Mu Zhuohua went home to rest for a few days. With a huge sum of money, Guo Juli was confident to go to the street to buy vegetables. He picked out good meat for Mu Zhuohua to nourish her body. He stewed a chicken every day and let Mu Zhuohua eat chicken legs and chicken wings. After two or three days,
she regained her vitality. "Miss, don't just eat without practicing." Guo Juli slapped Shen Jinghong's poetry collection in front of Mu Zhuohua, "You should also read more of Master Jinghong's poems."
Mu Zhuohua said shamelessly: "Everyone reads it, but I don't. I am different from others."
Guo Juli frowned: "Miss..."
Mu Zhuohua stared at Guo Juli and said seriously: "Are you smarter or am I smarter."
Guo Juli did not hesitate: "Miss is smart."
Mu Zhuohua: "Then do you want to listen to me?"
Guo Juli nodded.
Mu Zhuohua waved her hand: "Okay, I won't eat chicken today, let's buy a pigeon."
Guo Juli: "Why eat pigeon?"
Mu Zhuohua said: "As the saying goes, poetry, pigeons and poems, what you eat will nourish you."
Guo Juli heard it and it made sense.
So Mu Zhuohua's dinner that day was braised poems, brown sugar cakes, fried milk songs, and Mapo bean poems.
Unfortunately, eating what you want to replenish what you want is useless. In the examination room, Mu Zhuohua looked at the questions, bit the pen for a long time, wrote and marked, and wrote some ordinary poems. It was really not a talent, and it could only be said to be smooth.
After the second exam, Mu Zhuohua was obviously not as high-spirited as the first one. He left the gate of the Imperial Academy without looking back, covered himself with a quilt and had a good sleep, and then began to read books to replenish his body.
These days, probably because of the imperial examination, Liu Yan and his men did not appear again, allowing Mu Zhuohua to have a peaceful life. Huaxiang was really quiet for a while. After all, there were examinees living everywhere, and it was always bad to make noise. The girl from the Qin Palace recovered from her injury and asked Song Yun to send a tonic to Mu Zhuohua to express her gratitude. She happened to meet Mu Zhuohua who was dejected after the second exam. She thought she was in a bad mood because she did poorly in the exam and comforted her for a long time.
When it came to the third exam, Mu Zhuohua was in a good mood again and reorganized the country.
The third exam was about policy questions, which was also the subject with the highest proportion of the three subjects in recent years. If there are amazing essays in policy questions, even if the first two subjects are mediocre, they can still win the top three. If the policy questions are inferior, the first two subjects can only be ranked in the middle. Therefore, everyone is cautious about this third highlight.
After Mu Zhuohua got the question, he bit the tip of his pen for a long time.
Asking for strategy: the strategy of pacifying the barbarians. This question can be said to be very specific and practical, but it is not easy to answer. For the State of Chen, the barbarian land generally refers to the Northern Liang, the Southern Yue and the Western Regions. The Northern Liang lived by the water and grass, and won the world on horseback. The people were fierce. They negotiated peace when the situation was unfavorable, and violated the border when the soldiers were strong and the horses were fat. It can be said that it was a big problem for the State of Chen. Nanyue is a land of poor mountains and bad waters, with miasma everywhere, and many places where people are not enlightened. There are frequent invasions on the border with the State of Chen. The Western Regions established a country based on religion. For a long time, there have been more peace than war with the State of Chen. However, the dispute between the two sides is not a dispute over land, but a dispute over religion. The Western Regions intend to preach in the State of Chen, which seems harmless, but believers are extremely pious and can live and die for their religion. If religion is out of control, the people
will be out of control. The court has always been divided into two factions regarding these foreign races, one advocating war and the other advocating peace. So starting with this question is to test the grasp of the examiner's mind. Today's examiners, the eldest prince and the prince Ding, are both generals who have fought against Beiliang for many years. Undoubtedly, many people bet that the examiner will advocate war. In this way, the answer should start with war.
But can war be peaceful? Can war bring peace?
Mu Zhuohua thought for a long time. The war between the State of Chen and the Three Kingdoms has lasted for a hundred years, but it has never been peaceful for a long time. Why is it uneasy? First, the Three Kingdoms were barren and had long coveted the wealth of the Chen Kingdom. Second, the people of the Three Kingdoms had different mindsets, so they regarded those who were different from them as enemies. Third, the Three Kingdoms had no strategy for making money, so they could only plunder for themselves.
Now that we know the reason, we can start from this and think about the strategy of pacifying the barbarians and the barbarians.
Mu Zhuohua closed his eyes for a moment and wrote down his thoughts on paper.
