These days, Chu Tianxiu is busy in the dark for the imperial examination.

The reason why the imperial examination works is not only the idea, but also the "hardware".

This hardware is the faint paper, and movable type printing.

In order to supply enough exam papers for the large number of candidates, a large amount of paper is required, as well as printed exam questions.

Otherwise, no play.

You can't let people copy the exam questions by hand, right?

Replaced by the others of Da Chu, even if this idea comes to mind and lacks these two things, it is useless.

The Xiaoduhou Papermaking Workshop and the Shenfu Papermaking Workshop completely monopolized the papermaking industry of Dachu, and in order to supply the huge paper demand of the Dachu Dynasty, they were rapidly expanding the scale of their workshops.

After the imperial court's order of "replacing simplicity with paper" was issued, hundreds of counties and thousands of counties in the world, and all yamen began to use paper in an all-round way to deal with local government affairs.

This has made the demand for paper skyrocket.

The two papermaking workshops frantically expanded their production capacity, and in just one month, they almost expanded dozens of times, and more than one million pieces of dusk paper were made every day, made into books, and sold to counties and counties in Dachu.

Of course, the price of paper has also dropped a lot, to two copper coins a piece, so that the yamen can afford to buy paper.

Despite this, each paper mill can easily earn 30,000 taels of silver a month.

This is simply a cornucopia, easily three or four hundred thousand taels of silver a year. It is extremely rare to be able to earn so much money in a proper business.

This made Shen Dafu overjoyed, and the matter that Xiao Duhou owed the Shen family a large amount of silver in the past naturally stopped mentioning it.

The Xiaoduhou Printing House also expanded dramatically, employing thousands of printers day and night, rushing to print examination papers and all kinds of books.

In addition to the "Stone Record" and the county examination papers.

Some other pre-Qin ancient books were also printed with movable type printing, and began to be typeset and printed in large quantities, sold to Jinling Bookstore and booksellers in various places, and sold to the entire Great Chu Dynasty.

The price of a paper book is not too expensive, only one or two pieces of silver.

Although the common people still can't afford it, most of the small rich families and small landlords can naturally afford this silver.

...

Soon, it was the big day of the first round of the "county test" of the scientific expedition.

this day.

Chu Tianxiu got up early in the morning, and Zu'er helped him put on a newly made marquis robe.

Finish breakfast.

Then Chu Tianxiu came to the most prosperous place on the bank of the Qinhuai River.

A piece of low rubble houses was demolished here, and a new Jinling Tribute Courtyard was built.

Tribute, the selection of talents by the imperial examination, to pay tribute to the emperor.

This Jinling Tribute Courtyard is very large, with neat rows of houses, which can accommodate thousands of people to take the exam at the same time.

In order to save space, the children's examination and talent examination in Jinling City were also held in Jinling Gongyuan.

At this time, in the Jinling Gongyuan, high-ranking officials gathered.

Chu Tianxiu, the chief examiner of the imperial examination, as well as the deputy examiner, Prime Minister Kong Hanyou, and the imperial historian Wang Su, as well as Yin Wangxu of Jinling Mansion and other officials of the city, all came.

Chu Tianxiu is actually the chief examiner of the "third round of the national examination", selecting people for the imperial court.

In the first round of the county trial selection of children, and the county examination of talents, the chief examiner is a local official.

The real examiner of the first round of the county examination, who is responsible for presiding over the big exam, is the county order of the thousand county towns of the Great Chu Dynasty.

And the chief examiner of the second round of the county examination is the county Taishou.

In the third round of the national examination, Chu Tianxiu was personally responsible.

Jinling City does not belong to any county, it is listed separately and directly under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Office.

The chief examiner of the county examination and the county examination in Jinling City are all Yin Wangxu of Jinling Mansion.

However, the emperor ordered the Marquis of Xiao Duan to be in charge of the examination papers and examination system of the first three rounds of examinations, and the whole system was designed by him.

Of course, Chu Tianxiu wanted to come and see the admission situation of Jinling Gongyuan and the children's examination.

The high-ranking officials gathered in the main hall of the Gongyuan and waited for the imperial examination to begin.

There are more than a dozen officials, large and small.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the big exam is about to begin, please take a seat. Prime Minister, please sit on the throne! ”

Wang Xu hurriedly said.

"No, this is the deputy chief examiner of the national examination. Since this is the Imperial Examination Tribute Academy, of course, it is not based on official position, and the chief examiner should sit in the main position. Fu Yin, you are the chief examiner of Jinling City, and you are in the main seat! ”

Kong Hanyou shook his head and said.

"Don't dare, don't dare, how can the lower officials sit in the main position. Belch... Or, the little marquis sits on the throne?! ”

Wang Xu hurriedly waved his hand, in a cold sweat.

The prime minister is here, and his father, Wang Su, is also here, how dare he sit on the throne as a mansion.

