After explaining the rules, it was time to start serving the main course. Ma Guangzu continued, "If you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand up, so the first test is 'ritual'."
Zhao Mengqi was a little confused after hearing this. How to test this ceremony? Is it better to compare who can kowtow to the standard?
Not only him, but the other four people were also confused. Five rites? Book of Rites? etiquette? Etiquette?
Is it a live performance, or a dictation of rules, or an exposition of cognition?
The officials were also deep in thought. Only the person who asked the question knew about it, so everyone else present was very curious.
"Etiquette is great and broad. It regulates the words and deeds of the world, so that the top and bottom are orderly and the inside and outside are harmonious. Today's topic can only be simple and easy to get a glimpse of it. There is no final conclusion about right or wrong. Please read from your heart. answer."
This means that for this question about etiquette, the answer does not mean whether it is right or wrong. You can just answer it according to your heart.
Zhao Mengqi thought about it carefully, could it be that under the guise of "ceremony", it was actually just a behavioral test?
"I would like to ask, when it is extremely cold, you are isolated from the world, and there are only you, one person, and a coffin. Everyone is a stranger. In the coffin are your closest relatives and elders. At that time, no one can live without chopping the coffin and lighting a fire. What should you do?" Please state your reasons within a quarter of an hour."
The problem is not complicated at all. Putting aside other factors, a stranger is about to freeze to death. The only way to save him is to chop up the coffins of your elders and relatives and use them as firewood. What should you do at this time?
As for you, the question didn't clearly indicate whether you were freezing to death, but it may have been part of the exam.
It turns out that this is really a behavioral test. So people from Song Dynasty also have such fun?
Zhao Mengqi was relieved. If he really took the test on etiquette content, he would probably have to hand in a blank paper.
Xiaohuangmen gave the five candidates pens, inks, paper and inkstones, and then started timing. They used a lotus leakage, which is a bowl-shaped container, and put it into the water. The water slowly poured in from the small hole at the bottom of the container. When it was quarter of an hour, Even if it is completely submerged in the water, there are also containers that calculate different times, which you can choose according to your needs.
Zhao Mengqi looked at the snow-white pool paper in front of him, thought for a moment, and then wrote down his answer. It was only a few words, and it was done in a moment.
Then he started to look around and found that the other four people were thinking carefully, looking very cautious.
Everyone was paying attention. Naturally seeing Zhao Mengqi's strange behavior, most of them thought that King Zhong must not know how to answer and was trying to plagiarize.
"His Royal Highness, please do not spy on others, otherwise you will be sentenced for fraud." Uncle Xie Fang said solemnly.
Zhao Mengqi shrugged, "But I have already finished answering the questions. Can I hand in the paper in advance?"
When he said this, the officials became a little restless and murmured softly.
"This loyal prince is too childish. Doesn't he know that today's exam is very important to him?"
"Perhaps King Zhong is still the same as before. It's not surprising that he won't answer."
"Even if you can't answer for a while, you're not giving up on yourself so much. You really can't help me..."
Uncle Xie Fang lightly knocked on the table to remind all officials to be quiet, and then asked Zhao Mengqi, "Your Highness, are you sure you want to hand in the papers?"
Zhao Mengqi folded the paper and raised it, "Take it."
Then he observed the other four people unscrupulously. They were also surprised by Zhao Mengqi's behavior, but they were all different.
Zhao Mengqi was stunned for a moment and then immediately returned to his thoughts. Zhao Mengxi rolled his eyes and showed a trace of ridicule, but Zhao Heyun's face was full of appreciation, as if he admired King Zhong's free and easy attitude.
But Zhao Mengguan had a solemn look on his face. He had just learned King Zhong's methods not long ago, and he didn't dare to look down upon him anymore. He couldn't help but think about the answer more nervously, never wanting to lose again.
Uncle Xie Fang didn't want to persuade anymore, so he motioned to Xiao Huangmen to come forward and collect the paper and hand it to him. He opened it casually and took a look. His expression immediately changed. He subconsciously looked at King Zhong again, with a bit of admiration in his eyes. .
Others who noticed that Uncle Xie Fang was strange, especially the other examiners, became curious and wanted to know what King Zhong wrote. However, Uncle Xie folded the paper back and pressed it under his palm, not wanting to show it to others for the time being.
In the hall, the four of them had already begun to answer the questions with their seriousness no less than that of the scholars taking the imperial examination, so the idle Zhao Mengqi seemed particularly different.
In the end, Zhao Heyun put down his writing brush relatively early, while the other three were racing against time, filling the rolls of paper with small regular script. Looking at their posture, if time allowed, they could write tens of thousands more words.
When a quarter of an hour came, the four papers were put away together. After being read by several examiners, they were handed over to several Hanlin attendants to read them out in front of the public.
"Zhao Heyunjuan replied that after he sincerely apologized to his elders, he borrowed the coffin to light a fire to save people. The reason was that he followed the example of 'Sister-in-law drowns uncle to help'. Although it is rude to split the coffin, in order to save people, he had to take an expedient measure..."
There are more than 500 words in the following paragraphs, quoting scriptures to explain the rationality of his approach. The core is that Yasheng Mencius said that it is allowed to adapt according to the actual situation.
The literary talent is outstanding, and the classic quotations are also very appropriate. It shows Zhao Heyun's erudition very well. Many officials nodded secretly, but some officials thought that although the choice he made was not wrong, don't forget that the test was 'ritual'. , so it seems a bit inappropriate.
The other three candidates sneered at Zhao Heyun's superficiality. What scholar didn't know about his sister-in-law and his uncle's support? If it was so simple, why bother to take the exam? Since it is a question about "rituals", it is natural to attach great importance to etiquette.
The answer sheets of the three were very long, nearly a thousand words long, which was really difficult for their hand speed. However, they all chose not to disturb the elder's body, but there were slight differences between the three.
Zhao Mengxi's answer was the most righteous. The summary of the meaning was that, let alone a passerby who froze to death, even if he froze to death himself, he would not do anything rude.
Zhao Mengqi said that although he would not do anything rude, he could not just sit back and watch others freeze to death, so he had to give him all his clothes and sacrifice himself to repay justice without being rude.
What Zhao Mengguan meant was that one should strictly observe etiquette and not go beyond it in the slightest. However, as a gentleman, if he failed to save a person's life, he would definitely blame himself for it for the rest of his life, and he would definitely try to make up for it afterwards.
After reading the answer sheets of the four people, Zhao Mengqi made an evaluation of these competitors in his mind.
Zhao Heyun has a simpler mind, and his answer is to discuss things as they happen, and just follow them if there are precedents. The other three are more sophisticated, with different personalities. Zhao Mengxi is cold-blooded, Zhao Menghao is pedantic, and Zhao Mengguan is the most hypocritical.
The Imperial Attendant took the last paper and read out, "Zhao Meng opened the paper and said, split the coffin and put people first!"
