Du Zhongxiao followed the post man into a quiet courtyard and was led to the living room.

Seeing a middle-aged man in his forties sitting on the main seat, he thought it was Li Dui. Du Zhongxiao stepped forward and bowed: "Student Du Zhongxiao, my father's hometown Gongjin Shi Du Juren, visit Shibo." ”

As he spoke, he handed over a few bottles of wine in his hand: "The family is shabby, and there is nothing good to respect." A few bottles of spirits, very powerful, are made at home, Shibo tasted them. ”

Li Dui motioned to the people around him to accept the wine, looked at Du Zhongxiao, and said with a sigh: "I have left my hometown to become an official, and I don't realize that ten years have passed, but I don't want Brother Du's linzi to have grown up. Alas, are you okay at home? On the way, I heard that your father was in the capital last time, and he suffered a lot when he returned to his hometown. In the past few months, the family has only turned around. ”

Du Zhongxiao said respectfully: "My father was sick on the way back to his hometown, and he was lucky to return to his hometown, and the family business was really difficult last year. Fortunately, I will have a way to make wine from sake lees, and the Texas county officials will take care of it, and now I will make wine exclusively from sake lees, and I will have no worries about food and clothing. ”

Li Dui nodded, asked Du Zhongxiao to sit down at the bottom, and ordered his subordinates to serve tea.

casually asked about the current situation of the Du family, Li Dui asked Du Zhongxiao: "What is the virtuous nephew doing now?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "My father's last imperial examination, there were too many miscellaneous offenders, and he was not punished for not being in order, and he was not allowed to pre-take the imperial examination for the next ten years." The boy inherited his father's business, and he didn't do anything else these days, just studying. It's just a small county in Linying, there are many books that can't be bought, and there are no famous teachers and friends, so I have limited knowledge and some troubles. ”

Li Dui nodded again and again: "This is the right reason." At your father's age, the palace is three moves, and it is a little boring to work hard in the imperial examination. Now that you have reached adulthood, it is right for your son to inherit his father's business. By the way, I read a fu you wrote on the road, and it was very eloquent. Do you have any new articles? ”

In this era, a decent article is made and handed to the reader, just like it was published in a magazine in the previous life, and most people who are related will see it. Li Dui is from Linying, so naturally a friend of the same year will hand him Du Zhongxiao's article to read.

Du Zhongxiao was a little frightened, he copied an article by himself, he didn't want to spread it farther, as long as the reader came, he said that he had read it. How can I write that kind of article often, if I have that ability, do I still have to worry about being admitted to the Jinshi.

Taking out the manuscript he brought with him, Du Zhongxiao was a little embarrassed: "In the past, students were dull and wrote casually. Or there are occasional articles that can be read in the past, but most of them are useless. In the past few months, I have devoted myself to the articles of the imperial examination, which is different from before. These articles written in the past few months are very immature and have many shortcomings. Shi Bo axe, I also learn to do some imperial examination texts. ”

Li Dui nodded, took the paper handed by Du Zhongxiao, and unfolded it to watch.

There are certain rules for the number of words and format of the imperial examination poems, and the "Fugue" even lists fixed sentence patterns. These are all filled out by Du Zhongxiao Yige, and it is rare for each article to have a theme, but it is impossible to talk about it.

After a cursory look, Li Dui nodded again and again: "Okay, good, virtuous nephew, your articles have touched the edge of the imperial examination." With a little more effort, you can enter the house. The previous article was a bit of a literary style, but some of it was on the field, because it was not Chinese. Although the content of these articles is a little crude, they are decent, and there is nothing wrong with the rhythm. ”

Du Zhongxiao was stunned: "Is this really the case?" In fact, the students themselves feel that the current articles are too ingenious. ”

Li Dui laughed when he heard it: "Craftsmanship? Haha, what do you think the imperial examination is for! As long as the article is ingenious, it is already outstanding among the jinshi! Those who can transcend are all of you. Virtuous nephew, don't be ambitious, first do a good job of this ingenious text, be able to take the Jinshi exam, and then be qualified to talk about others. Uncle Ouyang Yong, who is now praised in the literary world, failed in the imperial examination twice, and later studied under Xu Xianggong and concentrated on studying Shiwen, so he went to high school in one fell swoop. After winning the Jinshi, he went to talk about ancient grammar again, and only then did someone listen to him. Not to mention, the fourth and sixth are the basic skills of non-commissioned officers, whether it is a bachelor's degree or a state military officer, which one should not do these official documents. I can't do official documents, let alone become an official. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded again and again after hearing this, and today he heard the voice affirming his approach. Li Dui and Du Xun have an old relationship, and they talk to Du Zhongxiao as elders, and they are first pointing out fame and fortune, but they don't care about any literary talents.