"Yes, in this scientific examination, the little marquis is the main examiner! He is here, and he is Lord. ”

The officials said one after another.

"It's good!"

Chu Tianxiu didn't shirk it, and didn't let him sit on the main seat of the main hall.

His official position is low, but his knighthood is high.

This imperial examination, except for the emperor, is his biggest.

...

At this time.

Outside the gate of Jinling Gongyuan, there has been a long queue, and there are tens of thousands of people.

At the door, there are dozens of guards, searching every candidate who enters the Tribute Academy, preventing the entrainment of cheat sheets from entering the Tribute Academy.

They are all local household registration students in Jinling City, and they have signed up for the first imperial examination and received an examination card.

There are scholars from all over the gates, children of eunuchs, and Confucian scholars, from teenagers and boys to white-haired old men in their fifties and sixties, and there is no end in sight.

The crowd around the street is more than the parents, wives, relatives and friends who came to send the test.

There are no restrictions on the admission of children in this county, and of course they are willing to take the test.

Jia Sheng was in the crowd of candidates, holding a pencil bag in his hand, and his face was excited.

He is already in his fifties, and he has studied hard all his life, and he has survived for half his life, and finally set foot in the examination room. Mr. Private School, after all, is not his life's wish.

If he is fortunate enough to be promoted, he can become a court official as a commoner Confucian student.

Speaking of which, he also had some luck.

Although he was a Confucian student who studied Confucianism all his life, he worked as a private school teacher in the Pingwang Mansion for the past 20 years, and he was the most fond of reading, and often stayed up all night to read.

borrowed the light of the Pingwang Mansion, and in the past 20 years, I have also read a lot of books, and most of the books in the palace have been read. Even if it is a book that is out of the way, he has some impressions.

This is not an ordinary Confucian student, who can have such good luck.

Hearing that the imperial examination was all subjects, Jia Sheng was not stunned.

"I'm fifty or sixty years old, and I'm still dreaming of being an official. I don't want to think about whether I'm this material. When you fail the exam this time, your mind will be clear! ”

Jia Sheng's fat woman stood on the side of the street and came to see him off for the exam, although her mouth was broken and she complained, she still brought Jia Sheng a bag of dry food and water.

Outside the Jinling Gong Hospital, all relatives and friends were sending their children to the exam, carefully admonishing.

...

In the morning, at the end of the day.

The chief official of Jinling Mansion came to report: "My lords, all the candidates have entered the Tribute Academy!" A total of 9,800 examination cards were recovered. Dozens are still missing. ”

Chu Tianxiu said lightly: "Well, the auspicious time has come, don't wait!" The gate of the Gongyuan will be closed, and those who miss the test will not be allowed to enter the examination room again.

Lord Wang Xu, you can start distributing the county examination papers, the time limit is three hours, and the papers will be collected in the afternoon. The Jinling government was ordered to patrol and monitor the examination room and strictly investigate fraud. ”

"Yes!"

Wang Xu said, and immediately instructed the officials of Jinling Mansion to start distributing county examination papers to the candidates.

In the Jinling Gong Academy, all the candidates were a little stunned when they got this long-rumored all-subject examination paper.

Sure enough, broad and miscellaneous.

There are a total of 50 questions, and only seven or eight of them are related to Confucian books. Others, Taoism, Legalism, soldiers, Mohists, and even medical books, there are actually exam questions.

It's a hodgepodge.

It made many candidates look confused and feel brain-burning.

The only thing that relieved them was that the exam questions were in the original text, and they only needed to memorize the original text and memorize it.

There is no need for them to tell their own opinions and reasoning.

This greatly reduces the difficulty.

If you have read a lot of books, it is relatively easy to deal with the questions of this county examination for children.

...

On the side of Jinling candidates, there is naturally no need to mention it.

The faces of all the examiners changed a little, they had only heard rumors, and they had just obtained this county exam paper.

Unexpectedly, the imperial examination designed by Xiao Duhou himself was indeed all-encompassing in "astronomy and geography, three teachings and nine streams".

Their faces changed, and their hearts were terrified.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period for 800 years, the academic disputes of the hundreds of schools of thought have been vigorous and have never disappeared.

Qin Shi Huang's "book burning and pit Confucianism" made this academic dispute quickly depressed, and various factions hibernated.

After the establishment of the Great Chu Dynasty, Huang Lao ruled the country, and it was also important for everyone to stop and "not dispute, not argue".

Each school of thought is developing in its own low-key manner and does not fight with other schools.

In particular, the Confucian school has developed rapidly by teaching its disciples through private schools.

They were deeply worried that Xiao Duhou arranged the imperial examination in this way, and the three teachings and nine streams were mixed with the examination papers, and they were afraid that they would once again provoke an academic battle between the hundreds of schools of thought.