Traveling through Chenghan Xiandi, fortunately I have a simulator

Chapter 163 Chang'an General Election

On the day of the general election in Chang'an, the guards of the Northern Army started patrolling the whole city very early. Today is the most important day, so there must be no chaos in Chang'an City, which will affect the Taixue entrance examination.

Especially in Dongxiang, the imperial court dispatched thousands of imperial guards. They stood on both sides of the road and at important entrances and exits everywhere, just to prevent accidents from disturbing the students entering the field.

Of course, the security measures are not limited to these, there are also many hidden guards lingering at various important gates. Once something happens, they will immediately notify Huangfusong. When Huangfusong receives the notification, he will immediately lead his troops to protect the emperor and many high-ranking officials of the court. .

Today's general election in Chang'an will be attended by the emperor, Tai Tuo, Sangong Jiuqing, ministers of various ministries, etc. It can be said that high-ranking officials with salaries of more than [-] shi will come here, so in order to protect these people, security measures have to be taken very seriously.

At that time, it was still daylight, and the eunuch Xiao Lizi woke up the sleeping emperor. Zhang Ming wiped his eyes, took a deep breath, got up from the bed, and then started the wash.

At the same time, important senior officials have also woken up. They don't want to be late for today's important day, otherwise they will feel a little embarrassing.

After Zhang Ming finished washing, the emperor's car had already been prepared outside the hall. This time, there were hundreds of people in the emperor's guard of honor. Almost all of these guards of honor were tall and handsome men, representing the grandeur of the royal family.

Zhang Ming called Cui Ming, gave some instructions verbally, and then got into the car heading to Dongxiang.

Different from later generations, people in this era wake up very early in the morning. On the one hand, because the cultivated farmland is too far away, the journey back and forth is very long. On the other hand, in this era, there is a curfew at night, so the people can only Staying at home, without entertainment, fell asleep very early, and naturally woke up early in the morning.

Although Chang'an City is under the patrol of the forbidden army, the people dare not speak loudly, but they will still cause a lot of disturbance when they go out of the city with farm tools. Therefore, in order to reduce the impact on Dongxiang, on this day, the gate of the east city will not be opened, and the people can only pass through. The other three gates went out to cultivate.

Of course, although the emperor's guard of honor was mighty, they did not blow the trumpet along the way. On this day, Zhang Ming hoped to make as little noise as possible. As the emperor, he needed to lead by example.

From the palace to Dongxiang, it took about three quarters of an hour for the emperor to arrive. On the way, Zhang Ming had already seen many students rushing to Dongxiang from various places. When they saw the guard of honor of the emperor, they all stopped and bowed their heads. Showed respect.

As for other high-ranking officials, naturally there will be no such ostentation. Although there are students paying attention when they enter the arena, no students will stop. After all, if the students are late when they arrive at the examination room, they have already lost the qualification for the examination .

This was Zhang Ming's first visit to the examination room for the general election in Chang'an. The reason why the imperial court chose this place was because it used to be a school ground, and there was a large open space. As long as the ground was repaired a little, it could be used as an examination room.

Of course, Shaofu Ling did not just repair the ground. He also built five high platforms, divided into three in the middle of the examination room, and two on the left and right sides. These high platforms are about three feet long. With the help of these high platforms, you can Completely overlooking the situation in the examination room.

The high platform that Zhang Ming went to this time is the one in the middle. Compared with the other four high platforms, this high platform is more domineering, and it is also a little higher. This high platform, this is a high platform representing imperial power.

The emperor's car arrived at this high platform very quickly. Zhang Ming got off the car, and then stepped on the solid stairs and walked steadily up to the middle of the high platform.

On the high platform, Zhang Ming looked down at the entire examination room. The entire examination room was divided into nine areas, and each area had ten workshops. There are benches and mats. Candidates can choose to answer questions sitting or kneeling.

Driven by Zhang Ming, many places in Chang'an City have now provided stools instead of mats, but students from other places are not used to these things, so the examination room gave them two choices.

