Shang Zhouzuo came out of the west wing room and saw Jing Hui and Zhang Yuan, one short and one tall, looking at the white magnolias in front of the steps. Two maids stood aside and scolded: "Xiao Hui, are you disturbing your uncle again?"

Well, go back to your room and go to bed quickly."

Zhang Yuan said with a smile: "I asked Xiao Hui to recite the "Spring and Autumn Annals" of Duke Huan to me. Xiao Hui's voice was crisp and refreshing."

Jing Hui hurriedly recited: "In the first month of the first month of the Spring Period of the first year of Huan, the duke came to the throne. In the third month, the guild Zheng Bo came to Chui, and Zheng Bo made a gift of the land with a jade. In the fourth month of summer, the duke and Zheng Bo made an alliance in Yue. In autumn, Da

Water——", the sound is crisp and sweet, like eating frozen hawthorn fruit, really refreshing.

Shang Zhouzuo smiled while twirling his beard. After listening for a moment, he waved his hand to tell Xiao Hui not to recite. He said to Zhang Yuan: "We will set off after the third watch and take my carriage. Before the inspection, be careful of strangers approaching in the examination room."

, be careful yourself."

Zhang Yuan nodded and said: "Thank you for reminding me, brother, I will be careful."

After saying a few words, Shang Zhouzuo went back to his room and asked his maid Fanghua to take Xiao Hui back to his room to sleep. It was already so late——

Fanghua led Xiao Jinghui back to the room. Xiao Jinghui turned back and said as he walked: "Brother Mr. Zhang, take the exam well. You must win the top prize."

Zhang Yuan laughed and said: "It's too difficult to be number one, just don't be famous and fall into the sun."

Jing Hui said crisply: "You will never lose your reputation in Sun Mountain." After walking a few steps, he broke away from Fanghua's hand, ran back and climbed a branch of white magnolia, stood on tiptoes and smelled the flower, and smiled "Gege": "

It smells so good." He tilted his head and looked at Zhang Yuan with bright eyes, and said, "Brother Zhang, remember, take my sister and me to Manjing for a spring outing after the exam."

After Jing Hui left, Zhang Yuan walked alone in the courtyard. In early spring in February, if you were in the south of the Yangtze River, spring would have been warm and flowers were blooming. But in Beijing, the ice and snow had just melted, and the temperature at night was still close to freezing. Neither the peach blossoms nor the cherry blossoms had bloomed.

It's open, but several white magnolias planted in this yard have begun to bloom one after another in the past few days. The petals are bright and clear, and the flowers have an elegant and pleasant fragrance. It makes people feel the spirit of spring in the cold night. This white magnolia is the primrose of the capital.

In the misty cold fragrance, Zhang Yuan's heart gradually calmed down.

…

During the examination period, the curfew was lifted. After three drums, Zhang Yuan packed up the examination basket, stationery, stove, earthenware bowl, food, charcoal, and oilcloth. After checking that everything was correct, he was ready to go out. Shang Zhouzuo had been reading in the study and came out to present Zhang.

Yuan got on the carriage, and Mu Zhenzhen, Wu Ling, Laifu, and Wang Dachui followed -

It is about five or six miles from here to Shuntianfu Gongyuan. It is cold in the early morning and the quiet street is even wider. At midnight, there is no one else rushing to the Shuntianfu Gongyuan in Dongcheng in the middle of the night except candidates and servants who are taking the exam. However, although the curfew is lifted,

However, the patrol sergeants of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Department patrolled the city as usual. They also asked questions when they encountered anyone acting suspiciously——

There were still two or three miles away from Gongyuan Square. Zhang Yuan heard the roar of people in front, horses neighing and donkeys braying, and the carriage drove forward for another mile. There was already a traffic jam, and the carriage was not moving smoothly. Zhang Yuan

Yuan got off the car here and asked the coachman to drive back. He took Mu Zhenzhen and others and strode to the gate of Gongyuan. The Gongyuan of Shuntian Prefecture faced south. They had to go around from the west side of Gongyuan to the south gate and walk beside Zhang Yuan.

