In the dog days of Fujian, the sky and the earth are like steamers.
It was only the morning, the sun was not high, and when I came back from a short walk, I was covered in sweat.
The windows in the hut where Zhang Yue and the others studied were all wide open, but they still couldn't bear the steaming heat.
In the afternoon, Guo Lin and Miss Miao were still sitting in the hut reading. Zhang Yue couldn't stand the heat, so he asked a lame slave to borrow a piece of bamboo and moved it to a tree shaded by pine trees, then set up a mosquito net to rest.
After Zhang Yue slept happily for an hour or two under the forest at noon, he did not go back to the hut to study, but went to the stream to drink water.
Zhang Yue soaked his whole body in the cold stream, and suddenly felt that he was exhausted by the sun, and now he was full of energy. After Zhang Yue swam by the stream for nearly half an hour, when the heat had mostly dissipated, he put on his clothes and walked back to the thatched cottage with his shoes and socks on his bare feet.
At this time, Zhang Yue couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Guo Lin being tortured into a state of disgrace.
On weekdays, Guo Lin could wear short shirts or middle coats when studying in the hut, but when Miao Sanniang was around, he had to wear long shirts and socks, and he had to wear them tightly, not showing any skin except his face.
Even if Guo Lin wanted to take it off, he wouldn't dare because the tall servant outside was watching.
It was still bright at this time, and Miao Sanniang had already packed her bags and prepared to go home with her servants.
Zhang Yue didn't know that Miao Sanniang and Guo Lin had such a conversation in the room today.
In the hut, Miao Sanniang couldn't help but be a little surprised when she saw Zhang Yue in the distance with his hands as a pillow, his legs on stilts, wearing a short shirt with his belly exposed, only covered by a cattail leaf fan, and then sleeping under the forest.
"Senior Brother Zhang, is he actually sleeping during the day?"
Guo Lin on the side was shaking a cattail leaf fan and holding a piece of paper while sweating profusely while reciting. Hearing what Miao Sanniang said and replied: "Junior brother, he has always been like this."
"The days are short in winter and the nights are long. As soon as it gets dark, you have to turn on the lights. If you don't study in summer, how long will you wait?"
Guo Lin said: "Although junior brother is a bit lazy, his talent is beyond my reach."
"How smart?"
"Junior Sister, how many days did you memorize the Filial Piety Sutra?"
Miao Sanniang also studied in women's school. Most of the courses in women's school were about caring for her husband and raising children outside the boudoir, and being filial to her parents at home. Miao Sanniang has read "Biography of Women" and "Nv Jie", and has also read "The Classic of Filial Piety" and "The Analects of Confucius".
But generally speaking, women can only study here, but Miao Sanniang also read the "Book of Rites" and "The Book of Songs".
She is only slightly deficient in arithmetic, but most people are really not as good as her in terms of reading.
Miao Sanniang thought for a moment and said, "When the female teacher taught me, it probably took me three or four days."
"Junior sister is really smart. I also used it... for three days. But Junior Brother Zhang only used it for one day!"
A strange look flashed in Miao Sanniang's eyes, and she said with relief after a moment: "No wonder...Junior Brother Zhang is self-reliant in memorizing what he has seen, so that's why he doesn't study hard. The pond is shallow and easy to fill. This is not worth it. He is not a real scholar."
Zhang Shi was stunned: "Then what's the point? He is a real scholar."
Miao Sanniang said leisurely: "Of course he is a scholar who is highly talented, willing to work hard, and can be humble and polite... just like..." The last part of the sentence was like a mosquito.
Zhang Shi didn't know what he meant at first, but then he lowered his head with a red face, so he put on his clothes more tightly and continued to sit upright and read.
Miss Miao San smiled when she saw this, glanced at the servant outside the door and thought, Ah Qi won't have to come in a few days.
Soon after the two people in the house heard the chapter, they chanted more and more: "Sit down and straighten your white single clothes, get up and put on yellow straw shoes. After washing up in the dining room, you slowly go down the steps."
"The summer breeze changes slightly, and the days gradually add up. The courtyard is quiet and gloomy, and the birds are singing in the new-leafed trees."
"Walking alone or lying alone, the summer scenery is not yet twilight. If you don't sleep at noon, you can spend the long day safely."
Seeing that Zhang Yue had woken up, the two of them did not take advantage of the heat to go into the house to study. Instead, they wore short shirts and went to the stream to drink water.
Miao Sanniang said: "It's a pity that I received my talent from God and wasted my time like this."
It was very hot in the afternoon, so Guo Xuexue only taught in the morning and went back to his room to rest after class.
As usual, the Analects of Confucius was dictated to Zhang Yue by Guo Xuexue. Zhang Yue has been studying "The Analects of Confucius" for nearly half a month. In fact, Zhang Yue only spent five days reciting the entire text.
When Zhang Yue memorized the Analects within five days, Guo Xuexu and Guo Lin were truly convinced that Zhang Yue was talented, at least in terms of memorization.
