Chapter 2048 Examination
Zhou Wulang packed up his things and said goodbye to Lu.
Their children were still young and it was not convenient for them to travel with him. Besides, the reason why he had to go home was because the collected medicinal herbs would be sent to the capital after drying and processing, so he had to go to the capital after winter came. The time would not be long, so there was no need to bring his wife and children with him.
After Zhou Wulang and Zhou Erlang left, the house became even quieter, but quietness also has its advantages. After taking a break, Bai Shan and the others read more seriously and for longer periods of time.
In August, Bai Dalang began to write poems and essays to submit. Bai Shan and Bai Erlang thought about it and although they didn't need to submit, they also wrote two poems and essays and submitted them to Kong Jijiu.
There is no other way. They are now the prince's companions, so it is not a good idea to submit this poem to anyone else, so it is better to submit it to Kong Jijiu.
When Kong Jijiu received their poems from the doorman, he couldn't help but twitching his forehead. Then he put their poems among the three good poems he had selected, and took them out to appreciate them together while drinking and eating with his colleagues.
Submitting a letter of invitation is a process that every student who wants to take the imperial examination must go through. The purpose is to gain some fame before the exam so that the examiners will have a certain impression of their names when they see them when reading the papers.
Of course, it would be even better if you could meet an official who appreciates you and shares the same ideals as you. He will recommend you to other officials. Even if you don't perform very well in the exam, with an official's strong recommendation, your chances of being selected are greater than others.
Yes, the imperial examinations of this dynasty were conducted under formal rules.
Therefore, the examiner's impression is very important.
It is even more important to get points that impress the emperor. Kong Jijiu doesn't think that Bai Shan and Bai Cheng will fail.
Although none of them were prominent, they were truly valued by the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and their character and talent were recognized by all the civil and military officials in the court;
The other one is also loyal and righteous, and he is the future consort of the legitimate princess. Even if their ranking is not high, they will not fail the exam.
Besides, do they really need to be famous?
But after all, they were his students, and both of them were quite talented, so Kong Jijiu mixed their poems and essays with the ones he liked and showed them to everyone.
As the chief academic officer of the Imperial College and the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Kong Jijiu received submissions in baskets every day.
Every day the doorman would bring baskets of submissions to his study.
Of course, it was impossible for him to read them all, because many people were afraid that Kong Jijiu would not see their submissions, so they sent submissions to his house almost every day, and the repetition rate was very high.
He could only let his disciples screen them, putting aside those he had read before, those that were obviously nonsense, those with ugly handwriting, and those with dirty papers. He would then look at the rest himself, and then select the ones he thought were good or that he really appreciated, meet the people, chat with them, and then decide whether to recommend them.
Because of the imperial examinations, the economy of the capital, which had been somewhat sluggish after the national mourning period, became active again, and it was getting more and more prosperous day by day. Many students who came from other places filled most of the vacant rooms in the capital, so the business of restaurants, bookstores, teahouses, hotels, and even places with various small items displayed outside became more and more prosperous.
Zhou Liulang felt that the business of his restaurant was getting better, so even though he had hired a chef and two kitchen helpers, he was still too busy to handle it.
Xiao Qian went to help, and the restaurant's business became better.
It’s not that the food she cooks is particularly exquisite, but rather, “it’s very appetizing, just like the food you eat at home, but it tastes better than homemade.”
Moreover, the portions of dishes at Zhouji Restaurant are large, unlike some restaurants that offer all kinds of food, but the portions are very small and a table of people can finish them with just two chopsticks.
Here, a few fellow villagers can get together and order three or two dishes, which is much cheaper than hiring a cook to cook for them themselves, so the candidates who live nearby like to eat at Zhou Ji Restaurant.
Especially the students from Sichuan, they are more determined to go to Zhouji Restaurant.
There's no way, it's just to my taste. The food in other restaurants and hotels tastes fresh at first, but I can't eat it later.
In this bustling and tense atmosphere, time flew by and it was October, and the imperial examination began.
Manbao followed Madam Liu and escorted the three Bai brothers to the examination hall. Mr. Zhuang, who had never taken the imperial examination before, was a little nervous. He could only remind them, "Don't make any mistakes. Write what you know first. Check carefully and keep the paper clean..."
This was a warning to all colleagues in the Chongwenguan who had participated in the imperial examinations and served as examiners. Kong Jijiu was even more blunt, saying, "If the paper is not clean and the handwriting is sloppy, I will directly reject it."
There are so many papers and the time is short. Where would I have the time to recognize your handwriting word by word?
The Imperial College had a rule long ago that all examinations must be written in regular script, regular script!
So Mr. Zhuang only reminded me of these three things at this time.
Bai Shan, Bai Dalang and Bai Erlang agreed obediently, and then carried their exam baskets into the examination room.
This was the second time that Old Lady Liu had sent her child to the examination room. Needless to say, she was still very nervous, even more nervous than when she sent her son to the examination room that year.
So she held Zheng and Manbao's hands and said, "Let's sit in the teahouse nearby and wait."
Her hands and feet felt a little weak now, and she didn't want to take the bus home for the time being.
Mr. Zhuang thought that they would come to pick someone up in the evening, so he nodded in agreement.
So the group went to a teahouse not far away and sat down to drink tea and wait.
Manbao poured tea for the elders and asked Mr. Zhuang, "How many people passed the imperial examination this year?"
Mr. Zhuang said, "From what I hear, Master Kong intends to select only thirty-two people."
Manbao was surprised, "So little?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "That's not a small number. Last time we only took 27 people."
Manbao couldn't help but feel a little worried, "Will Senior Brother Bai be able to pass the exam?"
Mr. Zhuang said nonchalantly, "If he fails the exam this year, he can just try again next time. He's still young, so there's no need to rush."
Mr. Zhuang paused and said, "As for Bai Shan and Bai Cheng, if they pass the exam, it would not be appropriate for them to enter officialdom at this time. They should still go out and study for a while."
Manbao nodded and exchanged a glance with Mr. Zhuang, and both the master and the disciple laughed happily.
Old Lady Liu just glanced at the two of them. They had been hinting since the beginning of the year that they wanted to go out to study in the next one or two years, but she had not yet made up her mind whether to let them go or not. After all, it was not that safe outside.
But it may not be a good thing to always keep children in the capital. Eagles soar in the sky, how can they stay in the nest to avoid the wind and rain?
Old Lady Liu felt as if her heart was being burned by fire. She wanted them to stay in the capital city safely and healthily, but she did not want to restrict their wings, so she always avoided participating in this topic.
But the Jinshi examination will be over in three days and the results will be announced later, and she will have to face this problem then.
The first day of the Jinshi examination was spent on poetry and essays. Bai Shan and the other two had no problems and came out happily in the evening.
But things became difficult from the second day onwards. The test was on classics. The three of them went in with smiles on their faces, but all came out with frowns on their brows.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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