The first test was the Four Books and the Five Classics, and it was also the most important of the three township exams.

As long as the first exam is passed, the remaining two exams are basically a passing formality. But if the article is not so bad that people and gods are angry, it can be successfully lifted.

Ning Xiu closed his eyes and slowly calmed himself down.

The state during the exam is very important, and Ning Xiu has always paid great attention to mediating emotions in order to achieve a state of dilution and peace.

After a while, the scribe began to distribute the test papers, and when he arrived in front of Ning Xiu's house, he couldn't help coughing when he saw the young man like an old monk entering the meditation.

"Hehe, a certain family is really insightful, they are so relaxed before the exam, be careful to fall asleep for a while."

Ning Xiu was noncommittal to the scribe's sarcastic ridicule, and took the test paper from his hand with a smile.

The bird's eye knows the ambition of the bird, this scribe's vision is like this, and it is no wonder that he can only be a small official for people to drive and call for the rest of his life.

The scribe snorted coldly and brushed his sleeves away, but Ning Xiu was not affected in the slightest. He calmly unfolded the volume and looked intently at the subject.

There are a total of seven questions, of which four are three in the book and four are in the scriptures, which need to be answered in one day.

The amount of questions may not seem too large at first glance, but the actual exam is very intense because it takes a lot of time to conceive the essay.

Ning Xiu didn't have the habit of skipping questions and answering, he started from the first four meanings.

The title is "Eight with One".

Ning Xiu only looked at the question and knew that this was from "Mencius? Liang Hui Wang Shang".

The original text is "Said: Can you smell it? Said: The Zou people and the Chu people are fighting, so who does the king think will win? Said: Chu people win. Said: However, the small solid cannot be the enemy, the few solid cannot be the enemy, and the weak solid cannot be the strong. In the land of the sea, there are nine thousands of miles in the square, and there is one of them, and one serves eight, why is it different from the enemy of Zou? ”

Of course, this original text was made up by Ning Xiu's own brain, and there were only four words on the test paper: 'One to serve eight'.

This is also the most basic quality that candidates need to have, that is, the ability to map from the question to the original text.

If you don't even have this ability, then don't focus on the imperial examination, and go home and farm early.

Ning Xiu did not immediately put pen to paper, but thought about the entry point of the article.

The writing of the eight-strand essay is strictly standardized, and it is impossible for him to go beyond it in the slightest, so he must work the idea of the article.

The general meaning of this passage is that the weak country and the small country contend with the strong and the big country is equivalent to hitting a stone with an egg, and it is impossible to defeat.

The meaning is very simple and easy to understand, so how can you write an article wonderfully......

After a long period of composition training, Ning Xiu's level of refining ideas has been greatly improved, and soon he has an idea, and he dipped his pen in ink to write.

"King Qi has the heart to serve the world, and he doesn't know how difficult it is.

It is no longer a winning situation, but a desire to serve eight, or why underestimate Haineye?

The current husband's situation seems to be insufficient to measure the king, and Gu Weiwei is not self-sufficient and light in the world; It is the one who has not ruled the king, and the few who want to coerce it are said that the world can be determined by itself, and they have not judged the trend of the world, and those who are cunning and reckless are also ......"

After a pause, Ning Xiu pondered for some words, and then wrote: "Eight of its fruits are subject to one yes, and one of its can be served eight yes?" If you want to be far away to obey it, you can't afford it; If you want to attack at close range to subdue it, you are afraid that the army will be powerful or stopped; If you want to obey it in one fell swoop, they may cooperate to resist; If you want to divide it, he will welcome each other, and he will not be the same as the enemy and Chu will not be the same? ”

After writing an article in a hurry, Ning Xiu read through it again, and only after confirming that he was satisfied did he move his fingers slightly.

There are two more questions about the meaning of the four books, which are similar to the first one, and they are all very square questions.

Ning Xiu is most disgusted with answering interception questions, whether it is a large interception or a small interception.

Because this kind of question is actually two sentences extracted from two original paragraphs and put together, it is easy for candidates to misunderstand and answer wrong.

Fortunately, none of the three questions and four calligraphy questions were truncated this time, so Ning Xiu answered very easily, and quickly wrote the three articles.

Before I knew it, two hours had passed. Ning Xiu only felt very tired. He touched his cooing belly, shook his head with a wry smile, and took out the food box from the exam basket.

There are three township examinations, each of which lasts for a whole day, during which candidates are not allowed to leave the Tribute Academy. Therefore, the candidates' lunch is solved in the Gongyuan house.

In order to prevent diarrhea, Ning Xiu only brought some dry cakes, although the taste was a little worse, but it was the most satisfying.

