The atmosphere of the banquet was very good, people exchanged glasses, exchanged glasses, and everyone stayed until late at night before the banquet ended. They got on the carriage rented by the Yang family and stayed at the hotel in Huaidefang, west of the West Market.
Yang Yu obviously remembered what Li Ang said during the day. The hotel he was looking for was a set of courtyard houses with higher terrain and not close to a canal.
Moreover, the Yang family also sent people to pick up and put away the luggage that everyone left at the post house outside the city in advance.
Such careful thinking and action made everyone look at Yang Yugao a little more.
According to the waiter in the hotel, the Yang family of Chonghuafang ran a large-scale silk business in Chang'an City.
Yang Yu is the fourth son of the Yang family. His late great-grandfather was a disciple of the Academy and an honorary doctor, and the Yang family prospered because of it.
However, in recent decades, the Yang family has not produced another academy disciple, and has only recruited a academy son-in-law. If Yang Yu's generation cannot produce any more academy disciples, then the power within the family may slip to another person. One room.
"The troubles of the rich generation."
Li Ang murmured quietly and picked up a towel to wipe his face.
Chai Cuiqiao's voice came from the study, "Master, what did you say?"
"Nothing. Is the ink polished?"
Li Ang wrung out and hung up the towel, walked out of the bedroom and came to the study.
Chai Cuiqiao has already polished the ink, laid out the rice paper, pen mounts, and paperweights, and neatly stacked the books on the table.
Eating, drinking and having fun is just a temporary pastime, and entering the academy is the real meaning.
Li Ang first practiced calligraphy for a while, and when he was calm and collected, he asked Chai Cuiqiao to randomly pick out a few books from those thick books, turn the pages at random, and read out the passages.
Then write down the context of the relevant paragraphs on paper and the annotations for each version.
“Rote memorization is not a panacea, but there is nothing impossible without rote memorization.”
Li Ang rubbed his sore eyebrows and complained: "Tsk, can't the Academy be like the previous imperial examinations? At least there is still some room for manipulation."
Chai Cuiqiao on the side blinked, "Huh? What do you mean? Isn't the imperial examination fair?"
"I don't understand."
Li Ang glanced at the little maid and said casually: "In the past, there were many skills in the imperial examination in Chang'an. At that time, the imperial examination papers were not anonymous.
Candidates can use the reputation of dignitaries or great scholars to influence the decision-making of the examiner, thereby increasing their probability of passing.
For example, candidates would edit their usual poems and essays, write them into scrolls, and send them to the homes of high-ranking officials, dignitaries, and famous Confucian scholars for recommendation.
This is called a line roll.
And dignitaries with status in the political and literary circles publicly recommend talents to the examiners before the examination results are released, in order to influence the final list of successful candidates.
This is called public recommendation and general ranking. "
"Oh, I know the line."
Chai Cuiqiao nodded, "Li Taibai, Han Tuizhi, and Bai Letian have all passed the test."
"Well, the grass on the Xianyang Plain dries up every year. Wild fires cannot burn it out, but it grows again when the spring breeze blows.
Bai Letian's poem "Farewell to Fu De Gu Yuan Cao" is a scroll poem written to Gu Buweng. "
Li Ang said casually: "At that time in Yuchu, writing scrolls was quite popular. There were a forest of people who came to visit me, and a cloud of people who presented me with books.
However, later on, the Academy began to conceal their names on the examination papers, and the ordinary imperial examinations also followed suit. It was not that simple to engage in malpractice for personal gain. "
"It's better to be strict."
Chai Cuiqiao thought for a moment and said, "Master, if you study so hard, you will definitely pass the fair exam."
"ha,"
Li Ang put down his pen and rubbed Chai Cuiqiao's hair with a wry smile, "Anyone who can come to Chang'an to take the Academy Examination is not a genius, and which one is not studying hard in a cold window.
But in the end, only one out of ten can successfully pass the exam.
I don’t know where Gongqing’s family is, and he immediately fell into the shadow of spring..."
————
The green trees are dense and the summer is long, and the balcony reflects into the pond.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and finally, the day for the academy’s first exam arrived.
The first ray of sunshine in the morning illuminates Chang'an, and the doors of residences in various cities open one after another.
Vendors set up roadside stalls, pedestrians ate breakfast in silence, and almost no one made any noise.
Dang Dang Dang——
With the six bells of Maozheng ringing throughout Chang'an,
From the twelve city gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest, twelve long convoys of carriages bearing the logo of the Ministry of Rites arrived.
All the motorcades, under the command of the government officials, drove through the slightly empty Fangshi streets after the clean streets, and met the students waiting in line with their vouchers at the street corner.
Students from various states took turns boarding the motorcade in an orderly manner with their vouchers in hand.
Li Ang, who was mixed in the crowd, got into the carriage with Chai Cuiqiao, opened the curtains, and breathed in the earthy morning air outside the window.
