It was the sixth day of the second lunar month in the eleventh year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.
This day was an ordinary day in Chinese history, but it was also on this day that Zhu Hao, who was determined to change the times, entered the imperial examination room for the first time.
Candidates waiting for admission early in the morning formed a long queue outside Gongyuan.
Yuan Rulin and Zhu Hao came together.
It was just dawn, the Gongyuan was not open, and the candidates had already gathered.
"Except for temple fairs, I have never seen so many people together. I guess there are more people than at the market, right?" Zhu Hao was in a very relaxed mood. He looked around and said in a child's tone.
For Zhu Hao, this was just an experience in life. He had no ambition to win the first prize or anything like that. After all, he was guarding Prince Xing's Mansion... He could climb to a high position by training Zhu Houcong, so why did he have to take the imperial examination route?
Moreover, with his insights and talents, he is equivalent to a postdoctoral fellow taking an elementary school entrance examination. Although there are many factors outside the examination room, in terms of writing essays, he still has an advantage, right?
Yuan Rulin seemed very nervous. He was not sure about taking the county examination for the first time. More importantly, his family had high hopes for him. If he failed this time but Zhu Hao passed...
How will you hold your head high and behave like a human being in the future?
"There are so many people."
Yuan Rulin followed up with a comment.
Zhu Hao stood on tiptoes and looked in front of him, and then behind him. The team stretched out about two streets, and the people ranged from 12 or 13 years old to 30 or 40 years old. Some people in their 50s and 60s had not passed the county examination.
...not much.
After all, the county examination is just a preliminary examination in the children's examination. Generally speaking, as long as you can write well, understand the meaning and theory of the classics, and can write eight-part essays, you can pass.
If you fail once, you can pass the test several times.
But when it comes to taking the academy examination, not to mention those in their fifties or sixties, there are people in their seventies or eighties who take part. Because if you pass the academy examination, you become a student and officially enter the ranks of the "gentry", which is called having fame. For many
For scholars, that is a lifelong pursuit.
Perhaps because the threshold for taking the county exam is low, many people think that they can pass it by taking the exam. As a result, there are so many people taking the county exam, and their levels are uneven.
"Guan Guan Jujiu is in Hezhizhou..."
A young man in his twenties in the team next to him was actually reciting the Book of Songs loudly.
Zhu Hao reminded with a smile: "Brother, today's test of the four essays is for you. Why are you memorizing that thing? Once you have written the four essays and passed the test, you don't have to worry about the follow-up."
The young man glared at Zhu Hao with disdain on his face: "How dare a naughty boy come to take part in the county examination without even memorizing the Five Classics? It's ridiculous... A gentle lady and a gentleman are so jealous..."
Zhu Hao turned his head and couldn't bear to look directly.
Isn't this guy a nerd? Or maybe he's a nymphomaniac? Do you really think that Yan Ruyu is in the book? Or is it because your family promised that as long as you pass the county examination, you will get a beautiful wife and concubine?
Look at what you are reading!
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The sound of gongs was heard from the front, but people from the county government came out to help maintain order, and the Gongyuan was officially opened. All candidates entered in order with the examination room number they received when they registered.
…
…
The gate of the camp.
It was originally a place for routine inspections, but because there were so many candidates, no one really checked it carefully.
But when the government officials see those young gentlemen with nervous expressions and luxurious clothes, they know that they are afraid of making a fool of themselves in front of others, so they will deliberately make things difficult, because these people usually carry small pieces of money with them, and they can only give it away obediently.
Reward money in order to successfully pass the test.
There are also those who are unwilling to pay, and the yamen officials will just rummage around, especially the test basket that comes with it, which contains water, straw paper, pen and ink, etc., which will be the focus of attention.
The rest of the people are waiting and will not be disturbed at all.
Yuan Rulin and Zhu Hao were preparing to enter the examination hall before the "D" examination room. The two Yamen officials took a look at Yuan Rulin and Zhu Hao, who were dressed in gorgeous clothes. There was a narrow look on their faces, but they did not show any embarrassment.
"go in!"
The official's tone was not kind, but he didn't take action.
Zhu Hao and Yuan Rulin were about to enter when they heard the nerd who was reciting the Book of Songs shouting and scolding from the side: "...touch me and try it! Do you believe I will beat you up?"
Taking part in the imperial examination is like having a fight. Some of the candidates around you shake your head and some sneer.
There were originally only two government officials in that row. When they heard the noise, they rushed over immediately. They worked together to knock the nerd to the ground, and one of them picked out his body and licked him all over.
"Wow, yeah, yeah...how unreasonable, so presumptuous..."
The nerd's neck was pushed to the ground, and he turned his head to the side and couldn't stop shouting.
People around know that this is called killing a chicken to scare the monkeys. Picking an ignorant person and punishing them can not only make some money, but also warn those with evil intentions to prevent them from entering the examination room and causing trouble.
The matter was none of their own. Yuan Rulin and Zhu Hao had already passed the gate inspection and had no intention of staying to watch the excitement.
The two entered the examination room in order.
The examination sheds are arranged in rows, with thirty examination rooms in one row and two rows directly opposite, a total of sixty, which is called a Jiazi.
In other words, there are a total of sixty candidates in the T-shaped examination booth.
According to Zhu Hao's estimate, there should be eight to nine hundred candidates entering the venue that day. Based on the county's past experience, about forty people will be admitted at a time, which is almost one out of twenty.
