On the ninth day of August, at dawn.

Outside the gate, more than 5,000 candidates have basically arrived, and each candidate has brought his own examination basket, which is the dry food, kettle and so on needed for the next nine days and eight nights.

Candidates do not need to prepare water and the four treasures of the study, after entering the number room, the water will be sent in by the officers and soldiers of the outside prison with bamboo tubes, the pen, ink, paper, inkstone and paperweight used for the examination are prepared in advance, and there will be braziers and charcoal in the examination room, which are used to make fires for cooking and heating.

Although the township test was held in August, the weather was not too cold, but after all, it was close to the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it was a little hot during the day and very cold at night. In this season, when the temperature difference between day and night is large, it is most likely to get sick and catch a cold.

Candidates need to wear a few more clothes, and when it is too cold at night, they also need to make a fire to keep warm, and eat hot soup and rice, otherwise they can only eat dry food and leftovers.

Not long after Ji Ning arrived outside the Yuanmen, Xie Tai and Song Rui also arrived.

After the three met, they greeted each other and quieted down.

After all, the exam is coming, so it is not advisable to be distracted and consume energy.

After another pillar of incense, Tang Xie and Han Yu arrived, cheering for Ji Ning, Xie Tai and Song Rui, and wishing the township test a smooth success.

After a simple blessing, Tang Xie and Han Yu didn't say more.

Ji Ning, Xie Tai, and Song Rui also quietly closed their eyes and recuperated.

Knock knock knock......

A few gongs sounded in the distance, and the entrance of the gate began.

"Young master......" He An and Yu Ling shouted almost in unison, their voices were full of emotion, and they wanted to say more, but they didn't dare to say it, for fear of affecting their young master's mood.

Ji Ning nodded with a smile and said, "I have told you many times that you must have confidence in your young master. You can wait at home with peace of mind. You know? ”

"No." Yu Ling and He An saluted.

Ji Ning nodded with satisfaction, then turned around and silently arched his hand to Tang Xie and Han Yu next to him, and finally walked towards Yuanmen with Xie Tai and Song Rui.

There are two places in the gate of the Township Examination Tribute Institute, and the candidates enter the venue in eight lines, and when they pass through the gate, there will be officers and soldiers who come up to check the examination baskets of the candidates, and at the same time search the candidates.

There are many people, and the search is not very careful, also because Xiucai is already a scholar class, ordinary officers and soldiers dare not offend these Wenqu stars, maybe who will be able to become a lifter in the township examination in the future, and even rank in Jinluan in the future.

"Ji Gongzi, you've seen the knot, you can enter the Dragon Gate." The officers and soldiers in charge of searching Ji Ning seemed to know Ji Ning, smiled and arched their hands, and wanted to send Ji Ning into the gate.

Each candidate who passes through the gate will get his or her own test number, and at the same time, an officer and soldier will send the candidate to the number room. The officer and soldier who sent Ji Ning was a sturdy man in his twenties, and he was also very polite to Ji Ning, and when he arrived outside Ji Ning's "No. 26 Jiazi" examination house, the officer and soldier opened the door and said to Ji Ning: "Xiucai Gong, what do you have to say these days, just say that the villain is outside no matter how windy or rainy it is." ”

"Hmm." Ji Ning nodded and entered the number house.

Because the sky is not yet bright, the house is very gray, there is only a place the size of a projectile, only more than a meter on the left and right, there is no bed, only two planks are placed there, to write an article, the low plank is the seat, and the high one is the table, if you want to sleep, the two planks are flat, it becomes a sleep collapse. Next to it there is a wooden barrel covered with a wooden lid, which is used by Ji Ning to and pee in the next few days, and there is a copper basin next to it, which contains charcoal, which is used to make a fire.

Ji Ning only entered the number house, before he could get used to the darkness inside, the door was closed, and then there was the sound of "bang, bang, bang", the officers and soldiers locked the house, and only took down a small wooden board in the middle of the door, this wooden board is the place to transmit light and deliver exam papers, water and other materials, in these nine days, Ji Ning can only contact the outside world through this small hole.

Ji Ning put down the examination basket and set up the wooden plank, and there was a sound of "clanging" gongs outside, and the officers and soldiers on patrol came over to remind them of the preparations before the exam, and each house gave three candles, which would also be used for the next eight nights, and if the candles ran out, they would not be replenished.

The house is very depressing, if it is cloudy and rainy, coupled with the smell of the toilet, it will be even more difficult. The sky outside has gradually brightened, so that Ji Ning's mood has also improved, he thought to himself, the township test is only once in three years, in order to become famous as soon as possible, it is worth it to suffer a little hardship, and only by suffering hardship can you become a master.

