On the eighth day, the examiners entered the venue to worship Confucius and other gods. The process was similar to that of the provincial examination, so there is no need to elaborate.
Zhao Shouzheng was finally dragged out of bed and rushed to the Ministry of Rites with sleepy eyes to verify his identity and fill out the cover letter.
A total of 4,500 candidates flocked to the Ministry of Rites on that day. Those who came late had to queue up for a whole day, and almost as soon as they finished filling out their papers, they had to run to the Imperial Examination Hall to queue up to enter the examination room.
But if you have the money, you don't even need to queue up. You can go through the back door and complete the process. When you come out of the Ministry of Rites, Mr. Zhao has just regained consciousness...
When I got home after finishing my work, it was not yet noon.
Zhao Hao asked him to try on the ermine fur suit that the eldest princess had sent him. Sure enough, it was neither too big nor too small, neither too long nor too short, and it was exactly his size.
Then Wang Wuyang took his master to familiarize himself with the examination box prepared for him.
After finishing all the work, the family had a light lunch.
During the meal, Zhao Shouzheng discovered that Zhao Hao had a new disciple.
When I gave the meeting money, I couldn't help but sigh. My son has more and more disciples now, and it is becoming more and more difficult to remember them all.
But I don’t worry about going bankrupt one day…
On a day like today, Zhao Hao strictly prohibited chatting and sent the candidates to bed after dinner.
~~
On this day, the entire Zhao Mansion was silent. Even coughing had to be suppressed, for fear of disturbing the rest of the examinees.
After all, not everyone can sleep as well as Mr. Zhao.
After the bell and drum tower struck the drum twice, Zhao Hao personally called up the six candidates.
After they had washed and had a snack, they came together to the hall and kowtowed to Confucius.
Then they all paid homage to the black-faced Grandpa…
Wang Xijue, who came to send off the examinee, twitched at the corner of his mouth when he saw this scene. What kind of operation is it for the examinees of this dynasty to pay homage to the emperor of the previous dynasty?
During the Autumn Examination, only the Zhao family members paid their respects themselves, but this time the disciples also followed suit.
It can be seen how a flattering senior brother would corrupt the atmosphere in the sect...
Finally, the disciples paid homage to their master.
Zhao Hao personally put a big hat on each of them, tied the hatband tightly, and said to each of them: "It will not fall to the ground."
The six candidates, accompanied by their servants and men from Caijia Lane, rushed to the Imperial Examination Hall under the stars.
~~
According to the Five Elements Feng Shui, the southeast is the direction of "purple air coming from the east". And scholars are the hope for the prosperity of the world.
Therefore, all the imperial examination halls were located in the southeast corner of the city. This was the case in Nanjing, and Beijing was no exception - Shuntian Imperial Examination Hall was located in Mingshifang in the southeast corner of the inner city, less than a mile away from Chunsong Hutong.
When my elder brother was choosing a house, he specifically picked Chunsong Hutong, which was not far from Gongyuan.
Having learned from the traffic jam during the provincial examination, Zhao Hao did not prepare any carriages this time. Instead, he formed a commando team consisting of the guards from Caijia Lane and his disciples' servants and servants to escort the six candidates on foot.
As expected, as soon as the group arrived at Zongpu Hutong, they saw that the road ahead was blocked by carriages carrying candidates for the exam.
The irritable shouting and yelling filled the night sky.
“Charge!”
At Gao Wu's command, eight men from Caijia Lane formed an arrowhead and fiercely wedged into the crowd. They immediately knocked down the servants, domestic servants, candidates, relatives and other rabble, and forcibly opened a path.
Yu Shensi, Wang Xijue and others protected the six candidates and Zhao Hao in the center, and followed the men from Caijia Lane and kept advancing...
As a result, it only took him a cup of tea to cover the distance that others might not be able to cover in an hour, and he arrived at the gate with a black-ink plaque with the words "Shuntian Gongyuan" hanging on it.
At this point, the people who are escorting the candidates to take the exam have to stop.
The book boys handed the examination boxes to their respective masters who had passed the imperial examinations.
