Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 497 Jimao Township Examination (Part [-])
In the seventh year of Wanli, Jimao, autumn.

Gao Yushi, a student from Xinzheng, is coming to Kaifeng again, preparing to take this year's Henan Provincial Examination.

The township examination is also called Qiu Wei, because the imperial examination is a national talent ceremony, and the examination room is tightly guarded, commonly known as Suo Wei, or Wei for short.In the imperial examination period, the rural examinations were held in autumn, so the rural examinations were called Qiu Wei.

The township examination is divided into one subject for three years, and it is held every year of Zi, Wu, Mao and You.The location of the rural examination, if it is Zhili (south and north), is in the capital (the two capitals of the north and the south); if it is a province, it is in the chief secretary, that is, the provincial capital, so Henan is tested in Kaifeng.

The specific date of the township examination is generally fixed. From the ninth day of August to the seventeenth of August, there are three examinations in total.That is, the first exam on the ninth day of junior high school, the second exam on the [-]th, and the third exam on the [-]th.

As for the examiners, the chief officer who presides over the rural examination is called the chief examiner, and those who participate in the marking are called the same examiners.

The chief examiner is also called the president, and his appointment principles have been in the process of development and change from Hongwu to Wanli, and now in the seventh year of Wanli, it has basically formed a custom:
Shuntian and Yingtian are two academic officials of the Hanlin Academy, and their ranks are usually Bachelor of Attendance, Shuzi of Chunfang, Yude and so on.

Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian use a member of the Imperial Academy to edit, edit, review, etc.; Huguang is a member of the Imperial Academy's editor and inspector, and a member of the subordinate officials.This is because these provinces have always been places with good academic style, so they are especially solemn.

In the rest of Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, etc., they were either general subordinates, or a member of Zhongshu Pingbo, or demoted officials from other temples.

The same examiners are also called sub-examinations, room examinations, and classic rooms, which is also the so-called Five Classics Room.Usually they are promoted officials, magistrates, edicts, and professors.

In addition to the examiners, there are also deacons, mainly the transfer officers, supervisors, supervisors, etc., especially the transfer officers and supervisors, must use senior officers to invigilate the examination, so as to check the customs and take charge of the affairs of the examination room.For example, there are generally two members in the promotion of officials, and they are the left and right political envoys in Henan;

A rough comparison is roughly equivalent to a high-ranking official serving as a promotion officer, and a senior provincial discipline official serving as an out-field invigilator. This shows how much the imperial court attaches importance to the rural examination.

As for the officials who print papers, accept papers, seal seals, transcribers, interlocutors, inspectors, guards, inspectors, suppliers, test papers collectors, etc., I won’t introduce them one by one. .

The Ming Dynasty's rural examination is not a time-determined outcome. As I said earlier, the rule is three consecutive examinations.

Specifically, the first test of the seven chapters of scriptures and meanings, that is, Shiwen; the second test of theory, imperial edict, imperial edict, table, and judgment can be regarded as official document writing; Doing is "how to do specific things", but this actually becomes more formal in the later stages. Generally speaking, it is all about "blowing", and it is just to see who can blow more fresh and refined.

Each of the above styles has very specific writing requirements and writing formats, which must not be wrong, otherwise the test paper will be posted due to violations, and there is no hope of Chinese style.

But having said that, if you look at the weight of the three exams, the first one is naturally the most important.Generally speaking, if the Shiwen is written very well, as long as there are no major mistakes or omissions in the next two games, it is almost certain to be selected; on the contrary, no matter how good the other writing is, but the Shiwen is a mess, then go home directly, yes No chance of winning.

The rural examination is similar to the Taoist examination. Candidates bring pens, inks, inkstones and other examination tools to the Longmen before the fourth shift of each day, and they are divided into three gates to enter the venue. Even which county and when the examinees will be called will be given in advance. announced.

