Three drums from Mingyuan Tower sounded, and the exam officially began.
The outside of the examination room has been locked. If candidates need to go out to use the toilet, they must be accompanied by a special person to keep a close eye on them to prevent fraud. The clerk will hand the examination papers to the candidates through the small door reserved in the dormitory.
In the first session, there were three questions from the Four Books and four questions from the Five Classics. The time was a little tight, but the candidates who were able to come here had gone through a lot of practice. There are several rules in the candidate's answer sheet that cannot be touched.
First, all examination papers must be written in ink. Second, the examinee's name, age, place of origin, and names of three generations should be written first, as well as the classics that the examinee studied in school. Third, the imperial name and temple name of the emperor of the current dynasty should be avoided in the text, and It is not allowed to self-preface (to prevent cheating). Fourth, candidates are not allowed to answer each other's questions or ask someone to answer questions. If it is already dusk before answering the questions, burn three candles. Regardless of whether they have finished answering or not, hold out the candles you received before. That’s what it’s used for.
After Li Jie got the test paper, he opened it immediately and began to review the questions. According to the practice of focusing on the first test and the first question, he must go all out for the questions on the Four Books and Five Classics in the first test. If he did not do well in the first test, then he would not be able to do it in the second and third tests. No matter how well you do in the exam, it won't help.
The first question of the Four Books: Serve the king with respect and then eat with him. It comes from "The Analects". When Li Jie saw the first question, he couldn't help but think of the profound meaning of Zhang Yuanzhen's question. This sentence means: "To serve the king, you must first Please do what you have to do, fulfill your responsibilities, and put your salary behind."
Zhu Xi elaborated in a collection of notes: "The official position of a gentleman is that those who have official duties should cultivate their duties, and those who have spoken out and responsibilities should be loyal to them. They are all done out of respect for me, and you must not seek salary first."
The general idea is that a gentleman should be loyal to his duties and fulfill his responsibilities as an official. The first thing we must respect is our own ministry, and we must not first seek salary.
Zhang Yuanzhen asked this question probably because he was dissatisfied with the lackluster official administration during the Xianzong period. The government was basically in the hands of eunuchs and powerful ministers. These people formed cliques for personal gain but did not know how to make plans for national affairs. The government was neglected and the official administration was increasingly corrupt. The "three paper elders" headed by An only care about themselves and not the country.
After Xiaozong Zhu Youtang came to power, these sycophants and friends were basically eliminated. Liu Ji was the only one left among the "paper-paste three pavilion elders". Zhang Yuanzhen thought this question was for these people. ridicule.
Thinking of this, I already have a rough idea of solving the problem in my mind. After thinking about it for a while, I will write to solve the problem.
"When a sage talks about the righteousness of people and ministers, he only commits suicide without seeking benefits." Kezun's commentary condenses the meaning of Confucius and Zhu Xi into two short sentences.
Then he continued with the title: "My husband is an official for the sake of salary, which is not why he serves the king; he seeks his own safety in pursuit of career, but he does not care about his salary. The master's words are therefore the defense of others and ministers."
The general idea is that if you become an official for the sake of money, this is not what you should do as a minister. As long as you do your job well, will your salary be less? Confucius' words teach us how to be a competent minister.
Regarding Zhu Xi's annotation "You must not seek salary first", I think most candidates narrated it from the positive side. Li Jie started from the negative side and never started with self-interest and family enrichment. In this way, when marking, the marking officer After seeing a large number of homogeneous answer sheets, your eyes will definitely shine when you see Li Jie's answer sheet, and it will be easier to stand out.
Grasp the key points, answer the subsequent questions in one go, and look at the next four-book question.
"If rituals and music are not popular, punishment will not be adequate."
From "The Analects of Confucius·Zilu", the following sentence is "If the punishment is not enough, the people will be at a loss."
It means that if the ritual and music system is disordered, the punishment will be inappropriate; if the punishment is not appropriate, the people will be at a loss what to do.
Zhu Xi said in his commentary on this section: "When things are in order, it is called ritual, and when things are in harmony, it is called joy. If things fail to be accomplished, there will be disorder and harmony, so ritual and music will flourish. If ritual and music are not enough, then give them to others." All political affairs are out of order, so the punishment is not up to the mark.”
The classic questions in the provincial examination and the general examination are all big questions. There are no cut-and-close questions like the boy's examination. It will not be too difficult to solve the questions and there will be no unclear examination of the questions. It will be more difficult to excel in the examination. Well, if you want to do a good job in conception, it is particularly important to feel the pulse of the examiner.
Seeing this question, I guess it was Zhang Yuanzhen who expressed his dissatisfaction with the court during the Xianzong period. After Zhu Jianshen just came to the throne, he wrote to Zhu Jianshen to "lecture diligently, listen respectfully to politics, and use talents widely", hoping to show his ambitions under the new emperor. .
Who would have expected that Zhu Jianshen would ignore him and just ignore him. However, later Zhu Jianshen favored the eunuchs and monks, neglected the government affairs, and was at odds with his superiors. Zhang Yuanzhen became disheartened and stayed at home for twenty years due to illness, until he saw Xiaozong Zhu Youtang had the appearance of a ruler of the people before he entered the court again.
Having figured out Zhang Yuanzhen's thoughts, Li Jie wrote to solve the problem.
"The reason why punishment fails is because we know that rituals and music cannot be abolished."
Then he narrates the relationship between rituals and music and punishment, and explains the reasons why punishments are not successful due to the lack of rituals and music, and reveals that if rituals and music are not popular, punishment will inevitably have various disadvantages.
Ritual and music are very important words in ancient times. Confucius has many descriptions of ritual and music. When it comes to governing a country, if a country wants to be harmonious and stable, it must comply with etiquette and upright music. When it comes to dealing with people, etiquette can also cultivate people. The realm and sentiment make people open-minded and open-minded, and they know how to regulate their own behavior.
What is etiquette? It is order. Everything in order is called etiquette. Music is virtue, which is completely different from the music we talk about now.
"Book of Rites·Yue Ji" says: "Music is not just Huang Zhong Da Lu, Xian Ge Qian Yang, but also the end of music."
Virtue does not mean the current morality. At that time, Dao and Virtue were two separate concepts. Virtue is something that develops and changes in accordance with the laws of Dao.
As for Tao, it is the ultimate proposition in various schools of thought. Without enlightenment, the theory cannot be self-perfected, and it cannot become official orthodoxy. Both Taoism and Buddhism have clear answers to this question.
Confucianism advocates benevolent government and rule by etiquette, but there is no explanation as to why it should be done so. It was not until the formation of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty that "natural principles" were used to answer this question, and Confucianism achieved official orthodox status.
After finishing the three questions and four book questions, it was already past noon. Time always passes quickly when you are highly focused. Usually, Li Jie would be hungry and want to eat at one o'clock. Today, he was so focused on answering the questions that he even forgot to eat.
When I came to my senses, I stopped copying the answer sheets for the time being. The most important thing was to fill my stomach. The cooked food in the test box would go bad if I didn't eat it quickly. First, charcoal was used to boil water. Before the water boiled, Li Jie asked the inspector to go to the toilet. After solving his personal physiological problems, he returned to the examination room refreshed and energetic.
Seeing that the water in the pot is getting hot, tear the prepared meat patties and pour them in, add the prepared vegetables in advance, and a pot of hot soup is ready. Eat it with the fried chicken cut into strips. After eating, I took a nap to recharge my batteries.
After waking up, Li Jie patted his cheek and looked at the title of the Five Classics. After the Five Classics, Li Jie chose the title of his own classic "Shang Shu".
