Dress to be a celebrity

The official in the curtain entered the curtain on the sixth day of August, and from then on he could only live in the Gongyuan, and could not go out until the end of the judging in September.Although there are local officials in the curtain offering delicious food and drink, to prevent cheating, only a piece of paper cannot enter the curtain, but the word "boring" cannot be passed away with a few banquets.

Before the examination papers were sent in, the footsteps and voices of the inspectors came in from outside the curtain, making them even more lonely and boring inside the curtain.The old gentlemen Wang and Zhang couldn't help recalling the lively lecture meeting in May:

"It's nothing to be able to invite more than a dozen gentlemen to give lectures. What's rare is that hundreds of students can be arranged to attend lectures at the same time, and the conference is quite orderly. Afterwards, when I mentioned these two conferences with the young people in the country, they also said that they could learn With a lot of things."

Zhang Langzhong runs the school, observed the process of the lecture conference more carefully, and said with a smile: "I learned a few things from them. After I went back, I also added self-study classes to the academy, and asked the students to choose their own candidates." Lectures and self-criticism. In the past, some people who followed the master and read indiscriminately just wanted to fool them, but now they are afraid of embarrassing themselves in front of their classmates, so they are willing to study hard by themselves."

Mr. Lin, another teacher who became a teacher at the conference, recalled: "I think the most refreshing thing is the applause. During the closing exam, we teachers went on stage together, and more than [-] students below applauded us vigorously. Thank you, my old tears are about to come out."

They gradually became lively, and several fellow examiners also came together to ask those interesting things that can't be seen only by reading the quotations.

The two chief examiners from Beijing passed through various counties, and the local county magistrate gave them a few copies of "Quotations". When they heard them talking about this conference, they listened with their ears pricked up, regardless of the reserve of the chief examiner.

After entering Fujian Province, they went directly to the hotel to stay, and then closed the door to thank guests until the sixth day. On this day, they went to the Gongyuan to have a curtain banquet, and then changed to the Gongyuan to retreat inside the curtain. It was even more lonely than the days of these fellow examiners. boring.At this time, I heard several examiners talk about interesting things in the lecture conference, and the two of them listened more attentively than others:

Whether it's the river embankment lined with fragrant trees, the picnic banquet full of rural atmosphere, or the fun of lectures on the high platform, they all yearn for it.Even the scriptures and sentences that I have studied for many years, which are enough to write questions to test others, can be tasted fresh and interesting under the emotional memories of these old gentlemen.

The host Song who personally organized this conference, came up with such tricks as the "opening ceremony" and "closing ceremony", and was able to host debates on the stage, and figured out the Song's seal method... is really amazing. interested.

The deputy examiner, Hu Ke, asked his fellow examiners, "Does this Song student also have to take the exam for this subject?"

Huan Ling replied: "That's right. In the Song Dynasty, the year before last, he was admitted to the No. 3 student in Tingzhou Prefecture under the hands of Mr. Fang, who was a student in this province. Today, he will follow the official and go to Fuzhou to take the exam."

Zhou still had some impressions of him during the incident, knowing that he was supposed to be a member of the Hanlin Academy, but later he came to Fujian for some reason, so he naturally had some relatives with him, so he said gently: "You and That Song Sheng has a deep affection. However, friendship is friendship, and there must be no delay in reading the papers. If his papers are not good, and you randomly submit them, brother Gao and I will not forgive you."

Editor Gao Gu laughed and said, "Brother Zhou, why should you be too strict? Huan Tongpan is a man of measure, and his younger brother is also talented. If the essay is not good, why bother to take the exam in Fujian? Now I feel a little regretful that we can't go out to make rounds. , otherwise you will be able to see with your own eyes how he writes the Song characters as thin as hanging silk."

Huan Ling said with a smile: "Senior, you can't see it even if you go out of the curtain, because the Song characters are not written, but carved with a sharp iron pen. You have to draw a few more marks at the beginning and end of the pen, imitating it." The strokes of calligraphy are actually quite laborious to practice."

That is to say, his younger brother was smart and hardworking to come up with this brand-new engraving method, and to be able to engrave so many excellent books that are well-revised and completely correct.

