In February, the light rain in western Fujian was dripping non-stop, Shen Xiwo was reading in the house, many times just facing the window, looking at the yard a few times, and when he was lonely, he went back to write and paint.

Although the Shen family locked Shen Xi in the house to study, they still gave him a certain degree of freedom, and there were no special requirements for what he read and how to read.

After the baptism of midwinter, by the end of February, the city of Ninghua was completely full of spring recovery and prosperity.

On February 24, the first two days of the county examination, Shen Xi, under the leadership of Shen Mingjun, went to meet the four candidates who had formed each other.

Because there is a cheating system, whoever cheats is equivalent to harming the big guys, and it is still necessary to get acquainted with each other at the most basic.

Of these candidates, two are from Shuangxi Town, and two are children of the county Chamber of Commerce, both of whom are sixteen or seventeen years old, and they are all participating in the county examination for the first time.

It is a similar age, and it is the first time to take the exam, so it is necessary to sit down and talk about the content of the exam.

The questions on the four books and the five verses are being written by each student's husband, and in previous years, students were asked to read and answer them carefully.

However, in each county examination, the questions are made by the then magistrate of the county, and the four books and five classics are very arbitrary, and one of them can be used as the topic of the imperial examination.

Based on Shen Xi's understanding of Ye Mingsu, this is a resume from a family in the capital, and what he learns should be extremely orthodox, plus he is not very old and likes new things, so he is likely to test some out-of-the-ordinary knowledge.

On February 26, Shen Xi went to the examination room to familiarize himself with the venue.

The makeshift examination booth is very simple. In order to prevent students from bringing cheat sheets into the examination booth in advance, familiar with the venue can only be glanced at from a distance, so that candidates can know where their seats are, and the next day when the yacha deploys candidates to enter, they will not be at a loss.

The government divides the candidates' general examination areas in advance, and the specific seat numbers do not need to be listed. When it comes to the exam, the student's exam paper will be specially numbered and their name will be written on it.

Shen Yongzhuo and Shen Xi are two brothers. Looking outside the county school, Shen Xi was young and short, and the Shen family was worried that there were too many people watching the venue this time, so they specially instructed them not to walk too close to it. So as not to push and step on any accidents.

Shen Xi and Shen Yongzhuo haven't seen each other for a long time, and when they meet again, Shen Yongzhuo has a little more stubble on his lips, and he looks much more mature, but his eyes are wandering, and he likes to keep his head down when he speaks. A taciturn look.

When I came back from the county school at noon, the family had already prepared a banquet for the two brothers to send the exam.

Originally, children were not allowed to eat at the table, but this time they were given special treatment. Shen Yongzhuo is eighteen years old, and he is about to reach the year of the weak crown, and if Shen Yongzhuo passes the county test this time, the next step will be to marry Miss Lu Jia, which can be regarded as a double harvest of "love" and "career".

At the dinner table, the family had a lot of advice to Shen Yongzhuo and Shen Xi, to the effect that Shen Yongzhuo must pass the exam and glorify his ancestors. For Shen Xi, there are no hard indicators.

After eating, Shen Xi and Shen Yongzhuo went to see the two of them.

In the past two days, Shen Mingjun went to Taohua Village to find the villagers to prove their identities, and left the handprints of their neighbors on the relatives. The main purpose of the confession is to ensure that the candidate's net worth is innocent, not to advocate the descendants of the soap, and cannot be impersonated, and is not in the period of mourning.

In addition, the candidate's physical characteristics should be written down, down to the face shape, height, facial features, and even special marks on the face. Just like a student's admission ticket, they need to be presented when they enter the venue for inspection by the officials, and there will be random checks during the examination.

He was invited by Hui Niang through the Chamber of Commerce. It is an old talent in Ninghua County.

Such a show has to guarantee at least a few students in a year. There are many people who take the county test, and each family always has to treat them to a banquet and give gifts to express their gratitude.

Before sunset, the family asked Shen Yongzhuo and Shen Xi to go back to the room to rest. The next day's exams will start before dawn, according to the rules. Candidates should enter the venue at the end of the fourth watch in the second half of the night. To ensure that the next day's exam goes smoothly, it is essential to rest the day beforehand.

But before the hour, Shen Xi didn't feel sleepy, it wasn't that he was nervous about the next day's exam, as a modern person, he had experienced countless exams. It's just that at this special time, he remembered a lot of old things.

It wasn't until after the second watch that Shen Xi fell asleep, but before the fourth watch, the family had already come and knocked on the door, asking the two brothers to get up and go to the county school.

After tidying up the clothes, I didn't even have time to eat. The family prepared an examination basket for the two brothers, in addition to pen and ink and paperweight, there was also some food.

Because the paper will be handed in until the afternoon is close to dusk, candidates have to bring food into the examination room at noon.

Leaving the house together, Shen Mingjun was responsible for taking the two brothers to the examination room, and there were many carriages and candidates along the way. The further you go in the direction of the county school, the more people gather.

Outside of the county school, the officials are maintaining order.

In the confusion of the night, the lights are everywhere, many candidates come alone, but more are accompanied by family members, but family members can only be sent outside the county school at most, and are not allowed to step into the examination room.

