high official

Chapter 529

The seventh day of February is the day when the exam will start.When Cai Chou was full of stars, the guild halls and hotels all over the capital were brightly lit and bustling.In a short while, those who hadn’t slept all night, after finishing their trip, with high ambitions, got into carriages or on foot, accompanied by book boys or family members, they gathered from all directions to the Gongyuan... I saw the schoolchildren or family members behind them, carrying bedding rolls, carrying test baskets and test boxes, big and small, and the posture seemed to be fleeing.

Because the candidates have to spend the night in the examination room, and the capital city in February is still cold in the morning and evening, so in addition to the necessary examination items and food, bedding, cotton clothes and stove are indispensable.Of course, this is also related to the fact that the identities of the candidates are not what they used to be. There have always been sour talents, and there are no poor candidates. Those who are eligible to participate in the examination are all masters. Even if the family was poor before, they are now well-off. Subsidies and help are the icing on the cake, so they all bring book boys, take care of the porters, and prepare all the materials for the exam, which is different from the rural exams.

But when they arrived at the square in front of the Gongyuan, many people regretted it, because no one else was allowed to enter the examination room, and all items could only be carried by the examinee alone.Examiners had no choice but to put their bedding and coats on their shoulders, carry the test box on their backs, and carry the test basket and stools in their hands...the reason for bringing stools is because it is very difficult for thousands of candidates to enter the venue for roll call and inspection. Time-consuming, the first day from dawn to dusk, all used to do this.If the examinee is unlucky and waits in the early morning and enters the venue at dusk, how can he survive without a stool?
In addition to this, they also wear roll bags around their necks... As the name suggests, roll bags are bags used to hold test papers.When candidates enter the examination room through the roll call, they can get the answer sheet, but at that time, both hands are full, and there is no way to take the paper, and the answer sheet is the lifeblood of the candidates, and there is no room for any contamination Therefore, the roll bag hanging around the neck came into being. When you get the roll, you can directly stuff it into the roll bag, and there is a layer of tarpaulin in the middle of the roll belt to prevent rain.The first thing to do in the number room is to hang the roll bag on the wall to feel at ease.

So there was such a situation in front of the gate of the Gongyuan. I saw frail scholars carrying bedding, examination boxes, baskets, stools, and roll bags around their necks. Embarrassed.But this is nothing compared to the inhuman treatment they will suffer next.

When the fifth watch roused, three cannons sounded on the ground, the gate of the tribute courtyard opened, and two rows of imperial soldiers wearing brand-new uniforms and carrying long knives came out of the gate in order, and stood in three steps on the square in front of the tribute courtyard. Five steps and one whistle.When they stood still with their hands on the hilts of their swords, three more cannon shots were fired, this time the gate of the tribute courtyard was opened, and two rows of Jinyi guards wearing flying fish suits and carrying embroidered spring knives walked out, and lined up from the gate to the gate.

When three cannons sounded again, the dragon gate slowly opened, the bell and drum towers in the capital also rang, and the temples and temples also responded together, singing in harmony with each other from afar, indicating that the 13th year of Yongle Examination in the Ming Dynasty has officially begun!

At this moment, the incense table has already been set up in front of the Zhigong Hall. The chief examiner led all the examiners to kneel down to accept the imperial edict, and he also paid homage to the most holy teacher, and then invited Guan Shengdi, the emperor of the three realms to suppress the demons, and invited General Zhou to come in and patrol the arena. Emperor Wenchang entered the arena for the main examination, and invited Master Kuixing to enter the arena to shine... After completing these ceremonies, the candidates were allowed to enter the arena for a roll call.

When the first batch of [-] examinees were put into the gate of the Gongyuan, it was just dawn, and the capital city in early February was already warming up during the day, but it was still cold in the early morning. Cong surrounded by thorns, so Gongyuan is also called "thorn city".At this moment, the city of thorns is shrouded in mist in the morning, and the students in the city of thorns feel that their future is also shrouded in a mist...

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After the roll call, candidates can enter the gate of the tribute courtyard, but instead of entering the examination room directly, they line up in front of a stone workshop. After gathering 100 people, they enter the dragon gate under the leadership of the officials, and inside the dragon gate is a long dragon gate. A long corridor, with several small halls on both sides of the corridor, this is the "inquiry hall" where the examinees change their colors. Although the name of this interrogation hall is good, it is the most embarrassing and most disgraceful of all the examinees. Into the face of the place.Because according to the original regulations of the Ming Dynasty, as long as candidates who want to enter the examination room, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, young or old, all have to take off their clothes and belts here, and accept the search of the soldiers of the Gongyuan naked.

But fortunately, Emperor Hongwu was kind. After hearing that the candidates had been humiliated and some even gave up the exam in anger, he decreed to treat the candidates leniently in the 20th year of Hongwu. The students lined up in the corridor, and the soldiers simply searched them. As for the procuratorial halls, they were left idle. Only a very few candidates who were not good-looking would enjoy the treatment of entering and frisking.

The disciples thought that this time would be the same as in the past, and it should just be a formality, but at this moment they were a little disturbed to find that the courtrooms that were supposed to be unattended are now bright as day, and it doesn't look like they are going to be idle.