The third joint examination was finally over. All the test papers were sealed with names and collected. Liu Yan and Liu Chen led 16 co-examiners to review the test papers behind closed doors.
The first round of the classics questions was reviewed the fastest, because this year's classics questions were a bit biased, and many candidates made a lot of mistakes. Even those who did well in the exam had two or three mistakes.
"Here is a paper, not a single word is wrong!" A co-examiner was amazed and handed the paper to the chief examiner.
Everyone talked quietly: "It must be Shen Jinghong's paper."
This paper was not copied in order to see how the candidate's calligraphy was. If the calligraphy was good, the evaluation would be higher.
When Liu Chen saw his fellow examiner running over with the papers in his hands, he said to Liu Yan before he even looked at them: "I'm going to bet with the emperor's uncle that this paper must be Shen Jinghong's." Liu
Yan sipped his tea and smiled: "What are you betting on?" Liu
Chen said: "I'm betting on the pot of fine wine in the emperor's uncle's house, which is very fragrant." Liu Yan laughed
: "You have been coveting it for a long time, so what's the harm in giving it to you?"
Liu Chen shook his head and said: "Winning wine is fragrant."
Before he finished speaking, he heard another chief examiner say in surprise: "There is also a correct answer sheet here!"
Liu Chen looked over in surprise: "Didn't the classics questions this year say that some of them are extremely difficult?"
Liu Yan said: "The literary style is growing, this is a good thing."
The first answer sheet had been delivered to the table. Liu Chen looked down and was immediately disappointed. He was very familiar with Shen Jinghong's calligraphy. The calligraphy on this paper was indeed good, but it was not Shen Jinghong's handwriting.
However, Liu Yan read the paper carefully. He was gentle but strong... steady but witty... Liu Yan used the teacup to hide the smile on his lips. He had seen Mu Zhuohua's handwriting before. The prescription she wrote was exactly the same as the handwriting on this paper.
That devilish girl was indeed quite capable.
Liu Yan was a little worried about her physical condition, but now that he saw this paper, he felt relieved.
Liu Chen took the second paper and confirmed that it was Shen Jinghong's handwriting. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Uncle, this is Shen Jinghong's, there is no doubt about it."
Liu Yan nodded slightly: "Uncle, you lost." Liu Yan smiled and stretched out his slender finger to point at the first paper, "What we just bet on was this paper."
Liu Chen was immediately deflated.
"I didn't expect that there would be a candidate who could compete with Shen Jinghong this year."
Liu Yan laughed and said, "There are more than one strange person."
Liu Chen cheered up and said, "It's just that he has a good memory. We have to wait for the next two exams to see whether he has real talent and knowledge."
The second exam was about poetry and prose, but the examiners were furious.
"What the hell! More than 70% of the candidates deviated from the topic!" The examiners crossed out the papers one by one, and those who wrote the wrong questions were not accepted.
Liu Chen shook his head with regret: "This year's topic is 'Yellow flowers are like scattered gold'. This topic is so common that I didn't expect so many people to be fooled."
Liu Yan said: "Most candidates mistook yellow flowers for chrysanthemums. Little did they know that this poem comes from 'The green strips are always green, and the yellow flowers are like scattered gold'. This poem describes the scene before and after Qingming and Guyu. The yellow flowers in this poem refer to rape flowers. If a candidate writes about autumn and chrysanthemums, they will be eliminated."
Liu Chen frowned: "This poem is biased. The first thing to test is the candidate's reading range, and the second is talent. Unfortunately, some people only read classics and lose because of erudition."
There are only more than 70 poems in the second round without biased topics. It can be said that as long as the other two subjects are not too bad, these more than 70 people can make the list.
Liu Yan thought, Mu Zhuohua has read a lot of books, so he should know this question. Although he was so sure in his heart, Liu Yan couldn't help but look at those poems one by one until he found the familiar font, and then he felt relieved.
Liu Chen laughed from the side: "The emperor's uncle was looking for Shen Jinghong's poem, but he asked me to find it first. It's really another excellent work. Come, let's appreciate it."
The two were looking at Shen Jinghong's poem, and suddenly heard a dispute from the examiner. They couldn't help but put down their papers and looked over.
They saw several examiners arguing with each other, almost fighting. Liu Chen frowned and shouted: "Such a noise, how can it be decent!"
Several examiners hurriedly saluted Liu Chen.
"Your Highness, we saw a policy question, and there were different opinions, so there was a dispute."
Liu Chen asked curiously: "What kind of policy question can make several gentlemen fight?"
