Fang Yundao said, "If that's the case, everyone will choose the Ten Nations, Demon-Barbarian, and Pacifying the People. However, in fact, it's impossible for all Grand Scholars to choose these three. The Notre-Dame should have some means to avoid it, right? "
Magistrate Dong said, "Of course. If you force yourself to choose these three questions and don't answer well, you'll be overestimating yourself. If you don't know how to choose, you'll have already failed before you answer the questions. Besides, Grand Scholars aren't only selected for high officials who are in charge of politics. The Ministry of Works, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Justice all need a large number of related talents. The person who wrote the Demon-Exterminating Barbarian Policy Essay and got second place in the Ministry of Justice is far inferior to the person who wrote the Law and Policy Essay and got second place. If the two of them have the same rating, the latter has a higher chance of becoming a Grand Scholar because Jingguo lacks Grand Scholars who are proficient in the judiciary. If both of them fail, the latter has a high chance of becoming a Grand Scholar. Jingguo has asked the Notre-Dame for additional Grand Scholars. "
"I see. If you want to become one of the top three Grand Scholars, it's best to write these three essays. If you want to become a Grand Scholar more easily, you should avoid at least one of the three essays. Although the High Scholar Test is different from the Grand Scholar Test, it's best to choose what you choose in the High Scholar Test in order to prepare for the Grand Scholar Test in the future, "Fang Yundao said.
"That's right. You want to become the Grand Scholar. "
"I'll keep that in mind," Fang Yundao said.
"In addition, because of the movement of the literary stars, the number of candidates for this year's High Scholar Test and Grand Scholar Test has increased. This is both good news and bad news for you. With more people, your chances of becoming the Grand Scholar will be smaller. That's a worry. As for the good news, it's that our country has an additional 30 Grand Scholars this year, "Magistrate Dong said.
Fang Yundao was overjoyed at first because Jingguo only accepted 30 Grand Scholars last year. Even if they doubled the number to 60 this year, the additional 30 Grand Scholars would still be a huge number. Then, Fang Yundao froze and asked, "Good news? Could it be that the number of Grand Scholars has something to do with me? "
Magistrate Dong laughed, "Of course it has something to do with you. Before you left the Holy Ground, people from the Notre-Dame said that you passed the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions on the Book Hill for the first time. For some reason, the scholars from Wu Guo and Gyeongo failed in large numbers. This made the Half-saint think that the scholars from those two countries were unworthy, so he took away some of the scholars from the other two countries. He was assigned to Jingguo. "However, we now know that you didn't just pass the Three Mountains and Two Pavilions, you actually entered the Fourth Mountain! Those 30 Grand Scholars will definitely remember your great kindness. This is a heavy network of connections! "
Fang Yun nodded. This time, there was no need to be polite or modest. The 30 Grand Scholars in Jingguo were all obtained through his hard work on Book Hill.
"This will also be considered in the conferment of nobility. The title of nobility might only be a lower class, third rank civil marquis, but the other rewards would be very generous. Okay, let's continue to talk about policy. The ten countries, demons and barbarians, and pacifying the people are the major categories in policy. The real test questions are sometimes a sentence, sometimes a few hundred words written by the Half-saint, and sometimes even a story taken from ancient books. "
Fang Yun nodded gently.
Magistrate Dong continued, "The Grand Scholar Test is different from the High Scholar Test. The reason why there are three sections in the Grand Scholar Test is because the Grand Scholar Test is to select talents for the human race, so the questions are very big. However, the High Scholar Test is to select talents for the country, so I will choose three questions from the policy papers over the years. You will answer them quickly before dusk. I don't ask for perfection, but I want to know your strengths and weaknesses. After you finish answering the three questions. After I finish judging, I will leave you with ten questions. I will judge tomorrow night. "
Fang Yun looked bitter. Other people would take at least 24 hours to answer three policy papers. He, on the other hand, only had six hours at most.
"Stop pretending. I know you have a quick mind, and you write at a high speed. You can definitely complete it. Prepare the paper and brush! "
After Magistrate Dong finished speaking, he picked up the brush from the table and pondered for more than ten breaths. He picked up the brush and wrote while saying, "I will choose three questions from the High Scholar Test 19 years ago. You will answer them."
Soon, Magistrate Dong finished writing the first question and handed it to Fang Yun. He said, "Answer this policy paper first."
Fang Yun took a look and frowned slightly. The topic of the policy paper was a double-question paper. It started with, "The Saints teach and govern the country. A virtuous ruler knows how to strengthen the foundation, focus on agriculture, and manage the army. "
The latter part of the paper revolved around the previous question. The saints were in charge of teaching while the monarch was in charge of government affairs. A true monarch should focus on agriculture and military affairs. As a scholar of the country, how should he give advice to the monarch?
Fang Yun did not answer immediately. Instead, he thought about the relationship between agriculture and military affairs first because it was a double-question paper.
Fang Yun thought to himself that double-question paper was rare even in the Grand Scholar Test. Yet, there was such a question in the High Scholar Test that year. He felt that the High Scholar Test 19 years ago was unlucky.
The Ten Nations emphasized the meaning of scriptures. Hence, the examinees had already studied every detail of the scriptures. Although they had studied poetry and policy papers, the books were not easy to buy. Fang Yun had only read 17 books about policy papers, and the solution to the double-question paper in those books was too vague.
It was impossible for there to be a solution to the double-question paper in the world of strange books. Hence, Fang Yun could only rely on himself.
At that time, Fang Yun collected all the double-question paper questions that he could find in recent years, which was a total of 32 questions. He then found the model essays for these questions, which were a total of 170 articles. He then repeatedly read the excellent and poor policy papers, compared the differences between the two, and looked for the similarities between the excellent policy papers.
