Sitting in front of Feng Ziying was a slightly obese man.
The loose robe hangs loosely around the body. There is no belt, and even the hair is pulled up so casually. Even sitting in the official hat chair looks so inconspicuous.
"Feng Keng has met Professor Zhou." Feng Ziying bowed deeply and obeyed the rules.
"Feng Keng, Feng Ziying, the legitimate son of Feng Gong of Shenwu General Feng Tang, well, his eldest uncle Feng Qin died in the battle of Hulunsai and was awarded the title of Yunchuan Bo. His second uncle Feng Han, the then general soldier of Datong died of illness, but the court did not give an explanation. Well, because your uncle has no children, Uncle Yunchuan actually has no one to take the title? This makes no sense. There is no reason for the imperial court to treat a meritorious official like this."
The short, fat man just sat there casually, with nothing on the desk. His somewhat annoying whiskers gave the man a more philistine air.
His words were extremely harsh, but Feng Ziying could tell that there was not much sarcasm in the other person's words.
He said nothing, waiting for the other party to continue.
On the second day of admission, Qi Yongtai specifically checked Feng Ziying's classical knowledge. It was slightly better than expected, but it was far from the level of students in the second house of the academy. This meant that there were monthly exams and quarterly exams. Feng Ziying faced the pressure of dropping out of school due to the city entrance examination.
According to the rules of Qingtan Academy, students who fail two consecutive monthly exams or a total of three monthly exams will be dismissed.
The quarterly exam is used as the basis for transfer to House A and House B. Once students in House A get excellent results twice in the quarterly exam, they can enter House A. Students in House A will be automatically demoted to House B once they fail the quarterly exam once. .
Over the years since the academy was founded, no more than fifty people have been dismissed, which is less than one person every year on average, but no one dares to flout this rule.
The transfer of houses due to the quarterly examination is common. Almost every quarter, someone will be promoted from House B to House A, and some will be demoted from House A to House B. Although this does not affect study and participation in the provincial examination, it is a qualification and A symbol of glory that no one will give up easily.
The monthly exams test the classics and meanings, and the quarterly exams test policy theory. This has become the basic routine of various academies, but Feng Ziying fell short in her basic knowledge of classics and meanings.
He has long been familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, but his level of familiarity is still far behind that of the students of the same age in the academy.
In particular, the hard work that people have put in since childhood in combating reality and reality cannot be provided by a martial arts family like Feng Ziying, so Feng Ziying knows very well that she must work hard in this area.
It can even be said that he does not have to spend much effort on policy analysis, because the various observation, understanding, analysis and judgment abilities and methods brought to him by modern education are not comparable to those of these ancient students.
The key is that even if you want to write policy papers, you have to describe and explain based on the foundation of the classics and meanings. Therefore, without the foundation of the classics and meanings, you will have no foundation, or people will not recognize what you write at all.
Therefore, in the past two years, Feng Ziying probably spent most of her time on understanding the meaning of the Four Books and Five Classics.
The key is how to solve each test question skillfully and how to develop an argument, and how to use an argument form that meets current standards to comply with the rules of the examination room and the examiner's wishes. This is the key.
Fortunately, the Great Zhou Dynasty no longer attached too much importance to various rigid standards of scripture and meaning as the Qian Ming Dynasty did, and the requirements were not so strict. Instead, they paid more attention to explanations. This is also the reason why the Great Zhou Dynasty Science Examination and the Qian Ming Dynasty Science Examination There are some changes, but overall it remains the same.
"Logically speaking, there is no need to take the scientific examination with a family background like yours, right? You are a graduate of the Imperial College, so finding an official position is not difficult for you, right? Even if you don't want to leave the capital, find some way to get a position in Longjinwei , and it's very simple." The short, fat man had an intriguing smile on his face, and he was a bit inquisitive, "Is the promotion of people and scholars so attractive?"
"If it's not attractive, why do so many people flock to Qingtan Academy every year, and why are they still reluctant to leave after being turned away?" Feng Ziying asked back: "For example, Dazhou is not a government-run academy, and so on. There are thousands of academies, right? Why are there so many students?"
"The vast majority of them are different from you. They are either doing it for the glory of the family or purely for life. Of course, some of them do it to benefit the country by serving as an official." The short and fat man surnamed Zhou said it very casually, without any culture of this era. The reserve and magnanimity of the gentleman made Feng Ziying feel more like a businessman.
