The imperial examination was about policy questions, and there were usually four questions. Gu Chengyu looked at the first question, which was about the emperor's politics and the emperor's heart.
The second question is about how to secure the country and the entire army, and the third and final question is about "raising military pay" and "river defense strategy."
When asking questions in the palace examination, you not only need to be knowledgeable, but also have the courage to express your own opinions directly and criticize the current shortcomings. You must put forward your own true knowledge and opinions. It is essential to be familiar with classics and history and to quote classics.
Gu Chengyu read the test questions and lowered his head in thought. The imperial examination only lasted for one day, and the paper had to be handed in at sunset. Time was tight, and he did not dare to overdo it, so he had to hurry up and write.
Spreading out the draft paper, Gu Chengyu dipped his brush in ink and then began to write. He had just conceived a rough framework, just write it down first, and then polish it up.
He picked up his pen and wrote, "I am correct:
I heard that when the emperor comes to control the interior of the house, there must be a manager who can control the people, and there are many intricate mechanisms, so that Yongxi's governance must have a solid spirit of advocacy, and then he can encourage all workers."
It was quiet all around, with only officials from the Ministry of Rites walking around to supervise. The Gongsheng students were either thinking hard or writing furiously. Gu Chengyu spent about an hour on the first question and wrote about 2,000 words eloquently.
After Gu Chengyu answered a question, he did not copy it immediately, but worked on the next question without stopping.
The way to secure the country and the entire army reminded Gu Chengyu of Sun Tzu's Art of War, who believed that the general direction should be grasped.
First, "cultivate the Tao and protect the law" refers to cultivating politics and ensuring the legal system, so that we can take the initiative in winning or losing the war, thereby achieving the strategic goal of "safeguarding the country and the entire army."
The second one is "enriching the people" and "consolidating the country". Of course, Gu Chengyu could not just copy it all, he had to add his own understanding and suggestions, and point out the various shortcomings in the Dayan Dynasty's implementation of Anguoquanjun.
Candidates must know the actual facts and policies clearly, otherwise they will not be able to answer the questions in the palace examination. After all, no one knows what will be asked in the examination questions.
These examination questions were jointly formulated by cabinet officials before being submitted to the emperor and finally selected by hand. Therefore, it is very important to vote for the emperor's preference.
Gu Chengyu knows that the emperor likes articles with gorgeous rhetoric but practicality. For most candidates, it is not easy to do this at the same time. Some candidates do not understand the actual facts, and the articles they write are superficial. At first glance, it seems
Below, the flowers are in clusters, like a beautiful article.
But as long as you read it carefully, you will find that it is not true at all. And this kind of article is exactly what the emperor hates the most. Even if your article is plain, as long as it is true, the emperor will give it a good ranking.
When it was noon, Gu Chengyu welcomed his lunch. Breakfast was also served in Baohe Hall and was eaten before the exam. Each person had four steamed buns and a bowl of soup. It was now noon, and the food was almost the same as in the morning.
, except that the steamed buns were replaced by cakes. Each person had four cakes, two pears, and a round of tea.
Gu Chengyu cursed in his heart. He didn't even dare to drink the soup because he was afraid of going to the toilet. For the palace exam, you have to hold it in even if you can't hold it in anymore. Disobedience will never be tolerated in front of the palace.
So Gu Chengyu only took a small sip of tea to moisten his throat. He didn't dare to eat pears. Pears were too watery, and he might have to go to the toilet soon after eating them. Gu Chengyu secretly raised his eyes and glanced to the side, and found that the other candidates hadn't touched the pear either.
After just one glance, Gu Chengyu looked away. He was the first, sitting at the first table, with no obstruction in front of him. As long as he looked around, he would be spotted by the invigilator immediately. In this Baohe Hall, Gu Chengyu was not yet
If you dare to make mistakes, otherwise you will be judged as cheating, then there is really no place to cry.
He was already conspicuous enough. Every time the officials passed by him, they would look at him vaguely, and some would even look at his draft paper as they passed by.
Of course, just a few glances, after all, they were afraid of being misunderstood as cheating together with Gu Chengyu. The previous fraud case put all the officials related to the imperial examination in danger, who would dare to go one step further?
Gu Chengyu knew that he was also a celebrity. Whether it was because of his talent or because of his chief assistant Xia Qing. He glanced at Min Feng on the right and saw that he had also attracted the attention of those officials because he was Xia Qing's junior disciple.
A bright yellow figure entered the Baohe Hall, and it was none other than Emperor Huiming. When the officials saw the emperor, they immediately saluted, and the emperor waved his hands to stop their noise. He was currently undergoing a palace examination, so naturally he could not make any big noise to disturb Gong Sheng's thoughts.
As soon as the emperor entered the Baohe Hall, he saw Gu Chengyu sitting in the first row. He looked at Gu Chengyu for a while, then walked around to the back, and as he walked, he glanced at the examination papers of the Gong students next to him.
It was already afternoon application time, and most people had completed the third question, and it was not far from the time to hand in the paper.
Some Gongsheng students were a little frightened when they saw the hem of bright yellow clothes with their peripheral vision, and almost made a wrong stroke. The emperor shook his head and walked forward.
Gu Chengyu had finished the fourth question and was about to start copying. He spread out the examination paper and Gu Chengyu took up his pen and wrote neatly in the pavilion style. The emperor walked gently behind Gu Chengyu and looked at Gu Chengyu's examination paper. When he saw it,
When I started writing, my face looked a little ugly.
Finally, when he saw that the draft paper had been densely written, and the answers to the four policy questions were vividly written on the paper, the emperor softened his expression. After all, he knew how to test for the first place. If he couldn't write, wouldn't he be slapped in the face?
He turned his attention to Gu Chengyu's draft paper. The fonts were beautiful and beautiful, evenly sized and arranged neatly. There were very few traces of alterations. It could be seen that he wrote it down in one breath, and he seemed to be confident.
Then he looked at the contents. Gradually, the emperor was attracted and stood behind Gu Chengyu for half a stick of incense. In fact, Gu Chengyu had long known that the emperor was standing behind him, but he did not look back. He was currently taking the imperial examination.
, he doesn’t need to stand up and salute.
Besides, he spent some time on the last two questions. Unavoidable accidents might happen, so he had better finish writing the test paper as soon as possible. Gu Chengyu wrote attentively, and the emperor also watched intently.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites looked at each other in confusion, and no noise was allowed in the hall. They exchanged a look of understanding, and then continued to patrol. Yu Zheng, the Minister of Rites, glanced at Gu Chengyu, who was concentrating on writing the examination paper, and couldn't help but have his thoughts changing.
Of course he recognized this Gu Chengyu. His wife almost caused a catastrophe because of her second daughter, and he only found out about it later. Fortunately, his disciple talked about it with him, otherwise he would have been kept in the dark. Think about it.
Cheating in the imperial examination is simply stupid.
There are countless ways to deal with someone, why do you have to choose the one with the highest risk? Gu Chengyu escaped the last fraud case, so he was lucky. Later, when Tong Zhouyi changed his ranking, he also contributed to it.