Chapter 28
Chapter 28
"Fu Zeng's dumplings are here!"
"Everyone has four. Two horse vendors wish our county students good news and continuous happiness!"
“The line is long, there’s one for everyone.”
In the county school cafeteria, the students of the Qianqian Society lined up neatly. For some reason, the Ma Family Rice Balls, which sold very well in the county, actually took the initiative to deliver food to them.
Of course, everyone is positive about this kind of good thing.
The students from the Copper Stinky Society next to them looked at each other, and finally one of them gritted his teeth and said, "Let's get in line. Fu Zeng dumplings are extremely hard to buy outside. This is for four."
It’s just that they would never eat the food in the cafeteria, so it’s so embarrassing to queue up now.
The people in the shabby society were in no mood to look at them. Fu Zeng's glutinous rice balls had become very famous recently, and everyone in Zhengrong County knew about them.
The Lantern Festival has long passed, and now it’s the 20th day of the first lunar month, and people are still queuing up.
"It's strange to say, but the sweet-scented osmanthus walnut dumplings that the two Ma families first made weren't very tasty. People just tried them because of the poem."
“Who would have thought that these two restaurants would suddenly close for a day and the food they served would be so delicious?”
"Yes, my servant queued up for two days but still couldn't buy one."
The people of Tongxiu Society were still mumbling to themselves when they saw the servants in charge of the A- and B-grade halls coming over with bowls, saying, "The scholar and the candidates preparing for the exam want to try it."
Forget it, everyone is here to eat, so what’s wrong with queuing up?
It was the first time that the students from the Tongxiu Society went to the county school cafeteria to get their meals.
While they were still hesitating, the students from the Hansuan Society had already started eating.
Ji Yuan, Li Ting, dormitory head Chang Qing, and roommate Chen Liangzhi were eating at the same table.
The usually calm dormitory head Chang Qingdu said: "This filling is really special. You can taste the sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance. Even the skin has the sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance. The skin is soft and not sticky. This is the first time I have seen such delicious Yuanxiao."
Chen Liangzhi ate so much that he couldn't even lift his head, and Li Ting wasn't much better.
But after Li Ting finished eating, he looked at Ji Yuan with eyes full of admiration.
Awesome, brother!
I knew it was delicious just by looking at the recipe, but I didn’t expect it to be this delicious.
Students from the Poor Society are more restrained when praising others, for fear of being looked down upon by others.
The students of the Money Society are different. They have eaten a lot of good food, but they also think that the Ma family’s food is the most delicious!
"This taste can be considered as tribute."
"Anyway, I've never eaten such delicious glutinous rice balls. The taste is very different."
"Now I finally understand why Ji Yuan said that the Ma family's glutinous rice balls he had eaten were incomparable to anything else."
After the words were spoken, everyone fell silent.
Why are they still praising Ji Yuan? Ji Yuan has only been in the county school for a short time, but he has already made them suffer several setbacks.
But now everyone has to admit defeat.
Ji Yuan was really not bragging, Ma’s dumplings are really delicious.
Li Ting secretly laughed, and before the afternoon class, he said to Ji Yuan, "Then did the Ma family boss guess that it was you?"
Ji Yuan nodded and said, "It's not really a secret."
After all, the poem was written by him, and he said that he had eaten such delicious dumplings before, and he was the only one who could make them in the whole county.
Not to mention that he wrote the recipe on a whim. Li Ting and I were still wearing the winter clothes from the county school. With a little thought, we could guess a thing or two.
But since I could see that he didn't want to make it public, I didn't say it explicitly.
"They are really grateful and sent us so many dumplings. You know, everyone is lining up outside to buy them."
"All the schools in the county benefit from you."
Li Ting was thinking about it as he spoke. He was completely impressed by Ji Yuan. Despite his young age, he was not only smart, but also thoughtful and capable.
If he wasn't six years older than Ji Yuan, I really wanted to call him brother!
Ji Yuan found it funny. Considering his actual age, he could indeed be Li Ting's brother.
The two of them talked as they returned to Minglun Hall.
Before entering the door, the two sighed subconsciously.
There's no way. The classroom is fine in the morning because there is a teacher to teach.
It was different in the afternoon. All the Mingjing doctors went to Class B, while they continued to study on their own.
As soon as I stepped into the room, I heard a lot of noise inside.
The reason for the commotion is self-evident.
Among these fifty-five students, the youngest is Ji Yuan, who is a few years old, and the oldest, Chang Qing, is twenty years old.
If teenagers of this age group are put together and no one cares, it would be strange if they don't quarrel.
Not to mention, there are also two "factions" hidden within it.
"I told you so! Didn't you say you don't want to eat the food in the cafeteria? Why did you condescend to eat it today?"
