prosperous age

Chapter 166 Chapter 165

The rules of the examination room, including the examination questions, are exactly the same as those of the rural examination, four script essays, five character eight rhyme poems, five classic essays, and policy questions.

A few days before the exam, Wei Guangde went to the big temples and Taoist temples near Beijing to seek peace of mind.

If you don't ask, you don't know. There are so many things in Beijing, and there are so many temples and Taoist temples. You can't count them with your hands and feet alone.

At the same time, the chief executive who was appointed by Emperor Jiajing, the examiner appointed by the Ministry of Rites, the examiner, the examiner, the transfer officer, the seal officer, the examiner, the examiner, the seal officer, the transcription officer, A total of 56 people, including reading officials, inspector supervisors, and supply officials, all entered the Tribute Court for examination.

The weather in February, the temperature did not rise much compared to before, Wei Guangde stayed up in the freezing test shed for six nights, and finally came out alive.

These years of boxing training have made him much stronger than other players, unlike the few in the guild hall, who entered the Gongyuan with a high fever in the last fight, and it was also a fight.

On the [-]th, the atmosphere of the entire Jiujiang Guild Hall was not very good after all the members appeared on the stage.

Not only did the disciples suffer in the tribute courtyard, five of them fell ill when they came out, and now they are still lying in bed.

The results of the general examination are released earlier than the provincial examinations. Although the opening time of the examination is the same, the results will be released before the end of February, so please ask the emperor to release the results.

It was in the tense and dignified atmosphere that when the time came to February 25th, the atmosphere in the clubhouse became even more depressing.

Because on this day, the examiners and chief examiners of each room gathered together, starting from No.19—that is, No.2 of each room—to fill in the test paper numbers in the draft list.

Only the number of the examination paper was filled in the draft list, but it could not correspond to the name of the person.

After filling it out, let the foreign officials send in the original ink scrolls corresponding to these numbers, and then lock the door, match the numbers on the ink scrolls and the ink scrolls one by one, and tie the ink scrolls and the ink scrolls together after checking It is sealed and stored in the hall, and will be officially filled out tomorrow.

At this time, the fate of the candidates is actually doomed, because who will be on the list and who will fail will be determined after this day, and the formal filling of the list the next day is of little significance.

The time quietly came to February 27th, which was originally just an ordinary day.

While eating in the lobby at noon, Wei Guangde heard Jiujiang Juzi say: "Today's test list has come out, and the Ministry of Rites has reported to the emperor, and the minimum number of places is [-]. The list should be released in two days. "

The words reached Wei Guangde's ears, and Wei Guangde didn't know what he was thinking at the moment.

Soon, that is, in two days, everything will be settled.

Wei Guangde knew the person who spoke. His name was Wang Jiashi. He had been a Juren in Jiajing for 25 years. He had already passed the examination three times in a row, and now he was taking the examination for the fourth time.

He's over forty, and according to the current situation, if he doesn't pass the exam this time, he probably won't take the exam at 38. I'm afraid he can only go the way of being appointed by the Ministry of Officials.

In the past two years, I have traveled a lot with Jiangxi officials in Beijing, and I am afraid they are also preparing for this.

It is worth mentioning that Wei Guangde talked to him a lot, because he is also from Pengze, and he is sitting at the opposite table chatting with other candidates about the information he has learned about this test.

"I don't see those folks sending things these days."

Lao Kan said while eating at the moment.

The Jiujiang Guild Hall, of course, was established by businessmen from Jiujiang and the following counties with pooled funds to entertain the old family members who came to Beijing. Of course, it is also open for business on weekdays, but it will be vacated to serve the people from the hometown during the examination year.

Since the beginning of the first month, Jiujiang businessmen in Beijing have come here every now and then, and they bring a lot of things with them each time.

In fact, Wei Guangde and the others live here, except for the room of the servants, their own rent and meals are free, because every year of the meeting, the merchants donate more money.

Maybe they knew that waiting for the test results was the most torturous time, so they didn't come to this stall.

"It's 29, they will definitely come by then, and the rankings are usually announced at this time."

Xia Kefan said, he has taken the exam twice, and this is the third time, so naturally he has more experience.

"The day after tomorrow, I will be tortured for another two days."

Lao Kan sighed.

"If you are willing to spend money, it is said that if you find someone who works in the tribute courtyard, you will have a chance to know whether you are on the list tomorrow, but it is just heard, and I have never seen it before."

Xia Kefan also shook his head and sighed.

