roccoschili Chapter 246 Mi Feng’s Rural Examination
Chapter 246 Mi Feng’s Rural Examination
During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a man named Cheng Shucai in the Wanjiang area (referring to the Anhui section of the main stream of the Yangtze River. There is a saying of the [-]-mile Wanjiang River, which includes Anqing, Chizhou, Tongling, Wuhu, and Ma'anshan). There is a man named Cheng Sigong.
This man is very knowledgeable. Although he has no fame, he is very famous because he annotated "Chen Review·[-]" compiled by Chen Weisong.
Cheng Shucai usually likes ancient prose but dislikes contemporary articles. His teacher Tang Chizi Taishi criticized him and said: "If you want to rely on the imperial examination to gain fame, you can't do it without it! This year coincides with the imperial examination year, you should pay attention to current articles."
Tang Chizi knew that Cheng Shucai might not be able to listen, so he forced him to read articles by Jin, Chen and other great scholars.
Although Cheng Shucai agreed verbally, it was not his preference after all, and he didn't take it seriously. He didn't read much of books like "Annotations to the Four Books" that were useful for scientific examinations before the exam.
In the scientific examination in the year of [-] in Kangxi, the first question in Jiangnan was "How to recognize the talented and promote them", and the second question was "The Way of the Great Sage".
Uncle Cheng had just finished three exams. He claimed that his first article was well written and he was quite satisfied when he told the teacher.
After Tang Chizi Taishi read it, he also felt that it was very good and said to him happily: "I hope to win the first place!"
Others read it but didn't take it seriously, thinking he was off topic.
Cheng Shucai was confused and hurriedly took out the book "The Doctrine of the Mean" on his desk to check it. Suddenly he felt very frustrated and sighed and said: "It's useless!"
Tang Chizi asked hurriedly: "Is this really off topic? Please tell me specifically what is going on!"
Cheng Shucai said: "I thought that 'The Way of the Great Saint' came after 'Three hundred etiquettes, three thousand majesty', so I followed these two sentences when I led the question. Now I know that it is the first sentence at the beginning, and the following sentences are the same. I have written all the articles wrong. I will definitely fail the exam now! What else can I say?!"
Tang Chizi Taishi also felt sorry for him.
Unexpectedly, when the results came out, Uncle Cheng actually passed the exam and ranked fifth.
Tang Chizi Taishi felt very strange and didn't know the reason, so he went to see the examiner to ask what went wrong.
The examiner of this session was from the same examination as Tang Chizi Taishi. The two were familiar with each other and had a good relationship.
After meeting, before Tang Chizi Taishi could explain his purpose, the examiner smiled and said to him: "There was a joke in this year's exam. I wonder if Brother Tang heard about it?"
Tang Chizi Taishi hurriedly said: "I don't know? What kind of joke is it? Let's hear it."
The examiner said: "Before the exam started, the emperor had a secret decree, saying that the candidates in previous years put the key to writing essays in three places: solving questions, receiving questions, and presenting questions. This year, these three places will be sealed so that they can Use it on your own so that you can see their true talents.
One of the candidates, named Cheng, made mistakes in both answering and writing the essay when writing the article, and he actually got fifth place in the exam!
However, if you re-examine the test paper carefully in the future, you will find the problem. If Cheng is happy now, he will definitely be punished in the future. Do you think this is funny or not? "
Tang Chizi Taishi knew that the candidate he was talking about was his student Cheng Shucai. He was embarrassed to say it, so he could only smile awkwardly and say nothing.
Later, the officials re-examined the test papers, and Cheng Shucai discovered the problem. Not only was his performance in the subject examination revoked, but he was also fined and suspended from taking one subject. He will not be able to take the exam until the next subject examination year.