I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 69 County Examination (Part )

Jia Cong said, "Mother, I have already finished everything. As for whether I can pass the exam, I don't know."

Jia Cong was still somewhat confident about his answers today and thought he had done well.

But he was not sure that he would pass the exam.

Therefore, it is better to be humble.

If I really fail the exam, it won’t be too embarrassing.

After hearing what Jia Cong said, Aunt Mei was quite disappointed.

But she still advised: "Brother Cong, do your best and leave the rest to fate."

"As long as you try your best, you will know the result in three or four days."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Mother, you are right. I will go to school first."

Aunt Mei nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead."

For three consecutive days, Jia Cong studied peacefully and no one came to disturb him.

Three days later, Jia Cong went to see the list in person to see whether he had passed the exam.

The key point is that he doesn't have a servant, so if he doesn't go himself, he can't send anyone else. He can't send a maid to show up in public, right?
When the case is issued, qualified candidates are divided into groups of 50 and arranged in order of their scores. The names are arranged in a circle like the words on a clock, and the order is counterclockwise from the top.

The first fifty people are in the first picture, followed by the second and third pictures. Finally, the group with less than fifty people is also made into one picture, but the gap in the middle is enlarged.

Those who pass the exam can continue to take the county exam and take the next re-examination.

Jia Cong rushed to the place where the results were announced and found that they had already been announced.

Next, Jia Cong saw his seat number at the first name.

Seeing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but clench his fists and let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I not only passed the first exam, but also got first place.

The county examination is held in four sessions, and some people will be eliminated in each session.

After all four exams are completed, the final ranking will be determined by the average score of the four exams.

However, the score of the first exam accounts for a larger proportion.

Being able to get first place in the first exam means that he has one foot into the county school.

After reading the list and returning home, Aunt Mei couldn't help but ask, "Brother Cong, how was it? Did you pass the exam?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I have lived up to my mother's expectations and passed the exam!"

Hearing this, Aunt Mei couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, and couldn't help but put her hands together and said, "Amitabha, thank you for the Buddha's blessing."

Jia Cong couldn't help but smile after hearing this. He remembered that Aunt Mei didn't believe in Buddhism before, but now she was thanking the Bodhisattva.

Upon hearing this, Cai'er, Hongxiu, and Qingwen also hurriedly bowed and congratulated, "Congratulations to the Third Master for passing the imperial examination."

Jia Cong waved his hands and said, "It's just that I passed the first small test of the county examination. What's the value of it?"

"Don't tell anyone when you go out. If you fail later, you won't be laughed at. Wait until you're done with the final exam before you make a fuss."

"Yes, Third Master."

The next morning, the second exam officially began.

As usual, Jia Cong got up early and arrived at the examination room early, then waited for the door to open before entering with everyone else.

The second exam is called "the second exam" or "the second exam". The second exam questions are one question on the Four Books, one question on Fu, and one question on Poetry.

Among the questions in this exam, the one about the Four Books was actually guessed correctly by Mr. Jia Dairu.

This is the topic of fu. Jia Dairu also asked a similar question.

This made Jia Cong overjoyed.

There were three questions in total, and I had almost done two of them before. So I was basically sure to pass the second exam.

After the exam, Jia Cong was one of the first candidates to hand in his paper. Because the number of candidates for the second exam was much smaller than that for the first exam, the time for grading the papers was shortened by one day, and the exam papers could be graded in just two days.

Two days later, Jia Cong went to see the list again.

This time, as expected, he still passed the exam.

Still the first place, having won first place in the first two rounds, I am basically sure to pass the county exam this time.

On the second day, the third exam officially began.

There is no strict requirement for the format of the questions in the Sanfu test. Generally, there is one question on the Four Books, one question on poetry, and one question on essay.

On that day, the examiner and the candidates will work together, and each person will be given a bowl of noodles or four to six steamed buns.

This was the first time that policy essays appeared in the county examination. Although the policy essays did not accurately predict the topic, Jia Cong's eight-part essays had already reached a minor level of success and he was no longer an ordinary person.

The third round of exams was completed easily again.

A day later, the results came out and Jia Cong once again ranked first.

Having ranked first three times, passing the county exam was almost a sure thing.

One day later, Jia Cong began the fourth round of the county examination.

The fourth exam is the last exam, called the "final exam" or "final exam". It asks one question from the Four Books, but the score is not highly valued. Candidates only need to write the first few sentences.

In addition, one must memorize the imperial edict. This is very important. It requires one to memorize the specified part of the "Imperial Edict" issued by the emperor.

"The Sacred Edict" is something that scholars must memorize. As long as you can recite "The Sacred Edict" without making any mistakes in the four rounds of examinations, you will generally not fail.

Therefore, candidates who take the fourth re-examination are deemed to have passed the county examination.

After submitting their answers, the examiner will invite them to dinner as a reward, which is called "final drink".

The final banquet is for eight people at each table, with eight dishes on each table. After the banquet, the candidates pay their own wine money to the examination room staff and the meeting can be dismissed.

Jia Cong paid for the wine, had a tasteless banquet, and then left the examination room.

After returning to the courtyard, Aunt Mei asked again, "Brother Cong, how did you do in the last exam? Are you confident that you can pass?"

Jia Cong said as usual: "Mother, I have already finished writing it, and I am not very sure..."

When Aunt Mei heard his words, worry appeared on her face again.

Jia Cong said hurriedly: "Mother, it shouldn't be a big problem. In the fourth exam, as long as there are no major mistakes, candidates will not be expelled again."

After hearing this, Qingwen couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Auntie, this has happened several times, and you still don't understand the Third Master?"

"Third Master, every time he said he was unsure, didn't he pass the exam every time?"

"Don't worry, Auntie. Third Master will definitely pass the exam this time."

Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "You girl, you are more confident than me, the Third Master!"

After this exam, it will only take four or five days to correct the test papers and announce the results.

Speaking of which, the county examination is the first stage of the Tongsheng examination, and also the first stage of the entire imperial examination.

This is the easiest test.

The subsequent exams are much more difficult than the county exams.

Although this first county examination has basically passed.

But this is only the first step in the imperial examination and there is no room for slacking off.

Jia Cong did not relax in the few days after the exam.

I'm still working on my attributes every day.

There is not much time left for the second and third levels, the provincial and imperial examinations.

In a few months, we will have to take the exam again, so we can't relax at all.

(End of this chapter)