On the eighth day of the first month of February, the sky was slightly bright, and it was still cold in the capital division, Huang Zhan was carrying an examination basket on his arm and walking quickly. In the examination basket, there are pens, ink, paper, inkstones, bacon, pickles, and broken flatbread to eat. There is still a way from the Shanshan Hall where he lives to the Gongyuan of the Confucius Temple, he can't be late, he has been in the township test in Taiyuan Mansion in the middle and high school Xie Yuan, this time he will be full of confidence, must be high school, when he thinks of the spring breeze proudly horseshoe disease, one day to see the supreme glory of Chang'an flowers, the corners of his mouth unconsciously showed a smile.

He walked through the big archway of Tiankai Wenyun and came to the door of the examination room, only to see two large characters written in ink in the middle of the gate of the Gongyuan. The following is already crowded with people from all over the world who have come to catch the exam. There are two arches in the east and west, one is to take the Ming scriptures, and the other is to seek talents for the country.

In front of the gate of the Gongyuan, the soldiers of the Jinwuwei armed with swords and guns, standing on both sides, as if facing a great enemy. The lifters lined up to enter the tribute courtyard, and the sergeants carefully searched the whole body and the belongings they carried, and only after the search was completed did they let them in.

After all the lifters entered, it was already sunset, the sergeant locked the door, and the lifters had to stay in the examination shed for nine days and nine nights, and the three exams were taken, eating, drinking, and Lazar were all here, just like cultivating immortals, fish and dragon changes, some people soared into the sky, and some people fell into Sun Mountain, and all kinds of life, joys and sorrows, all originated from this.

The lifters crossed the dragon gate, in the south of Feihongqiao, stood in the courtyard, and on both sides of the compound were the lanes and vertical and horizontal, densely packed test houses. Feihongqiao north is to the public hall, to the public hall hanging all over the plaque of seeking handsome, the couplets on both sides are: the number of the east and west, two literary light salvo buckets, the curtain is divided inside and outside, a joint is not ventilated.

The chief examiner of the township examination is the great Confucian in the sea, known as the three elders Liu Sanwu, although he is over eighty years old at this time, but still in good spirits, standing in the public hall, leading the eighteen-room examiners, more than 1,000 lifters, all bow to the holy master Confucius Lao Fuzi. After the ceremony, the lifters returned to the examination room, brushed off the dust, put down the examination basket, calmed down, and prepared for the first exam of the next day.

There was nothing to say all night, early in the morning of the ninth day of the second month, the test questions were sent, Huang Zhan saw that there were three questions in the four books, and four questions in the Five Classics, all of which were familiar with his memorization.

The second exam on February 12 was a test theory, five judgments, and one edict, one edict, and one table, which was not difficult for him.

On February 15, the third test was a policy question, the most important of the scientific examination was eight shares, and the last question was purely icing on the cake as long as it was written in a correct word.

Huang Zhan felt that he was already holding the victory, so he was a little fluttering. When he saw that the topic was a trial of the world's current evils. Thinking that he had discussed this matter with his fellow villager Zhang Yu, who is now the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Zhang Hao had seen Ye Boju's sparseness, and thought it was true, so he privately revealed one or two to him, a fellow countryman, Xie Yuan.

Today, Huang Zhan looked at the topic, and was overjoyed, thinking that Zhang Zhan was helping himself in secret, so he didn't have time to think about it, and happily wrote: "If today's disadvantages lie in the clan, frontier defense, and Caoyun, if this disadvantage is removed, it is necessary to cut the domain, Tuntian, and govern the river in turn, of which cutting the domain is the first priority." Yunyun. ”

At noon on February 16, Huang Zhan handed in the papers, walked out of the gate of the Gongyuan, felt that this subject champion belonged to him, and couldn't help but look up to the sky and howl, and then chanted all the way, "Look up to the sky and laugh and go out, how can my generation be a Penghao person." Shi Shiran walked back to the Shanshan Hall.

After the lifters handed in the papers, the examiners in the Gongyuan began to be busy with the marking work, and the receiving officials collected the papers, one for every ten volumes, divided into categories, stamped with the official title and name, and sent to the sealing office. The sealing officer will paste the name, seal it, and number it, cover the name of the lifter, cover it with the seal of the seal official, and send it to the transcription officer, and the scribe will transcribe the volume with a red pen, make a copy, and then send it to the reading office. One of the readers holds a copy of the transcription in a red pen, and one person holds the original volume written in an ink pen, reads the paper aloud, checks whether there are any errors in the transcription, and submits the copy to the examiner in each room for review, and the original volume is sealed for future reference.

