Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 132 0127 [The first intimate contact with the imperial examination]

Bai Chongyan was chatting with Zhu Ming, when he saw a female family member suddenly came, he quickly got up and bowed to greet him, but he didn't know the identity of the other party.

Zhu Ming had to help introduce: "Sanlang, this is Zheng Erlang's younger sister, Zheng Youniang."

Bai Chongyan bowed immediately, and Zheng Yuanyi bowed back.

The other girls are so generous, so it is impossible for Ju Ming to twitch, and he greeted with a smile: "Long time no see, Sister Zheng, come and sit down."

The girl sat in a low chair and was indecent, so Zhu Ming went into the room and came out with a hug.

Zheng Yuanyi liked it even more for being so careful and appropriate: "Thank you brother for taking care of me."

There was nothing to talk about between men and women, so Bai Chongyan couldn't find anything to talk about, so he just sat beside him and took off the lamp shade to play with the lanterns.

Zhu Ming also had nothing to say: "Does my sister study?"

"I have been studying," Zheng Yuanyi said. "The Wang family invited a female gentleman to teach them how to read. The Min family also hired a female gentleman later. They don't need to study, and they also provide meals."

"Interesting." Zhu Ming couldn't help laughing.

The Min family and the Wang family are both scholarly families. It is estimated that there is no shortage of comparisons, and even girls' private schools have to compete for students.

Zheng Yuanyi asked: "I made an extra sachet last time, did my brother receive it?"

Zhu Ming replied: "I received it, and I have worn it for a few days. The fragrance has faded and I haven't replaced it with a new one. I will keep it at home properly."

"That's good," Zheng Yuanyi was a little disappointed because Zhu Ming didn't bring it with him, and added with a smile, "There is also a talisman in the sachet, which I asked for by burning incense in the temple, and it can bless scholars to get their titles on the gold list. "

"Then I should really wear it." Zhu Ming said.

Sitting beside him, Bai Chongyan finally understood.

This girl from the Zheng family was interested in Zhu Dalang, not only gave a sachet as a gift, but also specially asked for a talisman.

What kind of light bulb should I be when someone else is in love with me?

Bai Chongyan stood up and said, "I still have books to read, so I'll go back to my room to study. Farewell!"

Zheng Yuanyi hastily sent him off respectfully: "Brother Bai, go slowly."

Zhu Ming scratched his forehead and reminded: "Take the top chair."

Bai Chongyan bent down to pick up the top chair, and secretly winked at Zhu Ming, meaning to let him seize the opportunity.

After Bai Erlang left, Zheng Yuanyi became more cheerful, and her voice became a little louder: "Our lady, she admired my brother very much, and explained the eight poems of my brother many times. The husband also said, brother Broad-minded, talented and ambitious, no ordinary scholar can compare."

Zhu Ming was a little interested in that female gentleman: "Where did the teacher come from?"

Zheng Yuanyi said: "My husband's name is Huang Shu, and she is a daughter of the Huang family in Xingyuan Mansion. She is over 40 years old this year. It's really a bad life. She married three times, and her husband died young. The husband simply became a monk and became an aunt. I did it, and returned to the common life to teach the girls to read, and the Wang family invited her to come here with a salary of eight per month."

"It is indeed a fateful fate." Ju Ming expressed sympathy.

Zheng Yuanyi said: "The master also said that it's a pity that the imperial examination does not take poetry and fu, otherwise, with my brother's talent and learning, he will definitely be named on the gold list for young people. In our private school, many women admire my brother's talent. If I know that I can talk to my brother, I'm afraid I will be envious kill them."

Zhu Ming changed the subject and asked, "What do you learn in private schools for girls?"

"You need to learn "Nvjie", as well as "The Analects", "Mencius", "Book of Rhymes", poetry, female workers, calligraphy, painting, rhythm..." Zheng Yuanyi said a lot of lessons, and suddenly took out a bag from his sleeve. Zhang Zhi, "I wrote a poem two days ago, and I just carried it with me, please be upright."

"Don't dare."

Zhu Ming took a look and found that the rhymes were neat and interesting, and the writing was interesting.But due to talent and vision, it is just an ordinary boudoir girl's poems.

Considering her age as a junior high school student, she is already quite rare, and she will definitely be called a talented woman in future generations.

