Chapter 145 The Master of Problem Solving (Part 1)
In the entire imperial examination level, the government examination is not considered high. The examination procedures of the government examination are similar to those of the county examination, and there is no essential difference.
Because the prefecture and county are in the same city, the examination venues for the Suzhou Prefectural Examination and the Wuxian County Examination are the same, but the examiner is changed from the county magistrate to the prefect.
Sitting in this examination room again, twelve-year-old Feng Menglong felt that he was already an old examinee.
Compared with the nervousness during the last county examination, Xiao Feng Menglong's mood was much more relaxed this time.
Especially being assigned the auspicious seat number "Bing 29" again made him feel at ease.
It was in this position that he passed the county examination last time.
Until a huge shadow appeared out of thin air and enveloped him.
Xiao Feng Menglong raised his head and looked to the side, and saw the man named Lin Tailai smiling at him and saying in surprise: "What a coincidence, your and my seat numbers are the same as last time."
In low-level exams like the county and government exams, the questions are not weird. They are usually complete sentences, not cut-and-dried questions.
The topic of this government test is "A gentleman is ill and loses his reputation".
After the exam started, Lin Tailai borrowed the original text from Xiao Feng Menglong next to him and then started writing the article.
The county and government examinations do not test policy theory, so the essays written are commonly known as eight-legged essays.
The eight-part essay is an article genre with a fixed format, and the full text structure is subdivided into several parts.
Moreover, the content must be stated in the tone of a sage, and the principles cannot exceed the scope of Cheng and Zhu’s annotations.
In addition, there are many detailed requirements, and there are so many rules and regulations that people who are not dedicated to eight-legged essays will not understand at all.
Take the most important opening question as an example. Although there are only three or four sentences before Wanli, and only two sentences after Wanli, the rules are still very complicated.
If two sentences of a question are broken by the upper part of the sentence, it is called linking up, and if the words of the two sentences are broken by the lower part, it is called committing a crime; if the meaning of the question is not completely broken, it is called a missed question. If all the words of the question are written out and cannot be integrated, it is called a scolding question.
To solve the problem, the names of so-called saints, sages, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, King Wen of Zhou, and King Wu of Zhou cannot appear, nor can the names of birds, animals, plants, and utensils appear. All pronouns must be used.
When making two sentences to break the question, you cannot use empty words such as "ye, yan, just" in the previous sentence. You can only use them in the next sentence, otherwise the writing style will not be clear.
If any of the above mistakes is made, the test paper will be deemed failed.
There are so many rules in just two sentences of breaking the topic, and the rules of the entire eight-legged essay can be imagined.
So it’s not just smart people who can’t write eight-legged essays well. Smart people like Wang Yangming, Tang Yin, Tang Shunzhi, and Zhang Juzheng are all masters of eight-part essays.
But smart people whose brainwaves don’t match their brainwaves can’t write eight-part essays either. Such people write articles wantonly, without adding points, and can’t stand the constraints of rules and regulations.
For example, Wen Zhengming and Gui Youguang, two young bastards, often ended up on the streets every time they took the eight-part essay test.
In response to the title "A gentleman is ill and has no reputation after his death", Lin Tailai wrote with a brush: "It is the worry of the saints to have no reputation for future generations."
These two sentences are the beginning of the article and establish the main theme and ideas of the entire article.
Then continue to write the second part of the Eight-legged Essay with the title: "It is not necessary for a husband to have a name for the moment, but a name for future generations is indispensable. Therefore, a gentleman does not seek fame, but he has no choice but to do so."
Until the entire article was completed in draft, it was about 700 words.
After Lin Tailai copied it again, he stood up and handed in the paper.
The prefecture examination was not anonymous, and the papers were handed directly to the examiner, the prefect Zhu Wenke.
Lin Tailai was not the first to submit his paper. There were more than 20 people who submitted papers before him.
According to the regulations of the examination room, you cannot leave the examination room after handing in your papers. The door will be opened only when there are fifty people.
So those who handed in their papers first had to stand on the sidelines, waiting to gather a large number of people.
Many classic jokes about the question and answer between the examiner and the candidates took place in this scene.
Lin Daguan always believed that his imperial examination was just a formality, so after he handed in the paper emotionally, he turned around and went to the crowd to wait for his release.