"Resign yourself to fate, why do you think so much, go back and continue fighting in a while."

Wei Guangde sighed in his heart, but said it easily.

How to get rid of cranky thinking at this time, then play with money.

At night, Wei Guangde and the others sat around a table and played cards before they fell asleep. Some mansions in the inner city were also very lively at this time.

"Father, why did you call the child?"

A fat man with a wide body and a fat body walked into the room and said to the old man who was reading a book inside.

"Did you hear about the matter I called your attention to?"

The old man didn't look at him, and continued to flip through the book in his hand. The pages of the book were yellow, obviously it was old.

"I asked someone about it. He's on the list, but his ranking is just over 270. He's really lucky."

Fatty replied.

"Who ordered him?"

In the impression of the old man, it is said that this person is average in stereotypes, and the probability of failing the list is actually very high, but he did not expect to be on the list.

"Kang Siqian pointed it out. I asked someone to read his paper. The four books were titled: Therefore, a gentleman's words are so great that there is no way in the world to carry them. This question is said to be answered well. How to increase the revenue of the treasury without consuming people's resources, he suggested increasing the production of silk and porcelain, and replacing them with gold, silver and grain through market ships and joint trade."

The fat man talked for a long time, and seeing his father still sitting there reading a book, he didn't seem to care about it at all, and his interest in talking faded.

"Father, if it's okay, then I'll go back first, Maoqing Longwen and the others are still waiting for me over there."

"Go, remember my words, don't meddle in this matter."

The old man continued to read without raising his head.

Fatty felt bored, and signaled to the two maids next to him to serve the old man here, then turned and left the room.

In the 35th year of Jiajing’s Bingchen Divisional Examination, more than 5000 people applied for the exam. At this time, when more than [-] people are suffering and waiting for the results of the rankings, for those powerful people, just ask a little. It's easy to figure out the names on the test list.

Of course, this is just knowing the names of candidates on the list in advance, and it is not a major case of fraud in the examination room such as leaking exam questions. For those big shots, it is still a very simple matter.

On the evening of the 28th, the inside and outside of the Beijing Gongyuan were extremely lively. Because it is still the usual practice, the list will be published tomorrow. Gongs and drums send happy news to earn some happy money.

This may be the biggest difference between the general examination and the rural examination. It is not that the yamen organizes and arranges people to send happy news, but the people outside the Gongyuan and the newspapers inside do this business together. There may be a few good news about the exam.

Of course, this business is not so introverted, because most of the newspapers will only compete for the top-ranked candidates to send good news. Those who like to be on the list are happy to give more rewards, and naturally few people care about the lower-ranked candidates. .

This is actually an unspoken rule of the imperial examination. Generally, the results of the imperial examination are similar to those of the general examination, and the ranking changes are very small.

If the results of the palace examination are disrupted, and the gap with the ranking of the general examination is too large, especially if the number one scholar and the first scholar have changed greatly, it often represents a change in the political wind direction, and it means that the emperor is dissatisfied with the chief executive officer or the chief examiner of the general examination.

What needs to be mentioned here is that the person in charge of controlling the examination is the court or the emperor's appointed Zhigong Juguan, that is, the chief executive. He has no right to intervene, and cannot even enter the inner court to participate in the evaluation of candidates.

The Zhigong Juguans for this test are the cabinet minister Lu Ben and the Zhan Shifu Shao Zhan Shi Yintai.

The ranking of candidates in the back row is mostly determined by the chief examiner and deputy chief examiner. Only the top five candidates need to be arranged by two chief examiners and the eighteen room examiners. Therefore, the selected Huiyuan and Wujingkui are very, very different Easy.

Tomorrow's list will be released, and there are signs at the Tribute Court. The interior and exterior lights and festoons need to be cleaned, especially the large number of newspapers gathered outside the Tribute Court, which is the most powerful evidence that the list will be released soon.

At this time, someone from the Jiujiang Guild Hall had already reported what happened at the Gongyuan, and the officers and soldiers near the Gongyuan did not expel those who surrounded the Gongyuan. Most of the soldiers also know each other.

Especially at this time, all the verification procedures in the Tribute Academy should have been completed, the transcripts and ink scrolls have been taken out for verification, and the seals have also been opened. The comparison is correct, and the ranking of the candidates has been settled. Fill in the list.

When the chief executive fills out the list, it is also when the people in the tribute courtyard pass on the news.

