By the time he entered the examination hall, the sky had turned dark and brightened.
After finding her own small cubicle, Fang Xiaoyue entered, put down the package and cleaned up with ease.
When it comes to the hygiene of the small grid, this is probably the point that Fang Xiaoyue complains about the most.
I don’t know if it’s because outsiders are not allowed to enter the examination center, but there is a layer of dust accumulated in the small grid.
After cleaning the small grid, Fang Xiaoyue had time to slowly look at the situation in the examination hall.
This examination hall was probably the best he had ever seen.
There are more than 8,000 small grids crisscrossing the examination hall. The small grid at the end is probably so difficult to see the high platform in front of it.
At about ten o'clock in the morning, all the candidates entered the examination hall. The door of the examination hall was closed, and the imperial guards outside posted a yellow seal on the door.
From this moment on, and for the next three days, everything inside and outside the examination center will be isolated, and no one will be allowed in or out, unless there is an accident such as a fire.
Since the examination is one of the great national ceremonies, even the people who perform various tasks in the examination institute are forbidden troops.
Those government officials under Jing Zhaoyin were never allowed to enter the examination hall.
This is to prevent fraud.
It was a long wait until the Forbidden Army distributed water, food, draft paper and other items.
Because the questions for the general examination will not be opened until the entrance door of the examination hall is closed, and then printed by craftsmen.
It was not until noon, after Fang Xiaoyue ate two wheat cakes, that the examination papers were handed out by the Imperial Army.
After receiving the test paper, he read it through first.
Similar to what I had learned before, the examination questions were composed of ten questions on scriptures, seven questions on ink meaning, five test poems, and one essay on four texts.
At this time, in the courtyard behind the high platform of the examination hall, a group of officials were sitting together drinking tea.
Although this is basically the first time for everyone to host an audition, they all know the situation.
During these three days, they only need to maintain good discipline in the examination. What is really tiring is the test papers after three days.
However, what is different from the provincial examination is that in addition to the chief examiner, deputy examiner and other officials, there is also a eunuch wearing a flying fish python robe.
The eunuch looked arrogant and didn't care at all about the faint look of contempt on the faces of the civil servants.
"Eunuch Wang, you and I need to work together for this examination."
The leading examiner smiled at the eunuch.
An Ruyi, who was a Hanlin bachelor and was appointed by His Majesty the Emperor to be the examiner of the joint examination, believed that he was qualified to despise eunuchs.
But the eunuch in front of him was no ordinary eunuch, he was the eunuch Pu Zhenghui, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony.
Of course, as an internal official, the Eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, was only of the sixth rank.
But his other two identities are more intimidating to the officials.
He was the personal eunuch of the current Qianlong period. He only made a small mistake and was demoted to Huanyiyuan after he ascended the throne. However, His Majesty the Emperor did not forget the old relationship and promoted him to the post of a few years later.
The chief ceremonial officer, the eunuch Bingbi, plus the post of governor of the East Factory.
At this point, everyone should understand that this prince is the loyal dog of His Majesty the Emperor.
Although the Daze Guodong Factory was established by His Majesty Emperor Chengzu of the Daze State, he had set a responsibility to investigate the injustice and lawlessness of officials in the big and small yamen in Beijing!
But in fact, over the course of more than a hundred years, Dongchang has evolved into a powerful weapon used by His Majesty the Emperor to deal with civil and military officials.
Whenever the emperor had dissatisfied officials, Dongchang would pounce on them like a vicious dog and bite them severely.
Of course, the reason why Wang Gonggong was sent by His Majesty the Emperor to sit in charge of the examination was actually because he attached great importance to the examination.
At least with this prince here, the officials who preside over the examination will become more honest and will not turn the examination into a place for them to recruit disciples.
In fact, this kind of thing happened fifty years ago.
At that time, a Hanlin bachelor cheated in the imperial examination, and most of the tributes admitted were from his hometown party, which also made the subsequent imperial examination useless.
What is even more speechless is that the emperor at that time liked to build ships and built all kinds of exquisite ships, but he put aside court affairs.
This allowed the Hanlin scholar to be promoted step by step to the position of chief minister, and then promote many of his disciples to key positions in various ministries, making the entire court become the chief minister's utterance.
Even after His Majesty the Emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne, the new emperor had to look at the eyes of the chief minister to act. It was extremely frustrating, and it was the most depressed period for the royal family of Daze Kingdom.
