Patriarch, he doesn't want to take the imperial examinations

The snow didn't stop until evening.

The next day, Meng Zhen came to the county school by carriage.The students were cleaning the snow in the two areas of the Academy and the Confucian Temple, Meng Zhen put down the book case and joined in.

What Mengzhen swept was the snow in the area in front of the Zunjing Pavilion. He was getting old, and it stands to reason that his body would be overwhelmed and tired after working for a long time.

But no.Thanks to the spiritual power given to him by the system, he was sweating all over his body, but his old arms and legs were still strong and strong.When Deng Bowen came over, he was obviously taken aback: "Uncle Meng, aren't you tired?"

Meng Zhenxin said, it's not tiring, but sweeping the snow with a broom a few times will not be enough.

But what came out of my mouth was: "It's okay. I practice sword every morning, and I also pay attention to physical maintenance on weekdays. I don't feel much tired from general cleaning."

Deng Bowen was convinced of his words, and then thought of his uncle's death due to an accidental fall, and suddenly felt melancholy.

The matter of the uncle's family is still a mess.The eldest lady has been bedridden since the haunting of the mourning hall, the other wives are also soft-tempered, and the younger sisters are even young and inexperienced, so the big family suddenly became helpless.

In the end, after the discussion between the father and several clansmen, the affairs of the uncle's house were temporarily taken over by the third wife who was fairly efficient, but this was only temporary, how could a woman be the head of the family.

Fortunately, the uncle deliberately recruited a son-in-law for Zhao Zhao's younger sister before he was alive, so that their line of incense could continue.But as the saying goes, it's hard to be a daughter-in-law, but a good son-in-law is hard to come by, let alone a door-to-door son-in-law, it's even more difficult to find a son-in-law who satisfies everyone in every aspect.Otherwise, the uncle would not have searched for so long and found nothing.

According to the ritual system of this dynasty, after the death of their parents, children must perform filial piety for 27 months, and they are not allowed to marry during this period.

Sister Zhaozhao is 16 years old after this year, and she must be 19 years old to marry after her filial piety.Girls' youth is short, and it is difficult to find someone when they are a little older. Such a delay will make sister Zhaozhao's marriage even more difficult.

Although during the mourning period, the marriage can be negotiated in advance, and the wedding ceremony can be performed after the filial piety, but someone's good son-in-law will wait for three years, and he still has to be a door-to-door son-in-law.As a result, there are very few suitable candidates. If someone with bad conduct walks in, it will be their Deng family who will suffer.

This is exactly what the Deng family is worried about now.Even Deng Bowen's father had a sad expression on his face when he told Deng Bowen about it.

When Deng Bowen heard this, he also felt worried. Sister Zhaozhao is such a good girl, if he can't get a good son-in-law in this life, he will feel very sad.

Thinking of the family affairs of the uncle's house, Deng Bowen held on to the broom and looked at the rising red sun in the sky, he sighed for no reason.

Mengzhen, who was cleaning the snow at the side, saw something wrong with Deng Bowen. Deng Bowen had a calm temperament, thoughtful and enterprising, and never slack in dealing with things. This was the first time I saw Mengzhen with such a depressed look.

Can't help asking: "Young man, young people are like the sun rising from the sun, they are hope in themselves, what is the reason for your sighing so early in the morning?"

Since Deng Bowen made friends with Mengzhen, he has always regarded him as a father who respects and loves him, speaks freely, and will tell the truth about everything.This time was no exception, when he saw Meng Zhen asking about it, he expressed his thoughts and sorrows.

Meng Zhen couldn't solve his worries.This Deng Bowen is a sentimental person, he has sentimentality and worries, but he is really a person who cultivates the path of ruthlessness, and when it comes to marriage, how can he give good advice.Besides, it was Deng Yuming's family business, and he didn't want to take care of it.

Deng Bowen didn't expect him to be able to answer anything, but there was one more person to listen, and after speaking out his thoughts, he felt much more at ease.

It happened that the snow was almost swept away, so the students put down their brooms and returned to the classroom one after another.

There are stoves in the classrooms, and the firewood and charcoal are provided by the government. The government has never been stingy in using things from the government.

In today's class, Instructor Yang assigned a policy topic, the topic:

【Jin Wu Ping Wu used arbitrariness to conquer, Fu Jian conquered Jin and died because of arbitrariness; Qi Huan took charge of Guan Zhong and became hegemony, Yan Kui took charge of his son and was defeated. The same thing but different results, why? 】

The general idea is: Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, was dictatorial and destroyed Wu to unify the world. The former Qin Fujian was dictatorial and lost the battle of Feishui and subjugated the country. Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong to dominate. ,why?

