Start to be a martial arts hero from the famous people of Hengshan

Chapter 54 Trial
On the ninth day of February, Ou Zanghua woke up and looked outside. The sky was slightly gloomy and not very good weather.

He took out the rice cooker and asked Hao Jun to help him cook some porridge, and then took out the cut cakes.

After the porridge was brought back, Ou Zanghua directly put the pastries into the porridge.

In this way, the porridge becomes sweet and the pastries are heated.

After breakfast, Ou Zanghua took out the four treasures of the study and arranged them, then spread out the roll bag, making all preparations.

As each candidate stood up, even if no one spoke, the various sounds of getting up and getting things combined together, forming a unique feeling of 'silent noisy'.

When the Si hour arrived, the gong sounded, indicating that the first round of the imperial examination officially began.

Topic 1: The Meaning of the Sutra: Only Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth, and Valley Can Be Cultivated

Ou Zanghua smiled slightly. This set of questions was not difficult. It came from "The Book of Documents - Instructions of Yu the Great".

Kong Yingda, one of the 18 scholars in the early Tang Dynasty, explained that water can be used for irrigation, fire can be used for cooking, metal can be used for cutting, wood can be used for construction, earth can be used for reproduction, and grain can be used for nurturing. This is the circulation of the six organs and the law by which heaven and earth nurture all living things.

Isn't the problem solved?

But this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with politics!

Don't be anxious, because in the ancient text "Shangshu Dayu Mo", the sentence before "Water, fire, metal, wood, earth, and valley, only need to be cultivated" is "Virtue lies in good governance, and governance lies in nourishing the people."

In this way, we can connect the two. The virtue of a sage is to handle government affairs well and properly arrange things such as water, fire, metal, wood, earth, and grain so that there will be no chaos. This can be called "only cultivation."

Of course, if this is the only answer, it will not show the status of Ou Zanghua, the winner of the first prize in the provincial championship. More content must be added.

He thought about it and came up with a theme that would make him invincible, which was "benevolent government".

Regardless of the era, "benevolent government" is what Confucianists never give up pursuing.

When you are in doubt, use benevolent policy, and you won't lose any points.

Therefore, in the final conclusion, we can quote Mencius's "My Relationship with the State":
If we do not violate the farming season, there will be an endless supply of grain.

If you don't use your nets in a muddy pond, you will have too many fish and turtles to eat.

Axes and saws are used in the mountains and forests from time to time, and the wood is inexhaustible.

Grains and fish and turtles are inexhaustible for food, and wood is inexhaustible for use, so that the people can live and die without regrets.

To maintain good health and to die without regrets is the beginning of the kingly way.

Reduce, reduce, summarize, summarize.

An excellent essay on the meaning of the classics was thus produced.

Check it from beginning to end and if there are no problems, you can copy it onto the test paper.

In fact, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty held reservations about some of Mencius' ideas and once ordered the revision of the book Mencius, deleting some content in the book that he considered "problematic."

But this did not affect Mencius' status, because Mencius was one of the "Four Books", which was a compulsory subject in the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty.

Question 2: The Four Books: The people are so vast that they cannot be named; the achievements are so great that they are brilliant; the articles are so brilliant that they are written

As soon as Ou Zanghua saw it, he understood that this question was taken from the famous passage in "The Analects of Confucius: Taibo" where Confucius praised Yao.

It probably means that Yao was such a great man that people could not find words to describe his praise, and his achievements were so outstanding.

In addition, this "Analects of Confucius·Tai Bo" also has a thought that "Only Heaven is great, and only Yao follows it."

The implication is that Yao governed the world according to "the way of heaven".

The "Way of Heaven" can be seen as the law of nature or as the law of human society.

Yao was able to grasp this law and naturally applied it to the governance of the country, creating a peaceful and prosperous era with unity among the people and harmony among the people. By extension, it also has the meaning of warning leaders.

