From dawn to noon, Wang Yuan had answered three questions on the Four Books and one question on the Five Classics. His speed could only be considered average.
I'm really hungry. I didn't eat the meal I had before going out last night when I was busy this morning.
Wang Yuan took out a few steamed buns from the food box, poured a bowl of water, then picked up the ham and smashed it on the table. He slowly sliced the meat with a knife. He cut the steamed buns in half, put the ham meat in it, and poured it over the meat.
Add some jam and the ham sandwich is ready.
Although the rural examinations in the Ming Dynasty were very intense, they were more effective because they were not torturous. One exam lasted one day, and you only had to bring lunch.
It was really nonsense in the Qing Dynasty. One exam lasted for three days, and candidates had to bring a stove to cook in the examination room. For example, Mr. Duxiu, who was often asked to sit down by his classmates, ate half-cooked noodles for several days when he was taking the imperial examination.
I boil the water myself, cook the noodles myself, and devour whatever sauce I want with it.
After eating the ham sandwich, Wang Yuan continued writing.
Hurrying slowly, I finally reached the last question from the Five Classics in the middle of the afternoon. This question is selected from "Book of Rites: Prince Wen": "Therefore, he is also reluctant to succeed, respectful and gentle."
Translated together with the omitted previous text, it is: "Three generations of monarchs must use rituals and music to educate the prince. Music can cultivate sentiments, and rituals can beautify the appearance. If rituals and music permeate the heart and are expressed externally, the prince can grow up healthily and cultivate
A humble, respectful and gentle temperament.”
This question can be discussed from many aspects, including education, etiquette and music, and teacher ethics.
Wang Yuan chose to combine the three. The central idea is: "The teacher who educates the prince should be virtuous and guide the prince with his words and deeds. The same should be true for the teachings of public schools at all levels, so that the world's scholars
Everyone can become a gentleman."
"Rituals and music can please everyone's heart, and virtue has its own beauty, which is why rituals and music combine internal and external aspects."
After solving the topic, Wang Yuan's literary thoughts surged and he finished writing this article fluently and freely.
By the time all seven eight-part essays were finished, it was already 3:30 p.m., that is, 4:30 p.m.
Wang Yuan spent another half an hour polishing the seven articles, making slight modifications to the details, and then began to copy them onto the official answer sheet.
It was nearly three quarters of the hour, that is, half past six in the evening.
The days are long in summer and it gets dark very early.
Wang Yuan expressed that he wanted to hand in the test paper, and the bugler immediately communicated with the examiner, took his answer sheet, draft paper and admission ticket, and sent them to the examiner.
The examiner is very important and must be an incorruptible official. As for what counts as incorruptible, only a ghost knows. His responsibilities are: issuing test papers, collecting test papers, and sending answer papers to the sealing official for sealing. Waiting for the copying official to copy them.
After completing the ink scroll, the reading officer will compare the ink scroll and the ink scroll word for word to prevent copying errors. After the reading is completed, the ink scroll will be handed over to the scrutinizer again for preservation, and finally sent to the marking officer for correction.
Wang Yuan couldn't leave immediately after handing in his papers, and he didn't bother to leave. He just lay down on the examination table and fell asleep.
I worked hard all night last night and spent the whole day doing questions today, and my brain is as dizzy as a mush.
By evening, it was getting dark.
The trumpet army came to wake Wang Yuan up and signaled that he could leave.
Wang Yuan picked up his examination equipment and yawned as he walked out of the room. At this time, nearly half of the people had handed in their papers and left. Everyone poured out of the examination room, chattering about the content of the examination.
The exam ends at the fourth quarter of Xu hour, which is exactly nine o'clock in the evening - Xu hour is dusk (seven o'clock to nine o'clock in the evening).
Those students who have not finished the exam will be provided with candles by the official. The exam will be collected after an hour. If you haven't finished the exam yet, then I'm sorry, they will be forked directly by the buglers.
Zhou Chong had been waiting outside. When he saw Wang Yuan coming out, he immediately went up to him and said, "Second brother came out early, so he must have done well in the exam."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "According to what you say, handing in a blank paper wouldn't be the best test?"
Zhou Chong chuckled: "Second brother is in the mood to joke, so he must have done well in the exam."
Wang Yuan stopped joking with him and asked: "Who else handed in the paper?"
Zhou Chong replied: "I just saw Mr. Tian Qiutian. He said he was very dizzy and went back to sleep first."
It seems that Li Ying is still taking the exam, and Wang Yuan is too lazy to wait any longer, so he takes Zhou Chong back to eat and rest. The second exam will be taken three days later. Have a good sleep tonight and relax in the next two days. Basically
You can adjust it.
It wasn't until the morning of the next day that Wang Yuan finally found out that Li Ying had been escorted out of the examination shed by the military commander.
"I haven't finished writing the last chapter of the scriptures. I'm sure I won't win the exam this time." Li Ying said with a sad face.
Zou Mu shared his fate and said with a wry smile: "I did finish writing, but I didn't have enough time, so I wrote the last one in vain."
