The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 66 Xianchun Imperial Examination

Since mid-February, the temperature has gradually picked up, and the spring is already blooming in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, and red and green can be seen everywhere.

Almost every inn and hotel in Lin'an City was full. Candidates and students from all over the country arrived in the capital one after another to take part in the Triennial Ministry of Rites Provincial Examination and Palace Examination.Most of these candidates have studied hard for ten or even twenty or thirty years, and their only goal is to hope that they will be able to jump through the Dragon Gate and become disciples of the Son of Heaven.

The proportion of scholars in ancient times was quite small, so the entire Song Dynasty paid far more attention to the imperial examination than the college entrance examination in later generations.

The imperial examination system was founded in the Sui Dynasty, formed in the Tang Dynasty, completed in the Song Dynasty, strengthened in the Ming Dynasty, and tended to decline in the Qing Dynasty. After more than 1300 years, it had a major impact on politics, economy, education, cultural concepts and social customs in the middle and late stages of Chinese feudal society. .

The imperial examination is a system for the selection of officials through examinations in the feudal dynasties of the past dynasties. It is called the imperial examination because it adopts the method of selecting scholars by division of subjects.

In the Song Dynasty, "emphasis was placed on literature over military affairs", so emperors of all dynasties attached great importance to imperial examinations.Since the third year of Song Yingzong Zhiping, a three-level examination system has been established every three years. The first level is the state examination in the state capital, usually after autumn, and the second level is the spring provincial examination in the Ministry of Rites. In the same year, the The third-level exam is the palace exam held in the inner courtyard of the palace.Candidates who pass the palace examination do not need to pass the examination of the Ministry of Officials, and can be directly appointed as officials by the emperor.

With the rise of Mongolia, the territory of the Song Dynasty shrank day by day, and the procedures were simplified in many aspects. Since Song Lizong, the subsequent provincial examination and palace examination were combined into one, and the time was shortened to two days.

The content of the exam remained basically the same. The first day was the provincial exam, which consisted of the Great Classics, Concurrent Classics and Discourses, and the second day was the Palace Examination, which only examined strategies, with a limit of more than [-] words.

Before the exam, all the preparations for the etiquette department were in place.Ma Tingluan, who is the minister of the Ministry of Rites, was very busy. Fortunately, he was very familiar with these examination etiquette systems, so he seemed busy but not chaotic and in order.

The focus of the imperial court was also on this exam, so the court meeting was basically considered to be the end of the storm.

While the Ministry of Commerce was being formed, it was registering the shops and firms in Lin'an, and at the same time, a code of conduct was quietly released.Due to the clumsiness of his hands, Jiang Wanli and Liao Yingzhong also went out in person and ran around.

Another busy person is Xiao Tian of Dragon Tooth. After Quanjue sent the first batch of magnifying glasses, quill pens and other items, Xiao Tian immediately organized people to set up stalls in places where candidates were more concentrated to promote these new things.

Xiao Tian didn't set a sales price, but these candidates set the price arbitrarily according to the situation.This promotion method caused a sensation among the candidates. It was a new thing, and coupled with this unheard of pricing method, it attracted a large number of candidates.

In front of the Gongyuan next to the palace, there is a small square.The Gongyuan is the place for the provincial imperial examination. Candidates, old and new, will come here to familiarize themselves with the venue before the exam.This habit has been handed down to this day.

On the last day before the exam, Fang Ling and I came to the square in front of the Gongyuan.

"Brother, there are so many people here, it's really lively."

"Yeah, it's rare to see."

"Look, Xiao Tian is there, let's go and have a look." Fang Ling pulled me and walked over.

Xiao Tian's booth was huge, with three desks on the left, covered with white paper, on which were several quill pens for candidates to test their pens on, and a clerk was holding a quill pen, giving these onlookers Show the way of holding the pen. Candidates who are used to using a brush will feel uncomfortable at the beginning, but after all, they are all favored by heaven. It didn't take long for many people to feel comfortable and write faster and faster.

"This Xiao Tian still has some brains, he knows to let the examinees practice their pens first."

