Candidates who submit papers can leave the examination room, but they cannot leave the Gongyuan, and the gate of the Gongyuan will not be opened until all the four exams are completed.

Qin Mo came to the courtyard where he worshiped the saint before, and visited the four side halls from left to right.

In the first side hall, the statue of Le Zu Linglun is located in the middle, on the left is the Le Sheng Boya and Shi Kuang in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, on the right is the Han Dynasty Qin Saint Li Yannian, and the Tang Dynasty Qin Saint Qian Jing.

It is recorded in "Lü's Spring and Autumn Period" that Ling Lun is the ancestor of Chinese music, and is said to be a music official in the Yellow Emperor era.

Boya made famous music "Mountains and Flowing Water" and "Narcissus Exercise", and was later known as the Qin Immortal, and his reputation on the way to the piano was quite high.

Shi Kuang is an absolute strange person, he is a famous musician in the Spring and Autumn Period, born without eyes, so he calls himself a blind minister, and his voice discrimination is very strong.

Then there is the Han Dynasty qin saint Li Yannian, who is famous in the north and south of the river with the sentence "There are beautiful women in the north" in the "Beauty Song".

Finally, there is Qian Jing, the Qin Sage of the Tang Dynasty, who is the person with the most legendary stories among the five Qin Dao saints, and was once favored by Li Longji, the Emperor of the Tang Ming Dynasty, as a son of the Han Dynasty, and the relationship with Yang Guifei is even more complicated, which is common in wild history.

After paying homage to the saints of the Qin Dao, he came to the side hall of the Qi Dao.

As time passed, the footsteps outside became more and more noisy, and many of the four children had already completed their exams.

After a while, the gate of the Gongyuan was opened left and right, and the gatekeeper shouted: "Candidates leave the venue, close the gate after a stick of incense." ”

Qin Mo walked out of the gate with the crowd, and He Chang and Gu Meng immediately waved their hands at him.

He walked over, and Gu Meng couldn't wait to ask, "Ziyi, how did you do in the exam?"

"Not bad. He smiled and said: "The pen power and font need to be evaluated by the examiner, so it is not easy to say, but [single word for soldiers], the student sits firmly in the top spot, the length is fifteen zhang, and the height of the water wave is two inches and one minute." ”

He Chang said happily: "Great, one of the three ranks first, and the other two are not too bad, there is hope to make the list!"

The candidates from Xiayi County gathered in this direction, and soon all of them arrived, but most of the people's faces were not too good-looking, and it was obvious that they did not do well in the exam.

The acceptance rate of the government examination is close to ten to one, which means that if you are lucky, how many of these dozens of people can make the list, and if you are unlucky, you are likely to eat duck eggs.

"Everyone has worked hard in the exam, and the list will not be announced until tomorrow morning, so let's go back to the inn, summarize the lessons and lessons, and fight again next year." He Chang said some words of encouragement.

The candidates left one after another, and the Gongyuan soon closed its doors and returned to its previous calm.

After lunch, the marking officially began.

First of all, the examiners of the four examiners will conduct a preliminary screening of the test papers, and those who do not meet the minimum requirements will be put on the papers, and then the three deputy examiners will review and confirm that the papers are correct, and then the qualified papers will be submitted to the examiner.

The number of the first round of the four papers is close to half, and the previous maximum reached one-third, the reason for the new record is directly related to the examiner's Confucian identity, most of the candidates think that the test questions are too biased, and the difficulty is more than the previous government exams.

The test papers of the piano, chess, and book were sent to Shen Cheng almost at the same time, but the painting path had not yet completed the screening.

At this time, a slightly exaggerated laughter sounded, followed by an arrogant voice: "Master Shen, this official is not late, is he?"

Shen Cheng frowned slightly, obviously he didn't welcome the owner of the voice, but he still squeezed out a smile and said, "Lord Fu Yin has always been very punctual, and this time is no exception. ”

A middle-aged man in a five-rank official uniform walked in with a smile on his face.

