Xiangye

Chapter 74

But you can't wait for this kind of thing. The exam period must be tight and you have to prepare in advance.

Gao Wen thought about it, and decided to take a leave of absence from the Yamen in the middle of next month to meet Shi Linsheng.

Finally, Shi Linsheng sternly shouted: "You are lustful and greedy for drinking, you only know how to have fun all day long, and you are full of the filthy smell of the yamen. Don't think you have the talent for reading and writing, so let yourself go wild. After the old man leaves, you need Calm down and ponder the art of stereotyped writing. Read more books, read serious books. Don't write any "Journey to the West" over there, it will waste your time."

"Yes, yes, old sir, don't worry." Gao Wen didn't take it seriously.Xindao: I gave you all of my wealth, and now I am so poor, if I don't hurry up and write some manuscripts to sell for money.Not to mention that Yu Xingyan had to tear me apart first, what did my mother, Shi Youyi and Yun Mole eat and use?
Especially Yun Molei's tall, long-legged girl is so edible that she is as good as a strong man.

Also, if everything is done next month, it's nothing more than a county exam, and it doesn't matter much, even the government exam in May is not difficult.However, you should pay attention to the college entrance examination, but that is already at the end of June and the beginning of July, and the time is still long.

Even though he thought so in his heart, after he got down, Gao Wen went to Linlang Bookstore to buy a lot of stereotyped Shiwen anthology and went back.He also asked Yu Xingyan if he could find the exam questions of Pingliang Prefecture's college entrance examination last year and the model essays of Chinese scholars.

Yu Xingyan felt very strange, saying that you can't take the imperial examination because you are only a history book, so what are you doing reading this kind of book?As he said that, he said angrily again: Erzhi, you can write beautiful articles. With your talent, I am afraid that you can even win the Jinshi.But because of his status, he cannot be an official.There must be something wrong with the Ming Dynasty. The system problem must be a system problem.

If you have talents left behind and cannot use them, I am sure that this is going to end!

Gao Wen was amused in his heart, he would never tell him that he was going to change his status to good status, and go back to Zhuang Lang's hometown to take part in the local imperial examination.The relationship between this matter is really too big, and one less person who knows about himself will be more safe.He said: "Mr. Yu, I don't know what happened recently. I suddenly became interested in stereotyped art and wanted to think about it. Anyway, it's fine for me to stay in the yamen all day long. It's good to have a hobby. It's better than How about drinking and playing with people? Some people like wine, some people like painting, some people like to grow flowers and grass, some people like to fish, and I like eight-legged essays, so what’s so strange about it.”

"That's right, life is boring, and it's great to have a hobby." Yu Xingyan nodded, vented for a while, and then said disdainfully: "What do you want to do with the examination papers of Pingliang Mansion, there is nothing serious about that place Characters, can you read their collections? This composition is like playing chess. You have to find a master and wave to talk. Only in this way can you improve your skills. Talk about mediocrity, even if you are a national player, it only takes one year to disappear from everyone!"

Gao Wen felt strange: "I still ask for advice." It has been the case since ancient times that literati look down on each other.Mr. Yu failed in many trials in his early years, so his temperament was inevitably extreme, and he must be extremely displeasing to the eyes of people in the scholastic circle.

Yu Xingyan sneered: "There are not many scholars in Pingliang Mansion. You can't even apply for your name in the imperial examination. As long as you go for the exam, you can pass. The old man has also read the courtyard test papers over there, and the scholars there I’ve done a few essay meetings. Everyone is a bunch of bullshit ignorant people, and I’m sick of seeing them. Their articles are unsightly.”

Gao Wen was stunned: "You're not even satisfied with your name?"

Yu Xingyan: "Yes, in Pingliang Mansion, if you are a scholar, you can study for several years and know how to write. The county test and the government test are two passes. As long as you enter the examination room, as long as the format is correct, you will definitely pass. The college exam, the college exam is also required to pass. As for taking the rural exam later, hehe, you have to rely on your ability. Not to mention Pingliang Mansion, we in Shaanxi, such as Pingliang Mansion and Linzhao Mansion. That's a joke, and it's really a disgrace to Shilin."

"So that's how it is!" Gao Wen suddenly remembered something, and couldn't help laughing, very happy.

Mr. Yu's remarks related to the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was born recklessly. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the system was created in a rough way, and there were no old rules to follow. Everything had to start from scratch.Therefore, the country's system has many imperfections, especially the imperial examination.

At the beginning of the imperial examination system, there were no rules at all. Anyway, it was to test the meaning of the sages in the "Four Books" and "Five Classics".As long as you have read the book and can write essays, no matter your age, status or where you are, you can participate.

