089, County Examination (1)
089, County Examination (1)
The day after the Lantern Festival, Lu Mingfei returned to his teacher's class, and there were eight other classmates in the class with him.
There were still nine students in their Class B, all of whom were going to take the county exam this year. So when they came back to class after the New Year, the teacher would give them lectures on topics related to the county, prefectural, and academy exams.
In fact, whether it was the county, prefectural, or imperial examinations, the questions were all drawn from the Four Books, and there was also a five-character, six-rhyme poem to test. As long as one mastered the relevant content and knowledge of these exams, as well as the format and techniques of writing, the title of scholar was basically guaranteed.
Before the New Year, he sent a set of exam questions to their teacher. When they came back to class after the New Year, their teacher really arranged three pre-exam mock exams for them according to the suggestions he made last time.
After three pre-exam mock exams, the time for the county exam is approaching.
Before the exam, these candidates had to go to the ritual room of the government office in their registered place of residence to register, fill in the relevant information of three generations of their parents, and also need five people to guarantee each other. Finally, they had to find a student from the county to act as a guarantor for them.
When Lu Mingfei was ten years old, his father moved his family's household registration to Kyoto Prefecture. The reason for this was to make it easier for him to take the imperial examinations there. This move saved him a lot of trouble; otherwise, he would have had to travel all the way to the lower prefecture to register and take the exams.
Among the nine people taking the exam this time, some had their household registration in other counties under the jurisdiction of Kyoto Prefecture, so before this exam they had to return to their local counties to register and take the exam. There were exactly only five students left in Kyoto Prefecture.
These five people, in addition to Lu Mingfei himself, include their senior brother, Ye Zhuoran, Zhang Lingxuan, and another classmate named Cai Renjun.
There were exactly five of them, and their husband asked them to guarantee each other.
Furthermore, their teacher was a student on government academy scholarship and could guarantee the five students, eliminating the need to spend a fortune looking for a guarantor. Furthermore, without connections or acquaintances, finding a guarantor outside the school was difficult. After all, guaranteeing someone in those days came with a responsibility.
Of course, their teachers acted as guarantors for these students, and each of these students also gave their teachers a small red envelope. This does not mean that you don't have to pay money if you find your own teacher.
After asking Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran how much they would give, Lu Mingfei also gave according to their amounts. Otherwise, it would be inappropriate for him to give too little when others gave so much.
Actually, he didn't like Cai Renjun that much. Mainly because Cai Renjun wasn't a very good person, and he was a little worried that if Cai Renjun did something he shouldn't do during the exam, it would affect the other five of them.
It's just that the master asked the five of them to protect each other, and the others had no objections. He didn't want to suggest kicking Cai Renjun out, as that would make it difficult for their master.
After the registration ended, they were qualified to take the exam.
***
The eighth day of the second month is the day when the teacher starts the examination.
The Kyoto Prefecture's county examination was held in the examination hall next to the Fengtian Prefecture Yamen, so on the day of the examination, all the candidates taking the examination in Kyoto Prefecture had to come to the Fengtian Prefecture Yamen before the exam to line up and wait for inspection and admission to the examination.
On the day of the exam, Lu Mingfei woke up early in the morning when he heard the sounds of his father and mother getting up to work.
"Mingfei, are you awake?" Lu Youtian was worried about his eldest son who was going to take an exam today, so he couldn't help but come over and knock on his eldest son's window early in the morning, calling him to get up.
"Dad, I'm awake." Lu Mingfei sat down on the bed, threw back the quilt, and got out of bed to get some clothes to wear. Knowing that this exam would last quite a while, he went to bed early last night. So, even though he woke up early this morning, he was still full of energy.
"Okay, wash your face and come out. Your mother is making you some pancakes and some dough. Eat them and then go out. You need the pens, inkstones, and other things for the exam. You have to check if you have forgotten anything and prepare them yourself." Lu Youtian, who was outside, was still nagging and instructing his eldest son with concern.
Listening to his father's nagging, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but laugh and responded from inside the house: "Yeah, okay, I know."
Sure enough, no matter what era it is, parents accompanying their children to take exams are all worried that their children will miss something.
After a while, after he finished washing up, he checked the things in the examination basket and made sure that nothing was missing before going out of the room to eat.
When he came out, his mother had already prepared breakfast for him.
There was a small table in the kitchen, and on the table was the breakfast prepared for him: a stack of sesame cakes, a bowl of sticky porridge, a small bowl of pickled radish, and a bowl of braised pork.
