Original

The examination room for the palace examination is in the two rooms of the Chongzheng Palace, and there are rows of small tables more than two feet high in the examination room, and there are square stools behind the tables. (5) As Su Xun said, the previous examination table was a few seats in the Tang system, and the candidates had to bend their knees and bow their heads to the case. Extremely uncomfortable. And now that everyone is used to sitting in chairs, it is really miserable to learn from the ancients. So since ten years ago, the official family has decreed that it will be changed to tables and chairs.

On the small table are the names of the candidates, and there are pens, inks, papers, and inkstones given by the emperor...... They are all good tributes, and after the candidates finish the exam, they can be taken away, which is regarded as a reward from the official family. In addition to this, there is a pocket knife, which is not used to cut fruit, but to correct typos.

Because the test paper is a special rice paper white fold, which is more than twice as thick as ordinary rice paper, it is difficult to write. If you make a mistake, you are not allowed to change it, you can only use a knife to gently scrape the wrong word and write it again, otherwise it will be regarded as a 'dirty volume', which was not admitted before, and now it falls directly to the top three, which is also very miserable.

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Finally sitting in front of the examination table in the magnificent hall, the young tributes couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion, they recalled that since childhood, their heads were hanging beams, cones and stabbing stocks, five watches, three watches, after so many tests, so many failures, before sitting in this hall. The hearts are full of hope, excitement, and suffering, and many people have not been able to recover for a long time......

Chen Ke is different, he was drunk by his father in the morning, how dare he think twice? As soon as I sat down at the table, I tore off the cover and unfolded the roll into a tube, and I smelled the strong scent of ink.

The questions for the palace examination were drafted yesterday by the righteous officials and decided by the officials. After the exam questions are set, they are engraved and printed overnight by the Imperial Pharmacy with the best secrecy measures in the palace, and there are guards of the Imperial City Division outside to prevent anyone from probing the exam questions. The printing was completed in the early morning of the test day, and it was distributed to each tribute student before the test.

Chen Ke saw that there were three questions in the exam, one poem, one endowment and one strategy, and the exam time was the whole day, before the sun set. Those who cannot complete the paper must also submit the paper, and their results will be listed as last.

Time is still of the essence. Unable to let his thoughts wander, he took a deep breath, wrote his name on the test paper, and then focused all his attention on the three questions.

I saw that the title of the poem was 'Luan Dao Poem', the title of the assignment was 'Minjian Fu', and the topic of the policy was 'Chongxun Deuteronomy'. It stands to reason. These three questions are in order of importance. They are the first, the second poem, and the third. However, in recent years, the status of the theory has begun to rise, so it is impossible to be careless.

After reviewing all three questions. Chen Ke started with "Luan Dao Poems" first, and the questions in the palace exam were very particular, all of which were moved down from the Confucian classics. There will be no misunderstanding. For example, this one is from the "Book of Rites": "The use of the cutting knife, the preciousness of the Luan knife, the anti-original repair of the ancient, do not forget the beginning." ’

The tributes who can sit here have a high level of education, and it must be no problem to break the topic and compose poems, it depends on who does it well. Chen Ke learned poetry at the age of ten and successively studied under Wang Fang and Ouyang Xiu. He is a friend of Ersu Zeng Gong, and he is good at the study of sound and rhyme, and his attainments in poetry are already perfect.

The only thing he lacks is the one percent genius, but fortunately, the proposition of the palace test to compose poetry has never been famous. It is enough to reach the grade of high-quality products.

It took half an hour to carefully prescribe words, rhyme, and find chapters and excerpts to complete this "Luan Dao Poem". Chen Ke began to attack "The Civil Supervision Fu" again, which is the top priority, even if the status of the policy theory is improved. I'm afraid that in a very conservative official family, it can't be higher than the law.

It took the whole morning. Chen Kecai typed out the draft of this fu, and was about to scrutinize it carefully, when an eunuch rang the bell and said softly: "Please have lunch." Then the servants distributed the food.

Because it was eating at the examination table, it was definitely not possible to eat seven plates and eight bowls, and the imperial dining room used a plum-red ruler square box similar to the bento of later generations to provide food for the tributes. ..., Chen Ke put down his pen and put away the test papers. When I opened the lid, I saw that there were eight small grids inside, and there was a food in each grid, such as lychee white kidney, eel fried horseshoe crab, goose gizzard palm soup, mandarin duck fried belly, etc., four meats, two vegetarian soups, and a box of noodles, all of which were carefully cooked by the imperial chef, which was naturally delicious.

But it's not a lot and won't hold you up. This is not the stinginess of the official family or the deduction of the imperial dining room, but for the consideration of the candidates...... If you eat too much, will you still take the exam in the afternoon?

However, most people don't have much appetite, because these dishes can be made by the big restaurants in the capital, and they do it better, and they have been tired of eating it for nearly half a year.

Chen Ke is no exception, he simply fills his stomach, then pushes the lunch box to the corner of the table, and has his own waiter to take it away. He devoted himself to continuing to carve the "Civil Prison Fu".

