Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 80 Government Examination
Zhao Xiangyu probably never imagined that the five hundred taels of silver notes she and Zhou Qingzhao brought to Zhao Yifu that day would become the key to treating her father's injuries.

The 'Cuizhen Dragon Bone Pill' does not require precious medicinal materials to be refined. In fact, ordinary auxiliary materials can also be effective.

But the meaning of "Cuizhen" actually means that the better the materials used, the better the efficacy of the medicine.

For this, Zhao Yifu really spent money like water.

However, he felt that he and Zhao Guhe were a family, so he didn't dwell too much on this matter.

As the time for the imperial examination approached, he really had to face it.

In fact, although this imperial examination was only a qualifying test before the provincial examination, too much hope was placed on him.

Anyway, when he arrived outside the examination room, he actually felt a rare sense of nervousness.

Fortunately, his good friend Fan Jin and senior brother Song Jie accompanied him to take the exam.

The three of them smiled at each other outside the examination room, then walked in quietly together.

The examination room is made up of a series of narrow compartments, each of which is only three square meters. I have to eat, drink, defecate and urinate in them for three days, which is really uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Zhao Yifu has now reached a high level of cultivation and took the fasting pill two days in advance.

In this examination room, he only needs to drink some water and doesn't have to worry about any personal problems at all.

The exam started.

After Zhao Yifu got the test paper and saw the titles of the first two questions, he picked up his pen and started writing.

The first two questions tested the degree of mastery of the Four Books and Five Classics, which in the previous life would be questions like "cloze test" or "copying the text".

These two questions were easy points for Zhao Yifu. Although he couldn't concentrate on reading, his cultivation level was constantly improving. The main reason was that his enhanced memory after the improvement of his soul had enabled him to have the ability to remember almost everything he saw.

So when he said he was tired of reviewing his lessons, he was actually just tired of constantly trying to understand and appreciate more content from the limited text.

Well, I'm not good at 'reading comprehension'.

After all, in most cases, the people who write books don’t have that many ideas themselves, but reading comprehension is very tricky, as it requires you to understand some truths that even the author doesn’t know.

Then he cheated.

Well, it can’t be considered cheating, but it was done in one stroke using the ink-splashing technique.

After finishing, he began to close his eyes and rest...or he began to quietly try his hand at cultivation.

He planned to connect the three yin and yang meridians that had been opened in his body according to the principles in the "Pure Yang Seeking the Tao Sutra".

The most important thing is that it can achieve "nourishing yang and generating yin", or it can make the "frosty steps on the sky" reach a higher level.

He had been very apprehensive about this before, because he didn't know what the consequences would be if he tried this, and whether it would harm his physical vitality.

But now with the "Pure Yang Seeking the Tao Sutra", everything has become simple.

This fundamental method opened up a higher perspective for him. It was not simply a way of practicing by following a map, but a method that made practice more suitable for him.

Thus the day passed, and it was night.

Zhao Yifu's expression moved and he opened his eyes.

But at night, he saw a black cat sitting on the roof of the provincial government wall with its tail cocked, looking at him tenderly.

Zhao Yifu smiled knowingly. This was because Yiyi couldn't stand the loneliness at home and came to see him.

Speaking of which, during the imperial examination, the candidates were isolated and could not see their families, but the invigilators obviously did not think of stopping the cat...

The first day of the exam passed like this, and Zhao Yifu didn't change his sitting posture at all.

The next day we will take the "essay" test, which requires us to write a poem and an essay according to the given topics.

This exam was purely a test of literary talent. Zhao Yifu wanted to copy a book, but after looking at the topic, he came up with an essay on his own and also wrote a poem that he thought was acceptable.

It's not that he wants to hide his shortcomings, he's just being pretentious.

If it's plagiarism, then what's copied is someone else's wisdom, so how can it be considered one's own ability? Even if he doesn't do well in this area, it's because he's truly incompetent, not just trying to hide his shortcomings.

What's more, he is not really bad. After all, he has literary talent and accumulation. Even if he is not cut out for this, he can still produce something passable.

He didn't even compete for the first place in the provincial examination.

This time he spent a little more time. He spent a whole morning writing one poem, but he only took a quarter of an hour to complete the fu.

After all, they are the relatives of the two Wenchang Emperors, so they should have some literary talent, right?

He was very proud of himself and started practicing again.

Another night passed like this.

The third day is policy discussion.

This is the key to the imperial examination, and actually determines the bias of admission in this exam.

