On the third day of the first month of March, the Tribute Courtyard, which had been silent for two years, was finally opened again, and the law enforcement guards composed of thousands of sergeants had already arrived at the Tribute Courtyard at the moment of Chouzheng.

Also at this time, the people who set off for the Gongyuan were groups of candidates carrying examination baskets, which were not only equipped with stationery such as pen, ink and inkstone, but also dry food with various fragrances.

The morning breeze in spring is still a little cold, especially for dogs with a thin layer of clothing.

So the big man who was leading the way with a lantern in front of him took off his shirt and put it on the dog.

Who is he and how tall is he? So the dog shook his head and refused, but told him to hurry away.

Before dawn, the candidates have to enter the venue, and those who are late can wait for three years to come again, and if they are early, they will rush several hours in advance, no way, today the official street at the entrance of the entire Gongyuan is not allowed to have people outside the two legs come in, and those who catch it will cancel the provincial examination.

But this rule is only suitable for people who have no rights and no background, you look at the whistling carriage next to it, and the dust raised is enough for the soldiers with spears at the intersection to eat a good bite.

"Hey, hey, what are you muttering? Believe it or not, grandpa made it impossible for you to enter the exam room! ”

The yellow-faced military man with a steel knife covered his mouth and nose while complaining to the candidates in front of him.

"You brutes, don't stop the unscrupulous carriage just now, and actually come to stop my skinny donkey, it's really a bully!"

"Oh, hey, look at what you said, the carriage that just passed, but there is a sign of unimpeded traffic, dare to ask this old man, can this old donkey under you have this card? If so, let the grandfathers take a look, or if not, stop the donkey and walk in with both feet! ”

"I'm a lot older, and you're letting me walk in? Is it going to exhaust me from such a long distance? Besides, the donkey is tied here, what if it is lost? Do you pay? ”

The leading soldier glanced at the thin old donkey, pouted and said: "It doesn't matter to us whether we lose it or not, anyway, the military order that the master received is that people can enter, but others can't, so let's tell you, either you go in, and we and the donkey don't enter!" ”

After saying this, the military man glanced at the angry old candidate, and added: "If you break in, grandpa will let you taste the taste of splints!" ”

When the old examinee saw what he said, he had no choice but to hold on to the saddle, turn over and go to the ground, then took the test basket from the donkey's back, tied the donkey carefully, and walked forward slowly. The breeze blew through the white hair on his head, and instantly let the people around him know that in front of him was the "first checkpoint" to enter the Tribute Courtyard.

In recent years, in order to prevent candidates from being entrained, the imperial court has formulated strict search methods, such as unwinding hair, clothing and searching the whole body, and even shoes, socks and stationery must be checked, and it is not allowed to bring a piece of paper into the examination room.

Because there is a limit on the time for candidates to enter the venue, in order to speed up the search speed, it is stipulated that candidates must wear dismantling and sewing clothes and single-layer shoes and socks, if the leather clothes must not have a face, the felt carpet must not have a lining, and it is also forbidden to carry wooden cabinets and wooden boxes, sandwich stools, and cotton bedding, the inkstone is not allowed to be too thick, the pen tube must be hollowed, the wax table is also hollow and bottom, and the food and snacks must be cut piece by piece, which is several times stricter than that of later generations.

That's it, there are still candidates who can mix cheat sheets into the exam room.

"Hey, what's it that you're hanging around your waist?" A sergeant with a big nose asked, pointing to the sachet hanging from the dog's waist.

The dog only looked at the candidate who was taken away by the official in front of him, and when he didn't hear him speak, he saw the sergeant coming over angrily and scolding the dog.

"You candidate, I don't know anything, we are busy with our feet not touching the ground, but you are here to watch the excitement, and you are carefully crossed!"

A threat, so frightened that the dog hurriedly bowed his hand and said: "Oh brother, it's the younger brother who has just lost his mind, please forgive me!" ”

The big-nosed sergeant glanced at the dog, and saw that the dog was not very old, and the apology was sincere, so he coughed, and then complained and called the dog over.

When they arrived at the search point, some of the three or five sergeants took the dog's basket, some went to untie the dog's clothes, and some even carried a single-sided screen ready to block behind the dog.

"I ask you, what is this waist?"

"Brother Huicha, it's a sachet!"

"Sachet? I look at the bulging bag in there, is there any entrainment? ”

The dog gently took it off and handed it to him, "No, there are just some deworming herbs in it, you can open it and see!" ”

Sergeant Big Nose took it, looked at the bag first, then untied the knot, poured the medicinal materials inside on the table, pulled it twice, and saw that there was no entrainment inside, so he slowly put it back and said, "You are thoughtful!" ”

At this time, the dog had been stripped of his underwear by the other soldiers next to him, and when he heard his question, he quickly raised his head and replied embarrassedly: "This is what my friend prepared for me!" ”

The big-nosed soldier, sniffing the sachet, laughed and said, "It's a little lady!" ”

The dog, who was covering the objects in the crotch cloth, quickly nodded shyly.