Zhao Hao, Wang Xijue and others waved their hands and watched the six candidates enter the main gate, pass through the large archway with the words "Heaven Opens the Wenyun", and walk towards the second gate.
"If my brother hadn't come in, I would have been in there by now." Wang Xijue looked at the brightly lit Mingyuan Tower with a yearning expression and said:
"I heard that the examiners are in there, eating and drinking, bragging and chatting every day, and they don't have to spend their own money. They are so happy."
"You are out there, can't you eat, drink, brag and chat?" Zhao Hao said with a smile: "I think you are envious of Shen Zhuangyuan's decision to become a teacher?"
“Hahaha…” Wang Xijue laughed, “Seeing clearly but not speaking out, this is what Rumo often taught me.”
The two were chatting and laughing as they were about to leave when they saw Wu Kangyuan, also escorted by his uncle, arrive at the Imperial Examination Hall early.
"Hurry up, hurry up, we can still catch up with the body search." Wang Xijue had seen Wu Kangyuan at Zhao's house, so he joked with him. "I heard that a new search officer was appointed this year, so you have to be obedient and let him do whatever he wants."
Wu Kangyuan didn't feel anything after hearing this, but Yu Shensi, who was standing next to Zhao Hao, couldn't help but bite the corner of his clothes.
There are also special inspectors? That's scary...
"Don't try that on me." Wu Shilai scolded with a smile, "You have affected my nephew's performance. I will make you pay for it in the future."
Zhao Hao also smiled and joked with Wu Kangyuan: "Look, this chef is the same kind of person as you. He likes to see future generations suffer."
"Ah, it's karma." Wu Kangyuan also remembered how he gloated over other people's misfortunes during the autumn examination last year. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. He was too embarrassed to settle accounts with Wang Xijue, so he went in with his examination basket.
Wu Shi came to see Zhao Hao and Wang Xijue and said with a smile, "Come on, go sit at my place so you don't have to wait alone."
"Very good, very good. Every time my younger brother has an exam, I am more anxious than he is outside." Wang Xijue replied with a smile.
"I'm six times stronger than you." Zhao Hao patted Wang Xijue's shoulder.
"Hey, including his younger brother, doesn't your family have five scholars who have passed the imperial examination?" Wu Shilai had never met Jin Xueceng.
"Alas, there is nothing I can do. Before the exam, a child from Zhejiang knelt outside my house for eight days..."
Zhao Hao put his hands behind his back, shook his head and sighed, "If we don't accept him, he won't even plan to enter the Imperial Examination Hall."
“Hahahaha!” Wu Shilai and Wang Xijue laughed so hard that they fell backwards. The former pointed at Zhao Hao and said:
"This guy must have been cheating again!"
"Well, I think so." Wang Xijue agreed and said, "Fortunately, the Spring Examination was moved forward to February. If it was held in March like before, I'm afraid that all the examiners of this year would have been snatched away by him alone."
"That's right. The entry threshold for my science course is extremely high. I won't accept people like you even if they beg me for admission." Zhao Hao stood with his hands behind his back, looking disdainful.
"If I teach everyone, half of the students in this imperial academy will be my students."
Everyone laughed again.
While Wang Xijue was running over to greet an official escorting him to the exam, Wu Shilai suddenly whispered to Zhao Hao:
"Don't hold your hopes too high for this subject. It's good enough that you can pass the imperial examination. There's still the palace examination to come..."
"Oh?" Zhao Hao's heart skipped a beat and he frowned, "Is it that young minister's idea again?"
"Haha, that's not very clear..."
Wu Shilai smiled vaguely, almost as if he agreed.
Zhao Hao suddenly felt furious!
You are so good, Xu Fan. You wanted to make me look bad in public last time... But last time, I messed up your father's business, so I didn't settle the score with you.
It's only been a few days, and he actually attacked my father and my apprentice again?
If I don't shoot you, don't you know that the Horse King has three eyes? I, Master Zhao, have the eyes of prophecy!
ps. Chapter 3, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~~