Among all dynasties, the Song Dynasty can be called the golden age of literati.
The Song Dynasty was founded in troubled times, and it was well aware of the dangers of a powerful military general. Therefore, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's "release of military power with a glass of wine" concentrated the country's military power in the emperor alone, and set the "emphasis on civil service over military power"
basic national policy.
As this was not enough, Taizu of the Song Dynasty also left instructions: "Do not kill scholar-bureaucrats or people who write letters to express their opinions", "If your descendants take this oath, God will kill them".
In this way, the literati's right to survival was greatly protected, and their social status was improved as never before. Therefore, the literati in the Song Dynasty were very timid and dared to directly remonstrate with the emperor, which angered Long Yan, but the emperor, who was as noble as the Nine-Fifth Emperor, was helpless.
, it is rare to be beheaded for raising different opinions.
Precisely because of the emphasis on literati, the imperial examination system developed into a more complete and rigorous system in the Song Dynasty. Countless literati entered the officialdom through the imperial examination and became prosperous.
The various privileges of scholars made even the emperor envious. Song Zhenzong mentioned in his "Poetry to Encourage Learning": "There is a house of gold in the book, and there is a beauty like jade in the book." He encouraged everyone to study hard and read well.
Not only that, even if you were so poor that you had no money to wear trousers before, once it comes to the "time to be named on the gold list", "the night of flowers and candles in the bridal chamber" will follow one after another.
Due to the lofty status of scholars, people in the Song Dynasty no longer used the clan relationship as the criterion to measure the prosperity of a family as in the previous dynasties, but used the imperial examination as a symbol. If a family has many people who passed the examination, then the family is prosperous.
Talents are born in large numbers. Therefore, women at that time regarded men who had passed the imperial examination as their best spouses, and Jinshi scholars were even more "rare and rare". Every time the results were released, a "husband-grabbing war" was staged.
After the palace examination, a roll-call ceremony will be held, and the number one, number two, top pick and other Jinshi will be announced one by one.
The emperor bestowed imperial robes, wat boards and other items upon those who passed the imperial examination, which marked that they had officially become "national civil servants" from this moment on.
Next, the emperor would also give a banquet to the Jinshi, which was called the "Qionglin Banquet".
However, the banquet venue was a bit far away from the announcement site, and was located in Qionglin Garden, the royal garden in the west of Bianjing City.
Therefore, the journey of Jinshi to Qionglin Garden became a time window for major families to choose their son-in-law and "market" their daughters.
Here are two stories to give you a better understanding of what it was like to be a Jinshi in the Song Dynasty.
During the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a scholar named Chen Xiu who passed the Jinshi examination at the age of 73.
When he got home, before he could even sit down, someone came to propose marriage to him.
At first, Chen Xiu shied away, saying that I was too old, so don’t delay this young lady.
As a result, the matchmaker said: Officials who are Jinshi in high school are new nobles with noble status. If the other girl can marry you, it will be her blessing.
In the end, the old Jinshi had no choice but to agree to the marriage, and wrote a poem to express his feelings at that time: "After reading a hundred loads of documents, the old man will get a green shirt. But the matchmaker asked me how old I was, fifty years ago and twenty
three."
Another one is the familiar story of Fan Jin who passed the national examination.
Fan Jin began to take the imperial examination at the age of twenty.
He comes from a poor family, and even the expenses for traveling to Beijing were paid for by his family from neighbors.
However, fate seemed to be against him, and he failed the exams many times.
He did not give up chasing his dream of passing the national examination. He failed and failed repeatedly and did not stop studying. For this reason, he was looked down upon. He did not pass the examination until he was fifty years old, and then he was admitted as a scholar.
At the age of 18, he took the Juren exam again.
After learning that he was successful, Fan Jin instantly went "crazy".
At this time, Jinshis had complete control over marriages. Not to mention that you were the daughter of an important official, even Jinzhi, a powerful lady in the current dynasty, or a lady from a wealthy family, Jinshis could basically choose at will. Sometimes they met some individuals.
