Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1912 Civil Service Examination ([-])

Dong Yizhi is a little proud, and feels like making decisions for the people.However, in the afternoon, Shen Ruiming came to make comments, thinking that he was "changing the rules at will" and "not following the law"... This made Dong Yizhi annoyed - because the age limit was originally set by himself.There are also people who doubt how the household registration work is done, and let them report their own age as they please, which makes Mu Min look very ugly.

In the end, it was Lin Baiguang who came out to smooth things over, saying that in addition to selecting talents, this exam also had the meaning of "attracting people's hearts".A few old men also have the heart of "repaying with fists and fists", and this kind of enthusiasm should not be attacked.In addition, the literate population in the old society itself was small, and it would be even less if it was blocked by age.

In the end, he came up with a compromise plan and immediately issued an announcement, to the effect that in order to meet the needs of the general public for active reference, the age limit for this exam was abolished. Anyone who has reached the age of [-] and is healthy and free of disabilities can apply for the exam.As for those who falsely report their household registration age to register, they must correct themselves before applying for the exam, otherwise they will be disqualified from the exam and will be held legally responsible.As for whether to pursue the issue of some candidates making noise at the place where they applied for the exam, Lin Baiguang felt: "...Now the popular sentiment is available, some matters should not be lenient, otherwise we will lose the intention of making legislation into politics."

On the day of the exam, Yuan Shuzhi and Zeng Juan woke up early.Zeng Juan's mother had already prepared two test baskets.Since ancient times, candidates who want to enter the examination must prepare for this set.Whether it's the college exam, the township exam or the general exam, there are three consecutive exams, each of which lasts three days.It was said to be three days, but in fact, they only entered the venue on the night of the first day. The test papers were distributed on the next day (that is, zero o'clock), and the papers were handed in on the morning of the third day.

Candidates in the examination room not only have to take the exam and composition, but also eat and drink, so all the necessary objects and even bedding should be prepared for eating and drinking.It's just that there are rich and poor candidates, and the test basket and the objects inside are also very different.

Zeng Juan's family never had any scholars in the past, and Zeng Juan never passed the college examination.These two test baskets were borrowed by Zeng Juan's mother from an old neighbor, and they were both belongings of veteran scholars who had studied books and taken exams all their lives.After decades of rain and wind, the bamboo baskets are so smoky that they are black and yellow and dull, but they are still strong.

Zeng Juan’s mother had all the necessary items ready: the four treasures of the study, the copper pen, the roof, the door curtain, the stove, the candlestick, the candle scissors, the roll bag, and the charcoal; there were also snacks: dim sum, lotus seeds, dried longan, fried rice, Pickled cucumber, ginger, asafoetida...

There are so many things that can't fit in one basket, and they have to be saluted.Rich people, of course, have servants carrying them to the door, and after entering the door, they can ask the husbands and veterans in the field to do it for a few dollars; ordinary people can only do it themselves; There is not enough rice and vegetables in the box, so I barely scrape together what I need to bring in.

Zeng Juan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, because the newspaper and the registration office had already said: This public exam will be divided into written exams and interviews.If you pass the written test, you will be admitted to the interview.The written test only takes one day, and the lunch is also prepared by the government, so there is no need to prepare so many items.

Talking about it with my mother is the only way to avoid bringing this test basket weighing dozens of catties.Only pack the things you need to take for the exam in a bag.Zeng Juan said: "I see that Australian cadres and soldiers all have a cloth satchel, which can carry things and is convenient to carry. It's a pity that I didn't go out to buy it."

While talking, Zhang Yu suddenly saw Zhang Yu coming with a staff and a food box.It turned out that he knew that today was the day of Zeng Juan's public examination, so he specially packed a snack box with the snacks from the shop and sent it here.

"A Juan, I wish you a successful start and success!" Zhang Yu said.

A pair of friends held hands tightly, Zeng Juan felt an indescribable warmth in his heart.In the past half a year, it was Zhang Yu who built the bridge and paved the way for his public examination career. He spent money and labor, and it was all out of friendship in return. If there are friends like this, what more can a husband ask for?He nodded excitedly.

"Ziyu hasn't come back from Lingao yet. If he was in Guangzhou, he would come to help you!" Zhang Yu said.After finishing speaking, she said some words of encouragement to Yuan Shuzhi, and finally, even Ming Nu came out and said a few auspicious words, congratulating Uncle and "Grandpa" on their "flying into the sky" and "making a big splash".Yuan Shuzhi's eyes were moist when he said it - he is a person without relatives and family, he has never had family happiness, and now he is very excited when he hears this little girl's caring and auspicious words, and he said to Ming Nu: "Good girl, grandpa Definitely fly to the sky!" Everyone laughed
After saying goodbye to relatives and friends, Zeng Juan and Yuan Shuzhi embarked on the journey of the public examination.

The location of the civil service examination is located in the original Ming Dynasty Guangdong Gongyuan.Due to the large number of recruitment positions this time, the number of applicants has increased sharply this time.There are more than 2000 admission tickets issued alone.There is no such a large school in Guangzhou that can be used as an examination room.Wei Bifu, the counselor of the Comprehensive Office of the former Guangzhou General Judgment that was retained, suggested that the original Guangdong Gongyuan should be used.This tribute courtyard located on Dashi Street has 5000 sheds, enough to accommodate all candidates.

