There were three sessions in total, each lasting three days and nights. Since there were two changes of venues in between, the actual duration was nine days and seven nights. During these nine days and seven nights, the examinees had to stay in the Imperial Examination Hall until the last session was over, when the hall would be opened and the examinees would be allowed to leave.
Zhu Pingan finished the first test, which consisted of seven eight-part essays, on the morning of the third day and copied them neatly on the answer sheet. Because the second test would not begin until the fourth day, after the morning test, Zhu Pingan put all the test papers and straw papers in a test paper bag and hung it on the wall. He then cleaned up the room, made the kang, and lay down on it and fell asleep.
At noon that day, the chief examiner Xu Jie led several invigilators to inspect the examination room again. When they passed by the row where Zhu Ping'an was, before they reached the smelly room where Zhu Ping'an was, they frowned because of the strange smell everywhere.
However, in order to fulfill his duties as the chief examiner, Xu Jie still held his breath with his sleeves and continued to move forward. The other examinees behind Xu Jie also held their noses and walked forward a few steps.
A gust of north wind blew over, bringing back the smell of excrement that had been accumulating in the toilet for three days. It was so sour...
vomit
One of the candidates finally couldn't hold it in any longer and vomited.
However, no one laughed at him, because everyone was almost about to vomit when the north wind came. Now that he vomited, everyone felt relieved, because if they couldn't help vomiting, they wouldn't be alone.
"Tongkao Wang, why don't you go back to Mingjing Building first?" an examiner advised.
Wang Tongkao, who was about to vomit bile, squatted on the ground and vomited, but he still stretched out his hand, shook it firmly, and insisted on continuing to patrol.
After Wang Tongkao finished vomiting, Xu Jie led everyone to move forward.
When we were almost at the end, we heard a rhythmic snoring sound coming from the stinking trumpet in front.
I walked two steps forward and saw a young man sleeping soundly in the stinking cell, covered with a thick rabbit fur blanket. He was snoring rhythmically.
He can sleep so soundly next to the toilet! We couldn't help it even though we were so far away. Wang Tongkao just vomited, and this guy is next to the toilet. He is at the forefront of the toilet smell, but he can sleep so soundly!
Everyone was amazed, and after another look, the number of this room seemed familiar. Oh, isn't this the toilet man who cooked a pot of noodles as soon as he entered the venue and ate it while screaming? !
It turns out that this kid can not only eat, but also sleep!
However, this kid can eat and sleep, but he seems to be unable to do the test. When I first saw him, he was eating noodles, and this time he was sleeping. Looking at his dormitory again, the test paper bags hanging on the wall were very neat. It seemed that he had never written anything, as if he had put the test paper in the bag like this when it was just distributed.
Alas, what a pity.
If only the candidate who fainted from vomiting yesterday could have the same endurance as him, how great it would be! The examiners couldn't help but sigh when they thought of the other candidate who fainted from vomiting.
One can endure but is unable to solve the problem.
One can do the questions, but can't endure it.
What a pity and hateful.
Of course, it’s a pity for the candidate who fainted from vomiting, and the hateful one is naturally Zhu Pingan who snored rhythmically.
Zhu Pingan slept until the afternoon when the invigilator came to collect the first exam papers. After being woken up by the invigilator, Zhu Pingan stood up and handed the exam paper to the examiner who was standing by with a look of contempt. The examiner was also one of the members who followed Xu Jie to inspect the exam in the afternoon. He saw Zhu Pingan sleeping at noon. Unexpectedly, when the papers were collected in the evening, this kid was still sleeping. He must have not answered the questions.
Despise it!
After receiving the seal from the official, he gave Zhu Ping'an a look of contempt, then walked away with his nose pinched.
At this time, the rain was still falling outside. After Zhu Ping'an made love, he put on a thick rabbit fur coat, took out some preserved fruits and dried meat from his bag, roasted them on the charcoal brazier, had dinner, and then went back to sleep.
At around five o'clock the next morning, Zhu Ping'an got up again. After washing up, he grilled some dried meat on the charcoal brazier to fill his stomach. He drank some hot water and began to wait for the second test paper to be distributed.
According to convention, the second examination was the same as the provincial examination, which was to test official documents, which were divided into two types: official documents between superiors and subordinates and judicial judgments written based on provided cases. Specifically, it consisted of one essay, five judgments, and one edict, one decree, and one memorial.
The test papers were distributed around seven or eight in the morning.
After the test papers were handed out, Zhu Ping'an took a look at the questions, was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing out loud.
Of course, while Zhu Ping'an was laughing out loud, many candidates in the examination room were cursing silently while looking at their test papers.
If for no other reason, it was because of the questions in the second test paper. This test paper was different from the previous joint examinations. The overall number of questions in this test paper did not change, but the types of questions changed. This test paper required an essay on one poem, four judgments, one each of an edict, an imperial decree, and a memorial, but there was an additional question about Qingci at the end.
In other words, compared with previous exams, this exam has one less judgment question but one more Qingci.
In this way, the second exam has the characteristics of Jiajing, Qingci, which is the most representative symbol of Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing is also known as the Qingci Emperor.
I believe that the changes in the examinations were not made by Xu Jie and his men. Even if they were given ten courages, they would not dare to do so. Although Emperor Jiajing was obsessed with alchemy and cultivating immortality, he had a genius-like understanding and insight into political intrigues, but he controlled the court officials firmly. Any official, even one as powerful as Yan Song, could be crushed into powder with just one word from Emperor Jiajing as long as he was willing.
Emperor Jiajing was the absolute boss of the Ming Empire.
In addition, Emperor Jiajing himself seemed unfathomable because of his cultivation of immortality and alchemy and his high IQ. The court officials were trembling in front of Jiajing, respecting and fearing him at the same time. Who would dare to exercise subjective initiative in such an examination that concerned the country's major plans? It's not like they have several heads, so it doesn't matter if one loses!
According to the development of history, Xu Jie had just been tricked by Yan Song and was being left out by Emperor Jiajing at this time, so naturally he would not make such a controversial change in the imperial examination.
Then, the person who could make the changes could only be Emperor Jiajing. Well, this special examination was originally a gift from Emperor Jiajing, so it was normal for him to make a change in this exam.
Emperor Jiajing, indeed, it is Emperor Jiajing.
During the reign of Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song, the prime minister who was good at writing Qing Ci poems, emerged. Haha, now there is also a Qing Ci examination coming up.
But I am very grateful, because I knew the information about Emperor Jiajing from reading history books before, so I got the book "Zhaijiao Qingci Jing" given by the old Taoist who was suspected to be Lan Daoxing. I have also studied a lot about Qingci, and I have made some achievements, if not great ones. In this imperial examination hall, I am able to laugh at the world, and I was originally thinking about how to display this.
In this case, thank you very much.
This time, my chances of passing the imperial examination have increased to 99%. The imperial examination focuses on the first test, and I answered the first test very well. Now there is a Qingci test question added by Emperor Jiajing in the second test, so naturally this Qingci question will also be the focus of the examination. Qingci, compared to other candidates, I am good at it. Therefore, this time the imperial examination is already stable.
Zhu Pingan looked at the test paper and raised the corners of his lips. (To be continued.)