Xiangye

Chapter 92 No.90 The Preliminary Examination of Eight High Essays

If Gao Wen knew what was going on in Diao Hualong's mind, tears would definitely fill his eyes: Mr. County, I am so poor that I can't even afford a padded jacket.

The more Diao Hualong watched this group of exams, the more angry he felt, his face was ashen and he didn't say a word from the beginning to the end.

Seeing Gao Wen at this moment, he couldn't help but said, "Why are you still a boy, but you came to take the county exam?"

Gao Wen already said that he was old. Indeed, according to the normal life trajectory of a scholar, he was enlightened at the age of six to seven, starting with the "San Zi Jing", "Hundred Surnames" and "Thousand Characters", and learned two thousand Chinese characters. It can be crafted.That is to study Confucian classics and write stereotyped essays.When you are eleven or twelve years old, you can take the county examination.It is gratifying to be able to win, but not to be able to feel the atmosphere of the competition.

After the county examination, there is the government examination, which is usually passed in one breath.But it is not so easy to go to the hospital for the examination, because it is related to the fame of a scholar.Generally speaking, most of the people who take the hospital examination for the first time are at the age of eighteen.Many people may not be able to pass this test after a lifetime of examination.

But in any case, most of the county examinations are children in their teens.Gao Wen has turned nineteen after Chinese New Year, and it is rare for him to take the county examination at this age.Unless he's a fool, a fool.

Gao Wen: "Thirty old Mingjing, fifty young Jinshi, it seems that the late student is not the oldest one in today's county examination?"

Everyone was a little worried about him when they heard that he contradicted Diao Zhixian, and knew that Diao Hualong was a bad-tempered person who would be disqualified if he disagreed with him.

But he didn't want to, Diao Hualong laughed, and turned his eyes to the old boy with white hair and beard: "Indeed, I will ask you, have you ever taken the imperial examination before?"

Gao Wen: "Never took the exam."

Diao Zhixian was surprised: "Why?"

Gao Wen: "Before my late birth, I read books only on the basis of interest. I read "Four Books" and "Five Classics", as well as "Tang Poetry" and "Song Ci". It was only in the past two years that I came into contact with stereotyped modern art."

"Oh, it turns out that he is a son of a rich family, and his study is all based on his heart." Diao Hualong used to be a scholarly family when he was in his hometown, and he was a person who didn't worry about eating and drinking.He is the most clear about the disposition of the children of the rich family who are studying, and he suddenly understood a little bit, and he also had a good impression in his heart. He laughed and said: "It seems that the times are tricky, and the romantic people are also going to take the imperial examination. Haha, who did it?" Save?"

A scholar from far away came out: "Zhixian Zun, it's me."

Gao Wen saw that he didn't know this person, presumably it was this person's name that Master Su filled in his registration book yesterday.He secretly said in his heart: If he hits the mark this time, when Shi Linsheng comes back, he will come to the door to thank him.

Diao Zhixian waved his sleeves: "Go in and take the test after taking the papers!"

Only then did Gao Wen heave a sigh of relief, and took the paper from Master Su.Seeing the joyful expression on Master Su's face, he whispered to him: "Take a good test, it can be seen that you have fallen into the eyes of the county magistrate, and the article doesn't have to be too good, as long as the format is correct."

That's right, Diao Zhixian's face was ashen just now, but when he saw Gao Wen, he looked happy and talked a lot.It seems that if this errand is to be done properly today, it really depends on Gao Wen to make him look good.

After taking the papers, Gao Wen didn't stay any longer, and entered the yamen like a cloud of smoke.It's too cold outside, if you stay any longer, you will fall ill.

Entering the lobby, three pots of charcoal fire have already been burning vigorously inside, and the heat suddenly blows in the face.

He was not polite, and directly grabbed a seat next to the brazier.

Although there is a number on the test paper, it also stipulates the seat number.But the county examination in the Ming Dynasty was very informal and not so particular.

After sitting down, Gao Wen carefully looked at the test paper in hand.This was his first time as an ancient imperial examination candidate, and everything looked so fresh.

As he knew before, the test paper in hand has fourteen pages, each page has fourteen lines, each line has eighteen characters, separated by a red line in the middle, and it was printed by a craftsman in the house.In other words, even if you write like the water of the Yellow River, you can only write about [-] words at most.

But in fact, the eight-legged essays of the Ming Dynasty were strictly restricted by self-reporting.For a county test like this that does not need to write a summary or a summary, 550 words are stipulated.Write one more word or write one less word, sorry, come back next year, it can be said to be dancing in shackles.

Since most of the people who come to the county examination are children who have just been enlightened for a few years, it doesn't matter how good the candidates are.

There are no questions on the above, and the questions will not be issued until the official exam starts.

Soon, all the 21 candidates of this year's Zhuanglang County Examination found their seats, sat down, and the ceremony room handed out a piece of paper with writing on it, which was the topic of this exam.

After receiving the paper, Gao Wen stared at it with wide eyes, but couldn't see clearly.Looking around again, everyone turned their eyes into bulls eyes.

It turned out that according to regulations, the county examination is in the daytime, and lights are not allowed in the examination room.

The reason why the country has this system is very simple-saving-a seat needs a candle no matter what.A candle is calculated in terms of pennies. In a place with prosperous culture and education like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there are one or two hundred candidates for each county examination, which is not a small fee.The officials of the Ming Dynasty were poor, and every penny they could save was a penny.Moreover, the northern and southern capitals are located in the east, so it gets dark early and brightens early.Generally speaking, the sky will be fully lit at around five o'clock in the morning Beijing time in later generations. At this time, candidates will also enter the venue after the roll call, just to start writing manuscripts, and there is no need for lighting.

But Shaanxi is not in the same time zone as Beijing and Nanjing.In early spring and February, before eight o'clock in the morning, it was pitch black outside.

Gao Wen was also helpless. After thinking about it, anyway, the county examination took a whole day, so it was early, so he was not in a hurry.

In addition, it was right next to the brazier, and as soon as my body warmed up, I fell asleep, so I just lay down on the table and fell asleep.During the period, he woke up once, opened his eyes and saw that the outside was still dark, and many candidates followed his example and slept soundly in the lobby, and felt relieved.

Later, he woke up from cold and hunger on time.

When I got up, it was already noon.The other twenty candidates are still there, but some people have already started to eat lunch.It turned out that the county examination lasted for one day. Because the time was too long, Diaozhi County was very gracious and specially asked someone to steam a steamed steamed bun for the candidates.

You are not allowed to hand in the papers in advance in the imperial examinations, even if you are only compared to Xie Jin and Dongpo layman reborn, you have to wait until the cards are released before you can appear.

Generally speaking, there are two release times in the county test.One is in the morning, and the other is when the exam ends in the evening.

The card release time in the morning has passed, but no one has yet appeared.Everyone overslept, thinking about having a free meal of big white steamed buns.

Seeing the food, Gao Wen's spirits were lifted: it's very good, and I don't want to go to the inn to fight the autumn wind.

After eating the food allotted to him, Gao Wen wiped his mouth and looked at the test questions in his hand.

When I saw it, I was both happy and helpless.

The joy is that I have seen this topic before, and I happen to have a model essay at hand to copy, so as not to write it now, and die a lot of brain cells.Helplessly, the model essays I have are all the champion essays and Jieyuan essays of later generations, which are written in textbooks.Used to deal with a small county test, killing chickens with a sledgehammer, reckless, pure waste.

Waste is a great crime.

(End of this chapter)