There were several officials standing at the door who were in charge of searching, Zhao Yan and the four of them were at the front of the line, and he saw that there was a lot of food in the Kaolan brought by a few people in front of him, in addition to things like pen and ink inkstones, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart, so he turned his head and asked Qian Liangcai behind him.

Qian Liangcai stretched his neck to look at Zhao Yan's small back basket, and saw that there was only stationery such as pen and ink inkstones, and couldn't help but be surprised: "The county test is divided into three sessions, each one day, don't you know?" If you don't bring some food, I'm afraid you won't be able to do anything good when you're hungry. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yan smiled bitterly, this was his negligence.

Before, I only remembered to ask Li Fuzi for advice on the scriptures and the content of the exam, but I ignored these details, and I didn't have this common sense with my cheap father, so I just thought that I would go in and write an article and hand in the papers, but I forgot that this exam would take a whole day, and I should really bring some food.

Liu Jing, who was standing in front of Zhao Yan, turned his head and smiled when he heard the words: "If Brother Zhao Xiaoxian doesn't dislike it, there are still some pastries here for Brother Wei, you can take them, just accompany Brother Wei to a place later, how about it?" ”

Qian Liangcai had already taken out two rice balls from his own Kaolan, and while handing them to Zhao Yan, he said with a smile: "Brother Xian, don't promise him, Brother Liu is precocious, and when he was fourteen years old, he was a frequent visitor to the Chu Pavilion of Qinlou in the state." If you respond, you won't be able to stand the temptation and cause Yuanyang to have premature ejaculation, and you will damage the foundation in vain. ”

Liu Jing laughed, took out a few pastries from Kaolan and stuffed them into Zhao Yan's hands, and then pointed at Qian Liangcai and said, "As far as you know, I haven't seen you go less on weekdays." ”

Qian Liangcai smiled and did not argue.

Zhao Yan was quite grateful to the two of them in his heart, and was about to open his mouth to thank him, but Liu Jing had already spoken in advance: "Thank you for not mentioning, Master Li is friends with my uncle, and he is my elder, since you are his disciples, we are not outsiders, and thanking you will inevitably seem estranged." Brother Qian, do you say yes or no? ”

"Brother Liu's words have merit, I am neighbors with Brother Zhao Xian, the so-called distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, there is no need to say thank you." Qian Liangcai echoed with a smile.

Liu Jing, the son-in-law brother who was born in a family of eunuchs, does not look like a scholar in his words, but his words are heartwarming, Zhao Yanchong and the two arched their hands one after another, and then secretly wrote down this matter in their hearts.

After the official search was completed, someone instructed Zhao Yan to walk along the poorly built examination booth and wait for the roll call in front of the state school.

Zhao Yan did as he said, and when he walked to the front, he saw that the people who came first had been divided into five teams and lined up in their own lines.

"Brother Zhao Xiaoxian, this way." Liu Jing attached himself to the end of the team, beckoned to Zhao Yan, and shouted in a low voice.

There was an official who maintained order on the side, and after hearing the voice, he raised his eyebrows and shouted: "The examination room is heavy, and there is no noise." ”

Zhao Yan couldn't help but smile when he saw Liu Jing stick out his tongue, and then stood behind Liu Jing and quietly waited for the follow-up candidates to enter.

At the beginning of the end of the day, the morning light on the horizon was slightly dewed, and the candidates for the county examination had already entered, and there was a government official who closed the gate of the state school, and stood majestically at the door as a door god.

Li Yan, the governor of Shenzhou, came to the front of the hall surrounded by a group of adjutants, and after talking nonsense, he sat on the chair prepared for him with a golden knife, and the scribe on the side picked up the book and began to roll call.

When I arrived at Zhao Yan, I only heard the scribe sing: "Zhao Yan of Taocun, Li Yin is a guarantor." ”

Zhao Yan stood at the front of the line with his head held high, so that the little official could compare the appearance on the record, and then Li Fuzi's voice came from nowhere: "Student Li Yinbao." ”

At this time, there was no one in front of him to cover him, Zhao Yan's eyes looked around, only to see Li Fuzi and the rest of the students, standing near the left side of the state school hall, and on the hall was Li Yan and Li Zhizhou, who were dressed in court clothes and had a big belly.

Li Zhizhou still had some impression of Zhao Yan, and after hearing his name, he turned his head and bowed at him slightly, but then his face suddenly changed, as if he remembered something.

Zhao Yan looked at Li Zhizhou's aggrieved look, thinking that he had eaten a bad stomach, so he couldn't help but look at him sympathetically, then took the test paper and followed another official to his seat.

There was a seat number on the volume, and Zhao Yanjian saw that the word 'Bingchen' was written on it. There are thousands of simple tables in this examination room, although he knows that this should be arranged according to the heavenly and terrestrial branches, but Zhao Yan has not studied it carefully, if he is allowed to find it by himself, he will definitely have no clue, fortunately, this exam is quite humane, and he is also responsible for guiding the candidates to their seats.

Under the guidance of the little official who led the way, Zhao Yan came to the seat that belonged to him.

After sitting down, after the little official turned around and left, Zhao Yan glanced around and found that this seat was not far from the hall, and through the gap in the crowd, even the mole on Li Zhizhou's face could be seen clearly.

I don't know if this was specially arranged by Li Zhizhou, is it to facilitate himself to cheat under his nose?

