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Chapter 238 Self-Reflection Abode, Reassembly!

This Spring Festival, Su Lu didn't leave his house, nor did he even visit the county magistrate to offer New Year's greetings.

With the county examination approaching, one must first study diligently at home, and secondly, avoid any appearance of impropriety. To wander into the examiner's house at this time would be a foolish and treacherous act.

Su Youcai also shut himself away from visitors and focused on preparing for the exam at home. The closer the exam date got, the greater his psychological pressure became, and he couldn't sleep at night due to anxiety.

This is called an inner demon, and only he himself can overcome it; no amount of advice from others will help.

So Su Lu didn't have any good solutions, so he could only use high-intensity special training to keep his father from overthinking.

The so-called father-son exam preparation was actually Su Lu and Su Man taking turns giving Su Youcai special training.

After all, Su Lu still has to take the exam. Moreover, he is now famous throughout the county, and countless eyes are watching him. He cannot afford to make the slightest mistake, so he certainly cannot be careless. He still needs to study diligently and strive for excellence.

Su Man ranked third in the previous county examination, so he doesn't need to take the county examination this time and can directly participate in the state examination in April.

So when he was studying, Chun-ge would step in and continue to guide his second uncle in writing.

Actually, we've taught Su Lu pretty much everything we need to. Right now, we're mainly doing practice exercises on intercepting and connecting objects.

Children's exams usually consist of short questions, also known as "cut-and-paste questions," which involve taking different sentences, splitting them apart, and then piecing them back together to form a completely new question.

The reason for not using ready-made sentences is that the Four Books and Five Classics have been tested for so many years that almost all the questions on entire passages and chapters have been answered by previous generations. If candidates have read them before, they can simply copy them when they encounter the same question, which is called plagiarism.

Examiners could hardly remember so many essays, and if they accidentally admitted a plagiarized scholar, they would be questioned about their lack of solid scholarship and might even be punished. Therefore, they set these kinds of incomplete and rambling questions to prevent candidates from copying model essays or writing essays they had already prepared.

These word game-like questions not only test the candidates' familiarity with the scriptures, but also require them to be quick-witted and clever, so that they can find a solution in a flash of inspiration.

During the tutoring process, Su Lu discovered that the real reason why his father always failed was that he was completely lost when faced with cross-reference questions.

Now that Youcai is getting older, his mind is becoming less sharp, and he is increasingly afraid of challenging questions.

The solution is simple—practice makes perfect! Once you have a thorough understanding of all question types and their solutions, you won't panic during the exam. And if you're not panicked, you won't have any inner demons.

So, ultimately, it all comes down to his lack of ability. If he were to take the '300, 100, 100' exam, he'd be guaranteed to be free of mental block...

~~
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, immediately after the Lantern Festival, a notice about the county examination was posted on the eight-character wall of the county government office:
"By imperial decree, Lu, the magistrate of Hejiang County and a scholar of letters, was ordered to issue a proclamation to all the students in the county regarding this matter."

Now, in the first year of the Zhengde reign, with the new dynasty newly established, our county, following tradition, is holding a county-level examination to select virtuous and capable individuals. All students should strive diligently to cultivate their talents and not fail the Emperor's intention to seek out capable individuals. The examination regulations are hereby listed below; you must all respectfully abide by them and not be negligent.

"The examination schedule is as follows: the county examination consists of four sessions, with candidates entering the examination hall at dawn, the examination starting at dusk, and leaving at nightfall."

The first session will be held on the second day of the second lunar month. Participants will be tested on two essays from the Four Books and memorize a passage from the Classic of Filial Piety.
The first examination: On the fifth day of the second month, candidates will be tested on the meaning of one of the Five Classics and memorize several sections of the "Laws and Regulations".
The third round of tests: On the eighth day of the second month, I was tested on a policy essay and a composition, which also served as an examination of my calligraphy style.

Four rounds of interviews: The tenth day of the second lunar month was for the interviews.

Then there are the exam requirements—

From now until the 30th of the first lunar month, all students who are eight years of age or older and have a clean family background, are not actors or servants, and are not currently in mourning, are permitted to register.

Additionally, military and civilian households from Luzhou Guard and Chishui Guard are permitted to participate in the examination in this county.

When registering, applicants must submit a written guarantee from a local student, mutual guarantee from five other students, personal statements of three generations of their family history, and a copy of the household registration book.

And the examination fee is one hundred cash.

The following sections, such as exam room rules, selection criteria, and exam procedures, need no further elaboration...

Anyway, Su Man copied everything back to Su Lu and his father without missing a single word, so that they could read it carefully.

Although Su Youcai had taken the exam more than ten times and was very familiar with the rules, the county-level exam was of a relatively low rank, and its scheduling was quite arbitrary. For example, sometimes there were four sessions, and sometimes there were five.

Sometimes, if a candidate is among the top ten in the main exam, they don't need to take any more exams and can directly participate in the state exam. Other times, even if they are among the top ten, they still need to take every single exam to determine their final ranking…

It all depends on what kind of crazy idea the old man has this year.

These can all be found in the exam regulations, so you should still take a good look at them.

“Last year we had five exams, this year you have one less, but you still have to take all four,” Su Man said to Su Lu and his son.
"This is good for your second uncle. The more exams you take, the greater your advantage will be."

“Indeed, no one has taken the county-level exam more times than me. Even if it was four or five times, I've taken it more than five times!” Su Youcai’s voice trailed off. “Well, there’s nothing to be proud of…”

"Second Uncle, have confidence. You are a completely different person now," Su Man hurriedly encouraged her second uncle.