After the candidates lined up in the corridor, Wang Xian appeared in front of the dragon gate. Standing on the high steps, he glanced coldly at all the candidates and said, "My official, Wang Xian, the inspector who will be interviewed this time, You may all know that the search and inspection of the previous exams was very lax, and it is inevitable that many thieves entered the venue with words. This is the greatest disrespect to the goodwill of Emperor Taizu, and the greatest humiliation to the court's grand ceremony , It is also the greatest harm to honest candidates!"

As soon as Wang Xian came up with three big hats, all the judges were taken aback for a while, not knowing that he was just talking, but he still wanted to be serious. "The purpose of the imperial court to recruit scholars is to select officials who will govern the country for the emperor and educate the people. Those who cheat even in the Jinshi examination are really wicked. How can they shoulder the responsibility of enlightening? How can they abide by the law and be honest and loyal?"

"So this time the examination must be strictly inspected. The official will never allow a piece of paper to be substituted into the examination room!" Wang Xian is a ruthless character who has killed people on the battlefield and can play with a provincial official. The aura is fully open, how can the crowd be able to withstand it?Everyone was silent like a cicada, who thought he was just talking casually?
"However, I thought I was slack in the inspection before, and I couldn't bear to be punished for not teaching, so I allowed you to throw the things you carried on your body into the big basket in front of you at this moment, and I will not blame you. "Although Wang Xian is young, he is also an old official who has experienced the dangers of officialdom. Although what he said yesterday is unquestionable, he still needs to be flexible when it comes to doing things, otherwise he will really offend scholars all over the world. How can I have a good life?What's more, I can't do it...

Therefore, Wang Xian firmly takes the position of defending honest candidates, and even gives those who already have the opportunity to throw away the cheat sheet and pretend that nothing happened, so that others can only say that he is cold and harsh. , but it cannot be said that he deliberately made things difficult for the scholars... After all, Wang Xian gave them a chance, and they were still obsessed with it. It was the greatest contempt for him, the prosecutor. If Wang Xian took action to punish them, no one would have anything to say.

After saying that, Wang Xian retreated to the procuratorial hall with the inspecting officers and soldiers, not looking at the situation outside.All the candidates knew that this was to save face for them and let them hand over the cheat sheet by themselves.How can people not bow their heads under the eaves?Many people threw the notes, balls of paper, and booklets hidden in the soles of boots, clothes seams, pen tubes, inkstones, test boxes, and snacks into the baskets.But there are also many people who rely on their cheat sheets to hide them tightly, and don't want to try it for nothing this time, and they refuse to take out the cheat sheets out of luck.Some people are ashamed to take it out... For example, they hide it in their underwear, or even write it on their underwear. They wear a lot of clothes in winter, so how can they take off their clothes in public?
In a very short time, only one sound of gong was heard, and all the judges were stunned for a while, and then Wang Xian and all the soldiers turned out from the procuratorial hall.

Wang Xian's icy eyes swept across the candidates again, and finally landed on those big baskets. Seeing that there were a lot of things piled up inside, he couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief.If this group of candidates is really stubborn and just wants to test the law, he really can't help it... Just like the chief examiner Liang was worried, there must be a thousand candidates for the test, or even the number of people who started the test, right?If such a big scandal were to happen, the emperor would definitely not be able to spare him, and all the scholars in the world would drown him by spitting out one by one.

Wang Xian dared to say that it was not a problem to say that [-]% of the cases were carried with writing.This is not to say that everyone is not good at learning, and that they cannot write without cheating.As a matter of fact, for the candidates who passed the exam after hard study and many essay battles, they have already memorized the chapters of the Four Books and Cheng Wenchuang lessons by heart, and there is no need to bring cheat sheets at all.It's nothing more than feeling that others bring a cheat sheet and no one catches it, and I always feel that I'm at a disadvantage if I don't bring a cheat sheet.

Fortunately, most of the candidates are still knowledgeable about current affairs, and it is considered that they did not put on a posture of sharpening their knives in vain. Now most of them should be able to pass the test. Wang Xian then nodded, indicating that the search can start.

When those soldiers saw that the basket was already full of cheat sheets, their hearts were bleeding... This is all money. If Mr. Wang didn't do it, wouldn't we be rich? !However, this time it is even more necessary to search carefully, not to let any guy with a cheat sheet slip through the net, and try to make up for everyone's losses.

In the eyes of the inspectors, the candidates have become cash cows.Bring money trees one by one... oh no, invite them one by one to the council hall, and the officers and soldiers began to search carefully.With the addition of an officer who was watching by the side, three officers and soldiers searched for a candidate, and the search was extremely detailed, lest there be omissions... It was all money!
They searched strictly according to the procedures formulated by Wang Xian. Basically, after searching one by one, those who searched became like beggars with torn shoes, hats, and bedding.Not to mention the snacks, lampstands, inkstones, writing brushes and other items that can hide notes...

However, the most unacceptable thing for the candidates is that the officers and soldiers actually asked them to take off their clothes, even their underwear...

(End of this chapter)