The "hard-nosed" Jinshi even had an embarrassing situation that kept the powerful from power. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Cai Jing, the leader of the "Six Thieves", wanted to betroth his daughter to Fu Cha, a new Jinshi, but he did not expect Fu Cha to marry Cai Jing.
He was given a "cold treatment" and kept silent. In the end, Cai Jing had no choice but to talk and return. Zhu Meng, another one of the "Six Thieves", signaled that when Hong Hao was waiting for the third round of exams - the palace exam, he wanted to take his sister
Hong Hao refused to marry him. After ascending to the throne, Zhu Meng asked Hong Hao to marry him again, and gave him a large amount of money and promised to show his official status, but Hong Hao still firmly refused the marriage.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Zhang Yaozuo, the uncle of Concubine Zhang, who was favored by Renzong, took a fancy to Feng Jing, who had just passed the imperial examination. He sent someone to drag him to his home, pretending that it was the emperor's will, and also gave him a generous dowry.
Feng Jing just "smiled without looking, and spoke vigorously."
Speaking of the provincial examination that Lu Yao participated in this time, in fact, it was innovative in terms of question types. Of course, Lu Yao also heard from candidates who had participated in the imperial examination before. The most critical reason for this is
Because the examiner of this exam is Ouyang Xiu.
Starting from this examination, the "Tai Xue Style" style of writing that had been popular in the imperial examinations for many years during the Renzong Dynasty was finally eliminated by Ouyang Xiu.
"Tai Xue Style" is a style of poems and essays that became popular after the imperial court established Tai Xue in the fourth year of Qingli Dynasty (1044). Its characteristics were summarized by many people in the Song Dynasty: "It is a dangerous language", "those who seek depth may be
"It's roundabout and weird, and it's unreadable" and "it's a novelty, but the style is bad". In a word, it doesn't speak human language, just like the so-called academic writing written by some scholars nowadays with a difficult and weird style.
paper.
The rise of "Taixue style" is closely related to Shi Jie's advocacy of direct lectures in the Imperial College. Shi Jie could not understand the gorgeous style that was popular in the early Renzong Dynasty. When giving lectures on Taixue, he consciously guided Taixue students to use coldness when writing articles. Ji
Qu's literary style "became popular because of his liking for it".
Ouyang Xiu advocated plain and humanistic ancient prose, and disliked the "Tai Xue style" very much. Therefore, taking the opportunity of serving as the chief examiner, he "painfully restrained" the "Tai Xue style" writing style. When grading papers,
All poems, poems, and strategies written in the "Tai Xue style" were given extremely low scores, and candidates who were good at writing "Tai Xue style" articles were "rejected". When the rankings were released, people found that "what was praised by the times,
"None of them are selected." Those "Tai Xue Style" articles were written so well that everyone thought that Tai students who would definitely go to high school failed.
It was during this examination that the article "On the Perfection of Honesty in Punishments and Rewards" appeared. Of course, the essay written by Lu Yao during this provincial examination also drew on Su Shi's article.
In addition to this article, there is actually an interesting thing that happened in the history of this imperial examination.
The imperial students who failed the examination were very angry. When Ouyang Xiu went to court, they surrounded him on the road and "gathered to slander him."
"Article" was thrown into Ouyang Xiu's home. Since it was an anonymous article, the government could not hold him accountable.
Among the students who failed the exam, there was a Taixue student named Liu Ji, who had mastered Shi Jie's "Taixue Style" and was good at writing articles called "Weird Words". He always ranked first in tests on weekdays, and all the students "
It became a custom to follow Liu Ji's example. Ouyang Xiu had heard of Liu Ji's name and was very dissatisfied with his writing style. During this evaluation, he saw an essay written by a candidate who wrote: "The heaven and the earth are rolling, and all things are flourishing.
The saint's hair." Ouyang Xiu said: "This must be Liu Ji." He picked up the ink pen and made a big stroke on the scroll, revealing a large number of "mistakes".