Zhu Ming nodded in approval: "Excellent writing, keep working hard."

"Sir also praised me." Zheng Yuanyi was very happy.

After chatting for a while, not knowing what to say, Zheng Yuanyi asked, "Can my brother know how to fight Shuanglu?"

Zhu Ming said, "I've never played it before."

"It's very simple, brother wait a moment." Zheng Yuanyi immediately asked the maid to bring backgammon.

This game was very popular in the Song Dynasty, especially in teahouses, where people could gamble money while drinking tea while playing chess, which can be called a chess and card room in the Northern Song Dynasty.

The backgammon was brought, and Zheng Yuanyi put the pieces on and began to explain the rules to Zhu Ming.

Each side has fifteen chess pieces, which are distributed across the board.There are also grids on the chessboard. Use the points of the two dice to determine how many steps you can take each time, and you can attack the opponent's chess pieces in the middle.The side that removes all pieces from the board wins.

It's a bit of a confrontation between two armies. It also pays attention to strategy and luck. It's not complicated to play.

In the first round, Ju Ming was not very familiar with the gameplay, so he lost very cleanly.

Zheng Yuanyi was very happy to win, and pointed out Zhu Ming's mistake, but it was a pity that he lost three games in a row.

In the fourth game, Zhu Ming planned to let the water go to save face for the little girl.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Yuanyi was so lucky that he didn't need to release the water. He rolled the dice several times, and all of them hit the desired points, killing Zhu Ming to the last.

It's very interesting. The setting of rolling the dice can bring surprises similar to the Monopoly game.

After playing more than 20 games, the maid reminded: "Little lady, it's getting late, Mr. Zhu's family has to rest."

Zheng Yuanyi quickly stood up: "Brother, rest early, don't delay your exam preparation, and play after the exam is over."

Zhu Ming sent her out of the courtyard, Zheng Yuanyi walked briskly, and seemed to be able to fly off the ground when walking.After running far away, he turned around and waved: "Brother, don't send it off, go back and rest."

Going back to the corridor, he bumped into Bai Chongyan suddenly.

Bai Sanlang stood there like a ghost, smiled and said: "This girl is very nice, innocent and innocent, she is really a good match."

Ju Ming yawned, took a shower and went to sleep.

Perhaps because she was afraid of delaying Ju Ming's exam, Zheng Yuanyi did not bring backgammon for the next few days, and only sent some pastries made by herself every day.

After living in Zheng's house for eight full days, it was finally time for the exam.

In the middle of the night, Zhu Ming, Zheng Hong, and Bai Chongyan got up and went to Yangzhou Gongyuan with lanterns.

Zheng Yuanyi also didn't sleep, she finished her makeup early, took the maid to see them off, and watched them enter the Gongyuan before leaving.

The search and inspection procedures were very lax. In the Ming Dynasty, one had to strip naked for inspection before entering the examination room.At this time, I just touched it casually. It is very easy to bring a cheat sheet. It is estimated that there are not a few cheaters.

As far as the chain courtyards are not tightly locked, if the examiner has family affairs, he can leave the Gongyuan midway and leak the questions easily (the central exam can also leak the questions, it all depends on the officials’ self-consciousness, and people will be criticized if they leave midway).

There is also a transcription system, but the examiner can enter the transcription room, and it is easy to see the candidates' handwriting (the local examination is relatively loose, and the central examination is stricter).

In the three counties of Yangzhou, there are not many candidates, only a few hundred in total.

But the admission rate is extremely low, and Yangzhou has less than ten applicants.

Serving officials can also take the exam, but they must go to Xingyuan Mansion to take the exam with the children of officials like Li Hanzhang.After Wang Anshi's reforms, new Jinshi were not allowed to take the exam again, and the previous Jinshi didn't bother to take the exam again, and most of the officials who took the exam were local miscellaneous officials.

The test shed is similar to that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, very simple, and you have to nail tarpaulins yourself to prevent rain.

On the first day, I took the test of the Great Classics, that is, "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius".

There are ten questions in total, each with 200 to 300 words.

Compared with the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are too many exam questions, even if you cheat with a cheat sheet, you will bet on one or two questions at most.Harmless.

