The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Fang Yun looked at the six incense sticks, lowered his head, and said silently in his heart.

"As a mother, I may not be able to go back. I forgive my child for being unfilial. Please take care of me."

"The second is the luck of death, thank you."

"Three and four are Fang Yun's parents, and fifth is sister Yuhuan's father. As long as I'm here, I will never let sister Yuhuan suffer anymore."

"The sixth is Meng Haoran, thanking the sages for their poems."

Fang Yun looked at the incense candle for a long time, and the melancholy in his heart turned into a sigh, as if saying goodbye to the past.

After lighting the incense, the two of them sat face to face at the dinner table.

Fang Yun said: "Sister Yuhuan, let's set a rule for eating today."

"Little boy, please give me your instructions." Yang Yuhuan said with a smile. She had not laughed so happily for a long time because the burden on her body was finally lighter.

"Today's rule is, you take one chopstick, I take another chopstick, and I eat as much as you want! You don't need to tell me, this rule cannot be changed! How much I can eat today is all up to you."

Yang Yuhuan looked at Fang Yun quietly, with heat surging in her heart. She suddenly felt that with Fang Yun's words, the hardship and fatigue of these years were nothing.

"The little luck in our family has grown up, and I know that I feel sorry for my sister. You are a child student now, and your family will be much richer in the future. When you become a scholar, this fish and meat will not be a big deal. Today, my sister, thanks to you, is delicious. A meal.”

Fang Yun picked up a piece of oily braised pork, handed it to Yang Yuhuan's mouth, and said softly: "No, it's because of you. Without you, it would not be easy for me to live, let alone study. I will always remember it."

Yang Yuhuan's eyes turned red. He opened his mouth to eat the braised pork and chewed it slowly.

When you are born into a poor family, you know that meat is precious.

Fang Yun got himself a piece of braised pork. After eating, he picked out the chicken legs from the casserole and put them in Yang Yuhuan's bowl.

"One for each of us."

"Um!"

It was rare for the two of them to eat meat once a year, so they ate freely today and ate it all.

Yang Yuhuan looked at the empty plate and felt a little embarrassed. He had eaten too much just now.

The two of them were too full to stand up. They smiled at each other and chatted happily. The room was filled with a warm atmosphere.

After a while, there was a noise from the neighbor. It was Lao Wang who had drunk too much and was teaching his children to study hard and take the test.

The two of them smiled. Yang Yuhuan looked at the sky and said, "The three examiners should be marking the papers now."

Fang Yun nodded.

In the Literary Academy.

The spacious marking room was brightly lit, with rows of long tables arranged neatly. The test papers of more than two thousand candidates were placed on them one after another, covering the table, which was very spectacular.

The three examiners stood solemnly in front of the statue of Confucius in the back of the marking room, with ten lecturers from the county liberal arts college behind them.

Magistrate Cai said: "I respectfully invite the Holy Judge!"

"I respectfully request the Holy Judgment." Everyone then said in unison.

A strange force descended out of thin air, and there was wind in the room, but all the test papers remained motionless.

Most of the test papers remained unchanged, but almost half of them suddenly glowed orange.

Talent appears.

There are many orange shimmers, and the tallest among them is nearly three feet tall, almost reaching the level of Mingzhou.

The second-ranked test paper talent is barely one foot tall, and there is a huge difference between the two.

Then, a gust of wind blew, and test papers flew all over the sky.

The wind stopped, and a large number of test papers were piled up in a corner, while only a hundred test papers were left on the table, arranged in order from high to low in ability.

"Select people based on their talents and sort them based on their writing!"

After Magistrate Cai finished speaking, the ten lecturers each held a copy of the answers to the Holy Word. From back to front, each selected nine test papers and began to judge the papers.

The ten papers with the most talents were left untouched.

Magistrate Cai did his part and said, "Since a poem that is almost as good as Mingzhou's has been published, I'm not welcome to give it a sneak peek." After saying this, he happily walked to Fang Yun's test paper.

