Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 148 Four States Elite Examination Training Conference

July 22nd, Jiaozhou Prefectural School.

Jiaozhou is located at the central hub of the waterways in western Sichuan, where the Minjiang River, Qingyi River, and Dadu River converge. The rising water vapor makes the summer heat even more humid and stifling than in Luzhou.

However, the Jiaozhou Prefectural School, built against the mountain, with its flying eaves and brackets hidden among the pines and cypresses, often has a long wind passing through it, making it a bit cooler than the prefectural schools in the plains.

A banner reading "Lectures and Training Session for Outstanding Talents from Four Prefectures in the First Year of Jiayou" was prominently displayed above the main hall of the prefectural school.

At this moment, a hundred top students from the four prefectures of Luzhou, Meizhou, Jiaxing, and Rongzhou, dressed in their respective prefectural school uniforms—green for Luzhou, brown for Meizhou, blue for Jiaxing, and ochre for Rongzhou—gathered in this spacious and solemn main hall.

The reason why so many people were able to gather together for a final cram session despite the precious time is because it is currently the summer flood season and the Yangtze River is flowing very fast.

In this situation, it takes half a day to travel by water down the river from Meizhou to Jiaozhou, and a full day to return by land; it takes a full day to travel by land from Rongzhou to Jiaozhou, and half a day to return by water; only Luzhou takes a full day and a half to travel by land, and a full day to return.

In reality, the distance between the four prefectures was not as far as imagined, because the administrative division of "prefecture" itself was not very large in the Song Dynasty. Taking Sichuan, where they were located, as an example, the "Geography" section of the History of Song records that during the Northern Song Dynasty, Yizhou Circuit had 16 prefectures, Zizhou Circuit had 15 prefectures, Lizhou Circuit had 6 prefectures, and Kuizhou Circuit had 12 prefectures. Sichuan could be divided into a total of 49 prefectures, so it would be strange if the territory of each prefecture was not large!

It is precisely because of the two basic conditions of Yangtze River waterway transportation and the relatively short land distance that the Four States Joint Examination has been able to be held for so many years.

Closer to home.

Those who can stand here now are all top 100 students in the joint examination of the four states, and are strong contenders for the quota of candidates for the state examination this autumn.

Lu Beigu was wearing a brand-new dark blue school uniform from Luzhou University. He was already tall and his posture was as upright as a pine tree, making him quite conspicuous in the crowd.

"Lu Beigu, come this way for a second!"

The voice of the assistant coach leading the team from Luzhou came through.

Lu Beigu was talking quietly with Cui Wenjing, Zhou Mingyuan and several other classmates from the Guanlan Society when he heard the noise and went over.

As he left the group, he could feel many eyes focused on him—curious, inquisitive, scrutinizing, and even some with a hint of challenge.

His name was already known to many people because of his jaw-dropping seventeenth place ranking on the overall list.

At the front of the queue of students from Meizhou State School on the right, a middle-aged man stood out. He was thin with slightly protruding cheekbones and three long tufts of beard that reached his chest. His face carried a melancholy that seemed to have been weathered by life. Standing next to him was a young man with a dignified demeanor and gentle eyes, none other than Su Zhe.

Su Zhe saw Lu Bei looking over and smiled and nodded in greeting.

The middle-aged man's sharp eyes fell on Lu Beigu, scrutinizing him as if he had met his match.

Lu Beigu immediately understood. That thin middle-aged man must be Su Xun, who was famous throughout Sichuan, had repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, but whose prose had been passed down through generations.

Lu Beigu met Su Xun's gaze calmly, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and Su Xun returned the bow slightly, his eyes filled with even more scrutiny.

Lu Beigu followed the teaching assistant a few steps forward and saw a middle-aged academic official in official robes, with a refined demeanor, looking at him kindly from the top of the steps.

The teaching assistant introduced in a low voice: "This is Professor Chen Yuanli from the Jiaozhou Prefectural School, who is also the supervisor of this workshop."

"Student Lu Beigu pays his respects to Professor Chen."

Lu Beigu stepped forward, bowed deeply, and adopted a respectful posture.

Chen Yuanli looked at the tall, handsome, and composed young man in front of him, nodded slightly, and showed an expression of appreciation on his face.

"Your essay, 'On the Ferocity of Oppressive Government Over Tigers,' is profound in its reasoning and hits the nail on the head. In particular, your discussion of 'measure' and 'law' is quite insightful. I was deeply impressed when I was reading it."

Lu Beigu felt a warmth in his heart and quickly said, "Professor, you flatter me. I am unworthy of such praise. It is just something I have occasionally thought of while reading."

"No need for such modesty," Chen Yuanli waved his hand. "The essence of literature lies in insight, and your ability to grasp this shows your diligent efforts. During these five days of training, I hope you will set aside distractions and concentrate on your studies. If you encounter any difficulties or questions, feel free to come and discuss them with me." This was undoubtedly a great encouragement and recognition!

Lu Beigu was thrilled and bowed again solemnly: "Thank you for your guidance, Professor! I will do my best to live up to your expectations!"

"Okay, go back to the team." Chen Yuanli nodded in satisfaction.

When Lu Beigu returned to the Luzhou team, the way his classmates looked at him changed. To receive Professor Chen's appreciation was an honor that had been rare in recent years.

Soon, Chen Yuanli arrived at the main hall.

The teaching assistant at Jiaozhou State School cleared his throat and shouted, "Silence!"

The noisy main hall fell silent instantly.

"I, Chen Yuanli, am a professor at the Jiaozhou Prefectural School and have been appointed as the supervisor of this training session."

Chen Yuanli's voice clearly reached everyone's ears: "You are all outstanding talents from the four prefectures, gathered here after being selected through joint examinations. The prefectural examination is just around the corner. These five days of lectures are the culmination of the life's work of the academic officials from the four prefectures, analyzing the gains and losses of the past years and pointing out the key points of the examination. I hope you will cherish this opportunity."

"Furthermore, you must know that the state examination is not only a test of knowledge, but also a test of willpower! Only those who are persevering, diligent, and single-minded can stand out from the crowd, live up to the court's expectations for selecting officials, the hopes of their teachers, relatives, and friends, and also live up to your years of hard work in studying!"

His words not only highlighted the preciousness of the opportunity but also contained both encouragement and warning, leaving all the students present feeling a sense of awe.

"The workshop will begin immediately! Students, please line up according to the roll call and follow the teaching assistants to the designated dormitories!"

As soon as Chen Yuanli finished speaking, the teaching assistants immediately sprang into action, calling out names from the lists in their hands.

Judging from the order of roll call, it was not divided by state, or even by the ranking order of the joint exam, but was randomly assigned into eight groups, with eleven to thirteen people in each group.

As for why they had to be broken up and redistributed like this, Lu Beigu couldn't figure it out for a while.

But one thing is certain: spending so much time and effort to bring them together here must be of great significance.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be better for each person to prepare for the exam at their own state school?

After gathering all the students in their group, the teaching assistants would guide their respective students out of the main hall and towards the more spacious and cooler private study rooms that had been prepared beforehand.

"Cui Wenjing".

"Xianzhen".

"Lu Beigu".

"Su Xun".

"Han Ziyu".

"Zhou Mingyuan."

"."

For some reason, he ended up in a group where he knew quite a few people.

Lu Beigu and the others followed the teaching assistant to their assigned study.

The final sprint before the state exams has begun!

(End of this chapter)