Chapter 75: Treating the root cause:
There were many good rice wines in the south during the Ming Dynasty, and they were all used as a good wine to entertain guests.
Rice wine is easier to drink than white wine, and it also sobers up faster than white wine. Shortly after Yu Zongyuan checked out and left, Chen Chaoyuan, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai slowly woke up.
Lin Qingcai touched the greeting card in his arms and said to Su Ze: "Brother Su, this second young master has a bad reputation in Yanping Mansion, so he may not be a good friend."
Su Ze said nonchalantly: "I know this, Brother Lin Don't worry, Su knows it well."
Lin Qingcai still sighed worriedly, but he and Su Ze had only known each other for two days, and he couldn't just criticize Su Ze on how to make friends, so he had to sigh again, support the other two classmates, Returned to the county school with Su Ze.
Because among the four of them, except Chen Chaoyuan, who lives in the city, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai both live outside the city. In particular, Xiong Yue's family lives at the foot of Wuyi Mountain, further away than Su Ze's Changning Guard.
So they all stayed in the school building for one night today and went home early tomorrow morning.
On the way back, a cool breeze blew, and everyone sobered up a bit. They were all students gathering together, but when they arrived at the school building, they couldn't sleep.
Among the four people, except Su Ze, the other three have been studying since childhood. Chen Chaoyuan has been reading for twenty years. He has read through the Four Books and the chapters and sentences of the Four Books. The classic he governs is the "Book of Changes". Now in The stage of studying the Book of Changes.
Since they are all scholars, the imperial examination is naturally the first topic.
Chen Chaoyuan had participated in several boy examinations and was the oldest, so he naturally started the conversation.
"Brother Su, you haven't chosen the classics yet, have you?"
Su Ze nodded. When Hai Rui first entered school, he tested everyone's homework. Su Ze admitted at that time that he had not chosen the classics yet.
Chen Chaoyuan said: "How old I am, so I call myself my brother. As a brother, I advise you not to choose the Book of Changes." "
Why is this?"
Chen Chaoyuan said with emotion: "At the banquet, I heard the Second Young Master Yu say that you are proficient in it. I am afraid that you want to study the "Book of Changes" in the Plum Blossom Technique, so I am reminding you that I have taken the Boy's Examination several times, but I have always failed on this "Book of Changes" question." The content of the county examination was in the early Ming Dynasty
. It was relatively casual, and the format became relatively fixed during the Chenghua period, but basically the first session was all about classics and meaning.
One is "The Meanings of the Four Books" and the other is "The Meanings of the Five Classics". The answer format for this question is the eight-part essay, which tests the understanding of the Four Books and the Five Classics.
The meaning of the Four Books is a common test for everyone, because all scholars must learn the Four Books.
The meaning of the Five Classics consists of five questions. During the exam, the questions are written on wooden plaques. You can write the answers to whichever questions you choose in the classics. The classics are chosen before the imperial examination and cannot be changed in the examination room.
The second section of the county examination is a test on law and judgment. To put it bluntly, it is a judicial examination and jurisprudence of well-known judgments.
The third course is the policy examination, which is a historical essay. It is a small policy essay and does not require the format of an eight-legged essay.
It sounds very complicated. In fact, after the Chenghua Year, the county examination basically removes candidates in the first test, and basically does not remove candidates in the second and third examinations.
Things like legal judgment and policy are not taken seriously in the subsequent examinations anyway. When it comes to the provincial examination, the first eight-part essay that examines the meaning of the classics is also the one that is focused on. As long as the previous examination is passed, the ranking will not be too high. Difference.
Therefore, the imperial examination is a bit like the elective for the college entrance examination, because those who take physics and chemistry may have to compare their overall scores with those who take geography and biology, so you need to be very careful when taking the classics.
Chen Chaoyuan sighed and said: "There are really too many scholars in Nanping County who are studying the "Book of Changes". The headmaster of Yanping Academy is a great scholar in "Book of Changes". At that time, I was coveting that the number of words in the "Book of Changes" was small and it would be cheaper to copy. It's too late to regret it now."
Everyone fell silent. Everyone was from a poor family, so of course they knew why so many people chose the "Book of Changes". Zhu Xi made commentaries on the "Book of Changes", "Shangshu" and "The Book of Songs", which means that these three classics have the standard answers of the official ideology.
"Spring and Autumn" uses the three biographies of Zuo Shi, Gongyang and Guliang, as well as the biographies of Huan Guo and Zhang Qia, and the "Book of Rites" uses ancient commentaries. There are some things that are contrary to the official ideology. Without a famous teacher, there is no way to get started. Disciples from poor families generally don't choose it.
The "Book of Changes" has a small number of words. In these days, whether it is buying or copying books, it is a huge expense for children from poor families. Therefore, the most students from poor families like Chen Chaoyuan choose to study "The Book of Changes".
Because there were so many people taking it as an elective, the "Book of Changes" was given extra weight in the imperial examinations, and the test questions became more and more difficult.
Chen Chaoyuan has learned the Four Books well, but he always loses points on the "Book of Changes" exam questions.
"In Brother Chen's opinion, which book should be treated?"
Chen Chaoyuan said, "The Book of Songs!"
Seeing the other two people nodding, Su Ze asked, "Why is this?"
"The Book of Songs has a collection by Zhu Zi. It is said that you can study by yourself. There are fewer scholars in Nanping who write the Book of Songs than the Book of Changes, and the competition is not so fierce."
Su Ze asked: "Brother Chen, which book of scriptures has the fewest people in Nanping County? "
Chen Chaoyuan lowered his head and said, "Of course it's the Spring and Autumn Annals." "
This "Spring and Autumn Annals" is a subtle statement of great meaning. Although there are not many words, there are too many biographies of Zuo, Gongyang and Guliang, as well as Huan Guo and Zhang Qia. The volume is so vast that ordinary scholars cannot read it, let alone its subtleties, which cannot be learned by anyone without the guidance of a famous teacher." Sure enough,
this is pretty much what Su Ze thought.
Even though the imperial examination seemed fair, it was also unfair.
Not to mention off-site factors such as cheating in imperial examinations, there is a huge gap between those taught by famous teachers and those taught by oneself.
When it comes to taking the Five Classics, it seems that poor students have a choice. In fact, the only ones that can learn by themselves are the "Book of Changes" and "The Book of Songs", and these tracks are extremely difficult to pass.
But those children from rich families can hire famous teachers and take elective courses such as "Spring and Autumn", "Shang Shu" and "Book of Rites" that poor people dare not study. This makes it easier for children from poor families to pass the exam.
Su Ze knew that Chen Chaoyuan was doing it for his own good, but he was a systematic person. Su Ze had already made a decision in his mind as to what kind of treatment he should treat.
He still said: "Thank you Brother Chen for your guidance, which saved Su from taking a detour."
Chen Chaoyuan said: "Brother Su is a genius and can solve the county magistrate's delicate questions. As long as he studies well for a few years, he will definitely be admitted as a scholar. "
Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai also nodded.
It's not that they looked down on Su Ze. It would take several years to learn a classic. Su Ze had not yet mastered the fundamentals, so saying that he could become a scholar in a few years was already a compliment.
Su Ze looked at his imperial examination level 3, which was 105/300. As long as he kept studying at this pace, he would definitely be able to reach level 5 before the county examination next year.
After talking about the imperial examination, the four of them began to discuss the current popular academics.
(End of chapter)