"That's Fu Zeng's glutinous rice balls, do you understand? Oh, you definitely don't understand, you can't even afford to eat them if you put them outside. Let me tell you, I not only eat them at school, but I also ask the servants to buy them for me when I get home. You'll be so pissed off."
"It's all thanks to Ji Yuan. What do you know? If it weren't for his poem, would Fu Zeng's dumplings have become popular? You still have to thank us."
Ji Yuan paused, and Li Ting also felt a headache.
This kind of environment is no longer suitable for studying.
Having said that, the two of them still sat in their seats.
As soon as he sat down, Li Ting was pulled over and a book was secretly stuffed into his hand: "Look, this is a new storybook published in the city."
In the Class C hall, some people were reading novels, chatting, playing chess, sleeping, and even playing Cuju.
Even a person with great concentration would find it difficult to concentrate here.
Not to mention, the two groups may start quarreling at any time.
It will be even more chaotic then.
But now it seems that those who study seriously in the classroom are basically from the "Poor Society".
For people from poor families, the opportunity to study is even more precious, so they will cherish it.
Ji Yuan pinched two pieces of paper and put them between his ears, concentrating on reading the book in his hand.
The "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" must be memorized and its meaning must also be remembered.
Ji Yuan looked at it carefully, but some people in the classroom felt differently.
The two cousins, Wang Xingzhi and Wang Xingjie, were counting in the class: "One, two, three, four."
After counting for a long time, the two said, "There are thirty-nine poor people in our Class C Hall. Guess how many of them will work so hard by the end of the month?"
"At this time last year, how many people persisted?" someone asked.
Wang Xingzhi and Wang Xingjie also attended the county school last year, so they naturally understood the situation: "Last year, the 24 poor kids, at the beginning, were just like them, studying hard."
“By the end of January, there will only be two left.”
"When the exam started, everyone went to watch the fun, and no one studied seriously."
"Just say they are pretending, but you still don't believe it."
Reading is a boring thing, they just don’t believe that anyone can really love reading and study seriously without a teacher’s supervision!
"Buy it and leave it. I bet zero. In the end, they will all play like us. At most, we play openly while they play secretly."
Everyone looked around and placed their bets.
When counting to the era, some people didn't know whether they should kill him.
The main thing is Ji Yuan, he is different from others.
As for what was different, they couldn't tell.
"Go, give him this storybook, it's the new version of Journey to the West compiled by Fucheng, it's very interesting." Wang Xingzhi invested a huge sum of money to drag Ji Yuan into it, because he bet that Ji Yuan would not persist in studying.
These people secretly looked at the person who sent the book, wanting to see if Ji Yuan would accept it.
Ji Yuan was reading the book he copied from Master Zhao when someone secretly pulled him aside and asked, "Would you like to read the book of Fucheng?"
Ji Yuan raised his eyebrows, took the book, and saw three big words "Journey to the West" written on it.
Oh, Journey to the West.
Ji Yuan looked around and saw Wang Xingzhi and Wang Xingjie subconsciously avoiding his gaze. Ji Yuan smiled and said, "Have you read the chapter about the real and fake Monkey King?"
"Look! The six-eared macaque looks so much like Sun Wukong!"
Before he could speak, Ji Yuan whispered, "I remember someone said that the real Sun Wukong was actually beaten to death in this chapter, and the ones who will go on the journey to obtain the scriptures from now on are all the six-eared macaques!"
"Ah?! Impossible!"
"How is it impossible? If you don't believe it, think about it. Is the Monkey King different after that?" Ji Yuan simply threw aside this issue that has caused so much controversy among modern people.
The messenger returned in a daze, and Wang Xingzhi's group shouted, "Impossible! That's Sun Wukong!"
"Yeah! Impossible! Who said that?"
"let me see!"
"It's possible, actually. Sun Wukong seems to be different afterwards."
"Yes, the setting of the Six-eared Macaque is that even the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils cannot be seen, so it is possible that the one who was beaten to death was the real Wukong."
Ji Yuan stuffed the paper in his ears again, okay, no one would bother him anymore.
There is no way to come to a conclusion on this issue.
Of course, for him, this conspiracy theory does not exist at all!
That’s Sun Wukong!
If you study every word of Ji Yuan and then write down your thoughts, you will always gain some insights.
He then compared the Four Books distributed by the county school and learned them very quickly.
But the Four Books exist, but the Five Classics do not.
The Five Classics refers to five books.
But the Spring and Autumn Annals alone had 180,000 words, and the complete set consisted of more than ten volumes, which he really could not afford.
Other books such as the Book of Songs add up to about thirty or forty volumes.
Let alone buying books.
Even if he bought so much paper, Ji Yuan still felt that the expense was extremely high.
But these are roughly equivalent to textbooks. If there are no textbooks, how can we learn in the future?
If he bought them all, he would probably go bankrupt.
