The daily routine of the ancient imperial examination

After reviewing behind closed doors for a period of time, Lu Xiuyuan wrote three or four chapters in his storybook.

By the time the original owner's books on the bookshelf were finished, it was already the twelfth lunar month of winter.

He planned to take a trip to the town, to look for the article on Juren the year before last in the bookstore, to observe and emulate, and to give a story book by the way.

The last time I said goodbye to Shi Yunchen in a hurry, I hadn't had time to tell him that I wouldn't go to town during this time, I hope I won't be annoyed when we meet.

Unexpectedly, Shi Yunchen didn't see him when he arrived at the book shop, but he bumped into his elder brother Shi Yunzhang.

Shopkeeper Lin was acting as an invisible person behind the counter, while Shi Yunzhang was sitting in the lobby, reading a book with an unknown cover and packaging, fascinated.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the other party looked up vigilantly, and when he saw that it was Lu Xiuyuan, the vigilance in his eyes increased instead of diminishing.

Lu Xiuyuan:? ? ?

What did he do?Why is the other party looking at him like this?

Fortunately, two book buyers came in at this time, interrupting this strange atmosphere.

Shi Yunzhang saw that it was inconvenient to speak with outsiders present, so he asked Lu Xiuyuan to go to the upstairs cubicle to talk.

Because of the Zhao family's affairs, the two had some contacts, and they barely had a little friendship.

Upstairs, Shi Yunzhang sat down on a chair, and said in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "It's only been a few days, why did Lu Xiucai come to look for my third brother again?"

This was a bit blunt, and Lu Xiuyuan didn't know why the other party asked this question.

He took out the three books in the package and said truthfully: "The agreed time is up, come and hand in the manuscript."

Shi Yunzhang didn't believe it, "You came to town to give this?"

Lu Xiuyuan shook his head.

Facing the vigilant gaze of the other party, he said slowly: "By the way, come to the bookstore to find some articles transcribed from the township examination the year before last."

"Is there anything else besides this?"

"Is there anything else?" Lu Xiuyuan asked.

"No, no, nothing else." Seeing this, Shi Yunzhang heaved a sigh of relief, it seemed that Lu Xiucai didn't have that kind of intention towards Chen'er, probably Nan Xing guessed wrong.

Lu Xiuyuan looked around and asked, "Is Young Master Shi not here?"

Shi Yunzhang cleared his throat, and stretched his hand forward, "The third brother is not here, he told me before, buy it out for one or two, and it's the same if you give this to me."

is that so?But after all, they are members of Shi Yunchen's family, and since they know the trading rules, they probably can't fake it, so it's worth giving it to him.

Anyway, since the buyout, he has written Qingshuiwen, so there is nothing to worry about.

Lu Xiuyuan handed in the books, exchanged the money with shopkeeper Lin, and paid the deposit for renting the books, and asked the other party to help find the transcribed papers of last year's rural examination, and sat down on the first floor with them to find a place to observe carefully.

Upstairs, Yunzhang was flipping through the scriptures sent by Lu Xiuyuan, and the result became more and more surprised.

As the story progresses layer by layer, a vast and boundless world of cultivating immortals gradually opens up in front of him.

The wonderful background, interesting story, and novel setting made him unable to extricate himself from watching.

Thinking of the book I was reading with gusto just now, and comparing it with this one, I immediately had a different opinion.

No wonder Chen'er misses Lu Xiucai so much, it turns out it's because the stories written by the other party are beautiful!

If it were him, he would miss it too!

But buying out for one tael of silver, the other party is indeed at a disadvantage. If this kind of story is printed and sold in books, it will definitely become popular all over the country.

He stretched his head out and saw that Lu Xiuyuan was downstairs concentrating on reading a book. After the Zhao family incident, Shi Yunzhang had a good impression of him and appreciated him.

This person is not afraid of the power of the Zhao family, and dares to speak out for the common people.

It is a waste of such a talent not to take the imperial examination seriously to become an official, but to sit here and write a storybook.

Looking at the script book in his hand, the more exciting the story told in it, the more pity he felt.

Shi Yunzhang walked downstairs unconsciously.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Lu Xiuyuan raised his eyes, and the other party was looking at him with a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?" Lu Xiuyuan asked.

"Lu Xiucai, to tell you the truth, it's better for you to focus on the scientific examination instead of writing scripts and wasting time." Shi Yunzhang said.

Lu Xiuyuan raised the paper in his hand, "I'm seriously preparing."

Shi Yunzhang glared at him, "Nonsense! The questions you have passed will not be tested again. What's the use of reviewing them?"

Lu Xiuyuan seriously explained, "The Four Books and Five Classics have a wide range of questions, and the repetition rate is low. Read the files over the years, practice solving the questions by yourself, and compare them with other people's ideas for solving the questions. But after reading too many questions, you can feel a little pattern and speculate. A topic."

