The Rites Yamen has been completely surrounded, and the students are shouting with indignation.

"Why are the candles in Gongyuan banned?"

"We have been living in poverty for more than ten years, and we only wanted to be named on the gold list for one day. What is the reason for this harm to us?"

"There are traitors and traitors in the court, there are traitors and traitors!"

"Look, that's Mr. Kuang, the Minister of Rites. Please ask Mr. Kuang to make the decision and go to the Holy Spirit to express your love!"

As soon as Kuang Ye appeared, he was surrounded by a group of students, and looking at the situation, it was difficult to give up.

"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!"

Everyone is still talking a lot, wishing they could rush to the Fengtian Palace now and gather together to Qingjun's side!

Nowadays, it is difficult for scholars to mix, because more and more people are reading and literate. In any industry, as soon as there are more people, it will start to get complicated.

Scholars in the past were so noble. Even if you didn't have any fame, when others heard that you were a scholar, their attitude immediately became respectful.

It's better now. There is a school every three steps, and a junior high school every five steps. A brick falling from the sky can hit several scholars.

Now that everyone has started studying, it is even more difficult to get ahead.

Gathered here today are the leading scholars from across the country, who can be said to be the most intelligent group of scholars. They are about to enter the court and become the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty.

What determines everyone's fate is the coming spring.

If you can get into the top three of the first class, it will be no problem to join the cabinet and become the prime minister in the future.

Even if you are a second-class person, you still have the opportunity to enter the Hanlin Academy, become a sage, and in the future, you will hold important positions in the six ministries and nine ministers, or be decentralized to local areas, and become a prefect or something.

Even if he is in the top three, he is at least a county magistrate.

However, at this juncture, I actually heard that someone was making a fuss about Gongyuan and banning fire candles. Is this okay?

Who will be responsible for delaying our exam?

This is a life-long decision, and all of you would like to peel off the skin and bones of the person who made this decision to relieve the hatred in your heart.

"Everyone, be quiet and listen to me first!"

Kuang Ye shouted hard, and finally, the noise around him slowly calmed down.

"The lighting issue in Gongyuan has been resolved. I promise that no one will make things difficult for everyone. Stop gathering together and go back to prepare for the exam!"

After everyone heard this, they were not in a hurry to leave, but all looked suspicious.

Yesterday you said there was nothing you could do, but it will be solved today?

Is it really solved or fake solved?

Isn't it the imperial court's plan to delay the war...

"Master Kuang, Xu Pu, a student in Xianan Zhili, would like to ask a few words on behalf of all my classmates."

A young student stepped forward and saluted Kuang Ye.

Seeing this man's polite appearance, Kuang Ye nodded and said, "Please tell me if you have anything to say."

Xu Pu said: "The Gongyuan is still closed. We have not seen anyone entering with a large amount of supplies. I wonder how the solution was solved as Master Kuang said?"

There are 9,000 examination booths in the Gongyuan. If the materials were approved by the imperial court, it would be impossible for just one or two people to bring them in. There must be a large number of people transporting them.

Kuang Ye said immediately: "You are right, it has not been solved yet, but the emperor has made arrangements. Within three days, the Academy of Sciences will solve the lighting problem of the Gongyuan. If there is no movement after three days, you will The yamen of the Ministry of Rites has been demolished, can this be the case?"

Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you, with uncertainty in their eyes.

There are only five days left until spring, and they are in such a hurry that they can't afford to delay even one day.

"Okay, let's wait outside the Gongyuan!"

Xu Pu is a sensible person, because he noticed that Kuang Ye mentioned the emperor just now.

Since it was arranged by the emperor, there shouldn't be any problems.

Seeing that someone was taking the lead, the others stopped entangled, and followed Xu Pu to leave, walking through the streets and alleys, and came to Gongyuan.

Then, they saw an incredible scene.

Groups of carriages arrived carrying large amounts of supplies, but it was not candles or lamp oil, but...iron pots!

