The imperial examination of the Song Dynasty was not static, and it was reformed many times during the three dynasties of Taizu, Taizong and Zhenzong, not only because there were many subjects, but also because there were many examinations.

Before the Renzong Dynasty, the Jinshi Provincial Examination was divided into four sessions, the first test of poetry, the second test, the third test, and the fourth test of the scriptures.

Later, when Fan Zhongyan was in power, the imperial examination was improved, taking the Jinshi Provincial Examination as an example, it was generally set as three, first to test the strategy, then to test the theory, and then to test the poetry.

It's completely reversed, after all, the imperial examination is a cadre who governs the country, and the poems of those fancy articles can be used to embellish it.

Later, the Shenzong Dynasty Wang Anshi rose very strongly, and implemented the new law of the imperial examination, which was ruthless, not only abolished the Ming Jing and other subjects, but also made a big change to the Jinshi examination questions, and rejected the content of the poems, the scriptures, the Moyi, the pair, etc., and the re-scriptures.

In addition, the three exams were changed to four.

The first test is the scripture, the second test is the scriptures, the third is a poem, and the fourth is a strategy.

"Yi Guanyi", "Book of Songs", "Book of Books", "Zhou Li" and "Book of Rites" are called this classic, "Analects" and "Mencius" are called concurrent classics), as well as Wang Anshi's "Three Classics and New Meanings" are set as compulsory reading for scholars who take the examination.

What is Jingyi?

It is that the examiner takes a sentence from the Confucian scriptures, and then asks the candidates to explain the meaning contained in it, just like the reading comprehension of later generations, and summarizes a set of great truths from a story.

What is it?

This is also a little different from the scriptures that pour chicken soup for the soul, he is similar to the proposition essay of later generations, usually asking candidates to comment on a certain allusion or a certain historical figure in the historical records, for example, what do you think of the guy in the "Historical Records" who wants to be rich and powerful and would rather be stabbed? Of course, this is the saying of later generations, converted into the Song Dynasty, and the title of this proposition essay is "The Theory of Violence in the Twilight of the Sunset".

What is the strategy?

This is similar to the argument of later generations, which is generally to put forward specific questions about the current government and current affairs, so that the candidates can express their opinions, so it is also called "policy questioning", and the candidate's answer is called "countermeasures", generally write a thousand words, of course, there are also bigwigs who show their own literary talents, and write a 10,000 words in a sprinkled manner.

No matter how hot the sun is, there is also a twilight, after Wang Anshi was greatly gloomy, and later successors successively reformed the imperial examinations, coupled with the ups and downs of officialdom, three or four imperial examinations, and the content of the examinations are constantly changing.

After the Shenzong Dynasty, sometimes the poetry and the scriptures were carried out in parallel, and sometimes the poems were dismissed, and the scriptures and righteousness were used to take the scholars, only depending on how the officials in charge of government affairs made their choices.

As for the second-ranked palace examination, as a re-examination, the initial and provincial examinations were the same, Taizu Dynasty only tested poetry, Taizong added a test to discuss together, Shenzong stopped poetry, fu, and three questions, specifically to ask questions, limited to 1,000 words, criminal law, case judgment, governance These practical contents have also been added one after another.

When Zhezong Yuan withered, the three topics of poetry, fu and treatise were restored, after Shaosheng, he followed the system of Xining's trial policy, Gaozong Jianyan two years, and finally stipulated that the palace tried to plan, and the world of the Southern Song Dynasty did not change at the end.

At this time, someone asked, why does an exam keep changing back and forth?

There are many reasons, the most important point is that when the new ruler comes to power, he must always make some changes to the government affairs at that time, otherwise he will be accused of doing nothing, and the imperial examination for the selection of qualified governance talents for the country will naturally have to use a knife, otherwise how would the world's scholars know that there is another powerful person.

The college exam is so cumbersome, but the "academy exam" that the dog takes is naturally simple.

Three silent sentences, three fill-in-the-blank questions, plus a 100-word reading comprehension finish, the question is not difficult, everyone gave up in an hour, but later Dean Cui Liu estimated that he did not negotiate with Master Jin, and added a poem in a fit of anger, and as a result, the students of Luyuan Academy all handed in a blank volume, no way, the shortcoming of Luyuan Academy is poetry, well, limerick poems don't count.

Seeing this, Old Master Jin immediately darkened his face, and he also made a pair of for tat, and then, the students of the two academies were all white.

The old master Jin, who made a joke, brushed his sleeves away and never entered the gate of Cui's Academy again.

The dean was humiliated, and the students who represented the academy naturally did not fall well, and they were led out by the gentlemen who taught one by one to clean up separately, and in addition to their normal studies all day, they also had to learn poetry, pairs, and even composing music and painting arts.

There are more students, and the tuition fees are naturally more, coupled with the accommodation of the families of students who come from other places to take the martial arts examination, the smart dog will naturally not ignore it, so a large number of newly built bamboo buildings in the backyard of the academy have begun to be leased to the outside world, and the price is only ten cents per day, which is very fair.

Speaking of which, we have to mention the housing problem of the ancient people.

Many later generations still have the impression of a few thatched houses in ancient times, which are not worth a few dollars, but in fact they are not.

