Idle courtiers

Chapter 214 The Pragmatist Wang Shizhen
"Huang Dou, prepare a bundle of repairs for me, and send them to my mentor later, and say that I will go to the Pedestrian Division early in the morning and go to see him." Zhou Nan ordered: "There is no need for expensive things, anyway, they are just everyday things Some melon and fruit snacks. By the way, I want to send a piece of old bacon."

Wang Shizhen came from a prominent family in Suzhou, and was born with a golden key in his mouth since he was a child. He had never seen anything rare and valuable.In this way, Zhou Nan will save a lot of tuition fees.

On the second day, I went back to the company to hand in the errand.As the end of the year approaches, the year's work has been done, and the money allocated by the central government has also been spent.According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, the financial budget for the new year should be determined on the day of the winter solstice and allocated after the Spring Festival.Without money, you can't do anything.Therefore, the next two months can be regarded as the most leisurely days for the major central agencies of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Nan came out from Qin Liang, talked to Guo Shuban, and then slipped away.

After standing on the windy street for a long time, he mustered up the courage to take a sedan chair and go to Tang Shunzhi's house in the capital.

The last time I met Wang Shizhen, I offended him terribly.I thought that although he was very famous, he was a leader in the literary and art circles.But I am not like other protagonists in time-travel novels, who rely on plagiarizing poems from later generations, plagiarizing the four great classics and mixing them into the art world.I'm just a bitch in the officialdom, and I just want to get promoted and make a fortune. If you are a local official in Shandong, you will be offended if you offend me.

But I didn't think that I would become his student. This is how the mountains never turn and the water never turns, but the clouds turn even when it falls into his hands.

Tang Shunzhi's house in the capital was not big, but once he left, only Wang Shizhen and an old servant of the Wang family lived in the whole courtyard, which looked gloomy and terrifying in the gloomy winter day.

Under the guidance of the old servant, Zhou Nan entered the study.

Wang Shizhen was already sitting on a chair. On the wall behind him was a picture of burning thorns painted by Tang Shunzhi, and there was a ruler on the table.

Zhou Nan shivered when he saw the bamboo board that had been rubbed like topaz by human hands.Busy bowing down: "Student Zhou Nan pays respects to his mentor."

Wang Shizhen didn't reach out to help, and Ren Zhounan kowtowed three times on the ground, which was regarded as officially accepting him.

Since Zhou Nan traveled to the Ming Dynasty, he had a strong aversion to such things as kowtowing, so naturally he would not kneel if he could.Now I can only comfort myself in my heart: Heaven, earth, king, relatives and teachers, it is also right to kowtow to the teacher.Besides, I can be regarded as a scholar of the Suzhou lineage when I entered the king's sect, but it will be of great benefit to my future, so it seems that it is not a loss.

After the apprenticeship ceremony was over, Wang Shizhen stretched out his hand to give him a hand, and with a smile on his face, he said, "Zimu, I heard people say that you have won the prize of a scholar, and the ranking is not good. Although the boy in Huai'an is not as good as you Suzhou, however, is also commendable. Being able to pass three passes at a weak age, I think you have a good foundation."

He also said: "Everyone has no trials and tribulations. Heaven is healthy, and a gentleman strives for self-improvement. The ten years in Liaodong can be regarded as a kind of tempering of your mind and will. This time the competition in the South List is fierce. Most of them are Su Yang's talented people. Many Everyone is my junior. You may not be able to pass, but this is your first rural exam after 12 years, so it’s good to go and see.”

Wang Shizhen, a native of Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou, is naturally aware of the great scholars.He didn't know Zhou Nan's true level, but he still felt that it was a bit difficult. Even with his own guidance, he didn't have much confidence.

Zhou Nan saw that he was kind and didn't bear any grudges against him. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Master, I'm afraid that the student will take the provincial examination in Beizhili this time."

Wang Shizhen was taken aback: "Why is this?"

Zhou Nan roughly talked about the fact that he became a military household in Chaohe by mistake.

Wang Shizhen cheered up suddenly, clapped his hands and said, "So it's your good fortune. How can the Northern Zhili Township Examination compare with Nanjing Zhili? What's more, Shuntianfu still has a single case/So, you study for a year, and the rural exam It is also [-]% sure."

"In addition..." Wang Shizhen hesitated for a moment, and continued: "Speaking of the Beizhili Township Examination, the imperial court will hold a big exam next summer. Estimate one or two."

Seeing Zhou Nan's bewildered face, Wang Shizhen explained that according to the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system.Because the township examination is of great importance, if a candidate wins the list, he can directly become an official with the name of a person, which is of great importance, which is equivalent to the civil servant national examination in later generations.

Therefore, examiners have to be selected and dispatched from various ministries of the central government.

To be able to be the chief examiner in the local area, one is to get a lot of money to thank the teacher.After a trip, at least a few thousand taels of silver will be recorded, and the income is reasonable and legal.Second, all the candidates for the examination are students of you, who is a teacher. I don’t know if there will be ministers or even cabinet ministers in the future. This is an opportunity to cultivate contacts.

It is precisely because the benefits of this matter are so great that every year of the big competition, the Beijing officials will fight for the spot of the chief examiner.

So, how to choose?Simple, take the test!

According to the regulations, all the officials below the rank of minister and above the seventh grade of the central government can sign up for the selection.Then, under the auspices of the Imperial Academy, everyone took up pens to write stereotyped essays, and those who passed the exam could become great masters.

The difficulty and rigor of this major exam are not inferior to those of Jinshi.

Of course, in order to prevent you from being too good at writing articles, you will come to grab a place every time you compete.The country also stipulates that an official has only one chance to be the chief examiner in his life.

