It is said that in the spring of the second year of Jingtai, the Jingshi Gongyuan held a triennial examination, thousands of people gathered in Beijing, and suddenly the eunuchs in the palace came with the imperial decree Pegasus, and immediately canceled the examination, and the officials such as the chief examiner and the examination were all taken into custody pending trial. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 After info, it was reported that the bribery case of this department was secretly reported, and even Hu Ying, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who was the Taifu, was also implicated and imprisoned, and rumors spread across the country for a while. A few months later, Hu Shangguan was reinstated, and no one knew what was going on, and only the students who had gone for nothing were punished. As a result of that incident, the imperial court issued a new decree that the scholars and administrators of the various political departments had to report the number of people who took the examination, and all the scholars were anonymous.

On the twenty-fifth day of the first month of the fifth year of Jingtai, Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan's carriage came to the south gate of the capital. The two dart masters rode horses, and the scholar drove, and at this time they all came down, and Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan also got out of the car and walked into the city gate together. At this time, candidates from all over the country rushed to the capital, there were many people with mixed faces, and there were twice as many guards around the city gate as usual, and the investigation was tight. It was a very windy day, and it had just snowed a little, and the sky was overcast. Dongfang Yan held the stove in his hand, tightened the collar of his coat, and said, "It's so cold." Qiu Yinming said: "It's okay to walk around." A dart master said: "Young master, bear with me for a while, and just get to the inn." Dongfang Yan sighed: "Alas, I don't know if I can live in the inn." It turned out that Dongfang Yan's father wanted the housekeeper to pre-purchase a house in the capital at first, and then send some maid servants to serve him, but he was vetoed by his grandfather. The old man said that such a pampered person could not become a marquis, so he only sent two dart heads of the dart board to accompany Mozhu. The scholar Mozhu also knows some martial arts, this line is light and reliable, coupled with Qiu Yinming's escort, to ensure safety. Dongfang Yan went out for the first time, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

When I entered the city gate, it was the evening light hour, and the street restaurants were in full swing, with mutton noodles and mutton shabu signs hanging everywhere. The shopkeeper shouted and drank really energetically, the chopping board here made a "bang" sound, and there was a "bang" sound, and the fragrance of green onions and peppercorns was overflowing. The five of them were all hungry, and at this time they happened to pass by a bright restaurant at the corner of the street, with a red lacquered wooden sign hanging at the door, full of seventeen or eighteen dishes. What sauerkraut roasted pork, shallots mixed with tofu, cumin lamb chops...... The store is small, but it's clean, and the smell of garlic peppercorns in the kitchen is warm. Dongfang Yan said to Qiu Yinming: "Shall we eat first and then go to the inn?" Qiu Yinming nodded. When a few people stopped, the shopkeeper's lady ran out, in her forties, with a red face and a slightly chubby, wiping her hands on her apron, and greeting them on the other: "Two masters, come to catch the exam." Our fried lamb ramen with green onions has a unique flavor that you can't find anywhere else. It's cold outside, please come in, please come in. He welcomed the five people into the store and shouted, "Little third son, serve tea!" Picking up the rag, he wiped the table very quickly and said, "What do you use?" Dongfang Yan said to Qiu Yinming: "You can order it." So Qiu Yinming said to the proprietress: "Come to five bowls of mutton noodles, and then choose light and vegetarian dishes, just have four or five kinds." The proprietress said, "Okay! He shouted to the kitchen: "Five bowls of mutton noodles, fungus and vegetables, fish-flavored shredded pork...... and a few people didn't hear what they were. The tea came up, the thick brick tea, and it was very comfortable to drink in the stomach. Noodles, the dish was served quickly, the taste was fragrant and sufficient, the five of them swept it away, and when they went out, Qiu Yinming took out a piece of silver, and stuffed it to the proprietress without taking it. The proprietress took the silver, smiled, and said while thanking: "The two sons are high school!" ”