The reason why the papers are marked so late is because after the candidates hand in the papers, a dedicated person is responsible for stamping the candidates' names with paper so that they cannot be seen during the marking to prevent cheating. Only the top 50 rankings can be seen.

The poem was placed at the top. Magistrate Cai frowned when he saw the word "Spring Dawn". Although the word was neat, it was still too bad in his opinion, but he was relieved when he thought that Fang Yun was a disciple from a poor family.

Practicing calligraphy requires a lot of pen, ink and paper, and poor disciples don't have that much money. They can either practice on the sand with branches, or write directly on the table with a brush dipped in water. The latter still requires a lot of brushes.

Magistrate Cai looked at the poem and couldn't help but read on: "You can't wake up to the dawn in the spring, and you can hear the singing of birds everywhere; you can hear the sound of wind and rain at night, and you can tell how many flowers have fallen."

The three examiners were stunned. The text of this poem was very simple and could be understood immediately after reading it. But why did they feel a faint sense of regret after reading it?

The other two examiners also looked at Fang Yun's test paper and thought carefully.

"There seems to be something missing in my heart." Wan Xuezheng said.

Magistrate Cai was born in the same Jinshi class, and his official position was in the seventh rank. Wang Yuanjun and Wan Xuezheng were just juren, and they were both in the seventh rank.

Magistrate Cai read it several times and suddenly sighed: "Wonderful. Although the words of this poem are simple and natural, the most important thing is the word 'true', the scenery is true, and the meaning is true. The structure of this poem is also extraordinary. Look at the four sentences The poem is written in sequence: "I don't know", "I don't know", and "I don't know" at the beginning. The word "I don't know" is left blank, allowing the reader to think about how many flowers fall there are? "

As soon as these words came out, the marking room was quiet, as if everyone was thinking about a question, how many flowers have fallen?

Just five words, but it evoked everyone's thoughts.

Wang Yuanjun nodded and said: "Brother Cai has captured the beauty of this poem in one sentence. The reason why this poem is true is because every sentence has spring, and every sentence is linked to the title. Spring sleepiness, spring birds, spring rain, spring breeze, spring flowers, it seems that the whole poem is full. The scenery contains no emotion. The most rare thing is that the writing is simple and unpretentious, the most natural and the easiest to spread. If this candidate does not get it by chance, he will be an extraordinary person. "

The other two couldn't help but nod. It was very important to spread the word easily. A literary reputation was one of the pursuits of scholars, and even half-saints were not exempt from the commonplace.

Wan Xuezhengdao said: "I can also write these kinds of words. I can make a poem appear before my eyes like a painting and blend my feelings into it. But it is so natural. That is difficult."

The king of the court said: "When the results are released tomorrow, I will write a letter and recommend this poem to the prince of the state court, the great scholar Li. I hope he can recommend it to the "Holy Way" so that the name of this poem can be spread all over the world."

"If this poem can be included in the "Holy Way", it will definitely improve our literary style in Jingguo!" Magistrate Cai said with great expectation.

However, Wan Xuezheng's face darkened and he whispered: "I am nearly fifty years old and have hundreds of poems and articles, but I have never been published in the monthly magazine "Holy Way"."

Wang Yuanjun smiled bitterly and said: "The Holy Way is published by the Holy Academy, and the articles selected over the past month are all famous. Everyone who publishes in the Holy Way is either a master of poetry, a great scholar of classics and meaning, or a scholar of policy and theory. The lowest level is also a master's skill, and we dare not even dream about it."

Magistrate Cai nodded, picked up his pen, dipped it in cinnabar red ink, and wrote under the test paper: simple words, true feelings, beautiful poems, and long meanings. He should be the first among all living beings, A!

"Do you two have any objections?"

"The best poem in this year's children's test is "Spring Dawn"!" Wan Xuezhengdao.

"No objection."

