On the eighth day of August, the Provincial Examination was about to begin. Li Jie had just finished dinner and went to his room to rest. The Provincial Examination stipulated that admission inspections would officially begin on the fourth day of the examination. If he did not go to bed early, he would not be able to cope with the exam the next day.
At midnight, Fang Yi came to Li Jie's room and knocked lightly on the door.
"Young Master, you have to get up and rush to Gongyuan, otherwise you may not be able to make it in time."
After hearing this, Li Jie opened his eyes and looked at the dark night outside. He couldn't help but sigh that the imperial examination was really not easy in ancient times. Since he started practicing martial arts, he had very little sleep every night. He only needed two hours. Other candidates are probably still dizzy now.
It’s time to rush to the examination room.
Hearing the commotion in the house, Fang Yi left to prepare for food. She knew that Li Jie had always had a big appetite, so it was not good to prepare less food. The weather in August was still a bit hot, so this time she prepared large cakes that were easy to store.
, full of materials, enough to be the size of a washbasin.
After Li Jie finished his meal, he carried the test box and went out. Lin Zhennan had been urging him for a long time. Before leaving, Mrs. Wang kept praying to gods and Buddhas in the sky, wishing Li Jie good results in the test.
In the carriage, Li Jie sat cross-legged and closed the door to meditate. Lin Zhennan saw this and did not disturb him. Gradually, the surroundings became more and more lively. The sound of horse hooves on the road became more and more intense. After walking for a while, the carriage stopped and the boy said.
"Master, Master, the front is blocked and we can't leave. We can only go to Gongyuan on foot.
Hearing this, Li Jie got out of the carriage carrying the examination box. The carriage was noisy and the horses were noisy. It was still nearly two miles away from Gongyuan, and the road was already blocked. From time to time, there were examination cases on the carriages in front and behind, and it was difficult to get off.
Seen from the sky, the lights on the ground are like a long dragon, dotted with stars, as bright as day. The closer you get, the louder the noise. A dense flow of people in front of the Gongyuan gathers in front of the Longmen, where candidates, government officials, and soldiers gather together.
In front of the gate of Gongyuan, there are gray-haired elderly Confucian scholars, young scholars in their prime, and young scholars like Li Jie. Their eager eyes are full of expectations, and they all hope that they will be ranked in the second list this time.
If you want to come to participate in the township examination, students from local governments, states, and counties must be among the top in the college examination to qualify for the township examination. Specifically, they must be among the top five in the first, second, and third classes in the examination to be eligible (a total of
Sixth grade), so not only students can participate in the rural examination, but everyone has to go through a fight before the rural examination, and only the winner is qualified to come to Gongyuan.
Li Jie first went to the supply officer to get some charcoal and candles. The candles were used to answer questions at night. If the three candles were burned out and still were not completed, he would be forced to take them out. The charcoal was mainly used to heat meals, but if it was February
If you know how to test, charcoal will be used for heating. The weather in Beijing is still very cold in February.
As a large-scale unified examination, the rural examination requires huge expenses. It can be said that everything costs money, including the construction of the Gongyuan buildings, the unit price of fruits and vegetables at the deer-calling banquet on the trail, and the labor wages of the men used.
Take the Shuntian Prefecture Township Examination during the Wanli Period as an example. According to historical records, the cost of one Shuntian Township Examination alone was as high as more than 6,600 taels (ps: based on the current average price of 3 yuan per kilogram of rice, corn during the Wanli Period was 0.64 taels per kilogram, and japonica rice was 1 kilogram).
Liang per stone, here calculated according to 1 tael of silver and 1 stone, equivalent to RMB=94.4*2*3*6600*=3738240, about more than 3.7 million). Generally speaking, the cost of the rural examination is paid by the local prefecture and county, so
Every rural examination will put a lot of pressure on local local finances. Fuzhou Prefecture is a relatively mature place, so these expenses are still within the tolerance range.
