The Rites Yamen has been completely surrounded, and the students are shouting with indignation.
"Why are the candles in Gongyuan banned?"
"We have been living in poverty for more than ten years, and we only wanted to be named on the gold list for one day. What is the reason for this harm to us?"
"There are traitors and traitors in the court, there are traitors and traitors!"
"Look, that's Mr. Kuang, the Minister of Rites. Please ask Mr. Kuang to make the decision and go to the Holy Spirit to express your love!"
As soon as Kuang Ye appeared, he was surrounded by a group of students, and looking at the situation, it was difficult to give up.
"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!"
Everyone is still talking a lot, wishing they could rush to the Fengtian Palace now and gather together to Qingjun's side!
Nowadays, it is difficult for scholars to mix, because more and more people are reading and literate. In any industry, as soon as there are more people, it will start to get complicated.
Scholars in the past were so noble. Even if you didn't have any fame, when others heard that you were a scholar, their attitude immediately became respectful.
It's better now. There is a school every three steps, and a junior high school every five steps. A brick falling from the sky can hit several scholars.
Now that everyone has started studying, it is even more difficult to get ahead.
Gathered here today are the leading scholars from across the country, who can be said to be the most intelligent group of scholars. They are about to enter the court and become the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty.
What determines everyone's fate is the coming spring.
If you can get into the top three of the first class, it will be no problem to join the cabinet and become the prime minister in the future.
Even if you are a second-class person, you still have the opportunity to enter the Hanlin Academy, become a sage, and in the future, you will hold important positions in the six ministries and nine ministers, or be decentralized to local areas, and become a prefect or something.
Even if he is in the top three, he is at least a county magistrate.
However, at this juncture, I actually heard that someone was making a fuss about Gongyuan and banning fire candles. Is this okay?
Who will be responsible for delaying our exam?
This is a life-long decision, and all of you would like to peel off the skin and bones of the person who made this decision to relieve the hatred in your heart.
"Everyone, be quiet and listen to me first!"
Kuang Ye shouted hard, and finally, the noise around him slowly calmed down.
"The lighting issue in Gongyuan has been resolved. I promise that no one will make things difficult for everyone. Stop gathering together and go back to prepare for the exam!"
After everyone heard this, they were not in a hurry to leave, but all looked suspicious.
Yesterday you said there was nothing you could do, but it will be solved today?
Is it really solved or fake solved?
Isn't it the imperial court's plan to delay the war...
"Master Kuang, Xu Pu, a student in Xianan Zhili, would like to ask a few words on behalf of all my classmates."
A young student stepped forward and saluted Kuang Ye.
Seeing this man's polite appearance, Kuang Ye nodded and said, "Please tell me if you have anything to say."
Xu Pu said: "The Gongyuan is still closed. We have not seen anyone entering with a large amount of supplies. I wonder how the solution was solved as Master Kuang said?"
There are 9,000 examination booths in the Gongyuan. If the materials were approved by the imperial court, it would be impossible for just one or two people to bring them in. There must be a large number of people transporting them.
Kuang Ye said immediately: "You are right, it has not been solved yet, but the emperor has made arrangements. Within three days, the Academy of Sciences will solve the lighting problem of the Gongyuan. If there is no movement after three days, you will The yamen of the Ministry of Rites has been demolished, can this be the case?"
Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you, with uncertainty in their eyes.
There are only five days left until spring, and they are in such a hurry that they can't afford to delay even one day.
"Okay, let's wait outside the Gongyuan!"
Xu Pu is a sensible person, because he noticed that Kuang Ye mentioned the emperor just now.
Since it was arranged by the emperor, there shouldn't be any problems.
Seeing that someone was taking the lead, the others stopped entangled, and followed Xu Pu to leave, walking through the streets and alleys, and came to Gongyuan.
Then, they saw an incredible scene.
Groups of carriages arrived carrying large amounts of supplies, but it was not candles or lamp oil, but...iron pots!
That’s right, it’s an iron pot for cooking!
People from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division were dispatched to help the people from the Academy of Sciences transport the iron pots.
Xu Pu couldn't help but grabbed a person and asked: "Brother, may I ask... what are you doing?"
"Install the lights!"
"What is an electric light...?"
"The electric light is...Hey, I can't explain it at the moment. Are you students preparing for exams?"
Xu Pu nodded quickly and said: "Exactly!"
"That's it, you'll find out when you start the exam."
The man didn't explain much. After he finished speaking, he went back to continue his work.
Xu Pu looked puzzled, as did everyone else.
Electric light, what the hell?
"In my opinion, it must be a new gadget devised by the imperial court to prevent fire. It seems that we are going to be tricked again!"