~~
However, Su Lu and Su Youcai did not rush to register, but waited for the teachers and students of Taiping Academy to come to the county together.

First, their military registers were in the hands of Su Dan and others; second, Su Lu still had to wait for his teacher to issue a guarantee and for his peers to issue mutual guarantees.

On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, Headmaster Qian personally led a group of over a hundred teachers and students from the academy to the county town. The scene was quite indescribable... The teachers could ride donkeys, but the students could only walk, carrying their bedding rolls and exam baskets, each one staggering and supporting one another.

After walking a hundred miles of mountain roads, the students' clothes were so dirty that their original color was no longer discernible, and their faces were so filthy that they were unrecognizable, looking no different from a group of refugees.

Su Lu quickly stepped forward and helped Mr. Zhang down from the donkey.

“The Chishui River is still navigable during the first month of the lunar calendar.” Su Man asked, “Why aren’t we taking a boat? We came by boat last year.”

“This is the headmaster’s decision.” Mr. Zhang’s tone was filled with strong dissatisfaction.

"It's not that we can't afford to take the boat, it's just that there are so many teachers and students, we dare not sit on it." Headmaster Qian was rubbing himself off the donkey saddle, and after his feet touched the ground, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If anything were to happen to us, I would be devastated, so it's safer to walk."

"..." The students rolled their eyes, thinking to themselves, "Damn it, even a donkey's leg counts as your leg?"

~~
As they spoke, the large group entered the county town and headed towards 'Jixianju' in the west alley of the county school.

The students of the academy have taken the county exams twice in the past three years, and the teachers are already very familiar with the process; everything is done according to established rules.

In the early days, the former headmaster had purchased a house near the county school for students to stay in when they took the exams. With only ten days left before the exams, it was impossible to travel back and forth.

Later, because it was a waste to leave it empty most of the time, it was converted into an inn. It was only open for a month before and after each county examination to accommodate the teachers and students of its own academy.

Moreover, converting it into an inn would make it more convenient to receive guests. After the New Year, the innkeeper ordered the staff to clean Jixianju and prepare rice, flour, and cooking oil. For the next month or so, the teachers and students stayed there.

Actually, the students could have arrived later, which would have saved the academy some expenses. The reason they came early was to allow them to adjust to the county town environment and get a few days of rest so they could be in top condition for the exams.

Therefore, there are reasons why Taiping Academy was able to succeed...

Inside Jixianju, the staff had already prepared the meal and boiled the water, waiting for the teachers and students to arrive.

It took thirty buckets of hot water to wash away the dust and grime from the eighty-two students who were participating in the county examination, and to change into clean clothes. Only then did they look refreshed and return to their scholarly appearance.

Of the eighty-two students, most were senior students from the upper hall and those who had dropped out the previous year... Because there was no county examination last year, students who dropped out the previous year were also entitled to be escorted to the examination once.

The remaining thirty or so people were the same students from the Zhongzhai Academy who were the same age as Su Lu. Under Qian Shan's leadership, the academy did not eliminate any students last year, and it was still the same faces as before.

All fourteen classmates from Sheng Shen Zhai were present. Almost all of them had grown taller, transforming from boys into young adults.

Some of them hadn't seen each other for a year, and some for more than half a year. Now that they've finally reunited, they're all naturally very excited.

"My dear husband, how about it? We kept our word, right? They're all here!" Li Qiyu put his arm around Su Lu's shoulder, beaming with joy, "We can be together again!"

She even pouted as if to kiss him.

"Get out of the way." Su Lu pushed his face away and smiled at the other students, "I'll go and call the teacher. I'll invite you all to my house for dinner today."

"Alright!" The classmates readily agreed, finally able to enjoy a meal with their beloved father.

Su Lu then left his fourteen adopted sons behind and went to the front room to see Mr. Zhang.

Zhang Yanqiu also washed himself clean, changed into a slightly worn blue robe, and regained his former refined and clean appearance.

"Sir." Su Lu bowed deeply.

"Hongzhi." Zhang Yanqiu helped Su Lu up. After a year apart, both teacher and student were excited.

Mr. Zhang looked his prized student up and down, then patted him hard on the shoulder. "Good, good, you've grown taller than me now."

"Sir, you've remained the same, and you even look younger," Su Lu said with a smile.

"Haha, thanks to you, I've made a fortune and acquired two plaques. Your master's wife will have to serve me well now!" Mr. Zhang laughed as he opened his book box, took out an exquisitely wrapped food box, and handed it to him, saying:

"Here."

"Jiaoqie?" Su Lu happily accepted it.

"The night before you left, your master's wife made this for you. I don't know if it broke during the journey." Mr. Zhang said, "If it broke, just eat it. I did my best."

“It’s all the same once it’s in your stomach.” Su Lu quickly opened it and saw that it was basically intact. He picked up a broken piece of burnt meat, put it in his mouth, and closed his eyes in enjoyment. “Mmm, this is the taste.”

"It's good that you can still eat it." Mr. Zhang laughed. "Your wife was worried that you would become picky about food in the big city and look down on her country cooking."

"New clothes are worse than old ones, and old friends are worse than new ones." Su Lu shook his head, stuffed two pieces into his mouth, and said, "My teacher will always be irreplaceable in my heart, and so will my teacher's wife."

"Haha, you've got a conscience, kid!" Mr. Zhang happily poured him a glass of water and said, "Eat slowly, it's all yours."

(End of this chapter)