Dad was really anxious. He only stayed at home for one night and then returned to Hangzhou. He wanted to ask for leave from the Yamen, and then quickly went to Nanjing to establish connections.
My mother actually stayed at home, but not in Wang Gui's house, but in the old house. To this end, Wang Xian found someone to clean the house for a whole day. Those people also took it upon themselves to buy a lot of household items, which made my mother very happy.
On the second day after the decree was announced, Wei Zhixian came back from his ecstasy and remembered that Wang Xian had been wronged. He hurriedly asked Mr. Sima to find him and said warmly: "I have written a memorial to plead this matter with the court. I must
I’ll seek justice for you.” He paused and said, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken office.”
Wang Xian felt warm after hearing this. No matter what, Old Wei is a rare good leader. Unfortunately, no matter what, his days of being his lackey are coming to an end. He sincerely said to Magistrate Wei: "Teacher is now the magistrate of the world.
He is a role model and should not act on his own initiative."
"It makes sense..." Wei Zhixian said affectionately. "But as a teacher, I can't be sorry to you..."
"..." Wang Xian seemed a little sluggish, as if he was trying to shake off the burden. "Teacher, don't worry, it's better to take office as scheduled."
"No," Wei Zhixian said sternly: "I haven't fulfilled my responsibility as a teacher for a few days, so I have to pass on my life experience to you, so that I can go with peace of mind."
"Didn't you say that if you don't seek justice for me, you won't be able to take office?" Wang Xian sneered, but still said respectfully: "I'm afraid that the time is too short and the students will not have time to learn.
"For basic things, you can ask Han Jiaoyu to introduce a good teacher to you in the future." Wei Zhixian shook his head and said: "What I told you is something that many people can't understand."
"Students are all ears." Wang Xian pricked up his ears and said.
"Actually, the imperial examination..." Wei Zhixian recalled his ten years of hardship and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "That's what happened..."
'Pfft...' Wang Xian could hardly hold his breath. He really didn't expect that Mr. Daoxue would comment on the imperial examinations on which he relied for his livelihood.
"Do you know why the Eight-part Part Essay is tested?" Wei Zhixian asked: "Do you know why the Eight-Part Part Essay is based on the Four Books and Five Classics and is based on Zhu Xi's annotations?"
"In order to..." Wang Xian thought about what was said in the book six hundred years later, and replied: "In order to speak for the saints, in order to make Neo-Confucianism a prominent school."
"Wrong. You think too much." Wei Zhixian said surprisingly: "It's just to facilitate the exam." He paused and said: "Although the imperial examination tests eight-legged essays, interpretation of scriptures, and historical theory, sometimes it also tests
Poetry is tested, but the only thing that is really used to judge the ranking is the eight-part essay. Because the eight-part essay has a strict format, it is fixed which sentence should be written. If the format is wrong, all the essays will be rejected, which greatly reduces the burden on the marking officer."
"Oh." Wang Xian nodded and heard Wei Zhixian continue: "There are also questions on the Four Books and Five Classics in the Eight-part Essay, but the examiner actually only looks at the three questions on the Four Books in the first section. They can even narrow the scope further - the first section and the first section.
The four questions of the article are the key to determining whether it is accepted! If this article is well done, it will definitely be accepted. If this article is not done well, the other articles will be unreliable and no one will read them."
Wang Xian understood that because the examiner had too much workload in grading, he only read the first eight-part essay and ignored the other articles.
It must be a four-book title.
"Why is it the title of the Four Books instead of the Five Classics? It's because Zhu Xi only annotated the Four Books and not the Five Classics." Wei Zhixian added: "The Four Books and the Five Classics are all words of sages. Each scholar has a different understanding of the subtle meanings. This is
It's okay when doing academic work, but if it's an exam, it will be messed up, so there must be a standard answer to judge... The standard answer is Zhu Xi's annotation." After speaking, he looked at Wang Xian and asked: "Have you also read ""
"Collected Commentary on the Four Books", do you think it is easy to understand?"
"It's really hard to understand..." Wang Xian said with a bitter smile: "In many places, I don't know what the saints are talking about, let alone what the profound words of the saints mean. So I have never had confidence."
"You don't need to understand at all. I still don't understand many things." Wei Zhixian shook his head and smiled: "But as long as it is said by a saint, it will not be wrong, so you must not get into trouble, just recite and understand. Even Zhu Xi
Even if you say that coal is white and snow is black, you have to believe it. If you have to refute it and go into it, it will not only waste precious time, but it will definitely not bring good results. Because Zhu Xi is absolutely correct in the world of imperial examinations. So.
When writing an article, just copy it."
"I'm afraid it's not enough to just memorize the Four Books and Zhu Xi's annotations. Eight-legged essay is really too difficult." Wang Xian thought about it and said: "Students heard that doing eight-part essay well requires ten years of hard work."
"There are tricks." Wei Zhixian whispered like a thief: "Sin, sin, sin. In fact, if it is purely a trick, you don't even need to memorize Zhu Xi's annotations. You only need to learn the format of the eight-legged essay, and then repeatedly figure out the Superintendent
For the writing style of the composition, choose those eight-legged essays with sharp new words and sentences, and recite several essays a day. After you have memorized 500 essays, you can enter the examination room."
