All the way to the county school, the crowd here was getting denser and denser. There were an endless stream of candidates, relatives taking the exams, and of course the security chiefs and armor chiefs from each township. Officers holding water and fire sticks guarded the county
At the school portal, each student must verify their identity and check their household registration. The security chief and chief A are always on standby to provide candidates with proof of identity.
However, the county examination is not formal, and it is naturally impossible to be foolproof, so no one searches the candidates. If it comes to the college examination, the township examination will be different. After all, the county examination is just a test, and there is no such effective test.
An insult to politeness.
Xu Shen couldn't help but be speechless when he saw this huge crowd of people. Although he was also a commander, the Xu family belonged to a humble family, and the children of the Xu family were not eligible to take the exam, so this was the first time he sent someone to take the exam. Hot
As soon as the energy passed, I felt dizzy.
Xu Qian, on the other hand, was calm and composed. There was still more than an hour before the exam started, so there was no need to rush into the examination room. He squinted at the many candidates who came to take the exam and found that he was still relatively young, even quite a few years old.
It's already past forty years, and I'm trying my luck with a kaolan looking like a poor man.
Xu Qian didn't know whether to laugh or feel sad. In fact, he knew that these people had long lost their ambitions for fame. They just wanted to pass the county examination and at least obtain the qualifications of being a child. In this way, a lifetime of hard study would not be considered a waste.
.
This is the charm of the imperial examination. No one has anything before he achieves fame. Everyone has spent countless efforts on this road, spending countless days and nights alone, just for this big gamble, and winning will
Change your life. From now on, you will be high up, the weak can be bossy, the lowly can be unattainable, the poor can become successful in one day, but once they fail, they will be doomed and all their hard work will be wasted.
Xu Qian was also a member of the army of people taking the exam, and he felt a lot in his heart, but at this time he only had one feeling: "Damn, there are so many people."
There were too many people. At least in Magistrate Su’s notes, he recorded the scene during his examination in the county. At that time, there were only thirty people taking the examination at the same time as him. But here, there were only thirty candidates within sight of Shan Xuqian.
That's more than two hundred.
This is what makes Xu Qian miserable. This is Qiantang, not a certain county in Luoyang. Not only is the population here several times that of there, but the number of scholars is several times higher than that of the population.
It seemed that there was no way to go on like this. Xu Qian saw more and more people. There was only one exam, but he couldn't make any mistakes, so he lost his last bit of calmness. He quickly grabbed the test blue and said to Xu Shen: "Squeeze in."
.”
Xu Shen also knew how to deal with the world, so he quickly said: "Just follow me."
After all, Xu Qian is the first scholar in the Xu family and the first candidate to take the exam. If Xu Shen, the uncle, is not willing to do his best, although Xu Chang and his son have been criticized by thousands of people in the old Xu family, there will still be people who poke fun at him.
His backbone, so he worked extra hard at this time, like a bull to clear the way for Xu Qian.
Xu Qian, under his cover, sprinted towards the gate of the county school with all his strength. At this time, any restraint or nonsense etiquette was damned.
Finally, he rushed to the gate of the county school. There were people cursing everywhere. Xu Qian didn't bother to pay attention. It turned out that the guards at the gate hated those who pushed and pushed forward the most. They were not polite to such people. They used water and fire sticks.
He stabbed it out directly, but a policeman recognized Xu Qian, knew that Xu Qian and the county magistrate often walked around, and also knew that Xu Qian was the son of the former squad leader Xu Chang, so he actually waved to him: "Here, here, come here
Come."
Blatantly going through the back door will usually attract the contempt of many people, but Xu Qian was secretly happy. He quickly stepped forward and bowed to the officer: "Ah, it's Uncle Liu. My nephew is polite."
The officer surnamed Liu laughed and said: "This is not a polite place. Have you brought your household registration? Where is the guarantor?"
Xu Qian handed over the household registration, and Xu Shen also got out and said: "I...I am the guarantor."
The officer surnamed Liu just glanced at Xu Qian's household registration and said to Xu Qian: "You go in first, your guarantor and I will handle the rest."
Xu Qian nodded quickly and ran in like flying.
