Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

There are two questions in the county test this time, both of which are taken from "The Analects of Confucius".

One question is: Conspiring for others but not being loyal.

Another question is simpler: teach women to know.

It's all trivial.

The so-called small questions are to truncate a certain sentence in the Four Books to make the meaning incomplete.

For example, the original sentence of the first question is: "I reflect on myself three times a day: Are you unfaithful in seeking others? Are you not trusting your friends? Are you not accustomed to passing on?"

The original sentence of the second question is: "Yu, teach your daughter to know it! Know what you know, know what you don't know, and know what you don't know."

Among these two topics, everyone has heard of the three reflections.What you know is what you know, and what you don't know is what you don't know. This is a famous saying through the ages.It is also the subject of two questions.

But the examiner chose to cut off half of the sentences that everyone knew, and if you hadn't reached a certain level of familiarity with Confucian classics, you wouldn't know how to proceed with the remaining half of the sentences.

But if you know it, just discuss it according to the meaning of the sentence and the stereotyped format.For the essay, not to mention Su Mu, I am afraid that among the candidates here, as long as they have studied composition for a few years, they can easily write him a few hundred words.Moreover, there are certain rules for what to write in each paragraph of stereotyped essays, and even what words to use.For example, the word "cover" should be used at the beginning of the title.

In the final analysis, the children's test is to test children's rote memorization skills and the most basic analytical thinking ability.

After Su Mu got the topic, he shook his head unconsciously. With the fixed format and fixed writing routine, even the central idea was limited by the topic, this article was quite boring to write.

After a little thought, I can think through the methods of these two questions.

To be on the safe side, I picked up the draft paper, and started writing in cursive script regardless of whether the handwriting was neat or not.

In addition to the papers issued in the ancient imperial examinations, there were also several drafts with the seal of the county government on them.

Strictly speaking, ancient scholars did not take many exams.There are three exams for the boy, twice in three years.As for the subsequent township examinations, general examinations, and palace examinations, which are held every three years, they cannot be compared with modern people at all.

A modern student, from junior high school, has unit tests, half-term exams, final exams, graduation exams, and entrance exams.When I was in high school, six or seven homework, it can be said that I had to take the test every week, and I had already honed my adult skills.

When it comes to exam experience, Su Mu is unique in this era.

Don't dare to be careless at the moment, first draw up the outline and paragraph outline of the two topics one by one.

When everything was done, I glanced at the draft with satisfaction, and the sky was already bright.

Looking at the other 50 candidates, they have already picked up their pens and wrote the papers quickly.Today's questions are not difficult. Judging from their expressions, they seem to be very relaxed. Some people even shook their heads and squinted their eyes, silently praising their own papers with a proud expression.

Su Mu was not in a hurry, and checked it again, and then began to formally write the manuscript.

You don't have to do the paper too fast, getting a high score is king.

Besides, this exam is a waste of one day.The sum of the two questions is less than [-] words, so don't worry.

However, as the saying goes: It is not difficult for people to carry water, but it is easy to bend over for carrying water.When he was an assistant lecturer in the university, Su Mu was in contact with ancient classics all day long. After traveling to the Ming Dynasty, he inherited the memory of the scholar with the same name and surname, and he also memorized the Four Books and Five Classics by heart.It was the first time that he could write in ancient Chinese, but it was not as simple as he had imagined.

The first question was easy to break and answer, but Su Mu could feel the difficulty when he started to raise shares.

I am used to writing in modern Chinese, whether it is using words to make sentences or writing, I have formed a habit.And ancient prose is a highly condensed writing method, and it is necessary to express the meaning in a few hundred words.

There are many conventional allusions in this, and if one mistake is made, this paper will be written in vain.

After only writing more than 100 characters, Su Mu's head was in a mess, and his vest was covered with sweat.

Feeling irritated for no reason, Su Mu almost couldn't help throwing the pen away, and just handed in the paper and left: Damn, I didn't want to go all the way to the dark on the imperial examination road, why did I come to eat? This pain.However, if I just leave like this, I already have a reputation of being a fool, wouldn't it be in vain to provoke ridicule.Moreover, before I uttered big words in front of so many people in the Su family, but now I have returned home with a broken halberd and feathers, how will I behave in the future.

Compared with the ever-changing modern world, ancient society was very closed, and had strict requirements on people's reputation and conduct.If a person's reputation is bad, there is no way to survive in the world.

Thinking of this, Su Mu gritted his teeth, collected his mind, and began to write slowly.

The title of the first article has a total of about [-] words. It took a whole morning to write it, and it was revised several times. After making sure that there were no mistakes, I took a deep breath and moved my body that had become sore and limp. Wrist, head up.

