Fang Yun sighed and said, "Like I said before, I was completely awakened. But good things come with misfortunes. Last night I met a strange man who taught me a lot of things. I remember things that I couldn't remember before, and I suddenly understood things that I didn't understand before. It's like I've opened my eyes."
Yang Yuhuan looked at Fang Yun doubtfully and asked in a low voice, "Who is that person?"
"He didn't tell me my name, but said that I was half his last disciple. If I couldn't pass the imperial examination, I wouldn't deserve to know his name." Fang Yun knew very well that he would become different after all, so he made up such a story to alleviate other people's suspicions.
Yang Yuhuan's beautiful eyes were full of surprise. She asked, "Jinshi? Only a Jinshi can know him, then who is he? Grand Secretary? Great Confucian? Could he be a half-sage?"
"Then I don't know." Fang Yun shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"Since you have a famous teacher to guide you, you will definitely pass the exam! I will go back and buy two taels of meat so that you can eat your fill in the evening!" Yang Yuhuan smiled happily, and her smile was brighter than the spring sunshine.
"Then buy more, buy a pound, and just stew a chicken." Fang Yun knew that he would die if he failed the examination, so he would buy more as his last luxury. He wouldn't be short of this little money if he passed the examination.
Yang Yuhuan nodded without hesitation and said, "Then I'll listen to you! You are the head of the family."
Fang Yun did not expect that Yang Yuhuan was not only beautiful, but also so sensible and always protected his dignity. In her eyes, eating so much in one day was already a waste of money, but she still did not hesitate, fearing that Fang Yun's self-esteem would be frustrated.
Fang Yun sighed inwardly: "Perhaps she would say in her heart that as long as she works harder and suffers a little more, she can earn back the money. How can I let down such a woman? If I can pass the examination, I will never let her suffer or work any more!"
Yang Yuhuan took out a sugar cake she had baked this morning from her bookcase and said, "I baked two more. You didn't eat breakfast this morning, so eat now."
Fang Yun took the sugar cake and ate it slowly.
The food on the day of the exam was always better than usual. I had to stay in the College of Literature for lunch and answer questions while eating. I had to bring my own food and water. The Tongsheng exam was easy to take, but the Xiucai exam lasted for three consecutive days. I had to eat, drink, sleep and defecate in the small exam room. If I had any physical problems, I would not be able to stand it.
The old ox staggered along the way towards the east of the city and soon arrived outside the Academy of Literature.
The academy has red walls and green tiles, and is shaded by green trees, and is full of vitality in the morning light.
There was a huge crowd of people standing outside the College of Arts, including children in their teens and elderly people with gray hair. They were queuing in ten rows and gradually entering the College of Arts. A rough glance showed that there were no less than two thousand people, and there were even more parents and relatives who were not queuing.
Fang Yun was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that the population of Ji County was less than 90,000, but the number of people taking the examination for the title of Tongsheng could reach 2,000.
Fang Yun knew that the literacy rate in ancient times was very low. The literacy rate of ancient Chinese men was about 10%, and in the Republic of China period it was only 15%. More than half of them were various craftsmen and artists who needed to know how to read, and the proportion of scholars was less than 5%. However, this proportion was already the highest among ancient countries. Most ancient Western nobles were illiterate, and the literacy rate in many countries was less than 1%.
In Fang Yun's opinion, three or four hundred people would be enough for Ji County's Tongsheng examination, but he didn't expect that there would be two thousand people. This number was too scary.
Ji County is a lower-level county and can only admit fifty students a year!
Fang Yun was surprised. He didn't expect that he had underestimated the intensity of the examination.
Fang Yun quickly remembered that the population density of Shengyuan Continent was much higher than that in ancient China.
Counties are divided into upper, middle and lower levels according to their wealth, and Ji County is a lower-level county with relatively scarce land resources. However, because of the existence of talents, the common people will not starve to death as long as they are not lazy. Fang Yun and Yang Yuhuan are the best examples. Even with only two children, they can still support themselves and even barely pay for one of them to go to school.
