Quick Transmigration: The Love Rescue Plan

Chapter 145 Dragon Travels the World (4)

Since Anyang County is relatively close to the prefectural capital, it is naturally quite far from the small county town where Dong Xiaoli and her group are currently located. Even with horse-drawn carriages, it would still take ten days to half a month to reach them.

The journey has taken quite a while, so we can't let it go to waste.

After inquiring about Yang Linxin's progress in his early education at home, Dong Xiaoli said, "How about I recite 'Youxue Qionglin' ​​for you?"

It's not that the wealthy Dong Xiaoli couldn't produce books; it's just that she didn't initially plan to bring a box of books to visit Yang Linxin. After all, what relative would bring a box of books when they come to visit? Especially a woman, it's even less likely she would bring a box of books.

Secondly, even if she could buy books in the small county town, Dong Xiaoli worried that reading in this swaying carriage would hurt Yang Linxin's eyes. After all, there were no glasses for nearsightedness in ancient times, and severe nearsightedness was practically the same as being blind.

Yang Linxin gave Dong Xiaoli a meaningful look and said, "You also know 'The Primer of Learning'?"

Dong Xiaoli naturally knew that Yang Linxin had never believed her fabricated excuse from the beginning, so she simply didn't try to make up any reasons to fool him.

Dong Xiaoli laughed frankly and said, "I do know them. I know not only 'Youzi Qionglin', but also 'Zengguang Xianwen', 'Wenlong Bianying', and even 'The Analects', 'The Great Learning', and so on."

Yang Linxin calmly glanced at Dong Xiaoli and said, "I understand."

The Yang family suffered a misfortune when Yang Linxin was seven years old. In most families, children would be sent to private schools or village schools for their early education when they were five years old. Linxin's father was a scholar himself, and although he was only a student of the lowest level, he was more than capable of providing his son with an early education.

Besides the "Youxue Qionglin" mentioned by Dong Xiaoli, there are many other elementary education books, which can be roughly divided into two stages.

The books for the initial stage include: the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, the Thousand Character Classic, the Standards for Being a Good Student and Child, and the Thousand Family Poems.

The advanced stages include: "Li Weng's Rhyming Dictionary", "Primer of Prosody", "Expanded Collection of Wise Sayings", and "Elementary Learning Collection".

It can be seen from the books included that these were all intended to lay the foundation for the future imperial examinations.

As mentioned before, becoming a student of the first level of the imperial examination indicates that the scholar has acquired the basic cultural knowledge and writing skills required for the imperial examinations, and has successfully taken the first step towards the examinations.

Elementary education lays the foundation for entering academies later on. However, what is learned in academies is no longer these basic things, but the knowledge related to the imperial examinations, such as how to break down a question, accept a question, start a lecture, enter the question, start the argument, the middle argument, the last argument, and the conclusion.

These are all things that children will need to face after they have completed their early education.

Even if Dong Xiaoli increased her intelligence points to 72 and spent time memorizing elementary knowledge and the Four Books and Five Classics, she would not explain the Four Books and Five Classics to Yang Linxin.

As a modern person, Dong Xiaoli's mind was completely incomprehensible to the rigid, formulaic essays used in the imperial examinations. Even if she had read some of the material and memorized it, she simply couldn't understand it.

The eight-legged essay was based on the "Four Books and Five Classics," and had to be written in the style of Confucius and Mencius. Free expression was absolutely not allowed. The length of sentences, the complexity of characters, the pitch of tones, etc., all had to be relatively formal, and there were also restrictions on the number of words.

The rigid, formulaic style of writing greatly limited the thinking of scholars, and it limited the thinking of Dong Xiaoli, a modern person, even more.

For Dong Xiaoli, let alone speaking in the tone of Confucius or Mencius, it would be difficult enough to even speak in the tone of the ancients.

Back in Dong Yue'e's world, she was almost driven crazy by all the titles and names used by the Song Dynasty.

