The seventh day of March was the day when scientific examinations were unified across the Song Dynasty. Since this examination was to make up for the autumn examination that was suspended last year, the following month was the upcoming provincial examination and spring examination, so the time
It seemed more rushed, which inadvertently added a more tense atmosphere to the people in the world.
The examination room of Jingxi East Road is located in Gongyuan, Rendian Street, on the left side of Bianliang City. This is also the examination room of the provincial examination. If there is any advantage for being on Jingxi East Road, it is that you can
Adapt to the examination room of the provincial examination in advance, but the prerequisite is that you must pass the understanding test.
As early as more than ten days ago, the students from the entire east and west roads of Beijing, including Kaifeng Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Jeju, Yunzhou, Caozhou, Xuzhou, Shanzhou, Puzhou, Gunzhou and other places, had arrived in the capital one after another.
, the reference number is as high as more than 8,000 people, and the admission quota issued by the Ministry of Rites is only 270 people on the East and West Road of Beijing. The admission ratio is close to 30:1. It can really be said that thousands of troops are crossing the single-plank bridge.
One can imagine how fierce the competition is.
Su Jin went to bed very early last night and got up as soon as it was dawn. After exercising and taking a shower early, he had breakfast, and with the attention of everyone, he put on the moon-white gown, square hat and other official attire issued by the Gongyuan. Of course,
I will never forget to hang the big three yuan jade pendant in a conspicuous position on my belt.
Xiao Sui'er directed the servants to pack the quilts, food boxes, changes of underwear, water bottles and other items into a large backpack-style test basket, loaded them into the carriage, and inspected them carefully before taking the photo with satisfaction.
Clap your hands, don’t dare to delay, go early to get your residence number, there are too many people and you don’t know how long you will be delayed.[
Several people took two carriages and went straight to Gongyuan. The closer they got to Gongyuan, the more people flowed. The disciples gathered at Gongyuan Square from various inns. Su Jin opened the curtain and watched these people hurriedly carrying examination baskets on their backs.
The candidates in the exams lamented in their hearts that this imperial examination was the starting point for young people in this era to pursue their dreams; after ten years of hard study, one could become famous all over the world; this is very similar to the college entrance examination in later generations.
What surprised Su Jin was that there were many hunched old men on the road, with thick eyebrows and beards, and wrinkles on their faces crisscrossing like ravines on a high loess slope.
The exam basket is walking alone, and it is painful to watch.
Before the carriage arrived at Gongyuan Square, they heard loud voices in front of them. From a distance, it could be seen that the square was crowded with people. The carriage could not enter the square at all. Everyone had no choice but to get out of the carriage outside. Su Jin ordered Xiao Zhuzi
Waiting here with the two coachmen, I walked toward the square with Xiao Sui'er and Rou Niang Huan Niang.
Walking into the square, I saw people of all shapes and sizes, tall, short, fat, thin, old and young, gathered in circles and chatting loudly. Everyone's expressions were also different, some were uneasy, some were confident, some were laughing and cheering, and some were taciturn.
Small merchants and hawkers were also shuttled among the crowd, treating this place as a market, hoping to make a few small profits. Unfortunately, they had already prepared everything when they arrived, and the business was not very good.
Su Jin brought three beautiful women to the square and immediately attracted a lot of attention. Some people thought that Su Jin was a playboy. He even brought the women here to take the exam. It was obvious that he was a wealthy Yameni son.
It was just a formality; some people were so envious that they secretly vowed that they would go to high school and then marry several concubines more beautiful than these three women, and take them everywhere with them.
Su Jin didn't care what everyone thought of him. He was turning around to look for Wang Anshi and others. There were too many people here, blocking his view and unable to see Wang Anshi and others. When he was panicking, he heard someone shouting from the east.
: "Brother Su Xian, we are over here."
Su Jin turned around and looked. On a dismounting stone at the east end of the square, a man was standing on the top of the stone waving to him. Upon closer inspection, it was Wang Anshi.
