Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Time passed in a blink of an eye, February 16th.

Just after the fourth watch, at Yinshi (three o'clock in the morning) Gu Wenxuan got up and started washing and dressing.

Wearing multiple pieces of clothing on the inside and outside, we checked the test baskets we had put together last night to make sure they were all in place before eating noodles.

Noodles symbolize success.

Without exception, all six candidates ate noodles this morning, with steamed buns as a topping.

After the meal, everyone wrapped up tightly and carried the test basket out.

When I walked out of the gate, I happened to see a house I had recently met open, and two candidates were walking out accompanied by their families.

As we approached the examination booth, there were more candidates and their accompanying family members or bookboys on the road. Everyone looked solemn and smiled informally.

By then, there was already a sea of ​​people outside the examination booth.

There were also candidates in Zhaojia Village today. The two parties met. After a while, the group was very close to the entrance of the examination shed.

Repair here and wait for the sound of the cannon.

At nine o'clock, a cannon rang out, and the examination room opened.

The soldiers on the left and right were on guard in Mucang with swords, and the two officials in the ceremony room came out with rosters and other books.

Gu Wenxuan and the other fifteen candidates who were surrounded by their companions immediately took off their cotton-padded coats and cloaks, took out the floating tickets they had received when registering, and carried the test basket.

With the sound of the gong, the two officials in the ceremonial room began to shout, and it was time to enter.

Candidates on the periphery rushed in one after another, but the soldiers and yamen who maintained order were very busy, directing the candidates to queue up, and shouting not to make any noise and not to jump in line.

The candidates at the front of the queue had an advantage. Even if they were from the same batch number, they could still pass through the aisle first to avoid the wind and check the floating tickets, which was to prove their identity.

If any candidate is found to be inconsistent with the application materials, he will be directly disqualified from taking the exam. The main purpose of this link is to prevent substitutes and substitute exams.

The materials prepared by the two officials in the county government's ceremony room were very substantial, and it would not work if they tried to falsify the details.

After verification, there is a search.

A body search will inevitably require you to take off your clothes.

The candidates' clothes, shoes and socks were inspected, and even the hair bundles were torn apart to prevent any cheating papers from being hidden, as well as the test baskets they carried and the items in the baskets.

The lunch that Gu Wenxuan and the six of them brought were the thinnest dry pancakes that Zhou Xiucai had repeatedly declared he wanted, as well as paper-like slices of meat.

The yamen officer took one look and let them in, but they still had to sign a bail and a bail before they could enter the examination room.

According to regulations, five candidates must guarantee each other.

After the guarantee is concluded, if any one of the guarantee participants cheats, everyone will be implicated.

In addition, one of the top ten scholars in the university, that is, Lin Sheng, is required as a guarantor. Gu Wenxuan is the Lin Sheng whom Zhou Xiucai found as a guarantor.

"Cheng Qian, a native of Qinghe County, and Gu Wenxuan, five people."

The five people who had guaranteed each other with Gu Wenxuan stood on the side of the examiner. After bowing to show their respect, they soon heard the government officials loudly singing the guarantee.

"I, Cheng Qian, protect Gu Wenxuan... the five of them. If any of them kidnaps or cheats, I am willing to be disqualified from being a junior student..."

"I, Gu Wenxuan..."

"I, Zhou Yujiang..."

"I,……"

The five people followed Zhou Xiucai's instructions without hesitation and dealt with it seriously.

According to Zhou Xiucai, at this time, if the guarantor discovered that the candidate he was guarantor had any problems with, as long as he raised a little question, the yamen would escort him out.

Fortunately, Mr. Cheng Qian had no objections throughout the whole process, and after the bailout was completed smoothly, a government servant led the way and led the five of them into the examination room. At the same time, Gu Wenxuan also witnessed the so-called "house" with his own eyes. Indeed, as Zhou Xiucai said, the small rooms were all facing south.

The north of the courtyard is the main entrance, which is commonly known as the Dragon Gate, which means that the candidates who pass will leap forward and rise to the top.

Each dormitory has the same orientation and is separated by barriers. It is not known whether this design can effectively prevent candidates from communicating with each other and cheating.

But there is no doubt that the five of them, even if the floating tickets were connected together, were all scattered, and he noticed that he and Dajiang were quite far away.

After finding the dormitory, Gu Wenxuan stopped observing after the yamen opened a two-foot-high wooden board with the serial number of the floating ticket inscribed on it.

Carrying the test basket, he quickly went in, put aside the prepared pancakes, meat slices, water, etc., took out the pens, inks, paper, inkstones, etc. and put them away one by one. After sitting down, he began to close his eyes and relax.

The exam booth is closed.

Soon the yamen servants delivered the papers sealed with paint and two pieces of white paper for the candidates to use for drafting.

Before the exam started, the county magistrate, as the examiner, just as Zhou Xiucai said, came out and said a few words, which were exactly words of encouragement and encouragement.

In the first session, the main test begins.

Open the seal and take out the paper to check for any irregularities.

Seeing that there were no defects on the paper, no unclear handwriting, and no need to change the papers, Gu Wenxuan began to grade the papers.

From the perspective of the questions, they are not too difficult, but to complete it within the prescribed time of one day, the amount of questions is quite large.

Among them, the Sutra question is equivalent to the fill-in-the-blank question in later generations. You only need to complete the blank paragraphs, but it has a total of twenty questions.

In addition to these scripture questions, there are also a five-character and six-rhyme test poem, an arithmetic question, and finally a big question: "Please will never return, but it was made in the dynasty."

This big topic was mentioned by Mencius, and Gu Wenxuan was no stranger to it. Not only had he memorized and studied many similar essays, he had also written several articles. Don't be too good at writing.

God has come to feed us.

Immediately, after putting away the papers, Gu Wenxuan laid out the draft paper, dipped his pen in ink, and began to write quickly.

After I finished writing, I checked it again carefully to see if there were any typos or taboos. I rubbed my wrist, changed my writing brush, took out the roll paper, laid it out, and copied it carefully.

When I finished copying the words and left them waiting for the ink to dry, it was not yet noon.

Then he put away Mo Qian's papers, and his mind began to challenge himself to write a poem in five characters and six rhymes.

Composing poetry is still a five-character and six-rhyme poem, which is no different from committing suicide.

I didn't major in ancient Chinese in my previous life, so this test poem is the most annoying thing.

Fortunately, he has a good wife.

It would be no problem to copy the poems of the Ming and Qing dynasties that my wife had printed out, and slightly modify and borrow them.

While thinking about the poems I had memorized, I had a makeshift lunch of pizza and sliced ​​meat.

On the way, I also met a second-rate examinee nearby, who caused a scene where he wanted to get another test paper because he wrote a wrong word. After being scolded by the examiner, he dared to talk back. As a result, he was kidnapped by the yamen and taken away.

I really don’t know how high the sky is and how high it is.

It has been stipulated that each person can only have one copy of each scientific examination paper, and there is no chance to revise it, so why bother.

Wiped his mouth and hands.

When he picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, Gu Wenxuan still chose to write it on the draft paper with slight changes to a five-syllable and six-syllable rhyme he had retrieved from his memory.

After writing it out, I changed one more word.

When it seemed that it was almost done, I carefully copied it onto the paper, and then continued to choose to solve the arithmetic questions first.