Hundreds of schools follow

Chapter 9 The So-Called Era

Qin Jixia Academy, the Dao Discussion Hall.

Just as Tan Ying was gearing up to empty the fish pond, the selection of the test papers was about to begin.

In the palace-like hall, Si Ye Fan Ya was sitting at the long table at the top, the innermost, and the tallest.

Under the stage, there are four rows of long tables on the left and right.

But at this time, only the two front rows were occupied, and there were no more than 13 scattered people.

However, if people are not in the crowd, they will be famous if they get the way.

The 13 people in front of me are all celebrities who have achieved the Tao. No matter which country they go to, such people will always be treated as honored guests.

To make these people willing to sit below, Fan Ya's reputation is self-evident.

Looking at him again, he is thin and strong, his clothes are minimal, his face is like a rock, and he sits like a tripod.

Even if you just close your eyes and say nothing, it is enough to impress the audience.

After the school officer distributed the 374 test papers to each teacher evenly, Fan Ya raised the tall cup in front of the table and said brightly:

"The way of heaven is infinite, but human wisdom is limited.

"Crossing the infinite with the finite is the only way to pass it down from generation to generation, to gather small tricks into great wisdom, and to make small trickles into big rivers.

"However, resources are limited and the road is difficult, so those who attain the Tao will be few.

"The so-called era is that we, the few, lead the vast crowd forward.

"It is also the people of the vast crowd, for us, the widows, to seek the way."

At this point, he raised his hand and drank half a glass of water.

The rest of the teachers then all drank half a cup.

This is a tradition called "intermittent drinking", which originated from Emperor Guangwu.

In an important speech, it is inevitable to quote the classics at the beginning and say some ancient words of the predecessors.

But the speaker should always express his own thoughts. According to the ancient style, it is not only difficult for himself to speak, but also difficult for the audience to understand.

Because of this, Emperor Guangwu called on everyone to speak easy-to-understand words, hoping to lower the threshold for seeking Tao, and not to use ancient Chinese to comprehend internally.

Of course he did it himself.

But he soon discovered that this would lead to the opening of the ancient prose while speaking, and then suddenly start speaking human language, which would be very abrupt, the structure would not be beautiful, and the audience would be frightened.

Therefore, when he is speaking, he will drink half a glass of water in the middle, and make a report, clearly reminding everyone that I am going to speak human words, please remember clearly.

Subsequent speeches by great figures also retained this tradition.

Fan Ya followed the same process.

After he drank half a glass of water, he didn't put down the glass, and continued to hang the glass and said:
"Please always keep in mind that behind every person who attains the Tao, there are tens of thousands of ordinary people who are farming and working to make offerings.

"If we neglect our duties for personal gain and allow mediocre scholars to pass the election, it will be a waste of their labor and obliterate their lives.

"When the powerful bribe you, when your relatives beg you, when laziness takes over you.

"Remember to look straight into the eyes of those you are about to obliterate.

"So.

"The 107-year Taoist examination papers.

"It's time to start."

After speaking, he raised his head and drank the water.

After the thirteen Taoist celebrities toasted and drank together, they read the test papers without any extravagant conversation.

In order to be as fair as possible, the names and serial numbers are sealed, and the examiners can only see the exposition and illustrations.

Their reading speeds also vary. Some read two or three copies in a short time and exchange them with other teachers, while others take a long time to read just one copy.

It's not because of the roughness or nuance of one's character, but because of the content of the exposition.

Astronomy is a big topic with different opinions, and there are seven or eight sets of systematic theories alone.

For those papers that repeat a certain set of theories, a few glances are enough.

It is worth the effort to dare to boldly write the papers of your own ideas.

No matter how absurd or scribbled such a scroll is, they will carefully read and understand it.

The difficulty of reviewing such a volume is no less than contacting a brand-new theory, and it is often necessary to compare it with existing theories.

But even a Taoist cannot master all the theories.

So soon someone got up and asked others for knowledge that they were not familiar with.

Three or five people circulated a paper one after another, and the discussions with each other were too numerous to enumerate.

Among them is Fan Ya herself.

He is proficient in Mohism, has a little understanding of Legalism, and knows little about Confucianism and Taoism. Therefore, when encountering content in this area, he will not put on airs.

Under his leadership, the marking scene quickly became lively. It is not so much a celebrity marking, but more like a farmers' market. Here, everyone exchanges what they need, changing papers, and strives to maximize their knowledge and comprehension. the value of.

Just like that, in less than an hour, the hundreds of papers had been divided into upper, middle and lower.

Inferior, after at least three teachers have read it, they think that this person can only talk, or only know how to recite, and he is equivalent to being sentenced to death.

There are 182 such papers.

Moderate, after at least three teachers have read it, they think that this person has some talent and can realize some things from the existing theories, but he is not necessarily a bachelor who is good enough to attain Taoism.

There are 191 such papers.

The first class is an existence that at least three teachers have read and judged that they have the potential to create great ideas, will surely attain the Tao, and even have the opportunity to make great achievements.

There is 1 copy of this paper.

After a brief exchange of opinions, the first round of grading was over, and Fan Ya sorted out the third-class test papers and began to evaluate:

"Inferior, most of them are rigid retellings of a certain astronomical theory.

"Such a person is more suitable to teach and teach outside, and it may be difficult for him to enter my school to seek Taoism.

"For them, we don't think about it.

"how?"

Most people in the audience nodded.

But only one young man with thick eyebrows cupped his hands and asked:
"Si Ye, I thought it was hasty."

Fan Ya immediately raised her hand, motioning for him to speak bluntly.

The young man with thick eyebrows raised his head and said loudly:
"The astronomy and calendar are a bit partial, not the mainstream study.

"To discuss these, one needs to be familiar with the astrology and calendar, and to be familiar with the studies of various schools.

"For example, how the number of days in a year is determined, and how the stars have evolved since ancient times.

"If there is a candidate who happens to be talented and learned, but because he has not learned this knowledge, he is judged as inferior.

"Is this a bit arbitrary?

"Furthermore, students have always wanted to ask Si Ye.

"Astronomy was selected as the topic on the spot, and the candidates were asked to discuss it.

"Is this Si Ye's whim, or is it deliberate?"

If it is a modern college officialdom, this boy with thick eyebrows can speak so well when facing the vice principal, I am afraid that he will not have to speak in the future.

But in the Dao Discussion Hall in front of him, there is nothing wrong with speaking like this.

Since the pursuit of Taoism, scribes have been quick to treat each other with sincerity. If you clearly have doubts and disagree with them, but you are embarrassed to speak out, you will be regarded as a follower of power.

Besides, everyone knows that Fan Ya prefers people who are more suspicious.

Sure enough, Fan Ya was not angry at all, but he raised his hand, pointed to the outside of the palace gate calmly, and asked softly, "Zhou Xuebo, have you ever been exposed to the sun?"

The thick-browed youth nodded stiffly: "Of course."

"Do you know the color and shape of the moon?" Fan Ya discussed again.

"know."

"Have you looked up at the stars, experienced the change of day and night, and felt the warmth of winter and summer?"

"..."

The thick-browed youth didn't answer this time, but just bowed his head in thought.

(End of this chapter)