In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, September 23rd, the autumnal equinox.

Dong Zhongshu said in "Spring and Autumn Dew: The In and Out of Yin and Yang": During the autumnal equinox, yin and yang are half-phase, so the day and night are even and the cold and heat are equal.

During the autumn season, Jiangnan also loses a lot of sights and scenery, and the days become shorter and shorter.

Before dawn, scattered raindrops began to fall in Yingtian City. They were thin and hazy, not very heavy, but always in line with the season.

"A sunny day at the autumnal equinox will lead to a long drought." Zhu Yunxi was on the city wall behind the East Garden on the southwest side of Dongshuiguan Pier, looking at the bank of the Qinhuai River in the city ahead.

The eunuch Yutian was very flattering and placed a large umbrella above his grandson, which could clearly cover the two of them. He whispered in agreement: "It rained on the autumnal equinox this year. I think next year we will have a good harvest again."

New Year."

Zhu Yunxi smiled silently. If the Ming Dynasty, which was in the Little Ice Age, followed the historical development, harvest would become a long-lost word.

In the distance, Tian Mai, the secret guard on the city wall, and Sun Cheng, deputy Qianhu of the Jinyi Guard, came side by side.

Sun Cheng was holding a food box in his hand.

Tian Mai's two hands were holding a chair on one side and a case table on the other.

Behind the two people, there was a team of eunuchs carrying several wooden platforms.

After a while, a group of people came in a hurry, built a high platform next to Zhu Yunxi, and put chairs and tables on it, so that the grandson could sit on the city wall and look out at the Gongyuan not far ahead.

It was just getting dark at the moment.

Countless candidates for the examination have gathered in front of Gongyuan on the north side of Gongyuan Street.

Oil-paper umbrellas cover the head of a man who is full of wisdom and aspires to a career.

"Autumn soup fills the internal organs, cleanses the liver and intestines, and keeps the whole family safe and healthy."

Sun Cheng said the auspicious words in a joyful tone, and handed a bowl filled with autumn soup made of wild vegetables and fish fillets to his grandson who was already sitting on the chair.

Zhu Yunxi took the bowl and took a sip.

The wild vegetables were picked from outside the city, and the fish was the last piece of snakehead fish I caught outside the city yesterday, weighing four to five kilograms.

The fish bones are shaved cleanly by the chefs, making them smooth, tender and delicious, and can be eaten without chewing much.

After a while, after finishing a bowl of autumn soup, Zhu Yunxi opened his mouth slightly and exhaled a stream of hot white smoke.

Sun Cheng sent a handkerchief from the side and also sent the latest news from the city: "There are 7,329 people in this department who have been named for reference. People from the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate entered last night.

When we arrived at Gongyuan, the Jinyiwei Yamen was present the whole time."

Zhu Yunxi nodded and raised his eyes to look at Yingtian Gongyuan in the distance.

The Gongyuan, located next to the Confucius Temple in Yingtian City and the Jiangning County Government School, can be regarded as the largest imperial examination center in the entire Central Plains now and in the future.

The entire area north of Gongyuan Street, south of Qiwang Street, and between Gongyuan East and West Streets is the scope of Gongyuan.

Towering courtyard walls and watchtowers surrounded rows of narrow dormitories.

At this moment, Liu Sanwu, the chief examiner of Enke Qiuwei this year, and a doctor from the Ministry of Rites as deputy examiner, took the lead in walking out of the Confucius Temple not far from Gongyuan.

Behind the two people, there are a total of eighteen officials. These people are the legendary eighteen-room system. The chief and deputy examiners are called presidents. In the marking stage nine days later, the eighteen-room system will be divided into reference exams.

The students' test papers will be taken, and the middle part of the answer papers will be selected and handed over to the president for selection and recognition of nouns.

The president also has the power to re-read those answers that were eliminated by the 18-house system.

At present, a total of twenty officials who control the future of more than 7,000 candidates in Jinke left the Confucius Temple and entered Gongyuan through the crowded Gongyuan Street. They were escorted by Yingtian Mansion officers and entered the Gongyuan.

After a while, a servant came out of the tribute courtyard, holding a gong in his hand.

The officer looked at the crowds of people on Gongyuan Street and was not timid. He held his head high and his chest high, and sounded the gong heavily.

The gong sounded loudly.

The already noisy crowd on Gongyuan Street erupted into more commotion after a moment of silence.

As the gate of the Gongyuan opened, everyone rushed into the Gongyuan one after another.

Everyone wanted to get into the dormitory first to get the test papers and then start answering the questions.

Seeing this crowded scene, Zhu Yunxi smiled helplessly.

This kind of rush-in scene happens in every imperial examination. In the past few years, there were cases where a candidate had rushed into the tribute courtyard, but was squeezed out by people who crowded in from behind. The pool on the right side behind the gate of the tribute courtyard was flooded.

Death comes.

It was not until a long, long time later that Lin Zexu, the war-torn man, laid down detailed regulations, which finally changed the situation of rushing into the imperial examination. It also left behind a good story of "visiting the thorny palace three times in person, and vigorously and resolutely reforming the bad government."

Zhu Yunxi was looking forward to it, wondering if any unlucky guy would fall into the pool of Gongyuan this year and offer sacrifices to other students.

Only a short while later, when more than 7,000 people with names on the list outside the palace verified their identities and entered the Gongyuan, there was no news that anyone had fallen into the water.

Zhu Yunxi leaned back on the chair with some boredom.

At this time, Yutian whispered from beside him: "Your Highness, Scholar Jie is here."

