After the main examination of the academy is over and before the re-examination begins, it is time for Liu Xuezheng to mark the papers together with other principals and staff members.
The principal and his assistants only have the right to help mark the papers and cannot interfere with the setting of the papers.
So it was only when they read the first volume at this time that they realized that Liu Xuezheng had given such a tricky poetry topic.
Especially for several presidents, the students of their academies would also participate, of course not in this event, but in other places.
When they read the title of the poem, they all felt fortunate that their academy was more than 500 miles away and there were no students from this area - after all, due to current conditions, no one would go to a place more than 500 miles away to study, and it would be too troublesome to go back to their hometown to take the imperial examinations. Otherwise, it would be heartbreaking if your students encountered such questions!
They had different thoughts in their minds, but they didn't show it on their faces. They just asked, "Why did you think of putting these two unrelated poems together?"
Liu Xuezheng said frankly: "There are two lines in the couplet of the ancestral hall in my hometown. Not only do women and children know it, but anyone who can recognize characters can remember it."
The headmaster and his colleagues were choked by these words.
There are a few lines of poetry in the ancestral hall of your hometown, and you use them to make questions?
Others don't know this. The two sentences put together are not very famous quotes. It's difficult to think of two sources at once and combine them together. Isn't this a death sentence?
Of course, if the person who asked this question is a famous contemporary writer or something like that, and the anecdotes and interesting stories about his hometown are widely circulated, then asking this question can be considered to complement the topic. But a provincial education commissioner who is a doctor from the Ministry of Rites is like this... He really thinks he is a big deal!
The dean and his aides were still complaining in their hearts, although they did not show it on their faces. Liu Xuezheng looked at a few papers himself and figured out something - it seemed that the questions he had set were indeed a bit off.
It was the first time for him to be appointed as the provincial education commissioner outside the capital, and the Qingzhou Prefecture's examination was also the first academy examination he presided over.
If this exam stumps the majority of candidates and there aren't enough people for the re-examination, I'm afraid it will end badly.
He then added: "If so, then you examiners should split the poem into two parts. Those who can break the first half and the second half will be considered to have answered the question correctly. Of course, those who can break both the first and second half will be among the best."
This actually relaxes the scope of inclusion. After all, it's just two lines of poetry. No matter how difficult it is, it should be possible to break out one line, right?
After all, it's just the final exam for the academy, so it doesn't hurt to be a little more relaxed.
No one said anything and everyone marked the papers and gave their own scores.
Liu Xuezheng breathed a sigh of relief as he was no longer surrounded and questioned. He also began to mark the papers. The more he read, the more he felt that it was a good thing that he relaxed the requirements and allowed others to count the correct answers even for half-answered questions. Otherwise, there might not be enough people for the re-examination!
Of course, there were also a dozen or so papers where students could think of the sources of both lines of poetry. These people stuck more closely to the topic and could undoubtedly be ranked at the top.
What made Liu Xuezheng most satisfied was that there was a paper with the word "pipa" specially written on it.
Look at it, he is considered a legend after all, having climbed up from a poor family to his current status. There are still some candidates who admire him as if he were the great writers!
The academy examination only covered the names, and there was no transcription step like the provincial examination had for the higher level examinations, so Liu Xuezheng and his colleagues read the original papers. He unconsciously read the paper twice more.
The preliminary test is only used to eliminate half of the people, and then a list of candidates for the retest is given. There is no need to rank them in order, so the progress is very fast.
After the list came out and before the re-examination, all the presidents and aides looked at each other, trying to push someone out to advise Liu Xuezheng.
After all, this regular test is only the first round, if there are any problems you can still work them out, but the re-examination is related to the scholar's reputation.
If the exam is conducted again according to the questions from the initial test, I guarantee that this year's candidates will never forget this college entrance examination!
This certainly did not leave a good impression, and Liu Xuezheng's own reputation as an official would inevitably be affected! Those who come here as volunteers to help mark the papers may also face consequences in terms of their reputation.
Liu Xuezheng also knew the pros and cons and said hurriedly: "The questions in the retest are simple! Don't worry!"
…………
Two days later, Mu Erpang, Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen took the re-examination together.
Mu Erpang performed well in the past two days and had enough rest. He has fully recovered to his best condition.
Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen's faces were still somewhat pale, and they looked like they had experienced a lot, while most of the other students present were in a similar situation as them.
The other two people who had signed a guaranty with them were eliminated and had no chance to participate in the second round.
