Chapter 68: The Exchange Conference's First Test of Strength

  The five seats in the front row were already filled with people. Ma Chao took a look and found that there was actually someone he knew. From his position, that person was on Ma Chao's far left, which was also the far right of the five positions.

  At this time, the person sitting in the middle spoke up, with a loud and clear voice that everyone in the room could hear clearly.

  "Thank you all for coming to our Yingchuan Academy, today is the quadrennial exchange conference, it's a grand gathering of men of letters. Today we are fortunate to have invited Mr. Kang Cheng from Beihai!"

  As soon as the words fell, a man in his fifties on the far left smiled and nodded to the audience, and a warm applause broke out below, showing that scholars are also very enthusiastic about their idols.

  The man in the middle then said: "And the second is our own Shuǐ Jìng Xiānshēng from Yingchuan!"

  The second person on the left also greeted everyone, and there was another warm applause, no less than Zheng Xuan. Mr. Shuijing is a native of Yingchuan after all, and he is from Yangzhai. So when a world-renowned celebrity emerged from this place, the people of Yingchuan, especially those from Yangzhai, felt particularly proud, just look at Guo Jia.

  "Mengqi brother, I'm telling you, this Shuijing Mr. is indeed..."

  "Yongchuan Yangdi people Sima Hui, word De Cao, number Shuijing Mr." Before Guo Jia finished speaking, Ma Chao had already answered.

  "Ah, Brother Mengqi, you knew all along!" Guo Jia smiled.

  "That's natural, I would know a famous scholar like Sima Hui!"

  Guo Jia gave Ma Chao a white eye again, thinking in his heart that he didn't know who it was just now and didn't understand anything.

  "The third one is Mr. Zi Yu of Xiangyang!" The man in the middle continued to say.

  Someone beside him waved to everyone, and there was another round of applause from the audience.

  This time, Ma Chao looked at Guo Jia, who seemed to be unaware of Ma Chao's gaze and was staring at the front row, muttering to himself: "I remember someone saying that such a famous scholar is naturally known to me!" His last sentence was spoken in Ma Chao's tone.

  Ma Chao heard this and smiled bitterly, "I'm telling you, brother Guo, I know that Master Shuijing is a famous scholar, but others don't! Please tell me more about it!"

  "He is Pang Tong of Xiangyang." Guo Jia said to Ma Chao.

  Ma Chao finally knew that this was indeed Pang De Gong.

  "I'll take care of it myself from now on, so you don't have to trouble Brother Guo."

  Guo Jia listened and thought to himself, "You're a fine one, Ma Chao and Ma Mengqi! You ask for my advice when you need it, but once you don't need me anymore, you push me aside. It's not that I'm afraid of being unknown, but rather I'm afraid of people like you who are half-baked. In the end, you've thoroughly defeated yourself."

  "Finally, it's Mr. Chen Liu's turn!"

  Cai Yong greeted him, and there was another round of applause. Ma Chao thought to himself that this Yingchuan Academy had two surprises in store for him - Cai Yong should still be in Wu Commandery, but unexpectedly he had been invited from Wu Commandery to Yingchuan.

  "I'm sure everyone knows me, Xun Shuang and Xun Ci Ming of Yingchuan Academy."

  Xun Shuang is fifty-two years old this year, Zheng Xuan is fifty-three, and Sima Hui and Pang Degong are both fifty-one. Only Cai Yong is the youngest, but he is also forty-seven this year. The five of them presided over this grand gathering this year in order to discover more talents, and Xun Shuang had his own ideas.

  "Alright, now that it's almost half past the hour of Chen, our exchange conference officially begins! For a total of one and a half hours, from now until noon, please bring out your true talents!"

  About ten people came to the stage and handed out test papers to everyone. Anyway, Ma Chao thought that thing was a test paper. It was called an exchange conference, but it was actually a competition among scholars, an exam. Moreover, they were all in paper form, he knew that paper was still very expensive, this was really poor education.

  Ma Chao picked up the test paper and took a look. When he saw the first question, his head got big. He thought it should be some Confucian classics or something, but as a result, the first question was actually "Zhuangzi", an open-ended question, asking about his understanding of the "Xiaoyao You" chapter in "Zhuangzi".

