Nightwatcher

Chunwei's examination room is a small black room in a row, called "Haoshe". After the students enter, the trumpeter in charge of supervision will padlock the door, leaving only a small window for delivering the test papers.

Throughout the day, the students ate, drank, and ate in the small black room.

The candlelight was like beans, and the small room was stained yellow. Xu Erlang sat by the desk, poured water into the inkstone, and slowly ground it.

There is still a long time before the exam, and this time is enough for him to calm down and think about something.

Since ancient times, the imperial examinations have emphasized classics and righteousness, and despised poetry and fu. In addition, the Dafeng poetry circle has been weakened for a long time, so this will be the last test. For most students, it is just a formality.

When he was just admitted to the hospital, the students he knew were talking and laughing at Yan Yan, feeling at ease. Unlike the previous two games, his face was serious and his mentality was tense, as if he was about to put on armor to go into battle.

However, others can relax, Xu Erlang knows that he cannot be negligent.

He is a student of Yunlu Academy. According to the attitude of the princes of the court towards the students of Yunlu Academy, after being awarded a Jinshi, he will either be dispatched to a remote village, or he will not be given official status for a long time and will be hidden away.

Xu Erlang has his own ambitions. He neither wants to be dispatched to a remote village, nor does he want to stay in Beijing.

"The road ahead is long." Xu Xinian sighed.

At this time, the trumpeter outside the door knocked on the small window, and said in a low voice, "Master, the paper is here."

Those who participated in Chunwei were all Juren, who were qualified to be officials, and the big soldiers all directly called the students in the examination room "Master".

Xu Nian took the paper and spread it out on the table. At this time, the sky was already bright, but the sun had not yet risen.

By the orange candlelight, Xu Xinian took a closer look. The title was a sentence from "Cheng Zi Gange": "The three armies can win the commander, but the man can't lose the ambition."

Xu Erlang, who has read a lot of poetry and books, instantly extracted the core: Yongzhi!

He stared at the examination paper with an uncontrollable dull expression, and disbelief in his eyes.

"Brother must have stepped on dog poop before entering my house that day?" Xu Erlang murmured.

Can this also be guessed by him?

When it came to drawing lots that day, Xu Erlang had the right to deal with the annoying elder brother. Although the Chunwei exam questions could be guessed, they were limited to the classics and theories, after all, there are traces to follow.

The title of the poem depends entirely on the mood of the examiner, and you can come up with whatever you think of, even if it is named after wild flowers on the roadside, it is possible.

Can you guess this? !

Unless the eldest brother stepped on dog shit that night, Xu Erlang really couldn't think of any other possibility.

After a while, Xu Xinian's expressions of shock, confusion, bewilderment, etc., all transformed into ecstasy and excitement.

Big brother guessed right, big brother guessed right!

He suddenly straightened his back, and couldn't help but want to let out three long howls to express the excitement in his heart at the moment.

"With my eldest brother's poetic talent, since he guessed the test questions correctly, I, Xu Erlang, will be honored in the third round of poetry. Me, I may be able to compete for the prize."

The winner of the trial will be named "Gongshi", and the first name of the Gongshi will be "Huiyuan".

It makes sense for him to think so. First of all, he will try to obscure his name. His identity as a student of Yunlu Academy will not be exposed, so he will not be excluded. Secondly, Xu New Year is a natural seed for reading, the favorite student of the great Confucian Zhang Shen, coupled with the bonuses of the Confucian system, such as a photographic memory and a clear mind, his own level is far superior to the students of the Imperial Academy.

In the end, in order to prevent fraud in the imperial examination, Dafeng arranged for three chief examiners, many of whom took the same exam. The composition here is complicated, and the three chief examiners must come from different parties.

Maybe even against each other.

Even if someone can bribe one examiner, it is impossible to bribe the other two.

Therefore, in each general examination, there will be a fierce battle among the examiners, and then they will discuss and compromise with each other to make the final decision.

"Heaven is not born, I promise a new year, and I will try forever like a long night."

Even though he was as proud as New Year's Eve, there was no one in the room at the moment, he couldn't control his emotions at all, he danced and laughed like a fool.

If there is a bed, he will roll in it, or writhe like a maggot.

"Brother is really my lucky star! Calm down, calm down, what is the poem about Yongzhi that big brother gave me?"

Xu Nian made up his mind and forced himself to calm down.

Fortunately, he, who is at the eighth level of Confucianism, has already achieved a photographic memory, and the poems given by his elder brother are really good, his memory is quite deep, and he quickly recalled them.

He dipped his pen in the ink and unfolded the draft paper. At this moment, he realized that his hands were still trembling slightly.

"I'm not promising, but I just know how to try, and I'm so excited. Dad said, I have the qualifications to be the chief assistant."

