Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 89
Jia Qiong came to the square in front of the Gongyuan Gate, which was illuminated by lights as bright as day.

This Gongyuan was the place where the previous dynasty held examinations, so it was very large, as was the square in front of the gate.

So more than 2000 candidates gathered here, occupying only a corner of the square.

When the time came, Magistrate Tan appeared in front of the Gongyuan Gate on time. He first led the students to pay homage to the Holy Master, then emphasized the rules of the examination room, and then let the candidates enter.

Three scribes stood in front of the Gongyuan gate to roll call, and the candidates who were called forward handed over their examination cards for inspection.

The county magistrate and the eunuch, as well as a group of local students who were guarantors for the candidates, all stood aside and pledged their guaranty on the spot, including Wang Yi.

After verifying your identity, let the guard next to you check the test basket again. If there are no problems, you can enter the field.

Jia Qiong didn't wait too long. He was called about the tenth person. Jia Qiong stepped forward and handed over the test card and test basket.

None of the scribes or guards knew Jia Qiong's name. They were not as strict as other students, they just showed off and let him go.

Nanjing Gongyuan is very large, with two examination rooms on the east and west sides, and each area has [-] examination booths.

There are tall buildings around the examination room used to monitor the examination room, and there are large water tanks filled with water next to each row of examination booths.

The examination sheds in Gongyuan are all small houses with brick and wood structures, and the roofs are also covered with tiles. If it rains, there is no need to worry about the examination papers getting wet.

However, as the years have passed and they have fallen into disrepair, it is inevitable that some examination sheds will have problems of one kind or another.

The exam card has the exam room number on it, and Jia Qiong’s is Dongchang Xuanzi No. [-].

After he found the examination room, he found that the examination room in the row of Xuanzihao was obviously much newer than other places, and it looked like it had been recently renovated.

This was naturally arranged intentionally by the county magistrate. Presumably many of the people in this row were related households.

Jia Qiong nodded with satisfaction. After entering, he put the test basket away, took out pens, ink, paper and inkstones and laid them out. He closed his eyes and rested his mind, waiting for the papers to be released.

Because there were so many people, it was already dark by the time all the candidates entered the room, and the guards began to distribute the test papers from one examination booth to another.

The exam only lasts for one day, so the number of questions is not large. There are only two questions on scriptures, one on contemporary texts, and one on poetry.

Posting scriptures means writing down the Four Books and Five Classics silently, which is not difficult for Jia Qiong.

He answered the question one by one in regular Liu script, which he was good at, and less than an hour passed.

The test poem is also very simple. You only need to write a five-character and eight-rhyme poem that fits the artistic conception of the topic.

Jia Qiong picked it up easily and finished it in 5 minutes.

The essay question was the focus of the exam, so Jia Qiong put it to the end.

Today's Shiwen titles are not like those in the Qing Dynasty in later generations. There are no all kinds of weird and idiosyncratic titles. They are all serious titles.

The title of the article written by County Magistrate Tan is also very simple, with only four words: A man with lofty ideals and a benevolent person.

After Jia Qiong saw the title, the origin of these four words immediately came to mind. This title came from "The Analects of Confucius: Wei Linggong".

The whole sentence is about a man with lofty ideals and benevolence. He does not seek life to harm his benevolence, but he sacrifices his life to achieve benevolence.

The meaning of this sentence is that people with great ambitions and high morals will not do anything that undermines benevolence and righteousness for the sake of their own lives. Instead, they will sacrifice their lives to fulfill benevolence.

After all, it is just a test for children, so this question is indeed relatively easy.

Jia Qiong thought for a moment and already had an idea for solving the problem, so he started writing.

A saint has a master in his heart, and it determines the perfection of his heart and virtue.

All people with lofty ideals and benevolence have their own minds and will not be confused by selfishness.