The county magistrate and other officials in the Holy Court Continent have a very important duty: to help farmers.
If there is less rain, local officials will hold a "rain-praying literary meeting" and call on local people with literary status to write poems and articles to pray for rain. If the poems and articles are good enough and their talent can attract the vitality of heaven and earth, then it will rain.
If the local scholars failed to pray for rain, or the weather was too dry, the officials would prepare "literary treasures" and "holy pages", and expend their talent to write famous poems by ancient celebrities to pray for rain.
When there is a lot of rain, a "flood control literary meeting" will be held. When there is a locust plague, a "locust-driving literary meeting" will be held, and locust-driving and locust-killing literary meetings will inevitably be composed.
There are countless articles like this.
It is thanks to the talent that the grain production here is far greater than that of the ancient Earth and can feed more people. Coupled with the attraction of literary titles, many people tighten their belts to support their children's education, so there are so many people taking the examination for the position of Tongsheng in one county.
"Here, talent is the primary productive force."
Fang Yun was thinking in his mind as he was helped out of the car by Yang Yuhuan.
The candidates nearby looked over one after another. Not many of them knew Fang Yun, but everyone knew the famous Xi Shi of Jiangzhou. Even if they had never seen her, they could guess at this moment because Yang Yuhuan was so beautiful.
Many people were eager to make a move, but unfortunately the county examination was about to begin and they could not afford to make any unnecessary changes, so they had to suppress the idea of the talented man meeting the beautiful woman.
Yang Yuhuan had been accustomed to being stared at since she was a child, and a slight hint of shyness flashed across her eyes for a moment. Then she nonchalantly supported Fang Yun and carried his book box for him.
Everyone was even more envious. This woman was so virtuous that they wished they could become Fang Yun.
"Fang Yun!"
"Sister Yuhuan!"
Then four people left the team and walked quickly towards them, each carrying a bamboo book box on their backs. Except for one person who was obviously younger than Fang Yun, the other three were several years older than Fang Yun.
Fang Yun only took a glance and remembered that they were classmates in a private school and had studied together for more than three years. Among the four of them, Liang Yuan's family was relatively wealthy as he ran a rice shop, while the others, like Fang Yun, were from an ordinary family.
The parents of the four of them are still alive, and their family conditions are better than Fang Yun's, but they have never looked down on Fang Yun, and their feelings for each other are very sincere. However, the twelve-year-old Ge Xiaomao once said with a blushing face that he made friends with Fang Yun so that he could see Sister Yuhuan more.
"Fang Yun, what's wrong with you?" Liang Yuan was the tallest among the five people. He rushed over and looked at Fang Yun with a frown.
Although Fang Yun changed into clean clothes, he had a bandage on his head and there were obvious bruises and wounds on his face.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "It rained last night and the road was slippery. I fell down. It's just a minor injury. It won't affect the exam."
Ge Xiaomao said worriedly, "You're injured like this and it's still okay? Can you really do it?"
Fang Yun half-jokingly said, "Mencius said, 'When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it will first test his mind and will, toil his muscles and bones, starve his body, and deprive him of all want.' I encountered obstacles before the exam, and also received guidance from my teacher, which shows that Heaven will surely confer a great responsibility on me."
"Teacher? Has Mr. Sun given you special guidance?" Liang Yuan asked curiously.
"It's not Mr. Sun, it's another teacher you don't know. Let's not talk about that, let's line up to enter the College of Literature. Sister Yuhuan, I'll carry the bookcase."
The tall and strong Liang Yuan grabbed the bookcase and said, "I'll help you carry it. Let's go."
Another classmate, Lu Zhan, supported Fang Yun, said goodbye to Yang Yuhuan, and lined up to enter the Academy of Literature.
Fang Yun looked around. That Fang Yun had also taken the examination for Tongsheng last year, but this was his first time here.
