Chapter 104 Visiting the Master's House
Many people from Xiuning County came to offer their congratulations, and Guo Fuzi's former classmates also came to visit him.
Although there is still a considerable gap between a Juren (举人) and a Jinshi (进士), in this place, those who can pass the Juren exam are already extremely rare.
The title of "Juren" alone is enough to qualify someone to serve as an official in Xiuning County. For example, Master Pan, the registrar who came to the academy before, was a Juren.
Although the position of registrar is a low-ranking official position in the bureaucracy, if you really want to be precise, it is still a ninth-rank official certified by the imperial court. In Xiuning County, that would be a respectable official.
Master Guo is not too old yet. After all, it is said that "a thirty-year-old is old for a scholar who has passed the imperial examination, and a fifty-year-old is young for a scholar who has passed the imperial examination." If he is still willing to continue taking the exam, it is not impossible for him to pass the imperial examination and be granted an official position.
Therefore, it's essential to cultivate good relationships at times like these, as it can provide valuable connections for the future.
Therefore, people who were not very familiar with each other before, or even rarely met, all came over with congratulatory gifts. If they couldn't find Master Guo, they would chat with Mrs. Guo, and the way they reminisced made it seem like they had been very close before.
In addition, many wealthy merchants from the county also brought gifts, openly or secretly offering to help Master Guo with the money he would need for his studies.
When Guo Baiwen arrived, Master Guo had just seen off two wealthy businessmen who had come to visit.
Just as he was about to enter, he saw Guo Baiwen arrive and hurriedly greeted him, "Yizhang! It's cold, come in quickly."
When they greeted him, Guo Bowen noticed what he was carrying. Guo Fuzi's ruddy face showed disapproval. "You're here, why bring so much stuff?"
Guo Baiwen had originally intended to come when there were fewer people, but he didn't expect that after Master Guo passed the imperial examination, there would never be a time when there were few people at home.
While inwardly thankful that he had brought quite a few things this time, he replied, "They're all seasonal items. I thought the Master's family might find them useful, so I brought them along the way."
When we go to Master Cao's house in a couple of days, I reckon there will be even more people.
The two refused each other for a while until Master Guo finally gave in to Guo Baiwen's insistence and accepted the things before sitting down in the study in the courtyard.
Just then, seeing that Mrs. Zhong was also bringing over tea and snacks, Guo Baiwen quickly stepped forward and took them, saying, "Mrs. Zhong, let me take them!"
Mrs. Zhong smiled and said, "Be careful, this tray is quite heavy. I cooked a pot of red bean soup with tangerine peel today, and it just cooled down a bit. It's perfect to eat now. You and your husband can each have a bowl later."
Upon hearing this, Guo Baiwen put down the tray he had just received, then stood up and bowed, saying, "Excuse me, Master's wife, I apologize for disturbing you."
Mrs. Zhong waved her hand at Guo Baiwen, "We're all family, no need to be so polite."
Then she walked over to the seat and said a few words to Master Guo before walking out.
Once only Master Guo and Guo Baiwen were left in the study, and after they sat down and chatted for a while, Master Guo asked about his recent study progress.
Although a small test had already been conducted before, and Guo Baiwen's writing had indeed improved compared to before, Master Guo still always had the habit of asking about the recent homework first.
He had just returned from the provincial examination not long ago and had taken many exams himself. Guo Baiwen was also able to obtain a lot of information about the exams from the teacher.
"Nowadays, the calligraphy practice books are Yan style from the Jiangzhou Post. Among the Four Books and Five Classics, students choose the Book of Rites as their primary text. They have read through the text and commentaries of the Book of Rites more than ten times, and their understanding of the terminology and allusions of rites can be considered to be thoroughly familiar."
Guo Baiwen thought for a moment and then added, "I've been reading the 'Collected Commentaries on the Book of Rites' recently, and some of the interpretations of political commentary are not quite accurate."
Master Guo, who had been nodding slightly as he listened to what he was saying, advised, "Interpreting current affairs requires more accumulation of knowledge; it can't be rushed. However, when the time comes for the exam, the examiner's preferences will also be very important."
At this point, Master Guo stroked his beard and said, “Your choice of the Book of Rites as your primary text is very prudent.”
Many test takers nowadays choose the Book of Poetry as their primary text. Although the Book of Poetry is less difficult, it is the most popular choice, making it truly difficult to stand out from the crowd.
As for the Book of Documents and the Book of Changes, although fewer people choose them, it is precisely because these two classics have high thresholds that those without a solid foundation are more likely to fail the exam due to a lack of understanding of their meanings.
"But Master Guo, my specialty is the Spring and Autumn Annals, so I don't think I can offer you any advice on other scriptures."
Unexpectedly, the classic text chosen by Master Cao was the Spring and Autumn Annals. Hearing this, Guo Baiwen was also a little curious, "Then what classic text did Master Cao choose?"
Master Guo stroked his beard and gave a somewhat enigmatic smile. "He chose the Book of Documents."
The Book of Documents contains many ancient political treatises, and its text is mostly archaic and obscure. Only someone with a solid foundation in classical Chinese like Master Cao would choose it as his primary text.
