Song Mu majored in Chinese language and literature. In addition to poetry, he was interested in the introduction of Chinese studies. He also had a great interest in ancient literature, especially ancient Chinese literature.
Over the past many years, Song Muduo has been immersed in the sea of books.
The four words "Advance morality and cultivate one's profession" left a deep impression on Song Mu.
It comes from "Letter to the Family of Zeng Wenzhenggong" written by Zeng Guofan. Song Mu was inspired by his Chinese teacher since junior high school and began to read "Letter to the Family of Zeng Guofan" a lot.
Regarding Zeng Guofan, Song Mu had a simple view. Regardless of whether he was a mediocre person before the age of thirty or whether he was a saint after the age of thirty, Song Mu once loved his family letters the most.
Most of the above are Dun Dun's teachings, very much like an old man who has experienced the vicissitudes of the world, and provides all the principles of good life for his relatives and descendants.
In this letter home to his younger brothers, he described an extremely simple methodology for self-cultivation.
"We can only rely on advancing virtue and cultivating our profession. If we advance in virtue, we will have filial piety, kindness, benevolence, righteousness, and vision. If we cultivate our profession, we will write poems and essays. This is all up to me. If I get the ruler, I will be my ruler. If I get the inch, I will be the inch.
also."
"If you earn one point of virtue today, you will have accumulated one liter of grain; if you cultivate one point of karma tomorrow, you will have one penny left over. If the virtues and karma are both increased, your wealth will increase. As for fame, wealth and honor, they are all determined by fate and cannot be controlled at all."
To put it simply, wealth is destined by heaven, but cultivation lies within oneself.
Song Mu did not completely agree with this, but there were many interesting truths in the process.
The so-called self-cultivation, harmonizing the family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world can actually be explained clearly from this.
Pay attention to moral cultivation every moment, so that you can talk about national affairs and world affairs in the temple in the future.
Therefore, instead of extending what is written from various virtues, it is better to turn the description of virtue into a methodology of virtue, that is, how to cultivate virtue in time, and then extend it.
Song Mu immediately had enough thoughts in his mind, and he immediately breathed out a sigh of relief, stretched out, and then quickly held up the sign and asked for a favor.
When the soldiers guarding Song Mu saw Song Mu's actions, they immediately came up a few steps. After hearing the request, they summoned the servants and sent Song Mu off to pay his respects.
When he was leaving, the soldier glanced at Song Mu's desk and found that he only wrote a few lines on the draft paper and curled his lips.
He turned around and looked at Song Mu, who was still looking dignified, with a bit of a sigh in his expression.
This young and overly young scholar could be a son from a wealthy family. He thought the provincial examination was so easy, but now it seems that he couldn't even write a single question.
The provincial examination takes three days and two nights, because it is in the middle of summer, the sun is blazing in the sky during the day, the heat is unbearable, and mosquitoes are flying into the sky at night, making it difficult to guard against them.
If a person stays in that cramped examination room for a long time, he will feel very depressed.
So generally speaking, most people seize the time and answer questions quickly when they are in good condition.
But this guy actually wasted several hours on the first day and didn't accomplish anything.
The soldiers sighed that the scholars were miserable, fearing that they would just come to the examination room to serve as a stepping stone for others. However, Song Mu let out a long sigh. The thoughts in his mind were so clear that Song Mu even felt that the scorching heat in front of him was nothing.
After completely relaxing his mind and body, Song Mu sat back down in the examination room, relieved a little from the heat, and took out the answer sheet from the oiled paper bag.
Spreading it out on the table, Song Mu studied the ink quietly while organizing the words in his mind for the last time.
Waves of talent fluctuations were constantly coming from the surrounding examination rooms, and the literary stars on the altar were constantly vibrating, and green awns of literary power were blooming in all directions.
Song Mu began to write.
…
"Lao Yutou, you old guy, you don't have to look after your grandson today?"
Outside the examination hall, the sun was already setting, and a lot of time had passed since the exam started.
On the contrary, the number of people outside the examination hall not only did not decrease, but even increased a lot. The officers and soldiers continued to maintain order, and there were also officers who shuttled among the crowd, persuading those who were late to stop pushing forward.
"Yes, my son came back from school today. I can hurry up and take a look."
