Chapter 15: The power of the mind is in vain

In the 30th year of Daoguang, Xu Geng went north to the Spring Examination but failed. In the first year of Xianfeng, he was frustrated again. When he moved to the sixth uncle's mansion in the capital, his uncle and nephew discussed it. Xu Naizhao helped him get out and donated a title of the Secretary of the Cabinet - a seventh-rank little Beijing official, a civil servant like the county magistrate. However, the Secretary of the Cabinet has two great benefits, which are incomparable to county officials. The first is that he can temporarily take leave on official positions when the examination is held in the official (Enterprise) subject; the second is that he can register for the Military Machinery and Zhang Jing under such a name.

Originally, the Qing Dynasty had a very strict system: ministers and nobles were not allowed to apply for military jailing. Since the Jiaqing period was announced and implemented, this ban received a very short period of limitations. Later, the ban gradually relaxed. By the year of the Daoguang period, chaos in the world began, and some ministers were even more skilled in military affairs and were selected for military jailing. This ban was like a full jailing in the Military jailing Department.

However, Xu Geng was inspired to take the right path and ascend to the dragon. The military machine was like a useless person to him, so he didn't take it seriously. He devoted himself to studying poetry and books. When he was in the third year of Xianfeng, he took a leave of absence to take the exam again.

The Gongyuan was built in the Ming Dynasty. It was originally the former site of the Yuan Dynasty's ritual office. It faces five door towers on the south and the north. Outside the gate tower is a wooden archway, divided into three roads, each with a title. In the middle is the sky and the Wenyun, on the right is the Ming Jing to obtain scholars, and on the left is the national valuation. Outside the archway is a wall, with four doors open in total, called brick doors.

The seven or eight thousand candidates from all over the country entered the examination. They started to enter the examination at the Yin hour in the morning and were all completed until the Shen hour in the afternoon. There was a mess in the middle of the period, which made the originally solemn and solemn Gongyuan boil, as if they were visiting a large market on the bridge.

This is the third time that Xu Gengshi has been taking the exam. He has been familiar with the road. After the inspection by the No. 1 Army, he has entered the gantry gate with the test basket. Entering the gantry gate is the number house, divided into two rows, with a thousand-character text as the number. His number plate for this subject is Tengzi No. 6. He took the "Gongyuan Seating Numbers" chart sent to see it. He was happy: Tengzi No. 9 is located near the gantry gate on the east side, and it is very convenient to enter and exit, which can save a lot of footsteps and effort.

When I arrived at the roster, I felt happy again: it was the old roster. In a moment of thought, I remembered him a person.

This person is Chen Zufan, whose courtesy name is Yixuan, and he was from Changshu. He passed the tribute senator in the first year of Yongzheng. Before the palace examination, he suddenly fell ill and was unable to participate. In such cases, he could apply for the next subject and continue to take the palace examination as a supplementary examination. However, Chen Zufan would rather study in his hometown as a juren than go to Beijing to take the exam. Until the Qianlong period, the emperor issued an order to recommend the "New Cultivator of Jingming". A total of more than 40 people were recommended nationwide, and only four of them were selected, so Chen Zufan was appointed as the Imperial College Supervisor.

It is said that Chen Zufan refused to participate in the palace examination because he suffered a lot when he participated in the examination. He also hated this system of selecting talents in his heart! He once wrote a "Alien Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Title Ti

There are two walls around the house, the exterior wall is 15 meters tall, the inner wall is 10 meters tall, and the walls are covered with thorns, so it is called the thorn. As for the old house, it refers to the first one, the size of the house should be built, and the materials should be used as they should be used, without any vacancies. In the house, one can barely maintain the "sweet and integrity".

In addition to the old ones, there are several other types of tents in the tribute courtyard, which are not so comfortable: the worst thing is the bottom one, which is the tent near the toilet (as mentioned in the previous article, it is not decorated); the second is the small one, which is not known when it was built, and the person in charge cut corners, with the eaves equal to the eyebrows, and the crampedness of people staying inside, as if they were curled up in a wooden box; there is another type of tent because there are too many people and fewer people, and it is called the tent. As the name suggests, it can be seen that it is a large reed mat shed with no cover on the left and right, and the bitterness is really hard to describe - the most feared thing about this kind of tent is the disaster of Bing and Ding, which burns a room in an instant, and the legs are a little slower, so it is not rare to be buried in it!

