When he woke up, the sun had already risen. Most of the candidates had already woken up, and there was a rustling sound everywhere. Pei Zi Yun stood up and stretched his body. He followed the officials to the toilet and returned to his room. He drank some water, holding it in his mouth for a while before swallowing.
After finishing the biscuit and the egg, Pei Zi Yun felt extremely energized. He then went to check on his draft and looked through it carefully. He confirmed that he had solved the three main questions yesterday without any mistakes. He couldn't help but sigh. If he still couldn't become an Elementary Scholar after this, then there must be something wrong with him.
Following that, he began to copy, word by word. It was not until noon that Pei Zi Yun had finished copying all three questions.
"Next is the last question, poetry."
"To be honest, regardless of whether it is practical knowledge or the Confucian classics, poetry is not important. It can only reflect one's literary talent. Hence, it became the last question."
"I can only say that if one writes well, it will give them extra points."
Pei Zi Yun was not a great poet, but he had poems in his memory. How could there be exactly the same poet in both worlds?
Looking at the title, Early Spring, Pei Zi Yun paused. This was very familiar, so familiar that it gave him a headache. It was not that he could not think of it, but which one should he choose?
His thoughts ran wild as he stared at the title. After a while, Pei Zi Yun finally decided, "Then I shall copy Han Yu!"
"He is from the Tang Dynasty, and the poetry of the Tang Dynasty is the most valuable, unlike the later dynasties where poetry was not popular. Moreover, this person was promoted to the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and was given the title of Minister of Rites, with the title 'Wen'.
Thinking about this, Pei Zi Yun heaved a sigh of relief. This time, he did not need to write a draft, but directly started writing.
Early Spring
"The light rain on the streets of heaven is soft, the colour of the grass is nowhere to be seen.
The best thing about spring is that the whole city is filled with flowers and willows. "
Hu —
After he finished writing, Pei Zi Yun felt his body relax. He checked the paper again and again to see if he had made any mistakes. He then looked around and saw that the candidates were still engrossed in their writing, their faces were pale. He had finished earlier and shouted, "Hand in!"
The official was surprised, "The sky is not dark yet, and you've already finished?"
Pei Zi Yun then replied, "I've finished writing."
The official didn't dare to be negligent and called for the examiner. The examiner glanced at the script and saw that it was filled to the brim. He then nodded his head and said, "Let him pass!"
These examination papers all required the names to be pasted on. There would be a specialist who would make a copy of everyone's paper. After the examiners had finished correcting the papers and selected a certain number of people, only then could they look at the original paper. At that time, if the handwriting was good, they would get extra points. Now, even the examiner could not look at the paper too much.
Pei Zi Yun came out of the examination room. The atmosphere in the examination room was getting more and more depressing. He really didn't want to stay in this place anymore. It was said that you could leave in advance for the County Test, but for the Province Test, you had to stay for the whole three days!
Furthermore, as he was copying, he noticed an examinee being carried out of the room. It was an old student with white hair. He was crying and begging to go home. Pei Zi Yun looked on coldly from the side, feeling a little sad.
That was how the Imperial Examination was. If you didn't pass this exam, you would end up like this.
Other than those who were extremely lucky or talented, to be able to pass the Elementary Scholar, High Scholar and Grand Scholar exams, one had to go through a few battles. Hence, when he walked out of the room, Pei Zi Yun felt exhausted and relaxed.
After passing the County Test, he would be an Elementary Scholar. He would be able to officially become a Scholar and complete the task given by the Plum Blossom.
As he walked out of the door, Pei Zi Yun saw a sea of heads outside.
Other than the family members of the scholars, there were also servants, servants and a large number of coachmen. These were all means of transportation. Many of the examinees had fallen ill from exhaustion. Even if they did not fall ill, they would still stagger under the pressure. Naturally, they needed to be transported. Pei Zi Yun was not in such a state, but he didn't want to walk back.
He waved his hand and a bullock cart came up to him. Pei Zi Yun then said, "Shun Feng Inn!"
"Alright, please have a seat."
After a bumpy journey back to the inn, he noticed that the inn was well prepared. The moment he saw Pei Zi Yun, the owner shouted, "Bring hot water!"
Pei Zi Yun immediately took a hot bath. When he came out, he was served meat porridge. Just as he was about to drink it, he saw the examinees returning. Tang Zhen's face was pale. When he saw Pei Zi Yun, he hurriedly walked over and bowed.
Pei Zi Yun was surprised and said, "Brother Tang, there's no need to be so polite."
Tang Zhen had a shy look on his face as he said, "It's all thanks to you scolding me out of my stupor a few days ago. I went back to my room and studied hard. When it was time for the examination, I saw that there was a question that I had been studying for the past few days. That's why I came to thank brother Pei."
"Haha, there's such a thing? This is brother Tang's good fortune. "Pei Zi Yun laughed as he spoke. This wasn't a lie. This person was indeed lucky. He even managed to get a question.
After finishing his porridge, he saw that a few more examinees had returned. He didn't care anymore and went back to his room to lie down on his bed. Within moments, he had fallen asleep.
…
School, High Court
The soldiers were still lining up, and had to wait for all the examinees to finish before they could be let in. The East Chamber was for transcribing, receiving and sealing the papers. The West Chamber was for reading and serving.