Unexpectedly, the other party was very angry after hearing his answer.

"You call it opportunistic, not real skill. If you are lucky enough to be named on the gold list, but your strength is not worthy of your status, you will easily get into trouble in the future."

What Shi Yunzhang said, he had also considered it.

It's like when they were reviewing in college, the final exam asked the teacher to help draw the key points, and the teacher asked them: Will the patients get sick according to the key points?

The foundation is important, but he has no time.

It is barely enough time to review the knowledge of the original owner and his own thoughts.

"Next year's mid-autumn festival will be the time for the township exam. No matter what, let's try first and then talk."

Regarding what Lu Xiuyuan said, Shi Yunzhang categorized it as young and frivolous, not knowing the heights of the sky and the earth.

Do you think it is so easy to take the exam?

They are in the north, and all the scholars from the whole province went to participate, only about 40 people were admitted!

I think he had prepared seriously for several years at the beginning, and it was only when he was 25 years old that he barely passed by.

Looking at the person in front of him, he thought of himself when he was young again. He was so young and energetic and fearless back then. As a result, he was hit in the head by the provincial examination, and it took him a long time to adjust.

However, Lu Xiucai is a farmer, and his education is different from his childhood. It is not easy to be a scholar at a young age, which is enough to prove that his talent is not inferior to his own.

Thinking that the other party had done me a big favor before, I admired his character quite a bit, so I couldn't help but love his talent.

"Lu Xiucai, I have Zhu Xi's Four Books Chapters and Sentences here, I can lend you to read."

When Lu Xiuyuan heard the words, he looked at Shi Yunzhang in surprise. Is what he said true?The other party is really willing to lend this masterpiece to himself?

The Annotations of Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books is an important annotation of the Four Books.Its content is divided into "University Chapters", "Doctrine of the Mean", "Analects of Confucius", and "Mencius Collection". ①

The book inherits the classics from the top, inspires the learning from the bottom, and the golden rules are passed down from generation to generation. The composition of Chinese traditional culture cannot be underestimated.

The imperial examination system after the Ming and Qing Dynasties used the "Four Books Chapters and Sentences" as the question bank and standard answers, and all answer sheets and opinions must not violate the statements in it.

Unexpectedly, the superficial dynasty he lived in had this book.

Lu Xiuyuan got up quickly, and thanked respectfully: "Thanks to the kindness of the boss at that time, Lu is very grateful."

After thinking about it, he said again, "I wonder if there are any other requirements?"

Shi Yunzhang put his hands behind his back, "There are two requirements in total. The book can't be taken away, and it can only be read here. This is one of them."

Lu Xiuyuan quickly said: "It's natural, this thing is so precious, Lu dare not take it out."

"Secondly, if one day you are named on the Lu Xiucai Gold List, I hope you can be a good official and benefit the people of Liming all over the world." Shi Yunzhang said with a serious face.

Lu Xiuyuan said with a serious attitude: "Lu has decided to take the imperial examination, and he has this wish. Being an official does not make decisions for the people, so it is better to go home and sell sweet potatoes."

The serious atmosphere was broken by this sentence, and Shi Yunzhang laughed at his speech, "Selling sweet potatoes? Lu Xiucai, you are really interesting."

After talking and joking, Shi Yunzhang said that he would bring the book over tomorrow, so he left with the storybook.

With the owner gone, Shopkeeper Lin also relieved his psychological pressure.

He came to Lu Xiuyuan's side and asked, "Has Lu Xiu made up her mind to prepare for the provincial examination next year?"

Lu Xiuyuan nodded slightly, "Exactly."

"That's a pity, I wanted to introduce Lu Xiucai to a profitable job..." shopkeeper Lin sighed.

"What makes money?" Lu Xiuyuan became curious, "I wonder if I can do it in spare time?"

Shopkeeper Lin took a step forward and said in a low voice: "I heard that the new magistrate of our Ping'an Town was donated 5000 taels, and he didn't know a single word. These two days, we have sent people to search in our local area in advance. Tong Sheng, who is good at writing and arithmetic, should be Master Qian Gu."

"The new county magistrate is about to take office? Then where did the previous magistrate go?" Lu Xiuyuan was surprised. He had been studying books recently and didn't pay attention to these things any more.

"The former county magistrate and the county magistrate dug out all those who had an affair with the Zhao family. They thought of his meritorious service in reporting and sent them all to mining for 20 years. The former magistrate was in his prime, and he still doesn't know if he can survive. return."

"That's right, but the new magistrate seems to be very rich...it seems good to be his master. There should be quite a lot of people signing up, right?" Lu Xiuyuan asked curiously.