  Ma Chao felt helpless at first glance, it would be better to ask about military strategy or something. This is good, asking about "Zhuangzi", so he started to recall some memories of the past life about "Zhuangzi" with deep thought, to see if he could think of which expert scholar had lectured on "Zhuangzi" and what content was included.

  The first time he didn't find it, and then started the second time. This time, he finally remembered a part of it, but couldn't quite recall where he saw it, maybe in a book. Anyway, no matter what, among them, some of Ma Chao's memories related to "Free and Easy Wandering" were recalled, which should be Master Nan Huairen's explanation of "Zhuangzi". Thinking of this, he started writing, "The two characters 'xiao yao' are not...

  Everyone else has already started writing, and some have almost finished answering, but only Ma Chao was still thinking about something in the back. However, from the perspective of the five people sitting in the front row, it's different. Zheng Xuan is a master of Confucian classics, and in his opinion, Ma Chao has been thinking about how to answer all along, and when he thinks clearly, he will naturally start writing quickly. Look, hasn't he already started writing now?

  Sima Hui thought that the first question of this test was about "Zhuangzi", and since he might not be very familiar with "Zhuangzi", he had been thinking hard, finally thought of something, and then started writing.

  But in Xun Shuang's view, it was different. He thought to himself: "This child is not a student of our academy, nor is he a talented scholar from various counties and states. Who brought him here? It seems that he won't be able to answer." Xun Shuang shook his head, but after seeing Ma Chao move his brush, he felt a bit better. Being able to write was better than not writing at all.

  Pound's expression beside him was uninterested in Ma Chao, and he didn't know what he was thinking about.

  The most anxious one was Cai Yong. When Ma Chao was deep in thought, he noticed it. At first, Cai Yong felt that Ma Chao looked familiar, and after a closer look, wasn't this Meng Qi? How did he end up here too, and it seemed like he wouldn't be able to answer either.

  Min Xue's brother knew his own learning, didn't he ever talk about "Zhuangzi"? This really made Cai Yong think correctly, Yan Zhong's learning was indeed not to be said, but he really hadn't taught Ma Chao anything else. In Yan Zhong's view, at this time it was necessary to teach Ma Chao the most useful one, what could others do?

  But after seeing Ma Chao start writing, Cai Yong's heart finally put down. As expected, the disciples of Min Xue would not be inferior, and he had worried for nothing.

  He had no idea what others were thinking, and now he had just finished the first question and started the second one. Compared to the first question, Ma Chao felt that the second question was tailor-made for himself. It's very simple, just ask you to write a poem or a poem. However, there is a condition, only writing about scenery is allowed, nothing else is possible.

  This question is good, it can be said that there is a place to use. However, Ma Chao still found it difficult, and there were many poems describing scenery. In the end, which one should be used? After thinking about it, he decided to plagiarize Zhang Ruoxu's "Spring River Flower Moon Night" from the Tang Dynasty. Why must this poem be used? Because Tang poetry is the peak, and "Spring River Flower Moon Night" is even more famous for being the best of all Tang poems. Listen to this name, can it cover the Han Dynasty if it can cover all of Tang? I believe that as long as this poem is written out, the effect will definitely not be bad.

  As soon as he thought of it, he picked up his pen and wrote: "The spring river tide is connected to the sea, and the bright moon on the sea is born with the tide. The sparkling waves stretch for thousands of miles, where can you find a spring river without a bright moon? The river flows gently..." Ma Chao hadn't recited or written out "Spring River Flower Moon Night" in a long time, but now that he had written it out silently, he savored again the great poem of the Tang Dynasty, and felt that he had an even deeper appreciation for it than before.

  This poem can be called the best of all Tang Dynasty, and that's not an exaggeration. Ma Chao believed that once "Spring River Flower Moon Night" was out, no one else could compete with it. However, he didn't quite understand why the second question allowed for poetry, which was just child's play, who would come up with such a simple topic.

  It's actually quite simple, but Ma Chao never thought that this question could test everyone's level. They are all descriptive essays, and after they are written, it is clear at a glance who is superior or inferior. This question was set by Xun Shuang because he felt that some people in the academy were always self-conceited about their talents, so he set a simple question to see who really had more talent.

  The first question was given by Sima Hui, and there is also the shadow of Pang Degong. They thought that everyone usually learns more Confucian classics, so this time they would test a hundred schools, to see how much everyone understands, and best of all, have some good views of their own.

