out to be a one-eyed dragon, and the gap in his heart was too big.
Emperor Qianlong thought: If he were to be used, this one-eyed man would be really ugly, and would be laughed at by the world, and no one in the Qing Dynasty could use him; if he was not to be used, all the officials would laugh at me for judging people by their appearance. So I planned to give him a test in class to see if this one-eyed student was really talented. If he was really a rare talent, I would be a fool to miss him because of his appearance.
After pondering for a moment, Qianlong said: "I want to test you face to face. If you are really talented, you will definitely be in high school; if you are only mediocre, don't blame me for being ruthless." Liu Fenggao said: "I obey Qianlong said, "Okay, I'll give you the first couplet, and you can answer the second couplet." After hearing this, Liu Fenggao thought that the emperor also judged people by their appearance, and he immediately said it. He said: "Half a moon still shines on the universe." When Qianlong heard this, he said: "Okay! The tone is not small, but it is right. I will give you another joint test: Qiming in the east, Geng in the west, Ji in the south and Beidou, I am the star-catcher! "The talented Liu Fenggao immediately said without thinking: "Spring peonies, summer peonies, autumn chrysanthemums and winter plums, I am Tan Hualang!" As soon as these words came out, Qianlong was immediately delighted, and all the ministers present clapped their hands and praised him! . Because Qianlong used the four-dimensional constellations of "east, west, south, north" to create a strange theme, the emperor's celestial phenomena were extraordinary. Liu Fenggao used the famous flowers of the four seasons "spring, summer, autumn and winter" to respond, which not only neatly matched the lines, but also had harmonious rhythm and catchy words. Especially the last three characters of "Tanhualang" are a pun, which is heartfelt admiration. At this time, Qianlong no longer had the prejudice of judging people by their appearance, but only recognized Liu Fenggao's talent, so he laughed loudly and said: "Okay! I will help you." So with a wave of the golden pen, Liu Fenggao was admitted as the third top pick in the first class. Become a good talk for future generations.
Because Liu Fenggao was from Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, Qianlong later called Liu Fenggao "Jiangxi Daqi", but more people called him "Jiangxi Talented Man". Liu Fenggao's talent for couplets was the best at that time. It is said that when Jiaqing ascended the throne and respected Qianlong as the Supreme Emperor, he ordered Liu Fenggao to make a couplet with the titles of the five dynasties of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing. What Liu Fenggao wrote is: "Shun Tian and prosper the people, Yongran and Qian are strong and prosperous through the ages; the country is governed and prosperous, which is the Long Enqing for ten thousand years." The year names of the Five Dynasties are regularly inserted into the couplet, which is seamless and absolute. Liu Fenggao's talent is even more spread widely.