A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination

Chapter 43: Imperial Examination

The imperial examinations were just around the corner, and the business of the Chang’anli Hotel suddenly picked up. Even the vacant houses of the civilians in better areas were looted. Renting accommodation became the number one problem in Beijing. Fortunately, Xiao Jingduo was from Chang’an, so he didn’t need to worry about where he lived, and because of the convenient location, he could make some preparations in advance.

Xiao Jingduo went to the Ministry of Rites early to hand in the written statement and family certificate. The written statement was a certificate issued by the Guozijian, which simply recorded his identity, place of origin and academic performance, and the family certificate was written by Xiao Jingduo himself He listed the names and origins of his ancestors within three generations one by one. After the Ministry of Rites verified that it was correct, he and the other two Zhuzi were asked to guaranty each other, and registered his residence in Chang’an. After completing these procedures, Xiao Jingduo was considered to have successfully registered for the imperial examination.

Lined up in front of the province.

On the first day, Xiao Jingduo and many others gathered outside the palace gate to receive the emperor’s reception. Xiao Jingduo stood outside the Chengtian Gate, along with thousands of students, bowing his head to the emperor.

This was the second time Xiao Jingduo saw the emperor, and he couldn’t help feeling emotional. When he was in Zhuo County many years ago, he saw with his own eyes the emperor, who was the king of Qin at that time, led the cavalry to sweep across the field. Xiao Jingduo was only shocked, how could he think that one day, he would see this legendary figure again in this capacity.

The emperor stood on the high palace wall and seemed to say some words of encouragement, but Xiao Jingduo didn’t hear them, or he didn’t need to listen, he could roughly guess what kind of words they were .

After seeing the emperor, Xiao Jingduo followed the crowd to pay homage to the statue of Confucius. The visit was hosted by the Guozijian, which was Xiao Jingduo’s school. He was familiar with the Guozijian, so there was no difficulty.

The imperial examination was held in the Gongyuan of the Ministry of Rites for two days. In order to be able to enter the venue earlier that day, many people chose to live near the Gongyuan. Xiao Jingduo did not want to live in the Dingyonghou Mansion, so he booked an empty house there and planned to move there in the next few days.

Qiu Ju checked Xiao Jingduo’s luggage over and over again, for fear that Xiao Jingduo would not be used to living outside. If Xiao Jingduo hadn’t stopped him, Qiu Ju would have almost evacuated the entire Qingze Courtyard.

“Lang Jun, I have packed your luggage and put it in the wing. When Xiao Lin arrives tomorrow, I will let him move it to the car.”

Xiao Jingduo couldn’t help sighing: “Qiu Ju, I’m just going out to stay for a few days, you don’t have to.”

It was him who took the exam, but Qiu Ju was more nervous than Xiao Jingduo.

“I know, but even for the scientific examination, you can’t wrong your husband! It’s a pity that I can’t follow, I just don’t know if Xiao Lin can take good care of your husband…” Halfway through, Qiu Ju suddenly exclaimed, “Ah, I forgot, Lang Jun’s favorite tea set hasn’t been packed yet, so I’ll pack it up now!”

Qiu Ju ran out in a hurry, Xiao Jingduo thought it was funny, but let her go.

Everyone in the Qing Zeyuan understands that this scientific examination is very important to Xiao Jingduo. Many people in Dingyong Hou’s mansion are waiting to watch the excitement. If Xiao Jingduo fails the exam this time, Xiao Jingduo will lose his right to speak on many matters, from marriage matters to the future of his official position. It was precisely because she knew the importance of this exam that Qiu Ju was so anxious and kept busy for several days.

Outsiders all sweated for him, but Xiao Jingduo himself was very calm. He doesn’t go out these few days, he gets up every day at nine, and after practicing martial arts and boxing, he goes back to his study to read. He also maintained the routine of the Imperial College. He first read the scriptures, then wrote a policy commentary. In the evening, he casually flipped through the anthology and Di Bao, and went to bed on time at Hai Shi.

Actually speaking, Xiao Jingduo had a very short time to prepare for the imperial examination. He graduated from the Imperial College in August, and he will take the examination in the first month of the year. It only takes four months to complete the calculation, and there are still many procedures that delay time. With the difficulty of picking one out of a hundred in the imperial examinations, Xiao Jingduo’s chances of passing the examination were really mysterious, and it was no wonder that other people in the Hou residence were not optimistic about him. The most extreme thing is that when time is so urgent, Xiao Jingduo still maintains his original pace, no gesture of nodding his head, which makes the onlookers break into a cold sweat.

Qiu Ju is obviously one of the people who pinch sweat.

Qiu Ju hurriedly rushed to the room where the luggage was placed, but was stunned when she entered the door. She was sluggish for a moment, and then she just reacted normally, and said, “Miss Biao, why are you here? These girls are real, Miss Biao doesn’t know how to make a sound when she comes, it’s too negligent…”

“Nothing.” Cheng Huizhen smiled softly, “Cousin is leaving tomorrow, I just came to see it today, it’s not a big deal, it’s not worth inspiring people for me.”