"Sure enough, he is a snake and a rat. Isn't he a lowly servant? Can a lowly servant take the exam?"
"Not to mention his background, although he follows the right path and reads books from saints, he is opportunistic and takes this heresy, which is really a disgrace to his politeness."
The people on the side yelled and cursed, which made the officer surnamed Liu angry. Seeing that the scholars who cursed looked poor, they shouted: "Don't make any noise. The county magistrate has given an order, and those who make noises will be beaten away."
, will not be allowed to take the exam.”
At this moment, everyone felt settled.
Xu Qian entered the county school, but it was only the first pass. Further ahead, there were archways and ceremonial gates. There was also a queue at the end of the ceremonial gate. There were scribes who recorded the records behind the long copywriting.
The name, place of origin and age of each candidate.
The person in front of Xu Qian was an old guy in his forties. He was hunched over and holding a worn-out test blue. He looked very unconfident. He looked around, looked back at Xu Qian, blew his beard and glared. Xu Qian didn't know.
Is he jealous of his youth?
Thinking that youth is actually capital, Xu Qian couldn't help but feel intoxicated.
As the candidates passed one by one, the old student in front of Xu Qian stepped forward. The person asked him his name, and he answered them one by one. Then he asked his age. He shook his head and said: "There are seven students in their twenties."
Seven out of twenty...
The scribe stared at him doubtfully and said, "I think you are only 70 to 40."
The old student shook his head and said: "It's really nonsense. Students are scholars, how can they deceive you? It is indeed twenty-seven."
The scribe just smiled coldly at him, lowered his head and wrote: "I am thirty-five years old."
Lao Sheng's cunning eyes glanced quickly, and then he pretended not to see anything. When the clerk issued the number, he walked briskly.
When it was Xu Qian's turn, he was still the same as the old student. When asked about his age, Xu Qian said sincerely: "The student is only nine years old."
"Ah... how old you are at nine years old? Oh, yes, you are the son of Team Leader Xu? Ahem..." The clerk looked at Xu Qian with a half-smile, but he wrote with a pen: "I should be seven years old."
.”
Xu Qian was originally twelve years old, but he falsely reported that he was nine years old. However, due to human kindness, he was shortened by two years.
But don't underestimate your age. For example, that old man with eight feet of thick skin obviously looks at least forty years old, but he dares to say "twenty seven".
In fact, there is an unspoken rule here. You need to report your age to the county school. After reporting, if you pass the county examination, many future examinations will use this age as the standard. For example, in the first year of Jiajing, you applied for
If you pass the exam at the age of ten, if you pass the exam five years later, you will be a candidate at the age of fifteen.
There are also many benefits to being young. For example, if Xu Qian can pass three tests in a row and become a scholar this time, I am afraid that he will be the youngest scholar in Qiantang County. If he wins the Jinshi in the future, older people will be considered successful.
Better than you, but because of their old age, most of the officials will feel that they have nothing to do, and most of them will be dismissed casually. And if they are young, they will become the object of everyone's attention, and there will be many big bosses secretly supporting them in the future.
When you get old, the emperor can't bear to see you old and wants to ask you to serve as an official and return to your hometown. But when he looks at your qualifications, damn, although official Xu seems to be in his seventies at first glance, it turns out that he is only in his fifties.
It turns out that he worked too hard on state affairs. How could such a person return to his hometown? Naturally, he had to be reused.
After taking over the number plate, Xu Qian felt very comfortable. This was a great advantage. As long as he won the scholarship this time, there would not be many children of his own age in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
He took his number plate and went to the examination booth. He saw Magistrate Su leading the county magistrate, the chief registrar, and the county school's students with their hands behind their backs. Many candidates bowed to him, but he just nodded lightly.
, with a few words of encouragement, Xu Qian also stepped forward, bowed and said: "Sir, students are polite."
Magistrate Su narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a cold face: "Take the exam seriously, it is useless to take advantage of others."
Xu Qian felt aggrieved. Before he could reply, Magistrate Su had already led a group of people to inspect elsewhere.
The good mood just now was suddenly wiped away. Xu Qian touched his nose and thought about Magistrate Su's intentions. Then he shook his head. There seemed to be nothing he could do except take the exam well.