The same examiners have also seen his wax engraving method. Some said that the engraving method is labor-saving and quick, and some said that this method does not need to go through the hands of workers and is suitable for literati ladies, but some people said that this method is troublesome and not suitable for common use... …

Listening to them talking about printing books, Editor Gao couldn't help thinking of the library building under construction in the palace, and sighed leisurely: "It would be great if calligraphy can be done quickly at this moment. Let all craftsmen in the palace learn this method and print it out as soon as possible." Enough new books to fill a library..."

The king of Zhou is also hoping to get married as soon as possible.

As long as the king of Zhou is married, they can write a letter to ask for the title of prince, and the country will be established early, and the emperor will have no reason to delay it!Regardless of the national origin, the princes below are also getting older, they are all raised in the palace, and they are the same princes, I'm afraid people will be easily confused...

Zhou Jishi also thought of this marriage, and was also a little upset.But when he looked up and saw Huan Ling, he felt that compared to the future concubine's brother who had been dragged on for nearly three years, their anxiety was nothing, and he should be the one who was really anxious.

He took the opportunity of changing clothes after dinner to drag Huan Ling to a place where no one was around, and comforted him in a low voice: "The Ministry of Household Affairs has approved the money for the construction of the library this summer. The Kunning Palace where I live has been moved. It can be seen that today..."

The current empress has passed away for many years, and the Kunning Palace has been suspended for a long time. The library building was built in the Kunning Palace, which shows that the Holy Majesty has already regarded Zhou Wangfei as the future empress.

As the eldest brother of the princess, he might be able to return to Beijing soon.

Zhou Weishi secretly comforted Huan Ling, but Huan Ling was not as excited as he imagined. He just smiled and said to him: "Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for your concern. Thunder, rain and dew are all blessings from heaven. No matter what happens in the future, Huan Ling can only The festival of devotion is just to repay the service."

He was so unafraid, Zhou Yu was a little surprised at first, but later he felt delighted.

His relatives have always had some power in the court, but his calm personality is much stronger than those relatives who are proud of their status as concubines.If the elder brother is like this, the younger sister must also be a gentle and honest person. After Zhou Wang became the crown prince or even ascended the throne, the front and rear palaces would be more peaceful in the future.

He patted Huan Ling on the shoulder, and smiled brightly: "Well said, I'm just waiting for my duty."

After the library building is completed, if the Holy Majesty still delays and refuses to marry the King of Zhou, he will contact his colleagues who dare to sacrifice their lives to kneel at the gate of the palace, begging the Holy Majesty to fulfill his promise!

He thought generously about the important affairs of his family and country, but Huan Ling only had the current exam in his mind.At the end of the afternoon and the beginning of the application period, finally the transcribed scrolls came in. There were five copies in total, and one of them was the Spring and Autumn House.Wufang divided the papers with the examiner, and each returned to the judging room. Since the Chunqiu room only had this one paper to read, the two old gentlemen discussed it and gave it to the youngest Huan Ling first.

Older people can stand loneliness better than young people.After he finished the paper, it would not be too late for the two of them to read it again.

Huan Ling took the scroll, and within a few lines of the opening, he smiled involuntarily when he saw the broken question immediately after the first question—he had a clear understanding and a thorough invention, which coincided with his views on this article Hey, it's his junior brother's article.

In the past, he used to think about how to teach students to write more in-depth and thoughtful articles as a senior brother, but now it is very fresh to examine his articles as an examiner.

As a senior brother, since he was sentenced to the test paper of the junior brother, he should have avoided suspicion and judged the test strictly.But the more he read this article, the more he felt that it was written in his heart, and he couldn't find faults no matter how he picked it.Especially the sentence at the end of the article "Yin and Yang are born in Taiji, benevolence and righteousness are born in the heart, and its principles are in one ear", which elevates the righteousness of a gentleman to the height of the beauty of heaven and man, and the depth of Neo-Confucianism revealed in it is comparable to the great Confucianism!

Regardless of whether he thought everything was fine with his junior brother or not, he wrote a comment full of emotion as soon as he picked up the pen: "The handouts start from the heart, distinguish between reason and desire, and the last chapter is based on the heart, creating the way of heaven It's wonderful, and it's not something that can be obtained by shallow scholars, so it should be highly recommended."

