"Next!"

The examiner shouted, and Li Yanqing walked forward quickly and handed the floating ticket to the examiner. The examiner glanced at the name on the floating ticket, suddenly raised his head, and glanced at Li Yanqing with a sharp look.

This scene was so familiar that Li Yanqing remembered the test of the test a few years ago. Almost all the links were the same. The only difference was that the provincial test seemed to be more strict. Under the fire, three soldiers searched one person, from head to toe, hair and shoes, and even the private parts of the test were not spared, which made many candidates extremely uncomfortable, but helpless.

The examiner hesitated, as if he was thinking about something. He glanced at Li Yanqing again and finally made a decision that surprised Li Yanqing.

"He doesn't need to search anymore, just go in!"

The examiner handed the floating ticket to Li Yanqing and made an invitation. Li Yanqing bowed to him with a fist and walked in quickly. At this time, a candidate protested behind him. The examiner said coldly: "If you can kill the Western Xia warrior, I won't search your body."

Li Yanqing didn't know whether this was his luck or there would be any hidden dangers, but at this time he had no choice. A soldier guided him to his examination room.

There is no difference between the tribute court in Bianjing and the tribute court in Xiangzhou. It can be said that the tribute court in Xiangzhou is a smaller version of the tribute court in Bianjing. The tribute court can accommodate more than 10,000 scholars at the same time. It is very large in scale. There are 120 alleys, each of which is dark, and occasionally a lit candle will shine with a ray of light.

"This is Lane 25, please enter!"

Li Yanqing walked into the alley. His number room was not far from the entrance of the alley. He quickly found No. 84. He checked the floating ticket again and then walked in.

It was not dawn at this time, but there was already a hazy dawn, but the room was still very dark, but the outline could be seen clearly in the hazy, giving Li Yanqing the feeling that it was a little bigger than the test room in Xiangzhou. Li Yanqing measured it with his hand and it was indeed about half a foot wide. Don’t underestimate this half foot, as it would no longer feel the feeling of depression in a narrow space.

From now on, he was going to stay in this small room for four days and three nights. Li Yanqing slowly sat down. There was a very familiar basket on the table, but it was a little larger and a little fuller than the basket in Anyang Gongyuan. There were no shortages. There were four candles alone, including pens, inks, inks, kettles, flints, etc. The only lack was paper. Li Yanqing lit a candle, and the room suddenly lit up. The back was indeed very wide and long, and there were two blankets. There were no need to curl up and sleep at night.

Li Yanqing filled the inkstone and began to grind the ink slowly. But his ears were listening to the movements in the rooms on both sides. He only heard the scholar No. 84 next door sighing softly, "Grandpa Earth, students cannot bring incense, so they have to use candles instead. Respect Grade Grandpa Earth and bless students to pass the provincial examination. After the palace examination, students will definitely come to worship and fulfill their wishes again!"

Then I heard the sound of kowtowing, but the candidate on the right was very quiet and never made any noise.

The sky gradually became brighter. As the gate of the Gongyuan closed, all examiners quickly took their seats. Just like the test, there was an examiner and two soldiers in each alley. The entire examination room became solemn and solemn. Everyone was holding their breath and waiting quietly for something?

"when"

A crisp cloud board sounded at the sky above the examination room, and the rustling footsteps came from far away. All the candidates' hearts were raised to their throats and they began to hand over the test papers.

Li Yanqing was also waiting silently. At this time, a black shadow appeared in front of him, and a cold voice came from above his head, "Jingyike, try to complete it in two days!"

Three thick rolls of paper were placed in front of him, and there was also a test paper and a slender paste paper next to it.

Li Yanqing opened the test paper and read it roughly, including "The New Meaning of the Three Classics", "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius". There are 30 questions in total, and the questions are not difficult. As long as you study hard, you can basically do it. The key is that the amount is large. Li Yanqing's rough estimate is that he must write at least 15,000 words, and he must finish it within two days, that is, he must write about 8,000 words every day.

Of course, you don’t need to submit the test paper after you finish it, but put it aside and submit it together after it is completed. Make a strategy on the third day. If you can’t finish it in two days, it will affect the strategy on the third day, which will lead to the failure to complete the final strategy or the level of poetry that is too poor and will be eliminated directly.

All the candidates couldn't wait to answer the questions, and everyone knew it. It didn't mean they could only be able to answer the questions. After all, the admission ratio was there, and everyone could only write the details. The calligraphy and neatness of the papers were the first impression of the examiner.

Li Yanqing was not in a hurry to write. He needed to plan the entire length to determine the font and line spacing. This is his experience in the trial and the community of all masters. The more this kind of exam that determines the outcome based on details, the more they should be cautious.