Not to mention, these are just the basic books. The Thirteen Confucian Classics and the annotations by the big guys should all be read.
Ji Yuan felt that his one tael and six cents of silver could not even make a sound when he threw it out.
Ji Yuan set his sights on the Zunjing Pavilion not far away.
In addition to buying books, there is another method, which is copying books. I heard that many people in the county school do this.
It seems that I need to take some time to visit Zunjing Pavilion.
In the next few days.
Ji Yuan woke up at the beginning of the morning hour every day. After getting up, he did not rush to study, but ran in the nearby bamboo forest and did some radio gymnastics.
I don't have to work in the county school, and I always feel like something is missing.
Moreover, when Ji Yuan thought of his tiredness during the entrance examination that day, he deeply felt that the imperial examination was a physical job and having a strong body was also beneficial to studying.
Besides, he wants to grow taller!
After running for half an hour, reviewing the lessons I had to learn this morning, and washing up, I can go for breakfast.
The morning classes are the same, in the afternoon I recite scriptures, and after dinner I write another article.
He was so unshakable that even his good friend Li Ting was shocked.
Not to mention running in the morning, he couldn't stand studying so boringly day after day.
Not to mention Li Ting, all the people who made the bet felt that Ji Yuan’s self-discipline was terrifying.
How can he study at such a regular time and place when no one supervises him?
During lunch, Chang Qing couldn't help but say, "Actually, the teachers don't have time to take care of us now, so there's no need to work so hard. When the Tongshi exam is over, the teachers and doctors will come back, and then everything will be back to normal."
This is also what most people think.
It’s not that they don’t work hard, they will work harder later.
What's wrong with playing more while the teachers and doctors' attention is not on them? It's not like they won't learn.
Ji Yuan smiled and didn't say much.
For him, time is very important.
Others have a way out, but he doesn't.
Returning to Anji Village means being controlled by my uncle and aunt, and it will be even more difficult to find a way out in the future.
The only way to get rid of them completely is to go further.
Besides, Ji Yuan found the book in his hand more and more interesting the more he read it.
He may not have read many books from ancient times, but he has read quite a few modern books. By comparing the ancient and modern times, he has figured out quite a few ideas. He died young in his previous life, but in this life he wants to see what the world is like.
Also, he didn't forget what Xiao Jiyuan said.
Xiao Jiyuan said, it would be great if he could always have enough to eat and never be cold.
He hasn't done it yet.
Chang Qing clenched his chopsticks tightly and after returning to Bingdeng Hall, he did not argue with others about whether it was Sun Wukong or Liu Er Mihou who survived, but picked up the book.
But the Ji Yuan behind him did not enter the classroom, but told Li Ting about his plan: "I plan to go to Zunjing Pavilion to copy books. It is the 25th day of the first lunar month, and the Five Classics doctors will be back in less than half a month."
"I heard that the doctors first taught the Book of Songs. I want to copy this book first."
Ji Yuan cut the purchased paper into book size in advance, and after copying, he would bind them together with thick hemp rope.
All poor scholars are like this.
Li Ting didn't need to copy it, because his family had some money. Before he left, his father had already promised to buy him books, so he didn't need to copy it.
"Well, if you can use me, just tell me." Li Ting suddenly felt ashamed.
He has also joined the discussion of Journey to the West these days. He thinks that Sun Wukong is real! Not the six-eared macaque!
Seeing this, Ji Yuan said helplessly: "I am just fooling them. There are not so many conspiracy theories in Journey to the West."
Ji Yuan didn't expect that the school had been arguing about this matter in recent days. He couldn't help but open his mouth to explain, but everyone thought that he also wanted to discuss it and enthusiastically pulled him to join in.
Li Ting was embarrassed: "Hey, seeing that you are so diligent, I will go to study too."
It is indeed easy to slack off without a teacher to supervise you.
Seeing nine-year-old Ji Yuan taking the paper he had cut to Zunjing Pavilion to copy books, Li Ting felt extremely ashamed that he was not as good as a nine-year-old child.
Seeing Li Ting return to the school by himself, Wang Xingyi and the others couldn't help but ask, "Where's Ji Yuan?"
Li Ting was too lazy to answer and picked up the book to read by himself.
"No way, Ji Yuan also skipped class?"
Wang Xingyi was instantly excited.
In the past few days, Ji Yuan has been studying and eating at regular times every day, which has made them almost bored.
I even felt that I would lose the bet.
Unexpectedly, there was a sudden turn of events and Ji Yuan suddenly skipped class?
In fact, there are many people who are not in school.
Some even went back to the dormitory to sleep, while others went to the bamboo forest to play Cuju.
It goes without saying that we had a lot of fun.
The people who made the bet secretly observed and recorded it in a book.
On the 20th of the first lunar month, there were 55 people in the Bingdeng Hall, and 39 of them were studying.
Record once a day, in order.