Being able to come to the township examination shows that everyone has experience in this process, so everyone can be regarded as orderly.After entering the arena, Gao Yushi went to pick up the number plate according to the order of his roll call. When he got it, he saw that it was "Xuan 49" - the number plate was based on the words "Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang, Universe Great Desolation" in "Thousand Characters" Named according to the sequence, "Xuan No. 49" is the No. 40 nine-room room of the "Xuan" house.

"Dayan's number is fifty, and its use is nine out of forty." Gao Wushi raised his eyebrows slightly: "This number is not bad."

After Gao Yushi found the seat number and entered the test room, he began to nail the tarpaulin to prevent rain and wind. At this time, a soldier came and stood beside his test room—this is to prevent cheating. Each room has a guard. Tougher than a prison cell.

Of course, Gao Yushi didn't intend to cheat, so he didn't even look at the numbered army, he just turned off the lights, took the time to lie down on the wooden board in the mat and began to sleep.

It's not that he despised the exam, but experienced candidates would do the same.Candidates couldn’t sleep well before roll call at four o’clock. Since they didn’t sleep in the middle of the night, if they didn’t take the time to rest and stay up all night, they would definitely look tired during the daytime exam.Especially in this first exam, there are seven stereotyped essays, and it is required to finish the exam in one day. If the spirit is not good, what else is there to take?It's better to go home and wait a few years to come again.

I don’t know how long he had been sleeping in a daze, but Gao Wushi heard the call of the army: “Get up, Mr. Xiang, the test paper is here!”——Ms.

Gao Wushi sat up all of a sudden, wiped his face with his hand, and went to pick up the paper.

After getting the question paper, don't look at the question first, but go to get the ink roll.The ink scroll is a serious examination volume, and it must be written with an ink pen, so it is called the ink scroll.Naturally, what I took today was only the first ink scroll, and Gao Yushi didn't look at other places, so he wrote a few lines in the ink stamp first:
Gao Yushi, a resident of Xinzheng County, Kaifeng Prefecture, No. 49 Xuanzi.

Then turn to the inside page, write down the name, age, appearance, place of origin, and I have not violated the law, etc., and finally write: Youlin student qualifications should take the provincial examination of Jimao Branch in Henan Province in the seventh year of Wanli.

This is not over yet, and the names of the three generations of great-grandfather, grandfather, and father will be listed at the back, with "Gu" or "Cun" in the margin below. This is the resume.Of course, these records cannot be seen by the examiner and will be sealed by the official.But you must write the test paper first, so as not to feel dizzy and cramped when writing the article, and forget these in the end, and it will be over.

After completing all the preparations, Gao Wushi began to read the questions, but he didn't read all the questions at once, but only read one question at a time.

This is an expression of self-confidence, because generally speaking, candidates will read all the questions, and then choose the easiest one to write first.In this way, firstly, it can build up self-confidence, and secondly, it can be used as a warm-up (warm-up?), so that you can write more and more smoothly later.

But Gao Wushi is more confident in the exam. Which of the officials he dealt with when he was in the capital was not a Jinshi?Even if you occasionally chat a few words about exams in your spare time, or have a few small words, you can benefit a lot.What's more, his third uncle, teacher, uncle and other people close to him are still the ministers of the court, who can't be a great Confucian in the world?So he didn't pick questions at all, and was ready to start writing after taking the first question.

After getting the first question in hand, Gao Pragmatically looked at the question and found that it was an intercepted question, but it was indeed a big question rather than a small one:

"The way of great learning, destiny is called nature, learn and practice it from time to time, Mencius sees King Hui of Liang"

Seeing Gao Wushi, he snorted softly in his nostrils, and thought to himself, "Shall I take the first sentences of each of the Four Sons Books and make a question?"

　Thanks to the book friend "Book Friends 20170818121235876" for the support of the monthly ticket; thanks to the book friend "Mu Xue Boy" for the reward, thank you!In other words, I won't write the full text of this exam, just pick two broken questions, pick two mid-comparisons, post-comparisons, etc., and it's over.If there are too many words, not only will you get tired of reading, but I can also flip through the pages until I want to die. After all, I don’t have the ability to take stereotyped exams in a closed book...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)