Xu Jie's exam is really a bit convincing. The imperial examination requires exams of the classics and the ways of sages. In fact, it is to test people's outlook on life, values, and morality.

We must be loyal to the emperor, love the people, patriotism, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. This set is of practical significance. Repeated reading and repeated learning allow these literati to remember these ideas in their hearts and minds. Only when such people become officials can they be in line with the interests of the entire country and the nation. They will also greatly control the overall quality level of officials.

This is not something meaningless, nor is it a useless act. It is to ask you to be loyal to the emperor and the people for decades, know to be morally noble, know to distinguish right from wrong, and then take these things into consideration. If you use one word to describe it, it can also be said to be a positive "brainwashing" with positive meaning.

This is also one of the reasons why the Hanlin Academy exists.

Xu Jie knew that his level of scriptures was average, and even Ouyang Zheng directly evaluated that Xu Jie's level of scriptures was only considered to be average, so when Xu Jie was examining the meaning of scriptures, he subconsciously treated the meaning of scriptures as a strategy theory.

After answering this, people who are not so conservative like Wu Zhongshu will naturally not study it in depth. However, people who are conservative like Cui Ran, a great scholar at the Hanlin Academy, will naturally think more and think that Xu Jie's morality is up to date. They will not deny their talent, but they can only be at the end of the Three Ages, so that they can be fair.

Of course, these sages, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness are used to demand literati and officials, not to demand emperors. What kind of morality should the emperor have? Few people have analyzed this.

Or if you subconsciously think that a good emperor should be a person with noble character. In fact, what the emperor wants is pragmatic, high IQ, high EQ, powerful means, and firm beliefs. Whether or not a noble character is actually not important. What is important is whether the emperor can pragmatically solve the problems encountered by the entire country, whether it is open and upright, conspiracy, or radical and ruthless.

As long as we can solve the problems encountered by the country, maintain the country's strength and maintain social prosperity, all means are good means. This is also because morality cannot solve everything, and morality is not omnipotent.

This is how human nature!

Those emperors with great achievements defeated strong enemies and managed the prosperous times. How many people have the qualities of saints and gentlemen stipulated in the way of sages? Obviously none of them! The same is true in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

Pragmatism is the most important quality in leading a group. However, under the emperor, it is very important to select talents and morality. It makes sense to be virtuous first and later. This is the most important way to maintain internal stability. If officials do not have moral character, there will inevitably be problems with the hearts of the people.

When the old emperor heard Cui Ran's words, he did not express any unhappiness. He just looked at Xu Jie and said, "Xu Wenyuan, why don't you tell me, what kind of wait do you think you should be?"

The old emperor threw this issue to Xu Jie, the party involved, which was also what Xu Jie wanted to fight for.

Xu Jie thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, the student thinks he is not in the first class, not in the third class, and not in the second class."

The old emperor smiled and said, "You will be so straightforward at that time."

The old scholar Cui Ran, who didn't want to be on the side, said, "It's because he is arrogant. According to the old ministers, the second grade is not enough, and the third grade is also forced."

Xu Jie heard this "Sir Cui" and still held on to himself and refused to give up. He no longer tolerated him. He spoke directly: "I have seen Sir Cui. Although the students are talented and have few moral character, they have also passed the county, provincial, and imperial examinations. After more than ten years of hard work, they have never dared to slack off. If Sir Cui feels that the students are not worthy of the Jinshi, please ask Sir Cui to show them directly. If the students are not worthy of the Jinshi, they will be ashamed of themselves. The palace examination should also be abandoned."

When the Hanlin Grand Secretary Cui Ran heard this, he was not angry. Instead, he felt right in his heart. He stroked his beard and answered, "You know that you are self-aware. You know that you are a talented person with few virtues. The words of sages are the way of a gentleman. If you don't know what a gentleman is, you don't know what a gentleman is. If you don't know how to be an official? This is one of them. Only when you have sages can you have literary writing. Sages can establish your heart and virtue, know the past and the present, know the vastness of heaven and earth, and know the respect of living beings. This is the way of knowledge. If you don't know what a gentleman is, how can you become an official?"

Cui Ran said a lot, and there were only two things. One was that Xu Jie didn't know what a noble gentleman style was. The other was that Xu Jie did not understand the classics, that is, he did not learn from the past and the present, did not respect the creatures of heaven and earth, and had no knowledge.

This includes the main contents of the Four Books and Five Classics. The Four Books include "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Five Classics include "Poetry and Book", "The Book of Rites", "The Book of Rites", "The Book of Changes", "The Book of Changes", "The Spring and Autumn Annals". Among them are morality, history, universe, world, all creatures, and ancient explanations of everything...

If you don’t understand these, how can you talk about knowledge?

The old emperor looked at Xu Jie with a playful expression, probably waiting for Xu Jie to refute him, and had a bit of a mentality of watching the show. Perhaps he also hoped that Xu Jie could prove himself, Ouyang Zheng's disciple, the old emperor still had some confidence.

