Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 6 Entrance Exam
  Qingyun Academy is quite large, with about 500 long-term students, divided into three levels: A, B, and C. Grade C is the lowest, and the fifty students with the worst grades are eliminated every semester.

In the admissions examinations held every spring and autumn, five to six hundred candidates compete for these fifty admissions places.

Only those under the age of 15 and within the scope of the capital and direct administration can participate.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for Qingyun Academy to take the exam. Not only is it a province, but there are millions of people in the capital, including many children of officials. These people obviously have more resources than others in terms of education.

Fairness does not exist. During the college entrance examination, if you compare a foreign household registration with an imperial household registration, you will suffer in terms of scores.

At the side entrance of the academy, there was a long queue of people waiting to enter. Jia Lian was lining up quietly, carrying a book box.

What Jia Lian wears is special, with brocade robes, jade belts, and fox fur cloaks. It cannot be said that what others wear is very different, but no one can tell his wealthy background at a glance like Jia Lian.

Such Jia Lian inevitably attracted the attention of many people. Fortunately, everyone was waiting in line and no one dared to leave the line to watch.

It's certainly inappropriate to judge people by their appearance, but with Jia Lian dressed like this, no one would bother him, and he kept a three-foot distance from his front and back.

Jia Lian was secretly amused when he saw this. He was already isolated before he even entered the academy. How unwelcome are the noble sons in this place? Scholars like Jia Yucun joined the Jia family in order to become an official again. It can be seen that the four major families headed by the Jia family still have a great influence in the officialdom. The second generation of the Jia family, Jia She and Jia Zheng were not very capable, at least not by the emperor, and had no intention of being reused.

The official structure of the Great Zhou Dynasty is now only seen in the fog. Jia Lian has not yet been able to access it. He can only get some clues from the details. The official influence of nobles and nobles is deeply disgusted in the eyes of civil servants.

The team slowly moved forward. When it was Jia Lian's turn, the two young men inspected it very carefully. They took off their cloaks and looked carefully. The things in the book box were messed up, and there was no intention of cleaning them up. One of them spoke in a bad tone. He said directly: "Go in quickly and don't block the door." Jia Lian was not in a hurry. After closing the book box, he asked calmly: "No body search?"

The tone of these words was not so good. It was naturally because of the attitude of these two people. Others simply checked and let it go, but Jia Lian was the only one who did something special. Young people, how about not having a temper?

One young man's face darkened and he was about to have a seizure. Another young man quickly pulled him and said to Jia Lian with a smile: "No search, just go in."

Jia Lian leisurely put on his cloak and carried his book box inside. After finding his examination room, he went inside and found his seat. He opened the book box and packed his things neatly before sitting down and waiting.

On this early spring morning without air conditioning, some candidates kept stamping their feet and rubbing their hands. Jia Lian didn't have to worry about this. His hands were tucked into his sleeves and he didn't feel cold in the deerskin boots he was wearing.

After observing the surroundings, there were fifty tables arranged in one examination room, divided into five rows, with a row spacing of about two meters and a distance of about 1.5 meters. The examination room is very big, and it can get really cold if you sit there for a long time.

Everyone was quiet, and Jia Lian could only wait in silence.

It was getting brighter, and three gentlemen came in from the door, all holding bags in their hands. The leader stood directly in front, looked at all the candidates and said: "Announce the discipline of the examination room..."

Jia Lian listened very carefully. Except for convenience, he was not allowed to leave the confines of his seat for these two days. There are two options for eating. One is the food provided by the academy, which costs money. Jia Lian brought ten taels of silver with him, which should be enough.

After a short wait, the teacher began to hand out papers. In the morning, there were three papers for the Jingyi test, which were handed in at the beginning of noon. In the afternoon, there were three papers for the paper test, which ended at the end of Xu. There is an hour's rest at noon.

This exam is much easier than the exams in the ancient imperial examinations. Judging from what Jia Lian knows, Taizu made adjustments to the imperial examination process and said that the imperial examination environment should be good and that candidates should be tested in their best posture. That's only fair.

Therefore, the current examination at Qingyun Academy should be simulating the environment of the imperial examination.

When you get the test paper, don't rush to do the questions. Instead, read the test paper first, then start to sharpen the ink, pick up the pen and write the test number and name, which is the number on the brand.

The test scope is all within the four books, so the first two papers are written silently, and the last paper is written casually.

Dictating this test tests the candidate's mastery of the Four Books. Randomly select a sentence from the Four Books and ask you to dictate the following text.

