/ The palace examination is different from the township examination and the general examination in the number house, this is an open-air examination held outside the palace Fengtian Hall, the weather is sunny and fine, if it is cloudy and rainy, the examination will be postponed accordingly.

The days of the exam are all calculated by Qin Tianjian, but even in the era of scientific prosperity, it is impossible to accurately judge whether it is windy and rainy in a day, let alone let the people of Qin Tianjian calculate it several days in advance, which in itself is a bit of luck.

Fortunately, God gives face, the wind and the sun are beautiful, and the exam in such an environment is a kind of enjoyment.

Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youzhi was high on the top, surrounded by fourteen palace examination examiners, and in the open-air square in front of them, there were 300 tributes who were taking the palace examination this year.

With the completion of the reading of the edict, the exam questions with the edict as the main body have also been issued to each candidate, and the examinee can read the edict in detail and find out the four questions of the policy.

"The system said: I have only been the rule of the Holy Emperor Ming since ancient times, and the law is not limited to one end, and Confucius answered Yan Yuan's question, for the state but to travel in the summer, take the chariot of Yin, serve the crown of Zhou, and the music is Shao dance, and for the speaker, it is said that the four generations of rites are happy. Then the emperor's method of governance, etiquette and music are enough to do it? ”

"Song Confucianism Ouyang has a saying, three generations and the rule of the upper is from one, and the rites and music reach the world, three generations and the lower rule from the two, and the rites and music are false, at that time the Taoist Confucianism is called the ancient and modern not easy to say. Now with its words, up and down thousands of years, the traces of governance, can be cited? ”

"The husband has gone up for three generations, there is no room for discussion, Emperor Han Gao tasted the order of his uncle and grandson to set the rites and music, and the two lives of the negative Lu did not come, and it was said that the rites and music accumulated virtue for a hundred years and then prospered. After the division of the Three Kingdoms, its ministers have Zhuge Liang, and the world Confucianism is either to be happy with etiquette and music, or to be happy with a few rites, Gaitong and Liangzhi are people, and they can't be without advantages and disadvantages. ”

"Our country since Emperor Taizu Gao, with the gods and martial arts, the saints have been inherited for more than 100 years, the production of ritual music, to the time to people should be prepared, but the effect of the long is not exhausted retro, how can the rise and fall of the world be no different? Or is it the reality of unity, but it has not yet arrived? I only inherit Pixu, I want to promote the transformation of ritual music all night, Yilong martyrs do not know their way, the children of the life of their reference to the scriptures and history, refer to the ancient and modern, with Chenzhi, I will personally see Yan. ”

Shen Xi got the full text of the edict, read through it, and quickly found out all the four questions.

This is a piece of paper on ritual and music, and the first question is very clear: "Then the emperor's method of governance, ritual and music are enough to do it?" ”

It means that the two things of etiquette and music are enough to explain the emperor's method of governance?

From a dialectical point of view, this question is pure nonsense, and the country can be governed by etiquette and music alone, so what does the army want to do? When the enemy invaded, you sent people to give a lecture to the barbarians? What is the use of the testimonies? How can an emperor use supreme power to intimidate people's hearts?

But here, the same cannot be said about this question, because the rule of ritual and pleasure comes from the mouth of the holy master Confucius. Yan **** Confucius is the way of government, Zi said: "For the state but to travel in the summer, take the chariot of Yin, serve the crown of Zhou, music is Shao dance, for the speaker, it is said that the four generations of rites are happy." ”

Even the sage Confucius said, as long as the ritual music is done well, the world will be stable, and the four seas will be peaceful, you dare to go against the sage, you don't want fame, right?

So the first question, even if you don't agree with what Sage Confucius said, you have to agree with this point of view, because this is an imperial examination, not for you to play freely.

The second question is based on the first question, asking why the rule of ritual music in the three dynasties of the Han, Tang and Song dynasties is not as good as that of the three dynasties of the ancient Yao Shunyu?

Again, this is a false proposition!

According to Ouyang Xiu's words, I have to say that the governance of etiquette and music in the Han, Tang and Song dynasties is in vain, not as good as the three generations of ancient Yao and Shunyu, who are you Ouyang Xiu, but a great Confucian in the Song Dynasty, one day he had a whim, and now the governance of etiquette and music in the Great Song Dynasty is not very good, and then he began to express his opinions.

But the question is, what is the rule of etiquette and music of the three generations of Yao Shunyu in ancient times, no one has seen it, and what has been verified is only through some classics after the Spring and Autumn Period.

In fact, at that time, people even had a problem with survival, and Ru Mao did a lot of things to drink blood, this is the rule of etiquette and music advocated by Confucianism?

But the three emperors and five emperors are the saintly monarchs advocated by Confucianism, the saintly monarchs must have the rule of the saints, and the rule of etiquette and music is beyond the later generations, even the emperors of the past dynasties dare not compare themselves with the three emperors and five emperors, if any emperor really says so, he will inevitably be laughed at by the historians. If the candidate pats the fart and says, Your Majesty's Shengming Lile can surpass the three generations of Yao Shunyu, you are a sycophant on the horse's hooves.

Seeing this problem, Shen Xi was a little helpless, there was no way, he still had to say something against his will. Both of these questions are typical idealistic questions, and it is simply not feasible to understand them dialectically.