Ouyang Xiu did not make a mistake that time. When he unsealed the paper and published the results, he found that the "Tai Xue Style" paper that he had criticized for many "mistakes" was indeed Liu Ji's article, and Liu Ji naturally lost his reputation.
However, Liu Ji was also a talented man. After he failed the examination, he changed his name to Liu Hui and switched to classical prose. His writing style changed drastically. Two years later, Liu Hui took part in the Tribute Ceremony Examination, successfully passed the examination, and entered the palace examination. The examiner of the palace examination was still Ouyang Xiu. Ouyang Xiu
When reviewing the papers, I saw a Jinshi's "Yao and Shun Xingren Fu", which was excellent in theory, theory, and diction. I couldn't help but admire it. He was promoted to the first person, and during the roll call, I found that the Jinshi's original name was Liu Hui. Anyone who knows Liu Hui
Someone told Ouyang Xiu: "Liu Ji has changed his name." Ouyang Xiu was "astonished for a long time."
Some scholars in later generations believed that the erotic poem "Wang Jiangnan" that caused Ouyang Xiu's lawsuit was written by Liu Hui, who deliberately used Ouyang Xiu's name to tarnish Ouyang Xiu's reputation and take revenge on Ouyang Xiu. However, some people also raised objections: "Shizhuan"
After Hui was deposed by Ouyang Gong, he made slander and made obscene remarks with resentment. Looking at Yang Jie Zhihui's tomb today, he said that his grandmother had died. Although there were uncles, they supported the ancient friendship to support his grandson's official duties, and even tried to buy hundreds of acres of land to gather together.
His clan pays him a salary. He is a loyal and generous man. He is willing to give it a try, but why is he so frugal?" Liu Hui was of good character. He once begged officials to pay filial piety to his grandmother, and bought fertile land to support the poor tribesmen.
, would such a kind person frame Ouyang Xiu?
Regardless of whether Liu Hui had a grudge against Ouyang Xiu or not, and regardless of whether the failed candidates were convinced or not, the popular "Tai Xue Style" was thwarted by Ouyang Xiu and no longer dominated the scene, and the writing style of all students changed drastically from then on.
If nothing unexpected happens, Lu Yao remembers that there should be nearly 400 candidates for the Jinshi examination this time, and these people will later participate in the palace examination held by Renzong himself. The number one scholar this year, Lu Yao remembers, is a man named Zhang
Heng's guy is not very famous. After all, many future political and cultural elites were born in this year's list, such as: Su Shi, the Su Che brothers, and the Su family brothers who were among the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties".
Gong, Wang Shao, who was both civil and military, Neo-Confucian Zhang Zai, Lu Dajun, Lu Huiqing, Deng Wan, Zhang Hong, Lin Xi, Zeng Bu, Jiang Zhiqi, the backbone of the future Xifeng Reform. It can be said that China has implemented imperial examinations since the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
It took more than a thousand years to abolish the imperial examination system at the end of the Qing Dynasty. In terms of the success of recruiting scholars, no imperial examination could compare with this one.
It's just that Lu Yao couldn't remember clearly. Starting from this exam, candidates who have qualified for the palace examination will not fail. The palace examination is just for ranking. He thought about it carefully, and he did forget it.
Two days passed quickly. In the past two days, Lu Yao, in addition to practicing kung fu with Fang Zhuang at night, also took the opportunity to read some ancient books. Although he had no worries about being able to pass the imperial examination, who knows?
What will Zhao Zhen's questions look like when the time comes? If the general examination is to test your understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics, then the palace examination is actually more about what you express when you face the emperor's questions.
Attitude and ability to adapt to situations are often more important than the answers you give. This is also a very important part in modern interviews. Usually academic qualifications and previous work experience are just aids. It mainly depends on you.
What kind of attitude did you show when facing the interviewer, and what kind of impression did you leave on the other person?
Lu Yao asked himself that the impression he left on Zhao Zhen should be pretty good. Not to mention anything else, the lottery station was enough for Zhao Zhen to make a lot of money. But Lu Yao could also see that Zhao Zhen was a guy who could distinguish between public and private matters.
