After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

When Ning Nan heard it for the first time, he didn't understand it and thought he had misheard it, so he frowned.

When the fat man asked a second time, his face turned green, his lips twitched, and he looked at the fat man with a rather speechless expression.

But just by looking at the look in the fat man's small eyes, you could tell that he really didn't understand.

"Have you heard of any storybooks? The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties? Or The Prequel to The Story of the Tang Dynasty?" Ning Nan asked.

The fat man shook his head.

Ning Nan thought for a moment, then asked, "Have you ever seen a play? Like 'The Beating of the Golden Branch' or 'The Drunken Concubine'?"

Upon hearing "The Drunken Concubine," the fat man's small eyes widened immediately. "I've seen it, I've seen it in several theaters... It was brought from the north a few years ago... The female lead's figure..." The fat man's eyebrows immediately danced.

Ning Nan immediately pressed his hand down to stop him from speaking, and nodded, saying, "Yes, the Tang Emperor in the story is an emperor from the Tang Dynasty..."

The fat man's eyes lit up immediately... Oh... Wow... Yang Guifei! The teacher's description is so mysterious...

Ning Nan turned her head away.

"During the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, various non-Han military governors seized territory and declared themselves kings, leading beasts to devour people, causing widespread suffering among the people."

The old man in front continued speaking leisurely.

"Later, thanks to Emperor Taizu of Zhao, who used his military stick to punish all four hundred prefectures and promoted the imperial examination system, the Han dynasty finally regained stability... It's just a pity that by then, our Han dynasty had already lost the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun..."

When Old Huang got to this point, Ning Nan noticed that many of his classmates, including Fatty Chu, finally straightened their backs and their eyes lit up. It seemed that they had finally become interested and hoped that their teacher would talk about how Emperor Taizu of Zhao conquered all four hundred prefectures.

But Old Huang skipped this part and went on to talk about the usefulness of the imperial examinations... Everyone slumped their shoulders in obvious disappointment, their interest waning.

Old Huang walked a few steps ahead with his hands behind his back and said that after the Zhao Dynasty introduced the imperial examination system, there were no more rebellions by military generals or regional governors... This was the great achievement of the imperial examination system.

But in the end, although the internal affairs were stable, the Northern Zhao was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Zhao was destroyed by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which eventually led to the Yamen Incident... Old Huang sighed.

The fat man then leaned closer, frowning, and said, "Brother Bai Xuan, isn't Yuan behind Zhao? And isn't Yuan the founding emperor of our Great Liang?"

Ning Nan chuckled softly and praised, "Brother Chu is truly insightful and knowledgeable."

The fat man immediately said smugly, "To be honest, Brother Bai Xuan, I have seen the play 'Battle of Chuzhou' and read 'The Biographies of Heroes'."

Impressive… Ning Nan nodded. The play “Battle of Chuzhou” tells the story of Xu Da fighting the Yuan general Tuotuo in Chuzhou, while “The Legend of Heroes” tells the stories of the generals under Emperor Taizu, such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Mu Ying… The fat guy is not bad; at least he knows about the current dynasty. I thought he was really illiterate.

Boom, boom, boom.

Old Huang tapped the table a few times. His voice was melodious and leisurely, and finally he got to the topic of the Former Liang Dynasty and the Eight-Legged Essay.

He said calmly that, after more than a thousand years of summarizing by their predecessors, the sages of the Former Liang Dynasty discovered that the more widely the way of the sages was practiced, the more closely the thoughts, words, and actions of us scholars aligned with the sages, and the more well-governed the world would be.

Old Huang said slowly, "Gentlemen, this is why, since the beginning of our dynasty, the imperial examinations have only tested the eight-legged essay."

What is the "eight-legged essay" (八股文)?

He paused for a moment, then slammed his hand on the table and continued, "The so-called eight-legged essay is meant to be a discourse for the sages."

The old man paced back and forth.

He slowly raised his voice and said, "Remember this, everyone: you are speaking for the sages, not for yourselves. If your writings do not conform to the eight-legged essay format, rhyme, or tone, or even the rules of diction, or if you forget to avoid taboos... then your eight-legged essays are utterly worthless!"

"All you need to know is the Way of the Sage. You don't need to know agriculture, commerce, carpentry, masonry, or bricklaying. You don't need to know history, divination, or current affairs... You only need to know the Great Way of the Sage!" The old man's voice grew more and more urgent, before finally settling down for a pause.

"As for... what is the Path of the Sage?"

After waiting a while, he scanned the eyes of the audience below the stage, and finally said in a disdainful tone:

"The so-called Great Way of the Sage... is the Four Books and Five Classics, plus Zhu Xi's annotations... Yes, you heard me right, it's these things. These things are the Great Way of the Sage. Not a single word can be missing or added... If you feel you can't memorize it, you can leave now... I don't want to accept tuition fees from such people."

The old man's tone was indifferent, but everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and many people in the classroom swallowed hard... Chu the Fatty next to Ning Nan also swallowed hard.

"Don't blame me for not reminding you."

Old Huang, with his hands behind his back, scanned the crowd.

"If you are inspired to write poetry, you can use it to criticize current affairs..."

"Then it's not speaking for the sages, but harboring resentment, bringing disaster to the country and the people, making Zhang Yuan a living person and Huang Chao a reborn, bringing disaster to the country and the people... He should be stripped of his official rank." Old Huang tilted his head back, his final tone calm and resolute.

