After Han Shilang said this, he looked at Su Chen and said with a faint smile: "Su Chen, your future prospects are all in your thoughts today, make a name for yourself, bless yourself with your identity, don't just be a rich man who has no ability to fight back, otherwise, you may become a funeral object for the country at any time!" ”

Su Chen fell silent, and after a long time, a bitter smile appeared on his face, and the corners of his mouth twitched and said, "Do I have any other choice?" ”

Unless Su Chen fled to the north as soon as possible and took refuge in Zhao Song, otherwise, his future in the Southern Tang Dynasty would indeed be worrying.

The method that Han Xizai told him was just a way to protect himself from a dangerous place, which was equivalent to taking millet from the fire, and it was still a little dangerous, if it was better to prevent it from happening, it was the best policy to escape as soon as possible.

However, the Yangtze River has long been blockaded, the north bank is the Song army, the south bank is the Tang army, there are many warships, the ships of Jinling Ferry will not go north, the boarders have to go through careful search and identity verification, he wants to go north to the Song land silently, it is also very difficult.

What's more, he already has some solid family background in Runzhou, with Bai Susu's cooperation, and friends such as Peng Jingqing, Liu Monong, and Han Yunpeng, he is still a little reluctant to leave suddenly. Besides, with so much silver and jewelry, it is not easy to cross the river, and when you reach the other side, it is difficult to say whether you will be treated as a spy by the Song army.

Moreover, he is now registered in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and he is a black household in the Northern Song Dynasty, so it is also a question of where to gain a foothold.

Han Shilang saw that he had already said that he had moved Su Chen, and he was secretly happy in his heart, after all, the other party was also a smart person, and he would not consider his own situation and gradually introduce the path he designed for him.

"The old man thinks that your next first step is to participate in this year's autumn and take the government exam. In the past ten years, it has been a poetic word, sometimes a poem and an article, sometimes a word and an article, in poetry, your talent is soaring, the old man is not worried, but the article has not been shown, at this time you can truthfully tell the old man to the bottom, have you ever studied the articles of the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties? ”

Su Chen thought about it, and the classical Chinese that he had memorized in junior high school and high school had already been a little blurry, but after crossing over, the memory seemed to have become much clearer in his mind, and he replied truthfully at this time: "I have also seen some, but I didn't plan to enter the imperial examination, so I didn't study the prose and scripture examination points according to the thinking of the imperial examination, and they were all read extensively according to their own preferences, which were more miscellaneous and unsystematic." ”

When Han Shilang heard this, he nodded slightly, feeling that Su Chen's words were logical and in line with Su Chen's situation, so he asked curiously: "For example, what specific articles have you read, say them, let the old man listen to them, and have a number in his heart." ”

Su Chen pondered for a while and said: "Meng Fuzi's "Born in Sorrow and Died in Peace", Mr. Zhuge 's "Teacher Table", Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Spring", Liu Yuxi's "Burrow", Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu", Wang Bo's "Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng", etc., as well as some articles in "Analects", "Zuo Chuan" and "Tao Te Ching", such as "Zou Ji satirizes the King of Qi and admonishes" and the like. ”

These articles have been passed down through the ages, and they are very famous, and later generations will gradually come into contact with classical Chinese from elementary school, junior high school, and high school textbooks.

Han Xizai smiled faintly and said: "You will be opportunistic and memorize some gorgeous famous articles, but you ignore the unpopular knowledge points such as Confucianism and scriptures." ”

Su Chen said with a smile: "Some articles are too boring, I just flip through them casually, and I can't do it well-read and memorized, so what I can remember and memorize is not much, when I write poems, I don't need to quote so many scriptures, so I can pinch it easily, if I am asked to write a good essay to cope with the imperial examination, it will be difficult." ”

Han Xizai sighed lightly, pondered for a long time, and suddenly asked, "If you were asked to write an article, what topic would you be best at writing?" ”

Su Chen's mind quickly appeared in the Song Dynasty, and it seemed that the most familiar was Zhou Dunyi's "Ai Lian Said", as well as this and that travelogue of Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu, so he replied: "I am good at writing lotus articles, or writing travelogues, because I usually travel around, and I am good at writing travelogues." ”

Han Xizai's eyes lit up after hearing this, finally he had a topic that he was good at, which was easy to do, and said with a sigh of relief: "Which aspect of the travelogue?" ”

Su Chen blurted out: "For example, I can write such and such a building, a certain pavilion, and it shouldn't be bad; But if I am given a proposition article, and I am randomly selected from the Confucian classics and scriptures for me to write an article, then I can't write it, and I don't like it, and if I don't have interest, I will naturally not be able to write well. ”

He was looking for an excuse to perfunctory himself at this time, and the real reason was, of course, that there were not so many famous articles of the Song Dynasty in the school Chinese textbooks, and he only remembered so many.

"Well, the old man knows." Han Xizai's heart moved, he had already thought about which of the six squires he should choose when he returned to Beijing to reinstate.

Su Chen was a little inexplicable, thinking that it was useless for you to know, the autumn of the government test and the spring of the provincial test, then you have to really test these!

