Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

In order to prevent Liu Qi from becoming angry and disappointing his painstaking arrangements, Lu Ci was not only sneaky, but even when everyone set off together on the day of the introduction, he pretended not to know and was open-minded, not even looking at Liu Qi .

Compared with Liu Qi, who is the most particular about being personable in everything, and refuses to go out unless he is dressed smartly and charmingly, Zhu Shuo, who is accustomed to Lu Ci's words the most and is also the most afraid of the cold among these people, is another extreme Regardless of image.

If Lu Ci hadn't been too blind to dissuade him in time, he would have almost wrapped himself into a fluffy ball.

But after Lu Ci persuaded him, he restrained himself a little, and 'only' wore a thick fleece wide-sleeved toga, a rabbit fur hat on his head, a scarf around his neck, and thick stockings in his boots. There is also a soft wool pad underneath.

When his face was as solemn as usual, his aura was greatly reduced due to his round figure which had grown a few circles, and he also added a bit of cuteness.

Lu Ci was so dangerous that he refrained from teasing the honest and kind opponent, while Teng Zongliang's eyelids twitched, and he couldn't bear to look straight at him and looked away.

Influenced by Lu Ci, he wore quite a lot of clothes, but compared with this extremely exaggerated Zhu Shuo, he was nothing.

After such a long period of rigorous special training for Lu Ci's mock test, the mentality of the five people has completely changed compared to when they were solving the test.

On the eve of provincial exams when countless people could not sleep, they still went to bed on time at midnight according to Lu Ci's arrangement, and fell asleep without any difficulty.

When the time came, they got up refreshed and cleared their minds for the last time to sort out the items to be brought into the examination room, and then they suddenly understood why Lu Ci was so calm and radiant on the day of the examination. up.

Lu Ci was also very pleased to see their energetic appearance.

After breakfast, I took out the list I had prepared earlier and asked them one by one.

After confirming that there were no mistakes or omissions, he asked the strong and healthy servants to bring their tables and chairs, carried the test box on their backs, and led the other five people to set out for Shangshu Province.

Whether it is good or bad, we have to see the truth today.

Since Shang Shusheng moved to Meng Chang's former residence, the Gong Yuan of the Ministry of Rites also moved back, and it has been set up as a provincial examination institute.

It’s just that although Meng Chang’s former residence is quite magnificent, it still cannot change the fact that it was a mansion. In terms of layout design, naturally there are no separate corridors, but can only be easily separated by wooden pillars. There are neither walls nor wooden boards. Essentially they are still connected.

Compared with the examination, the number of inspectors and supervisors has obviously increased a lot.

The Gongyuan was also unable to provide study rooms, desks and chairs for more than 7000 candidates.

However, in terms of seat arrangement, it was exactly the same as during the Fajie Examination—the rankings were announced one day in advance, and on the day of the introduction examination, they lined up according to the assigned name, waiting for the supervisor to search and introduce seats.

Due to the principle of mixed rankings, the six of Lu Ci were separated and went to various places in the test field step by step.

Zhu said that although he had expected it, he still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After looking at Lu Ci a few more times, Lu Ci noticed it.

Lu Ci smiled and patted his velvet-clad back, and said simply, "See you at Shen Shi!"

Zhu said that his eyes lit up as if he had been greatly encouraged, and he also smiled, and as soon as he turned around, he went to find his own queue with arrogance.

Lu Ci couldn't help laughing at his imposing back, which was compromised by his roundness.

When he quickly found the queue, the two people standing in front of and behind him immediately recognized that it was Lu Jieyuan who was speaking on the day of the group meeting, and gave up their seats with a smile.

"Thank you both." They took the initiative to express their kindness, and Lu Ci reciprocated, smiling and bowing his hands: "I'm going down to Lu Ci, Lu Yuyu, from Mizhou, do you have the honor to know the names of the two?"

There is still a while before they enter the arena, and while waiting in line, it is not forbidden to talk to each other.

Therefore, after the shop inspector took a calm look at them, he quickly looked away.

Those two people were also very forthright, each reported their names, and the person standing in front smiled and teased: "After the group meeting and speech that day, who doesn't know the name of Lu Yuyu?"

The person behind also teased him on purpose: "Even if Yu Yu doesn't say anything, for a young talent like you, although we are more than ten years older, we are not too old and dim-sighted. Of course we can recognize him."

The man in front said again: "It's an honor to win the leader of the Central Plains again."

The man at the back thought so and nodded.

This is also one of the main reasons why they seek Lu Ci to express their goodwill.

Since the Taizong Dynasty, there has always been an atmosphere of worshiping the north and demoting the south in the court, and the dispute between the north and the south is very fierce.