Su Jin quickly waved in response and led his people to squeeze in and meet Wang Anshi. There were hundreds of graduates from Yingtian Academy gathered there. Most people knew Su Jin. He was a famous figure in Yingtian Academy. How could he not recognize him?
.
Su Jin cupped his fists and bowed all the way, and when he came to Wang Anshi and others, he smiled and said, "Brothers came so early, I thought you didn't come."
Wang Anshi smiled and said: "We are nothing like you. The hard bed in the inn made me wake up in the middle of the night, so I pulled the two wise brothers Songhe and Hengxin out to occupy their seats."
Su Jin said with a smile: "As soon as the exam is over, brother Jiefu will say goodbye to the hard bed. After high school, I will just be patient."
Wang Anshi laughed and said: "I'll give you a good word, but look at this situation. There are seven or eight thousand people taking the exam. It's difficult to just take the first two or three hundred."
Su Jin said: "Brother Jiefu doesn't even have confidence. Why should I take the test? We can just pack up and go home."
Wang Anshi spat: "Come on, be a good boy. Let's hurry forward. In a short while, names will be called to get the numbers. I hope we can get the first batch of numbers, otherwise we will have to suffer for another three days."
Su Jin understood what he meant. There were eight thousand people to be admitted, but there were only more than 400 sheds in the Gongyuan. Each shed had ten dormitories, and only more than 4,000 people could enter. The 8,000 people could only be divided into two batches to take the exam.
During the three days and nights of the seventh, eighth and ninth day of the lunar month, the exam will actually not end until the 12th.
Su Jin was also a little worried. It was obvious that the test questions in the two batches were different. If the pattern he found failed because of this, he would be very angry.
Several people squeezed forward with their necks straight. When they reached the gate of Gongyuan, the soldiers guarding the door yelled: "Why are you squeezing? You will be called according to the roll call of each state later. You think you are squeezing to the front?"
Can I get it? The order has been determined."
Su Jin, Wang Anshi and others stared with big eyes. A group of old-fashioned scholars around looked at them with disdain and said: "At first glance, it is the first time to take the exam, and you are just a young child."
Wu Hengxin retorted: "What's wrong with taking the exam for the first time? Is it more embarrassing than your repeated failures?" [
Those people said angrily: "Why have you failed in the exams so many times? We have only passed the Jeju Prefecture Examination three times. Yunzhou Zhou Changqing has been taking the exams for fifteen years and no one has ever ridiculed him."
"Even so, the prefect of Yunzhou praised him for being as tough as a mountain and not afraid of honor or disgrace."
Wu Hengxin was about to counterattack, but Su Jin stopped him and said: "What's the point of arguing with words? If you can't win, you can't win. Even if you boast a flower, you are still a person with a lower reputation. People are proud of the number of exams they have taken.
, we don’t need to compare ourselves here.”
Those people rolled their eyes and muttered: "I want to see if you can reach high school in one fell swoop. Don't you become one of Sun Shan's subordinates by then. Your big words will become a joke."
Wang Anshi said: "Guys! How about we make a bet? I'm Wang Anshi from Yingtian Academy. This is Su Jin from Yingtian Academy. These two are also fellow students from Yingtian Academy. Wei Songhe and Wu Hengxin, the four of us
If someone passes the exam, how about you guys climb a circle around the Gongyuan? If you get one, you climb once, if you get two, you climb twice..."
Those students asked: "What if we fail?"
Su Jin said: "Whoever doesn't win, how about climbing around the Gongyuan ten times?"
The students hesitated to answer, and Wang Anshi said with a smile: "How about I bet that none of you will win? If only one of you wins, we will crawl around the Gongyuan ten times. Otherwise, you will climb ten laps. You guys won't win."
It’s time to take a gamble, don’t you think you can take the exam just because you think you can go to high school?”