The problem is that things like reading books cost a lot of money in ancient times.Supporting a scholar is not something that ordinary people from small families can afford, and it usually requires the strength of the whole family.As a result, there are as many scholars in economically prosperous areas as there are crucian carp crossing the river, while in remote areas, even a single literate person cannot be found.Responding to the imperial examination room, I looked up and saw that they were all from Jiangnan.The civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty are all spoken softly by Wu Yutao.Gradually, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that something was wrong.

One year, the country held scientific examinations as usual.When the final result came out, there was an uproar all over the world.In this year's general examination, the scholars who passed the Jinshi examination were all from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi.But in the northern provinces, there is no Chinese style.

In fact, such a result is also understandable.The north was a land of wars in the past. After years of wars, the common people were extremely poor. It would be nice to have something to eat, and there was still money left to study.On the contrary, because Jiangnan was not affected by the flames of war, and the folks had a culture of reading, the culture and education were extremely prosperous, and many talents were produced.

But the scholars in the north refused to accept it, and immediately raised a quarrel and filed a lawsuit before the imperial court.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw that this was not a good thing. If things like this were allowed to develop, after a few decades, the entire court would be filled with southerners, and the state power would also be in the hands of aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River.The most terrible thing is that if things go on like this, it will inevitably lead to the division of the North and the South, and the separation of the ethnic groups.

Politicians naturally consider things differently from ordinary people, and Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty couldn't control so much. He ordered a strict investigation and killed thousands of people in one go, which calmed down the resentment in the hearts of northern scholars.A decree has been promulgated. From now on, the imperial examination talent selection system organized by the imperial court will be divided into two lists, the North and the South.In other words, southerners and northerners will not take the exam in the same examination room.Each examination room is allocated a certain number of admission places, which is the famous North-South list case in history.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the imperial court divided several provinces in the northern and southern lists, which were called Zhongbang.

The policy is a good policy, but there are problems again.There are too many scholars in the south. For example, Chun'an County in Zhejiang Province, which was submerged in Qiandao Lake in later generations, usually has thousands of scholars and hundreds of scholars in a small mountainous county.With so many people taking the exam, one can imagine how fierce the competition is.For example, several state capitals in remote areas of Shaanxi, because they are only too poor, can get enough candidates to be regarded as a decent political achievement.As long as the format of your article is correct, no matter how it is written, you must pass the boy's test.

And because the exams in the north, especially in places like Shaanxi, are too easy.Many scholars in the south used their brains on their household registration, and moved their household registration to the north under various names.The imperial court also severely punished several candidates for this, but they continued to prohibit them repeatedly, and there was nothing they could do.This situation is a bit like immigrant college entrance examinations in later generations. If you are unfortunately a senior high school student in Shandong and Hubei provinces with large college entrance examinations, it will be hell mode.If you are from Xin, Tibet, Ning, and Qing, congratulations.Therefore, before the college entrance examination every year, many people find ways to move their household registrations to poor provinces on the old and young frontiers. Of course, it would be even better if they could move to Beijing and Shanghai.However, this is already a nightmare mode and is out of the scope of the discussion.

In the end, we had to make a policy that if you have a student status and want to transfer your household registration, unless your grandparents were from the north and have more than [-] acres of land in the local area, including [-] acres of land.The imperial examinations have a lot to do with it, and you have to follow the Basic Law even if you take advantage of the loopholes.

From this point of view, Gao Wen should return to his good citizenship this time, and then moved his household registration back to Zhuanglang County, Pingliang Prefecture to take the imperial examination.The most wonderful thing is that his grandfather still has [-] mu of land in the local area, with the title deed as evidence, which just crossed the red line of relocation.

I don’t want to think that the Guanzhong Plain where Hancheng is located is fertile and densely populated. Pingliang Prefecture is located in the core area of ​​the Loess Plateau. Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, it is also a well-known poverty-stricken area even in modern times. There are a lot of national-level poverty-stricken counties.Of course, there may not be no suspicion of cheating the state's poverty subsidies to develop the local economy.

Scholars in that place are scarce resources, and I have studied stereotyped prose in my previous life, and when I helped my teacher edit the "Compilation of Stereotyped Prose", I forcibly memorized hundreds of No. [-] and Huiyuan prose.Going to Pingliang Mansion to take the imperial examination this time is an extremely simple task.

Of course, this matter can not be careless.If the blind cat encounters a dead mouse and enters the examination room, the examination questions at hand happen to be those hundreds of stereotyped essays.If not, there is trouble. There are so many words in the "Four Books" and "Five Classics", any sentence may become a test question, so don't get caught up at that time.

Before that, it is better to study for a while.

