Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 179 Imperial Examination Plan

After Han Shilang finished speaking, he stroked his beard and looked at Su Chen, and said with a faint smile: "Su Chen, your future depends on your thoughts today, become famous and give yourself a blessing, don't just Be a rich man without the ability to fight back, otherwise, you may be buried with the country at any time!"

Su Chen fell into silence. After a long time, a bitter smile appeared on his face, and the corner of his mouth twitched, "Do I have any other choices?"

Unless Su Chen fled to the Northland early and took refuge in Zhao Song, otherwise, his future in the Southern Tang Dynasty would indeed be bleak.

The method Han Xizai told him was just a dangerous way to protect himself, which is tantamount to taking millet out of the fire, and it is still somewhat dangerous. If it is to prevent problems before they happen, the best policy is to escape as soon as possible.

However, the coast of the Yangtze River has long been blocked, with the Song army on the north bank and the Tang army on the south bank. There are many warships, and the Jinlingdu boats will not go north. Those who board the boats must go through careful searches and identity verification. He wants to be silent. It is also very difficult to go north to the Song Dynasty.

What's more, I already have some wealthy family background in Runzhou, with Bai Susu's cooperation, and with friends like Peng Qingqing, Liu Mo Nong, and Han Yunpeng, I still feel a little reluctant to leave suddenly.Besides, it was not easy to cross the river with so much silver and jewels, and it was hard to say whether he would be treated as a spy by the Song army on the other side.

Moreover, he is now a household registration in the Southern Tang Dynasty, but he was a black householder in the Northern Song Dynasty, so where to gain a foothold is also a problem.

Seeing that Su Chen has been persuaded by Han Shilang, he was secretly happy in his heart. After all, the other party is also a smart person, and he would not ignore his own situation and gradually introduce him to the path he designed for him.

"The old man thinks that your next first step is to take part in this year's autumn exam and take the government examination. For more than ten years, the imperial court has used poetry and prose, sometimes one poem for one essay, and sometimes one word for one essay , In terms of poetry, your talent is soaring, the old man is not worried, but in the aspect of parallel prose, it has not been shown. At this time, I can tell the truth to the old man. Have you ever studied the articles of Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Han Fu? No?"

Su Chen thought for a while, the classical Chinese essays he had memorized in junior high school and high school were originally a little blurry, but after time travelling, the memory in his mind seemed to become much clearer, so he replied truthfully: "I have read some, but I didn’t intend to enter the imperial examination, so I didn’t study parallel prose and classics according to the thinking of the imperial examination, but I read extensively according to my own preferences, which was complicated and unsystematic.”

Hearing the words, Han Shilang nodded slightly, and felt that Su Chen's words were logical and in line with Su Chen's situation, so he asked curiously: "For example, what specific articles have you read, tell me, let the old man Listen to it, you have a count in your heart."

Su Chen pondered for a while, and said: "Master Meng's "Born in Sorrow and Die in Peace", Mr. Zhuge's "Teacher's Biao", Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Spring", Liu Yuxi's "Humble Room Inscription", Du Mu's "Afang Palace Fu", Wang Bo "Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng" and so on, and some articles in "The Analects", "Zuo Zhuan" and "Tao Te Ching", such as "Zou Ji satirizes the king of Qi and accepts advice" and the like."

These articles have been passed down through the ages and are very famous. Later generations will gradually come into contact with classical Chinese from elementary school, junior high school, and high school textbooks. As long as people who have attended school, they are probably tortured by ancient Chinese. It is also common to be punished by not being able to recite them in class. of.

Han Xizai smiled lightly and said, "You are quite opportunistic, and you memorize some gorgeous and famous texts, but you ignore the unpopular Confucianism and Confucian classics."

Su Chen said with a smile: "Some articles are too boring. I just flip through them casually, and I can't memorize them all. Therefore, what I can remember and memorize is not too much. Writing poems At the time, I didn’t need to quote so many scriptures, so I could do it casually, but it would be difficult for me to write parallel prose in order to cope with the imperial examination.”

Han Xizai sighed softly, pondered for a long time, and suddenly asked: "If you were asked to write articles, what topics are you best at?"

Parallel essays by great poets and writers of the Song Dynasty quickly appeared in Su Chen's mind. It seemed that the one he was most familiar with was Zhou Dunyi's "Ai Lian Shuo", and this and that travel note by Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu, so he replied: "Writing articles about lotus Good at, or writing travel notes, because I usually travel around and am good at writing travel notes.”

After hearing the words, Han Xizai's eyes lit up. Finally, he has a topic he is good at, so it's easy to handle. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Which aspect of travel notes?"

Su Chen blurted out: "For example, I can write about a certain building, a certain pavilion, etc., and it shouldn't be bad; but if you give me a propositional article, just randomly pick out a sentence from Confucian classics and let me write the article by hand. , then I can’t write, and I don’t like it, and if I’m not interested, I can’t write well.”

At this time, he was looking for an excuse to perfunctory for himself. The real reason, of course, was that there were not so many famous articles from the Song Dynasty in the Chinese textbooks at school, and he only memorized a few of them.

"Well, the old man knows." Han Xizai's heart moved, he had already figured out which one of the six departments he should choose when he returned to Beijing to restore his official position.

