Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 642

Zhao Yi secretly took out Zhao Xin's handwritten letter from the envelope, glanced at it, and couldn't help but let out a "huh".Sitting behind him, his son Zhao Tingyan couldn't help leaning over to take a look, also showing surprise.

Zhao Xin's letter is actually nothing in content, mostly in vernacular, and most of them are words of praise. He said that Zhao Yi "has a strategy for managing the world, but he has not made full use of it", and that Yuan Mei is "talented and knowledgeable. , disdain to send others under the fence" and so on.In fact, he didn't have to be like this with his current status, but in order to save face for Wang Zhong and give Beihai town a boost in the new imperial examination, he had to cooperate.

Of course, if it was just these things, it would be fine, at most, it would make Yuan and Zhao secretly proud. The most important thing is that his calligraphy with hard pen aroused Zhao Yi's interest, which was quite refreshing.

We must know that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, all those who achieved success in the imperial examination were all good at writing regular script, that is, Guange style.Although this thing looks like a thousand hands and has no personality, it is an entry skill for scholars to settle down.

To Zhao Yi's surprise, Zhao Xin's letter was written entirely in lower case letters. Although it didn't look like it was written with a brush, it still had the style of a brush, which was quite Ou Kai.Although the strokes of each character are slender, the handwriting is strong and powerful, full and compact, occasionally indulged and stretched, like a spear and a halberd, it can be seen that years of hard work have been put in.As far as this word is concerned, it is easy to get a scholar.

Well, if Zhao Xin's father was present, he would definitely feel very relieved. At the beginning, he slapped his son to copy the pen and copybook for ten years, and his hard work was not in vain.In fact, Zhao's father planned to let Zhao Xin work in the system, and he would definitely be valued if he had a good handwriting. However, Zhao Xin really didn't like the atmosphere, so he resigned after staying for two years.

At this moment, Yuan Mei, who was on the side, also felt that something was wrong, so she leaned over and looked at it for a while, and couldn't help being amazed.He couldn't help but asked Xu Dayong: "Forgive me for being ignorant, this is the first time I've seen such a calligraphy. Dare I ask who you learned calligraphy from?"

Xu Dayong doesn't know calligraphy, his spider-crawling characters have been learned through hard work in the past few years.Seeing his dazed look, Yuan and Zhao didn't ask any more questions.

Compared with Zhao Xin's polite words, the contents of Wang Zhong's letter are much more detailed.He first explained the content of the new imperial examination in Beihai Town in early August. The general principle is the twelve words "clear the source, promote Confucian classics, and the text must be useful".

Yuan Mei couldn't help smiling when she saw it, and said to herself, Wang Rongfu, after tossing for a long time, it turned out that it was Gu Ning's way.But he thought again, Wang Zhong, Jiang Fan, Hong Liangji, Jiao Xun, Duan Yucai, Liu Taigong and others who took refuge in Beihai Town were not all descendants of Gu Yanwu!

Since the patriarch has done so well, Wang Zhong and the others will naturally stick to it.

It is said that in Gu Yanwu's book "Rizhilu", criticisms about the imperial examination system and stereotyped essays accounted for nearly one-third of the space, and the first seven volumes were all directly related to stereotyped essays; Interpretation at the level of interpretation; volumes 16-17 are on art and literature, which discusses the meaning method and the story of the article in detail.So some people in later generations said that Gu Yanwu was against the imperial examinations, but in fact they were against the imperial examinations after the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

Well, let me tell you, you listen, thinking back then.
Since the imperial examination system in ancient China was formed in the Tang Dynasty, the two subjects of "Mingjing" and "Jinshi" have been in the imperial examination system. The debates on the classics, righteousness and poetry have also been incessant, and they were not well resolved until the early Northern Song Dynasty. solve. The "Ming Jing" section takes Confucian classics as its content, focusing on classics and commentaries; the "Jinshi" section takes poetry and prose as its content, paying attention to rhetoric and essays.

