Chapter 97: A gentleman's guard, promotion to the eighth rank
June 15th.
Today is the day for the imperial examination. Du Ning took part in the imperial examination of Changxing Prefecture at the Prefectural Liberal Arts Academy.
Changxing Prefecture is the closest prefecture to Suzhou and is also the capital of Suzhou. It is very famous.
It is extremely challenging to compete with students from Changxing Prefecture.
Early in the morning, the state liberal arts college was already crowded with people.
It is the hottest weather in June at this time. Fortunately, scholars are talented and can withstand all kinds of hot weather and cold weather.
Students taking the government examination lined up outside the hospital to be inspected by soldiers to prevent anyone from bringing in cheat sheets.
"You still remember the last time the Ke family came to Suzhou to fight, right? I heard that after Ke Changzhi and the others returned to China, the people of Liao Kingdom smashed their doors with rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves the next day. The reputation of the Ke family was completely bad.
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"Really or not? The common people smashed the door with rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves. Only a notorious family can cause such public outrage!"
"It's not because the Ke family lost so miserably. Now scholars in the literary circles of various countries are publishing articles mocking the Ke family, saying that the Ke family has completely disgraced the semi-saint family."
"Moreover, I also heard that the Ke family has announced that Ke Honglong will be expelled from the Semi-Saint Family and will never be able to recognize his ancestor."
"What? Although he is a concubine, he is also a serious member of the Ke family. How can a semi-saint family do something so mean? I think Ke Honglong is much more upright than those Ke family students."
"The Ke family is fighting for power within the family. Jealousy about Ke Honglong's talent would threaten the direct lineage, so they took advantage of this turmoil to expel him from the family. The Ke family is short-sighted and will eventually regret what they have done."
Students in nearby Suzhou were talking about it. To this day, Du Ning Wendou's defeat of the Ke family students of Liao Dynasty is still a very hot topic among Suzhou people.
When the candidates arrived, the examiner led the candidates to the temple to pay homage to the saints.
After the ceremony, many candidates entered the examination room one after another.
The students entered the viewing hall and sat in their respective examination booths, consciously keeping quiet.
Before I knew it, it was almost noon.
"Winter! Winter! Winter!"
The bell rang and the examiner handed out the test papers.
There are a total of fifty test papers for the prefectural examination, which is a full 18 more than the county examination.
The time for handing in papers has been extended to the morning of the next day. During this period, the state liberal arts college will be responsible for the meals of the candidates.
Du Ning checked the test papers first and found that most of them were Confucian works and famous articles written by saints from various countries, which occupied a large amount of the test papers.
A small part of the test paper tests poetry, and the scores for this part are not that high.
Finally, I have to write two articles, one is about the meaning of the scripture, and the other is about the policy.
The scores of these two articles will determine the candidate's ranking in the imperial examination.
Du Ning browsed briefly and found that the content of the previous test questions was basically taught in the classes of Suzhou Liberal Arts College, and he could do it with his own knowledge.
So, Du Ning decided to write about the classics and policy theory first. After all, this was the content of the main examination, and it accounted for a larger portion of the score.
As long as the classic meaning and policy theory are completed, even if the previous test papers are not finished at the last time, it will not have a big impact on the overall score.
If you complete the previous test questions first and fail to complete the following articles in the last time, you will be directly screened by the examiner and dropped from the list.
When examiners screen the results of government examinations, they basically first check whether they have completed the classics and policy theory, and then review the previous examination papers.
Du Ning first wrote the meaning of the scripture, titled "The Gentleman's Guarding".
"A gentleman's guarding and cultivating his body will bring peace to the world."
Du Ning quickly thought of this sentence, which comes from "Mencius: Part 2 of the wholehearted chapter, Section 32".
The meaning of this sentence is that by cultivating yourself with the conduct of a gentleman, you can make the world peaceful.
Du Ning also thought of what is said in "Book of Rites and Great Learning": In ancient times, those who wanted to bring virtue to the world should first rule their country; those who wanted to rule their country, first managed their families; those who wanted to bring order to their families, first cultivated their own bodies;
If you want to cultivate your body, you must first rectify your mind; if you want to rectify your mind, you must first be sincere in your intention; if you want to be sincere in your intention, you must first gain knowledge, and knowledge lies in studying things.
After observing things, one will know, and after knowing one's mind, one will be sincere, one's mind will be sincere, then one's mind will be upright, one's heart will be right, then one will cultivate one's body, one will cultivate one's body, then one's family will be in order, one's family will be in order, then the country will be in order, and after the country is in order, the world will be at peace.
Cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world!
Many scholars use it as an epitaph.
This can be quoted as an idea.
But then Du Ning thought that it would be too superficial to cite scriptures to solve the problem.
If you can quote the Book of Rites yourself, others will also quote you.
In comparison, no matter what, I am inferior, and it is difficult to sublimate the meaning of this scripture and make myself stand out.
So Du Ning came back to think about it and found that the key to this question should be the meaning of "a gentleman's protection" itself, rather than the subsequent "cultivation of one's body and peace of the world".
"It's so dangerous, this is a trap, I almost fell into it."
