After hearing about the greasy fat boy's "feat" of painting on the test paper, Zhu Ping'an couldn't calm down for a long time, and couldn't understand the greasy fat boy's magical thought process.
"What kind of painting are you drawing?" Liu Dadao asked curiously.
"I drew an altar, lit three incense sticks, and dressed in the clothes of a scholar to offer sacrifices to my ancestors at home and tell them the news that I passed the imperial examination..." The greasy fat man stretched out his greasy fingers, moved a few dishes aside, and began to sketch the table. Soon, the simple but vivid painting he had made was presented on the table.
The fat man's self-portrait is really vivid. With just a few simple strokes, the fat man's spirit and energy are fully captured. He is wearing a scholar's uniform, holding three incense sticks, and worshiping his ancestors in front of the altar with high spirits.
Zhu Ping'an now completely understood why Examiner Lin commented that the essay was too short and shameless.
You haven't even finished your exam yet, but you've already drawn a picture of yourself offering sacrifices to your ancestors. No wonder the examiner said you were shameless... ... I guess when Examiner Lin saw your exam paper and your drawing, what came to his mind was Zhuge Liang's words scolding Wang Lang: "I have never seen such a shameless person!"
You really deserve the title of a genius. What you do is incredible and most people cannot understand it.
"This painting has both form and spirit, how wonderful! Old scholar Lin is so pedantic! He doesn't know how to appreciate it!" the greasy fat man gritted his teeth.
Zhu Ping'an didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just when he was about to explain to the fat man the taboos in the imperial examination, he heard the greasy fat man burst into laughter.
"Brother Hu, why are you laughing?" Zhu Ping'an asked.
"Hahaha... Isn't it a coincidence that a few years later, in another provincial examination, I met old scholar Lin as the chief examiner again. Didn't you complain that my essay was too short? Everyone can write a long essay. This time, I will write a long essay for you to see. So, hahaha... not only did I write all over the test paper, I also wrote all over the table and chairs. When I handed in the paper, I carried the table and chairs together. You didn't see how green the old scholar's face turned..."
The greasy fat man laughed and said this, especially when he said that examiner Daolin's face turned green, he was so high that he took off.
The corner of Zhu Ping'an's mouth twitched... ... You are really a talented person!
"Brother Hu, do you know the taboos of the imperial examination?" Zhu Ping'an looked at the greasy fat man helplessly.
"Indeed." The greasy fat man nodded.
"Then why do you..." Zhu Pingan said speechlessly.
"When I'm in a good mood, there's no need to suppress it. I'm just that kind of man." The greasy fat man puffed out his chest and said nonchalantly.
Zhu Pingan was speechless. How can you pass the imperial examination like this
"Of course, later on, I suppressed it and never did such a thing again." The greasy fat man sighed.
Zhu Pingan heard this, and his mouth twitched again, expressing his disbelief in Fatty's words. Although Fatty's behavior is not so erratic, and he no longer draws on the test paper or writes on the table, you must still be erratic and have your own ideas in the eight-part essay answer sheet of the imperial examination... ...
The eight-legged essay examination took questions from the Four Books and Five Classics, and the content had to imitate the tone of the ancients and speak for the sages. There was absolutely no free expression allowed, and one could not deviate from the classics or have views that violated the classics and were inconsistent with the sages. Otherwise, failure was inevitable.
The fat man is a genius, his thoughts are beyond this era, and his character is like this. It is too difficult to expect him not to have ulterior motives. However, if this problem is not corrected, it will be difficult for you to pass the imperial examination! Unless you can get through all the examiners and give you the green light, you will never pass the imperial examination.
"Brother Hu, in the imperial examination, the eight-part essay must follow the words of the sages..." Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but remind him.
"Are all the words of the saints correct?" The greasy fat man turned his head and looked at Zhu Ping'an, asking a soul-searching question, "Are the words of the saints annotated by Zhu Zi and others necessarily what the saints wanted to express?"
Question the saint, question Zhu Xi!
You really have a lot of ideas, and your thoughts are beyond most people of this era. It is true that saints are not necessarily right, and Zhu Xi's comments are not necessarily what the saints want to express, but... ...
However, if you want to pass the imperial examination, you have to acknowledge that he is right and that Zhu Xi's comments are what the sage wants to express.
This is the correct approach to the imperial examination.
"Brother Hu, the words of the saints are not necessarily correct, and Zhu Xi's comments are not necessarily what the saints want to express." Zhu Ping'an replied, and then reminded the fat man, "However, if Brother Hu wants to pass the imperial examination, he must assume that the words of the saints are universally applicable, and Zhu Xi's comments are what the saints want to express... The writing and viewpoints are the same as Zhu Xi's, and cannot contradict..."
"You have gone one step further than others, but unfortunately you are still a vulgar person. Alas, it is easy to get money, but it is hard to find a true friend."
After hearing what Zhu Ping'an said, the greasy fat man's eyes brightened and then dimmed. He shook his head in disappointment and sighed.
Well... ...
I am a vulgar person?!
Do you know capitalism? Do you know Marxism-Leninism? Do you know materialism and dialectics? Do you know philosophy? Do you know the theory of relativity? Do you know physics and chemistry? Do you know...
Haha, believe it or not, if I pick one at random and tell you about it, you will be shocked to death.
When Zhu Ping'an heard the fat man say that he was a vulgar person, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
"Alas, the world is so big, with so many people, where are you, my confidant?! Life is so lonely like snow... This world is becoming less and less lovely." The greasy fat man wiped the oil stains from the corner of his mouth and sighed, like a lonely animal abandoned in a corner.
"I do know someone who is your confidant." Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but say when he saw the fat man's lost look.
"Oh, who? What qualifies him to be my confidant?" the greasy fat man asked curiously and in disbelief.
"This man believes in gold, his name is Rui, and his courtesy name is Shengtan." Zhu Ping'an replied.
"Jin Shengtan?! The Sigh of a Saint? This name is quite interesting, you didn't make it up, did you?!"
The greasy fat man looked at Zhu Ping'an with burning eyes and said suspiciously.
"Jin Shengtan is a real person, I am not making it up." Zhu Ping'an looked at the greasy fat man calmly, because Jin Shengtan was indeed a real person, just that the time period was more than a hundred years later, in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty.
Seeing the calmness and determination in Zhu Ping'an's eyes, the greasy fat man believed that there was indeed a person named Jin Shengtan.
"Even if there is such a person as Jin Shengtan, what qualifications does he have to be called my confidant?" said the greasy fat man shrugged.
The greasy fat man was very skeptical. In his opinion, his confidant in this world might not have been born yet, because at least so far, he has not met one, not to mention one, not even half of one. Therefore, the greasy fat man did not have much expectation for Jin Shengtan mentioned by Zhu Pingan.