When Wang Anshi reformed the law, he completely reformed the imperial examinations, abolished the "Ming Jing" subject, and changed the examination content of the "Jinshi" subject to focus on classics and theory, and the Jinshi subject has now dominated the world.Of course, this dude also has a lot of private goods. He used his "Three Classics and New Meanings" as the scope of the exam questions and the basis for judging, as if he had put himself in the position of a saint.

After Song Nandu, Confucianism rose, and the number of fans of Lian, Luo, Guan, and Fujian soared.Under the impetus of Zhu Xi and his disciples, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism came to the forefront, and Zhu Xi's "Four Books Chapters and Sentences" replaced Wang Anshi's "Three Classics and New Meanings" and became the new imperial examination syllabus.However, the changes at this stage still put the foothold of the imperial examination on the selection of talents with the ambition to benefit the country and the real ability to learn, which is what Zhu Xi said, "knowing the inherent nature of one's nature, Do what you have to do, and each bows down to do his best."

When Lao Zhu came to power in the early Ming Dynasty, this man naturally continued to use his own textbooks as the syllabus for the exam, but the standards at that time were different from later ones, and he was also highly praised by Gu Yanwu, who believed that only in this way could real talents be obtained.

In the early Ming Dynasty, there were three examinations for Jinshi subjects. The first examination consisted of three "Four Books" questions, the second examination consisted of one theory, and the third examination consisted of one policy.Who can't be a troll?After spraying, there must be a solution.In addition, the three rounds have been passed and it is not over yet. There are still five levels to pass, riding, shooting, writing, calculating, and law.

However, during the Chenghua period, "Steight-legged Essay" appeared.The so-called "shares" are actually duals, requiring one positive and one negative, one virtual and one real, one shallow and one deep.

Candidates have to decipher the meaning of the topic as soon as they come up and write three sentences, which is four parts; after two to four sentences in the middle, they undertake the theme to clarify the meaning, which is another four parts; and then they have to explain why the sage said that, so I have to collect two sentences, which are called Yuanqi; and finally make a big conclusion.

In fact, such regulations are mainly for the purpose of unifying the standards for judging the papers, otherwise, if there is a [-]-word composition at every turn, the examiner will go crazy.As long as the first three sentences are not correct, it is useless to write the next one well, and you will pass it directly.

The development of stereotyped prose in the Ming Dynasty can be divided into three periods. The stereotyped prose from the early Ming Dynasty to Chenghua is called Jingyi Wen, which has not yet broken away from the old system of "Song and Yuan Jingyi", and is mainly composed of classic explanations and commentaries.

From Chenghua to Jiajing is the finalization period of stereotyped prose, and the integration of ancient prose techniques into it, paying attention to "taking ancient prose as the current prose", opened the heyday of stereotyped prose in the Ming Dynasty.

However, after Longqing and Wanli, due to various reasons such as political corruption, fierce party struggles, and the prevalence of Xinxue, the respected status of Cheng-Zhu Confucianism began to shake, and the traditional Neo-Confucianism also began to scatter, and stereotyped essays also underwent major changes. .

During this period, there were many schools of righteousness. Although each of them was full of flowers, they were useless to national politics. Yuan Hongdao, Tao Wangling, Dong Qichang, etc., are too numerous to list.

Among them, the psychology of sitting and talking has played a very bad role, especially the "Zhezhong School".For example, Wang Ji once said that a career is a virtue, not two things.This means that as long as one can pass the examinations for scholars, raise people, or even become a Jinshi, immorality becomes virtue; in this case, whether it is corruption, party struggle, or even harming the country and the people, it has nothing to do with morality.

As for the late Ming and Qing dynasties, it was even worse, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty naturally needed to use Confucianism and stereotyped essays to confine thoughts, and make literati give up their personality and become slaves through fame and fortune.Scholars' moral achievements and literary integrity became a family matter. Scholars focused on hunting for subject names, reading and writing for exams, ignoring classics and history, and some even didn't know who Su Shi was.

