Although Xu Huaiyuan's ecstasy was beyond Xu Yan's expectations, it was reasonable when he thought about it carefully.
Ultimately, the Ming Dynasty was an era where everything was inferior except for education. Although the Xu family was quite prestigious in the local area, it pales in comparison to those families of scholars and officials.
Although Xu Huaiyuan was wealthy, he hoped that Xu Yan would pursue the imperial examinations, achieving success and bringing honor to the family. Nowadays, the strictness of the imperial examination system was less pronounced than in the early Ming Dynasty, and descendants of merchants could still pursue the imperial examinations. Consequently, many families used commerce to support their careers, as having a family member serving in the imperial court was a significant benefit to the family.
Now that County Master Zhao had personally bestowed upon Xu Yan a courtesy name, he had effectively accepted him as his disciple. The master-disciple relationship was the most important bond in the officialdom, and with County Master Zhao's support, Xu Yan could at least secure the title of a scholar.
What is even more commendable is that Xu Yan figured this out himself. This series of actions not only made his future brighter, but also greatly enhanced the reputation of the Xu family.
This food donation is really worth it!
At this moment, the anger in Xu Huaiyuan's heart was swept away, replaced by full relief.
Seeing the scene of a loving father and a filial son, Xu Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Father, there is something I don't know whether I should tell you or not."
Xu Huaiyuan now found his son more and more pleasing to the eye. He said with a smile, "Let's talk. Is there anything we can't talk about between us?"
Xu Yan pondered for a moment and then said in a gentle voice, "Besides doing business with Hangzhou and Huzhou, does our Xu family have any other maritime business?"
Hearing this, Xu Huaiyuan was shocked: "Be careful what you say. The current emperor has issued a clear order prohibiting the sea, not even a single boat can go to sea. How dare I, your father, disobey the emperor's order and engage in such a life-threatening business? Don't say anything nonsense outside."
Xu Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry, father. I just asked this question. As long as our family has no connection with the maritime merchants, that's all that matters."
Xu Huaiyuan sighed, "No matter how much money you make, you still have to live to spend it. I'm not stupid, so why would I do something so risky?"
"Father is absolutely right."
Xu Yan offered a flattery at a very opportune moment.
"You!" Xu Huaiyuan patted Xu Yan's somewhat tender shoulders lovingly and said softly, "Go study hard."
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"Well, focus, focus again."
Xu Yan lay on the bed, enjoying himself very much, and directed his personal maid Tao Chun to give him a massage.
He had read some health books in his previous life and had some basic knowledge of Chinese medicine acupuncture points.
Having lived two lives as a human being, and being born into a wealthy merchant family, wouldn’t it be a waste of resources if I didn’t know how to enjoy life?
Besides, reading is boring. Even if you read articles written by saints for a long time, you will feel dizzy.
Only a proper combination of work and rest can stimulate the desire to continue studying.
"Master, is this okay?"
Taochun was only about twelve or thirteen years old, extremely thin and not yet fully grown. Such a young girl naturally didn't have enough strength in her hands, and after pressing for too long, her hands felt a little sore.
"Well, this is much better." Xu Yan said with great enjoyment.
After letting the maid press at this strength for half an hour, Xu Yan was very satisfied and told Taochun that she could leave.
I have rested and enjoyed myself, but it is time to read.
Xu Yan stood up swiftly, stretched his body, and then sat down in front of the desk.
It has to be said that Xu Yan's original foundation was really poor. Although he had been learning for a long time, he couldn't even recite the Four Books completely.
Fortunately, Xu Yan's soul today comes from the future, and he is, after all, a history professor. As the saying goes, literature and history are inseparable, Xu Yan is very knowledgeable about the Four Books and Five Classics. Although he cannot compare with those professional Chinese studies professors, he also has his own unique insights.
In his opinion, although the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty ostensibly tested the Four Books and Five Classics, they actually tested the ability to understand and analyze.
It is impossible to pass the exam just by memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics, let alone becoming a juren or jinshi, let alone a scholar.
Xu Yan had read many articles written by the top scholars in the Ming Dynasty. The logical thinking was very clear and could not be written by mediocre people who only studied by rote.
Having lived two lives, Xu Yan's advantage lies in his having read many excellent essays and having a strong ability to summarize. So what he needs to do now is not to scan the articles and questions, but to summarize and generalize.
Xu Yan opened the "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" on his desk and saw "The Great Learning" last time.
Let’s talk about this most classic passage: Those who wished to manifest the illustrious virtues throughout the world first governed their country; those who wished to govern their country first put their family in order; those who wished to put their family in order first cultivated themselves; those who wished to cultivate themselves first rectified their hearts; those who wished to rectify their hearts first made their intentions sincere; those who wished to make their intentions sincere first acquired knowledge; and the way to acquire knowledge is to investigate things.
In just a few words, the simplest truth is told: to understand virtue, one must first investigate things.
What is the study of things? Some say it is to explore the truth about things, while others say it is to abandon material desires. Although there is academic debate on this issue, Xu Yan only agrees with the former, that is, to explore the truth about things.
Why? Because Zhu Xi saw it this way and even commented on it.
In other words, the imperial examination nominally tested the Four Books, but in reality it tested the collected annotations on them. If one were to write an essay based on one's own insights, one would likely go off topic.
The simplest and most convenient way is to see how Zhu Xi views the words of the sages, and then solve the problem from this perspective.
Therefore, Xu Yan decided to review his lessons in the same way he studied in his previous life, that is, summarizing the key points and memorizing them in series.
This not only greatly improves learning efficiency but also allows for a thorough understanding of various knowledge points. Most importantly, during the process of summarizing, Xu Yan discovered that Zhu Xi's understanding of different parts of the Four Books could be combined. These combined points are likely to appear in exam questions.
After all, by the Jiajing period, exam questions based directly on the Four Books had largely been filled by previous generations. Most exam questions now involve a combination of texts. What is a combination? For example, the first sentence might be from Mencius, while the second sentence is from the Doctrine of the Mean. These seemingly unrelated questions are actually connected, in part, by Zhu Xi's insights.
Xu Yan's summarization and integration can well predict the direction of questions in the section-and-join questions, which is extremely effective from the perspective of test-taking.
This is certainly a bit opportunistic, but in order to pass the imperial examination, Xu Yan can only be more utilitarian.
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