It makes sense that people love to eat mutton, and a bowl of noodles boiled in mutton soup warms up.

But they got up a little early, and after their uncle and nephew finished eating a big bowl of mutton dumplings, the door of the shop had not yet opened.

But at this time, the gate of the fang gradually became lively, from the very beginning, as long as their uncles and nephews were waiting for the opening of the door while eating morning food, by this time there have been more than 20 people hugging over.

Some of these people are in a hurry to go out of the city to do errands, and some go to the east and west markets on errands, of course, there are also six or seven people who are dressed up like Liu Chenxing, because Liu Chenxing's brothers and sisters are either busy with the food business, or they are in retreat and studying, and they are not familiar with people on both sides.

Since today is the first day of the provincial exam, the topic of discussion is naturally inseparable from the exam.

A candidate standing at the door of the workshop munching on a cake said, "Do you want to get Mai from last year's marcher?" ”

Next to him was a candidate who was eating mutton pies, and as soon as he heard this, he understood, and immediately said with envy: "It seems that Brother Ren, you are going to Mai, the Qianshi Mai who was named on the gold list last year, but you are wearing this one?" This year, Brother Ren is estimated to be the title of the gold list. ”

At that time, there was a custom of begging for Mai, and the Mai worn by those who had been named on the gold list were mascots, and they were often asked to go by those who were preparing to take the exam, in order to have an auspicious picture in the exam.

Begging Mai is to please auspiciousness, on the first day of the exam, I heard that the title of the gold list is also an auspicious one, and the candidates who eat Hu Biscuits smiled at once, and their eyes were full of pride, but they still wanted to be modest, and said: "My Mai is also worn by the eighteenth place in the last provincial examination, and I got this body because of my fellow villagers with him, so I have nothing to say." ”

"Speaking of fellow villagers, I think of one thing."

Another candidate bought a white flour steamed cake and joined the conversation: "Last year's champion Lang Cui Yao, and this year's Yongzhou Xie Yuan Liu Chenxing, I heard that their ancestral hometowns are all from Beizhou, Hebei Province, and in the eighth year of the Shenglong State Examination, they must have played a photo and had a little friendship, so I don't know that the linen clothes that Cui Zhuangyuan once wore were given to Liu Jieyuan?" That's the linen clothes worn by the champion, it's really lucky! ”

A fourteen little lady, who won Yongzhou Xie Yuan, has wasted this good ranking, and now she has the Mai of the last champion Lang, how can they be embarrassed by these men?

For a while, the three male lifters thought of going together, and their faces were a little depressed.

The candidate who ate the cake even felt ridiculous and said: "A little lady has to come to mix a kick, what is this called?" ”

From becoming the only female student in Anjia Village except for her cousin Liu Baoer, all the way to today, Liu Chenxing has already seen a lot of criticism, Liu Chenxing has long been surprised, only looked down at the Mai outside his brown robe, he didn't expect the Mai worn by Cui Yao to be so sought-after.

Brother Mo Ruo, who knew my sister, as soon as Liu Qingshan saw it, he leaned over and said: "When I asked Du Sanlang and them for Mai, you still think I have a lot of things, and now I know that the Mai on your body is worth a lot of money." After speaking, seeing that Liu Chenxing only stared at the clothes and didn't speak, he suddenly thought that his sister was a character who got into the eyes of money, and he suddenly widened his eyes and said: "Ah Xing, you don't plan to sell Ah Yao's Mai at a high price, right!?" ”

The voice was not small, attracting the sideways glances of the three candidates not far away.

Liu Chenxing glanced at his brother, and he didn't know that he had said that Cui Yao's linen clothes were worth a lot earlier, and what else was sold now had already started the exam.

I felt a little pity in my heart, but I didn't have time to sigh, only to listen to the "bang" from the imperial city in the north of the city to the sound of the morning drum, the people who were arranged by the fang were already standing at the door of the fang, and when they heard the sound of the drum, he immediately opened the door of the fang, and the people behind the gate suddenly rushed out.

The brother and sister were no longer poor, and hurriedly followed Liu Wensu and embarked on the journey of the provincial test together.

The provincial examination in Chang'an, there is still no tribute institute dedicated to the imperial examination in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the examination venue is located in Shangshu Province in the imperial city, which is also the place where the prefectures gather and read on October 25 every year.

Yongchongfang, where Liu Chenxing lived, was some distance away from the imperial city, and by the time his uncle entered the imperial city, almost most of the candidates had already arrived.

The lifters were all dressed in white linen, and 17,800 people from all states of the country appeared in one place at the same time, standing on the wall of Chengtianmen and overlooking the imperial city, only to see that the linen clothes were like snow, and the scene was very spectacular.

Fortunately, the imperial city prohibits the common people from entering and leaving, and today is not a big morning day every Monday or Friday, only the permanent staff officers above the fifth grade are in this kind of morning when the sky is not yet dawn, and the imperial city is very large, and the first time to enter the imperial city has not seen the crowds of people.

But when Liu Chenxing's brothers and sisters separated from Liu Wensu, they turned right from Chengtianmen Street and came to the gate of the Shangshu Provincial Government Office, and they were densely packed with white-clothed lifters, all dressed in the same way, and they could hardly recognize who was who, let alone distinguish between men and women.

At this time, it was only half past five in the morning, and the sky was still dark, in order to facilitate the inspection of the candidates waiting in line for admission, there were already twenty or thirty soldiers standing outside the gate of Shangshu Province with torches, and there were also blazing braziers around them, illuminating the scene brightly.

The provincial examination is not comparable to the county examination in Qinghe County that year, and the number of female lifters has also broken through the single place, reaching as many as 80 people, although it only accounts for less than 10% of the total number of candidates, but the team of 180 people still has a certain scale.

Liu Chenxing took advantage of the firelight from all around, and easily found the organization from the crowd of white flowers.

Among the more than 80 female lifters, the vast majority of them are apprentices from the official schools in the country and Gyeonggi, and a small part of the remaining ones are apprentices sent by the official schools in various states, that is to say, eight or nine out of ten of the female lifters who are taking the exam today are the little ladies of the official eunuchs' families.

The purpose of their coming to participate in the provincial examination is very simple, it has been ten years since the empress set up the female imperial examination.

Therefore, in view of the fact that the female lifters and the male lifters compete in the same field, there is no possibility of winning at all, and a certain number of provincial examination places will be given to the little ladies of the official eunuch family every year from the Guozijian to the local government school, so that they can participate in the provincial examination.

And in order to look good, every year a girl will be inscribed on the gold list.

Of course, this female lifter on the gold list may not be so solid in learning, but there must be a high-powered Aya or Aweng, whose lucky ones may go to the empress to polish ink for a while, and then return home and marry beautifully; Those who are not lucky will go home directly, and then they will still get married. As for those who have waited for four years to participate in the election as officials, it is said that there has not been a single woman so far.

Therefore, there may be some female township tributes like Liu Chenxing who have been tested step by step in the county and state examinations, but there are almost no at the provincial examination site.

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