Accustomed to eating delicious food, Ning Xiu felt a little difficult to swallow after eating this dry cake once in a while.

He took two bites of the cake and swallowed it with water, feeling very unpleasant.

Hey, it's easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it's hard to go from luxury to thrift.

Many years later, Ning Xiu recalled the scene of eating dried cakes in the Gongyuan and educating his son.

But that's a story for later, so I won't show it for the time being.

However, he said that Ning Xiu ate a few dry cakes and sacrificed them to the Five Organs Temple, so he wiped his hands and prepared to continue answering the question.

Although there is still plenty of time, you can rest easy by finishing the questions early.

Ning Xiu is not the kind of person who answers questions in card time, and is used to leaving room for himself.

The next thing to do is the four realms of sutra and righteousness. The scripture chosen by Ning Xiu is the Book of Songs, and the title is naturally from the Book of Songs.

The Book of Songs is the most chosen scripture by candidates, and there are many collections of essays to study it. Ning Xiu has seen a lot, and he is already familiar with the content analysis in it.

The advantage of choosing a popular book is that the questions will not be too obscure, but the disadvantage is that candidates can make a stable essay, and it is difficult to open the gap.

Ning Xiu didn't think there was anything about this. Choosing this scripture is also a strategy, Ning Xiu is very confident in his four books, so he will choose the more popular "Book of Songs" as this scripture for the test. And those who do not have confidence in their own four books will choose an unpopular scripture such as "Spring and Autumn" to fight.

Ning Xiu opened the topic and looked at it, sure enough, the four questions were very sparse and ordinary, and there was not much to play, so Ning Xiu thought about it for a while and began to write it.

He had been writing the four articles for nearly two and a half hours, and by the time he finished writing them, his eyes were full of gold stars and his wrists were sore.

Nima, the intensity of the township test is simply not ordinary.

Ning Xiu's fingers trembled at the thought that there were still two exams waiting for him.

Fortunately, the person who formulated the reference rules for the township test took this into account and staggered each exam by three days, which means that the next exam is on August 12 and the last one is scheduled for August 15.

If there were three consecutive exams, Ning Xiu believed that there would definitely be a weak candidate who fainted on the spot.

Although he had completed all seven questions, he could not submit the paper in advance.

The rules of the township test are like this, and they cannot be exceeded in the slightest.

......

......

Ning Xiu could only close his eyes and recuperate, quietly waiting for the scribe to collect the papers after the exam.

Fortunately, at this time, it was less than half an hour before the end of the exam, and Ning Xiu's fugue was too empty.

After handing in the papers, Ning Xiu hurriedly left the house, and he didn't want to stay in it for a moment.

This place is so cramped that you can't even stretch your legs, let alone experience a high-quality exam environment.

As soon as he got out, Shen Ningxiu stretched his waist and yawned very happily.

He was very satisfied with the first exam, although he couldn't say that he was sure of nine out of ten, but he also knew the bottom of his heart.

As long as the next two exams are played steadily and normally, Ning Xiu believes that it will not be difficult to be nominated for the laurel list.

The candidates who came out of the various columns gradually gathered together and became shoulder to shoulder.

Ning Xiu frowned, what he didn't like very much was that all the candidates were gathered in one place for the Tribute Academy exam. With so many people taking the exam together, it's a mess, and it's hell if the exam experience can be good.

But there is no way, the most important thing in the imperial examination is fairness, and there were no cameras in the Ming Dynasty, so gathering all candidates together for the exam was the only option.

The Tribute Courtyard already covers a large area, and the location of the Ning Xiu House is in the hinterland, and it took some time to line up to get out of the Tribute Courtyard.

The moment he stepped out of the gate of the Tribute Courtyard, he took a deep breath and felt that the air was sweet.

He did not return to the inn immediately, but walked to a teahouse not far from the Gongyuan and sat down, and asked for a pot of tea for Liu Weining.

From this angle, Ning Xiu could just observe the expression of Gongsheng walking out of the Gongyuan.

I saw that some people were full of spring breeze, and there was joy hidden between their eyebrows. Some people are frowning and looking gloomy.

But it is really a few joys and a few sorrows, and all kinds of life are shown here.

Ning Xiu took a sip of tea, thinking about the article he had just made, and it seemed that there were one or two words that could be considered and scrutinized. But these are the details, and they don't affect the big picture.

He drank three cups of tea and still didn't see Liu Weining come out of the tribute courtyard, and he couldn't help but be surprised.

This guy is extremely good at writing eight-strand essays, and his strength is even above Ning Xiu, what's wrong today, is there something wrong?

Ning Xiu couldn't help but worry about Liu Weining.