But the examiner, Zhifu Zhu, asked: "Are you Lin Tailai?"
Lin Tailai replied: "That's right!"
In today's examination room, it was indeed the first time that Zhu Zhifu saw this newly famous and notorious troublemaker in his rule.
After being stopped by the examiner, Lin Tailai could not leave, so he had to stand in front of the examination form and wait to continue questioning.
Magistrate Zhu glanced down at Lin Tailai's article and asked casually: "Did you write this?"
Lin Tailai asked rhetorically: "Of course it is written by me, what is the evaluation of Futai?"
Magistrate Zhu implicitly said sarcastically: "Whether this article is good or not, does it mean anything to you?"
He doesn't believe that with your great ability, Lin Tailai, you can't get the test questions in advance?
After you have the test questions, isn’t it easy to find a shooter to write an article in advance?
Lin Tailai heard what Zhu Zhifu meant, and immediately felt with grief and anger that Liu Feishuang, what kind of grievances were higher than the sky and deeper than the sea!
He did cheat and borrowed the original text from the seat next to him, but he really wrote the exam essay himself!
Why are there so many people in this world who judge people by their appearance? Can’t Lin Tailai write an article?
The other twenty people who submitted the papers heard the prefect's words and began to discuss in whispers.
Suddenly, a young scholar seemed to be encouraged by the prefect, stood up and said loudly: "I am Wang Yusheng of Dongshan, and I would like to ask Mr. Lin for advice on an article!"
After hearing this name, the buzz around him became louder, and even Lin Tailai looked at this person a few more times.
The Wang family of Taihu Dongshan is one of the four major families in Wuxian County and is famous for being half Confucian and half businessman.
In other words, being rich and powerful is not just ordinary money and power.
For example, there are eight major business gangs in the world today, the most famous of which is Huizhou merchants.
In addition, there are the Longyou Merchant Gang in Zhejiang, the Jiangyou Merchant Gang in Jiangxi, the Shanshan Merchant Gang in the west, etc. The merchant gang representing Suzhou is the Dongting Merchant Gang.
This Dongting is not Dongting Lake, but the East Dongting Mountain and West Dongting Mountain in Taihu Lake, referred to as Dongshan Xishan, and the Wang family of Dongshan is one of the leaders of the Dongting Business Gang.
A hundred years ago, the Wang family in Dongshan produced a great scholar, Wang Jiao, who almost won three yuan in a row. This man also had a very high status in the Suzhou literary world.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the morale of Suzhou was low due to the suppression by Emperor Taizu.
Later, the Suzhou Shilin Renaissance was led by the top scholars Wu Kuan and Wang Hao.
In fact, there were three generations of leaders who led the Suzhou Renaissance. Wu Kuan and Wang Hao were only the second and third generations. The first generation was Xu Youzhen, whom Suzhou people now do not want to mention.
In today's Suzhou city, Wang Hao left behind three gardens, including Yi Lao Garden, which covers an area of 80 acres.
Moreover, the main north-south road next to the west city wall, Xueshi Street, which Lin Tai must pass when going to the county government, was named after Wang Hao, which shows Wang Hao's status in Suzhou literary circles.
And the Wang Yusheng standing in front of Lin Tailai was Wang Hao's great-grandson.
At first, others were still wondering who dared to challenge Lin Tailai. It would be a life-threatening situation.
But if they are from the Wang family in Dongshan, then there will be no problem.
Magistrate Zhu then laughed and said, "Is it possible that Wang Sheng is not convinced by the county trial leader?"
Wang Yusheng also saluted Magistrate Zhu and said: "The county case leader is the face of the county, and I am also a person of Wu County. How can I not cherish my face?"
It’s human nature to wipe off the dirt on your face, and I hope the government will forgive me.”
Lin Tailai looked at Magistrate Zhu and Wang Yusheng suspiciously, and said loudly:
"Here's the palace! Could this friend Wang be the sitter you hired?
As soon as Futai questioned it, friend Wang jumped out and it felt like there was a tacit understanding, like they were singing in harmony.
If the government wants to remove me from the government examination, just remove me directly, why bother colluding with the Wang family of Dongshan and covering up all the unnecessary trouble!"
Magistrate Zhu: "."
I looked through countless information today and couldn't find anything new. Those classic jokes about the imperial examination have been used by others. What should I do...I've had a headache all night.