The first imperial examination the year before last year only tested three subjects: poetry, policy and calligraphy. It received a lot of dissatisfaction and criticism. The main reason was that the things that everyone had studied for more than ten years were not tested. It really dampened the enthusiasm of county schools and state schools. Chen Qing
In the end, I accepted everyone's opinions and took the test on five subjects this time, 'Classics, Theory, Policy, Literature, and Calligraphy'.
Sutra pasting means writing silently. Take a paragraph from the Four Books and Five Classics at random, and let the candidates fill in the blank lines in the middle. This is a test of the familiarity with the sutras. The theory is a thesis. Take a sentence from the classics of Confucius and Mencius and let the candidates fill in the blanks.
Scholars explained and discussed, mainly testing the understanding of scriptures, and then the other three subjects were the same as the previous year. The slight difference is that the literature subject does not necessarily test poetry, but may also test prose.
Basically all the scholars have guessed that this year will most likely be a prose test.
Because Chao Kun traveled all year round, his skin was very dark, he was strong and tall, and he wore a long sword at his waist. His swordsmanship was very good and he had been taught by experts.
"Brother, tell me more about your lessons! Which imperial examination lessons are more profound?"
"I only have two lessons. When handing out the examination paper, write down your name first, and then confirm your name. Don't wait until the end to confirm your name. If you are pressed for time at the end, you will forget it. I saw with my own eyes a scholar who suddenly fell to the ground crying after walking out of the examination room.
, I just forgot to mention my name. The second rule is that you must eat enough of the food provided in the examination room. I heard that this time the examination will take three days. The examination will be in the newly built room. If you don’t eat enough, you will be very uncomfortable at night and affect your sleep.
It will definitely affect the exam the next day."
Speaking of this, Chao Qing saw that his cousin was a little nervous, so he patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't be nervous, your talent and knowledge are better than mine. Go to the exam with a normal mentality and perform normally. If you can't get into the Jinshi, go to school."
Taixue, if you really can't do it, I'll find something for you to do, and you can still be an official."
"You can still become an official even if you don't pass the imperial examination?" Chao Kun asked in surprise.
"Your Nanyang cargo colonization theory is admired by the prince. If he establishes a shipping department, he may need talents like you."
Chao Kun said with a smile: "It seems that it will be beneficial for me to travel overseas."
"There are many people who go overseas, including businessmen and sailors, but there are absolutely not many scholars who have gone overseas. If you can speak a few other people's languages, then you are a talent among talents."
"Don't tell me, I can really understand a lot of Nanyang dialect, and I can also speak a few words. I stayed in Nanyang for more than half a year, and the businessmen asked me to translate. I originally wanted to go to Japan this year to experience the people there.
Due to human nature and customs, my father forced me to come back to take part in the imperial examination."
"So you didn't take the state test last fall?"
Chao Kun scratched his head, "When I signed up, I took a temporary exam and passed it, so I could sign up."
Chao Qing remembered that this was a new rule this year, mainly to give Hedong candidates a chance, so there was a temporary exam, which was relatively simple. If you passed the exam, it would be equivalent to taking the state exam.
"All right!"
Seeing that the time was almost up, Chao Qing raised his glass and said with a smile, "I wish you success in the exam and good grades!"
Chao Qing hurried back to the secretariat and happened to meet Chen Qing, Zhou Kuan and others who were coming back from outside.
Chao Qing saluted quickly, and Chen Qing smiled and said to Zhou Kuan: "Old Zhou, ask him yourself."
Zhou Kuan asked Chao Qingdao: "When we were having lunch, when we talked about overseas trade, the prince said that you have a brother who went to Nanyang and wrote an article about Nanyang trade. Is your brother in Jingzhao now?"
Such a coincidence, Chao Qing said quickly: "Reporting to Counselor Zhou, my brother came to Jingzhao to participate in the imperial examination this time. He is in Jingzhao now, and we had dinner together just now."
"Oh! He's going to take the imperial examination, so don't bother him for the time being. We'll wait until he finishes the imperial examination. I really want to know about the situation of overseas trade."
Chao Qing nodded, "When he finishes the exam, I will definitely bring him to visit Counselor Zhou."
Zhou Kuan laughed and said, "I welcome you anytime!"
Speaking of overseas trade, Chen Qing remembered something. He asked Chao Qingdao: "Has there been any letter from Zheng Dutong in the past few days?"
