Nian Jiaojiao finished reviewing the exam papers and, after grasping the general scope of the questions, carefully poured clear water from the small bowl into the inkstone and began to meticulously grind the ink stick.
Gradually, the aroma of ink filled the air.
Nian Jiaojiao inwardly praised:
What a fine ink stick!
Thank you, Tong Fu!
Immediately, she swiftly regained her focus, secured the exam papers with the paperweight, dipped her brush in the ink, holding it poised above the paper.
Every character of the Great Yue History was deeply etched in Nian Jiaojiao's mind. As she began to write, her brush moved as if guided by divine inspiration, flowing smoothly without the slightest hesitation.
Time trickled by. After approximately two hours, Nian Jiaojiao had filled all seven of the Great Yue History exam papers completely.
Nian Jiaojiao set down her brush, looking at the neat characters on the papers with a sense of satisfaction. She then carefully set aside the seven Great Yue History papers for safekeeping.
The next set of papers: Poetry and Songs.
Piece One: "Snow"
It is said to herald a year of abundance, but what of such years?
In Chang'an, there are the poor; this good omen should not be in excess.
Nian Jiaojiao finished reading and began to organize her thoughts.
She could answer this question in three parts. First, starting with the author and background of the poem, then explaining the specific meaning of the poem, and finally expressing her own insights.
With her plan formed, Nian Jiaojiao picked up her brush to answer:
This poem was written by Luo Yin, a poet of the seventh year of Great Yue.
Luo Yin, a native of Chang'an, was skilled in poetry. After passing the Jinshi examination in the imperial civil service exams at the age of twenty-eight, he began preparing for the higher Juren examination.
However, he failed the examination ten times, a period known as "Ten Attempts, Ten Failures."
Disheartened, Luo Yin returned to his hometown and served as a county magistrate of the ninth rank. This poem was written during his tenure.
...
After introducing the author, Nian Jiaojiao continued to write:
In the poem, the two words "jin dao" carry a sarcastic tone. Connecting with the subsequent lines, one can infer that those who "jin dao feng nian rui" (say it heralds a year of abundance) are people from a different world than the "pin zhe" (poor)...
The poem does not directly present imagery or any descriptive depictions. However, after reading the entire poem, the poet's own image emerges vividly and lifelike.
This is because the seemingly abstract discussions in the poem are not only filled with the poet's disgust and indignation but also consistently reveal his humorous, cynical, and rebellious character.
Nian Jiaojiao wrote a full 800 characters to answer this question.
Next, she looked at Piece Two: "Horse Poem"
The desert sand is like snow, the Yanshan moon like a hook.
When will you wear a golden bridle and gallop freely through the crisp autumn?
This piece was not recorded in the book; it was likely a newly published poem by an emerging poet.
Nian Jiaojiao frowned slightly, but her brow quickly relaxed.
She had anticipated such a situation.
From ancient times to the present, poetry has been as numerous as the crossing rivers of reeds. New poems are constantly emerging.
Let alone someone like her, who only studied that one book, "Poetry and Songs," and was a self-taught scholar.
Even those who have read thousands of poems, taught by famous mentors, and have had their predictions verified cannot guarantee that the poems encountered in the examination hall are ones they have read.
Unlike the question-and-answer questions of her previous life, where one could try to answer as much as possible, and if points were correct, the examiners would award marks.
Here, guessing answers when one doesn't know will only leave a frivolous and deceitful impression on the grading examiner.
Therefore, Nian Jiaojiao did not intend to randomly guess an emerging poet.
When answering, she would directly avoid mentioning the author's name, focusing instead on the author's writing intent, central theme, and her own post-reading reflections.
Thus, Nian Jiaojiao picked up her brush to answer:
The "Horse Poem" expresses the extraordinary talents and lofty ambitions of aspiring individuals, as well as their feelings of being misunderstood and their resentment, by praising the horse, celebrating the horse, or reflecting on the horse's fate. The method of expression belongs to the "bi ti" (comparative) style.
