At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 400
The yamen of the Ministry of Rites has been completely besieged, and all the students shouted out of righteous indignation.

"Why are the candles in the Gongyuan banned?"

"We have been in the cold for more than ten years, and we only wrote for the gold list for one day. Why do we hurt us so much?"

"There are traitors in the court, there are traitors!"

"Look, that's Mr. Kuang, Minister of Rites. Everyone, please ask Shangshu Kuang to make a decision and go to the sage to express his feelings!"

As soon as Kuang Ye appeared, he was surrounded by a group of students, and judging by the situation, it was difficult to let go.

"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!"

The crowd is still chattering, wishing they could rush up to Fengtian Hall now, and stand beside Qingjun!

Nowadays, it is also difficult for scholars to mix, because there are more and more people who can read and write. In any industry, as soon as there are more people, it will immediately start to roll up.

How noble were the scholars in the past, even if you didn’t have any fame, once people heard that you were a scholar, their attitude immediately became respectful.

Fortunately, there is a school in three steps, and a beginner in five steps. If a brick falls from the sky, it can hit several scholars.

Now that everyone has started to study, it is even more difficult to get ahead.

Those who gathered here today are the leaders of the whole country, it can be said that they are the most intelligent group of scholars. They are about to enter the court and become the mainstay of the Ming court.

What decides everyone's fate is the next Chunwei.

If you can enter the top three in the first class, you will be able to enter the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister in the future.

Even if they are second-class, they still have the opportunity to enter the Imperial Academy and become a good scholar. In the future, they will hold important positions in the six ministries and nine ministers, or they will be sent to other places to be a magistrate or something.

Even if it is the top three, it is at least a county magistrate.

However, at this juncture, I heard that someone made a fuss in the Gongyuan and banned fire candles. Is this okay?

Who will be responsible for delaying our exam?
This is a major event that decides a lifetime, and you can't wait to peel the skin and bones of the person who made this decision, so as to relieve the hatred in your heart.

"Just be quiet and listen to me first!"

Kuang Ye shouted vigorously, and finally, the noise around him gradually quieted down.

"The matter of the lighting of the Gongyuan has been resolved. The old man promises that no one will embarrass everyone. Don't get together, go back and prepare for the exam!"

After everyone listened, they did not leave in a hurry, and all showed suspicious expressions.

You said yesterday that there is no way, but today it will be solved?

Really solved or fake solved?

Could it be the court's plan to slow down the army...

"Master Kuang, Xu Pu, a student in Xianan Zhili, would like to ask a few words on behalf of all the students."

A young student stepped forward and saluted Kuang Ye.

Seeing this person's polite appearance, Kuang Ye nodded and said, "Please speak up if you have something to say."

Xu Pu said: "The Tribute Court is still closed. I haven't seen anyone bringing in a large amount of supplies. I don't know how Mr. Kuang said it was resolved."

There are a total of [-] test sheds in the Gongyuan. If the imperial court approved the materials, it is absolutely impossible for one or two people to bring them in with them. There must be a large number of people to transport them.

Kuang Ye immediately said: "You're right, it hasn't been resolved yet, but the emperor has already made arrangements. Within three days, the Academy of Sciences will solve the lighting problem of the Tribute Court. If there is no movement after three days, you will put The yamen of the Ministry of Rites has been dismantled, so the head office will be fine, right?"

Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you, with uncertainty in their eyes.

There are still the last five days of Chunwei, they are in a hurry, and they can't afford to delay it for a day.

"Okay then, let's wait outside the Gongyuan!"

Xu Pu is a sensible person, because he noticed that Kuang Ye mentioned the emperor just now.

Since it was arranged by the emperor, there should be no problem.

Seeing that someone took the lead and the others stopped entanglement, they left with Xu Pu, crossed the streets and alleys, and came to the Gongyuan.

Then, they saw an incredible scene.

Teams of carriages arrived with a large amount of supplies, but they were not candle oil, but... iron pots!
That's right, it's an iron pot for cooking!

People from the Wucheng Bingma Division were dispatched to help the people from the Academy of Sciences transport the iron pot.

Xu Pu couldn't help but grabbed a person and asked, "Brother, may I ask... what is this for?"

"Install the lights!"

"What is the electric light...?"

"The electric light is... hey, I can't explain it clearly for a while, are you students preparing for the exam?"

Xu Pu hurriedly nodded and said, "Exactly!"

"That's it, you will know when you start the exam."

This person didn't explain too much, after he finished speaking, he went back to continue his work.

Xu Pu looked puzzled, and so did the others.

Lamp, what the hell?