Zhu Ming finished writing early on. After repeated revisions, he copied it neatly on the answer sheet, and then fell asleep in the examination room.

Zhu Ming yawned only when the invigilator reminded him to close the test paper.

If you say hand in the paper, you must hand it in, and continue writing without giving the candle.

Zhu Ming only ate two pieces of pancakes at noon, he was a little hungry, and met many acquaintances outside the Gong Yuan.

Bai Chongyan said excitedly: "I have practiced three of the ten questions today!"

"Good luck." Zhu Ming encouraged with a smile.

Zheng Hong is a dead pig who is not afraid of boiling water. He has answered all ten questions, but he doesn't know what he wrote.

The Zheng family cooked a big meal for them, and Zheng Yuanyi cooked pastries by himself, even Bai Chongyan had a share.

On the second day, there are also ten questions in the concurrent exam.

On the third day, there will be one question on the exam and three questions on economics, history and current affairs.

The content of the test topic is to let candidates evaluate Li Linfu...

Seeing the topic, Zhu Ming couldn't help laughing, obviously disgusting Cai Jing.

It is estimated that Wang Anshi was proclaimed King Shu last year, which caused confusion in the ranking of the Confucian Temple. Even Li Tongpan couldn't help being angry, and specially set up a question for the candidates to scold the traitor.

Theory and policy are two different themes.

The content of the trial discussion is to ask candidates to evaluate a certain character or a certain historical event. For example, Su Xun's "Six Kingdoms" belongs to this type of style.

In the past, I used to write parallel prose, and the antithesis was neat, but after Wang Anshi's reform, it changed.It is not required to write colorfully, nor is it required to write parallel prose. The more plain and simple the article, the better. It mainly depends on the point of view written.

For this kind of test questions, it is very important to cater to the examiner.

Zhu Ming knew that the examiner wanted to insinuate Cai Jing, but he didn't care about the imperial examination results, and only wrote articles according to his own heart.

Therefore, Zhu Ming does not scold the traitor, but... scolds the emperor!

The title of the article is "Theory of Monarchs and Ministers".

It roughly means that what kind of monarch there is, there will be what kind of ministers.Since ancient times, virtuous officials have been similar, but treacherous officials have their own characteristics.Whatever the emperor likes, the treacherous ministers will meet him.When the emperor is very happy, the treacherous ministers will fight; if the emperor is greedy for pleasure, the treacherous ministers will wantonly search...

Just pointing at Song Huizong's nose and scolding the faint emperor!

There are three policy questions left, one on classics and history, and two on current affairs.

The content of Jing Shi Ce is a bit beyond the outline. In addition to understanding "Book of Changes", you also need to understand "Shang Shu" and a little familiarity with historical books of past dynasties.It's okay if you haven't read these two books, but it is inevitable that they are not well written.But if you don't know the history, you can only fool around.

The difficulty is so high, hang the imperial examinations in Ming and Qing Dynasties!
Even if Zhu Ming has a golden finger, he can only write articles.Fortunately, the history class of compulsory education provided him with an extraordinary historical perspective, and he could avoid "Shangshu" and expand his discussion.

The two current affairs policies are also very difficult. One question discusses Yangzhou water conservancy, and the other discusses Yangzhou commerce.

It’s okay to write blindly, but it’s hard to write.

After handing in the papers and leaving the examination room, Zhu Ming was immediately happy, and all the examinees looked sad.

"How?" Zhu Ming asked.

Bai Chongyan shook his head and sighed: "Today's classics and historical policies can all be used for the Jinshi examination. Li Tong judged that the questions are too... arbitrary."

"Think of it as going to Beijing ahead of time to take the exam," Zhu Ming said, "If you think it's difficult, it's difficult for others."

Bai Chongyan nodded and said, "I can only think this way."

Zhu Ming felt that the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty were quite interesting, not as restrictive as the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

And it is very suitable for keyboard warriors. Candidates can criticize current malpractices and give advice on theory and strategy.When they arrive in the capital, two more current affairs policies will be added, so that candidates can write nonsense articles with enthusiasm.

After the reform of the imperial examinations, the policy and theory did not pay much attention to writing, but more on ideas.Ju Ming is very good at this, boasting that he understands it too well, similar to writing copywriting for videos before.

(End of this chapter)