After making fun of himself, Xu Xinian relaxed a little, his hands stopped shaking, and he quickly wrote on the paper:

A golden bottle of sake is worth ten thousand dollars, and a jade plate is ashamed of ten thousand dollars.

Stopping the cup and throwing the chopsticks, I can't eat, I draw my sword and look around in a daze.

If you want to cross the Yellow River, which is blocked by ice, you will climb the Taihang Mountains covered with snow.

When I was free to fish on the Bixi River, I suddenly dreamed of taking a boat to the side of the sun.

The road is difficult, the road is difficult, and there are many divergent roads. Now I am safe.

There will be times when the wind and the waves cleave, hang the clouds and sail straight to the sea.

(Conscience author's note: The poems in the imperial examination are also called Fude poems, usually five-character eight-rhyme, four-rhyme, six-rhyme, not seven-character. Refined!)

After writing the poem, I read it several times to confirm that I did not write it wrong, but new doubts surfaced in my mind.

"What is the Yellow River? What is the Taihang? When you are free to fish on the Bixi River, you will suddenly take a boat and dream of the sun. Is there any allusion to these two sentences?"

Xu Erlang frowned.

Xu Nian, who has read a lot of poetry and books, searched his stomach and couldn't find where the Yellow River and Taihang are. According to his understanding of poetry, "Come and fish on the Bixi" and "Sufu take a boat to dream of the sun" should be two allusion.

"Brother, really, I don't know how to write notes when I write poems. How can I understand his state of mind when he writes poems, and how can I understand his profound intentions?"

"Yellow River and Taihang should be the name of the river and the name of the mountain. This can be changed. As for the sentences "leisurely fishing on the Bixi River" and "suddenly taking a boat to dream of the sun", even if there is no allusion, it is not difficult to understand what you want to express. , it's not a big problem."

So, after replacing "Yellow River" and "Taihang", Xu Xinnian took up his pen to answer the question:

"Fu De Difficult to Travel"

The chief examiners of Chunwei this time are Zhao Tingfang, a scholar of Dongge University, Liu Hong, a censor of Youdu, and Qian Qingshu, a scholar of Wuyingdian University.

Unlike the students, the chief examiner and fellow examiners have never left the Gongyuan since the beginning of the general examination. The gate is padlocked, and unless they grow wings, they cannot leave.

In order to prevent the examiners from colluding with the students and cheating, the examiners have to wait for the list of tribute scholars to be confirmed before leaving the tribute academy.

Compared with the flames of war in the previous two rounds of marking, the attitude and mood of the examiners have undergone great changes.

"Bullshit doesn't make sense, even a broken poem dares to make a fool of yourself in the exam."

"Using bamboo as a metaphor for people and using it to chant aspirations is a good angle, but singing bamboos is more than singing aspirations, the cart is putting the cart before the horse."

"Hey, after reading it for a long time, there is not a single amazing poem."

"Isn't it the same in previous years, I'm used to it."

The reviewers are also called curtain officials. They review the papers and make comments at the same time. At first glance, the atmosphere is full of gunpowder, but it is actually the most relaxed and freehand.

Poetry is not valued, it is icing on the cake if it is well written, it doesn't matter if it is not well written. Anyway, they are all scum, and it is rare for the poems written by the students to be well-regulated. It is not worthy of being taken seriously by the examiners.

In the capital, when it comes to poetry, there is one person who absolutely cannot be avoided, and he is the watchman Xu Qi'an. He was regarded as the leader of the poetry circle by scholars, or, the savior of the poetry circle.

"Then if Xu Qi'an participates in the examination, let alone other things, at least he will take the examination this year, and a poem handed down from generation to generation will be born."

"Who says it's not? It's a pity that Xu Qi'an is not a scholar. In future history books, it will be recorded that Yuan Jingnian's excellent poems and poems all come from this person. We scholars have no face."

Scholars have complicated attitudes towards Xu Qi'an, they are thankful for his rise, so that in the past two hundred years there are so few poems that can be handed out, so that future generations will not laugh at him.

It is also a pity that he is a martial artist, not a scholar, because this is also something that will make future generations laugh.

In the two hundred years of Dafeng, there are thousands of scholars, not even a martial artist.

"Thousands of mistakes are all Xu Pingzhi's fault."

At this moment, an examiner unfolded a copy of the paper, and after looking at it for a few seconds, he was stunned, his body seemed to be petrified, and he remained motionless.

But his mouth kept chanting, repeating.

After going on for a few minutes, the examiner stood up suddenly, looked around at the colleagues in the room, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "Who said that scholars in Dafeng can't write good poems, who said it, who said it?"

The examiners looked over one after another, with blank expressions, not knowing why he was going crazy.

