The next day was the autumn examination.

At four o'clock in the morning, the candidates got up, had breakfast, dressed neatly, and then came to the hall.

In front of the hall, an incense table had been set up, with the statue of the Great Sage Teacher on it. Everyone worshipped Confucius together. Then Zhao Shouzheng, Zhao Jin, and Zhao Hao worshipped the dark-faced Great Ancestor, and finally Wang Wuyang and Hua Shuyang worshipped the Master.

At this time, Fang Wen brought out three brand new handkerchiefs.

Zhao Hao put them on the heads of the three people himself, tied them tightly, and said three times: "It will not fall to the ground."

Then everyone left the yard.

When I arrived at the alley, I found that Caijia Lane was already brightly lit with torches, and the neighbors came out in droves to see me off, but no sound was made.

Seeing the three candidates coming out, Captain Yu waved his hand and several strong men held up a red banner with words of blessing such as "pass the imperial examination" and "get a yellow medal consecutively" written on it.

The three men were so moved by the clumsy but sincere blessings of the neighbors that their eyes turned red. They bowed to everyone and then got on the three sedan chairs parked in the middle of the street.

Zhao Hao thanked his fellow villagers and got on the carriage.

Zhao Jin had many inconveniences as an imperial censor, so it was not convenient for him to hang around the Imperial Examination Hall during the examination. He said goodbye to the candidates here.

Just as Gao Wu was about to drive away, he saw a scholar in a black robe approaching.

"Wait, I'll go with you."

Seeing that it was Wu Kangyuan who owned the private room in Wei Jixian, Gao Wu did not stop him.

In the carriage, Zhao Hao asked Wu Kangyuan curiously, "You don't have to take the provincial examination, why are you going to join in the fun?"

"If there is any emergency, I can still help speak up." Wu Kangyuan brushed off the black satin round-necked robe that represented his status as a juren, and said proudly, "Even if nothing happens, it will be fun for me to watch them suffer."

"Dark mentality." Zhao Hao scolded with a smile, but he would not drive him off the carriage.

It has been confirmed that Wu Kangyuan is Wu Shilai's nephew. Mr. Zhao has been trying to get close to him, so why would he kick him out of the car?

Besides, it was nice to have someone to accompany him, at least it made Zhao Hao feel less nervous... No matter how well he prepared, he would still panic when he thought that only more than 100 people passed the exam out of more than 4,000 candidates.

~~

The sedan chair stopped at Dazhong Street, two blocks away from the Imperial Examination Hall. The car was blocked from moving forward, and it was impossible for the sedan chair bearers to move forward.

With more than 4,000 examinees, plus their attendants, family members and relatives accompanying them in carriages, one can imagine how crowded the scene was.

Therefore, the experienced Zhao Shouzheng ordered the sedan bearers to stop in advance and walked to the Imperial Examination Hall with his two disciples.

Gao Wu and several strong men who served as guards squeezed out a path from the crowd, so the three of them did not walk in embarrassment.

Eryang was taking the provincial examination for the first time. When he heard the cannon fire from the Imperial Examination Hall in the distance, he was a little worried and asked, "Are we going to enter the venue? We have to hurry."

"No hurry, these three cannon shots are for opening the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, three more cannon shots will be fired to open the main gate, and three more cannon shots will be fired to open the dragon gate." Zhao Shouzheng smiled calmly and said, "After firing the cannon shots, we will set up an incense table in the Zhigong Hall, invite the Three Realms Demon Subduing Emperor Guan Sheng to come in to suppress the demons, and invite General Zhou to come in to inspect the venue. Please invite Qiqu Wenchang Kaihua Zitong Emperor to come in to preside over the examination, and invite Master Kuixing to come in to shine."

"Disciples, I'm not bragging, but when it comes to the number of times you've entered the Tribute Hall, all of you combined are not as many as I am..." Seeing his two talented disciples staring in astonishment, Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help but feel a little proud.

"Grandmaster is indeed powerful. I, your disciple, am far inferior to him..." Eryang praised him hurriedly, but he could not help but complain in his heart. It would be better if such things happened as less often as possible, right?

As they were talking, the three of them finally arrived outside the Imperial Examination Hall. As expected, the Dragon Gate had not been opened yet, so it was still too early to enter.