"In my opinion, it must be a new gadget made by the imperial court for fire prevention. It seems that we are going to be tricked again!"

"Everyone has seen it. What are the things that are sent in? Iron pots! Who ever heard that iron pots can be used as candles?"

"No, we still have to go to the palace to petition, it will be too late when something happens!"

Everyone started to move around, but Xu Pu held back, waved his hands, and said, "Shangshu Kuang said it all, it's the emperor's will. I don't know the truth now, so I'll wait!"

Everyone calmed down now, because Xu Pu had already reminded that it was the emperor's will!

The imperial court is already rectifying and reforming, and it is an imperial decree. If you go to petition now, is it to resist the decree?

All the people present were smart people, they all shut up after they figured this out.

"Okay, wait and see!"

"That's right, it's only three days, and it's not impossible to wait."

"After three days, if there is no more movement, we will go to the imperial court to file a complaint."

"exactly……"

People from the Academy of Sciences were busy, and moved all the newly developed simple steam engine furnaces.

However, it was still not enough, so he ordered people to rush to make it overnight.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ready-made iron pots, which can be used with only a little modification.

Copper wire is easy to handle, and there are plenty of them in the warehouse.

The glass lampshade was custom-made from the Xishan Glass Factory. The glass factory received the imperial decree, no one dared to neglect, all the staff stopped their work and specially rushed to make the lampshade.

Carbonized bamboo silk is easier to handle, and it can be fired in two hours.

These equipment and parts were transported to the Gongyuan one after another, and then there was intense assembly work.

Fortunately, the difficulty of electric light is not high, as long as you master the principle, it is not difficult to assemble.

The Academy of Sciences worked overtime and rushed to work overnight. Finally, on the third day, all the test booths were equipped with electric lights.

There are a total of [-] lamps, one for every four testing rooms, and it is brighter than oil lamps and candles.

The students guarding outside the Gongyuan were surprised to find that the whole Gongyuan was brightly lit at night!

They finally breathed a sigh of relief, there are still two days left, they have to rest at ease and prepare for the exam.

In the 19th year of Ming Dynasty Zhengtong, the Jiaxu Branch Examination.

Xu Pu took the number plate and walked into the Gongyuan.

There are five couplets in front of the gate, and a black plaque "Gongyuan" is hung in the middle. There are three archways in front of the gate. Wenyun".

High walls were built around it, and one door was opened in the east, west, south, north, called brick gate.

Inside the east and west brick gates, buildings such as the Roll Call Hall, Garrison Hall, and Surveillance Hall were added.

The north and south brick gates are the public halls, living rooms, and places for printing and engraving, transcribing, accepting papers, and enclosing seals for officials such as examiners and censors.

There are watchtowers at the four corners of the courtyard, which are used to supervise the inside and outside of the tribute courtyard and avoid cheating.

Every candidate who comes in must be searched and checked to ensure that there are no cheating items before being released.

Xu Pu looked at the number plate in his hand and found the corresponding test booth.

It is called a test shed because...it is a shed!
A total of [-] test booths are arranged vertically and horizontally, which is quite spectacular when viewed from afar.

Each test room can only accommodate one person. After the examinee sits in, there is only a wooden board in front of him, which can be used as a desk for writing, and can be moved down as a bed to sleep at night.

From now on, everyone is not allowed to leave this test room within three days, including eating, drinking, and escaping, all must be settled inside.

Xu Pu is no stranger to the test shed, and now he only cares about whether there are oil lamps and candles for them.

But, no!

Not far in front of him, there is something that looks like a lamp.

He has heard of this thing, it is called glass, it is more transparent than colored glaze, and it is cheap to make.

It's just that it hasn't been popularized yet, and he's only heard of it, and hasn't seen it.

Can glass still illuminate?

Xu Pu really wanted to ask someone, but he heard someone shout: "The chief examiner is here!"

Everyone stood up and saluted, and Cao Nai, the chief assistant of the cabinet, walked into the examination room and waved his fists to everyone.

"Thanks to the holy will, the old man is the main examiner. Although he is honored, he must be held accountable. He has the measure of the size of the secretary. If he asks for the end of the language, he will be worried by the minister..."

Cao Nai stood in front of the crowd and talked freely, but Xu Pu's attention was all on the light bulb in front of him.

He kept asking in his heart, can this thing light up?

Can it really be bright?
If it can't be bright, why put it here?
"...Sincerely want to be self-responsible, so as not to be ashamed of the dead. They may act privately and neglect their careers, not only to lose others, but to lose themselves first, and I can't bear to do it..."

Xu Pu is still waiting for the light bulb, can this thing turn on?

