Chapter 23 Secretly Happy

"Qianqiu, Qianqiu, look..."

Deng Qianqiu has been almost entirely busy these days preparing for the workshop, and returns home exhausted every day.

But today, as soon as Deng Qianqiu entered the door, he saw Deng Jianxing walking towards him hurriedly, holding something in his hand, with an unconcealable excitement on his face.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Deng Jian handed the item to him and said, "Let me show you this. This is the official report just sent out from the government office. The court is really going to hold the imperial examination."

Deng Qianqiu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly took the report. After a look, he found that there was indeed an imperial edict for the imperial court to hold an imperial examination!

Not only that, the regulations for the imperial examinations were exactly the same as he had "expected".

The classics were used as official learning, and Zhu Xi's version of Neo-Confucianism was respected as the official version.

But don't underestimate the trick here, because the Four Books and Five Classics, whether it is "The Analects of Confucius" or "The Spring and Autumn Annals", have been passed down to the present day, and there are at least hundreds of schools of thought, if not a thousand. For thousands of years, various great scholars have given different interpretations to Confucius' teachings.

Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is just one of them.

Now that Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has been established as the official school of thought, it means that any other version you use to interpret Confucius' teachings is wrong, and there is only one correct answer.

This official report even explained the rules of the imperial examination.

Deng Jian couldn't help but sigh at this time: "I really didn't expect that what happened inside was exactly as you predicted. It seems that my hard work these days has not been in vain."

Deng Qianqiu looked at Deng Jian with a bit of resentment in his eyes, and said, "Dad, are you worthy of me?"

Deng Jian: “…”

Deng Qianqiu said, "Just study hard. Why are you still concerned about this? There are so many smart people in this world. Even if you review first, I'm afraid you may not be able to compete with the top. So... Dad, you have to study harder and don't be complacent. Pride leads to failure. Humility leads to progress."

Deng Jian coughed and he was a little overwhelmed.

Deng Qianqiu continued, "I think the most important thing in this imperial examination is writing. Dad, you should have read these books thoroughly by now, so you should practice writing more now."

Deng Jian had no choice but to say, "Father, you can give it a try."

Deng Qianqiu said: "But I have a solution..."

Deng Jian asked doubtfully: "What's the solution?"

Deng Qianqiu said, "My method is called the Eight-part Essay Method. Dad, you might as well give it a try."

In the early Ming Dynasty, there was no eight-legged essay in the imperial examination.

The so-called eight-legged essay is actually a method of writing that was slowly summed up by a group of Confucian scholars after the imperial examination began.

As a result, everyone found that writing articles according to the eight-part essay method not only met the norms of the imperial examination, but also could be completed at the fastest speed and with a high level, so it began to become popular.

This is just like the formulas in mathematics. There were no formulas at first, but gradually people summed up the rules and they appeared. Finally, they were promoted and became the shortcut for everyone to do arithmetic.

Deng Jian looked at Deng Qianqiu with a strange look. He increasingly found that his son was a little... weird.

At first, Deng Qianqiu had proposed that the imperial court hold an imperial examination. He was skeptical at first, but now...

No way, could it be that... my son has really come to his senses?
But even so, it seems that when I heard that my son was doing a good job, he was setting up a clinic and treating women...

When he thought of this, Deng Jian felt scared and as if something was blocking his throat.

Take a deep breath.

He then said seriously: "What is the eight-part essay method?"

Deng Qianqiu was quite straightforward. He ignored Deng Jian's thoughts and immediately explained how to break the topic, how to start the essay, how to continue the topic, and how to end the essay.

"Look, that's it. First, solve the problem, then follow this format and fill in the blanks, just like filling in a grid. I think Dad should know how to do this."

After reading it, Deng Jian had to put aside his distracting thoughts and study it carefully. He couldn't help but say, "If so, wouldn't this good essay become a trick of filling in grids?" "Dad..." Deng Qianqiu said with a look of grief, "How can you say that? This is an exam. You can't take an exam like this. Do you really want to write a great article? That's enough. Your son only hopes that you can pass the exam. If you don't, everything will be over."

Deng Jian: “…”

Deng Jian thought for a moment and said, "But the words and sentences in an article are always long and short. How can we ensure that this grid can be filled?"

