At dawn, before the light of day, in the official office of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Rites, the Korean envoy Li Chengyuan heard that His Royal Highness King Ning was the foreign minister, and hurriedly walked towards the living room.

Zhu Quan waited in the hall with his hands in his hand, heard the sound of footsteps behind him, turned around to take a look, but saw a young civil official with a straight figure, sword eyebrows and starry eyes, accompanied by the side of the head of Honglu Temple, Nai Wu, walked into the hall, bowed down and said: "Chen Cheng, deputy director of Honglu Temple, see His Royal Highness King Ning." ”

It turned out that Li Chengyuan had admired the culture of Middle-earth for a long time, and this time he came to Yingtian, and on the occasion of the Spring Examination, he immediately asked to go to Guozijian and the examination room to have a look. The waiter of the Ministry of Rites remembered that Nai Thorn Wu was a subordinate of the Northern Yuan Dynasty after all, and he was ignorant of the scientific expedition, and if he was ugly and obedient when he coped, it would inevitably damage the face of the Ming Dynasty, so he arranged for Emperor Hongwu to come to Honglu Temple to serve as the deputy of Nai Thorn Wu, and Chen Cheng, the former Hanlin Academy, was responsible for leading Li Chengyuan to go.

Li Chengyuan hurriedly came to the living room, and when he heard Zhu Quan talk about personally accompanying him to Guozijian, he couldn't help but be quite flattered. He didn't know that this matter was not Zhu Yuanzhang's will, but that Zhu Quan was quite curious about the imperial examination, so he volunteered.

After Nai Thorn Wu and Li Chengyuan saw each other, they retreated bravely from the rapids of oiling the soles of their feet. When I left, I couldn't help but feel relieved and escaped. He and Zhu Quan are old acquaintances, and they know that although His Royal Highness King Ning looks like a harmonious person at this time, he is actually the same as the Duke of Liangguo, but he is a brave man who can't rub half a grain of sand in his eyes.

At that moment, Zhu Quan and Chen Cheng accompanied the Korean envoys led by Li Chengyuan and his party to step out of the Honglu Temple, and Ma Sanbao led the royal soldiers to open the way in front of them, and went to the examination room of Guozijian on Chengxian Street at the foot of Jiming Mountain.

On the street outside the examination room, there were already soldiers and servants of Ying Tianfu stationed at the entrance of the street, and all the idle people were dispersed and not allowed to approach, and countless test takers had already lined up outside the gate. A weak-crowned young man, about thirty years old, or even over forty years old, with two white sideburns mixed together.

Qianhu, who was in charge of guarding the entrance of this examination room, saw His Royal Highness King Ning and the Korean envoys coming, and did not dare to slack off.

Zhu Quan saw that the long street was too crowded, so he immediately ordered Ma Sanbao to lead a group of royal soldiers to stay at the entrance of the street, and took Chen Cheng and Li Chengyuan towards the entrance of the examination room.

When I walked through the long street for hundreds of steps, I came to the entrance of the examination room, but I saw an old man with white hair and an old man, who was in a state of old age, led two civil officials in his fifties to walk out of the gate and greet Zhu Quan and Li Chengyuan. It turned out that this old man was hand-picked by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Liu Sanwu, the main examiner of the Spring Festival. This person is already seventy-eight years old, can be said to be the great Confucian, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he served as the director of Guangxi (equivalent to the director of the Department of Education), the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system regulations were formulated by him, and the criminal law "Great Message" was also prefaced by him, in addition to he also edited the "Huanyu Tongzhi", which can be regarded as a Shilin leader with good character and learning. The two accompanying are the deputy examiners of this scientific expedition, Ji Shan and Bai Xin.

After some red tape, Zhu Quan and Chen Cheng were about to take Li Chengyuan into the examination room, when there was a sudden sound of footsteps in their ears, and when they looked up, they saw the figure at the door shaking, and an official of the Ministry of Rites led several soldiers like wolves and tigers with a sinking face, and pulled out the two young men who looked like scholars.

Zhu Quan, Li Chengyuan was stunned, but when he saw the two men of the Ministry of Rites pointing to the two men with shame on their faces, and the scholars with heavy wooden shackles shouted: "Jiangxi lifted Wang Xiuwen, Zhejiang raised Wu Mo to enter the venue, and the stolen goods were obtained. Speaking of this, his eyes fiercely swept over the silent queue of soldiers and shouted: "If you are lucky, those who try to fish in troubled waters should take this as a warning and stop at the cliff." ”

Wang Xiuwen, who was taller, saw the countless eyes full of contempt and ridicule in the oncoming eyes, recalling that he had studied hard in the cold window when he was young, and now he was going to fall to such a catastrophe because of a thought, and he would never be able to turn over, recalling the eager gaze of his father when he sent him to the scientific examination, and he didn't know how many neighbors he would encounter in this life after he got rid of his fame, and he couldn't help but have hazy tears in his eyes, all thoughts were discouraged, and he roared in his throat, rushed down, and hit the wall head-on.

