Gongin.

A civil service examination representing the highest level of Daming is underway.

The first scene, the four books and scriptures.

In the examination room, a soldier who invigilated the examination walked from the place near the gate of the examination booth to the inside, and saw a person holding his hair with his hands in a daze, and when he returned, he found that this person was still there in a daze, and his eyes were motionless.

"It's weird!"

The soldier muttered quietly.

When entering the venue, the yacha and the soldiers clearly saw that this candidate was relying on the brocade guards to open the way to occupy the house, the position was the best, the second on the side, and not occupying the first one meant that it could not be taken out, so that the wind would not be too strong when resting at night.

The soldier wondered in his heart, only thinking that this candidate had something to do with Jinyiwei, or a military household or something, and someone in the family came to occupy a position.

Then the soldiers went inside to patrol the field.

This person is naturally Zhang Zhou.

Inside and outside the court outside the tribute court, they were making suggestions for the war in the northwest, and the emperor was worried, and the ministers also had to share their worries.

And Zhang Zhou is researching...... The questions you are facing, which ones may involve "problems".

His focus is obviously different from that of ordinary candidates.

This exam, the time can be regarded as abundant, the first test can be taken for three days, the "resources" are very complete, not only the food is the best, but also brought charcoal, which is the red charcoal used in the palace, absolutely smokeless and tasteless, the heating effect is first-class, and even the porridge here is with longan lotus seeds...... Just ask who can compare this condition!

The conditions are good, but when I do the questions, I am obviously a little absent-minded.

All morning, he didn't put pen to paper.

In front of him are three and four major inscriptions, one each of the Analects and Mencius, and one is the title of the Mean.

The title of "The Analects" seems to be relatively simple: "Zi said: Reciting poems for 300 years, teaching them to govern, but not reaching them." It can be used in all directions, and cannot be specialized. Although there are many, do you think so? ”

Meaning, Confucius said that if he can skillfully recite the "Poems" 300, give him an official position to handle government affairs, but he can't do it, send him to the Quartet, and he can't deal with diplomatic affairs independently. Then the question arises, although there is a lot of reading, what is the use?

It's about applying what you've learned.

Zhang Zhou pondered for a while, this question is not like Cheng Minzheng's style.

It sounds like Li Dongyang is satirizing Cheng Minzheng that he will die studying and will not be an official, unless Cheng Minzheng thinks that he is very good at handling official affairs, he will not use his own shortcomings to solve the problem, and this question will involve the question...... Unrealistic.

The second question, "Mencius": "Confucius said: 'Boy, listen! Qing Si is wet, and turbidity is enough. Take it for yourself. 'The lady will insult herself, and then she will be insulted; The house will destroy itself, and the generations after it will destroy it; The kingdom will cut down itself, and the descendants will cut it down. "Taijia" said: 'Heaven is evil, it is still violated; and thou shalt not live. That's what it means. ”

This means:

Confucius said, "Disciples, listen well! The water is clear and the hat is washed, and the water is turbid and the feet are washed, in fact, it depends on each person. "Therefore a man must first bring shame upon himself, and then another insults him; The home must first have the element of self-destruction, and then others can destroy it; The country must first have a reason for its own crusade, and then others can crusade against it. "Shangshu Taijia" says: "The sins created by heaven can still be escaped; The sins of their own making, but there is nowhere to escape. That's exactly what it means.

Zhang Zhou carefully analyzed the intention of this question.

This question is obviously a bit "biased".

In general, the questions of the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty are basically based on "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith", and the topics of benevolence and etiquette are the most, because in the two classics of "Analects" and "Mencius", the content of benevolence and etiquette is the broadest, and it is also the most emphasis on pen and ink.

The first question may also have the meaning of persuading students to apply their learning, which can be relatively conservative.

The second question began to go against the principle of cultivating the mind, involving the issue of heavenly sinfulness and self-inflicted iniquity, Zhang Zhou thought about it, is this implying that the Zhang family brothers cannot live if they are self-inflicted? Or are you talking about me?

Even Zhu Xi's "Commentary on the Collection of Mencius" explains its meaning: "This chapter says that if the heart exists, there are several gains and losses based on the judgment, and if it does not exist, it is impossible to distinguish the existence from the dead." Blessings and misfortunes come at their own expense. ”

Probably a bit fatalistic.

Analyze from the perspective of the questioner.

Zhang Zhou feels that the direction of the second question is still Li Dongyang's style of acupuncture.

……

……

There are three examinations in the examination, and the first one is the most important in the final admission.

And the three questions and four books and essays, and the titles of "Analects" and "Mencius" are important, these two questions, Zhang Zhou feels like Li Dongyang, then Cheng Minzheng is actually on the weak side of the two main exams in this examination, which is not a good thing for Cheng Minzheng.

In the same main exam, Cheng Minzheng did not occupy the initiative to come up with the questions, and on the two most important questions, Li Dongyang came out.

But once those small questions are biased, people with intentions will target him......

From these two questions alone, even if you don't care about the topics of the Five Classics, as well as the questions to be asked in the last two sessions, especially the questions in the third session, Zhang Zhou can feel that the possibility of Cheng Minzheng being involved in the questions is still very large.

The main reason is that Cheng Minzheng is highly educated and famous, but he has not integrated into the inner circle of officialdom.

Just looking at such a question, Li Dongyang came up with all the important questions, and he was only responsible for some small questions with general leftovers, which can reflect this.

