On the ninth day of June, Li Dongyang's second son was born.
Coincidentally, his fourth younger brother Dongming also gave birth to a son. Li Xueshi was blessed with double happiness and wrote two poems to celebrate. He also invited guests and friends to compose poems and sing harmony. There are many talented seniors in the family going in and out of Hexi, and there are three baptisms for the younger brother and the cousin, and the eldest son Zhaoxian's illness can no longer be delayed.
With such a big happy event in the family, as the eldest son of the Li family, he could not be lazy, so he had to get up and help his father and grandfather to welcome and see off the guests.
The doctor who diagnosed him also said that his symptoms were almost cured, but he was born with a little lack of energy, so he should pay more attention to nourishing diet in the future, and he should not be affected by cold. As for things like Shao Si abstinence, the doctor didn't mention it because he was too young to "know lust and admire Shao Ai".
Li Dongyang sent the doctor away, looked at the eldest son's round face, and finally breathed a sigh of relief—the wife was fine, and the son was fine, and their family would have no worries in the future, and they could live in peace.
The whole family was immersed in the succession of happy events, the only one who was not happy enough was the eldest son Li himself-because after the big event of the birth of the younger brother was over, he fell into the hands of the senior brother.
Although his senior brother couldn't stare at him in person, he had already ordered an exercise plan for him and asked his family to accompany him to exercise.
Cui Xie started his formal training from riding horses back then, but at that time, he was already fourteen or fifteen years old, and his mentality was more mature. Li Zhaoxian was only ten years old this year, and he was still an eldest young master who used to take a car when he went out. When Cui Xie himself was afraid that he would fall, he picked up the easiest way to walk.
In the morning, when the sun was not blazing bright, I asked my family to take the eldest son for a walk on the clean road outside the house. Don't walk too fast, just sweat a little. At first, he only needed to walk for two quarters of an hour. After seven or eight days, he got used to the intensity, and then he lengthened the trip and tried to go faster...
Li Dongyang took this as his experience in martial arts. When he was free, he also wandered out of the Hanlin Academy and took his horse for a walk around the west end. He was sweating slightly as he walked, and the breeze was blowing from the lake, and it just happened to blow away the heat from his body. The clear water in the pool, the willow branches on the bank, and the boats on the water in the distance are vivid and picturesque.
When I came home, I saw Li Zhaoxian, and I also took his new poem Ying Xi Ya Shi Shi, and told him to be poetic when he was walking, and also a five-character quatrain with a rhyme.
A young talent like Li Da Gongzi, walking back and forth in broad daylight in front of his house, is so embarrassing that he can't hide his face so that no one can see it, and Shi Xing? What's more, his father was visiting Jishuitan, one of the ten scenic spots in the capital, and he was visiting the street in front of his house. What's the difference!
With a small face, he said gloomily, "There is no poetry in my son, why doesn't my father order my brother to reconcile with him?"
His senior brother... was busy preparing for the exam, so when he met the teacher, he asked him to write the questions and judge the papers. Don't talk about poetry, even reading poetry to him, he can't hear it.
Beginning in July, Cui Xie took leave from the Chinese Academy from time to time, and gave himself a mock test with past years' hometown test questions. He asked someone to build a small examination shed in his yard—the kind of three-sided brick wall in the Gongyuan, only big enough to accommodate one's body, with two wooden boards inserted into the wall, which can be used as tables and chairs, and can be combined into a bed. Small cubicle.
Every two days, he takes a day off, enters the examination room at 4 o'clock every day, and starts to make papers at dawn. In the evening, I only prepare a candle for myself, and the wax comes out. No matter whether I finish writing or not, I force myself to get used to the high-intensity exam.
It's not that he loves self-abuse, it's just that there are too many questions in the township exam, which is two or three times more than the previous children's exam.
These three rural exams are the same as the general exams. The first one is to test seven questions of scriptures and meanings, including three questions of four books and four questions of five scriptures, adding up to nearly 3,000 words. When doing a question, you have to draft it first and then copy it onto the front scroll. It takes a lot of time to write down these nearly 6,000 words. In the first few simulations, because he got up early in the morning, his brain was a little numb after doing three or four questions, and he didn't do well on the classics. But in the field of study, he could not focus on the four books and underestimate the five classics, so he adjusted the rhythm and wrote the four books together and the five classics together.
When judging the paper, the examiner still adheres to the rule of "three sessions emphasize the first session, and the first session emphasises the first righteousness". Although the latter may be a little mediocre, the examiner's energy is more limited when judging the paper, and he will not read all seven questions carefully, as long as he can do it, it is enough.
As for the last two rounds, the examiner will not spend too much time, as long as the text is clear and clear, the historical facts and laws cited are detailed and accurate, and there are no problems with top boxes, blanks, and taboos, even if there are occasional alterations, it will not affect the examiner's inclusion.
However, in the second round of the township examination, there is one test and five sentences, and then one is selected from the list of edicts. After entering August, Cui Xie took a long vacation and added a small composition for the second and third scenes in the simulation of Jingyiwen.
The questions for each of his simulations were sent to Mr. Li for comment. Li Dongyang corrected the articles and gave him some questions, asking him to simulate with the previous exam questions.
There is such a candidate at home, Cui and Li's family is full of a strong test-taking atmosphere. Li Zhaoxian looks at the questions coming and going on the test paper every day, as if he was in the test room in person, and his heart is pounding with nervousness.
Seeing that his little face was so tight that he couldn't even smile anymore, Cui Xie touched his face and comforted him, "When senior brother has entered the Gongyuan and sees what's inside, I'll give it to you when I look back. Build a more realistic mock test room. You also take the test every three days and every three days. After taking the test for a few months, you will be thoroughly familiar with it, and you will not be afraid of entering any test room. "
He didn't say it was okay, the more he said, the more scared Li Zhaoxian became, but he didn't even dare to pretend to be sick, so he could only hold back tears and write a solitary and angry poem, stabbing his senior brother ruthlessly.