Ask students to discuss this topic and write an article of no less than [-] words.

Policy questions are mandatory questions in the provincial examinations, and their importance is comparable to stereotyped essays, and they account for a very large proportion in the imperial examinations.Stereotyped essays had a fixed format, and there were many restrictions on the content. The point of view of the essay must be the same as that of Zhu Xi, which greatly restricted the free play of students' ideas, resulting in the content of the essay being too single and lacking in diversity.

Policy questions require students to apply what they have learned, flexibly use what they have learned in classics and history books, and turn them into their own words to offer advice and suggestions to the rulers. A decadent Confucian scholar who only reads the books of sages and sages.

Taking this question as an example, if you want to do this question well, you must first know who the characters appearing in the question are and what they have done in history.And this requires students not only to be familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, but also to be proficient in history books. Otherwise, when they encounter policy issues involving historical events in the examination room in the future, they will have to stare and stare.

Meng Zhen also read a lot of history books, so he was free from the historical allusions in this question.This question is a question given by the great writer Su Shi to the examinees when he took the Jinshi examination. At that time, Wang Anshi’s reform was in full swing, and many people in the court were against it. Su Shi was one of them. Therefore, he specially made this question. , Scholars are required to discuss whether "arbitrary autocracy" is feasible.

Now Instructor Yang is testing students with previous exam questions. The old questions are answered today, and the solutions are always new. This is what he means.

In the morning, I tried to ask questions, but in the afternoon it was still time for self-study. After a few days like this, it will soon be the twelfth lunar month.

The twelfth lunar month is coming, and the year is approaching.People who have worked hard for a year can finally take a rest and stock up on new year's goods, waiting for a good year.This is true for ordinary families, let alone such a wealthy family as the Meng Mansion.

But no matter how happy and busy the family is, they have nothing to do with Meng Zhen, the master of the Meng family.What should Meng really do? As always, he leaves early and returns late, spending all his time in school during the day.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the county school issued a holiday notice from the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.The nearly one-month vacation made some students very happy.

Meng Zhen, however, had a normal state of mind. On the day when the county school was on vacation, what he was like at school and what he was like at home.The only difference is that Meng Che is replaced by fellow students.

Meng Che complained endlessly. He was urged to learn by his master in school, and it was hard to get through the holidays, and he was tied by his father. He was almost depressed to death all day long except for memorizing and writing articles.

"Father!" This day was the same as usual. After breakfast, Meng Che was called into the study by his father. After writing a few lines, he didn't want to write any more. It's a grievance, "Father, can I stop writing, I made an appointment with Zhang Xiaopang yesterday afternoon, and I went to his house to play today, his father caught a wild rabbit yesterday, and invited me to his house to eat rabbit meat at noon this afternoon. "

But Meng Zhen said: "Have you never eaten rabbit meat? I just bought one at home two days ago. If you don't want to eat it for you, why are you greedy for other people's meat now? Daring to love other people's meat is a good thing. The family is despised."

"No." Meng Che couldn't argue, he was not greedy for other people's rabbits, he didn't like to eat rabbit meat, Zhang Xiaopang got a new pair of shadow puppets yesterday, the two of them played for a day and were not happy enough, so they made an appointment to continue playing today .He was thinking about the shadow puppet in his heart, and his mind was not on his studies, he always wanted to go out to play.

"After copying this article, go." Meng Zhen pointed to the unfinished words on his paper, "Besides, I didn't ask you to study with me all the time. Didn't I give you half a day in the afternoon? You can't always Thinking about playing, proficiency in industry and industriousness in play, look at your father and I sitting here all day, when did we ever feel tired?"

Meng Che thought to himself, how can I compare with my father, my father has already passed the examination of a scholar, and I am nothing, so there is no comparison.Although he didn't want to in his heart, he was sincere in body, obediently and quietly finished the remaining words according to his father's words.

When I just put down my pen and was about to get up, the servants in Mengyuan's room suddenly came in and said: "Master, the young master just fed the medicine and threw up before taking a few spoonfuls. He also had a fever, and the child coughed non-stop. , Crying uncontrollably, there is nothing we can do."

It was cold in the twelfth lunar month, and the children were weak and had poor resistance. A few days ago, Meng Yuan accidentally contracted a cold, and coughed continuously at night. The doctor prescribed medicine and took several doses, but it didn't help. The family was worried.

This morning Meng Hong took a carriage to the capital to invite a doctor who specializes in treating coughs.It's only been an hour since the person left, and the doctor will have to wait until the afternoon.

