Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 76: Screams were heard outside the examination room, and I answered the questions fiercely (rd update)

Northeast of the capital.

Andingmennei Street.

Imperial College.

This place faces south and follows the system of "temple on the left and school on the right". It is adjacent to the Confucius Temple in Beijing to the east. It consists of three courtyards. The main buildings are all concentrated on a central axis. From south to north, they are Jixian Gate, Taixue Gate, Yilun Hall and Jingyi Pavilion. The ancillary buildings are distributed around their respective main buildings.

The Imperial College of Beijing, still accessible to visitors, is the only well-preserved site of the highest ancient institution of learning. Haiyue gazed at the front gate from afar, feeling a sense of time travel. The vermilion walls and ancient buildings all told stories of the past...

Ok!

I can't see anything, it's completely different.

After all, it is only the middle of the Ming Dynasty now. It was expanded and renovated during the Qing Dynasty, and was damaged in war. Compared with the places visited by later generations, both the scale and the architecture have changed a lot.

Compared to his scrutiny, Hai Rui and Lin Daqin felt somewhat uncomfortable facing the gazes of others.

Although their clothes were not washed white, they were very simple. The other students who arrived seemed to be wearing the moon-white robes of scholars, but the fabrics used were mostly Hangzhou silk and Wu silk. The belts were based on cowhide and decorated with white jade. The fan pendants and purses were also precious products of famous families. They were elegant and suave, and their eyes were full of wealth.

When these students saw Haiyue and her group arrive, their eyes were not filled with contempt, but with surprise.

How could the students who knew about today's supplementary enrollment look like such poor students?

Some people were very confused, while some clever ones started to wonder, could it be that today's examiner liked scholars from poor families?

Just as I was thinking about whether I should change my clothes before taking the test to increase my confidence, I heard a commotion in the distance.

"Is that... Third Young Master Gui? It's really Third Young Master Gui!!"

“Which Gui…Oh!!”

“Gui Gelao…hiss!!”

As the surrounding temperature suddenly rose, a group of people came to the Imperial College in a mighty procession.

The one in the lead had a face as handsome as a jade, a temple as shaped as the full moon, and was dressed in a moon-white brocade robe with a mutton-fat jade belt around his waist. There was an air of nobility in his every move, but his only flaw was that he was a little short.

To the right of the nobleman behind him was a burly man over six feet tall. His broad shoulders held his brocade robe straight, making him look even more robust and masculine. However, his brows were furrowed, and his eyes looking left and right were somewhat aggressive and ferocious.

"Tsk! This guy must be Zhao Qilang from the Marquis of Wuding's mansion, right? I heard that Master Gui is an easygoing person, but this Zhao Qilang, I'm afraid, is someone you can't afford to offend..."

"Who's that on the other side?"

"I haven't heard of it...it shouldn't be important..."

What’s not important is Yan Shifan.

I was eighteen that year and followed people around like a minion.

There was no way around it, the leader was Gui Zai, the third son of the then-second-in-command Gui E, whose background was outstanding enough to attract everyone's attention;

The other is Zhao Chen, the most beloved brother-in-law of Wuding Hou Guo Xun and a top powerful and influential son.

Compared with these two, Yan Shifan is far inferior in both family background and appearance.

Compared like this, it loses its sense of existence.

Yan Shifan was used to it, but this time, when he saw Hai Yue looking at him, he showed a little embarrassment and nodded from a distance.

'what? '

Haiyue nodded in response, but felt a little strange in her heart.

Six days ago, when Yan Shifan came to visit, he only said that the supplementary enrollment would be open today, but he did not say that he and his companions would also come to participate in the supplementary enrollment of the Imperial College.

This is actually very strange, because the children of high-ranking officials such as Gui Zai, Zhao Chen, and Yan Shifan can use their father's influence to become students of the Imperial Academy. In history, Yan Shifan used his father's influence to enter the Imperial Academy the next year.

Unlike paying donations, this is a right that children of officials should have, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Of course, if you can pass the exam with dignity, your reputation will definitely be better.

But Gui Zai and Zhao Chen are several years older than Yan Shifan, and they should have taken the exam a long time ago. Why did they suddenly have the urge to participate in this supplementary enrollment?

Obviously, Hai Yue was not the only one who had this doubt. When they saw Gui Zai, Zhao Chen and Buzhongyi coming to the gate of the Imperial College and actually starting to wait, everyone's face changed.

No? You guys with this background are also taking the exam?

Doesn't this take up a quota?
Some cautious students rolled their eyes, simply stepped back, and slipped away without even taking the exam.

But after being shocked, more students showed eagerness.

What a great opportunity it would be if I could be admitted to the Imperial College in the same group, become classmates with the son of Lord Gui, and forge a deep friendship with him?

Smoke is coming out of the ancestral grave!
The bravest students even started to come forward and chat, regardless of whether they had the chance to be classmates or not, they just wanted to get to know each other first.

However, Gui Zai seemed to have other things on his mind and responded incoherently. Zhao Chen had a sullen face and ignored him.

Seeing this, Yan Shifan stepped forward to talk to them, his manner gentle and polite, like a spring breeze. However, no one came to talk to him, but to show their faces in front of Gui Zai.

"clang!"

At this wonderful moment, a clapper sounded from Jixian Gate, and the time for supplementary registration had arrived.

“Please!” “Please!”

