Through the four small doors, the soldier led him to the "Yunzi Column Yishen" number according to Shen Ze's examination card.

During the township examination, there was a rule that a corresponding soldier must be guarded outside a number room in the examination room to prevent candidates from colluding and cheating.

In order to prevent these soldiers from cheating in tandem with the candidates, these soldiers did not know in advance the number they guarded in advance, but were randomly assigned.

For example, when the soldier in front of him was in front of the four gates, he received Shen Ze, and he was the soldier who was responsible for guarding the "Yunzi Lie Yishen" house.

After sending Shen Ze to the house, the soldier locked the door of the house, and stood at the door to guard it. When this soldier arrives at night, he will be replaced by someone else, and it is very difficult to get this soldier to help cheat.

In addition to the soldiers standing guard at the door of each number house, there are also soldiers patrolling back and forth in the aisles of these two columns.

There is only a small window in the house that is ventilated, and the light inside is not very good, if the weather is bad or if you want to answer the question at night, you must use candles.

There is only a small hole in the door of this house, and it is made of the questions that used to be sent in, as well as the fire fold and the candle that was lit.

Shen Ze had heard Tang Bohu talk about the hardships of the township test before, but when he sat in this room in person, he found that the conditions were far more difficult than he imagined.

Shen Ze entered his own house, and as the door was locked from the outside, he suddenly felt like he was being confined and confined, and the narrow environment made people feel very irritable.

Fortunately, Shen Ze comforted himself and said: Anyway, just take the exam this time, no matter if you fail in the exam, you will never come to this house again in the future, gritted your teeth and passed.

If he passes the exam, Shen Ze naturally doesn't have to come again. If he knew that he still failed the exam this time, and if he relied on his own ability to take the exam in the future, there would naturally be no hope at all, and Shen Ze would naturally not come again.

There were no beds or tables in the house, just two wooden planks, one high and one short, on the brackets on both sides. The low plank can be used as a stool for answering questions, and the tall one can be used as a desk for answering questions.

At night, lower the tall plank and put the two planks side by side to create a plank bed for sleeping.

There is a wooden barrel in the corner of the house, no matter how big or small, it must be solved in the barrel for three days, fortunately, there is a lid on the barrel, but even so, in a relatively closed and small space, the smell will be very bad after a long time.

As for the latrines that looked like his eldest brother next to them, they were all for the soldiers who stood guard and patrolled. Once this candidate enters the number house, he is not allowed to leave the number room unless he opens the dragon gate on the morning of the third day! Even if you submit your papers early or don't want to take the exam, you won't be allowed to go out.

On the floor of the house there is a charcoal pot and some fresh wheat straw, which is filled with charcoal, which is supposed to be used to make a fire! But this is actually a little difficult for these candidates, most of these Xiucai men who come to participate in the show are not diligent and do not distinguish between the four bodies, and it is very difficult to let them use that little wheat straw to make a fire.

Shen Ze sat on the low plank, feeling bored and very irritable, and couldn't help but think: I knew that this house was so depressing, it would be better to be searched later! Even if you have a sore foot to stand on, at least you can see people outside, which is better than being locked up here.

It's been a while before dark, and there are no books in hand, so there's really not much to do in such a small place! When it comes to eating, he and Gao Yu specially ate a good meal at noon, they are very full, and their stomachs are not very hungry, and it is really boring to sit in this secret room.

At that moment, Shen Ze put his feet on the wooden plank, leaned against the wall of the number house, looked at the small window of the number house for a while, and thought about all kinds of bizarre encounters when he came to Daming.

…………

At dusk, soldiers began to fire folds and candles one by one.

Candidates can choose to go to bed early or light a candle to make a fire and cook! Anyway, there are only three candles, you run out today, and when you take the exam the next day, the candles in your house are extinguished at night, and the soldiers outside will come in to collect the papers, so you can weigh them yourself.

Shen Ze originally wanted to set the charcoal on fire, so that it would be much warmer in the house at night. But when you think about it, the place is not big, and the ventilation effect of the windows is not good, don't wait for yourself to fall asleep with charcoal, and there will be carbon monoxide poisoning, which will really be whining.

Even if you don't get carbon monoxide poisoning, it's very dangerous to start a fire in such a small space, and it's also extremely dangerous to fall asleep at night, and if you accidentally touch a charcoal basin or something, it will cause a fire. Even if there is a fire at that time, I can wake up in time, but the door of this house is still locked, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape in time. At that time, it will be worth throwing your life here again.

Therefore, for the sake of his own life, Shen Ze made a very rational choice not to light the charcoal basin. If it's cold, it's cold, but I also brought a single-layer blanket.

Shen Ze thought to himself that he didn't have to answer the questions at night, after all, he was familiar with the four book questions, and he only needed to do the five scripture questions at that time, and he would definitely not need to do the questions at night. So a candle was lit. Shen Ze just wanted to find some light, so that it would not be dark all around, that kind of darkness would really make people despair.