At this time, more than a dozen candidates had already handed in their papers and appeared.

In ancient times, as soon as the imperial examination started, the door would be locked, and one could not go out until the examination was over.

The county examination and the government examination are not strict, you can hand in the papers in advance, and you can let the candidates who have written the papers out at the specified time, shouting: release the card.

About once every two hours.

Don't know how they are doing.It is estimated that it is better than my half-baked person, hey, I still underestimate the ancients.

Forget it, it's time to train soldiers, let's do our best!

As soon as the mentality was straightened, the head gradually became clear.

There was a rumble in my stomach, and I was very hungry. It was already lunch time, and the examination room did not provide meals, so I could only bear it by myself.

In fact, Su Mu's previous actions had already fallen into the magistrate's eyes. After reading his seven-character poem, Zhao magistrate felt very excited.This poem is really well written, even if it is placed in the world's first-class poetry masters, it can still be firmly ranked in the forefront.If such a young talent came from his own sect, it would be something worth boasting to his master.

However, looking at the way Su Mu answered the questions, it seemed that the writing was not smooth. A manuscript was revised repeatedly, not to mention all smudges, and even a lot of ink was stuck on his hands.

Zhao Zhixian sighed, and thought to himself: I still expected too much from this son, he is in his early twenties, since he is so talented, why didn't he even pass the county test before?A good poet may not be able to do a good stereotype. The ruler is short and the inch is long. If one is strong, the other will be short. This is also a very helpless thing.

As for the papers of the dozen or so candidates who left the venue just now, Zhao Zhixian took a look at them, and they were all average.In fact, the boy's test is an elementary exam, and it is not easy to see articles that make people's eyes shine.

Noon passed in a blink of an eye, and like the candidates in the examination room, Zhixian Zhao didn't have lunch.The imperial examination is a very serious matter, and the county examination is no exception, at least on the surface.

Glancing at Su Mu again, he was still scribbling on the draft, ruining a few pages of the manuscript.

By this time, Zhao Zhixian had no expectations for Su Mu.

In the early spring, especially in the north, it is bright and dark early.

Around four to five o'clock in the afternoon, the sky became a bit chaotic.

The lobby of the county government office is poorly lit and even darker.

A yamen servant lit a lantern and added a few more candles. Before he knew it, the exam had already been going on for a day.

Looking at the examination room, most of the more than 50 candidates have already handed in their papers and appeared.There were only three people left, an eleven or twelve-year-old child, an old man in his early fifties, and the remaining one was Su Mu.

The child had probably given up, and was ignorant, lying on the table and sleeping soundly.

The 50-year-old man had red eyes and a heartbroken look on his face, which made Zhao Zhixian unbearable to see it.Xindao: I'm already 50 years old and I'm taking the county exam. I guess I really can't study.It really doesn't work, just read his article later, if there is any bright spot, just take it!

As for Su Mu, Zhao Zhixian had already forgotten him unconsciously.

At this time, a slightly shy voice suddenly sounded from below: "Master Xianzun, can you give me some water, the inkstone is dry."

Zhao Zhixian looked up, and it was Su Mu who was speaking. He pointed to the inkstone that had been completely wiped out, and smiled a little embarrassedly.

It turned out that Su Mu wrote too many words because of drafting, and the ink was not enough.

When Zhao Zhixian saw his airtight manuscript, he felt happy: This kid has written so much!

Being idle and bored, he simply took the water and went to him to refill the inkstone, and comforted Su Mu: "Don't worry, there is still half an hour to hand in the paper."

"Thank you, old parents." The magistrate is the parent official, and the common people call them old parents or parents.

Straightening his body, Su Mu's face was full of self-confidence in just a moment, a pair of thick black eyebrows raised like knives: "Let the magistrate wait for a long time." He rolled up his sleeves and rubbed the ink furiously. Come.

When it was finished, I stuck a tube of ink all over it, picked up a pen, and started transcribing.

After a whole day of hard work, careful consideration of every word and every sentence, and several drafts, it is finally done.

There is a burst of joy in my heart for no reason, this is the joy of creation, and it has nothing to do with imperial examinations or utilitarianism.

At this moment, Su Mu has been immersed in a mysterious state, just like the great joy that the Buddhists said.

Yes, joy, joy, joy.

……

As soon as he finished transcribing the first line, Zhao Zhixian's eyes lit up, and he felt that the words were too good to be described in words.

It is still the common three-court style in the imperial examination field, word by word, meticulous, just like exquisite woodblock printing.The so-called three halls are the Zhaowen Hall, the History Hall, and the Jixian Academy. This name comes from the Tang Dynasty, and it is the place where the prime minister sees things.

