Chapter 22: Guidance
"The word count shouldn't be too few, nor too many. Six hundred to seven hundred words is ideal."
"Prosody and rhythm are particularly important. You need to pay attention to this. I can see that the text has the right point, but the rhythm is a bit confusing. Also, when you were studying before, your poetry wasn't very good either. You need to practice more."
"Also, the words here are too blunt. Although beautiful and romantic articles are not allowed, the imperial examination is still the imperial examination. Even if the whole article does not quote from classics and is brilliant, it should at least not be so plain and simple."
"When you leave later, take those books from my room and read them more. It would be best if you could memorize them thoroughly."
"Although the imperial examinations officially only test the Four Books and Five Classics, it's good to read as many books as you can."
"It's remarkable that after only six months, you've already mastered the Four Books and Five Classics. This is evident from your writing. Just based on this alone, you're much better than Zhu'er."
"But you must never become complacent. This is just the minimum requirement. Even if you can memorize the book, don't put it down. Read it every day, look at it every day, and memorize it every day. You have to make reading as proficient as eating and sleeping."
"One thing is particularly important: you must not blaspheme saints in your writing. Remember this very carefully..."
At the end, Mr. Wen specifically pointed out this point.
This surprised Su Fengzhang, because he knew the rules. Although he had no good feelings towards the saint, nor did he admire him, and did not have much respect for him in his heart, there was no blasphemous words in the text.
Perhaps his surprise was too obvious. Mr. Wen glanced at him, stroked his long beard, and said, "Although I have only been a juren my entire life, I have taught for many years and can still see some things."
Su Fengzhang did not dare to underestimate it and quickly said, "It's the students' fault."
Mr. Wen smiled, shook his head, and said, "What's wrong with that? Many scholars and scholars dislike saints in their bones. But if you want to take the path of the imperial examination, even if you don't like it, you have to hide it. When you become an official, you will understand the power of it."
Su Fengzhang thought about it and understood. If you just want to be a bohemian poet, no one will care about you, but politics is different. The court relies on Confucianism to rule the world, so the saint must be indestructible.
"I will remember it. Thank you for your teachings, sir." Su Fengzhang felt grateful. As a traditional scholar, it was not easy for Mr. Wen to say such words. It was really heartfelt for him.
Mr. Wen nodded and began to comment on his contemporary writing. The two chatted for nearly two hours. Finally, when he sent Su Fengzhang out, Mr. Wen packed a pile of books for him to take with him.
Su Fengzhang said goodbye to the Wen family and left. The mooncake in his hand was gone, and he had a pile of heavier books in his hand.
Just as I walked out the door, I heard a voice calling in a low voice: "Xiao Feng'er, here, here."
Su Fengzhang turned around and smiled, but it turned out to be Wenzhu hiding at the entrance of the alley, peeking around with a mysterious look on his face.
"What are you doing? Isn't this right in front of your house? Why are you acting like a thief?"
"Oh, it's all because of you." Wen Zhu was very distressed. "Ever since you started studying hard, your teacher has become even more disgusted with me. If he didn't cherish his life, he would probably die to see if that would motivate me to study harder."
"What nonsense are you talking about? My husband is your father." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Wen Zhu reached out to help him take some of the books, sighed and said, "If this wasn't my biological father, I would take them all..."
"Hey, why won't he give up? I'm really not cut out for studying. How about I get married sooner and give him eight or ten grandchildren so he can raise them well? What do you think of this idea?"
"It's good, but your future daughter-in-law will have a hard time." Su Fengzhang joked.
Wenzhu was still complaining about her father: "Look at him, he scolded you for two hours just because you sent him mooncakes. That's not all, the return gifts were all books. I've never seen anyone like him, he wishes the whole world were filled with scholars."
Su Fengzhang actually spoke for his master: "I would love to have your guidance."
Wen Zhu sighed: "Xiao Feng'er, you have changed too. Since you started studying, you are no longer my Xiao Feng'er."
"I'm telling the truth. Others want to buy this book but can't. You are really generous, sir." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Wenzhu was even more helpless: "Come on, come on, now you two are from the same country, hey."
Su Fengzhang wanted to persuade him and said, "Xiao Zhuzi, I was ignorant before and dragged you along to play. But since Dad and Big Brother passed away, I realized that men must have some responsibilities in the world. Otherwise, who can the Su family rely on?"
Wenzhu also knew that this was the truth, but he hesitated for a moment and said, "That's true, but I'm not cut out for it."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Xiao Feng'er, you haven't been to the county town for a long time. Do you want to go to Wenxianlou?" Wenzhu invited enthusiastically. "They recently released new dishes. I heard they are very delicious."
Wenxianlou is one of the best restaurants in Hushan County and a favorite gathering place for scholars.
Su Fengzhang said quickly, "It's not appropriate for me to go now. Besides, my second uncle is still waiting at the city gate. If I don't go now, he will probably be waiting anxiously."
Wenzhu slapped his head and cursed, "Look at my pig brain, I even forgot about this."
"Wait a moment." Wen Zhu stuffed the book in her hand into his and ran away.
Su Fengzhang didn't have time to stop him and watched him run away. He could only wait for him to come back.
