I

In the winter of the first year of Chongzhen, there were two feet of snow in Qianshan County, and countless people and livestock froze to death.

Compared to Shaanxi, it is already paradise.

The drought in Shaanxi continues, and the central court has not even sent out commissioners to inspect the disaster, let alone disaster relief.

Moreover, the court continued to press for taxes.

Emperor Chongzhen was merciful and exempted the tax owed three years ago, but the tax arrears for the sixth and seventh years of Apocalypse still had to be paid. It was even more outrageous in the first year of Chongzhen. Not to mention the severe drought in the whole province of Shaanxi, he actually owed 52,000 taels of taxes. He simply did not give the new emperor face!

Tax, continue to levy, and Liao’s salary must be collected in full!

In the blink of an eye, it was already the second year of Chongzhen.

Just after the Lantern Festival holiday, Emperor Chongzhen summoned the ministers of the cabinet to rule on the case of "Wei Zhongxian's conspiracy".

Although Han Xu, the newly appointed chief assistant, is a leader of the Donglin Party, he does not want to continue to engage in party struggle and demands that the list of eunuchs be limited to 50 people.

Emperor Chongzhen was not happy and said that there must be some fish that slipped through the net.

Han Xu withstood the pressure from all parties and still did not want to expand. The second time he gave the list of eunuchs, there were still only a few dozen people.

Emperor Chongzhen finally got angry and personally formulated various crimes. Anyone who flattered Wei Zhongxian was considered an eunuch!

The chief assistant, Han Xu, had no choice but to submit a list of 258 eunuchs.

Emperor Chongzhen was still suspicious and kept placing factory guards spies, which made people panic for a while.

Party strife?

After being manipulated like this by Chongzhen, the court could no longer play partisanship. Cleaning up the eunuchs was just an excuse. The real target was the Donglin Party. Ministers who are good at figuring out the holy will are making intensive preparations in private. As long as they wait for a good opportunity to take action, they can overthrow the Donglin Party cabinet in one fell swoop.

From a certain point of view, Chongzhen was also a master of political fighting, and he gained supreme authority by eliminating and fighting.

…

Spring March.

Zhao Han took a boat to Qianshan County to participate in the boy examination with Fei Ruhe.

He originally didn't want to take the imperial examination, but Fei Yinghuan persuaded him to give it a try, and Pang Chunlai also advised him to take the exam.

In order to qualify for the examination, Zhao Han temporarily changed his name to Fei Han, and finally changed from a black household to an adopted son, and his household registration was recorded in the official household registration of the Fei family.

The day before the county examination, everyone stayed in the county seat.

The fellow exam takers were Fei Ruhe and Xu Ying. Although Fei Chun was also a book boy, he was not even qualified to take the exam.

Everyone got up in the middle of the night and came to wait outside the examination room early. At dawn, their identities were checked to enter.

The examination conditions in Qianshan County are very good. There is no need to bring your own examination table and bench, let alone use the county government office as a temporary examination room.

Fei Ruhe paid the debt and complained: "Why haven't you opened the door for inspection? I'm still waiting to go in to catch up on my sleep."

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Testing for a whole day is enough for you to sleep."

Fei Ruhe sighed and said, "Oh, I just finished studying The Analects of Confucius, and I haven't read Mencius or Doctrine of the Mean. Dad insists that I take the Shen Tongzi test!"

"Didn't your family help you buy a notice to the county?" Zhao Han teased in a low voice.

Fei Ruhe rubbed his fat face and said, "What's the use of buying a county notice? I passed the county exam and I'm still a schoolboy. If you want to be a child student, you have to bribe the prefect as well."

Zhao Han turned around and asked Xu Ying: "How sure are you?"

Xu Ying shook her head and said: "I'm not even sure. I started my studies too late and haven't finished studying Mencius yet. If my husband hadn't asked me to take the exam, I would definitely take it again next year."

"It's for your own good to take the exam this year, so as not to be unfamiliar with everything next year. Don't be nervous, just come and visit the exam studio." Zhao Han comforted him.

Outside the examination room, only Fei Chun followed.

Fei Yinghuan has also come, and Qin Xin, Jian Dan, and Jiupo are all there. Now they are all fast asleep in the inn, saying that they will go to Shitang Town to visit friends at dawn.

As for his son's exam, Fei Yinghuan didn't bother to take care of it and just took a one-day trip to the examination room.

The only role of Mr. Fei is to find a few scholars to jointly provide insurance for Zhao Han and others.

At dawn, candidates began to enter the venue.

The officer confirmed Zhao Han's identity and let him in for a body search.

The county examination is just a fool's errand. You don't even need to take off your clothes. You can just touch them a few times to show off. It doesn't matter if someone is cheating anyway.

After entering the examination room, Zhao Han quickly grabbed a seat, making sure not to be next to the toilet.

Suddenly it began to rain lightly. Zhao Han took the time to nail the tarpaulin. After everything was done, half of his body was already wet.

sleep!

Zhao Han and Fei Ruhe were not far apart. They didn't take the exam seriously and fell asleep on the table almost at the same time.

