In February, it was drizzling in the western Fujian area. Chenxi was studying in the house. Many times he just looked at the window and looked into the yard. When he was lonely, he went back to write and draw.

Although the Shen family locked Chen Xi in the house to study, they still gave him a certain degree of freedom and did not have any special requirements for what he read and how he read.

The spring rain is warm. After the baptism of the middle of winter, by late February, the city of Ninghua was completely revived and prosperous in spring.

On February 24th, the first two days of the county examination, Chen Xi, led by Shen Mingjun, went to meet the four candidates who met each other.

Because there is a cheating system, who cheats is equivalent to harming everyone. It is necessary to be familiar with each other.

Two of these candidates are from Shuangxi Town, and two are children of the county chamber of commerce. They are both sixteen or seventeen years old, both of which are the first time they have participated in the county examination.

I am about the same age and it is the first exam again, so it is necessary to sit down and talk about the content of the exam.

Regarding the questions of the Four Books and Five Classics, students' teachers are doing them. The test questions in the past few years will be carefully read and answered.

However, every county examination was given by the then magistrate. The Four Books and Five Classics were very casual. Any book and sentences were selected can be used as the topic of the imperial examination.

According to Chen Xi's understanding of Ye Mingsu, this is a resume school from a Beijing family. What he learned should be extremely orthodox. In addition, he is not very old and likes new things, so he may take some knowledge from a side.

On February 26th, Chen Xi went to the examination room to get to know the venue.

The temporary examination room is very simple. In order to prevent students from taking cheats into the examination room in advance, they can only look at the venue from afar and let the candidates know where their seats are. The next day, the yamen officers will not be at a loss when they enter the venue.

The government divides the candidates' approximate examination areas in advance, and the specific seat numbers do not need to be listed. When the exam is taken, there will be a special number on the student's examination paper and the name will be written on it.

The two brothers Shen Yongzhuo and Shen Xi looked outside the county school. Chen Xi was small and short. Before, the Shen family was worried that there were too many people on the venue this time, so they specifically told them not to walk too close to the inside, so as not to cause any accidents to push and trample on.

Chen Xi and Shen Yongzhuo have not seen each other for a long time. When they met again, there was a bit of stubble on Shen Yongzhuo's lips, and he seemed much more mature, but his eyes were erratic. When he spoke, he liked to lower his head and looked taciturn.

When I came back from the county school at noon, my family had already prepared a banquet for the two of them to take the exam.

Originally, children could not eat at the table, but this time they were given special preferential treatment. Shen Yongzhuo was eighteen years old and was about to be in his prime. In addition, if Shen Yongzhuo passed the county examination, he would marry Miss Lu's next step, which was considered a double harvest of "love" and "career".

At the dinner table, my family gave many advices to Shen Yongzhuo and Shen Xi. The general mistake was that Shen Yongzhuo had to pass the exam and shine his ancestors, but he did not set any rigid indicators for Shen Xi.

After dinner, Chen Xi and Shen Yongzhuo went to meet the students who guaranteed them.

In the past two days, Shen Mingjun went to Taohua Village. He asked the villagers to prove their identity and left handprints of neighbors on their personal offerings. The personal offerings were mainly to ensure that the candidates were innocent, and they did not advocate the descendants of Youzao Li, and they could not impersonate them. They were not during the mourning period.

In addition, the physical characteristics of the candidates must be written on, including the face shape, height, facial features, and even special marks on the face, just like the admission ticket of a student, and they need to be presented when entering the venue for inspection for the yamen runners, and there will be random inspections during the exam.

The student in power was invited by Hui Niang through the Chamber of Commerce, and was an old scholar in Ninghua County.

Such scholars should at least provide insurance for a few students during the year. There are many people taking the county exam, and each family always invites them to dinner and sends gifts to express their feelings.

Before sunset, the family asked Shen Yongzhuo and Shen Xi to go back to their rooms to rest. The next day's exam will start before dawn. According to the rules, candidates should enter the venue at the end of the fourth update in the second half of the night. To ensure that the exam is smooth the next day, you must rest for a day in advance.

But before the hour, Chen Xi was completely sleepy. It wasn't that he was nervous about the exam the next day. As a modern person, he had experienced countless exams at all times. But at this special time, he remembered a lot of old past events.

It was not until the second anniversary that Chen Xi fell asleep, but before the fourth anniversary, his family had already come and knocked on the door and asked the two brothers to get up and go to the county school.

I sorted out my clothes and didn't even have time to eat. My family prepared a test basket for the two of them, and in addition to pen and ink and paperweight, there was also some food.

Because the papers are handed over until the afternoon is approaching dusk, candidates must bring food into the examination room at noon. In Fujian, the food is mostly portable rice balls.

When he got out of the house, Shen Mingjun was responsible for taking the two brothers to the examination room. There were many carriages and candidates on the way. The more people walked towards the county school, the more people gathered.

Outside the county school, the yamen runners are maintaining order.

In the confusion of night, the lights are everywhere, and many candidates come alone, but more are accompanied by their families. However, their families can only be sent outside the county school at most and are not allowed to enter the examination room.

There are many people who come to see you off with their families, which makes the noise outside the exam room.