Li Yanqing planned for a quarter of an hour before finally determining the size of the font and the spacing between lines. At this time, he turned the test paper to the front and started from the first part.

The first part is to post the sutra, which has ten questions in total, which is also the part with the largest number of words in the sutra title, and it must have about ten thousand words.

There are two ways to test the scriptures. One is to give a few lines of words, only two of them are exposed, and the rest is applied ink, requiring the candidates to write down the ink part. This is a little simpler because the number of words is not large.

The second method is more difficult. Only one sentence is written, requiring the candidates to write down the entire article. The second method was adopted in the late Northern Song Dynasty.

The first question has only one sentence: "It is similar to God, sees the six sects, looks at the mountains and rivers, and is everywhere in the gods."

If you are not familiar with the scriptures, you don’t know where it comes from?

Li Yanqing looked at the first question carefully and was surprised. When he first read it, he thought it was simple, but when he looked closely, he found that it was not the case. This was a sentence from the old "Shangshu". In the "New Meaning of the Book of Books" written by Wang Anshi, this sentence was gone and was deleted as a false statement. If a scholar did not read the old "Shangshu, but only read the "New Meaning of the Book of Books", this sentence would have never been heard.

Li Yanqing couldn't help but secretly thank his master Yao Ding. When he was teaching, he specifically talked about the comparison between "Shangshu" and "New Meaning of Books", and listed the deleted parts, which included this sentence. If it weren't for this, Li Yanqing would not be able to answer the first question.

This question is actually very remote for ordinary candidates. It is estimated that for many candidates, the first question is a blow.

This sentence comes from "Shu Yu? Shun Dian". Li Yanqing pondered for a moment and decided to write the title.

He then picked up his pen and wrote: "Yu Shun was so smart that Yao heard that he would succeed him. He tried all the difficulties and wrote "Shun Dian"'

Just as the candidates were fully focused on answering questions, on the third floor of the Trial Review Building of the Gongyuan, the chief examiner Yu Shen was standing in front of the window and drinking a cup of tea slowly. From his perspective, he could clearly see the examination room below.

This is the second time he has appeared here as the chief examiner of the provincial imperial examination. As the weather vane of the imperial examination, the appointment of the chief examiner is by no means arbitrary designation, but the result of the game between several forces.

The current situation of the court seemed calm, but in fact, undercurrents surged. In addition to the prime minister Cai Jing, there were also the prime minister Tong Guan and the hidden prime minister Liang Shicheng. The three of them were in charge of the government affairs, the other was in charge of military power, and the other was in charge of imperial edicts. All three were extremely powerful. This was also the art of emperors, creating conflicts to balance. Cai Jing and Tong Guan fought openly and secretly, while Liang Shicheng was provoking both sides and taking both sides.

In the court, in addition to Cai Jing's monopoly, there were also the left prime minister Bai Shizhong and the right prime minister Yu Shen, who was Cai Jing's lackey, and Yu Shen was quite close to Tong Guan.

This imperial examination was originally recommended by Cai Jing to be the chief examiner of Bai Shizhong, but was strongly opposed by Tong Guan. He pointed out that Bai Shizhong had a major scandal of cheating when the previous imperial examination was the chief examiner, and it was not appropriate to be the chief examiner of him. In the end, the emperor Zhao Ji accepted Liang Shicheng's recommendation and appointed Yu Shen as the chief examiner.

This imperial examination happened to be fierce in the Liao and Jin wars. When the Song Dynasty had an opportunity to recover Yan Yun, the imperial court had sent envoys to Liaodong several times on a boat to secretly negotiate with the Jin Kingdom to destroy Liao. At the same time, the Jin Kingdom also sent envoys to Xixia secretly to negotiate with Xixia to attack Liao.

It is precisely for this reason that Tong Guan, who strongly advocated attacking the Liao Kingdom, gained the upper hand in public opinion, and Yu Shen became the chief examiner this year.

Although Yu Shen and Tong Guan were very close and the two had even formed a political quasi-ally alliance, this does not mean that Yu Shen firmly supported Tong Guan's plan to join forces with Jin and destroy Liao.

On the contrary, Yu Shen himself firmly opposed the destruction. He believed that this would break the 100-year balance of Song and Liao, and would easily lead wolves into the house. Once the Jin Kingdom replaces the Liao Kingdom, wars would inevitably break out between the Song and Jin Kingdom. Only after decades of repeated tug-of-war can a new balance be finally formed. With the current financial resources of the Song Dynasty, it is difficult to support decades of large-scale wars.

Yu Shen was very melancholy. He knew that the emperor had let him take the lead in the exam was to promote the idea of ​​joining the Jin and destroying Liao in the imperial examination, but this conflicted with his own political views, which really made him feel embarrassed.
Chapter completed!