I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 205 Provincial Examination
Soon, it was the fifth day of August.

On this day, the transcriber and the reader led their secretaries into the examination room first.

At this time, they will be searched, and except for necessary clothes and some food, other items are not allowed to be brought in.

The first session of the provincial examination will start on August 9th.

On the eighth day of August, candidates must enter the examination room in advance.

Because the provincial examination is different from the previous examination for students of higher learning.

The number of people taking part in the provincial examination was much greater than that taking the examination for students of higher learning.

If we enter the examination hall on the ninth day, I'm afraid that not all people will be able to enter in one day.

The provincial examination can be said to be the most difficult stage in the entire imperial examination process.

Therefore, there is also a saying that "Juren is gold and Jinshi is silver".

On the eighth day of the eighth month, Jia Cong got on a carriage outside the Ningguo Mansion.

Aunt Zhao and the maids in the yard were all sent out of the house.

Lin Daiyu was afraid of rumors and did not come to see him off.

But she watched him go at the gate of Xiaoxiang Pavilion. Although she could not see Jia Cong, Lin Daiyu still prayed for him silently in her heart.

I arrived at the entrance of the examination room and waited for the third cannon to be fired before the door opened.

Next, after a series of inspections and other procedures, Jia Cong finally entered the examination room.

The examination hall for the provincial examination was held inside the Gongyuan.

It is only activated every three years.

After the examiners entered their respective examination rooms, cannons were fired outside and the examination room was closed.

No one is allowed to leave the examination room during the three days of the exam.

And today is only the eighth day of August, and the exam will not officially start until tomorrow.

In the examination room, candidates had different reactions.

Some are impatient, some are nervous, and some are excited.

However, Jia Cong was able to remain patient and even practiced Ba Duan Jin several times that day.

Finally, it was night. Jia Cong took a nap and finally made it to the ninth day of August.

Early in the morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month, someone in the examination room began distributing answer sheets and test papers printed with test questions.

At the same time, check again whether the candidate who enters the room is himself or herself. After the check is completed, a "right" stamp will be stamped on the answer sheet, which is called a "check mark stamp."

The first day's test consisted of three questions on the Four Books and one question on poetry.

Now Jia Cong's eight-legged essay has reached the highest level, and writing eight-legged essay is no difficulty for him.

He even had time to work on these three questions in detail.

In the afternoon, Jia Cong completed all the questions on the draft paper.

Then start copying it onto the test paper.

On the ninth night of the lunar year, people are allowed to use candles to continue answering questions.

Jia Cong finished answering the questions early, so there was no need for him to stay up late by candlelight to continue answering them.

However, in the examination room, more than half of the candidates were lighting candles and writing furiously.

As for Jia Cong, he had a sound sleep.

On the morning of the tenth day, at around six o'clock, signal cannons were fired and music was played, and the examiner announced the end of the exam. Even the slowest person had to submit his answer sheet before the evening of that day.

They handed in the main text and draft answers written in regular script to the Zhigong Hall on the site, and each county handled them separately.

After submitting the answer sheet to the examiner, you will receive a bamboo exit permit card called "Zhaochujian".

After packing your luggage and waiting for a certain number of people to gather, you can form a team and open the door to leave the examination room.

Every time an answer sheet is received, the examiner will check it for any irregularities.

This marks the end of the first exam.

After staying in the examination room for two consecutive nights, Jia Cong couldn't help feeling as if he was in another world when he left the examination room.

After returning to Ningguo Mansion, Jia Cong took a nice hot bath.

As usual, Mrs. Mei did not ask Jia Cong how he did in the exam, and she did not even ask the three maids, Qingwen, Hongxiu and Xiangling.

Jia Cong only spent one day at home before he had to rush to the examination hall again to take the second exam. The second exam was about the Five Classics, as well as a document on recruitment, judgment, memorial, and announcement.

Not to mention the Five Classics, writing official documents was even easier for Jia Cong.

After all, he not only had Kou Xiang as his teacher, but also Lin Ruhai, who gave him a lot of guidance.

Therefore, this second exam was also like a fish in water for Jia Cong.

Three days later, the second exam was completed.

After leaving the examination room, Jia Cong felt deeply tired.

As for the other candidates, they looked haggard and listless.

After another day of rest at home, on August 14, Jia Cong entered the examination room again to take his final exam.

The last test was about policy essays.

A policy essay is a question that the dynasty is facing, and you are asked to analyze it and come up with a solution.

In this third exam, children from poor families often suffer a great disadvantage.

With your limited channels, it is difficult to understand the situation and trends of the court.

But for Jia Cong, this problem does not exist at all.

Jia Cong answered the questions easily again.

I endured until August 16th, finally handed in the test paper and left the examination room.

This provincial examination will consist of three sessions, each lasting three days.

After nine days of exams, I was almost completely confused.

Even someone of his physical fitness couldn't handle it, let alone those other weak scholars who couldn't even lift a chicken.

There are many candidates who fall seriously ill after taking the exam.

Jia Cong was fine. After returning to Ningguo Mansion, he took a bath, had a big meal, and then had a good sleep.

After getting up, Jia Cong felt refreshed, and his energy and spirit were completely restored.

This time, Mrs. Mei couldn't wait to call Jia Cong over.

"Brother Cong, how do you feel about this time? Can you pass the exam?"

Jia Cong said helplessly: "Mother, I can only say that I tried my best, but I dare not say that I will definitely pass the exam."

Jia Cong felt that his answers were pretty good, but he couldn't guarantee that he would pass the exam.

After all, the competition in the provincial examination was too fierce.

There were more than ten thousand candidates taking part in the provincial examination.

In the end, only more than 300 people were admitted, with an admission ratio of about 30 to 1.

Jia Cong didn't dare to say that he would definitely be among the top 300 among the more than 10,000 candidates.

Because of the large number of candidates, the provincial examination had more than 10,000 candidates taking the exam.

Therefore, the speed of marking the papers was much slower than the previous examination for students of higher learning.

It will take about a month before the results are announced.

Therefore, after the exam, Jia Cong had a few days of free time.

But soon, Jia Cong started to work hard again.

It would be fine if I fail the exam this time, but if I can pass it, I will have to take part in the joint examination in February next year.

After the joint examination, only the final palace examination remains.

After finishing the exam, you won’t need to study the Four Books and Five Classics and Eight-legged Essay so hard anymore.

Jia Cong never had a passion for the Four Books and Five Classics and the Eight-Legged Essay; he just regarded them as a stepping stone.

Time passed by unknowingly, and at this moment, the Xue family and several relatives of the Rongguo Mansion came together and arrived at the Rongguo Mansion.

It turned out that Mrs. Xing's brother and sister-in-law brought their daughter Xiuyan to Beijing to seek refuge with Mrs. Xing. Coincidentally, Feng Ji's brother Wang Ren was also in Beijing, so the two families came together to help.

When the boat was moored halfway, he met Li Wanzhi's widowed aunt, who was also going to Beijing with her two daughters, Li Wen and Li Qi.

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(End of this chapter)