The students of Ningxing House spontaneously sent the old man to the inner city to prevent the old man from being targeted by the thieves again. And he left some money privately, or some pen and ink that he could use.
But since it is in the inner city, it will be relatively safe.
In the blink of an eye, on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, Li Jin, Pan Youfeng, and Wu Wei got up early in the morning, carried the book baskets that had been packed up last night, and went to the gate of the Gongyuan.
In his last life, Li Jin had heard that there was a slow-flowing Qinhuai River in front of Jiangnan Gongyuan, and there were brothels on the opposite side.
Although it is in the south, there are not many waterways in their north, but the Goulan Courtyard is very similar.
When Li Jin went to the site a few days ago, he could smell the aroma of rouge wafting from the small building not far from the Gongyuan.
The fellow scholars were a little eager to move, but when they thought of participating in the autumn festival soon, they held back their thoughts.
But there were still people who couldn't control it, so they went to Goulan Courtyard to have a good time for a few days, and on the morning of the eighth day, they hurriedly packed their clothes and book baskets and went to take the exam.
It was early in the summer and when Li Jin arrived at the gate of Gongyuan, it was still dark.
After a while, the sky brightened.
In the surrounding small buildings, a girl opened the window and looked at the scholars below.
Those who are too old do not watch, those who are too short do not watch, but those who are tall and have thick hair are selected to watch.
"Sisters, look, is that Qian Xiucai?"
"Yo, it's true, Qian Xiucai lived with me for three days, how could I not know him."
However, their voices could not be heard. First, they were far away, and second, they did not dare to make a loud noise. After all, this was the gate of Gongyuan.
Qiu Wei's body search was even more meticulous. Not only did he take off his clothes, but he also had to let the scholars walk from one door to the second door naked, which prevented someone from hiding the entrainment in the anorectal.
After all, Qiu Wei has assigned a number room to each entrance examination, and no one cares even if you want to answer shirtless if you close the door.
Only occasionally there will be examiners to inspect, if you see the candidates shirtless through the holes, I am afraid that they will lose their impression points.
The distance between the first door and the second door is only ten meters. Those who walked coyly, or who fell from the back while walking, were all pulled out and dealt with.
As for other talents who pass the examination, they have to take off their hair crowns or square scarves to check whether there is any entrainment in their hair. Finally, I checked the ears, mouth, and nostrils one by one, and then I was released.
The arrangement of the rooms in the Gongyuan where Li Jin is located is arranged according to the black and yellow of heaven and earth.
Previously, he, Pan Youfeng and Wu Wei bought the map distribution of Gongyuan. They already knew that the whole Gongyuan was square, and the central axis was where the examiners lived. The corners are huts.
The prefix of the ground is very close to the examiner's residence, and Li Jin is in the middle of the prefix of the ground, so it is far, far away from the thatched hut.
Li Jin breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, if he put the situation of Lu Changdong last year on him, he might not be able to answer the question in the end.
Li Jin took his number plate and stood behind the talents who passed the inspection.
After everyone has checked, they can enter the numbered rooms one by one.
In the No. room, apart from two wooden boards, there is a charcoal basin and a candle.
Even though Li Jin was mentally prepared, the moment he entered, he still felt very crowded.
He is not fat, nor is he strong, but he is a little tall and has long legs. After entering the numbered room, he closed the door and only felt constrained.
Li Jin put down the book basket, stepped over a wooden board, and stood on the side of the numbered room. After the test questions and answer sheets were released, he directly put the original charcoal fire and candles near the door.
Anyway, the door is locked now, and he won't go to the toilet for a while, so he might as well make more room for himself.
During the autumn season, the charcoal fire is used for cooking, but in the spring season next year, half of the cooking and half of the fire will be used.
Li Jin touched the wall and found that it was all made of wood. By the way, he prayed that the candidates would not start a fire in the middle of the night, otherwise one accidentally burned the wall, which might cause a fire.
Li Jin carefully sprinkled the realgar in his room, and then removed a piece of wood and placed it on the recessed part of the wall, making it a table. Another fast plank is used to sit, but it is actually difficult to stretch the legs, but at this time, it can only be tolerated.
Li Jin took out his pen and ink, and began to ponder the test questions while grinding the ink.
Qiu Wei took the exam for nine consecutive days, which was also a huge test for the willpower of the candidates.
It was still early and the weather was not hot, so Li Jin took off the thicker single coat sewn by the husband, folded it, and placed it in the book basket.
This Qiu Wei said that candidates are not allowed to wear cotton-padded clothes, and a maximum of two single clothes.
Qin Muwen prepared a thin one for Li Jin to wear during the day, and another thicker one that could be covered at night.
Li Jin has already planned that every morning is the time when his head is the clearest, and he has to calmly write articles during this time.
By noon, the heat is getting hotter day by day, and the wooden house does not absorb heat, which may make people drowsy. Even Li Jin could not guarantee his state of mind at that time.
The first session of Qiu Wei is very important. Many examiners only rely on the students' essays in the first session to decide whether to admit or not. [Note]
But this is not absolute. Some examiners value the gorgeousness of students' rhetoric, which is also a matter of personal habits.
But no matter what, the first exam is especially important.