He is Yin Renminxue of Nanjing Prefecture, who has a bachelor's degree in chess, and also has hunting in the piano, and his level is close to that of the Qindao Jinshi.

Ren Minxue's uncle is Zhang Shide, the son of the Zhang family's father and son, because of this relationship, he had the opportunity to enter the Zhang family, and later obtained a higher academic position in the next step of the Zhang family's funding.

Now that he is the head of Nanjing Mansion, he naturally takes good care of the Zhang family.

Because of his backer, the Zhang family has reached a higher level of power in Nanjing Mansion and continues to maintain the glory of a wealthy family.

He didn't come early or late, but he appeared before the marking, obviously wanting to meddle in the matter.

Shen Cheng is the sacrificial wine of Yingtian Academy, Yingtian Academy, Tokyo Taixue and Xijing Guozijian are called the three universities, he is the same as Ren Minxue in terms of literary position, but the official position is one level lower, so he knows that the other party is here to be a-stirring stick, but he has to make a welcoming look.

The examiner of the painting path sent the passing test paper over and saluted Shen Cheng and Ren Minxue.

Shen Cheng's smile had a hint of deep meaning, Ren Minxue didn't notice it, and said, "Since all the test papers have arrived, let's start judging." ”

"There's no hurry. Shen Cheng said to an assistant examiner, "Go and invite the two inspection envoys." ”

"Yes. ”

Ren Minxue frowned, he didn't know the arrival of Zhao Kai and Zhao Feiyan, and asked, "Who is the inspection envoy?"

Shen Cheng smiled and said, "The inspection envoy sent by His Majesty, the main envoy is His Royal Highness King Jia, and the deputy envoy is the Lord of Zimu, and the two arrived at the Tribute Courtyard this morning to supervise the government examination. ”

Ren Minxue was taken aback at first, and then said in a slightly reproachful tone: "His Royal Highness King Jia is here in person, why didn't Chief Examiner Shen send someone to inform the official, and the official is also prepared." ”

Shen Cheng said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "It's not that the official deliberately concealed it and didn't report it, but that the government examination has strict rules, and no one is allowed to enter and leave at will before the marking is completed." ”

Obviously, this is an excuse, and it is a dead rule that the test participants cannot leave the Tribute Academy, but it is not difficult to find a random child to complete the communication.

It is not difficult to see from this trivial matter that Shen Cheng and Ren Minxue are estranged, and the two are not as harmonious as they seem.

Ren Minxue was dissatisfied, but he couldn't show it, and said generously: "What Master Shen said is right, it was the official's negligence. ”

After a while, Zhao Kai and Zhao Feiyan came here, and everyone saluted them together.

Ren Minxue just felt strange about the two of them as patrol envoys, and he didn't know what their purpose was.

At the beginning of the marking, the three deputy examiners launched the second round of screening, and first reviewed the Qindao examination papers based on the ranking of qin, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Like the county exam, the scoring criteria are divided into four categories: A, B, C, D, and D. Category D is directly rolled into the paper, and Category A is selected and retained for the joint evaluation of the examiner and Lord Fuyin.

Because of Zhao Kai and Zhao Feiyan, everyone can't help but raise the standard of paper selection, and they can achieve thorough fairness and justice.

The two expressed their satisfaction with the results.

It is also because of them that Ren Minxue did not dare to come out with a moth.

In fact, he privately accepted heavy gifts from several candidates, and he wanted to be slightly biased in the marking and help them pass, but because of the change in the situation, he had to put away this idea and show his impartial side.

Unlike the prefectural exam, you have to pick out the three best papers from the excellent papers, open the pasted number on the spot, correspond to the candidate's name, and then determine the first, second, and third places.

In other words, the final ranking is not only based on the examination papers, but also on the candidate's character, family background, literary name and other factors.

Because of this, the scribe will pay great attention to his reputation and will not easily do anything that damages the reputation of the writer.

After the piano is finished, there is the chess way, and then the book road.