  The poem and the whole essay are finished, next is the last question. The last question is to write an article, he looked at it with a smile, right in his heart. This is to write an article about studying, and Ma Chao smiled because he actually remembered learning such an article about learning when he was in school, now it's just right to use it.

  After a moment, Ma Chao remembered the whole text and began to write: "Is there anything in the world that is difficult or easy? If you do it, then what's difficult will become easy; if you don't do it, then what's easy will become difficult. Is there anything about studying that is difficult or easy? If you study, then what's difficult will become easy; if you don't study, then what's easy will become difficult. In the countryside of Shu, there were two monks..."

  He was very satisfied with the second question and this last one, it's tailor-made for himself, and luck has come to block it.

  This last question was asked by Zheng Xuan, who didn't have many ideas, but just thought of something and came up with it, but unexpectedly his question turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Ma Chao.

  Just as Ma Chao was secretly pleased with his plagiarism, others had already submitted their papers. These people didn't know whether they were truly confident in themselves or just not good at answering questions. It should be the former, Ma Chao thought.

  When he finished plagiarizing the last "For Learning", Ma Chao also wrote down his place of origin and name, and handed in the volume. The rules of the exchange meeting were not only to write the name, but also to write the place of origin, probably because they were afraid of having the same name. And because all the test papers had to be put on Xun Shuang's desk, Ma Chao also walked over and placed the test paper on the desk.

  Xun Shuang glanced at Ma Chao's test paper, but he didn't want to see what Ma Chao had written. Instead, he wanted to take a look at Ma Chao's name. "Are you Ma Chao?" Xun Shuang asked.

  "Student Fu Feng Ma Chao Ma Mengqi has seen Mr. Ci Ming!" Ma Chao said respectfully.

  Xun Shuang nodded, "I don't know who your master is?"

  "A student with shallow learning, ashamed of the reputation of a Taoist master!" Ma Chao spoke from his heart, feeling that his own knowledge was not worth mentioning in this place.

  Cai Yong on the far right and Pang De beside him whispered a few words to each other, then Pang De also said something to Xun Shuang. Then they all looked at Ma Chao again, and Xun Shuang said: "Then you can go down first!"

  "No! The student is dismissed!" After saying this, Ma Chao turned around and left.

  After Ma Chao left, Xun Shuang turned to the side and asked Pang De: "Zi Yu, what you said is true, is Ma Chao really Yan Zhong's disciple?"

  Xun Shuang's words made Sima Hui and Zheng Xuan, who were standing next to him, turn around. Yan Zhong and the others all knew that he was almost fifty years old and had never heard of him taking on disciples before, so what was going on now?

  Pang De said, "Bo Yi and I have discussed it, you can ask him for details."

  Several people looked at Cai Yong again, and among these people, the one who had the closest relationship with Yan Zhong was him. Everyone else knew this. So Cai Yong introduced Ma Chao to them, from how they first met in Bingzhou, how he saved his father and daughter, then showed them Yan Zhong's handwritten letter, and finally how Ma Chao sent someone to escort his father and daughter from Bingzhou to Wu County. He told all these things to the several people, who only came to know about it after hearing him.

  "It seems this young man is indeed a disciple of Yan Zhong!" said Xun Shuang.

  "It's just his nature, there won't be any other way. You see him taking action whenever he sees injustice, that's just like Yan Zhong when he was young!" said Pang De.

  "Good, good, very good!" Sima Hui loved to say "good", and the people beside him were already used to it.

  "Since this young man is a disciple of Min Xue, his knowledge must be quite good!" Zheng Xuan said, he even knew Yan Zhong's name, it can be seen that he absolutely knows Yan Zhong.

  Several others nodded in agreement. "I hope this child can bring us a surprise at this conference!" What kind of surprise Xun Shuang was referring to, probably only he himself knew best.

  "Alright, alright!" said Sima Hui.

  Cai Yong didn't say much, most of the time he was listening to what the four of them had to say.

  "Time's up, it's noon! It's time to end this!" Pang De reminded Xun Shuang.

  Xun Shuang only then reacted that it was already noon, hadn't the shadow of the inserted wooden stick just disappeared? At this time, he had already let someone collect the scrolls. After all the test papers were collected, the five of them finally stood up and left.

  The next two days, the five of them had to review the exam papers. Two days would be enough time, but it was unknown whether this conference could bring any surprises.