Walking all the way, I asked two or three times, and finally found the largest inn in the capital that the old man in the east said. The Oriental family has no industry in Beijing, and the place is not familiar, the inn has been rebuilt and changed its name, but it is still the largest, it is already night or there are still many guests who have just arrived. There is a queue in front of the account counter, and it can be seen that many rich people from other places also live here, and there are lanterns at the gate, and there are red lanterns with the title of "Gold List". Finally lined up in front of the account counter, the fat man's account room was already red-faced, and he was busy drinking a few sips of herbal tea, and said to the two with a smile on his face: "The two masters are here to catch the exam?" Qiu Yinming nodded and said, "Exactly." Do you still have an upper room here? The bookkeeper flipped through the book and said, "Go to the room...... There is only one room, and the others are only second-class. Qiu Yinming looked at Dongfang Yan, and Dongfang Yan said: "Just here, the two of us live in one room." He turned around and asked Mozhu and his entourage, "Do you live in a second-class room?" Mo Zhu smiled: "Childe Mo worry, we have no problem." So Qiu Yinming said to the tent room: "Then one upper room, an extra bed, and two second rooms." The account room was quickly registered, and the five people lived in the guest rooms. There is a heater in the guest room, a wardrobe, a desk, a tea table, and everything, it is still early to see the time, Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan sat in front of the desk, opened the package and took out the books to review. The two didn't say anything, and went to bed after entering the shift.

Taizu made a customization, and there was a fixed content for the three trials, following the conventions of the Tang and Song dynasties, and there were also current affairs strategies and so on. The first is the examination of the "Four Books", with a total of three "righteousness" and four "scriptures". There are still more than ten days before the exam on the ninth day of junior high school, and the two of them are closed, and they even ignore the flower festival. Speaking of the Flower Dynasty Festival, it is a rare festival for young women, the birthday of the hundred flowers in spring, the girls in the boudoir, the young women travel together, people and flowers reflect each other, there is a unique style. The flower festival in the capital is different from each other, when the children from all over the country gather, the city is full of Wenhua weather, the willows in the suburbs are tender and yellow, the girls wear flowers on their heads and go out to the green together, and many people also go out of the city to play. On weekdays, there are no young and beautiful women from good families on the street, so many people would rather throw down their books and go to see the style.

In a blink of an eye, it was the early morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month, Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan carefully dressed, put on two food boxes, Dongfang Yan also brought a fur fur, and left the inn before dawn. There were already a lot of people rushing to take the exam, and the prisoners, in twos and threes, talked with each other and went to the Gongyuan. The two walked away with the flow, and from time to time they heard someone talking next to them, and it turned out that no one knew who the main exam was this year. In previous years, it was always reported in advance, and this time it must be to prevent fraud. I heard that the Holy God is more enlightened and honest today, so he specially appointed a virtuous minister. Everyone has different guesses, but the exam room is right in front of you.

At a glance, there were black crows at the gate of the Gongyuan. I'm afraid that there will be thousands more candidates this year. The gate was guarded by the army, and the gate was not yet opened. Jingshi Gongyuan is built in the Yongle period, with red walls and blue tiles, and five gates of vermilion lacquer. The dozen or so big locust trees in front of the door looked very thin at this time, with only a few sporadic buds. After a short time, there was already a sea of people outside the examination room, and people who knew each other gathered in one place to test each other. The two of them chose a slightly vacant spot and observed the students from all over the world. It seems that most of the people look stiff, pacing around uneasily, and some even raise their sleeves to wipe their sweat. Not far from the two of them, there were some well-dressed young people, who sounded like they were from the capital, perhaps the sons of some high-ranking officials. I only heard one person: "My father asked Hu Shangshu who was the main examiner, but Master Hu didn't say it." The other said: "Master Hu was almost dismissed last time, how dare you be sloppy this time." One next to him came up and said, "Don't mention it, my uncle wanted to dredge up Grandpa Cao's place, but he had a closed door." Dongfang Yan whispered to Qiu Yinming: "It seems that we have a smooth exit this time." ”

Seeing that the dawn was getting brighter, suddenly the people and horses on the avenue were noisy, and I saw two rows of officers and soldiers opening a way in the crowd, and the former officer was holding a big sign of "quiet" and "avoiding", leading the eight-person honor guard, and a cyan sedan chair behind him slowly came to the tribute courtyard. Everyone looked at each other, only to see a horseback guard come out and say in a loud voice: "The main examination of the Imperial Jingtai Five-Year Examination, Lord Wang Wen, the secretary of the Ministry and the scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion University, has arrived-"

There was a buzzing of talking all around, Qiu Yinming glanced at the three or four brocade-clothed young men next to him, all of them looked embarrassed, you look at me, I look at you. At this time, a few more large sedan chairs and a string of people came one after another. The five gates of the Gongyuan were opened, and soon all the people in the group entered and closed the doors again. There was another uneasiness in the crowd, and there were many people who were wiping their sweat in circles, but everyone was staring at the door intently, and Qiu Yinming was nervous somehow.

