Last year, the old headmaster sorted out the county examination papers from all over the country and sent them to Cuiwei by mail.
Everyone else in the academy wrote down everything, but Mu Erpang had not yet finished learning the Five Classics. Although he could make sure that he could write down what he had learned and that what he wrote was all correct.
But Lao Buyu was afraid of forcing things, so he only completed a part of the task for him, leaving a lot of the rest unfinished. Now it’s just right to use it as a mock exam paper.
Chen Cui also found an ear room in the academy to use as a [simulated room].
Mu Erpang's imagination is not as good as Wei Shu's, so the effectiveness of [Simulated Room] is average. It won't make him feel confused as if he really thought the outcome was going to be a disaster, but it will also maximize his concentration.
It was also to allow him, who had never been in this situation before, to adapt to the high-pressure environment in advance and exercise his psychological endurance.
He wrote a paper every day, and Lao Buyu would judge the results on the same day. Then he would take a mock exam early the next morning.
Before the new year was over, he had finished writing all the county examination papers that the old headmaster had compiled.
After simulating the exams several times like this, when Mu Erpang's papers were put together, his strengths and weaknesses became very obvious.
Lao Buyu was very pleased. He had done all the questions on calligraphy and interpretation without making any mistakes. It was obvious that he had memorized the Four Books and Five Classics by heart in the past three years.
The questions on the test paper were about the meaning of scriptures, that is, they were based on sentences from scriptures. Candidates had to write a separate essay, using their own words to explain the meaning and using Chen Cui's cognition to explain them. These were similar to reading comprehension questions, and Mu Erpang also wrote them very well.
The credit in this regard does not belong to Lao Buyu alone, because each school of thought has its own strengths in something that tests personal understanding, and it is not an exaggeration to say that there are a hundred schools of thought contending with each other.
Although Mu Erpang's progress is not as good as others in the academy, other young people are willing to take him along and share with him during discussions - after entering the provincial school, their horizons have become much broader than before.
Especially for the young teacher Mei Ruochu, there were some things that were difficult for Mu Erpang at that time, and Mei Ruochu was very patient in breaking them down and explaining them to him.
Therefore, Mu Erpang's writing of the scriptures is exceptionally good, with a style that incorporates the strengths of various schools.
But Mu Erpang started to learn late. He has been studying the Four Books and Five Classics for the past few years. His shortcoming is that he is not good at writing poetry.
How to write poetry? Every educated person knows the rules. The parallelism must be neat, and the rhyme must not be lost. Only the official rhymes in the rhyme book should be used, and the level-starting style should be used. No repeated words are allowed in the poem. The tone must be solemn and elegant, and must avoid being frivolous, gaudy, or unserious. It is also necessary to quote from classics and be good at using allusions.
But knowing the format of poetry does not mean that you can write good poetry.
Some people are gifted, like Mei Ruochu, who could write poems at the age of seven. He could write poems effortlessly and with naturally beautiful sentences that made people applaud without any hesitation.
Some people have average talent in this area, such as Wei Shu and Wei Xi, who are not as good as Mei Ruochu in writing poems. But they can accumulate knowledge over time, read more and think more, just like writing examination essays in later generations. If they accumulate enough knowledge in daily life, they will be able to perform well in the exams.
Mu Erpang does not have a brilliant talent for writing poetry, nor does he have much time to accumulate experience. Although he knows the rhyme book by heart and can quote from classics and use allusions, his poems as a whole are a bit dry and not good enough.
Of course, this "not good enough" is compared with the level of his calligraphy and the interpretation of scriptures. Really speaking, at the age of thirteen, who had only studied for three years, it was not easy for him to write like this.
Lao Buyu still felt that it would not be difficult for Mu Erpang to pass the county exam with his current overall level, but now that he knew his shortcomings, he could not just get by - the examination poem was also part of a series of subsequent imperial examinations. The county exam tested five-character six-rhyme poems, while the provincial and metropolitan exams tested five-character eight-rhyme poems, which would become increasingly difficult.
At that time, Mei Ruochu, Wei Shu and Wei Xi all returned from other places.
They left on the 20th day of the 12th lunar month and returned before the 8th day of the 1st lunar month. The provincial school did not open until after the Lantern Festival. They were obviously worried about Mu Erpang's upcoming county examination, so they shortened their family reunion time and rushed back.
After coming back, he heard that Mu Erpang had some shortcomings in poetry and prose. Mei Ruochu, as the best poet in the academy, went to talk to Chen Cui privately.
Cuiwei didn't like beating around the bush, but the fact that he frowned and seemed hesitant to speak showed that he was really in a difficult situation.
Shen Cui didn't rush him, she just asked, "Is it about Er Pang writing a poem?"
Mei Ruochu said yes, and then paused, and finally asked: "I want to ask, does Shanzhang have... does he have the ability to share my talent for writing poetry with Hanshan?"