Wang Xiuwen had the heart of death, but he was helplessly blocked by the wooden flail, and fainted with blood on his forehead, but his life was unhindered.

Seeing Wang Xiuwen holding the two soldiers hostage with blood on his face, the officials of the Ministry of Rites snorted coldly and shouted in a cold tone: "After you have to show the public, you can hang yourself and jump into the river, but at this time, life and death are not up to you." After that, he instructed the soldiers to take the hemp rope that had been prepared for these fellows who were looking for life and death, and tie it firmly to the pillar at the entrance of the examination room to show the public, and even the mouth was firmly tied with a strip of cloth, so as not to make another suicide act of biting his tongue and committing suicide.

Seeing such a bloody scene, Li Chengyuan couldn't help but be a little shocked and changed color, seeing that this cool official of the Ministry of Rites made these two scholars humiliate and wanted to die, while Liu Sanwu, Ji Shan, and Bai Xin, the three examiners, witnessed all this expressionlessly and were silent. The scholars who were waiting in line to enter looked at them coldly, and none of them showed the slightest sympathy on their faces, and couldn't help but ask, "Why is this?" ”

"Caught cheating on exams for public display." Zhu Quan said with a wry smile on his face, he could hear the words of the official of the Ministry of Rites, and he already understood the reason for this matter.

Chen Cheng sighed softly, looked at Li Chengyuan's face with a little sympathy, and said lightly: "The country should put fairness first, and the person who takes the exam today may be the official of a county in the future, and he will control the livelihood of thousands of Li people." If the deceitful person steals the authority, will he engage in personal fraud and cause the destruction of the people's families? ”

When Li Chengyuan heard this, he recalled that Goryeo in the past gave the queen and concubine of the Yuan Dynasty control of the government, and almost all the important officials were their cronies who were appointed by their words, and when they saw such a harsh examination system in the Ming Dynasty, they couldn't help but sigh and be silent.

Zhu Quan is the commander of an army, he has been in battle for a long time, and he is used to seeing tragic battles, and the punishment of soldiers in the army is often a military stick, or even beheading to show the public. Today, seeing that this Wang Xiuwen is only cheating because of the cool officials of the Ministry of Rites in front of everyone, he can't bear it in his heart, and he can hear Chen Cheng's words at this time, recalling the time when he was in Daning, Liu Chengzong, the magistrate of the county, is just a seven-grade civil official who has great real power in the local area, and the feeling in his heart is very heavy, and he only feels complicated and unspeakable.

After entering the invigilation room, I saw that the scholars who had entered the hall under the guidance of a group of officials and officials of the Ministry of Rites. The field is separated by a wooden fence, but it is only three feet square, and the space where only one person can sit is extremely cramped and narrow, densely arranged, just like a half-open cage.

Under the scolding of a group of cold-faced officials of the Ministry of Rites, all the scholars walked into the field, stripped off their shirts, and handed over their clothes, hats, shoes and socks to those officials who looked coldly at the side for inspection.

A group of wolf-like Ying Tianfu officials casually regarded these scholars as their lives on weekdays, and threw the pen, ink, paper, and inkstones brought into the examination room like garbage into the bamboo baskets that had long been set aside, and picked up these clothes, shoes and socks to carefully check and inspect whether there was any entrainment in them. The officials of the Ministry of Rites even came to the Shizi to check the examinees one by one for any entrainment in their hair. Carrying a heavy wooden flail, the two scholars who were guarding outside the gate of the examination room showed that they did not escape this hurdle.

Li Chengyuan saw that the independent examiner Liu Sanwu, the deputy examiner Ji Shan, and Bai Xin in the examination room were all sinking like water, and a group of Ming soldiers holding spears stood on one side, as if they were facing a great enemy, and he only felt that this examination room was filled with a heavy atmosphere of slaughter and unspeakability, as if the air was a little solidified, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "The examination room is so tense, like a great enemy, but it has opened the eyes of the little envoy." ”

Zhu Quan said with a smile when he heard this: "The scientific expedition is like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge, among which the sword light and sword shadow are especially fierce battlefield battles. ”

Chen Cheng said with a smile: "Let your family be rich and rich, or winter clothes and vegetarian food, and cultivate in the fields." No matter how high you are, he will be the prefect of the county, the prefect of the county, and the weight of the party, as long as he walks into the examination room, he must go on this experience naked. ”

After a long period of busyness, the officials of the Ministry of Rites hurriedly came to Liu Sanwu and reported that the first session of today's Spring Festival was full.

