Official residence of the first rank Chapter 68 Extreme Limit (Middle)

  After hearing Shen's words, Mr. Shen remained unmoved and said: "Bring it here, let me see if someone helped you write it."

  Shenmo really wants to tear this stinky mouth apart, he really wants to point at the dog fart Qingxia's forehead and ask, will holding back words in his heart cause indigestion?

  He could only think about it and give up, handing over the Xuan paper that was emitting a faint ink fragrance to Shen Lian with both hands.

  Mr. Shen took over the stack of paper, at first just flipping through it expressionlessly, but when he saw the third sheet, his expression became serious, and when he saw the fifth sheet, he began to nod repeatedly, and when he finished reading the last sheet, he finally couldn't help but praise: "Being able to see the ordinary and neat, the harmony of heart and pen, and the subtle changes in taste, is really a great achievement!"

  It took him a long time to come back to his senses from his infatuation, gazing at Shen Mo's handsome face, and sighed: "What a pity, what a pity." At that moment, he thought of Qin Hui and Cai Jing, two treacherous officials who were good at writing.

  Although he didn't say it out loud, Shen Ming had already understood and felt his emotions, and surprisingly, he couldn't feel any anger, apparently he was really numb.

  He neatly put away the stack of words and even used a paperweight to press them down. Mr. Shen said lightly, "You've copied out the lessons 100 times, do you remember them?" He was ready to give him a few more whacks before starting his lesson.

  "He recited it fluently." Shen Mo said calmly.

  "Don't fire the cannon!" Shen Lian's expression, which had just relaxed a bit, tensed up again: "You recite it back to me instead?"

  "Yes." Shen Mo said in a low voice: "If you don't eat and drink properly, the strict and respected Taoist master's teachings will be of no use...the eighth article..."

  The classmates below also stopped reciting books and took out a copy of "Shen's Family Teachings" to follow him, reading it word by word in reverse.

  He recited the words clearly and calmly, neither too fast nor too slow, and soon finished reciting a short passage. He still looked calm and said, "Sir, I've finished."

  "Ugh..." Shen Lian felt like he had eaten a glutinous rice ball but couldn't drink water, and was extremely uncomfortable... He wanted to scold him again for being clever, but this time it was his own fault for letting him memorize the lesson, and he could recite it fluently, which showed how deeply he had studied. Emotionally and rationally, he had no way to lash out, but not lashing out made him feel stifled, so he coldly snorted and said: "Wait here, I'll go make my bow." Then with a flick of his sleeve, he strode out of the school.

  Shen Lian did not enter the thatched cottage, but returned to his own bedroom, looking at the eight large characters written on the wall, repeatedly muttering: 'Have teachings without classes, restrain impatience with tolerance', 'Have teachings without classes, restrain impatience with tolerance'... This was what he had specially written down to control his fiery temper, and whenever he became unreasonable, he would rush here to calm himself down.

  He was a straightforward and upright man, with the ambition to protect the country and bring peace to the people. He had passed the imperial examination at an early age and hoped to make great achievements. However, unfortunately, he was born in the wrong time, during the reign of Yan Song's father and son, when flatterers and opportunists were taking high positions. Although he was diligent and honest, he remained stuck in the position of a seventh-grade county magistrate, unable to be promoted even after serving his full term!

  Nowadays, years are fleeting and white hair is increasing, only to see the dark smoke on the court, wanting to sweep away the evil spirits but unable to do so, how can his heart not be resentful?

  He once said to his elder brother: "I now hate two kinds of people the most, one is the great evil, such as Yan's father and son, and the other is those who are opportunistic and cunning, like Zhao Wenhua and Yan Maoyi!" Unfortunately, this biased old man put Shen Mo in the same category as Zhao Wenhua and Yan Maoyi, looking down on him.

  It's easy to drive him away with an excuse, but Shen Lian is a man of integrity and would never do such a thing that goes against his conscience. Even if he wants to drive Shen Mo away, he must make sure Shen Mo leaves willingly and convincingly!

  What a stubborn old man...