Xu Jie had endured it for a few years, but because he was not old and had too shallow qualifications, he should maintain basic etiquette and could not act arbitrarily. At this time, when the two were debating, Xu Jie was still hiding it, and he answered: "The Analects of Confucius said that the Master was gentle, kind, respectful, frugal and kind to obtain it. This is to say that Confucius heard about the way of politics and seek it with it. Students were only weak in their years, and were diligent for more than ten years, just to share the worries of the country and seek welfare for the people. The scholars used a noble attitude and said that students were talented but not virtuous, but could they have a gentle and kind heart? Why are virtues? What virtues are unparalleled in the country? What virtues are cultivated by virtue? It is nothing more than the heart of loyalty to the king and loving the people. Those who are loyal to the king have been deeply influenced since childhood, often listen to the words of their fathers, give them away with their fate, and only for the country. The words of their fathers are like this, and even more so, so how can students be unfaithful?

Mencius said, "Mencius is the old and the old, and the young and the young are the young. Students' ancestors have served the people for generations, and never had a noble person. Students have gained the brink of their fathers and started to study poetry and books hard. Students are the people, and loving the people is just love themselves. Why don't they love the people?"

Xu Jie said a few words, neither humble nor arrogant. If you say I don’t understand the meaning of the classics, I will give some explanations of the sages and sages, and then explain them in combination with your own affairs. What Master Cui wants to see is how these students are loyal to the emperor and love the people. Xu Jie said that my family is loyal to the emperor and the ancestors have been loyal to the people for generations. Do you think I am loyal to the emperor and the people?

Xu Jie even asked Cui Ran first, the gentle, kind, respectful, frugal and kind of sages, not that Cui Ran is so arrogant and domineering. Confucius' gentle, kind, respectful, frugal and kind of sages is about the way of hearing politics. Xu Jie's words also imply that the law of hearing politics is incorrect.

The old emperor nodded repeatedly when he heard this. After Xu Jie said this, the old emperor added: "Well, Cui Qing may not know that Xu Wenyuan is a descendant of loyalty and wise. His father is four, three of them die on the battlefield, one of them returns home with disabilities, and his biological father also dies in the battle formation. He should be loyal and wise all over the family!"

The old emperor explained to Xu Jie.

Cui Ran knew this just now, frowned and looked around. Seeing that the old emperor had a smile on his face, he felt that the old emperor seemed to be extremely satisfied with Xu Jie. Cui Ran seemed to be a little embarrassed and said, "You are smart and eloquent at that time, and dared to speak out loudly, saying that I don't know how to hear the government and be gentle. I will ask you, how to learn the way of learning? Why do you ask?"

During the debate, Xu Jie used his loyalty and loyalty to express his loyalty to the emperor. Cui Ran really couldn't refute it. Even if it was impossible for him to say that Xu Jie, who was loyal and loyal, had moral problems in this regard, Xu Jie had never done anything that violated morality, nor did he say anything against the ruthless.

Then Cui Ran naturally had to change the debate topic to prove that Xu Jie was not knowledgeable. He even regarded this as an examination room and asked Xu Jie to take the imperial examination again.

When Xu Jie saw the move, he answered: "Study is to ask about learning, which is derived from the Doctrine of the Mean. The Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning also include the Book of Rites. The way to learn is to ask and learn, and to seek virtue. In the eyes of students, this is to study, to seek knowledge."

Xu Jie explained the origin of the word "learning", and even showed off his skills, and explained the origin of "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning". This is obviously not something that ordinary people who study hard can know. You really need to have a little knowledge to know "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning", which are actually derived from "The Book of Rites".

But Xu Jie also knew that Cui Ran was not asking this question. Cui Ran's question was to say that Xu Jie was not knowledgeable, but Xu Jie explained it this way to prove that he was well-versed in the classics and classics. Then he continued to say: "Everything has a way. If you study it, you will seek knowledge and the way of learning. Students have always believed that they are a little ignorant of talent and knowledge, and they also know that Cui Xueshu is the name of a scholar. They must be aware of many knowledge. Students have a confusion about writing and want to ask Mr. Cui for advice. I wonder if Mr. Cui is willing to solve the problem for students?"

Xu Jie knew that if he continued to debate like this, he would be passive, and if others asked questions, he would answer it himself. If this continued, Xu Jie would inevitably fall into an embarrassing situation because no one was omniscient and omnipotent. Xu Jie's words meant to turn passive into initiative, so that it would be possible to really end the debate.

When Cui Ran was asked by Xu Jie, he knew in his heart that Xu Jie's question must have attacked him. Although he was confident in his heart and knew that this was a good way to prove that Xu Jie was not knowledgeable, he also had some doubts.