However, it was already a re-examination, and they had already shown their faces in front of the academician and the military officials before. The test papers they wrote personally had also been kept on file, so it was unlikely that someone would take the test for someone else. Therefore, the rule of five people guaranteeing each other was relaxed a lot, and two or three people could just get together and guarantee each other.
Speaking of this, Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen were quite confused when they knew they could enter the re-examination.
Because Zhao Xiuwen only broke out the sentence "The poem is on the jade screen" and used the allusion of Master Yang as the main theme. He had not learned the first line of the poem, or he had read it but had no impression of it. It can be said that I have only solved half of the problem.
Ren Shun did manage to come up with two lines, but he spent a large part of his time thinking about the topic of the poem and somewhat neglected the previous essay topic, so the essay was much inferior to his previous works.
Mu Erpang used Shen Cui's words to comfort everyone, "The questions in the preliminary exam are difficult for us, and for everyone. The purpose of the final exam is just to screen out half of the people, not to determine the results."
Zhao Xiuwen and Ren Shun nodded together, and Zhao Xiuwen even smiled and said, "Then we can be considered the tallest among the short ones?"
This kind of joke did not help to ease the atmosphere, because everyone was still thinking that the first test was already so difficult, so how difficult would the second test be?
Therefore, before entering the venue, the atmosphere among the waiting candidates was already very solemn.
The subsequent process remained unchanged, and half as many candidates as in the previous round entered the venue one after another.
Not long after I sat down at the examination seat, the sound of salutes rang out outside and the academician began to write the test questions.
While waiting for the test questions, many candidates' breathing became heavy unconsciously, for fear that Liu Xuezheng would do the same thing again!
Mu Erpang performed well in the main event, but he actually hoped that Liu Xuezheng would not bring someone from his hometown to take the exam again. He really did not have the energy to study this examiner more thoroughly!
After the candidates waited anxiously for about a quarter of an hour, the clerk began to carry the wooden sign with the test questions on it.
The good news is that this time when Mu Erpang saw the test questions clearly, he did not hear the sound of nearby candidates laughing, so the questions this time should not be very difficult.
Mu Erpang waited patiently for a while. When the clerk came to him and read the questions clearly, he immediately copied down both questions.
The title of the article is "What is hidden in oneself is not forgiving".
This is also a standard question. This sentence comes from "The Great Learning". The original sentence is "A gentleman first seeks it in himself before he seeks it in others; he does not seek it in himself before he denies it to others. There has never been anyone who is unforgiving to himself but can forgive others."
The explanation of "all by oneself" and "all by others" can also be understood in conjunction with another saying of Confucius. There is a saying in "The Analects of Confucius" that "A gentleman seeks the answers from himself; a villain seeks the answers from others." Translated, it means that a gentleman demands things of himself, while a villain demands things of others.
Therefore, the meaning of all the questions covered in this question is that a gentleman first requires himself to meet strict standards, and then asks others to do what he can do. He will not do things that he should not do, and then ask others not to do them. If we do not adopt this way of forgiveness that extends to others, there will be no one who can teach others to forgive while being unable to forgive their own shortcomings.
The Great Learning is a book that discusses the Confucian ideas of self-cultivation, family regulation, governance of the country and pacification of the world.
This topic is about self-cultivation, and Mu Erpang plans to write it according to the idea of "forgive others as you forgive yourself". It’s not very difficult either.
After having an idea, he began to look at the title of the poem.
The title of the poem consists of only four words: 'Ping Zhong Jun Qian'.
It is still a question that most people are completely clueless about and feel confused about.
But today everyone in the examination room was very calm. Why?
This is because Yan Ying, a politician, thinker and diplomat in the late Spring and Autumn Period, was named Zhong and posthumously named Ping. He was known in history as "Yan Pingzhong" and later generations respectfully called him Yan Zi.
There must be few scholars among these people who don’t know Yan Zi, right?
'Yan Zijun moved' means Yan Zi moved. They had never heard of this story before, but only the story about Mencius - "Mencius' Mother Moved Three Times".
But since Mencius had a story about moving, it was not surprising that Yan Zi had a similar but lesser-known story.
Anyway, just write it here. If you don’t know the details, just praise Yan Zi’s achievements more!
There were many candidates who had this idea, so the atmosphere in the examination room was actually more relaxed than before.
There will no longer be a situation where large groups of candidates are pondering but don't know how to start writing.
Mu Erpang answered the questions in order as usual, first making sure the previous article was written, and then thinking about the topic of the poem.
Completely different from many other candidates who picked up their pens and started writing, he put down his pen directly when he saw the poem topic - he didn't believe that Liu Xuezheng would go against his usual habit and give such a simple topic. There must be a trap!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