At this time, there were soldiers who specialized in delivering hot water to deliver hot water one by one, and Shen Ze hurriedly took out a bamboo cup prepared by Hongrui and Green Calyx, handed it out from the hole in the door, and asked the soldier standing guard at the door to help make a cup of hot water.

This bamboo tube cup was specially prepared by Hongrui and Green Calyx for Shen Ze and Gao Yu. If this is a porcelain cup, if you accidentally fall it, it will be over! I couldn't drink water in this house for the past two days, so the two little girls were very careful to prepare a large bamboo cup for each of them.

Shen Ze took out the porridge powder prepared for him by the two little girls, soaked it in the cup, and took out the dismembered dim sum and roast duck that were dismembered by the soldiers who were searched, and simply ate some with hot porridge.

After eating, Shen Ze took down the wooden board that was used as a table and put it together with the wooden board that was used as a stool. Then he took off a piece of clothing and folded it as a pillow, and then took out two little girls to prepare the blanket for him, and then lay down and prepared for sleep.

The medical conditions in these years are low, once you are frozen and cold, it is not a trivial matter, once it is not cured for a long time, it develops into pneumonia and other diseases, it is easy to take a small life, but Shen Ze pays attention to keeping warm.

But this long night is long, and Shen Ze doesn't have the habit of going to bed early, and these two planks are also panicking when they fall asleep, and they really can't sleep. After Shen Ze came to Daming, he has always had a good life, and he really hasn't slept under such difficult conditions.

Shen Ze could only open his eyes and look out of the small window, looking at the bright night.

…………

Shen Ze didn't know when he fell asleep last night, anyway, he felt that he should have fallen asleep very late.

Early in the morning, when he was sleeping soundly, there was a commotion outside, but it was the official release of the questions in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi.

Shen Ze hurriedly turned over, restored the wooden board to the state of "desk" and "stool", and then prepared pen and ink, inkstone, paperweight and other things from the examination basket.

After a while, there was a knock on the door outside, and then someone said, "The candidate inside has taken the question." ”

Then a roll of paper was handed in from the hole, which was the question, answer sheet and draft paper to be tested in the first session of this township examination. There are seven or eight sheets of paper in total.

After Shen Ze took the exam paper and straw paper, he was very eager to open the paper first to see if the four-book question was the one he remembered.

When Shen Ze saw the four book titles, he couldn't help but feel relieved, the four book questions of this township exam were indeed the ones from the Analects. Advanced" "to the Tao of the king, can not come" exam questions.

Shen Ze looked at the Five Classics question again. His scripture is "Spring and Autumn", and the exam question he got is naturally "Spring and Autumn".

Shen Zejian saw that the title written above was "De Mo Houyan, Punishment Mo Weiyan". Shen Ze's hard work in the past few months to read "Spring and Autumn" and "Three Biography of Spring and Autumn" has not been in vain, this question still knows its source, this question is from "Spring and Autumn Left Biography. Fifteen years of the Emperor's reign.

Since Shen Ze knows the source of this "Spring and Autumn" question, it will be easy to do.

As long as Shen Ze can know the source and meaning of this question, he can also write a similar eight-strand essay.

And this is the most important four-book question, Shen Ze has already memorized the article written by his eldest brother Gao Yu for himself, which article has been revised many times, and the style and content are good.

Shen Ze now feels that this one is beckoning to him.

Thinking of this, Shen Ze's feeling of depression in this house was suddenly replaced by joy. Ahem, sitting in the house for a few days, although it is bitter, but it is really beautiful to be able to mix up the fame.

The content of the Ming Dynasty Township Examination was complex, with three sessions before and after, and there were many candidates who participated in the Township Examination, which made the four books and five scriptures in the first session an important criterion for admission. And in this first scene, the four books are particularly important.

Usually, as long as the questions of the first four-book essay exam are done well, as long as the articles that follow are almost written, they are not made up or have taboos, and they will not affect the admission of candidates.

The quality of these four books can almost be said to be the only criterion for admission to this township examination.

When Shen Ze saw this topic, he was naturally full of confidence and no pressure.

Shen Ze is not in a hurry at the moment!

Ah, first handed the bamboo cup out, let the soldier standing guard help draw some water, poured it on a towel to wipe his face, and poured some water into the inkstone for grinding.

Then I took out some pastries from the basket and ate them, and filled my stomach! When eating pastries, Shen Ze still had the leisure to imagine what kind of expression his eldest brother would have when he saw this exam question, it was estimated that he must be very shocked and weird, right?!

When he finished eating the pastry, Shen Ze recalled the article Gao Yu had made for him, and at the same time took the ink strip and grinded it in the inkstone without hurry.

When the thick ink of this inkstone was polished, Shen Ze began to answer the question.

