Fenghou

Chapter 840 Imperial Examination
The year before last, the first imperial examination only tested poetry, cursive and calligraphy, and received a lot of dissatisfied criticism. The main reason was that people did not take the exams that they had studied for more than ten years. In the end, I accepted everyone's opinions. This time, I took five exams, 'pasting scriptures, theory, policy, literature, and calligraphy'.

Posting scriptures is dictation. Randomly select a paragraph from the Four Books and Five Classics, and fill in the blank lines in the middle. This is to test the familiarity of the scriptures. Scholars explain and discuss, mainly to test the understanding of the scriptures, and then the other three are the same as the previous year, with a slight difference that the literature one does not necessarily test poetry, but may also test prose.
Basically all the scholars have guessed that this year is very likely to be an essay test.

Due to years of traveling, Chao Kun has dark skin, a strong and tall body, and wears a long sword on his waist. His swordsmanship is very good, and he has been taught by experts.

"Brother, tell me the lesson again! Which imperial examination lessons are more profound?"

"There are only two lessons for me. When you send out the test paper, write your name first, and then paste the name. Don't wait until the end to paste the name. At the end, time is tight, and you will forget it. I saw with my own eyes a scholar who walked out of the examination room and suddenly fell to the ground and cried. , I just forgot my name, and the second rule is that you must eat enough food from the exam room. This time I heard that the exam will take three days, and I will take the exam in a newly built number room. If you don’t eat enough, you will have a hard time at night, which will affect your sleep. In the end, it will definitely affect the next day's exam."

Speaking of this, Chao Qing saw that his cousin was a little nervous, so he patted him on the shoulder and smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, your talent and knowledge surpass me. Take the exam with a normal attitude and perform normally. If you can't pass the exam, go to school." Taixue, if you really can’t do it, I’ll find you something to do, and you can be an official.”

"Can you become an official without passing the imperial examination?" Chao Kun asked in surprise.

"Your king of Nanyang cargo colonization theory appreciates it very much. If he establishes the Shibo Department, he may need talents like you."

Chao Kun said with a smile: "It seems that it is beneficial for me to travel overseas."

"There are many people who go overseas, such as merchants and sailors, but there are definitely not many scholars who have been overseas. If you can speak a few languages ​​of the other party, then you are a talent among talents."

"Don't tell me, I can really understand a lot of Nanyang dialect, and I can also speak a few words. I stayed in Nanyang for more than half a year, and those businessmen asked me to translate. I originally wanted to go to Japan this year to get a taste of the culture there. Due to human customs, my father forcefully called me back to take the imperial examination.”

"Then you didn't take the state test last fall?"

Chao Kun scratched his head, "When I signed up, I took the temporary exam and passed, so I can sign up."

Chao Qing remembered that this is a new regulation this year, mainly to give candidates in Hedong a chance, so there is a temporary exam, which is relatively simple, and passing the exam is equivalent to taking the state exam.

"All right!"

Seeing that the time was almost up, Chao Qing raised his wine glass and said with a smile, "I wish you success in the exam and a good grade!"

Chao Qing hurried back to the secretariat, just in time to meet Chen Qing, Zhou Kuan and others who came back from outside.

Chao Qing hurriedly saluted, Chen Qing smiled and said to Zhou Kuan: "Old Zhou, you can ask him yourself."

Zhou Kuan asked Chao Qing, "When we were eating at noon, when we talked about overseas trade, the county king said that you have a brother who went to Nanyang and wrote articles about Nanyang trade. Is your brother in Jingzhao now?"

Such a coincidence, Chao Qing quickly said: "Reporting to Counselor Zhou, my brother came to Jingzhao to take the imperial examination this time. He is in Jingzhao now, and we were eating together just now."

"Oh! He is going to take the imperial examination, so don't bother him for the time being. Let's talk about it after he finishes the imperial examination. I really want to know about overseas trade."

Chao Qing nodded, "When he finishes his exam, I will bring him to visit Counselor Zhou."

Zhou Kuan laughed loudly, "I welcome you anytime!"

Speaking of overseas trade, Chen Qing thought of one thing. He asked Chao Qing, "Have you heard from Zheng Dutong these days?"

