On the ninth day of the eighth month of the 34th year of Jiajing, this was a memorable day for the seven 'friends' of the Qionglin Society, because they were about to take a fateful exam, and in the future, whether they were officials or people, they would do it here. If it doesn't work, you'll have to go back and wait three years to come back.

No one wants to waste another three years, so they're all bound to win!

Last night, everyone went back to their rooms as soon as it was dark, and agreed to get up at the end of today's ugly hour, and after a time, the soldiers on duty at night knocked on the door one by one and called up the seven masters.

Tie Zhu personally went to tell the adults to get up, and before he could knock, the door opened automatically, only to hear the inside say, "I'm up early." As soon as Tie Zhu took the lantern, he saw Shen Mo wearing a jade-colored square scarf on his head, wearing a chestnut shirt, and foundation soap boots under his feet, dressed neatly, that is, ...... Forgot to tie the belt.

Seeing that Tie Zhu's gaze stopped on his waist, he touched it silently and subconsciously, and his old face turned red and said, "What do you see." Then he slammed the door shut, almost squeezing the iron pillar's nose off. Tie Zhu has been silent for so long, he has never seen an adult in an orderly manner, and it is rare for him to be so nervous.

When he came out again, Shen Mo really tied his belt, glared at him angrily, and said, "This is a secret." ”

Tie Zhu hurriedly nodded and said, "Secret, secret." ”

Walking to the main hall, a light and nutritious meal had been set up, and Tao Yuchen, who had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, was already sitting there, and said honestly: "I have insomnia, but I'm still very excited." ”

Silent didn't say that he was the same, but nodded with a very general demeanor and said, "Don't wait for them, eat as you go." Then he knocked an egg and peeled it absentmindedly.

Tao Yuchen scooped a bowl of rice porridge, sandwiched some small pickles, and ate it too, he caught a glimpse of Shen Mo had peeled the eggs to only the yolks, and hurriedly reminded: "Senior brother, the eggs have been peeled off." ”

Shen Mo said calmly: "Egg green is not nutritious, I only eat egg yolk today." Tao Yuchen admired the five-body throw, and I don't know if he admired the face of his senior brother or what.

After a while, the Sun brothers came in, and the two of them also looked haggard, and Sun Yan scooped a bowl of noodles for his younger brother.

Seeing Sun Ling sitting down, he was still in his soul. Tao Yuchen smiled and asked, "What's wrong, didn't you sleep well?" ”

"It's all my big brother's fault, snoring." Sun Ling said depressedly as he picked up the noodles in the bowl.

"You grind your teeth and fart." Sun Yan held a shortbread and took a bite.

"Poof......" As soon as Sun Ling sucked a noodle into his mouth, he spit it out the same way, causing Tao Yuchen to laugh.

"How's it going, nervous?" Zhu Dashou and Xu Wei, they lived in the same room, and they also walked in together, Xu Wei sat next to Sun Ling, while helping him to calm down, he smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, once born, second cooked, next time I won't be nervous." ”

Sun Ling was about to get better, but when he heard this, he coughed violently, and said angrily: "Mother kills an idle leg and falls to Luxi, and she won't say a word of auspiciousness early in the morning?" "In a hurry, I even brought out the local dialect.

Xu Wei said with a smile: "I'm telling the truth, you can see that Xiao Zhu has taken the exam once, and it is much better, like I have taken the exam three times, so I can treat the exam as if it were nothing, and I am not nervous at all." ”

Zhu Dashou interjected with a smile: "Yes, it's eight times a night." ”

Xu Wei's old face turned red and said: "You spread rumors, you don't know what I'm doing when you're asleep." ”

"The problem is that I'm not asleep." Zhu Dashou smiled bitterly: "Just a little sleepy, you get up at night, and then a little sleepy, you get up at night again." It made me lie there all night, and I didn't fall asleep, and my brain was buzzing. ”

Seeing that everyone was just as nervous, Tao Yuchen said with emotion: "If you want to say that it has to be Brother Junze, people have been snoring since they lay down, and they can't even scream when they sleep so well." He shared a room with Wu Dui and gave his roommate a very high evaluation.

Everyone was convinced: "We are not as good as Brother Junze...... It's just that he can't sleep too well, why can't he get up? ”

It wasn't until everyone finished eating that Wu Dui appeared, and unexpectedly, this old man's face was extremely bad, as if he was not sleeping at night, but carrying a two-hundred-pound sack and running around Hangzhou City.

Tao Yuchen said strangely: "Didn't you sleep well?" How does it look worse than us? ”

"Hey, don't mention it, I started dreaming after I slept last night." Wu Dui said infinitely depressed: "I have been taking the exam for nine days and six nights in my dream, do you think I can not be tired?" The crowd burst into laughter.

Seeing that everyone was waiting for him, Wu Dui drank the porridge in three or two sips, put on a few eggs, got up and said, "Let's go!" ”

Everyone took their respective examination boxes, divided them into two carriages, and drove to the Gongyuan in the east of the city. In front of each car, there is a lantern of 'Hangzhou Township Test', and now the whole city is under martial law, and the sedan car that does not hang this kind of lantern is not allowed to go on the street.

