Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 544 The examination room is strict
As soon as Jia Cong arrived at the gate of Gongyuan, he saw countless scholars waiting outside the gate, waiting to be called in.

Suddenly, a cry was heard, and a scholar knelt on the ground, his hair disheveled, kowtowed repeatedly, and begged, but the examination officer at the door ignored him and only asked the soldiers to drag him away.

Jia Cong frowned slightly, waved his hand to signal Wen Zhen to lead someone to escort the examination questions to the entrance, and then he rode his horse over.

The lieutenants rushed to clear the way for Jia Cong to approach the gate.

When everyone at the door saw Jia Cong coming, they hurriedly saluted.

"What happened?" Jia Cong asked.

"Back to Lord Marquis, this examinee has lost his examination card and floating ticket and still wants to enter. I ordered someone to drive him away." The official replied.

Jia Cong was stunned for a moment, turned over and dismounted, and said: "What are card tests and floating tickets?"

The official explained: "It is a reference voucher.

The examination card is issued by the local government and contains the candidate's name, age, household registration, facial features, ancestors' names and the candidate's own monogram and fingerprint.

The stamp is issued by the Ministry of Etiquette. In addition to the above information, it also indicates the candidate's test room number, etc. According to the rules, both are required to enter the venue. "

He ordered one of the candidates to come over and show Jia Cong the examination cards and floating tickets.

Jia Cong nodded. It turned out to be his ID card and admission ticket. He looked at the candidate on the ground and said, "Why did you lose your voucher?"

Seeing that Jia Cong seemed to be able to speak, the candidate hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Back to Lord Marquis, the student has a certificate, but his family is poor and cannot afford to live in an inn, so he has to live in a temple.

Unexpectedly, it rained last night and the roof leaked, so the voucher got wet. Please take a look at it. "After speaking, he raised two pieces of paper high.

Jia Cong took it and took a look. Although the two pieces of paper were dried, many of the handwriting and seals were difficult to read. He could only see clearly his name, Fu Chengzhi, Juren of Changzhou Prefecture.

I took another look at his test basket. The test baskets of this era were all made of bamboo and had many holes to prevent cheating. They were indeed not waterproof.

According to regulations, he is absolutely not qualified to be a reference, and there is nothing wrong with what this official did.

Jia Cong pondered for a moment and said, "Fu Chengzhi, you destroyed your certificate. You know the rules of the examination room better than I do. You should know the consequences."

"Please be kind to Lord Marquis. The student is from a poor family, and it is all thanks to the help of the villagers that he can go to Beijing to take the exam. If he does not even enter the examination room, how can the student see Jiangdong's elders? All he can do is die.

It is not easy to ask Lord Marquis to have mercy on me, a poor scholar like me, and to be accommodating. It is hard to repay the student with death. Fu Chengzhi sobbed and kowtowed, his head was broken and bleeding in an instant.

"Hey, what are you doing? Help him up." Jia Cong hurriedly stopped him and felt pity for him, because he said to the examination room official: "There is a remedy."

Seeing that Jia Cong was showing off, the official said hurriedly: "Go back to the Marquis, the Ministry of Rites has archives of candidates who can be retrieved for comparison."

"Okay, the imperial court opened a subject to recruit scholars to provide a path for scholars all over the world. How can I, the Marquis, supervise this subject's examination and have the heart to turn you away?

Come on, take my dental card and go to the Ministry of Etiquette quickly to retrieve this person's file and send it over. "Jia Cong said.

"Yes!" The two captains took Fu Chengzhi's damaged voucher and flew away.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your kindness in rebirth." Fu Chengzhi was overjoyed and was about to kowtow.

"No need." Jia Cong waved his hand and went in.

All the candidates secretly thought that this boy was lucky. When he met Marquis Huan, he was reasonable, sympathetic to the poor and weak. If someone usually went to the Ministry of Etiquette for you and just drove away the trouble, you would be careless.

Jia Cong entered the main gate, Yimen, and Longmen. There was a straight road in front of him, with thousands of neat examination booths on both sides, arranged in a thousand-character order.

In the middle of the road stands a small, square, three-story building with a banner with three gold characters "Mingyuan Tower" hanging on it.

"Mingyuan Building" is taken from "The Great Learning", "Be cautious in chasing the far end, and you will be rich in virtue".

The four sides of the ground floor are walls, each with a round arch. Four eaves columns lead from the ground floor to the roof. The beams and columns are intertwined, and there are windows on all sides.