Thirty people read, twenty-one people read.
Today, the 25th day of the first lunar month, there are only five people left who are reading seriously!
The most "stubborn" of them, Ji Yuan, even skipped classes!
Ha ha ha ha!
I knew that these poor but studious guys couldn’t hold on!
How dare you talk about them!
When they start quarreling, we’ll have something to laugh at them!
Love to study?
They're all fake!
Wang Xingzhi, Wang Xingjie and others were even happier.
Chang Qing, who started to take it seriously, also looked over.
No way, could it be that I just persuaded Ji Yuan to go out and play?
"I said Ji Yuan wouldn't be able to pretend for a few days. Look, he doesn't want to learn anymore."
"In our Class C hall, not many people can continue to study."
"The teachers praised you for being poor but studious? That's hilarious."
Li Ting couldn't stand it anymore and said directly: "Do you think he is you? Ji Yuan is not the kind of person who gives up halfway."
"He went to Zunjing Pavilion to copy books. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself."
Go copy books?
Everyone looked at Li Ting.
Dr. Mingde hasn't come back yet, and the afternoon Five Classics class hasn't started yet. Why is Ji Yuan copying books so early in the morning?
Wait, he's not going to prepare in advance, is he?!
The students in Class C were shocked.
Without anyone telling him to, Ji Yuan went and copied the book in advance?!
Ji Yuan, are you a human being?
Is there anyone who loves learning so much?!
The originally noisy Class C Hall became quiet.
I don’t know who mentioned the real and fake Sun Wukong.
This time no one answered.
I always feel that the storybook is a little hot.
From the 16th day of the first lunar month to the 25th day of the first lunar month, almost nine days, Ji Yuan has been studying and working as usual every day.
I get up the earliest in the morning and go to bed the latest at night, without ever wasting a single day.
He is also the youngest student in the entire county school.
At his age, I can't live like this.
Wang Xingjie couldn't help but say stubbornly: "He must be pretending. The bet expires when the children's exam begins. There are still eleven days left. I don't believe he can copy books every day."
Some people also echoed quietly.
That's right.
They don't believe it!
Li Ting endured it again and again, and imitated Ji Yuan by tearing a ball of paper and stuffing it into his ears.
If you argue with this group of people, you will be pissed to death.
If you don’t believe it, forget it. What you learn is yours anyway.
At this moment, outside the Zunjing Pavilion, Ji Tyuan was holding a thick stack of papers.
Three hundred and eighty thousand words, I don’t know how long it will take to copy them.
In his previous life, he heard that there was a calligrapher in the Yuan Dynasty who was known as "the fastest calligrapher in the world" and said that he could write 30,000 words in small regular script in a day.
If I give it to this person to copy, it will take nearly half a month.
At this speed, it will probably take him half a year.
Ji Yuan wanted to practice calligraphy and wanted to use this as an opportunity to do so, so he was not shy.
Just write it, what is he afraid of!
Of course, that's also because he's poor.
Compared to having no money, isn’t it just copying down the textbooks?
He can!
Compared with the Bingdeng Hall, the Zunjing Pavilion is so quiet that it seems like it is not in the same place.
The Zunjing Pavilion is right next to the Confucian Temple. There are not many trees planted there. Only some bamboos are planted at the entrance to prevent mosquitoes from coming in.
The inside is paved with stones and high stone steps are built, apparently to prevent mosquitoes, moisture and fire.
The door of the Zunjing Pavilion was open, and it seemed that one could enter and exit freely.
The layout inside is also simple, with rows of bookshelves neatly arranged, and on the other side are empty tables and chairs, provided for students to copy books.
Just as I entered the door, I heard a cold, elderly voice from the side: "Stop."
Ji Yuan looked over and quickly saluted: "Hello, Master."
The old man sitting next to him had a white beard and an impatient look in his eyes. He was obviously the teacher.
It’s over, he was caught skipping class?
"Go out and wipe the dust off your shoes before coming in." The old man muttered again, but Ji Yuan didn't hear it clearly.
Ji Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he wouldn't be held accountable for skipping classes.
There was a special dust duster at the door, and after sweeping the soles of his shoes clean, Ji Yuan entered again.
The old teacher said without even looking up: "You are allowed to read but not to borrow. If you want to copy the book, the ink must not splash."
Ji Yuan quickly agreed, found one of the books he wanted to copy, placed it on an idle table, read it through first, and then copied it.
Only after he sat down did the old man look up.
Just as Ji Yuan was about to start writing, the old man suddenly asked, "Are you Ji Yuan?"
In the entire county school, Ji Yuan was the youngest, so it was not surprising that he was recognized.
Ji Yuan stood up and answered. The old man looked at him for a moment and ignored him.
An afternoon passed quickly.
Ji Yuan did not copy much. Although his writing speed was not slow, he was practicing calligraphy on purpose, so his writing was neat and slow.