Meng Zhen followed the people to Meng Yuan's room, Meng Yuan was lying in the arms of Nurse Song, coughing non-stop, coughing and crying, his little face flushed.

When Nurse Song saw people coming, she got up and handed Meng Yuan to Meng Zhen, wiping away her tears: "Master, please give me a hug, the child keeps calling Dad."

Mengzhen carried the child over, the little guy was hot all over, with his head pressed against his arms, coughing non-stop, Mengzhen felt that his heart was about to burst out.

Poor man, why did he cough like this, Meng Zhen felt distressed while rubbing the child's back.Bisheng Meng Yuan was crying again at this time, Meng Zhen was the one who annoyed children crying the most, and he found it noisy if he cried too much.

"Don't cry, the doctor will come and show you later, you won't feel uncomfortable anymore." Meng Zhen was annoyed by crying, so he patted Meng Yuan's back gently and hard, and this pat Yuan cried even harder.

"Father, why are you so impatient? The fifth brother is crying so badly. If you don't coax him, why are you still beating him?" Meng Che, who came with him, couldn't help complaining.

Meng Zhen hugged Meng Yuan to him: "Father can't coax him, why don't you, an older brother, come and coax him." Meng Che was very happy, and wanted to hug Meng Yuan when he stretched out his hand, but Meng Yuan refused , holding Mengzhen's clothes with both hands but not loosening, Mengzhen smiled and said: "Look, you want to hug your brother, but your brother won't let you."

Meng Che immediately smiled, with displeasure on his face: "What did Dad do to tease me, I stopped hugging, I went outside to play."

Meng Zhen waved a hand: "Go quickly, you are not going to eat rabbit meat at that little fat man's house, it's almost noon, don't go too late, even the bones are gone, go quickly. "Meng Che giggled, turned around and ran away like a rabbit.

Here Meng Yuan is still crying, accompanied by continuous coughing, this time Meng Zhen has a good temper, holding the baby and patting it for a while, gradually the crying becomes quieter, Meng Yuan is quiet in his arms fell asleep.

There were teardrops on the child's face, Meng Zhen raised his hand to wipe it off, and put the child back on the bed after the child had slept soundly, while he was sweating all over his back.

It's not easy being a father!Meng Zhen sat on the edge of the bed and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, lamenting that it was not easy for him.Meng Yuan has been taken by Nurse Song since he was born, and he only teases the child a few times when he hugs him, and usually rarely takes the initiative to take care of the child.

Children are young and ignorant, and they cry at every turn, and Mengzhen becomes very irritable when he is annoyed by crying.So he would rather read a book with Meng Che for a day, even if he listened to Meng Hong's noise for a day, than coax a crying child for half a day.

Now the child fell asleep, and the ears finally became clear, Meng Zhen heaved a sigh of relief, got up and prepared to leave.However, at this moment, Meng Yuan suddenly coughed a few more times, Meng Zhen was startled, maybe he was about to wake up.

He looked over to the bed, and Meng Yuan turned over, sleeping soundly.Mengzhen was relieved, and was about to leave, but Nurse Song came over and said: "Master, you can stay and spend more time with the young master, the child can sleep well here." Connected, closer than their mothers-in-law who have been serving for a long time.

Meng Zhen paused for a moment, but did not refuse, he sent a servant to his study room to get a book, and then sat beside Meng Yuan's bed to read.As long as Meng Yuan slept, he stayed with him.

In the afternoon, Meng Hong invited an old doctor. The old doctor saw the child, prescribed a few doses of medicine, and then left with a few words of advice.There was no pharmacy in Youweiyao County, so Meng Hong went to the capital again to find it.

Speaking of which, this old doctor is also a true god. The child gradually recovered after taking the medicine he prescribed, and he was completely recovered on the eve of the New Year's Eve. Two short legs followed Meng Che's buttocks, running back and forth in the yard of the house , The spirit is surprisingly good.

However, things in the world are always difficult to fulfill people's wishes. One family is good, but another is not.

On New Year's Eve, it snowed again in the afternoon.The Meng Mansion was decorated with lanterns and festoons, and everyone was beaming with joy. Regardless of whether they were young or old, or the servants of the master, everyone was smiling, watching the New Year together amidst the sound of firecrackers, and welcoming the new year.

Because of the lack of Meng Qing in the family, this year seems a little deserted than before.Apart from Meng Che and Meng Yuan chattering for a while, there was no other sound on the table.Even Meng Hong, who always loves to talk on weekdays, was blocked by something at this time and kept silent.

Mengzhen asked Ah Qing to fetch a few red envelopes and distribute them to the juniors present, Ah Qing also got one, and thanked her master a thousand times.