Against the backdrop of the vermilion all over the scroll, his comments in blue pen seemed shockingly abrupt.He glanced back at "You Yi Gao Jian", smiled slightly, and turned down again.

The second question, "The Sun, Moon, and Stars Are Connected, and All Things Are Overwhelmed" comes from the section "Today's Heaven" in Chapter 26 of "The Doctrine of the Mean", which is about the way of heaven.The third question "Forms and colors are inherent, but the sage can then practice the form" comes from "Mencius·Jinxinshang", which means that all people have forms and colors, each with natural principles, and only the sages can express their meanings, and their principles are correct. Combined with the first topic discussed during the self-study at this year's lecture meeting, "Only the sincerity in the world can do its best."

Although the scriptures are different, they have reviewed the debates about the way of heaven and reason and energy contained in them countless times, and it is also what his Shi Guaner can speak eloquently on a large forum surrounded by hundreds of people without pre-rehearsal.

He immediately approved the three questions, and then looked at the "Spring and Autumn" question--the Spring and Autumn Annals made subtle remarks and great righteousness, he and his younger brother compared each other one by one. Those who read books and history praised those who made peace with the world and criticized the rebellious officials and thieves.

Naturally, Song Shi could not make mistakes here. He read the volumes freely and wrote comments fluently. He finished marking three four books and four five classics in a short time, and sent them to the other two examiners for review.

Among the two examiners, Mr. Xu, an ambassador of the Ministry of Industry and Engineering, worked with him at the lecture conference, and the other chief envoy, Secretary and Counselor, Mr. Wei, also read how he commented on the students' explanations from the lecture conference quotations. Naturally They are convinced of the standard of his comments.Seeing that he gave such a high evaluation, they all laughed and said: "I got a good paper when I opened the door, which is a good idea. I hope that all the good papers will come later, so that we can refresh ourselves while reading."

The two were also worried about whether he was young and tender, and the comments he gave were too high. They read the paper one after another, but they couldn't find any faults. They could only fill the top of the paper with red circles and write a few words " The meaning is pure, the style of the words is strict" and the comments of "the discussion is brilliant and the style is mature".

Do you want to add another sentence "this is rare in the field" and "it is suitable to crown this house"?

The two examiners struggled for a while, and felt that this article came too early, and there may not be better ones later, and they should not be so absolute.So I wrote down the serial number list at the beginning of the volume on the wall, and compared it with the good volumes at the back to see if it was enough to be selected as the volume for the chief examiner.

But the first batch of examination papers came in less, and the examiners were still relatively fresh, and they could immerse themselves in the articles and read them carefully.In the end, thousands of examination papers poured in one after another, and the examiners reviewed up to dozens of people a day, and each of them had seven long essays of three to five hundred words. Everyone can use it to refresh their minds, and it is up to the destiny to take or drop the mediocre scrolls.

It was not easy for the two chief examiners. Every day at least thirty exam papers were sent to their main examination hall. They just bowed their heads and reviewed the questions of the Four Books and Five Classics that were constantly being handed in. In the middle of the day, I realized that the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, and the autumn test was over.

The students had all dispersed, and only they, the examiners, were left to review the examination papers slowly.

It wasn't until the end of August that Wufang handed over the Zhu Juan was finally approved.The two chief examiners held papers that could qualify for the mid-term exam, and asked Wufangtong examiner for the papers of the second and third exams according to the seat number printed on the seal.

"Tianzi No. 13, Hongzi No. [-]..."

Seeing that the examiners were going to review the papers for the next two rounds, the two examiners Chunqiu Fang Xu and Wei remembered the feelings they had when they read and judged the first Zhujuan that day, and hurriedly found the corresponding one from the second and third rounds of papers. When handing in the examination papers, I recommended to the two main examiners face to face: "I have specially remembered this examinee's papers. His first essay is definitely the leader's choice, and the second and third essays are also clear and elegant. I hope you will try it." Read it!"

The author has something to say: the title and comments refer to the Ming Dynasty Jinshi Dengkelu