Chapter 52 Packed for test

The examination room of Nanjing Township Examination is located on the west bank of Qinhuai River between Huaiqing Bridge and Wuding Bridge in the south of the city. It is not far from Yingtianfu School, and the old courtyard where famous prostitutes lived is just across the river. This largest examination room in the south of the Yangtze River, which can accommodate tens of thousands of candidates at the same time, is unique in scale and layout.Dangmen is a large open space surrounded by wooden fences on three sides.On the east and west sides of the fence, there is a shaft gate with a bucket arch structure.Walking in from the gate, there are two drum towers, standing on both sides of the gate facing south.There are two stone archways behind the Drum Tower. The archway on the right is written with red lacquer, "Seeking Scholars by Mingjing", and the archway on the left is written "Seeking talents for the country".In the middle of the archway is a solemn and solemn gate building, with a black horizontal plaque hanging above it, with two words "Gongyuan" written in Gongkai capitals, and three door openings lined up below, which are the gates of the examination room.After entering the gate, followed by Yimen, this is the place where the candidates receive the test papers.After Yimen is another gate called "Dragon Gate". As the name suggests, it naturally implies the meaning of being on the gold list and becoming prosperous.Inside the dragon gate, there are four smaller gates lined up, but they are taken from the meaning of "opening up four gates" in the "Book of Yu".After walking through the doors, you will come to the examination room.A wide open-air passage stretches inward from the door.On both sides of the passage, there are eight-foot-high brick walls, and on the wall are gates with fences, and the distance between each door is also about eight feet.Hundreds of such doors are numbered word by word according to the order of "Thousand Characters".Inside each gate is a long and narrow alley that only allows two people to pass side by side.Those small rooms with roofs and no doors are arranged one by one on the side of the alley, and there are always hundreds of them in each alley.

In order to be able to monitor the situation of the examination room at any time, a "Mingyuan Building" was built in the open-air passage.The building is three stories high, with cornices and windows, and the atmosphere is quite majestic.With this building and the watchtowers on the four corners of the examination room, the examinees' every move during the examination cannot escape the eyes of the invigilators, and it is not so easy to try to cheat. If this is not enough insurance, then there are other precautionary measures around the examination room.The first is the wall, which is not one, but two.The inner wall is one foot high, and the outer wall is one foot five feet high. The top of each wall is covered with thorny thorns, which strictly isolate the examination room from the outside world.Secondly, during the examination period, there are also dedicated soldiers to patrol between the walls.In this way, even if any cheater took the risk and even climbed over the thorn wall, he would definitely fall into the hands of patrolling soldiers.

The situation in the first half of the Tribute Court, that is, the examination room, is roughly like this.As for the copying, marking, recommendation and even admission of the test papers, they are all carried out in the second half of the Tribute Academy.There are also many courtyard buildings there, and the security is even stricter.Only relying on the east and west fences of the Zhigong Hall where the papers are handed in are related to the first half, it is absolutely forbidden for exam candidates to enter. As usual, the test period for the township examination starts on the ninth day of August.According to regulations, each examination must be completed three times - the first day of the ninth day is the main game, the 12th day is the second game, and the 15th day is the third game.For each exam, the roll call is made one day in advance, and the papers are issued to enter the venue.So, on the eighth day of the eighth day of August, Mao Xiang got up in the morning, washed up, and started preparing to go to the examination room.

Ever since Shi Kefa came to visit that night and offered to speak to the chief examiner for him, Mao Xiang has become more serious about this provincial examination.Originally, in the past whole year, due to too many troubles, he has been unable to get out to prepare seriously.This time, although I came to Nanjing as usual, I somewhat held the idea of ​​trying my luck temporarily.But now he thinks differently.Not only is he determined to pass the exam with all his strength, but he is determined to win.This is not because of Shi Kefa's recommendation, which is bound to contribute to his success, but because of Shi Kefa's action itself, the extraordinary care and attention to him, which urges him to cheer up.