At this time, the days were still long and the nights were short, and by the time we arrived at Gongyuan Street, which was located in the east of the city, the sky was already cloudy. The arrival of this point is particular, because at this time the tribute courtyard is located in the east of the city, taking the meaning of oriental civilization, this time point is also called the oriental micro-ming, the text and the micro agree, that is, the time and the place are compatible.

The charioteer begged for a reward, and although he didn't believe it, he also liked the good fortune, and rewarded the coachman again, and then went down to the carriage.

The soldiers helped to move the test box to the front street of Gongyuan, but they were stopped by those wearing big red uniforms, and each person could only bring one scholar in, help carry the luggage, and wait for the entrance to serve, this is the meaning of the scholar's existence.

Shen An and the other seven scholars, carrying burdens and heavy examination boxes, followed Shen Mo Seven, crossed the front street, and arrived at the large square in front of the Gongyuan. This square is about two miles in radius, and it is a bustling bazaar, and Shen Mo has brought Ah Man to buy things.

Of course, the original intention of the designer was definitely not to let people practice at the entrance of the Gongyuan, but to use it for the candidates to gather. Looking around silently, I saw that on the left and right sides of the square, there is a magnificent archway, the archway on the left is written with two big characters of 'Tengjiao', and the right side is written with 'Qifeng', there is also a memorial arch in front of the gate of the Gongyuan, and the inscription is 'Tiankai Wenyun' four big characters.

When I walked to the north of the square, I saw the back of the archway on the left and right, and each wrote the four big characters of 'Ming Jing Scholars' and 'Seeking Talents for the Country'...... This is a clear proof that this place is not a practice stall place.

The Tribute Courtyard sits in the north and faces south, the three gates on the left, the middle and the right are naturally facing south, on the middle door, there are four black and black plaques of 'Hangzhou Tribute Courtyard', and the inscription is the famous Liu Ji Liu Bowen.

Two zhang outside the gate of the Gongyuan, there is also a gate, that is, a red wooden fence, two fence gates are opened on the fence, and there are this outside the relatively large yamen in general, so as to show that idlers do not enter.

The candidates gathered in front of this fence gate, and the silence seven was already famous, and there were people who greeted them everywhere they went, and many people followed them, and gradually became a big lump.

Seeing that Tao Yuchen was a little uncomfortable, he asked him silently, 'What's wrong?' Tao Yuchen smiled bitterly: "I'm not used to it." Xu Wei said with a smile: "As the patriarch of the Qionglin Society, I will often be hugged by the front and back in the future, Xiao Tao should hurry up and get used to it." ”

Tao Yuchen smiled and said: "Seeing that there are so many people coming, why don't you start?" ”

"The hour is short." Zhu Dashou said softly: "Only when someone came out to open the door. ”

The students will not be experienced, as soon as the time comes, there will be three cannon shots, and then there will be three more sounds, the gate of the Tribute Courtyard slowly opened, and finally saw the scenery in the Tribute Courtyard, all beings involuntarily held their breath, one by one nervous to death.

I saw two teams of soldiers wearing big red uniforms, one holding a red flag and the other holding a black flag, coming out of the tribute courtyard, standing in front of the fence and shaking the big flag together, shouting in unison: "Grace and ghosts enter, there is kindness to repay kindness, and resentful ghosts enter, there is revenge and revenge." ”

Let the candidates who experienced this kind of thing for the first time look at each other, look up at the door plaque, and say in their hearts, we are not in the wrong place, right? How did you start dancing the gods?

A knowledgeable candidate whispered: "This is to summon ghosts." The ghosts who followed the candidates to repay their kindness gathered under the red flag, and the ghosts who came to seek revenge from the candidates squatted under the black flag. Later, these flags will be brought in, and the ghosts will be invited to the tribute house...... If it weren't for the Wenchang Emperor's shock, they wouldn't dare to enter. ”

While he was talking, the two examiners, accompanied by a group of fellow examiners, appeared at the gate of the Gongyuan, and the examiner's name was Ruan Yi, and he preached loudly to the candidates: 'The exam is ordered to open, no cheating, otherwise how to do', and then said in a deep voice: "Open the door." ”

The flow of people slowly entered the gate, and walked along the gate to the inside, which is the Yimen. After entering the instrument gate, there is the dragon gate, and between the instrument gate and the dragon gate, is the search channel for candidates to enter the examination room.

Because the search was extremely careful, it took a long time, so many candidates did not go in and were crowded, but sat and rested in the square outside, waited for the sun to rise, and then hid under the wall to find shade. Only then did Shen Mo realize that the walls of the Gongyuan were two feet high, and they were covered with thorns, which was similar to the prisons of later generations, and must have been of similar use.

It wasn't until two hours that a soldier came out and said, "Shaoxing's search." ”

Shen Mo hurriedly followed the flow of people, and when he arrived at the gate, Shen An couldn't go in, so Shen Mo had to carry the box and enter the tribute courtyard.

Damn, it's like a prison.

(To be continued)