Although Shen Ze felt that this exam was very easy, when he started to do the questions, he was still very serious, after all, this is related to a very precious fame!

Shen Ze concentrated on the scratch paper and wrote out the eight-strand essay he had memorized for his eldest brother with the title of "You can't come here with Taoism".

After carefully checking it and making sure that there were no mistakes or taboos, Shen Ze copied the article onto the test paper with a beautiful small letter.

When the four texts were finished, Shen Ze waited for the ink to dry, then carefully rolled it up, put it in the examination basket, and then began to do the Five Classics question from the "Spring and Autumn Left Biography" on the scratch paper.

Just as Shen Ze was concentrating on the "Spring and Autumn" question, suddenly there was a noise outside.

Shen Ze stood up and leaned to the window to take a look, and there was smoke rising from the number building not far away.

Shen Ze didn't have to think about it to know that there must have been a candidate who lit the charcoal basin for heating, and this candidate must have started the question, forgot about the charcoal basin, and didn't know how to set the examination shed on fire.

The fire in the Gongyuan can be said to be extremely common, one of the most important tasks of each township examination is to guard against water, the candidate's examination shed is a almost completely enclosed space, the candles and charcoal fires inside, as well as wheat straw and paper, are all flammable materials, one is not careful, it is easy to burn.

Usually people who read books have little experience in fighting fires, and their first reaction after a fire is to flee, and when they find that they can't get out of the door, they start to beat them with their clothes, and the clothes are soon ignited, and the small fire becomes a big fire.

It's a pity that no one has instilled some necessary fire and disaster prevention knowledge in these candidates these years, so they can only wait for the fire to break out and find someone to save it.

You don't have to think about it to know that this candidate must be finished in this subject, and I don't know if there are any candidates next to him who are affected by him. Looking at the posture of the smoke, it is estimated that the number house next to him must have been affected by him. Shen Ze couldn't help but rejoice, it was wise not to light the charcoal basin.

It was noisy outside, and it didn't have much to do with Shen Ze originally, but soon he felt that something was wrong with the situation! Because the house was not far from Shen Ze's house, and the wind happened to blow from there, so the smell of choking smoke also drifted with the wind.

Shen Ze was smoked by the smoke after a while, his eyes were red, and his throat was dry.

For a while, the smoke will not disperse, and I am afraid that I will not be able to do the question. Fortunately, Shen Ze finished answering the questions of the four books, and the time was sufficient, so Shen Ze took the towel that was soaked and not dried this morning to cover his mouth and nose, closed his eyes, and waited for the smoke to dissipate.

Shen Ze covered his mouth and nose with a towel, and he didn't choke much, but the candidates in the adjacent building were miserable, and there were coughing sounds one after another in all directions.

Soon one of the examiners noticed the situation and shouted loudly for the patrolling soldiers to bring soaked towels to the candidates.

After a while, Shen Ze heard a rough voice coming from the side of the house: "Hey, Xiao Xianggong, don't do the question yet, don't die?!" Give you a towel and cover your mouth and nose quickly! ”

Shen Zexin said: This candidate is also hard enough, with such a big smoke, he still doesn't forget to do the question!

Soon, the small hole in Shen Ze's house was also opened.

Shen Ze heard the sound and hurriedly went to take the wet towel. Although I have it, it certainly doesn't hurt to be "in prison" here, and to prepare more things. What if there's another fucking house to walk in the afternoon!

This little episode passed quickly, and the soldiers in the Gongyuan were still very fast in putting out the fire, and the fire was soon completely extinguished.

Shen Ze saw that the smoke had dissipated, so he sat down and continued to do the question.

When I finished this "Spring and Autumn" question, it was already noon. Now that Shen Ze has finished it, he is naturally not in a hurry at all.

The exam time on this day is still very tight, many candidates are engrossed in answering the questions, and they don't care about eating during the day, and they don't have time to eat until they hand in the papers in the evening.

But Shen Ze obviously didn't need to be so nervous, anyway, he was just left to copy the article. At that moment, he took out some snacks and dried meat from the examination basket, filled his stomach, and then began to transcribe on the test paper.

When the transcription was finished, I double-checked it several times.

Shen Ze's eight-strand essay level is limited, and he wrote this "Spring and Autumn" essay, the literature and science are very sparse, and he can only barely be regarded as conforming to the format of the eight-strand essay, and can barely be regarded as being able to deduct the title, so he examines this mistake and omission very carefully. Although the five scriptures are far less than the four scriptures, this can be done better, and it is better to try to do it better.

Shen Ze carefully checked it and made sure that there were no mistakes or omissions, so he rolled up the test paper and put it in the test basket.

I don't know what time it is, anyway, it should be a long time before it gets dark, Shen Ze estimates that he should finish this volume early.

When he finished this exam question, Shen Ze suddenly found that he was a little idle, just like yesterday.