Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

After sorting out the items and checking for missing items, Ju Ming went downstairs carrying a lantern.

Shi Biao still stayed in the inn to look after the luggage, while Bai Sheng had gone to the stable to fetch the horse.

Scholars came out one after another, and in this inn alone there were dozens of candidates taking the exam.

"Hey, isn't Brother Hui going to take the Maoke exam?" Zhu Ming found that Qin Hui had also gone downstairs.

Qin Hui explained with a smile: "Maoke is too difficult. It's not too late to take the exam next time."

For major subjects such as Maoke, candidates do not dare to take the exam directly. New candidates are not allowed to take the exam again. The main competitors are previous candidates.

Historically, Qin Hui was thrown into a local school to be the principal. He suffered from the aggrieved situation and did not move away for several years. So he took the Maoke exam and became the only one admitted in that class. At this moment, he made a fortune and was quickly promoted to the Imperial College Xuezheng.

Min Zishun had already ordered two carriages, and all the Yangzhou scholars got in. Qin Hui also shamelessly took a ride.

Li Hanzhang and Zhu Ming rode into the city together.

Bai Sheng and other entourage, holding lanterns, followed the carriage on foot.

I can’t increase my speed because there are too many people.

The city gates are opened on an exception basis for scholars who are taking exams, and no inspection is performed, so they can come and go at will.

Before arriving at Gongyuan, the streets were blocked because the number of candidates was about 10,000, and including their entourage, it might exceed 20,000.

It was densely packed and crowded.

Soon, officials came and shouted along the street: "Idle people leave, idle people leave, don't block the street!"

Bai Sheng and the others were idlers. They handed the things to Ju Ming and silently left the Gongyuan.

Ju Ming did not rush inside and waited slowly to enter. After waiting for two hours, I finally got closer and took out the answer sheet and the test ticket with the seat number on it from the bamboo tube.

The inspection procedure is more stringent than the state exam, but it still doesn’t involve stripping for inspection.

The Gongyuan examination room is large and can accommodate more than 10,000 people.

The conditions of the peripheral examination tents are poor. They were used three years ago and are covered with cobwebs and moss. Candidates have to clean them by themselves.

The examination booths on the inside are much cleaner, because the Imperial College and the imperial students will borrow the Gongyuan during the annual examinations, and the candidates clean it once every year.

Including Zhu Ming, all candidates from Yangzhou were seated near the front. They didn't know yet that this was an arrangement arranged by the two examiners, and they all thought they were very lucky.

Each examination booth has an area of ​​approximately 1.3 square meters.

The first thing you do when you find your seat is to clean your examination room. You must wipe the table and then put paper on it to prevent the table from contaminating the test papers. The second thing is to nail oil paper on the top of the examination booth to prevent it from leaking due to disrepair.

Then, wait until dawn.

The contents of the examination questions on classics and meanings are the same as those in the state examination, including ten passages each for major classics and combined classics. But the difficulty has increased, and the number of words in each essay has increased to more than 350 words.

"Dang-dang-dang!"

The sky was getting slightly brighter, the gong sounded, and the exam questions were about to be announced.

In order to prevent the leakage of questions, it is impossible to print the test papers, let alone temporarily copy 10,000 copies.

A policeman came out holding a wooden sign with a piece of paper attached to it, stating the content of the first test question. The officer shouted as he walked: "The first question is, the gentleman is in the world, there is no suitable, there is nothing, the righteousness is the same... The gentleman is in the world, there is no suitable, there is nothing, the righteousness is the same... "

The candidates quickly copied down the questions and waited for the second question to be announced.

Not long after the officer passed by Ju Ming, another officer came over holding a sign: "Second question, people can promote the Tao, but not the Tao and people... People can promote the Tao, but not the Tao and people..."

After all ten questions have been announced, candidates can begin to answer the questions.

If someone has not finished memorizing the test questions, they can also ask the nearby police officer, but they are not allowed to leave their examination booth.

Zhu Ming answered the question completely according to the eight-legged essay model. After thinking for a while, he wrote the answer to the first question: A gentleman's attitude towards the world is not to rely on things beforehand, but to adapt to the situation according to the situation. There must be a meaning in everything.

Then he thought about the title and wrote: When dealing with the affairs of the world, a gentleman only obeys the righteousness. Why was there any bias in the beginning?

Ju Ming's eight-part essay level has improved a lot compared to last year, and he is no longer the novice who took the exam for the first time.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is to avoid miscellaneous criminals.

That is to say, you cannot use the name of the royal family in your article.

In the examinations of the Huizong Dynasty, we should also avoid using the exclusive remarks of Luo School and Shu School.

This is easy to avoid. Take Yangzhou Academy as an example. Min Wenwei specifically listed the relevant contents and repeatedly emphasized that those things cannot be taken for exams. And the content is not much. 99% of the explanations of the classics and meanings of Xinxue, Luoxue and Shuxue are common, leaving only the key 1% to distinguish them.

Of course, without the guidance of famous teachers or academies, poor scholars can easily make mistakes and commit taboos if they are not careful.

I wrote until noon and after completing four questions, I was already very hungry.

There was a smell of charcoal in the examination room, and someone was cooking on their own stove. Zhu Ming was too lazy to make a fire, so he took out a piece of cake and drank some water. Then he went to the toilet and continued to answer questions after taking care of his physical needs.

It was not until dark when the examiner ordered the papers to be handed in. Ju Ming had already fallen asleep on the table for a while.

There are too many candidates for the provincial examination, and it is impossible to enter the venue for inspection every day. If you really do that, you won’t be able to sleep for three days in a row. Because I have to take exams during the day and have to queue up at 11 or 12pm, how can I have any rest time?

Eat, drink, and have sex, all in the examination room.

