What is the problem that County Magistrate Li mentioned?
This is actually the first part of the eight-part essay structure.
It means to use the first two sentences to clearly explain the meaning of the question, so it is called "breaking"!
This is the outline and main part of the eight-part article. It is often very important for the examiner's impression score to be well done in the problem-solving part.
Moreover, low-level imperial examinations such as county examinations and prefectural examinations do not have as high requirements for candidates as scholars and civil servants. Therefore, if the eight-part essay is well done, the county magistrate and prefect will often let it pass.
And Magistrate Li had just said everything he wanted to admit Xu He in public. If Xu He broke the topic and made rubbish, it would be a bit of a slap in the face.
This is why County Magistrate Li asked Xu He's breakthrough not to disappoint him.
There are four or five county examinations in total, with a high degree of freedom, depending on the wishes of the county magistrate.
This time, County Magistrate Li took four exams. The first exam was called the main exam, the second exam was called the first exam, the third exam was the second exam, and the fourth exam was called the face exam.
Each session takes place during the day and there is a test every other day.
Today is the first round of the county examination.
But there is one thing. As long as the candidate passes the exam in the first session, he does not need to participate in the subsequent [Initial Re-examination] and [Re-examination]. He only needs to wait for the last [In-person Re-examination].
Those who didn’t pass the first test can only take the [First Test] and [Retest] test again. If you still can’t pass these two tests, I’m sorry, just wait for the next one!
After all the candidates passed the inspection, they came to the examination booth and sat down.
Just like in current exams, answer sheets will be distributed first.
The answer sheet has eleven pages in total.
Followed by the same amount of scratch paper.
Xu He curiously looked at the answer sheets in this world. Because the county examination was not strict except for the inspection process, there was no anonymity or transcribing.
I saw the cover saying "County Examination Grade A No. 107!"
Below it is written in small letters: "Xu He, fifteen years old, slightly taller and thinner, fair-faced and beardless, very good-looking. Nationality: great-grandfather Kui, grandfather Rui, father Wei, guarantor Wu Minzhi."
After opening the cover, there are another ten pages where you can answer the questions.
After all the candidates received their answer sheets, County Magistrate Li announced the questions for the exam, including a current essay and a test poem.
The title of a contemporary article is "Learn and practice from time to time".
One of the test poems was titled "The Moon Surges in the River".
[Learn and learn from time to time] This sentence is very familiar to modern people. When Xu He saw this topic, his heart immediately returned to his stomach.
He originally studied ancient Chinese literature.
I have really put a lot of effort into the classics and meanings of Chinese studies.
In just a moment, he wrote today's article on the scratch paper.
Next is the test poem.
Combined with the memory of the previous lord, this Taizu of Great Xia defeated the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty and established a new dynasty. As for the previous history, it was the same as the history of time and space before Xu He.
Great poets such as Li Bai and Du Fu have all appeared in the long history.
That's why County Magistrate Li took the first two sentences of Du Fu's "Book of Traveling at Night" as the title.
However, this is not a difficult task for Xu He. In his previous life, he participated in the poetry club organized by the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and also participated in national competitions and won awards. Although his poems were not as good as those of the Tang and Song Dynasties, he frequently produced good lines and became somewhat famous locally.
I saw him compose the poem with just a wave of his hand in a short while.
The next task is to copy the contents of the draft onto the answer sheet word for word.
Xu He checked the articles and poems again, correcting a few inappropriate wordings, and then checked for any taboos one last time, and finally copied them carefully onto the answer sheet.
Magistrate Li was paying attention to the candidate named Xu He throughout the process.
At the beginning, he was still a little worried and wanted to observe whether Xu He had a silver-like pewter gun tip. To put it nicely, he would stop eating before the exam.
Unexpectedly, he soon realized that he was overthinking it.
I saw that Xu He just thought for a moment and then wrote quickly without adding any words.
Just now, when everyone was still thinking hard, the boy had already started transcribing the test paper.
