Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Yinshi, which is four o'clock in the morning.
Ji Yuan was used to waking up at this time, but An Dahai and An Xiaohe were still groggy and slept for a while in the car.
Ji Yuan simply closed his eyes and rested, and unexpectedly he actually fell asleep.
Around the hour of Mao, we finally arrived at the county town.
At around six o'clock, the gate of the county town had been opened. The soldiers at the gate asked everyone to line up and enter one by one after checking their identities.
There are obviously a lot more people today, and many of them seem to be here to take the exam.
Ji Yuan had been to the county town once, so he didn’t have any deep feelings when he came here again.
This is not the first time that An Dahai and An Xiaohe have come here, but it still feels new every time.
However, the city gate that seemed tall to them was actually quite ordinary in the eyes of Ji Yuan, who had seen countless architectural wonders.
"You kid, are you here to take the exam too? How come you are so calm?"
When we were waiting in line to enter the county town, a young man who looked like a scholar took the initiative to talk to me: "My name is Li Ting. I'm going to take the county exam today. I see you are holding books and writing brushes. Are you going to take the exam as well?"
Ji Yuan saw that he was talking to him and nodded. He was holding the bamboo basket given by his master's wife, which was filled with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.
Li Ting was a very outgoing person, and he looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. He soon became engaged in a lively conversation with the equally outgoing An Dahai.
But he was still more interested in the era.
The students around me were either nervous, curious, or both.
He was the only one with a bright look in his eyes, he didn't even look at the book.
According to his experience, either you are very confident or you don't take it seriously.
Ji Yuan was actually also nervous. He was just reciting the article silently. Li Ting interrupted him just now, so he had to recite it again.
After they finished memorizing the book, they went into the city.
The county school is located in the middle of the county town and can be reached quickly.
When I came here, I found that the entrance was crowded with people.
If there weren't armored soldiers maintaining order, there would probably be even more people.
The soldiers were on guard at the gate of the county school, and the vendors carrying shoulder poles around had to line up according to the rules.
The parents of the candidates stopped them not far away, and the bullock carts had to be parked nearby and were not allowed to enter.
It is now the middle of the morning, and there is still one hour before the exam starts, so the candidates are not allowed to enter the county school yet.
Both the candidates and their parents must wait three meters away from the county school.
The exam starts at 8 o'clock, and people will start entering the examination room at 7 o'clock.
Ji Yuan and his companions were waiting outside, and vendors on both sides shouted, "Fine writing brushes, inkstones, paper, and inkstones. Come and have a look."
"Want to buy some paper? The paper I have is the one used by the last champion."
"This is a fine pen made in Jiangxi. It feels like a miracle when I use it!"
Ji Yuan was looking at the number of people around him, and An Dahai patted him: "Is that your cousin Ji Li?"
As he spoke, An Xiaohe and Li Ting looked over.
It’s true.
Ji Li was holding a Confucian scholar's headscarf in his hand and following the people around him in hawking his wares.
Ji Li also noticed their gazes and subconsciously avoided them.
They were all classmates. They were preparing to take the county school entrance exam, but he was selling things here. His face turned red and his eyes were full of resentment.
Ji Yuan didn’t look at it much, but he was thinking about it in his heart.
The silk shop owner was quite smart. He didn't ask Ji Li to go for a trial job. It was obviously because there would be an exam in the county recently and there were a lot of candidates and their parents, so he asked someone to come and help.
Besides this, he was more curious about something else.
Mr. Zhao said before that there would be about three hundred people taking the county school exam.
However, seeing that An Xiaohe and others can recommend candidates using their status as scholars, it is estimated that there will be a lot more.
Master Zhao did not give any specific numbers, only saying that the difficulty of taking the county school entrance exam was higher than expected.
"It is said that there are nearly 500 people." Li Ting, who I just met, answered, "Originally, there were only students from our Zhengrong County, but I didn't expect that students from other counties would also come to sign up after hearing about it."