"You don't have to worry about this. After Wu Xun, a leisurely official position won't be a problem, right?"
Feng Ziying shook her head.
"Am I a bit mean-spirited?" the short, fat man laughed. Feng Ziying's calmness and calmness still made him somewhat fond of him. The disappointment in the examination room made him, who was over forty, have already lost other ideas. How to make his family live more comfortably is his greatest pursuit.
There are many professors and teaching assistants like him in the academy who have a successful academic background, but many of them only teach here temporarily, or they just use the academy as a stepping stone, waiting for the right time to become officials again.
Only he can't.
"Teacher, disciples also have reasons to be disciples." Feng Ziying replied calmly: "Just like tutors also choose to teach disciples in the academy, they may have compelling reasons."
There were no unnecessary words or explanations, but it made the short and fat man Zhou Chaozong feel a lot more comfortable. At least this man was neither hypocritical nor arrogant. His previous aggressiveness made him feel a little inferior.
"Forget it, since Brother Chengfeng asked me to tutor you on the meaning of the scriptures, I will first test how well you read the Four Books and Five Classics, how well you solve problems and describe them, and then tell you how to learn them." Zhou Chaozong exhaled a breath, and placed his palms on A casual touch on the desk: "Have you read the "Collected Commentary on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books" thoroughly?"
"Collected Annotations on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books" was written by Zhu Xi and is also a special annotation of the Four Books. From the Ming Dynasty to the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was a classic work of the Four Books. Many viewpoints and topics originated from it or were derived from it.
"Slightly understood." Feng Ziying didn't dare to trust his university. He had studied this work seriously. When he was in university, his tutor asked him to read it over and over again.
"Hmm, have you read Mr. Yichuan's "Interpretation of the Doctrine of the Mean" familiarly?" Zhou Chaozong was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that the other party would dare to say that he had a thorough understanding of "The Annotations of the Four Books".
"It also took me three months to read through it." Feng Ziying answered honestly.
"Oh?" Zhou Chaozong was even more surprised and nodded: "Brother Chengfeng told me that your scriptures are shallow. Where is your shallowness?"
"Teacher, I am only familiar with these writings, but I find it very difficult to understand them and how to apply them to solve problems." Feng Ziying bowed her hands and said, "I would also like to ask my disciples to give me some advice."
Zhou Chaozong generally understood.
This guy still put some thought into studying, but it may be limited to the guidance of unknown teachers, especially when facing the provincial examination. If an ordinary child scholar without much experience in scientific examination, he can only be a blind man and feel the elephant, and answer questions randomly, but for himself This is not a problem at all.
Thinking of this, Zhou Chaozong couldn't help but laugh in self-deprecation. He took five provincial exams and four proficiency exams. Who could be as qualified as himself?
And even now, I am still an idle person, relying on teaching to earn a living. How could someone with a good family background do so poorly?
Feng Ziying noticed that the lonely and bitter look on Teacher Zhou's face flashed away, but she pretended not to see it.
Everyone has their own hardships and difficulties, and they may not be willing to let others know. Maintaining a certain distance may be more helpful in maintaining this relationship.
When Qi Yongtai introduced this person, he only said that this person was the candidate for the Nanzhili Township Examination in the 28th year of Yuanxi. However, in the 29th, 32nd, 35th, and 38th years of Yuanxi, he was always However, he was dismissed after less than two years and came to teach at Qingtan Academy.
Teacher Zhou must be in his early forties, which means that he didn't pass the examination until he was about thirty years old.
In this era, the rural examination generally started at the age of fourteen, so this person had to take the provincial examination at least four or five times before passing, and then failed the general examination four times.
It took nearly thirty years just to take this scientific examination. It must be said that this person had a bumpy scientific career.
No wonder Qi Shanchang said that Professor Zhou was the most suitable for him and the best mentor to help him improve his level of classics and meanings.
The experience of these four or five provincial examinations alone is unmatched by others. As for the fact that the other party failed to pass the Jinshi examination, it does not have much impact on Feng Ziying.
Today's conferences are dominated by political theory, which is precisely what Feng Ziying is best at. It can even be said to be her aura of talent. As long as she can consolidate her theoretical and practical skills, she will take advantage of herself when participating in the conferences in the future.