"Thank you dad, I never thought I would get a red envelope at my age." Meng Hong thanked his father and stuffed the red envelope into his arms.

Immediately afterwards, several other people also thanked Meng Zhen, wishing him a happy new year, peace and prosperity throughout the year.Meng really thought that the money was given by his son and daughter-in-law to respect him in daily life, and now that it is being distributed to them, it is a good use of it.

Meng Yuan was young and ignorant, he didn't know what a red envelope was, he tore and bit it in his hand, when Meng Che saw it, he quickly snatched it away, "My dear brother, this is money, if you don't want it, I can't mess around with it." Waste."

Seeing that the red envelope was taken away, Meng Yuan cried and went to grab it, but Meng Che refused to give it to him. The two brothers cried and laughed one by one, which made everyone laugh and laugh.

At this time, Wang Xinyu suddenly stood up.She is going to give birth in a few days, and her stomach is getting big. She has not been able to eat or sleep well these days, and she feels sleepy after sitting for a while. Seeing everyone having fun, sitting here is unnecessary, so she wants to go back to her room go.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she left the table, she suddenly felt a pain in her stomach. She subconsciously supported the edge of the table and let out an "ouch".

Sitting next to her, Meng Hong was startled by the sudden sound, and quickly got up to support her, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you, why are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"I..." The pain was so painful that it was life-threatening. Wang Xinyu's forehead was sweating, and she said in great pain, "I, I'm afraid I'm going to give birth..."

"Ah, this..." Meng Hong had never experienced this kind of thing before, he was dumbfounded, and looked up to his father, but Meng Zhen was calm, and quickly asked Ah Qing to invite a doctor.

"Wait!" Nurse Song, who was holding Meng Yuan, said, "Ah Qing, go and invite Granny Liu Wen. Doctors are men, so it's not appropriate to be close to a pregnant woman."

Ah Qing was always quick when it came to running errands, and after hearing Nurse Song's words, he picked up a lamp and rushed straight into the snowy night with howling wind.

Meng Hong was still very nervous. Seeing Wang Xinyu sweating profusely with stomachache in his arms, he also became anxious and asked Nurse Song in a tight voice: "Aunt Song, what should I do if my sister-in-law is in pain? She's about to give birth soon." ?"

Nurse Song said with a smile: "Second young master, please be safe and don't be impatient. It's just a stomachache, and it's still too early to die."

still early?Seeing that his sister-in-law was curled up and about to fall to the ground, Meng Hong hurriedly supported her and said, "I'll take my sister back." He thought that since his sister-in-law was about to give birth, she should be in his own room, not his father's. .

"Second Young Master!" Nurse Song hurriedly stopped him, "Young Mistress is like this, how can you hug her, hurry up and carry Eldest Mistress back to the house on a stretcher."

Meng Hong was also panicked, and hurriedly sent people to the warehouse to carry a stretcher, and then carried Wang Xinyu back to his room.

Immediately after he, his father, and Mengze rushed over, standing under the eaves of the elder brother's house, the father and son were more or less anxious.

From time to time, women's groans could be heard inside, and the maids carried water in and out. Seeing that Meng Hong was about to follow in, Meng Zhen hurriedly pulled him back, "Meng Hong, what are you doing, just wait here."

Meng Hong stopped his feet and said: "Father, why is this woman giving birth to such a tormenting child, it makes people feel flustered and uncomfortable."

"It's hard to go back to your room to sleep!" Meng Zhen said.

Then Meng Hong stopped talking.

The father and son waited anxiously for a long meeting, when Ah Qing suddenly stumbled and ran over, shouting as he ran, "Master, Mrs. Liu Wen has gone back to her hometown and is not at home. Ah Qing was not invited, what should I do now?" ..."

"What are you panicking!" When Ah Qing came up, Meng Zhen scolded, and then said unhurriedly, "You make another trip and invite a doctor who can deliver the baby."

"Ah..." Ah Qing hadn't even caught her breath yet, and she was about to be supported by her master to run around again, feeling unspeakably aggrieved in her heart, at least let someone have a rest.

But then a voice broke into his ears, like an angel sent by heaven to save him.

Mengze, who had been keeping silent under the eaves, suddenly said, "Father, don't bother, I'll do it."

The author says:

The topic of policy in this article comes from Su Shi, and the translation comes from the Internet, not the author's own translation.

感谢在2022-04-2423:54:41~2022-04-2621:27:00期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~

Thanks to the little angels of the irrigation nutrient solution: 50 bottles of Qi Lite; Heaven, 1 bottle of Lishui;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!