This is to be used as a textbook.
It was not until the afternoon school bell rang that Ji Yuan packed up and prepared to eat.
The county school cafeteria does not wait for latecomers, so you must eat on time.
When I met Li Ting in the cafeteria, Li Ting immediately told me everything that happened this afternoon, and finally said, "They actually made a bet to see if we can hold on to the end."
"Especially you."
"I made a special bet for you."
Ji Yuan raised his eyebrows. Is there such a thing?
"Tell me more about it."
This afternoon, Wang Xingjie and his friends didn't see Ji Yuan in Minglun Hall and thought he had skipped class.
I was deeply frustrated when I found out that he was not skipping classes but copying from books.
Unexpectedly, after this group of people got together to discuss for a long time, they actually pieced together a complete day of the era.
I go running and do some strange movements at the beginning of the morning hour.
Then I read, washed, cleaned up and went to class.
Needless to say, after lunch, we go to the school, and now we go to the Zunjing Pavilion.
Wait until school is over, then eat, then read, wait until the moon rises over the branches, then wash up and rest.
He spent the whole day.
Apart from eating, I study and exercise at most.
All in all, I spend six or seven hours a day studying.
There is nothing else to do!
This is too scary.
"Is he still human?!"
Li Ting threw the book on the table and they immediately shut up.
But in private, a special bet was set for Ji Yuan.
From today, the 25th day of the first lunar month, until the 6th day of the second lunar month when the Tongshi exam begins.
They just don't believe that Ji Yuan can persist.
This abnormal schedule is really scary.
Doesn't he want to do something else?!
Why until the sixth day of February?
Because the county examination will begin on the sixth day of February, and these students who are not taking the exam can have a holiday.
Therefore it was fixed for that day.
Ji Yuan replied: "There is nothing else to do."
"What else can you do if you don't study during your prime years?"
Li Ting clicked his tongue: "Just say you won't be bothered by them."
Ji Yuan said: "Well, if you help me to press one, then I can do it."
"I've already made the bet. I'm betting that you can succeed! We'll split it in half then!"
From that day on, Ji Yuan noticed a lot of ambiguous glances, and even the occasional top-ranking scholar would look at him twice.
Everyone wants to see whether the nine-year-old Ji Yuan can hold on.
From the sixteenth day of school to the agreed sixth day of February, there are a total of twenty days.
Just thinking about studying non-stop for twenty days makes my scalp tingle.
If such a young child has this kind of perseverance, he can do anything.
Just think about it, it is impossible for a child of this age not to play.
Ji Yuan ignored them, and even the script that was secretly handed to him, he just flipped through it briefly.
No one would read a novel of this level.
There are so many talented men and beautiful women around, he is not interested.
In his eyes, there is only learning.
The main reason was that Jiyuan felt that he had been in school for a short time and did not even have textbooks.
If we don’t prepare the textbooks before the Mingjing doctors come back, how can we have classes when the time comes?
At that time, although Master Zhao did not have the Four Books, the Four Books had few words and the classes were small, so there was no problem.
It is different now. Many students in the class have already learned part of the Five Classics. His progress has slowed down and he must catch up.
For several days in a row, Ji Yuan maintained the same routine, which made Wang Xingzhi and the others a little tired.
Many people couldn't help but pick up the book in their hands and take a quick look. They didn't learn it from Ji Yuan.
The atmosphere of playfulness in the C-class hall inexplicably became restrained, as if it was all affected by the era.
Even the strict instructor felt that this year's Class C students seemed to be a lot more well behaved.
Therefore, when he came to deliver the message, his expression was not so serious.
"Tomorrow, on the first day of February, we will be offering sacrifices to the Confucian Temple. You must not wear anything too fancy, but must wear something simple and elegant."
"It has been half a month since the start of school, and we have a half-day holiday this afternoon."
The previous words were naturally spoken to the children from wealthy families.
Sacrifices in the Confucian Temple are a major event and cannot be extravagant.
The latter part is told to everyone.
Ji Yuan looked up after hearing this.
Tomorrow is the first day of February.
He has only been here for half a month.
Thinking back, it feels like a long time has passed.
Although we all get up early and go to bed late, nowadays we get up early and go to bed late for the purpose of studying.
I don’t know how Master Zhao and the others are doing.
As soon as Ji Yuan looked up, Wang Zhixing and the others looked at him. How about it! Let's go out and play!
It's vacation time!
Don’t you go out during holidays?
Under the expectant gazes of everyone, Ji Yuan was really about to leave the county school, but Ji Yuan paused at the door and said something to a passing vendor, who nodded.
Afterwards, Ji Yuan took the book he made to Zunjing Pavilion, apparently to copy another book.
ah? ? ?
You really aren't going out?!
Li Ting wanted to laugh when he saw this, and he also knew that Ji Yuan did it on purpose.