As a result, those literati who took the study of classics and history as their foundation and followed the scriptures could not fit in with the fashion of the time when they created stereotyped essays, so they would fail repeatedly.

Just like people like Wang Zhong, Hong Liangji, Liu Taigong, Jiang Fan, and Jiao Xun, it is easy for them to be a scholar, but it is difficult for them to pass the hurdle of raising a scholar.It's not that their talent and learning are not high enough, but because their value orientation for stereotyped essays is different from the mainstream, and there is no room for accommodation in the differences of thought between the two parties.If people like them want to pass the imperial examination and express their ambitions, they can only compromise and bow their heads.

Whether it was Yuan Mei or Zhao Yi, both of them hated such a situation, but they were helpless.What the emperor of the Qing Dynasty wanted was a group of obedient servants, not people with independent thinking. As long as all the officials followed his baton, it would be fine, and it was the emperor's credit to benefit the people!Corruption is a fart, just kill a batch, and there are people waiting in line behind.

Yuan Mei read Wang Zhong's letter very slowly, so that Zhao Yi had finished reading Zhao Xin's letter, and he only read the second page.It is said that he and Wang Zhong actually knew each other, and had been humiliated in front of each other.That was eight years ago, when Wang Zhong visited Xiaocang Mountain, he saw a couplet in his study that said, "There are lofty mountains, lush forests and bamboos here, and you can read three tombs, five classics, eight questions and nine hills."

Wang Zhong is a person who claims to "read without books". In fact, he doesn't look down on Yuan Mei at all, thinking what a big clove of garlic!
So in the subsequent conversation, he teased Yuan Mei, saying that he had heard that brother Xian had read Suoqiu, the tomb code, and he was really well-versed.Today my younger brother came here specially to borrow this book, I wonder if it is possible?Of course, Yuan Mei couldn't get it out, so she was a little embarrassed, and she couldn't save face. After Wang Zhong left, she hurriedly asked someone to withdraw the couplet.

In short, what Wang Zhong said in this letter is very clear. Of course, Beihai Town still needs to use stereotyped essays as the standard for answering the questions, but the candidates don't have to speak for the sages. It is beneficial to the people's livelihood of the country. first.Moreover, he stated that Zhao Wang intends to relax the standards and increase the proportion of people admitted.

After Yuan Mei finished reading the letter, he handed it to Zhao Yi, and after reading Zhao Xin's letter, he began to plan.He really wanted to see what Beihai Town looked like, and what the big iron ship looked like, so he stopped by Beihai Town to enjoy the scenery of the North Country.

Don't look at this old man who is 78 years old, he can't stay idle at all, he often goes out to visit mountains and rivers, especially when his son Yuan Chi was born at the age of 63, the burden of having no heirs is gone.He has been to Guangdong and Guangxi as far as he could. He climbed Mount Huangshan when he was 68, and Mount Tiantai when he was 77. He is in good spirits.

At this time, Xu Dayong saw Yuan Mei pondering and said nothing, and asked, "Mr. Jianzhai, what do you want to ask?"

Yuan Mei smiled lightly and said, "I wonder when Your Majesty will send a boat to pick you up?"

"In mid-May, no later than the end of May at the latest."

"So early?"

"What I mean is that after the scholars arrive, it is best to get acquainted with the environment of Beihai Town first, and also show them around so that they can understand the various systems of Beihai Town."

Yuan Mei nodded after hearing this, and was about to ask about the ship again, when Zhao Yi suddenly interjected: "I would like to ask, when will King Zhao lead the army to go south? Now that you have occupied a corner of Shandong, what is your next plan? Could it be that you want to imitate What happened three years ago, landed again from Dagu Port?"

Xu Dayong knew that this man had done military preparations and knew a little bit about military matters, so he said in a deep voice: "Mr. Oubei, military matters are about a soldier who never tires of cheating. Please ask me for the specific entry time , What should I say? But I can tell you two that the Manchus have already begun to flee westward.”