, although he made his pocket bulging, Zhao Zhen can definitely say that this is a private relationship, and when it comes to the court, it still has to be discussed between king and minister.
However, no matter how he thought about it, Lu Yao felt that it would be impossible for him to fail in the palace examination. As for the ranking, Lu Yao felt that it would depend on his performance in the provincial examination. When it came to the palace examination, as long as he did not talk nonsense and followed Zhao Zhen's instructions
Going forward, he should get a good ranking. As for the specific number, Lu Yao didn't bother to care. He never expected that he could stand out in this imperial examination and get the top prize. After all, there were so many talents in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Those who take the imperial examination are all capable people, so it's enough if they can pass the examination.
Therefore, Lu Yao basically spent the past two days reading in his room during the day. Of course, he did not forget to write manuscripts for Han Yunyu and Cao Han. Tangxi had also contacted Su Shi and Su Che
, Lu Yao asked Tang Xi. He was a little curious whether the two brothers were really as ordinary as water when they were waiting for the results to be released, which reflected the mentality of everyone in the literary world.
However, the answer given by Tang Xi made Lu Yao dumbfounded. Tang Xi said that Su Shi and Su Che had basically not slept well in the past few days. They were waiting for the day when the results would be released, and they were even a little impatient.
Sure enough, even Su Shi and Su Che would feel nervous when faced with such a large-scale examination and a choice about their future. What's more, when the two brothers first entered the court, they still hoped for a great success.
As a result, at least before Su Shi was demoted from Bianliang, he wanted to be a good official and do things well. Otherwise, he would not have openly opposed Wang Anshi's reforms.
On the other side, in addition to reading, Lu Yao also visited his elder sister-in-law Xu. Her health has recovered quite well. His elder brother Lu Hao has received the emperor's approval, which means that he has resigned from the royal family.
After that, in the next period of time, before Xu's body recovers completely, the eldest brother Lu Hao will be mainly responsible for helping Lu Yao manage the bank. After that, Lu Hao also wants to do some business of his own. Lu Yao said that no matter what the eldest brother wants
Whatever you do, as long as you need your financial help, just ask. This can be regarded as a little compensation from Lu Yao to Lu Hao for his sacrifice.
In addition, there is another thing that Lu Yao is very worried about in the past two days. That is Zhang Mou's situation. You must know that Zhang Mou has been in Hebei for some time, and the communication methods at this time are naturally not as convenient as modern ones. Otherwise,
Lu Yao immediately called and asked if Zhang Mou had found anyone. Compared with whether he could find Jintai, Lu Yao was more worried about Zhang Mou's safety. After all, Zhang Mou was very safe in doing things, and this was what Lu Yao wanted in the future.
If something happens to him as one of the candidates brought to the battlefield, Lu Yao will still be very sad.
But now that he can't be contacted, all Lu Yao can do here is wait. The best result is that Zhang Mou returns safely and can bring Jintai over.
Two days passed quickly, and it was the day when the results were released.
Lu Yao got up early today. It was just dawn. Even Lu Xu didn't get up. Lu Yao called Tangxi and went to the kitchen to make a simple meal. After eating, he left Fan's house directly.
After going through the last imperial examination, Lu Yao already knew that on a day like this, there would be a lot of people on the street, let alone the people under the city wall. Although there are already some candidates who know that they have not performed well, they will definitely
He failed the exam, so he left Bianliang early. However, there are many people who are stranded in Bianliang City and still take chances with their results.
Speaking of this, Lu Yao actually felt a little ashamed in his heart. This year, there are more scholars in Bianliang City waiting for their results to be released than in previous years. The reason for this is, on the one hand, because the new Cuju Competition is held.
On the other hand, there are actually many candidates who feel good about themselves, but the main reason why they did not stay in Bianliang to wait for the results to be released is that they do not have enough money and are short of money, even if they are in an inn in the outer city.
