Except for a few exceptions, the rural examination time is basically every three years. The rural examination time is in August of every Zi, Wu, Mao, and You years. The examination venue is Gongyuan in the capital city of each province. It is also called the "provincial examination" because in Held in autumn, it is also called "Autumn Festival". In the third year of the great festival, in the years of Zi, Wu, Mao and You, a large gathering of all the disciples gathered in the provincial capital.
There are two rankings in the imperial examination: A and B. Before the Ming Dynasty, among the 100 people who entered the new examination, 100 or 20 people were ranked on the A ranking, and those who were awarded officials were given priority. In the Ming Dynasty, those who were promoted to Jinshi in the first place were ranked in the A list, also known as "two lists" and "Jia Ke", and those who passed the Zhongxiang examination were ranked in the B list. Those who passed the examination were awarded the title of Juren and could be candidates for official positions, but generally speaking, they were at a lower level. More and more candidates hold teaching positions, and this is how the teachings of government schools and county schools come.
The rural examination has clarified the quotas for each region from the very beginning, which to a certain extent avoided the emergence of regional disputes caused by the uncertainty of quota allocation. During the Hongwu period, the tribute quota of 100 people from north and south Zhili was set, and Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beiping, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Huguang all have 40 people, and Guangxi and Guangdong each have 25 people.
As the number of people taking the examination increased year by year, by the Hongzhi period, the number of candidates for examination in the two Zhili regions increased to 135, and the number of candidates for examination in Fujian increased to 90.
There are more than 3,000 students taking part in the Fujian Provincial Examination this time (the Ming Dynasty stipulated that 25 people were allowed to take the exam for every one quota was lifted. These candidates have been screened, but the actual number of participants will be higher than the quota). The Fujian Provincial Examination There are only ninety people to take the exam. A real army crossing the single-plank bridge has a lower admission rate than the later generations who took the civil service national examination. On the contrary, the admission rate during the general examination was about thirty people to take one. Three thousand people are tested, and a hundred people can advance." Therefore, the saying "Jin Ju Ren Yin Jin Shi" spread.
It was only half a month before the official start of the Lixiang Examination, and most of the scholars who were taking the examination had already gathered in Fuzhou City. That day, after Lun Wenxu arrived in Fuzhou City and settled down, he came to look for him at the address Li Jie had given him before. Upon hearing the notice from the concierge, Li Jie stopped what he was doing and went to the door to greet him.
Lun Wenxu saw Li Jie smiling and said, "After a long separation, it's better to be careful when you come closer."
"Excuse me, senior brother, for my concern. I am doing well lately. I wonder when did senior brother come to the provincial capital?"
"I just arrived today. The master asked me to bring a letter, so I settled down and came over immediately."
While talking, Li Jie introduced Lun Wenxu into the mansion. Along the way, Lun Wenxu marveled at the luxury of the Lin mansion.
After sitting down in the front hall, Lun Wenxu said: "Shenzhi, you have been in the provincial capital for a long time. Do you know who the examiner of this provincial examination is?"
Who the examiner of the rural examination is is a relatively important piece of information for the candidates. If you know who the examiner is, you can figure out the examiner's past writing style in advance. If you can suit his preferences, your chances of getting the exam will increase a little bit. As for who the examiner is, Lin Tixue just sent someone to tell Li the day before yesterday. Jay.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the examiners of rural examinations were appointed by the imperial court except for Zhili areas. In other places, they were selected by the local chief secretaries. However, starting from the Chenghua period, the examiners of rural examinations in some places were also appointed by the imperial court occasionally, but this was not a routine practice. It was not until the Jiajing period that it was clearly stipulated that the imperial court would appoint two people to each province to preside over the provincial examinations. Most of the examiners were from Hanlin.
Li Jie took a sip of tea and then told Lun Wenxu what he knew.
"I just learned from Lin Tixue the day before yesterday that the examiner for this provincial examination was appointed by the imperial court. The examiner who came to Fujian was Zhang Yuanzhen, who was born in the Imperial Academy. He was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Tianshun. Now he lives in Zuochunfang and praises kindness. He is an upright man. Because he couldn't stand the chaos in the court during the Xianzong period, he took advantage of his illness to study at home for nearly 20 years, and he had just recovered from the current emperor."
