Three days went by in a flash.

About five watches, Xu Yan got up early to wash.

After breakfast, it's time to go out for the exam. Shuangxi had already prepared the exam basket and looked at Xu Yan very sadly.

"Young master, this is the first time you've gotten up so early, won't you really be sleepy?"

Xu Yan almost turned his back on his anger, rolled his eyes and said, "Young master, am I so useless?" ”

The heart must have been too impressive for Xu Yan to leave on the little scholar's children.

"No, no, that's what I said. Young master, you must work hard! ”

Shuangxi said with a pair of big watery eyes.

Dinghai County is not big, and there are naturally not many candidates.

Xufu is very close to the county school and can be reached by walking.

Rao is Xu Yan said that he would go by himself, but the little scholar still stubbornly wanted to follow, saying that this was Madame's order.

Xu Yanzhi was a little helpless, and said with a wry smile: "Then let's go." ”

This is the first time Xu Yan has gone to the county school, and as an official school, only scholars who have won the fame of Xiucai are eligible to study in it. It's just that now that the government is in decline, many students who are talented in the examination also order at most every day, and they don't really study in it. In contrast, the private academy is the place where they are more willing to study. In other words, the county school is just a springboard.

When Xu Yan came to the county school, he found that many candidates had gathered. Looking at it, there are not only teenagers in their teens, but also many old children who are already confused.

He roughly counted the number of children he referenced in the hundreds, far from being able to compare with those big counties with two or three thousand candidates.

Of course, it is a good thing to have fewer candidates, and the fewer competitors there are, the greater the chance of standing out, coupled with the fact that Dinghai County is not prosperous in culture and education, it is naturally not difficult for Xu Yan to pass the county examination.

The chief examiner of the county examination is the county order, and the questions are all written by one of them. Xu Yan had also collected and analyzed several articles written by Zhao County Ling, trying to find out his personal likes and dislikes. It's not necessarily accurate, but it's somewhat helpful.

Seeing that more and more people were coming, the officials began to order the candidates to line up in several columns, ready to check their identities and enter the examination room.

Xu Yan took the exam basket from Shuangxi's hand and commanded softly: "You go back first." ”

Xu Yan was placed in the third column, and he happened to be assigned to his brother Xu Yu.

Xu Yu looked very excited, squeezed his eyebrows at Xu Yan and said, "Although Brother Qiu is young, he must be confident when he looks calm, right?" ”

Xu Yan said lightly: "Brother Clan laughed. ”

After a while, the release finally began.

The officials inspected it very carefully, so it took a long time before it was Xu Yan's turn.

The officials of the county government have known this Xu Xiaolangjun for a long time, and their attitude towards him is naturally very good. After checking the examination basket, he put Xu Yan in.

There is one last link before the exam, which is the speech of Zhao County.

The content of the lecture is naturally not nutritious, it is nothing more than persuasion, but the process must be followed.

After listening to Zhao County's instructions patiently, the candidates were finally able to prepare for the exam.

The county school Minglun Hall will definitely not be able to accommodate so many candidates to take the exam together, so the officials have built a simple examination shed in the county school early.

This test shed is naturally not as comfortable as the house, but it is still no problem to shade and shelter from the wind.

Xu Yan came to his seat and sat down according to the guidance of the officer, put down the examination basket, and took out all the pen and ink inkstones. As for the examination papers, they have long been placed on several cases in advance.

The next thing is to wait for the exam questions to be announced.

In order to prevent cheating, the exam questions are not written directly on the paper. Instead, after all the candidates are seated, the scribe writes it on a wooden board and then lifts it up and walks around the examination booth to publicize it.

The first question is a four-book question, and the topic is Taoism and Politics. The second is the Five Classics question, which requires candidates to choose one from the Book of Changes, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Book of Rites, the Book of Songs, and the Book of Songs. Xu Yan's book is a Book of Poetry, so he naturally chooses the title of the Book of Poetry. The last question is a trial poem, which Xu Yan is best at.

Unhurriedly, he copied the three questions on the draft, and then took a deep breath to calm down.

Time is enough, but Xu Yan is ready to leave the most time for the four-book questions, because this is the one that determines the success or failure of the exam, which can be said to be crucial.

Concentrate and analyze the topic.

This title is from the "Analects": The Tao is governed by government, and all are punished, and the people are free and shameless.

The meaning is very simple, leading the people with political affairs is to be subordinate to the top, and although it is a legal prohibition, the effect cannot be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Of course, there is a next sentence for this, and the next sentence is to be virtuous, courteous, shameful and qualified.

Confucius affirmed the rule of etiquette by comparing the rule of law and the rule of etiquette. It advocates the rule of etiquette as the foundation and the rule of law as the end.

When he was in Hangzhou, Mr. Xushan made Xu Yan practice the most to solve problems. It's because he has a lot of ideas about the topic now.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Yan wrote: The sage treats the rule, and the argument should be in the heart. The husband's political punishment can temporarily covenant his people, and this trace can gradually negotiate with his people, and this heart should also. Knowing this, you can deal with it.

In just two sentences, it is subtle to introduce the sage's discussion of the way of governing the country to his own opinion on this matter.

After solving the problem, the next thing to write is simple, Xu Yan brewed it, and lifted the pen in one go.

"Thinking of the meaning of the former master, whoever governs should teach the people to be good instead of forbidding the people to be evil. Gai Min did not know his evil, and he felt ashamed.

Trying, compared to the political punishment, so the prohibition of the people is also the tool of evil;

Virtue (also), so the people are also the tools of goodness.

It is the same as the opening of the way, and the second is the same as the neatness, and it is different.

Those who are like the Tao are punished by government, and those who are united are punished? It is said that it is only the science of the state, and it is judged that it will be used to govern the body, and to rectify it as the merit of governance, and to test the people in the future. Those who are for the people will have to suffer from their work, get used to circumventing it, and use their traces to escape the reach of our political punishment, and intend to serve the relaxation of our political punishment. Cover the upper and lower government and inherit it with its ears and eyes, repair the punishment and lower it with its shape, and bind the upper and lower phases to achieve this rule.

Those who are like the Tao are virtuous, and those who are united are courteous? It is said that only the people are submerged in the cultivation and Zhaoxi, so that the expression is the right to govern the body, to the wind to encourage the governance, and the people who need years to observe the hearts of the people, for the people will be happy with its edification, gradually self-enlightenment, unwilling to be two with my virtue and etiquette, and think with my virtue and etiquette as one, his mercy and kindness have something to do, and this is my physical and mental matter, and the king should not have troubles, who is not ashamed of one thought? Cover the cultivation of virtue and then know that there is a nature, and the upper and lower cultivation of the ceremony begins to know and check its situation, and the upper and lower phases are just to become this rule.

The government of the people is indispensable, and the people are inherent;

Punish the people in their own writings, and defend the people in their own ways.

The two are externally contained, so although the prohibition is strict, they do not enter;

The two are in touch, so the religion is wide and self-sufficient.

The rule of inspection cannot be pure, shameless and shameful, and the judgment of the heart will last for a long time. For the ruler to judge. ”

......

......