Hearing what Wang Shizhen said, Zhou Nan said "Oh", "So that's it, the students have been taught." However, he still didn't understand the relationship between the imperial court's poor exam next summer and his own rural exam.

Wang Shizhen said: "Jiangyin Gu Shangshi intends to take the exam, and wants to win the job of the Grand Master of Beizhili this year?"

Zhou Nan continued to be puzzled.

Wang Shizhen said patiently that Gu Shangshi is Gu Yan, a native of Jiangyin, and he and he were both Jinshi in the same discipline in the 26th year of Jiajing.This person is not in good health. Although he intends to be the examiner of this year, he is afraid of the long-distance travel and exhaustion, and wants to be the chief examiner in Beizhili.

"Gu Shang is actually in charge of the Ministry of War. With his talent, if he really goes for the exam, he will definitely get the job." Wang Shizhen's smile grew wider: "Jiangyin and Suzhou are not far away. I have known each other since I was a child. Gu Shangshi, although he didn't get along very well, and he had a grudge in the early years. But what kind of articles this person likes, and what kind of temper he has, but you can figure it out. As long as he is the chief examiner, you will be more confident. Seven [-]% plus [-] is [-]%, which is enough. The remaining [-]% depends on God's will."

His face was full of relief, and he couldn't stop stroking the short beard on his chin.

Zhou Nan laughed for a while: This is your enemy who knows you best. This Wang Shizhen doesn't speak like those so-called gentlemen. He is benevolent and moral when he speaks. Let you study hard and improve every day.He didn't care about it when he spoke, he was just a standard pragmatist.

That's right, can a person who can write romantic novels like "Jin Ping Mei" be an old-fashioned pedant?
No matter in any era, in any industry, there is a strange phenomenon that at a certain period there will be a sudden blowout of a large number of approved geniuses.For example, the seven characters of Jian'an represented by Sancao in Wei and Jin literature, such as the Manchester United Class of [-] represented by Beckham and Ryan Giggs in modern football.

As mentioned earlier, in the 26th year of Jiajing’s Jinshi Department, a group of very powerful political and cultural figures appeared, Li Chunfang, Hu Zhengmeng, Xu Guangqi, Ma Sancai, Zhang Juzheng...

This group of people is the top figure in the Ming Dynasty in terms of cultural level and administrative ability.

Gu Yan was ranked No. 40 in the second-tier high school in the imperial examination that year, and Wang Shizhen was considered a great talent. He competed with these powerful characters, but in the end he was just at the bottom of the second-tier crane.

Such a test room machine that can take the test better than Wang Shizhen is worse than taking the big test, and it must be able to pass.

Wang Shizhen is very familiar with this prospective fellow. In his opinion, if Zhou Nan prepares for the exam under his guidance, it should not be difficult to win a candidate.

Wang Shizhen: "Tang Yingde once praised your knowledge, talent and ability in front of the teacher, saying that you are also a rare person, and let me accept you as an apprentice. I don't know how your studies are as a teacher. Now I ask you, what are you doing?" through?"

In the Ming and Qing imperial examinations, the "Four Books" were compulsory subjects, but the "Five Classics" did not require candidates to learn them all.There will be five five-class questions on the test paper. During the test, you can choose a composition according to the classics you have chosen.

Zhou Nan: "Responding to my teacher's words, students will write "Spring and Autumn"."

Wang Shizhen nodded: "It's a coincidence that I chose "Spring and Autumn". I used to study this scripture as my teacher. When I was studying the words of the sages, if I didn't understand something, I can use the Spring and Autumn Period to make up for it."

Zhou Nan curled her lips secretly, thinking: Why do I use the story of Spring and Autumn to make up for it? The reason why I chose "Spring and Autumn" is purely because the book is simple, full of stories, and you can read it.If you really go to practice "Shangshu" and "Book of Changes", it is full of yin and yang and gossip, and you can't understand it at all!
Wang Shizhen: "Okay, as a teacher, I will come up with a topic. You can write an article for me to read. Let me think about it, what should I write?"

He touched the short beard on his chin again, and pondered for a while: "Gu Yan likes to read "The Analects of Confucius", so he took "Gongxi Hua said: Zhengwei disciples can't learn" as the title."

"Yes, teacher." Zhou Nan was in great pain, and he didn't expect Teacher Wang to do what he said.I don't know how to write stereotyped essays. If I can't do it later, God knows how this great writer will torture me.

He had no choice but to sharpen the ink and write slowly while scratching his head.

I don't know how long it took, it was already noon, my scalp was scratched, and I managed to scrape together about [-] words.

Stereotyped essays had strict requirements on the format, and in the Qing Dynasty, it was even refined down to how many characters each essay must have.

In the Qing Dynasty, the eight-legged essay was initially required to be 550 characters, then six hundred and five, and fixed at seven hundred characters by the same light year.

As for the Ming Dynasty, they didn't pay so much attention. The long ones can be written with a thousand characters, and the short ones can only be written with three hundred characters.

Of course, writing an essay of three or four hundred words in the examination room is not too serious, and the examiner will immediately throw it into the wastebasket.

Strange to say, when I finished writing and handed the manuscript to Wang Shizhen.Even though Zhou Nan knew that his composition was nonsense, he didn't feel the slightest fear or embarrassment in his heart.The reason is simple, his mind is overdrawn, his mind is numb, and he feels his body is being hollowed out.

Seeing Zhou Nan's handwriting, Wang Shizhen's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help praising: "You are good at Sanguan style. With your calligraphy, you can get a good ranking in the palace examination."

(End of this chapter)