Mu Zhenzhen suddenly said: "Master, those are the eldest son, Master and the others." He pointed forward -

When Zhang Yuan raised his eyes, he saw his eldest brother Zhang Dai and his uncle Baosheng coming from the south, accompanied by several servants carrying lanterns. He hurried forward to meet each other, and together they went to the gate of Gongyuan. He saw Qi Biaojia again.

Huang Zunsu and others, all from Zhejiang Province, gathered together to wait to enter the examination room——

The square is crowded with people and noisy. Countless lanterns are pouring down like stars, and the baths are roaring. Just imagine the millions of scholars in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, starting from Tong Meng, to Tong Sheng, to Scholars, and then to Juren. They are selected at every level. Today’s stop

There are nearly 8,000 candidates in the Gongyuan Square of Shuntian Prefecture. They have studied hard for more than ten years or even decades just for these three exams. However, there are only 344 candidates, and even 20 are not qualified.

Take one, as you can imagine, the competition is fierce. The ultimate goal of the imperial examination is to be a Jinshi. Among the people, the Jinshi is called climbing to the dragon gate, a carp turns into a dragon, and one can reach the sky in one step. The Jinshi is also called Shi Brown, which means that from now on, you have to take off your civilian clothes and wear patchwork.

The official is convinced——

I don’t know if there is anyone else who looks at all this calmly like Zhang Yuan, but no matter how calm he is, he can’t just watch indifferently, he must jump into this scientific examination. The idea of ​​officialdom is deeply rooted. If you don’t win the Jinshi, you will have no status and no right to speak.

In this life, he must work hard to strive for all this.

At the fourth watch, cannons were fired at the gantry, roll call was taken, and the inspection began. Candidates from Zhejiang came in after those from South and North Zhili and Shandong and Henan. The supervisor who called the roll examined the age of the candidates based on the official documents registered by the candidates in the Ministry of Etiquette.

Whether the appearance is consistent with the description in the official document, whether it is beard or not, white face or black face, pitted scars, etc., two candidates from the same province must sign as a guarantee, because the person is already a prominent figure in the local area and many people know him.

, if you hire a gunman to take the exam for you, it will be easy to be reported and exposed, so at the level of the general examination, almost no one will use this cheating method, and the examination of the general examination is much simpler than the examination of the scholar, and the examination of the candidates is simpler, except for the search

Except for examination baskets and other personal belongings, candidates will not be allowed to take off their clothes and expose their bodies. They will only take off their headscarves to look at them, and pat and pinch them through their robes. The candidate is already half an official, so the reason for not taking off his clothes during the examination is to preserve the dignity of the examinee.

Without damaging morale——

Zhang Yuanxin said: "The weather in Beijing is cold in February, and most of the students are weak. If they take off their clothes and socks for a careful inspection, I am afraid that half of them will get sick from the cold. Then the whole examination room will be bustling, with vomiting and diarrhea, coughing and fever.

The examination room is going to become a plague place."

Zhang Yuan quickly passed the inspection and received twelve pieces of paper each for the cursive scroll and the main scroll printed by the Ministry of Rites. He walked through three dragon gates carrying examination baskets, charcoal and other items, and saw an old and crooked ancient tree in front of him.

The branches of the Sophora japonica tree are as straight as dragons, and they are very powerful. As I was slowly looking at them, I suddenly heard a voice behind me saying: "This Sophora japonica tree was planted by people in the Yuan Dynasty, 300 years ago. It is said that Wen Guang once shot bullfighting at this Sophora japonica tree, so

Its name is Wenchang Huai, which is related to literary fortune. Jie Zi, please pay your respects and wish for good luck."

The speaker was Zhang Lianfang, so Zhang Yuan put down the examination basket and utensils in his hands, saluted the ancient locust tree with his clan uncle, and then the two of them walked in side by side. Zhang Lianfang asked: "Meson, which room are you?"