"That's right, Lu Xiucai, you didn't know that you came late. As early as yesterday, all the books about Nine Chapters of Arithmetic in our book shop were sold out." Shopkeeper Lin said with emotion.

Lu Xiuyuan sighed, "It's a pity that Mr. Lu is going to take the provincial examination. It seems that he has no chance to be a master in this industry."

"Damn! Lu Xiucai, you're going to take the Juren exam. It's amazing! How can the master compare with you!" Shopkeeper Lin praised.

"The shopkeeper is too exaggerated. It's not certain that he won't pass the exam." Lu Xiuyuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

After hearing this, Shopkeeper Lin disagreed very much, "Don't underestimate Lu Xiucai, it's already great to be able to take the Juren examination!"

The two sides chatted for a while, and two more scholars walked in, and shopkeeper Lin hurriedly stepped forward to greet them.

Lu Xiuyuan also turned around and looked over, as if he found an acquaintance.

Of the two scholars, one was Yan Shuming whom he met at the inn, and the other had never met him before, but his facial features seemed familiar.

They also seemed to be here to buy books, and after seeing shopkeeper Lin shaking his head repeatedly, they couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

But when Yan Shuming was downcast, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure from the corner of the eye, and was instantly overjoyed. He pulled the classmate next to him and walked towards Lu Xiuyuan.

"Brother Lu!"

Lu Xiuyuan put down the paper in his hand, and responded, "Brother Yan, what a coincidence."

"Brother Lu also came to look for arithmetic books to review? Do you plan to participate in the selection of Master Qian Gu?" Yan Shuming asked.

Lu Xiuyuan shook his head, "No."

Yan Shuming breathed a sigh of relief, and said to the classmate next to him: "Ming, you are so lucky. If brother Lu also goes, you don't need to review at all. The position of master must belong to brother Lu."

Seeing Yan Shuming praising him so much, Lu Xiuyuan was a little embarrassed.

A Ming, his classmate, was not angry because of this harsh sentence, but grasped the point very keenly.

"Brother, are you good at arithmetic?"

"Proficient is not considered proficient, it can only be said that he understands a little bit." His arithmetic knowledge can only be said to be ahead of here, but not very proficient. After all, he is not a professional in this area.

Yan Shuming was very disapproving. It is said that the more powerful a person is, the more humble he is. He smacked his classmate's arm, "A Ming, don't listen to brother Lu's modesty. He is very good at arithmetic. The person at the station I told you before is this Brother Lu!"

"It turns out that Shuming was talking about Xiongtai," the man's eyes lit up, "I came across a few things I didn't understand when I was reading, can I trouble Xiongtai to explain it?"

Without waiting for Lu Xiuyuan to respond, he quickly added, "I can pay you, the same price as those tutors in the academy."

Yan Shuming also looked at Lu Xiuyuan eagerly, "Brother Lu, Ah Ming only wants to be a businessman, but his family has been forcing him to take the imperial examination to become an official. Now he finally has Master Qian Gu who can settle accounts and do business for the family. I really don't want to miss it..."

Lu Xiuyuan was a little puzzled, "Since you want to be a businessman, you shouldn't be bad at your calculations. Why do you need other people's advice?"

Hearing this, the two of them looked at each other, a trace of embarrassment flashed across their faces.

The classmate gritted his teeth and told the truth, "My father has been in business for several years, and I have been taught since I was a child. I think I am good at arithmetic, but..."

He took out a book of Nine Chapters of Arithmetic from his pocket, "I don't know why, but I know all the words in this book, but I don't know why when they are put together."

Lu Xiuyuan took the book, flipped through it, and probably understood the reason.

If the modern mathematics education system is a vertical summary from the shallower to the deeper, then the nine chapters of arithmetic is a horizontal summary of the mathematical problems encountered by the ancient people in their daily working life.

For a layman, if he wants to learn, there is no one to guide his thoughts, and it is indeed difficult to learn if he accepts so many cases at once.

Lu Xiuyuan sat back on his seat again, "Then Lu will roughly talk about his humble opinion, and I don't know if it will be useful to you."

Yan Shuming quickly said: "Wherever it is, whether it is useful or not, Brother Lu is willing to share his experience with us. We are already very grateful. In the future, wherever you can use someone from Yan, just ask, there is nothing wrong."

"It's the same next time." Another classmate promised.

"Is this book the scope of the questions this time?" He shook the book in his hand.

"I heard someone mention it, it seems that the first seven chapters of the nine chapters of arithmetic are to be tested." The classmate replied.

The reason why Nine Chapters on Arithmetic is called this is because this book has collected 240 six mathematical problems and their solutions, which are divided into nine categories, each of which is a chapter.

If you take the first seven chapters, you will be testing questions such as "Fangtian", "Corn", "Decrease", "Shaoguang", "Commercial Merit", "Equal Loss", and "Insufficient Profit".