One student said: "Then who can guarantee that he will win?"
Wang Anshi said: "Shut up if you don't dare. You have come to take the exam but have no confidence. Are you here to try your luck? The imperial examination is a matter of selecting talents, not a place to gamble on luck. Some of them have big beards."
Come on, it is right to want to take the imperial examination, but failing the imperial examination three times is enough to show that these few are not the material at all. I would like to advise everyone, if you can take the exam this year, everyone will be happy. If you fail again, go back quickly.
Pay some capital and make a living; you still need to support your wife and children at home, so don’t make your wife, children, parents suffer along with you, just go ahead and do what you have to do.”
Wang Anshi's words were despicable, but they are indeed true. In this era, it is outrageous to take the imperial examination until the age of 40 or 50, and the wife and children at home have to live a hard life. In the end, like Fan Jin, it would be better if he passed the examination.
Otherwise, so many years of perseverance are actually worthless; and those who later passed the imperial examination and entered official careers, in the end abandoned their wretched wives in order to marry a beautiful, young and heartless woman, which is even more despicable.
Several middle-aged students were embarrassed, annoyed and ashamed by what Wang Anshi said. They all had their eyes bulging and were speechless angrily. It was not until Su Jin and others left that one of them spat and cursed.
: "There are five or six of these guys, what qualifications do they have to criticize us? It's really unreasonable, they really treat themselves like nothing."
A student next to him came over and said, "Don't be convinced, do you know who the handsome young man among them is?"
"Who the hell is he? What do you want to do with me?"
"Hey, he is the famous Su Jin. Everyone has given his name, but you pretend not to know. Don't tell me that you don't even know who Su Jin is. It is the Taizu who received the emperor's approval as a commoner in a dream.
Su Jin, who ordered food services, rectified the Huainan Road officialdom, and single-handedly picked off the Bagong Mountain bandits, you are really short-sighted, and you actually called them cowards, which is ridiculous."
"What...?" Several middle-aged uncles had black lines on their heads. They really didn't hear clearly just now. They had already heard of Su Jin's name. Su Jin has become a new generation idol in the world. Su Jin has made great achievements for himself.
The names of these unnamed candidates are being rectified. What he has done shows that people without fame are still capable. Several uncles thought that they would be able to visit Su Jin in person that day, but they did not expect that even if they did not know each other, they would actually meet each other.
Disputes arise.
The uncles were very remorseful. When they were upset, they couldn't help but condemn the man next to them at the same time: "Why didn't you tell him earlier if you knew him? There's no point in using hindsight at this time?"
The judge was scolded, and he cursed in his heart: You have no sense, but you come to blame others. You are really a bunch of messy people. No wonder you failed the imperial examination in the three realms. If you people become officials, you must be a confused official.
"I curse you to fail in ten subjects, and you will fail in the exam until your death."
…
As soon as Chen time arrived, the closed gate of the Gongyuan opened with a bang, and a hundred soldiers, surrounded by three examiners, came out of the Gongyuan to give alms. Seeing this, all the students rushed over and blocked the entrance to the Gongyuan.
One of the examiners, with a Chinese character face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a thick black beard under his chin, frowned and said loudly: "Come here, draw a line. Anyone who crosses the line will be dealt with immediately. How unbecoming!"
One of them stepped forward to accept the promise and shouted an order. The soldiers whipped out their whips and beat the students continuously, beating the students who were crowding in so hard that they backed away with their heads in their hands. The unknowing ones behind them still looked forward and squeezed forward. They bumped into each other and several of them fell down.
The ground was being trampled, howling like a slaughtering pig, and the crowd dispersed. Seven or eight students had been trampled, their feet and hands were broken, and they collapsed on the ground and cried loudly.[
Su Jin and others were stunned as they watched from the outside. What was going on? Thousands of troops and horses were crowding the single-plank bridge, but before they even got on the bridge, several people fell down.