Several times when I met Zhao Kuangyi, I almost blurted out "Your Majesty the Emperor". After marrying Yang Yan'an, the reason why the two of them still called each other "Sanlang and Sanniang" was firstly because Yang Yan'an and Dong Yue'e couldn't stand those titles like "good man"; secondly, it was mostly because Yang Yan'an was accommodating to her, and he didn't care even if outsiders laughed at him.

Getting back to the main point, Dong Xiaoli only planned to teach Yang Linxin about "You Lin Qiong Xue" these past few days.

Actually, Yang Linxin would have learned all of this when he went to Anyang County and to the academy, but he's free right now, so it's good to lay a foundation in advance.

Don't think that ten days or half a month is a lot; it's unlikely that you can fully understand the entire book "Youlin Qiongxue" in ten days or half a month.

The *Youlin Qiongxue* consists of four volumes, covering topics such as: astronomy, geography, seasonal changes, the imperial court, civil officials, military officials, grandparents and grandchildren, fathers and sons, brothers, husbands and wives, uncles and nephews, teachers and students, friends and guests, marriage, women, maternal relatives, birthdays of the elderly and children, the body, clothing, human affairs, food and drink, palaces, utensils, treasures, poverty and wealth, illness and death, literature, imperial examinations, manufacturing, skills, lawsuits, Buddhism, Taoism, ghosts and gods, birds and beasts, and flowers and trees.

Each article should be at least five or six hundred words long, but Dong Xiaoli didn't have the time to count them.

So don't think that studying in modern times is so difficult; it was just as hard in ancient times, okay? This is only the content of the elementary school "Youlin Qiongxue". Adding other books, it was already quite hard for ancient scholars to just memorize the texts.

Of course, Dong Xiaoli did not intend to make Yang Linxin memorize the entire book "Youlin Qiongxue" in these ten days or half a month. After all, as a modern person, Dong Xiaoli felt that understanding and memorization were the best methods.

Fortunately, although Dong Xiaoli couldn't understand the rigid, formulaic style of classical Chinese writing, her understanding of classical poetry and prose was quite good. After all, she was a child who had received nine years of compulsory education, so her reading comprehension of classical Chinese was somewhat adequate.

Seeing that Yang Linxin did not object, Dong Xiaoli said unhurriedly, "In the beginning of chaos, heaven and earth were established. The light and pure air rose to become heaven, and the heavy and turbid air condensed to become earth. The sun, moon, and five planets are called the seven luminaries; heaven, earth, and man are called the three powers..."

Dong Xiaoli recited the astronomy section of "Youlin Qiongxue" in a clear and concise manner, using modern-style fragmented language.

After reciting it, Dong Xiaoli quietly watched Yang Linxin digest it silently. She did not ask Yang Linxin how much he had memorized or understood.

After a long while, Dong Xiaoli began to explain the astronomy section.

Dong Xiaoli did not translate the astronomical section into vernacular Chinese like modern teachers do when translating classical Chinese texts. Instead, she used a series of myths and legends to explain the sentences.

In the beginning of chaos, heaven and earth were established. The light and pure qi rose to become heaven, while the heavy and turbid qi condensed to become earth. Dong Xiaoli told Yang Linxin the story of Pangu creating heaven and earth.

Hou Yi's wife went to the moon palace and became Chang'e.

Dong Xiaoli then told the stories of Hou Yi shooting down the suns and Chang'e flying to the moon.

During the Xia Dynasty, when Yu the Great was in power, it rained gold from the heavens.

Dong Xiaoli then told Yang Linxin the story of Yu the Great controlling the floods and passing by his home three times without entering.

As the carriage swayed and rocked, the days passed by one by one, and Dong Xiaoli had already moved from the astronomical section to the women's section.

"Men possess the strength of Qian (Heaven), while women are matched with the yielding of Kun (Earth). Virtuous empresses are called the Yao and Shun among women, and virtuous women are called the heroes among women. They are called 'Guixiu' (virtuous lady) and 'Shuyuan' (virtuous woman), all referring to virtuous women..."

Before Dong Xiaoli could finish reciting, the carriage stopped. Liu Menglong lifted the curtain and called out, "Young Master, Miss, we've arrived in Anyang County."