Headed by the former prime minister Kou Zhun, the officials in the DPRK and China are mostly from the north, and they are self-respected and respected. They are quite jealous and dissatisfied with those southern scholars who have risen to fame, especially those headed by Yan Shu.Those jurenjian who have not yet obtained an official position are also affected.

From the two people's point of view, as a northerner, Lu Ci was naturally on the same side as them.

It's not surprising that Lu Ci had known about this in advance, but after hearing the names of the two, he couldn't help being stunned.

The person in front of him was named Pang Ji, whose style name was Chunzhi, from Chengwu in Shanzhou, and came from an official family; the person behind him was called...

"Cai Qi?"

Lu Ci was taken aback for a moment, thinking he had heard it wrong, so he couldn't help but repeat it.

Cai Qi was also stunned, thinking that his joke was inappropriate, so he couldn't help but be a little more careful when answering: "Exactly. But what's wrong?"

Lu Ci still felt strange, couldn't help laughing and said: "To tell you the truth, when I took the test, the person who lived in the same room as me was also named Cai and Qi."

This Cai Qi is in the middle of his life, he is tall, handsome, and heroic, he is not comparable to that down-and-out candidate who had a relationship with him during the Fajie Examination, but eventually went astray.

Cai Qi blinked at Lu Ci, never asked how the man was, just smiled and said: "It can be seen from this that the person with the surname Cai is really destined."

Lu Ci smiled: "It's not just me and Zisi who are destined? Zisi and Chunzhi were born in the same year."

Cai Qi and Pang Ji are both 29 years old. They have already married and established businesses, with wives and children.

On the other hand, Lu Ci was only sixteen years old, but because of his well-spoken manners and maturity, when they got along, they also felt as comfortable as the spring breeze blowing on their faces.

The three of them felt like old friends at the first sight, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and before they knew it, it was their turn.

The other people in the queue who were nervous and silent and had no intention of talking to others saw this, and they also easily recognized Lu Ci's identity, so they felt even more uneasy.

Not because of anything else, just because the three of them just stood together, the relaxed and confident aura was extra different.

They watched silently, feeling inexplicably dazzling.

Fortunately, as the three of them passed the inspection one after another and were ushered into the examination room, they were relieved of the strange torture they had endured.

This alone made many people secretly heave a sigh of relief.

Lu Ci still didn't know that just chatting with those two people for a while, he brought huge psychological pressure to the other candidates.

He smiled and followed behind the prison guard, and was led to the seat by the other party.

It's just that he asked a carpenter to specially build a chair that is not luxurious, but the details are very particular, which can be called eye-catching. It took no effort to recognize his seat at a glance.

With regard to this tailor-made chair, there was a small episode.

When Lu Ci and the others who had paid the deposit took their health servants to receive the goods, the store firmly refused to accept the final payment, and only begged this Lu Jieyuan, who was able to speak on behalf of the people, to write a name for his shop if he was on the list. An advertising poem.

The other party also vowed that even if it is not a complete poem, he will be satisfied with just a few lines, which is better than taking a few pennies.

Lu Ci couldn't laugh or cry, and because Liu Qi and others made a fuss, he had no choice but to agree.

It wasn't because he didn't want to write a few advertisements for others, nor because he was worried that he would fail to write well, but he just felt that the possibility of his failure was definitely greater than that of the ones on the list.

Why is it that no matter whether it is a friend or an outsider, each of them has more confidence in him than himself?

Regarding this point, Lu Ci has always been puzzled.

When he was seated, he arranged the four treasures of the study as usual, spread out the test paper, took off the scarf and heavy coat, and put them on the back of the chair.

After finishing this, he opened the Kongming bottle while quietly waiting for the others to take their seats, and took a mouthful of warm honey water in his mouth, but he didn't swallow it, and moved his knuckles along the way.

This can ensure that the mouth is not dry, and it can also bring a little warmth, and it will not cause frequent running to the latrine during the exam due to drinking too much water, wasting time in vain.

As he expected, the examination room was so cold that the air seemed to be frozen, and every time he exhaled, he could clearly see a cloud of white mist.

One after another, there was also the sound of some weak and sick candidates sniffing snot and suppressing their voices and coughing.

Lu Ci slowly took out the cotton earplugs he had prepared in advance to block out the continuous noise that disturbed his thinking, then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

After the inspecting officer handed out the engraved and printed test papers, Lu Cifang opened his eyes, swallowed the honey water slowly, and concentrated on reading the propositions.

The content and order of the provincial exam and the solution exam are the same. The difference lies in the length of the exam and the number of questions: the provincial exam is held once a day, and there are three exams in total. They all start at the time of Si and end at the time of application.

In the first round, there was a test of Rhythmic Fu and Rhythmic Poems, one each.

This time preparing for the exam, Lu Ci, who thought he had run out of luck in betting on the winning questions last time, directly adopted the sea of ​​questions tactic, not seeking precision, but hoping to roughly cover the range.