That’s right, it’s an iron pot for cooking!

People from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division were dispatched to help the people from the Academy of Sciences transport the iron pots.

Xu Pu couldn't help but grabbed a person and asked: "Brother, may I ask... what are you doing?"

"Install the lights!"

"What is an electric light...?"

"The electric light is...Hey, I can't explain it at the moment. Are you students preparing for exams?"

Xu Pu nodded quickly and said: "Exactly!"

"That's it, you'll find out when you start the exam."

The man didn't explain much. After he finished speaking, he went back to continue his work.

Xu Pu looked puzzled, as did everyone else.

Electric light, what the hell?

"In my opinion, it must be a new gadget devised by the imperial court to prevent fire. It seems that we are going to be tricked again!"

"Everyone has seen what they brought in, an iron pot! Who has ever heard that an iron pot can be used as a candle?"

"No, we have to go to the palace to petition. It will be too late when something happens!"

Everyone started to get ready to make a move, but Xu Pu held back, waved his hand and said: "Kuang Shangshu has already said that it is the emperor's will. We don't know the truth now, so we should wait a little longer!"

Everyone calmed down now, because Xu Pu had already reminded him that it was the emperor's will!

The imperial court is already making rectifications, and it is an imperial decree. If I go to petition now, is it to resist the decree?

Everyone present was smart. After thinking about this, they all shut up.

"Well, wait and see!"

"That's right, it's only three days, it's not like we can't wait."

"After three days, if there is no movement, we will go to the imperial court to file a complaint."

"exactly……"

People from the Academy of Sciences were busy moving all the newly developed simple steam engine furnaces here.

However, it was still not enough, so he ordered people to rush through the night to make it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ready-made iron pots that can be used with just a few modifications.

Copper wire is easy to handle, there is plenty of it in the warehouse.

The glass lampshade was customized from the Xishan Glass Factory. After receiving the imperial edict, the glass factory dared not neglect, so all the staff stopped what they were doing and rushed to make the lampshade.

Carbonized bamboo silk is easier to handle and can be fired in two hours.

These equipment and parts were successively transported to Gongyuan, and then began the intense assembly work.

Fortunately, the difficulty of electric lamps is not high. As long as you master the principles, it is not difficult to assemble them.

The Academy of Sciences worked overtime and overnight, and finally installed electric lights on all the examination booths on the third day.

There are 2,500 lamps in total, one for every four examination studios. It is brighter than oil lamps and candles.

The students who were guarding outside the Gongyuan were surprised to find that the entire Gongyuan was brightly lit at night!

They finally breathed a sigh of relief. There were only two days left to rest and prepare for the exam.

In the 19th year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Jiaxu Science Examination took place.

Xu Pu took the number plate and walked into the Gongyuan.

Directly in front is the gate with five couplets, and a black-lettered plaque "Gongyuan" hangs in the middle. There are three archways in front of the gate. The east arch is called "Ming Jing Qi Shi", the west arch is called "Seeking talents for the country", and the middle one is "Tiankai".

Literary destiny".

A high wall is built around it, and there are doors in the east, west, north and south, called brick doors.

Additional buildings such as roll call hall, guard hall, and surveillance hall were built in the east and west brick gates respectively.

The north and south brick gates are the court halls, living rooms, and places for printing, engraving, recording, receiving books, sealing, etc. for officials such as examiners and censors.

There are also watchtowers at the four corners of the courtyard, which are used to monitor the inside and outside of the Gongyuan to avoid cheating.

Every candidate who comes in must be searched to make sure there are no cheating items before they are released.

Xu Pu looked at the number plate in his hand and found the corresponding examination booth.

We call it an examination shed because...it's just a shed!

A total of nine thousand examination booths are arranged vertically and horizontally, which is quite spectacular when you look at it.

Each examination booth can only accommodate one person. After the candidates sit in, there is only a wooden board in front of them, which can be used as a table and for writing, and can also be moved down and used as a bed to sleep at night.
To be continued...