After a day of hard work, Fang Yun finally discovered that the main points of the double-question paper were "relevance", "equal attention", and "unification". After understanding this point, Fang Yun compared them with the model essays and found that those who could write well on these three points were mostly A-grade. Those who wrote well on two points were at least B-grade. Apart from answering irrelevant questions, most of the poor policy papers did not grasp the two points well.
Fang Yun's thoughts were in a whirl and he used his summary of experience on this question.
"If you want to get B-grade, you have to have good countermeasures for agriculture and military affairs respectively and link the two. However, if you want to get A-grade, it's not as simple as linking the two. You have to stand at a higher point of view, stand in the position of the prime minister of the country, and unify agriculture and military affairs. Those A-grade model essays are good, but they can't be called wonderful because they forcefully unify the different categories of the double-question paper. For example, agriculture is agriculture, and military affairs is military affairs. Forcefully unifying them can only be done with some old-fashioned methods such as "farming". However, if you want to unify the two perfectly, you have to add a link! And this link can't be stronger than agriculture and military affairs in today's country. Otherwise, it would be overshadowing the main topic, going off-topic, and directly getting D-grade. "
"Therefore, the real A-grade double-question paper not only needs to have 'relevance', 'equal attention', and 'unification', but also a 'link'! This is the direction, and how to propose agriculture and military affairs is the path. If you want A-grade, you can't do without either! "
Fang Yun had the experience of living in a highly developed society, so he naturally knew what an omnipotent link was.
After thinking about the link, Fang Yun analyzed the current situation of Jingguo and then thought of countermeasures.
After 15 minutes, Fang Yun picked up the pen and pointed at unification at the beginning. He answered, "The minister is correct: no agriculture is unstable, no military is unstable, and no business is rich. Farmers … "
Magistrate Dong was standing beside Fang Yun. When he saw the first 12 words, his eyes flashed.
It was taboo to go off-topic in a policy essay. It was obviously about agriculture and military affairs, but adding in business which was inferior to both. If he wrote well, it would be fine, but if he didn't write well, he would probably get D-grade.
However, Magistrate Dong didn't jump to conclusions and continued reading.
Fang Yun had been enlightened five times, and had also received the Literature Star Illumination. His mind was very agile, and very quickly, he linked everything he had seen and heard together. Then, he quickly categorized and selected the most suitable content for this essay. Finally, he refined and refined it.
Ordinary High Scholars would write subconsciously, but after Fang Yun received the Literature Star Illumination, his thinking had reached the level of a Grand Scholar. All these processes appeared clearly in his mind.
After writing a few sentences about agriculture, Fang Yun's face suddenly revealed a smile. This was because he had discovered something new. This policy essay was different from the Confucian classics. The Confucian classics were about analyzing the words of the saints, and had to cover all aspects. The main point was to show the way of the saints, and oneself was secondary.
On the other hand, policy essays were about giving advice and showing off one's abilities to the Emperor and the examiners. Therefore, covering all aspects would be inferior. Being able to specialize in many aspects was the second most important factor in a policy essay.
Hence, when he was writing about agriculture, Fang Yun didn't use thousands of words to give advice. Instead, he wrote about some problems and countermeasures. He then changed the topic and wrote, "If there is no agriculture, then there is no stability. How can there be stability in agriculture?"
Following which, Fang Yun used what he had seen and heard to emphasize the importance of 'stability in agriculture'.
When Magistrate Dong saw this, he almost slapped the table in praise. In terms of agriculture, there were many people who came up with the idea of focusing on agriculture. However, 'stability in agriculture' was more specific and precise than 'focusing on agriculture'. Not only was it able to capture the examiners' attention, it was also more in line with the ideas of policy essays.
Magistrate Dong stared at Fang Yun's head. He wanted to know what was in this fellow's head. How could he be so astute? This was because when the four words' stability in agriculture 'were written, even if Fang Yun's' stability in agriculture 'was exactly the same as the other examinees', these four words alone were enough to suppress the rest of the examinees.
After he finished writing about agriculture, Fang Yun began to write about military affairs. Jingguo had serious border problems. If the examinees of Jingguo were to answer questions, they would definitely focus on dealing with demons and barbarians. However, Fang Yun adhered to the idea of answering questions specifically. He didn't write about military affairs or soldiers. Instead, he wrote about 'military discipline'. Then, he slightly extended from the military discipline to the morale of the troops. He clearly wrote that only military discipline could keep the hearts and souls of the soldiers.
After he finished writing about military affairs, Fang Yun breathed a sigh of relief. He calmed himself down a little and read the previous part again. Finally, he nodded and confirmed that what he wrote was consistent with what he thought. He looked more composed.
Magistrate Dong had been observing Fang Yun. When he saw this scene, he secretly sighed in his heart. Fang Yun's action just now seemed ordinary, but it was close to 'knowing oneself'. The longer a person lived, the more he knew that understanding oneself was the most difficult. And 'knowing oneself' was even more difficult than 'self-examination'. Self-examination only reminded one of one's own mistakes. 'Knowing oneself', on the other hand, allowed one to accurately know one's own mistakes and right. Not only did one have to correct one's own mistakes, one also had to adhere to one's own right.
Magistrate Dong had been immersed in the 'stability in agriculture' and 'military discipline' strategies. He didn't expect a young High Scholar to be able to write such profound principles. Not only was it far beyond him, a Grand Scholar, but it was also very feasible.
"Official Dong, I've finished. Official Dong? "Fang Yundao asked.
"Oh?" Magistrate Dong stopped thinking about the two strategies. He then sighed and looked at Fang Yun.
"19 years ago, if you were in Mi Zhou, the Top Scorer would not have been me."
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