Before the establishment of Guizhou Province, it did not have the right to open the township examination, and the examiners had to go all the way to Sichuan to take the examination. After the establishment of the province, there was no township examination, and Guizhou students were changed to Huguang for examination, and later changed to Yunnan for examination. Due to the fact that Guizhou students go to neighboring provinces for examinations, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, which is extremely inconvenient. In the ninth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1530), Tian Qiu, a native of Sinan in Guizhou, who was in charge of household science in the capital, asked the court to set up a township trial field in Guizhou.

At this time, people are going far away when they go to the county seat, let alone go to the provincial capital to catch the exam.

Students from all over the province rushed to the provincial capital for the triennial township examination.

Whether you can leap over the dragon gate and become a "lifting master" depends on this struggle.

Because of the long distance, the children of farmers in some remote areas will be in debt when they take the exam!

And on the way, there may be a lot of accidents. For example, some robbers like to attack students who are rushing to take the exam. After all, these students must have silver on them, and without silver, what kind of exams can they take!

Wu Yunlin went to the provincial capital to catch the exam this time, and his safety was guaranteed. Mei Jiding asked him to go with him, Mei Jiding's luggage was not much, only a wooden box and a baggage, just some books and pen, ink, paper, inkstone and some change of clothes, Wu Yunlin was different, the scholar Dumb even brought snacks, tea and medicine, and there were three other guards and Dumb.

Seeing Mei Jiding's curious eyes, Wu Yunlin said a little embarrassedly: "It's the grandfather of the family, I'm always worried that I won't eat or drink well on the road, and I'm afraid that I will meet the robbers and prepare some Ren Dan to resist the soil." ”

Wu Yunlin smiled, changed the topic, and discussed knowledge with Mei Jiding. The two of them rode on their horses and asked questions and answers, and time passed quickly.

The inns where you can stay along the way are crowded, and Wu Yunlin knows for the first time that there are so many scholars in this dynasty!

"Over the years, the backlog of talents, as long as they have not given up, they have to participate in the township test, in this province, I am afraid that there are tens of thousands, so many people compete for these dozens of places, I am a little weak-hearted." Mei Jiding stood at the door of the inn and sighed to Wu Yunlin.

Wu Yunlin was also frightened by the young and old talents rushing to take the exam, Rao is he has always been confident, and at this time, he couldn't help but ask for the gods and Buddhas in his heart.

was embarrassed, Dumb came back, saying that he had booked three rooms, one for Mei Jiding and Wu Yunlin, and several of them squeezed in.

When the others heard this, they were surprised and said, "We just asked if there is no room left?" I'm also going to try my luck in a nearby village, can I spend the night, how can I still have a room? ”

Dumb smiled and said, "We added money, and there were." ”

Mei Jiding said with a smile: "There are many people rushing to take the exam now, not to mention the price increase of the inn, even the houses are not so easy to stay." Many people can only stay in places like the Land Temple. ”

When Wu Yunlin heard this, he silently wished them good luck

I finally arrived in the provincial capital, and I also had to face the problem of accommodation. It's not that the provincial city can't live for these candidates, but the provincial city is not easy!

The cost of the inn is only more expensive than the capital city!

Of course, candidates from various prefectures can also find their own hometown hall to stay. But the conditions of the hometown hall are not as good as the inn, not to mention, the rooms are also limited, and there is no connection, so you can't compete for it!

Wu Yunlin naturally did not go to the hometown hall to fight with others. Before he went out, his grandfather gave him a lot of silver.

The candidates of Tongren Mansion are all gathered in an inn in the north of the city, and the owner and shopkeeper of this inn are all from Tongren Mansion, and there are familiar local accents everywhere, and everyone is more down-to-earth.

In August, various regulations on the township test also came out. For example, the specific entry time and exit time, these are all things to keep in mind.

In addition, the township test is to bring its own food.

"Aren't you afraid of cheating with food?" Some candidates muttered: "I heard that there are some powerful ones, that is, they can write on rice grains!" ”

"If you write on a grain of rice, you have to have a diorama to see it clearly, right? Dioramas cannot be brought into the examination room, don't worry! Another candidate said.

Diorama refers to a magnifying glass.

Mei Jiding said: "This is to prevent people who have candidates from buying the room to cheat. Candidates are asked to bring their own food, the inspection is very strict, if you bring pastries, they will be kneaded into powder for you. ”

Mei Jiding has already taken two exams and is very knowledgeable.

Everyone listened and understood.

Anyway, the rules are all the same, and it's not just for yourself!

