Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 45 Strange Exam
Setting the bed, setting up the stove, boiling the pot, and carrying odds and ends, Fanning's parents were extremely busy for several days in a row. On the sixth night, they hired a big boat to carry all the leftover things on board.

Neither setting off firecrackers nor treating guests to dinner, they just moved from Jiangwan Village to the town so quietly.

As the end of the year approached, Yanying Academy also stepped up their studies, and there were exams almost every day, which caused the students to complain and suffer unspeakably.

But Zhu Pei only cares about two things in the school, one is to urge Fan Ning to find Shitou, and urge him to write a letter to Fan Zhongyan.

The other thing is to compare the results with Fan Ning. Every time they take the exam, the two of them always take the first place alternately.

If the score of calligraphy is high, then Zhu Pei is the first; if the score of calligraphy is small, Fan Ning is the first.

Every time Zhu Pei came first, she would smile and sarcasm at what Fan Ning wrote, and when Fan Ning took the first place, she would look unhappy and say that the professor was biased.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-December, entering the depths of winter.

In the early morning of this day, more than 100 students gathered on the playground, rubbing their hands and stamping their feet in the cold.

Everyone is complaining about the sky, the weather is so cold, what are they doing together?
They are all students in the middle and lower dormitories, that is, students in the middle and lower grades.

The students in the upper house are the highest grade, and they will take the county school exam next spring. At this time, they are very nervous and usually won't come out.

At this time, Dean Liu came out with seven or eight professors.

Several teaching assistants hurriedly greeted the students to line up.

Soon there were more than a dozen teams lined up on the playground. Director Liu waved his hand, and the playground suddenly became quiet.

Dean Liu said loudly: "Students over 12 years old, please raise your hands!"

On the playground, more than a dozen students raised their hands one after another,
"Students who raised their hands please go back to class first."

A dozen or so students left the team, and there were only about a hundred or so people left on the playground. Everyone was quite interested, and they wanted to choose their age. What is this for?
Everyone craned their necks to look at Dean Liu.

Dean Liu smiled slightly, "There are still ten days until the annual exam. In previous years, the annual exams were separated, but this year is special. This year, you will use the same test paper for the exam..."

Before Director Liu could finish his words, he was drowned out by the buzzing discussions below.

It is unreasonable that the students in the middle school and the students in the lower school should take the same test paper for four years.

"Everyone be quiet!"

Director Liu shouted, and everyone fell silent.

"Let me reiterate that this exam is an annual exam. I hope you prepare carefully, and the rewards this time will be more generous than last year."

After the principal's lecture was over, everyone went back to the classroom in twos and threes, and Fan Ning waited until Liu Kang.

"What news do you have?"

Although Fan Ning has moved to the town for more than a month, but the information is still closed, but Liu Kang knows a lot of people, and the information is sensitive.

"This year, not only is our school special, but other schools are also the same. It is really strange that students under the age of 12 will take the same exam."

"Could it be a request from the county?"

"do not know!"

Everyone discussed and returned to the classroom. As soon as Fan Ning sat down, Zhu Pei walked into the classroom.

She is wearing a more popular Khitan hat, which is very large and makes her face appear smaller.

He was wearing a thick white fox fur, with a silver-white fox tail around his neck, which was integrated with the hat, a scarlet cloak, and deerskin boots.

From a distance, it is a doll with extremely delicate workmanship, but Fanning privately thinks that she looks like a little vixen.

She just came here, she never participated in the school's various group activities,

"What are you talking about?" Jupe asked as he sat down.

"This year's annual exam is a bit strange. All students under the age of 12 take a test paper. It seems that other schools are the same. Everyone doesn't know what's going on?"

Zhu Pei showed her usual sign of contempt, "I don't even know this, just choose!"

Fan Ning suddenly remembered that she had a source of information, and hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile: "Tell me, what is the selection?"

"Stinky boy, what are you doing so close to me, stay away! Stay away!"

"Then tell me about it!"

"What are you talking about, I don't know? Also, when will you give me your stone, I will warn you first, don't lie to me with fake Taihu stones again!"

A few days ago, Fan Ning received two middle hall paintings from Fan Zhongyan, and praised him for his great progress in writing and encouraged him to continue to work hard.

He left a picture of "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joys later".

The other was given to Jupe.

Zhu Pei was very satisfied with the nave, but the Taihu stone made her very annoyed, and Fan Ning actually gave her a fake Taihu stone as a substitute.

Fan Ning didn't bother to talk to her any more, he said it all, it was not a fake Taihu stone, it was a Lingbi stone, and she found it with great difficulty, but she just didn't believe it.

Ask her to go to her grandfather for identification, but she refuses.

At this time, Professor Yan walked into the classroom and knocked on the desk with a whip, and the classroom suddenly became quiet.

"Fan Ning was first in yesterday's exam, Zhu Pei was second, and Liu Kang was third. The students whose names I read next will come to me after class to receive punishment. Fan Jiang, Luo Pingzhou, Zhang Cang..."

Fan Ning quickly glanced at Ju Pei out of the corner of his eye, and as he expected, she won the first place, and she almost pouted.

"Every time it's this old man Yan, his heart is completely out of order." Zhu Pei said in a low voice.