When an official becomes an official, the first thing he needs to know is to write official documents. Most of the formatted documents are handled by public officials, and the official handwriting is often official documents of the nature of the current language. The nature of these official documents, most of which are like these articles made by Du Zhongxiao now, have a fixed format, and some roughly the same sentences are just changed and filled in as needed. For those who don't understand, it looks amazing, and those who understand it are easy to come. Most of the official documents in ancient and modern China and foreign countries are similar, with different formats, but the nature does not change much.

There is no need to study this kind of article carefully, Li Dui has read it roughly, then put it aside and asked Du Zhongxiao: "The article you are doing now is completely different from the previous one, and you can't do it without great effort." Virtuous nephew, how many days have you been working hard? ”

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "Since the beginning of the year, it has been two or three months now. ”

Li Dui was overjoyed when he heard it: "The son can be taught!" If you work hard for another year or two, it will not be difficult to ascend to the sky next time you open a middle school, there are people in my hometown! ”

When these words came out, listening to Du Zhongxiao's ears, he only felt sincere and frightened. He suffers from the fact that he does not have many books at hand, too few articles he has seen, and most of them are excellent works over the years, and he has always felt that what he has written is a beginner's work. Instead of saying that nothing is good, the word "clumsy" is always appropriate. Unexpectedly, Li Dui gave such a high evaluation, and it was not difficult for even Zhongjinshi.

After pondering for a while, Li Dui said: "In this dynasty's imperial examination, the regulations have been changed repeatedly, and the scholars are far away from the capital, and they often don't know the laws and regulations. In the past two years, the imperial court has redefined the rhyme department, and the next time the department is opened, the new rhyme shall prevail. When I returned to my hometown this time, I brought a new "New Rhyme of the Ministry of Rites", which can be regarded as benefiting the township. Since you have such talents, you will first deliver them to you, and you will have to copy them at leisure, and then return them to me, that you may hide them among my people. ”

Du Zhongxiao was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him. The rhyme book is changed repeatedly, and the rhyme is very dead when the poem and the imperial examination are given, and the wrong rhyme book is a miscellaneous crime, and it is the first to be eliminated. In this era, although engraving and printing had matured, the cost was there, and the imperial court could only ensure that the new rhyme books were issued to the state army, and the readers in small places could not see it at all. Ouyang Xiu participated in the imperial examination, and twice in a row because of the rhyme, which is not unrelated to this status quo. At this time, there are only a few schools in the state, and there is no need to think about it in the county, and these vital reference books are not available.

Rhyme books and forbidden words, these taboos during the imperial examination are a big difficulty for scholars in small places, and they are also what Du Zhongxiao is worried about.

Li Dui instructed the people around him to get a new rhyme book, handed it to Du Zhongxiao, and repeatedly told him to keep it carefully and return it after copying it. There are also people in the Li family who are readers, and they can't do without these important books.

Du Zhongxiao carefully put away the book, and Li Duicai said: "Virtuous nephew, although the imperial examination is open to scholars from all over the world, in fact, there are very few people who really enter its threshold. In addition to Kaifeng Mansion and Guozijian, one out of five or six people can be selected, and only one person out of dozens of people can be selected in other places. Just like our Jingxi Road, in the past, there was only one person among more than 30 people who was a jinshi, and most of them were in Henan Mansion. In our Xuzhou, every imperial examination is either in the middle or not, and no more than two people have been ranked for many years. I see that you have good qualifications, wait for your father to come back in a few days, and then go to my Zhuangzi together, don't have anything to say. ”