Deng Qianqiu smiled, "That's easy! Dad, you are a scholar. Let me give you an example. For example, the title here requires nine characters, but you can only write 'Wei Zi left, Ji Zi became his slave'. Look, there is one character missing, right? Then you can write 'Wei Zi left, Ji Zi became his slave'. Dad, look, doesn't that make up nine characters? We have to use the four characters zhihuzheye. If there is a character missing, we can fill it in with zhihuzheye. Are you still worried that it won't be complete?"

Deng Jian: “…”

He was convinced that there were such people in the world. At this moment, he felt that his son was like a monster.

If Confucius or Zhu Xi were to be reborn, they would know that someone would use their knowledge to cheat like a crossword puzzle, and they would definitely...

Of course, Deng Jian could not imagine that, decades later, if all the scholars in the world were playing this game and enjoying it, there might not be such a moral dilemma.

Finally, Deng Jian took a deep breath and said, "I'll give it a try."

He followed Deng Qianqiu's method and tried to write an essay. After a few times, he immediately realized the power of the eight-part essay.

This thing seems to be born to assist in writing articles. It is extremely fast and can ensure high quality.

"My son... my son... if he doesn't treat the woman... then my Deng family will be in ruins." Deng Jian was shocked but thought to himself.

In fact, Deng Jian didn't know what kind of power this eight-part essay writing method would have. It was more than just smoke coming out of the ancestral grave, it was as if the Deng family's ancestral grave was hit by an atomic bomb, and a mushroom cloud rose from the grave.

This imperial examination was scheduled to be held after April. Since it was the first imperial examination in the country, the first examination was the provincial examination, and all Confucian scholars were allowed to participate.

These four months are indeed a bit rushed for most students, but now they have no choice but to cram!

In a short period of time, all the collections of Cheng and Zhu on the market were sold out.

Deng Qianqiu still went out early and came back late, while Deng Jian wrote articles at home every day. After he gradually became familiar with the eight-part essay writing method, he began to become more and more proficient in it.

Seeing Deng Jian working so hard, Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but smile like an old father... no, like a kind son.

Only when a father endures hardships can he teach his son to be a good man. This is an irrefutable truth throughout the ages.

When he thought of this, Deng Qianqiu's blood boiled, and the small universe in his body seemed to be burning with fire. No, I have to work hard too. I can't be depressed and go on like this. I must work hard to supervise my father's studies.

These two or three months are almost the busiest time for Deng Qianqiu. Jishidiang still needs to set an example, so he needs to see patients every day.

In addition, thanks to the efforts of King Jin Zhu Gang and Deng Qianqiu, the workshop had already been established. Zhu Gang contacted the underwriters with great enthusiasm, and after receiving deposits one after another, he began to train the recruited craftsmen and laborers to start production.

The power of silver is strong. With the temptation of silver, the two were full of energy. In just one month, they started producing the first batch of alcohol, and then continued to expand production.

Of course, in the final analysis, the profit from this business is simply too great. Even if alcohol is made using traditional methods, the yield is not low. In addition, after Jishidiang used a large amount of the medicine, almost everyone in Fengyang City knew that this thing was simply a miracle drug for treating external injuries and for midwives.

In this era, having a child is a matter of life and death. Since it concerns human life, no one dares to take it lightly. Seeing the profitability, many merchants and clinics began to purchase alcohol.

Soon, the reputation of this alcohol spread not only in Fengyang, but also in the entire South Zhili, and there was a huge crowd of people vying to buy it.

Zhu Gang was very excited and smiled foolishly at the account book every day.

"Qianqiu, Qianqiu, I should have known you earlier. If I had known you earlier, I wouldn't have worried about not being able to accomplish my great cause."

Deng Qianqiu shuddered all over and asked cautiously, "Great cause, what great cause?"

"Earning money, what do you think it is?"

"Oh." Deng Qianqiu felt relieved and immediately changed the subject: "We are still in the initial stage, and I am afraid we need to expand production. Also... in the future, when merchants purchase, the deposit will be increased by 20%. Now it is the underwriters who ask us to supply goods, not us who ask them. Oh, and there are raw materials. We have to buy them quickly while the price of raw materials is low. As for the profits, since we are going to invest in production, we will not share the profits for the time being. We will talk about it later. You have to talk to the other shareholder about this matter."

Zhu Gang said excitedly: "Don't worry, my sister won't say anything. She got the benefit for nothing and is laughing secretly."

(End of this chapter)