Early the next morning, Zhu Ping'an woke up from his sleep, lifted the rabbit fur blanket and opened his eyes, only feeling one thing - cold.
Looking outside, I saw the ground was silvery white, and snowflakes were falling in the sky. At first, the snow was not heavy or dense, just like catkins drifting in the wind. As the north wind blew, the snowflakes became larger and larger, and the sky was like a huge white net, rustling and dense, and the shelter seemed to have suddenly had a white curtain.
I am a wolf from the north, but I am frozen like a dog in Nanjing.
This is not just talk. Although Yingtian is located in the south, it is surrounded by hills on three sides and the Yangtze River on one side. When cold air moves south, there will be gusts of cold wind.
Of course, this kind of heavy snow is also unusual for that day.
After Zhu Pingan got up, he took out a rabbit fur coat from his bag and put it on, and then he felt warm. After washing his face and having breakfast on the charcoal brazier, Zhu Pingan cleaned up the room, restored it to its original appearance with tables and chairs, and then devoted himself to answering questions again.
Zhu Ping'an's only remaining neighbor put on all his clothes, but he was still shivering from the cold. He couldn't help but put his hands on the brazier to warm them up when he wrote a few words, and he had to be careful not to let his nose run on the test paper. At this time, this man was extremely envious of the silly boy next door who came in with a huge bag on his back... ...
The snow fell all day, and Zhu Pingan finished writing the remaining four eight-part essays. He finished the last one at dusk, using a small candle.
These four eight-part essays are all about the Five Classics, and none of them are difficult. However, one of the questions is very interesting: I am thinking about it in my heart. This sentence comes from "The Book of History. The Oath of Qin". "Meimei" means secretly. "Meimei Ersi" means to think deeply and quietly (that is, I am thinking secretly in my heart).
There is a joke about this topic in modern times. It is said that in the late Qing Dynasty, the title of the article was "I am confused and thinking about it". It may be based on the topic of this provincial examination. However, one candidate had not read "Book of History. Qin Shi Huang" and mistook "迷迷" for "sister". So the whole article was about calling brother and sister, and full of love words. After reading it, the examiner was amused and made a joke, commenting on the side: "Brother, you are wrong." It became a joke for a while.
I wonder if anyone will make the same mistake in this exam.
That evening, the snow stopped.
But on the third day, the weather became even colder. It is obvious that it is not cold when snowing, but it is cold when the snow melts.
At around five o'clock in the afternoon of the third day, Zhu Ping'an had already neatly copied all seven eight-part essays on the test paper. After checking it several times, he was waiting to hand it in.
This is the first and most important exam of the provincial examination. For example, the examination is based on the seven eight-part essays in the first round, and then combined with the results of the second and third rounds. After mutual review and discussion, the number of successful candidates is determined.
This day is the day to hand in the papers. The papers are handed in in three batches: one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. The examiner signs each paper he collects, and the signatures match the papers. The names on the papers are covered, and before the papers are graded, the copyists write down the names with a red pen. The examiners review the red papers and mark them with a blue pen.
Zhu Ping'an handed in his paper before dusk, packed up his things, and followed the crowd out of the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall.
When Zhu Ping'an came out, there were still candidates in the Imperial Examination Hall who were racing against time. The provincial examination stipulated that the examination hall should be cleared at 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. If they had not finished by then, they would have failed.
Good luck to you.
Zhu Ping'an said this silently as he left the examination room.
It was just like after a modern exam. When I left the exam room, I saw people gathered in groups of three or four, talking about the exam. Of course, they were mainly discussing the exam questions, you said one thing and I said another. They argued until their faces turned red, and then someone felt something was wrong, and finally their faces turned pale.
Why bother? If you don't have enough psychological quality, why discuss the test questions at this time? Zhu Pingan shook his head slightly, curled the corners of his lips, and strode towards the inn.
"Zhu, Brother Zhu, wait for me."
Hearing the fat man's voice from behind, Zhu Ping'an stopped and turned around to see the fat man running towards him trembling, washing his runny nose as he walked, looking like he was frozen like a dog.
The fat man walked up to Zhu Ping'an and saw the two layers of rabbit fur coats on Zhu Ping'an. He pounced on him with his eyes shining and tried to take off one of the coats to try on. In his heart, he was still yelling that his godmother was partial to him.
"There's another thing in the bag. I'll give it to you." Zhu Ping'an stepped aside and threw the bag he was carrying into the fat man's hands.
Then the fat man hurriedly took out the rabbit fur coat from his bag, and couldn't wait to put it on. Instantly, the long-lost warmth came again, and the fat man's eyes were so happy that they couldn't be seen.
Because they had an exam the next day, Zhu Ping'an and Fatty simply had a hearty dinner at the inn and then went back to their rooms to rest.
In the early hours of the next day, Zhu Ping'an and other candidates lined up in front of Jiangnan Gongyuan again, waiting to enter. This time, everyone brought more things, including more clothes.
At about three o'clock, the Imperial Examination Hall began to check admission, and at about six o'clock, Zhu Ping'an arrived at the same cell as yesterday.
This section is the second section of the provincial examination, which consists of one essay, five judgments, and one imperial edict, imperial decree, and memorial to the emperor.
This exam was not difficult, as it consisted mostly of official documents. Zhu Ping'an finished the exam in a hurry, and the quality of his answers was also very good. He handed in the paper in the afternoon of the third day.
Then we lined up in the early morning for the third exam.
This exam was much more difficult, with five questions on classics, history and policy. The first question was fine, but when it came to the second question, 80% of the candidates were about to collapse.
"What are the seventy-two sages of Confucius capable of?"
Damn, I can’t even name all 72 disciples of Confucius, and you still want me to tell you what they are capable of! So many candidates were devastated.
Zhu Pingan was a little amused when he saw this question. For him who has a strong memory, this question is not difficult. He had intentionally looked up information about Confucius' seventy-two disciples on the Internet before, including "The Family of Confucius", "Spring and Autumn Annals" and other scattered records. For example, "Records of the Grand Historian. The Family of Confucius" records: "Confucius taught poetry, books, rituals, and music. He had about three thousand disciples, and seventy-two of them were proficient in the six arts." So this question was almost not difficult for Zhu Pingan.
Yan Hui was Confucius' favorite disciple, a studious and benevolent man; Min Sun was known for his virtue; Ran Qiu was multi-talented and famous for his political affairs; Zai Yu was good at speaking; Duanmu Ci had outstanding political and diplomatic talents and excellent financial management and business capabilities... ...
In addition to this policy essay question, there is another interesting policy essay question, which asks about the strategy to conquer Japan.
Zhu Ping'an didn't even have to think about it. He polished the strategy he had made for dealing with the Japanese pirates and copied it directly onto the draft paper.
At dusk on the third day, the creaking sound of the Jiangnan Examination Hall’s door opening shattered the loneliness at the street corner.
A young man in a rabbit fur coat walked out of the door, stopped and looked back at the gate of Jiangnan Gongyuan, raised his lips confidently, revealed a silly smile, and then disappeared in the vast snow. (To be continued...)
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