A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 143 Waiting for me to become an official (rd update)

Wang Xiuyong is also a day student and does not live in the academy. He has not arrived yet.

Song Xuan laughed and was too lazy to refute.

They said goodbye and went to their own classrooms.

There was a noisy sound coming from the room, and the students were reading their own books.

Class A is a class taught boldly by the head teacher Wang Zhu, and everyone's progress is different.

He made study plan progress according to the test papers of each candidate, instead of herding them all like sheep.

Song Xuan took a quick look and saw that many people were studying hard in the classroom to improve their memory.

Imperial examination.

Roll roll roll.

Start your day by rolling up your sleeves from the moment you open your eyes!

After Song Xuan thanked Zhu Yu, he sat on his stool and took out a copy of the Analects to improve his memory.

The head teacher Wang Zhu glanced around the classroom for a few seconds, then handed the two books in his hand to Song Xuan.

Song Xuanjie took a look and found it was a collection of Xikun opera.

"There are a total of 248 poems here. I've inquired about it, and I've never been exposed to this Xikun style of poetry in your private school back home."

Wang Zhu glanced at Song Xuan and said, "Please copy these two volumes and return them to me. The lower volume is with Zhang Fangping."

Song Xuan hurriedly thanked him.

He indeed did not know much about the Xikun style that was popular in the early Song Dynasty because he had never learned it.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, people always pursued a poetic style with gorgeous rhetoric and neat parallelism.

So more than ten years ago, Yang Yi, Liu Yun, Qian Weiyen and others gathered in the secret cabinet where the emperor kept his books to compile books. The poems they wrote in their spare time were compiled into a book, which caused a sensation.

Thereafter, many students followed suit, which directly influenced the scoring standards for poetry and prose in the imperial examinations.

Because they looked down on the shallowness of Bai style poetry (Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty and Wang Yuzhen of the Song Dynasty), and also looked down on the dryness and loneliness of the late Tang style (Jia Dao and Yao He of the Tang Dynasty and Lin Bu of the Song Dynasty), Yang Yi and others followed the Western Kun style poets, following the footsteps of Li Shangyin, and also learning from Tang Yanqian.

After all, we have found a foothold for their system.

As a result, and coupled with its connection with the imperial examinations, the Xikun style became popular for decades.

Most writers of the Xikun style have high social status and a superior life.

Therefore, their lyrics have little realistic content and are mostly written in exchange for each other.

In addition, the Xikun poets simply imitated and lacked true feelings.

Because he rigidly copied Li Shangyin's poem titles, allusions and rhetoric, he was ridiculed for "tearing" Li Shangyin's clothes to tatters, and was even attacked by the retro-styled Shi Jie as a "strange" phenomenon.

Later, Ouyang Xiu, Mei Yaochen and others created a new style of poetry, and the Xikun style began to decline and was eliminated from the imperial examinations.

But now if you want to get high scores in the imperial examination, you must learn this way of writing poetry.

Who allowed these people with the power of speech to hold high positions?

Poetry and prose are what the upper class pursues. If you, the newcomers, want to get into the upper class, you must learn this as a stepping stone.

Otherwise, when everyone is feasting and feeling inspired to write poetry, if you don't even understand their format, how can you possibly get into this circle?
To put it bluntly, this is aristocratic literature.

Just because of Yang Yi's background and his honest official career, his poems and lyrics will not be separated from the scope of aristocratic literature.

After Song Xuan held the poetry collection in his hand, he simply put the original book away and opened it to see a boring preface.

Yang Yi said that the purpose of their writing poetry was "to read the old compilations, savor the previous works, absorb their fragrance and smoothness, express their admiration, sing in response to each other, and learn from each other." The poems were written under the guidance of this point of view.

This deceased literary master was quite honest.

Based on this self-evaluation alone, Song Xuan felt that the scope of the subject matter must be rather narrow, so he simply skipped over it.

Then look at the catalog, which is roughly divided into three categories.

The first is the epic poem that uses the past to illustrate the present; the second is the poem that describes the state of objects; and the third is the leisurely poem that describes the leisurely life.

Song Xuan made a judgment in his mind and continued to turn the pages. The first page was the poem of the great poet Yang Yi.

Zhu Yu didn't expect that Song Xuan had never been exposed to the poems of the great poet Yang Yi, so he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

After seeing Song Xuan reading carefully, he immediately turned the page.

Zhu Yu showed a look of doubt in his eyes, but did not say anything to stop him. Instead, he continued to read his own content.

Song Xuan quickly flipped through the booklet.

Most of the poems in it are ornate in rhetoric, and contain a large number of allusions and wonderful words and phrases from predecessors.

