A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination

Chapter 45



Chapter 44: Take An Exam

It didn’t take long for Xiao Jingduo’s name to be sung, and he stepped forward. Several other officials carefully searched the cuffs of Xiao Jingduo’s clothes, and after confirming that there were no papers, knives, etc., they nodded and let him in.

The Gongyuan is very spacious, with a corridor on the east and west sides. The exam lasted for two days, and two subjects were taken every day. Students were not allowed to go out until after the exam in the evening. Students were not allowed to enter or leave at noon, and the Ministry of Rites did not provide meals. In other words, you need to prepare dry food by yourself. , even bringing cooking objects such as pots, bowls, candles, etc. to the Ministry of Rites without interference.

The poems, sutras, and policy discussions, and essays were added this year.

Temporary changes in the imperial court made Xiao Jingduo’s exams this year sore, and suddenly an exam was added. One of them was too late to prepare. The most terrible thing was that there were no examples from previous years. How to take the exam?

But no matter how the students complained in private, the imperial examination in the ninth year of Qiyuan came as promised. The minister of the Ministry of Rites, who presided over the examination, encouraged him as usual, and then asked the officials of the Ministry of Rites to issue the test papers to the students.

The scientific examination lasted for two days. The first day was for poetry and poetry, and the next day was for essays and strategy theory. After the first test every day, students would rest for adjustment and meals. , or cook, and you can leave after the second course. Students can go to rest after leaving the venue. The Ministry of Rites will not interfere with the whereabouts of the students, as long as they arrive on time on the second day and pass the identity verification and body search of the Ministry of Rites.

The first test paper has been sent to the students. After Xiao Jingduo got the test paper, he first browsed from the beginning to the end. The test paper requires two poems and one poem. The theme of the poem is also quite satisfactory. Is to write Jing Yanzhi.

It’s not difficult. At this time, the style of writing poetry is booming, and even the yellow-mouthed children on the roadside can recite a few famous poems at will. The rhythmic and neat poems are still a thing of the past.

Xiao Jingduo prepared a rough draft, and copied it to the test paper without much modification. Because of this, Xiao Jingduo wrote very quickly, and when Xiao Jingduo put down his pen, the people around him looked frightened.

So soon?

Xiao Jingduo didn’t care about the pressure he caused to the people around him, because many people had not finished the exam, Xiao Jingduo could not leave the venue, he had to sit up straight, silently thinking about tomorrow’s essays in his mind.

Poetry is a screening condition for a person in the imperial examination. Those who are not good at writing will be brushed off at this level. . Poetry is the first hurdle, and it has extremely high requirements for literary talent, but for students like Xiao Jingduo who want to become officials, poetry is only the foundation, and the scriptures are not worth mentioning. How to compose essays.

There are five courses in strategy theory, which is the last and most important screening level for selecting officials. Strategy refers to citing scriptures or considering current affairs and needs to answer specific questions, while theory is to evaluate historical events and characters. The Five Dao Policy Theory involves military and political affairs, the art of war, agriculture, medicine, water conservancy and many other aspects. Until the last moment, it is impossible to guess what the imperial court is going to examine. Therefore, policy theory can only be answered by the usual accumulation, and at the same time, this is also the one that most demonstrates the writing skills and political literacy, which is the key factor for being an official.

While Xiao Jingduo was thinking, some candidates put down their pens one after another. After the incense on the front plan table was burned, the Minister of Rites announced that they would stop writing. Take the student’s answer sheet.

After the first exam, the candidates can finally breathe a sigh of relief and take out dry food to adjust one or two. At this time, Xiao Jingduo discovered that there were actually candidates who set up pots and cooked rice with grease.

He shook his head amusingly and ignored it.

Afternoon test post scriptures, so-called post scriptures, is to stick half of a sentence in the big scriptures, and let the students write the rest by dictation, or give a complete volume of words, let the candidates explain the sentence righteous. This is really not difficult. Xiao Jingduo grew up reciting medical books. After that, he accompanied Buddhist scriptures day and night in Qingyuan Temple. He could memorize medical books, Buddhist scriptures and other obscure and subtle things, not to mention the mere great scriptures. Xiao Jingduo wrote at a very constant speed, and after a while, he put down the pen again.

Because today’s exam is over, Xiao Jingduo can leave early this time. He saw with his own eyes that after the examiner had collected his papers, he left easily and leisurely.

The man sitting next to Xiao Jingduo is very complicated in his heart. This kid is really fake. Judging by his young age, is he pretending to be fake?

Xiao Lin was guarding outside the Gongyuan, and was taken aback when he saw Xiao Jingduo: “Lang Jun, you are…”

“I finished writing, and I came out ahead of time.”

Xiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good, I thought…”

So take it easy.

Is it too early for Lang Jun? The others are still inside…

However, Xiao Lin is a taciturn nature after all, he finally decided to trust their husband and did not ask these words out.