Zhu Yunxi immediately turned around and saw Jin wearing regular clothes and holding an umbrella walking from the city wall not far away.

When I got close, I bowed.

Xie Jin said softly: "His Royal Highness took the exam in the rain. This exam will definitely be full of flowers."

Zhu Yunxi glanced at Jie Jin lightly, and looked calmly at the rows of dormitories in the tribute courtyard: "Whether the flowers are in full bloom or not, we still have to wait and see after nine days."

The examination lasts for nine days, with one session held every three days. During this period, candidates are not allowed to leave the Gongyuan. These are the regulations.

In the first three days, the four books and five classics are tested, which is the eight-legged essay in the traditional sense. There are three essays with four essays and four essays with five scriptures. This is the most important basis for the examiners to choose whether to admit or reject.

In the middle three days, we will examine the 'Lun', 'Edict' and 'Judgment'. The Lun is an argumentative essay, and the questions are taken from the Four Books and Five Classics, and the answers are based on the questions. The imperial edict is written in official documents, and it is to refer to the officials and imitate the superiors.

Write corresponding imperial edicts. For example, in the sixth year of Hongzhi, the officials were asked to imitate Zhang Jiuling, the prime minister of the former Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Jiuling was the Zhongshu Linggao. In the eighteenth year, the officials of the Song Dynasty, He Xiaozong, were imitated to make a chart of respecting heaven. Judgment,

Instead, they have to make comments based on the official documents submitted by the officials for the subordinates in the officialdom.

Zhu Yunxi deeply agreed with this, and felt that this was a more important key to the imperial court than the exams in the previous three days.

As for the last three days, there are policy questions. The examiner chooses current affairs as a topic, and you can answer it yourself by referring to examples. This is also an important test that can reveal the candidate's political philosophy, but it is often just a supplementary question. The examiner

We only require candidates to be able to answer fluently.

The most famous incident is that Tang Bohu, who later became famous all over Jiangnan, was deposed from the imperial examination results and was banned from taking the imperial examination for life because his policy questions and answers were too perfect.

As for that subject, the examiner was Cheng Minzheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Only Tang Bohu and Xu Jing, who was in the same subject, could answer the policy question perfectly. As a result, they were used by people with intentions in the court to impeach and attack Cheng Minzheng.

The end of the matter was naturally that Cheng Minzheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs at that time, was dismissed from office and imprisoned. Tang Bohu, a talented man who was famous all over the Yangtze River, lost his official career.

The reason for all this was simply that Cheng Minzheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs at that time, had been selected by Emperor Hongzhi as the next candidate to join the Wenyuan Pavilion.

Damn court fight!

Thinking about this, Zhu Yunxi couldn't help but cursed secretly.

Xie Jin took a deep look at the Gongyuan in front of him, then leaned closer and whispered: "Your Highness, does he know what lessons Liu Sheren taught in the Imperial College a few days ago?"

Zhu Yunxi tilted his head and said calmly: "Aren't you talking about the Four Books and Five Classics?"

Xie Jin hummed and said, "But does your Highness know what Liu Sheren said?"

Zhu Yunxi said "oh" and looked at Xie Jin with a puzzled look.

Xie Jin immediately whispered: "Liu Sheren lectured on the Four Books and Five Classics, Pian Li Ji, Shi Jing, and Shangshu only once."

After finishing speaking, Xie Jin clasped his hands and stepped back, standing silently with his head lowered.

Zhu Yunxi's eyelids twitched violently.

Let’s talk!

The word suddenly flashed through Zhu Yunxi's mind, and he immediately stared deeply at Xie Jin, who was standing next to him with his head lowered.

As mentioned above, the answer sheets for the first three days of the general examination are the most important admission reference, including three articles and four books, and four articles and five classics. It is impossible for candidates to know the scope of the test questions in advance, let alone what the specific questions are.

However, now, Liu Sanwu is giving lectures in the Imperial College, but the Book of Rites, Book of Songs, and Book of Songs are only taught once.

The Classic of Filial Piety and The Analects of Confucius are compulsory questions, while the Book of Rites and Zuozhuan must select at least one question, and the rest require multiple choice questions.

But Liu Sanwu's move was extremely clever.

It is no longer necessary to think about it. Zhu Yunxi knew that the four books and five classics to be tested in this year's examination must be the seven questions on Xiao Jing, The Analects of Confucius, Zuo Zhuan, Rites, Book of Songs, and Shangshu.

Tian Mai, who was walking with Sun Cheng, silently glanced at Gongyuan. This was another crime for Liu Sanwu.

However, Xie Jin hesitated and said: "But even so, it cannot be confirmed... After all, most of the officials are aware of this matter."

Xie Jin wants to say that when everyone knows what may be tested this year, it can be understood that no one knows. Even if they know, everyone is on the same starting line.

However, Zhu Yunxi shook his head: "People are different."

After saying this lightly, he lost interest in continuing to read.

Standing up, he glanced at Yutian who was holding an umbrella for him and was soaked in the rain. Zhu Yunxi took an umbrella from the people brought by Sun Cheng and Tianmai, and walked along the city wall with the umbrella alone.

Walk towards Dongcheng.

Jie Jin looked back blankly at the emperor's grandson who was holding an umbrella and walking into the rain and fog alone. He couldn't figure it out for a moment, but he turned back with complicated eyes to look at the area that was shrouded in rain and fog and became blurry. But at this moment,

The Gongyuan also accommodated more than 7,000 candidates.
To be continued...