Chapter 35 County Examination
When the day of the county examination finally arrived, Su Zhaoshi wished that the whole family would send him to take the exam together.
Su Fengzhang finally managed to persuade them, but in the end it was his second uncle Su and his son who sent him into the city.
Uncle Su's family has changed a lot in recent years. The eldest son, Su Mingzhang, has married and has a son who is already one year old. The second son, Su Caozhang, also got married a year ago, and his wife is pregnant now. Su Jiaojiao and Su Linlin have both married one after another. There are fewer people in the family than three years ago.
Zhang was as petty as ever. She closed the door and said to her eldest daughter-in-law, "They're so rich, they need two people to take them to the county exam. Don't they have to do the housework?"
Su Mingzhang's wife also had the surname Zhang, so they were actually from the same family, but they weren't of the same ilk. She just smiled and said, "Erlang is a good student. If he gets admitted, it would be a great blessing for our family."
"That's only if he passes the exam," Zhang snorted coldly. "With so many people studying, how many can actually pass? Besides, Erlang never had the heart to study before. He's been holed up at home studying on his own for the past three years. How can he possibly be any good at this?"
"Your father is really something. He rushed to help me right after I recovered from my illness. If you didn't know me, you would think I was his own son."
Seeing her mother-in-law's words becoming increasingly outrageous, Xiao Zhang quickly said, "Dad has a good relationship with Uncle, so it's only natural for him to take care of Erlang. Everyone in the village says Dad is a righteous man."
My father-in-law is such a righteous man, and my husband and brother-in-law are all good too. I really don’t understand what my mother-in-law is fighting about.
Before dawn, Su Fengzhang arrived at the gate of the county government office. Their Hushan County did not have a special examination hall, and every county examination was held directly in the county government office. Anyway, the courtyard inside was spacious enough.
Uncle Su was worried and checked everything again before patting him on the shoulder and saying, "Erlang, do well on the exam."
"Uncle, don't worry. You can go back first and come to pick me up in the evening." Su Fengzhang smiled and waved his hand, then turned to queue up. The line was already quite long.
Uncle Su refused to leave, and Su Caozhang was happy to watch at the door, so the father and son squatted on the ox cart and guarded the door.
Su Fengzhang queued up to enter the examination room carrying an examination basket. In the basket, besides the necessary writing brush, ink and inkstone, there were only two solid steamed buns. He also brought with him the certificate he had received when he registered.
There were lanterns hanging at the gate of the county government office, lighting up the area brightly. Soon it was Su Fengzhang's turn.
The bailiff recognized him, smiled at him, and quickly checked his appearance. However, he showed no mercy when searching him, not even sparing his naked body.
However, no one was found to have cheat sheets during the search. This time, Lord Cai was very strict and said that if anyone was found cheating, their entire family would be exiled, so no one dared to take the risk.
Su Fengzhang felt a little embarrassed after being touched all over his body. After passing the test, he hurriedly walked in with the exam basket.
This courtyard faces south and has east and west gates at the southernmost part. It is a large courtyard surrounded by wooden fences. The main gate is in the north of the courtyard. This is what the candidates call the Dragon Gate, and it is also the Dragon Gate where the carp leaps over the Dragon Gate.
Behind the dragon gate was a large courtyard. After Su Fengzhang entered, he stood there waiting for his name to be called.
He looked up and found that there were three halls on the north side of the courtyard, with an aisle in the middle. The examiners were sitting in the west room.
The examiner of their county examination was naturally Lord Cai. There were a few unfamiliar faces sitting next to him, probably the instructors from the Confucian Academy who were supervising the examination.
Further north are many rows of simple seats, which do not block each other's view. However, these seats are lower than those of the examiners. They sit high above and can see every move of the examinees below clearly.
After waiting for a while, when the sky was getting a little brighter, the singing began.
Rows of students came in, bowed to the examiner in turn, and then stood next to the examiner.
Magistrate Cai looked at the people standing in the courtyard, nodded and said, "Let's get started."
Someone came out to call the roll. The candidate who was called walked into the main hall, reached out to take the test paper, and then sang the name of the candidate.
Soon Su Fengzhang heard his name. He quickly walked into the lobby and noticed that County Magistrate Cai's gaze lingered on him for a while, but he didn't say much.
Su Fengzhang took the test paper and shouted, "Student Su Fengzhang, a scholar of the imperial academy, Wen Sibao."
Mr. Wen had been standing nearby for a long time and stepped forward to confirm his identity. After confirming his identity, he said, "I am Wen Moubao, a student of the imperial academy."
Only after there was no objection to his identity was Su Fengzhang allowed to leave the lobby. He then had to find his seat according to the seat number on the paper.
Of course, what they got at this time was actually a blank paper with their seat numbers written on it, but no test questions on it.
He was lucky, as the seat corresponding to his number happened to be in the middle, a position where he could get sunshine but not be blown by the wind.
If you sit at the back, it will be in the shadows. Even though it is spring, your hands and feet will probably be cold. The only advantage is that the toilet is far away, so you don't have to worry about the smell.