"Everyone has seen what they brought in, an iron pot! Who has ever heard that an iron pot can be used as a candle?"
"No, we have to go to the palace to petition. It will be too late when something happens!"
Everyone started to get ready to make a move, but Xu Pu held back, waved his hand and said: "Kuang Shangshu has already said that it is the emperor's will. We don't know the truth now, so we should wait a little longer!"
Everyone calmed down now, because Xu Pu had already reminded him that it was the emperor's will!
The imperial court is already making rectifications, and it is an imperial decree. If I go to petition now, is it to resist the decree?
Everyone present was smart. After thinking about this, they all shut up.
"Well, wait and see!"
"That's right, it's only three days, it's not like we can't wait."
"After three days, if there is no movement, we will go to the imperial court to file a complaint."
"exactly……"
People from the Academy of Sciences were busy moving all the newly developed simple steam engine furnaces here.
However, it was still not enough, so he ordered people to rush through the night to make it.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ready-made iron pots that can be used with just a few modifications.
Copper wire is easy to handle, there is plenty of it in the warehouse.
The glass lampshade was customized from the Xishan Glass Factory. After receiving the imperial edict, the glass factory dared not neglect, so all the staff stopped what they were doing and rushed to make the lampshade.
Carbonized bamboo silk is easier to handle and can be fired in two hours.
These equipment and parts were successively transported to Gongyuan, and then began the intense assembly work.
Fortunately, the difficulty of electric lamps is not high. As long as you master the principles, it is not difficult to assemble them.
The Academy of Sciences worked overtime and overnight, and finally installed electric lights on all the examination booths on the third day.
There are 2,500 lamps in total, one for every four examination studios. It is brighter than oil lamps and candles.
The students who were guarding outside the Gongyuan were surprised to find that the entire Gongyuan was brightly lit at night!
They finally breathed a sigh of relief. There were only two days left to rest and prepare for the exam.
In the 19th year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Jiaxu Science Examination took place.
Xu Pu took the number plate and walked into the Gongyuan.
Directly in front is the gate with five couplets, and a black-lettered plaque "Gongyuan" hangs in the middle. There are three archways in front of the gate. The east arch is called "Ming Jing Qi Shi", the west arch is called "Seeking talents for the country", and the middle one is "Tiankai".
Literary destiny".
A high wall is built around it, and there are doors in the east, west, north and south, called brick doors.
Additional buildings such as roll call hall, guard hall, and surveillance hall were built in the east and west brick gates respectively.
The north and south brick gates are the court halls, living rooms, and places for printing, engraving, recording, receiving books, sealing, etc. for officials such as examiners and censors.
There are also watchtowers at the four corners of the courtyard, which are used to monitor the inside and outside of the Gongyuan to avoid cheating.
Every candidate who comes in must be searched to make sure there are no cheating items before they are released.
Xu Pu looked at the number plate in his hand and found the corresponding examination booth.
We call it an examination shed because...it's just a shed!
A total of nine thousand examination booths are arranged vertically and horizontally, which is quite spectacular when you look at it.
Each examination booth can only accommodate one person. After the candidates sit in, there is only a wooden board in front of them, which can be used as a table and for writing, and can also be moved down and used as a bed to sleep at night.
From now on, no one will be allowed to leave this examination room for three days, including eating, drinking, and defecating, all of which must be done inside.
Xu Pu is no stranger to the examination room. He is only concerned about whether there are oil lamps and candles.
But, no!
Not far in front of me, there was a thing that looked like a lamp installed.
He had heard of this thing, it was called glass, it was more transparent than colored glaze, and it was cheap to make.
It's just that it hasn't been popularized yet, and he has only heard of it, not seen it.
Can glass still illuminate?
Xu Pu wanted to ask someone, but he heard someone shout: "The examiner is here!"
Everyone stood up and saluted, and Cao Nai, the chief minister of the cabinet, walked into the examination room and gestured towards everyone with fists in his hands.
"By the Holy Will, I am the master of examination. Although people are proud of them, they must be held accountable. They should hold the scale of the officials and seek the end of their words, and then they will steal and worry about them..."
Cao Nai stood in front of everyone and talked eloquently, but Xu Pu's attention was all on the light bulb in front of him.
He kept asking in his mind, can this thing light up?
Can it really be bright?
If it can't light up, what is it doing here?
"...If you sincerely want to be effective, you should use the essence of a few corpses. If you are selfish and idle, you will not only lose people, but you will lose yourself first, and you can't bear to do it..."
Xu Pu is still waiting for the light bulb. Will this thing light up?