The poetry world has been in decline for two hundred years, and contemporary scholars are not good at poetry. These are facts, and there is nothing to dispute about them.

"Snapped!"

The examiner slapped the paper on the table, his chest heaved, and he said excitedly: "I dare to say, once this poem is published, it will be famous all over the world. It will be tested this year, and it will be recorded by the historian."

An examiner next to him glanced at him, walked over curiously, picked up the paper, and took a closer look.

Crazy seems to be contagious. The examiner held the paper and trembled with excitement: "Good poems, good poems, hahaha, who said that Dafeng scholars can't write good poems, who said that?"

At this moment, the rest of the examiners realized that there was a good work coming out, and swarmed up to pass it on to each other and read it.

"A good poem should be fully understood."

"There will be times when the wind and the waves cleave, hang the clouds and sail straight to the sea. This is the poem that a scholar should write."

"How can a student write this vicissitudes of life poem?"

"Maybe it's because I failed the exams repeatedly, so I should write my poems as my aspirations."

The appearance of this song "Difficult to Travel" is like a group of local chickens mixed with golden phoenixes. It is extremely precious, and the reviewers in the room kept passing it around and commenting excitedly.

"Ahem!"

There was a strong coughing sound outside the door, and the gray-haired Grand Master Dongge stood at the door with his hands behind his back.

He was attracted by the noise.

The examiners in the room fell silent for a moment.

"What kind of noise is it?"

University scholar Zhao Tingfang reprimanded a few words, and then asked: "I just heard someone say that once this poem is published, it will be famous all over the world?"

Immediately, an examiner stepped forward and handed over the paper respectfully.

The Grand Master Dongge glanced at everyone before taking the paper, squinting his eyes to see that his hand holding the paper trembled slightly.

Anyone can see that it's a good poem, a good, uplifting poem.

But the experience is different, the feelings are also different.

This poem is not only a tribute to ambition, but also a rough life experience. From "difficult to walk in a daze" to "there will be times when the wind and the waves cleave, hang the clouds and sails to help the sea", anyone who has a similar experience can quickly empathize.

And the last sentence is Yongzhi, which is also the finishing touch, directly raising the artistic conception of the whole poem to a very high level.

"This son is definitely a great talent. If the scriptures and policy questions are both excellent, I will definitely choose him as Huiyuan!" Dongge University scholar said heartily.

The day after the end of the Spring Festival, Xu Xinnian found that his treatment at home had plummeted. In the past, every morning, his mother would make the kitchen heat up a bowl of hot milk.

At noon, it is rich chicken soup, and at night, it is ginseng soup.

During the period, Niang would also ask for warmth, although there was no real performance, but she also showed enough attention.

And father and elder brother would also ask a few questions at the dinner table, younger sister Xu Lingyue would do the same, and even younger sister Xu Lingyin would occasionally shout: Second brother, you must work hard!

But since the last round ended, the milk was gone, the chicken soup was gone, and the ginseng was gone. After asking when the rankings would be released, no one paid much attention.

At the dining table, Xu Qi'an asked: "Why is Erlang in a bad mood? Did he fail the last exam?"

Xu Erlang didn't speak. After dinner, he dragged his eldest brother into the study, staring at him straightly: "Brother, you guessed the right question."

For this result, Xu Qi'an was neither surprised nor surprised, nodded and asked: "Aiguo or Yongzhi?"

"Yongzhi!"

Xu Nian asked: "Where are the Yellow River and the Taihang River? When I was free to fish on the Bixi River, I suddenly returned to the boat and dreamed of the sun. What allusion did it come from?"

Um? Is there an allusion to this sentence? I don't remember. Xu Qi'an was dumbfounded.

"The reason why I come to fish in Bixi in my spare time is because I like fishing. Suddenly, I dream of sailing in a boat, but yes, why do you talk so much nonsense? I finished my exams, and I'm still beeping here.

"Hurry up and tear up the Four Books and Five Classics. Brother will take you to the Jiaofang Division to play tomorrow."

Xu Qi'an fled cursing.

When he returned to the room, he found Zhong Li sitting on the edge of the bed bandaging his head, faintly dripping with blood.

"Fall again?"

"Um."

Zhong Li nodded aggrievedly, and said, "I found that your sister's life is very hard."

"Which sister?" Xu Qi'an asked.

PS: I got into an argument with myself today. In order to find out who the chief examiners were in history and what their official positions were, I searched for relevant information for two hours, and found that there is only a rough division of official positions on the Internet, which is not accurate.

I wanted to go to the library, but the library was closed again, which pissed me off.

Although you can make it up casually, it still needs to be more rigorous. I am a person who is afraid of being raised.

Change first and then change.