Only Xu Ying was nervous and forgot that she was here for a day trip.

The morning light was slightly bright, and Zhao Han was woken up.

The officer held the question board and walked between the examination booths. The light was too dark to see clearly, and he had to wait for the officer to get closer.

Two questions, only four books are tested, and the time is one day.

Zhao Han took a closer look, what was there?

The first one is easier to say: Master said.

The second course was outrageous: not much food.

When Fei Ruhe saw the title, he immediately scratched his head.

The question "Confucius said" must come from "The Analects of Confucius". But the whole article is full of "Confucius said", which makes people have no idea where to start, and they don't know from which angle to solve the problem.

The fat man thought for a long time and decided to do the second question first.

After thinking about it for a while, my thoughts started to flow, and I wrote down the following question: Don't eat too much, otherwise you will get fat!

What a wonderful break, Fei Ruhe has already begun to indulge in himself.

Xu Ying's side.

It’s also impossible to start with “Confucius said” because it’s everywhere in the Analects, as if you’re being asked to prove “1+1=2”.

Looking at "Not Much to Eat" again, Xu Ying immediately laughed. This question is very simple.

Zhao Han's situation was just the opposite. When he saw "Zi Yue", he immediately thought of Su Shi's heroic writings.

When he was in college, although he didn't recite the entire text, he still remembered the opening sentences and copied them directly to solve the problem: An ordinary person can be a teacher for hundreds of generations, and a single word can become a law for the world.

The next few sentences continue to plagiarize Su Shi's original text.

I copied it over and over, but then forgot about it, so I started scratching my head and adding words here and there to the paper.

After struggling for a quarter of an hour, I finally got together 200 words, and after a few minor revisions, I started copying them onto the answer sheet.

Next question: Not much food.

Zhao Han couldn't remember the original text for a while, but he could make inferences.

Confucius was a foodie. There are many topics about eating in The Analects of Confucius. This question probably also comes from The Analects of Confucius.

After thinking hard for a while, I finally remembered that the original sentence should be "Don't eat ginger, don't eat too much."

It can be understood as: Confucius liked to eat ginger, and he would eat it every meal, but not too much.

It can also be understood as: ginger can clear your mind, and other foods have been removed. Ginger can stay, but you cannot eat too much.

Zhu Xi's explanation is: Jiang connects the gods and can remove evil. Confucius did not eat too much because he was not greedy.

This is a cross-section question. It is very difficult to solve the question. You cannot mention the words before and after, and you must express the relevant content.

Zhao Han thought for a long time and finally wrote: Observing the precepts and self-examination is the way for a saint to cultivate himself.

It was a great idea to solve the topic, but unfortunately the rest was difficult to solve. Zhao Han scribbled it out and copied it into the paper after gathering 200 words.

It's still early, but four people have already submitted their papers.

Zhao Han was the fifth one. He was about to put down his papers and leave, but Magistrate Feng stopped him.

"What's your advice to the county magistrate?" Zhao Han asked, cupping his hands.

Feng Xun stroked his beard and said, "Why are you leaving? Wait!"

Zhao Han was standing nearby, and a buddy was attending an interview.

Feng Xun came up with a first couplet, and the buddy answered quickly, and was happily allowed to leave, as if he had been accepted on the spot.

There was no need to reveal your name in the county examination. Feng Xun took a look and asked, "Which Fei family does it belong to?"

"Goose Lake." Zhao Han replied.

"Who are you, Fei Dazhao?" Feng Xun asked again.

Zhao Han said: "My father."

Feng Xun instantly became friendly and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is a great talent, I believe you are not bad at all. Let me take a look at the magnificent article."

Zhao Han was speechless. This county examination was too ridiculous. Didn't he avoid suspicion at all?

Feng Xun glanced at the topic, and suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Wonderful, wonderful! A common man can be a teacher for hundreds of generations, and one word can make the world a law. A true tiger father has no dog son!"

Zhao Han was dumbfounded. Hasn't this county magistrate read Su Shi's articles?

The first six sentences of our eight-part essay are copied from the original text by Su Shi!

Many scholars in the late Ming Dynasty did not even memorize the Four Books and Five Classics, let alone the prose of the Tang and Song Dynasties. They directly wrote about sea tactics and memorized various model essays.

Even the great talent Qian Qianyi only began to truly study ancient prose after serving as an official for many years, and quickly became a new leader in the literary world. Before that, although he knew about the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties, he had not read the prose of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan.

Feng Xun read the second article, clapped his hands again and said, "Fei has given birth to Qilin'er!"

Then, Magistrate Feng began to worry. The first person in the case had been decided, and the second person was also selected. No matter how good Zhao Han's eight-part essay is, he can only be ranked third, which is a real injustice to this child prodigy.

Feng Xun warned: "Go home and prepare for the imperial examination."

Zhao Han was a little confused. I was admitted on the spot?

Isn’t it said that the Jiangxi imperial examination is difficult? I haven’t finished studying the four books yet!