"Could it be that he wrote a random poem or article for communication?" Thinking of this, he began to regret the Haikou he had just praised.
The admission to the county examination does depend to a large extent on him as the examiner, but it will be a loss of face if the poems and essays are nonsense. After all, there will be government examinations and Taoist examinations in the future. What would they think if a magical thing came over?
They didn't know what they would think of County Magistrate Li, but Magistrate Li was already restless at this moment.
At this moment, Xu He suddenly stood up from his seat and walked towards him with answer sheets and scratch paper.
this! This guy actually handed in the paper in advance...
Magistrate Li looked at the young man in front of him with a constipated expression. He hinted in a deep voice: "Have you really finished the poem? Have you checked it repeatedly?"
Xu He bowed and saluted: "Sir, please check carefully!"
Magistrate Li sighed and took his paper.
After unfolding it, Magistrate Li was delighted by the beautiful regular script before he started reading.
"Just because of this handwriting, if I take it, others can't comment on it, right?"
Then read the article.
"If you worry about the hardships for the sake of learning, the sage will lure you with [timely habits]. Those who worry about learning because of the hardships are not people who are learning!"
After reading this, County Magistrate Li couldn't help but marvel.
The fellow examiners next to him and the candidates below were all startled by his palm, and they all cast doubtful and resentful glances at him.
But at this time, County Magistrate Li could no longer care about them. He could only see him reading as if no one else was watching: "A day without suffering on the road will lead to difficulties, and a day without learning the road will lead to confusion."
…
"Okay, okay!" County Magistrate Li said "good" repeatedly, looking at Xu He with surprise on his face: "This is an article to encourage learning, starting from the classics of the sages without being rigid. The whole article revolves around the word "bitter", which coincides with the article's method of "one word setting the bones", and the explanation is simple and easy to understand, and the pronunciation is harmonious. This article is said to be a county examination, so I think it's okay You can definitely get it in the national examination! Xu He, you are good, you are very good!"
Hearing that County Magistrate Li spoke so highly of Xu He's article, the surrounding county magistrates and bookkeepers all expressed surprise.
Huang Youcai, who was sitting in the back and was taking an exam, was so surprised that he almost dropped his pen on the paper.
"Here, when did Xu He even write articles?"
…
County Magistrate Li was born as a second-ranked Jinshi. When it comes to articles in the county, he always puts his eyes above the top.
This is the first time that the county magistrate, chief registrar and others who are working here have heard his article praising a person so highly.
But before everyone could get over their surprise, Magistrate Li started to get startled again.
"The Moon and the River"
The river flows from the foot of Minshan Mountain, today the moon flows together,
The dangers of the Three Gorges are released, and a round of autumn emerges.
The vast surface of the molten wave is high and cold,
The sky moves and the flying mirror comes in, people learn to play with pearls,
The stars are shattered together, and the shadows of fish and dragons are floating.
I am lying in the Jade Pagoda, where I live is the Qiong Tower.
The distant dream frightens Yuan He, and the lonely white gull disappears.
Who knows Du Lingzhou by looking at the lights.
"Okay, what a story about the dangers of the Three Gorges, and a wave of autumn gushing out. I first talk about the dangers of the Three Gorges waterway, and use it to highlight the tranquility and peace of the autumn moon on the gentle river in the last sentence. When I read this sentence, it becomes clear!"
"And allusions are used throughout the article. For example, the theory of the Jade Pagoda should be taken from Su Shi's "Jiang Yue", right? As soon as the mountain spits out the moon, the Jade Pagoda lies on the gentle waves!"
Magistrate Li turned red with excitement.
While he was reading the poems written by Xu He, he also looked at Xu He who was neither sad nor happy in the hall. He could not help but feel more happy when he saw his sharp eyebrows and starry eyes and his elegant temperament.
I saw that he couldn't help but said loudly: "This poem and this article cannot be put on the record. How can God tolerate it?"