In order to ensure impartiality and not admit scholars according to the examiner's personal preferences, an examination paper must be passed on by several fellow examiners in turn, corrected, and written with opinions, whether to be admitted or dismissed, and the papers that are unanimously favored by everyone can be sent to the chief examiner Liu Sanwu.

Because each person has to read hundreds of papers every day, it takes an all-night until it can be completed, the more later, the more energy is not enough, perfunctory, so the Ming Dynasty is the most important to take the first field, the first answer is good, basically you can jump into the dragon gate, and then climb the spring hall.

On this day, Bai Xindao, the deputy chief examiner, came to Liu Sanwu with a copy of the paper, and said: "Tan Weng (Liu Sanwu calls himself Tan Tan Weng), this paper is correct and straightforward, and the righteousness is incisive. ”

Liu Sanwu picked up the scroll and took a rough look at it, and couldn't help sneering: "It's not ashamed to say that the scholar's opinion is that the world's urgent affairs are cutting the domain, but he doesn't know how big Ye Bo is?" His Majesty was furious at this, saying, 'Confucianism dares to separate my father and son? Ye Gong died in prison because of this. This person also dared to make a lot of nonsense when he was going to test, and he really didn't know whether he was alive or dead. In order to save his life, and for the sake of the net worth of the examiners such as us, this person must be deposed. ”

Bai Xindao took the scroll out of the room, shook his head as he walked, and said: "It's a pity, this person's first and second answers are excellent, and the top three must be successful, so why bother to add snakes and add more than that." ”

On February 28, when the morning light was faint and the day was approaching four watches, Sun Furong commanded the kitchen workers and his subordinates to be busy in the Shanxi Guild Hall. Today is the day of the test list, although there are only a few people who have tried Shanxi Jinshi in the previous sessions, but it is also worth celebrating, of course, getting closer to the Jinshi on the list is also his way of doing business.

He is most optimistic about his fellow countryman, Xie Yuan Huang Zhan, when he entered Beijing last year, he introduced him to the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Zhang Yu, it is said that the two talked very happily, this kind of matchmaking thing benefits all parties, why not do it.

Dozens of square tables have been set up in the courtyard of the hall, and the kitchen is steaming and full of people. Huang Zhan finished washing, walked from the middle of the room, came to the patio, and met Sun Furong head-on.

Sun Furong smiled all over his face, and arched his hand: "Xie Yuangong, the old man is about to wake you up, and the list will be released today, I see that you are not in a hurry at all, you must be confident, and you will be in high school." ”

Huang Zhan hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Don't dare, don't dare, I consciously answered well, especially those three questions." After that, he leaned over to Sun Furong's ear and whispered: "Thank you Sun Weng for introducing Zhang Gong, which has benefited me a lot." ”

Sun Furong smiled even more, and said: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say, you are my great talent in Shanxi, and you will be reused in the future, and you will be rich and noble, don't forget each other." ”

Huang Zhan shook it to the ground and said, "Sun Weng's great grace will be remembered forever, and I will never dare to forget it." ”

Sun Furong hurriedly held him up and said, "Xie Yuangong, it's serious, the list will be released on the fifth watch, go and take a look." After that, as soon as he looked back, he beckoned two subordinates, and came to the front with two lanterns of Shanxi Jieyuan, to guide Huang Zhan to the Gongyuan.

Huang Zhan felt a little ostentatious, Sun Furong said: "Jingshi has always looked down on us northerners, you are Shanxi Jieyuan, be sure to win a member, and then win the champion in one go, even the three yuan, give us the northerners long ambition, extinguish the prestige of the southerners." ”

Huang Zhan couldn't shirk it, so he had to let him, and the two lanterns with Shanxi Xie Yuan written on them swayed towards the Gongyuan in the morning light. The apricot blossoms on the side of the road are in full bloom, red and white, and the dark fragrance strikes people, and they are delicate.