"Fleeing to the West?" Yuan Mei and Zhao Yi looked at each other in shock, thinking that when they met Qing Gui a few days ago, they never heard the other party mention it at all.

Zhao Yi asked urgently: "Where are you going to flee? Western Regions?"

Xu Dayong said with a proud face: "Mr. Oubei, now that Beihai Town has captured the entire Mobei Mongolia, it is impossible to go to the Western Regions. They can only go south from Xining and enter Tibet."

"Entering Tibet?!" Zhao Yi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly slapped the table and said, "No wonder the imperial court has captured Gurkha for half a year, and even Uncle Wang was imprisoned in Beijing, yet he didn't even propose to become a minister!"

Yuan Mei didn't know anything about military affairs. He only knew that the imperial court appointed Fu Kang'an as the General of Fuyuan last year. After dispatching troops to hide, he turned his head to look at Xu Dayong and said, "Brother Xu, what do you mean?"

"That's right. Gurkha is a way of retreat for the Manchus."

Except for Xu Dayong, the five people in the room couldn't hide their shock when they heard this.

Yuan and Zhao both let out a sigh at the same time, they did not expect that the Qianlong Dynasty, which appeared to be illustrious in martial arts, would have reached such a stage, the vicissitudes of the world are really like a dream.Although they had seen through the affairs of the world long ago and did not ask about the officialdom of the court, they were both Jinshi of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and both had served as officials in the Imperial Academy.Now that the building is about to collapse, I feel a lot of emotion in my heart.

But then again, since they have reached this point, they must consider the future of the children in the family, so the big boat of Beihai Town must be boarded no matter what.

Zhao Yi raised his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly shook his head and said: "I have heard that your superiors claim to be of the same lineage as King Zhao of the Ming Dynasty, how could you let the nobles of the Qing Dynasty escape?"

Xu Dayong said: "If Duke Oubei wants to know, why not go to Beihai Town and ask Bishang himself."

Zhao Yi nodded his head heavily, cupped his hands and said, "Someone really has that intention!"

After that, the three finalized many details, including when and where to take the boat, how to contact, how many disciples, relatives and friends Yuan and Zhao would mobilize, etc. Beihai Town had to prepare at least two or three months in advance.

Sure enough, when Yuan Mei proposed that he would also go to Beihai Town, his son Yuan Tong was immediately taken aback.He thought to himself that this is not climbing Tiantai Mountain with you on your back, and you can catch your breath halfway when you are tired; that is going out to sea by boat.
Several people discussed for more than an hour. Yuan and Zhao were getting old and couldn't bear to talk for a long time. They felt that they had almost asked all the questions they could ask, so they offered to leave.

Xu Dayong and Shen Guisheng are also leaving, although the abbot of Yinshan Temple has been bribed with money, it is not a place to stay for a long time.They took two subordinates and left Yinshan Temple with the four of them.

The two old people walked slowly, and Xu Dayong didn't have the heart to accompany them, so he said goodbye to them outside the mountain gate, walked down the mountain quickly, went straight to Xijin Ferry, boarded a fast boat from Caobang, and left.

Yuan Mei and Zhao Yi leaned on crutches and walked slowly down the stone steps with the support of their respective sons. Halfway there, Zhao Yi suddenly proposed to take a rest at the small pavilion in the middle of the mountain, and Yuan Mei readily agreed.Afterwards, the four of them came to the pavilion and sat down. They were all silent, each thinking.

Yuan Tong and Zhao Tingyan were thinking about what kind of official position they would have in the future if they won the imperial examination in Beihai Town; It is a different scene in the mouth, which is fascinating.

Zhao Yi looked at the river gurgling eastward under the isolated peak of Suanshan Mountain, and for some reason suddenly remembered Zheng Chenggong's northern expedition in 130, when he defeated the Qing army in Zhenjiang.

"Xu Su Linjiang swore to destroy Hu, and the mighty army swallowed Wu with a hundred thousand vigor. Let's try to cross the sky with a whip!"

(End of this chapter)