“How can this be possible?” Cheng Huizhen was so good-natured, which made Qiu Ju feel more and more uncomfortable, she hesitated, and asked, “Miss Biao, you are here, but you want to see Dalangjun? ”

From Qiu Ju’s hesitant tone, Cheng Huizhen could hear that Xiao Jingduo didn’t want to see her, and besides, Cheng Huizhen’s purpose of this trip was not here, so she didn’t force it, but said: “No need, I just I just wanted to come and have a look, now that I have made up my mind, don’t bother my cousin.”

After finishing speaking, Cheng Huizhen nodded and smiled at Qiu Ju, and then went out with the maid. For some reason, Qiu Ju felt a little complicated in her heart. She shook her head violently, throwing irrelevant thoughts out of her mind, and then hurriedly opened her luggage and forcibly stuffed a set of tea sets into it.

“No matter if I can pass the test this time, I can’t let Dalang-jun suffer. Anyway, there is a car tomorrow, so bring a little more to be prepared…”

The next morning, Xiao Jingduo rode out of the Dingyonghou Mansion. Xiao Lin followed behind him, driving a carriage that was stuffed to the north of the city.

The Imperial Palace is located in the north of Chang’an, with the outer side facing the inner side, and it is the exclusive site of the royal family. Outside the palace gate is also surrounded by a city wall, which contains three provinces and six ministries, nine temples and three platforms. Outside the imperial city are the residences of the common people and high-ranking officials. With Zhuque Street as the boundary, Chang’an is divided into the east and west of the city, where the rich and powerful are concentrated in the east of the city, and the common people live in the west of the city.

According to convention, the closer to the palace and the imperial city, the scarcer the residence, and the more honorable the people who can live in it. Therefore, the residences built next to the imperial city are mostly the palaces of the princes and princesses, and further out are the residences of the prime ministers and some favored nobles.

This is also the reason why Xiao Jingduo insisted on moving outside. On the day of the imperial examination, he knew how many people would be on the road. The Dingyonghou Mansion was quite a distance from the imperial city. If the admission time was delayed Bad thing.

There are not a few people who have the same idea as Xiao Jingduo. Those who are in the east of the palace don’t even think about it. They can only rent the houses in the west of the imperial city, and the conditions are relatively different. The good ones are few. Xiao Jingduo was quick to add money to him, so he got the room early.

This family lives in the inner corner and has to walk for a while, but fortunately it is quiet, so these inconveniences are nothing to worry about. Xiao Jingduo rode to a stop in front of the house, then handed the reins to the servants of the Dingyonghou Mansion, and walked inside alone. Xiaomen and small households were in short supply, and naturally there was no place for Xiao Jingduo to put his horses, so he specially brought one more person from the Hou residence so that the other party could bring the horse back to the Hou residence.

The owner of the house saw Xiao Jingduo coming, and hurriedly greeted him with a smile: “Xiao Langjun is here, we have packed your house, do you want to stay tonight?”

“Yes, there is so much harassment, I’m bothering the host.”

Lifting is much more enjoyable. The owner of this kind of guest house is naturally very welcome, and he is also happy to have another ten or eight.

Since the imperial court opened the imperial examination, aside from other things, first of all, the people in the west of the imperial city have created a good wave of income. In the first year of the test, some smart people saw the business opportunity, so they packed up their spare room and rented it to Jizi who was rushing for the test, and made a small profit. With the first batch of people taking the lead, many people followed suit and rented vacant houses in the second year. Because more and more students took the exam in Beijing, the supply of rented houses fell short of demand. After a long time, the area in the west of the city simply set up vacant houses for rent, from ten to ten. From February to March of this year, it has been very popular.

It is clean and easy to rent to students who are rushing for the exam. Among them, Xiao Jingduo rents the main room and one of the wing rooms.

Xiao Lin parked the car at the door, and unloaded the goods from the car in the same way. The owner saw it and stepped up to help: “Hey, Xiao Langjun, you brought a lot of things… ”

Xiao Lin and the host were busy moving things when the other two tenants in the yard saw it and snorted softly.

“Another hedonistic son of a powerful man.”

The speaker’s name is Dong Peng, a student who came to Chang’an from other places to take the exam. After he came to Chang’an, he was deeply shocked by the prosperous and open atmosphere of the capital, and at the same time, his heart became more and more uneasy.

These poor students studied hard for many years to get a place in Beijing, but there are many noble families in Chang’an, and their children do not need to pass the county examination, the state examination, or even the imperial examination. You can get a good official position, and from then on, you will rise steadily. How unfair this world is.

Especially now, there is still a case of unfairness appearing in front of Dong Peng. Dong Peng looked at Xiao Jingduo blankly. The man in front of him was only about seventeen years old, with a fair and handsome face, and he had a carriage to travel. Accompanying the servants, he is obviously a son of a nobleman, and I am afraid that his background is quite good. On the other hand, looking at himself, at the age of twenty-seven, he is still a white man, he has neither married nor established a career, and now he has to take the same exam with a boy ten years younger than him, how ironic.

