Chapter 209: Brushes and Ink in the Examination Hall

Love Shenjing, Examination Hall.

The sky was just slightly brightening, and a large number of students for the Grace Examination had already gathered at the entrance of the Examination Hall, with people moving everywhere.

Based on the number of people who passed the Yongzhou provincial examination last year, there would be two thousand people participating in this Grace Examination.

This scale of provincial examination, except for one or two major states of imperial examination in the south, could be considered the best.

The Love Shenjing was the capital of the Great Zhou, under the feet of the Son of Heaven. The government treated such gatherings of people very cautiously to avoid unexpected disasters.

From yesterday afternoon, one thousand elite imperial guards were mobilized to guard the surroundings of the Examination Hall, guarding the four intersections, with swords and guns solemn, and the defense was strict.

This Grace Examination was divided into three sessions.

First session, the 8th to the 10th of the fifth month, testing with essays on the Four Books;

Second session, the 11th to the 13th of the fifth month, testing with essays on the Five Classics;

Third session, the 14th to the 16th of the fifth month, testing with policy papers on current affairs.

A provincial examination lasted for nine days, testing not only talent, intelligence, and endurance, but of course, physical strength...

"Everyone loves their own relatives, respects their own elders, and the world is peaceful."

And the candidates who were searched and found to have cheating items were all trembling, their faces pale, and were taken away by the imperial guards without ceremony, waiting for them was a ban on the exam, or even the removal of their fame, never to enter the exam again.

This kind of thing happened in every imperial examination, but the candidate who was found to have hidden items in his dry food harmed others.

The clerks of the Examination Hall went to each row of exam sheds to distribute answer sheets and draft paper one by one.

When the second drum sounded, dozens of Examination Hall runners held high the exam cards, on which the exam questions for the first session of the provincial examination were written, walking back and forth in front of each row of exam sheds.

In the three days and two nights, it was estimated that 50% of the talent would be removed. Fortunately, Jia Cong's luck was good, and the exam shed he was assigned to was in the front on the left.

Jia Cong saw the four small questions written on the exam card, which were intercepted from the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and Mencius:

"The country is governed, and then the world is peaceful."

The final eye of the question: "The sage says the world's peace has four different things, why?"

Jia Cong remembered that when he entered the provincial examination, many candidates were searched and found to have hidden items, but those who could enter the provincial examination were all people with certain talent and ambition, and very few would lose big because of small things.

The Zhen'an Prefecture and Qinian Prefecture of the Love Shenjing dispatched two hundred yamen runners to control the order of the crowd at the entrance of the Examination Hall, guard the entrances and exits of the Examination Hall, search the candidates' clothes and items, and strictly prevent cheating and hidden items.

It went without saying that Jia Cong was searched all over. Even the ginseng and poria cakes sent by Baochai were cut into pieces and checked. Although it was a bit irritating, it could still be used to satisfy hunger.

This process would last for half an hour, until all candidates saw and copied the exam questions.

The white candles Daiyu prepared in the book box were also broken to check, but fortunately, they were still usable for lighting at night...

When the first drum sounded, rumbling, a solemn and majestic atmosphere shrouded the entire Examination Hall, and the 13th Year of Emperor Jia Zhao Grace Examination began.

But there were exceptions to everything. With nearly two thousand people participating, there would always be people who were eager to advance and take risks.

When Jia Cong saw the questions, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't know how other candidates were, but this question was not difficult for him. As long as he was familiar with the Four Books and had sediment, it would be fine.

In the Love Shenjing Examination Hall, there were fifty exam sheds in a row, and there was a toilet at the end of the right side of each row. If a candidate had bad luck and was assigned to the exam shed at the end of the right side.

After passing the entrance search, Jia Cong took the issued number plate and looked for his own exam shed.

"Cultivate one's body, and the world is peaceful."

"The gentleman is respectful, and the world is peaceful."

Jia Cong saw with his own eyes that four or five people were searched and found to have hidden items, hidden in their hair buns, hidden in their underwear, hidden in pen tubes, and even in dry food.