Zhang Yuandao: "My nephew is the sixth room with the character 'chui'."

Zhang Lianfang said: "I am the second room with the word 'teacher'. It's so dangerous, I almost got the shit room."

Zhang Yuan smiled and said: "It's okay in this cold weather, it's not too smelly."

Zhang Lianfang said as he walked: "The style of writing in the field should be bold, the tone should be high, the words should be superb, and the pen should be new."

Zhang Yuan said respectfully: "Uncle Baosheng's advice is correct."

Zhang Lianfang smiled and said: "I have a high vision but a low hand. How can I give you any advice? Your craftsmanship is better than mine." He then said: "Jiezi, you have never had any setbacks since the Tongsheng Examination, and you are also the head of the case. I hope you will continue to have good luck."

, I, the Zhang family of Shanyin, will produce another number one scholar."

Zhang Yuan was not always humble. He said: "It is up to people to plan things, and it is up to Heaven to make things happen."

While talking, I walked past Mingyuan Building and turned eastward to enter Dongwen Field. Rows of lanterns were hung in front of the dormitory. Each lantern had an eye-catching big character on it, "Heaven and Earth are Xuanhuang. The universe is prehistoric" arranged in sequence.

, Zhang Lianfang's "Division" numbered room was in front, so he went in first. Zhang Yuan walked down more than a hundred steps and found the "Chui" numbered room. Each candidate was arranged to be guarded by a bugler. There were tens of thousands of buglers.

They are temporarily dispatched from the camps near the capital. Those who have served in the Gongyuan before are not allowed to serve again. If someone pretends to be a regular soldier and enters the army, he will be severely punished, so it is difficult to cheat through the trumpet army.

The number was printed on the chest and back. Zhang Yuan showed the number plate, and a military officer with the number "6" led him in——

There had been several fires in the Gongyuan of Shuntian Prefecture in the past, one of which killed more than 90 candidates. When Zhang Juzheng was in power, he expanded the Gongyuan and changed the wooden number rooms to brick walls and tile roofs, which reduced the fire hazard. Zhang Yuan entered

House No. 6, the regulations of this house are similar to those of Hangzhou Gongyuan. The house is four feet deep, three feet wide and six feet high. There are also two thick wooden boards padded with bricks as tables and chairs. By the light of the lanterns in the narrow alley of the house

, Zhang Yuan wiped the wooden boards and nailed oilcloth to prevent leakage, and heard Ni Yuanlu shouting "Bitterness, bitterness" all the way. Walking through the narrow alley in front of the house, there was a smell of powder, Ni Yuanlu likes to wear fresh clothes and apply perfume.

I learned the style of fu powder and incense made by celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties——

Zhang Yuan hurriedly asked: "Brother Ruyu, why are you complaining?"

When Ni Yuanlu saw it was Zhang Yuan, she said with a sad face: "I am No. 1, I am miserable."

Number one is the shit number. Qi Biaojia was assigned the shit number in the Hangzhou Provincial Examination last year. Qi Biaojia stuffed his nose with paper balls for three exams and got the top spot in the Book of Books. This time, Ni Yuanlu was assigned the shit number.

The shit is coming, and others will just tolerate it. But Ni Yuanlu has a mysophobia. This is simply God’s intention to play a trick on him. Aren’t you so clean? But you are plagued by shit——

Zhang Yuan suppressed a smile and comforted him: "Brother Ruyu, please bear with me, you can get out of the mud without being stained."

"Let's go, no talking to each other in the venue." The bugler behind Ni Yuanlu urged.

Ni Yuanlu said "Hey", shook her head and walked over.

After packing up, I guessed that it was almost five o'clock, and it was about half an hour before dawn. It was cold, so he lay on his side to rest for fear of freezing. Zhang Yuan just sat there with his eyes closed and calmed down, waiting for dawn——

The darkness before dawn was thick, and all kinds of strange noises came one after another. The half hour waiting for the test questions to be handed out was the most unbearable. Zhang Yuan couldn't help but think of what people in Uncle Baosheng's Gongyuan said about Gongyuan a few days ago by the Paozi River.