Du Ning breathed a sigh of relief. Once any candidate is self-righteous and writes and explains the following "cultivate oneself and the world is peaceful" and forgets the meaning of "a gentleman's protection", then no matter how fancy the article is written, it will be directly
Failed because that article has strayed from the topic.
"What is a gentleman's protection?"
Du Ning meditated on the spot, pondering these four words carefully.
"The conduct of a gentleman, regardless of the original text of Mencius, can be understood literally as a gentleman's conduct. It may also be a principle that a gentleman must abide by. Expanding around this, we can think of many things that a gentleman should abide by." "Integrity refers to a person's moral character and integrity. It is the foundation of how one behaves in the world. It is precisely because of this 'foundation' that one can cultivate one's character, manage the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world."
"A gentleman's defense is the manifestation of a gentleman's moral character and behavioral norms!"
"Just four words contain the way to deal with people. It can be used to cultivate one's self and family, and it can be used to govern a country and bring peace to the world. How wonderful!"
Du Ning was full of literary thoughts, enlightened, and took up his pen to answer.
"Every gentleman's guarding is the virtue of a scholar and the foundation of self-cultivation and cultivation. He must persist in guarding and persevere..."
Du Ning did not add the sentence "cultivate one's body and the world will be peaceful" in the original text of "Mencius", but explained "a gentleman's defense" based on his own insights.
Because "a gentleman's guard" is the foundation of "cultivating one's body and bringing peace to the world". Without this "gentleman's guard", that is, without the moral character and behavioral norms of a gentleman as the basis, it is impossible for a scholar to allow himself
By cultivating one's moral character, it is impossible to harmonize the family, let alone achieve the great goal of governing the country and bringing peace to the world.
Du Ning did not write a long essay, but used the simplest words to explain the subtle principles, making the article fit the theme and central idea.
After writing the scriptures and meanings, I will be able to control the country.
A pure talent burst out, went straight into Du Ning's literary palace, and turned into a new star.
"Bang!"
Du Ning felt that his bottleneck had been broken through, and his talent and strength had doubled. His flowing talent turned into a "river", flowing continuously around Wen Gong.
"Confucianism and Taoism have been promoted to the eighth rank of Juren!"
Du Ning was overjoyed. After comprehending the "Gentleman's Guard", he actually took the opportunity to break through the bottleneck and advance to the eighth rank.
It is indeed the teachings of a saint. Even if you have a superficial understanding, you can benefit a lot.
"Every time Confucianism and Taoism are promoted to a higher level, the talent and power will grow by leaps and bounds. It is impossible to make talents as strong as a river by ordinary people. You must at least become a Jinshi. That means my talent and power are already equivalent to those of a Confucianism and Taoism Jinshi.
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Du Ning knew that the reason why his talent and strength were far superior to ordinary people was closely related to the stars in the Wen Palace.
Whether you are writing poetry, composing lyrics, or reading articles and works, as long as the stars in the literary palace increase, your talent and strength will increase.
If things go on like this, Du Ning will have a great advantage in both civil and civil fights.
Suddenly, Du Ning discovered that in the river-like talent, a silvery shadow appeared, like the bright moonlight at night.
"Talent gives birth to a sword!"
Du Ning was even more happy.
There is a watershed between the eighth-rank Juren and the seventh-rank Jinshi. Although there is only one rank difference between the Juren and the Jinshi, the difference in strength is like a world of difference.
Jinshi can form ancient swords in the Wen Palace, and can kill people in an instant. Even if a dozen or so ministers surround a Jinshi, it is not enough for the Jinshi to kill with the ancient sword.
Usually only Jinshi can give birth to ancient swords, and a period of sword pregnancy is needed here.
But Du Ning, because of his immense talent and strength, entered the sword pregnancy period early.
When Du Ning is promoted to Jinshi in the future, he will definitely be able to form the Wen Gong Ancient Sword in the river of talents. In this aspect, he will be stronger than ordinary scholars in the early stage of Jinshi.
Du Ning was excited. He had just entered the sword pregnancy period and the Wen Gong Ancient Sword had not yet taken shape. After the talent was solidified, the Wen Gong Ancient Sword would gradually gain edge.
When you become a Jinshi, the Wen Gong Ancient Sword will definitely become a master. You can join the military to practice, you can also go into battle to kill the enemy and serve the country, and you can do many great things.
If anyone dares to jump out and provoke, he will directly convince him with his "sword" and teach him how to be a good person.
Du Ning withdrew his spiritual thoughts and exited the Wen Palace to calm down the excitement in his heart. He was still in the middle of the exam, but he couldn't let this joyful mood go to his head.
After reading this sutra from beginning to end and making sure that there was nothing that needed to be revised, Du Ning wrote his name.
It's afternoon now, and when you're immersed in exams, it usually feels like time flies by.
Du Ning began to write policy papers.
I saw that the title of the policy paper only had two words.
Rule the country!
Du Ning opened his eyes wide with an incredible expression.
The general strategy is to raise current issues in the court in the examination paper, allowing candidates to provide suggestions based on their own knowledge, that is, to provide solutions.
However, this year's government examination policy report only has the word "governing the country".
Du Ning pondered on the spot and understood it literally, asking candidates to explain their own philosophy of governing the country based on their own knowledge and knowledge.
If you were asked to govern a country, how would you govern it?