The big-nosed sergeant saw it, smiled, and waved his hand to the left and right: "Okay, the little official is having a good future, so naturally he won't spoil the future, take the clothes to him, let him go!" ”

This is really grateful, why, because a stout soldier next to him who looks strange and strange is trying to touch the dog's valley road.

After quickly getting dressed, and before he had time to tidy up carefully, the dog took the messy test basket and package that had been churned by the soldiers into the tribute courtyard.

At this time, the sky was only slightly bright, so there were bonfires burning on all the streets of the examination room, and in order to prevent fires, soldiers were arranged to guard each fire point.

The dog was led by the official messenger and walked forward slowly, and the early loss of the way was lost, only to see that on the road, from time to time there were officials or soldiers holding torches to lead the candidates in a hurry.

"When you arrive, this examination room is the place where the lock hall test is held, you go in with your own things, and when you meet the messenger who picks you up, show him the one in your hand."

The dog hurriedly said yes, and bent down to see the soldier away, and hurriedly walked in with the examination basket.

After walking fifty or sixty steps, I saw a green-robed junior official stop the dog and said, "You candidate, what is the exam number?" ”

The dog wanted to answer him, but when he thought of what he had just explained to the leading soldier, he handed him the note in his hand and said, "No, on this?" ”

Seeing this, the green-robed petty official frowned, looked around and said in a low voice: "If you ask you, you can just say it, let me see something?" ”

Dogs: ......

"This examiner is the fault of the younger brother! Wait a minute, I'll go and see! After speaking, the dog quickly opened the note in his hand and read: "It's T-shaped room No. 36!" ”

"Thirty-six."

The green-robed petty official also looked at the paper in his hand, shook his head, and waved his hand: "Go and rest!" ”

The dog was stunned for a moment, his brows furrowed, and when he saw that the green-robed little official began to close his eyes and recuperate, he held back his anger and asked, "Dare to ask this examiner, didn't you take over the house?" ”

The green-robed junior official glared, "You are the one, why let me take it, leave quickly, be careful that the official will call someone to kick you out!" ”

The dog was so angry, he didn't pick up his own, he stopped halfway and asked for a ball, but he didn't dare to lose his temper in the current situation, so he had to carry the test basket and continue to walk in.

When I turned this detour, I saw that every ten paces there was a soldier holding a torch, and from a distance it looked like a string of lanterns stretching into the distance.

"Hey, don't you come over quickly, what are you doing in a daze?"

When the dog saw that a man who looked like a servant in the distance was beckoning him, he put away his mind and hurried over, and said:

"Poor master, I'm a T-shaped ......"

"Shut up!"

The official rudely interrupted the dog and reprimanded him with a head and face: "You are so loud, do you want to report the news?" ”

The dog hurriedly waved his hand and said "don't dare"!

The official snorted coldly, stretched out his hand and said, "Take a strip!" ”

The dog obediently delivered it.

The man opened it and took a look, then stretched out his hand and handed it to the soldier standing next to him and said, "Go, lead him to the examination room of Ding 36!" ”

In this way, the dog was like passing five levels and killing six generals, and finally arrived at his own house, fixed his eyes, and sure enough, as he expected, three faces the wall, two wide planks, touched his fingers, and saw that there was not much dust, thinking that the officers of the Gongyuan had already cleaned roughly, so he squeezed in from the left gap.

When I got inside, I found that on the board below, a layer of dirt chips, it seems that this errand is only to cope with errands, and refuses to clean up, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the dog first wiped one side with his own linen, and then sat here quietly, looking at the row of houses opposite.

Because there is a distance of about ten meters between the two sides, the dog can only see the person in the examination room opposite from a distance, but he can't see the things on his desk clearly.

Except for the one directly opposite, you can see two rooms on the left and right sides, and the rest are not visible.

Just when the dog was waiting anxiously, the dim sky suddenly brightened, and then a dense shouting was heard, the dog didn't know what was happening, and he didn't dare to go out to see, so he obediently sat in his position and waited, as did the other few people.

Wait, wait, wait for another two quarters of an hour, I heard a footstep in the open space in front of the room, not long, five or six soldiers surrounded by a middle-aged official in a scarlet robe walked by, and after a while, two soldiers came over to inform the examination room one by one, and immediately issued the exam questions, if you want to go to the toilet or are physically hindered, you can speak, they will lead you to the thatched house, or out of the tribute courtyard.

The dog had a night pot, but he wanted to stay here for three days and two nights, so he wanted to go to the toilet first to recognize the way, and heard that there was a candidate coughing in the next room, so he raised his hand first.

When the two soldiers saw this, they said, "Come one by one!" Then it was less than half an hour before it was the dog's turn, and the sergeant was already impatient, and as soon as he shouted, he turned and walked out.

The dog hurriedly jumped out and hurriedly followed, because he explained that he was not allowed to look around, so the dog did not dare to look at random, but just looked up and was escorted by two sergeants to the last room of this row of examination rooms.

Then unbuttoned his clothes and made a noise to the net bucket in front of him, and he was solving it happily, when he heard a candidate shouting loudly in the next room: "Woohoo lament, heaven is unfair, the last subject is stinky, and this subject is again, what kind of sin have I made!" ”