This is not difficult for Jia Lian. Jia Lian, who can write all four books silently, can do this very easily.

The only difficulty is writing calligraphy for a long time, using Guange style, and making sure the roll surface is clean.

Jia Lian took off his cloak and hung it on the back of his chair. After talking for two hours, he finished the first two papers. Look at the clock next to the podium in front of you. The time is half past eight in the morning, which means there are still two and a half hours left. Well, the difficulty of the morning exam can only be described as average.

The interpretation of Jingyi also has a scope, mainly the annotations of Er Cheng, Wang Anshi and Zhu Xi. How do you talk about this thing called Neo-Confucianism? The fundamental reason why it can be taken seriously and become a prominent official school lies with the emperor. Emperor Taizu did not choose Wang Yangming's Xinxue, which can be seen out of the interest of imperial power.

When the clock stopped at half past ten in the morning, Jia Lian stopped writing. There was still half an hour until the paper was handed in. I picked up the paper and checked it carefully. After finding no problems, I looked at the time and saw that there were still ten minutes until the paper was handed in. At this time, some candidates stood up to hand in the paper. Jia Lian was not in a hurry when he saw this. He waited for five people to hand in their papers before raising their hands to hand in their papers.

Going to the toilet is really a hassle these days, mainly because the smell is so unpleasant. It is said that the dry toilets of Qingyun College are cleaned by the college students in turns. This is not linked to grades, nor is it linked to the reward and punishment system. The academy also has its own vegetable garden, which is also taken care of by students from three levels. This is probably the reason why the noble disciples are unwilling to come to Qingyun Academy to study.

We came out early, and there were not many people waiting to take photos. After waiting for a minute, Jia Lian arrived. He faced a toilet bucket, held his breath, and solved the physical problem. He was careful not to pee on his clothes. He arranged his clothes and there were Water tank for fetching water for washing hands. During the lunch break, people were not allowed to wander around in the academy, so they had to go back to the examination room. At this time, the examination was over, and someone was selling food in a shed set up in the open space outside. You still have to queue up and wait to buy food.

The rice is all the same, a big bowl with a choice of noodles or rice.

The price of lunch is also very impressive, one tael of silver per person. If you want to eat something hot, you can only eat it here.

Many candidates did not come to buy food and went directly back to the examination room to eat some dry food they brought. Fortunately, the college provided free cold drinks. I'd like some tea. Sorry, you have to pay for boiled water. Experienced people at home will not choose to drink tea. The next exam will be very long and will test the bladder too much.

The exam in the afternoon was on eight-part essays, which was Jia Lian's weak point. Three eight-part essays were also called written essays. A style of writing with a fixed format. How should I put it? This is a style of dancing with shackles on. Those who can write eight-part essays are all gods.

Jia Lian's level is very average, with no bright spots, no errors, and no excesses. It is a perfect three-no work.

If you take the imperial examination at this level, you will definitely not get a good name, even in Qingyun Academy.

The only thing worth mentioning is that Jia Lian spent all his time on solving the problem, which is very particular. After all, I have rich work experience, and I know that once something like an article needs competition, you must put in enough effort at the beginning. During the exam, the teacher corrected a lot of papers. He basically read the beginning of the paper first. If it was not attractive, he basically threw it aside.

In the past half month, Jia Lian has been studying the topic and figured out thousands of beginnings, so the three articles on the topic can still be considered to be at an above-average level.

Because it was a weak point, I didn't even bother to eat dinner. I just ate a few snacks and drank a small sip of water. Only then did I start writing the text on the draft into the official examination paper. The pavilion body, which had been strengthening since time travel, came into play at this moment.

After copying for nearly three hours, I finally finished it a few minutes before handing in the paper. After a simple check, the teacher came to collect the paper.

Although Jia Lian was not very satisfied, he could only hand in the paper.

During this day's exam, Jia Lian finally discovered a problem, that is, the teacher had been staring at him. The three teachers took turns staring at him. If he tried to cheat anyway, he would definitely be caught. Fortunately, Jia Lian relied on his true ability. The teacher, who had been staring at him for a day but had no results, was very surprised and looked at his paper specifically. Without mentioning the content, this word is really indescribable.

How should I put it? You said okay, it’s out of the question. Good calligraphy is spiritual. Jia Lian’s calligraphy doesn’t look like it was written by a human, it looks like it was printed. As for this character, you can't say that his handwriting is bad. The size is the same and it is quite satisfactory. This is a character that has been worked hard on.