Shen Cui was stunned by the question and didn't react for a while to what he was talking about. Mei Ruochu continued, "It's just... I know that the headmaster has some 'wonderful' abilities, and can do what others can't."
Chen Cui understood immediately. Mei Ruochu knew that she was helping him to change his luck, so he regarded himself as an omnipotent living god and wanted to share his talent for writing poetry with the unremarkable Mu Erpang.
Except for the time when he was in bad luck, he would occasionally show some youthful naivety. Mei Ruochu has always been the most stable and mature one in the academy. But now he would ask such a ridiculous question.
Chen Cui couldn't help teasing him, "Yes, there is, but if you give your 'talent' to him, you can't give it back. You won't be able to write such good poems in the future."
Hearing that there really was a way, Mei Ruochu stopped worrying and said with a frank smile: "Don't think I'm arrogant, Shanzhang. My poems and essays are not so good, so I will try my best to write better. On balance, I think my ranking will definitely be lower, but I was so unlucky before that I never expected a good ranking. Now that I have passed the provincial examination and the imperial examination, I have won the first place, which is a pleasant surprise."
Seeing that he really believed it, Shen Cui quickly said seriously: "I was just teasing you. Where do I get that kind of 'ability'? Even if I really have it, I can't do such a thing that harms others and benefits myself."
Mei Ruochu looked ashamed and bowed to apologize, "I was distracted."
Chen Cui didn't blame him, he could see that Mei Ruochu treated Mu Erpang as his own brother. Since he had nothing, he even wanted to share his most precious talent with him.
Actually, if she really wanted to help her fat son take a shortcut, knowing that he was not good at writing poetry, she could just find some good poems that have been passed down in modern times. As long as she was sure that the poet had never appeared in this fictional era, she could ask the people in the academy to help revise the poems to make them more in line with her fat son's background and knowledge, and ensure that others could not tell that they were not written by him. Finally, let her fat son memorize hundreds of poems in one breath. Wouldn't that be more convenient?
She just doesn't want to.
Although the system has helped a lot along the way, the gains it provides are always auxiliary. If the gains like refreshing the mind and doubling the time are given to people who are not hardworking and don't want to learn, they will be of no use. Therefore, it is mostly due to Mu Erpang's own efforts.
Whether it is distinguishing people's talents or taking shortcuts, it is an injustice to Mu Erpang's efforts over the years and it looks down on him out of thin air.
"Don't say that anymore, but I have another idea and I'd like to tell you about it." Shen Cui said.
Just like later candidates preparing for exams, they would deliberately accumulate some famous quotes and material stories for use in exams.
Chen Cui also looked at Mu Erpang's county test paper and looked at a lot of questions in the system's mock question bank. She roughly summarized some common poetry topics - spring, summer, autumn and winter, common flowers and plants, and of course, praising the peaceful and prosperous times, expressing personal ideals of revenge, etc.
She planned to ask Mu Erpang to write a poem for each topic.
After he finished writing, other people in the academy could not directly help him revise it. They could only help point out where it was not good enough and let him go back to think about it himself. After he figured it out, he would revise it himself and then show it to them...
In this way, if he really encounters a similar question in the exam and guesses it correctly, the pressure on him to write a poem on the spot will be greatly reduced.
Of course, he was unlucky and didn't win, so he can regard these things written in advance as training, which will definitely help him improve compared to where he is now.
After listening to her explanation, Mei Ruochu felt that it was very feasible, so he nodded repeatedly and was about to pick up his pen to add a few poetry topics that he thought might be tested - Chen Cui stopped him, fearing that it would affect his luck value, so she asked Lao Buyu, Wei Shu and Wei Xi to help with the discussion, and finally sorted out a total of nearly twenty poetry topics.
Mu Erpang soon began to practice writing poetry systematically. Although he was not very good at it, he was quite productive and could write a poem a day. After receiving suggestions from everyone in the academy and revising it for two or three days, he could finally write a poem that was basically satisfactory.
By the time he had written and revised twenty poems that he was satisfied with, it was already late January and he had to return home to take the exam.
The county examination requires a guarantor from a government scholarship student. Cuiwei now has three government scholarship students, and all of them are willing to guarantee Mu Erpang.
But before the exam, the students on government stipends had to be present to guarantee their place. They were all in the provincial school, and the trip would delay classes for several days. Especially since Mei Ruochu's luck score was very likely to drop due to the imperial examination, Shen Cui did not dare to let him get close to the examination room.
Chen Cui did not let them go, saying that it would be the same as what happened to Wei Xi before, and they should find a student from the county school to act as a guarantor. The Shen family has some roots in the county, so it won't be difficult to deal with.
So that everyone in the academy don't have to worry, Shen Cui took Mu Erpang on the carriage back to Yongning County.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
