When Zhu Ping'an and his classmates were taking the second exam, the examiners also started to get busy.
In fact, after the first exam, at around 5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, the first batch of 100 sealed examination papers were delivered to the examiners, and then more than 5,000 more were delivered. On the red envelopes, there were different words such as "South", "North" and "Central".
This is the regional division system of the Ming Dynasty. With the conclusion of the "South-North Division" case in the 30th year of Hongwu, the "South-North Division" examination system of the Ming Dynasty was established. In the following days, it was constantly revised. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it finally became the division of "South List", "North List" and "Central List" (Anhui and southwestern provinces). The admission ratio was also fixed at 55% for the South List, 35% for the North List, and 10% for the Central List.
While Zhu Ping'an and his classmates were taking the second exam, the examiners had already started marking the papers.
The place where the examiners read the papers was the "Zhigong Hall" of Shuntian Gongyuan. The Zhigong Hall was behind Mingyuan Building. There were outer curtains on the east and west sides for the management staff to live in. Behind the Zhigong Hall was the inner curtain for the examiners to live in. This was where the examiners read the papers.
There is a couplet outside the main entrance of Zhigong Hall, which is intended to explain that it is not easy for the candidates. It emphasizes the examiners' "broad-minded knowledge" and selfless spirit in selecting candidates, believing that only in this way can true talents be selected for the country and the candidates can be convinced.
"After three years of hard work to come here, everyone has the intention to sell. If you are not fair, then those who have made the move will be happy, while those who have made the mistake will inevitably feel resentful, and resentment will accumulate and slander will arise;"
"I have hoped to sit in this hall all my life, and strive to be knowledgeable among the crowd. As long as I am extremely cautious, I will be happy if I gain, and will not feel ashamed if I lose. When shame disappears, reputation will rise."
In the Zhigong Hall, after the red papers of the first round arrived, the chief examiner Xu Jie and the deputy examiner Yan Maoqing led eight co-examiners to the curtained hall inside the Zhigong Hall under the portrait of Confucius. The two examiners stepped forward and burned three incense sticks, and then performed the ritual of kneeling three times and kowtowed nine times before the statue of Confucius.
Xu Jie was at the front, followed closely by Yan Maoqing, and the other examiners followed in order of rank.
"To recruit officials impartially for the sake of the country and society, without favoritism, without accepting requests, and without accepting bribes - if you fail to do so, the gods will punish you."
Xu Jie led all the examiners to swear an oath together. This has been a rule that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. After the oath, the two examiners withdrew. Then the officials of the Imperial Examination Hall were busy offering sacrifices to Emperor Wenchang, worshipping Kuili, and inviting Emperor Guan... All kinds of procedures were strictly followed according to previous examples.
After the procedure was completed, the drawing of lots began. The chief examiner Xu Jie and the deputy chief examiner Yan Maoqing drew lots first. The chief examiner drew the room lot. The deputy chief examiner drew the lot for the test paper, and then decided which bundle of test papers would be assigned to which room for marking based on the result of the drawing of lots.
The examiners distributed the red papers by drawing lots. Each examiner was given about 500 red papers, which all contained papers from different regions of "South", "North" and "Central". The middle papers, also known as the recommended papers, were selected according to the ratio of 55% for the South list, 35% for the North list and 10% for the Central list.
"Everyone, even if I don't say it, you should all know the importance of this exam. I'm sure you all have seen how much His Majesty values this exam. The second round of Qingci is His Majesty's will. So, we just swore to be sincere..."
Xu Jie said as he scanned the examiners one by one. Xu Jie, who was always smiling, was unusually serious at this moment.
"Otherwise, be careful of your lives and property! The emperor will not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes! Well, I believe that you are all fair people, so start recommending the papers."
After Xu Jie finished speaking, he waved his hand, indicating that the marking of the examination papers had officially begun.
The marking of the examination papers is the same as that of the provincial examination papers. The marking officers of each room have no decision-making power. They just circle the papers they think are good and recommend them to the chief examiner. This is called recommendation, commonly known as "out of the room". Those papers that are particularly outstanding and specially recommended are called "high recommendation", while those that are not recommended by them are called "lost papers". The examiner must also write comments on these lost papers, explaining the reasons for not recommending them.
If it is a recommended paper, the probability of being selected is only 5-6 points. If the deputy examiner is satisfied with it, he will write a "select" on the recommended paper and then send it to the chief examiner. If it gets this "select", the probability will increase to 8-9 points. When the chief examiner is satisfied, he will write another "select". After these procedures, a red paper is considered to have been successfully completed. Congratulations on being selected.
The examination paper marking time was only about twelve days. In these short twelve days, each examiner had to mark more than five hundred papers. The total number of papers marked for the three sessions was nearly one thousand five hundred. In such a short time, it was almost impossible to read all the papers in each session in detail. Therefore, it gradually formed a trend to focus only on the first test paper, that is, the "Four Books" that every candidate had to do, and not pay much attention to the answer papers of other sessions.
Of course, this examination was an exception, and they also had to pay special attention to the second test paper because this test paper contained the Qingci topic set by Emperor Jiajing.
While the examiner was busy marking the first test paper, the second test had already ended. There was only one test left in this joint examination.
The test papers for the final exam were distributed amidst the expectant gazes of all the candidates. The candidates' overnight prayers were not in vain, as the final exam was not as complicated as the second one. This exam was the same as the previous ones, with five questions on classics, history and policy.
The five questions in this exam were all standard, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. After working so hard to come up with a poem, the examinees could finally breathe a sigh of relief and answer the questions step by step.
Zhu Pingan was the same, the only difference was that he wore a mask more than other candidates, and of course he also had a historical understanding that was hundreds of years ahead of them, which was very helpful for the classics and history questions. Standing high means you can see far, and seeing far means you have an advantage.
When Zhu Ping'an was working hard on his last exam, three large ships sailed along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to the Tianjin Port, which was mainly engaged in water transport and commerce.
"Miss, where are we? Why are there so many boats? Wow, that boat is so big!"
A chubby little maid appeared on the high pavilion of the big ship pavilion. She looked at the ships lined up several miles away in front of Tianjin Port and pouted her lips in surprise.
"You are surprised by what you have seen. That is a sea ship. This is Tianjin Wei. All the ships carrying grain from all over the country to the capital have to pass through here." A very beautiful girl appeared on the high pavilion of the big ship pavilion, holding a book in her hand. She gently tapped the forehead of the chubby little maid and said coquettishly.
"Tianjin, doesn't that mean we're going to the capital? Miss, I wonder if our son-in-law has finished his exams..." The chubby little maid covered her forehead with her hands, her big round eyes sparkling.
"Who has time to care about that toad?"
The absolutely beautiful girl pursed her lips and said angrily, then she closed the book with her delicate hands and walked down the platform.
Inside the scroll, a carefully preserved Wensiquan talisman showed a small corner. (To be continued.)