Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 17
  After Jia Lian left, Zhang Ting'en went to the mountain chief Li Qing to mention Jia Lian's matter.

Li Qing was quite surprised when he heard this and said: "I didn't expect that Duke Rong Guo would have this descendant. It's really a blessing for the Jia family."

For civil servants in modern society, writing official documents is a basic skill. Jia Lian quickly adapted to this kind of article with a certain format and limited content. These days, I often read selected anthologies of imperial examinations. After figuring out the rules of writing, all that is left is to polish the writing skills.

From Jia Lian's point of view, eight-part essay is a technical activity. The so-called Tao has nothing to do with it.

The questions given by the five teachers were all taken from the "Four Books", and there were no strange or appropriate questions.

The requirement was to complete it in five days. Jia Lian attended classes during the day and wrote essays at night. I started working on it when I got home in the evening. It was a bit unfamiliar on the first day, and the first question came from Fang Jiaoxi, "The Master said to Yan Yuan, if you use it, you will do it, if you leave it, you will hide it. Only you and I have this husband."

This is not a classical Chinese translation, but is to be developed using Zhu Xi’s words. You must not fall into clichés yet.

There is a trap in this question. Yan Yuan's name cannot be mentioned, and another pronoun must be used.

Jia Lian faced the topic and did not start writing. Instead, he roughly went through the entire text in his mind before solving the topic.

After finishing writing an article, I looked at the time and saw that it was already half past midnight. Calculated, it was already midnight.

Guixiang sat aside and dozed off. Jia Lian didn't sleep, so naturally she couldn't sleep. The little maid Xi'er who was warming the bed was fast asleep. When Jia Lian made some movement, Guixiang immediately stood up: "Second Master, what are you going to do? Have a rest?"

Jia Lian nodded, still thinking deeply. The first article he wrote today was not very smooth and he spent a lot of time thinking. Especially when I was writing it for the first time, I discovered the trap "Yan Yuan" in the title, and I spent a long time looking for a replacement word.

After waking up the maid in the cubicle on the bed, fetching water to wash Jia Lian's face and feet, and then waking up Xi'er who was warming the bed and helping Jia Lian fall asleep, Guixiang could finally go to sleep in the cubicle. It's not easy to be a maid, as her lifestyle and habits must follow Jia Lian's.

Morning reading starts at 6:30 (6:30). Jia Lian has to get up at about 5:30, wash up and get dressed, and he still has to walk for about ten minutes on the road. Originally, he could take a car, but considering the lack of exercise time every day, Jia Lian decided to go to and from school on his legs.

On the tenth and eleventh day of the lunar month, rest.

Before school on the ninth day of the lunar month, Jia Lian, who had completed five articles, went to Zhang Ting'en to hand in his homework. Zhang Ting'en, who received the articles, was very disgusted and said: "It's hard to take a holiday, you really know how to choose the time."

The words were unpleasant, but Jia Lian could feel Zhang Tingen's satisfaction. How many days had it passed? In just three days, Jia Lian handed in five articles. It was not fast, but it was not easy for a freshman to do this.

The key is to read the content of the article. Fast is not necessarily good.

Jia Lian responded with a smile on his face: "Sir, there is no need to rush to make changes. You can make changes after taking a break."

Zhang Ting'en smiled and said nothing, waving his hand and saying: "You won't have a bath tomorrow, so get out of here."

Jia Lian said goodbye and left. The academy's holidays are divided into three levels: A, B, and C. Class A classes have one day off every tenth day and three days off every month. Class B has one day off every tenth day and an extra day off at the end of the month. Class C classes have two days off every ten days.

The lower the level, the longer the rest time. The reason for this can be seen by looking at the seniors who study hard every day. Not to mention next year's provincial examination, the A-level colleges are all bitter and bitter. In this year's college examination, the B-level colleges that have stayed for more than two years and have not yet been selected as a scholar are really desperate. .

Jia Lian left, and Zhang Ting'en took the article back to the office with a smile on his face. When he entered the door, he shouted: "We have it all. Jia Lian's article has been handed in. Whoever wrote the question will take it and correct it." One person Change five articles and it doesn’t exist.

The five teachers didn't have any dissatisfaction. They came over with joy on their faces when they turned over the papers. They took back their respective papers and began to correct them without stopping. The most positive one among them was Mr. Fang. He read the beginning of the paper and praised it, "Good!"

Zhang Tingen was alarmed. He put down the paper in his hand and came over to take a look. It was just a trap to avoid "Yan Yuan" when solving the question. Isn't this common sense? With a crooked mouth, Zhang Tingen returned to his seat and looked carefully.

