A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 44: Comprehensive Examination (There may be fewer pens for the proficiency examination, and the description will be emphasized in the subsequent palace examination)
"Just a month ago, His Majesty just appointed the head of the family to be the examiner of the general examination! And now the general examination is about to begin. At this critical juncture, you three family members of the head of the family went to meet the head of the house in private. What do you want your majesty to think? What do the ministers think? Isn’t it just giving people a handle?” In the inn, Yan Kang explained in a low voice:

"At the beginning, the head of the family knew the difficulty of this matter, so he declined the appointment to avoid suspicion. However, His Majesty praised him for his integrity and loyalty, and still took him as the examiner. Even so, the eyes of the government and the public are watching! At this time, you are When I go to see him, it’s just yellow mud falling down his crotch, it’s not just shit, it’s just shit!”

"Huh?" The three of them didn't think of this at all, and were immediately dumbfounded.

"Then, second uncle, what should we do?" Yan Ji asked weakly, his voice trembling a little. When he thought that his eldest brother might be punished because of him, he felt boundless in his heart. regret.

Yan Kang breathed a long sigh of relief: "Fortunately, the Duke knows the interests and has not allowed you to enter the palace. Although you may still be made some fuss by interested people, but fortunately the suspicion is reduced... From today on, don't go there again." It’s the Duke’s Mansion, so prepare for the exam with peace of mind!”

The three of them hurriedly agreed.

What they didn't know was that the order not to let them enter the mansion was not issued by Yan Ling.

At that time, Yan Ling was lying in the bedroom soundly asleep. As the examiner of the examination, he had to go through the examination questions. After finally finishing his work, he immediately fell asleep, but he didn't want to interfere with other matters.

At this moment, a maid hurried to the door of Yan Ling's room, but was stopped by the maid guarding the door. She said that the father-in-law was taking a rest, and she couldn't help but lose her mind.

"Good sister, the Duke's clan members are here to visit. Can you help me think of a way to wake up the Duke?" The maid asked anxiously. The concierge was not qualified to enter the inner house, so the maid had to report it.

"The Duke has just fallen asleep. Do you want to wake him up now because you want to be punished?" the doorkeeper maid replied. She thought about it and then said, "Invite them in and go to the side room to rest for a while while waiting for the Duke." Just wake up and meet them again.”

"Sister, thank you, sister." The maid suddenly realized and turned around to act in accordance with the law. However, she unexpectedly turned her head and ran into a figure wearing a loose robe.

"What's wrong? You're mumbling here." The man stood not far away, with a bit of sternness in his tone.

It was Feng Shuzhen. At this time, her lower abdomen had a very obvious bulge. Her face was as beautiful as ever, but it had an added maternal kindness.Seeing a maid chatting in front of her husband's room, she couldn't help but come over. If she was chatting, she would have to scold her.

Seeing that she was the mistress, the maid did not hesitate and told her the whole story.

Feng Shuzhen felt a different kind of atmosphere from it.She knew that her husband was the examiner, and with a quick turn of her head, she figured out the key.

"Close the door. No one in the house is allowed to talk to them anymore." She said calmly.

"Ah???" The two maids looked at each other, and one of them whispered: "Madam, that is the father-in-law's clan..."

"Huh?" Feng Shuzhen's eyes glanced at her, quite majestic. She had been in charge of the house for some years. This simple hum combined with that look scared the maid so much that she hurriedly went to notify the concierge.

Feng Shuzhen watched her go away and couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she arrived in time, otherwise it would really have caused a disaster.

"Go to the accountant yourself and tell the accountant that all your monthly payments for this month and next month have been deducted." She said to the maid guarding the door.

"My slave, I obey." The maid responded with regret on her face. She thought it was because she talked to the maid when she was serving the prince, but she didn't know that because of her, the Duke of Yue's palace was in danger of disaster.Feng Shuzhen's punishment like this was considered to be a liberal one.

Even after Yan Ling woke up, he had no objection to Feng Shuzhen's decision.

"Thanks to you." He gently kissed Feng Shuzhen's forehead and held her body in his arms.If you get a wife like this, what more can a husband ask for? ——
One month passed in a blink of an eye, and the day of the test arrived.

This time the scale of the conference was very large, covering not only Southern Zhili, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beiping, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Huguang, Guangxi, and Guangdong under the Ming Dynasty, but also Korea, Annan, and Champa. Taxi scholars also went to Beijing to take the exam after the provincial examination in their home countries, hoping to gain fame and retain an official position in the Chinese empire.

All the scholars have gathered at the gate of Gongyuan. They are constantly crowded, as if entering the courtyard first will have some advantage.Yan Ling, on the other hand, walked slowly to the door with the deputy examiner. He just stood there and glanced at him, and the square was silent for an instant.

At this time, he had a long beard, a serious expression, and the appearance of a majestic middle-aged man, which instantly calmed the whole city.

He saw his younger brother, but his eyes only glanced past him. He ignored the other person's longing eyes and announced:

"Everyone is admitted to the hospital!"

The bell rang suddenly.

Scholars from all over the world swarmed in, but they were quickly stopped by the guards - they still needed to be identified and searched to avoid being entrained before they were allowed to go.

The candidates who had their identities verified came to different rooms.Some people from well-to-do families frowned when they looked at the room which was not very spacious, but it was still acceptable. The people from poor families had a look of joy on their faces, obviously they were quite satisfied with the arrangement.

I don't know what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking. Maybe he wanted to save money or something. Anyway, the Gongyuan room was ridiculously narrow and crude. Not to mention living in it, even raising pigs was too small and uncomfortable.Yan Ling really couldn't stand it anymore, so he locked the deputy examiner and eight fellow examiners in for a few hours, and soon there were nine more teammates.After their arguments, Hongwu finally relented and allocated some more money to rebuild the Gongyuan.Although it was still not the spacious and bright examination room of later generations, it was still quite comfortable, barely in line with Yan Ling's psychological expectations.

The next step is to give hair curlers, give three candles, close the door of the numbered room and lock it. Each room is also equipped with a guard from the numbered army. This is really extremely strict. After all, if there is cheating or something, the scholar will have to If you lose your head, the examiners won't be able to bear it and walk around.

When the exam was over, all the answer sheets were collected, and someone copied them with cinnabar. The candidates wrote in ink, which was called the ink scroll, and what was copied was the vermilion scroll, and the names were also affixed to it.

It was not until all of this was completed that the answer sheets of all candidates were sent to the examiners.

They began to read and discuss, deciding the ranking of the scholars.

A few days later, the best answer sheet was placed under the sign with "Huiyuan" written on it, and there were 110 other answer sheets, all of which were tribute scholars who passed the exam.

Yan Ling raised his head. His face was full of exhaustion and there were thick dark circles under his eyes. The other examiners also behaved the same way as him.

In order to ensure fairness and impartiality, they had a heated discussion for a long time about the retention and retention of certain questionnaires and the candidates for membership, and now it is finally over.

After taking a sip of the ginseng soup in the cup, Yan Ling waved his hand:

"Get ready to publish the results."

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(End of this chapter)