In a small cabin of 1.3 square meters, one can only sleep on the table.

At night, Ju Ming was still at the door of the examination room, lighting up the stove and cooking a pot of porridge, eating it with pickles and dried meat.

After eating, I went to bed. I wrote ten articles during the day and revised and transcribed them repeatedly. I was as tired as doing physical work for a day.

On the second day, there were ten test questions that also included scriptures.

On the third day, there will be exams on One Examination and Five Classics, History and Current Affairs.

The test topic is to ask the candidates to evaluate Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.

This question must have been written by Wang Fu, with a very obvious intention to let the candidates praise Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and by the way, praise Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.

Ju Ming had already guessed the thoughts of the person who asked the question, but he did not praise Huizong of the Song Dynasty, but only objectively evaluated Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. If you break the jar, you will fail the exam, and then go back to Daming Village.

The two classics and history policy questions are quite satisfactory.

There are three current policy questions, one discusses the war in the northwest, and two discusses financial issues.

Ju Ming wrote the article truthfully. Although he did not explicitly criticize Cai Jing and Tong Guan, he emphasized the problem of corruption in officialdom.

As he wrote it, it would be difficult for the six questions on the third day to be approved by the marking officer.

In this era, even the imperial examinations have to flatter you!

Take the last examiner Cai Hao as an example. This person was the number one scholar in Chongning for five years.

This No. 1 pick is extremely talented, and he got there entirely by flattering others.

At that time, Cai Jing was impeached by officials, and Song Huizong was forced by his officials to make concessions.

During the palace examination policy discussion, Cai Hao frantically spoke favorably for Cai Jing and attacked his political opponents.

Huizong and Cai Jing of the Song Dynasty were overjoyed after reading it, so they selected Cao Cao as the number one scholar, and his essays were published all over the world. Within nine months, he was promoted to the fourth rank.

Then, Cai Hao looked up the family tree and recognized Cai Jing as his uncle.

One time when he came to visit, Cai Jing asked his three sons to greet him. Cai Hao immediately changed his mind and said that the genealogy was wrong before. Cai Jing was actually his great-uncle, and Cai Jing's son was his uncle.

Then, Song Huizong could not withstand the pressure and planned to pardon some Yuanyou party members. In order to please Cai Jing, Cai Hao actually disobeyed the emperor's order and did not write the edict in accordance with the imperial edict. For such a serious crime of deceiving the emperor, he was only demoted to the state magistrate, and was soon recalled to serve in the court.

In less than ten years, Cai Hao went from being a commoner to being the examiner of the national examination!

After three exams, Zhu Ming handed over his papers and left, taking his stove with him.

The candidates walked out of the Gongyuan one after another. They were all sleepy and tired. They had no energy to talk at all, and they were too lazy to answer questions with their friends.

"elder brother!"

Bai Sheng held a lantern, led his horse and stood on the street waiting for a long time.

There were so many candidates that it was difficult for Ju Ming to find friends, so he simply rode back to the inn alone.

I ate a whole meal, didn't even bother to take a shower, so I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

…

The four examiners are still locked in the Gongyuan because they are still marking officers.

The copying officer copied the red scroll and sent it to the marking officials.

There were also more than a dozen officials from the third library who came to help mark the papers. After they first graded the papers, they eliminated some of the papers that were too poorly written and then handed them over to four examiners for review.

Four examiners will determine the test scores and cross-mark the papers.

Ju Ming's two volumes of classics and meanings both received pretty good reviews.

For example, in the "Analects of Confucius" volume, Zhai Ruwen's comment is: The analysis is clear and clear, the words are smooth, there is no omission and no lack, it can be an excellent work.

Although the names are obscured, each answer sheet has a number, and the candidates' answer sheets for several sessions are put together.

The number of admissions is variable, probably around 700, it can be more or less.

Because Murong Yanfeng and Zhai Ruwen were very strict in judging the papers, they eliminated too many people, resulting in only 671 candidates admitted this year.

In the last term of Jinshi, there were 713 people!

The arbitrary nature of the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty was clearly reflected in the number of admissions. It was greatly influenced by the examiner. For example, the next Jinshi exam was not so strict and a total of 783 people were admitted.

After confirming the winning papers, the four examiners gathered together to rank.

As the examiner, Wang Fu can make the final decision.

Murong Yanfeng was so angry that he pounded the table, pointed at the first-place test paper and said, "This person's strategy is as flattering as possible. His article has no merit, so why is he ranked first?"

Wang Fu asked back: "Is it wrong for this man to compare the official family to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty?"

Murong Yanfeng couldn't answer and suppressed his anger.

Zhai Ruwen took out an answer sheet: "This person's answer sheet has detailed analysis of classics and meanings, and his policy analysis can be ranked among the top three. Not only does he understand the classics and understand the meaning, but he also knows the current affairs of the world. His discussion of finance and military affairs can be regarded as an important minister." Shuzhiyan. Why was he judged to be the last one?"

Wang Fu said: "This son is sarcastic to the courtiers, saying that the officialdom of the Song Dynasty is corrupt. Nowadays, the sage comes to the court, the sea is peaceful, the Henan Province is prosperous, and all the officials are honest. How can the officialdom be corrupted? If the two of them had not insisted on recording him, I would definitely We must let this person fail! It is extremely merciful to sentence him to the last place."

Murong Yanfeng was furious: "All officials are honest, do you believe this?"

"Isn't it true? When a saint comes to court, how can a greedy person serve as an official?" Wang Fu asked.

Murong Yanfeng was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

The imperial examinations in the late Northern Song Dynasty focused on policy analysis, and Ju Ming's policy essays would have no problem ranking among the top three.

But under the leadership of Wang Fu, Sheng Sheng Jue was ranked last.

The last one is also the first, which makes it easier for Ju Ming to see the list.