Su Chen was a little baffled, thinking that it's useless for you to know, the Qiu Wei of the government examination and the Chun Wei of the provincial examination, you have to really take these tests!

Han Xizai said at this time: "You can go back and review and prepare for the exam with peace of mind. There are still four months before the autumn after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Practice writing more articles about lotus flowers and travel notes. In terms of other aspects, the old man can think of ways."

"Cough cough!" Su Chen coughed a few times when he heard the words, thinking to himself, what's wrong with the waiter Han, who is about to give the exam questions?

However, the imperial examinations in the Southern Tang Dynasty were indeed simpler than those in later generations. They only tested the talents of poems and articles, unlike Song and Ming Dynasties when they had to write policy theories.

Of course, compared with the Song and Ming Dynasties, the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were even more difficult.Because the number of students enrolled in the Tang Dynasty was very small, the imperial examination was divided into six subjects, Mingjing, Jinshi, Mingfa, Mingshu, Mingshu, and Xiucai. Among them, Mingjing and Jinshi focused on the mastery of the Four Books and Five Classics. Comprehension level, the other four subjects behind are for those who have expertise in certain aspects, and they are often not held, just a formality.

Therefore, Mingjing and Jinshi were also the two subjects that most scholars in the Tang Dynasty chose to apply for.

The examination questions of the Mingjing subject are divided into three parts: posting scriptures, oral examination, and current affairs policy.The first two items examine the examinee's familiarity with the Four Books and Five Classics, and they can pass by rote memorization.

"Current Affairs Policy" is the real difficulty, focusing on the examination of students' ability to integrate theory with practice and apply what they have learned.Usually, there are three questions in the policy theory of Ming Jing Ke. The questions are aimed at various practical problems faced by the society at that time, and the candidates are asked to come up with solutions. It may be how to try a case, or it may be an economic problem, or it may be a military problem. Possibly a diplomatic dilemma.The "Current Affairs Policy" of Jinshi Section has five topics, two more than that of Mingjing Section.

Even when Li Bai and Du Fu came, they also failed to hit the ground many times, which shows the difficulty.

In "Complete Tang Wen", some titles of "Current Affairs Policies" in the Tang Dynasty have been preserved in detail.One of them is: "There is no war, there is an opportunity to control the imperial power; evil kills good life, and transformation contains the principle of pavilions and cultivation. In the evening of the fortress, the soldiers cook in the morning, and the city of Heyuan is still restored, and the north gate has not been opened... Husband Chunxue is nestled in the sun, and the cold tent is easy to roll. Now I want to drive out the temptation, temporarily stop the military punishment, book arrows and send down the barbarian officials, blow the bamboo and return the captives. What is the reason for the plan?"

The general meaning is: the country is facing a border crisis and must use troops to fight.But both the people and the soldiers hated the killing and losses brought about by the war, and their attitude was depressed.Faced with the provocation of the enemy country, should we fight back with force at all costs, or should we try our best to avoid war and settle the problem through negotiation?Will you come up with a countermeasure that has the best of both worlds?

For a young scholar who grew up in a study, kept his ears to the outside world, only read books of sages, and had no actual experience in governing a country and using soldiers, it was really difficult to answer such profound and complex practical questions.It is not difficult to understand that even the poet fairy and poet saint can't pass the test.

During the reign of Li Jing and Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the content of the imperial examination was reformed. The two of them are kings who love poetry and prose. In the international situation, because the Southern Tang Dynasty only wanted stability, in order to reduce the difficulty of the imperial examinations for scholars, it was proposed to select scholars by poetry and articles, and select the type of scholars they liked.

"The junior is resigning." Su Chen bowed his hands and said goodbye.

Han Xizai waved his sleeves and said, "Go back, remember what the old man said today, and prepare for the exam with peace of mind. I will let someone help you with your student status in the academy, as long as you take the exam during the autumn period."

Su Chen expressed his gratitude and said, "Then thank you, Mr. Han."

He thought to himself, as long as I can take the test, I can recite the original text, and as a copywriter, I can take a shortcut.

"Hahaha, as long as you can get the first place in high school, this old man's operation will not be in vain." Han Xizai smiled lightly. Today, being able to persuade Su Chen to take part in the imperial examination and obtain a Jinshi background is already a big calculation.

"Junior do your best!" Su Chen cupped his hands again, then exited the study, walked through the corridor and courtyard, and prepared to leave the Han residence.

At this time, Han Yunpeng came over from the corridor to greet him: "Brother Su, have you finished talking with my father?"

Su Chen nodded and said, "It's over, I'm going back."

Han Yunpeng was very curious: "You guys are so secretive, what are you talking about in the room?"

Su Chen didn't hide anything, and said with a dry smile: "About the imperial examination, your father asked me to participate in this year's Qiu Wei!"

Han Yunpeng glanced at him, and then said, "Are you going to be the champion?"

"That's not true, is it so easy for you to be the champion?"

Han Yunpeng said with a smile: "Others are irritating, but Brother Su, you go to the exam, I think, if you don't take the exam, you will be blind to your talent."

"..." The corner of Su Chen's mouth inexplicably evoked a bitter smile. Why do other people have more confidence in him than himself? It doesn't make sense!

(End of this chapter)