"Xiucaigong, the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone will be sent to you closely, and there is still water, you can take it." The officers and men handed in through the holes all the things they had prepared before the examination papers were issued.

The pen and ink and inkstone are fixed, and there are two pieces of marble paperweight, and there is a pile of scratch paper, which is used to revise the draft of the article. There can be no modification to the examination paper in the township examination, all the words need to be made at one time, and if there is a typo in the middle, it is equivalent to being sentenced out.

Before the start of the exam, candidates need to study the ink first, and only wait for the exam paper to come, and they can answer it directly.

……

……

Su Mansion, Listen to the Rain Pavilion.

Su Pujia and Li Xiuer also got up early and sat in the hall on the third floor to rest and eat tea.

Li Xiuer was worried about Ji Ning's township test, and felt that she was mostly restless at home, so she simply found an excuse to spend the night at her best friend Su Pujia yesterday.

After tasting a cup of tea, Li Xiuer pretended to be casual and said: "Today seems to be the ninth day of the eighth month, the first day of the township test, and I don't know how many people's fate will change in the next few days." ”

"Yes." Su Pujia nodded slightly.

Li Xiu'er said again: "I heard that Ji Yongning also participated in this township test. However, listening to the discussion of people in Jinling City, it seems that they are not very optimistic. Sister Pu Jia, did you say he would be lifted? ”

"Yes." Su Pujia was sure of the authenticity, "And the ranking should not be low." ”

She also heard that Jinling City was generally not very optimistic about Ji Ning's participation in the township test, but she was more firm that Ji Ning's township test would go well.

When Li Xiu'er heard this, she couldn't help but be overjoyed, and immediately asked, "Why?" ”

"Feel it." Su Pujia said, "In fact, he is not just outstanding in poetry. ”

"Yes. I think so too. Li Xiu'er nodded and said.

……

……

When the sun rose, there was another gong outside, this time it was the signal for the first exam paper.

The township examination is divided into three sessions, each of which lasts for three days, with admission on the ninth day of the first month of August, nine days of the examination, and the paper will be handed in and left the examination house on the afternoon of August 17.

In the first exam, there were three questions about the four books and four major questions about the Five Classics.

There are a total of seven articles to be written, each of the four books needs to write about 300 words, and the Five Classics need to write about 400 words, and this first exam Ji Ning needs to write an article of more than 2,000 words in three days, which is relatively easy for him.

The township examination takes a long time, and each candidate has nearly 10,000 words in the nine days to complete the papers, and more than 3,000 candidates have more than 30 million words, but the marking needs to be completed before the end of August, and there is a transcription before the marking, and there are Kaifeng and the question list after the marking, so that the two examiners and four examiners will evaluate the merits and disadvantages at the end of the marking in about ten days, and the pressure is relatively large.

Therefore, an unwritten rule was formed in the township examination, and in the three examinations of the township examination, the merits of the three four-book essays in the first session were taken as the main admission criteria.

If a candidate's four books are well written, even if the answers to the five scriptures and the last two papers are biased, as long as they are not too out of line, they can also be taken as lifters; However, if the four texts are not done well, even if the five verses and the last two texts are overwhelmed, they will be brushed down directly.

Because no one was going to look at the papers of his five verses and the last two exams.

In the township test, the first game is also the most important, Ji Ning knows this, if he can't make achievements in the first game, no matter how good the last two games are, it will be in vain.

Immediately the exam papers were issued, and the papers of the first exam were handed in from the holes, and Ji Ning took them.

The paper is connected, and you need to write your own examination book, the name of the three generations of your ancestral home, and your own name first, but you must write it outside the grid of the red line, and the red line is also the sealing line of the examination paper. After the exam paper is collected, in addition to the paper will be sealed, there will also be a special transcription officer to transcribe it, and there will be a check and comparison of the reading officer, Ji Ning does not need to care about the handwriting in his exam paper, and it is also meaningless to make marks in the exam paper.

Jiazi No. Kaoshe, all of the five classics choose this scripture as the "Book of Songs", so Ji Ning's four five scriptures will be from the "Book of Songs", three articles and four books, then there are two questions from the "Analects" and "Mencius", and the other question comes from the "University" or "The Mean", of which the "Mean" title is the most.

When Ji Ning got the exam paper, he was not busy writing his origins, but first had to read the questions clearly, and sure enough, as expected, the three and four books were from the Analects, Mencius, and Zhongyong.

The title of an article is an excerpt from a sentence in these three classics, and an article is derived from a sentence, which is equivalent to speaking on behalf of the saint.