Han Xizai said at this time: "You can go back and review and prepare with peace of mind, there are still four months before the Spring Festival after the Mid-Autumn Festival, practice more articles on writing lotus flowers and travelogues, and other aspects are thought of by the old man." ”

"Ahem!" Su Chen coughed a few times when he heard this, thinking to himself, this Han Shilang, what is the preparation for the exam questions?

However, the imperial examination in the Southern Tang Dynasty was indeed simpler than that of later generations, and only the talent of poetry and articles was examined, unlike the Song and Ming dynasties, when they had to write policy treatises.

Of course, compared to the Song and Ming dynasties, the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty was even more difficult. Because the number of admissions in the Tang Dynasty was very small, the imperial examination was divided into six subjects, Ming Jing Ke, Jin Shi Ke, Ming Law Ke, Ming Shu Ke, Ming Arithmetic Ke, Xiucai Ke, among which Ming Jing Ke and Jin Shi Ke focused on examining the mastery and understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics, and the other four subjects were opened for people with expertise in some aspects, and they were often not held and were just formalities.

Therefore, the Ming Jing and Jinshi subjects were also the two subjects that the vast majority of scholars in the Tang Dynasty chose to apply for.

The Ming Jing examination questions are divided into three parts: the scriptures, the oral examination, and the current policy. The first two test the candidate's familiarity with the Four Books and Five Classics, and they can pass the test by rote memorization.

The "current policy" is the real difficulty, focusing on the level of examining the students' ability to integrate theory with practice and apply what they have learned. Usually, there are three questions in the policy theory of the Ming Jing Course, which are aimed at various practical problems faced by the society at that time, and ask the candidates to come up with solutions, which may be how to try a case, or an economic problem, or a military problem, or a diplomatic dilemma. The "current policy" of Jinshi is five topics, two more than the Ming Jing subject.

Even when Li Bai and Du Fu came, they also failed to land repeatedly, which shows their difficulty.

In the "All Tang Dynasty Texts", some of the titles of "Current Affairs" of the Tang Dynasty are retained in detail. One of them is: "There is a conquest without a war, and the Tao has the opportunity to control the country; Evil killing is good for life, and it contains the principle of pavilion education. The evening version of the wall, the soldiers cook in the morning, the source of the river in the city is still restored, and the north gate is not opened...... The husband is in the spring and the snow is in the sun, the cold canopy is easy to roll, and now he wants to be a pioneer to induce, temporarily suspend the military punishment, write the arrow and go down to the ministers, blow the flute and return the captive to ride. What should I do? ”

Roughly speaking, the country is facing a border crisis and must fight with troops. But the people and the soldiers were disgusted with the killings and losses caused by the war, and their attitudes were depressed. In the face of provocations by enemy countries, should we retaliate by force at all costs, or should we try our best to avoid war and compromise to resolve the issue through negotiations? Will you come up with the best of both worlds?

For a young scholar who grew up in his study, it is really difficult to answer such a profound and complex practical question, without hearing anything outside the window, only reading the books of sages and sages, and without any actual experience in governing the country and using the army. Even the poets and poets can't pass the test, so it's not difficult to understand.

During the reign of Li Jing and Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the content of the imperial examination was reformed, and the two of them were kings who loved poetry and rhetoric, and they were not interested in those "scriptures, oral examinations, and current affairs", and they did not want to talk about the international situation, because the Southern Tang Dynasty only sought stability, and in order to reduce the difficulty of the imperial examination for scholars, they proposed to use poetry and articles to select scholars and select the types of scholars they liked.

"The junior has retired." Su Chen bowed his hand and took his leave.

Han Xizai waved his sleeves and said: "Go back, remember the old man's words today, prepare for the government exam with peace of mind, your status as an apprentice in the academy, the old man will ask someone to help you do it, as long as you take the exam in the autumn." ”

Su Chen expressed his gratitude and said, "Then thank you Han Lao." ”

He thought to himself, as long as I can take the test, I can memorize the original text, and I can take a shortcut as a copyist.

"Hehaha, as long as you can be on the top of the high school rankings, it won't be in vain for the old man." Han Xizai smiled lightly, being able to persuade Su Chen to participate in the imperial examination today and win the Jinshi background is already a big calculation.

"Juniors do their best!" Su Chen gave his hand again, then exited the study, walked through the corridor, and prepared to leave the Han Mansion.

At this time, Han Yunpeng came over from the corridor and greeted him: "Brother Su, have you finished talking to my father?" ”

Su Chen nodded and said, "I'm done talking, I'm about to go back." ”

Han Yunpeng was very curious: "You guys are mysterious, what are you talking about in the house?" ”

Su Chen didn't hide it, and said with a dry smile: "Regarding the imperial examination, your father asked me to participate in this year's autumn festival!" ”

Han Yunpeng glanced at him, and then said, "Do you want to take the top prize?" ”

"That's not it, are you so good at being the champion?"

Han Yunpeng smiled and said: "Others are enough, but Brother Su, you go to the test, I think that if you don't take the top prize, you will be blind to your talent." ”

"......" The corners of Su Chen's mouth inexplicably hooked up a bitter smile, how can others have more confidence in him than himself, this makes no sense!