In fact, these are just relatives. Even the old ones are not very comfortable: the house is very structured like a shrine, with three brick walls surrounding the city with a space of three feet wide, four feet deep and six feet high. A hole is dug out on the wall behind - for placing oil lamps.

There are two "brick support" stretching out on each side of the walls, one with the tall one being chest-length, one with the short one being flat to the knees, two three-foot-long and two-foot-wide wooden boards, one with the inside is a bench, and the one with the outside becomes a desk. Move the upper part to the bottom and becomes a bed - but it is only four feet long, so it is impossible to lie down comfortably, so you can only curl up on it and barely rest.

After the examination, the Dazhamen of the throne was closed and locked, which was called the throne seal. At this time, the throne army should be busy. Many scholars are nerds who are not divided into grains and are not diligent in all four bodies. They can do nothing except writing and answering, so they need the throne army to help. There are only two or three throne soldiers in a row, so how can they support it?

Xu Geng didn't need this, so he did it himself, and stopped preparing the food for the candle. He went out to make a pot of hot water, brewed a cup of tea, and put it aside.

At dawn, Sun Ruizhen, the official of the Ministry of Rites, went to the Qianqing Gate to receive the test questions, and then took them to the tribute court. Yu Guangzhuo, the chief censor of the examination, knelt down and brought them into the court, and handed them over to the main examination. The next step is the most important part: the examination questions are printed stereotypedly. When the questions are engraved, it is the most chaotic moment for the students to enter the venue. There are any mistakes and the consequences are unimaginable!

After engraving the title, I will print it. When I have finished printing the title paper and handed it to the pickup, it will always be around the early morning of this day.

The choice of the test questions for the Qing Dynasty exam was roughly like this: Qin's question was only in the first session, because there were "Three chapters of the Four Books" in the first session, so it was also called Qinming's Four Books. The test questions of the previous three sessions were selected in advance, and the list was issued (these were not selected), and each of the "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" was attached. Any parts that had been given before the test questions were marked with yellow pen to prevent the emperor from choosing mistakenly.

The three test questions are customized: "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius" and one question each, and another question is selected from "The Great Learning" or "The Doctrine of the Mean". In addition to these three questions, the first test also requires a test-posted poem title. Of course, the topics are also derived from the saints. The topics are probably all about finding some idioms from the classics, history, and verses of predecessors. More of the Tang poetry is selected. The only exception is Emperor Qianlong of the year.

Once he posted a test poem title and wrote an allusion called "Dengyouguan Shu". Thousands of students in the audience, including the main examination, room examination, and supervisory examination. The students had to look at the meaning of the text, but they didn't know that they were a little less restrictive and had more excellent works.

Later, Emperor Gaozong gave an explanation. It turned out that the Chinese used their right hand to write. In the evening, it was convenient to place the lamp on the left hand side. He didn't want a eunuch to do things casually and placed the lamp on the right hand side of the emperor. Emperor Gaozong personally moved it to the left. As for the lamp, the person was on the right hand side of the lamp, which was equivalent to the emperor's thoughts and temporarily fabricated such an allusion.

The three questions in this subject are as follows: The title of "The Analects of Confucius" is that a gentleman does not get it by his way, but he will not get it; a gentleman will get benevolence and become famous; the title of "Mencius" is that there will be great kings, and there will be ministers who will not recruit. If you want to have plans, you will follow it. The last question comes from "The Doctrine of the Mean", the destiny of heaven is called nature, the way is followed by nature, and the way is practiced is called teaching.

These three and four books are not very difficult for Xu Geng’s body. The last test poem title is: The poem is pierced by Dezhou, beside Qingshan County, and the character Dezhou is five-character and eight-rhyme.

The difference between this kind of test-posting poem and the Four Books is that if the latter is today's essay question, while the former is very important to examine the problem-solving skills of the students. The first thing is to point out the topic, that is, to the first and second couplets, you must point out all the characters specified in the question, so it is also called "problem". If the number of words on the question is too many, you must point out the important words and then add them to the other places.

His test poem is written like this: Guan Ling Hu Shan Sheng, Yuhang’s official career remains; green waves and flattening county, clearing obstacles and examining Huanzhou (one of them).

The mist and green are spreading to the official house, the sand is on the tide, the sky light invades the distance, and the shadow of the stream is faintly sleeping in the gulls (the second).

The screen is surrounded by thousands of brocades, and the flowers welcome a boat; the pavilion is long and short, and the water station is shallow in late autumn (third).

The situation is magnificent, and the smoke and clouds are fast to lie down and travel; the imperial map is vast and the golden cup is controlled (the fourth).