"Damn it! When I become an official, I'm going to reform the imperial examination!"

Song Xuan silently took note in his heart, what's the point of learning this kind of thing?
What Song Xuan thought was also what many students thought.

But the only people who actually did this were Fan Zhongyan and a few others like Zhang Fangping.

"understood."

Song Xuan immediately understood the story that Su Shi had compiled his own allusions during the imperial examination, which the examiners had not figured out.

Nowadays, personal information collection in the Northern Song Dynasty was not strong, and there was no Baidu or AI to assist.

Many people enrich their knowledge system by relying on their home collections or borrowing books from other people's collections.

However, the anecdotes that have been passed down from ancient times to the present have not been summarized into a book, so it is normal that even a great scholar like Ouyang Xiu may have never heard of some anecdotes.

When Song Xuan made a sound again, Zhu Yu couldn't help but glance over. He found that Song Xuan was flipping through the book very quickly.

But when Zhu Yu thought that Song Xuan was able to write poems that would be praised by Liu Yong at such a young age, he thought that it was normal for him to be good at this and read fast.

When the morning reading time was over, Wang Zhu did not say anything about giving a lecture together.

Just during the morning reading time, he turned the entire classroom around.

Based on the strengths and weaknesses of each student, I directly told them the corresponding improvement methods and planned to see the results after a month.

Now Wang Zhu is holding the ruler, mainly to check whether there is any sign of slacking off.

Reading is like rowing against the current, if you don’t move forward, you will fall behind.

It is not enough to just have talent in this area. You must study hard and practice diligently so that you can memorize the words of the sages and various allusions, and then you can integrate them in the exam.

This is how Wang Zhu got through it, and at this time he became more and more experienced in the imperial examination.

What's more, this is Class A, and many people have a foundation. There is no need to focus on filling in the gaps like other classes and strive to get good results in the imperial examination.

After he had walked around several times, Zhang Fangping was already copying conscientiously, while Song Xuan was still reading.

Such slow progress made him stop and ask: "What?"

Song Xuan looked up and saw the teacher coming over: "Let me take a look first, so I can have a general impression in my mind. Then I can copy it down so that I can remember it more deeply."

Wang Zhu nodded, everyone has different learning methods.

Some people have to work very hard before they can learn.

During the years he spent at Yingtian Academy, he had also met many alternative students.

There are still few geniuses like Song Xuan who are quiet and have their own unique learning methods.

Yan Shu talked to him, and Fan Zhongyan also talked to him.

Therefore, Wang Zhu, the newly-minted Jinshi, had some understanding of Song Xuan, a child prodigy who was delayed by his family.

If his parents knew something, perhaps he would have been sent to Tokyo to take the prodigy exam long ago, instead of still preparing for the imperial examination here.

A few years ago, students who took the imperial examination faced less competitive pressure.

The number of students taking the exam now has at least doubled.

Wang Zhu felt that passing the imperial examination would only become more and more difficult because there were more and more examples of families having to support one scholar.

Everyone wants to change the family's power by having a Jinshi in the family.

Wang Zhu passed the exam. Sitting on the bank, he sighed as he watched the students fighting in a sea of ​​blood below. He wondered how many people would spend their entire lives on this, only to still not pass the imperial examination in their old age!

Now, Wang Zhu’s main focus is to improve the strength of the students in his class so that they can successfully cross that single-plank bridge in the future, instead of being squeezed into the sea of ​​blood and being killed by others.

As the class teacher, Wang Zhu will not restrict his students from going to the toilet.

There is really no need to hold your urine.

Song Xuan put down the brush in his hand, rubbed his wrist, and went out to breathe some fresh air.

Even though he practiced martial arts and exercised regularly, the pads of his fingers inevitably became deformed due to years of holding a pen.

After Song Xuan finished peeing while holding his breath, he stood in the sun and raised his hand to look at the tips of his fingers.

This reminded him that after so many years of studying for the college entrance examination, the tips of his fingers had already become deformed.

"Shi Er Lang, did you pee on your hand?"

The chubby Lei Qi came over and joked.

"Hey, how did you know?"

"Hahaha."

Hearing Song Xuan's answer, the chubby Lei Qi burst into laughter.

Shi Erlang was still so indifferent to all kinds of food, and didn't care at all about his status as the third place in the exam.

So Lei Qi quickly pulled his friend over:
"Shi Erlang, this is my good friend Cheng Yi, who lives in Yiyang County. This is Song Xuan, Song Shi Erlang."

Song Xuan and Cheng Yi greeted each other.

Cheng Yi is still very young, only three years older than Song Xuan, and his son is quite famous.

He is just the second Cheng who stood in the snow outside Cheng's door.

