in2ebook Chapter 147 The Arrival of the Academy
Chapter 147 The Arrival of the Academy
Chapter 147 The Arrival of the Academy
Time passed by as Ye Ru practiced his zither. Every day at dawn, Ye Ru would go to the small river in Zhongjie City to practice the Taihe zither diligently, to the point that his fingers developed thick calluses.
Fortunately, Ye Ru has gradually begun to grasp the basics of the art of playing the qin.
On the third day, as the morning sun rose on the horizon, Ye Ru got up early and then pushed open the door.
According to Wen Xiang, the four major academies have come to Zhongjie City today to recruit students for the upcoming National Scholars Competition.
Generally speaking, although aristocratic families have abundant resources, the patriarchal system also has some serious drawbacks, with direct descendants being closer to their spouses than to their children. Therefore, most students who are not successful in aristocratic families still prefer to go to academies for further study.
In the Yanhuang Kingdom, all the academies were concentrated in one state, and a separate branch academy was established.
Moreover, the four great academies are the largest of all academies in a state, with extremely strict admission requirements, but they are also the holy land of learning in the hearts of all Chinese students.
The Confucian Temple in Zhongjie City was already packed with people.
"Brother Ye, I'm really looking forward to the banquet you promised."
In the crowd, Kong Hexuan patted Ye Ru on the shoulder and said.
"A banquet will certainly be held to welcome you all to the academy, firstly to bid you farewell, and secondly to celebrate your unity and victory over the Jin state in the Tongsheng Kingdom competition."
Ye Ru cupped his hands in greeting and said with a smile.
"Not being arrogant despite your achievements is truly admirable. Among the four great academies, if we were to rank them, Yuelu Academy would be the best, followed by Qinghua Academy, and Yuzhang Academy... most of them are people affiliated with the Left Prime Minister and are no longer satisfied with their past glory. The only one left is the former overlord Yingtian Academy. Brother Ye, you must want to go to Yuelu Academy, right?"
Meng Qingyang said, but Ye Ru's words made his face stiffen, clearly somewhat unexpected.
"I'm going to Yingtian Academy. It's said that Yingtian Academy's qin (a seven-stringed zither) is the best among the four great academies. Do you want to go there?"
Ye Ru casually made up a lie and said it.
"I want to go to Qinghua Academy. My father wants me to minor in calligraphy, as Qinghua Academy's calligraphy program is considered top-notch."
Kong Hexuan said.
"Qinghua Academy?"
Ye Ru was taken aback. Shouldn't Liu Juecheng have been recommended to a certain place and could go once the formal classes started?
"Brother Ye, why don't you join Qinghua Academy with us? Yingtian Academy is now like a setting sun, its former glory faded. A good bird chooses its tree to perch on; with your talent, you can get into the best academy."
Meng Qingyang looked at Ye Rudao.
"Everyone has their own aspirations. Those who wish to cultivate themselves must first rectify their hearts. There is no distinction between high and low academies. As long as one's heart is upright and sincere, even a private school can enhance one's learning."
Ye Ru smiled and said.
"Compared to Brother Ye, we are like fireflies compared to the bright moon. Look, people from the four major academies and other academies have come."
At this moment, Kong Hexuan looked up and saw several scholars coming from afar. They first bowed three times to the statue of Confucius in the Confucian Temple, and then sat down in front of the temple, looking at the many students.
"Yingtian Academy, Qinghua Academy, Yuelu Academy, and Yuzhang Academy—the four most famous academies in the Yanhuang Kingdom have all arrived."
Chen Tianjian, Wen Xiang, and others were also sitting nearby, which excited the students below.
At this moment, an elderly man dressed in the white robes of Yingtian Academy stood up, waved his hand, and addressed the crowd below:
"As per tradition, after the National Examination for Children of Scholars, we will recruit a group of exceptional students here. Only those who participated in the National Examination for Children of Scholars will be eligible to participate in the assessment."
As the words fell, a stir arose among the crowd. Of the more than two thousand people, at least half had come specifically for the admissions of the four great academies.
"The first test will test your knowledge of uncommon characters. I will find these characters from the sacred scriptures, write them down, and those who can identify them will pass the first round and stand on the left. Those who did not participate or failed will stand on the right."
After they finished speaking, the elderly scholars from the four academies began whispering among themselves, discussing how to set the exam questions.
"Ye Tongsheng, I wonder if any of you from humble backgrounds have studied these rare characters? Even we aristocratic students find the first round of rare character tests quite challenging."
Fan Ziling looked at Ye Ru through the crowd, then sighed:
"I hope you don't fail in the first round, that would be quite funny."
"Don't worry, it definitely won't be as you wish."
Ye Ru glanced at Fan Ziling and said casually.
While everyone was talking, the exam questions were fed back by the temple and projected into the sky, forming a huge light screen. At the same time, in order to prevent other students from hearing, the temple also set up a soundproof shield.
"You can come up now."
Ye Ru stared at the words for a moment, and saw ten rare characters written in the sky: 槑, 赑, 毳, 掱, 犇, 猋, 麤, 鱻, 惢, 兕.
Some of these were found in the classics of the saints, and some were characters from dialects, but all of them were rare characters.
Whether from humble backgrounds or prestigious families, the biggest headache for test takers is learning obscure characters. This is because these characters are rarely used, and test takers don't have the time or energy to study their pronunciation and usage.
But since the exam is crucial for admission to the academy, a generous reward will surely attract brave men.
A person walked onto the stage, looked at the words, and began to read them aloud one by one.
However, as he read these words, the teachers of the academy all looked thoughtful, and finally shook their heads in disappointment, and he left in frustration.
As the first person joined, then the second, the third, the fourth...
The first round of exams, where you could pass by focusing on half the questions, still had a pass rate of only about 50%, creating an unprecedented sense of tension in the area.
"Brother Ye, Brother Kong, I'll give it a try."
Dong Qi cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd, then went to the platform to begin the test. Looking at the characters, Dong Qi could only recognize four of them. He barely managed to guess the fifth one by chance.
Along with Dong Qi, Kong Hexuan and the others also went to learn to read. Before long, the originally sparse left side suddenly had dozens more people.
Even Fan Ziling only recognized the word "six" and successfully entered the second round.
Before long, only Ye Ru and a few others remained, while more than 800 people had passed through on the left, all looking at Ye Ru with different expressions.
"I wonder how many characters Ye Ru can recognize. These rare characters are not only the trump card of scholars from prestigious families, but also the Achilles' heel of scholars from poor families."
Kong Hexuan murmured.
"You only need to recognize five to pass. I hope Ye Ru won't be eliminated in the first round. Even with the reputation of being the top student, he might not be able to enter the academy without a recommendation."
Meng Qingyang clenched his fist and said worriedly.
"Rare characters? He probably hasn't even read Xu Shen's 'Shuowen Jiezi' (Explaining Characters and Analyzing Words)."
Fan Ziling smiled slightly and said sarcastically, while Han Lu cursed Ye Ru viciously in his heart, wishing him to fail the exam so that he could mock him.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the elder from Yingtian Academy looked at the list, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and then shouted:
"Next up, the national champion, Ye Ru!"