Before the entrance was reached, the Shen brothers could only wait outside first, until the fifth update, and the gates of the east and west sides of the examination room were slowly opened, and the candidates began to enter the venue one by one.

Since Ninghua is a small county, there are not many people taking the exam, so it is easy to maintain order.

At this time, the family members were driven to the street by the yamen runners and began to ask the candidates to stand in groups in batches, with each team of fifty people. In this way, there will be more than 200 candidates outside each gate. When entering the venue in turn, the yamen runners will hold lanterns to check the appearance of the visitor and check whether the candidates are invisible.

The county examination also has certain requirements for the candidates' dress, and even adult crowns and hats are not allowed to be brought into the venue.

Chen Xi was in the Jiazi examination room, and Shen Yongzhuo was in the C-shaped examination room. The two were very far apart during the exam. Chen Xi was instructed to follow the team and walked forward, just like later generations lined up to buy tickets, but at this time no one would come to join the line, because it would be useless to go to the line.

In front of Chenxi was an old Tongsheng in his forties. He was inspected by the yamen. The two yamen runners touched the old Tongsheng up and down. The old Tongsheng shouted injustice: "Several officials, I am innocent and dare not take any entrapment."

The yamen runner said bluntly: "That's not sure. Liu Laoer, don't think we don't know you. You have been in the exam since you were twenty to over forty and have not passed the exam for so many years. Don't believe that you wouldn't think of any evil ways?"

While talking, there was a noise from afar.

It turned out that during the search of another gate, he found that a candidate had a note hidden in the rice ball. Although it was just a few words, it was a serious crime of cheating. The person was shackled by the official. In addition to wearing shackles outside the courtyard gate, this person also had to be beaten to a board when he turned around. It would be difficult for him to take the county exam in the future.

"What are you trying to do? You don't study hard on weekdays, but you think about bringing a cheat sheet at this time." The yamen runner picked up the corner of his mouth, with a slight disdain, "Okay, Liu Laoer, you can go in. Next!"

Chen Xi moved a few steps to the front, and the yamen runners couldn't help but feel happy when they saw it.

"Okay, there's no need to check this, go in." The yamen runner who was sarcastic about Liu Laoer just now couldn't help but smile.

Liu Laoer had just walked a few steps, but after hearing this, he couldn't help but turn around and shouted, "Official, it's unfair, why don't he check it?"

There was a burst of laughter among the yamen runners. The yamen runner just replied with a smile: "You don't know this? This is Chen Xi, a famous little prodigy in Ninghua County this year. Don't look at others, you still have some friendship with our brothers in the first few years. Isn't it, the young master of the Shen family?"

Chen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying that he had a deep relationship with these yamen runners. In the past, when Han Xie was the magistrate, he went to the county yamen several times, and several of them were planted by him.

Liu Laoer said: "I know each other, but I have to search. Don't you know me too?"

"Go, you know what a fool. He is a kid and asks him to copy it. If he can pass, that's rare. If he doesn't leave, will I give you two plans or not?"

Liu Laoer walked inside in disappointment.

Chen Xi passed the gate and looked at both sides. It seemed that he was the only one who passed the gate without searching.

Chen Xi entered late. When he arrived at the Jiazi examination room, more than 20 people had sat down in the examination room that could sit around thirty people. The good places near the middle were occupied by people. Chen Xi could only sit on the side. He first calculated the direction of the wind and did not wait until it rained before the gusts of wind would wet the paper.

Not long after, all the candidates entered the venue.

Then the magistrate Ye Mingsu and the teaching officer of the School Office were the leaders of the magistrate.

Ninghua County is located in a remote area, and the school office has only one teacher and two instructors. It is not possible to rely on these three people to invigilate the exam. The yamen runners and the Liufang Literature Office also have to go into battle.

Ye Mingsu came in the door in court robes. After entering the venue, he looked around first, and finally passed the aisle and headed towards the main hall. Ye Mingsu, as the host of this county examination, was the one who took charge of the next few exams.

The students who were guaranteed for the candidates immediately entered the venue and went to the main hall to call and sing for the insurance.

Whenever the singer is singing, the candidate will go to the main hall to receive the paper. After Ye Mingsu checks that the candidate's description is consistent with the "personal offering", he will personally write the candidate's name on the candidate without objection to the guaranteed student.

When the candidate gets the paper, he can return to his seat and wait for the exam to begin.

It was Chen Xi's turn. When Chen Xi arrived in front of Ye Mingsu's desk, Ye Mingsu looked down, smiled and nodded, wrote Chen Xi's name on the test paper, handed over the paper, but seemed to encourage him: "Take a good exam."

Among all the candidates, only Chen Xi people can receive encouragement from the magistrate.

Chen Xi took the "paper" and added a stack of drafts, and almost a thick stack of papers returned to his seat. It was already dawn. As all the test papers were issued, the gate was closed and locked, and the first test for the county examination officially began.

ps: The tenth update! It is also an additional update for monthly tickets with a total of 690 tickets!

The emperor found that his limit was almost coming. When he wrote this chapter, his mind was already a little confused, but he still gritted his teeth to see if he could get out of two more chapters!

Continue to request subscription and monthly tickets! To be continued.
Chapter completed!