The so-called "recognition of the official seal" can be simply understood as a quasi-examination, but it is relatively much more complicated.

Because in ancient times, there were no image recognition tools such as ID cards and photos, and it was impossible to know what all the candidates looked like for the military service of guarding the door.

"Recognition of the official seal" is a kind of administrative document, when Shen Yichen fills in the information in the county hall, the recognition officer next to him will fill in this administrative document, which also has Shen Yichen's basic information and is stamped with the official seal.

More importantly, on this administrative document, there will also be the signature of the official himself.

If there is any suspicion that a candidate has a problem, the identification officer will come out to identify the signature handwriting to determine whether the admission ticket is forged.

This method is equivalent to adding an official insurance in addition to the insurance policy, in order to ensure that the imperial examination is fair and just as much as possible.

It is impossible for Shen Yichen to ask someone to ghostwrite for the exam, if he had this idea, he would not have been a schoolchild for so many years. In addition, the food and clothing prepared were also very clear about what the taboos were, so the search was quickly released.

After entering the examination room, the first thing you see is not the examination room, but a two-story main building, called Duzhi Building. This is the place where the chief examiner and the deacon officials are on alert and giving orders throughout the county examination.

After each candidate enters the examination room, they must first go to the main hall of this building to meet the examiner to verify their identity. Then the clerk will receive his own number and distribute the test paper.

Shen Yichen was very familiar with the terrain here, and strode into the main hall of Duzhilou, but he seemed to have forgotten one thing, that is, today's chief examiner, who can barely be called an "old acquaintance." ”

Jiangning County Commander Zhou Shun was sitting in the middle of the hall, and the left and right sides were the county officials and instructors.

Today's county exam is the first session of the examination conducted by Zhou Shun after he served as the magistrate of Jiangning. Although the county examination is not like the general examination, the examiner has the name of a teacher, but how to say that it is also for the Son of Heaven to absorb talents, this sense of honor can be described as a bargain.

It's just that as time goes by, maintaining a dignified sitting posture for a long time, Zhou Shun feels that his back hurts. The sense of honor at the beginning has long since disappeared, and he hopes that the schoolchildren can come in quickly and end the official examination as soon as possible.

The last schoolboy had just left, and another schoolboy outside the hall was about to come in, and Zhou Shun was already numb to this scene today, and he didn't have time to take a closer look at who it was, so he was ready to go through a process.

"Shen Yichen, a student from Jiangning, meet his parents."

"Well, I hope that Toad Palace will win the laurels, go down."

"The student quits."

Shen Yichen took his leave and was about to follow the officials to the number house, but at this time, he suddenly heard a voice from the hall: "Wait! ”

"I don't know what else is going on with my parents?"

Shen Yichen lowered his head and asked.

But at this time, it was useless to keep his head down, Zhou Shun looked at him with a very strange expression on his face and said, "Shen Xiaoyou, we meet again." ”

When the title of Shen Xiaoyou came out, the county officials and priests on Zhou Shun's left and right all looked at him with strange eyes. It's just a schoolboy who hasn't entered school yet, and the dignified Jiangning Zhixian calls him a little friend?

Could it be that this is the son of a family who has greeted Zhou Zhixian and needs special attention?

Even so, it's good that everyone understands the unspoken rules, so don't be so open-minded and engage in black-box operations. The new magistrate still doesn't know how to be an official.

Unlike other officials in the hall, as soon as Shen Yichen heard the title of Shen Xiaoyou, he understood that Zhou Shun remembered the past when he was fooled by himself.

The reason why he lowered his head and wanted to quickly meet and leave was because he was afraid that Zhou Shun would be careful to hold a grudge, what if he wore small shoes for himself?

You must know that there are advantages and disadvantages of this kind of thing, and the newly built houses are all brick wall structures, and in this cold spring in February, they can also be less exposed to the cold wind. The inferior number house may not even have a roof, and it will be like a chicken in soup when it is windy and rainy.

Even if you get drenched in the rain, the test paper will be dizzy by the rain, so this county exam will have to fight again next year.

So what kind of black-box operation is this, obviously for fear of retaliation!

"Hehe, the parents are polite, and the students can't afford it."

Shen Yichen smiled awkwardly, and called himself a little friend in front of everyone, it seemed that the person who came was not good.

In fact, Shen Yichen really misunderstood Zhou Zhixian, he called him Xiaoyou, not thinking about revenge, so he deliberately teased. I didn't react at once, and I just called it subconsciously.

At the family banquet of the Chengguo Mansion that day, although he was fooled by Shen Yichen and defaulted to being a student, Zhou Zhixian did not hold a grudge so much about this small problem of respect and humility etiquette.

On the contrary, if it weren't for Shen Yichen that day, he would be the official with the lowest status at the table, and he would be extremely restrained and humble in the face of a group of bigwigs and high-ranking officials.

Shen Yichen's existence, in a sense, gave Zhou Shun a feeling of "the same kind", and he could talk and chat easily without caring about identity and status.

Not to mention the talent shown by Shen Yichen in the follow-up, Zhou Shun felt admired, and it was not too much to call a little friend.