There is no lamp oil in it, can it be lit?
"...The one who writes is the one who says it is true. The one who tries it is the one who takes what it is. The one who records it is the one who marks it. The four books and five classics are all traces of sages and sages. Through the gods..."

Xu Pu patted his forehead and thought to himself, what a fool, although there is no lamp oil, but...you can add it!
Can't it be lit after filling up the lamp oil?

However, why are the mouths of these oil lamps facing down, so that the lamp oil will not be spilled?

"...or choose to be cowardly and do nothing, steal lazy and do nothing, treat what you have learned as a matchmaker's empty talk, and regard what you have learned as a trace on paper, entrusted by the court and looked up to by the people, without thinking about it , it is already deeply burdened with the intention of saving and nourishing simplicity!"

After a long speech, Cao Nai stretched out his hand to stroke the beard on his chin.

"I understand!"

Suddenly, a discordant voice appeared, and everyone followed the sound.

Cao Nai nodded in relief, pointed at Xu Pu and asked, "Tell me, what do you understand?"

Xu Pu said excitedly: "It's very simple, turn it upside down!"

"What... what?"

Cao Nai didn't react for a while, and was stunned on the spot.

"Just turn these oil lamps over and fill them with oil!"

Cao Nai's face was dark, and he didn't speak for a long time.

Because he didn't know what to say...

Xu Pu didn't seem to have noticed his gaffe, and he was still complacent. Isn't he just an oil lamp, making it mysterious, as for it?
Cao Nai held back for a long time, and finally said: "Let's begin!"

The students returned to the examination booth, and then the invigilator began to issue questions.

The examination content of the general examination is basically the same as that of the rural examination, which are five-character eight-rhyme poems, stereotyped essays, and policy questions.

For the students present, composing poetry is relatively simple.

The policy question is an open question, and there is no difficulty in answering it. It is nothing more than a question of how many points to score.

The most important thing in this exam is the stereotyped essay that makes countless people frightened!

Stereotyped essays are also called Zhiyi, Zhiyi, Shiwen, and Babiwen.

The so-called shares mean duality, so it is also called parallel prose.

The eight-legged essay has a relatively fixed writing format, and its topics are taken from the Four Books and Five Classics, with the propositions of the Four Books accounting for the majority.

Zhu Yuanzhang once established a rule that the content of the article should be developed according to Zhu Xi's "Four Books Zhangju Jizhu" and other books, and should not be played arbitrarily.

The article begins with two sentences to break the meaning of the title, which is called breaking the title.

Then undertake the analysis of the problem, which is called the problem.Then turn to the beginning of the lecture, that is, to start the discussion, and then to start, which means the starting point after the lecture.The following is divided into four parts: starting strands, middle strands, back strands, and beam strands.

At the end of the article is a summary of tens or hundreds of words, also known as the summary.

From the beginning to the bundle, each group has two rows of parallel characters, a total of eight parts, so it is called eight-legged writing.

Xu Pu reads every day, and he has long been familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism, and he has solved the problem in a short time, and his thinking suddenly becomes clear.

The core of the stereotyped essay is "to speak on behalf of the sages", that is to try to figure out the tone of the sages Confucius and Meng and the sages Cheng and Zhu. If you don't know what the sages think, it doesn't matter, just write more semi-ambiguous, jerky, seemingly unreasonable Statements, at least give people a very profound feeling.

All the students worked hard one by one, some even didn't eat lunch, and some held steamed buns in one hand and wrote vigorously with the other.

In the evening, Xu Pu had finished the first draft.

His plan is to set aside at least one day to write policy questions, so the eight-part essay must be transcribed before sunset tomorrow.

If I can modify it tonight...

Suddenly, he felt his eyes light up!
"what?"

"what?"

"what is that?"

Not only Xu Pu was surprised, but all the test booths let out a sigh.

No one added oil to the lamp, let alone lit the fire, and yet... it lit up!
There were also bursts of rhythmic sound of machines running around, puff puff puff, like someone's kettle was boiling, and the heat pushed the lid open.

"Silence, silence!"

The invigilator responsible for maintaining the probability said loudly: "This is an electric light, don't make any fuss."

lamp...

Xu Pu suddenly thought that at the gate of the Gongyuan that day, people from the Academy of Sciences seemed to have said these two words.

"According to the rules, the lights are only turned on for one and a half hours a day, and they are turned off at Haishi. Hurry up, everyone!"

At this time, no one was in the mood to write, and they all stared at the lamp.

Xu Pu's eyes were straightened, and he seemed to feel an unprecedented shock in his heart.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that the direction of his life had changed.

(End of this chapter)