The time for the palace test was very tight and could not be wasted at will, Chen Ke only took half an hour to finalize it, and then transcribe it.

At this time, there were still two and a half hours before the end of the exam, and Chen Ke still had one article left in "Chongxun Deuteronomy". The so-called 'heavy Xun to deuteronomy, just Xun is righteous and ambitious', from the "Book of Changes", "Xun hexagram" and "Bichuan". In fact, it only expresses one meaning: 'up and down'.

The upper and lower shun is also reflecting the thoughts of today's officials. Chen Ke couldn't help but sigh secretly, although the official Zhao Zhen, although he was just nearly half a hundred years old, as an ordinary minister, it was a good time to be young and strong, and the scenery was infinite. But Zhao Zhen has been the emperor for more than 30 years, and the illnesses and setbacks he has encountered have long worn out his ambitions.

Zhao Zhen, the current official of the Great Song Dynasty, only thinks about 'going up and down'. Then how to write this policy is about to come out, and even the tone of 'Luan Dao Poem' and 'Civil Prison Fu' should be consistent with this, otherwise it will be difficult to get a good ranking.

Fortunately, Chen Ke discovered this when he was reviewing the question, so the poems were extremely careful...... In fact, 'Luan Dao' is a kind of divine weapon, which here refers to Di Qing. For breaking his promise and failing to keep the position of a meritorious hero of the society, the official family has always been ashamed, and he is in a complex psychology, which led to this problem.

There are many ways to write such poems, such as 'make the best use of things, make the best use of talents', or 'swords are soldiers, ominous things, saints should be cautious of use', all of which are very good and very good. But combined with the psychology of the official, I know that the most appropriate way to write is actually to try to untie the knot in the heart of the official.

Therefore, Chen Ke said that the Luan knife is stored in the sheath, which can not only protect the blade, but also not injure himself. I don't believe that this poem can't scratch the hearts of officials.

And the tune of "Minjian Fu" is to sing praises of merit, not only sending today's sycophants, but also praising the true sect of Taizu Taizong, which is the safest way to write...... At the beginning of the examination, Chen Ke answered the questions in a very hasty manner, and had to take risks to write a strategy full of Legalist flavor. The purpose is to arouse Wang Anshi's favor. In the same way, it is now written with flowers and thousands of Buddhas, also to win the favor of the officials.

Test-taking essays, as they should be.

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When Chen Ke finished answering the paper and put down the pen, there was still half an hour before handing in the paper.

'I should be able to get a jinshi this time, right?' He let out a long sigh of relief and wanted to examine it again. But I saw an old eunuch with kind eyebrows and a purple shirt coming. This person Chen Ke also knows, but it is Hu Yandui, the chief manager of the official family.

Gonggong Hu pointed to the official family on the throne, and then pointed to Chen Ke's scroll.

Chen Ke looked at Zhao Zhen in amazement, only to see the official smiling and nodding, and he understood that this was to look at his own papers. 'Damn, I haven't checked yet,' he muttered to himself, but how dare he disobey?

Hu Yandui put Chen Ke's volume away along with the draft. ..., this scene naturally fell in the eyes of the invigilators, but this is not surprising, because the official is the main examiner. He was bored on the throne for a day, and he naturally met with Hunter Xinxi for the papers that he had answered in advance. Of course, it is also possible that the official family knows this person and wants to see it out of concern, in short, it is human nature.

However, the examiner still had to keep an eye on the official's expression to see how he reacted to the article. They have to make the results of the evaluation meet the expectations of the officials.

Song Qi is presbyopia, but he is very good at looking at the distance, and he sees the official smiling while reading the papers, and even laughing embarrassedly...... After serving this king for 20 years, Xiao Song knew that this was a sign that the official family had been slapped right, but he was embarrassed.

It seems that this person is the best in this department. He reckoned that the official would write a comment on the paper, or simply name the prize on the spot.

But to his surprise, Zhao Zhen didn't say anything, so he asked people to hand over the volume to the collector and put it in a box.

'Damn, I'm really, isn't this playing with people?' 'Song Qi was crazy...... As soon as the roll was in the box, he didn't have a chance to see it. When he was grading, he was given a transcription, and he was taught how to find this imperial scroll?

The roll was taken away, and Chen Ke didn't know what to do, so he didn't dare to make a second time, so he had to sit and wait for the roll to be collected.

It was easy to get to the dark sky, and then I listened to the examiner's order: "Stop writing!" ”

Immediately, someone came down and took the exam papers and drafts together. At this time, there were still candidates who failed to complete the transcription, but they did not dare to lose a big one because of a small loss, so they had to obediently hand in the paper, and then beat their chests and feet.

The rewinder took all the rolls, packed them in the large box, sealed them, and sent them to the sealing office in the apse.

The tribute students, led by the officials of Honglu Temple, stood up and lined up to salute the officials. After Zhao Zhen left, under the leadership of Yousi, he came out of Donghua Gate.

Ten days later, there will be a roll call, and in between, the candidates are both relaxed and nervous, inevitably painful and happy......

partition

Second watch, tomorrow's fourth watch...... Okay, F big came two more big reds, so there have to be two more four watches...... To be continued