Lun Wenxu frowned slightly when he heard this. He came from a poor family and did not have many friends and had little information. He had obviously never heard of this examiner and pondered for a moment.
"Shenzhi, do you know anything about this gentleman's academic studies? You know that I usually don't have much information."
"I don't know much about this examiner, but he is very strict in his studies, upright and fair. It shouldn't be difficult for you to show your usual skills and get the exam."
Lun Wenxu's expression relaxed when he heard this. As long as it was fair competition, he was not afraid.
Strictly speaking, the rural examination was the initial stage of the three-level imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty. The selection of officials under the imperial examination system also started from this level. As for the previous county examination, government examination, and college examination, they only allowed scholars to participate in the provincial examination. Just a test.
Therefore, the provincial examination is more stringent than before. The examiners must not only abide by various avoidance systems, but also need to enter the venue in advance. They enter the Gongyuan on the seventh day of the lunar month and are not allowed to contact the outside world. The examiners are divided into inner curtain officers and outer curtain officers. They are the chief examiner, that is, the Beijing official appointed by the court, as well as the room examiner and marking officer. The outer curtain officer mainly manages the affairs of the examination room, such as the monitoring officer, sealing officer, copying officer, search officer, etc. The examination room is closed after the exam begins. The soldiers from the five cities were led by soldiers and horses to patrol, and each province sent troops to station and patrol in sections around it. It can be said that there is no leakage and it is extremely rigorous.
Lun Wenxu took out a letter and handed it to Li Jie and said, "This is the letter that Master asked me to bring."
Li Jie stood up, took the letter and opened it on the spot. In Chen Xianzhang's letter, he first wrote to wish him success in the exams in his hometown, and then asked him to prepare for the exams at home and review the past and learn the new.
If he passes the provincial examination this time and goes to the capital to take part in the February general examination next year, he will pay a visit to his senior brother Liang Chu. Liang Chu is currently working as an editor at the Hanlin Academy. If he encounters any difficulties in the capital, he can be contacted. If the senior brother really can't solve the problem, he goes to his friend Wang Shu, who will give him some encouragement later.
After Li Jie read the letter, he was very grateful for Chen Xianzhang's concern. At the same time, he felt that the teacher had so many friends. In addition to Liu Mansion, the current Chief Minister of Guangdong (later the Minister of the Ministry of War), Wang Shu, the current Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the teacher They have a deep friendship, otherwise I wouldn’t ask myself to go find him if I get in trouble. Next time you have time, you should ask Ma Wensheng if he is also a friend of the teacher. If so, the "Three Gentlemen of Hongzhi" (important ministers of Hongzhi Zhongxing) will be gathered together.
Lun Wenxu saw that Li Jie was silent for a long time after reading the letter, so he asked, "Shenzhi, what's wrong?"
Li Jie just came back to his senses when he heard his senior brother's question, and then smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just feel deeply about my teacher's kindness and think about how to repay my teacher's kindness."
"Yes, my family was so poor that I dropped out of social school, so I could only study behind closed doors at home. If it weren't for the teacher who didn't care about money, not only taught me, but also provided financial support from time to time, I'm afraid I wouldn't be where I am today." Lun Wen recounted As he spoke, his tone was choked with sobs, his eyes were slightly red, and then he let out a long sigh.
"Alas! The teacher's kindness is as great as a mountain. Now the teacher does not value fame or profit. I don't know how to repay him!"
"Senior brother, now we can only repay our master's kindness by carrying forward the Baisha theory and passing it on to future generations, so that the master's name can be passed down through the ages!"
Lun Wenxu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he laughed heartily.
"Okay! You and I will encourage each other!"
Seeing Lun Wenxu leaving, Li Jie decided to calm down and prepare for the exam with all his strength. In the following time, Li Jie stayed at home, except for reading and practicing martial arts. During this period, Gao Sheng came to invite him to attend the cultural gathering, but he did not go. .
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PS: During the Hongzhi period, the quota of rural examinations in other provinces: Zhejiang 90, Henan 65, Sichuan 60, Shandong 60, Shanxi 40, Shaanxi 55, Peiping 40, Jiangxi 95, Huguang 85, Guangxi 55, Guangdong 75, Yunnan 13 (this quota also reflects The more developed the place, the more places there were at that time)
