Rise From the Humble

  Chapter 198 Beginning the Road to the Countryside Examination

  The fourth day of November, midwinter, the yellow bell in the law.

  At this time, the sky had just dawned, and the north wind with the traces of winter began to howl. The outside was icy cold from the north wind, and the sky was a little drowsy, as if the sky was about to change.

  In Yingtian in November, it was surprisingly cold today, a little strangely cold, the temperature seemed to drop overnight.

   On this cold morning, the Enke Township Examination officially kicked off. The rural examination is divided into three sessions, and each session takes three days including two nights at night. In this way, the three sessions will take a total of nine days including six nights. This kind of test is a comprehensive game of intelligence, physical strength and physical fitness. For candidates, this kind of game starts when they line up outside the Gongyuan in the morning. There were people queuing up early in the morning and even last night, because all the candidates for the general examination had to take the examination in this Gongyuan. There were more than 10,000 people, and there was a long queue densely packed. Everyone wanted to enter the examination room earlier. , One is to be familiar with the examination room, and the other is that it is not safe outside.

There are too many people, and chaos is easy to happen. Even if there are yamen servants and heavily armed sergeants to suppress, the gate of the Gongyuan is still crowded and chaotic. The exam has not yet started. Last night, there were more than a dozen candidates in the crowd. Bleeding.

   Zhu Ping'an and the fat man Xue Chi came to line up in the early morning, and they lined up separately after arriving. When the congestion was not serious, Zhu Ping'an decisively ran to a corner to hide. After being suppressed by the reinforcement sergeant, he ran back to line up in the team again.

  The weather was very cold, and Zhu Ping'an was wearing thick clothes made of rabbit fur by his mother Chen. Compared with other students, Zhu Ping'an was much warmer. In addition to clothes, Zhu Ping'an also brought two rabbit fur blankets, which are used for sleeping in the examination room, one for bed and one for cover. certainly. Others such as food, test supplies, etc. are also brought together, and the food is still very rich

   Around three in the morning. Hearing a drum beating from the Mingyuan upstairs of the Jiangnan Tributary Court, the sergeant of the government office began to check the candidates for admission.

   Zhu Ping'an was not queued until around six o'clock. Zhu Ping'an brought a lot of things, and the sergeant in charge of the inspection checked them for a long time, but the people who lined up behind them had great opinions. In addition, I brought too much food, and the servants have become cooks, aggressive. The waist knife is for him to cut pastries and jerky.

   This kind of complaint is too much, and Zhu Ping'an is a little used to it.

  Around fifteen or sixteen minutes later, Zhu Ping'an's things were inspected, and the government officials let Zhu Ping'an into the arena.

   However, when entering the arena, something went wrong.

  An examiner surnamed Hu who was in charge of checking candidates at the door stopped Zhu Pingan. During the invigilation, according to the roster, the age and appearance of the candidates are checked very strictly.

   "Your records. You are short and fat, with a simple face and no beard. But, the old man is watching you today, why do you say that you are fat? Are you taking the exam?" Hu proctor stopped Zhu Pingan and asked sternly.

   To be honest, this accident. Zhu Pingan didn't foresee it at all, and this kind of problem never happened in the county examination, government examination and hospital examination before. but. Despite the suddenness, Zhu Ping'an was not flustered at all.

"No. The student is Zhu Ping'an. After the college examination, the students studied day and night, and they lost weight; and Zhu Zi noted the meaning of "nothing", and those who are slightly fat are not fat; please learn from me, sir." Zhu Ping An remained calm, and answered calmly with his hands clasped. Anyway, I am Zhu Ping'an, and I can't go wrong with that.

   "Well, it makes sense, but the face is stupid?" The examiner surnamed Hu looked at Zhu Ping'an and nodded, but then asked another question.

  Zhu Ping'an had to show his signature silly smile.

   "Yes." The examiner nodded and allowed him to enter.

   Finally, there was no danger. After Zhu Pingan entered the arena, he entered a dormitory under the guidance of an officer. This is a relatively good house, it is far away from the "smelly house", that is, the toilet, and it belongs to the first-class house.

Putting all the things in the dormitory, Zhu Pingan looked around. Just like the last courtyard test, the dormitory was very narrow. There were only two wooden boards, the upper board was used as a desk for answering papers, and the lower board was used as a chair. , Sleeping at night, put two boards together as a bed. The difference is that now there is an extra pot of charcoal fire and two candles in the dormitory. Charcoal fire can be used not only for heating, but also for cooking. The examination room doesn’t care about food, you have to settle what you eat, at most, some water will be provided in the examination room. The officials who inspect the supervisors outside are only responsible for the discipline of the examination room. As long as you don't cheat, they don't care about you.

  After entering the examination room until the end of the examination, Zhu Ping'an will spend his time in this small dormitory.

  It was around nine o'clock before all the candidates outside entered the venue. While waiting for the exam, Zhu Pingan heard from some yamen servants that seven or eight candidates with cheat sheets were found out, and five candidates who took the exam were also found out, and they were all locked in the small cell of the Gongyuan waiting for the relevant departments to issue. .

   Unexpectedly, there are really cheaters. In the future, these dear friends will miss the scientific examination, and they might be exiled into the army.

   Now thinking about the scene at the gate, Zhu Ping'an felt a little sweaty on his back. If it weren't for my quick wit, I'm afraid it would be hard to say. I am Zhu Ping'an, this is undeniable and can be proved, but I am afraid that if I prove it, I will miss the exam.

  After all the test takers enter the hall at nine o'clock, the gate will be locked, and it will not be opened until the end of the exam, even if there is a fire or flood in the Gongyuan.

There are people coming and going upstairs in Mingyuan. For this exam, there are two chief examiners, four co-examiners, and a transfer officer who is responsible for the supply of the examination room. Reading, patrolling the gates of the prison, and searching and inspecting officials who are coerced. After the exam started, the senior examiner signaled to the guards to beat the drum, and the exam officially started after the drum sounded. The chief examiner and other officials in charge of the examination began their duties in an orderly manner. Most of them looked at the candidates below with a sense of nostalgia. The feeling is about the same.

  After the drum sounded, some government officials began to hand out papers, test papers, and draft papers one after another.

   Then, the exam questions are released.

   Today is the first session of the Enke Township Examination. According to the usual practice, the questions for this session are: "Four Books" have three meanings, and the scriptures have four meanings.

  When the yamen servant holding the test questions came, Zhu Ping'an quickly and neatly copied the test questions on the draft paper.

  This year is the same as in previous years, this time there are three righteousness in the Four Books and four righteousness in the scriptures. Jingyi is a subject of the imperial examination, which takes the scriptures and sentences as the questions, and the examinees compose to clarify the meaning. Of course, you have to use the stereotyped style. These questions have to be answered in three days and two nights, no matter how you answer, no matter how you arrange your time, as long as you don't cheat, you can do whatever you want.

Since Zhu Ping'an hadn't eaten anything since early morning, after copying the test questions, he cleaned up his things, spread a cloth on the table, and grilled the food on the charcoal fire for a while , eat up.

   After eating and drinking enough, Zhu Pingan cleaned up the table, laid out pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and officially started his road to the rural examination.

  (end of this chapter)