"Ah? Why is this?" An Dahai wondered.
"The county school in Zhengrong County is famous for its upright academic atmosphere." An Xiaohe knew that "the teachers there are very good, and there is even a Juren."
It turns out to be like this.
It seems that I was thinking wrong before.
This is not only an enrollment for a local prestigious school, it is clearly an enrollment for a regional prestigious school. No wonder so many students come to take the exam.
Li Ting also nodded: "Other private school teachers came to us, and our county magistrate considered it and agreed to give them a quota."
"So this time, we'll select the top 20 out of nearly 500 people."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only they, but even the surrounding candidates became tense.
I thought it was difficult enough!
I didn’t expect it to be easier than I imagined.
Ji Yuan and his friends talked as they went along, and they simply sat on the ox cart to talk.
Madam An Er distributed the food to everyone and urged An Xiaohe to review his studies.
There were many other students around who were also reciting the poem.
Ji Yuan, who usually works hard, had no thoughts at this moment. Instead, he relaxed and chatted with Li Ting casually.
"Your cousin has been watching you." Li Ting whispered.
Ji Yuan nodded: "Don't worry about it."
"Tsk tsk, you are really different." Li Ting said with a smile, "When we become classmates, we will definitely be good friends."
As the two were talking, they heard a wail from the side: "You lied to me again!"
"This is not a purple hair brush at all! Give me your money back!"
"Not retreating?!"
"Master, stop messing around. Hurry up and memorize the lessons. You'll be entering the examination room soon."
"We will help you withdraw. We will help you. Our shopkeeper just wants you to get closer to the official school. You must work hard."
Shopkeeper?
Business student?
Ji Yuan knew that the Tianqi Kingdom allowed merchants and others to study for the imperial examinations, but they would be divided into merchant classes. He thought that these were the merchant students.
As he was watching, the gate of the county school opened, and he heard the instructor inside say, "It's already the Chen hour! Students from Zhengrong County and other schools, line up and have their identities checked one by one before entering."
"Remember not to smuggle anything in or hide anything in private. If anyone commits any crime, he will be severely punished with ten lashes! Executed in public!"
Scholars value their reputation the most.
He was whipped ten times, and in public, so this man is doomed.
In order to prevent cheating and smuggling, the government issued tough words.
Ji Yuan was short, and when it was his turn, he saw that there were several officials standing next to the instructor. The leader was wearing a light green silk official uniform, and the other one next to him was wearing a dark blue official uniform with a different pattern.
This is probably the county magistrate of Zhengrong County and the teacher of the official school?
But he was standing too far away, so he could only see the color of the clothes.
Their eyes paused when they saw Ji Yuan. This time, the county school entrance examination was conducted by selecting the best from the private schools in Zhengrong County, so the selected students were not young.
They are basically around 11 or 12 to 17 or 18 years old.
There are only a handful of candidates as young as Ji Yuan among the nearly 500 candidates.
Ji Yuan walked up to the two officials in charge of the search. One was responsible for verifying his name and identity, while the other checked the items he brought to see if there was anything smuggled.
The former verified them one by one: "Ji Yuan was born in the 23rd year of Huayuan. He is from Anji Village, Zhengrong County, Jianmeng Prefecture, Tianqi State. Both his grandparents are gone, and both his parents have passed away. He is raised by his uncle Ji Quan. Is this true?"
After the prosecutor finished reading it, he was stunned. An eight-year-old child, whose parents had both passed away, came to take the exam by himself.
The county magistrate and the teacher, who had originally looked away, both looked over.
The two had somewhat different expressions. The 30-something stern-looking county magistrate seemed to be thinking about something. The teacher whispered, "It's him."
The teacher and the doctor who followed behind also said, "It's him."
The magistrate looked at them.
The teacher quickly said, "He is the student who wrote Bamboo and Rock."
The county magistrate must have heard such good poems as Bamboo and Rock.
No matter how many times you are beaten, you will still be strong, no matter which direction the wind blows.
