Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 511 The More You Test, the Less You Get

The incense in the incense burner was almost gone, and the yamen runners began to distribute the items needed for the exam: a pen, an ink dish, a little ink, and two sheets of paper.

When distributing the materials, the yamen runners reminded us, "If the ink runs out or freezes, you can raise your hand and someone will come to take care of it. There are only two sheets of paper, so be sure to keep them carefully. The answers to the test questions will be written on them later, and there must be no dirty ink stains."

Those of you taking the exam outside who feel really cold can stand up to take the exam or jump a few times on the spot, but be sure to control your heads and don’t move them around.”

After everything was distributed, a yamen runner struck the gong twice and said loudly, "The examination has begun. From now on, all candidates are not allowed to speak."

Qi Renli stood at the front holding the test paper. "There are a total of 73 questions in this exam. Each question will only be read three times. To ensure that each of you can hear clearly, I will read it once at the front, middle and back of the exam room. You must answer the questions in order on the paper."

After saying this, Qi Renli walked forward to the first row of candidates. "First question, what are the first four words of Autumn Harvest and Winter Storage in the Thousand Character Classic? Write them down on paper."

Just for the first question, several people had no idea where to start.

The further back they got, the more people looked at Qi Renli with confused eyes.

Meng Changqing patrolled the examination room. There were more than eighty people, but only about twenty of them could write their answers properly on paper.

Among these twenty or so people, if you look carefully at what they wrote, you will find that what several of them wrote has nothing to do with the answers.

On the surface, Meng Changqing nodded and smiled at the candidates whose eyes met, but he kept shaking his head in his heart. Looking at the situation, Beishan County needs to increase its efforts in education.

When Qi Renli read to the tenth question, some people could not sit still and wanted to leave, but no one started, so those who wanted to leave could only endure it for the time being.

By the 30th question, those sitting outside couldn't stand the cold anymore, so they started reading, and soon nearly half of the people in the examination room left.

Jiang Chan did not leave. Although she only managed to finish two or three questions, she saw Luo Yun and the others were still answering questions outside, so she wanted to stay with them in the examination room.

Meng Changqing noticed that the hands of the candidates answering the questions outside were frozen purple, and they had to stop and rub their hands after writing a few words. Seeing that there were many empty seats in the hall, he asked Qi Renli to stop reading the questions and told the candidates outside to take their things and sit in the hall to take the exam.

As the exam progressed, more and more people left, until by the 70th question, which was about counting the number of chicken feet and rabbit feet in a cage, there were only about ten candidates left in the exam room.

These people persevered to the end.

Looking at the collected papers, Meng Changqing said to Qi Renli, "I originally thought that if we were too late, we would have to ask Mr. Cai to help mark the papers, but now it seems that it is really unnecessary."

Qi Renli doubted himself, "Did I not set the test questions well? Too difficult?" Meng Changqing couldn't judge. She had learned a lot of things, and the questions Qi Renli set seemed simple to her. "Let's ask Mr. Cai to take a look."

"I'll go and call him." Bafang took the initiative to take the job. Just as he reached the gate of the county government office, he said, "Mr. Cai! What a coincidence! The master just said he would go and invite you, and you came."

"I heard the exam is over." Cai Rong was welcomed into the room and said to Bafang as he walked, "The students said the exam questions were difficult, so I wanted to take a look."

"Mr. Cai." Meng Changqing spoke, and Cai Rong noticed that the two adults were not far away, and hurriedly walked towards them.

"Master Meng, Master Qi..."

Without waiting for him to continue, Qi Renli directly stuffed the paper into his hands and said, "Mr. Cai, please take a look at these test questions."

Meng Changqing and Qi Renlihua finished reading all the test papers in the time it took to drink two cups of tea.

Cai Rong over there also finished reading the test questions.

"How is it?" Qi Renli asked, "Is it too difficult for the students?"

Cai Rong frowned and thought for a long time. "I have explained all the questions given by adults in class. But the way adults ask questions is different from what I usually do. Maybe the candidates are not used to it.

How did they answer?" Cai Rong asked with concern.

Qi Renli glanced at Meng Changqing before saying, "These are the only six papers I can look at. There are still many questions left unanswered on the three below."

Cai Rong took the answer sheet and looked at it. The top had the most answers and the fewest wrong answers, and the more wrong answers and blanks there were, the more blanks there were.

"Just as the adults said, only these three people can get excellent grades." Cai Rong knew who the owner of the answer sheet was just by looking at the handwriting. He didn't even need to look at the name on the answer sheet. As a teacher, he knew who the student was since he was studying so hard.

"I have seen these answer sheets, and I have to take back what I said before. It's not that they are not used to the way the adults ask questions. The three of them studied the same thing, but they were able to answer it. It shows that the students did not learn it well.

Sir, there are still many male students in the school who have not taken the test. Can I..."

"Take it." Meng Changqing said, "And tell me how the test results are in the academy."

"Yes, thank you, sir." Cai Rong took the test paper and ran out. He had to hurry and let those who were preparing for the imperial examination try it.