After thinking hard for the middle of the night, I finally had a certain idea. I looked at the time when it was already time to put breakfast. I had to use it with thick white rice porridge and pickles. I barely used it. I took out half of the old ginseng prepared by my wife from my schoolbag and bit it for a while and ate it. I don’t know if it was the effect of ginseng or the psychological effect, but in short, it was a strong spirit and lively thoughts, so I started to do the title of the Four Books.

I put rice again at noon, this time it was a large bowl of white rice and a piece of braised pork with four liang of weight. It was called Red Meat and Five Flower Soup.

Because the first draft of the poem has been settled, it is easy to get down. Xu Geng wandered around the house area, and those who were holding the tube, pondering, frowning, and mushy faces were not easy to disturb him. When he walked to the front, a board had been removed and the ink had been neatly and neatly. Seeing that there were traces of ink on the paper in the roll bag, it was thought that the first draft had been completed.

Looking at the Ju Zi, he was about forty years old, with a very clear face and bright eyes, so he bowed: "I think I have already got three words and one poem?"

"Oh, please ask for your surname?"

"Yang, who do you think of Taiwan?"

The two people communicated with each other's surname. The son named Yang was Yang Weifan, whose courtesy name was Qinglin, and he was from Guangdong.

"This..." Xu Geng asked with his fingers, a gourd hanging on the wall of the house, "Is it the beauty of heaven?"

Yang Weifan smiled and said, "I think Brother Xu is good at this. Although I don't have much wine, I can still share the benefits."

"I can carry this thing too." Xu Geng bowed his hand and would turn to his own house, get wine and food, and then come to Yang Weifan's house. The two of them squeezed into a small house, and could only sit cross-legged on a four-foot-wide wooden board, barely drinking.

"How many times have Brother Qinglin watched the scene?"

"Third times. If you fail this time, you will be insulated from the Northern Examination."

"Then, what are your plans?" Xu Geng asked again: "Are you going to choose or take the money as your husband?"

A big challenge refers to a juren who failed the imperial examinations three times. He was getting older and had a difficult life. He had to obtain one or half of his posts and supported his family with his salary. The court sent princes and ministers to pick them up and judge people by their appearance. The first-class candidates were appointed as the county magistrate, and the second-class candidates were appointed as the county instructors, instructors or teachings. He became a learning teacher, commonly known as the tofu official. He was very hard, but one advantage was that the provincial avoidance system could be exempted (that is, the system in which the instructors could not be an official in the province). If the instructors were not within this limit, the way out would naturally be wide.

If you don’t want to make a big move, you can also donate money to become an official - just like Xu Geng, you can take leave to take the exam in the year of the exam.

However, Yang Weifan was unwilling to do either, "Life is short, it is important to be content. There is no official star in his life, so there is no need to force it." He said: "There are always a few acres of thin fields in his family, and living in the family, and farming and studying to pass on the family. It is also a way to get along with oneself."

Xu Geng was very enthusiastic. Although he was a first-time student, he did not take the other party's attitude of giving in. He also tried his best to advise him not to be discouraged. Even if he failed this subject, he must come back to the next subject. He said: "...I think Brother Yang has poetry and books and is introverted. If he can be a county magistrate, he must be a good official who can win the hearts of the people. However, no matter whether it is a big choice or a donation class, it will be difficult to make up for the lack of money after being distributed to the province. It is not easy to make up for the lack of money. You are indifferent to the indifference. You must not be willing to do it. You only have two backgrounds, use it as a magistrate, and you are a tiger class that can make up for the lack of money when you encounter a lack of money. Therefore, if this subject is implemented in Nanxuan, the next subject will still be here!"

"Thank you for your kindness. Although you have a good reputation for your academic reputation, you have a background, and the years are not forgiving people and cannot be used for the world. It is meaningless." He said: "Just like in the 38th year of the Kangxi reign, there was an old scholar Huang Zhang in Guangdong who was enrolled in school at the age of 40, became a student at the age of 60, and became a tribute at the age of 83. This year, he was over 100 years old and had to go north to enter the examination. When he entered the venue, he ordered his great-grandson to guide him with a lantern and write a letter to "At a hundred years old". Although it was a good story, I didn't understand why at this age, why bother to be as clumsy as you, I was as clumsy as the house, and I had such hardships?"

Xu Geng laughed, and Yang Weifan's words reminded him of an anecdote in the imperial examination, which was that there was a Tong Sheng, who happened to be the surname Tong, so he respectfully called him "Lao Tong". When he was over 70 years old, his hair and hair were all white. The instructor asked him what time he was taking the exam, and the answer was: "First."