Question 3 of the 4th Text.

The title of "The Mean": "The five ways of the world, so the three who do it." Said: Gentlemen and ministers, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, Kundi, and friends. Five, the way of the world. Knowledge, benevolence, and courage are the three virtues of the world. So the one who does it is also. Or born to know, or learned to know, or sleepy to know, and one of them. Or do it safely, or do it for profit, or do it reluctantly, and its success is also. ”

This topic, Zhang Zhou knew that it was Cheng Minzheng's style when he saw it.

Speak of "wisdom, love, and courage", and then talk about honesty and single-mindedness, and discuss it as a virtue......

Probably only an optimist like Cheng Minzheng, who likes to study knowledge, will ask people to discuss how to achieve the standard of virtue in the examination, and a professional politician like Li Dongyang is too lazy to pay attention to this kind of thing.

At first glance, the second question "Mencius" is off-topic.

But if you look closely, this kind of topic ...... It's called no nutrition.

It is estimated that the standards taken by Cheng Minzheng are all scholars like Tang Yin who only pay attention to the understanding of the scriptures and meanings, and are not good at governing the country and discussing the major affairs of the imperial court.

This is just like the discussion in the first question of "The Analects", if you can read and study your knowledge thoroughly, you will not be an official, and you will not be a good material for governing the world.

Zhang Zhou wanted to say.

You Cheng Minzheng are such a nerd!

……

……

Pentateuch questions.

Zhang Zhou's scripture is the "Book of Songs", and in the imperial examination, the number of candidates who choose the "Book of Songs" as the scripture is actually the most, but in fact, the difference is not big.

Each person's scripture is different, so that the questions answered are different, and the direction of the discussion written in the Pentateuch is also different, which makes it difficult to distinguish between high and low knowledge from the Pentateuch examination questions.

Some people take the A paper, some people take the B paper, even if there is a standard scoring system, can it be said that the person who scores high in the A paper must be more knowledgeable than the person with the low score in the B paper?

Not to mention......

The person who examines the scriptures is the article, that is, the writing essay.

Unless the difference is really big, the score of the last five verses still depends on the preference of the examiner.

Zhang Zhou found a large number of Cheng Minzheng's style of writing questions from the examination questions of the five scriptures, that is, he talked about governance rather than governing the country, and occasionally mentioned that governing the country was also a general mention of benevolence, righteousness and morality, and took this as the standard for governing the country...... It seems to be biased.

The title of the Four Books and the Five Classics.

Zhang Zhou looked at it and found that there should be no questions that could be involved.

Or rather...... Cheng Minzheng is not qualified yet.

Unless someone framed him after the exam, saying that someone had taken the corresponding question outside to spread the word that this was an exam question before the exam, and it happened to be stuck on the idea, and the person who wrote the question was Cheng Minzheng, which also has high requirements for candidates to analyze the way Li Dongyang and Cheng Minzheng act, as well as their status in the court.

Zhang Zhou is a traverser, who is equivalent to a person who summarizes historical figures, and it is very easy to analyze Li Dongyang and Cheng Minzheng.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Li Dongyang is a pavilion elder, Cheng Minzheng or a bachelor of Hanlin, why do you think that some topics can be made by a senior scholar, not a bachelor of Hanlin? Even in most people's hearts, Cheng Minzheng is still on top of these two examiners.

But I'm afraid......

Someone with a heart.

Those who are familiar with the political pattern of the DPRK and China, once they encounter setbacks in the exam, for example, in the 12th year of Hongzhi examination in history, they encounter such a difficult question as "Four Sons' Attainments", they will think that the question must be Cheng Minzheng's goods, and in anger, they will think of the court pattern, knowing that Cheng Minzheng is suppressed, and then the dirty water can be splashed out.

Of course, it is also up to those with teeth and claws to pull hatred......

For example, Xu Jing and Tang Yin, two scholars who don't know the height of the sky.

But the reality that Zhang Zhou faced was that the hole in the question of the 12th year of Hongzhi in history had been filled in by him.

It is impossible for the exam questions of the four sons' attainments to come out again, but who knows if Cheng Minzheng will show off his talent and learning in the third test question, especially in Jing Shi Ce, and come to an exam question that will make the candidates vomit blood?

……

……

Day 1.

Zhang Zhou didn't even study the ink, he was not in a hurry, he had read the topic, the article already had a draft in his heart, and he didn't need to answer it directly on the exam paper, there should be a draft or a draft.

In fact, the imperial examination, even if there is no draft, no one will care, after all, this is to write an article, not to do arithmetic questions must have an arithmetic formula, especially in the examinations at all levels before the township examination, there are confident people who directly answer the papers.

In recent years, the practice of scholars is "reading more than 10,000 volumes and writing like a god", and some of them still use this as a way to show off their talents.

Zhang Zhou didn't need to show anything.

Finish the exam in a down-to-earth manner, no matter whether you take it or not, anyway, after the exam is over, he just has an official position.

"It's so fragrant......"

After dark, some candidates are still lighting candles to answer.

And Zhang Zhou was already eating bacon grilled with red Luo charcoal...... Bacon is still the craft of Shang Shan Jian ...... The aroma that came out of the roast to half of it made the surrounding candidates think about the exam greatly.

Although they are all candidates.

But the focus of the mind is different.

(End of chapter)