Chapter 36 Draw a circle, draw a circle

The results of the first county examination will not be available immediately. They will be announced the next day. Only those who are confirmed to have passed the examination can continue to take part in the second one.

Although the county examination was the entry-level test for the imperial examination, it took the longest time. There were five consecutive sessions, each of which took at least three days before and after, which added up to half a month. It was a torture for the candidates both physically and mentally.

The next day, it was Su Caozhang who accompanied Su Fengzhang to see the case. Su Ershu was not there as he was working at home. He couldn't let the father and son accompany him for half a month.

In fact, if Su Zhaoshi and Second Uncle Su had not insisted, Su Fengzhang felt that he could take the exam alone. It was not like he would have to stay in the examination room for three days and three nights in a row, so he did not need anyone to accompany him.

Unfortunately, apart from him, no one else thought so. Su Caozhang even said, "Erlang, if I let you take the exam alone, what will the villagers think of my family? They'll think there's some big conflict between us."

So finally they came together.

It was still early when we arrived, and there were people outside the yamen, but the list had not been posted yet, so everyone was talking to themselves.

Su Caozhang peeked inside, stretched his neck, and couldn't see anything, so he changed the subject and asked, "Erlang, I heard that things are very expensive inside the examination hall. Steamed buns cost one cent outside, but ten cents inside. Even boiled water costs money. Is that true?"

During the county exam, if you don’t bring anything with you, you can buy it directly from the county government office, but the price will definitely be much more expensive.

Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "It's definitely more expensive, but I don't know the exact price because I've never bought it."

Su Caozhang said: "I don't know what those people who buy it in the store are thinking. The ones they bring at home are cleaner and more economical."

"Hmph, bumpkin." A voice came from the side.

"Nanfeng, don't talk nonsense." Gu Beichen shouted angrily. The person who spoke just now was his cousin Gu Nanfeng.

"Brother Su, I'm sorry, my cousin is young and ignorant." He had to help clean up the mess.

Su Caozhang glanced at Gu Nanfeng, ultimately giving face to Gu Beichen: "Forget it, forget it, I won't bother with him."

"Are you shameless enough to apologize to a bumpkin?" Gu Nanfeng didn't appreciate Gu Beichen's kindness and turned away.

Gu Beichen's face turned pale with anxiety, but he finally suppressed his anger and said, "This child has been spoiled by my uncle and has no idea of ​​his own limitations."

Su Fengzhang had a very good relationship with him, but he didn't get angry because of this little quarrel. Instead, he advised: "After all, you are young, you speak and act without restraint. You will know the consequences when you suffer in the future."

Gu Beichen had obviously been impatient with this cousin for a long time, and he didn't even follow him over, but just started chatting with Su Fengzhang here.

"That's right, he's just too ignorant to care about his own limitations. If my father hadn't forced me to come, I wouldn't have been able to deal with him."

Gu Beichen sighed and said, "This kid is only three months older than you, but he's not as calm as you. He thinks highly of himself after just a few years of studying, and acts like he can achieve fame and success. I really..."

Su Fengzhang listened to his complaints for a while, then changed the subject to talk about this year's harvest, which diverted Gu Beichen's attention.

He lowered his voice and whispered in Su Fengzhang's ear, "My father told me that the disaster victims in Qingzhou haven't been properly resettled yet, and things have been in chaos ever since. I don't know what the prefect is thinking. Will the time for the prefectural examination be changed?"

"It's not so bad in Hushan County. The paddy fields are not afraid of being flooded, and we can plant rice when the water recedes. But it's terrible in Qingzhou. Many people's houses have collapsed, and the crops they have planted are probably gone."

These words frightened Su Fengzhang. If Qingzhou was not stable, Hushan County would certainly not benefit. Just look at the bandits last year. The locals knew that Hushan County was located at a high altitude and would definitely be less affected.

"The garrisons in various places have all been dispatched, at least there won't be any major chaos." This was all Su Fengzhang could say to comfort them.

From the perspective of Hushan County, Magistrate Cai was not a great official, but he was not too exploitative and was able to do some practical things. The local people could live and work in peace and contentment. The Great Zhou Dynasty had been established for less than a hundred years, and it should have been the most prosperous and stable time.

Su Fengzhang naturally hopes that the Great Zhou Dynasty will be stable, otherwise once there is a war, the people at the bottom will suffer the most.

Gu Beichen was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums. The people around him were like boiling water poured into a hot pot, and they all exploded and rushed towards the door.

Amid the sounds of gongs and drums, the county government fired cannons and used trumpeters, making the scene extremely lively.

Two yamen runners carried out the notice. One of them took out some glue and applied it twice, while the other one took a roll and spread it out and posted it on the bulletin board outside the yamen.

They posted quite a few pictures before they finished, but they didn't leave and just stood there watching.

The yamen runners stopped moving, as if a switch had been pressed, and people who were watching the list rushed over and squeezed to the front to take a look.