This question "Study things and then know what they have arrived at, and know what they have arrived at and then understand what they mean." This question brought a lot of trouble to Jia Lian. For someone who has received a materialist education since childhood, when he read the annotations of the Four Books, he felt very uncomfortable when he saw this chapter annotation.

As a person who has received compulsory education, the first thing that comes to mind when seeing this is physics, chemistry, and natural biology. What did Zhu Xi say?

"Those who investigate objects are at the pinnacle of physics and have no shortcomings." Isn't this making things difficult for people? How is this possible? The helpless Jia Lian could only hold his nose and write the eight-legged essay using Zhu Xi's words. Well, this is called the words of a sage.

Zhu Xi was promoted to the level of a saint in Neo-Confucianism. Jia Lian's writing was very awkward. After reading it, Zhang Ting'en felt that this article could only be regarded as quite satisfactory. Although he was slightly disappointed, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. How many days has a fourteen-year-old child studied seriously? I haven’t had a famous teacher teach me before, so it’s good to have this level.

"This has been delayed!" Zhang Ting'en sighed with regret. The clan studies of the Jia family are not good.

Just as he was feeling emotional, he suddenly heard Master Fang banging the table and shouting, "Good, great good!"

He was so surprised that he called other teachers over to watch.

Jia Lian's article was surprisingly well written. If it had a perfect score of 100, it would be at least 85. If Zhang Tingen were to take the college examination at this level, he would definitely pass it if he were the examiner. When he went back and looked at the article he had written, Zhang Tingen looked disgusted.

That's it? I planned to give you some encouragement and a passing grade, but I feel very unhappy in comparison. I am your class teacher.

No, I have to criticize it carefully so that this kid can remember it for a long time.

Zhang Ting'en, who had this idea, was very rude in his wording when he was revising it. He was displeased with everything and almost said it was useless. After finishing the correction in one go, Zhang Tingen was still soft-hearted when giving the final score. After thinking about it, he gave me a fair evaluation.

Well, it means that I almost failed.

The other teachers also finished revising, and gathered together to discuss Jia Lian's article. Master Fang read Zhang Ting'en's evaluation and expressed dissatisfaction: "This article is quite satisfactory, and the evaluation is good, which is not an exaggeration."

Zhang Ting'en didn't argue. Looking at the evaluation he gave, he actually gave him a good or bad score. He couldn't help but said: "Brother Fang, it's better to be stricter with this guy. Strict teachers produce good students."

Several other teachers also meant this and agreed. Old Master Fang smiled and did not defend himself. In fact, he knew very well that these colleagues were jealous, and Jia Lian should have been more careful when writing this article.

Jia Lian, who loves cleanliness, went home to take a shower and change clothes. He didn't even pick up the chopsticks for dinner. Xiao An came in and announced: "Second Master, someone from the academy has come to deliver a message." Jia Lian quickly put down his chopsticks and came out. He saw the old man Liu looking around with a comfortable expression on his face. , tutting in the mouth. Hurry up and greet him: "Hello, Uncle Liu!"

The old man looked up and down, feeling uncomfortable with the title, and said without politeness: "Mr. Zhang has revised the article and asked me to deliver it. I also brought a message." Jia Lian quickly took the revised article with both hands. He tied his hands and stood up and said: "I will obey the teachings."

"Jia Lian, the article has been revised. I thought about it for a while and then revised it and handed it in. I have ordered five new questions to be handed in on the 13th."

Jia Lian felt numb when he heard this. He didn't intend to give himself time to rest and relax.

With a grimace on his face, he could only reply respectfully: "Yes!"

Lord of heaven and earth, master of the family, the basic morality of this era, you cannot resist, you can only obey.

He had a good two days off. Because of Zhang Ting'en's operation, Jia Lian had no choice but to immerse himself in writing, otherwise he would not have enough time.

During the wonderful vacation, I still have to correct my homework and study hard. Obviously I am a time traveler and have a plug-in.

well! The blame lies with the pig teammates in Jia's family. It's all the pig teammates' fault that I can't wait to die.

Days like this may be just the beginning. Thinking of this, Jia Lian felt even more miserable.

Old Liu's smiling face was full of gloating. Seeing that he had no intention of leaving immediately, Jia Lian quickly asked Guixiang to fetch a jar of wine, and another one or two silver coins to give to him, thanking him repeatedly for not mentioning the trip.

In order to gain some rest time, Jia Lian stopped taking a rest and started working directly after dinner. The more I practice calligraphy, the faster I can write. I was revising my articles while complaining. It was already half an hour after I finished revising and copying three articles.

Guixiang advised with a distressed look on her face: "Second Master, you don't have time to study, so go to bed early."

Jia Lian then stood up while rubbing his sore wrists, got into Xi'er's warm bed, and fell asleep after a while.

