Tibet

Before dawn, scholars from all directions flocked to the imperial examination camp in the south of the city.

The imperial examination camp was built half a month ago. The fence is 20 miles in circumference, just like a small county town. The imperial examination camp is divided into ten districts, with ten gates.

Each candidate must find his own district, District A, District B, District C, etc., which will be clearly marked on the examination ticket. For example, a scholar's examination ticket reads: District D, Seventh Camp, Fifteenth Account, No. 20.

The examination ticket is the admission ticket, the only certificate.

At this time, you must first find District D. There is a big sign erected above the gate, with lights shining inside, and the word "Ding" can be seen from a few miles away.

You have to take a carriage and walk for several miles. When you arrive at the Ding District, the driver will shout: "We have arrived at the Ding District. The scholars in the Ding District, get off the carriage."

You jump off the carriage and walk to the gate. First, you will be strictly searched. You can only enter with the test ticket. The soldier will give you a small wooden sign with a number on it. It is the test paper number. Because the test will last for three days, the examiner will have to summarize the three days of papers together. Since the names are covered with paper, they can only use the test paper number to summarize.

Why is the test paper number not written on the admission ticket, but issued temporarily?

Because the scholars cannot know the test paper number in advance, otherwise they will collude with the examiner, and it will be easy to cheat. The examiner can find the test paper of an acquaintance through the test paper number and give a high score.

When you enter the camp, you will see a row of red lanterns, which are endless. In fact, there are only twenty big red lanterns. The lanterns have the camp number. You need to find the seventh camp.

After finding and entering the seventh camp, you will see countless large tents, but in fact there are only twenty-five tents.

You finally found your 15th tent, walked in, and found that there were 30 couches inside, with tables on the couches. Finally, you found table number 20, which is your seat.

But don't rush to sit down. You need to check the candidate information in the upper left corner. Only when your name and exam number are consistent can you sit down with confidence.

It was not yet dawn, and the light in the big tent was relatively dim, but you could only sit quietly and wait. There were no candles for lighting. The camp strictly controlled the fire. If you accidentally ignited the big tent, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At this time, you can also make some preparations. There is a small basket on each table, with a pen and an inkstone in the basket, as well as a small bowl. A soldier will come over later and fill each small bowl with half a bowl of ink.

There is no need for scholars to grind ink. Many scholars have book boys, and generally the book boys are responsible for grinding ink. If these scholars don't know how to grind ink and make a mess on the table, it will be troublesome.

At this time, the big tent was full, and all 30 candidates were present. Everyone was waiting patiently, only the soldiers were walking back and forth, adding ink to the small bowls on the table.

"Dong-Dong-Dong-"

The low bell rang, and the ten camp gates slowly closed. The examiners and auxiliary soldiers were in place. Each big tent had two auxiliary soldiers, responsible for adding ink to the scholars, delivering a meal at noon, or leading the way to the toilet, etc.

The sky gradually brightened, and the test papers had been delivered to each big tent. The examiners began to distribute the test papers and draft papers. The soldiers brought a name-covering paper and a dish of paste to each table. There was also a toothpick in the dish to spread the paste.

The examiner read out the test rules, and the scholars were busy writing their names, test numbers, and the roll number in the upper left corner. When the ink dried, they used paper to cover the names and test numbers.

These candidates have participated in county and state exams, and have participated in countless mock exams. They have mastered the rules of the exam room and the skills of covering names. Although they are busy, they are all in an orderly manner.

"Dong-dong-dong-"

The bell rang again, and the test questions have been delivered. The examiners and soldiers quickly handed them to each scholar's desk, and all the candidates began to nervously review the questions.

On the first day of the exam, the Jinshi, Mingjing and Mathematics subjects were all the same, all of which were tested on pasting scriptures. The Jinshi and Mingjing subjects had exactly the same test questions, but Mathematics was much simpler. The difficulty of Mathematics was in mathematics on the third day.

Pasting scriptures means giving you a beginning and an end, and you have to fill in the blank passages in the middle by yourself. In fact, you just have to recite. There are a total of ten questions, seven scripture questions and three literature questions.

In fact, it is not very difficult to say that it is difficult. It does not exceed the scope of the exam. For example, the literature questions must come from "Wenxuan", which was compiled by Prince Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty and selected many excellent ancient poems and essays.