When Zhao Yifu saw the question, he was surprised. The question was: Emperor Wu of Jin conquered Wu by making a decisive decision, while Fu Jian was defeated by making a decisive decision when he attacked Jin. The events were the same, but the achievements were different. Why?

If he didn't know the meaning behind this exam, he probably wouldn't have thought too much about it. But looking at the test questions, he always felt that the person who set the questions was expressing something implicitly.

If you think about it carefully, is it a subtle allusion to a certain "arbitrariness" of His Majesty today?

Zhao Yifu thought about it and soon discovered the game between the civil service group and the emperor's will.

He hesitated, not because it was difficult to solve the problem, but because he didn't know from which angle to solve it.

But he was such a smart guy that he immediately realized that he didn't need to take any side at all, because no matter who set the questions, the examiner in Mozhou would definitely be his teacher Zhou!

So what are Teacher Zhou’s preferences?

Teacher Zhou’s favorite is articles that are well-balanced!
What else is there to say? Just come steadily.

With an idea in mind, he wrote the article very solidly.

After finishing writing quickly again, Zhao Yifu looked at the time he still had, so he started practicing again.

It may be hard to believe, but this exam actually made his cultivation progress by leaps and bounds, and he has already built a complete Qi circulation path in his body.

He felt that he was worthy of being a disciple of the Pure Yang lineage, and the effect of his training in the imperial examination seemed to be far better than usual.

After the exam, he handed in his paper as usual like other candidates, and then walked out as usual.

At the door, he met Song Jie who was sighing, and then he met Fan Jin who was frowning.

"Brothers Zitai and Zichang, did you not do well in the exam?"

Song Jie looked uncomfortable, while Fan Jin shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about this here..."

Zhao Yifu suddenly realized, "Let's go to my place. It's quiet over there and we can chat."

He extended the invitation.

Fan Jin and Song Jie both accepted the invitation and went to Zhao Yifu's mansion together.

Wu Zhong was very happy to see Zhao Yifu coming back with his two scholar friends. They were all educated people.

He busied himself preparing refreshments for the young master's literary friends before leaving.

In fact, despite his busyness, Song Jie and Fan Jin both felt awkward.

After all, these two were poor scholars, and had never seen such a grand occasion. Zhao Yifu didn't care. He took a sip of his tea and said first, "The key to this exam is the policy essay. I wonder how you two brothers will solve it?"

Fan Jin stroked his beard and frowned. Seeing Song Jie's uncertain look, he said, "My two brothers are not strangers. I am just throwing out some ideas to stimulate discussion."

"My approach to this question is this: even if there is a powerful ruler, the country's politics cannot fall into the hands of a dictator..."

Fan Jin began to talk about his articles, and Zhao Yifu and Song Jie nodded repeatedly as they listened.

Brother Fan Jin is actually very talented, and his thinking is fully reflected this time, that is, the government should be based on stability and should not take risks easily under the influence of personal will.

There is nothing wrong with this idea, and it does not even mean to offend the emperor. The idea he expressed is that all government orders should be based on stability.

After he finished speaking, Song Jie could not help but praise him, "As expected of you, Brother Zichang, whom Ling Junxin has praised so much. This essay is truly sophisticated and masterful."

"Unlike me, who only analyzes from the perspective of Jin Wu's wisdom and Fu Jian's stupidity..."

He was a little embarrassed to talk about his own article because he felt that his policy paper was too simple compared with Fan Jin's.

"Jun Xin, how did you write it?"

Zhao Yifu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Actually, my perspective is the same as Brother Zitai's, but I wrote a little more..."

He did not keep the audience in suspense and recited his article silently.

At first, Song Jie was fine, and it sounded like he was indeed explaining the pros and cons of both sides.

But then he found something wrong, because Zhao Yifu's article not only talked about how Emperor Wu of Jin was, but also talked about how the Western Jin Dynasty was at that time, and how the State of Wu was at that time... Putting all the information together, it makes people feel that the victory of Emperor Wu of Jin and the defeat of the King of Wu are justified.

It also talks about how wise Fu Jian was in his early years, how he became increasingly arrogant, as well as the domestic conditions and public opinion of both sides during the Battle of Feishui... This part makes people feel that Fu Jian's army had actually been in crisis for a long time, and his defeat seemed to have some signs.

"Great article, really great article!"

After reading it, Fan Jin clapped his hands in admiration: "This is a thorough analysis of the reasons for Jin's victory and Fu Jian's defeat. Anyone who reads this article can take it as a lesson."

Song Jie was confused... He thought what Zhao Yifu wrote was similar to what he wrote.

Well, the beginning and conclusion are indeed similar, but the things in the middle...