When Liu Sanwu, the chief examiner of the old dragon bell, heard this, he immediately led Ji Shan, Bai Xin and others to burn incense and pray in front of the statue of Confucius standing in the center of the open field, and recited: "Disciple Liu Sanwu is presiding over the scientific examination today at the behest of His Majesty Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, aiming to take scholars by literature, select virtuous and loyal people for the Jiangshan Sheji, shepherd one side, and benefit the people of Li in the future......"

A group of sergeants in the field, whether they are middle-aged people with frosted temples and over forty years old, or young talents with weak crowns, have already dressed neatly at this time, and all of them salute the statue of Confucius with a respectful demeanor, and recited aloud: "There is a god three feet above the head, and the disciple of a certain prefecture and a certain county is determined to compete with the world's talents here, and will never deceive the heavens and the earth, deceive and deceive, causing the ancestors to be disgraced. "And so on.

Seeing such a scene, Zhu Quan was full of emotion in his heart, recalling the era in which he lived in the past, when exam cheating was lured by huge interests, forming an industrial chain from beginning to end. Many people from elementary school, to middle school, to college, from being ashamed of cheating, to going from evil, to not being ashamed, but proud. A well-known expert and professor was exposed to have openly plagiarized other people's articles, and his heart was extremely heavy and indescribable.

Zhu Quan secretly slandered himself there, but the countless scholars in the examination room who were already sitting upright had already started the exam after the order of the chief examiner Liu Sanwu. There are those who scratch their ears and cheeks, there are those who meditate and think hard, and naturally there is no lack of self-expression, and the pen walks the dragon and snake, and it is obvious that there are people who are confident, and there are many such beings.

One by one, the Ming soldiers holding spears and standing a few feet away in front of the candidates were firmly staring at the objects they were watching, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites holding the ring rulers were patrolling around the field.

Li Chengyuan watched all the way under the guidance of Chen Cheng, and asked with great interest: "Could it be that the students took the Tang and Song poems?" In his opinion, Cao Zhi in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Li Bai and Du Fu in the Tang Dynasty, and then Su Dongpo in the Song Dynasty were not all great talents who left their names in history with poetry? These Tang and Song poems naturally represent the pinnacle of Middle-earth culture.

"No, poetry is the talent of wind and snow. Even if the article is written in a variety of flowers, it may not be long in government affairs. The Spring Exam is divided into three subjects, the first is to test the scriptures, that is, the four books and the five classics, the second is to test practical writing, and the third is to rely on current affairs, especially the scriptures. Chen Cheng said eloquently.

Zhu Quan was also forced by Zhu Yuanzhang to take classes in Guozijian, so he naturally knew that the so-called "Four Books" in Chen Cheng's mouth were the four Confucian classics of "Analects", "University", "Zhongyong" and "Mencius". These four books are the words and deeds of Confucius, Zengzi, Zisi, and Mencius, so they are collectively called "Four Books". The Five Classics are the Book of Songs, the Book of Songs, the Book of Changes, the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Period.

Li Chengyuan asked in surprise: "What is the importance of scripture and righteousness?" Is that the interpretation of the Four Books and the Five Classics? ”

Chen Cheng bowed slightly: "Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty changed the law, reformed the imperial examination system, and proposed to learn from the scriptures and righteousness, but there are no special requirements for style. ”

Li Chengyuan was quite influenced by Confucian culture, not only greatly admired the culture of the Tang and Song dynasties, but was also full of curiosity about the current Ming imperial examination, and couldn't help but ask: "What is the proposition of the article?" ”

Chen Cheng replied in a deep voice: "The content proposition of the Four Books and the Five Classics is limited, and the meaning of the scriptures is subject to Zhu Xi's "Commentary on the Thirteen Classics", and the article is called the Eight Strands. ”

Zhu Quan has also been famous for a long time for this eight-strand text that has been criticized by later generations as useless, and when he heard Chen Cheng mention it, he also looked at Chen Cheng like Li Chengyuan, hoping that he could explain it clearly.

"The eight-strand text is divided into several parts, including breaking the topic, undertaking the topic, starting the topic, starting the question, starting the stock, out of the question, the middle share, the back share, the bundle of shares, and the closing of several parts, of which the essence part is the starting share, the middle share, the back share, and the bundle of shares, these four shares can not be arbitrarily written, and must be compared with the dual sentence, there are eight shares, so it is called the eight-share text." Chen Cheng is also a Jinshi, although Baguwen is not his favorite good, but he is still very familiar with the grammar format of Baguwen