Cheng Yun had six sons, but only the third, fourth and second Chengs, who were famous throughout the world, survived; the rest of his sons died young.

The Cheng family now has a good family background.

His ancestors were generals under Zhao Kuangyin, and his family shifted from military to civil. His grandfather was a teacher of Emperor Zhenzong.

It’s just that Cheng Yi was not good at the imperial examinations, and he ended up becoming an official through nepotism.

Cheng Yi looked at Song Xuan for a while. He was a little taller than him and looked quite handsome.

"Is Shi Erlang getting used to attending school?"

"It's the first day after all, and I've been in the room for so long, I'm a little dizzy."

Song Xuan was covered in sweat.

He was still leaning against the window.

It's summer, and there are so many people in the room. Even with no fan, it's as hot as a steamer.

Song Xuan still admired those classmates who could sit still.

His own underwear was soaked with sweat and he felt very uncomfortable.

Each of them has extremely strong concentration.

Song Xuan finally understood what it meant to study hard and toil hard.

It’s impossible for these people not to believe it!
Because that's the environment they are in.

Even when Song Xuan was a child, the school required students to light stoves in the classroom to keep warm in the winter, but in the summer there would be several electric fans whirring on the ceiling.

"Shi Er Lang, after school, I'll bring some friends to meet you. We'll go to Qing Lou and it'll be my treat."

"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Lei, but I have something to do back home, so let's make an appointment another day."

Song Xuan politely refused, and Lei Qi did not get angry. Instead, he pulled him aside and whispered:

"Please give me some face."

"My shop has to settle accounts tonight. You know how busy it is. Besides, I just started school and you dragged me to a banquet. What will the teacher think of me?"

Song Xuan spread this heat source:

"If Brother Lei really wants to invite me, wait until I finish the test. Otherwise, it will be all in vain."

"Good good."

Lei Qi immediately understood that Song Xuan would need two months to prepare for the exam, and the pressure must be quite great.

This is business.

So he quickly bowed and apologized, saying that he was being rude.

Song Xuan comforted Lei Qi, saying that it was just a meal, and he actually quite liked to eat for free, but he just had important things to do at the moment.

Lei Qi smiled happily after hearing these words.

When he communicated with a child prodigy like Song Twelve, he was not arrogant at all.

Lei Qi understood very well that Song Xuan's equal respect was not found in other "good students" in the academy.

Because most of them don’t like to play with “poor students”.

It's really infuriating to hear him say things like "Birds of a feather flock together."

After lunch, Song Xuan and Zhang Fangping went home.

On the way, I saw a monk receiving money from others, then he walked into Song Xuan's shop with a smile to buy lottery tickets.

Zhang Fangping, who saw this scene, couldn't help but curl his lips and said:
"These bald monks are really going too far these days. Not only do they lend money at high interest rates, they even rely on charity for their own expenses."

Song Xuan knew that the improvement in the status of these people was due to the flattery of Emperor Zhenzong's Heavenly Book Movement.

Of course, the ones who benefited the most were the Taoists, while the monks took the opportunity to make money.

The Daxiangguo Temple in Tokyo lent money out for profit, and many dignitaries sent their own money there to make a profit.

Anyway, does Song Dynasty have the crime of illegal fundraising?

Of course.

Song Xuan cursed the stinky monks as he pleased, but he would not refuse to do business with them.

People are giving you money, and you are still pushing it away?

No need.

It would be best if a monk could win the prize, so that it would be easier to manipulate public opinion.

"Brother Twelve, it's so hot in the classroom!"

Zhang Fangping really didn't have much of an appetite today; he was so hot that he was almost farting.

Song Xuan wanted to study in the classroom wearing only a vest and shorts, but he would be punished if he did that.

"Just bear with it."

Song Xuan asked Jiao Ming to help him pour some cold water into the bamboo tube and bring it back to him. He was going back upstairs to take a nap.

The weather became hotter in the afternoon.

Song Xuan only shared a small amount of the cold soup with his deskmate and the two people behind him, as it was not enough.

In order to prevent everyone from getting heatstroke, Wang Zhu specifically drove everyone to do it under the shade of a tree. Everyone could discuss things there, or discuss with him if they felt they didn't understand something.

The room still needs some heat, and someone will come to fan it soon.

The new teacher, Wang Zhu, has a strong personality and is not as conservative as other teachers.

Everyone sat down under the shade of the trees as if they had been pardoned. Everyone felt as if they had taken three baths and was very uncomfortable.

Wang Zhu wiped the sweat from his head and said:

"Since we have nothing to do anyway, Wang Yaochen, let's test your policy essays to make up for your regret of not taking part in the palace examination."

(End of this chapter)