Zhao Huai came with his father the next day, and after he saluted Zhao Xiu, he stepped aside and stood, with a little dazed on his face, as if he didn't know why Zhao Xiu called him over.

Zhao Xiu let people serve tea, and he didn't beat around the bush, and asked directly: "At what age did Brother Huai'er go to school?" What books did you read? ”

Zhao Huai was still a little stunned, although Zhao Xiu was his aunt, but this seven-year-old Dou Ding asked him in this obvious elder tone, how strange was a fourteen-year-old boy.

Zhao Qixuan sat next to him and was anxious when he saw this, and pulled his son's sleeve: "Why are you stunned?" Your aunt asked you, didn't you hear? ”

Zhao Huai came to his senses, but he didn't give his father a look because of his bad tone, and replied respectfully: "My nephew entered Mr. Zhu's private school at the age of eight to study, and he has studied since he was three hundred thousand, and now he has finished reading the Analects and the University, and he will open Mencius next month. ”

Three hundred thousand is the foundation, Zhao Xiu only spent half a year learning these three books by himself, although it is not clear how long Zhao Huai has been learning, but so far he has only learned half of the four books, which is too slow.

If it was a reliable teacher, Zhao Xiu could also guess that Zhao Huai just studied more carefully, but when Zhang decided to send Zhao Wei to study in the school outside, he checked all the private schools in Fengxian County, and she followed alongside, naturally knowing that the old master, as Zhao Qixuan said, was an old Xiucai of the previous dynasty, and he was more pedantic, and I don't know if he really didn't want to be an official of the new dynasty as he said, or if his level was limited and he couldn't go further, anyway, he had been a Xiucai for fifty years. The knowledge in my head is still the same as that I learned fifty years ago.

After Emperor Taizu ascended the throne, he once made small reforms to the imperial examination. He did not cancel the Baguwen, but only added a few small exam questions. The eight-strand essay is to test the four books and five classics, but the small exam questions are to test the people's livelihood economy and legal situation. If a candidate writes beautifully, but answers the small exam questions correctly, then no matter how good his writing is, he will not be able to win the promotion.

The old master's performance in this regard is very bad, his level in the classics and history is quite passable, but he does not understand the new exam questions. He said with a disgusted face that he only had the former dynasty in his heart, and he looked down on the current imperial examination system, and he did not disdain to study. And the students he taught, the most outstanding ones can only be admitted to Xiucai, and most of them were brushed off in the county examination. Any student in the county who has slightly better grades and is more self-motivated will not worship him, unless he can't find a better gentleman, or he is shy and greedy for cheap tuition, he will come to him.

Zhao Xiu was a little worried, and he didn't know that Zhao Huai had studied with the old masters for several years. What is it like to learn?

Now that Zhao Huai had finished reading the Analects and the University, Zhao Xiu picked two famous sentences and asked him for explanations.

Zhao Huai answered quite fluently, and it can be seen that the foundation is very solid. But as Zhao Xiu asked more and more sentences and asked more and more detailed questions, he began to break out in a cold sweat. Looking up, Zhao Xiu didn't even take a book, and casually said those questions. He had to think hard before he could answer, and he couldn't help but feel that his self-confidence had been hit by Yanzhòng.

He knew that he had not been able to learn from a good teacher since he was a child. But he still works very hard, and among the students taught by the old masters, he can be regarded as outstanding. But what's going on now? He can't compare to Zhao Wei, who is taught by a famous teacher, why can even a little girl like Zhao Xiu compare to him?

Zhao Qixuan was also frightened when he saw it, he originally thought that his son was very good, as long as there was a good teacher to teach and teach, and after a few years of hard work, it would be absolutely no problem to take the test. But Zhao Xiu is seven years younger than his son, and he can recite so many sentences skillfully, and his son has to think about it before he can answer the question, could it be...... His son wasn't as good as he thought he was? He only felt that the sky was about to fall, Zhao Xiu was a little girl, no matter how smart she was, she couldn't get to the point of being able to take the imperial examination, right? Her son can't even compare to her, can he really have a future in the future? Should he abandon his delusions and send his son directly to his brothers' shop?

Unlike the reaction of the father and son, Zhao Xiu's heart was very calm, and she didn't feel how unreasonable her expression was. In modern times, these ancient classics have appeared in textbooks since elementary school and all the way to university, and she has long had a certain understanding. After passing through, Zhang's education of his grandchildren was very strict, as early as when Zhao Wei was eight years old and Zhao Xiu was four years old, he had already begun to give them rough lectures. Later, Zhao Wei went to school and learned something every day, and Zhang asked him to repeat it to himself after he went home, and Zhao Xiu was listening, so he naturally remembered it. When Zhao Wei was doing her homework, Zhao Xiu often accompanied her, and occasionally helped copy books, what Zhao Wei could memorize, she remembered all the things that Zhao Wei learned, and she also learned the knowledge that Zhao Wei learned. If there is something you don't understand, there is a teacher named Zhang who can ask for advice at any time, and there are many books at home. If it weren't for Zhao Xiu not being able to go to school with her brother, maybe her grades would be comparable to her brother.

Now it's just a matter of reading out a few famous sentences to ask Zhao Huai, a teenager who is not even a child, and Zhao Xiu really doesn't have any pressure.

