"Have you heard? The fairy went to seek immortality and seek enlightenment. She can no longer ask for fortune or misfortune for us!"
"My grandma cried for half the night last night, regretting not asking about the future."
"well……"
No one knows about the battle inside Xiangu Temple.
But for more than a month since then, there has been an undercurrent surging throughout Yongzhou and even Jinghu South Road.
Huang Shang didn't know the specific operations of Wuque and Nightingale, but judging from their activities day and night, almost all the officials and gentry had been visited.
Even if ordinary people discover the true face of Fairy Girl, if they dare to take advantage of the powerful, they will definitely end up miserable.
But what kind of person is the star reincarnation? With a few tricks, those people can be controlled and docile.
The He family and the Mingjiao behind them spent a lot of effort to build a network of contacts, but they were just used by them.
After that, just cover the lid.
The Xiangu Temple, which had a large number of believers and was extremely fanatical before, suddenly left after receiving a letter from the temple.
Facts have proved that no one in this world can survive without others.
During this period, Huang Shang only returned home once and then moved out.
Because we want to prevent Mingjiao's revenge.
He and Zhu Yan were not dead, but were imprisoned.
Their disappearance can be considered as apostasy.
However, the movements of high-level officials in various states and counties are clearly showing a hostile message to Mingjiao.
Mingjiao will definitely be angry and fight back.
Wuque and Nightingale did not take it lightly. At this juncture, they could not distract themselves from protecting Huang Shang and his family.
In this way, everyone is happy.
While Samsara was busy, Huang Shang stayed in a Taoist temple and studied hard.
It is normal for scholars to stay in temples before taking exams.
The Taoist temple is not like the Buddhist temple where people come and go. Huang Shang is happy to be quiet, reading and practicing, and making final preparations for the exam.
At this time he was studying "Mencius".
Later generations collectively called the Tao of Confucius and Mencius, and called the two together, but in the Song Dynasty, Mencius had not actually reached that level.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, Mencius was only one of the sages of Confucianism and was not outstanding. Until Han Yu came out, he praised Mencius and founded the Theory of Taoism, saying that the Confucian Taoism was transmitted from Yao to Shun, Shun to Yu, Yu to Tang, Tang to Wen, Wu, and Zhou Gong.
, Wen, Wu, Zhou Gong passed it on to Confucius, and finally Confucius passed it on to Mencius.
In this way, Mencius' status is very different.
By the way, when later generations summarized the eight great masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, Han Yu's status was quite special.
Because in literature, Han Yu was the pioneer of the classical prose movement.
In terms of Confucianism, Han Yu was the origin of many schools of Song Dynasty.
You must know that during the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism were prosperous, but Confucianism was actually in decline.
It was Han Yu who came into the world and revitalized Confucianism.
Under Zhang Zai, whenever his classmates mentioned Han Yu, they all called him Han Zi, which shows their respect for him.
Even so, current scholars have two completely different views on Mencius.
For example, Sima Guang disliked Mencius very much and even wrote "Doubts about Mencius".
"Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" can be called a textbook on imperial studies. Naturally, he would not like Mencius's view that the people value the monarch over others. This is true for all the great Confucian scholars of his school."
"And my teacher Zhang Zai respected Mencius, and Wang Anshi also respected Mencius. These are all supporters."
"Well, we need to investigate clearly which faction the examiner is from this time."
There is no doubt that Huang Shang is classifying the examiners.
His knowledge has arrived.
The next step is to figure out the examiner.
This is important.
Don't think that there won't be any problems in solving the test. It's really hard to say whether the king of hell is easy to meet, the devil is difficult to deal with, or the boat capsizes in the gutter.
For example, if the examiner hates Mencius, but you praise Mencius lavishly between the lines, it will definitely cause trouble for you.
Not only Mencius, but also many aspects may be taboo.
An exam is an exam and requires flexibility.
Huang Shang knows very well that only by achieving success and fame can he better realize his ideals.
Instead of eagerly expressing your thoughts and ambitions in a test paper.
As for the examiner's status, how to obtain it?
It doesn't matter, aren't there reincarnations...
Sure enough, Huang Shang just asked for advice, and Nightingale immediately went to work diligently.
In just one night, the detailed information of the Yongzhou examiner was placed on the table.
…
…
August.
The triennial imperial examination has finally begun.
In front of Yongzhou Gongyuan, a fence has already been built around it.
Wuque and Nightingale, who were seeing Huang Shang off, could only go to the gate and wave to him repeatedly, just like parents sending their children to take the college entrance examination, with eagerness in their eyes.
Huang Shang entered the gate and saw all the scholars waiting to enter and the patrols maintaining order.
Among them were junior officials in charge of examinations, who lined up in front of the Gongyuan gate, each holding a sign in their hands, just like picking someone up at the airport.
Someone yelled with a loud voice: "According to your name, find the corresponding examination administrator, stand in line, and enter the venue one by one in a quarter of an hour!"
The scholars lined up in a chaotic manner, and some were so nervous that they were sweating profusely.
After a period of confusion, everyone finally stood up and the gate of the Gongyuan was opened. The second batch of subordinate officials had been waiting for a long time and began to compare the rosters.
They strictly check the candidates' name, place of origin, age, appearance, etc.
This is just in case someone takes the exam for you.
After everyone had verified their identity, the subordinate who was playing cards took them further inside, but they still did not enter the examination room.
In the shed on the right, he said to the students with a straight face: "Before paying homage to the Holy Master, you must take a shower and change clothes. You have a cup of tea, and then go to the exit to collect your belongings."
Everyone, including Huang Shang, began to take off their clothes neatly.
At first glance, this seems strange. There is also a shower in the examination room?
In fact, this is a means of preventing entrainment.
Throughout the ages, entrainment has been the best way to cheat, and there are endless tricks that make it difficult to guard against.
Therefore, when candidates in the Tang Dynasty entered the venue, they not only had to check the items they carried, but also had to be searched carefully from top to bottom, inside and outside, and their hands were inevitably raised and lowered during the process.
In the Song Dynasty, the power of literati increased greatly, and the scholar-bureaucrats thought this was an insult to their character, so they came up with a way to bathe.
In this way, while the scholars wash themselves inside, the invigilators can check outside.
It can prevent abuse and is not disrespectful.
Of course, this was the Song Dynasty that was extremely kind to literati, so it was time-consuming and labor-intensive.
In the Ming Dynasty, just take off all your clothes, stand up obediently, and search everything clean in the sound of freedom.
Huang Shang felt very lucky.
Entering the bathhouse, he found that it was somewhat similar to that of later generations.
On the top of the head are several thick bamboo tubes with rows of fine holes for spraying water.
Not only is the shower, the water temperature is also very moderate, much better than many people's homes.
Huang Shang took a hot bath with great nostalgia, dried himself with a towel, and received the clothes specially provided by Gongyuan to put on.
When all the candidates gathered in the square refreshed and refreshed, the examiner, Bachelor Guo, appeared in front of the candidates wearing a crimson official robe.
On top of the incense table, the statue of the Holy Immortal Master has already stood quietly.
If heaven does not give birth to Zhongni, eternity will be like a long night.
The other candidates looked at the examiner. After all, the real person who controls their destiny is a living person.
But Huang Shang looked at Confucius without blinking.