Wang Zhixing and his friends did not go home during the holiday, just waiting to see whether Ji Yuan would go out this afternoon.
They vaguely felt that this holiday was their only chance to win the bet.
If you don't go out during the holidays, then the era is too terrible.
It’s only a few days until the sixth day of February, he will definitely be able to hold on.
From being incredulous at first to now feeling that Ji Yuan will not change himself because of others, Wang Xingzhi and the others are somewhat convinced.
You can submit and surrender.
They still want to win!
You know, they put a lot of money on the bet.
Today is a holiday, and it must be the last chance.
Until the sun was about to set, Ji Yuan was still in the Zunjing Pavilion and had not come out.
The two brothers Wang Xingzhi and Wang Xingjie gritted their teeth and said, "How about we go and take a look?"
The four people behind them looked at each other, and no one dared to do anything because the old man guarding the door was very fierce.
As they watched, a clerk from the county bookstore came over and brought a thick stack of the lowest quality paper. Ji Yuan happened to be going out to get it.
Ji Yuan smiled and said, "So punctual."
The guy said politely: "It's the little prodigy's thing, of course it has to be on time."
Ji Yuan put away a pile of papers, held the ink he had bought, and looked at Wang Xingzhi and the others: "It's holiday time, why haven't you come back yet?"
Why didn’t you reply?
I just want to see if you have had a rest!
Ji Yuan ignored them and went back to the dormitory to put his things away.
Wang Xingzhi and the other six looked at each other again: "Let's go back?"
"Let's go home. Today is a holiday and we haven't even gone out to play."
"Damn it, it's all because of Ji Yuan."
As he was talking, Ji Yuan and Li Ting came over. This time Ji Yuan really left the county school!
He actually walked out!
It's evening now, maybe we can go shopping.
After a series of twists and turns, are they going to win?
Unexpectedly, they walked to a noodle stand near the county school and ordered two bowls of plain noodles.
Is this for dinner?
Wang Xingjie said, "It seems that the county school doesn't provide meals during holidays."
So Ji Yuan comes out for dinner?
Ji Yuan was still sighing: "A bowl of noodles costs five cents, it's too much."
Li Ting nodded: "This is still plain noodles."
Li Ting was a young man of fifteen or sixteen. One bowl was not enough, so he ordered another bowl.
Ji Yuan sighed again: "Fortunately, I am young, so one bowl is enough for me."
This made Li Ting helpless, but thinking of Ji Yuan's situation, he said, "It would be great if there was a way to make money."
Although his family was well off, he didn't have much.
Yes, it would be nice if I could make money.
Ji Yuan is also thinking about how to make money.
After the two of them had dinner, Wang Zhixing and his men were still watching.
They no longer had any hope in their hearts.
Sure enough, after eating near the county school, Ji Yuan went straight back to the county school.
What are you going back for?
Is there any need to say more?
It must be learning!
Wang Xingzhi and his friends left with sorrow on their faces.
How could there be such a person?
How could there be such a person?
Is studying really that interesting?!
When Ji Yuan went back, it was indeed related to study. He copied books for five days and finally copied three books. I heard that the Mingjing doctor would talk about these three books first.
He still needs more time to study the later "Book of Rites" and "Spring and Autumn Annals".
Now I need to bind the three copied books together.
Li Ting looked at it and wrote another letter home. Before he came to the county school, his father said that he would buy him a complete set of the Five Classics, and now it was time to give it to him.
The county examination is just around the corner. Once the students in the B-grade class pass the examination, they will have to attend formal classes. Without books, this will not be possible.
Ji Yuan bound the three books and finally felt relieved.
He has to hurry up and finish the remaining two books. Fortunately, he has practiced his writing speed, so he will definitely be able to copy faster next time.
Today, Ji Yuan plans to go to bed early because he will offer sacrifices to the Confucian Temple tomorrow. He is a little curious about how this will be done.
If nothing goes wrong, all the teachers and students in the school will come here tomorrow, and he will be able to recognize his future teachers.
According to the instructor, the purpose of this sacrifice to the Confucian Temple was, firstly, to welcome the 20 new students, and secondly, to pray for the B-grade students who would take the county examination on the sixth day of February.
The two together must be grand.
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On the first day of February, at the beginning of the Mao hour, all the students of the county school gathered.
Normally, classes started at noon, but today they started an hour earlier, and many people were yawning.
Ji Yuan was fine, as it was the beginning of the Mao hour, which was five in the morning, the time he usually got up.
At the exact moment of Mao, students from the three halls of the county school, A, B and C, entered the Confucian Temple one after another.
In Ji Yuan’s opinion, this is the third grade, second grade, or first grade?
It was the first time that Ji Yuan saw all the teachers and students of the school gathered together.