Of course, when the new emperor gradually grew up, the chief assistant was too old to be in charge and had to retire and return home.
But its end was also quite tragic.
Before he arrived at his hometown, he was scolded by His Majesty the Emperor with ten consecutive imperial edicts, and finally had to hang himself to avoid damaging his family.
But even so, His Majesty the Emperor still ransacked the home of the chief minister, threw all his sons and grandsons into prison, and executed them all on charges of treason.
As for his disciples and children, they were also accused of crimes one by one, and were either demoted from the capital or arrested and imprisoned.
Such a huge force finally disappeared.
And in this process, it was Dongchang who collected charges for His Majesty the Emperor!
Of course, after this incident, successive emperors paid special attention to the examinations and strictly put an end to any possible cheating by examiners.
Every time there was an examination, the emperor would send a great eunuch to sit in the examination hall.
It has since become a routine.
However, the different identities of the eunuchs dispatched will also bring different pressures to the officials presiding over the examination.
The chief ceremonial supervisor, Bingbi eunuch, and the admiral of the Katong factory, such as Wang Gonggong, undoubtedly put the greatest pressure on these officials.
Here the officials and eunuchs gathered in a circle in the courtyard to drink tea and brag. Over there, Fang Xiaoyue finished ten questions on scriptures and seven questions on ink meanings in a short time.
In fact, it is very easy for anyone to do these questions.
The reason why such simple questions are still asked in the examination is mainly to raise the bar and eliminate some unqualified candidates in the Imperial College.
After all, as I said before, there are many students in the Imperial College who donate money to go to school.
These prison students could earn their way into the Imperial College, but the imperial court would not allow those who were unlearned and unskilled to pass the examination.
These questions on sutras and meanings are all used to deal with such uneducated and incompetent people.
Although Fang Xiaoyue had already upgraded the poems to level 20 for the next five trial poems, it still took a lot of effort to complete them.
This is not surprising. As mentioned before, test poems are about propositions to praise the court or the emperor.
One or two songs are fine, but three or more songs are enough to drain the brains of many people.
After all, just by praising the imperial court according to the proposition, the emperor can only be considered qualified, but if he wants to stand out from the many candidates, he also needs to use a novel angle of praise!
Otherwise, it will be difficult to pass the examiner's test.
You can imagine how difficult it is to write five test poems in a row.
Of course, for Fang Xiaoyue, just writing five test poems is still very difficult, but he needs to write the test poems to a level that is beyond the level of many candidates.
In this case, even level 20 poetry skills will take a lot of time.
After he finished writing the last test poem, it was completely dark. Fang Xiaoyue looked around and realized that many candidates had gone to bed.
I have to say that the psychological quality of these candidates is quite good.
Some candidates had already lit candles at this time, lying on their desks with red eyes, trying hard to think of answers.
Fang Xiaoyue naturally would not stay up late like this. He fell asleep quickly while lying on the bed.
After getting up the next day, the Forbidden Army was distributing water and food.
Although Fang Xiaoyue said there was not much shortage, she still filled the gourd with water and asked for a portion of food.
Similar to the wheat cakes I brought with me, the food provided in the examination room was even simpler, consisting of boiled steamed buns and two salted duck eggs.
Fang Xiaoyue peeled off a salted duck egg and tasted it. She felt quite satisfied. At least the sanded egg was red and oily. She took a bite of the steamed bun and tasted the salted duck egg. She felt the delicate texture of the sanded egg center rolling in her mouth, which gave it a unique flavor.
On this second day, Fang Xiaoyue mainly wrote out the Four Letters.
Compared with the provincial examination, the questions in the four essays have become much more difficult.
It is composed of passages from the differences between the University and the Doctrine of the Mean.
Its difficulty directly caused many candidates to lie down on their desks and meditate hard, and they lost a lot of hair just to solve the questions.
However, for Fang Xiaoyue, who has reached level 20 of Four Letters, such a four-word essay is really not that difficult.
It only took him one morning to write the drafts of the four essays, and in the afternoon he neatly copied all the scripture notes, ink meanings, and test poems he had made before onto the test paper.
When he got up early on the third day, he copied the four texts onto the test paper.
By the time he finished all the test papers, it was almost noon.
Fang Xiaoyue put away the test papers, ate a few wheat cakes, drank water, and then lay on the bed and fell asleep comfortably.
