This man was one-eyed. Qianlong used 2 couplets to make things difficult. His point on the spot was Tanhua.

In ancient Chinese society, although most of the time were imperial examinations, each dynasty basically had methods for selecting talents, such as the filial piety and integrity system in the Han Dynasty, the nine-rank Zhongzheng system in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Zhongzheng system in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, it was about composing poetry, and in the Song Dynasty, it was about reading lyrics. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people liked couplets, especially Emperor Qianlong, who liked Chinese culture better and was better at couplets. During the palace examination, Qianlong saw that this man was a one-eyed dragon with only one eye, so he deliberately made two couplets to make things difficult. After this man appeared in the couplet, he immediately selected him as the third flower, and later became a literary master.

This is Liu Fenggao, who injured one eye since he was a child and is a one-eyed dragon. But he studied very hard. After ten years of hard study, in the 54th year of Qianlong's reign, Liu Fenggao went to Beijing to take the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination in one fell swoop. His score was among the best. It can be said that he did very well in the examination. Therefore, he has the qualifications to enter the palace examination. Although the imperial examinations were used to select officials in ancient times, they still focused on overall quality, a bit more on appearance.

Unless one has real talent and knowledge, it will be difficult for someone who is unremarkable in appearance or has a one-eyed disability to be appreciated. When Liu Fenggao walked up to the main hall, Qianlong saw that this person was not very good-looking and had only one eye, so he naturally felt uncomfortable. Because if you don’t choose him, and he has such good grades, wouldn’t that make the world laugh? Therefore, Qianlong came up with two couplets to fight him to death, so that he could retreat before the difficulties, and also give an explanation to the world.

Because Qianlong was very conceited, even Ji Xiaolan could not match his own couplets, let alone these young scholars. So he said to the unattractive Liu Fenggao: I want to test you. So the first couplet was published, "How can one be on the gold medal list with one eye?" The meaning is very clear, how can one be at the top of the gold medal list with only one eye? Directly point out Liu Fenggao's flaws. After listening to this, Liu Fenggao immediately responded without thinking, "Half a moon still illuminates the universe."

This is absolute. Isn’t there only half a moon at night? But it can still light up the earth, which means that I can still serve the country even though I have one eye. After Qianlong heard this, he immediately sent out another pair, thinking that this time he would be able to stump him. "The east is Qiming, the west is long Geng, the south is Ji and the north is Dipper, I am a star-catcher." The meaning is very clear. Talents are compared to stars. You will choose according to your talents. Star-catcher also reflects a broad mind.

After listening to this, Liu Fenggao quickly replied, "Spring peonies, summer peonies, autumn chrysanthemums and winter plums, I am the flower lover." The second couplet uses flowers as a metaphor, with an elegant idea, and the last five words are Show unyielding confidence. After Qianlong heard this, he was very satisfied, so he appointed her as the third flower in the palace. Liu Fenggao later became a famous talent and poet in the Qing Dynasty, and he almost wrote it in detail, and the story of visiting flowers was also widely circulated. It is still talked about and is a good story.