Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 1 The Scholar Who Traveled to the Song Dynasty
In the first year of Jiayou in the Northern Song Dynasty, Hejiang County, Luzhou.

This place is located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and Anle Creek. Now that spring water has just begun to flow, it is a peaceful scene of "young swallows flying on willow branches and yellow orioles playing with leaves in their beaks in the water."

Two scholars carrying backpacks walked briskly on the stone bridge.

Listening to the sound of water, one of them shook his head and said.

"The Master said on the river."

".Gulp gulp gulp."

The man looked at his companions in surprise. Although they had to take the policy essay test at the county school today and could have the Cold Food Festival holiday, no matter how good their mood was, it was inappropriate to mock the saint.

"Why are you looking at me?"

At this time, the two people who noticed something was wrong finally reacted and looked at An Lexi together.

"Oh no! Someone fell into the water!"

Following the shouts of the two people on the bridge, a fisherman who was familiar with the water quickly fished the boy out.

He was a boy of about sixteen or seventeen, with his eyes tightly closed, a straight nose, eyebrows like long swords slanting into his temples, and a circle of blood on his bumped forehead.

But the two scholars recognized this young man.

"Lu Beigu? I remember he was from Gulin Town, upstream of Anle Creek. He always ranked last in the county school. How did he end up in the water?"

In the darkness, a modern consciousness began to revive in Lu Beigu's mind.

He tried hard to recall everything that had just happened, but his mind was a mess. He only remembered that as an associate professor at a university, he was writing an academic paper, and he seemed to be too tired from staying up late and fell asleep.

As a result, when he woke up, he found himself traveling back in time to a student with the same name and surname during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty.

And at this moment, a large number of memory fragments of his predecessor entered his consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Beigu finally slowly opened his eyes.

What meets the eye is a clear blue sky without any industrial pollution, the sound of gurgling water is in the ears, but the body is very wet and cold, and the chill seems to seep from the bones.

"Awake! He's awake!" A voice with a hint of surprise sounded in my ears.

Lu Beigu turned his head slightly and saw two scholars in green robes squatting beside him, one of them holding a handkerchief to his bruised forehead.

Because he has integrated the memories and emotions of his previous life, he can understand what people of this era say.

"Finally you woke up. How did you fall into the water?"

Lu Beigu opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton and no sound came out.

"Let's not talk about this for now."

The scholar who was wiping the blood interrupted his companion, his tone filled with anxiety.

"Today the magistrate is personally presiding over the last exam before the county examination. We must hurry and help you get to the county school!"

"That's right! If you don't take the exam, you'll probably be disqualified from the county exam!"

When Lu Beigu heard the words "county exam①", a sense of fear suddenly emerged in his mind.

His predecessor was a poor boy from Gulin Town. He had decent grades in private school, but after entering the county school, he could not keep up with his classmates at all. His family had been living frugally and taking out loans to support his studies, hoping that he could pass the county exam and enter the state school.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, his grades were at the bottom of the county school, and it was obviously impossible for him to pass this year's county exam.

Unable to face his family's earnest expectations, he drowned himself in despair.

However, this had nothing to do with Lu Beigu, who had just traveled through time. What he wanted to do right now was to take a hot bath and change into clean clothes, so as not to become an unlucky traveler who died of a cold.

But his throat was so blocked that he couldn't express his thoughts!

At this moment, two very loyal classmates, without saying a word, used their shoulders to support Lu Beigu, each with one arm, and carried him towards the county school.

Both of them were young men with good physical strength. They walked on the road while supporting each other and chatting at the same time.

"Alas, I don't know what the topic of today's policy discussion will be."

"This Magistrate Li has just been transferred here. Who knows what he wants to test?"

"This policy essay exam is the first one Magistrate Li has presided over. Try to make a good impression."

"Yes, the most important thing in the imperial examination for Jinshi in this dynasty is policy essays, and the next one is the county examination. Whether we can enter the provincial school depends on the opinion of the county magistrate." As the sunlight dispelled the coldness on his body, Lu Beigu's thoughts gradually became clear.

There are now two options before him. The first is to give up the exam and go to the county school to take a shower and change clothes after he has recovered some strength. The second option is to insist on taking part in this very important but not time-consuming exam with wet clothes.