You must know that the psychological quality of this guy is really not very good, and it is hard to say if the pressure collapses in the face of the exam.

Seeing that there were fewer and fewer candidates coming out of the Gong Academy, Ning Xiu's heart was straight to his throat.

Just as he drank the last cup of tea, he saw the familiar lake-blue robe come into view, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Ning Xiu beckoned to Liu Weining, he was slightly stunned, and then pulled his legs and walked quickly towards Ning Xiu.

Liu Weining walked to the table and sat down under the hem of his robe, and then sighed and said, "Foolish brother, I'm afraid I'm going to miss the horse this time." ”

Ning Xiu sighed and said, "How can this be, Brother Liu is brilliant and brilliant, and he is also first-class in Jingzhou Mansion." If even you are worried, what can we do? ”

Liu Weining shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Brother Ning Xian, don't comfort me, I know what I have done." If I didn't have to turn in the papers, I would have wanted to tear off those pages of scrap paper, which is really full of nonsense. ”

Ning Xiu opened his mouth, but finally didn't say anything.

Since Liu Weining said so, it proves that the state of the exam is indeed not very good. Although Ning Xiu had tried his best to help him with psychological counseling before the exam, Liu Weining's psychological quality was so poor that it was estimated that he would not even be able to play half of his true level during the big exam.

Even so, his prospects for the township test are really a little worrying.

Alas, the exam mentality is really important, Ning Xiu can't say anything, so he has to hope that Liu Weining can adjust his mentality and give full play to his strength in the next two games.

After all, the township exam is once every three years, and if you don't win, you have to wait for another three years, how many three years are there in your life?

At this moment, Liu Weining, who was eating a cup of hot tea, suddenly cried out loud, without any warning.

Ning Xiu was stunned and didn't know what to do. After a long time, he patted Liu Weining's back and said, "Brother Liu, don't be discouraged, there are still two exams left unexamined." Before the dust settles, there is a chance. ”

Liu Weining knew that Ning Xiu was comforting him, so he choked up and said: "Friend Ning doesn't understand, Liu has been looking forward to the opportunity to take a township test for so many years, but he didn't expect to mess it up with his own hands." I'm so useless! ”

Ning Xiu was silent. In fact, he can understand Liu Weining's mood at the moment.

For scholars, the biggest dream in this life is probably to enter the Shidenke and feast in Qionglin.

And Liu Weining is a very talented person, so he naturally has high expectations for the future.

It's just that such a person who thinks very highly of himself has been unable to participate in the township examination because of the suppression of the teachings.

Others try it every three years, but he waited for nearly ten years. Ten years of waiting in exchange for not the spring breeze triumphant, but the shattering of dreams, this kind of stimulation is by no means something that ordinary people can bear.

Ning Xiu was even wondering if Liu Weining's abnormal performance would be related to being suppressed for a long time and not being able to participate in the township test?

After all, psychological problems are not caused by a day, there must be a cause for the effect, and the pot of pushing back the teachings cannot be shaken off.

But Liu Weining's own psychological quality was indeed too poor, and he collapsed directly without warning.

Liu Weining clenched his fists, and the green tendons of his forearms burst out, and tears flowed down his cheeks and dripped on the table.

He knew that the first and most important four books had failed, but he still had to take the next two exams, and his heart was undoubtedly tormented.

It's like playing a soccer game knowing that you can't qualify, but you have to cooperate with your opponent to finish the rest of the game.

Liu Weining beat his chest for a while, and his anger was also vented, and then he collapsed on the stool like a deflated sheepskin raft.

At this moment, a group of candidates walked up to Ning Xiu and stood still, and the first one was surprised: "Ah, isn't this Ning's friend, the number one talent in Huguang?" Is this first four-book test okay? Hey, why are you crying like a tearful person? Is it because he knows that his articles are too bad, and he is only embarrassed? Tsk, the students of Jingzhou Mansion are really waste! ”

The crowd of candidates around him burst into laughter.

Ning Xiu looked up and looked, this person was not the Wuchang Mansion scholar who fought with him several times at the poetry meeting, but who was Liu Wenguang?

This is normal, Liu Wenguang also has to participate in this township examination, but he is taking the exam as a student from Wuchang, and he is also fighting at home.

It's just that this guy has a villain face, seeing Liu Weining depressed and angry, he is not comforted, and he is still saying some mean things there.

Ning Xiu deeply despised him.

As for the laughing scholars, most of them were Wuchang students who were completely blown up by the scholars of Jingzhou Mansion at the poetry meeting.

A bunch of unscrupulous hypocrites!

Ning Xiu sneered and said, "Who else should Ning be, it turned out that a group of dogs were barking here and making a noise!" ”

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