Chapter 564 Title (Additional chapter 7 for the reward from the book friends who contributed to the crowdfunding leader)
Bai Shanbao was a little nervous until he sat down. After all, it was his first time taking such an exam.
But after the test paper was handed out and he looked at the questions, his heart gradually calmed down.
It’s not that I feel confident, but rather that I have a sense that everything has been settled.
Anyway, I've already sat down, seen the questions, and can't go out to look up books, so there's no point in being nervous at this point.
Bai Shanbao calmed down and read all the questions carefully first. Then he poured water to grind the ink, thinking while grinding.
By the time he had ground the ink, he had an idea in mind, and then he started to write.
The teacher said that the paper must be neat. He took a look and thought that although the questions were difficult, one day should be enough.
He planned to spend all the time doing exercises in the morning, and then check and copy them after having lunch and taking a short rest.
Fortunately, Mr. Zhuang always punished them by making them copy books. He copied very quickly and accurately. Otherwise, with so many questions, he really wouldn't dare to make a draft. He would probably have to write slowly and try to pass it in one go.
If there are any typos, they will be corrected in the volume.
While Bai Shanbao was fighting hard inside, the four people outside were listening to various people bragging about how great their young masters/children were.
There's no way. It's so boring outside. I can only listen to people talking and brag to them.
Manbao listened for a while, asked a few more questions, and then regained her confidence. She whispered to Daji: "Shanbao is better than them."
Daji glanced at those families and said nothing.
There are so many people taking the provincial school examination, it is possible that the ones you happen to ask are from the worst ones.
Besides, shouldn’t talented people be low-key?
It's obvious that he's not that great by bragging about himself so loudly.
For example, they only think that the young master is great in their hearts and would never brag about it in public.
Time passed little by little, the sun began to set, and the bell of the school supervisor began to ring. Those who were originally drowsy suddenly became energetic and ran to the school supervisor's door to wait.
Bai Erlang rushed to the front at a rapid speed, and Daji and others immediately caught up, staring at the gate with sharp eyes.
The door of the academic hall slowly opened under everyone's gaze, and the candidates standing inside immediately walked out.
Some had expressionless faces, some were dejected, and some were smiling...
Bai Shanbao ran towards them with his exam basket, shouting, "Go home quickly, go home quickly, I need to wash my hands."
Everyone: ...
Man Baodu asked in horror, "There's no toilet in the school?"
Bai Shanbao said in a daze, "I went there once and I don't want to go anymore. I'll go home quickly."
Daji then took the examination basket and Zhou Silang drove the carriage over.
After getting on the carriage, Manbao asked, "How did you do on the exam?"
"It's okay," Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and said, "It was quite difficult, but I answered all the questions and wrote them down quite well."
Bai Shanbao said with lingering fear, "Especially the last two questions. I used a whole sheet of paper for each one because I had to write so much, so I didn't do any drafts for those two questions. Luckily, I checked them once and basically corrected all the typos. There were only two of them."
Manbao asked, "Were you writing too slowly earlier?"
"It's a bit difficult," Bai Shanbao sighed. "I originally thought I could finish those questions in an hour, and then use the remaining hour to work on the two big questions. It turned out that it didn't work at all. Fortunately, I didn't rest after lunch and went straight to copying the first two questions. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have time to check the two big questions later."
"What's the topic?"
Before Bai Shanbao could answer, they returned home. He jumped out of the carriage and rushed into the house, shouting, "I'll tell you later."
When Bai Shanbao washed his hands and returned to the study, Mr. Zhuang was also sitting in the study.
He picked up a pen and wrote down the titles of the two big questions on the paper.
Although this was Bai Shanbao's first time taking such an exam, it had been a while since the exam ended, and he had already figured it out.
The focus of this exam is probably the two big questions at the end.
He said, "Sir, the next two questions are: one is from the word 'shengmin' in the Book of Songs, and the other is about how to resettle refugees."
Mr. Zhuang was surprised. "So difficult?"
Bai Shanbao also nodded. "Yes, it's very difficult. The first few questions were not easy either. As soon as the papers were handed out, I heard people around me say that this is twice as difficult as the previous provincial school exams."
Mr. Zhuang was silent for a moment and then asked, "Do you still remember your answer?"
"I can't say I remember everything, but I know the general idea."
Mr. Zhuang nodded and said, "Then write it down and I'll revise it."
Bai Shanbao: ...That will take several hours, right?
Mr. Zhuang also remembered that he had just come out of the examination room and said, "Forget it. Simply tell me how you answered the questions, especially the last two questions. Did you get them right?"
"That's natural," Bai Shanbao said confidently. "I've read the Book of Songs thoroughly. Although 'Shengmin' is difficult, I memorized it and understood it. It seems to describe Hou Ji's life, but it's actually about our ancestors and all the people, not just Hou Ji."
Mr. Zhuang nodded with satisfaction, "It seems that you listened to my lecture. Shengmin was talking about sacrifice."
Coincidentally, Bai Erlang had just finished studying the Book of Songs. Because "Sheng Min" was difficult and belonged to the last few chapters of the Book of Songs, he remembered it quite clearly.
He was stunned and couldn't help but whisper to Manbao, "Isn't Shengmin about Houji's life? Why does it sound like it's not about Houji's life?"
Man Bao whispered, "The Zhou people wrote this article to honor their ancestors. Hou Ji was born to Jiang Yuan, and the achievements of civil and military affairs originated from Hou Ji. Therefore, he can match the heaven, so he wrote about sacrifices."
Bai Erlang was confused.
Seeing that Bai Shan understood the essence of the article, Mr. Zhuang stopped asking about the details and asked, "How did you answer the last question?"
Bai Shanbao paused and said, "Sir, during the Qingming Festival, we saw a few beggars and realized that Yizhou had not properly resettled its refugees. However, County Magistrate Yang did a great job in Luojiang County. Why don't they learn from him?"
Mr. Zhuang is not like the two children. Although he and Yang Heshu also interact with each other, they do not speak to each other so directly.
Yang Heshu would not explain this proactive policy to him in detail.
But Mr. Zhuang had eyes to see and ears to hear, and he knew how Yang Heshu resettled the refugees in Luojiang County.
He paused and then asked, "Are you answering according to what County Magistrate Yang did?"
Bai Shanbao was confused and shook his head, saying, "Not entirely, because even I myself don't know whether County Magistrate Yang's measures can be implemented in Yizhou or other places."
He looked at Manbao and said, "Manbao and I have discussed this in detail. We feel that each place is different and we can't generalize. However, there are commonalities among refugees, so there should be a fixed standard or method. Otherwise, as is happening now, one county is fully committed to resettlement while another county ignores it. This is too unfair to the people."
good evening
(End of this chapter)
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