This Lord Shi, as a powerful and prestigious feudal official in Huaiyang, has always been an idol respected and admired by the Fushe scholars.In his early years, his family was poor, and he was known by Zuo Guangdou, the leader of the famous Donglin Party.After becoming an official, he was known for being honest, upright, capable and capable.He is sincere and loyal, rewards and punishments are strict, and he can share joys and sorrows with his troops.Every time he set out to fight, the soldiers would eat first, and he would eat later; the soldiers would wear it first, and he would wear it later, which is quite like the style of an ancient sage general, and it is very rare in the extremely corrupt army of the Ming Dynasty.Because of this, his army has strong combat effectiveness. It has defeated the attacks of the peasant army many times and guarded the rich and prosperous areas in the south of the Yangtze River for the Ming Dynasty.At the same time, as the governor of water transportation, he also vigorously rectified and reformed, which greatly improved the long-standing and chaotic north-south water transportation, and ensured that money and food in the Jiangnan area were continuously transported to the capital.All these made Shi Kefa highly praised among the government and the opposition, especially the Fushe scholars, and was regarded as a model figure with noble moral character and outstanding political and military talents.Now, it is he, rather than others, who cares and values ​​so much for Mao Xiang. In order to enable him to get the opportunity to display his talents and serve the country as soon as possible, he resolutely takes extraordinary actions at the risk of possible criticism. Mao Xiang was really flattered; and when he deeply understood the ardent expectation contained in the other party's action, he couldn't stop his blood boiling and his feelings agitated. "Over the years, the country's situation has been getting worse and worse. The elders in power in the imperial court are really dying! The hope of the Ming Dynasty's rejuvenation has now fallen on our shoulders! It seems that only by implementing what we advocate can we have It may be possible to save Sheji from the dire straits. Over the years, we have recruited some people, but it is far from enough. We need to go up more to truly grasp the overall situation. Undoubtedly, Uncle Shi saw this and was so enthusiastic to support me. That being the case, I should stand up and do my part! Why do I only want to try my luck? Am I such a mediocre person? No, I must hit, I will definitely hit!"

After making up his mind in this way, he became more enthusiastic than ever, and began to devote himself to intense preparations with all his strength.He gave up all friendships, and no longer engaged in poetry and poetry, and concentrated on studying and pondering the writing of stereotyped essays.He dug out the test papers of his previous township examinations and his daily exercises, together with the most famous anthologies of stereotyped essays, such as "Tong Wen Lu" selected by Qian Xi and Yang Tingshu, and "Dan Ning Ju Ji" selected by Ma Shiqi. , "Ming Wen Ding" selected by Ai Nanying, and some well-known anthologies of Cheng Mo and Fang Manuscripts are carefully compared and referenced, especially in the key points such as how to hover before the question, how to decide the gods in the question, and how to exert strength. .After doing this for nearly a month, I feel that my vision and handwriting have improved by leaps and bounds, which is quite different from a month ago.When he was proud, he thought conceitedly: "Hmph, unless the examiner is blind. Otherwise, it would be unreasonable for me to fail the exam with my writing today! Uncle Shi Shi wants to pass the exam for me, it's out of kindness But in fact, I have reached the peak of my writing, whether to talk about it or not is the second thing!"

So today, when he was about to go to the examination room, he seemed very calm and calm. He changed his clothes first, and then ordered him to take out a new square scarf to put on; Door curtains, stoves, candlesticks, candle scissors, pillows, etc.; then inspected the food and saw that in the three-drawer grid basket, the upper layer contained rice salt, sauce vinegar, eggs and other food materials, and the middle layer contained some delicate snacks and supplements. Like moon cakes, honey orange cakes, lotus seeds, longan meat, ginseng, etc., the bottom layer contains pens and inks, inkstones, digging knives, paste, etc., all ready to be used.He sat down again and drank a cup of tea, and was about to get up to go out, when he suddenly remembered that he should do a divination as usual, asking for good or bad luck.So I went to wash my hands again, lit a stick of incense, and then brought a small brocade box on the desk, and picked out fifty stalks of yarrow from it, first took out one, and then put the other forty-nine Divide the roots into two parts at random, count them in groups of four, and count them back and forth to get a "Ben Gua".Mao Xiang thought to himself: "Ben is the image of civilization." I already like it a little bit in my heart.Looking closely at the hexagrams, we can see that the inner and outer lines are relatively activated, which seems to indicate that this trip will kill two birds with one stone.Mao Xiang became puzzled: no matter how well he did in the exam this time, he only got one juren. Could it be possible that he could get back two juren in the exam?After much deliberation, I am always a little confused.Finally, he thought: "Anyway, it's not a bad omen." So he relieved himself, got up and went out.

