Chapter 270: Chapter 270: The Spring Examination is Over

Chapter 270: Chapter 270: The Spring Examination is OverThe examination room for the Spring Examination is a row of small dark rooms, called "haoshe". After the students enter, the bugler in charge of supervision will lock the door, leaving only a small window for delivering the test papers.

For a whole day, the students eat, drink, defecate and urinate in the small dark room.

The candlelight is like a bean, and the small room is stained with dim yellow. Xu Erlang sits at the table, playing with the inkstone, pouring clean water, and slowly grinding.

There is still a long time before the exam, and this time is enough for him to calm down and think about something.

Since ancient times, the imperial examination has emphasized classics and light poetry, and the Dafeng poetry scene has been weak for a long time. Therefore, for most students, this last round of the exam is just a formality.

When they entered the courtyard just now, the familiar students talked and laughed, and were contented. Unlike the previous two rounds, their faces were serious and their mentality was tense, as if they were going to put on armor and go into battle.

However, others can relax, and Xu Erlang knows that he cannot be careless.

He was a student of Yunlu Academy. According to the attitude of the court officials towards the students of Yunlu Academy, after passing the imperial examination, they would either be exiled to a remote place or kept in seclusion without being given an official position.

Xu Erlang had his own ambitions. He did not want to be exiled to a remote place, nor did he want to stay in Beijing and be hidden.

"The road ahead is long..." Xu Xinnian sighed.

At this time, the bugler outside the door knocked on the small window and said in a muffled voice: "Master, the papers are here."

Those who participated in the Spring Examination were all Juren, who were qualified to be officials. The soldiers directly called the students in the examination room "Master".

Xu Xinnian took the papers and spread them on the table. It was already light, but the morning sun had not risen.

In the orange candlelight, Xu Xinnian looked carefully and found that the question was a sentence from Chengzi Gan Ge: "The general of an army can be taken away, but the will of a common man cannot be taken away."

Xu Erlang, who was well-read in poetry and books, instantly extracted the core: chanting will!

He stared at the test paper, his expression was uncontrollably dull, and there was disbelief in his eyes.

"Brother, you must have stepped on dog shit before entering my room that day, right?" Xu Erlang murmured.

He could guess this?

Xu Erlang just regarded the matter of drawing lots that day as a way to deal with his annoying brother. Although the questions of the spring examination could be guessed, they were limited to the meaning of classics and policy essays. After all, there were traces to follow.

The questions of poetry and lyrics depended entirely on the mood of the examiner. He could come up with whatever he wanted, even if it was named after wild flowers on the roadside. You can guess this?!

Unless the elder brother stepped on dog shit that night, Xu Erlang really couldn't think of any other possibilities.

Wait a minute...Xu Xinnian's expressions of shock, confusion, bewilderment, etc., all turned into ecstasy and excitement.

Big brother guessed the question correctly, big brother guessed the question correctly!

He straightened his back suddenly, and couldn't help wanting to whistle three times to express his excitement at the moment.

"With big brother's poetic talent, since you guessed the test question correctly, then the third round of poetry will be honored to me, Xu Erlang. I, I may be able to compete for the first place in the exam."

Those who pass the exam are called "Gongshi", and the first name of Gongshi is "Huiyuan". It makes sense for him to think so. First of all, the exam is anonymous, and his identity as a student of Yunlu Academy will not be exposed, so he will not be excluded. Secondly, Xu Xinnian is a natural seed of reading, a proud student of the great Confucian Zhang Shen, and with the bonus of the Confucian system of photographic memory and fluent thoughts, his own level is far higher than that of the students of the Imperial Academy.

Finally, in order to prevent cheating in the imperial examination, Dafeng arranged three examiners and multiple co-examiners. The composition here is complicated. The three examiners must come from different parties.

Maybe they are hostile to each other.

Even if someone can bribe one examiner, it is impossible to bribe the other two.

Therefore, in each joint examination, there will be a fierce battle between the examiners, and then they will discuss and compromise with each other to make the final decision.

"If I had not been born, the joint examination would have been like a long night forever."

Even if Xu Xinnian was so proud, there was no one in the room at this time. He could not control his emotions at all, dancing and laughing like a fool.

If there was a bed, he would roll on the bed, or twist and turn like a maggot.

"Big brother is really my lucky star! Calm down, calm down, what is the poem that big brother gave me..."

Xu Xinnian calmed down and forced himself to calm down.

Fortunately, as a Confucian scholar of the eighth rank, he had already memorized everything he had read, and the poem given by his elder brother was indeed good, so he remembered it well and recalled it quickly.

