"You are worthy of being a young person who can write a poem like "Linjiang Immortal" if you are ambitious!"

Lin Zhen praised Shen Yichen for decisively "taking on the challenge", not to mention his knowledge, at least he had an extraordinary bearing.

"Just now Weichu asked me to help you clarify the scriptures. Does that mean that Yichen, you are already familiar with the four books by heart?"

"I don't dare to say that I know everything by heart, but I have definitely gained something after studying for a few years at a later age."

Shen Yichen didn't dare to speak too eloquently, but he also couldn't act too timid, so he had to look as confident as possible.

"Okay, then I'll give you a test."

After finishing speaking, Lin Zhen pondered for a while and then said: "Mencius said, the reason why a gentleman teaches five things is, what are the five kinds?"

Lin Zhen took a passage from "Mencius: Devoting the Heart" as a test question. The translated meaning of this sentence is that Mencius said that there are five ways for a gentleman to educate people, and asked Shen Yichen to answer which five types they were.

Regarding this kind of question, Shen Yichen almost didn't say a word with joy. Wasn't this coming to his door? Among the four books that he is best at, "Mencius" is the one he is best at, and Zhuangyuan Gong chose "Mencius" to write the question.

Of course, Shen Yichen was filled with joy in his heart, but Shen Yichen still couldn't show it on the surface, so he pretended to be calm and calm and said: "There are those who are transformed by the rain, there are those who become virtuous, there are those who make money, there are those who answer questions, there are those who are private. Ai Zhe. These five things are why gentlemen teach them."

"Then what do you think Mencius wanted to tell the world when he said that the gentleman teaches five things?"

If the previous questions were memorized by rote, then what Lin Zhen asked now was to let Shen Yichen explore the philosophy expressed behind it.

“Teach students in accordance with their aptitude.”

Without any hesitation, Shen Yichen gave the standard answer.

Sun Tixue next to him heard this and couldn't help but nodded: "Not bad!"

A faint smile also appeared on Li Tingxiu's face. Firstly, he was happy for his students. Secondly, he knew very well that Shen Yichen was good at "Mencius" and could not fail him on this kind of question.

"Well, "The Doctrine of the Mean" says, "Government depends on people, take people as their own bodies, cultivate one's self with Tao, and cultivate Tao with benevolence. How do you interpret this?"

If this question had been asked a month ago, given Shen Yichen's familiarity with "The Doctrine of the Mean", even if he could answer it, it would only be barely possible.

But over this period of time, when Bingzhu read these four words at night, it was no longer the original joke, but Shen Yichen's daily life experience.

He has basically memorized the original texts and annotations of the Four Books!

"Returning to Duke Zhuangyuan, this is what Confucius said in response to Duke Ai of Lu's question about politics. Confucius believed that in order to conduct good government, we must have good ministers. To get good ministers, we must first improve our morality, and morality puts benevolence and righteousness first."

"The answer is very good, but there is also a sentence in "The Doctrine of the Mean": if people survive, then the government will be successful. If people die, then the government will cease. So how to ensure that good governance can be implemented for a long time?"

When Lin Zhen raised this issue, the expressions on the faces of Li Tingxiu and Sun Tixue changed significantly.

Because this kind of examination questions completely exceeds the four books knowledge requirements for children, and even exceeds the stage of examination for scholars and candidates. It is more like the emperor personally asking the questions of the tribute scholars admitted in the palace examination.

Taking this kind of question to test Shen Yichen, those who knew clearly understood that Lin Zhen was determined to test the upper limit of his knowledge, but those who didn't knew thought that he was deliberately making things difficult.

To be honest, Shen Yichen fell into a dilemma when faced with Lin Zhen's questions.

Judging from the literal meaning, the sentence "The Doctrine of the Mean" is not difficult. It is much better than many obscure and difficult-to-pronounce ancient texts. Even a high school student in the future can roughly understand that this sentence means that people survive and political actions stop. .

Lin Zhen now asked how to change this situation so that good policies can be implemented for a long time.

The answer from a modern perspective is actually very simple, that is, changing "rule by man" to "rule by law". Fixing policies in the form of laws can avoid the situation where people exist and politics cease.

The problem is that this way of thinking is correct in modern times, but in ancient times when Confucianism was only respected, it emphasized "law" over "people" over "benevolence".

That is equivalent to you, as a Confucian scholar, breaking through the bottom line of your own political philosophy, spreading it out and using popular words to describe it as "social death", and your future career and knowledge will be hopeless.

Unless we can change our destiny against nature and change the entire social ideology.

So this question is even more difficult for Shen Yichen. Not only does he have to come up with a reasonable answer, he also has to go against his own conscience!

Seeing Shen Yichen deep in thought, Lin Zhen had a slight smile on his face and was not in a hurry.

From the previous questions, he could already tell that Shen Yichen's basic skills in the Four Books were very solid, and his answers were quick and accurate. Even Lin Zhen was a little confused for a time, how could such a level of knowledge be studied in a private school in Chengguo Gongfu? After studying for several years, you can’t even pass the exam as a child student?

So Lin Zhen broke away from the limitations of the Four Books, Five Classics and Eight Parts, and asked for more practical strategies. He wanted to see whether Shen Yichen was a nerd who could only study hard, or whether he was truly talented.

"Good laws and good governance."

After thinking again and again, Shen Yichen finally gave his answer.

Shen Yichen was torn between answering "rule by man" or "rule by law" at first, but he soon realized that "rule by law" was not a new concept of later generations, and had been discussed by various scholars during the period.

With Lin Zhen's talent as the number one scholar, how could it be possible that the test questions given were just superficial choices?

If you follow your own heart and simply choose "rule of law", then this answer must have flaws, and where are these flaws?

It was precisely because he realized the problem that Shen Yichen pondered for a long time. Fortunately, he finally figured it out.

That is, the code itself will not spontaneously uphold justice for the weak. It only provides everyone with a basis to protect themselves. However, how to use the code still depends on people. A law that no one follows is worse than a piece of waste paper!

Xunzi once concluded that "there is no way to govern people, but no law." Therefore, neither "rule by law" nor "rule by people" is correct. We must nourish the rule of law with morality and justice, and use the rule of law to strengthen morality, justice, and the two complement each other to achieve good law and good governance!

"Good answer!"

Almost as soon as Shen Yichen gave the answer, Lin Zhen jumped up excitedly and cheered loudly!

He never imagined that this issue, which had been debated by countless sages and powerful men, would be summed up by a junior student in just four words.

If coupled with the previous "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude", it can be said that Shen Yichen's accuracy in hitting the key points and his deftness in solving problems are simply unparalleled among the students and disciples taught by Lin Zhen!

"He is really a genius!"

Sun Tixue stood up tremblingly, and his tone was so passionate that Shen Yichen was afraid that something had happened to him. What should he do if he lost his temper?

Compared with Lin Zhen, who started teaching in a school only after resigning in recent years, Sun Tixue has been a supervisor for half his life and has met countless literati.

There are people who are proficient in poems, songs, romances, and people who write eight-legged essays with brilliant strokes, but there are really no people who are not even old enough at the age of sixteen and have reached the level of insights like Shen Yichen!

He is indeed a student who can produce "Linjiang Immortal". His youthful and mature spirit is admirable.

Even Li Tingxiu, who was a tutor, was shocked. Originally he just wanted to ask Lin Zhen to help Shen Yichen make up for his shortcomings in scripture and meaning to prepare for next year's college and provincial examinations.
Chapter completed!