The lessons at the end of The Analects are all about annotations.
People in the Song Dynasty made many comments on the spoken meaning of the Analects. The most famous one is Zhao Pu's sentence "Half of the Analects rules the world."
It is said that when he was prime minister, when he encountered a difficult political issue that he could not make a decision on, he would take the Analects of Confucius and read it to find the answer.
However, this sentence comes from the notes of Song Dynasty people and there is no solid historical data to prove it. Song history records that Zhao Pu was not very knowledgeable in his early years. After he became prime minister, Zhao Kuangyin repeatedly advised him to read more books. In his later years, Zhao Pu would not let go of the scroll. He would take the book from the box and read it as soon as he returned home.
After Zhao Pu's death, his family found that there were only twenty Analects of Confucius in his bookcase.
Later, the saying "Half of the Analects governs the world" and Song Taizu's saying "Prime ministers must use scholars" have always been beautiful words of Confucian scholars. In fact, no matter what book you read, the most important thing is the person, not the book.
After Zhang Yue said that he had memorized the Analects of Confucius, Guo Xuexuan often couldn't sleep at night. He was lucky to have such a "good talent and beautiful jade", but he was also afraid that it would be ruined in his own hands.
On this day, after Zhang Yue had read the Analects of Confucius familiarly, Guo Xuexuan personally found Zhang Yue. He looked serious at first, and then had a conversation.
"Confucius said, a person's gentleness and kindness are the teachings of poetry; being distant and far-reaching is the teaching of calligraphy; broad knowledge and easy music are the teachings; being respectful, thrifty, solemn and respectful is the teaching of etiquette; being clean, quiet and subtle, it is easy to teach; belonging to Ci Comparing things is also the teaching of Spring and Autumn."
Zhang Yue listened to Guo Xuexue's meaning. He listed the benefits of reading the Five Classics of Poetry, Book of Books, Rites, Book of Changes, and Spring and Autumn Annals that Confucius said.
However, Zhang Yue understood that the first part was all foreshadowing, and the second part was the content.
So Guo Xuexiu asked seriously: "What are your plans for the future with Gongju?"
Zhang Yue said: "Students don't understand, please ask sir to help students clear up their doubts."
Guo Xuexue stroked his beard and said: "This tribute examination is divided into regular subjects and system subjects. As the name suggests, the system subjects must be specially set up by the emperor to recruit talents.
"There are very few collections of system subjects, and they are not set according to the times. Therefore, I have never heard of any scholar who used the system system..."
"Isn't it true that Mr. Wu, the first master of our country, appointed officials based on the system of disciplines?"
Zhang Yue couldn't help but say that he was an ETC in the last life of the forum, and he couldn't control himself. The Xianggong Wu mentioned by Zhang Yue was Wu Yu, the prime minister of the current dynasty. Not long ago, Zhang Yue met his nephew at Pengxian Lieutenant's house.
Guo Xuexiu nodded and said: "Exactly, I was negligent as a teacher. In the past two hundred years in this dynasty, only Mr. Wu has been able to reach the third level! It is even more difficult to get the number one scholar in the third level. There have been dozens of number one scholars in this dynasty. But there is only Mr. Wu Xianggong in the third class of making subjects. Do you think it is more difficult to make subjects than Chang Ke?"
The regular subjects mentioned below by Guo Xuexuan are the well-known imperial examination methods.
Changke is a tribute examination held every few years. It is said that Changke is actually not very frequent. For example, there are tribute examinations every two years, tribute examinations every four years, and even no tribute examinations for five years. But in recent years, it has been set as a biennial tribute.
Guo Xuexue added: "Chang Ke is also divided into two subjects, Jinshi Section and Zhu Ke. The so-called Zhu Ke is also the Ming Jing Section in the Tang Dynasty, but the Jinshi Section has always been called inconveniently."
"Jinshi subjects discuss poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, and scriptures. But the various subjects don't need poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, poems, essays, and scriptures. They just need to talk about the scriptures. I'll tell you about the subjects first!"
The so-called pasting is to examine the original text in the book, such as "When three people are walking together, there must be my teacher." I will cover the previous sentence for you and ask you to write the next sentence, or cover the previous sentence and write the next sentence like this. But Chang Keli is not so simple, usually covering several words.
Mo Yi explains the meaning of "when three people are walking together, there must be my teacher". Changke only tests Tie Jing and Mo Yi. To put it bluntly, it tests your ability to memorize!
The various subjects of the Song Dynasty include the Nine Classics, the Five Classics, the Kaiyuan Rites, the Three Histories, the Three Rites, the Three Biographies, the Scholarship, the Ming Dharma, and so on.
Zhang Yue thought that the meaning in Guo Xuexue's words meant that it was obvious that he relied on various subjects. However, the poetry and prose policy theory of the Jinshi Department depends on talent and there is no unified standard.
As far as the Han family members are concerned, no one will spread your articles or recommend you to the ministers, so the hope of entering the Jinshi Department is too slim. Only rote memorization of subjects has greater hope.