She now roughly knows Zhao Huai's level, which is similar to what she originally imagined, so she said to Zhao Qixuan: "Brother Huai'er has a good foundation, I want to come to that old master, he still teaches the "Analects" and "University" well, but he doesn't speak in detail enough, if Brother Huai'er can read more annotations made by famous predecessors, he will definitely be able to make progress." Originally, my grandmother and brother could teach him this kind of thing, but they are not at home now, and even if they are at home, they may not be free. I gave my cousin an idea, I have a few books here, maybe it will be useful to Brother Huai, lend it to Brother Huai and take it back to copy it, read it carefully a few times, if you can understand it, wait for the private school where my brother studied in the autumn to recruit students again, and my cousin asked Brother Huai to take the exam again, if you can get in, you will have a famous teacher in the future. ”

The private school that Zhao Wei is studying now is the best private school in Quan Fengxian, Mr. is a lifter, and he is also in the prime of life, and he is very attentive to teaching, which can be called a good teacher. The students he taught always produced three or four talents every year, and there were a few who were selected for the promotion, and two of them were selected for the Jinshi. Although he himself is only a lifter, he has taught a good number of students. Zhang's choice again and again. It was decided that he would be Zhao Wei's husband. If Zhao Huai can enter his private school, there will naturally be hope for his future studies.

Zhao Qixuan and Zhao Huai were overjoyed. The former stammered when he spoke: "Son...... Son, don't you want to thank your aunt?! Zhao Huai lifted the hem of his robe and was about to kneel. Zhao Xiu hurriedly jumped off the ground with a smile and gave way to the side: "Don't you dare to be, I'm just borrowing two books for you to see, whether you can make a difference depends on whether you work hard." If you are eager to learn, I will help you, if you are unmotivated, I will not bother to pay attention to it. ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Zhao Qixuan smiled so much that he couldn't see his eyes, "Anyway, I have my sister's help." Brother Huai has the hope of progress, doesn't he? My sister is really worthy of being the granddaughter of my uncle's grandmother, they are all the same kind-hearted, and they are kind and loving to their younger generations. ”

Zhao Xiu couldn't help but shudder secretly, smiled dryly and modestly, and hurriedly went to the study to personally pick out a few books and send them to Zhao Huai.

Since then, Zhao Huai has really stayed at home and worked hard behind closed doors. The books that Zhao Xiu gave him were like reference books, not only detailed in content, but also simple and clear. can also draw inferences from one another, with Zhao Huai's foundation, as long as you read carefully, it is easy to solve all the doubts encountered in the past study. Zhao Huai's level of knowledge is to rise. He knew in his heart that these books could never be bought in bookstores outside, and they were all rare treasures. If it's someone else, I'm afraid I won't even want to borrow him for a look. Zhao Xiu was willing to let him take it home to copy a copy, and he must not forget this kindness.

Zhao Huai worked harder. In the private school of the old masters, the table is also even better.

After he copied those books, he sent them back to Zhao Xiu, who lent him a few more books, in addition to the explanation and analysis of "Mencius" and "The Mean", there are also Tang poems, Song Ci and several historical allusions. Zhao Huai was puzzled, and Zhao Xiu explained: "Now that you are taking the imperial examination, it is not enough to know the four books, you have to know something else, the Five Classics naturally have to be learned, and you should not ignore the poetry and songs, not to let you make a poem during the exam, but when writing an article, if the words are more beautiful, the battle is neater, and the sentences can also pay attention to rhyme, so that people can read catchy, wouldn't it be more flattering?" When quoting scriptures, don't ask for your allusions to be remote and profound, but you must use them well, so it is also necessary to read more history books. ”

Zhao Huai suddenly realized, and looked at Zhao Xiu's gaze even more admired: "Little aunt, how can you know so many things at your age?" ”

Zhao Xiu coughed lightly: "That's what my brother said, because that's what Mr. Li taught him." ”

It turned out to be the words of the famous teacher, Zhao Huai was suddenly in awe, but he didn't underestimate Zhao Xiu. He was more confident that he would be admitted to Zhao Wei's private school in the fall.

Zhao Huai studied seriously, and the clansmen naturally saw it. Although he and his father Zhao Qixuan both privately persuaded the Ma family and Zhao Yuan not to publicize this matter to everyone, but in the clan, it is definitely not a secret that they have the help of Zhao Xiu, the second room. Zhao Qixuan's elder brothers in the outer sixth room learned that they no longer mentioned the matter of letting Zhao Huai enter the shop as an apprentice, they were just planning to help their younger brothers and nephews, not to be against them, if the nephew can really read and make a name for himself, they also have a light on their faces, even if the nephew can't study, with the help of the small second room, he will not starve to death in the future, so they will concentrate on persuading the children of other clansmen to go.

Zhao Huai concentrated on reading, Zongfang and Sanfang began to quarrel with the outer six rooms about the children of the clan entering the business road, Zhao Xiu sat on the wall and watched under the pretext that his grandmother and brother were not at home and he was young, in fact, he continued to practice calligraphy and painting at home, read various books, study those English books, and then think about future plans by the way.

During the Dragon Boat Festival in May, a clan couple came to see Zhao Xiu, they saw Zhao Xiu's help to Zhao Qixuan's son, and felt that with Zhao Qixuan's family and the small second room, they could still get Zhao Xiu's blue eyes, maybe she was also willing to lend a helping hand to her family? In any case, the little girl is better spoken than the shrewd duchess.

"Buy your land?" Zhao Xiu looked at the pair of cheap cousins and sisters-in-law in surprise, "Why?" Is that not the land that the tribe has given you? ”

Because the money is too tight, and the land allocated by the clan is resold to the clan, which is the first time for the Zhao clan after the development. (To be continued......)