When he looked at Jia Lian's signature again, the teacher almost lost his guard. Why did you write your name in this font?
  To be honest, Jia Lian's calligraphy level is indeed very average. Isn't it because he didn't have time to practice? He spent all his time on the style of the pavilion, so he had no time to practice any serious calligraphy.

People who are used to writing with hard pens will be very uncomfortable when writing with calligraphy. Jia Lian's foundation is mediocre, so isn't this just mediocre? Hard-pen calligraphy is very efficient, but if you want to achieve culture and art, you have to use brush calligraphy.

Unfortunately, modern society attaches great importance to efficiency. The more advanced technology is, the less universal things like culture and art are. Well, to put it simply, you can make money by being an idol happily, so why should you go through hardship and practice your acting skills?
  But in this era, it really doesn't matter if you can make money, and the social status of businessmen has always been low. If a businessman in this era wants to become big, he must be more honest than his peers. Businessmen always talk about being honest, and if their reputation is ruined, they will not be able to do business. There is almost no chance that you would like to continue elsewhere.

After writing the three articles, Jia Lian's wrists seemed to be none of his own. He had no appetite for dinner or anything, but he urgently needed to go squat. Only when he got to the tub did Jia Lian know what real suffering was. This kind of squatting pit in a dry toilet, for Jia Lian, who was used to having maids serve him squatting on the toilet, it was like coming to hell. I won’t mention the smell or anything like that, but if you don’t pay attention to this brocade robe, it will just drag on the ground. Please think carefully about how it feels.

Going to the toilet was more careful than hiding in the toilet. Even so, when leaving, Jia Lian still accidentally rubbed the corner of his clothes on the ground. Jia Lian, who was a bit germaphobic, suddenly felt sick all over.

Returning to the examination room, Jia Lian was too tired to move. He soon discovered that people nearby had put down their chairs to lie down and rest. Only then did he realize that there was a mechanism underneath the chair. After being opened, it could be folded down into an armchair. It was here at night. Sleeping on a chair.

Jia Lian, who had read some historical novels, knew that this situation was much better than the imperial examination in real history. You have to order even the oilcloth for the examination tents like the ancient imperial examinations. Otherwise, if it rains, you will have to wait another three years. There is also hygiene, you have to clean the examination room yourself. The rural examination is better in autumn, and the tribute examination is in early spring. Let’s get to know the cold weather in spring.

In the world of Red Mansions that I traveled through, many humane reforms have been made in the imperial examinations. To this day, there are still many scholars who prefer to recite Taizu instead of being like Zhu Yuanzhang who tortured scholars during the imperial examinations. It is also said that only by enduring hardship can one become a master. It’s understandable that Lao Zhu doesn’t want to see scholars. Corrupt officials are all scholars.

Taizu of this dynasty did not engage in formalism. He started from the institutional perspective and set up a system where the gentry and the gentry all paid for themselves. This was the first time that craftsmen and petty officials had the opportunity to become officials. After the death of Taizu, the first thing the Emperor did after he ascended the throne was to abolish the system of sharing one's own land and reduce the taxes on scholars. He did not exempt them all, but once he opened the door, the gentry below had many ways to evade taxes, or pass them on to ordinary people.

The emperor's approach has been praised by scholars all over the world to the sky. The result was naturally that he quickly secured the throne. Well, it is said that when the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne, it was a bit like the shadow of an ax in the light of candles and the story of Da Lang drinking medicine.

Jia Lian, who was leaning on the recliner, thought of these things and couldn't help but lament in his heart, this is how it is in this era. People, it is difficult to control selfish desires. The famous Lao Tzu of the Lying Ping sect said in the Tao Te Ching that the way of man is to make up for what is lacking and what is lacking.

Does the Supreme Emperor know the harm caused by the gap between rich and poor? Even if he knew, I am afraid that after he took the throne, he would definitely not choose to sacrifice his personal interests for the interests of the bottom. What he wanted was to quickly secure the throne, and by wooing scholars, he quickly achieved his goal.

Jia Lian didn't sleep well that night. He had no bedding and could only sleep with his clothes on. When I woke up in the morning, my bones were sore and the taste was so uncomfortable. I have made up my mind to rely on sutra calculation today and make a quick decision.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the exam started. After getting the paper, Jia Lian quickly wrote his name and exam number, and he never stopped brushing. This is his strength. The arithmetic paper issued by Qingyun Academy, except for the last function body , the ones in front are at most junior high school level.

In just three hours, Jia Lian finished four papers, raised his hand and said: "Teacher, I want to hand in the papers."

The teacher and all the candidates were all shocked. Is this a broken jar?

(End of this chapter)