As for the unreasonable rules?

If you haven't been admitted to the exam, how dare you say anything to the rules of the township test? Even if you are in the middle of the lift, the scholars have a clear hierarchy, how dare you easily say that Shangguan is not?

I was nervous for a few days, and on the day of the exam, Wu Yunlin took the dried dough cakes, boiled eggs, and dried meat to the examination room.

Guiyang Gongyuan was built in the area of today's Guiyang Grand Cross Square. It is the Gongyuan that has become a place for Guizhou to conduct township tests.

This tribute courtyard in Guiyang is very large-scale, reaching the Lion Bridge in the south, reaching the area of Cuiping Mountain in the north, which is now Taiping Road, bordering Zhonghua Road in the east, and Guancheng River in the west. The reason why there are no other buildings in this large area in the center of the old Guiyang City, such as government offices, temples, academies, private houses, etc., is because they all belonged to the scope of the Gongyuan in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The inspection was stricter than in the hospital examination, especially in the food section, where everyone's food was pinched dirty by the black hands of the officials.

Wu Yunlin is a little clever, the dough and dried meat are chopped in advance, and they are almost powdered.

The official glanced at him, but did not pinch his food again, the food box was a rattan basket, and at a glance there was no entrainment, and put him in.

Wu Yunlin looked at it, not to mention other things, the boiled eggs were all knocked open and checked.

He really couldn't figure out how else to cheat in an egg?

The previous exams all need to be guaranteed by the students, but the township exams do not need to be guaranteed by the students. Because Xiucai is already famous, they can guarantee each other. Candidates must choose a trustworthy person to settle the guarantee, after all, one person cheats, and the other five people sit together!

Wu Yunlin's friends are all classmates in the academy, and their character is credible.

This was followed by a body search, and of course, there was no privacy or human rights to speak of. In the eyes of the inspecting officials, these talented men are just a piece of meat

On this cold morning, the Enke Township Test officially kicked off. The township test is divided into three sessions, each of which takes three days including two nights at night, so that the three sessions take a total of nine days including six nights. This kind of examination is a comprehensive game of intelligence, physical strength, and physical fitness. For the candidates, this game began in the morning when they lined up outside the Gong Yuan. Early in the morning or even yesterday night, there were people to line up, because all the candidates who participated in the examination had to take the exam in this Gongyuan, the number of people in Guizhou's underdeveloped education area exceeded 3,000 people, and there was a long queue densely, everyone wanted to enter the examination room earlier, one is familiar with the examination room, and the other is that it is not safe outside, and it is easy to be chaotic if there are many people, even if there are servants and heavily armed sergeants, but the gate of the Gongyuan is still crowded and chaotic, and the examination has not yet started, there are more than a dozen candidates in the crowding last night, and they are crowded. The head is bleeding.

Although the examination is subordinate to the internal affairs of the governor of Tixue, but because of the important stakes, this is a great ceremony, and the slightest thing can not be sloppy, so the provincial political envoys, the envoys and the high-ranking officials of the command have arrived, the gong opens the way, and there are all the errands and soldiers of the various ya, but it is still orderly, torches have been lit all around, and the street is brightly lit, and now the Gongyuan has not yet opened, so the candidates who are stationed outside are calling friends.

The weather was very cold, and Wu Yunlin's clothes were relatively thick, compared to other students, Wu Yunlin was much warmer. In addition to clothes, Wu Yunlin also brought two rabbit skin felt blankets, which were used for sleeping in the examination room, one bunk and one cover. Of course. Everything else such as food and test supplies were also brought together, and the food was still abundant. Around three o'clock in the morning. As he was talking, there was a deafening whip, and someone said sharply: "All the beings listen to the order of the governor of the school, and they are all Su Jing, and they are all admitted to the hospital in line." ”

All of a sudden, the voice stopped abruptly, everyone's face tensed, the township test is different from the small test, the small test is to some extent, but it is just an introductory exam, and the significance of the township test is that it is related to a person's real honor and disgrace, and crossing this threshold means that from now on, he has truly become a master.

Many people have been studying hard for countless days and nights, and today is the greatest test for them. So although everyone is giggling and calling friends, in essence, it is just to give themselves courage, and now that the exam has really begun, almost everyone's faces have become solemn.

The gate of the Gongyuan creaked open, and then a team of commanders from the province made the Yamen soldiers Ding Minghuo come out, and the eight characters were reversed, and the atmosphere of slaughter spread.