In addition, there is a piece of numbered paper on these seats, which are glued on the table with rice. Candidates only need to see that the things on the numbered paper correspond to the contents on the numbered plate before they can sit down.

In fact, when Zhang Ming arrived at the examination room, many students had already arrived at the examination room ahead of time, but before the time came, the imperial guards stopped them outside.

In order to ensure the fairness of the exam, these imperial guards will check the things carried by these students one by one. Except for pens and inks, other things are forbidden to be brought into the exam room.

Outside the examination room, Xu Shu and Zhuge Jin chose to go in different directions. They were in different examination areas, so the guards who checked them were also different.

As for Pang Tong, since he came to Chang'an and met so many students, he realized how ignorant the knowledge he learned in Xiangyang College was. Now he only wants to enter Taixue and learn better knowledge.

Pang Tong was young, and once he entered the examination room, he could only be alone, so his accompanying uncle was still a little worried, but Pang Tong entered the security inspection team without hesitation with the number plate in his hand.

At the same time, other high-ranking officials have also arrived at the examination room. Some of them went to the high platform on the left, and some went to the high platform on the right. He and five waiters came to the middle platform.

The first thing all candidates who entered the arena saw was the high platform in the middle. There were ten people standing on the top, especially the one in the middle. From his clothes and imposing manner, he could tell at a glance that he was the emperor.

As for the other nine people, five of them are very young, not even as good as the students present, but all the students know their identities. These five people are the five people who won the last round of exams, and their future is uncertain. Limited.

It has to be said that these five people are not only role models for the students, but also an encouragement to the students. Let me ask, who among the students here would not want to become a celebrity around the emperor, so when the students below see these five attendants, The competitive heart can't hold back for a long time.

Soon, the students had already found their seats. Even if they couldn't find their seats, they could still ask the guards standing beside them.

After most of the students were seated, Zhang Mingqing cleared his throat and said loudly that his words would be passed on to the students' ears by the audience from all over the place.

"Students who came from afar, since I issued the edict, you are the first batch of students to respond to the imperial court's call. I and the officials feel extremely honored."

"Today is the day of the general election in Chang'an. I and the officials will pass two exams in the morning and afternoon, and select [-] outstanding students from among you to enter the Taixue, so I hope that you can show your full potential in today's exam. Do your best, give me, give the officials a surprise."

As the audience passed the emperor's words to the examination room, the students all stood up in their seats, and then looked at the high platform in front of them. After the audience finished speaking, the students all sat down again.

These etiquettes are all required by high-ranking officials. The purpose is to show the seriousness of the examination room and the supremacy of the court. Although it is simple, it looks very dignified.

A quarter of an hour before Chenshi, the imperial guards hurriedly brought all the test papers, and then the imperial guards in charge of each district asked their subordinates to arrive in each district with a thousand copies of the test papers. The imperial guards in charge of each square took one hundred copies of the test papers and returned them to each square, and then the imperial guards in each square began to distribute the test papers.

In order to do this well, the leader of the Imperial Guard who is responsible for the order of the examination room has rehearsed many times, so even if it is only a quarter of an hour, the Imperial Guard on the examination room is still not a bit chaotic. The test papers were quickly distributed to each seat.

With the sound of the bell representing the arrival of the hour, all the students began to answer.

For students, examinations are not a very strange thing. Even in the former Taixue, there will be corresponding examinations every two years. It is actually a common thing for the imperial court to select local officials in Taixue through examinations.

Later, private academies around the world also learned this method, but whether it is the examination of Taixue or the local private academies, they all take the exam with a small number of people participating, just like the imperial court recruited attendants before. It is to select students through methods such as shooting strategy and examination, but this method can only be applied on a small scale, so it is easy to have the problem of examination threshold.

In the past, for the vast majority of students in the world, their first difficulty was not the exam, but how to take the exam, because the past exams often had requirements for students, and it did not mean that they could take the exam if they wanted to.