Therefore, when people are about to die or live, I can only see that their pursuits are not shameful in my heart and ears, but how can I feel sorry for myself?
This Master is sorry for the lack of ambition and benevolence in the world, so he said this to show it.

……

The first step in the eight-part essay is to solve the problem. As long as you solve the problem well, the rest will be easy.

Carrying the topic, starting the speech, starting with the second strand, passing on the second strand, middle with the second strand, the last two strands, and ending with the second strand, forming a full text, eloquently and in one go.

After writing the entire article in lines on the papyrus paper, Jia Qiong read it through carefully and made fine adjustments.Modify the flashy words and sentences to make the whole text more simple, natural, harmonious and catchy.

Finally, make sure there are no taboos, and then carefully copy the article into the test paper in regular script.

When Jia Qiong answered the questions, she was completely focused and completely oblivious to the passage of time.

When he finished writing, he realized that it was already past noon, and he felt that his stomach had begun to growl.

After finishing the paper, Jia Qiong didn't want to stay any longer.

The county examination papers are all reviewed by the county magistrate alone. More than 2000 papers have to be read in two days. How can it be possible to read each one carefully.

Therefore, when the county magistrate examines the papers, he first reads the article and breaks down one sentence of the title. If the answer is not good enough, he will be dismissed immediately. Those who can pass the examination will check it carefully.

Therefore, there is an advantage to submitting the papers in advance. The county magistrate will mark the papers on the spot. This is called a class examination.

This way, if you have more time, you can still have a chance even if you fail to solve the problem a little bit. Generally, only top academics dare to do this.

Of course Jia Qiong didn't care about this. He was just hungry and didn't want to eat the cold food in the test basket.

Jia Qiong then sealed the paper, filled in her name and information about the three generations on the cover, and came to the hall with the test basket.

"Master Tan, students need to hand in their papers."

"Master Jia is really quick in writing. It seems that he is confident this time."

Magistrate Tan took the paper with a smile, saying to himself that this little poetry fairy handed in the paper so quickly, but he didn't know what his level was.

Jia Qiong cupped his hands and said, "Please give me some advice."

Magistrate Tan nodded and unfolded the test paper. First of all, he admired his unique Liu style regular script.

Xin said that this handwriting alone was far beyond the level of ordinary students, and he could start a sect.

He read the scripture questions directly at a glance and ten lines. He didn't think Jia Qiong would make any mistakes on it, and then came the test poems.

The question he asked was: Egrets flying in front of Xisai Mountain.

Jia Qiong wrote a poem based on the artistic conception of this poem.

Late in the day, the country is beautiful, and the spring breeze is fragrant with flowers and plants.

Mud flying swallows, sand warm sleeping mandarin ducks.

Jiang Bi bird is more than white, and the mountain blue and white is burning.

This spring has come and gone again, when will it be the return year?

Magistrate Tan felt slightly disappointed after reading it. Although the poem was not bad, it did not surprise him.

When he saw the final title, he only read two sentences and Magistrate Tan was already amazed.

After reading the full text, he had to admit that Jia Qiong's article was rich in content, concise in writing, and rigorous in structure. It could be used directly as a model essay.

Even if such an article is accepted in the National Examination, it will definitely be among the best. When such an article appears in the Children's Examination, it feels like killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.

He said to Jia Qiong: "You can go back and attend the academic banquet in three days. You must be the head of the case this time."

Jia Qiongyun cupped his hands lightly and said, "Thank you, Mr. Tan."

Maybe Jia Qiong's eyes were looking too far, and he hadn't paid much attention to a mere county trial case, so he didn't feel any excitement at this time.

On the contrary, the students in the examination room who were close to him all watched Jia Qiong leave with envious eyes.

Back home, my aunt and the others had finished their lunch. When Jia Qiong came back, they were busy asking people to prepare the food again.

The whole family was overjoyed when they heard that the magistrate had appointed Jia Qiong as the head of the case.

Only at this time did Jia Qiong feel some joy.

(End of this chapter)