Such a reply surprised the academician. Lao Tong has always had it since ancient times, but at such an old age it was the first time to go to the test or the first time. So I asked him, is there any explanation for the first time to go to the test at such an old age?

Lao Tong said, some people: "The exam skills need to be the ultimate, and it is the right way to go to the exam if you are sure to be sure. If you go to the exam after reading a few poems and essays, you will be lucky and have nothing to do with your knowledge. Tongsheng is to have a clear conscience, so he doesn't know that old age is approaching."

After hearing this, Xuezheng laughed: "Since that's the case, how about trying to solve the problem?"

Solving questions is a very special and weird propositional model. As the name suggests, it is to crack the text on the topic, depending on the length of the topic. It is easier to roughly have a longer topic; if the shorter topics are, you should start from the things you ignore between the words and sentences. The most difficult one is called "interrogation questions", which means selecting a sentence from different ranges from the four books and solving them. Because such questions are difficult to summarize in one sentence, they rarely appear.

And this time, the scholar-officials gave Lao Tong a piece of paper, which was to choose the first sentence in the Four Books: "The way of university; destiny is called nature; learn and practice it from time to time; Mencius met King Hui of Liang."

Old Tong replied loudly: "The way is based on heaven, and the family is cultivated and the court is offered."

(To briefly explain here, the first sentence contains the essence of "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean", and refer to the next two sentences: "Learn and practice it from time to time" is to practice hard at home and after completing the cultivation, and to offer his skills to the court, which is also the original intention of Mencius to meet King Hui of Liang.)

The academic and political education department was very impressed. He was exempted from Lao Tong's exam and was directly admitted to the scholar.

The two of them talked in a casual manner, but before they realized that time had passed, Xu Geng also forgot the original intention of his advice not to be negative. The two of them talked about the stories of the imperial examination to the gains and losses of their writing, the growth and decline of talents, and their respective opinions were quite consistent. They naturally fell in love with each other and became friends.

After one exam, the students will appear and the papers are collected and handed over to the examiner of the 18th Room to read first. If there are excellent works, they will be recommended to the four main testers to read. For the main test, they cannot make a decision because they do not know what the second and third test papers are like.

In the view of the house examination, the first one is good, and the next two are not bad. If there is really outstanding writing, you often insist on making a decision on the spot. This is called "strong recommendation". Over time, it becomes an unwritten convention: after the first exam, the paper was copied and copied, and the chief examiner invited the examiners in the 18th room to drink, and then took out one or two volumes from them. They were all happy and no one was talking about it anymore.

Afterwards, several examiners carefully reviewed the test papers, the deputy examiner approved the word "take" and the main examiner approved the word "zhong". Even so, it cannot prove that the juren (this is corresponding to the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination), and the tribute scholars have already obtained it because there may be mistakes such as "they are committed to the imperial taboo, the sage taboo, and the head should be raised three times, and it is mistakenly carried out single or double, or there is a poem that has lost its rhyme, etc. These are all mistakes that need to be removed.

The list has been scheduled, and it is not allowed to be re-scheduled. If you encounter such a situation, the main examiner will burn incense and report to the sky, and choose one from the fallen paper to fill the seats. The so-called "Site Mo paper" refers to such unexpected opportunities or changes.

As for the so-called single lift, double lift, and three lift, let me explain it roughly: the ancient writing method was different from today, and it was vertically lined. The first line of writing format was two squares above the opening paragraph on paper. This is to use words such as "Your Majesty", "Imperial Code," and "Shangyue" in the text, one line should be started, and two squares should be higher than the text to show respect.

Indirectly related to the emperor, such as: "Shenjing" and "Dianting" should be written in one space, called "Single Express"; there is another special situation, that is, the content in the text is higher than that of the emperor, such as: "Empress Dowager", "Taishen Emperor", and "Ancestral and Historians". If you encounter such words, you should write them out in a special way, called "Three Express". These are all great taboos, and you must not make any mistakes.

Xu Geng made such a mistake! Fortunately, when copying the title of the poem, it was probably because the time was too tight or I didn’t know why. The last sentence in the poem: “…The emperor’s map is vast and vast.” Because the word “huang” is used in the poem, this sentence was written as usual, but he forgot!

Such mistakes would not allow him to have the chance to enter the field for two or three exams, and his name was listed on the blue list. This subject was once again in vain!
Chapter completed!