Originally, he wanted to choose the first path, but for some reason, a conversation from a funny short video he had seen in his previous life suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Liberal arts students used to have an advantage in finding jobs, but that's not the case anymore."

"How come I don't know? When?"

"Song Dynasty."

In the Song Dynasty today, the social status of the literati was very high, or the social atmosphere of the entire Song Dynasty could be described by a poem that has not yet appeared, which is "All things are inferior, only reading is superior."

It can be said that this is the best era for scholars!

For him, if he was deprived of the qualification for the county examination due to his absence from this exam, it would be basically impossible for him to achieve class advancement in the future.

The policy essay examination was different from examinations such as the "Tie Jing" and "Mo Yi" examinations. He did not need to understand the large amount of Confucian knowledge required for the Song Dynasty imperial examinations. He only needed to write an argumentative essay in classical Chinese according to the topic.

As one of the top liberal arts scholars in modern times, this is not difficult for him.

His predecessor was afraid of the policy essay exam, but he is not!
And how does the saying go?

".Since I'm here."

At this time, the county school examination hall was already bustling with people. Students gathered in groups of three or four, whispering to each other about possible policy essay topics for today.

Lu Beigu was supported by two scholars as he walked into the examination room, immediately attracting many people's attention.

"Isn't that Lu Beigu? Why does he look like this?" someone whispered.

"It looks like he fell into the water." Another person responded in a low voice.

"His miserable appearance is really bad luck. Don't let it affect our performance."

At this moment, a sneer suddenly came from behind.

Lu Beigu knew without looking back that they must be the rich kids from the county school.

In my previous life's memory, these people loved to bully students from poor families, especially He Cong, who ranked first in the county school. He Cong ran the most luxurious restaurant in Hejiang County at home.

"Brother Lu, you have a wound on your forehead. Could it be that you pricked your brain from the exercise last night?" He Cong's voice came from behind. "Unfortunately, policy essays are not like poetry. There are no shortcuts."

Speaking of which, the reason why my predecessor chose to end it all today was also because he was afraid of the policy theory exam.

After the Qingli New Deal, the Song Dynasty established a two-level education system of "county school-state school" at the local level. If one wanted to take the imperial examination, one had to pass the county examination and enter the state school from the county school. Otherwise, one would not be eligible to take the state examination②.

However, the New Policies of the Qingli Period reformed the examination content, shifting the emphasis from poetry and prose to policy essays, and the interpretation of the classics also began to focus on explaining personal understanding.

This major version update is undoubtedly not very friendly to small town test-takers like its predecessor.

The reason is very simple. If you are taking a poetry or prose test, you can prepare some universal templates. After all, poetry and prose have fixed rhymes and themes.

However, the core of the policy essay examination is the students' views on current affairs. In this era of extreme information blockade, it is impossible for a poor kid like my predecessor who has never even been to Lianzhou City to write a good essay, right?

On the contrary, some scholars from wealthy families have broader horizons, because their families often have retired or current officials. They are influenced by them and have insights into current affairs that are not comparable to those of children from poor families.

Therefore, every policy essay exam was an ordeal for my predecessor, and the comments afterwards were like a public punishment, which often made me feel ashamed and angry, and over time, I was extremely afraid.

But when Lu Beigu heard these words, there was no ripple in his heart, and he did not choose to respond.

When he came to his seat, he took a deep breath and entered the test state in a second.

As a top modern liberal arts scholar, he has a deep understanding of Song Dynasty history, politics, philosophy, economics and other fields. No matter what questions he faces, he is confident in handling them.

At this time, accompanied by county school officials such as the school principal, school registrar, and magistrate, Li Pan, the magistrate of Hejiang who presided over the policy essay examination, also arrived at the examination room.

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① The county examination, which is the common name for the county school selection examination, is not a formal imperial examination, but an internal examination organized in county schools with a scale of more than 200 people established in local areas after the "Qingli Education Promotion" in the Northern Song Dynasty to select talents for entering the state school.

② The provincial examination is also known as the Jie examination or the Autumn examination. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the provincial judge usually presided over the examination for the Jinshi category, and the registrar and military officer presided over the examination for the other categories. The scholars who passed the examination were called Juren. It was a prerequisite for participating in the provincial examination of the Ministry of Rites and then passing the Jinshi category. It was also the first link in the formal imperial examination.

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(End of this chapter)