By the time he was woken up by bursts of crying, it was not far from the end of the exam.
In fact, the imperial guards were beating gongs to remind the candidates that there was still a quarter of an hour before the end of the examination.
Those crying sounds were made by some candidates who had not yet finished the test papers.
They were a little anxious at this time. Seeing that they could not finish the test paper within the specified time and that three years of hard work had been wasted, they naturally started to cry.
Fortunately, at this time, as long as you don't cry too loudly and affect other candidates in the examination room, the imperial troops will not drive you out.
Of course, even if the imperial army does not expel these candidates, if they fail to complete the test papers, they will be directly demoted according to regulations. In fact, the result is similar to being expelled, but the face is slightly better.
After finally waiting for the imperial army to collect the examination papers, Fang Xiaoyue left the examination hall in a happy mood.
After walking a few steps, I heard Zhang Yuanming's voice from the front: "Cousin! Cousin! I'm here!"
It turned out that Zhang Yuanming had been waiting outside the examination center early.
But there was no carriage back, so the two of them had to go back on foot.
Fang Xiaoyue had finished the examination at this time, and she did well in the examination, so she was naturally in a good mood. When she went back, she talked happily with Zhang Yuanming.
After returning to the inn, you need to wait patiently.
However, at this time, the people who came to invite Fang Xiaoyue to participate in the cultural gathering received enthusiastic responses from Fang Xiaoyue.
In addition to going out to play with the people, Fang Xiaoyue participated in two cultural gatherings in just one week!
And in every literary gathering, he wrote exquisite masterpieces that have been handed down from generation to generation!
During the moon appreciation party held by Princess Mingyue, Fang Xiaoyue wrote Li Bai's "Thoughts on a Quiet Night", fully expressing her homesickness for being far away from her hometown.
At the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Party held by Wudehou, Fang Xiaoyue wrote Li Bai's "Xia Ke Xing", which fully demonstrated his heroic ambitions and won great admiration from Wudehou, whose ancestors were awarded military merits.
These two poems alone made Fang Xiaoyue famous among many literati and even nobles.
After these literati and nobles became famous, the name Fang Xiaoyue quickly spread among the people with "Jingsi Night" and "Xia Ke Xing".
Of course, it was the brothel fireworks place that first spread.
After all, men of letters and even nobles did not have many entertainment projects in this era. If they had nothing to do, they would go to the brothel and fireworks place, drink wine, listen to ditties, and brag under the attentiveness of those Jie Yuhua.
of.
Some people even made "Xia Ke Xing" into a song.
In short, Fang Xiaoyue became famous even before the results of the general examination came out.
Many people in the capital know that there is a scholar named Fang Xiaoyue who is very talented and has written famous works throughout the ages.
Especially the song "Night of Quiet Thought" has made many people in a foreign land sigh with emotion.
The results will be announced in the exam tomorrow.
The eight conference room examiners have already sent all the selected papers to the examiner.
The chief examiner was looking over the test papers with the deputy examiner at this time.
It should be said that every exam is a torture for all examiners.
Especially for this examination, there were as many as 5,000 candidates.
The eight conference examiners each needed to mark more than 600 papers, which made them exhausted.
The chief and deputy examiners are better and only need to mark 200 test papers.
But in the end, only thirty tributes were admitted.
This is the admission quota determined by His Majesty the Emperor himself.
As mentioned before, the imperial court can be said to be full of officials in recent years.
Although the examinations held every three years cannot be stopped, the admission quota can still be adjusted.
Only 30 people were admitted out of more than 5,000 candidates, which forced the examiners to be more cautious.
In particular, these Juren can basically get full marks in the two types of questions: "Jing Jing" and "Mo Yi".
As a result, we can only rely on the test poems and the four essays to judge the level.
The chief examiner and deputy examiner almost turned their eyes red before they demoted one hundred and seventy of the two hundred test papers.
As for searching for relics, it is absolutely impossible.
After all, the number of admissions is limited, so searching for remains is of little value.
Besides, those candidates couldn't even pass with the examiner in the conference room, let alone with the examiner.
“The quality of this year’s candidates is high.”
After confirming the 30 tributes, the examiner breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
All the officials nodded repeatedly.
The examiner and others also gathered together and watched and commented on the articles of the thirty people on the list one by one. After that, the name of the lake was removed. The examiner personally wrote thirty names in turn on a piece of yellow silk brought by the prince.