This time, the director of Zhi Gongju is not someone who is ingenious and unconventional, and the questions he asks are quite satisfactory.

The title of the Fu is "Sikong Zhang Yudi Zhifu", from "Zhou Li Sikong", annotated by Zheng Kangcheng; the title of the poem is "Poche Poems", from "Feng Chan Shu" in Volume 28 of "Historical Records" .

After seeing these two questions, Lu Ci, who was still a little bit worried that the master swordsman would take a slant and choose some strange sentences that had never been heard of, was completely at ease.

While the other candidates were enduring the cold and contemplating hard, Lu Ci's movements were not hurried or slow, and he studied the ink well first.

When the ink was ready, his fingers warmed up.

After pondering for a while, he began to write steadily.

Although the straw paper is attached to the front of the volume, half of the head of the volume needs to be reserved for the sealing official to seal it.

Naturally, Lu Ci wouldn't make such a basic mistake. He waited until he left blank and wrote the word "Feng" before writing the Fu title—"Provincial Examination Sikong Zhang Yudi Map Fu".

Fortunately, in these days, I never slack for half a day, and I have been taking a lot of propositions to do it. Although I am not lucky enough to bet on the proposition again, I am quite familiar with it.

He only glanced at it, and he had a rough draft, and he had dinner with it during the not too long time of studying the ink.

Think and write.

Lu Ci recited the official rhyme "Pingtuzhizhitu Zhangyudi" limited by this Fu repeatedly in his heart. , life is the job of the Sikong, in the name of the husband and the land. In the name of the water and the soil...the one who distinguishes the nine districts and the bottom is flat...respects the earth..."

For the young Xie Yuan who gave a speech at the group meeting on behalf of Juren, the inspectors inevitably paid more attention.

Seeing that while the others were still shivering, this one was fully prepared to wrap himself into half a rice dumpling, so I thought it was quite interesting.

Seeing that he has done it in one go from pen to paper, without any delay or hesitation, I can't help but feel amazed.

Is this reckless and bold, or is it confident?

If it were someone else, he would definitely think it was the former.

But on this little famous Lu Jieyuan, it might not be so.

The inspector was very curious, but as an inspector, it was not good for him to stay around a student, so he could only keep this question in his heart.

Lu Ci was also secretly taken aback by his performance.

Maybe it's because he has gone through the Fa and Jie test, has experience as a foundation, and his mentality has always been stable, he really entered the examination room, and faced with this hard-working rhythm, he didn't feel blocked and difficult at all.

Probably because he has been doing too many questions in the past few years, he has reacted instinctively. With body memory, inertial thinking, and not uncommon and unfamiliar questions, he only has one item, as comfortable as doing ordinary exercises. It's hard to write a bit of smooth and free feeling...

It's kind of incredible.

Is it too simple to write?

Is it possible to hand in such a test paper for the provincial test?

For the first time, Lu Ci was inexplicably a little dazed because he did the questions too quickly and smoothly.

However, after glancing at Shilou, he stopped thinking about it and concentrated on reading it a few times. He didn't see any minor mistakes, so he removed the test paper first.

He took a few sips of honey water that still had some warmth, moved his stiff fingers again, and then continued to stare at the proposition of the poem.

...After the provincial inscription poem is finished, if you still have time, consider re-reading your own fu.

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. Provincial test site:

The former residence of Meng Chang was moved by Shangshu Province in 982. Since 992, the Gongju Examination was held from here, and it has not changed for 100 years.

2. In the court of the Ministry of Rites in the Song Dynasty, seats were set up in a row, and the seats were adjacent to each other. There was no formal interval, and they were simply separated by wooden pillars. Therefore, it was easy to give and receive privately during the exam, and the whole process was closely monitored.

3. Before the reform of Gongju during the Qingli period, the content of the provincial examination was still roughly the same as that of the solution examination. ("General History of China's Imperial Examination System Song Dynasty Volume [-]"

4. The title of the Fu and the Fu written by Lu Ci are borrowed from Ouyang Xiu's "Provincial Examination Sikong Zhang Yudi Zhifu" ("Ouyang Xiu Complete Works" volume 59)

5. The proposition of the poem comes from the five-year provincial examination of Renzong Tiansheng

6. Starting from Lu Ci's palace examination this year, it is time to start transcribing!But the provincial test is not there yet.

7. For the convenience of sealing, the first half page of the volume should be left blank.

8. The dispute between the North and the South is very fierce. Zhao Kuangyin is the leader. It is said that southerners cannot be ministers... When Zhenzong wanted to break the rules and promote Yan Shu, he was strongly opposed by Kou Zhun. The reason was that Yan Shu was from the south. . ("Song Dynasty Political History")