It would be a lie to say that I am not nervous. Years of hard study and hard work are about to be put to the test, and my life's destiny will be reversed on this day.
"Master..."
Chai Cuiqiao carefully took out an exercise book from her bag and whispered, "Do you want to memorize it again?"
"No, I should remember it. I've already remembered it."
Li Ang took a deep breath and listened to the rustling sound of the carriage running over the stone road, and his slightly irritable mood gradually calmed down.
The carriage convoy did not head towards the imperial city in the north, where the Gongyuan of the Ministry of Rites was where the imperial examinations were held.
The first test location of the Academy is at the foot of Xia Mountain in the southwest of Chang'an.
The Ministry of Rites motorcade drove through bridges, streets, and city gates in sequence, and finally formed a long queue in the city, heading southwest, followed by a larger and more chaotic motorcade - a motorcade hired by the families of this year's candidates.
The wind is gentle and the sun is shining, the grass is growing and the orioles are flying,
The long motorcade, guarded by strong and strong soldiers holding fine dogs, drove through the forest and mountain roads.
Suddenly, the illusion of being drenched by rain came to mind again. Li Ang subconsciously lifted the curtains and looked out the window, but he only saw colorful mountain flowers and Xiashan Mountain, which was obscured by clouds and mist in the distance.
The Academy is located on the back side of Xia Mountain.
Chai Cuiqiao also stuck her head out of the car window, smelled the fragrance of flowers in the mountains, and whispered: "Master, the motorcade has slowed down."
"Well, the carriage in front should have arrived."
As Li Ang expected, the carriage convoy slowed down, drove to the foot of the mountain, and stopped on the hillside.
The hillside is gentle, green grass, and there are more than 20 pavilions on the banks of the clear stream. Each pavilion has three floors, with red walls, green tiles, and flying rafts.
This is the pasture on the edge of the academy,
As the drums of the Ministry of Rites sounded, tens of thousands of candidates stepped out of the carriages, lined up according to their place of origin, walked to the stream in an orderly manner, and listened to the persuasion read by senior officials of the Ministry of Rites - the content was nothing more than scholars studying and what they should do. Remember loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
As for the large number of dignitaries, family members, and servants, they were waiting in the pavilions and pavilions downstream of the stream.
"The sun rises,"
Song Shaoyuan, who was standing in front, turned his face sideways and whispered: "How are you preparing?"
Li Ang nodded, "Not bad, where are you, Brother Song."
"It's... not bad."
In order to relieve the tension, the conversation was not nutritious. The senior official of the Ministry of Rites on the stage chatted for a while, and finally ended his persuasion of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
In the place of Chen Danqiu, who was offering wine at the Academy, a middle-aged man wearing simple Tsing Yi with an expressionless face came up and began to explain the examination rules.
The preliminary examination of the Academy is divided into two parts: compulsory examination content and optional examination content.
The required contents are scriptures, poems, policy questions, and riding and shooting.
If the first three items are completed in the same exam, the first person to complete the exam will be given priority to take the riding and archery exam.
The selection content includes but is not limited to arithmetic, Yu rhythm, national history, phonology, painting, military attack, chess, engineering...
The passing standard for the preliminary examination of the Academy is a comprehensive score, which mainly refers to the scores of scriptures, poems and other compulsory examination contents.
As for the elective content such as arithmetic, Yu rhythm, phonology, etc., it is up to the candidates to choose whether to participate - if the performance is mediocre and only looks like an average person, then no points will be added.
Only those who perform particularly well in the selected test items and meet or even exceed the psychological expectations of the academy teachers will be awarded points as appropriate.
This can also be regarded as an extra opportunity for students who are not good at pen and ink but also have a certain skill.
But it's very difficult,
You must know that the teaching staff of each major in the academy are the authorities in their respective fields.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, only the geniuses can do it.
"Among the subjects in the additional examination, I am most confident about arithmetic. Calculus, algebra, geometry, etc. are more than enough to cope with "Nine Chapters", "Zhushu" and "Island".
I'm not sure about anything else, especially the soldier attack. "
Li Ang glanced at the muscular, voluptuous, and bearded candidates in the distance who were eager to test for the Ministry of War, and silently complained: "The maximum age for admission to the Academy is eighteen, right?
Are these guys eighteen years old?
Did you take steroids? ! "
Forget about the military attack, that is the territory of the students recommended by the Ministry of War.
While students from other prefectures were still learning to kill chickens, those gentlemen were probably already on the battlefield killing enemy generals.
"Yu Lv and National History... I feel a bit reluctant, and the results of previous years' real questions were a little above the passing line.
You can give Danqing a try, as you have experience in medical drawing and illustration..."
Li Ang shook his head and shook the messy thoughts out of his mind.
Chen Danqiu's lecture at the academy's memorial ceremony was still going on. Zhai Yiming glanced across the stage, writing down the faces of the academy directors, supervisors, doctors, and teachers. He murmured in confusion: "Why not?" See the mountain chief?"
