Chapter 407
407 The end of the spring quarter examination (1)
The examination venue for the spring examination was a row of small black rooms, called ‘rooms’. After the students entered, the bugle soldier in charge of supervision would lock the door, leaving only a small window for the students to deliver their exam papers.
For the entire day, the students finished their daily routine in the small black room.
The candlelight was like a bean, dyeing the small room with a dim yellow. Xu Erlang sat by the table, pouring water into the inkstone and slowly grinding it.
There was still a long time before the start of the exam, and this time was enough for him to calm down and think about some things.
Since ancient times, the poetry world of Dafeng had been in decline for a long time. Therefore, for most students, the last round of the exam was just a formality.
When he entered the Academy just now, the students he was familiar with were all laughing and talking, happy and content. Unlike the previous two matches, where he had a serious expression and a nervous mentality, as if he was going to put on his armor and go into battle.
However, Xu Erlang knew that he could not be careless.
He was a student of Yun Lu Academy, and according to the attitudes of the court officials towards the students of Yun Lu Academy, after becoming a Jinshi, they would either be sent to a remote and poor village or be kept as officials for a long time and be hidden away.
Xu Erlang had his own ambitions. He didn’t want to be sent to a remote place, nor did he want to stay in the capital.
“The road ahead is long …” Xu niannian sighed.
At this moment, the trumpeter outside the door knocked on the small window and said in a muffled voice, “”Old master, the paper is here.”
Those who participated in the spring examination were all high scholars who had the qualifications to be officials. The soldiers directly called the students in the examination ” old master.
Xu niannian took the paper and spread it on the table. It was already dawn, but the sun had not risen.
Under the orange candlelight, Xu niannian took a closer look. The title was a sentence from Cheng Zi:”You can take the Commander-in-Chief of the three armies, but you can’t take away a man’s will.”
Xu Erlang, who had read a lot of books, instantly extracted the core:Yong Zhi!
He stared at the paper, his expression uncontrollably dazed, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“Big brother must have stepped on dog shit before he entered my room that day, right?” Xu Erlang muttered.
How could he guess this correctly?
Xu Erlang treated the drawing of lots as a way to deal with his annoying big brother. Although the questions of the spring examination could be guessed, it was limited to classics and policy theories. After all, there were traces to follow in the two.
The topic of the poem was completely dependent on the examiner’s mood. He could come up with anything he wanted. It was even possible for it to be named after the wildflowers on the roadside.
He could even guess this?
Unless yang stepped on dog shit that night, Xu Erlang couldn’t think of any other possibility.
Wait. minute … Xu xinnian’s shock, confusion, and confusion all turned into ecstasy and excitement.
Big brother got it right, big brother got it right!
He suddenly straightened his back and couldn’t help but want to roar three times to express the excitement in his heart at the moment.
“With big brother’s talent in poetry, since you have guessed the question correctly, then I, Xu Erlang, will be the most respected in the third round. I … I might be able to compete for the Huiyuan.”
Those who passed the general examination would be called ‘contributors’, and the head of the contributors would be named’ Huiyuan’.
There was a reason for him to think this way. First of all, his identity as a student of Yun Lu Academy wouldn’t be exposed in the general examinations, so he wouldn’t be ostracized. Secondly, Xu niannian was a natural scholar, the proud student of the great scholar Zhang Shen. In addition, he had a photographic memory in the Confucian system, and his thoughts were clear, so his level far exceeded that of the students of the Imperial College.
In the end, in order to prevent cheating in the imperial examination, Da Feng arranged for three head examiners to take the examination at the same time. The composition of this was complicated. The three head examiners must be from different parties.
They might even be hostile to each other.
Even if someone could bribe one of the examiners, it would be impossible to bribe the other two.
Therefore, in every general examination, the examiners would also engage in a fierce battle. Then, they would discuss and compromise with each other before making the final decision.
“If the heavens didn’t give birth to me, I would wish for a New Year, but I would wish for eternity to be like the long night.”
Even if he was proud of the new year, there was no one in the house at the moment. He could not control his emotions at all. He danced around and laughed like a fool.
If there was a bed, he would roll around on it or wriggle around like a maggot.
“Big brother is really My Lucky Star! Calm down, calm down, what’s the poem that big brother gave me …”
Xu niannian composed himself and forced himself to calm down.
Fortunately, as an eighth stage scholar, he had a photographic memory, and the poem his big brother had given him was really good. His memory was quite deep, and he was able to quickly recall it.
He dipped the pen in ink and unfolded the draft paper. At this time, he realized that his hands were still trembling slightly.
“Useless. It’s just a general examination, yet you’re so excited. Father said that I have the qualifications to be the chief Assistant.”
After ridiculing himself, Xu niannian relaxed a little. His hands were no longer shaking, and he quickly wrote on the paper:
A golden bottle of sake was worth ten thousand, while a Jade plate was worth ten thousand.
I can’t eat when I stop drinking, I’m at a loss when I draw my sword and look around.
To cross the Yellow River and the frozen river, one would have to climb the Taixing snow-covered mountain.
When he was fishing on the green Stream, he suddenly took a boat and dreamed of the sun.
The road is difficult, the road is difficult, there are many roads, but today is peaceful.
There would be times when the wind broke through the waves, and the sails of the clouds would reach the sea.
(Author’s note: the poems in the imperial examination are also known as gifted poems. They are usually five words, eight tones, four tones, or six tones, not seven words. I’ll make some magical changes to the Otherworld to make the plot more convenient. [ note: anti-troll! ]
After writing the poem, he read it several times to make sure he didn’t write it wrong, but new doubts rose in his mind.
“What is the Yellow River? What was Taixing? Fishing on the green Stream when you’re free, suddenly riding a boat and dreaming of the sun, is there a story behind these two sentences …”
Xu Erlang frowned.
Xu niannian, who had read a lot of poems, could not find the Yellow River and Taihang Mountains. According to his understanding of poems, ” fishing on the blue Stream when I’m free ” and ” suddenly riding a boat and dreaming of the sun’s side ” should be two stories.