My Daming New Empire

Page 695

Although it was early, when Yu Qian entered the arena, it was already dawning.

The yamen servants responsible for the inspection are basically not local yamen servants in Hangzhou, but transferred from other places.Of course, the Yamen servants in Hangzhou will also be transferred to other places to perform duties.

The inspectors carefully checked the examination box and Yu Qian's clothes, and opened the special quilt directly to see if there was any entrainment.

According to the requirements of the imperial court, the quilts carried in the examination room are separated from the quilt for easy inspection.

But only rich families can have spare quilts. Where are ordinary poor families with spare quilts?

But at this time, because the inspector took your quilt apart, don't complain.At most, you bring your own needle and thread, and then sew up after you go in.

The inspection on the first day is the most stringent, thousands of people have to be inspected, so you need to enter the venue one day in advance, and get used to the environment by the way.

Yu Qian was lucky. He was located in the south-facing room on the west side of the examination room, and was in the penultimate room.

There are only two wooden boards in this room, one for sitting and the other for writing. At night, when the two boards are put together, one can sleep.

After entering, except for getting water once a day, eating, drinking, and sleeping are all inside.After nine days, the smell inside will naturally not be pleasant.

Although it is a bit far from the free water supply site, but because it is located on the edge, there is no need to be afraid of poison gas attacks.

Put your things away, it's already high in the sun.

Fearing that his pen, ink, paper and inkstone would be stolen, Yu Qian dared not leave his room. If these things were gone now, he would not even be able to take the exam.

Even if no one stole his pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and took away his dry food, would he be hungry these days?

Standing at the door of the number room, he looked around and figured out the direction.At this time, he saw Wang Gan carrying his own package.

Seeing that the other party was carrying a dilapidated test box, and the quilt under his arm showed a large piece of cotton wool, he smiled and called, "Wang Zhaonan."

Wang Gan saw him and walked over with a smile, not at all embarrassed by the worn-out quilt. "Yu Tingyi, you're in a good location. You're facing south, and you're still on the edge of the examination room. Don't worry about the smell."

Yu Qian saw the stack of sesame seed cakes on his test box, and said with a smile, "I like the pickles made by your mother very much, why don't we eat something different."

Wang Gan looked at Yu Qian, there was no sneer on his sunny face, only a touch of concern.

He was slightly moved in his heart, but without the slightest twitch, he threw the quilt on the ground, and then took off the test box behind his back.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the management of the examination room was relatively strict, and open flames were strictly prohibited in the examination room.There are no rich kids like those in the later generations who carry an oil stove and cook hot pot directly after the exam.

No matter if they are poor or rich, they basically prepare sesame seed cakes for three days. Some people in the south of the Yangtze River are not used to eating sesame seed cakes, so they will prepare some fried rice, and then soak them in hot water from the examination room.

The sesame seed cakes are also different from the sesame seed cakes. The sesame seed cakes brought by Wang Gan are all wheat flour mixed with miscellaneous grains. Although the taste is not very good, it can be more hungry.

The sesame seed cakes brought by Yu Qian not only have various meat fillings, but are also all baked with white flour.

The dishes he brought were also very rich, all of which were meat dishes with too much salt. He took out a portion and exchanged a portion of pickles with Wang Gan, and exchanged a few of his own meatloaf with Wang Gan.

"This kind of meat pie can't stand hunger, so replace your pancakes with sorghum with me."

Wang Gan was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile, "That's exactly what I wanted to do, and it also allowed me to play the tooth-beating sacrifice..."

Facing Yu Qian, he smiled brightly.But when the two separated and Wang Gan packed his bags again to find his number room, his eyes couldn't help but get a little moist.

He swore secretly in his heart. "Yu Tingyi, one day, I will repay you with the spring!"

After everyone came in after being checked, the chief examiner announced that the venue was closed, and it was already sunset.

There was no exam arranged on the first day, but after everyone came in, the chief examiner would read out the grandson's edict, and then explain the discipline of the exam room.

When it was getting late, everyone began to prepare the first meal for themselves. After eating, only a few students rushed to the door to communicate with their classmates in a low voice, and most of them rested quietly in their own rooms to recharge their energy. sharp.

On the ninth day of the second day of August, the first exam officially began.