Standing upstairs, you can have a panoramic view of Gongyuan, which can be used by the examiner and others to give orders and direct the entire examination room.

On the east and west brick wall arches downstairs, there are plaques "Seeking scholars for the Ming Dynasty" and "Seeking talents for the country" respectively.

A couplet hangs on the south side:
"The order is as strict as frost, and the toasts are prostrate and low, and the crowd's clamor has ceased;
The month of the same month is bright, and I like that the people in this place can be seen at a glance. "

Jia Cong went straight in along the road, and saw Jiang Feng, Guan Pu, Feng Yuan, Lin Ruhai and others in the courtroom at the back. "Prime Minister Jiang, you all are here very early." Jia Cong greeted with a smile and cupped his hands.

"Thank you, Marquis Huan, for worrying about the national examination." Everyone smiled and returned the greeting.

"It's not worth anything. We are all serving the imperial court, so there is no difference between us." Jia Cong smiled and greeted everyone, and then said hello to Lin Ruhai.

After a long while, an official came to report that the scholars had entered and the inspection had been completed.

Jiang Feng said: "Huan Hou, let's go get the test questions."

"Prime Minister Jiang, ladies and gentlemen, please." Jia Cong stood up and led everyone to the room where the test questions were stored. After checking the seal on the box, he handed the key to the captain to open it.

After Jiang Feng checked that everything was correct, he ordered the examination room officials to come and carry the box away.

Then the candidates received the examination questions one by one, and the examination was about to begin.

The examiners and Jia Cong visited the examination room and then returned to the court to chat.

These two days are the most leisure time for the examiners, and then they will begin the heavy work of marking papers.

Jiang Feng opened the test questions for the examiner and others to review, glanced at them with his beard, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty's holy heart is unique, and this question in this subject is excellent." He circulated the test questions to everyone.

Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement, and everyone said this.

After reading the questions, everyone was thinking about how to solve the problem and how to start, but no one said anything for a while.

The test questions were passed to Jia Cong. Seeing that everyone was deep in thought and very bored, he read the questions slowly and only got a rough idea.

Jiang Feng twisted his beard and said with a smile: "I have heard for a long time that Marquis Huan is the most talented person in the world. I don't know what his craftsmanship is. Can you have any high opinions on the current examination questions?"

Feng Yuan smiled and said: "Marquis Huan must let me open my eyes."

Jia Cong's heart tightened, the false reputation was tiring, and he smiled and said: "Cong has never been a disciple to learn Chinese literature, how can he dare to show his shame in front of the Fang family.

My father-in-law is Tanhua Lang, so he must have great opinions. Just ask him. "

Lin Ruhai waved his hand and said with a smile: "A good man does not mention his bravery in the past. Today, Prime Minister Jiang is taking the exam. How dare Ruhai overshadow the guest and usurp the title? Please enlighten me, sir."

According to the rules, the examiner must personally answer the questions after they are distributed, and use them as standard answers or sample essays for reference by the marking officers.

Jiang Feng said: "In this case, I will take the first question, and the other two questions will be chosen by the three of you."

Guan Pu said with a smile: "Pu hasn't written for a long time, and he doesn't know if what he learned back then will be returned to Master, so he will just take the second question."

Feng Yuan was lazy, waved his hand and said with a smile: "I can't do it. I deal with the amount of money all day long, and my craftsmanship has been wasted for a long time. Brother Miaowen, please show me your skills."

Meng Huacai nodded with a smile and accepted the order happily.

Jiang Feng said: "Everyone, the first question is 'Although it is said that I have not learned it, I will definitely say that I have learned it'. How can I solve the question in a good way?"

An official said: "I think this can be broken by the saying that 'the sage respects practical knowledge, and those who have deep understanding of Dunlun'"

"Okay!" Everyone nodded in praise.

Another person said: "The lower official thinks that it can be broken down by saying that 'the so-called study of Zhengyan is only enough to learn ethics'"

"It's very good to find another way." Everyone clapped their hands and smiled.

Jia Cong looked confused, turned his head and asked Lin Ruhai next to him: "Father-in-law, what are they talking about?"

Lin Ruhai smiled and explained: "This question comes from the Analects of Confucius, Chapter 7.

This sentence was said by Zixia, a student of the sage, which means that if a person is loyal, filial, and faithful, even if such a person says he has not studied it, I will definitely say that he has studied it. "

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Aren't you talking about me? I haven't learned it yet. According to Zixia, I have already learned it."

Everyone laughed and said nothing, just be happy.

(End of this chapter)