Du Zhongxiao followed the postman into a quiet courtyard and was led to the living room.

When I saw a middle-aged man in his forties sitting in the main seat, I thought it was Li Du. Du Zhongxiao stepped forward and bowed to salute: "Student Du Zhongxiao, my father, Du Juren, the tribute scholar in the county and township, pay homage to Shiwang."

As he said that, he handed over a few bottles of wine in his hand: "The family is shabby and there is no good thing to respect. The bottles of wine are extremely powerful and are made by the family themselves. Shiwang tastes it."

Li Dui signaled the people around him to collect the wine. Looking at Du Zhongxiao, he sighed and said, "I left my hometown and went out to be an official. I didn't realize that ten years have passed, but I didn't expect that Brother Du's son has grown up. Oh, how are your family? I heard on the way that your father lost his post in the capital last time and suffered a lot from returning to his hometown. It has only been a few months since his family has been transferred to the house."

Du Zhongxiao said respectfully: "My father got sick on his way back to his hometown and was lucky to return home. The family business was really difficult last year. Fortunately, I knew a way to make wine from wine lees, and the officials in Texas County took care of him. Now he specialized in making wine from wine lees, so he had no worries about food and clothing."

Li Dui nodded, asked Du Zhongxiao to sit down at the next head, and ordered the servants to serve tea.

After casually asking about the current situation of the Du family, Li Dui asked Du Zhongxiao: "What are the activities of the nephew doing now?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "My father committed too many miscellaneous crimes in the last imperial examination, and was punished for not being able to pre-authorize the imperial examination in the next ten years. The boy inherited his father's business and did nothing else these days, just studied. It was just that Linying County, there were many books that could not be bought, and there were no famous teachers and friends, with limited knowledge and some worries."

Li Dui nodded repeatedly: "This is the truth. Your father is at this age, and he is a bit boring to study hard on the imperial examination. Since you are already an adult, it is the right thing for your son to inherit his father's business. By the way, I have read a fu you wrote on the road, which is very literary. Can you have any articles recently?"

A decent article was written in this era and handed it to scholars, just like in a magazine in a previous life, most people with connections would see it. Li Dui was a Linying person, so naturally a friend of the same year handed him Du Zhongxiao's article.

Du Zhongxiao was a little frightened and copied an article himself, but he didn't want to spread it further and further. As long as a scholar came, he said he had read it. How could he write such articles frequently? If you have the ability, do you still have to worry about getting a Jinshi?

Du Zhongxiao felt a little embarrassed when he took out the manuscript he carried with him: "In the past, students were dull and randomly wrote randomly. Or occasionally there were articles that could be read, but most of them were useless. The articles that were devoted to the imperial examinations in the past few months have been different from those before. The articles written in the past few months are very immature and have many shortcomings. Shi Bo's correction, so I can learn to do some imperial examinations."

Li Dui nodded, took the red paper that Du Zhongxiao handed to the red one, and expanded to watch.

The imperial examination poems, number of words and formats are all set. "Fugue" even lists fixed sentences. These are all filled out by Du Zhongxiao in a format. It is rare that each article has a theme, and it is not even a question of what it means.

After a brief look, Li Dui nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, nephew, your articles have already touched the edge of the imperial examination. If you use some skills, you can enter the house. The previous articles were a bit literary, but they were just a little bit in the imperial examination field, but they were copied because they were not Chinese. Although the content of these articles is a bit crude, they are well-precise and there is no problem with the rhythm."

Du Zhongxiao was stunned: "It's true? In fact, the students themselves think that the articles they are doing are too craftsmanship."

Li Dui laughed when he heard this: "Craftsmanship? Haha, what do you think are the imperial examinations? As long as the article is craftsmanship, the Jinshi are already outstanding! All those who can transcend are great. Nephew, you must avoid being too ambitious in life. First, do this craftsmanship, and be able to get a Jinshi, and then be qualified to talk about other things. Ouyang Yongshu, who is praised in the literary world, failed the imperial examinations twice. Later, he studied under Xu Xianggong and focused on studying the literary style, and then he won the high school. After he passed the Jinshi, he talked about ancient literati and then someone listened to him. Not to mention that the four literati and six are the basic skills of Jinshi officers. No matter whether it is a bachelor's imperial edict or a state military official, no matter who does these official documents, you can't even make official documents. Don't be said to be an official."

Du Zhongxiao nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and today he heard the voice of affirming his behavior. Li Dui and Du Xun had old friends, and they talked to Du Zhongxiao as elders, first of all, fame and fortune. As for literary talent, they didn't care.

When an official becomes an official, the first thing he needs to know is to write official documents. The formatted documents are mostly handled by public officials. The officials write them themselves, and they are often official documents of the nature of the time, and what they need is parallel four, six, concise and concise. The nature of these official documents is mostly like the articles made by Du Zhongxiao now, and some roughly the same sentences are just changed and filled in according to needs. People who don’t understand seem to be amazed, and those who understand can read them at will. Most official documents from ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad are similar, with different formats, but their nature will not change too much.

There is no need to read this kind of article carefully. Li Dui read it briefly, then put it aside and asked Du Zhongxiao: "The articles you are doing now are completely different from those before. You can't do it without putting in a lot of effort. Nephew, how many days have you worked hard?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "It has been two or three months since the beginning of the New Year."

Li Dui was overjoyed when he heard this: "You can teach me! If you work hard for another year or two, it will not be difficult to pass the imperial examination next time you will be able to pass the imperial examination. There are people in my hometown!"

When Du Zhongxiao said this, he felt so frightened and frightened. He was suffering from not many books at hand, and he had seen too few articles, and most of them were excellent works of past years. He always felt that he had written all the works of beginners. Not to say nothing, the word "clutter" is always appropriate. Unexpectedly, Li Dui gave such a high evaluation, and it was not difficult to even pass the Jinshi.

After pondering for a while, Li Dui said: "The imperial examinations of this dynasty have been changed many times. Scholars are far away from the capital and often do not know the laws. In the past two years, the court has re-designed the rhyme department again, and the next time the rhyme is opened, the new rhyme is the basis. This time I returned to my hometown, I brought a new "New Rhyme from the Ministry of Rhyme", which is also considered to be a blessing to the countryside. Since you have such talent, you will first deliver it to you, and you have to copy it and then return it to me, and you will hide it in my tribe."

Du Zhongxiao was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him. The repetition of rhymes was the most deceptive. The rhymes were determined very seriously during the imperial examinations. The rhymes used by the rhymes were miscellaneous and were first removed. Although the woodblock printing was mature in this era, the cost was there. The court could only guarantee that the new rhymes were issued to the army of various states, and scholars in small places could not be seen at all. Ouyang Xiu participated in the imperial examinations and failed twice in a row because of rhymes, which was not unrelated to this status quo. At this time, there were only a few schools in the state, and the county did not have to think about these crucial reference books.

Rhyme books, banned characters, and these taboos during the imperial examinations are a big challenge for scholars in small places, and they are also what Du Zhongxiao is worried about.

Li Dui ordered people around him to pick up the new rhyme books and hand them over to Du Zhongxiao. He repeatedly told him to keep them carefully and return them after copying them. There are scholars in the Li family, and they cannot do without these important books.
Chapter completed!