It was almost noon, and the two arrived at Qingdu County, and Fan Jin was already waiting for them at the city gate.

In order to enter the prefectural examination room, the candidate's guarantor must also be present to confirm it. A few days ago, he had made an appointment with Fan Jin to come together, but Fan Jin said that he would come to the county a day earlier and catch up with a few good showmen, so Zhou Zhi made an appointment with him to gather at the gate of the county today.

When Fan Jin saw Zhou Zhi, he immediately raised his old face and said, "Brother Zhou Zhixian, you are really calm, you have only arrived at this time."

Hum! It's also a shame that my brother arrived early and found an inn one day, if you really go to the inn with you at this time, I'm afraid that my brother will follow you to sleep on the streets, and Sven will sweep the floor! ”

Zhou Zhi still knows Fan Jin quite well, he definitely won't delay the hour, but he didn't expect to be so punctual, and he can't help but feel a little grateful to Fan Jin.

followed Fan Jin to stay in an inn quite close to the examination room. What Fan Jin said is true, although Qingdu County is a small and remote county in the north, there are many Confucian children who participated in the county examination this year, and at this time, the inns in the small Qingdu County are almost overcrowded.

At this time, it was the Zhongxing period of the Ming Dynasty, and many families had already begun to attach importance to reading. Especially those whose families are a little poorer, because of the miasma of the county test in the past, many of them can only win by virtue of going through the door to give gifts, but they are really a little talented and poor people naturally can't afford to give generous gifts, so they will fall off the list several times.

But this year, the magistrate wanted to correct the bad atmosphere of the exam, so that they regained their confidence and hope, so they simply took the exam again.

The three of them went to bed early, didn't say anything all night, and got up at the end of the next day. After eating some Ge Lao cakes and white flour buns brought from home, Zhou Zhi walked in front, Fan Jin followed, Qi Yanwu carried a small box with pen and ink inkstones and other items at the end, and the three of them walked directly to the north along the north-south street of Qingdu County, and then turned east at the intersection and went directly to the county school.

During the Ming Dynasty, the county examination rooms in various places were not standardized, such as those rich counties, especially in the places where the literary style in the south of the Yangtze River was flourishing, there were special examination booths for the county examination, and there were as many as three or two thousand candidates for the examination. In a small and impoverished county like Gyeongdo, the county hall or the county school hall is directly used as the examination room.

This year, nearly 500 Confucian children participated in the county examination in Qingdu County, and the county school could not accommodate it, so they simply built a greenhouse in the compound of the county school and used it as an examination room.

Although the greenhouse is improvised, it is also airtight and quite warm. From here, it can also be reflected that Chen Guangyao, the magistrate of the county, is still more concerned about the candidates.

The three of them came outside the gate of the county school, and at this time, there were already many people standing at the gate of the county school. It's bustling and it's very messy.

At the beginning of the morning, it was still early to enter the examination room, so the three of them simply found a slightly quiet corner and waited quietly.

Zhou Zhi raised his eyes and looked at the gate of the county school, but in a few days, the gate of the county school had obviously been simply repaired, painted with vermilion paint, and the folds and glowed under the fiery morning sun, which was very spectacular and atmospheric.

Zhou Zhi knows that today's county school gate is called the "Dragon Gate". If you enter from this dragon gate and pass the county test, it can be regarded as a carp jumping over the dragon gate. Can I do it myself? Can you successfully pass the county exam and win the case?

Zhou Zhi has never doubted himself, he believes that he will be able to!

A high platform has already been set up outside the gate of the county school, and Chen Guangyao, the county magistrate, is sitting in the county at this time, accompanied by Yang Tong, the master Bo Ouyang Zheng, and Qu Renbin, the county school teacher. At this time, he was looking down at the many Confucian children in the audience with a serious expression.

The road is narrow, Yang Jinshan suddenly appeared in front of Zhou Zhi at some point, he was shaking back and forth in front of Zhou Zhi's eyes, obviously attracting Zhou Zhi's attention.

