Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 193 Student Di Renjie met Mr. Chen

Di Renjie continued to answer carefully.

After the birth of the Jinshi Examination, it became the core subject of the imperial examination, and scholars all over the world flocked to it.

The content of the Jinshi examination is mainly divided into three parts: scriptures, policy questions and essays.

The review of scriptures mainly tests the familiarity with the scriptures, usually excerpting a sentence and then writing it down silently, or excerpting a large paragraph and writing a reflection on the understanding.

Policy questions examine the understanding of national policies and responses to current affairs.

As for essays, they are similar to the compositions of later generations, which mainly examine poems, poems, articles, etc. After all, if you want to become a Jinshi, you must be good at poetry, poetry, and poetry.

Among them, scriptures and policy questions are the main ones, and essays are supplementary.

As for whether Tie Jing or Ce Qian is higher or lower, there is no final conclusion, and the status is nominally the same.

But usually the examiner's image is the main one, and it is the prerogative of the examiner. Which aspect he attaches importance to will be given priority.

What Di Renjie is most worried about is copying scriptures. He has learned a lot from his father over the years, but this rote memorization thing is really wasted. Although he has been cramming for a while these days, there are thousands of words in the Confucian classics. Wherever he crams, he can make up for it. complete?
This test happened to be about Tie Jing.

Di Renjie racked his brains to answer.

They entered the building in the morning, passed the diversion inspection, entered the dormitory for final identity verification, and handed out test papers. It was already noon.

By the time he finished writing the last word, it was almost dusk and it was time to wind up the paper.

Di Renjie didn't even have time to check it, so he handed in his test paper with a bit of a wry smile.

The exam at this time lasted for two days and one night. Di Renjie picked up his own small heater, covered his hands, and fell asleep against the crowded wooden wall.

The spring in Guanzhong is still a bit cold, so in the past imperial examinations, candidates from well-off families would bring their own hand warmers and bedding.

This situation will undoubtedly increase the risk of cheating and increase the burden on investigators, but there is no way around it.

The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were in the development stage, and many facilities were not perfect enough and there were no corresponding examination rooms.

Every time the imperial examination was held, temporary dormitories were built on open space, connected by wooden boards, and were to be dismantled directly after use.

It leaks and does not keep warm.

If in order to avoid trouble, candidates are not allowed to bring heating objects, it will be a good thing to freeze, which is not worth the gain.

Di Renjie was born in an ordinary bureaucratic family and had no worries about food and clothing. Di's father and Di's mother were well prepared for their beloved son.

A hand warmer and a small quilt are all included.

Di Renjie leaned against the dormitory and fell asleep in a daze.

Suddenly I heard a shrill scream at night.

"Go away!"

Di Renjie shuddered, and there was a faint burning smell in the air, mixed with a foul stench.

Without much thought, Di Renjie's first reaction was to run out of the dormitory to make sure he was safe.

A gentleman does not build a dangerous wall, and our Mr. Di Ge also cherishes his life.

Amid the chaos, Di Renjie heard the sound of broken gold and stone.

As soon as Di Renjie ran out of the dormitory, soldiers came in and shouted loudly: "Except the dormitory surrounding the fire, everyone should return to the dormitory. Those who do not comply will be expelled from the examination room. Affected candidates should stay where they are."

Upon seeing this, Di Renjie returned to the dormitory, pricked up his ears and listened to the noise.

The soldiers who came to put out the fire seemed to be well prepared, using water to extinguish the fire and sand to block the fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished.

When Chen Qingsi learned that there was a fire in the summer court of the Ministry of Rites, he didn't bother to wash up and asked: "How is the situation?" The person called Su Zhong, the deputy proctor, said: "There is a person injured, just a slight injury, not serious. Supervisor Zhou asked My subordinates came down to report that the fire was caused by something fishy."

"Go, take a look!"

Chen Qingsi's face turned gloomy and she said, "Let's take a look!" As he said that, he strode to the Ministry of Rites.

The deputy examiner in charge of the summer field was named Zhou Simao. He was the commander of the imperial examination department. He was quick-thinking and could understand Chen Qingsi's reform of the imperial examination. When he wrote his opinions, he was very insightful and performed better than Jia Dayin.

Chen Qingsi personally appointed him as the invigilator of the summer session of the Ministry of Rites.

"Mr. Chen!"

Zhou Simao learned of Chen Qingsi's arrival and stepped forward to greet him.

"what's the situation!"

Chen Qingsi walked towards the fire point without stopping.

Zhou Simao said: "About two-quarters of an hour ago, Xia Gengshen's residence suddenly caught fire. It started burning all of a sudden and spread to the surrounding area."

Chen Qingsi said: "This fire has evil nature!"

Because there is no Gongyuan, all the dormitories are built with aged old wood, and their fire resistance is very weak.

Chen Qingsi gave a special order in this regard, banning all fuel and using wood for night lighting patrols.

Moreover, no open fire is allowed in the dormitory, and the small stove provided by oneself is only made of charcoal.

Even if a fire occurs due to carelessness, there will be a process and the fire will not break out suddenly.

Zhou Simao said: "My subordinates thought so too, and specifically asked the person who discovered the fire first. He couldn't sleep because he was nervous about the exam, so he smelled the burning smell and took a look. A fire was discovered. If he hadn't discovered it early, the candidate in the dormitory where the fire broke out would not have been only slightly injured. However, his subordinates asked the surrounding candidates and there was nothing abnormal. Now they only know that the fire started because of the heater, and the heater was already burning. It’s deformed, but I don’t know why charcoal can make an open flame.”

"My subordinates asked the man. He was sleeping deeply. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't throw anything inside. Now he is the most suspicious, but the subordinates felt that even if he hid something and wanted to destroy it, he would not be able to do it. Not stupid enough to cause this kind of unrest.”

When he said this, he was a little shocked and said: "Fortunately, sir, you made a plan to deal with the accident in advance. Our people controlled the situation immediately and did not let the candidates cause turmoil or let the fire spread."

"Well done!" Chen Qingsi came to the point of the fire. The fire burned five dormitories, and the five candidates were surrounded by soldiers and shivered.

Chen Qingsi asked the five people about their situation, which was the same as Zhou Simao's question. Because they were all sleeping in the early morning, no one knew what was going on.

Even the candidate who first discovered the fire woke up after smelling a strange smell.

"Strange smell, what is that smell?"

Chen Qingsi asked.

"It stinks, maybe it's the smell of burning quilts," said candidate Xie Bao.

Chen Qingsi frowned slightly. He had read a lot of TV novels about criminal investigation and solving crimes in later generations, but he really had no talent for solving crimes. He was thinking about how to solve the problem when he heard a soldier report: "Mr. Chen, a candidate in Wuyin House said , when he was on fire, he heard an unusual sound."

"Wuyin's residence?"

The topography of the four examination rooms is the same.

Chen Qingsi glanced at a dormitory five rooms away. She didn't have a clue, so she might as well listen to other people's opinions.

Isn't there a lyric that goes like this: "A casual word can clear up my doubts..."

Maybe Bao Gong is actually possessed!
"Call him!"

A young Confucian scholar with a calm face came nearby.

The young Confucian scholar bowed and said, "Student Di Renjie, I have met Mr. Chen!"

(End of this chapter)