Guo Xuexiu asked: "Are the three rites acceptable?"
The three subjects of rites are the Book of Rites, the Rites of Zhou, and the Ritual.
Zhang Yue shook his head and said, "Too few."
Guo Xuexue was very pleased. He was actually 'asking for ambition' just now. Zhang Yue did not choose academic subjects just to be lazy, nor did he choose Three Histories, Kaiyuan Li, Mingfa and other subjects without respecting the classics. This shows that this son can be cultivated.
Guo Xuexiu asked again: "Are the three passes good?"
The three biographies are "Chun Qiu Zuo Zhuan", "Gong Yang Zhuan" and "Gu Liang Zhuan". The three rites together have about 200,000 words, but the Zuozhuan alone among the three biography has 200,000 words.
"It's still too little!" Zhang Yue did not hesitate.
Guo Xuexiu was even more happy: "Is the Five Classics OK?"
Before the Five Classics, he mentioned Mao Shi, Shangshu, Liji, Zuozhuan, and Zhouyi Five Classics. Kong Yingda once wrote "Five Classics Justice" to explain these Five Classics, and then it was established as the official imperial examination book. Any scholar who does not interpret these Five Classics articles according to the Five Classics justice will be wronged. is regarded as fallacy.
Although there are many shortcomings, the Five Classics of Justice eliminates the shortcomings of multiple branches of Confucianism and complicated chapters and sentences, and has a common standard.
Zhang Yue understood that the Jinshi subject was too vague and there was no standard answer. The examiner had the final say. As a member of the Han family, he has a weak foundation. It is too difficult to try his luck, and the chance of success in the future is also small. But Chang Ke can do it. Every effort is rewarded here, and the right and wrong answers are clear at a glance. Therefore, what Guo Xuexue meant was that he expected Zhang Yue to choose the Five Classics subjects.
Zhang Yue thought of this and continued to shake his head: "Too few."
Guo Xuejun was surprised and asked: "What subject do you want to choose?"
Zhang Yue asked, "Senior brother, what subject should I choose?"
After hearing this, Guo Xuexiu was silent for a moment, and then said: "Your senior brother... I taught him to read the Analects at the age of five, so that one day he could pass the Nine Classics."
Then Guo Xuexue said to Zhang Yue: "But the Nine Classics subject is the most rare among all subjects, so you don't have to force it."
As Guo Xuexu said, the most difficult among all subjects is the Nine Classics subject.
Candidates who study the Nine Classics must read "Book of Changes", "Shang Shu", "Mao Shi", "Book of Rites", "Zhou Li", "Ritual", "Chun Qiu Zuo Zhuan", "Gong Yang Zhuan", "Gu" "Liang Zhuan" Nine Classics.
The exam also contains the most content, with 120 answer books and 60 answers.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Five Classics subjects, which were the most difficult after the Jinshi subjects, also covered the nine classics.
However, the Tang Dynasty listed "Book of Rites" and "Zuo Zhuan" as major classics, "Mao Shi", "Zhou Li", and "Yili" as middle classics, and "Zhou Yi", "Shang Shu", "Gongyang Zhuan", "Gu Liang Zhuan" is a small classic.
During the exam, the two major classics must be tested, and then three classics can be selected from the medium classics and the minor classics to make up the five classics.
But all the Nine Classics subjects in the Song Dynasty were required to be tested!
Guo Xuexu looked at Zhang Yue deeply. The implication was, do you really want to take the Nine Classics exam?
"I heard that one's background in the Nine Classics is higher than that of other majors?" Zhang Yue asked.
After hearing this, Guo Xuexiu thought that this boy was too utilitarian. He didn't ask whether he was willing to learn, but asked where he was from. Let’s rectify it slowly in the future!
Guo Xuexiu sighed: "That's right. The background of Jiujing is indeed higher than that of other subjects. In the award of Jinshi officials, the top five in Jinshi Jiake, number one, second and third, etc. are first-class."
"Those below the sixth person in the Jia family and those in the "Nine Classics" are the second class. The backgrounds of the other subjects are the same as the fifth Jia Jinshi, and must be selected."
Zhang Yue had some concerns in his heart, and the Jinshi subjects were divided into five levels.
The top five in the first class of the Jinshi Department are from first-class backgrounds.
And after passing the sixth place in the Nine Classics and the first class, one has a second-class background.
Next are the second and third grades of the Jinshi Department and so on.
The so-called retention of the election means that you cannot be appointed immediately. You must run for the election as a selector three years later and have to take another exam. Those who were born in other majors are treated in the same way as those who were ranked fifth in Jinshi majors.
It can be seen from this that how difficult it is to pass the Nine Classics Subject. Zhang Yue never imagined that Guo Lin, with his humble appearance, would have such determination.
"Could it be that you want to study Nine Classics?" Guo Xuexiu asked.
ps1: Thank you Shuyou Qiuqiu for becoming the third leader of this book!
ps2: What subject should you choose?
