Forbidden City, inner school grounds.
Today this place has been decorated as an examination room!
This is the assessment and selection venue for the 65th generation Yan Shenggong!
Emperor Hongxing of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Cixiang and Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian sat side by side in a pavilion located in the center of the inner school grounds. The pavilion was surrounded by empty squares, with cinders on the ground and wooden fences separating the north and south areas. , to the north is the racecourse; to the south is the shooting range.
"Father, Duke Yansheng is a model for the Confucian sect, so he must be strictly selected. If even his direct descendants cannot learn the principles passed down by the Holy Saint, how can others learn from them? So I thought, this Yanshenggong must pass the examination, and all descendants of saints must take the examination. Only those with the most ability can become Yanshenggong..."
Listening to his son's nonsense here, Emperor Chongzhen thought: If you need to take the exam to be the Holy Duke of Yan, do you need to take the exam to become the emperor? Should the Miao descendants of Emperor Taizu Gao also be allowed to take the exam? Become an emperor if you pass the exam? Is it inappropriate to fail the exam?
"Brother Chun," Chongzhen asked again, "What is the test for Duke Yan?"
Zhu Cixiang clapped his fingers and said to Chongzhen: "The first is to test the six arts. The focus is on the two arts of archery and control, because these two arts are necessary for preaching and protecting the Tao!"
Chongzhen was stunned: "What? Relying on archery and horse riding to preach and protect the road?"
Zhu Cixiang shook his head: "Of course not. Horse riding and archery are just the basics. It is more difficult to take the exam to become Yan Shenggong."
Chongzhen asked: "What is more difficult?"
Zhu Cixiang said: "Archery requires not only being able to shoot arrows, but also being able to shoot a musket and fire a cannon!"
Chongzhen was stunned: "Ah? There are also cannons?"
Zhu Cixiang said seriously: "As the great Western German philosopher Bismarck once said, the truth is only within the range of a cannon! Therefore, in order to spread Confucian truth and educate barbarians from all directions, we must first use cannons! As Yan Shenggong, of course he must Can fire a cannon!"
Chongzhen sighed and thought to himself: What is this? It seems quite reasonable... I only have truth and no cannons, so I was usurped from my position!
Emperor Zhu continued to educate Chongzhen: "As for imperial skills, they used to drive carts, but now chariot battles are no longer popular, so they test the skills of riding horses and fighting on horses. Horse shooting, charging with a gun on horseback, slashing and killing with swords on horseback, etc." The eight-foot-long Gok cavalry are all skills that need to be mastered."
Chongzhen said in his heart: It's really not easy for you to be the Holy Duke of Yan. I can't even do it. I can only ride a horse and shoot arrows.
Chongzhen thought for a while and then asked: "Aside from the Six Arts, what else should be tested?"
"We still need to take a test on Taoism!" Zhu Cixiang said, "There are two types of Taoism, one is swordsmanship, and the other is theory!"
"Discussing the way of swordsmanship?" Chongzhen was stunned, "A gentleman talks but doesn't use his hands! Discussing the way is to convince people with reason, but what's the point of discussing swords?"
"It's not what the Holy Sage said that a gentleman should speak but not take action," Zhu Cixi shook his head and said, "When the Holy Sage and his disciples traveled around the world to spread the truth, the sword never left their bodies...the sword never left their bodies. Naturally, he must be prepared to kill people, so Duke Yansheng should also be proficient in swordsmanship!
After the discussion of swords, there is the discussion of principles and principles, which only discusses the principles of the sages and does not involve other Confucian sages. "
This was the idea of Wei Zaode, a tutor. Confucianism has developed for so many years, and there are so many principles and principles that even Wei Zaode, the top scholar, can't remember them all, let alone Kong Yinzheng, who only remembers half of the Analects of Confucius?
So "Teacher Wei" simply came up with "Only what Confucius said", and only "what Confucius once said" can be used to test the Holy Gong. As for the truths said by other Confucius, don't use them to torment the descendants of Confucius. Kong Yinzheng's days are miserable enough. There are so many things to learn and the time is so tight. Moreover, if he doesn't learn well, his life may be in danger!
In order to save his life, he really risked his life. He only slept for two hours a day and spent the rest of the time practicing martial arts.
What’s even more unreasonable is that if you are a good person in martial arts, you still have to learn to fire a cannon, saying that the truth is only within the range of the cannon! Only by using cannons can we better protect and preach the truth and educate the barbarians in the future - what does this mean? If you can educate, then educate. If you can't educate, then use cannons to kill? Isn’t this reasonable?