What should good leaders do?
We should emulate the example of Heaven and Earth, love everyone without interfering in their lives, and let the people get what they deserve and live and work in peace and contentment.

A gentleman should set an example, act on behalf of Heaven, understand the Way of Heaven, and strive to do things that are in line with the Way of Heaven.

Therefore, in addition to praising the educational contributions of the ancient sages, the opening topic should also express one's recognition of "benevolence, harmony and the world for all".

Next, I would like to praise the wise and brave monarch of this country. I believe that he will take Yao as an example and become an excellent leader.

Finally, one must express his or her determination to assist the king, devote himself or herself to the court, and do his or her best for the people.

If you feel that the current emperor has no merits to praise, just praise his ancestors. If you really cannot be a sage, you can imitate Renzong and Xiaozong!
After all, there are not many families as shining as the Sima family.

Write and draw on the manuscript paper, and finally read the article. If you don’t find any problems, you can copy it onto the test paper.

In the late afternoon, you can see all kinds of life. Some people are still persisting, some are struggling, and some are as confident as Ou Zanghua.

Ou Zanghua only had some pastries and the dried meat prepared by Qu Feiyan at noon. He didn't dare to eat too much for fear that he would need to go to the toilet while answering the questions.

So he was still quite hungry, so he took out his rice cooking pot, mixed the bacon and pickles in it, and gave it to Hao Jun, asking him to help cook a pot of hot rice.

At night, when Ou Zanghua lay down, someone was still struggling with a lit candle, and he could faintly hear suppressed crying coming from the wind.

It seems that someone didn’t perform well in the first game!
Ou Zanghua sighed, changed direction and continued to sleep.

Time passed quickly. On the morning of the tenth day of February, Ou Zanghua rinsed his mouth with water and rubbed his face casually to make himself feel more energetic.

Please ask Haojun to help cook some porridge and then take down the toilet sign hanging next to the examination room.

A moment later, accompanied by two bugle soldiers, Ou Zanghua walked through the examination hall and came to the place where the five grains were recycled. The first thing he saw were the gentlemen who were assigned to this "prime location".

You can see that they are having a hard time.

One by one, their faces turned green, and when they saw Ou Zanghua, their eyes almost popped out.

If it really doesn’t work, come back in three years!
After being happily released, he returned to his pig shed, where porridge was served.

In this environment, don't expect a bowl of porridge to last long, just cook it until it's done.

In the first round of the imperial examination, Ou Zanghua wrote three essays on the Four Books and four essays on the Five Classics.

When the invigilator came to collect the papers on February 11, many candidates were still writing furiously. Then, under the invigilator's urging, they handed in the papers with a look of despair on their faces.

Ou Zanghua had nothing to say about this, because those who sat in this examination room, even if they failed the exam, would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives. Instead of sympathizing with them, it would be better to save time and use it to exercise.

So he stood up and did a set of stretching exercises in the small space, listening to the sounds coming from his bones, which was really healing and stress-relieving.

That night, there seemed to be a lot more miserable cries in the wind.

On the morning of February 12, the second exam continued.

This time the test was on essays, imperial edicts, and judgments.

"Lun" can be simply understood as an argumentative essay. Although the questions are also extracted from the Four Books and Five Classics, there is no requirement to answer them in eight-part essays. You can express yourself freely. This is a question that chases points.

"Zhaogaobiao" is a combination of edicts, imperial edicts and memorials. To put it simply, it means writing official documents, requiring candidates to imitate the words and deeds of their superiors and write corresponding edicts, imperial edicts and memorials, which are generally based on the Han memorials, Tang imperial edicts and Song memorials.

"Judgment" can be understood as the comments made by the candidate on the documents submitted by his subordinates, which mainly examines the candidate's familiarity with legal provisions such as "The Great Ming Code".

Therefore, the second round of the imperial examination tests the professional ability of the candidates.

　Uh, the male protagonist in the book is relaxed, but I have multiple bald spots in front of the computer.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)