Ghost stories, since Jiajing, there have been more and more ghost stories in Shuntian Prefecture Gongyuan. Some candidates saw the ghost, but the ghost told him that he had found the wrong room, turned around and went to the dormitory next door. After a while, someone screamed and died.

, the most widely circulated story is that there is a girl in a red dress, she is as beautiful as a fairy, good at seducing people, only the candidates she wants to seduce can see her, others can only see the candidate taking off her clothes to beg for sex.

Ugly, you know this candidate is crazy——

Zhang Yuan thought: "The atmosphere in the examination room where ghosts and gods are benevolent and vengeful has a great impact on candidates with poor psychological quality, and it is not uncommon for them to have mental breakdowns. I, Zhang Jiezi, amassed good deeds and good deeds everywhere, both in the charity warehouse and the nursing home. I have actually saved my life."

Qingmo Shanren and Dong Milk Tea have done good things all the way. It is unreasonable for gods and Buddhas not to bless me." Then he thought again: "There are many unreasonable things in this world. Will there be a beauty in red to seduce me?"

Zhang Yuan sat in the dark dormitory and smiled alone. The bugler who was guarding him stood in front of the dormitory and looked at it with fear in his heart. He thought to himself: "Is this scholar also possessed by evil spirits and going crazy?" Fortunately, this scholar

He was just laughing and didn't do anything crazy.

Hearing the sound of Mu Duo, the examination questions began to be handed out. Zhang Yuan stood up with a leap, and the bugler standing in the alley said hurriedly: "Wait, I will go get the examination questions for you."

Troop numbered "Six" went to the fence gate to collect the test questions and handed them back to Zhang Yuan. A piece of paper one foot square was printed with seven lines of words. At this time, the genius showed a glimmer of light. Zhang Yuan took a closer look and the first question was "

"Only the benevolent can be good and evil." He couldn't help but smile, and he felt sure when he saw the question. Looking down, his test questions should be four questions on the Four Books and three questions on "Spring and Autumn", but when he saw the fifth question it was

"To punish widows, to punish brothers, to control the family", this is a sentence in "The Book of Songs? Daya" -

"This brother from the army got the wrong question. I am not the one with this question." Zhang Yuan shouted.

At this time, Ni Yuanlu on the other side of the Shit Hall also shouted: "This Spring and Autumn Inscription is not mine, I am an inscription on the Book of Songs."

Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: "That Spring and Autumn Question is mine." He handed the question to Hao Jun and asked him to change it. When he looked at the questions again, the first four questions were the same, and the fifth question was "Uncle Zheng"

Providing land with a fake jade”——

Zhang Yuan thought to himself: "That's right. This sentence is exactly the sentence from 'The Annals of Duke Huan of Lu' that Xiao Jinghui recited to me last night."

The seven questions have been memorized in his mind. Zhang Yuan squatted under the eaves of the dormitory to make a stove, borrowed a fire, lit the charcoal, and began to cook eight-treasure porridge. This eight-treasure porridge, which is nutritious, thirst-quenching and convenient, is the best food in the house. This time

Zhang Dai, Qi Biaojia, and Wang Binglin will all learn from Zhang Yuan to cook eight-treasure porridge, and it will become the first choice food for Hanshe members to take scientific examinations in the future——

Pine nuts, chestnuts, jujubes, lotus seeds... were slowly cooked in the tile bowl, making a gentle "gurgling" sound. The aroma gradually overflowed, the sky was already bright, and the sunshine on February 9th also shone on the "Chui" room.

In the narrow alley, most of the candidates had already taken the time to write their essays. Zhang Yuan stood up, faced the sun, moved his hands and feet, and jumped a few times. The dormitory was short, and you could see the tiled roof when you jumped.
To be continued...