Dong Peng laughed self-deprecatingly and didn’t want to watch any more, just at this moment Wu Tai called him in the house, and Dong Peng turned around and went back.

Xiao Jingduo didn’t like to live with others. At the beginning, he had no choice but to do so in Guozijian. Now that he has the conditions, he will naturally not treat himself badly. So Xiao Jingduo happily rented two rooms, a main room and a wing room, he lived in the main room, and Xiao Lin lived in the wing room.

Xiao Jingduo was getting acquainted with his whereabouts in the next few days when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from outside the courtyard: “Xiao Jingduo, is that you?”

Xiao Jingduo turned around and found that the student standing at the gate of the courtyard turned out to be a classmate of Guozijian. He couldn’t help but smile and walked out quickly.

“Brother Zhao, do you also live in this area?”

“Yes, if you want to get in early, you have to come out and live! Brother Xiao, it’s been a long time since we parted from Guozijian. Last year’s class reunion, why didn’t you come?” He didn’t enter the same year as Xiao Jingduo, but he had heard of Xiao Jingduo’s name. He originally came out to stroll around, but he didn’t expect to see an acquaintance. He immediately started chatting with Xiao Jingduo enthusiastically.

Xiao Jingduo stood outside the door reminiscing with his classmates, Xiao Lin was still moving things dutifully, he lightened his pace and tried not to interfere with the conversation between the two outside the door.

Xiao Lin unloaded a box from the car. As soon as he walked to the door, he saw a scholar-looking man standing outside the threshold, with his head outstretched and quietly looking into the room.

“What are you doing!”

Dong Peng was taken aback by the sound of a sudden explosion behind him, he quickly turned around, and saw Xiao Lin standing aside, staring at him unhappily.

Dong Peng patted his chest, let out a long breath and said, “Why did you suddenly make a sound, it’s rude.”

Xiao Lin snorted coldly and said, “Oh, you peeked at our Langjun’s room without permission, is that polite?”

Whisper.”

Xiao Lin rolled his eyes and didn’t want to pay attention to this person. He continued to move things into the house, and Dong Peng stood at the door, as if he didn’t want to leave: “Hey, you actually occupied two rooms? Brother Wu Tai and I shared a wing room, but you occupied two rooms in a grand manner. The house is really unreasonable!”

Xiao Lin had a stern face, and said to Dong Peng mechanically and plainly: “Let me go, you are blocking my way of putting things.”

Dong Peng was so angry that he was so angry, but he felt that it was too disgraceful to care about a book boy. After finally waiting for Xiao Lin to leave, Dong Peng spat in disdain at Xiao Lin’s back: “vulgar.”

After scolding secretly, Dong Pengcai felt a little more at ease. He was about to leave when suddenly his eyes narrowed and he saw something vaguely: “Hey, what is this?”

When Xiao Lin came back, Dong Peng was no longer in the main room. Xiao Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he notice that Xiao Jingduo’s cage for the scrolls had been thrown at the door. He quickly put down the things in his hands, hugged the cage with great care, and carefully arranged the scrolls inside. .

“The most precious volumes of Dalangjun can’t be damaged…”

Xiao Jingduo finally said goodbye to her classmates who were chatty, and was able to escape smoothly. He returned to the main room and found that after a while, a lot of things were already piled up in his room.

Xiao Jingduo’s eyebrows jumped: “Why so many things?”

“I don’t know either. Qiu Ju asked me to take it.” Xiao Lin answered honestly.

“The tea set and bedding are all that’s needed, why did you even bring the stove and incense?” Xiao Jingduo was speechless, “leave the book, and take the rest with you, and put it in yours for the time being. go to the house.”

He touched the book cage with his fingers, and suddenly frowned: “Xiao Lin, has someone moved my book cage?”

“Yes, I just sorted it out when I moved the book.”

So it was, Xiao Jingduo nodded, put the matter aside, and focused on studying the book.

The scientific examination is just around the corner. It is useless to read scriptures and poetry collections these days. Xiao Jingduo mainly looks at policy theory and current affairs. Xiao Jingduo’s accumulation over the years is enough, and he doesn’t need to sharpen his gun.

Now he finally understands why Chufuzi didn’t tell him the scriptures for the scientific examination in advance. Not to make students memorize scriptures. Therefore, the important thing in the imperial examination is to accumulate knowledge, not the classics related to the doomed assault. If you are addicted to the latter, it is really putting the cart before the horse.

In a blink of an eye, it’s time to start a course.

Xiao Jingduo got up early in the morning and walked to the gate of Gongyuan with the sound of drums announcing the dawn. A wave of students had gathered in front of the Gongyuan. These people were standing in front of the ritual department in groups of three and five, talking in low voices.

As the sun rises, there are more and more students in front of Gongyuan. I don’t know how long I waited, the door of the Gongyuan finally opened slowly, and the people from the Ministry of Rites stood on the steps and sang aloud: “The imperial examination is about to enter the hall. You can enter the venue. Now everyone is silent, and the students whose names are called go forward quickly. Huainan Road Suno…”

There was a riot in the crowd, and as students stepped forward one by one, the imperial examination in the ninth year of Qiyuan officially announced the beginning.