The first two lines present a distinctive frontier battlefield scene, appearing at first glance to use the "fu fa" (descriptive) method: a crescent moon hangs in the sky over continuous mountain ranges...
Although she did not know the author, Nian Jiaojiao still wrote more than eight hundred characters.
By the time she finished the poetry papers, it was already noon.
The examination hall staff began distributing lunch to the candidates at each table.
Of course, armed guards were present to supervise the entire process.
The food served in the examination hall was very simple: half a bowl of rice, half a bowl of vegetables, and a bowl of soup.
If any candidate had a large appetite,
Then,
I'm sorry.
You'll have to endure it!
By the time the winter meals reached the candidates, they were no longer hot, only retaining a slight warmth.
Nian Jiaojiao hastily ate a few mouthfuls and then put down her chopsticks, closing her eyes to rest for about half an hour.
There was still an afternoon left for the examination, but Nian Jiaojiao was not worried at all.
This was because very few scholars could finish the first two sets of papers in half a day.
After the exams, candidates often complained about the excessive workload and being unable to finish.
Indeed, the first three subjects involved a vast amount of literature, requiring extremely high levels of accumulation.
And arithmetic was the nightmare for most candidates, making the problems extremely difficult, thus significantly slowing down their answering speed.
After recovering somewhat, Nian Jiaojiao continued to answer the questions.
The Great Yue Dynasty also had a Confucius, but here Confucius was a woman.
The questions on Confucian classics were not obscure; one only needed to memorize the classics and understand their meaning to answer flexibly.
For example, one of the questions asked:
Confucius had seventy-two disciples; how many were adults, and how many were children?
Those candidates who had barely managed to memorize the books might remember that Confucius had seventy-two disciples, but beyond that, they were clueless.
Of course, this posed no difficulty for Nian Jiaojiao.
Upon seeing the question, she quickly picked up her brush to answer:
Among Confucius's seventy-two disciples, there were thirty adults and forty-two children.
The "Sayings of Confucius" records:
Confucius had three thousand disciples, among whom seventy-two attained great wisdom. Among them, five or six were of marriageable age, and six or seven were youths.
In just one hour, Nian Jiaojiao finished the third set of exam papers.
After a prolonged examination, Nian Jiaojiao also felt some mental fatigue. She hung her brush on the brush holder and reviewed her answers.
Overall, the Confucian classics were neither exceptionally difficult nor exceptionally easy.
The questions all came from the books, but they were presented in a rather detailed manner, with two questions even appearing in the small footnotes below the text.
Therefore, unless one had memorized the books dozens of times, one would not remember the small print annotations.
After a short rest, Nian Jiaojiao began to answer the arithmetic problems.
The questions for the Tong Sheng (elementary student) examination were naturally not as simple as "How many is three apples plus four apples?"
But for Nian Jiaojiao, it was truly no less simple.
This was because this dynasty did not have multiplication tables, the concept of division, fractions, or equations, making it quite difficult for candidates to solve problems.
Nian Jiaojiao quickly solved the first few dozen problems using her previous life's calculation methods, but she paused for a moment upon seeing the last question.
Nian Jiaojiao curved her lips.
This question was interesting.
Yes,
Quite skillful!
The question was as follows:
Given a cage containing pheasants and rabbits, there are thirty-five heads above and ninety-four feet below.
Question: How many pheasants and rabbits are there respectively?
Nian Jiaojiao's heart bloomed with joy upon seeing this.
Although she was a liberal arts student, classic problems like the "chicken and rabbit in the same cage" were mere child's play for her.
Fortunately, arithmetic in this world seemed underdeveloped, otherwise how could she, a liberal arts student, get by in this world?
Thinking of the fear she used to have of college entrance examination mathematics, Nian Jiaojiao shivered.
Absolutely not!