After laughing, Gao Wen said again: "Old man, I don't take the imperial examination, so it doesn't matter what kind of books I read. Anyway, I just read it to relieve my boredom, no matter whether it is good or bad, if there is a collection of Shiwen in Pingliang Mansion, please get it." Get a few books."

"That's right, you can't take the imperial examination. God is really unfair. I'm going to finish Ming." After complaining, Yu Xingyan found two thin booklets from the bookshelf and handed them to Gao Wen, saying: "This is the year before last and last year. Here is the model essay of a scholar in the Pingliang Mansion Court who is trying to rely on Zhongxiucai to make a name for himself."

"Thank you sir."

After returning home, Gao Wen opened the book and saw that he really couldn't bear to read.I can be regarded as half a layman in stereotyped essays, but I also know that these essays are written in a way that is not intended, the whole article is full of clichés, and the water is a mess.It was only because the format was correct that he easily won the title of scholar.Just because they were born in the right place, they won. God is really unfair to Jiangnan scholars!
Even if such an article can pass, I am not an idiot, so I can do it.

In the next few days, Gao Wen devoted himself to studying the stereotyped essay format, and ran to Yu Xingyan for advice when he encountered something he didn't understand.Relying on the strong comprehension and comprehensive ability of modern people, he got into the door.I tried to make a few more articles and showed them to Boss Yu.

Mr. Yu took it over and glanced at it, then said: "It's not bad, but some words are indecent and the allusions are not appropriate. Where did your article come from? You couldn't write it, right? Why did the standard drop so low?" ? You’re just an enlightened boy!”

Gao Wen's old face couldn't help turning red, and he thought to himself: Nonsense, I'm just an ordinary person, do I dare to compare with the number one scholar?
He replied that it was the scholar's study that he had just entrusted someone to copy from Pingliang, Yu Xingyan sneered: "Pingliang Mansion really doesn't have many talents."

Gao Wen also knew that his level was not good enough, so he locked himself in the room all day to do exercises, writing five or six essays every day.Once it was written, it was pretended to be copied, and Yu Xingyan was asked to comment and revise.

Yu Xingyan usually snorts coldly: "Er Zhi, you are already a good writer, can't you see the quality of these things, why do you want to ask me?"

Gao Wen only said: "Let's learn from each other and exchange ideas."

Fortunately, scholars in this era have the disposition to be good teachers. Yu Xingyan planned to participate in this year's autumn festival in Shaanxi Province, which is also a good practice.Immediately, the interest came, and I started to revise it.A stereotyped essay not only has a format, but also has certain requirements for the number of words.If there is no summary and summary, it is usually around [-] words.If you want to write a summary and a summary, it should not exceed [-] words at most.

After changing it, almost all the words were erased by Mr. Yu with a pen, which is equivalent to writing a new article.

In this way, ten days passed, and under the massive exercises, the level of high-level composition improved rapidly, and he initially mastered the rules of ancient prose writing.As for Yu Xingyan, it seems that he has also improved a lot.

The weather is gradually warming up. In February, there is no more snow, and the Yellow River shows signs of melting.

Shi Xianzhu and Shi Linsheng have been to Zhuanglang County for more than half a month, and there is no news of him coming back.Gao Wen pondered that it was already the first ten days of the month, and it was time to sign up for the Tianzhuanglang County Examination in ten or so days. Is there still time for him to change his nationality?

When I thought of this, my heart became anxious, and I couldn't wait any longer, so I went to Duzhi County to ask for leave, and went to Zhuanglang myself.Prior to this, he had already gone to the Hufang to go through the formalities of household registration transfer.No one else knew about this matter, Gao Wen was now in the eyes of Du Zhixian, and he was his most confidant.The six-room affairs can be dealt with directly without informing others, which really looks like the director of the county party committee office in future generations.

To be honest, once I go to Zhuanglang, I can't go back to the county government.Thinking of Du Zhixian's care for him, Gao Wen felt a little sorry.

But before he could open his mouth, Du Zhixian had an important matter to explain. Gao Wen needed to travel a long distance, and it would take at least ten days to go back and forth.

The thing is, after the Battle of Tumubao last year, Wala invaded the capital, and although he was defeated by Yuqian, he withdrew from Mongolia.But it still doesn't take long to invade our border with a small group of troops.

Yu Qian and Yu Shangshu felt that although the Ming Dynasty had a certain advantage in the military, it was not an option to be beaten passively all the time, and it was necessary to put more pressure on the enemy.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty and Yexian used troops from Shaanxi and Hebei to fight, mainly the three military towns of Xuanfu, Datong and Taiyuan, and their strength was slightly insufficient.On the Shaanxi side, there are still three military towns whose troops have not been used. If the soldiers and horses of these three towns are moved from the side, it may be possible to contain the enemy, so that they can't take care of both ends.

(End of this chapter)