"This is the first test, so the mountain chief will naturally not show up."
Yang Yu emerged from the crowd, jumped in front of everyone in Zhenzhou with a smile, and lowered his voice and said: "If you want to see the mountain leader, you have to take the final three tests."
"Brother Yang?"
Song Shaoyuan whispered in surprise, "Why are you here? Aren't you from Chang'an..."
"It doesn't matter. When the time comes, candidates from all over the country will disrupt the order and be randomly assigned to various examination rooms. It doesn't matter which side they stand on."
Yang Yu chuckled and pursed his lips to the left, "Isn't Yong Erlang standing with the Xiangzhou candidates?"
Li Ang followed his line of sight and looked to the front left, where he saw Yong Hongzhong standing with a group of boys and girls in luxurious clothes and calm expressions, looking a little nervous.
"Those are the decent noble children of Chang'an."
Yang Yu clapped his fingers and said casually: "Shang Shu Zuo Pu shot Pei Jing, the fourth son of the Pei Su family.
Qiu Jinghuan, the eldest son of Qiu Wenhan’s family, the Minister of Civil Affairs,
To the sixth son of the family in the matter,
The daughter of General Zuo Xiaowei's family..."
Zhai Yiming's eyelids jumped. Yu inherited the Sui system. Although the Shangshu Ling of Shangshu Province was in charge of hundreds of officials and managed six ministries, his actual power in the court was second only to His Majesty the Emperor.
But this position has been vacant and no one has filled it.
Shangshu Zuopushe was actually Shangshu Ling, the real prime minister of the Yu Kingdom.
"But think about the good things. Aren't we now standing in the same place as those proud men and beauties of the Emperor?"
Yang Yu chuckled and said: "The Academy exams are strict, and we will not be lenient just because of the relationship between princes, generals and ministers.
Whether you can pass three levels in a row depends on your knowledge...and luck. "
Is it luck?
Li Ang glanced at the nervous scholars around him, and his eyes rested on a group of barbarian boys and girls with high noses, blond hair and blue eyes.
"Why are there so many barbarians?"
A student from Zhenzhou on the side asked in advance, and Yang Yu replied in a low voice: "In the Academy, there is no distinction between education and distinction.
Regardless of the blond hair and blue eyes of those Hu people, they are actually descendants of the Hu Shang family who have lived in Chang'an for dozens or hundreds of years. They speak Chang'an fluently than anyone else.
In addition to the Hu people, there are also Zhou people, Nanzhao people, Xijing people, Fusang people, and even Turkic nobles and hundreds of thousands of barren people from barren mountains. "
Yang Yu pointed at the outlier students with different skin and hair colors in the distance, and said casually: "As long as they can pass the exam, they can be recruited by the academy."
"this..."
The students from Zhenzhou were dumbfounded and asked: "Aren't we hostile to the Southern Zhou Dynasty and the Turks?
If the academy accepts them as disciples, isn't it afraid that they will go back to enrich their mother country's national strength? "
"The barbarians are rude and backward. If those people really become disciples of the Academy, receive the best education and the best life, and then return to their barbaric mother country, they themselves will not be able to adapt and will have to return to Chang'an to live for a long time.
What's more, enriching the national strength of a big country cannot be achieved by just one or two students from the academy. It is just a drop in the bucket.
It's almost enough to exchange for 100 PhDs. "
Yang Yu said: "Just like the Turks, their tribes live in pursuit of water and grass, move with the times, and migrate thousands of miles every year.
If we really want them to imitate the Yu State in farming and settling down, building palaces, and setting up officials and rituals, it will only cause their tribe to collapse on its own——
Even if this development continues, the national power of the Yu State and the Turks will become further and further apart, and they will collapse sooner or later. "
A proud smile unique to Yu people appeared on Yang Yu's face.
In this world, the powerful Yu State is not afraid of any force. Even for the Haotian Temple on Mount Taihao, they only respect it more than fear it.
The Academy is the foundation of Yu State.
Dang Dang Dang——
With the end of Chen Danqiu's speech at the Academy Wine Festival, the melodious bell rang, and a Academy teacher used scissors to cut the hemp rope across the front of the examination room to allow candidates to enter the examination room.
The first round of exams in the Academy has begun.
Families of candidates in Xuanxie Langfang downstream of the stream also heard the loud ringing of the bell.
Many parents were sitting in their seats, silently or quietly praying for their children.
Chai Cuiqiao was also among them. She had her eyes closed, her palms clasped together, her expression pious, and she was mumbling something.
A woman in fine clothes next to her listened with a little curiosity, but she heard Chai Cuiqiao mutter: "Amitabha, Supreme Lord, God of Wealth, God of Wealth, God of Stove King, is as urgent as the law. The daughter of the people is willing to use it for three years, ah no, Two years, ah no, three months is better. Three months of dinner and late night snacks can be exchanged for Young Master’s high school. Young Master, you must pass the exam..."