The first session of the exam was to write eight-legged essays for these four sentences, and then expound and argue about the differences between the four, for a total of five questions.

He had done many similar Four Books intercept questions, and he had just practiced the essay for "The gentleman is respectful, and the world is peaceful."

The rest of the exam questions had not been practiced exactly the same, but Liu Jing'an had many similar exquisite annotations, and by analogy, they were all the same, so he was naturally confident.

He decided to finish all the drafts on the first day, ponder and polish on the second day, and copy the answer sheets on the third day, so the time was very abundant.

In fact, according to his level, a day and a half was enough, but in the exam hall, it was better not to be too eye-catching and honestly finish the three days.

He copied the exam questions neatly on the draft paper, thought about it for a while, and then picked up his brush to start drafting.

A candidate sitting in the opposite exam shed, nearly forty years old, with a sophisticated and vicissitudes face, should be a veteran of the exam hall.

Seeing that Jia Cong, the boy opposite, started answering the questions with great interest just a cup of tea after the questions were released, he was first surprised, then disdainful.

He couldn't help but mutter in his heart that a half-grown child had actually entered the provincial examination, and he was still young and energetic, not knowing the height of the sky and the depth of the earth.

This time, the exam questions were intercepted from the Four Books with the same meaning, and they had to be verified with each other. It was more novel than the previous two provincial examinations. If one didn't think carefully and wrote lightly, wouldn't it be the beginning of failure?

The child was still shallow and ignorant. After a few more provincial examinations, he would be fine. He was also a young scholar back then, wasn't he the same?

Thinking of this, he felt a little emotional in his heart, continued to close his eyes and meditate, and stopped caring about the brat opposite.

On the other side, Jia Cong was already confident, writing rapidly, almost in one go.

The Great Learning says "The country is governed, and then the world is peaceful," which is to follow the order.

Mencius says "Cultivate one's body, and the world is peaceful," which is to trace back to the root.

"Everyone loves their own relatives, respects their own elders, and the world is peaceful" is the whole thing of governing the country and cultivating the body.

When encountering a key point, he stopped to think about the appropriate wording, and then picked up his brush to continue writing.

After writing for a long time, he was hungry, so he used the fire basin in the exam shed to roast the dry food, and drank water to satisfy his hunger, which was quite difficult.

In the Examination Hall, exposed to the wind and eating hard food, whether it was a noble or a poor student, they were treated the same.

And the senior in the opposite exam shed had just started writing calmly.

After Jia Cong ate the dry food and rested for a while, he picked up his brush and continued to write:

"A scholar has the ability to investigate things and extend knowledge, holds the ambition to rectify the mind, cultivates his body and regulates his family, then the method of governing the country and pacifying the world is nothing more than this..."

At this time, his thoughts were surging, and he gradually entered the best state, writing with a hot heart. Outside, the sky was dark, and the cold was born. Until he spent half a candle, he had finished all the answers.

He carefully read the finished draft several times, modified several places, and ate some dry food.

He took down the table board, assembled it with the seat board into a wooden bed, spread the mattress prepared by Daiyu, carefully put away the draft and answer sheet, rolled up the cotton quilt, and went to sleep.

And the senior in the opposite exam shed was still racking his brains, writing arduously. Seeing Jia Cong so lazy and sleepy, he shook his head and sighed as if he was angry that he didn't fight, and then continued to stay up late to answer the questions.

By the second day, Jia Cong carefully polished and modified the draft until there were no mistakes or deficiencies, and carefully copied part of it on the answer sheet. It happened to be dark and raining, fearing that the answer sheet would be soiled, so he stopped writing and rested.

By the third day, before the sun rose to the sky, he had finished copying all the answer sheets, just waiting for the first batch of people to hand in the papers, and then followed suit.

After the first session was completed, he hadn't washed for three days. When he returned to the Qingzhi Studio, he was more embarrassed than ever, but the exam went very smoothly, his mind was clear, and he was cleaned up by the maids.

On the 11th of the fifth month, the second session of the provincial examination was slightly easier than the first, and he passed smoothly.

It seemed that he had already seen the dawn of success...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 210 =====