Chapter 12 Literary Test
The Taoist test was conducted in rounds of twenty people. It was already evening when all the more than 300 candidates had finished the test. According to the regulations of this unified examination, the literary test will be completed on the second day.
Nothing happened overnight. Early the next morning, Wei Yuan was taken to a brightly lit hall. Tables, chairs and four treasures of the study had already been set up in the hall. Just like the Taoist test, Wei Yuan saw his number flashing on a table as soon as he entered the hall. When
Wei Yuan walked over and took a seat, he felt as if an invisible wall had risen up around him, isolating all sounds and noise. He could not hear other people's voices, and the surrounding scenery became blurry. Even if he was sitting at the table, he could not see what was written on the paper.
The furnishings on the table were simple, with a piece of white paper in the middle, and a pen holder on the right side of the table with a fine regular script brush on it. In the center of the desk was an inkstone and a bowl of water. Then the Taoist priest's clear voice sounded beside Wei Yuan, briefly explaining the application of various stationery. The main magical thing is the bowl of water. If you write the wrong word, you can use a pen to dip a little water in the bowl to erase it, and then write again.
After explaining the use of stationery, the Taoist priest's voice turned majestic: "Wen test, start!"
With the Taoist priest's voice, lines of dense handwriting appeared on the white paper in front of Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan had grabbed the pen, but he was stunned when he saw the test paper. There was basically no blank space on the paper, so how could he write the answer?
Wei Yuan calmed down and read the questions carefully. The first question was:
In the thirteenth year of Jingxuan, () stopped Emperor Hui's carriage and presented "Eight Strategies for the Pacification of Liao".
A: Zhongheng B: Ding Shu C: Gongshu Luyuan D: Xianju Taoist priest
asked such a question, Wei Yuan had never seen it before, and Zhang Sheng had never talked about it. Fortunately, the question was not difficult. This matter was also a major event in Tang's history. Wei Yuan had a solid basic skill. After searching in his memory, he picked up the pen and ticked the word Ding.
Then the second question came: In the thirty-fifth year of Mingde, () led 8,100 soldiers and defeated the mountain people in Ji, killing 273.
A: Lord Mao B: Xu Chu C: Master Huihai D: Hanikezi
This question was not difficult for Wei Yuan, who could recite the history of Tang Dynasty by heart. He saw the two words Xu Chu at a glance and ticked the word B. After answering this question, Wei Yuan's pounding heart gradually calmed down. Although the question type was strange, it was not difficult. If all the questions were like this, this literary test would be a gift.
However, Wei Yuan suddenly had a strange idea in his mind: if this question was not about Xu Chu, but about the thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth or thirty-sixth year of Mingde, or even worse, if the number of soldiers was 8,100 or 8,200, or even 273 or 74...
Wei Yuan suddenly shuddered and quickly shook this terrible idea out of his mind, then laughed in his heart, thinking who would be so stupid to ask such a stupid question?
Wei Yuan gradually calmed down and answered fluently. The following questions did not contain the content that frightened Wei Yuan.
After answering a page of paper, Wei Yuan put it aside. A new white paper would appear on the table automatically, with a new question.
Soon, Wei Yuan encountered another question he had never seen before: In the 21st year of Xuanwu, Emperor Tang Taizong defeated Northern Liao in (), recovered 7,000 miles of land, and established () state.
This time there were no options for A, B, C, and D, and you had to fill it in yourself.
This battle was the battle of Tang Dingguo. Emperor Taizong fought for seven consecutive months, and finally defeated Northern Liao in Wuyang, killed two of the three major state masters of Northern Liao, and established seven counties in Yanzhou. Of course, Yanzhou now has 22 counties, but that's a story for later.
Such a big thing would not be difficult for Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan picked up the pen and wrote, each word was upright and vigorous. He found that the pen in his hand was also very mysterious. The strokes could be extremely fine, even if the characters were as small as rice grains. The pen Wei Yuan used when he was a child was not good enough. Characters as big as beans would easily become a mess.
Wei Yuan wrote quickly, and the test papers on the table became higher and higher. After answering more than ten pages of papers, only one line of words appeared on the white paper, and the rest was blank:
On Xu Jie's "Book of Talent Recruitment" presented to Emperor Mingzong.
Strategy!
Wei Yuan was immediately refreshed, and the familiar thing finally came.
Xu Jie was a famous prime minister in the early days of the Tang Dynasty. He presented a book of talent recruitment to Emperor Tang Mingzong, who had just succeeded to the throne at that time, and suggested opening more channels and recruiting talents, laying the foundation for the prosperity of the next hundred years. This question actually tests the strategy of employing people, advocating the question of employing people based on virtue or talent.
Wei Yuan thought for a moment, and then wrote down quickly. When Zhang Sheng taught him, he not only asked Wei Yuan to memorize the book of talent recruitment, but also carefully interpreted it one by one, and combined with the historical facts of the time to describe the actual impact of each one. Finally, he asked Wei Yuan to think about how the strategies in the book would change if they were placed in different eras, and he would not stop until he answered all of them.
There is no definite answer to this kind of question. According to Zhang Sheng's teaching, it is necessary to answer it in combination with the general situation at that time to be qualified. Anything that is divorced from the current situation is empty talk.
In a short while, Wei Yuan had already written a full chapter. He put the page aside and started to look at the next question:
In the tenth year of Xuanguang, there was an earthquake in the three counties of the Western Jin Dynasty. In March, the hungry people rose up, and in May, the mountain people in the south invaded. General Fan Yuan led 50,000 troops to leave the capital. Should he go west or south?
This question tests whether to resist foreign aggression first or to stabilize the country first. In fact, there is no definitive answer. In historical facts, Fan Yuan went west to suppress the victims and beheaded hundreds of thousands of people. However, the unrest was not over yet. The mountain people took advantage of the chaos to invade and approached the capital, and finally forced the Western Jin Dynasty to sign a humiliating treaty. As a result, the national strength of the Western Jin Dynasty was greatly reduced, and it went from being one of the three major princes to the bottom of the nine countries.
This question is more difficult. Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, looked for some real cases in history books as reference, and began to discuss the gains and losses.
If you really want to answer well, in addition to learning from history, you must also be familiar with the geographical environment of the Western Jin Dynasty at that time, the characteristics of the monarch and ministers, and the movements of the surrounding countries, which is far beyond Wei Yuan's ability. If you are not a historian, you can't answer this question well.
He filled sheets of white paper with words and put them aside. Before he knew it, nearly two hours had passed, but Wei Yuan didn't feel tired at all. The chair he sat on constantly emitted a slight cool breeze, which kept him clear-headed and energetic.
When Wei Yuan filled another sheet of white paper and put it aside, there was no new white paper on the table. Wei Yuan exhaled, put the pen back on the pen holder, picked up the paper he had already answered, and read it again. Throughout the exam, Wei Yuan didn't encounter any questions he couldn't answer. There were a few questions in the policy essay that had no definitive answer. Wei Yuan kept them in mind and made his own arguments, and his answers were satisfactory.
Judging from the policy essay alone, the questions Zhang Sheng had given Wei Yuan in the past were much more difficult than this exam.
With a bell, the written test was over.
The candidates left their test papers on the table, filed out of the hall, and returned to their dormitories to rest.
After leaving the hall, Wei Yuan immediately felt a clear sense of fatigue. After three hours of writing test, even with the support of the treasure chair, Wei Yuan was exhausted. The other candidates also lost interest in talking and hurried back to their rooms to rest. Tomorrow morning there will be a martial arts test, so we must rest well.
(End of this chapter)