Becoming a scholar will mean that a student has entered the real scholar class, and then he has to consider a problem, how to govern the country.

The reason why the way of Confucius and Mencius has been adopted by the rulers of successive dynasties is that Confucianism is very demagogic in politics, which repeatedly emphasizes that "the people are noble and the monarch is light", but also reiterates that "the ruler of heaven and earth is the prince and the teacher", puts the ruler in a very high position, and preaches a kind of thinking that "the king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die".

In the second question, the focus of Ji Ning's discussion is that "water can carry a boat and also overturn a boat". Mourning the Father", also from the words of the great sage Confucius: "The monarch, the boat; Those who are common to the people, the water is also; The water carries the boat, and the water capsits the boat. ”

It expresses that the king is a boat, and the people of Li are born as water, and all the people can carry the king, and at the same time, it can also overturn the country, which well expresses the idea that the people are noble and the king is light.

In later generations, when it comes to "the people are noble and the monarch is light", many people can naturally think of this sentence, all because of the quotation of Wei Zheng in the early Tang Dynasty.

In "Zhenguan Dignitaries? On the Form of Government" recorded Wei Zheng's words: "The minister heard the ancient saying, 'Jun, Zhou also; People, water too. Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize a boat'. His Majesty thought it was terrible, and it was like a holy decree. ”

It is precisely because of Wei Zheng's quotation and the influence of Zhenguan's rule that this sentence has become famous at home, and successive monarchs and scholars will use this sentence as a golden motto to advise kings, regulate themselves, and study historical trends. And in this time and space, there is no Tang Taizong, no Wei Zheng, and no Zhenguan rule, and the idea that Ji Ning wants to put forward is of epoch-making significance.

Reading more than 10,000 volumes can be sketched out in his heart, and he could have written directly on the test paper, but for the sake of prudence, he still wrote it on scratch paper first, so that it could be checked and revised: "The heart of a saint lies in forgiveness, and the king can be poured by the water of all people......

The first sentence is to name the main idea, which is also a breakthrough statement. After solving the problem, he began to discuss the specific argument that "water can carry a boat and can also overturn a boat", which was written in the article.

When Ji Ning wrote the second article, he felt very good, and he also had a lot of ideas about governing the country in his heart that he couldn't express, and he also took the opportunity of an exam to express what he thought in his heart, even if it didn't matter whether he was admitted in the end, he had to put these thoughts on paper.

Just as he was writing, he felt that there was a mighty righteousness emerging in his heart, and Ji Ning tried his best to collect his mind.

Write into an article.

……

……

When the second question was finished, it was just past noon on the first day, and Ji Ning didn't feel hungry in his stomach, so he wanted to finish all the three volumes and four books before eating.

After all, there are five scriptures after the four scriptures, and writing four scriptures on the first day, five scriptures on the second day, and checking on the third day are also good plans and arrangements.

He re-examined the third question, which is also the most difficult question in the eyes of many candidates, which is the interception question "The country has no way to die." Is it tolerable, or is it unbearable? ”

The first half of the sentence is from "The Mean", which is Zilu asking Confucius what is strong, and Confucius made a discussion, believing that "the country has no way until death remains unchanged" is a way of expression of human strength, which means: "When the country is dark, we must adhere to integrity."

But the second half of the sentence seems to deviate the meaning again, is it tolerable or unbearable, is this bearable, what can't be endured?

In other words, when you can't bear it, you can't bear it!

On the one hand, he said that the country and the monarch would remain unchanged until death when they were dark, and that this was the strength of the human heart, and on the other hand, they said that they could not bear it, so what would they express when the two sentences were combined?

Most ordinary candidates will discuss from the first half, because they must maintain integrity, which is also considered with the direction of the feudal imperial examination, and it is impossible for anyone who asks the question to promote a kind of betrayal of the monarch, so the second half of the sentence of "is tolerable or unbearable" will become redundant and meaningless.

Ji Ning can feel a "resentful" impulse between the lines, it seems that the examiner who wrote the question has an indignation at "the country has no way", either directly asking the question "the country has no way to die", or "neutral and unleaning", it is more appropriate than adding "is it tolerable or unbearable", Ji Ning can only understand that this is the examiner's intention to test the candidates, do you dare to break the preconceptions, dare not to judge!

If the country and the monarch have no way, they should correct it, rather than let it go, otherwise there will be no martial king, and even the great sage Confucius will definitely not support a cruel and unkind king.

But Ji Ning has to think about his own argument again, if what he says is too extreme, he is asking for trouble, so he can only euphemistically express that if the king is wrong, he must regulate it, and if the way of heaven is not prosperous, he must conform to the people's will.

It doesn't say that he wants to overthrow the king's rule, but he just says that he must conform to the way of heaven and the will of the people, which is where Ji Ning wrote this article cleverly.

This can not only fit the theme well, but also will not be accused of rebellion with his article. As for why the examiner had such radical thoughts, he did not know.

……

……

After completing the three and four essays, Ji Ning checked the essay repeatedly, and then transcribed it on the test paper.

Seeing that it was getting late, he didn't force himself to do the four pentacant on the first day, and he didn't even go through the questions because it would make him lose his mind on the first night.

Soon it was sunset, and as the sky darkened, the house was already in the darkness of the fraud case, and in a closed and small space, it would make people feel helpless. Ji Ning only has three candles on hand, these three candles are not used to illuminate and drive away the loneliness in his heart, but to make papers overnight in the event of an emergency that cannot be completed in the exam, which belongs to being prepared, so he will not take them out.

Ji Ning slept all night, and when he got up in the morning, he heard a noisy sound outside, it turned out that someone couldn't stand the examination environment of the township exam, and was shouting to leave the tribute courtyard, but was dragged out of the tribute courtyard by the patrol personnel.

The soldiers guarding the examination house outside were still muttering: "If you take the exam, you can be a master, and there is a reason for giving up?" ”

Ji Ning smiled, maybe in the eyes of these Bai Ding's soldiers, scholars are a very sacred profession, but they couldn't imagine that in fact, the talents of scholars are three, six, nine, etc., especially those who rely on hereditary and concealed identities to obtain the qualifications of examiners, many of them are very young, and they can't bear the hardships in the examination house at all.

Even if they stay in the examination house for nine days and eight nights, they may not be able to make a good article, so simply leaving early is also a manifestation of self-knowledge.

Ji Ning simply ate the breakfast that Yu Ling carefully prepared for him yesterday, opened the volume of the Five Classics, and prepared for the next day's exam.

The main scripture in his Five Classics is the Book of Songs, so the four five verses will be from the Book of Songs.