The eleventh is another day for classes. He got up early and went to the academy and handed in the revised essay at noon. Zhang Ting'en refused to let him go and asked how he did on the new five questions.
  Jia Lian had a full day's rest yesterday and hasn't thought about the new topic yet. He can only respond to it as he is still working on it.

After leaving the office, Jia Lian could only sigh, he was really asking for trouble. Forget it, work hard and try to pass the college examination this year, the provincial examination next year, and see if you can be a Jinshi the year after that. If he fails, Jia Lian will not want to continue studying, it will be too tiring!

On the fifth day of each month, the freshmen class has an afternoon gymnastics class and learns a set of boxing exercises for morning and evening exercises.

On the afternoon of February 15th, when the freshmen were lining up on the playground of the academy, Jia Lian discovered that the boxing instructor was actually the old man guarding the gate.

After giving him taels of silver at lunch on the first day, Jia Lian discovered that he liked wine and would bring a bottle of wine to bribe him every three days.

The old man's surname was Liu, and Jia Lian called him Uncle Liu.

After Jia Lian became familiar with the situation in the academy these days, Jia Lian gradually understood that students living on campus did have many advantages.

The first is military-style management, with morning and evening exercises and extremely strict hygiene management in the dormitory. Secondly, during evening self-study, each class has a teacher in charge. If you don’t understand something during class during the day, you can ask and the teacher will answer it on the spot. Finally, it is to facilitate the familiarity between classmates. After new students become familiar with each other, they can ask old students for advice.

It’s not that Jia Lian never thought about living on campus, but finally gave up. It's not that he can't adapt to living on campus, but because of his status, living on campus is a punishment. I've traveled through time, and I still have to adapt to the academy's environment? Besides, in terms of life and work, Jia Lian, the boss of the system, was dozens of miles ahead of these classmates.

To sum up, there is no need to look for trouble and there is no need to deliberately flatter. Even if he becomes an official in the future, Jia Lian's position for himself is very clear, that is, to be a lonely minister. Otherwise, he cannot save the Jia family, otherwise he cannot save himself.

By becoming an official, you can gain the right to speak and have the opportunity to slowly rectify the bad things in the Jia family. Gaining the emperor's trust by being a solitary minister can alleviate some of the guilt when political enemies reveal bad things about Jia's family in the future. As long as Jia's house is protected from being ransacked, other Jia Lians are confident that they can handle it with ease.

The boxing name is Liuhe. According to Old Man Liu, this boxing came from the Qi family army of the former Ming Dynasty. It was later improved by generations of martial arts masters and became a compulsory boxing practice for the Beijing camp every day.

"Whether you are studying now or becoming an official in the future, success must be based on a good body. Since its establishment, Qingyun Academy has paid attention to strengthening students' physical fitness."

The old man Liu standing in front of the queue changed into a different person. His usual image of Jiu Mengzi was gone, and his eyes were shining, as bright as electricity.

"Someone didn't change into their practice clothes. Now give them a moment to buy some and change into them. They are available at the concierge."

The old man's words made Jia Lian speechless. He was just looking at money. You must buy this training uniform. If you don't buy it, you will definitely offend the old man to death. Helpless, Jia Lian had no choice but to go to the concierge and spend a couple of silver dollars to buy a set of cotton training clothes.

Judging from the materials used, this dress is worth a penny at most, but it is sold for one tael of silver. Moreover, these words were directed at Jia Lian alone. Everyone else had changed into the same style of training clothes, which showed that they had bought them before. As for how much they spent, Jia Lian didn't know. The only thing he knew was that he was being treated as a fat sheep.

What's even more annoying is that when Jia Lian came back after changing into practice clothes, the warm-up was already over. The old man started teaching boxing!

Jia Lian had no choice but to follow the gestures. Fortunately, he could learn everything by just reading it once. His body was that of a teenager, and he could do all kinds of movements very well. From time to time, the old man would correct some students who didn't move well, but ignored Jia Lian from beginning to end.

You collect my money and drink my wine, and this is how you deal with your errands? So angry!

People have to bow their heads under the eaves, so bear with it for a while and see if you change it.

In your daily teaching, Jia Lian will be called to the office to explain articles every lunch break. All teachers will be strict when facing others, but smile when facing Jia Lian.

When other students see this phenomenon, whether they are new or old, they will always feel uncomfortable. As the only day student, I also go out to eat, and I usually do something special. How can I not be hated by others? Jia Lian naturally became the target of public criticism, that is, because of his special status, ordinary students really could only dislike him and had to endure it.

For Jia Lian, such a day is too sad. It is a good thing that the teacher cares. Why does the question number change from five to ten questions each time? Why was the time only given five days? If the questions are doubled, the time should also be doubled.

(End of this chapter)