Picking up the pen and dipping it in ink, he unfolded the draft paper. At this time, he found that his hands were still shaking slightly.

"Nothing, but it's just an imperial examination, and I'm so excited. Dad said that I have the talent to be the prime minister."

After making fun of himself, Xu Xinnian felt more relaxed, his hands stopped shaking, and he wrote quickly on the paper:

A golden cup of clear wine costs ten thousand, and a jade plate of delicacies costs ten

thousand.

I put down my cup and chopsticks and couldn't eat. I drew my sword and looked around, feeling lost.

I want to cross the Yellow River, but the river is blocked by ice. I will climb the Taihang Mountains, which are covered with snow.

I fished in the green stream in my spare time, and suddenly I dreamed of the sun in a boat. It's hard to travel, it's hard to travel, there are many forks in the road, where are you now? There will be a time to ride the wind and waves, and set sail to cross the sea. (Note from a conscientious author: The poems for the imperial examinations, also known as fu poems, are usually five-character eight-rhyme, four-rhyme, six-rhyme, not seven- character. I modified it for the sake of the plot. Another note: to prevent nitpicking!)

After writing the poem, I read it over and over again to confirm that I did not write it wrong, but new doubts came to my mind.

"What is the Yellow River? What is Taihang? I fished in the green stream at leisure, and suddenly I dreamed of the sun on a boat. Are there any allusions to these two sentences...."

Xu Erlang frowned.

Xu Xinnian, who was well-read in poetry and books, searched his stomach but could not find where the Yellow River and Taihang were. According to his understanding of poetry, "I fished in the green stream at leisure" and "I dreamed of the sun on a boat" should be two allusions.

"Brother, you really don't know how to make notes when you write poems. How can I understand his state of mind when he wrote poems, and how can I understand his profound intentions?"

"The Yellow River and Taihang should be the names of the river and the mountain, which can

be replaced. As for the sentence "I fish in the green stream at leisure" and "I suddenly dream

of the sun on the boat", even if there is no allusion, it is not difficult to understand what you want to express. It's not a big problem."

So, after replacing "Yellow River" and "Taihang", Xu Xinnian picked up his pen to answer the

questions:

"Fu De Xinglu Nan"

The chief examiners of this spring exam were Zhao Tingfang, the Grand Secretary of Dongge, Liu Hong, the Right Censor-in-Chief, and Qian Qingshu, the Grand Secretary of Wuyingdian. Unlike the students, the chief examiners and co-examiners have not left the Gongyuan since the start of the joint examination. The gate is locked. Unless you have wings, you can't leave. In order to prevent the examiners from colluding with the students to cheat, the examiners have to wait until the list of tribute students is determined before leaving the Gongyuan. Compared with the fierce battles in the first two examinations, the examiners' attitudes and emotions have changed greatly.

"It's nonsense. How dare you show your lousy poems in the examination."

"It's a good angle to use bamboo to describe people and express your aspirations, but it's more about bamboo than about aspirations, which is putting the cart before the horse."

"Alas, I've been reading for a long time, and there's not a single amazing poem."

"It's been like this in previous years. I'm used to it."

The examiners are also called the curtain-keepers. They review the papers while commenting.

At first glance, the atmosphere is full of gunpowder, but it's actually the most relaxed and

freehand.

Poetry is not taken seriously. If it's good, it's icing on the cake. If it's not good, it doesn't matter. Anyway, it's all scum. It's rare for the students to write poems that are decent. It's not worth the examiners to take it seriously.

In the capital, when it comes to poetry, there is one person who can't be avoided. He is the night watchman Xu Qian'an. He is regarded as the leader of the poetry world by the Confucian

scholars, or the savior of the Dafeng poetry world.

"If Xu Qiyan participated in the imperial examination, at least this year's imperial examination would produce a poem that will be passed down through the ages." "Who says it's not? It's a pity that Xu Qiyan is not a scholar. In the future, historical records

will show that all the excellent poems of Yuan Jingnian came from him. How can we scholars

save our dignity?"

Scholars have a complicated attitude towards Xu Qiyan. They are glad that he has risen, so

that there are a few poems that can be shown off in the past two hundred years, which will not be ridiculed by future generations.

They also regret that he is a warrior, not a scholar, because this is also something that will be ridiculed by future generations.

In the two hundred years of Dafeng, there were thousands of scholars, but they were not even

as good as a warrior.

"All the mistakes are Xu Pingzhi's fault."

At this moment, a examiner unfolded a copied paper. After a few seconds of careful reading,

he was stunned. His body seemed to be petrified and motionless.