Everyone politely gave way and finally surrounded Gui Zai as they walked inside. Hai Yue and the other two shook their heads secretly and followed behind, walking in together.

Not far from entering the Imperial College, we saw a wooden sign hanging in front of a courtyard, which stated that ten people were to be expelled, ten people were to be enrolled, and the registration limit was 100.

There are almost a hundred people coming in, which shows that this kind of supplementary enrollment happens every month. Everyone has formed a tacit understanding. Those who know the news will not fight for it, and those who want to fight for it will not get the inside information.

He came to a long desk and began to write down his place of origin, age, name and household registration, just like taking the imperial examination.

The student following Haiyue took a look and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

I originally thought that he was taking advantage of the examiner's preferences and pretending to be a poor scholar to take the exam, but it turned out that he was not pretending, he was a real Lingnan person!

To know such a way, there must be someone guiding him. He should not be underestimated!
A hundred people were not a lot, so the recording was completed quickly. We took the simple test badge and went to the examination room next door.

It is called an examination room, but in fact it is a room inside the Imperial College, with clean windows and neatly arranged desks. There are five examination rooms, with twenty people in each room.

Hai Yue and the other two were walking at the end and registered relatively late. At this time, they discovered that Gui Zai, Zhao Chen and Yan Shifan in front of them did not take the exam with the others, but entered a courtyard.

Lin Daqin asked curiously, "Don't they take the test?"

Hai Rui said calmly, "Of course I took the exam, but not with the rest of us."

Lin Daqin muttered, "It's so unfair..."

Haiyue smiled and said, "We'll give it our all and take the remaining spots!"

It is indeed unfair, but compared with what the future cabinet minister will do, what does this mean?
Among the new nobles of etiquette, Zhang Cong had a very strict family education and was a traditional scholar-official. Gui E and Fang Xianfu might be inferior to him, but his bottom line was much stronger than those who came later.

Therefore, Hai Yue was not angry about the appearance of Gui Zai and the other two. Those who appeared here actually came through the backdoor, and he was no exception. Even if the other party occupied three places, he could just play well and take the rest.

Hai Rui and Lin Daqin also nodded repeatedly, silently encouraging themselves.

When the student took his seat and the test paper came into his hand, Haiyue frowned as he glanced at the questions.

"Sufficient food, sufficient soldiers, the people trust you, and even if you die for them, they will not abandon you - what are the keys to securing the people along the coast?"

"The Imperial College is indeed very difficult!"

This question is a standard example of a splicing of sentences. The first sentence is from "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan", and the second sentence is from "Mencius·The King Hui of Liang, Part 2". It embeds Confucius' three elements of governing a country, "food, soldiers, and trust", and Mencius' people-oriented thought into the topic of coastal defense. It not only tests the ability to understand the classics, but also tests the examinees' thinking. It is a standard example of "using classics to embellish the administration of officials".

It’s worthy of being the Imperial College, the person who sets the questions is really talented!

It is not easy to answer this question well!
"Luckily, I've been studying hard with the future number one scholar these days, otherwise I would have been embarrassed!"

Haiyue looked serious and felt very grateful.

If he had not studied with Lin Daqin during this period and made great progress, and was still in the same exam preparation state as in the Qionshan period, he would have made a fool of himself this time.

You want to seek the most basic fairness, but the result of fairness is that your level is not good enough and you really can't pass the exam. Isn't that ridiculous?

But Haiyue was also a little strange.

With his powerful memory and ability to memorize model essays, he still found it difficult to handle the segmentation questions. Logically, the other students from the capital who were also taking the exam should be even more helpless, right?

But when he took a quick look, he found that some students were staring at the questions in a daze and began to scratch their heads, while other students raised the corners of their mouths and began to write with confidence.

"Is this a leak?"

"That's right, there are cheating cases in the imperial examinations, and it's even more inevitable in the supplementary admissions of the Imperial College!"

"If you can't even pass the entrance exam, how can you compete with other candidates from all over the country and become a Jinshi?"

Haiyue, on the other hand, became more motivated and began to devote herself to answering the questions.

Time passed, and just as he gradually found the rhythm and wrote faster and faster, a shrill scream suddenly floated in from outside the house.

"what--!!!"

There was a shock in the examination room, and everyone was shocked, and there was a commotion.

Not only did the invigilating clerk walk out, some students who were answering the questions even left their seats and looked outside curiously.

Only the candidates in the three seats turned a deaf ear and wrote furiously.

Hai Rui was calm and composed, Lin Daqin was the most dedicated, and Hai Yue was not surprised.

Public security was poor in ancient times, with incidents happening all the time. He practiced martial arts to deal with such situations, so he wouldn't be distracted during exams now.

good chance!
Write, write, write!
So, when the clappers sounded, voices of complaints rang out one after another: "Oh! I haven't finished writing yet..." "What are those ghosts yelling outside? I was so scared that I forgot everything I memorized!" "I bought this for two hundred taels of silver! My father will beat me to death when I get home..." "Ah? You only want two hundred taels? Why do I have three hundred taels?"

Just as Haiyue handed in the paper with a refreshed mind and felt that she had performed well this time, the students who were disturbed outside the venue walked out angrily.

However, the complaints soon ceased, replaced by horror and gossip:

"Someone died over there, Young Master Gui San!"

"Who is the deceased?"

"Whoever it is...something bad has happened!!"

(End of this chapter)