Li Dongyang came across the poem by chance, and praised the phrase "Zhao Xian is really thoughtful", took it to Cui Xie to appreciate, and commented on him, the man who was stabbed: "Word by word, the work of carving a pair is easy to obtain, Innocent interest cannot be easily exchanged. Although Zhaoxian’s poems are shallow and familiar, they are original and ingenious.
Seeing the resentful tone in the poem, Cui Xie couldn't help laughing: "Junior brother, this poem is exactly what the teacher said in the past, 'thinking about the love and neglecting the facts'. Why have I ever been so ruthless to him? Someday I will ask someone to come to the teacher's house. After building the examination house and shutting up the junior and junior students to test every day, it will not be too late for him to hate me again.”
Li Dongyang also laughed: "That's all, your brothers and sisters are just like brothers, how can I watch him blame you? Anyway, I see that your article is already well-rounded, and it is no problem to take the middle-town test. After these three games, you don't have to stop You don't need to scare him if you work so hard."
It was not until the sixth day of the eighth lunar month that the emperor of Chenghua appointed the examiner and eight candidates for the Shuntian Township Exam of the Jinke Examination. The examiners were not allowed to go home or live near the homes of the students taking the test. They could only ask someone to bring things in. On the eighth day of the first day, they were moved to the Gongyuan and locked in the courtyard for the test.
After a banquet was given by the neiguan officials, they were taken away and locked together. There was not a single piece of paper and nothing to do, so they gathered together to discuss the talents of the township examination. Others say that the young talents they are familiar with, but Li, the only one who has a promising disciple, has to declare and avoid it, and he is very depressed.
The deputy chief examination Xie Qian comforted him and said, "This disciple is not a relative, and there is no such example in the court. Maybe there is no need to avoid it?"
What he said was quite accurate, the declaration form was sent, but the Ministry of Rites approved only those disciples of the same sect who were of the same sect and above, and disciples whose in-laws were within the five-served family had to avoid it. The officials who came to deliver the letter quietly sent a message from the inner court to them, saying that before the examiner was selected, the Emperor Chenghua suddenly asked, "Yes, Cui Xie, are you taking the exam today?"
On the side, an internal servant said to the emperor: "Cui Xie is Li Dongyang's disciple. He has been studying with Dongyang for a long time, and he may be biased when selecting scholars, so he should avoid it."
But the emperor of Chenghua said: "It was custom made by Taizu, only to avoid clans and in-laws, not to avoid him."
Hearing this, Li Dongyang felt refreshed, couldn't help smiling, and cupped his hands: "Xiaguan chooses talents for the court, how dare you follow your own interests and choose people who lack talent and learning?"
Their examiners were locked in the exam room and couldn't get out, so Cui Xie naturally didn't know that he almost failed the exam. He heard that the teacher became an examiner and was also happy for a while, but he was afraid that he should avoid it. He also took Teacher Li's post to his junior brother Yang Yiqing and Yang Sheren, asking if Yang Sheren would take the initiative to ask for avoidance.
Yang Yiqing naturally knew what was going on in the palace, so he smiled and comforted him: "Just prepare with peace of mind, whether or not you are allowed to take the exam is a matter of the court, you don't need to think too much as a little supervisor. If you really want to avoid it, someone will tell you, I won’t tell you, but you were also swiped at the roll call and inspection levels, so if you didn’t swipe you, you can take the exam with peace of mind.”
Uncle Yang's words are very reasonable. Cui Xie also put his heart into his stomach and went back to pack his things to prepare for the exam.
Originally, when he was taking the test, he had personally dealt with all the affairs, but this time he didn't bother much. Mr. Cui had been admitted to the palace exam all the way back then, and his family had prepared the exam basket for him. Cui Liangdong asked a few old family members who had served the exam early on, and prepared a long-eared exam basket for Cui Xie. Inside the test basket are pens, inks, inkstones, rags, waterproof tarpaulin test curtains, small benches...
Entering and receiving the test papers all depended on a test ticket printed by Shuntian Prefecture.
On the 9th day of the eighth lunar month, Cui Xie opened his eyes according to the biological clock he had obtained through the simulation test for more than a month, washed and changed his clothes, got up in good spirits, rode his horse and took his family to the gate of Gongyuan.
When he was called, he really had his name. Cui Xie was completely relieved, and he followed the team into the examination room.
At the beginning of autumn, the weather was not too cold, even though the prosecutor was asked to stop him outside the door to strip and reveal his body to check whether there were any private tattoos on his body, he did not feel cold. After going through the inspection, he put on his clothes, shoes and socks at the door, tucked his hair, followed the team into the gantry, found a place on the table and the serial number on his test ticket, and walked into the narrow test number.
The numbered room is a good place to see the light, but the numbered room has not been cleaned for a long time, there are spider webs in the air, the ground is full of dust, and two wooden boards can be touched to print handprints. When the first light of the sky shines on the test number, you can see a white fog dancing with the light, making people breathless.
Cui Xie pulled out the board, lifted it into the air, and rubbed the hanging spider web.
The dust in the sky made him cough, and the other candidates were no better than him. All of them were disgraced. Some simply sat in without even wiping, scraping off the dirt on the board with their clothes. However, Cui Xie couldn't compare to those experts, so he still tried his best to clean up all the dirt he could see. He also bought two cups of hot water from the patroller.
Although Mr. Li was also in the examination room, he was an internal officer and could not even get out of the curtain. The teachers and students had no chance to meet and communicate. , it depends on fate.