The test of classics and poetry has been completed, so there is no need to read these two subjects for the time being. Due to the relationship between the Dingyong Hou Mansion, Xiao Jingduo also had some understanding of the recent developments in the DPRK and China.

The essay is not yet clear, but the policy theory must be drawn from the current affairs. Although he does not expect to be able to touch the correct test questions, it will not hurt to be familiar with it again.

It was getting dark after a while, Xiao Jingduo had to light a candle and read under the lamp. After an unknown period of time, he faintly heard noises from outside the house. Xiao Jingduo knew that it was Dong Peng and others who had returned. The Ministry of Rites had very loose regulations on scientific examinations, and the time was not forced. The answer sheet, but after burning the two wooden candles, it must be handed in. Judging from the appearance of Dong Peng and the others, they probably won’t come out until the end.

The movements of Dong Peng and Wu Tai just clicked in Xiao Jingduo’s heart and disappeared. Xiao Jingduo did not take these two people to heart.

However, he didn’t care about others, but others paid attention to him. After the sound of ping-pong-pong in the wing room, there was also a knock on Xiao Jingduo’s door.

“Brother Xiao, are you inside?”

Xiao Jingduo could only put down the book and replied, “I’m here.”

Dong Peng pushed open the door, and saw that the house was spacious and neat, with simple furnishings, a low table in front of the window, a dark table with pen and ink scrolls stacked on it, and an inkstone in the right corner of the wooden table On the left, several volumes of books are neatly stacked, and the scrolls are polished and smooth, with a soft brown light. In the middle of the wooden case is an open book. The cover is a reddish-brown hard silk. The silk is very long. Two sandalwood shafts are glued on both sides, and then the snow-white rice paper is glued to the hard silk. You can adjust the reading progress by scrolling the wooden scrolls on both sides. Dong Peng glanced at the left scroll of the scroll, which had already been rolled with a thick layer, while the wooden scroll on the right was very thin. Obviously, Xiao Jingduo had almost finished reading the scroll.

Dong Peng’s heart was complicated, and he couldn’t help but say: “Brother Xiao, how long have you been back?”

“I didn’t pay attention, maybe an hour?”

“Are you so sure about today’s exam, how dare you come out so early!”

“I don’t dare to say this, I’m just good at the scriptures.”

Dong Peng smiled strangely: “Brother Xiao is so calm, don’t know what to do tomorrow?”

Xiao Jingduo felt that his question was very strange: “Tomorrow will naturally take the test according to the rules, why does Brother Dong ask such a question?”

“It’s nothing.” Dong Peng shook his head and glanced at Xiao Jingduo with a half-smile, “Since Brother Xiao wants to review the essays and theories, then I can’t beg you any more. Saying goodbye to brother, Xiao Brother, please do it yourself.”

These words sounded strange, Xiao Jingduo silently watched Dong Peng leave, and when there was no one in the room, he frowned inexplicably.

I always feel that if Dong Peng is pointing at something, what does he mean?

On the second day, the imperial examination will proceed as usual.

After doing a body search as usual, you can only walk to the Gongyuan. Xiao Jingduo sat in his seat and got the essay test paper that was speculated by the outside world.

Seeing the test paper for the first time, Xiao Jingduo was stunned for a moment.

Not only him, but other candidates in the east and west corridors also burst into complaints: “What is this? How can you test this!”

I don’t blame these candidates for their reaction. Although the question on the test paper is not uncommon, it is quite famous, but this question has been suspected of deliberately making things difficult.

Because this time the title is “Tian Wen”.

Tianwen is a strange article, since its inception, no one has been able to understand it for a thousand years, but now this strange article appears on their exam papers.

“…The sun and the moon belong to the genus? And Gu Dou is in the belly?”

Where do the sun and moon rise, and where do the stars set? From Tanggu, I was finally enlightened. How many miles did I travel from light to dark? What kind of merit does the moon have? What is the black spot in the moon, is there a rabbit hiding in the belly?

How does he know this? Xiao Jingduo felt extremely helpless.

The content of the traditional imperial examinations are all drawn from the Five Classics, so from the Imperial College to the private schools, the imperial examination textbooks are mainly used, and all the learning and training are set up for the imperial examination. Songs of the Chu”, but it was completely outside the scope of the imperial examination!

Immediately, some students protested: “The examiner, this time the question is not in the examination book at all, I ask to change the question!”

In the examination room, there was a harmony voice: “Yes, how can you test anything other than the Five Classics? Isn’t this trying to make things difficult for us?”

“Yeah, what’s this called?”

The author has something to say:

The sun and the moon? Lie Xing An Chen? From Tanggu, second to Mengsi. Self-evident and obscure, how many miles have you traveled? What is the virtue of luminous, dead and bred? Que Liweihe, while Gu Dou is in the belly?

From “Tian Wen” by the great poet Qu Yuan


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