Dozens of errands also stood at the door, all the living fish rushed in, and began to let the errands search and copy, this atmosphere, compared with the previous small test is much more solemn, Wu Yunlin followed the crowd slowly to the gate of the Gongyuan, several errand officers were a little surprised, candidates of this age, probably should appear in the children's test, even if they appear in the hospital test, it is rare, I didn't expect to appear in the township test.

An examiner surnamed Hu who was in charge of checking the candidates at the door stopped Wu Yunlin, this examiner was serious and it might be better to be dull. During the invigilation, the age and appearance of the candidates are strictly checked according to the roster.

Put everything in the house, Wu Yunlin looked around, just like the last hospital exam, the room was very narrow, only two wooden planks up and down, the upper plank was used as a table for writing the answer sheet, and the lower board was used as a chair, and the two boards were put together as a bed when sleeping at night. The difference is that there is now an extra charcoal fire and two candles in the house. Charcoal fires can be used both for heating and cooking. The exam room doesn't care about the food, you have to solve what you eat, and the exam room will provide some water at most. The officials who patrol the supervisors outside are only responsible for the discipline of the examination room, and as long as you don't cheat, you can do anything.

After entering the examination room until the end of the exam, Wu Yunlin had to spend time in this narrow dormitory.... There are two examiners for the examination, four examiners for the same examiner, and a promoter who is responsible for the supply of the examination room, in addition to the officials who are responsible for the acceptance of the papers, sealing, transcribing, reading, patrolling the prison gates, and searching and inspecting the coercion. When the exam began, the older examiner signaled the officer to sound the drum, and the exam began when the drum sounded. The examiner and other officials in charge of the examination began their duties in an orderly manner, and most of them looked at the candidates below with a sense of nostalgia, similar to the feeling of the sophomore and junior seniors watching the juniors and sisters start military training.

After the drum sounded, some officials began to send out papers, test papers, and draft papers were sent out one after another.

Today is the first session of the Enke Township Test, and according to the usual practice, the amount of questions in this session is: "Four Books" righteousness three ways, Jingyi four ways.

This year, as in previous years, this one is also the "Four Books" righteousness three paths, scripture righteousness four paths. Jingyi is a subject of the imperial examination, which is based on scriptures and sentences, and the examinee's composition clarifies the meaning of it. Of course, you have to use the eight-strand style. These questions have to be answered in three days and two nights, no matter how you answer them, no matter how you arrange your time, as long as you don't cheat, you can toss them.

In this three-day and two-night exam, you need to do a total of seven eight-strand essays, three eight-strand essays in four books, and four eight-strand essays in the Five Classics. The amount of this kind of question varies from person to person, some candidates may complete it in less than two days, but some candidates may not be able to complete it in three days and two nights. After reading all the exam questions, Wu Yunlin felt that he could finish it without needing it at night.

In less than a stick of incense, Wu Yunlin finished writing the first eight shares. After writing the first eight-strand essay, Wu Yunlin hung the scratch paper full of words on the table for a while, so as not to stain the test paper with the ink of the handwriting.

I wrote three eight-strand essays in one day, and the remaining four articles could be written in two days with my eyes closed. Wu Yunlin nodded with satisfaction, put away the written scratch paper, and after dinner, he spread out a blanket, covered it with a blanket and fell asleep.

At about five o'clock in the afternoon of the third day, Wu Yunlin had already copied all the seven eight-strand essays neatly on the test paper, and after checking it several times, he was waiting to hand in the paper.

This is the first exam of the township examination, and it is also the most important exam, such as marking is based on the seven articles and eight strands of the first session, and then combined with the second and third sessions after reading. Mutual reading and deliberation, take the median.

In the process of grading, there is a clear division of labor between the examiner and the examiner, to stay in the same exam, and the high and low examiners are in the examiner. How to say, the same examiner selects excellent test papers from more than 3,000 candidates' test papers and recommends them to the chief examiner, and the chief examiner finally determines the admitted students and determines the ranking of the admitted students in the recommended test papers.

The chief and deputy examiners generally only read the "recommended papers" and select good and excellent batches from the examiner's recommended papers, but it does not mean that the test papers that are not "recommended" have absolutely no chance. After the marking is completed, according to the rules, the chief and deputy examiners are obliged to search and re-read the test papers that have not been recommended, and if they are lucky, they will be appreciated by the chief and deputy examiners, but this is only theoretically, the marking work is hard, and the chief and deputy examiners must also search and check the papers.

After several years of hard work, it will be completely revealed in a few days, and the honor and disgrace of the noble and the low will also be in one move.