In ancient times, especially in the Song Dynasty, this accommodation problem was even more difficult than in later generations, and the price of rent in slightly larger cities was the same as in Kyoto.

Therefore, many people who are officials can't afford to buy a house all their lives, like Su Dongpo, Ouyang Xiu, etc., all belong to the "Jingpiao" family who rent a house.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was "overcrowded", the land within the city wall was too little, the city construction was slow, the building materials, the cost of personnel and staff were high, the cost determined the selling price, a set of ordinary houses had to be about 100 times, for the officials who only had five or six yuan a month, they were fortunate to work hard for twenty or thirty years to become a house, so most people made a living by renting a house, and some even lived in a house.

Housing prices are so high that not only can they not be sold, but they will attract a lot of scolding, so the enthusiasm of the imperial court to develop and build houses is not high.

There must be a cause and effect, so the most popular in the Song Dynasty is renting, and the later generations are almost the same, according to the area and decoration is divided into upper, middle and lower three, the best is naturally the "villa" with a small garden, such a rent is at least 30 a month, (this data source Song "Hao Ran Zhai Ya Tan" and "Song History"), and the average monthly rent is about one or two yuan, accounting for about a quarter of the income of the middle-class family at that time, and the same as later generations.

The most inferior, and also the most chosen by the general public, is about ten cents a day.

According to the calculation of Shenzong Song Xining for ten years, there are 1,192 public rental houses in the east and west cities of Kaifeng Prefecture, and the average monthly rent is 202.5 yuan, which is converted into a monthly rent of 170 yuan and the price of 56 yuan per day.

Wuwen money doesn't look much, but in addition to renting a house, there is food, clothing, food, eating, drinking, Lazar and sleeping, as long as people open their eyes on this day, they have to spend money on almost everything except air, and the salary is small, so they have to buckle the rope to live (this is also the current survival situation of ants), so many people in the north choose temples and Taoist temples or simple houses to rent, and some people borrow people's firewood houses, and even live directly in warehouses and stores where people and goods are mixed.

In the ancient times of Liaozhai Zhiwei and many ghost books, it was written that a test-taking person lived in a desolate and remote temple or a murderous house, and met a beautiful woman like Nie Xiaoqian in the middle of the night, and then many charming stories happened, and the background is the reason why Poor Xiucai lived in a dilapidated house and had nothing to think about.

Therefore, the bamboo building courtyard of Luyuan Academy is only rented for ten cents a day, which is not expensive, right?

Where there are people, there is demand, and when there is demand, there will be a market, so in the backyard of the academy, a market was gradually formed, and the dog who found this told the old master Jin, and then this small market came to a guy named Jin Mugen in management, saying that in the management, in fact, it is to collect the booth fee every day, and the price of two or three cents is naturally not expensive, after all, it costs a penny to buy a thumb-sized sweet jelly bean.

In addition to managing the market, this Kim steward is also responsible for doing chores for the only food shop in the college.

He could have avoided the chores, but he couldn't stand the people he liked cooking in.

"Mugen, where are you dead, come and take this bucket of swill away," the big cook shouted at the market as she tapped the iron spoon in her hand.

As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Mugen swayed over with a light bag on his back, complaining as he walked.

"I said sister-in-law Xiang, you can't call me a golden steward, every day Mugen Mugen shouts, people will laugh at me when they hear it!"

"What nonsense" The big cook crossed her waist and reprimanded him: "Don't look at when it's over, there is another pillar of incense ministers who are about to get out of school, I still have to steam a basket of steamed buns, I don't have time to fight with you, go and pour out this dirty water, it's so hot and rancid, and the ministers are going to complain again, go quickly." ”

Jin Mugen glanced at the cook who gave orders, sighed, rolled up his sleeves, lifted the barrel with both hands and was about to leave, when suddenly his shoulders were light, and the cloth blanket where he was put was gone.

"Jin Mugen, why are you just spending this money today, didn't you take the money and steal it?"

What he said made Jin Mugen's back cold, and he quickly put the barrel on the ground and turned his head and sneered: "Sister-in-law Xiang, what are you talking about, the money is going to be handed over to the academy account room, where does I, Jin Mugen, dare to steal flowers!" ”

"Then why is there so little money today?" The cook squinted and stared at him coldly and asked.

"Ahem, cough, cough" Jin Mugen coughed, his eyes rolled and said: "It's because the weather is too hot this morning, many people don't come out of the stall, so naturally they will receive less, I estimate that they will not come out until the weather is cool in the afternoon!" ”

"Really?"

The cook was busy in the restaurant all morning, and she didn't have time to go to the market, so she had to look at him suspiciously.

Jin Mugen nodded hurriedly, and the cook nodded noncommittally and said, "Then you received the money in the afternoon, and you will obediently send it to the account room!" Don't take it and spend it! ”

"That's for sure!" Jin Mugen secretly sweated a handful, and said in his heart: "The end of the woman's family is good to coax, and she can fool the past in a few words." ”

The corners of his mouth were happy when he thought about it, and as soon as he said that he would come forward and laugh with her a few more words, a laugh sounded behind him.

"Steward Kim! You still owe me twenty cents, as the saying goes, the money on the gambling table is cleared, but I spared you for half an hour, and I didn't raise money, why are you still flirting here? ”