On this day, the most important thing for Tang Yin, Lu Song and others was to welcome Wang Shouren.
For Zhu Hao and Yuan Rulin, this day is the day that determines their fate...the government examination.
The process of the prefectural examination is very similar to that of the county examination.
Early in the morning, before dawn, you have to go to the Confucian Temple with your test basket to prepare for the entrance exam. There don't seem to be as many people queuing up as in the previous county exam, but because the prefectural exam has passed through the first level of county exam selection, the average knowledge of the participants is more
Moreover, because there are old Confucian scholars who have not taken the exam in the past ten or even decades in the prefecture examination, the average age of the candidates for the prefecture examination is much older than that of the county examination.
When Zhu Hao and Yuan Rulin lined up, they were all Confucian scholars in their thirties and forties. Their faces were tense, their bodies were trembling slightly, and they looked very nervous.
After decades of study and decades of exams, this is just a government examination, not a college examination that can ultimately determine whether you will gain fame or not.
Zhu Hao understands that in any era there are many people who take the public examination, especially in this feudal era. Only with fame can one step into the gentry class.
It's time to enter again.
For candidates like Zhu Hao and Yuan Rulin who have taken the county examination in Anlu, they are familiar with the road. Even the inspection is still the same group, and the process when entering is basically the same.
However, after entering the venue, the treatment enjoyed by Zhu Hao and Yuan Rulin was different.
As the first person in the Xinke County Examination, as well as the top ten in the county examination in the two counties, they will be assigned a seat number and assigned to a separate examination room for examination, which is the Examination Booth A.
As long as Zhu Hao showed his identification, a cadre would show him the way to the examination booth in No. Jiazi, while Yuan Rulin could only stay in the examination booth in No. Bingzi.
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Admission was smooth.
When I sat down, my genius was bright.
The lantern hanging at the end of the examination room was removed.
There were originally sixty seats in Zhu Hao's Jiazihao examination booth, but when the top ten candidates from the two counties sat in, only twenty seats were actually occupied.
These candidates are generally young, mostly in their twenties. They noticed Zhu Hao when they entered the venue. The candidates in Changshou County naturally knew who Zhu Hao was, but although they had heard of it in Jingshan County, most of them were
It was the first time to meet Zhu Hao in person.
They felt disdain in their hearts when they saw that it was really a childish person who had passed the examination of Changshou County.
This is equivalent to an examination room specially prepared for top students. According to the usual practice, there are forty passing places for each government examination. More than half of the outstanding talents from various counties in the Jiazi examination room can pass, and although there are no candidates for admission in the government examination
Convenient, but the problem basically lies with these twenty candidates.
Sit still.
There is still no process for affirming and guaranteeing. As usual, it is necessary to check the written documents such as recognizance and mutual agreement brought by the candidates.
The Ming Dynasty was quite polite to scholars. This was completely different from the Qing Dynasty when they tightened control over scholars and strictly guarded against them. In order to eliminate any possibility of cheating, they did not hesitate to humiliate candidates and even searched their excretion holes if there was suspicion. It was simply a sign of politeness.
The prefectural examination is a little different from the county examination, that is, candidates do not need to bring scratch paper.
The government will issue a few pages of paper, and it can be seen that the salary has been greatly improved. It is no longer an exam that everyone can take, and the test papers and toilet paper used in the government exam will all be borne by the government, and candidates do not need to pay.
Money, this can be regarded as a convenience provided by the government to candidates who want to enter school.
"Be careful, Mr. Zhizhou will come to the examination room in person today. If anyone makes a noise, he will be dragged out directly to beat them!"
A government official came out to intimidate the candidates present.
This yamen leader was full of momentum. He walked around the Jiazi No. examination shed. When he saw Zhu Hao, his face changed and his head no longer held his head high. It was obvious that he had seen Zhu Hao appear at the top of the city during the battle against bandits.
I recognize this little staff member who is always beside the commander-in-chief of the palace, "Lu Gaoshi".
When he reached the end of the examination room, he raised his head again and walked away without saying any unnecessary nonsense.
Except for Zhu Hao, the candidates did not see any difference.
Everyone is waiting for the exam to start.
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Exam papers were still distributed but not questions. All candidates first wrote down their names and the names of their ancestors, and then waited for questions.
Because it does not involve formal honors, the exam looks very formal, but in fact it is just a formality. For the candidates in Ming Dynasty, the real challenge is the college exam. They have to pass the child student exam before. For those who have received systematic education,
Say, it's just a matter of time.
But the problem is...
There are really not many people who have received systematic education these days. Most of them are wild. They went to private schools for a few days when they were young. They recognize all the words in the "Four Books" and "The Five Classics", have a rough understanding of their meanings, and generally know how to write articles.
, people start farming and doing work when they are fourteen or fifteen years old, and learning anything later is considered "self-taught", and the level naturally varies.
Zhu Hao is no longer considered a newcomer in the examination room.
I was a little bored while waiting for the questions to be given, so I turned a brush on my finger.
The candidates in the examination booth opposite took a look and thought, this guy has some tricks up his sleeve. How can he do so many tricks with his brush?
Many people want to learn, but because they want to start writing as soon as possible after curling up, many brushes have already been dipped in ink, so they definitely can't play like Zhu Hao.
The ten candidates opposite, especially the four or five in the middle, all looked over with fierce murderous intent.