During lunchtime.

Even Fatty Chu could sense Old Man Huang's resentment and secretly said to Ning Nan, "If this were in the Northern Dynasty, and our teacher said something like 'the Great Way of the Sage is just this much'... I'm afraid the Tartar emperor would chop him up and feed him to the dogs, then chop the dogs up and feed them to the dogs again."

The imperial examinations in the Northern Dynasties also used the eight-legged essay style, and it was even more rigid than the eight-legged essay style in the Southern Dynasties... Ning Nan smiled immediately.

Old Huang's words were indeed unorthodox, but they also benefited him greatly.

Writing in the eight-legged essay style is simply writing in the eight-legged essay style. It is about praising the sages and turning oneself into a mouthpiece for the sages' words, rather than criticizing current affairs and expounding one's own views... He spent a long time before he fully understood this point from Han Laoguai.

The purpose of doing this is that only when you become a mouthpiece of the sage, and think and act like the sage, will you be content with poverty, loyal to the emperor, and refrain from rebellion.

Even if you fail the exam, you won't rebel like Zhang Jiao or Huang Chao... In this way, there will be no rebels in the world, and everyone will peacefully farm and pay taxes. Even if they become starving, they will starve peacefully, and the world will naturally be well-governed.

Hmm...that's a great idea...Ning Nan slowly put a mouthful of rice into her mouth.

The rice was hard, the dishes were mediocre, and it was quite unpalatable... but he still chewed it carefully and swallowed it properly.

After confirming that he could indeed swallow it, he breathed a sigh of relief... and smiled silently.

In the afternoon, Old Huang talked about the techniques for breaking down essay questions in the eight-legged essay style.

Towards the end of the day, a few more problems were assigned for them to solve, and then the day's lessons were over.

With homework in hand, school was over... Ningnan welcomed this experience after a long time.

But now it's not my mom waiting at home, it's my wife... which is a completely new experience.

Ning Er left early after school.

But the fat man pulled over four somewhat shy young scholars, introduced them to him one by one, and finally said with a smile, "Brother Bai Xuan, tonight I'll treat you to a few drinks!"

Worried that he would refuse, the fat man ran over a few steps, lowered his voice, and said that these people were all introduced by Brother Chengbo, and they were very likely to pass the imperial examination or even the highest level this year! Moreover, they had arrived a few days earlier than us, so we could take this opportunity to ask them for advice.

Ning Nan's eyes lit up immediately... This overly friendly fat guy is quite useful!

But the four people opposite them were in a dilemma. All four were wearing faded clothes with several patches on them, and their tuition fees for Taiping Private School were all sponsored by their hometown association.

This classmate, Chu Feixiong, must come from a wealthy family. If I were to go drinking with him, I would inevitably be short of money and have to rely on him to pay for it, which would not be good.

Seeing the four men's predicament, Ning Nan glanced at them and roughly guessed what was going on. They were probably afraid that the fat man would choose an expensive place and then make them split the cost, putting them in a difficult position. So he smiled and said, "I have some knowledge of Yi Ya's art. How about we borrow the kitchen of the private school? I'll cook a few dishes, and we'll buy a jar of light wine and have a drink or two at the school."

Cooking for yourself doesn't cost much, so when everyone eats together, there's no fear of someone suddenly suggesting splitting the bill... After all, I've been through my own time, so I understand other people's difficulties.

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then nodded repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Brother Ning!"...Their eyes were filled with gentleness and gratitude...They knew that he was a famous scholar from both the North and South, and they were quite eager to make his acquaintance.

But before they could even set off, they heard Zhibao's irritable voice behind them: "No, no, the school only provides lunch. The cooks have all left, and I just finished cleaning. No, no, I won't lend it to anyone." He leaned on his broom and started shooing them away.

Everyone immediately looked embarrassed.

Fatty Chu said, "In that case, why don't we go to my house? My kitchen is big, and I have plenty of cooks..."

Everyone immediately lowered their heads and stopped talking... The Chu family was a wealthy family in the capital. They were wearing patched clothes and staying in their respective hometown associations. If they went to such a wealthy family, they would probably be looked down upon.

At this moment, Zhao Jing, the scholar with the fewest patches among the four, stepped forward, cupped his fists towards Ning Nan, and asked, "I wonder if Brother Ning's guild has a kitchen available?" Zhao Jing's eyes were burning with interest.

This talented scholar from both the north and south possessed great abilities, yet his attire was unlike that of a wealthy household; he had the air of Yan Hui.

He must be a very important guest in his fellow townsman's guild hall.

The other three people's eyes lit up immediately, and they looked at Ning Nan.

Guild hall? Ning Nan frowned. In Nanjing, do people call a residence a guild hall?

"Yes." Ning Nan nodded... Of course there is a kitchen at home. "Yesterday, I even cooked a few dishes myself."

Ning Caizi actually cooked himself! He truly embodies the virtues of an ancient gentleman who lives a simple life... Zhao Jing and the others were delighted and immediately said, "Then how about we all gather at Brother Ning's guild hall? We'll split the cost of the food and wine, and we'll be troubling Brother Ning to cook for us."

The group nodded repeatedly, looking at Ning Nan with expectant eyes.

"Uh..." Ning Nan was taken aback. Go to my house? After a few seconds, he smiled and said, "Okay." Hmm... that works too.