Li Jin first picked up the exam questions and began to read them. There were seven questions to be done in the first session, including three questions from the four books and four questions from the Five Classics. [Note]
The three questions of the four books are the same for all candidates, and the four questions of the Five Classics allow candidates to choose four answers from the twenty questions. [Note]
Li Jin first scanned all the topics, and picked out some topics that could not only show his talent, but would not touch the interests of high-ranking people.
At that time, when he and Wan Yun were still revising their strategies, the two discussed some more sensitive topics.
For example, beware of the pros and cons of this approach if the emperor boils down his elder brother and only ascends the throne in his fifties, rather than ceding the throne to the younger princes.
Of course, this kind of thing can't be written on the answer sheet. At that time, after Li Jin and Wan Yun practiced similar questions, they would burn them immediately, so as not to be caught.
Therefore, Li Jin picked and chose several topics related to current affairs. Although the angle of the questions was relatively new, Li Jin also knew these things by heart. As soon as he saw the title, he knew what to list.
Instead, there are three questions in four books, and one of them is extremely strange.
The title has only one word, 'two'.
This is even more fragmented than the cut-and-take questions of the previous academy exam. He didn't even count a complete sentence, not a single word, just the word 'two'.
Li Jin thought about it, there are many places where two appear in the "Analects of Confucius", such as 'Zhou Jian Yu's second generation', 'Ci Ye Wen Yi to know the 2', 'Yu Si He He Xian'...
But this question has only one simple 'two', I am afraid it is not from a sentence, but the special listed 'two'.
Li Jin began to silently recite the Four Books in his heart, and wrote down all the sentences that appeared "two".
After all, this was his first day of the exam. If he skipped this question now and answered all the questions later, he would probably have to give up on this question.
Li Jin still remembers that when he was young in his last life, the teachers always said, 'If you don't know how to do it, leave it blank, and write the rest later', but every time at the end, the problem was left blank.
At first, it was to get more scores in the test, so it was considered a temporary measure.
But now, there are only seven questions in total, and when the other six questions already have ideas, Li Jin still wants to figure out this question first, otherwise he will probably not be able to think of this question in the next two days How to answer.
With such an enumeration, time flies quickly. Li Jin's first plain paper was almost full before he got the result he wanted—
In the Twelfth Chapter of The Analects of Confucius, Yan Yuan, Duke Ai asked Yuruo... and said: "Second, I am still insufficient, how can I be thorough?" He replied, "If the people are sufficient, what is the lack of the ruler? If the people are not enough, the ruler Which is the best?"
This time, Li Jin no longer hesitated to confirm that the 'two' in this test question came from this sentence, because in the entire four books, only the 'two' here is an independent sentence.
After finding the source of the question, the answer after that is very smooth.
By noon, the weather was getting hot, and Li Jin had already written two eight-part first drafts. He put his own writing aside, and piled the rest of the drafts together.
At this time, Li Jin was also a little hungry. He took out the small iron pot he had prepared, asked the guard outside the door to ask for a pot of water, divided the charcoal fire into two thirds, then set the rest on fire and brought the Put the dry pasta that came.
After all, they have to stay here for three days, and the imperial court also allows candidates to bring a pot to cook by themselves.
Although you can cook by yourself, there is only a pot of charcoal fire, and it is not replenished when used up. Cooking porridge is a waste of time and consumes the charcoal fire.
Before the exam, he didn't know how much the charcoal was and how long it would last, so Li Jin decided to be safe and bring something easy to cook.
This dry dough cake is actually made by pressing the gnocchi into pieces, then cutting them into strips, and drying them.
Before the autumn season, many stores were selling them, so Li Jin followed the trend and bought some.
But he also brought some potatoes and Chinese cabbage, and the potatoes could be roasted in a charcoal pot while he was making the soup, and cooked for dinner.
The Chinese cabbage is placed directly in the soup, and when the heat of the pot cools down, eat directly with the pot.
No way, Qiu Wei asked each person to bring only one cooking utensil for rice, and not a bowl if he brought a pot.
Li Jin counted the time. It took about 20 minutes to boil the water and cook the noodles. The charcoal fire in the basin had turned gray, and it was obvious that it was almost used.
He thought, fortunately, he distributed more than half of it in advance, and fortunately he didn't bring rice, otherwise he could only eat cold water on the last day.
There is nothing wrong with eating cold rice, but cold water can easily cause physical discomfort. There are still two games and six days to come, and the body must hold up.
After eating, the sun was too big, there were many gaps on the door, and the thatched awning above his head absorbed heat, and Li Jin was covered in sweat. Somewhat lethargic.
He didn't write the policy theory during this time, but copied the two answers he wrote in the morning.
Fortunately, the hot weather did not affect his holding of the pen. In addition, when Li Jin practiced with Mr. Pang before, he could endure the harsh winter and heat.
At that time, Li Jin was thinking that if he was put under the circumstances of the county examination and the academy examination at that time, there would not be a situation where his hands were too stiff and he would not dare to write easily.
Li Jin's calligraphy today has been infinitely close to the pavilion style. In this era, there is no pavilion style for the time being. When Pang Lao saw Li Jin's regular script, he couldn't help but praise him—
"Beautiful, neat, and uncompromising."
Rules, style but not showing vigor, this is probably the favorite of the superiors.