Chapter 90 (Seeking further study) County Examination (Part 1)
The eleventh year of the Apocalypse, February 10th.
Chen Ping has been in this world for more than four years and will be twelve years old in half a year.
Today is the day when the county examination starts.
It was just after the fourth watch and still before dawn. In an inn in the city, Li Yang was checking the examination items of three people to prevent any omissions.
And once again emphasized the precautions related to the exam and urged them to concentrate.
Chen Ping and the others didn't mind Li Yang's verbosity. They all knew that this was the teacher's care and they all nodded in agreement.
More than half an hour later, the three of them walked out of the inn, got on Li Yang's carriage, and headed straight to the examination shed.
When they arrived, there was already a sea of people outside the examination booth.
I saw a mahogany courtyard standing in front of me, Liang Yu was wide, sitting north and facing south.
At the far south of the examination shed are the east and west gates, which are surrounded by wooden fences. To the north is the main gate, also called the dragon gate.
Only by jumping over the dragon gate can they truly enter the imperial examination.
The outside of the north gate was originally quite open and could accommodate a hundred people, but now it was crowded.
The horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts taking the examination, the escorting relatives and friends, the common people joining in the fun, and even the maids and servants of each family are all crowded here.
Some parents are holding their children's hands and exhorting them ardently, some students are leaning against the teacher with their heads sweating, and the cadres are shouting loudly in front to maintain order.
"There are too many people, let's go to the front and check the seats!" He Qingxuan shouted loudly.
Chen Ping and Ye Chongwen hugged the test basket, replied loudly, and then followed the group of people to squeeze in.
After finally squeezing to the front, I saw several huge notice boards with the names of the candidates written on them, usually in groups of fifty.
There is a race against time in the examination room, and no one wants to waste time looking for a seat, so the location is clearly marked on this notice board.
Chen Ping looked down from the top and saw at a glance that his name was next to Ye Chongwen, He Qingxuan and two other students from Huating Academy.
"Here!" He pointed directly in the direction to the right, "A-character examination room!"
"Okay!"
Ye Chongwen also saw it and hurriedly wrote down his location to avoid making mistakes when entering.
There were too many people in front of the notice board. Chen Ping was so crowded that he was sweating hotly, but he kept the test basket firmly in front of his chest.
Don’t throw this thing away!
There are not only stationery and food here, but also his household registration and identity certificate.
Without this thing, I can’t even enter the examination room.
The imperial examination system is extremely harsh. If you make the wrong mistake, your future will be ruined. You must be prepared for it.
After a while, a loud noise suddenly came from the front.
The Yamen official shouted in a deep voice: "The county examination is about to start. Anyone who has nothing to do with it should leave quickly! Don't make any noise or cause trouble!"
"Open the door!!"
I saw the dragon gate slowly opening, revealing the empty courtyard behind.
To the north of the courtyard, three halls are immediately visible, with seats arranged neatly and of equal size.
That is the real county examination examination room.
Candidates immediately rushed in.
The junior official stepped out of the examination room and glanced at everyone with sharp eyes, "How can there be any noise in the examination room? There is no silence!"
The noisy scene was instantly suppressed.
Then he turned around and bowed respectfully to the back, "Sir, the time has come."
The new county magistrate slowly walked out of the inner hall.
This is the person sent by the imperial court to replace Huang Laosan. The new county magistrate's surname is Wu.
Magistrate Wu held a roll call, which recorded each candidate's place of origin, family background, appearance, and even information on whether three generations of his ancestors had committed crimes.
Magistrate Wu looked serious and said to everyone in a serious manner: "Today the county examination is about to begin. I hope you and others will abide by the truth and concentrate on the examination. Once you enter the examination room, you must not be distracted."
"When I read the candidates' names, they came forward."
The courtyard of the examination room was crowded with people, but they didn’t dare to leave the atmosphere.
After a while, Magistrate Wu’s hoarse voice came.
"Zheng Bo, Qi Heng, Wang Dafu, Liu Chengqun, Bai Yuanzhu..."
The student who was called hurriedly said "come" and walked forward to receive the answer sheet.
