Dawn Iron Tower, ancient bell of Buddhist temple.
The entire Kaibao Temple was as quiet as sleep, while the autumn wind gently blew through the bodhi leaves.
At this moment, Zhang Yue's heart was extremely calm.
In the left and right monk rooms, some candidates were still sleeping on their desks, some were already writing essays, and some were still thinking hard.
Zhang Yue looked at the title. The title of the poem was "The Best Goodness Is Like Water", the title of the poem was "Poetry of Osmanthus Branches in the Autumn Wind", "Poetry of Lotus in the Morning", the title of the poem was "Yu Ji's Strategies to Help the World", and the title of the poem was "Which of Literary Practices Comes First?" 》.
The monthly quizzes of the Imperial College and the major exams of each year are all similar in content. Zhang Yue has already gone through many battles. After a night of deliberation, Zhang Yue has already drafted each question in his mind.
Start with what you know best.
The first is "Which comes first?" Wenxing mostly refers to articles and conduct. At first glance, it seems to refer to articles and conduct. Which comes first?
It seems to be easy to understand. Generally speaking, character is the first priority. Of course, character is the first priority.
But you have to think carefully about this question coming from the Analects of Confucius.
The original text is 'Zi Yi four teachings, writing and conduct are faithful'.
Wen refers to culture and education, and Xing refers to practice.
Zhang Yue thought for a moment and immediately wrote down, "Know the teachings of the saints and then practice them." '
Knowing and then acting is the purpose of Neo-Confucianism.
Before Wang Yangming appeared, this was the most accepted statement by the mainstream at the time, and it was still slightly ahead of the times.
With the beginning in mind, Zhang Yue wrote without hesitation, "Knowing and doing are always related to each other, just like the eyes cannot do without the feet, and the feet cannot be seen without the eyes." When discussing order, knowledge comes first; when discussing importance, behavior is the most important. '
After writing this, Zhang Yue knew that this question was stable.
The imperial examination does not allow you to express yourself freely, it must be in line with the opinions of the majority of people.
After Zhang Yue finished writing this essay, the candidates on the side were waking up one after another. At this time, the official brought hot rice soup and said to all the candidates: "The examiner is polite to you and gives you a bowl of soup."
Well, even though it’s rice soup, it’s better than nothing.
A bowl of rice soup was brought through the lattice window, and Zhang Yue couldn't wait to take a sip.
Well, the rice soup is very thick. For Zhang Yue, who had eaten cold food all day yesterday, this bowl of rice soup made him feel comfortable.
Next, Zhang Yue looked at the next topic, "Yu Ji's Strategies to Help the World."
This sentence made many candidates scratch their heads. Zhang Yue also took a breath when he first asked this question.
Because this question is really too biased.
But having said that, Zhang Yue failed to pass the examination.
Why did I get a partial answer on this question? Because this question is not in the Nine Classics, but in the Book of Jin.
This sentence comes from what Du Yu said, "Yu Ji's achievements were expected to help the world, and they also benefited the common people."
Yu Ji is the Hou Ji of Yu the Great.
Dayu's flood control and Houji's farming both made great contributions to the world.
The Book of Jin mentions that Du Yushi "knows and does everything about the affairs of the public family." Everything that is built must be tested to the end, and it rarely fails. Some people who ridiculed him and said in advance: "Yu Ji's achievements are expected to help the world, and they will help the common people."
If Du Yu knows anything about public affairs, he must do it. He must take examinations for everything he builds, and he rarely fails. Some people laughed at him for being trivial and planning too carefully. Du Yu said that Yu Ji's contribution was to help the world and the people. I think the same thing.
However, it is okay to answer according to the idea of starting from Dayu to control floods and Houji to farm. But it will definitely be downgraded.
Therefore, the core of this question must revolve around "preserving public affairs and doing everything you know." Whatever is built must be examined and answered from beginning to end. The problem is that few people know how to read history books. As for history books, very few people will read the biography of Du Yu, and even if they do, they may not remember it.