However, because not many people choose the Book of Documents, it is easier to stand out from the many exam papers.
This is probably why I didn't rank as well as Master Cao in this provincial examination.
Although Master Guo felt some envy, he did not feel jealous.
That's the way to learn: if you know it, you know it; if you don't, you don't.
He was familiar with historical events and skilled at analyzing principles. Compared to the ancient and obscure "Shangshu" (Book of Documents), the approach of using historical examples to prove the classics, such as the "Spring and Autumn Annals," was naturally more suitable for him.
Although he couldn't explain the text, Master Guo could point him in the right direction. He picked up his tea and took a sip. "If you're willing, after you've consulted Master Cao, I'll write you a letter of recommendation to the South City Study. Master Zhang there specializes in the Book of Rites."
Chengnan Bookstore?
Guo Baiwen had passed by that private school when he went to Tongfu Restaurant in the south of the city for dinner.
It was a small private school, and most of the students were children from the neighborhood in the south of the city. I heard that the entire school had only a dozen or so students.
It wasn't a large-scale operation, so after passing by, he just stood outside the door, looked around curiously, and then left.
But since Master Guo said so, it seems that Master Zhang must have some skill in teaching.
It would be better if someone could guide him, so Guo Baiwen quickly stood up and bowed, "This student is naturally willing to do so, but I am sorry to trouble you, Master, to go to such lengths to plan for me."
And so the matter was settled.
As Master Guo saw the person off, he didn't forget to continue giving advice: "Besides the lessons you just mentioned, you should also start practicing the questions about people's livelihood. The exam will be held soon. Although the format is fixed, you still need to practice how to solve the questions, how to rhyme, how to use allusions and quotes."
Today, Master Guo not only helped him find a teacher who could teach this classic text, but also gave him a lot of advice that he could use in the next exam.
It's impossible not to be grateful.
Guo Baiwen bowed deeply several times at the door, thinking to himself that he must bring more gifts next time he visited Master Guo's house, before leaving with Master Guo watching him go.
By the time we received confirmation from Chengnan Bookstore, it was almost the Little New Year.
Fortunately, Chengnan Bookstore's holidays start later than Yangzheng Academy's each year, so Guo Baiwen calculated that he could still attend classes at Chengnan Bookstore for another half month.
There weren't many students at Chengnan Bookstore; most of them were neighbors, and the atmosphere among classmates was always quite good.
With this in mind, Guo Baiwen was completely dumbfounded after attending Master Zhang's first lesson.
Nothing more.
Isn't this assigning way too much homework?
If the lessons at Yangzheng Academy allowed for time to practice calligraphy and memorize texts even after finishing the written work, then the lessons at Chengnan Study were simply a matter of moving the time previously spent practicing calligraphy and memorizing texts to the study, and still not enough.
As a result, Guo Baiwen had to go to bed half an hour later every day.
However, after persisting for a period of time, Guo Baiwen found that although the content and format of the assignments had increased, many problems that he had not thought about before were indeed solved after completing these assignments.
The lessons assigned by Master Zhang were truly tailored to individual students.
Since that's the case, what's there to complain about having too much homework? Guo Baiwen silently took out his rechargeable LED night light and secretly stuffed it into the lampshade that was originally lit by a candle.
Yes, it's definitely much brighter now.
I can study for another half hour today!
come on!
Life went on like this, day after day.
On this day, just after the clapper had struck three times at dawn, bluish-white smoke began to rise from the Guo family's chimney.
I tiptoed and opened the wooden window halfway, and the morning breeze, along with the cool air, carried out the aroma of rice bubbling in the kitchen.
Grandma Guo was busy at the stove when she could faintly hear someone knocking on the door.
"Wenzai, go out and see who's here."
Guo Baiwen got up early and was studying in the kitchen, while also helping to watch the fire in the stove. Hearing this, he closed his book and said, "Okay, I'll go right away!"
Who could be coming so early?
It was a bit cold today. As soon as he stepped out of the kitchen, he shivered involuntarily as he left the warm stove. He instinctively tucked his hands into his sleeves and stamped his feet on the ground before jogging towards the door.
As he ran, he kept shouting to the people outside the door, "Coming! Coming!"
When the door opened, he was dumbfounded to see who was standing outside. "Uncle Shitou? Auntie? Why are you here so early? Did something happen?"
Who else could be standing outside the door but Uncle Shi and his wife from Guojia Village?
Although Guojia Village is not far from the county seat, it has been freezing cold lately. If they can get to their doorstep at this time, they must have left home when it was still dark in the morning.
Something terrible has happened?
Have more large spotted swarms arrived in the village?
In an instant, all sorts of thoughts flashed through Guo Baiwen's mind.
Seeing that he was about to go astray, Uncle Stone quickly interrupted his daydreaming, chuckling a few times somewhat embarrassedly.
"My dear nephew, let your uncle have something to say first—"
The aunt standing to the side also had a smiling face. Only then did Guo Baiwen notice that the two of them were wearing good clothes without patches that they usually couldn't bear to wear.
The cart following behind was piled with many things, but it was covered with a tarpaulin to keep out the snow, so the contents were not clearly visible.
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