Fortunately, the third question looks like that.

The third question asks, how to evaluate the achievements and deeds of Shusun Tong and Zhuge Liang in the governance of etiquette and music?

Shusun Tong and Zhuge Liang are both a generation of famous Confucians, one accepted the commission of Han Gaozu to formulate the Han Dynasty ritual music law, Zhuge Liang relied on etiquette and music to educate the people, so that the Han family was in a corner of peace, but Confucianism and etiquette were not cut off because of this. The contribution of the two is not small, but the tone has been given above, the rule of etiquette and music of the three generations of Yao Shunyu is unsurpassed by later generations, even if you want to evaluate Shusun Tong and Zhuge Liang, you can't violate this principle and hold them to too high a position.

The third question is one of the four questions to distinguish between good students and poor students, which belongs to the evaluation of historical figures, if the candidates are not familiar with these two, it is difficult to answer this question well. In the absence of an examination syllabus, candidates may not be able to study what achievements Shusun Tong and Zhuge Liang have in the governance of etiquette and music.

……

……

Shen Xi basically looked at a question, so he did a question on the scratch paper, a total of four questions, and after the articles of the first three questions were all written on the scratch paper, he focused on the last question, which was the largest and most important question in the four exam questions.

At the beginning of the fourth question, the problem is pointed out: "My country has been starting a business with Shenwu since Emperor Taizu Gao, and ...... with Shenwu"

This question asks, why is the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty not as good as the three generations of Yao Shunyu? Where do I go from here?

Reading through the four questions, they are all around the rule of etiquette, and it is the emperor through thinking and emotion, step by step, there is not only a reflection on history, but also a reverie about the current situation, even the Hongzhi Emperor himself did not dare to say that he had found the exact answer, but hoped to help the emperor solve his worries and doubts through the hands of the tributes.

The palace test is not entirely about the knowledge of the scholars, as well as the ability to write eight-strand essays and argumentative essays, but to test the ******** of the scholars.

The so-called ******** sounds very profound, but to sum up, it is just to distinguish the primary and secondary relationship between the monarchs of heaven and earth under Confucianism, know the means of the emperor and the foolish people, help the emperor govern the country, and educate the people.

The reason why Confucianism has been respected is precisely because Confucianism is well in line with the purpose of the emperor's governance, so that the emperor feels that as long as the scholars learn Confucianism well and can be regarded as a classic, it will not affect their rule. Confucianism is basically the same as the "ideological and political lessons" of the feudal dynasty.

Candidates must be knowledgeable, first of all, they must have ideological awareness, you have learned the Legalist and Mohist sets, and when you turn back to the emperor, you will rebel, or even rebel, how can the emperor let you study, and even list it as a subject for the imperial examination?

Returning to the policy of "the rule of etiquette and music", Shen Xi has understood the direction he wants to discuss. The first thing to cater to is Emperor Hongzhi's pursuit of "the rule of etiquette".

As an emperor, who doesn't want to be in the palace, the world will be subjugated, and the four seas will be peaceful?

But it is really difficult to implement, not to mention natural disasters, even *, it has not been cut off every year, the Hongzhi Dynasty is generally stable in the country, but local disasters are still continuous, the northwest has just ended, and there are still ethnic minorities in southern Xinjiang who rebel, if you can really achieve the "rule of etiquette", there will not be so many bad things.

Shen Xi needs to start from some practical situations.

Why is the rule of etiquette and music not as good as the three generations of ancient Yao Shunyu? That's not because Your Majesty is not holy enough, not because the courtiers don't work hard enough, and not because the people are not loyal to the monarch and patriotic, but because the people lack education, and the people lack a "positive energy", and they need to guide the people's thoughts through public opinion.

Scholars learn Confucianism and follow a set of theories of Xiu Qi Zhiping, but those Bai Ding who have never read books, who taught them the way of Wang Hua? Then the local government should set up a private academic forum, let the people listen to the lectures, and convey the painstaking efforts of the emperor to govern the country with etiquette and music to the people, so that the people will be grateful for the kindness of the Son of Heaven and accept the education of etiquette and music......

Shen Xi found that writing this kind of article was the most headache, because there was not a single sentence in the whole article that he wanted to say, and the methods he proposed were simply "bad moves" from the perspective of social progress, teaching the people how to regress in their ********.

But from another point of view, at least according to his implementation, the people can at least be more stable, in line with the wishes of the ruler.

The court accepted his proposal, or it could bring a short period of stability, and the people would have the illusion that "I live happily", but I was afraid that when the people had no way to live after some catastrophes, they would scold, I couldn't even fucking eat, and the disaster relief food was not distributed to me, and what did I say about loyalty and patriotism......

Later, we will talk about it later.

Shen Xi didn't take his article too seriously, and he calmed down at the moment, this is just a imperial examination, don't think about it so much.

As long as there is a scale in your heart, you can distinguish between right and wrong, and how to write it depends on the preferences and tastes of the person who reads the papers.

While Shen Xi was writing hard, other candidates were also completing their own essays.

By the turn of the afternoon, the sun was setting in the west, and the candidates' pens basically stopped.

The rules are the same, you have to close the paper after writing, because the paper cannot be changed, and you will find out that there are mistakes and omissions after the exam, which will only add trouble to yourself.

**********

PS: The fourth update is sent!

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