Ji Yuan was young and short, so he was in the front row of the Bing Hall and could see everything clearly.
The scholars in the first-class hall were a little older, and wore a green cross-collared long gown, which was also called a qingjin, and was the clothes of the students and scholars. They wore a crown and hat on their heads, and looked very impressive.
Most of them were smiling and looked natural.
They are all people with achievements, so naturally they have more confidence.
Class B halls are different.
There were twenty-eight people inside, and each of them had dark circles under their eyes, obviously studying hard from dawn to dusk.
Just don't study hard at ordinary times.
There are still five days left before the first stage of the examination for the scholar. Who wouldn't study hard?
Everyone looked a little depressed.
At the end is the Class C Hall which has the largest number of people.
Unlike the students in the B-grade hall, the students in the C-grade hall, which have been left unattended recently, eat well, have fun and sleep well. They all have rosy complexions and are full of energy.
Also, because they are the youngest in the class, they look very active.
read?
What is reading!
The comparison between the three is quite funny.
When we arrived at the Confucian Temple, we saw portraits of the two sages Confucius and Mencius hung in the middle, surrounded by incense, flowers and fruits as a sign of respect.
The students stood outside the house in three groups. When the morning bell of the Confucian Temple rang, the county school instructor, wearing a light green official uniform, came.
Following behind came the county school instructor, teacher, doctor, teaching assistant and others.
Ji Yuan took a look and saw that the old master from Zunjing Pavilion was also among them.
The students in Class A bowed.
The students in Hall B and Hall C bowed deeply in greeting, and the teacher said, "Stand up."
Everyone stand up.
Ji Yuan saw the teachers, instructors, masters, doctors and others with serious faces.
The most important affairs of a state are sacrifices and war.
The school naturally attaches great importance to sacrifices.
But the sacrifices here are somewhat different from those in other cultures.
The sacrifices in Chinese civilization focus on commemorating the ancestors and wise men, and are not purely feudal and superstitious activities.
It is to comfort the saints, to respect the predecessors, and to take the predecessors as role models.
Everyone followed suit and worshipped Confucius and Mencius, and the teacher slowly spoke: "The Book of Rites says that anyone who begins to study must offer sacrifices to the sages and teachers who came before him."
"What are the ancient saints and teachers? They are no longer traceable. Why should we pay tribute to the ancient saints and teachers who are no longer traceable?"
"Let's first take a look at what is holy."
"Confucius believed that those who are generous to the people and can help the masses are saints."
"Mencius believed that if one stands out from his kind, he should be a saint."
"Xunzi said, 'It is only learning! Those who learn, know, are sages. Those who can study diligently and master knowledge are sages!'"
"Zhu Zi said that if you want to learn, you must think about how to become a saint. If you were a countryman yesterday, you can become a saint today. If you want to learn and think, you can become a saint today if you were a countryman yesterday."
"It seems that studying is like touching the threshold of sainthood. Paying homage to the saints is to let the students know what sainthood is."
“Only by knowing what is holy can we work towards holiness.”
The teacher spoke, quoted from scriptures, and explained things in a simple and clear way.
Let all students understand and know why they should worship in the Confucian Temple and why they should worship here on the first day of school.
They want to worship the ancient saints and teachers, no matter who they are.
The ultimate goal is what we learn when we are young: "Saints and wise men can be trained to become saints."
That is, everyone can become a sage.
It is also the first principle of Confucianism in this era.
This is not a sacrifice, it is clearly an encouragement to study.
Study hard!
You will become a saint in the eyes of sages!
Haven't you learned this yet?!
The teacher waited for a moment and continued, "Governing the world must be based on talented people, and talented people are the source of schools."
"The importance of schools is self-evident. Tianqi State established schools to educate talents, surpassing the ancients. We want to have extraordinary people for the court, those who are well-versed in classics and cultivation, well-versed in ancient and modern times, and have both literary and artistic qualities, and whose reputation matches their reality."
The following part talks about what Tianqi State has done for official schools, what it has done for students, and what kind of talents it needs.
At the end, the teacher said: "A teacher should emulate the sages of the past, do his best to teach, and cultivate virtue and talent."
“I hope students can encourage each other.”
Finally, as teachers, they will definitely follow the example of the saints and do their best to help their students cultivate their virtues.
They will also help everyone pass the imperial examinations, serve the court, and become useful talents to the court.
First set the goal, then determine the direction. Thank you for the trust of the court.
At the end, let me tell you that teachers work hard with their students!
Work hard to pass the imperial examination! Make a career!
Ji Yuan listened with great interest. As expected of a county school teacher, his speech was very well-spoken.
It also confirmed what Master Zhao said, that the purpose of official schools is to select talents for the country and take imperial examinations.
Ji Yuan finally felt like the school had really started, and this seemed to be what the county school usually looks like.
The sacrifice did not end after the instructor finished speaking.