Ren Minxue's eyes flickered, with the previous foreshadowing, it was enough to prove that he was a fair person, and the two inspectors relaxed a little, and his courage also increased, and he decided to do something in the next judgment.

First, the excellent test papers are screened out, and then the three best papers are evaluated, and then the paste name is opened, corresponding to the candidate number.

The three are Qin Mo of Xiayi County, Cai Cheng of Nanjing Prefecture and Gong Yan of Chuqiu County.

Ren Minxue's eyes lit up, and he changed the previous practice of letting Shen Cheng speak first every time, and took the lead in speaking: "This official thinks that Tongsheng Cai Cheng can be the head of the case, and it is really rare to see through the pen in the pen power test paper. The font test paper is even more impeccable, and every stroke is exceptionally standard, which can be a model for this calligraphy candidate. ”

Tong Sheng Cai Cheng is the nephew of the old thief Cai Jing.

In order not to compete with the children of the Cai family who took the exam in Dongchengjing, he transferred to Nanjing Fuwen and Taoism College a few months ago.

The Cai family greeted Ren Minxue as early as the beginning of the year and asked him to take care of the Cai children who participated in the government examination, the hospital examination and the township examination.

Ren Minxue was born in the Zhang family of Nanjing Prefecture, but he was a member of the Cai Party, and he worshiped the old thief very early, and the Cai family helped him no less than the Zhang family in terms of official career.

Moreover, the backer of the Cai family is obviously higher than the Zhang family, and Ren Minxue still wants to continue to climb up, so he not only obeys the old thief's words, but also curries favor everywhere.

He couldn't find a chance in the previous piano and chess papers, and now that a child of the Cai family finally appeared in the Sanyou, of course he tried his best to put him at the head of the case.

In the prefectural examination, the person who takes the first place in the examination is honored as the head of the case.

Every time before, Shen Cheng spoke first, and Ren Min Xuequan had no objections, he felt that he had given Shen Cheng enough face, and Shen Cheng should also give him face in return for the so-called peach, and agreed to point Cai Cheng to the head of the calligraphy case.

But Shen Cheng showed a very fierce opposition, saying: "This main examination thinks that Qin Mo's scroll is better, and the pen power is also through the pen, and it is obviously stronger than Cai Cheng in terms of the artistic conception of the poem; second, Qin Mo's [single word for soldiers] surpasses Cai Cheng by one zhang in length, which is the second advantage; in terms of font, Qin Mo's scroll reflects the rare spirituality in the pavilion body, of course, some people will say that neatness is the highest requirement of the pavilion body, but this volume has also reached the same height as Cai Cheng. ”

Ren Minxue's color changed, Shen Cheng turned a blind eye, and then said: "Among the three exams, one is a draw, and two are obviously better than the other party, of course, the head of the case should be Qin Mo." ”

As for Gong Yan, another person among the three excellences, because one of the pen power test papers failed to penetrate the wire, he was directly ignored by Shen Cheng and Ren Minxue, and he was not qualified to compete for the head of the case at all.

Zhao Kai smiled and whispered to Zhao Feiyan: "Do you know why Shen Cheng supports Qin Mo?"

Zhao Feiyan didn't think about it and said, "Because Lord Shen is fair." ”

Because he is a member of the Meizhou Su Society, he has great respect for Su Sansheng. Zhao Kai shook his head and said meaningfully: "People like Qiu Hong come to have letters, things are like spring dreams without traces, Qin Mo chose Su Sansheng's poems, although there is a suspicion of pleasing the examiner, but it is the appetite of the examiner." ”

After listening to his analysis, Zhao Feiyan's eyes widened in surprise.

Zhao Kai said with a smile: "It seems that this Qin Shuangjia is smarter than we imagined, this person is not the head of the case, it is simply intolerable." ”

PS: A new week is about to begin, which means that this book is about to embark on the journey of hitting the list again, new books are not easy, Lao Mo begs for support, collections, and recommended votes.