Chao Qing said quickly, "There was a letter the day before yesterday and it was placed on the prince's desk."
"It's strange, then why didn't I see it?"
Chao Qing thought for a while and said, "It's possible that it was buried under the stack of ultimatums yesterday."
"Then I'll go take a look."
Chen Qing quickly returned to his official room, and sure enough, he found a letter written by Zheng Ping under a pile of documents, but he didn't even see it.
He quickly opened the letter, and it was indeed the news he was expecting. The required hundreds of thousands of stone ships had arrived in Jiangling City.
Chen Qing immediately wrote a reply and told him that he would set off in ten days.
Three days later, the second imperial examination in Sichuan and Shaanxi officially began. The examination was held in the examination institute built last year. The examination institute was built outside the city and covered an area of 1,000 acres. It could accommodate up to 100,000 scholars to take the examination at the same time. It was the best in the world.
The largest examination hall occupies such a large area that carriages are required to travel inside.
The entire examination room is divided into ten districts: A, B, C, D, E, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui. Each candidate must first go to his own district and line up to enter the examination room. There are 42,000 candidates this time, so
Five districts were opened.
Chao Kun's exam number is Area C. In Area C alone, there are 10,000 people queuing up in ten lines. After being searched, you can enter, and then you can find your own examination area. There are twenty rows, and each row has more than 500 rooms.
House number, and then look for your own house number.
The scale is too huge. In fact, there were not so many candidates for the imperial examination in the capital. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 600 states, and each state recommended more than 20 people. Each imperial examination only had more than 10,000 people, and then Jinshi
A dozen people will be admitted at once, and then a few more people will be admitted to the economics department, and then to the arithmetic department, and so on.
Chen Qing wanted scholars to be attracted to Jingzhao, so there was no quota limit in each state. As a result, as long as he passed the state examination, he could come to Jingzhao to participate in the imperial examination, and there were subsidies for travel expenses back and forth as well as food and accommodation in Jingzhao.
Scholars didn't have to spend much money, so they were willing to travel at a low price. Even if they failed to pass the imperial examination, they could still make friends, learn more, and get some souvenirs back home. Each scholar was given a sheepskin when taking the exam.
You can take it away after the exam. A piece of sheepskin is worth several thousand dollars.
As the saying goes, come to the imperial examination happily and return home happily.
Chao Kun's exam number is No. 182, District 8, Examination Room C. It is a small room with only three square meters. Inside is a brick platform. You can lie down to sleep, sit up, and place a wooden board on both sides of the door.
The bricks are inlaid, and this is the table. The curtain must be drawn, and the patrol soldiers and examiners outside can monitor it at any time.
The room was not soundproof, and the chattering noises next door could be heard clearly, but these were not important anymore. The first exam bell had rang, the exam hall began to close the door, and the scholars were busy checking the exam supplies.
There are pens, ink, paper and inkstones, as well as candles, water cups, brown paper bags, bedding and other daily necessities. From now on, they will stay in the room for two nights and three days.
Some people say what a brown paper bag is for? It is actually used to put papers. After the exam, put the test papers of several exams in the brown paper bag, and then seal the brown paper bag, so as to prevent the papers from being scattered and lost.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The second round of bells rang, and the examiner began to hand out the test papers for the first subject. The first subject was Posted Scripture, and the questions were printed on the test paper. There were three questions in total. Chao Kun hurriedly looked at the first question.
"In ancient times, my ancestors only wanted to let the old people share the government. The king announced that Xiu should not hide his opinions. The king used Pi Qin; there were no rumors, and the people used Pi to change. Now you are so stubborn that you are in danger of losing your trust.
I don’t know that this is what I am suing for. It is not because of your own desolate virtues, but because you have virtues and are not wary of others. If I were to watch the fire, I would also be clumsy in my plans, so I would escape.”
Then there is a large blank space in the middle, and the end of the bottom is: "Everyone, I would like to say: from now to the next day, everyone will do your job respectfully, be equal to your position, and pay attention to your words. The punishment will be on your body, and you will not regret it."
Chao Kun nodded. This is the article "Pangeng Shang" in "Shangshu". It is not difficult. You must be able to recite it in the last year of primary school.
The second question was "Mencius" and the third question was "The Book of Songs". It was not difficult. Chao Kun felt calm and started to write his name carefully on the examination paper.