If what I said just now was spoken to all the students.
The following words are for the students in Grade B who are about to take the Tongshi exam.
The teacher said, "There are still five days until the Tongshi exam begins."
"Everyone knows that the Tongshi exam is divided into three parts: the county exam, the prefecture exam, and the college exam."
"Three exams, one step at a time."
"The sixth day of the second month is the day when the students of Hall B pass the first stage and take the county examination. Today we will offer sacrifices to the Confucian Temple to bless the students of the county school and help them pass the examination."
The twenty-eight students from Class B came forward one after another.
They shook off their previous lethargy and worshipped at the Confucian Temple with extraordinary excitement.
The teachers also said a lot, mostly words of encouragement.
It’s five days, and the exam is five days away.
Ji Yuan felt very pressured when he saw this.
There were twenty-eight candidates in the county school, plus the students who were not in the county school, a total of forty-six people.
Among these forty-six people, only ten were able to pass the county examination.
After passing the county examination, ten people have to go to the provincial capital to take the prefectural examination.
Not to mention what comes later, just the county examination alone is a huge hurdle.
Forty-six candidates may not seem like a lot.
But you have to know that behind these forty-six people, there are many more who are not even qualified to take the exam.
Isn’t that what Ji Yuan and the others did?
The students in the third grade hall were twenty selected from more than six hundred people, so their knowledge should not be too bad.
This shows how knowledgeable the forty-six people who took the exam were.
Selecting the best from these forty-six people is extremely cruel.
Not to mention, after passing the county examination, there is still the provincial examination waiting for them.
Only by taking one step at a time can one obtain the lowest level of honor under the imperial examination system, a scholar.
The twenty-eight people in front of them seemed to be inspired by the teachers' words, and some of them shed tears on the spot.
Ten years of hard study, one day for the exam.
All your life, honor and disgrace depend on this.
The scholars in the first-class hall looked at them with pity in their eyes, for they had also been through the same thing.
The students in Class C were somewhat surprised, as if they had seen what they would look like in the future.
After the sacrifice in the Confucian Temple, everyone went to their respective Minglun Halls.
This had the greatest impact on the students in Class C, who couldn't help but ask, "Why are they crying like that?"
"Success or failure depends on this. How can I not cry?"
"Ten years of hard study, just five days later."
"Aren't we living this life too?"
This made many people feel a little uneasy.
Did they really study hard?
Are they really that hardworking?
There are three Minglun Halls in the county school, namely A, B and C. We will not talk about the A class for now, as they are different classes.
Just take the second-class students of Minglun Hall as an example. Everyone can see how hard they work.
Anyone who can stand out in their county school examination and get a B grade must have worked hard.
The upcoming county examination is like an insurmountable chasm for them, so what about them?
They neither work hard nor make an effort. What will happen when they face this day?
Or, they don't have the chance to face it at all.
Even if you want to take the exam, you have to work hard.
Everyone feels sad because they have neglected their studies for half a month after the start of school.
When I saw Ji Yuan studying hard, I felt even more guilty.
The teacher, who came to teach the Four Books class as usual, saw that the students in Class C were like quails. He curled the corners of his mouth, pretended not to see it, and continued with today's lessons step by step.
After class, leave immediately.
He is really busy, so busy that he doesn't even have time to assign homework to everyone.
But it doesn’t matter. Once the county exam is over, the students in Class C can make up for the past half month’s lessons.
What?
Too much?
How is it possible to have half a month of leisure and not be busy later?
Are the teachers of Zhengrong County School so easily fooled?
At lunch time, the students in the cafeteria regained some vitality, but when they saw Ji Yuan, he seemed as usual.
What's wrong with this person.
Aren’t you afraid when you see the appearance of the students in the C-class Hall during the sacrifice in the Confucian Temple?
Everyone who originally wanted to see when Ji Yuan would give up suddenly had the answer in their hearts.
What are people afraid of?
Others have been studying hard, so what impact does it have on him?
Seeing Ji Yuan going to Zunjing Pavilion again with a thick sheet of blank paper, everyone knew that he would continue copying books until he had his own books.
They were still playing with the books they bought.
What should I do? I suddenly feel guilty.
Is Ji Yuan a human being?
Only nine years old, and yet he's so scary?!
In the Jiyuan of Zunjing Pavilion, he opened the Book of Rites with nearly 100,000 words and breathed a sigh of relief.
Copying 100,000 words is not an easy task.
The pavilion was as quiet as ever, with only the sound of Ji Yuan writing and turning pages.
The old teacher, who had always been taciturn, walked past him with a cup of tea in his hand. He glanced inadvertently at the handwriting of Ji Yuan's copy, and his hands almost trembled.
What an ugly handwriting.
The old man was too lazy to look at it anymore and went back to his seat to write and draw.
Too ugly.
How can it be so ugly?
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