  After a while, Shen Lian returned and sat down at the desk with an expressionless face, saying: "Recite the Thousand Character Classic."

  He silently recited the beginning of "the universe is vast and mysterious, the heavens are dark and yellow", he didn't do it like other students with their hands behind their backs, shaking their heads, but instead stood naturally, using his dantian to project his voice, not using much force, yet enunciating clearly and loudly...... This was the result of countless times opening meetings and making reports.

  "Alone, ignorant and foolish, he was ridiculed; what a helper of language, alas! He had memorized 1,000 characters with ease, without any mistakes or flaws. All of these were things he had memorized at the age of seven or eight, and yesterday he copied them again, so it was no problem."

  "You've memorized it, but do you understand its meaning?" Shen Lian asked in a low voice.

  "I understand, sir." Shen Mo said slowly and calmly.

  "You're having a camel but not saying sheep, only talking about the big ones." Shen Lian hummed and said: "The 'Thousand Character Classic' is a children's reading material, generally only for recognizing characters, and doesn't require students to understand it deeply, do you know why?"

  "Although this article is short, it covers astronomy and geography, past dynasties, self-cultivation, and governance. It's all-encompassing." Shen Mo said in a low voice, "As the saying goes, 'to know ten but only explain one', if you want to explain each of these aspects thoroughly, it would be quite difficult for anyone."

  Although his tone was gentle, Shen Lian could still hear that this was a veiled criticism, implying that the teacher had no real talent or learning, and didn't even dare to explain the Thousand Character Classic properly. Although he didn't mention anyone by name, it couldn't escape the intention of 'pointing at the monk and scolding the bald man'.

  However, Shen Lian still couldn't make a move because what Shen Mo said was the truth. Since Taizu and Chengyibo established the eight-part essay for selecting scholars, they only asked questions from the Four Books and Five Classics, and those who answered had to imitate the tone of the ancients and elaborate on the topic based on Zhu Xi's focused attention. With another order from Taizu, "No official position without passing the imperial examination!", all the scholars in the world were suddenly plunged into the Four Books and Five Classics, looking down on other "miscellaneous books" with disdain.

  After a long time, now, being able to clearly expound the Four Books and Five Classics, and teach how to write eight-part essays is considered a good teacher; who would bother with anything else?

  But Shen Lian was an exception, he was a child prodigy since childhood, 25 years old to be a scholar, 32 years old to be a jinshi, and now more than ten years have passed, with a lot of time for books, self-asking is also considered to be knowledgeable about ancient and modern times. Of course, I don't want to be looked down upon by this kid, so I coldly said: "Then let's verify each other, see who is pretending to understand."

  Silent but still polite, he said: "I don't dare to verify, just ask a student for advice."

  It was this attitude that made Mr. Shen unable to explode in anger, and he said in a low voice: "You ask the questions first."

  "Excuse me, sir, who are 'Dragon Master Huo Di and Bird Official Huang' referring to?" Shen Mo smiled slightly.

  "Long Shi was Fu Xi, because he had a half-dragon and half-human body. Huo Di was Shen Nong, because of his esteemed title as Flame Emperor; Niao Guan was Shao Hao, because he named the hundred officials after birds; Ren Huang was Nu Wa, because she created humans by pinching earth.

  After answering lightly, Mr. Shen asked in return: "What does 'preserving with Gan Tang and leaving to chant more' mean?"

  "When Zhao Gong was alive, he governed under the Gan Tang tree. After his death, the people missed him even more and sang praises of him." Shen Mo said with a faint smile.

  Two people went back and forth, asking each other a dozen or so questions in a row. Neither of them was able to stump the other. Shen Lian suddenly glanced over and saw that the students were all listening intently, having forgotten to recite their texts. He couldn't help but silently rebuke himself: "How did I end up competing with him?" A sly and cunning person like this one naturally knows a lot of miscellaneous things - it's not easy to stump him. So he cleared his throat and said: "Alright, you've mastered the Thousand Character Text. Now go back and recite the Mingxian Collection, and come back tomorrow to recite it from memory."

  Division line

  Yes, recommended! Recommended! Collect! Collect!