The Gongyuan is a three-entry courtyard with five couplets on each side of the gate, which is called the First Dragon Gate. There are three plaques hanging on it. The plaque at the east end reads "Ming Jing Scholars", and the middle one hangs "
"Open astronomical luck", and the west is "seeking talents for the country".
The time has reached the fourth watch. At this time, the gantry has been opened wide. The inspectors and search officers are ready. The candidates for the examination are being inspected and admitted one after another. The inspection of the provincial examination is more stringent. According to the regulations, the candidates can only
You are not allowed to bring in pens, inks, inkstones, and daily necessities. You are not allowed to bring in any scraps of paper or words. Once prohibited items are found, the candidates will be shackled.
The candidate's number plate contains three generations of ancestors and a general description of the candidate's appearance. If a candidate is found to be a fake candidate, the candidate will not be allowed to take the exam for life. In addition, the inspector will also check the examiners entering and leaving the examination room to prevent the examiners from taking advantage of their positions to collude.
Internal and external fraud, if the prosecutor's oversight leads to fraud, the prosecutor will be punished, so the inspection is particularly strict.
There were quite a few inspectors for the rural examination, and soon it was Li Jie's turn.
Although Li Jie had experienced inspection before, he was still a little uncomfortable with the inspection of the provincial examination. The items in the examination box were messed up by the inspector. According to the inspection officer's request, he had to take off his clothes, leaving only his underwear.
After a rigorous inspection on my body, I finally passed the test. The candidates around me breathed a sigh of relief. In their opinion, it was really insulting to politeness, but for the sake of fame, they had to endure it silently.
Li Jie tidied up for a while and entered the Gongyuan. What he saw was the second dragon gate. There were thousands of wooden houses built inside the gate. This was the examination room, which was specially used for candidates to answer papers and eat in the Gongyuan.
stay.
A three-story building stands quietly on the central axis, which is the Mingyuan Building. It is taken from the meaning of "Pursue your pursuit with caution in the end, and your virtue will be thick" in "The Great Learning". The ground floor is surrounded by doors, and the upper two floors are surrounded by doors on all sides.
From the window, you can have a panoramic view of Gongyuan from the upper floor, which plays the role of giving orders and directing the entire examination room.
I followed the number plate issued and found my examination room in the south. I looked around and saw that there were two 4-foot-long wooden boards in the room. During the daytime examination, the two wooden boards were placed on the upper and lower brackets to form a
A simple table and stool can be used as a wooden bed at night.
When you enter the examination room, you can clearly see the traces of recent renovations. You don't have to worry about leaks due to rain. Your examination room is located in the middle, far away from the toilet, so you don't have to worry about the smell.
After Li Jie entered the examination room, he first cleaned the examination room to remove the rotten smell, and then took out the things he would use today from the examination box and placed them on the case. Seeing that it was still early for the examination to start, he began to meditate and take a rest.
Yes, there were candidates entering the surrounding examination rooms from time to time. Those who were farther away and closer to the corner could faintly hear candidates complaining that they were assigned to a bad number.
Time passed and Li Jie opened his eyes again. It was already dark. Without a watch, he didn't know exactly how long it would be until the start. Plus he was a little hungry, so he simply took out the copper pot, added some water, put it on the charcoal and cooked something to eat.
After Li Jie finished eating, a short while later, the sound of drums sounded from upstairs in Mingyuan. This drum sound meant that all the candidates had entered and everything was ready, and the exam was about to begin.
Li Jie waited for the examination papers to be distributed. In the first round of the rural examination, there were three questions on the "Four Books", each of which was more than 200 words, and four questions on the meaning of the classics, each of which was more than 300 words. In the second round, one question was discussed, and five questions were judged.
Gao, choose one of the sections on internal medicine, and the discussion requires more than 300 words; the third section, five sections on economics, history, current affairs, and policy, is allowed to reduce two sections, but requires more than 300 words. However, for scholars who are interested in winning the first prize, it is definitely
Will write five lines in accordance with the regulations.