None of them can afford to live there. But now it's better, because of the holding of the new Cuju competition, the football lottery is also booming. Everyone has earned enough through football lottery to cover their living expenses while they stay in Bianliang and wait for the results to be released.
In addition, even if you don't pass the exam, you still have to go all the way to Bianliang to hang out for a few days before leaving. This has also resulted in the phenomenon that there are many scholars waiting for the results to be released this time.
After Tangxi sent him to take the exam last time and met so many people, Lu Yao felt that he must go out early this time. Then he would return home after looking at the list. By the way, he would also like to go there on the way.
I went to the Han Mansion. Anyway, the marriage was settled. I should tell Han Yonghe about the test results.
So, Lu Yao got up early today and asked Tang Xi to drive the carriage to the temple where Su Shi and Su Che were. These two were quite interesting. Lu Yao had found them for a new Cuju competition.
According to the explanation, the reward given was not low. In fact, it was enough for the two of them to find an inn to stay in the inner city and have a good time. However, these two people still live in this temple to this day, even though they are also in the inner city.
It's in the city, but in the final analysis it's still a bit remote.
However, this is also in line with the characters of the two brothers. Su Shi and Su Che are both people who are not very picky about material living conditions. Of course, Dongpo Rou is an exception.
Lu Yao got off the carriage, and Su Shi and Su Che were already waiting at the entrance of the temple. Speaking of which, although the place where these two live is relatively remote in the inner city, it is very close to the Bird's Nest Stadium and the junction of the inner and outer cities, so,
After Lu Yao got off the bus, Su Shi directly suggested that the three of them should not take the carriage to the city wall where the ranking was posted. After all, there would be many people crowding there, making movement very inconvenient.
Lu Yao, who had seen the grand scene of the imperial examination, naturally agreed to Su Shi's request, so he directly asked Tang Xi to drive the carriage back to his hometown. After an hour, he would pick him up at the temple. If he did not arrive, he would wait for a while.
After Tang Xi left, Su Shi, Su Che and Lu Yao started walking towards the junction of the inner and outer city areas.
On the way, Lu Yao naturally praised Su Shi and Su Che's work as commentators. Needless to say, although from the second game onwards, professional leaders and coaches such as Chen Chen and Yang Tao appeared as commentators.
But there is no doubt that the two brothers Su Shi and Su Che have the ability to control the atmosphere and explain. Every time they are able to make the audience not only watch the game after watching the game, but also to make them understand the game.
These comments on the field.
"In the past few days, I have been talking less, and I have to drink less, and protect my voice. After all, the second round will be in a week. After the finals, there will be the imperial examination. There will be no voice problems then." Lu Yao told the two of them.
Su Shi and Su Che didn't seem to care much. Obviously, their more important purpose today was to see the imperial list. Lu Yaoxin said, you two such powerful talents are really so anxious and angry about the release of this list.
?But when I turned around and thought about it, the two of them didn't know the results beforehand. This imperial examination means a lot to everyone, so it can be understood.
As the three of them were walking like this, Su Che suddenly said: "Master Xiao Lu, when we get to the junction of the inner and outer cities, I will introduce you to a new friend. He also participated in the imperial examination, and his talent is not inferior to the two of mine.
, I also admire Mr. Xiao Lu very much and would like to meet him."
Lu Yao was a little confused. The two people in front of him were already considered great talents. Ordinary literati would definitely not be able to catch their eye. Now he suddenly said that there was someone he wanted to introduce to him. Thinking about it, this person's status in the future would definitely be
It's almost the same as the two of them.
With a feeling of anxiety and expectation, Lu Yao followed Su Shi and Su Che all the way to the junction of the inner and outer cities. It was already dawn, and seeing the people coming and going, Lu Yao felt that it was still too late to get up today.
, although there were not as many people at this time as during the exam, there were still many literati gathered under the city wall, and it seemed that they were all waiting for the moment when the results were released.
Then, Su Shi waved to a person under the city wall. The man and Su Shi looked at each other, and then walked towards Lu Yao.
This should be the person Su Shi and Su Che want to introduce to themselves.