A fellow examiner sneered and waved his sleeves: "It's not an exaggeration to say that it's heresy. This question tests the strategy of pacifying the barbarians, but this person is good. The whole article is about how to raise the barbarians."
Another examiner frowned and objected: "Looking carefully, what this person said is not unreasonable."
Liu Chen became more and more curious and quickly asked someone to send the paper over. The test paper was placed on the table. Liu Yan glanced at it and a smile flashed in his eyes - he really never stops until he says something shocking.
Liu Chen frowned as he read the policy questions. The more he read, the tighter his frown became, and the more a storm rose in his eyes. When he saw the end, he was furious and slammed the table and cursed: "Is this candidate from Beiliang or Nanyue? How could he speak for the barbarians!"
The co-examiner of the opposition party immediately regarded him as a bosom friend: "Your Highness is right. Look, the beginning of this test paper first explains the reasons why the barbarians are restless. This is not bad. The barbarians are poor and have bad mountains and bad waters. They have not been educated. The people have different thoughts and are rebellious and want to plunder. What should we do? Of course, we should fight! Beat them until they are afraid and surrender, and then we can pacify the barbarians!"
"Look at the second half of this, it's just nonsense!"
"Not necessarily..." At this time, a light voice interrupted the angry accusation of the co-examiner. Everyone looked at the speaker in disbelief. It turned out to be the King Ding who advocated war?
Liu Yan looked at Cewen intently, his eyes showing no sign of concealing surprise and admiration.
"There are no permanent enemies, but there are permanent benefits. The barbarians are our enemies because we have no common benefits." Liu Yan nodded slightly, "How can we achieve common benefits? Cewen also made it very clear. If we open trade routes, we can exchange what we have and what we don't have, and people will feel at ease. If the barbarians can gain more benefits from trade than from war, they will not think of killing and plundering."
"South Vietnam may seem poor, but it contains a treasure trove. If we help it develop, we can use it as a helping hand."
"It lists many policies and rules in detail, which are indeed feasible."
A fellow examiner disagreed: "But if we are not educated, they are not of our race, so their hearts must be different."
Liu Yan continued: "Then he also said the most important point, that is, to use the Confucianism of our Chen country to educate the barbarians, and to use Confucianism as a religion, just like the Western Regions established a country with religion. Now, Beiliang and Nanyue are both undereducated, and the people of the two countries admire the education of Chen. If the people learn courtesy, righteousness, integrity and shame, and their hearts are towards saints, they will be of the same clan and will not think of differences."
Everyone frowned and thought, but still had doubts.
Liu Yan said softly: "Didn't our Chen country also merge several small countries into one in the past?"
Liu Chen said: "It was the war that unified Chen."
Liu Yan smiled and said: "The unification of Chen was after many years of civil strife, until the country was established with Confucianism, and the people's hearts were unified."
At this point, many examiners nodded in agreement. The content of this policy question is mostly speculation, but what Liu Yan said is indeed based on history.
"The Western Regions are desolate, but they established a country with religion, and the people are united. This is the power of faith, and only the power of education can make people 'believe'."
Liu Yan's story finally convinced several examiners, but as a staunch advocate of war, he still rejected this statement.
"It's just a scholar's talk of war on paper." Liu Chen was disgusted, "If what he said is useful, uncle, what are we fighting for all these years!"
Liu Yan was silent for a long time, and then said: "To win a chance to make them obedient."
Liu Chen's eyes swept to the re-examination officer and said: "Since everyone has their own opinions, why not vote to decide the score of this policy question, everyone write down their own evaluation of this policy question, we remove the beginning and the end, and take the average."
Everyone agreed with this method, and each took a piece of paper to write down the score, and then handed it to Liu Chen to count.
At this time, an examiner noticed something: "Hey, the handwriting on this paper looks very familiar, and it seems to be very similar to the error-free paper in the first round."
After hearing what he said, someone immediately took out the paper for comparison, and it turned out to be exactly the same.
Some examiners who agreed with this policy question immediately laughed and said: "This person has a good memory and extraordinary insights. His talent can compete with Shen Jinghong."
Liu Chen was unhappy when he heard this.
"But we still don't know how good this person's poems are."
Someone went to look for the papers again, and after flipping through more than 70 pieces, they found them. Everyone looked at them together.
The opponents immediately laughed: "This is also called poetry, but it's just doggerel. I think this person's talent is just so-so."
Liu Chen felt relieved after hearing this.
In any case, this person still made him pay attention. He had wild ideas, talked nonsense, and even tried to steal Shen Jinghong's literary reputation. He wanted to see what kind of "talent" he was!
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