It seems that the probability of admission is not high, but many of them are just trying to make up for their numbers. Let alone writing articles, it is difficult for them to memorize the four books of Mo. There are only three or four hundred people who are really capable of competing for these forty places. With three
Calculating the two annual exams, it will basically take more than ten years to pass.
Of course, the level of candidates in each session is uneven. In whichever session has higher teaching quality, there will be situations where classmates take the exam together. For example, if a famous teacher takes the private school students to take the county exam together, they will have no problem passing... but for those who
People with relatively average abilities will face huge challenges.
The advantage of a famous teacher is that in addition to teaching the basic Four Books and Five Classics and their meanings, they will also teach students how to write orthodox eight-legged essays.
Candidates from systematic education have a tendency to be crushed.
This is the difference between a person with a professional background and someone with a wild background.
In this case, as the imperial examination progresses, the gap will gradually narrow after the government examination, and the college examination, and it will eventually become a competition of talent and learning.
And when it comes to the provincial examination...
Sometimes it doesn't matter how talented you are.
…
…
Sitting down, Zhu Hao put the left and right door panels together.
The short wooden board was used as a stool and the tall wooden board was used as a table. Zhu Hao sat on it and tried it out. It was quite stable.
In the exam before the provincial examination, there is no custom of giving candles, that is to say, the exam ends on the same day, and the papers will be automatically collected before nightfall. If you are late, you will not wait, and you cannot stay in the examination room overnight.
If the test contains a lot of content, it will be divided into sessions.
For example, the county examination is divided into two main sessions: the main examination and the re-examination. As long as the four essays in the main examination are passed, the county examination will be considered passed. The subsequent re-examination will only test the five scriptures and policy theory, which is of little significance.
There is an advantage to taking the county examination in Anlu. This is the examination room for future government examinations and college examinations. The scientific examinations for high school students and annual examinations will also be held here. The examination sheds are extremely neatly built.
If you take the county examination in a county under its jurisdiction, such as Jingshan County, Anlu Prefecture, the conditions will be much more difficult than here.
Many test sheds are temporarily built and leak when it rains, making it very difficult to do well in the test.
This is why county examinations, government examinations and other examinations are all held in the beginning of spring every year. There are less rainy days in the beginning of spring and it is a bit colder, but the examinations will basically not be affected by sudden weather changes.
If it really rains that day, the exam can be postponed.
The county examination examiner was originally a local magistrate or prefecture magistrate, but because Kuang Yangming, the magistrate of Anlu Prefecture, was about to step down, he might have wanted to make some political capital before leaving, and because Jing Zhongkuan, the magistrate of Changshou County, had just resigned, there was a vacancy in the county magistrate.
The county examination and the prefecture examination were conducted consecutively, so the county's questions were also decided by Kuang Zhizhou.
However, Kuang Yangming did not participate in the invigilation. The invigilation meeting was completed by the local Xuezheng, Jiaozheng, and Discipline. Xuezheng was the deputy examiner but the main invigilator. As for the marking work, it was completed by old Confucian students invited from surrounding counties. Three people
For evaluation, each person basically chooses about 60 test papers. Generally, one test paper must have excellent comments from two old Confucian students before it can enter the final competition.
In the end, the examiner selects the "shortlisted" papers for the best exams and issues a long list of candidates' names to determine the admission ranking.
The test papers are named after the examination, but the papers are not transcribed, that is, the original papers are used for assessment.
Only when you go to the hospital examination will you add the lake name and copy the paper. In many cases, even this step is omitted in the hospital examination, and it will be so formal only in the provincial examination.
The imperial system is one thing. Local governments have limited financial and material resources, and most of them are simple. No one can find faults with it.
…
…
The exam is about to begin.
There were many candidates, and the imperial examination in the middle of the Ming Dynasty was much simpler than that in later years. Candidates who were married to each other only needed to pass the exam without having to vote for it.
But before the exam, the preceptor meeting of the Confucian Education Office of the county will go to the exam booth to check the acknowledgments and mutual pledges of the candidates, which is equivalent to checking the admission ticket to determine whether the candidates will take the exam in person, in case there is a substitute for the exam.
.
After checking here, it will be cured immediately.
Changshou County has always been the capital of the state, and the examination papers used... that is, the paper on which articles are written, are made of excellent materials.
Two four-book essays, using two papers, are glued together on one side when they are handed out. There is a place on the edge of the first page to write the candidate's name, three-generation resume, acknowledgment, and mutual ties.
Except for the positions within the sealing line, only vertical grid lines are drawn on the outside, without dividing into fine grids. There are twelve columns in total. The orthodox four-script text is generally between three and four hundred words, and each column requires about three crosses. The paper
If it is larger, there is no need to write it in regular script. A slightly larger character can be accommodated, but it must be in regular script.
For the convenience of marking, the pages of an article are not turned.
The examination paper is thick. The paper used for ordinary drawings is basically three layers of rice paper pressed together, but the examination paper used in this county's examination paper is pressed with more than four layers of rice paper. This is to prevent the ink from penetrating the back of the paper when writing the paper.
Scratch paper is not provided, you need to bring your own.
After the papers were handed out, Zhu Hao listed the names and started waiting for the questions.
The questions will not be printed on the examination paper, but will be listed on examination cards in the examination room. Wooden signs will patrol the examination room. Each examination room will have a question card.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I wish you good health, good luck and happiness during the Dragon Boat Festival!