Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 257: The Examination Begins

……

There is less than a month left until the imperial examination. Jia Rong has been taking care of his master for most of the time and has not been able to concentrate on his studies. He plans to use this last less than a month to "cram" and get back to his best condition for the provincial examination.

Just yesterday, the Ministry of Rites announced the chief examiner, deputy chief examiner, officials from the Five Classics Room, and examiners for this year's imperial examination.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the chief examiner was not the recently popular Jia Jing, nor was it Ye Xiang who had been sitting firmly in the position of Prime Minister for many years, nor was it Li Minzhi, an important official relied upon by the emperor.

Instead, it was Wen Ci Fu, who had been quite silent, low-key and inactive in recent times.

Obviously, Emperor Anping had his own considerations.

Whether it was Ye Xiang or Jia Jing, serving as the chief examiner was to recruit disciples for themselves, thereby further expanding their influence in the court.

Even Min-Chi Lee!
This is not what Emperor Anping wants to see.

He would rather take all the power into his own hands!
Therefore, it was in his best interest to recommend Wen Ci Fu, who was about to retire, to be the chief examiner of this session.

When Wen Ci Fu leaves, this session of Jinshi will be "leaderless" and will inevitably become the true disciples of the emperor and form the team for him to govern the country.

The experienced Wen Ting obviously also knows this.

He was quite surprised by this.

If his students are favored by the emperor, won't his prestige rise soon? Even if he retires and returns to his hometown, he will still have influence on the court.

This is called "I am not in the court, but my voice is heard in the court."

Therefore, Wen Ge Lao made up his mind:
I must make the most of this last opportunity as the chief examiner and select a few truly useful talents for the emperor and for myself.

A row of dancers were dancing in the hall. While drinking, Wen Ge Lao was thinking carefully about what kind of questions he should ask in this year's imperial examination to show his knowledge...

"master."

The butler hurried in, glanced at the dancer quietly, and said without looking away: "The time has come, the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Censorate are waiting outside."

"Oh, are we there yet?"

Wen Ting waved to the crowd below.

The dancers twisted their waists, bowed gracefully, and retreated.

"Let's go to the Imperial Examination Hall."

In order to avoid cheating as much as possible, the chief examiner, deputy chief examiner, and examiners and graders of each department are required to enter the Imperial Academy half a month in advance and are not allowed to leave until the day of the announcement of the results.

……

In the blink of an eye it is February.

There are only a few days left until the imperial examination.

Jia Rong has made all the necessary preparations; his body, energy, spirit and everything else are at their peak.

Just waiting for the last try.

As for Master Jia Zhen, although his condition has not been very optimistic recently, not only is his mind confused, but he also eats less.

But it's not a problem to stick to it for a month or so.

Whether I can put an end to my hard studies depends on this time!
In the last few days, Jia Rong did not wait at home, but moved into a restaurant next to the Imperial Examination Hall in advance.

In this place where every inch of land is worth a lot of money, and it is also the period of the Spring Examination, the prices of restaurants can be imagined. Staying for one night costs two taels of silver!
Moreover, all of them were booked several months ago, but there is not a single vacant room to date.

After all, the juren are all very rich.

Jia Rong also booked a room in advance.

Of course, even if he didn't make a reservation in advance, as long as he wanted to stay, the restaurant would be able to make room for him.

This is not because of family influence.

Instead, it was the original treatment for the top scorer in the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination.

Free accommodation, any choice.

This treatment is only available to the top scholar in Shuntian Prefecture. It is not available to the top scholar in other places, even in Jinling Province.

Of course, Jia Rong chose the best room. Sitting by the window, he could look up and see the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall. He could even vaguely see the examination hall inside.

This is very helpful for understanding and adapting to the examination environment in advance.

"Dong dong."

There was a knock on the door.

"come in."

As expected, it was Xie Jiwen, Ye Mengshu and Song Yu who came in.

"Shunzhi's place is spacious enough to set up a table for drinking." Xie Jiwen praised.

Ye Mengshu said: "I barely have a bed to sleep on."

Song Yu smiled and said, "Who told you not to be the top scholar?"

"Don't be jealous. Hurry up and eat. After dinner, go back to sleep and rest. You will be ready to take the exam tomorrow. Getting a good rank in the exam is the important thing." Jia Rong said.

"It's easy to talk about."

"Aren't you going to discuss writing tonight?"

"The exam is tomorrow, why are we still discussing it today? You can't just report it like this when you're cramming for the exam, right?"

"Haha, that's right." After finishing their meal with laughter, they went to bed.

……

The weather in Kyoto is still a little chilly in February, especially at night.

Jia Rong couldn't sleep for a moment, so he opened the window and immediately a cold wind blew into the room.

"Brother Shunzhi."

A person suddenly appeared outside the window, and Jia Rong was almost startled.

"Ye, brother? Why are you here?"

Leaf phase!

Do you really not care about your daughter at all?

(Ye Xiang: What do you know? I work hard for the country day and night, how can I have the time to think about my daughter!)
Ye Lian peeked in from the window: "Are you alone? Without a maid to serve you?"

Jia Rong said seriously: "I am here to take the imperial examination, not to travel around!"

"I know."

Ye Lian smiled and said, "But it would be nice to bring a servant boy to serve you."

Jia Rong shook his head: "I don't have a servant."

"I'm not used to being served by a servant."

How can a book boy be as fragrant as a maid?

As for when you are outside, you can provide yourself with enough food and clothing.

"How about I be your book boy for a few days?"

"Uh, I don't dare."

"What are you afraid of?"

As Ye Lian spoke, she pushed the door open, entered the room, and closed the window.

"Are you afraid of my father?"

Jia Rong said bluntly: "I'm afraid."

Ye Lian said: "I don't believe it!"

"My father is not a tiger, why are you afraid of him? Unless you have done something wrong to him."

"For example, you bullied his daughter."

"No no."

Jia Rong said quickly.

Ye Lian smiled: "Isn't that enough?"

"You will be entering tomorrow, so go and rest while I sort out the books."

"How can I rest while you're here?"

"Of course you should close your eyes and rest. Stop being so pretentious and go to sleep. I'll read a book by myself."

"It's not the first time."

Jia Rong: “…”

……

The metropolitan examination lasts for the same three days as the provincial examination. On the first day, only admission is allowed, and no examination papers are distributed.

In addition, there is another great news for candidates this year:
Due to the great victory in the northwest, His Majesty the Emperor specially ordered to select a hundred more candidates for the undergraduate examination.

As soon as this decree was issued, scholars all over the world were grateful, so much so that the number of people taking part in the imperial examination this year was particularly large, more than 6,000.

These are six thousand successful candidates!
It can be said to be an unprecedented event.

"Brother Shunzhi, come in."

"I wish you success in the exam. I'll be waiting for you at the inn."

Jia Rong held the exam basket and said helplessly, "I think you should go home, otherwise your family will be worried."

He was really afraid that Ye Xiang would come directly with a big knife!

"It's okay." Ye Lian waved her hand nonchalantly and said with a smile, "Dad thought I was in the Imperial College, so don't worry."

Jia Rong: I’m not at all reassured!
"The next candidate from Shuntian Prefecture..."

"coming!"

Jia Rong walked forward slowly.

Compared with the provincial examinations, the inspection in the metropolitan examinations was not as strict. They just casually looked inside the examination basket and the hair and then let the candidate pass.

There are very few cheaters in the imperial examinations.

After all, those who can come here have all achieved the title of Juren, and they can recite the Four Books and Five Classics and the Collected Commentaries by heart, if not by heart. There is no point in bringing a book in.

……

(End of this chapter)