In fact, most candidates would choose not to go to the toilet during the whole day of the county examination. Firstly, they were afraid of wasting time, and secondly, they were afraid of going to the toilet if they got a bad toilet and being stamped by the examiner, which would result in their papers being rejected.
This is no joke. The county exam does not prohibit you from going to the toilet, but you have to stamp a mark on the test paper every time you go. The original intention of this mark is to record the number of times the candidate has left the examination room, but gradually, some examiners with obsessive-compulsive disorder will not admit candidates when they see the mark.
After sitting down, I waited for a while. The candidates arrived one after another, and it was already bright outside.
At the sound of a gong, the yamen runners carried the exam questions on a blackboard and patrolled the venue, displaying them back and forth, but the candidates were not allowed to write yet.
Only after Magistrate Cai gave the order could they start filling in their seat numbers and answering questions.
During the county examination, there will be no copying, but it will be sealed, so the requirements for written materials are very high.
The county examination usually consists of four or five examinations, depending on the examiner's decision. Their Lord Cai decided to have five examinations.
Before coming, Su Fengzhang speculated in his heart that Lord Cai insisted on holding the county examination as usual and added another one. Was he trying to use the imperial examination to dispel the discouraging things of the previous year?
The first exam was very simple. It required two essays from the Four Books and a five-character, six-rhyme poem, totaling about 700 words. Su Fengzhang had even written about the Four Books essay topics before, and even more than once.
He did not rush to write, but checked his paper first. He saw red horizontal and vertical lines on the paper, twelve lines on each page, twenty words per line, and two sheets of plain paper were also given, which were used for drafting.
The writing rules are somewhat similar to those of modern times. The title and draft must be written in regular script, and cannot be written outside the sealing line, otherwise it will be directly treated as an invalid paper.
Su Fengzhang had already memorized the Four Books and Five Classics by heart. He took a quick glance and began to write a draft on a plain paper.
After finishing two essays on the Four Books, he was troubled by the five-character, six-rhyme test poem. Even after three years of practice, Mr. Wen's evaluation of his test poem was that it was too neat but lacked spirit.
Fortunately, the exam questions this time are also very broad. Spring day is a big and easy topic to write about. I guess Mr. Cai will give it a lot of leeway.
After Su Fengzhang finished writing it, he revised it again. After reading it over and over again, it at least became fluent. In any case, he was barely satisfied with it.
He ate some steamed buns at noon. The two buns were torn into small pieces. He didn't know whether the yamen runner had washed his hands. He couldn't help but feel suspicious when he ate them.
After eating something to fill his stomach, Su Fengzhang put the basket at his feet and started copying.
He was very careful when copying. If he made a mistake in a word, he would have to start over. He didn't have enough time, and it would be difficult to ask the examiner for the test paper.
This was the case with the candidate next to him. I don’t know what he was thinking, but the food he brought was actually fried cakes. They were greasy and delicious, but the effects after eating them can be imagined.
Su Fengzhang saw from the corner of his eye that the man was sweating profusely with anxiety, but in the end he did not dare to ask the examiner for a blank paper, so he had to make do with it.
The imperial examination tested not only knowledge but also courage. The county magistrate sat at the top, with a group of examiners watching closely. People with a bad mentality would easily collapse, just like the candidate sitting in the last row. He looked young, but his hands were shaking since he came in. He didn't know if he could still write.
When the sun shone at noon, Su Fengzhang felt warm all over. He had to pinch his thigh to prevent himself from falling asleep.
After finishing copying, he checked it carefully three times to make sure there were no typos.
The county examination papers had to be submitted on the same day, and no candles were given. This meant that candidates had to finish their papers before dark, otherwise it would be difficult for them to see the papers clearly once it got dark.
Su Fengzhang didn't have this problem for the time being, but when the exam was being reviewed, one candidate burst into tears the moment he walked out of the dragon gate, shouting, "Oh my God, oh Confucius, I, I haven't finished writing..."
Yet, someone else responded to him: "I've finished writing. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Queen Mother of the West, Jade Emperor, please bless me and I will definitely pass!"
If it weren't for the expressions of either grief or seriousness on their faces, Su Fengzhang would have wanted to laugh when he heard them.
But at this moment, he felt more of the same feeling. After ten years of hard study, no one knew about it. If these scholars could not achieve fame and fortune, their youth and wealth would be wasted. Not only would they not be respected, but they would be despised and ridiculed.
It wasn't just this person crying. You have to know that this county examination was just the first hurdle in the long journey of the imperial examination.
"Erlang, are you tired? How did you do in the exam?" Uncle Su pushed through the crowd and rushed over.
Su Caozhang followed behind him and even reached out to support him.
"Second uncle, cousin, I'm fine, not tired." Su Fengzhang quickly stopped their exaggerated movements.
Second Uncle Su wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was in good spirits: "It's good that you're not tired. Let's go home. My sister-in-law must have prepared dinner for you."
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The author has something to say: Second update
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