The answer paper is called a "test paper" or "paper". It is a folded thick paper with red lines printed on the inside. The name column on the cover needs to be filled in with so-and-so.
Before entering the examination room, there will be clerks on site to conduct an inventory and search. The items and clothes brought by the candidates will be carefully checked to prevent entrapment. They will be released only after they are confirmed to be correct.
Soon Chen Ping and his team arrived.
When County Magistrate Wu read Chen Ping's name, he was slightly stunned.
Maybe you came to Yongshun County and heard about this child prodigy who once prepared to participate in the Boy Examination, but was later canceled.
He couldn't help but take a few more glances and said, "The identity is correct, let's come in."
Chen Ping glanced at the people around him, picked up the test basket and walked in with doubts.
After verifying their identities and conducting interrogation and inspection, all the candidates have entered the venue and taken their seats.
Magistrate Wu personally went to the gate to lock and seal it. Only the magistrate and necessary examination personnel were left at the scene. Everyone was waiting for the examination questions to be announced.
The seats in the examination room are far apart, and there are two tables next to the examiner's seat.
This is to ensure the fairness of the examination. In addition to the chief examiner, there will be two additional deputy examiners, one of whom is an observer sent by the imperial court.
After Chen Ping took his seat, he took a serious look at the answer sheets of this era.
In fact, it is similar to modern times. One side of the red line has the name and age printed on it, and the other side is the place to answer.
However, the content of the exams in the same examination room are different. The test questions for those who have not yet passed the exam are different from those for those who have achieved the exam.
The three of them, Chen Ping and Chen Ping, are not yet in the first grade, so they will get the unqualified essay questions.
There are five county examinations in total, one per day.
Start with the first game, and after the first game, you will enter the second, third, and even the fourth or fifth consecutive games.
Only those who can persist to the end will be qualified to compete for the imperial examination.
The content of the examination is nothing more than four essays, test poems, or classics, verses, etc., and the difficulty will increase step by step.
The title of this chapter should come from the Four Books, mainly to clarify the meaning of the scriptures, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Chen Ping adjusted his sitting posture, took out his pen and ink, and prepared it by grinding the ink.
Every moment.
Magistrate Wu scanned the room full of candidates and took out the first test question from the table.
When everyone saw this, their breathing was slightly suffocated and their eyes were burning.
Chen Ping concentrated on it, fearing that he would miss something, and gently ran his fingers over the edge of the draft paper.
I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
The deputy examiner took the test questions and stood up, handing them out one by one.
Chen Ping took the test questions with both hands and opened them.
"If it's violent in one day and cold in ten days, no one can survive."
This is from "Mencius Gaozi 1" and is a famous sentence.
Its meaning is very wide-ranging, that is, half-hearted and double-minded, with the intention of starting at the beginning but ending at the end.
Chen Ping was determined, but he did not write lightly.
It is easy to explain, but to solve the problem, you need to elaborate and express your opinions, and you need to try writing it on the draft paper first, and then copy it to the answer sheet when you feel it is stable.
Chen Ping looks calm, and his handwriting is upright and elegant, and every word is written leisurely.
An hour later, many candidates stopped writing one after another.
Then I saw an examiner standing up, holding a red ink pad, and personally stamping the bottom of everyone’s answers.
This is to know how fast the candidate answers the question. If the answer is stamped without writing a word, no matter how well written the answer is, there will be suspicion of cheating in the exam.
As soon as Chen time passed, the second question was also handed out.
"As for matters related to the ancestral temple, if you agree with me, Duan Zhangfu, I would like to be the junior prime minister."
Although this sentence is not common, those who are familiar with "The Analects of Confucius" will surely know why.
This article comes from "Zi Lu, Zeng Xi, Ran You, and Gong Xihua Sitting". The original meaning is probably the work of offering sacrifices in the ancestral temple, or when the princes gather for alliance and meet the emperor, I am willing to put on my dress and hat to be a small master of ceremony
.
In fact, it is also describing his ambition, which is not difficult to understand.
Chen Ping finished his questions in an orderly manner at noon and also had lunch.
Although the pie he brought was broken open during the entrance inspection, the dried meat was spicy and appetizing, and it still tasted good.