In fact, Zhou Zhi had already seen him, but he didn't pay attention to him. This guy obviously has bad intentions and wants to find some good luck before the exam and disturb Zhou Zhi's mind.

Seeing that Zhou Zhi didn't even look at him, he couldn't help but secretly hold his breath, and suddenly caught a glimpse of Qi Yanwu who was carrying a small box behind Zhou Zhi.

Qi Yanwu is not only Zhou Zhi's scholar, but also serves as Zhou Zhi's bodyguard. Qi Yanwu had already discovered that Yang Jinshan was sneaky and looked like he was looking for trouble, but the county master was sitting on a platform not far away, and he was obviously a little timid. Qi Yanwu's tiger eyes stared at him tightly and glared at him angrily.

"Hey, hey! A wild boy in the countryside, a hillbilly and a scholar, isn't he just a Confucian boy? This shelf is not small, do you really think that you are a Wenqu star and can pass the county test? Yang Jinshan couldn't hold it back, so he took a few steps back and provoked.

Zhou Zhi didn't speak, and Fan Jin pretended not to see it, anyway, he had already taught him a lesson a few days ago, and today is not a problem, when he taught him, he needed to hold back.

Qi Yanwu scolded, "Get out of the way, my brother can't pass it!" ”

"Hey, it's none of the business of Young Master Ben, Young Master Ben just looks at this kid with a scholar, and he feels uncomfortable. What's going on? Are you, a scholarly servant, qualified to speak? Look at this young master not to fix you! ”

As he spoke, he glanced at a burly man standing behind him, and the burly man immediately came up and punched Qi Yanwu in the chest.

Yang Jinshan had already thought about the bad luck he was going to find today, but he was smart enough to learn and specially brought an evil slave accomplice.

Qi Yanwu flashed sideways, but he flew up neatly and kicked towards the evil slave. The evil slave was caught off guard, and he never thought that a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child would have such neat skills and strength.

"Xiao Wu, people can't fight with dogs! Ignore him! Zhou Zhi said coldly, then pulled up Qi Yanwu and Fan Jin, strode towards the stage, and plunged into the crowd.

For a small role like Yang Jinshan, Zhou Zhi never paid attention to it at all, and today he is like a mad dog like him, and that is his way.

Yang Jinshan never expected that although he was not beaten today, his slave was beaten by an inconspicuous scholar from Zhou Zhi. couldn't help but rise sharply, but he didn't dare to step forward to fight with Zhou Zhi, so he could only scold bitterly behind Zhou Zhi, "Arrogance! Hum! There is a time when you are not arrogant! ”

His scolding was obviously to attract more people's attention and make Zhou Zhi's mood even more chaotic. But as soon as his words fell, he heard a messenger on the stage shout loudly, "Candidates, the county pilot name begins!" ”

Then the name of one person was read aloud.

After reading it, a Xiucai immediately came out to explain that the person and the name belonged to the same person, which was correct.

Zhou Zhi looked at it and said secretly, although there is no camera technology and no photos at this time, this method is also very smart and can prevent counterfeiting. Because the guarantor is Xiucai, Qu Renbin is sitting on the stage, and he knows that Xiucai. After Xiucai said correctly, he had to sign and draw again.

The Confucian boy, who was named and confirmed to be correct, went to the door to collect the examination papers, and then entered the concierge to search them.

Zhou Zhi's name was obviously in the front, and it was quickly clicked, Fan Jin stood up and vouched again, and then Zhou Zhi took the exam papers, entered the concierge and took off his clothes to search, which was very strict.

Zhou Zhi naturally didn't bring anything, and after coming out of the gatehouse, he looked at the exam paper, and it was Ding Sibei's Yixu Block.

At this time, there were no Arabic numerals, and the test number was quite cumbersome and cumbersome.

After entering the county school hall and finding a seat, Zhou Zhi put the pen and ink inkstone and some food on the table, and began to close his eyes and recuperate.

But just as he closed his eyes, he heard a familiar voice say, "Brother Zhou Zhixian, come in so quickly, our seats are not far away!" ”