The three of them came to the gate of the Gongyuan, the yellow list had been pasted on the wall, the crowd was surging, and they were all looking forward to watching, and the two subordinates of the Sun family couldn't squeeze in outside the crowd, so they shouted loudly: "Shanxi Xie Yuan is here, let me go." ”

There was a burst of laughter from the crowd, and someone deliberately asked: "This Shanxi Xie Yuan, surnamed Gao, is a big name." ”

A servant replied, "The surname is Huang Mingzhan, and the word is Bobin." ”

The person standing in front quickly looked for it and said with a smile: "Fifty-two students were admitted to this subject, and I didn't see any Shanxi Xie Yuan Huang Zhan." ”

When Huang Zhan heard this, he immediately sweated on his head, he didn't believe it, and desperately squeezed into the crowd, seeing that the first person on the yellow list was Song Cong, and the rest of the names were very unfamiliar, looking for them one by one, and sure enough, there was no name of his own.

His whole body was like a deflated ball, and his spirit immediately disappeared without a trace, and he didn't know how to be squeezed out of the crowd and walked back to the guild hall like a walking corpse. For the mountain nine thousands, the success fell short, this subject he has the highest spirit, the most smooth pen, wait for another three years, and I don't know what has changed? The hometown is far away, whether to go home or live in Beijing temporarily, and where the cost of food and drink comes from, these are all problems.

Entering the gate of the hall, Sun Furong had already followed, and the subordinates had already informed him of the results, Sun Furong patted Huang Zhan on the shoulder and comforted: "Xie Yuangong, you are still young, don't be discouraged, if you don't get in this subject, you will be in the next subject." Come on, come on, come over and drink. As he spoke, he pulled him to sit down as the chief.

Above the chief, in the middle sat Zhang Hao, the secretary of the Ministry of Labor, Huang Zhan stepped forward to salute, and Zhang Hao also comforted him with gentle words.

Sun Furong called the banquet open, and just after a few drinks, a tall and rough man suddenly shouted: "Don't you think it's a little strange to admit tribute scholars in this department?" ”

Everyone stopped and asked, "Wang Shu, what's strange, you failed the test, and you started talking nonsense." ”

That Wang Shu pointed at Huang Zhan and said: "It's not strange that my king didn't win, then this Xie Yuangong didn't hit, and it was not strange for you to say it." ”

Zhang Hao put down the wine glass and said: "It is also a common thing that Xie Yuan is not hit, and the article is eternal, and each has its own eyes." I can't say that in the next scientific examination, Brother Huang will be a high school member. ”

Wang Shu sneered and said: "Zhang Gong said it lightly, so it is not strange that none of the northern people have been successful." ”

As soon as he said this, the audience immediately fell silent, and then they exchanged heads and ears, and there were many discussions, and finally confirmed that what Wang Shu said was true, and the big guy was filled with righteous indignation, and one person shouted: "This chief examiner Liu Sanwu is from Huguang Chaling, and he must be partial to the southerners." ”

Zhang Yu immediately stood up, waved his hand to everyone, signaled quiet, and said: "This Liu Gong is a bachelor of Hanlin, he is generous and generous, and he calls himself Tan Tanweng, and he will not do such a thing. ”

The king said: "Since the opening of the department, in all dynasties, no one in the north has been on the list, such things have never been seen in ancient times, who dares to say that there is no fraud in this." ”

When the scholars heard this, they were shocked, and they all shouted: "There must be love and disadvantage inside, and we should go to the Ministry of Rites to beat the drum and voice the grievances." ”

With that, everyone left their seats and poured into the street together, heading in the direction of the Ministry of Rites.

Huang Zhan also stood up and wanted to go with everyone.

Zhang Yu grabbed him and said, "Do you really think there is a problem with the admission of this subject?" ”

Huang Zhan said proudly: "Gong Zhang, I didn't believe that there was such a thing, but now that none of the northern scholars are on the list, I can't say anything about it." I feel that after three exams, I answered very easily, and there is no reason not to miss. The country is a scholar, not to be a person who is in trouble, but a person who wants to go to the country together, I suffer this great shame, I don't want to be the first to complain, why do I read so many books of sages? ”

Zhang Hao slapped the table and said: "Okay, if you have such integrity, you will become a great tool in the future." But now that the list has been issued, the officials of the Ministry of Rites will not change the file, if you want to overturn the case, you must get the holy decree, do you dare to sue the royal court? ”

Huang Zhan was angry at the bullfight at this moment, and his eyes glared: "Then why don't you dare?" ”

Zhang Yu said: "Okay, you write your grievances into a form, and I will take you outside the noon gate, and the rest will depend on you." ”

Huang Zhan said: "Okay, I'll go and write." ”

PS: Today's second watch, ask for rewards, ask for recommendations, ask for collections.