The scripture questions must come from the official designated major, medium and minor classics, among which "Book of Rites" and "Zuo Zhuan" are major classics; "Book of Songs", "Zhou Li" and "Yili" are medium classics; "Book of Changes", "Book of History", "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Guliang Zhuan" are minor classics.

In addition, all candidates must be able to master "Book of Filial Piety" and "Analects of Confucius".

These are what I learned in ten years of hard study, and these are also what Li Ye wants to reform.

As the third bell rang, all candidates began to concentrate on writing.

The imperial examination was in full swing. At the same time, in the round hall of the Political Affairs Hall, nine prime ministers and deputy prime ministers plus the retired emperor Li Dai were discussing the issue of education reform.

Although Li Dai was the retired emperor, he felt extremely relaxed and comfortable sitting in the round hall and staying with his former colleagues. This was the life he had always dreamed of!

Staying in Xingqing Palace all day was boring. Although he was also responsible for teaching his two grandsons, he was still depressed.

Fortunately, his son understood him and put him in charge of the education of the Tang Dynasty. Li Dai suddenly found the happiness in life. He had been an official all his life, and official life had been ingrained in him.

Education is also the most important national plan for all officials. Even the Minister of War Dugu Lie is concerned about it. He is more concerned about military science. As the Minister of War, martial arts and martial arts hall are both under his jurisdiction. The two are slightly different. Martial arts is to select outstanding martial arts talents from children of good families, and martial arts hall is a training academy for serving generals.

Duan Xiushi is also concerned about it. He is now planning to build an ordnance academy. Since he witnessed the power of arrows and thunder with his own eyes, Duan Xiushi has become more and more fascinated by firearms and powerful ships and cannons. He would go to the Military Equipment Bureau every now and then. He is very proficient in various firearms.

At this time, Li Dai coughed a few times, and the round hall became quiet. Li Dai smiled and said, "Let me say a few words off topic first. I feel like I'm home when I return to the Political Affairs Hall. You are all my old friends and colleagues. I will invite everyone to have lunch at Danfeng Restaurant at noon today."

Everyone laughed, and Li Dai said, "The emperor means that we should start from elementary school, and start reading at the age of seven. We want all children to read, including girls. Girls can go to girls' schools. They don't need to learn very deeply, but at least they can read and write. They study in elementary school for one year and in elementary school for five years. All children in the Tang Dynasty must finish elementary school. Girls can study for three years, and then they can study at home by themselves."

Wei Jiansu nodded, "The emperor's idea is very good. As long as the court's finances can support it, we will definitely support it!"

On the issue of education, all the officials in the Political Affairs Hall surprisingly agreed. Although everyone had different opinions on running a girls' school, it was not a big problem to study for only three years. This face should be given to the emperor.

Liu Yan said: "I estimated that the annual expenditure is about 500,000 guan. We can basically solve the problem by collecting mining taxes and adding local liquor taxes. The key is to find a way for scholars to make a living. They can teach in elementary schools and earn three or four guan of money every month. They can make a stable income regardless of drought or flood. It's very good."

"But we need female professors for girls!" Xiao Hua reminded.

Liu Yan nodded, "That's for sure. In fact, there are many talented women in wealthy families. As long as they are willing to work, there will be no problem with teachers."

Zhang Li smiled and added: "You can set up schools in various districts and study at your doorstep. This is also convenient."

At this time, Li Dai said: "There is another problem that the court needs to solve by law. Many low-level people send their daughters to wealthy families to work as maids at the age of eight or nine to earn money. I don't object to girls working as maids to subsidize their families, but eight or nine years old is too young. The court should have regulations that it is not allowed to hire children under the age of twelve to work. It should be prohibited by law, and violators should be severely punished. This After a girl has finished elementary school and three years of school, she can go to work for a wealthy family in time. ”

Pei Zunqing hesitated and said, “Your Majesty, it’s easy for us to think about it, but it’s probably difficult to implement. Generally, girls are married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and go out to work at the age of twelve. I guess most families will not implement it.”

Li Dai smiled and said, “Everyone knows that it is good for girls to study for a few years. The children she educates in the future will be more outstanding. We don’t force all sparrows to become phoenixes, but we have to give those parents with vision and foresight a chance. The court has given the opportunity. Whether you can seize it depends on your own luck. ”