Chao Qing hurriedly said, ""There was a letter the day before yesterday, which was placed on the county king's desk. "

"Strange, why didn't I see it?"

Chao Qing thought for a while and said, "It's possible that I'll be under the pile of documents from yesterday."

"Then I'll go take a look."

Chen Qing hurried back to his official room, and sure enough, he found Zheng Ping's letter to him under a stack of documents, but he didn't see it.

He quickly opened the letter, and it was indeed the news he was looking forward to. The hundreds of thousands of stone ships needed had arrived in Jiangling City.

Chen Qing immediately wrote a reply letter, telling him that he would leave in ten days.

Three days later, the second Sichuan-Shaanxi imperial examination officially began. The examination was held in the Examination Yuan built last year. The Examination Yuan was built outside the city, covering an area of ​​[-] mu. It can accommodate up to [-] scholars at the same time. The largest examination house, due to its large area, has to take a horse-drawn carriage to pass inside.

The entire examination room is divided into ten areas: A, B, C, D, E, Ji, G, Xin, Ren, and Gui. Each candidate must first go to his own area and line up to enter the examination room. There are [-] candidates this time, so Five zones are opened.

Chao Kun's test number is District C. In District C alone, there are [-] people queuing up in ten lines. They can be searched to enter, and then find their own test area. There are [-] rows, and each row has more than [-] rooms. Number house, and then look for your own number house.

The scale is too large. In fact, there were not so many candidates for the imperial examination in the capital. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, there were more than [-] states, and each state only recommended more than [-] people. Enroll more than a dozen people at once, and then admit a few more people from the Ming Jing Department and Ming Computing Department, and so on.

Chen Qing wanted the scholars to have solidarity with Jingzhao, so there was no limit to the number of places in each state. As a result, as long as they passed the state examination, they could come to Jingzhao to take the imperial examination, and there were subsidies for travel expenses and board and lodging in Jingzhao.

Scholars don’t need much money, so of course they are willing to take a cheap trip. Even if they fail the imperial examination, they can make friends, gain knowledge, and get some souvenirs to take home. Each scholar will be given a piece of sheepskin during the exam. After the exam, you can take it away, and a piece of sheepskin is worth several pennies.

As the saying goes, come to the imperial examination happily and return home happily.

Chao Kun's examination number is No. [-], Section [-], Examination Center C. It is a small room with only three square meters. Inside is a brick platform, where you can lie down to sleep, sit up, and put a wooden board on both sides of the door. After the bricks are installed, this is the table, and the curtain must be pulled up so that the patrolling soldiers and examiners outside can monitor it at any time.

The room is not soundproof, and the sounds from the next door can be heard clearly, but these are not important anymore. The first exam bell has already rung, and the exam house has begun to close the gates. The scholars are busy checking the exam supplies. There are pens, ink, paper and inkstones, as well as daily necessities such as candles, water cups, kraft paper bags, bedding, etc. From now on, they will stay in the numbered room for two nights and three days.

Some people say what do kraft paper bags do?In fact, it is used to put the papers. After the exam, put the test papers of several exams in the kraft paper bag, and then seal the kraft paper bag, so as to prevent the papers from being scattered and lost.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The second round of bells rang, and the examiner began to hand out the test papers for the first subject. The first subject was posting scriptures, and the questions were printed on the test paper. There were three questions in total. Chao Kun hurriedly looked at the first question,
"In ancient times, my predecessors also only wanted to be governed by the old people. The king announced it, but he couldn't hide his finger. The king used Piqin; there was no gossip, and the people used Pichange. Fuzhi is the one to sue. It's not that I have lost my virtue, but you have virtue and don't be wary of giving it to someone. If I look at the fire, I will also plan and do it clumsily, which is futile."

Then there is a large blank in the middle, and the end of the bottom is: "Everyone, I would like to inform you: From now on to the future, everyone will be respectful to you, and you will be the one, and the degree will be the mouth. If you are punished, you will never regret it."

Chao Kun nodded. This is the article "Pangeng Shang" in "Shangshu".

The second question was "Mencius", and the third question was "The Book of Songs". They were not difficult. Chao Kun felt at ease, and he began to write his name carefully on the test paper with a pen.

(End of this chapter)