Wang Xian was dumbfounded. The imperial examination, which was sacred and unattainable in his eyes, was brutally deconstructed by Teacher Wei...
"The truth is actually very simple. How many sentences are there in the four books? There are less than a thousand sentences that are suitable for questions. Over and over again, it never changes from its original meaning, which is about five hundred questions." If he didn't really want to repay Wang Xian, Wei Zhixian
Nor will we tear off all the seemingly profound outer layers of the imperial examination and tell him the truth about eight-legged essays in selecting scholars. Because this is also tearing off the bright outer layers of scholars, revealing the pale and ridiculous connotations.
For Wei Zhixian, this was sacrificing his own face to teach Wang Xian. If Wang Xian could not appreciate his painstaking efforts, Wei Zhixian would really vomit blood.
Fortunately, Wang Xian understood. He looked at Weizhi County with emotion and remembered every word he said. That was the shortcut to the end of the road to the scholar's father-in-law!
"When it's time for the exam, you will transfer these eight-part essays that you are familiar with and combine them into a essay. As long as the essay is on the topic, the format will not be wrong, and the literary talent and content are guaranteed, such an eight-part essay will definitely get high marks.
Even if the master doesn't let you go, you will still be admitted." Wei Zhixian sighed: "As a teacher, I don't want to teach you to be opportunistic. If possible, I still hope that you can study with your true talents and pass the exam. Unfortunately, it's a long time before the college exam.
There are only ten months left, it’s too late to follow the plan step by step, so we have to take shortcuts.”
"Teacher, is this method really brilliant?" Wang Xian suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, although he lacked literary talent.
My memory is very good, otherwise I would not be able to pass the exam. Although it is difficult to memorize 500 Cheng essays in ten months, it is much more reliable than selling eight-part essays first.
"Would I lie to you as a teacher?" Wei Zhixian sighed again: "To be honest, Jiangxi, my hometown, is a well-known secret to scholars, so there are particularly many Jinshi in Jiangxi. In fact, some in Hangzhou
The officials, gentry and country officials also knew this secret, but they all thought that the fewer people knew about it, the better, so they all kept it secret."
Wang Xian nodded, silent in his heart. In this era, there was no Internet or newspapers, and people's lives were very closed-minded. Those poor scholars who only knew how to study hard behind closed doors and never participated in activities such as cultural gatherings in provincial cities had no way of knowing these things.
We can only work hard, but it will inevitably fail...
"In the past few days, I will teach you how to write eight-legged essays." Wei Zhixian added: "As for the five hundred contemporary essays, it will be up to my teacher to select them for you. All you have to do is study hard and recite them."
"Yes..." Wang Xian saluted respectfully. He saw the possibility of becoming a scholar for the first time, but he was greedy and asked: "By the way, teacher, can I use this method to become a scholar?"
"It's okay to just be a scholar, but if you go further... Zhejiang is a cultural and educational province like Jiangxi. Examination and examination are like thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. This trick alone is not enough." Wei Zhixian thought about it and said:
"But that's not necessarily the case. It depends on luck."
"Haha..." Wang Xian retracted his ambition and said: "For someone like me who hasn't studied for a few days, it's already great to be a scholar. I can't expect anything else."
"That said, you are still so young. How can you not take the exam in the next few decades?" Wei Zhixian said seriously: "Opportunism is only a temporary measure. After you are selected as a scholar, you still need to calm down and study hard to have both.
Only with real materials can we make great progress and make further progress!”
"The students have been taught." Wang Xian responded respectfully.
In the following days, he took some time to learn Bagu from Weizhixian. Weizhixian said it was easy, but it was actually not difficult for him. In fact, this was not an easy task, especially for Wang Xian, who had zero basic knowledge...
Fortunately, he was born with tenacity, and after more than ten days, he was able to gradually master the method of eight-legged writing.
Time flies, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching in a blink of an eye. Dad is back from the capital. Looking at the smile on his face, I know there is good news to be announced.
In Wang Xian's longing, his father had enough trouble, and Fang smiled and said: "It turns out that we were worried in vain. My brother in the official department said that your official report has indeed been written, but when it was about to be submitted, it was unexpectedly
Lord Shangshu is leaving in person. He said that my son is a talented person and needs to be rearranged."
"Then where was the son rearranged?" Wang Xian asked.
"This was arranged personally by Lord Shangshu. My brother... is just an official after all, and it's impossible to know unless he handles it." Dad said, "But since Lord Tianguan personally arranged it, it will definitely not be bad.
!Otherwise, it would be so shameless!" He drooled again: "Maybe, we should directly let my son be the county magistrate..."
Wang Xian couldn't help but smile bitterly, his father was too capable of adultery... But he was very happy when he heard that his father had prepared two thousand taels of silver and only spent two hundred taels on entertainment, without losing any money.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, documents from the Ministry of Civil Affairs arrived in the county. At that time, Wang Xian was at home on leave, reciting the instructions given by the magistrate of Wei. He saw Qin Shou and others rushing into the house and helping him change his clothes.
Then he was stuffed into a sedan chair, carried and rushed to the county government office.