In order to prevent sloppy handwriting and make examiners read it wrong, most of the imperial examinations use standard lowercase letters.In ancient times, scholars all took the imperial examination to become an official as their life goal, and the prime minister was the head of civil officials.Therefore, this kind of regular script is also called Sanguan style.In the Qing Dynasty, it was called Guange style.The pavilion is the three pavilions, and the pavilion is the cabinet.

But it is different from ordinary people's characters, but there is an unspeakable rhythm between characters, as if they have spirituality and want to come alive.

The magistrate of Zhao County was originally from the top two ranks of Jinshi. When he participated in the Jinshi department, he also worked hard on the pavilion.

This kind of character is specially used to deal with imperial examinations, and there is no requirement for art, just neat.Because the examination papers above the college examination need someone to transcribe them specially.If you use other fonts, once the transcription is wrong, the problem will be big.

Calligraphers of later generations did not think highly of Guange style, thinking that it was purely a tool and had no artistry at all.However, Su Mu thinks that the style of the pavilion is not bad, although it is rigid, but it is also a kind of beauty when it is neat to the extreme.He is already good at calligraphy, and he has worked hard on it for more than twenty years, and the calligraphy he writes is naturally beautiful.

Moving around in the shackles of a square inch, following one's heart's desire without exceeding the rules, is the Confucian gentleman's way.

When Zhao Zhixian saw it, he praised it in his heart: What a sumu, the writing is really good.Deeds, speech, writing, and judgment, the three levels of body, speech, and writing have been passed, but what is the administrative ability?

But after thinking about it, he couldn't help laughing: It's just a boy's test, how can I use the Jinshi section of the imperial court to look at the problem, maybe there is something supernatural about Su Mu.As far as this word is concerned, as long as the writing is not too sloppy, the county test will naturally pass.

It was quick to transcribe, and it was finished in a short while.

Zhao Zhixian was looking forward to it, so he simply took the paper and read it.After seeing it, I was surprised again: Su Mu's article is really good, well organized, and no one can find the slightest mistake.Such writing, if not seeing people, really thought it was the handwriting of an old pedant.It seems that although this Su Mu is annoyingly slow in writing the questions, he is a steady person.In this subject, most of them are immature children. It is rare to have this old and spicy paper, so it is worth presiding over it.

With this joy, the smile on his face couldn't be concealed, he picked up a pen and circled the paper, and it was regarded as being admitted on the spot.

Seeing this situation, Su Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He originally thought that the county examination was equivalent to the high school entrance examination in later generations, but he didn't think that writing ancient prose was so difficult.

He also wrote on the draft for a day, and only then did he find a sense of writing in classical Chinese. If he wants to pick up a pen like the ancients, he still needs a lot of long-term training.

However, it's good to hit it.

He hadn't had any water or rice all day, and was so hungry that he couldn't bear it, so he thanked Zhao Zhixian and rushed home.

The examinees of the Su family are still there, and Third Master Su specially bought a banquet to reward his children, and the banquet was set in the flower hall.

When Su Mu returned to his small courtyard, he happened to pass by there, and saw Su Ruisheng and a group of candidates standing in the courtyard talking.As a leader of the younger generation of the Su family, he hosted the banquet in place of his father today.

"Hey, my cousin is back, how did you do in the exam, why did you delay the whole day?" Su Ruisheng laughed mockingly: "I think that when I took the county exam, I was the first to hand in the paper, and the county magistrate took me on the spot. This time, my Su family students handed in the papers early, and I think they can get a few of them. Judging from the appearance of my cousin, this test is difficult, but it doesn’t matter, you are an idiot anyway, even if you fail, it is expected, and you can’t pass it. I don’t know if I’m going to make a fool of myself next year? Hehe, in the morning, who dared to say that it’s inevitable?”

The other Su family children also laughed.

Su Mu was so hungry that he didn't have the energy to spit with this group of disciples, so he smiled lightly: "I'll find out after the rankings are announced."

After finishing speaking, he bowed his hands and walked straight away.

Seeing Su Mu's calm expression, Su Ruisheng suddenly felt uneasy.After a long time, he snorted: "Still holding on, face is given by others, face is lost by oneself."

Xiaodie had already prepared the meal, and when she saw Su Mu came back, she hurriedly asked, "Young master, are you hungry? Is the question difficult? How did you do in the exam?"

Su Mu: "I asked three questions in one breath, and I will answer them after I catch my breath."

Hastily took a sip of water: "I'm hungry, the question is not difficult, and the test is good."

"What does it mean to do well in an exam?" Xiaodie became nervous.

"Probably hit it."

"What is probably?"

"The list will be released in three days, and we won't know until the text of the list comes out."