Tibet

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the imperial examination. At five o'clock, Wei Gao was awakened by the fierce knocking on the door of the clerk. He quickly woke up his two companions.

At the same time, all the scholars in the inn woke up one after another. They only heard the rapid footsteps coming and going. There was no noise. Everyone was silent. Everyone was busy washing and eating breakfast.

Wei Gao and the other three also finished washing up as quickly as possible, went to the toilet again, and then started packing their things.

In fact, there is no need to pack it up. They can only bring one exam coupon to the examination hall. The exam coupon is the admission ticket. Apart from the exam coupon, no other items are allowed to be carried. The Prince of Qi's Mansion has spent a lot of money on this imperial examination. Not only must Prepare 50,000 pens, inks, paper and inkstones, and also prepare a gift for each candidate, a piece of sheepskin, which can be taken back to the elders for use.

Of course, this is also a way to win over scholars. Sometimes if you give too much, they will not be grateful and will only find it less. On the contrary, small favors are easier to impress. Even if you fail, you will not get nothing. At least you will still have a piece of money worth a few dollars. I took the sheepskin belt back, and I wasn't in a bad mood.

"Let's go! It's almost time."

Wei Gao called in a low voice and quickly walked out of the inn with his two companions.

There are already more than a dozen carriages parked in front of the inn, all of which were found by the inn. Of course, you have to pay for the fare yourself, and it is not expensive. It costs ten cents per person. A carriage can seat ten people. When it is full, it will start to drive to the Examination Institute. .

"Don't take the wrong one. Those who take the imperial examination take the carriages over here!"

The waiter yelled instructions, and the carriage had the words "Jinshi" and "Mingjing" on it, so there was basically no mistaking it.

Wei Gao and the other three were still very nervous. A few days ago, they were called to register at the Department of Civil Affairs, only to find out that the three of them had also received the reserved quota.

But the predetermined quota is not so easy to get. You must be in the top 300 for the Jinshi subject, the top 500 for the Mingjing subject, and the top 1,000 for the Arithmetic subject. Among them, the calculation subjects are easier, after all, the candidates only have There are three thousand people, so Guo Jun has the greatest confidence, but the arithmetic subject is just an entrance exam, and it takes five years of study to pass the exam.

A total of 200 people were admitted to the imperial examination this time, of which 50 were admitted, but they were not announced to the public, so the candidates only knew that a total of 150 people were admitted, of which 30 were admitted to Jinshi subjects and 120 were admitted to Mingjing subjects.

Of course, the Jinshi examination is more difficult. After passing the examination, you will be awarded the eighth rank. After passing the Mingjing examination, you will be awarded the ninth rank. However, the Chang'an imperial examination has the biggest advantage. There are no interviews with the civil servants. There is no such thing for the King of Qi Discrimination, even if you are ugly or have a disability, you can still hide it in thick books and account books and work as an internal service officer, and do not need to expose it to the outside world.

In addition, those who get into the top 500 will also get the title of 'from a major'. Don't underestimate this title. In the area ruled by King Qi, you can directly apply to be a civil servant. You know, even a civil servant can't do it. Very difficult.

There are only four officials in a county, and the others are all officials. In later generations, except for the county magistrate and deputy county magistrate, all other directors and directors are officials. Of course, if you want to become an official, you will fight for your head.

Officials also have levels. The two guards are the highest, followed by the six-cao officials, and then the junior officials in charge of warehouses and public security.

Of course, there are also many technical minors who are responsible for calendar time, measurement, smelting and tool making, breeding and farming, shipbuilding, etc. So this time, most of the arithmetic officials are from lower-level minors.

Ordinary students, unless they are particularly interested in technology like Miao Chun, but after all, there are very few, most students still have to study scriptures step by step and participate in Jinshi subjects or Mingjing subjects.

But technical clerks are different. They must master professional knowledge and understand various basic mathematical algorithms. Generally speaking, they can only regard this kind of technical clerk as a job to support their families.

But things are different now. The Prince of Qi’s Mansion has opened a mathematics department. Looking at the recruitment regulations, it is clear that all types of technical personnel are recruited, and then they study for five years. After five years, they pass the assessment and are awarded officers. This makes countless technical officials ecstatic. They finally There is hope of becoming an official.

Although they have to study for five years and have no income, as long as they join the institute as an assistant, they will receive a subsidy of one hundred cents a day, which is three thousand dollars a month. The same as their current salary, they will not have to spend money on food, drink, and accommodation, and three thousand dollars can support their family. .

Technical clerks asked for leave one after another and came to Chang'an for reference. Among the 3,000 applicants, 2,000 were technical clerks from all over the country.

In fact, the chance of passing the exam is relatively high. If you admit 500 people, you will admit one person for every six people. This is much easier than admitting one person out of 500 people in the Jinshi Department.

The Examination Yuan is located in Zhaohangfang. It is a newly built Examination Yuan. It can accommodate 20,000 people for reference here. In addition, the old Examination Yuan can accommodate 30,000 people, which is basically enough.

The Jinshi Department and the Arithmetic Department were both in the new examination room. The three of them got off the carriage, and they were going to their respective examination rooms.

"Good luck to everyone!"

The three of them patted their shoulders and walked away.

The examination room is divided into ten areas, and each area has 2,000 examination seats. It is still difficult to find, so each area is divided into 20 categories, and each category has 100 examination seats, so it is easy to find. .

Wei Gao's examination seat was in Area C, No. 13, No. 57. He found Area C, lined up for a search, and then entered the examination room. Soldiers were in charge of the search, which was very strict. Even their hair and shoes were searched. At this time, one of the candidates suddenly shouted loudly. When he started crying, a large number of scripture notes were found in his shoes. He was disqualified from the examination on the spot and expelled from the examination room.

The scholars looked at the examinee hiding his face and running away. No one sympathized with him. After all, cheating in the exam was unfair to them.

Wei Gao searched himself and entered the examination room. In front of him was a long east-west passage. On one side was the wall, and on the other side were alleys. In the alleys were independent examination numbers, or examination seats.

There were lanterns above the passage, with numbers written on them, from one to twenty, arranged neatly. Wei Gao quickly found the thirteenth seat, and then the fifty-seventh seat.

There were 104 examination seats in the long alley, of which the first two were toilets, and then two empty seats, and then the first seat, which ensured that the first seat would not be adjacent to the toilet.

Each examination seat was a very small room, half a meter long and four feet wide. You went in and sat on a brick platform. Each brick platform was covered with a sheepskin. After the exam, the sheepskin could be taken away as a gift, which was clearly written on the examination ticket.

Wei Gao put down a piece of wooden board that was erected and placed it on the wall platform on both sides. There was also a numbered basket on the wall. When he took it down, he found that it was full of pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and a gourd of clear water, which was used to grind ink.

The exam lasted for three days. The first day was to post scriptures, which was the same for both Jinshi and Mingjing. The second day was to ask questions, which were different for Jinshi and Mingjing. Jinshi was to test literature, including a prose or poem, while Mingjing was to ask questions, which required being very familiar with the scriptures. For any sentence, one had to write out its source.

On the third day, Jinshi and Mingjing were still different. Jinshi was to test policy, which was a difficult question, and one had to come up with a strategy for the difficult question and write a countermeasure; Mingjing was to test essays, which required writing a few passages of scriptures and expressing one's understanding.

The exam was based on a 100-point system, with 20 points on the first day, 30 points on the second day, and 40 points on the third day, with calligraphy and paper accounting for 10 points.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The bell rang for preparation.