Ge Xiaomao complained quietly, "I'm only twelve years old, it's a waste of money to come here. It's okay to write a crooked poem, but 'Please the Words of the Saint' is too difficult. In addition to the Thirteen Classics, there are also some works of saints. It has been a thousand years since Confucius was canonized, and there have been dozens of canonized people. 'Please the Words of the Saint' selects the works of many saints. I went to a private school for five years, but I only memorized "The Analects", "Mencius", "The Book of Changes", "The Book of Rites of Zhou" and "The Spring and Autumn Annals", but I couldn't pass the exam to become a student."
Fang Yun knew that the so-called "asking for the words of the saint" was similar to the questions and answers, filling in the blanks and dictation in later generations, requiring candidates to complete the previous or subsequent text according to the prompts, and some even had to dictate an entire chapter.
This reminded Fang Yun of the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty.
China's Tang Dynasty imperial examination required "posting scriptures", which was an important subject for admitting candidates. It just involved copying a few sentences from scriptures, then covering a few words and letting the candidates fill in. It was simpler than asking for the words of the saint.
The main reason why Tang poetry flourished was that the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty also tested poetry and prose, and their proportion was very large.
In the Shengyuan Continent, the Holy Academy discovered that poetry and talent are most compatible, especially the war poems and lyrics that can be passed down from generation to generation, which affect the rise and fall of the human race. Therefore, poetry must be tested in the imperial examinations, and frontier poetry is the top priority.
Liang Yuan smiled and said, "You are young. I asked you to come here not for fame, but to gain experience. Just do your best. The 'Please Say Something' test for the Tongsheng exam is thirty pages long, and the 'Please Say Something' test for the Xiucai exam is one hundred pages long. It is jokingly said that a hundred pages of test is like a dead ox working a field. How can you possibly answer all of them correctly?"
Lu Zhan said, "Don't be discouraged, Xiao Mao. Apart from the four great scholars, no one can answer all the questions in the Tongsheng exam correctly, not even us, let alone you. Fortunately, the Tongsheng exam covers a smaller range. The questions in the Xiucai exam are tricky and strange. Even the scholars of the past dynasties have not been able to answer them correctly in hundreds of years of imperial examinations, not even those sages who were eventually canonized."
Ge Xiaomao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Liang Yuan, this time the Tongsheng exam depends entirely on you. None of Mr. Sun's disciples have passed the Tongsheng exam in recent years, and people from other private schools laugh at us. We can't compare to Fang Zhongyong, the child prodigy who has a photographic memory, so we can't let others outdo us! I hope our ancestors and saints will bless us."
"You!" Liang Yuan laughed and shook his head.
Fang Yun was slightly stunned when he heard the name Fang Zhongyong.
At this moment, someone nearby suddenly shouted, "Fang Zhongyong is here."
Everyone immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old getting off a carriage. The boy had a serious face, not a bit childish, and his eyes did not have the slightest liveliness that a child prodigy should have. He looked more stable than his peers.
Then a middle-aged man in gorgeous brocade robe came down from the car triumphantly, and many parents immediately came forward to compliment the middle-aged man.
There were at least three to four thousand candidates and their relatives and friends in front of the Academy. When Fang Zhongyong and his son arrived, most people stopped talking and looked at them.
Fang Yun didn't expect that this father and son, who both had the same surname Fang, would be so dazzling.
Fang Yun recognized Fang Zhongyong and his father Fang Li, who were his distant relatives. In terms of seniority, Fang Yun was the uncle of the child prodigy Fang Zhongyong, but the two families were too distantly related and had never had any contact.
Ge Xiaomao said enviously: "Fang Zhongyong's reputation as a child prodigy in Ji County is even greater than Sister Yuhuan's. Not only does he have a photographic memory, but his poetry and couplets are far better than those of us. His father said that he could pass the examination to become a Tongsheng student when he was ten years old. The reason why he took the Tongsheng examination for the first time this year is that he has accumulated a lot of experience and wants to compete for the first place in Tongsheng and become the 'first place in the case'."
"He is the top candidate this time. He can enter the Dayuan Prefecture's Academy of Literature without taking the exam. It is the best school in the prefecture, many times better than our private school." Liang Yuan said.