There are not a few people who drag their families and families to send each other, which makes a noisy sound outside the examination room.

Before it was time to enter, the Shen brothers could only wait outside first, until the fifth watch, when the two gates in the east and west of the examination room were slowly opened, and the candidates began to enter in turn.

Because Ninghua is a small county, there are not many people who take the exam, and it is easy to maintain order.

At this time, the family members were all driven to the street by the officials, and began to let the candidates stand in batches, each team of 50 people, so that there will be four teams of more than 200 candidates outside each gate, and when they enter the venue in turn, there will be officials holding lanterns to check the appearance of the people who come, and check whether the candidates have entrainment.

The county examination also has certain requirements for the dress code of candidates, and even adult crowns and hats are not allowed to be brought into the venue.

Shen Xi was in the Jiazi examination shed, and Shen Yongzhuo was in the C-shaped examination shed, and the two were far apart during the exam. Shen Xi was a child, standing in the middle of a team and walking forward with the team, as if the future generations were queuing up to buy tickets, but at this time, no one would come to cut the line, because cutting the line would not help.

In front of Shen Xi was an old boy in his forties, who was inspected very closely by the yacha, and the two officials touched the old boy up and down, and the old boy was wronged: "Several officials, the old man is innocent, and he dare not be entrained." ”

The official said unceremoniously: "That can't be guaranteed." Liu Laoer, don't think we don't know you, you have been admitted from the age of 20 to your forties, and you haven't been admitted for so many years, so I don't believe that you won't want to be a little crooked? ”

While he was talking, there was a commotion in the distance.

It turned out that during the search of another gate, it was found that a candidate had hidden a note in the rice ball, although it was only a few words, which was a great crime of cheating, and the person was shackled by the official. In addition to wearing a flail outside the courtyard gate, this person will also be beaten by the board when he turns around, and it will be difficult to take the county exam in the future.

"What's the picture? I don't study weekdays, and I think about it when I think about it. The corners of the officer's mouth twitched, with a slight disdain, "Okay, Liu Laoer, you can go in." Next! ”

Shen Xi moved a few steps to the front, and the officials couldn't help but be happy when they saw it.

"Alright, you don't need to check this, let's go inside." The official who sneered at Liu Lao Er just now couldn't help but smile and said.

Liu Lao Er had just walked a few steps, and after hearing it, he couldn't help but turn around and shout: "Official, it's unfair, why don't you have to check him when he arrives?" ”

There was laughter among the officials, and the officials just now replied with a smile: "You don't know this? This is Shen Xi, a famous little prodigy in Ninghua County this year, don't look at others as small, I still have some friendship with our brothers in the first few years. Isn't it, the little son of the Shen family? ”

Shen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly, to say that he has a deep relationship with these officials. In the past, when Han Xie was the magistrate of the county, he went to the county government several times, and several of the officials planted cowpox, which he planted with his own hands.

Liu Lao Er said: "If you know it, you know it, but you also have to search, don't you know how many officials also know the old man?" ”

"Go, you know a fart, he's a little kid, let him copy it, it's rare to be able to pass it. If you don't leave, Lao Tzu will give you two boards, do you believe it or not? ”

Liu Lao Er walked inside stupidly.

Shen Xi passed the gate and looked to both sides, and it seemed that he was the only one who had not been searched.

Shen Xi entered relatively late, and when he arrived at the Jiazi examination shed, there were already more than 20 people sitting in the examination shed that could sit up and down thirty people, and the good places near the middle were all occupied, Shen Xi could only sit on the side, he calculated the wind direction first, don't wait for the rain and then the gust of wind to wet the rolls.

It didn't take long for all the candidates to enter the room.

The next to enter the gate was Ye Mingsu, the magistrate of the county, and the teaching of the school department.

Ninghua County is located in a remote area, and the School Department also has one teaching and two instructors, and it is not possible to rely on these three people to invigilate the exam, and the government officials and the six-room clerk must also go into battle together.

Ye Mingsu entered the door in court clothes, looked around after entering the venue, and finally passed through the aisle and went to the direction of the main hall.

Immediately, the students who were insured for the candidates entered the venue, went to the main hall, and began to roll call and sing the guarantee.

After checking that the candidates match the description on the "personal confession", Ye Mingsu will personally write the candidate's name if there is no objection to the candidate's name.

Once you have your paper, you can return to your seat and wait for the exam to begin.

It was Shen Xi's turn, and when Shen Xi arrived in front of Ye Mingsu's table, Ye Mingsu looked down, smiled and nodded, wrote Shen Xi's name on the test paper, and handed the paper over, but it seemed to encourage: "Take the test well." ”

Among all the candidates, only Shen Xi was encouraged by the magistrate.

Shen Xi took the "roll", plus a stack of drafts, and returned to his seat with a stack of papers, and the sky was already bright at this time. With all the exam papers distributed, all the doors were closed and locked, and the first exam of the county exam officially began.

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PS: Tenth Update! At the same time, it is also a plus update for a monthly pass with 690 votes!

The Son of Heaven found that his limit was almost reached, and his brain was already a little foggy when he wrote this chapter...... But let's grit our teeth and see if we can get two more chapters out!

Keep asking for subscriptions and commuter passes! (To be continued.) )