But his lips kept muttering, repeating.

After a few minutes, the examiner suddenly stood up, looked around at his colleagues in the

room, took a deep breath, and said in a loud voice: "Who said that Dafeng scholars can't write good poems? Who said that? Who said that?"

The examiners looked at him one after another, looking confused, not knowing what he was

crazy about.

The poetry world has been weak for two hundred years, and contemporary scholars are not

good at poetry. These are facts, what is there to dispute.

"Pah!"

The examiner slapped the paper on the table, his chest heaving, and said excitedly: "I dare to conclude that this poem will be famous all over the world once it comes out. This year's examination will be recorded by the historian."

A examiner next to him glanced at him, walked over curiously, picked up the paper, and took a

closer look.

Madness seemed to be contagious. The examiner held the paper and trembled with excitement: "Good poem, good poem, hahaha, who said that Dafeng scholars can't write good poems, who said that?"

At this time, the other examiners realized that there was a good work coming out, and they

swarmed up to pass it to each other and read it.

"Good poems should be made public."

"There will be a time to ride the wind and waves, and set sail to cross the sea... This is the

poem that scholars should write."

"How can a student write such a poem that has experienced vicissitudes of life?"

"Maybe he failed the exam many times, so he wrote a poem to commemorate his achievements."

The appearance of this "Hard to Travel" is like a golden phoenix mixed in a group of chickens.

It is extremely precious. The examiners in the room kept passing it around and commenting

excitedly.

"Ahem!"

There was a strong cough outside the door, and the gray-haired Dongge University Scholar

stood at the door with his hands behind his back.

He was attracted by the noise. Searᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The examiners in the room fell silent.

"What's wrong with making so much noise?"

Grand Secretary Zhao Tingfang scolded a few words, and then asked: "I just heard someone

say that this poem will be famous all over the world?" Immediately, an examiner came forward and handed over the paper respectfully. Grand Secretary Dongge glanced at everyone first, then took the paper, squinted his eyes and

looked at it... His hand holding the paper trembled slightly.

Anyone can see that this is a good poem, an inspiring poem.

But different experiences, different feelings.

This poem is both a poem of ambition and a rough life experience. From "My heart is

confused and it's hard to walk" to "There will be a time to ride the wind and waves, and set sail to cross the sea", anyone with similar experiences can quickly empathize.

And the last sentence is a poem of ambition, and it is also the finishing touch, which directly

raises the artistic conception of the whole poem to a very high level.

"This boy is definitely a great talent. If he is good at both classics and policy questions, I will

definitely select him as the champion!" Dongge University Scholar thought.

.......

The day after the Spring Examination, Xu Xinnian found that his treatment at home had

plummeted. In the past, his mother would ask the kitchen to heat a bowl of hot milk every morning.

At noon, there was fragrant chicken soup, and at night, there was ginseng soup. During this period, his mother would also ask about his well-being. Although there was no

concrete performance, it also showed enough attention.

And his father and eldest brother would also ask a few questions at the dinner table, and his younger sister Xu Lingyue did the same. Even his younger sister Xu Lingyin would occasionally shout: Second brother, you must work hard!

But since the last round, there was no milk, no chicken soup, no ginseng, and after asking

when the results would be announced, no one paid much attention.

At the dinner table, Xu Qi'an asked, "Why does Erlang look so unhappy? Did you not do well in

the last exam?"

Xu Erlang did not speak. After dinner, he pulled his elder brother into the study and stared at him, "Brother...you guessed the question."

Xu Qi'an was surprised but not surprised by the result. He nodded and asked, "Patriotism or

expressing one's ambitions?"

"Expressing one's ambitions!"

Xu Xinnian asked, "Where are the Yellow River and Taihang? Which allusion does "I fish in my

spare time on the green stream, and suddenly I dream of the sun on a boat" come from?" .....Hmm? There is an allusion to this sentence? I don't remember it. Xu Qi'an was confused. "I fish in my spare time on the green stream, because I like fishing. Suddenly I dream of the

sun on a boat, then, then...Oh, why are you talking so much nonsense? The exam is over, and you are still talking here.

"Hurry up and tear up the Four Books and Five Classics. I will take you to the Jiaofangsi

tomorrow to play."

Xu Qian'an ran away cursing.

When he returned to the room, he found Zhong Li sitting by the bed bandaging his head, with

faint traces of blood.

"Fell again?"

"Yes,"

Zhong Li nodded a little aggrieved and said, "I found that your sister is very lucky."

"Which sister?" Xu Qian'an asked.