This Gongyuan is an architectural marvel even for patriarchs from the 21st century.The houses are continuous and the atmosphere is magnificent.Including Liu Xiang, all the veterans who come to Guangzhou must come here for a visit.

At this time, Zhang Yunmi, the chief examiner of the civil service examination, was upstairs in Mingyuan, looking at the endless black roof tiles.This building is the commanding height for the proctors to monitor the audience.The public examination also served as the location of the invigilator office.

Because this was the first time that the Senate organized a large-scale unified examination, all parties attached great importance to it. Liu Xiang originally wanted to send the national army to maintain order in the surrounding area, and he himself served as the chief examiner.It was Lin Baiguang who suggested that it should not be too grand.

"Although the civil service examination was born out of the imperial examination, we are not engaging in the imperial examination system after all. It is best not to leave such an impression on the public. To maintain order, just send more police officers. As for the examiner, Zhang Yunmi, the principal of the existing Guangzhou Cadre School It is the most suitable candidate."

Seeing that Liu Xiang was still reluctant to part with him, he whispered: "This class of candidates has a lot of traditional thinking. If they pass the exam, most of them will regard the senior examiner as a 'teacher' in the future—it doesn't matter for a little girl like Zhang Yunmi, it's okay to replace it with other seniors. At once……"

These words startled Liu Xiang into a cold sweat, and secretly scolded himself for forgetting this!So he appointed Zhang Yunmi as the chief examiner.

Zhang Yunmi is also calm about her various temporary positions - she has begun to adapt to her role.

"This place is so big!" Zhang Yunmi stood on Mingyuan upstairs and exclaimed.

To say that this Mingyuan Building is actually not that high.But in the city of Guangzhou in the 17th century, where there were almost no buildings, the second floor was the commanding height, enough to overlook the entire Gongyuan.

The tribute courtyard faces south, and the main building presents a symmetrical rectangular pattern.Surrounded by high walls and watch towers at the four corners, it looks like a small town.

From south to north, the central axis of the building is Toumen, Yimen, Longmen, Mingyuan Tower, "Tiankai Wenyun" archway, Zhigong Hall, Jieshen Hall, Jukui Hall and the back door.

The central axis of the Gongyuan is a stone road, with towering ancient trees on both sides, most of the stone slabs have been broken, and weeds are overgrown.After this assault was reasonable, weeds could still be seen everywhere in the gaps in the road—under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, this Gongyuan was only used once every three years. The area here is so large that it is not easy to maintain, and it feels somewhat desolate and dilapidated.

On both sides of the stone road are densely packed houses. Dozens of houses form a row, and the number of Chinese characters is written on the wall at the entrance of each row, in the order of the words in "Thousand Characters": "The world is mysterious and yellow, the universe is wild. The sun and the moon are full. Zhan, the list of morning accommodation..." to number. The word "Tian" is in the east, the word "Di" is in the west, the word "Xuan" is in the east, and the word "Huang" is in the west, and so on until the number houses are exhausted.This Mingyuan building is located in the middle of the entire tribute courtyard, and it plays the role of monitoring the audience.
Zhang Yunmi was curious, and once visited the alleyway, he saw that the house was short and narrow, only 3 feet wide, 4 feet long, and 6 feet high.In it, you can't stand up straight, and you can't lie down.Can only sit in it.There are two layers of brick supports on the inner wall of the house, and a wooden board called a "number board" is erected on each layer.One is used for sitting and lying, and the other is used as a desk.Candidates burn candles to compose in it.In autumn, the weather was still hot, and thousands of people crowded into this small shed without ventilation, sweating in the heat, smoky and insect bites, searching desperately; racking their brains to piece together articles.The hardships of writing in it can be imagined.

The most unbearable thing for Zhang Yunmi is that each row of halls has a few rooms as "smelly halls" with built-in feces tanks, which are used as toilets, where candidates defecate and defecate.Although it had been a long time since the last exam when she went to visit, she could still smell the stench of excrement and urine when passing by the stinker.For this reason, she made a special report: she applied to build several large toilets in the Gongyuan for the use of candidates.If the environmental sanitation is not done well, infectious diseases will be serious.

"Report to the chief, it is already 8 o'clock, should the candidates be allowed to enter the venue?"

"Open the gate and let candidates in." Zhang Yunmi nodded in agreement.

The new rule is to open the door of the examination room at 8:9 a.m., officially start the examination at 12:14 a.m., and end at 17:[-] a.m.The second exam starts at [-]:[-] and ends at [-]:[-].

Zeng Juan and Yuan Shuzhi were waiting outside the head gate.Outside the door, there was already a crowd of candidates.Because of the large number of people, the police have blocked the surrounding roads, and only those with admission tickets are allowed to enter.Everyone is looking forward to it, wanting to see what the "Australian Imperial Examination" will look like this first time.

Yuan Shuzhi had never entered the Gongyuan, but he had heard that people were released in the Gongyuan Township Examination under the name of firing cannons. First, three cannons were fired to open the gate, and then three cannons were fired to open the Yimen gate. The last three cannons were used to open the Longmen. It's official.At this time, he suddenly heard the sound of cannons from the Zhenhai Tower, and then the bells and drum towers all over the city rang together, knocking eight times in a row, knowing that it was the so-called eight o'clock in Australia, which was the middle of the day.

(End of this chapter)