After a while, the gates opened one after another, and you could see within three entrances all the way in. Officers and soldiers stood with guns and halberds, and there were two rows of tables inside the door, which was about the place where the search was conducted. At this time, only the sound of drumming was heard, and several small officials went out and shouted: "Enter - don't be crowded!" "In fact, there are guards guarding the door, only two or three hundred people at a time, Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan walked behind, and they lined up for nearly an hour before it was their turn. Qiu Yinming lined up behind Dongfang Yan, saw that the little official had a test of Dongfang Yan's writings, opened the food box and looked through it, and finally searched his body a little and gave him a wooden card. Qiu Yinming stepped forward and put the food box on the table, and reached out to hand over the text with body temperature. The little official glanced at him. Qiu Yinming only felt that his heart was beating fast, and his eyes were staring straight at the little official's hand. But the little official only took a cursory look at it and returned it to him. A stone fell to the ground in Qiu Yinming's heart, no matter how others searched him, he took the number plate and walked inward quickly with Dongfang Yan. Dongfang Yan said: "How is it?" My sister has good means? Qiu Yinming said: "Admire." ”

In front is a tall stone gatehouse, it turns out that this is the only way for the world's scholars to go to the official career, "Dragon Gate". Ten years of cold windows is for the sake of today's leap, but glory will only fall on the heads of a few. Walking through the dragon gate, every candidate couldn't help but feel refreshed. On the "Mingyuan Building", a crimson robe officer stood against the railing, watching the candidates enter with a solemn expression, and several officials around him exchanged heads and ears from time to time. Candidates entered the room one after another under the arrangement of officials such as promotion and invigilator. The size of the Jingshi Gongyuan is breathtaking, there are 10,000 and thousands of rooms, separated by several corridors longitudinally, and there are alleys two or three people wide in the horizontal on both sides of the corridor, and dozens of rooms are lined up in one, dark and narrow. Qiu Yinming and Dongfang Yan's license plates were connected, and the two walked for a long time under the guidance of the invigilator before turning into the alley. There is moss on the green brick floor in the alley, gray tile houses, white-powder walls, each room is only for one person to sit, the front of the room is all open, a table can be turned up and put down, let people enter and exit, once you enter the number room, you can only come out when you finish writing and handing in the papers. Many people had to write all night in the room, and it was a chore in the cold and dew. But as the saying goes: only when you suffer hardship can you become a superior person. None of those court officials were not made by going through the trials. When he arrived at the door of the number room, Dongfang Yan whispered to Qiu Yinming: "Will they really check your origin?" Qiu Yinming replied in a low voice: "I don't think they will investigate the border of Yazhou in detail." The two nodded to each other and walked into their rooms.

Qiu Yinming put the food box aside from the seat, took out the pen inkstone, as well as the newly made unused seals, and lined them up on the table one by one. There are more than a dozen pieces of fine paper on the table, a candlestick, and a wax paper bag, which are about the exam questions. The room is very simple, but fortunately, the room faces south, the sun is high, and the sun shines obliquely from the sky at the four corners overhead to the tabletop, shining warmly on the back of the hand. At the door of each room there was a soldier standing motionless. There were no branches to be seen on the wall, the sound of birds chirping only from afar, and the wall heard the wooden tables turning frequently, and it took a while for them to fall silent. Qiu Yinming hesitated for a moment, and then heard the invigilators also call it "open the book", so he opened the paper bag with confidence and scanned the seven questions from the beginning, six of which could find the sentences in the question, and only one question really couldn't remember how many words in the "Four Books" could be quoted. Qiu Yinming felt a little strange, he didn't really want to be admitted to the Jinshi, but once he sat in the room, everything changed. While grinding the ink, he re-read the exam questions, calmed down, first picked up the pen and wrote down the name and hometown, and then picked the simplest one......