The examination questions in each province are set by the outer curtain officials, and the inner curtain officials mark the papers. The two parties are not allowed to go out or meet each other until the results are out.

Although the exam questions vary from province to province, the content is basically the same.

The first exam consisted of an article on "The Analects of Confucius", an article on "The Doctrine of the Mean" or an article on "University", an article on "Mencius", one poem with five characters and eight rhymes, and four poems of classics and meanings. Each of the first three questions and four books should be written More than [-] words, and more than [-] words for the four scriptures and meanings.

This exam is a stereotyped essay, and it is also the most important of the three exams, because if you fail in the first exam, no matter how good you are in the later exams, it will be difficult to win the favor of the inner curtain officer who examines the questions.

The twelfth day is the second session. The five classics are tested, and the edict, judgment, table, and edict are tested. The argumentative essay requires more than [-] words, and there will be modifications in the future.

The [-]th is the third session, trying to express comments or opinions on current affairs and government affairs at that time based on five current affairs policies, that is, combining Confucian classics theory.

Yu Qian also knew the importance of the first round. He reviewed the questions carefully first, but did not write in a hurry. Instead, he pondered in his heart for a long time before filling in his name and hometown in the standard position of the examination paper.

Although the three-day exam seems to be a long time, it is not enough for most people.

The style of the eight-legged essay has a fixed format: it consists of eight parts: breaking the title, inheriting the title, starting the lecture, entering the title, starting the essay, middle section, back section, and closing the section. The topics all come from the original texts in the Four Books and Five Classics.

Each of the last four parts has two lines of parallelism and antithesis, which together form eight lines.

Stereotyped essays should speak in the tone of Confucius and Mencius, and the four pairs of pairs should be level and flat, and the saints should not be blasphemed with romantic allusions. Each article includes four parts from the opening to the binding.

Moreover, there are many restrictions on the content of stereotyped essays, and the views must be the same as those of "Zhu sage" Zhu Xi, which greatly restricts the emergence of rich content.If you have a different point of view, you will not be able to pass the exam.

Each paragraph of the article sticks to a fixed format, and even the number of words has a certain limit, especially the parts of starting, middle, back, and bundle require strict confrontation, similar to parallel prose, and writing is very difficult.

It is easy to answer the questions, but it is difficult to answer the questions well.

This is like giving you a few topics and asking you to make a few poems with hundreds of words.It is not so difficult to write a poem with hundreds of words brilliantly.

In addition, some words should be avoided in the answer, such as the name of the emperor. When writing those words, substitute words must be used.

All kinds of frameworks have been wiped out of everyone's imagination, so Gu Yanwu of later generations said, "The harm of stereotyped writing is equal to burning books, and the corruption of talents is worse than the suburbs of Xianyang..."

This kind of selection of talents will only select some corrupt Confucians who follow suit, and their thinking has completely rigidified.

In Yingtian Mansion, Zhu Zhanji, who was sitting in Jinshen Hall, knew better than anyone else the dangers of stereotyped essays, which can be said to be a step backward in thinking.

Future generations cannot have their own ideas and can only learn from the ancients. How can this era develop?How can society progress?

The founding of the Ming Dynasty was in 1368, and the first scientific examination in the Ming Dynasty was in 1367.

why?It is because at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were not many literate talents.

That's why Zhu Zhanji selects materials based on stereotyped essays, because a person who can understand the scriptures is already a talent.

Even so, there were still not enough officials in the Ming Dynasty. In the Hongwu Dynasty, the supervisors of the Guozijian did not need to take exams, and they could become officials directly because there were too few talents.

Until the Yongle Dynasty, although the stereotyped essay was still not abolished, a strict framework had not yet been formed.

Scholars must pass three exams to participate in the imperial examination.However, the writing method is occasional or scattered, and there is no fixed rule at the beginning.

In later generations, during the Chenghua period of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, advocated by Wang Jia, Xie Qian, Zhang Mao and others, stereotyped essays gradually formed with emphasis on rhythm and steps, and gradually formed a relatively strict formula.In the 23rd year of Chenghua, it began to change from "classic and righteousness" to open examination of stereotyped essays. It was stipulated that essays should be written in stereotyped style, with strict format and limited number of words.