"Writing blindly is better than writing nothing at all." Li Ying became even more depressed.
Wang Yuan asked Yue Zhen: "How did you do on the Wenshi test?"
Yue Zhen said: "Fortunately, I finished it within the time limit."
The main reason is that Guizhou scholars can easily pass the scholar examination without any hardships. How can they have encountered the intense examination of writing seven eight-part essays in one day? Moreover, I didn't sleep all night last night, and my brain was confused until noon.
Yes, the more confused you are, the more you can’t write, and the more you can’t write, the more confused you are. A vicious cycle can bring people to their knees.
Of the dozen or so students who came to Yunnan together, only Wang Yuan and Tian Qiu turned in their papers before dusk, while all the others failed.
But, if everyone collapses, it depends on who collapses less severely. Anyway, 21 Guizhou candidates will be admitted this year.
…
Generally speaking, there are two examiners for the rural examination, and the Chief Secretary hires talented and learned people to serve as them.
It would be best if you can hire someone with high moral integrity, but if you really have no choice, then hire teachers from all over the country to be the examiners - at least at the professor level.
This year's Yungui Provincial Examination chief examiners are named Wen Shu (shu) and Zou Qing.
I won’t mention Zou Qing, he is an old scholar and a professor in Kunming. He is just a supplementary person.
Wen Shu was a Jinshi in the second year of Chenghua. He is seventy-six years old this year. He once served as the prefect of Chongqing and the prefect of Sinan. When he was the prefect of Chongqing, he helped tens of thousands of hungry people, ordered thousands of bandits to automatically disband, and obeyed
The resettlement work of the government. When he was the prefect of Sinan in Guizhou, Wen Shu had an unpleasant quarrel with the eunuch and was so angry that he resigned and retired to this day.
Wen Shu settled in Taoyuan County last year. Half a year ago, Wang Yangming passed by Taoyuan and paid a special visit to Wen Shu, whom he had admired for a long time.
The two men were several dozen years apart in age, but they chatted very speculatively and communicated for half a month. Wen Shu specially chartered a boat and accompanied Wang Yangming on a trip to the Peach Blossom Spring. Wang Yangming wrote two poems, "Taoyuan Cave" and "Late Mooring in Yuanjiang River".
Historically, Wen Shu's epitaph was written by Wang Yangming.
Not long ago, Wen Shu returned to Yunnan to handle family affairs, and was personally invited by Yunnan Zuo Buzheng to be the examiner.
"Mr. Ju'an, I have finished reading the Guizhou papers." Professor Zou came over with a stack of red papers.
Wen Shu nodded and said, "Let it go."
After the first exam is over, the marking and marking work begins.
In addition to the two examiners, there are several fellow examiners, all of whom are marking officers.
These marking officers are called curtain officials, who are only responsible for setting questions and marking exams; invigilators are called curtain officials, and are only responsible for supervising the examination.
The patrol censor is responsible for both the inside and outside of the curtain. He has the greatest power, but cannot participate in the marking work.
Wen Shu's eyesight was so dim that he had to stick to the test paper to see clearly. His grading speed was so slow that it made people panic.
After finally finishing the review of the Yunnan scroll, Wen Shu took the red scroll of the golden lei, nodded and said with a smile: "This boy is very talented in learning. The Four Books and Five Classics are regarded as the best in Yunnan."
When Wen Shu took the provincial examination, Yunnan and Guizhou were ranked on the same list, and the quotas for candidates in the two provinces were calculated together. Now they have been separated, each has its own quota, and two lists need to be posted.
After reading Jin Lei's article several times, Professor Zou could only remind him: "Mr. Ju'an, the second test is tomorrow, and you haven't read the Guizhou paper yet."
"I'm so confused." Wen Shu laughed at himself.
The Guizhou paper has been marked by several marking officers, and good articles have been ranked first.
Each marking officer will use circles, boxes, crosses and other marks to express his or her score for the answer sheet. The more circles you get, the better the article is written. If there are all crosses, just throw it to the bottom.
As the examiner, Wen Shu only needs to read the dozens of papers at the top. The essays from the next two to three hundred are purely eye-catching.
Wang Yuan's answer sheet ranked first in Guizhou's answer sheet.
This is also thanks to the patrol censor Zhang Yu, who supervised the whole process inside and outside the curtains to eliminate any cheating, otherwise someone would definitely find a gunman to write the article.
“Really good article!”
When Wen Shu saw the first eight-legged essay, he couldn't help but marvel. He communicated with Wang Yangming for half a month, and he was already convinced of the theory of "the unity of knowledge and action", and Wang Yuan's article happened to vaguely embody the "unity of knowledge and action."
This is where the candidates and the examiner are on the same channel!
After reading all seven of Wang Yuan's articles, Wen Shu exclaimed: "I have been away from Guizhou for 20 years, and I didn't expect that there would be such a person in Guizhou. There will definitely be Jinshis in Guizhou next year!"