There were a lot of pieces of paper pasted there, all cut into circles. The names inside were also written in the form of circles, and the test numbers of the admitted candidates were written there instead of their names.

This big circle is divided into an inner circle and an outer circle. There are twenty people in the inner circle and thirty people in the outer circle, totaling fifty people. There are as many as three hundred people who passed the first exam.

At first glance, the number seems to be a lot, but Su Fengzhang knows that the admission rate is not high. There are more than 500 candidates taking the first exam, and half of them are eliminated in the first exam alone.

Su Caozhang had already squeezed to the front with all his might, but when he squeezed in, he was dumbfounded. He squeezed out like crazy: "Erlang, you, what's your exam number?"

"Brother, there are a lot of people here now, let's wait a while." Su Fengzhang said.

Su Caozhang was extremely anxious and kept shouting, "No, we can't delay any longer. Tell me and I'll squeeze in to see."

Su Fengzhang could only say: "Chen character and number six."

"I remember it." Su Caozhang was also an educated person, so he must remember these words.

He once again fought his way through the encirclement and looked up at the papers, starting from the rightmost one.

I have to say that one will feel dizzy when looking up at it, because the paper is round and the writing style is also round. The big and small circles completely violate the human reading method.

This method of announcing the admitted candidates is called a circle, group, or chart, also called a group case or a draft. In some places, it is also called a round-robin announcement.

In the center of the circular pattern, there is a Chinese character "中" written in red. The vertical line in this character is long at the top and short at the bottom, which looks like the head of the Chinese character "贵". It implies good luck and can be regarded as a blessing from the county government. Anyway, it looks quite festive.

The test numbers are written in a counterclockwise order. Because they are written manually, they look a little crooked from a distance.

Su Caozhang desperately searched for the character Chen and soon found the character Chen No. 6 on the round table in the middle. He rubbed his eyes, making sure again and again that he was not mistaken, and then squeezed out in ecstasy.

Su Fengzhang was walking inside when he was hugged by Su Caozhang who rushed out. If he was not so strong, Su Caozhang would probably have to pick him up and spin him around.

"Brother, don't be like this, calm down, let's talk it out." Su Fengzhang shouted repeatedly, fearing that this man would be too excited to control his terrible behavior.

Su Caozhang smiled so hard that his gums showed. "Erlang, you got it. I saw your name."

Su Fengzhang didn't think he couldn't even pass the first round, but he felt relieved after hearing this. He smiled and said, "That's great. Thank you for your hard work, brother."

"It's not hard, it's not hard. I'm willing to help you watch over it for the rest of my life." Su Caozhang said sincerely.

Su Fengzhang couldn't help laughing. Although he didn't like the feudal society, he was lucky to meet the Su family. Whether it was Su Zhao, his younger brothers and sisters, or his second uncle's family, they all made him feel the human touch.

"Since we've seen it, let's go back first." Su Fengzhang suggested with a smile.

Su Caozhang looked back, wanting to see if that boastful boy had passed the exam, but he still felt that his younger brother was more important: "Come on, let's go back. You have to rest well and prepare for the next one."

Who knew that after they left, Gu Nanfeng walked out from the crowd with a smug look on his face: "I told you that the county exam was a trivial matter and not worth mentioning, but you still didn't believe me."

He had apparently been accepted, and while feeling proud, he didn't forget to criticize others: "Where's Su Fengzhang? Why is he gone? Did he leave in disgrace after failing the first round?"

Gu Beichen couldn't stand him slandering his good friend, and angrily said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Brother Su is definitely better than that with his talent. Nanfeng, if you dare to slander him again, don't even think about me accompanying you."

Gu Nanfeng was not afraid at all, and said: "If you don't want to come, then don't come. Who needs you to accompany me?"

Gu Beichen was so angry that he thought about going back and telling his father that no one was willing to sleep with this naughty kid, since he would not stay with him anyway.

Passing the first exam does not mean everything is fine. There are five county exams, each one more difficult than the last, and each one has fewer and fewer people admitted.

The second round was still about the Four Books and Five Classics. Magistrate Cai also took out the Book of Filial Piety and asked them to write contemporary essays. Not only that, Haidie had to write down 200 words of "The Imperial Edicts" from memory. No mistakes or corrections were allowed, otherwise she would be eliminated.

The third round still involved the Four Books and Five Classics, but included an additional regulated fu and a five-character eight-rhyme test poem. Su Fengzhang was very grateful to Mr. Wen for his training, which had greatly improved his regulated fu and test poem skills over the years.

The contents of the fourth and fifth exams are very similar, both focusing on scriptures, poems, sutras and essays, but the fourth exam focuses on recitation and dictation, while the fifth exam focuses more on free expression.

Su Fengzhang always felt that he had good physical fitness, but after taking exams for half a month and being under a high level of mental tension, when he walked out of the goal after the last game, he actually felt a sense of relief.

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