This bowl of braised pork was specially prepared by his mother after his father and mother came back from selling things yesterday afternoon. It was prepared for him to eat this morning. It was not the meat that was braised yesterday and stored now.
Even though he said that the weather was cold and it wouldn't hurt to eat the meat if he kept it for a day longer, his father and mother still didn't listen to him.
"Eat something dry and drink less liquid, so that you don't have to go to the toilet frequently in the examination room, otherwise the examiner will put a black mark of shit on your paper." Having been in Kyoto Prefecture for so many years, Lu Youtian has heard a lot about things in the examination room, and naturally knows some of the rules there.
Lu Youtian knew that candidates went to the toilet frequently in the examination room. If the examiner stamped a black mark of "shit stamp" on the test paper, it would leave a bad impression on the examiner. Then, no matter how well the candidate answered the paper, the possibility of being admitted would be greatly reduced.
"Dad, you know quite a lot." Lu Mingfei took a sip of the noodle soup and ate a piece of pickled radish. Seeing his parents who were even more nervous than him, he couldn't help but laugh and comforted them: "Don't be nervous. I'm not nervous even when I'm taking the exam. Why are you so nervous? Relax, you have to trust me."
"Okay, we believe you. Eat slowly. If it's not enough, tell Mom." Liu Sanniang looked at the child's confident look, but her nervousness did not ease much. "Should I prepare some food for you to eat in the examination room?"
"Our teacher said we can't bring food into the county exam. We'll be given steamed buns and water." Lu Mingfei really wanted to bring some food inside. He knew without a doubt that water and food in the exam hall were very expensive. If he could bring his own food inside, he could save a lot of money.
It’s a pity that the government has stipulated that you are not allowed to bring food and water into the previous county, prefectural and academy examinations. Meals will be provided, but you have to pay for them.
"Oh, okay." Although she was a little disappointed, since her son said he couldn't bring the child, Liu Sanniang had to give up.
"Do you want to eat something?" Lu Mingfei asked a little embarrassedly as he was eating alone with his father and mother standing by and watching him.
"We'll eat later. Just eat and don't worry about us." Lu Youtian said.
Seeing that his father and mother were staring at him while he was eating as if he were a three-year-old child, Lu Mingfei asked them, "Dad and Mom, you guys go and do your work. There's no need to stare at me. I'll go out as soon as I'm full." Originally, because he had exams in the next few days, his father and mother asked him to take a few days off from setting up the stall, but he refused.
The county exam lasted five days. If his father and mother didn't open the stall because of his exam, not only would it affect business during those few days, but some customers had already placed orders and wanted to pick them up. Moreover, they also had to ship the orders on time.
"Okay, when you finish eating and come out, I will take you to the government office in a donkey cart." Lu Youtian said.
This was a question that the father and son had discussed two days ago. Although Lu Mingfei didn't want his family to be too nervous about his exams and had to send him back and forth, the adults at home insisted on sending him to the exam center no matter what he said. He could only accept his father and mother's care and kindness.
It took him less than ten minutes to finish his meal and pick up his exam basket to go out.
Lu Youtian, who was outside, had already moved the donkey out and harnessed it to the donkey cart.
"Mom, Dad and I are going out." Before leaving, Lu Mingfei said to his mother.
"Well, go ahead, do well in the exam and don't be nervous." When the child was about to go out for the exam, Liu Sanniang actually warned the child not to be nervous.
"Okay." Lu Mingfei couldn't help but smile at his mother's nervous look. He bent down and hugged his mother. He looked up and saw Zhang Qi standing behind him looking at him. He smiled and nodded at Zhang Qi, then left with his father.
The father and son first arrived at their husband's house. After the other three people arrived, the five candidates and their husband went to the examination room together.
Ye Zhuoran and Cai Renjun all arrived in their family carriages. Their master got on Cai Renjun's carriage, and their eldest brother got on Ye Zhuoran and Zhang Lingxuan's carriage. Only Lu Mingfei and his father's donkey rode slowly behind the two carriages.
Along the way, they encountered many other candidates on their way to the examination. A long line of people headed towards the Fengtian government office, each holding a lantern. At first glance, these lit lanterns formed a flowing Milky Way in the dark night.
On this still very cold morning in late winter and early spring, everyone silently made their way to the exam venue. It was as if this was a ladder leading to a bright future. As long as they crossed it, their lives would be different from now on.
Everyone here longs to cross this ladder.
Including Lu Mingfei himself. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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