Magistrate Cai put aside the test paper with "Spring Dawn" written on it and said: "This man has extraordinary literary talent, but if he wants to compete with Fang Zhongyong for the position of head of the case, he must read the Holy Words."

Magistrate Cai shook his head secretly as he looked at the words on the invitation scroll. He looked at the first question carefully and his eyes lit up. He said, "I never thought this boy was so extraordinary! Even if I had encountered this question back then, I would never have been able to answer it correctly. "

The other two examiners had also read the answers. When they lowered their heads and looked at it, they were surprised. They had never answered this question correctly before, even if they were judging people. After all, this question was too biased and involved geography and inference ability.

Magistrate Cai held the pen in his right hand and continued to read. After reading the first three pictures, his expression became solemn. The other two examiners, one on the left and one on the right, were also reviewing the papers at the same time. They were speechless for a long time.

Magistrate Cai never put down his pen.

After staying for a moment, Wan Xuezheng asked: "Is it correct?"

“There’s not a single mistake, it’s incredible!”

Magistrate Cai continued reading, reading through the remaining twenty-seven test papers in one breath, and simply put the brush aside.

"Still correct?" Wang Yuanjun was a little surprised.

Magistrate Cai solemnly said: "It's so amazing. Not only is there no mistakes, no other words, no alterations, no stains, it's the only one I've seen in my life."

"Could it be that he can even be a first-class candidate for the Holy Word? Ever since the Holy Word was admitted to the imperial examination, there has never been an A-level candidate for the Holy Word in our Jingguo. Even Chen Sheng was only a B-class candidate back then."

Magistrate Cai said: "Unfortunately, I really want to give him an A-level, but his handwriting is really average. If I give him an A-level, I will definitely be criticized by the scholars."

After Magistrate Cai finished speaking, he wrote on the test paper that asked for Shengyan: Poor writing, no mistakes, B-top.

"pity."

"pity."

Magistrate Cai reluctantly put down Fang Yun's test paper and picked up Fang Zhongyong's poetry test paper.

Fang Zhongyong's ability to write poems has left the county, and he will be paid more attention to by the examiners in any children's examination. The examiners will certainly not hesitate to write comments with words of praise. Unfortunately, Fang Zhongyong encountered Fang Yun, and met Magistrate Cai who was regretful in his heart.

Magistrate Cai looked at Fang Zhongyong's poem and wrote "Yizhong" without saying a word without even commenting.

The ratings are divided into four major levels: A, B, C and D.

No matter what test it is, there can only be one first grade in each subject.

After that, B and C students will be divided into upper, middle and lower grades, while D grades will not be divided, because those who get D grade in any subject will not be admitted.

The three examiners have been immersed in the regret of not being able to give Fang Yun a double-A. They marked the papers in silence. When they encountered errors, they did not hesitate to mark them down. Finally, they were graded based on the number of errors.

After reading the top ten with the most talents, the three examiners will rate the poems and poems of the remaining ninety papers and ask for sage comments.

These one hundred people will finally be sorted according to the order of the Holy Word, and the first fifty can become virgins.

If they are equal, the one with the fewest errors comes first.

If it is said that the errors are equal, then the poems are sorted according to their order. If the poems are equal, the quality of the writing will be considered. If there is no difference between the 50th and the following, you need to ask the semi-saint examiner to make a decision. Generally, there will be a few more children.

After the evaluation, it was already late at night, but no one was allowed to leave the Wenyuan and slept in their respective residences in the Wenyuan.

In the early morning of the next day, the three examiners and ten lecturers got up at six o'clock in the morning. After washing and eating, they began to "review" at seven o'clock to re-examine to ensure that there were no problems.

If the judgment error is too large and the Semi-Saints intervene, the examiner will not only be embarrassed, but may even be dismissed from office and imprisoned.

Entering the marking room, Magistrate Cai said as he walked: "I couldn't fall asleep for a long time last night, and I still feel unwilling to do so."