He covered his face with his sleeves and suddenly found it difficult to raise his head.

Zhao Yifu smiled but said nothing. Could he say that he had been forced to learn many classic battle examples from his teacher Zhou, and that he had made detailed analysis to facilitate his junior sister's learning?

He was indeed discussing the matter at hand. The question was about these two wars, so he really analyzed these two wars without involving the current government affairs at all.

This is his 'stable'.

Although his perspective on things is the same as Song Jie's, the depth is completely different, which allows people to see his pragmatism and meticulousness.

It’s no wonder that Song Jie covered his face with his sleeves after hearing this. After all, when the two articles were put together, his article seemed empty.

Seeing this, Zhao Yifu smiled modestly and said, "Brother Zitai, please don't be like this. I am actually taking advantage of this."

Song Jie asked in surprise: "How do you do it?"

Zhao Yifu said, "I've been studying at Teacher Zhou's house these past few days. I know that Teacher Zhou has been studying the art of war lately, so I've been studying some ancient and modern battle examples."

"Who knew this exam would reference ancient battle examples? I was already prepared."

Song Jie shook his head and said, "You can't really say this is cheating. It's just the result of daily accumulation."

"Alas, I have neglected my studies for many years. I am afraid I will fail the exam this time."

However, he did not seem too disappointed, perhaps because the temporary title of scholar was enough for him to supplement his family income.

This is also a matter of contentment.

The three of them chatted for a while and then went their separate ways, waiting for the results to be announced in five days.

After the three of them left, a burly man walked out from the inner hall. He sat down in front of Zhao Yifu with a weary look on his face and asked, "Jun Xin, are you confident in this exam?"

Even though this person is weak, his face and temperament are still upright and dignified, and he can be said to be a hero.

Zhao Yifu bowed and said, "Uncle, why are you here? The weather is getting colder now. What if you catch a cold..."

Zhao Guhe said nonchalantly, "I've been taking your medicine for the past few days and I've gotten much better. Staying out of the door all day without getting any wind or exposure is like a woman in confinement after childbirth."

"Besides, I've been taking that 'Treasure Dragon Bone Pill' lately, and my shoulders are just itchy and sore, and I can't sleep. I might as well walk around and get some fresh air."

Zhao Yifu was helpless after hearing this, knowing that he could not control this stubborn second uncle.

He said, "Okay, just for a little while."

Zhao Guhe nodded in satisfaction and said, "Jun Xin, tell me quickly, are you confident in this exam?"

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "This time the imperial examination is a sure thing. The only thing to worry about is whether the provincial examination next spring will go smoothly."

Zhao Guhe nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said with great joy, "Just this is already incredible. If I can really pass the imperial examination, my Zhao family will never be the same again!"

Zhao Yifu smiled but said nothing.

The value of passing the imperial examination in this era is that Zhao Yifu can directly become the real head of the Zhao family.

If his descendants could continue to succeed in the imperial examinations, then his branch would become the main line, while the branch that inherited the martial arts would only become a branch that protected the main line with force.

Instead, he asked, "Second Uncle, what did I tell you about earlier, about joining the army and fighting bandits under my teacher Zhou?"

Zhao Guhe nodded and said, "Since Xiangyu is also there, and she has helped me before... I am a grateful person, how could I refuse?"

"But I'm afraid I'll be looked down upon if I go alone now, so I'll just wait for Big Brother to make the decision."

Zhao Yifu thought about it and it made sense. The Zhao family was ready to be the "angel investor" in this round.

He said, "Okay, it's up to Second Uncle to decide. Let me give Second Uncle a massage."

After saying that, he was about to start. After all, his massage skills were first-class and he could help Zhao Guhe recover.

However, Zhao Guhe quickly raised his hand to block it and said, "Forget it. Every time you gave me a massage before, your raccoon slaves looked at me like an enemy... It seems that my uncle is not worthy of your skills."

Zhao Yifu was speechless after hearing this. How could his cats be so fierce?

Helpless, he could only give up.

……

The results will be announced in five days.

Zhao Yifu looked at his ranking and found that he was ranked second.

The one ranked first was his eldest brother Fan Jin.

He was quite surprised. He didn't expect that his article, which didn't please both sides, would be ranked so high.

As for Fan Jin winning the first place in the case, he felt it was natural.

Because Fan Jin's ideas were very consistent with the interests of the scholar-official bureaucracy at that time, he must have received some favoritism.

As for Song Jie?
Sorry, he barely made it last time, and this time the competition was more intense so he just missed out.

Next, it’s time to prepare for the provincial examination.

(End of this chapter)