It is really well written.
They were far away and spoke in low voices, so no one heard them.
But the appreciation in his eyes was obvious.
As long as the era is not too bad, they all want this student.
Ji Yuan’s things were simple, so after a quick search they let him in.
When you enter the county school, you can find the difference. When you enter the gate, the first person enshrined is Confucius, and after everyone pays their respects, they enter the banquet hall.
Although Ji Yuan and his friends only took one day to take the county school entrance exam, they still used this title.
The seats are small houses made of reed mats, and candidates enter one by one, all randomly.
After entering, there is a toilet in the small square area, which is probably what the formal imperial examination was like.
No wonder Master Zhao said that the county school intended to imitate the imperial examination. If they wanted to take the exam to become a scholar and take the county exam, this would probably be the process.
Of course the exam will take longer.
The county school in their county is really thoughtful.
Let everyone mock exams in advance, so that when the real exam comes, they probably won’t be so nervous.
This advance planning is enough to attract more students.
It’s exactly the hour of Chen.
I only heard the official outside shouting: "Seal off the inner and outer doors, no one is allowed to come in or out without permission!"
Ji Yuan originally thought that the exam was about to begin, but then he heard a noise coming from outside, as if it was in front of the statue of Confucius.
One of the officials read in a loud and powerful voice: "In the examination for the qualification of the county school in Zhengrong County, the examiners and other officials burned incense and prayed to the heaven, swearing: We will be pure and single-minded, aim to be impartial, and fulfill the emperor's intention of seeking talents. If there are those who betray the court's appointment and cheat for personal gain, they will be punished and their descendants will be exterminated!"①
What a cruel oath!
This probably means that if the officials, teachers, and doctors in this examination collude to commit fraud for personal gain, they will not only be punished but their descendants will also be exterminated.
Most ancient people believed in the way of heaven and in cause and effect.
Such a vow is indeed vicious.
Their students had to go through layers of searches, and officials had to burn incense and pray to the heavens.
Ji Yuan was shocked. Knowing about the imperial examination was one thing, but experiencing it personally was another.
No wonder people say the imperial examination is very strict; only when you are in it will you realize how shallow you are.
Finally, the patrol officer shouted, "No talking or asking questions! No making noise! No impersonation! No passing on!"
"At 7:00 pm on the eighth day of the tenth month of the thirty-first year of Huayuan! The county school qualification examination begins!"
The test paper was handed to Ji Yuan.
It’s a really thick stack.
Following the habit of doing questions in his previous life, Ji Yuan first glanced through it roughly, and then did the questions step by step.
The questions in the morning exam were mostly silent copying and silent understanding.
This is relying on basic skills.
The test question only has one sentence, but I need to answer the entire paper.
Finally, you have to copy it out, and it’s best not to leave any ink spots.
The morning exams made people feel drowsy, and Ji Yuan felt like he was writing the whole time.
They were not allowed to go out at noon, so the government distributed bread to them.
During the one-hour break, Ji Yuan took a short nap. When he got up, he looked at the cold water and didn't dare to drink it, for fear of feeling uncomfortable in his stomach.
After a good sleep, I felt much more alert and continued to prepare for the afternoon exam.
When Ji Yuan got the afternoon test paper, he raised his eyebrows.
If we were testing basic skills in the morning, it would feel like physical labor.
The afternoon is all about mental work.
The questions on the meaning of the Four Books and the classics and commentaries are more tricky than the other.
There are a total of ten questions within two hours.
The first three are relatively easy, but starting from the fifth one, the difficulty increases significantly.
Ji Yuan opened the paper and saw the first question was: "Wealth and honor are what people desire; but if they are not obtained by proper means, they should not be kept."
Wealth and prosperity are what everyone wants, but for a moral person, if the source of wealth is not legitimate, he or she will not accept it.
This is a sentence from The Analects of Confucius.
Based on this sentence, write a 300-word idea.
The Four Books' Interpretations, it's you again!
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