Zhao Yan thought boredly for a moment, then opened the test paper and found that there were eleven pieces of white rolling paper, and two slightly rougher plain papers, which should be used for drafts.

There are red lines on the eleven main papers, twelve lines per page, if you write in a standard cabinet style, you can write about two crosses per line, and there is no question on the test paper, this Li Fuzi said that after all the candidates are seated, there will be officials holding signs and lights to parade around the field, and the questions will be posted on it.

Since there was nothing to do for the time being, Zhao Yan took out the pen and ink inkstone in the small back basket, and after placing them one by one, he took some water from the pen wash that had been prepared in the examination room and began to study the ink.

At about five o'clock in the morning, the sky is bright, and the candidates have already entered, and there are two officials holding a sign lamp and starting to patrol the field, which is pasted with the questions of the examination, and there are more than a dozen scribes wandering around the field, acting as a supervisor.

According to the rules set by Zhu Baba in the seventeenth year of Hongwu in the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination was conducted three times at a time. In the first session, try four books and three ways, each with more than 200 words; There are four scriptures, each with more than 300 words. In the second session, there is a trial argument, more than 300 words, five judgments, and an edict. In the third session, the five strategies of the trial history and current affairs.

However, the rules of Zhu Babading were used by future generations to break, and now Emperor Hongwu has been an ancient emperor for nearly 50 years, and the examinations at the county and government levels have become quite free, and what to test is determined by the mind of the examiner at that time.

Therefore, the first exam was determined according to Li Zhizhou's wishes, and only one of the four books and texts, one of the five classics, and two poems of five or seven words were tested. Of course, there is a certain format for poetry and writing, and the entire volume is limited to 800 words.

These had already been announced together when the time and place of the exam were announced, so Zhao Yan knew it in his heart, but when he saw the question posted on the plaque, he couldn't help but be stunned, rubbed his eyes and looked at it again, and then couldn't help but turn his head to Li Zhizhou, who was sitting in the hall, with a look of grievance in his eyes after being deceived.

Li Zhizhou felt guilty in his heart, deliberately did not turn his gaze to Zhao Yan's side, tilted his head to talk to the people around him, only occasionally glanced at Zhao Yan, and after a while, seeing that Zhao Yan no longer looked at him, he exhaled and secretly smiled bitterly twice in his heart.

Originally, Li Zhizhou secretly revealed the title of the four books to Zhao Yan, which was the sentence in "University", "Tang Zhipanming said that Gou is new every day, every day is new, and every day is new, Kang He said that he is a new people, and the poem says that although Zhou is an old state, his life is renewed, and he is a gentleman who does everything".

However, the plan can't catch up with the changes, after nearly a year, Li Zhizhou has forgotten about this stubble, and when he came to the county exam, he suddenly changed the topic, although it was also excerpted from "University", but it was not in line with the previous topic, which made Zhao Yan miserable.

Li Zhizhou, your sister, you are a big fool, and you still want me to give you a few kind words in front of the Han Governor's Mansion? Dream on.

After Zhao Yan was angry for a while, he had to write down a few topics on the lamp on scratch paper.

If you can't pass the county test this time, you will have to wait until next year, and even if the Han Governor's Mansion still has an impression of Zhao Yan, I'm afraid that I won't remember what I said to him at the beginning, so how can I remember the old feelings and help him during the government test?

Packing up his thoughts, Zhao Yan began to ponder the first four-book question.

This question is also taken from "University", which is the first sentence of the opening sentence: The way of the university is to be clear and virtuous, to be close to the people, and to stop at perfection.

Zhao Yan has seen several Cheng essays on this topic, and if he copies them, it will obviously not work, which will test his skills in trying to make Bagu essays these days.

After pondering for a while, Zhao Yan slowly wrote on scratch paper: The Bible is about learning from adults, and it is just about doing its best.

This is the problem, and the next step is to take on the problem. The undertaking is to state the meaning of breaking the topic, and it is generally enough to write four or five sentences.

After thinking about it, Zhao Yan wrote: "Covering props for people has its own goodness. That's all the adults have learned, so the Bible is the first to expose it, so that scholars can legislate? ”

Writing this, Zhao Yan's thoughts in his heart were already clear, and then he wrote the dragon and snake, started to talk and enter the topic, until he finally finished writing an article, looked at the sky, and it was almost noon.

After slightly polishing the eight-strand text on the scratch paper, Zhao Yan carefully copied it onto the main scroll in Taige style, and then ate a rice ball and two pastries before he began to read the title of the Five Classics.

The Five Classics of the Ming Dynasty are not all required to be learned, but only one can be learned, because it is an elective, so there are naturally 'popular' and 'unpopular', among which poetry, books, and the three classics of change are the most learned, and the Book of Rites and the Spring and Autumn Period are relatively few.

In mid-October last year, Zhao Yan spent a few days selecting this scripture, and later because Li Fuzi's book is the "Book of Changes", and the "Book of Changes" has the least number of words, so it was finally selected by Zhao Yan as this scripture.

In the following months, under the guidance of Li Fuzi, Zhao Yan's understanding of the Book of Changes gradually deepened, and he was able to write a few articles against the words in it.

Now the title of the "Book of Changes" on the draft paper is: Qianyuan Henry Zhen, the ninth day of the first month, the matter is wandering, no blame, and the damage is considered. Those who know the way of change, what do they know what God does? The one who changes is like it, and the one who is like it is also.