There is no lamp oil inside, can it be lit?
"...The one who writes it is what he says. The one who tests it is what he takes it from. The one who records it is the one who will prove it. The four books and five classics are all traces of the economics of the sages, and their ways are supreme in heaven and earth. Connected to the gods..."
Xu Pu patted his forehead and thought to himself, he is really stupid. Although there is no lamp oil, but... someone can add some!
Once the lamp oil is filled, can't it be lit?
But why are the mouths of these oil lamps downwards, so that the oil will not spill?
"...or you may choose to be cowardly and do nothing, be lazy and do nothing, regard what you have learned as empty talk as a matchmaker, regard what you have learned as traces on paper, entrusted to the court, looked up to by the people, and careless about it. , then you have deeply carried the meaning of conserving and nourishing!"
After a long speech, Cao Nai reached out and stroked the beard under his chin.
"I understand!"
Suddenly, a discordant voice appeared, and everyone followed the sound and looked around.
Cao Nai nodded happily, pointed at Xu Pu and asked, "Tell me, what do you understand?"
Xu Pu said excitedly: "It's very simple, turn it upside down!"
"Wha...what?"
Cao Nai didn't react for a moment and was stunned on the spot.
"Just turn these oil lamps over and fill them with oil!"
Cao Nai's face turned dark and he didn't speak for a long time.
Because he doesn't know what to say...
Xu Pu didn't seem to notice that he had lost his composure, and he was still complacent in his heart. Isn't it just an oil lamp? It's so mysterious, isn't it?
Cao Nai held it in for a long time and finally said: "Let's start!"
The students returned to the examination booth, and then the invigilator began to issue questions.
The content of the examination is basically the same as that of the provincial examination, including five-character and eight-rhyme poems, eight-legged essays, and policy questions.
For the students present, writing poetry is relatively simple.
The policy question is an open-ended question, and it is not difficult to answer. It is just a question of how many points you will score.
The most important thing in this exam is the eight-part essay that scares countless people!
Eight-part essay is also called Zhiyi, Zhiyi, Shiwen, and Babiwen.
The so-called gu means duality, so it is also called parallel prose.
The eight-legged essay has a relatively fixed writing format. Its titles are taken from the Four Books and Five Classics, with the majority of the propositions from the Four Books.
Zhu Yuanzhang once set a rule that the content of the article should be developed based on Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentary on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books" and other books, and should not be used arbitrarily.
The article starts with two sentences to break the meaning of the topic, which is called breaking the topic.
Then continue to break the topic and analyze it, which is called the topic. Then turn to the starting point, that is, start the discussion, and then the starting point, which means the starting point after the starting point. The following is divided into the starting point, the middle point, and the last point.
Bundle four parts.
The end of the article is a summary of several dozen or more than a hundred words, also called a conclusion.
From the starting point to the ending point, each group has two rows of parallel characters, which are eight parts in total, so it is called eight-part essay.
Xu Pu read every day, and the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism were already familiar by heart. Within a moment, he had solved the problem, and his ideas suddenly became clear.
The core of the eight-part essay is "speaking on behalf of the sages", that is, trying to figure out the tone of the sages Confucius and Mencius and the sages Cheng and Zhu. If you don't know what the sages thought, it doesn't matter. Write more that is semi-vague and jerky, which seems to make sense but does not make sense.
Sentences, at least give people a very profound feeling.
All the students worked hard one by one, some even didn't eat lunch, and some were holding steamed buns in one hand and writing furiously with the other.
It was almost evening, and Xu Pu had completed the first draft.
His plan is to set aside at least one day to write policy questions, so he must finish copying the eight-part essay before sunset tomorrow.
If I could change it tonight...
Suddenly, he felt his eyes light up!
"Huh?"
"ah?"
"what is that?"
Not only Xu Pu was surprised, but all the examination booths emitted sighs.
No one added oil to the lamp, and no one lit the fire, yet... it turned on!
There were also bursts of rhythmic sounds of machines running around, popping, popping, as if someone's kettle was boiling and the hot air pushed the lid open.
"Quiet, quiet!"
The invigilator responsible for maintaining the odds said loudly: "This is an electric light, don't make a fuss."
Electric light...
Xu Pu suddenly thought that at the gate of Gongyuan that day, someone from the Academy of Sciences seemed to have said these two words.
"According to the rules, the lights are only on for an hour and a half every day and are turned off at midnight. Everyone, please hurry up!"
At this time, no one was in the mood to write, so they all stared at the electric lights.
Xu Pu's eyes straightened, and he seemed to feel an unprecedented shock deep in his heart.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that the direction of his life had changed.