The official who received the papers brought them to the Sealing Room. The official who sealed the papers would then send them to the Transcription Room for the scribe to make a copy.
When the transcription was completed, the transcription and the original paper would be sent to the West Chamber. There would be an official who would check the transcription and the original paper. If there were no mistakes, the official would keep the original paper and send the transcription to the High Court.
The High Court was separated by a curtain. Papers were presented from the outside, while the officials inside read the papers. It was separated by a small screen, and looked like an office.
Once the officials in each chamber were satisfied, they would mark the paper and pass it to the Room Official.
If the Room Official was satisfied, he would mark the paper and pass it to the Vice Examiner. If the Vice Examiner was satisfied, he would mark the paper and pass it to the Main Examiner. The Main Examiner would then make the final decision.
At this point, the few stars in the night sky hung in the sky. The room was lit by candles, and every single one of them was very thick, illuminating the entire room.
The room was very simple. There were only a few tables and chairs, and the tables were filled with papers. The main examiner, Ye Xiang Gao, was a Principal Student. He was about fifty years old, with white hair and a white beard. He looked at the examiner and said, "Today, all of you will be marking the papers. Do not forget the hard work of the past, and do not forget the expectations of the Imperial Court. All of you must read the papers clearly. If there are any mistakes, not only me, even the Ministry of Rites will not let you off."
The examiner replied, "Yes, receive the papers."
The examiners were all instructors. First, they had to memorize the meaning of the book, the scriptures, the calculations, and the laws. The examiners read the papers very quickly.
Indeed, after a short while, one of the examiners shook his head, "There's a mistake in the fifth question. Such a question, even a scholar can answer it correctly. If this person made a mistake, he will be dismissed."
As he said this, he tossed the paper into the pile of papers.
This time there were two thousand seven hundred papers in the prefectural examination. Mo Yi, Tie Jing, Ming Suan and Ming Lu only missed a few mistakes. There were more than ten examiners in multiple rooms looking at them. In less than two hours, a gong was heard and the front papers were all read.
"Your excellency, there are 2,741 papers, and there are 391 of them. The first half of the papers had errors and were demoted."
The demoted papers might not be completely hopeless. Once the other papers were finished, the examiners would look at their later papers. But unless the later papers were exceptional, the chances were slim.
"The remaining 2,350 papers, enter the examination of the major questions." The main examiner, Ye Xiang Gao, said as he sat up straight.
"Yes!" The examination of the major questions was much slower. Deep into the night, one of the examiners yawned. Even if there were many examiners, reading so many words would cause one to feel dizzy. He held the paper in his hands and patiently read through it. He was unhappy, "What's written this time?"
He then tossed it into the pile of discarded papers.
When he saw the next paper, he was energized and smiled, "Not bad. Reading it is like drinking wine!"
He then carefully circled the paper. This was middle school, and he wanted to put the paper down, but he was reluctant, "So many papers are useless. Let me read this one again."
He read it from beginning to end, and realized something. He then sighed, "Rare, rare!"
At the corner of the paper, he wrote the words "Highly recommended". Since this was written, the examiner would look at it carefully. Before long, the paper was sent to the examiner.
If the examiner was as tired as a dog, then the examiner would be a cat. He only needed to look at the paper with the circle.
The examiner was not tired, and looked at the paper with an expressionless face. He then raised his head and looked at the examiner, "This paper was recommended by you. Highly recommended?"
"Yes."
The examiner was silent for a long time before drawing a circle on the paper. He then wrote, "The true meaning of the words is old, and can be considered as an essay."
When the examiner saw this, he was shocked. He then saw the examiner telling a scribe, "Send this paper to the Vice Examiner."
At this point, there weren't many papers with circles, and even fewer with two circles. The Vice Examiner picked up the paper and looked at the comments before smiling, "So there's a good paper?"
When he finished reading, he was silent for a long time. He then drew another circle and sent it to the Vice Examiner.
The Vice Examiner saw that there were three circles on the paper. This was an essay that the examiner, examiner and the Vice Examiner had all agreed on. He then read through the paper.
After a long time, the Vice Examiner fell into deep thought.
"How is this essay?" The Vice Examiner asked.
The chief examiner paused for a long time before saying, "This person's literary style is experienced, there is nothing strange about it, there is nothing strange about it, there is some elegance to it, it is pure and honest. Just based on his literary style alone, he has the qualifications to become a High Scholar. In this Prefectural Examinations, he can at least be in the top three. It's just that he seems a little lonely, and also a little remorseful. I'm afraid the examinee is not young anymore.
The Vice Examiner paused for a moment before understanding, "What a pity."
Although the Imperial Court looked at the essays and not the person, they still looked at the person. The Imperial Court selected you because they wanted you to be a loyal official. The Examiner selected you because they wanted you to be a teacher and take care of each other in the future. No matter what, if you are old, you will be discriminated against.
You are already forty or fifty years old. If you are selected, how many years can you last?
Hence, the older you are, the lower the chances of being selected. Many of the old scholars and Elementary Scholars did not have much of a chance.
The essay had a lonely air about it. It was just that the essay was too good, and the Vice Examiner was not satisfied, "Then I'll be demoted?"
"This essay is like this, demoting him is too harsh." The Vice Examiner was silent for a long time before saying, "Place him in the middle of the second roll!"
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