The national unified examination pioneered by Zhang Ming is actually a direct magnification of the small-scale examinations in the past by ten times or a hundred times. Well, as long as you are willing to come to Chang'an to take the exam, the imperial court will welcome you.

At the beginning, Yang Biao once questioned. In his opinion, many students are pretending to be fake. Even if this group of people came to Chang'an, they would not be able to enter the imperial school. Although the test questions of Sangong Jiuqing are not complicated, But not everyone has the answer.

These people have been eating and drinking in Chang'an for more than a month. Although the money comes from the palace, the officials have complaints to some extent. Among them, Yang Biao is the leader. The biggest complaint of the officials is that this group of people eat and drink together. , People who have read a few books from somewhere are not worthy of being called scholars, nor are they worthy of taking the exam.

Even if they are all scholars, the discrimination among them is deeply rooted, which is vividly shown by the officials.

But Zhang Ming's reason is very simple, that is, there is no joke, the edict sent by the imperial court to various places, it is clearly written, that is, all the students who come here can enter Taixue as long as they can pass the Chang'an general election.

Although these people came to Chang'an to eat and drink, but they also came here for the sake of the court's righteousness, it is absolutely impossible to drive these people out.

Of course, it is true to say so, but Zhang Ming’s true thoughts are not like this. This edict is to select scholars from all over the world. , After that, the imperial court issued an edict again, who would dare to participate in the Chang'an election.

Loud noises are prohibited in the examination room, so even if there are nearly tens of thousands of students taking the exam, the entire school ground is extremely quiet, and some of them are only the sound of the imperial guards walking around. Of course, some people still Being mercilessly invited out by the imperial guards, these people have already failed the rankings.

For students, the topics in the morning are all related to the Five Classics, so as long as you have read some Confucian classics, you can write one or two.

Time passed quickly, and an hour and a half passed in the blink of an eye. As the bell rang, all the attendees shouted at the same time, "The morning exam is over. All students, please sit down and don't move around."

The Chief of the Fang Guards collected the test papers and handed them over to the Chief of the District Guards. Afterwards, the Chief of the District Guards sent these test papers to the Commander of the Guards. All students were not allowed to leave the venue until all these were completed.

The afternoon exam started on time at [-]:[-] noon. There was no difference in the preparation pace between this exam and the morning exam. The only difference was the content of the test paper.

This exam is about policy theory, understanding of people's livelihood and current affairs. These contents are actually beyond the standard for many students. After all, most students will only bury their heads in studying hard.

This point was strongly requested by Zhang Ming, but in order to quell the dissatisfaction of the officials, Zhang Ming lowered the difficulty of the policy theory test questions and the requirements for grading papers. Eighty-nine is close to ten.

There is one thing to say, although the officials of the imperial court are a bit pedantic, most of them are loyal and patriotic. When they were in power, they loved the people very much, which is rare in later generations.

Therefore, the high-ranking officials also recognized the request of being loyal to the court and caring for the common people. If a student can't even imagine being loyal to the court and caring for the common people, then there is no need for this student to enter Taixue.

In fact, in the final analysis, whether it is the Five Classics or policy theory, in essence, it is to select a group of officials who can carry out grassroots management. The imperial court needs an official selection system. Xiaolian has no way to go, so he can only go through the system of imperial scholarship.

The Han Dynasty has already gone the road of obtaining scholars from imperial studies for many years, so when Zhang Ming proposed to obtain scholars from imperial studies, the officials had almost no objections. Even if it is such an innovative examination system, in the final analysis it is It is necessary to go to the Imperial Academy to obtain a scholar.

After all, the students selected in this exam are not directly able to go to the grassroots to work, but to go to the imperial academy to study, and after they have achieved something in their studies, they will serve as various grassroots officials. This is actually the old imperial education.

Of course, the source of students is actually more important than obtaining a scholar from the Imperial Academy. Zhang Ming knows this well.

(End of this chapter)