On the tenth day of the first lunar month, the Xinzheng County Government announced to the whole county that this year's county examination was scheduled to be held on February 12th and would be held at the county government office.
After hearing the news, Gao Pragmatic showed no airs as a close official of the prince. He rushed to the county government ceremony room to register in person the next morning, filled in his name, place of origin, age, and resumes of his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, and showed the prepared documents in advance. Students in this county must sign a guarantee document to prove that they have not falsely registered, concealed their identity, replaced or fabricated their names, and that they have a clean family background and are not prostitutes, elites, slaves, slaves or their descendants.
The officials of Xinzheng County Government are all hereditary local officials. For them, even if they do not know the county magistrate, they dare not not know the young master of the Gao family who is taking the exam, so all necessary steps have been arranged in advance. Well done, respectfully and with high pragmatism.
On February 12, the sixth house of the Gao family sent four servants who were most familiar with the county government officials, together with ten Gao Jingshi's cavalry, under the leadership of Gao Jue, to escort Gao Jingshi to the county government to wait for the exam.
In fact, Gao pragmatically arrived at the county seat one day in advance and slept at Wubo Gaocai's house that night. It was only two miles away from the county government office and did not need any escort at all. However, Mrs. Zhang disagreed and felt that this was Gao pragmatically's first scientific examination in his life. , there can be no accidents - no one can delay him for a moment even if he is walking on the road.
Gao Pragmatic has experienced the majesty of a powerful official.
When Gao Pangshi arrived at the county office at the customary time for the scientific examination, it was not yet dawn, the lights in front of the office were bright, and the county magistrate was already sitting on the stage outside the gate. The subordinate officials on both sides were separated, and the roll call was taken. , after the papers were awarded, Gao Jingshi took the long-eared bamboo basket from Gao Jue, who was a temporary book boy, and entered the room carrying the basket.
The long-eared bamboo basket contained the pens, ink, inkstones and food needed for the exam. There was no need to bring paper, because the test papers were prepared by the county government office. There were more than ten pages of paper in total, with fourteen lines on each page and ten lines on each line. Eight characters, horizontal red lines and vertical grids, and several blank pieces of draft paper.
Xinzheng is not considered an upper county, but only a middle county. There is no special examination booth, so the examination will be held in the county government hall. The lobby has five rooms, two volumes, and a total of ten rooms. It is extremely spacious. It was originally a place where major and important cases were heard and the rules of office arrangement were implemented. Now, there are tables and chairs on both sides of the lobby and under the corridor for examination.
Each person's exam paper has a seat number printed on it, but in fact, the county examination does not require you to sit according to the seat number, so candidates often rush to grab the second and third seats that are well-lit and protected from the sun and rain after entering the room. Rows of seats. This is because the front row is under the eaves, and although it has enough light, it is difficult to protect it from the wind, rain, and sun, while the seats behind it have insufficient light. There is only one day in the county examination, and no lights are allowed, which is called "no candlelight". If the light is too dark, it will of course be very disadvantageous for the examination.
However, Gao Pragmatic obviously has certain privileges. Although there are quite a few candidates competing for his seat, no one has taken his seat, allowing him to easily sit in the third row in the second row - this is the best seat, obviously. It was also arranged by the county government officials in advance for him.
After the county official called the roll call, all the children entered the hall. Then the county government office closed the door and the county official announced the test questions in person.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was only one test in the county examination, with questions from four books. In the south, two eight-part essays were usually tested, while in the north, there was only one test. However, regardless of the south or the north, the questions in the county examination were mostly small questions.
The so-called small questions are questions with incomplete meaning. This kind of question either takes a word or a few words from the four books; or cuts off the top half of a sentence with complete meaning and leaves only half of the sentence, which is called a cut-off question; or cuts off the bottom half of a sentence with complete meaning. Leaving only the top half of a sentence is called a cut-off question.
When doing the above or below questions, you must not directly write the words of the truncated part in the text, but you must also include the meaning of the truncated part, so it is very difficult to do. There are also sub-questions, partial questions, partial questions, short-term questions and other titles.
The more difficult questions are the so-called intercept questions. Taking a sentence from the Four Books or Five Classics, cutting off the first half of it, and then placing it on top of the next sentence is called a cut-and-build question.
Some cross-section questions even use the upper half of the first sentence of a section or chapter. Often the two sentences have no connection in meaning, and candidates have to try to connect the meanings of the two sentences, which is the most difficult thing to do. . However, because this kind of question can best exercise and test the candidates' thinking, it is widely used in the boy's examination, but is not commonly used in the provincial examination and the general examination.
As for the reason, it is quite simple. The provincial examinations and the general examinations are already part of the grand ceremony of recruiting talents. Using such questions that separate the meaning of scriptures is inconsistent with the purpose of the imperial examinations to instill Confucian orthodoxy in scholars.
Gao pragmatic sat down and found that there were a lot more draft papers on his desk than those on the next table. He couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.
In fact, he didn't feel that he needed any special care when taking the county examination. But thinking about it in retrospect, given the position of the Gao family in Xinzheng, it was considered very ethical for them to just take care of him and not do anything more outrageous!
Gao pragmatically opened the question paper and looked at it. It said, "Maybe you are born knowing something and one of the things you know."
Sure enough, it was a cut-and-match question, but fortunately it wasn't too biased.
This question comes from Chapter 20 of "The Doctrine of the Mean": "You may know it when you are born, you may know it when you learn it, you may know it when you are trapped, and it is a matter of knowing it."
Hey, the meaning of this question, could it be...
Gao pragmatic subconsciously looked up at the county magistrate sitting on the stage, and saw that the county magistrate, who was already quite old, was also looking towards him. As soon as their eyes made contact, Gao pragmatically confirmed: the county magistrate probably also heard Through various rumors about himself as a child prodigy, he regards himself as one who "knows it from birth", but he uses this topic to remind himself not to be proud just because he is born with knowledge, because those who "know it by learning" and those who "know it by being trapped", As long as you "know it" in the end, according to Confucius, it's all the same.
Of course, understanding what the county gentleman kindly reminded me is not the same thing as "solving problems". Solving problems also depends on the skills of writing articles.
However, although this question is a cross-section question, the county may have considered the general level of northern students, so the meaning of this question has not been separated, and it is still a question with a clear theme.
A highly pragmatic mind says: Knowledge, benevolence, and courage are the most eminent virtues in the world; knowledge, knowledge, and knowledge can all be obtained in order to conduct safely, profitably, and encourage conduct. Therefore, the ancients said, "One of the best virtues is knowledge." It's a success."
Therefore, the main theme of this question should be determined as: knowledge and practice in life, knowledge and practice in learning, knowledge and practice in difficulties, and according to the traditional Confucian habit, the focus should be on "knowledge and practice in difficulties".
With a smile on his face, Gao pragmatically grinds the ink easily, picks up the pen and strokes the brush without any delay, and starts drafting smoothly.
The county magistrate on the stage was quite surprised when he saw it. After thinking about it, he couldn't help but stand up and start walking around, but he deliberately walked to Gao Pingshi's side.
I saw that Gao Pragmatic had written three paragraphs in standard Taige style.
The county magistrate only glanced at Gao Pragmatic's question, and sighed in his heart: There is no empty person under the great reputation.
But I saw the inscription on Gao Pragmatic's draft:
The attainments of knowledge are not all the same, but being able to know this is the same as knowing.