In fact, her complaints are not wrong. Professor Yan doesn't pay much attention to calligraphy, and the score of calligraphy is relatively low, so Fan Ning takes the first place every time.

However, Professor Cai, who teaches "Mencius", pays more attention to calligraphy, so in his class, Fan Ning did not take the first place many times, and most of the first places were taken away by Zhu Pei.

"Today Mo Mo's three chapters of "The Analects of Confucius", Yan Yuan, Zilu and Xianwen, are still the old rules. If I make two wrong words, I will slap the palm of my hand. Let's start!"

Fan Ning spread out the test paper and began to write with a pen.

His calligraphy has indeed improved rapidly. He jumped to the first level two months ago, and then jumped to the second level at the beginning of the month.

Fan Ning's current regular script has reached the writing level of Fan Zhongyan's tea boy Xiaofu, even a little better than Xiaofu. Of course, there is still a certain distance compared to Zhu Pei.

This little lady's handwriting is indeed beautiful and very spiritual, and she can also be ranked in the top three in the entire Yanying Academy. This is the evaluation of Dean Liu on her.

Fan Ning began to calm down and write silently, writing faster and faster with the brush in his hand, his whole body and mind were immersed in the beauty of calligraphy.

. . . . . . . . .

During lunch, all the students were talking about the annual exam.

"It's too unreasonable for the students in the lower dormitory and the students in the middle dormitory to take the same test paper!"

A student shouted at the top of his voice, "Students in Zhongshe have studied The Book of Songs and the Book of Changes. We haven't studied anything. Do we only take the Analects and Mencius?"

"impossible!"

Another student said: "Didn't you hear what Professor Yan hinted today? Let us have time to read the "Book of Songs". Everyone, we have to take the "Book of Songs" in the annual exam!"

The dining hall was like a frying pan, extremely noisy.

Liu Kang said to Fan Ning: "It is indeed unfair to us to take the exam with the middle school students."

Fan Ning asked with a smile, "I heard that there are a few powerful students in Zhongshe?"

Liu Kang nodded, "Our class is generally recognized as the worst, and the best class is when the middle school students leave work. There are seven powerful characters in that class, known as the 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove'. When studying, dictation has always been good, no distinction is made, and we can only rely on calligraphy to compete for the first place. I heard that several guys can write poems at the age of five or six, and they are all well-educated."

At this time, two students rushed into the dining hall and said loudly: "Go to the dining hall of the middle school students. They are predicting the results of the annual exam, and they have already made a list of the top ten students in the annual exam."

"Do you have our names?"

"How could it be? They don't even care about our students!"

Liu Kang stood up and asked, "Fifth, did they mention Fan Ning?"

Fanning's face became hot, and his ears perked up.

"As mentioned, they ranked Fanning No. 60!"

There was a sudden commotion in the dining hall, and there were exactly 60 middle school students in the two shifts, and Fan Ning was ranked 61, which implied that he was not qualified to compete with them.

Liu Kang slapped the table angrily, and said angrily, "Fan Ning, you have to prepare well, these guys are too bullying!"

Fan Ning smiled, he really wanted to learn how powerful the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove are.

. . . . . . . . .

In the next few days, all the students went all out to prepare for the annual exam, and Fan Ning was no exception. He got up before dawn every day, besides practicing calligraphy, and did not fall asleep until the first watch.

For Fan Ning, he is not afraid of anything in poetry and prose, his only weakness is calligraphy.

He can't take advantage of his foresight, so he can only practice calligraphy honestly and make steady progress like every student in this era.

In the blink of an eye, it was late December, and there were still two days before the annual exam.

The reason for the unified examination that has been confusing the students has finally been revealed. It is indeed the unified deployment of the whole county. On February [-] next year, a prodigy selection contest will be held in the county.

This is actually a part of the Dasong Boys' Examination, which is carried out simultaneously with the imperial examination, and all the processes are the same as the imperial examination, except that a boy's list is issued separately when the list is released.

Like the famous prime minister Yan Shu, who was the first in the boy's list at the age of 14, and was granted a Jinshi background.

It is the responsibility of local officials in various prefectures and counties to select child prodigies to take the examination in Beijing, which is included in the evaluation by the Ministry of Officials, so officials from all over the country attach great importance to it.

Although they all pay attention to it, the implementation methods are different in different places. Most counties don't send people to look for child prodigies until the eve of the imperial examination, or order the government to recommend child prodigies.

However, some counties with well-developed education pay attention to cultivating child prodigies, especially in various places in the south of the Yangtze River.

The same is true in Wu County, where it is a tradition to select and train child prodigies.

The Song Dynasty stipulated that the eligibility for the children's test should be under 15 years old, so this Wu County prodigy selection competition also has age regulations, and they cannot exceed 12 years old before April next year.

The child prodigy trials are held every three years, following exactly the steps of the imperial examinations.

In the past, each school directly recommended students to participate in the child prodigy selection competition. There are many disadvantages in this. The recommendees are basically children from rich families, and very few children from poor families.

This time, Zhao Xuezheng carried out reforms, requiring all schools to use the method of examination for pre-selection.

Therefore, the annual examination of each school has become a qualification selection examination.

(End of this chapter)