Of course, at the moment, he is above the county examination room, and he is still the chief examiner, it is not appropriate to call Xiaoyou, and it is easy to be thought of as favoritism.

So after Zhou Shun found out about this problem, he immediately straightened his face and replied expressionlessly: "Well, let's go into the examination room." ”

It was precisely Zhou Shun's reaction expression that made Shen Yichen feel even more bottomless!

It's over, Zhou Zhixian shook his face at me, it seems that this time the little shoes are worn. I knew that the schoolchildren were told at the family banquet, but I had to cover up my face and acquiesce, which lowered the seniority of Zhou Zhixian, and it was really too late to regret it......

With a heavy heart, Shen Yichen took the test paper from the clerk and walked out of the main hall.

While walking, I thought to myself, not to mention the quality of the roof, I am afraid that I will arrange myself next to the "smelly number". In the next few days, I'm afraid I'll have to live like a year.

The so-called "stinky number" is the number house next to the toilet, a row of sixty or seventy people, sharing such a toilet, sitting next to the smell can be imagined.

It's better to be cold, but the temperature in autumn is relatively high, and it's like a poison gas bomb. If you are unlucky, you will be able to experience what it means to be devastated, and life is better than death!

With this apprehension, Shen Yichen was brought to the "jade" house. The number of the number of the Xiajiang examination shed is arranged in the order of thousands of characters, and the "jade" number belongs to the old number, which is just in the middle of the number building.

You must know that the ancient number house belongs to the prime location in the middle, which can not only be afraid of wind and rain, but also avoid the "smelly number" at the end, the "fire number" near the cooking, and the "front number" close to the walkway, which will be interrupted by the footsteps of the patrol servants.

"Shen Gongzi, please, I wish you a high school soon."

With a flattering smile on his face, the official retreated after saying this, leaving Shen Yichen, who was still a little unclear.

What's the situation?

Shen Yichen vaguely remembered that in the first few county exams, the officials dragged it like 2580,000, and after taking him to the number house, he left directly after throwing his hand.

How can it be like today, not only smiling and welcoming people, but also giving a blessing?

In addition, it is the location of this house, Shen Yichen knows very well that this kind of prime location will be allocated in advance by the children of high-ranking officials and nobles.

Cheating in the imperial examination is a felony, and there is nothing wrong with picking a location, so under normal circumstances, it is impossible for me to be brought here at all, could it be that my character has exploded?

Shen Yichen didn't understand why, but the officials knew it very well, because when he left the main hall, Zhou Zhixian gave him a look.

This look is the customary code of the county examination, once a relational household who has greeted them comes in, they will be arranged to the best house. This kind of convenient approach to finding a relationship cannot be avoided in that dynasty.

Whatever the reason, it's better to sit in a good position than to sit in a bad position. So Shen Yichen quickly put these doubts behind him, walked into the jade house, put the pen, ink, paper, inkstone and other examination tools in place, and waited for the time for the exam to come.

Probably because of the large number of people, Shen Yichen waited for almost an hour before he heard the sound of the gong prompting the start of the exam. At this moment, the entire examination room instantly fell silent, leaving only the rustle of opening the test papers.

Shen Yichen was naturally not idle, he spread out the test paper and pressed it with a paperweight to prevent it from being blown by the wind. After doing all this, it is safe to wait for the release of the military service exam questions with a placard.

There are a total of three questions in the first session of the county exam, which are two of the four books and two texts, and one poem of five words and six rhymes. Among them, the first two four-book texts are particularly important, and the later poems are not very important.

In addition, there is no need to fill in the name in the prefectural examination, so there is no traditional practice of writing the name first in the exam. However, each paper is numbered at the top left of the paper, which the examiner uses to determine which candidate wrote it.

Even when you hand in the papers, you can talk to the examiner for a few words, and there may be a fate.

Of course, this has to be handed in in the first few papers to have this opportunity, and the next swarm to hand in the papers, even if the examiner wants to chat with you, there is no time opportunity.

This is why Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, would hold a family banquet before leaving Nanjing, in order to let the students of the family school leave a good impression in front of the examiners at all levels.

It may be this glance that determines whether you can go to high school or not!

Shen Yichen didn't wait long, and soon a soldier holding a wooden sign walked towards him. There is a blank piece of paper on the wooden plaque, on which are written the exam questions for this county exam.

The first question of the fourth book is entitled: The people are sufficient, the king is the one and the insufficiency.

The second four books are entitled: The ruthless must not do their best, and they are afraid of the people's will, which is called the knowledge of the book.

The third question is a five-character and six-rhyme poem, and there is no requirement for the question, and the candidates can play freely.

However, this free play is only for the content, not for the format, it must be in accordance with the provisions of five words and six rhymes, and it must also be based on the poems or idioms of the ancients, so it is called a trial poem.

After Shen Yichen saw these two four-book titles, he immediately copied them on the scratch paper, otherwise he would forget the title later, and he would have to wait for the military service to raise the card and walk around.

So, Shen Yichen traveled back to the Ming Dynasty's first imperial examination, and this began.