Chapter 115 115 Waiting

Wei Guangde carefully checked the test paper. This time, he actually had to answer five questions on classics, history, and current affairs. These questions were completely different from the questions Wei Guangde had answered in previous exams, so he had to improvise.

More than half a month ago, Wei Guangde and his eleven classmates boarded two boats dispatched by the Wei Suo and came to Nanchang City to participate in this year's provincial examination.

The provincial examination was divided into three sessions. The first session tested three questions on the meaning of the Four Books and four questions on the meaning of the Five Classics. Each question had more than 300 words, which actually tested the basic skills of the candidates.

The content of the second session was one "discussion" and five "judgments": one from the imperial edict, imperial edict, memorial, and internal department. This was actually to examine whether the candidates had the basic conditions to become officials.

The questions of the third session changed again, and the questions were changed to five questions on classics, history, and current affairs. This could be seen as a test of the candidates' views on maintaining peace and stability.

In order to prevent cheating, the atmosphere in the provincial examination hall was very tense.

Candidates enter the examination room at dawn. Except for their own pens, inkstones, and twelve pages of rough and regular papers, they are not allowed to bring anything else.

A patrol inspector will lead people to search the candidates one by one, from hair, clothes to shoes. If they are found to have smuggled things, they will be immediately expelled from the examination room and disqualified from the examination.

Another difference from the previous examinations is that the three examinations of the provincial examination will not be eliminated. All candidates who participate in the provincial examination must take the entire examination. If they miss one examination, it will be considered that they have given up this examination.

Before coming here, Wei Guangde was still a little worried. After all, many things for this examination were learned at the last minute in Jiujiang Prefecture.

But when he met Zeng Yuanshu in Nanchang City and learned the details of this provincial examination, he was a little relieved.

The examiner of this provincial examination is the same as the examiner of the previous academy examination, the examiner of the provincial education official.

The chief examiner of the provincial examination, at this time, was actually elected by the provincial government, the provincial procuratorate and the provincial inspector, instead of sending officials from the capital directly, or even the imperial academy, to supervise the examination as Wei Guangde had thought before.

According to Zeng Yuanshu, there seemed to be a precedent of sending officials from the capital to supervise the provincial examinations in various provinces in the early years, but it was cancelled by the court after only two visits. It was said that it was related to the etiquette dispute with the examiners.

But no matter who supervised the provincial examinations, Wei Guangde could only take the provincial examinations one by one, and now, the examination he was taking was the third and last one of the provincial examinations.

At this time, the draft had long been thrown aside by Wei Guangde. He was now concentrating on checking the main paper, that is, the answer paper. This answer paper was not ordinary and slightly different from the previous answer papers.

The name, age, place of origin, names of three generations and the original scripture of the examinee should be written at the beginning of the paper. The paper should also be printed and placed in a book by the Jiangxi Provincial Government, attached to the seam with a seal, and the name of the seal official should be printed at the end of the paper with a long seal.

This has a lot more marks than the grid test paper Wei Guangde got before, which also shows that the provincial examination is unusual and far from comparable to the previous exams.

In fact, for Wei Guangde, these are secondary. What he is worried about is that this exam is held in the whole province. In the past six months, he has heard more than once about the strength of the candidates in Nanchang Prefecture and Ji'an Prefecture.

Yes, although he is still very confident in himself, at this time, he has to worry that he can't pass the exams of the candidates in those two places.

I think this is one of the reasons why Zeng Yuanshu is determined to study in Nanchang Prefecture.

When he arrived in Nanchang City, Wei Guangde didn't settle down to prepare for the exam. He was taken out for banquets by Zhu Shilong all day long.

And Zhu Shilong's pomp was also big. Not only did he invite candidates from Jiujiang Prefecture, but also candidates from other prefectures. As long as he met them, he would invite them to the banquet together. He was very embarrassed before this provincial examination.

During the banquet, Wei Guangde came into contact with candidates from various prefectures, and through communication, he also learned some information about the candidates for this provincial examination.

The pass rate of this provincial examination was not high, and nearly two thousand scholars participated in the competition for the ninety-five places.

This was not a big deal. What shocked Wei Guangde the most was that at the banquet, Wei Guangde heard that many "talents of the time" did not come to Nanchang to participate in this provincial examination.

There was a man named Sun Pu from the Sun family in Fengcheng who did not return to Jiangxi to participate in the provincial examination. It was said that because his father was an official in Nanjing, he directly participated in the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture, where there were 135 admission places.

Well, the one who said this was a student from Nanchang Prefecture, and a student from Ji'an Prefecture next to him immediately said that there were many similar candidates in Ji'an Prefecture.

Wang Ning, a scholar from Anfu County, Ji'an Prefecture, was similar to Sun Pu. He went to Huguang with his father, who was an official, and participated in this provincial examination in Huguang.

Wei Guangde sat aside and opened his mouth, but could not say anything.

It seems that they have started fighting again. You people from Nanchang Prefecture saw that Yingtian Prefecture had more places for candidates, so you went there to participate in the local provincial examination, while people from Ji'an Prefecture took the examination in Huguang, which had the same number of candidates as Jiangxi, and was also a major province for the imperial examination.

Well, what else could Wei Guangde say? He immediately bowed to the two men and said, "When you two scholars return to Jiangxi, you must introduce Guangde to them."

"Okay, okay."

Both of them agreed with a smile.

The provincial examination in Jiangxi was too scary. The heroes in their eyes all went to other provinces to grab places for the provincial examination, which shows how fierce the competition in Jiangxi was.

Rubbing his swollen temples, Wei Guangde checked the essays he had already written and was about to hand in the papers.

Although there were three consecutive provincial examinations, the time for the first exam was the tightest, and the time for the next two exams was much better, at least the time was not that tight.

However, Wei Guangde was still a little exhausted because of three consecutive exams. If it weren't for his identity as a time traveler, Wei Guangde felt that there was really no need for him to take the exam. There was really little hope.

So far, Wei Guangde is still full of confidence in his provincial examination this time.

It's nothing else. It was really smooth along the way, and he lived up to his identity as a time traveler.

With the end of this provincial examination, Wei Guangde walked out of the gate of Nanchang Gongyuan with the candidates who left the examination room one after another. This provincial examination was completely over.

At the agreed place outside the Gongyuan, their classmates from Nanchang Prefecture gathered together, and then left the Gongyuan and returned to the inn where they stayed.

Although the weather was hot and humid, soaking in a bathtub filled with hot water to sweat off the tired body and mind was relaxed.

In the following days, all the candidates who came to Nanchang City had no intention of going out for sightseeing or visiting friends. Most of them chose to stay quietly in the inn waiting for the announcement of the provincial examination.

From the Ming Dynasty to now, there has been a mature set of procedures for the academy and provincial examinations, but there has never been a fixed time for the announcement of the results. It is very random and depends entirely on the work schedule of the examiners in the Imperial Academy.

However, the provincial examination is a very important examination after all. The list of provincial examination candidates in each province must be reported to the emperor in the capital for review, so naturally, they are particularly careful, so it takes longer to mark the papers.

In a flash, more than ten days have passed, and time has quietly entered September.