When the old emperor on the side heard this, he helped Xu Jie: "The confusion of writing is the foundation of knowledge. Cui Qing, as a great scholar in the Hanlin Academy, is naturally well-versed. Let Cui Qing solve your doubts."

The old emperor did not intend to help Xu Jie, but was also confident in Cui Ran. Most of the imperial court compiled classics, and most of them were responsible for the Hanlin Academy, and even the dictionary was also responsible for the editing of the Hanlin Academy. The great scholars who could even compile dictionaries were naturally well aware of the writing issues.

Cui Ran heard the old emperor's words and said, "Xu Wenyuan, please listen to your doubts. I am not very familiar with the evolution of the text. Whether it is bronze inscriptions, large seal scripts, small seal scripts, and nowadays, I usually have some knowledge of it."

Cui Ran was really a little confident, and Xu Jie came to him. Cui Ran easily explained Xu Jie's doubts. Cui Ran was naturally the one with knowledge. He said that Xu Jie was not knowledgeable and was not worthy of being an official, so he was convincing.

Xu Jie was waiting for this sentence and immediately spoke: "Students often read books, one is 'short' and the other is 'shot'. The so-called short person is the word "王" and the other is 'shot'. The so-called short person is the word "王" and the meaning of "王". The so-called "王" means that the body is only inch long, which means "王". Why do these two characters exchange the meaning and the meaning of the words "王"? The scholar really doesn't understand it. I don't know if it was the wrong use by the ancients or the wrong use by the later generations. I also ask the scholar to answer the questions."

Xu Jie's question is really tricky. The formation of Chinese characters and the combination of Chinese characters are evolved according to the meaning of the text. On the right side of the character "天" is "天", and the character "天" means throwing it out, giving it out, throwing it out. For example, delegating, appointing, giving it out, and giving it to the ground.

The combination of the word "玉" and the word "玉" of the arrow is actually to throw the arrow out, which means archery, and it should be the "玉" of archery.

So what about the word "shoot" in archery? It's even simpler. The body is only inch long. Isn't it just a short "short"?

Are these two words confused? Are they confused by the ancients or later generations? Why are they confused? This is the problem with Xu Jie.

Obviously no one has investigated this issue, or even paid attention to it.

After Xu Jie's words, more than a dozen officials in the audience were writing these two words in their hands, and then there was an uproar.

Even the old emperor was surprised and said, "Hey, there is such a thing? Could it be that these two words are really confused? It's really interesting, Xu Wenyuan, you're good at learning!"

Cui Ran was already confused and pondering, thinking about why these two words seemed to be confused. When the old emperor praised Xu Jie for his good knowledge, he couldn't help but feel a little panicked. However, he was also complaining, complaining about what happened to the ancients and why there were such two strange words that seemed to be confused.

Is it really confused? Or is there another reason? Cui Ran had no answer for a while, so he naturally couldn't be sure.

The old emperor had already asked again: "Cui Qing, how can I solve this confusion?"

Cui Ran was not sure, his face was a little embarrassed, and while thinking in his mind, he replied: "Your Majesty, this confusion is hard to solve. The old minister dares not make a decision. He should go back to the Hanlin Academy to read ancient and modern books, read "Er Ya" and then read "Shuowen Jiezi" to solve this confusion."

The old emperor smiled and waved his hand and said, "Whether, this confusion is hard to solve, I will ask you next time. I won't bother you today, and I will decide Xu Wenyuan's ranking first. Cui Qing, tell me what you think."

Cui Ran was stopped by Xu Jie and felt guilty. He looked at everyone left and right, then looked at the emperor, and then said reluctantly: "The old minister thought he could barely give him a second-class."

The old emperor didn't bother him. He heard this and waved his hand: "Just give me a pass, that's it."

The so-called Chuanlu has a word "Jindian Chuanlu", which means to determine the imperial examination ranking in the Jindian. In the past, there was no other meaning. Now the first place in the second grade is also called "Chuanlu". Chuanlu is the title of the top scholar, the second grade, and the fourth person behind Tanhua. Three people in the first grade are Jinshi, the second grade are Jinshi, and the second grade are the first place in the second grade are Chuanlu, which is the first person in the second grade is Jinshi.

Cui Ran originally intended to give him a second-class player casually, but he didn't expect that the emperor would give him the first place after he spoke. He wanted to refute him, but he was embarrassed to say more, and he was still struggling with the problems of "shortness" and "ejaculation".

Xu Jie was extremely satisfied and bowed happily: "Thank you for your kindness, the student will leave."

The old emperor was satisfied and waved his hand and said, "Go."

Xu Jie slowly retreated and prepared to go out.

Unexpectedly, the old emperor seemed to have thought of something again: "Hey, Xu Wenyuan, wait."

Xu Jie stopped quickly and said, "Please give me instructions!"

The old emperor also looked puzzled and asked, "I have no instructions. I just want to ask you, do you have any explanation for this confusion? After thinking about it, I really feel that these two words are confusing."
Chapter completed!