Zhu Hao is very curious, who is the chief criminal of Jingshan County? Just because I am a child and took the position of the chief criminal of Changshou County, where the prefecture is located, you are so bitter and bitter?
Finally dropped the topic.
There are still two questions from the Four Books.
In the Ming Dynasty, when scholars took the imperial examination, the four classics were the main assessment items. As for the five classics, strategies, and even the provincial examination, they were not the main criteria for selecting scholars...
Of course I will take the test, except for the palace test.
Usually there is no poetry assessment.
There are two questions, the first one is: "A gentleman also sees animals alive and cannot bear to see them die, hears their sounds, and cannot bear to eat their flesh."
Questions from Mencius.
On governing the country with benevolence.
For the second question, when Zhu Hao saw the content on the question board, he couldn't help but smile.
It is actually not a "big topic" from the Analects of Confucius and "Mencius" in the traditional sense, but a "small topic" from the Four Books "The Doctrine of the Mean": "When a country prospers, there must be auspiciousness, and when a country falls, there must be monsters."
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The topic has been published.
For the two questions, another three- to four-hundred-word eight-part essay was written in one day. The names were still unknown but the paper was not transcribed. It was similar to the pattern of the county examination.
Zhu Hao was not in a hurry to write his article. At this moment, he still had the leisure to observe the status of several candidates across the street within his field of vision.
obviously……
These two questions are a bit "over the top" for even the top ten candidates in the county examination.
After all, the government examination is just a small test for children, and it does not involve whether they have been admitted to a prestigious school or not. For candidates, the preparation for the exam must focus on preparing for the big questions. Candidates with average academic ability do not have so much energy to study "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning".
As a result, there are very few articles prepared for these two Confucian classics.
Since I have never written the corresponding article, or even read the relevant sample essay, the difficulty will naturally increase in a straight line. I understand the literal meaning and can also memorize the annotations... But there is still a difference between writing a complete argumentative essay.
Not a small gap.
After briefly raising his head to observe, Zhu Hao also had to carefully review the questions.
The literal meaning is not a problem. Both questions are easy to understand at first glance, but you can't find the direction of discussion.
The first question is relatively simple.
It means that King Xuan of Qi...that is, the king of Qi who "has nothing to do with the bell but no time to welcome spring", was not very confident in himself and asked Mencius, do you think a person like me can govern the country well? Mencius explained it to him.
The concept of how to govern the country with morality and benevolence.
Mencius said, I heard that King Qi saw someone pulling a cow to be sacrificed. After you asked clearly about the purpose, you wanted to let the cow go. When your subordinates asked you, would you not sacrifice it? You said just use one.
Let’s use sheep instead. Is there such a thing? King Xuan of Qi said yes.
Mencius said, if you have this benevolence, you can govern the country well.
King Xuan of Qi said, "I am not benevolent, but stingy. I think it would be a pity to sacrifice a cow. I can save money by using a sheep."
Then Mencius smiled and said, this is enough, and put forward the theory that "a gentleman's attitude towards animals is that he cannot bear to see their death when he sees them alive, and cannot bear to eat their meat when he hears their sounds." This means that just because you see a cow passing in front of you,
In the past, you let a sheep go because of your benevolence. If a sheep passed by your eyes, you would not be able to bear it. This shows that you are very tolerant and will definitely become a wise king.
There is nothing wrong with the discussion of benevolent governance in the imperial examination. It is a basic examination question.
Who hasn’t written a few articles about benevolence and virtue governing the country when practicing writing articles?
After just a few sentences, the first article is ready.
It's just that Zhu Hao has to think deeply.
You said that Kuang Yangming had just quelled the local banditry, so he asked such a question. Did you mean that he couldn't bear to kill the captured bandits when he saw them?
Or do you think the current emperor is not "benevolent" enough in governing the country, and would you like to express your feelings here?
Even if Zhu Hao had carefully considered Kuang Yangming's mentality at this time, it was not easy to grasp this question.
Then his eyes fell on the second question...
This topic is even more interesting.
When a country is about to prosper, there will be auspiciousness; when a country is about to perish, there will be monsters... You Kuang Yang are really good at criticizing the ills of the times. Compared with the questions you asked in the county examination, your questions this time are more radical.
Let’s first take a look at what questions you asked in the county exam?
One is to show your indignation at the ministers' disorder of rituals and music, and you almost want to pat your chest to the emperor to ensure that you have nothing to do with Prince Xing's palace; the second question says that you should learn Zhou Yi after the age of fifty, which not only shows that you specialize in psychology, but also
It means that you no longer have any expectations for an official career, and hope to study knowledge well after the age of fifty and spend your whole life...
Take another look at the test questions from your government exam.
Let's talk about governing the country with benevolence first, and then talk about the rise and fall of the country. It sounds like you are about to enter the central government and serve as a minister, worrying about the direction of the country, as if you regard yourself as the most capable minister in the world.
The test questions illustrate the change in your mentality.
You were already disheartened at the beginning and were ready to leave the officialdom. Mingzhe defended himself and stated that he had nothing to do with Prince Xing's Mansion.
Now you are thinking about how to govern the country.
It all depends on you quelling the rebellion and making great achievements. You feel that there is no problem in being promoted to the prefect or even to the chief envoy to participate in politics. Your future has become bright again, so now you are an old man with great ambitions.
Then when I write an article, I will cater to your change in mentality and help you discuss how to govern the country!