Therefore, Zhang Yue speculated that in the past, many people would answer this question in terms of "national affairs" and talk about Yu Ji's achievements in controlling floods and farming.
But that's not the point.
Of course, knowing the meaning of the question does not mean that you can write well.
But Zhang Yue particularly liked Du Yu and Du Wuku, so he wrote with great spirit.
After finishing writing, Zhang Yue breathed a sigh of relief. This question is like the last question in mathematics in the college entrance examination.
Generally speaking, to answer questions, just write down the first small question that is the biggest answer. You don’t need to read the following questions to save time.
And Zhang Yue seemed to have solved everything in this question.
Below is the poem.
As for the poem about osmanthus leaves growing in the autumn wind, it is not difficult either.
There was an article written by Luo Yin in the Tang Dynasty, "The autumn wind grows cinnamon branches."
This question was also asked once in a private examination when I was at Taixue University. This is equivalent to a half-point question. You can also know that the examiner is also very good at figuring out the meaning above and consciously reduces the difficulty of solving the poem in the test.
On the other hand, "Yu Ji's strategy to help the world" is a pull question.
As for "Asahi Lotus Poems", this question was also very wild.
This Nichiren poem was not written by previous poets such as the Jin and Tang Dynasties, but by Zhang Yong and Zhang Guaiya.
Zhang Yue likes a poem written by Zhang Yong when he was young very much, "Xuanmen is not closed, but hard study should open it up". He is an example of someone who rose from a humble family to become a prime minister.
And this man's character is just like his nickname, Guaiya. What is obedient cliff? Being obedient is contrary to the public, and cliff is not good for anything.
In short, he is a very distinguished prime minister from a poor family.
In such a provincial examination, his "Asahi Lotus Poetry" was tested, which can be regarded as a tribute to the boss.
When I finished writing the two fu-style poems, the sun was already setting in the west, and it was almost night.
Zhang Yue has one last question left, "The best is as good as water".
The highest good is like water comes from the Tao Te Ching.
Don't be surprised, the questions in the Jinshi examination are just like this. What is important is that scholars should be eclectic and read all kinds of books.
Therefore, Taoist books are also among the topics.
In the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty, questions had to be strictly drawn from the Four Books and Five Classics, which narrowed one's horizons.
Besides, it is not surprising that Song Zhenzong believed in Taoism and took the questions from the Tao Te Ching.
But the problem is that Zhang Yue has two answers to this Fu in his mind.
One has the word '葑', and the other does not have the word '葑'. He didn't know how to answer this question.
The more Zhang thought of this, he suddenly felt a little hungry and growled.
It was getting late.
The night is as dark as ink, and the iron-cast Kaibao Temple Tower blends into the dark night.
I’ve been writing all day today, and I’m so focused on Zhang Yue that I can’t focus on anything else. He was so hungry that he couldn't help but said to the gentleman: "Here comes a bowl of noodles."
"Always money!"
Zhang Yue took out the silver and put it in the gentleman's hand.
Not long after, a bowl of hot noodle soup with some oil floating on it was brought to the examination room. Zhang Yue couldn't help but took a piece of pancake, broke off some and soaked it in the noodles.
Although it is not very delicious, for Zhang Yue at this moment, it is already a delicious meal.
After eating a bowl of noodles, Zhang Yue felt a lot more energetic. He read a few questions he had written before and was very satisfied.
Poetry was not his strong point, but these two poetry questions came to his advantage, and the two policy questions doubled his confidence.
Looking at the whole article, there is not a single typo. The scroll is extremely clean and tidy. With the addition of calligraphy, it is almost like seeing the No. 1 Scholar scroll in a later museum.
How many people want to achieve this kind of beauty?
But when this great gift is placed in front of you, how can you answer it?
At this time, the wind blew outside the window, and then an autumn rain started.
Zhang Yue immediately covered the window with an oilcloth to protect it from the rain, while he lit a candle and meditated in the monk's room.
ps: There will be a longer one tomorrow.
