Chapter 439: Second Provincial Examination
After the second round of the provincial examination, Sun Shan got a short rest.
In any case, my body is more resilient in this provincial examination than in the imperial examination.
Apart from a swollen head, nausea and vomiting, Sun Shan had no other symptoms, not even heatstroke.
Is it because they have grown up and their body functions have matured, so they can endure more?
Sun Shan shook his head and waited for the night incense men to clean up the toilet, then ran back to get the stove to continue boiling the herbs to drink.
Sun Shan overturned what he said a few days ago. The herbal medicine was indeed unpalatable, but after drinking it, he broke out in a sweat and felt much more comfortable.
At least it can prevent heat stroke.
The Chaozhou guy looked at Sun Shan painfully and at the smoking earthenware jar pitifully. The meaning was self-evident: he wanted to drink too!
Sun Shan saw that his face turned blue, which was even more serious than his own.
Although he is taller and stronger than herself, he is actually just a show-off and useless.
Not only did the Chaozhou man want to drink the herbal medicine, but other candidates who had drunk it also ran over to drink it, saying that the medicine was effective. They also asked Sun Shan which clinic he went to to get it and that they should bring it in next time.
Sun Shan's face was filled with black lines.
Next time? That would be a curse on myself to fail the exam!
Ouch, thinking about having to endure nine more days in the Imperial Examination Hall next time, Sun Shan trembled all over.
The second intermission was much quieter than the first, and everyone was listless.
Those who eat eat, while those who don’t eat lie on the floor in a mess.
All the candidates came out of their dormitories and found an empty place to rest.
Many candidates were shirtless and had disheveled hair.
Sun Shan took a furtive look at it, regretting that his painting skills were not that good, otherwise he would have gone back and painted a picture of “Various Aspects of Candidates for the Provincial Examination”.
Then I thought, his painting skills are not very good, but he can write a diary.
Describe the scenes that one saw and experienced in the provincial examination for reference by relatives and friends, and even for future generations.
As for why it is not available for future candidates to read, it is because Sun Shan does not know whether a book depicting the scenes of the provincial examination can be published or whether it is a banned book.
When I woke up, the third round of the provincial examination officially began.
This exam tests five questions on classics, history, current affairs, and one question on poetry.
When Sun Shan saw that there was only one poetry question, he instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
It is better to have fewer poems and essays. It is beneficial for people like him who are not good at writing poems.
Sun Shan felt that he only gave one poetry topic just to select the best candidates and to determine the first, second and third place winners.
Although today's literati like to recite poems and compose couplets, governing a country and maintaining peace still requires a practical approach. Being good at writing poems does not produce talented people.
What is "Policies on Current Affairs based on Classics and History"?
It can be seen as an examination of insights into maintaining national security and stability.
From the literal meaning, "Jing" refers to the contents of Confucian classics; "Shi" refers to historical issues, including laws and regulations, historical events, and evaluations of people.
"Current Affairs Policy" means expressing opinions on current political, economic, military and other issues.
First he discusses classics and history, then he talks about current affairs, integrating classics, history and current affairs into one, which is natural and complete, so it is called "Classics, History and Current Affairs".
In fact, to put it simply, it is "keyboard politics."
It’s just that the “key policies” in the imperial examinations must quote classics, combine with reality, and then give suggestions.
The format of writing policy is slightly looser and no longer strictly follows the eight-part essay format, so it gives candidates more room to express themselves freely.
As long as what you say makes sense, you will get points.
If you want to get high scores, you have to be outstanding.
Moreover, "策" accounts for a very large proportion in the provincial examinations, which can be compared with the questions on the Four Books and Five Classics.
If Sun Shan wanted to be on the list, he had to write a good essay.
Sun Shan put the policy questions aside and finished the poetry first.
There is only one question, so any answer will do. Sun Shan does not intend to get a high score, as long as he does not lose any points he will pass.
The topic of this provincial examination is "Fu De Hua Shen Xi Shi" - five-character eight-rhyme poem
Sun Shan took a quick look and had no idea which flower the flower goddess Xi Shi in the title referred to, but he soon found out what it was.
The so-called flower goddess Xi Shi refers to the lotus.
In Tang Dynasty poet Du Xunhe's "Spring Palace Complaint" - "I was misled by the beauty early on, and was too lazy to put on makeup in front of the mirror. The favor does not lie in my appearance, but teaches me to be beautiful. The wind is warm and the birds are singing, the sun is high and the shadows of flowers are heavy. Every year, the girl from Yuexi remembers picking lotus flowers with me."
According to legend, Xi Shi was the daughter of a firewood seller before she helped Yue conquer Wu.
When lotus flowers were in full bloom in the summer, Xi Shi often went to Jinghu Lake to pick lotus flowers, perhaps because Xi Shi was once a lotus picker in June.
Her beautiful figure was unmatched, so she naturally became the goddess of lotus.
The so-called flower goddess Xi Shi actually refers to the lotus.
The question is to write a poem of five words and eight rhymes with the theme of "lotus".
There have been many poems written about lotus since ancient times. It is very difficult to stand out, but it is also very difficult to be crappy.
This question is still very friendly to someone like Sun Shan who is not very good at writing poetry.
Because if you know how to do it, you can always get points and it won’t be outrageous.
I don’t know if it was the chief examiner, Mr. Yang, who made the decision, but he definitely made the final decision.
Using such a popular question not only has the effect of stabilizing the question, but also has the meaning of deciding the outcome.
If you are a candidate who wants to get the first place, write well on a popular topic, you will definitely win the title of "Jieyuan".
Sun Shan is an ordinary person, so this question is neither a plus point question for him nor a minus point question for him.
As long as he wrote in a standard manner, the examiner would definitely give Sun Shan a passing grade.
After thinking for a while and coming up with some ideas, Sun Shan began to write.
After finishing the poetry and prose questions, the formal policy questions began.
Sun Shan looked at the questions, some were long and some were short, and he needed to find out the source of all of them, and then combine them with current policies and give suggestions.
There are five policy questions, which is a very large number of questions.
Although the number of words required is not high, it is very difficult to write policy papers and make suggestions.
This is not "keyboard politics" like "keyboard warriors". It requires first finding out the content theory of "Confucian classics", then combining it with historical examples, and then integrating it with current policies, and finally making recommendations.
But what you say must be reasonable and have examples behind it.
Sun Shan looked at the questions and chose the simplest one with the most answers:
"I am a prisoner sentenced to death and have no relatives. I have requested that the emperor allow me to serve as a servant. If I am pardoned, should I be spared from death?"
This is from "Tang Law Commentary".
The meaning is: if a prisoner who has committed a death penalty has relatives who are not supported at home, can he ask for a pardon and go home to take care of his relatives? If there is a general amnesty, can he be exempted from the death penalty?
This question tests your familiarity with Tang laws and Daqian laws.
Combining the Tang Code with the Daqian Code, explain the differences between the two codes, and then give your own opinions.
You can be in favor of letting death row inmates return home to serve their families, or you can be against allowing them to return home to serve their families.
When there is an amnesty, one can agree to commute the death penalty for a death row inmate or even release him, or one can oppose commencing the death penalty for a death row inmate.
Or it can be said that the death penalty can be avoided but the living punishment cannot.
Combine the past and the present, cite points of evidence, and state your point of view.
Whether your point of view touches the examiner's heart or not depends entirely on fate.
But even if your opinion is completely different from that of the examiner, you will still get points as long as your argument makes sense.
Policy questions are not objective questions, but subjective questions, which are very subjective and the answers are not unified.