But having said that, Kong Yinzheng really has some talent for playing with cannons. After a few months of learning, he will be able to measure distances more accurately, calculate shooting elements, and prepare gunpowder by himself. Moreover, he is extremely talented in mathematics. He can use some methods written by Zhu Cixiang in "Ballistic Art" to quickly mentally calculate the various elements. It may not be accurate, but it is still close to ten.
It seems that this guy is not only muscular, he is also a "science and engineering man", and he is not bad at liberal arts. He can write well with calligraphy and can read articles. Although he is not up to the standards of being a scholar or a scholar, he is not a scholar. Too big a problem.
...
The Six Arts exam has been completed and I have been busy for almost a whole morning.
Horse riding, shooting, shooting guns, firing cannons, dancing the long sword, riding a horse and slashing the scarecrow with a sword, riding a horse and stabbing the scarecrow with a sword, etc., all passed perfectly!
If he fails to pass the Yanshenggong exam, this guy can also take the exam to become a martial arts champion or something... And among the six arts, the written exam includes "ritual" and "music" (it is not a singing test, but a music score test) He also did very well in the four arts including "calligraphy" (testing "The Analects" and calligraphy) and "numerology"!
They all passed with full marks - Wei Zaode was indeed the top talent. He set his own questions and his scores were perfect. Moreover, Kong Yinzheng also had a good memory. He knew all the answers that Teacher Wei gave him by heart. Oh, it’s not all cheating. I took the math test myself, and of course I got full marks.
However, after the Six Arts, there are still two subjects to be tested: "Sword Theory" and "Tao Theory"!
It was easy to take the sword test, so I took the test in the building called Guanjun Rongtai, a pavilion in the school grounds. This military viewing platform has two platforms, one in the south and one in the north. Kong Yinzheng, who had passed the Six Arts Examination, walked up to the south platform, wearing armor and holding a long sword, and shouted loudly: "Kong Yin, the descendant of the most holy master, is here, who dares to discuss swordsmanship with me!"
Who dares to do this?
This was a question to the five examiners: Wei Zaode, Qian Qianyi, Zhu Zhiyu, Wang Fuzhi, and Huang Daozhou. Of course, no one wanted to discuss swordsmanship with him. Among these five examiners, only Zhu Zhiyu knows martial arts. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, he was recommended to the Ministry of Rites as "the best in both civil and military talents". However, Zhu Zhiyu did not apply for official service, but continued to be obsessed with learning. He was 39 years old at the time, but now Zhu Zhiyu is 50 years old. Of course, he cannot compete with the young and strong Kong Yinzheng.
Seeing that no one dared to discuss swordsmanship with Kong Yinzheng, Zhu Cixiang, who was sitting under the eaves of the south platform of the military viewing platform, smiled and said: "Kong Zhuang is the best warrior of Confucius. His swordsmanship is naturally good. As for the theory of justice, ...I wonder what the five examiners would like to ask?”
"Your Majesty, I have something to ask!"
It was Zhu Zhiyu who asked the question.
"What are you asking?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"Ask Ren! What is Ren?"
Zhu Cixiang breathed a sigh of relief and nodded appreciatively. This Zhu Zhiyu is still on the road - the core of Confucianism is benevolence. Anyone who has studied Confucianism can speak eloquently.
"Kong Yinzheng, tell me!" Zhu Cixiang smiled and forwarded the question to Kong Yinzheng.
Kong Yin put his hand on the hilt of the sword, his eyes were blazing, and he replied loudly: "Your Majesty, I believe that benevolent and brave people have love!"
Do brave men love and be benevolent?
This answer is not standard!
Zhu Cixiang was a bit complaining about Kong Yinzheng. Wouldn't it be over if you just said, "Benevolence is called benevolence"? It is said that the brave have love...
Zhu Zhiyu didn't expect that Kong Yinzheng would say such a thing. He was stunned at the moment, "What does it mean that a brave man loves?"
"A brave man can conquer others with his strength!" Kong Yinzheng raised his sword, "Being able to conquer others with his strength, but not being cruel, not easy to kill, cherishing life, is the real benevolence! Therefore, a benevolent man must be a brave man and must be firm. To be fierce and powerful, you must be good at convincing others with force, you must have a sword in your hand, and love in your heart. If you don't have the courage and power to speak of benevolence, it is not true benevolence, but false benevolence!
There is a saying in "Huainanzi": Confucius was wiser than Chang Hong and braver than Meng Bi. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" said: Confucius's strength is the gateway to the whole country. "Book of Rites" says: Confucius shot at the garden of the hale and hearty figure, covering the spectators like a wall! It can be seen that the most holy master is the first warrior of Confucianism! Only such warriors are qualified to speak benevolently! "