"Yeah, bro, your subordinates are very good." Fang Ling also learned the usage of the word "good".

We walked to the right side of the stall, this is a place for buying and selling, and there were more people watching. When Xiao Tian saw me, he was about to speak. When I saw a lot of people, I signaled him to leave us alone.

Young candidates are more willing to accept quills, and many people also put forward their own opinions, while relatively older candidates prefer a magnifying glass.

At this time, an examinee who looked at it with a magnifying glass for a long time took out a crumpled banknote from his bag and said hesitantly, "Is this okay?"

The examinee was already in his early forties, with wrinkles on his face and patches all over his clothes, he was obviously a poor old scholar.

A young examinee next to him seemed to know him, and said, "I said, Lao Fan, you'd better not buy this magnifying glass, and save your money to fill your stomach first."

"Old Fan?" I immediately thought of Fan Jin in "The Scholars".

"Oh, you don't know something. My eyes are becoming increasingly blurred. With this magnifying glass, I can see the exam questions clearly."

Xiao Tian took the banknote and saw that it was a banknote with a very small denomination. His heart moved, he folded the banknote and returned it to the examinee, and took back the magnifying glass in his hand.

Lao Fan was anxious, so he raised his voice: "Didn't you say that banknotes can't be used?"

Although the Song Dynasty clearly stipulated that banknotes could be used in common use, many merchants did not accept Jiaozi because of its rapid depreciation, so Lao Fan thought that Xiao Tian was unwilling to accept Jiaozi.

Before Xiao Tian could reply, another young examinee in white was not only a little annoyed when he saw Xiao Tian like this, he said loudly: "Shopkeeper, isn't it written on your publicity board that the price is self-determined? This Jiaozi is also me. Going towards the common currency does not violate your regulations."

The voices of the two were very loud, causing everyone else to silently look at Xiao Tian.

Xiao Tian smiled, ignored the candidates in white clothes, and said to Lao Fan: "This guest officer is called Lao Fan. This is a sample. Here is a packaged one for you."

After taking it, Lao Fan handed the banknotes to Xiao Tian: "Then this money is for you."

Xiao Tian didn't accept it: "Old Fan, look at our bulletin board, it says that the price is up to you, that is to say, the price can be arbitrary, there is no upper limit, and the lower can be zero, you can use zero amount money to buy."

Seeing that Xiao Tian didn't seem to be lying, Lao Fan said, "That's not okay, how can a scholar not pay for shopping?"

"Old Fan, I didn't say that you won't give the money. Do you think this is okay? If you must give the money, I'll make an account for you first, and then give it to me after you finish the exam, isn't that enough?"

Lao Fan hesitated and said: "Then thank the shopkeeper, I will definitely return the money to you." After speaking, his face turned red and he left in a hurry.

I know that scholars in ancient times had a very good face, and this old Fan is no exception, but he is really shy.

The white-clothed examinee was taken aback for a moment, applauded instantly, and laughed loudly: "The shopkeeper, you're a nice guy, I'm here to buy a quill pen too."

Following the applause of the white-clothed candidates, the others also applauded, and the lively scene resumed in front of the booth for a while.The examinee in white put down a piece of silver and walked away amidst the applause of the crowd.

"Hehe, this Xiao Tian is quite good."

"Yeah, Xiao Tian's business has improved, and these examinees have become Xiao Tian's propagandists, and it will soon spread everywhere."

"Well, Linger also knows how to do business."

"Hehe, following you as a profiteer all day long, this is called the black man close to ink."

"I'm not a profiteer."

"I know, bro, by the way, why don't you take the exam, Ling'er thinks you will be the number one scholar in high school."

“How come you see?”

Fang Ling said solemnly: "This examination for the number one scholar focuses on strategy. Brother, your views are very accessible, so it's natural."

I smiled and said, "Ling'er, you're over the top, I'm not that material."

Fang Ling pretended to be angry: "Just pretend."

I also pretended not to know: "What are you pretending to be?"

"Pretending to be a ghost."

After finishing speaking, the two of us ignored others and laughed to ourselves.