Taoyehe House is not too far from the Gongyuan, just cross the Huaiqing Bridge and turn south.At this time, the road was crowded with people, all of whom were scholars rushing to the examination room.Some are young and handsome, quick-footed, and some are old, with white beard and hair; some are well-dressed, while others are ragged; Carrying luggage, I was so tired that I bent over and sweated profusely.The expression on the face also varies from person to person: those who look around and look tense must be freshmen who have just entered the arena; As for those calm and poised moves, either they think highly of themselves and think they are sure of winning, or they have secretly opened up their joints, and the victory is already within their grasp.Maoxiang belongs to the last category.As usual, Mao Cheng followed behind to carry his luggage, so he walked very relaxedly, with a smile on his face, and glanced at the roadside stalls selling ink collections, various stationery, and antique calligraphy and paintings from time to time.

When he was about to reach the Gongyuan, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind him, and before he had time to turn around, a figure rushed past him with a "huh" and rubbed his shoulder. If he hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been hit fall down.Mao Xiang saw that the tall figure was so familiar, he raised his voice and said: "Lang San!" The man paused for a moment, then turned around, and it really was Mei Lanzhong.I saw that his kerchief was crooked, his hair was fluffy, and he was sweating profusely from running, and he was out of breath.When he recognized Mao Xiang, he waved his hand angrily: "Hey, it's over, my brother is going to be late..." Then he led his servants away.

Mao Xiang was a little puzzled, but soon came to his senses.A few days ago, he read the notice posted in the Shanggong Court, and knew that this year, the roll call will be the students from Taiping Mansion, and the Yangzhou Mansion, where Maoxiang belongs, will be the last.The county in Meilang belonged to Ningguo Mansion, so I remember it was relatively near the front, no wonder he was so panic-stricken. "Lang San, this guy is always so reckless!" Mao Xiang frowned, thinking, and couldn't help smiling. "Have you heard, brother? Who should be Chinese in this rural examination? The list of the first ten candidates is already in the examiner's pocket!" Suddenly, he heard someone say this by his side.

"Ah, if there is such a thing, aren't we taking the exam for nothing?" Another person asked in surprise. "Bai Kao is not all Bai Kao. It's just the top ten. Don't think about it." The first person said coldly. Mao Xiang's heart skipped a beat, and when he turned his head, he found that the two speakers, one fat and one thin, were speaking. "Buy a Juren," Fat Juzi blinked, "I don't know how much money? It's a pity that I don't know how to do it. Otherwise, I will sell those three ancestral houses, and I will get him one at least!" "Sell the ancestral house?" Shoujuzi said contemptuously, "What's the use of that! If you want to win the exam, you might as well wear your skin and go to Taicang Prefecture to stand in front of the spirit of Zhang Tianru, the great sage of the master of Xizhang , respectfully and respectfully kowtow nine times, and then give those hypocrites who are four-partners, ten-sages, ten-time servants, five-dogs a loud flattery, and sweetly call godfather a few times Godfather, I beg them to let you join Fushe, and keep you within three years, and you will definitely be able to enter high school!" "Ah, could it be Fushe's trick again?" "Humph!" "I've looked for them, but they don't want me." Fat Juzi was stunned for a while, then said dejectedly. "They don't want it, I don't care about it! What kind of gentleman, let's just be a bunch of gangsters! Don't look at them now, one day..." Shou Juzi didn't finish speaking, and suddenly found that Mao Xiang was following behind intentionally or unintentionally, He stopped talking, pulled Fatty's hand, and the two walked a few steps, mingled among the crowd, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. After hearing these harsh comments, Mao Xiang was secretly surprised.Now that the world is getting worse, the examination hall is corrupt, and there are many shady scenes. He has already complained, and he knows it.In addition, this kind of stereotyped articles actually can't test any real talents and learning, so many talented people are trapped in the field for a long time, depressed and frustrated.It is precisely because of this that Fushe and its colleagues gathered together to try to reverse the downturn, and through mutual reference, the virtuous and talented people can feel proud and give full play to their talents.After a full ten years of hard work, some people finally went up one after another, but they also incurred a lot of criticism and slander.Especially those scholars outside the society were even more suspicious, and they regarded Fushe as a demon scourge that disturbed the examination room.As a result, Fushe has virtually become the target of public criticism that has been passed down from generation to generation. "Look, this is really the rise of a peak, and the mountains are jealous!" Mao Xiang thought coldly.At the same time, a sense of arrogance suddenly rose in my heart: "Hmph, that's right, we Fushe people want to win, deserve to win! The more unconvinced you are, the more I want to win for you to see! It's nothing more than these stereotyped essays, If I don’t believe it, I can’t beat you!” Thinking of this, he pulled himself together, quickened his pace, and walked towards the Gongyuan.