Usually, these people are odd jobs in the tribute courtyard, and their salary is very low on weekdays, that is, they can earn a sum of money to support their families by relying on this job, so the officials are also very cautious about the things that the following clerks do. Close one eye, pretending not to know.

All the candidates from Jiujiang Mansion came out, and the few who fell ill before have recovered, but they are a little weak. At this time, they have already sat in the lobby. The two tables next to them are businessmen from Jiujiang Mansion in Beijing. Their sense of smell is also Sensitive, everyone follows the usual practice.

Once a child gets good news, these businessmen will send gifts to congratulate them on the list.

The candidates who have reached this stage can no longer be said to be candidates, but Jinshi, because the palace examination does not judge candidates, but only compares rankings.

But no matter how high or low the ranking is, everyone is an official and can be an official.

In this world, businessmen need to rely on officials, even if they do not rely on them, they must have a good relationship.

Hades is easy to mess with, and little ghosts are difficult to deal with, these words are very reasonable.

All the candidates in Jiujiang Mansion are drinking tea leisurely at the moment. Although they have experienced the test of success in the rural examination, at this moment, Wei Guangde still noticed that many people's hands that occasionally hold tea cups are slightly trembling.

At the Jiangxi Guild Hall banquet on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, someone invited Jiangxi Juzi to gather in the Jiangxi Guild Hall to wait for the good news, but was rejected by many local Juzi.

Not only because there are too many exams, but also the branches of Jiangxi candidates on the list are very uneven. Candidates from Jiujiang Prefecture have always been ranked in the middle and bottom of Jiangxi's various prefectures, so they are naturally unwilling to go there.

That is to say, candidates from prefectures and counties such as Ji'an and Nanchang with more Jinshi had a heart of comparison, so they went to the Jiangxi Guild Hall to wait for the good news.

Not long after, there was the sound of gongs, drums and suona outside the door, which sounded very festive. This was a team of newspapermen who had received the news of the examination and sent good news to the candidates.

But the group of people got closer, and then slowly moved further away.

In fact, for the candidates sitting here, the ranking is no longer important, the only important thing is to be on the list, as long as they are on the list, their hard study will not be in vain.

There are still many guild halls around the Jiujiang guild hall. Naturally, the sound of gongs, drums, and suona is heard again soon. This time, it sounds like this group of people did not turn at the front street, but came directly all the way.

It wasn't just Wei Guangde, everyone in the room was clenched with their hands, their ten toes were firmly gripping the ground, and they could only feel their hearts pounding.

Of course, the current state of the others is only Wei Guangde's guess, because he is like this at this time.

When the team of announcing the good news walked outside the gate of Jiujiang Guild Hall, everyone, including the businessmen at the two tables next to them and the people in the store, all looked towards the gate.

It's a pity that the team that announced the good news didn't stop in front of the door and continued to move forward.

"Is the announcement of the good news also from the end to the front?"

Wei Guangde asked at this moment, not only Lao Kan and Shen Liangdong, but also Zhu Shilong and Zhang Ke who were sitting at the table in the last rural examination. here.

"It was like this in previous years."

The one who spoke was Chen Zhonglie, a man in his 40s, who arrived in the capital only in the first month of the lunar year, and he had suffered an old crime all the way here.

Wei Guangde and the others left early, and they were not too cold on the way here. It was only after the convoy passed through Shandong that they felt the severe cold of the Northland.

Chen Zhonglie left late, so naturally he came all the way through the wind and snow.

Well, Wei Guangde sighed in his heart.

If there is no good news in front of the good news team, then, it seems that I can only really wait for the 38th year of Jiajing to try.

It's been another three years, so it's no wonder that Chen Ziang wrote the song "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song" after failing the imperial examination.

"I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the new ones in the future. I think about the long distance of the world, and I feel sad and tearful!"

This is the poet's lament for the shortness of life. The words are bold and heroic, but full of tragedy.

At this time, Wei Guangde would definitely not read this unsightly poem, it's so fucking unlucky.

Now that the list is missing, there may not be my name on it. Even if you want to sigh that the future is bleak, three years later and three years later, youth is wasted, then you have to wait until tomorrow.

But thinking of "Dengyouzhou Taiwan Song", Wei Guangde unconsciously read the line in "Chu Ci-Yuan You Pian", which is similar to the beginning of this poem:

"Only the infinity of the heaven and the earth, I mourn the long diligence of life. The past is beyond reach, and the coming ones I don't hear."

(End of this chapter)