"Hey, isn't this Su Fengzhang?" A voice with a bit of a duck voice came.
Su Fengzhang looked in the direction of the voice and saw four young men dressed as students, all around twenty years old. The one who was speaking looked the youngest, about the same age as him.
The four men all held folding fans in their hands. If they were not so ugly, they would have looked quite elegant.
As they were talking, the four men had already walked up to him. "Really? I haven't seen you for a few months. How come you've gotten so much darker? Have you been working in the fields all day? Tsk tsk tsk, I never thought that you, Su Fengzhang, would have such a day."
This is an exaggeration. Su Fengzhang did become a little darker during the autumn harvest, but not by much and it was not noticeable at all.
Su Fengzhang narrowed his eyes and remembered who these four people were.
It was impossible for Mr. Wen to accept only him in his private school. The four people in front of him could barely be considered his classmates, but they were either children of wealthy businessmen or from nearby villages, and the two groups of people could not get along.
In other words, they unilaterally disliked Su Fengzhang and felt that he was acting recklessly just because his father was a minor clerk.
Especially the young man in the lead, he is the grandson of a large landowner nearby. Like Su Fengzhang, he doesn't like studying. But Wenzhu is unwilling to take him out to play. She only plays with Su Fengzhang, which makes him very dissatisfied.
When the Su family got into trouble, Sun Yaozu seemed to be gloating. Now when he saw Su Fengzhang, he stepped forward to provoke him.
"Su Er, why did you come to the city? With just that little knowledge in your head, how dare you come to see Mr. Wen?" Sun Yaozu said with a smile.
Su Fengzhang didn't take his provocation seriously and just said calmly, "What's the matter?"
The more nonchalant he was, the angrier Sun Yaozu became, especially when Su Fengzhang stood there. Although he was wearing coarse clothes, he looked like a lush forest and bamboo, which made him look even more embarrassed and angry.
"Pretending." Sun Yaozu snorted coldly, looked him up and down, and said, "Look at you now, do you still look like a scholar? What's the difference between you and a farmer in the countryside?"
"You need to be from a big family and accumulate virtue; you need to be a good son, farming and studying. The Su family is originally a farming and studying family, so what's wrong with me being a farmer?" Su Fengzhang said lightly.
Sun Yaozu was also a poor student, and he didn't quite understand what was said. It was only after the person behind him whispered a few words to explain it that he finally understood.
Sun Yaozu understood, but he was even more annoyed: "You speak better than you sing. When you have enough food and clothing, you will know honor and disgrace. When your granaries are full, you will know etiquette. Your family is barely able to eat enough, why are you still studying? Just focus on farming."
"Instead of spending time here at Mr. Wen's, you might as well plant some more land. Oh, I forgot, your family doesn't seem to have many acres of land. How about this, since we were classmates, you can rent it and only pay 70% of the rent every year."
"Are you sure you want to rent it at 70%?" Instead of feeling embarrassed or angry, Su Fengzhang asked in a nice voice.
Sun Yaozu laughed and said, "Why, how many acres of land do you want to rent?"
Su Fengzhang laughed, "The laws of the Great Zhou clearly stipulate that when private farmland is leased, the landlord can only take 60% of the rent. But your family wants 70% of the rent. Isn't this blatant corruption and abuse of power?"
"Bullshit! Sixty percent of the time, that's just the rules of the Northwest Border. We're in Jiangnan."
The Jiangnan region is a major producer with few fields and many people. Not to mention renting out 70%, even if it were 80%, the remaining portion would be quite a lot. Some of the land was rented out by farmers with little land, so Sun Yaozu dared to speak so arrogantly.
Su Fengzhang said loudly: "I have never heard of a law book of the Great Zhou Dynasty that is divided into the north and the south."
"Why don't we go to the government office and ask them what they say?"
Sun Yaozu's face changed suddenly. The issue of land rent was one that the government would not investigate unless the people reported it. Both parties would benefit anyway, but this matter could not be brought to light.
The Emperor of the Great Zhou was born into a farming family. He was extremely dissatisfied with the situation in the late period of the previous dynasty where landlords had enclosed large amounts of land and collected high rents. As a result, the laws of the Great Zhou were very partial to the peasants, and the landlord class was more restricted.
However, after several generations of emperors, the land rent gradually began to rise again. As long as you don't make a big fuss, the government will not interfere with matters that are consensual.
"You, you slander people, and you think you are a scholar?" Sun Yaozu was furious.
"For a scholar studying, the first thing he needs is ambition; the second is knowledge; and the third is perseverance. Aspiration means he will never be content with being inferior; knowledge means he will know that learning is endless and he will not be content with just one achievement, like the River God observing the ocean or the frog in the well trying to peek at the sky; both are ignorant; and perseverance means he will achieve nothing. None of these three qualities can be lacking."
Su Fengzhang smiled at Sun Yaozu, then turned and walked towards Wenzhu who was running towards him.
Sun Yaozu's cheeks flushed with anger as he angrily asked, "What does he mean by this?"
The student behind him fanned the breeze and said, "He's probably calling you a frog in a well and praising himself for being a great achiever."
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