However, the professors who came to the exam from various prefectures had already shouted to the candidates to assemble under their flags.

Eryang bid farewell to his master and walked towards the two adjacent flags of Suzhou Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture.

The two professors from Suzhou and Changzhou were looking around anxiously. When they saw Eryang coming, they breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You guys are finally here. You really made me anxious to death!"

These two are the hopes for the two governments to achieve good rankings.

Over there, Zhao Hao sent his father to the Imperial College, bowed deeply and said, "I wish you all the best."

"Don't worry, my son." Zhao Shouzheng nodded heavily. This was his sixth time entering the examination room, and the first time he felt so confident.

In order not to distract his father, Zhao Hao and Wu Kangyuan and others left first, leaving only Fang Wen and Gao Wu to serve Zhao Shouzheng.

~~

Zhao Hao and Wu Kangyuan came to a three-story restaurant separated from the Imperial Examination Hall by a river.

The restaurant had no sign and a door, obviously closed, but there was an acquaintance standing guard at the door holding an iron bar.

"Hey, isn't this the owner of Wei Ji Xian?" Wu Kangyuan smiled and waved at Wu Yu.

Wu Yu smiled, bowed to Zhao Hao, and opened the closed shop door.

Wu Kangyuan suddenly remembered and said, "Is this the hotel where Manager Fang originally worked?"

Zhao Hao nodded and took him into the store. He saw that the inside was spotlessly clean, but there were no tables, chairs or counters, so it seemed very empty.

But when the two of them went up to the second floor and entered the largest private room, Wu Kangyuan saw that it was fully furnished with tables and chairs, as well as several pots of orchids and hanging scrolls. It was obviously carefully arranged.

The windows of the box were all open, and the cool river breeze blew in, refreshing people's spirits.

Zhao Hao and Wu Kangyuan sat down at the Luohan Pavilion facing the river, and while making tea, they explained, "It's the autumn examination, and we want to rent a yard next to the Imperial Examination Hall for the examinees to rest, but we can't rent one even if we have the money."

"Of course. Not to mention the Qinhuai River, even near the Imperial Examination Halls in the provincial capitals, you can't rent a place unless you book it half a year in advance." Wu Kangyuan said with experience, looking at the nearby pink walls of the Imperial Examination Hall.

The provincial examination started on the ninth day of the lunar month and lasted for three sessions until the eighteenth day. During this period, after each session, candidates had to leave the Imperial Examination Hall and wait until the next day to take the next session. In order for candidates to have a good rest and not be so embarrassed, it was necessary to rent a place to stay near the Imperial Examination Hall.

"Who would have thought that Manager Fang would decorate this place without telling anyone." Zhao Hao smiled and pointed to the top of his head. "He has turned the private rooms upstairs into bedrooms. We can sleep there at night."

"Hehe, they really know how to enjoy themselves." Wu Kangyuan was envious. When he took the provincial examination, he was implicated by his uncle and suffered a lot. "I am now looking forward to them all passing the examination. When the time comes, I will go to Beijing with you. It will definitely be comfortable along the way."

"Thank you for your good wishes." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile.

~~

Without mentioning the idle chatter of the two idlers outside the Imperial Academy, the three examinees waited in line until noon before they were called and entered the examination hall. Then, after an indescribably strict search, they went to the second gate to receive their papers and then returned to the Dragon Gate to register.

By the time all three of them sat down in their respective rooms, it was already dark.

As a result, the examiner did not give any questions on that day.

So more than 4,000 candidates shivered in the trading room all night.

According to the examination room rules, robes were not allowed to have linings, mattresses could not be stuffed with cotton, and even shoes had to be made of single cloth. Fortunately, it was not too cold in Nanjing in August. I heard that in Shuntian Prefecture, every time a candidate got sick, he was carried out directly...

The next morning, the gong sounded and the examiner finally announced the questions.

When Zhao Shouzheng saw the densely packed paper, the only thing in his eyes was the first question on the Four Books.

I saw that it was written in the official script:

'Zi Gong asked about government. Confucius said: "If there is enough food and enough soldiers, the people will trust you."

Great Ancestor really showed his power!

ps. The first chapter is on the shelves, please vote for the monthly recommendation~~~