An old man with simple clothes and a kind face had placed a deck chair under an osmanthus tree. He was shaking a cattail leaf fan and talking to an old man sitting on the chair next to him.
"I think you have already thought about it, and you want to come and see this talented man's vision, right?"
The old man who spoke to him exposed Lao Yu's little thoughts with just one sentence, but Lao Yu didn't feel embarrassed. On the contrary, he was content with himself and choked the other man.
"Lao Lian, you are the same, aren't you?"
The two looked at each other and smiled, and then the old man continued to speak.
"In the past two years, I have been suffering from back pain and low energy. I have tried all kinds of medicines and supplements. The doctor asked me to come here to watch the ceremony and try my luck, so I hope it will be of some use."
Old Yutou explained the reason on his own, and the old Liantou also nodded and said.
"It's the same for me. I've had severe rheumatism in the past two years. It was a rainy day some time ago, and it was a bone-eroding pain. My old lady asked me to come here, saying that if that great poem could come out and nourish me, it would be better than ever.
Everything is fine!”
"It's just that I have to stay here all night, which is quite tiring."
The two of them laughed immediately, and the other people standing next to them also had expressions on their faces when they heard this. They looked towards the examination center with excitement.
It can be said that the charm of the Wen Dynasty examination has been reflected to the extreme here. People flocked to it. At best, it was to witness the prosperity of the Wen Dynasty. At worst, it was because there were tangible benefits.
The rural examinations and examinations are as close as ordinary people can get. Being able to observe the examination ceremony is a treatment that the people of Chang'an can enjoy. As for the palace examination ceremony, only the princes, nobles, the emperor and the mother of the country can enjoy it.
Everyone also knows best that the best time of the three-day exam is the day and night on the first day. Scholars are full of energy and can write mostly good articles and poems.
Since the exam started today, the literary star in the examination hall has flashed many times, but only the green light flashed, and no red light appeared yet.
This made everyone a little tired, but most of them just sat down and waited for something good to happen tonight.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I don’t know what will happen this year. Last time I came here, there were only three red lights, but the article I wrote is not of any benefit to us."
The sun has set, and the earth has finally received a hint of coolness. Lao Yutou and Lao Liantou are eating the dinner sent by their family. At this moment, the two of them moved their positions slightly to make room for a patient who was injured in a fall.
"Yes, this scholar's article is too mysterious to say the least. Sometimes you can't write a good article even if you give it a good title. Sometimes an irrelevant title can bring a lot of benefits to ordinary people like us."
"Think about that white hair turning into black hair. I have only heard about it once in my life."
"Lao Ge from Dongma Street went to Hangzhou thirty years ago to sell goods. He said that he had seen a local test of Hongmang. Everyone within a ten-mile radius was very strong. Now, he can still carry two bags of rice at a time!"
Old Yutou said this, his eyes full of envy, but he unconsciously turned his gaze to the examination hall next to him, and murmured at the moment.
"I don't know if I can see him again."
Lao Liantou was eating, and then he laughed twice and said that it didn't matter, people planned things, and God made things happen, and it would be useless to think too much.
Time turned and arrived at midnight in the evening. At this moment, soldiers stood everywhere outside the examination room holding torches in their hands. Among the people, there were officials holding oil lamps and burning insect-repelling incense, so that everyone could rest early.
Old Yutou was lying on the recliner, shaking the cattail leaf fan, and the insect-repellent incense beside him made people temporarily peaceful. Old Yutou looked at the sleeping Lao Liantou next to him, and then glanced again at the examination hall surrounded by high walls.
At that moment, he sighed softly and prepared to close his eyes and rest.
Maybe when I wake up, I will be blessed by Wen Li.
Old Yutou thought so, and at this moment, an extremely low buzzing sound suddenly sounded.
Lao Yutou opened his eyes suddenly, only to see a ray of cyan light suddenly coming towards him. Before he could even scream, several more rays came towards him.
People around him woke up one after another, and everyone stood up to look.
Lao Yutou also stood up quickly, and a few green lights flashed through. It seemed that everything was calm again. Just when everyone felt that it was a false alarm, a flash of red light suddenly flashed.
The next moment, an indescribable premonition came to my mind.
The cattail leaf fan in Old Yutou's hand suddenly fell down, his eyes widened in an instant, and he spoke immediately.