I have to say that An Dongjun is right. The county examination is only the first examination of the imperial examination. There are hundreds of thousands of people taking the exam, and only thirty people are ranked.
So many heroes from the county have to fight again in the government examination. The winners will then be eliminated in the provincial examination. How many of them can finally stand in the Wenhua Palace and enjoy the royal wine given by the emperor?
In the end, who can stay in Beijing and become a Beijing official?
Any scholar in Qinghe County might not be able to understand An Dongjun’s counterattack in his hometown dialect, but Zhao Cheng could understand it, and he also replied in Korean: “Neijia Isaac Aji! "It means: There must be me!"
Zhao Cheng counterattacked An Dongjun's words in Korean, which meant that he should not underestimate the scholars of Qinghe County. A good background can only give you a foundation, but it cannot help you go higher and higher. In the end, people still have to rely on themselves.
An Dongjun originally just yelled out a vent, and didn't expect anyone to understand. Unexpectedly, he heard Korean dialect.
He was stunned for a moment, then said with great joy: "Are you also from Korea?"
This is probably the so-called fellow villager meeting a fellow villager, with tears streaming down his face.
Living in a foreign land and suffering from cold looks, An Dongjun felt that it would be so kind to meet a fellow countryman.
Zhao Cheng waved his hand: "I am not Korean, I just happen to know a few Korean words."
Although he was not a fellow countryman, he could not resist the feeling that An Dongjun had found one of his own. He hurriedly took a few steps to catch up with Zhao Cheng and said, "My name is An Dongjun, from Longquan, and I am Korean. What about you?"
Zhao Cheng raised his hand and said, "Zhao Cheng, a native of Qinghe County, is also a scholar who participated in this county examination."
An Dongjun quickly handed over his hand as a gift: "Hello, Brother Zhao. It is really my blessing to have the honor to meet Brother Zhao."
Being rejected by all the scholars, An Dongjun felt a huge sense of loneliness. Finally, he found Zhao Cheng, who could speak Korean, and naturally felt a sense of closeness.
Zhao Cheng was a little surprised: "Weren't you still very sad just now?"
An Dongjun laughed and said, "But after meeting Brother Zhao, I immediately became happy!"
Zhao Cheng shook his head helplessly. Although An Dongjun was a bit crazy, he seemed okay. He vented his anger in his hometown dialect by saying something like "Don't bully young people who are poor." He didn't say anything unpleasant, so he said nothing to this guy. The look and feel is pretty good.
On the way back to the city, An Dongjun seemed to have opened up a chatterbox and talked non-stop. Before entering the city gate, he had already told almost all the details about his family.
An Dongjun's father was a Goryeo military officer who followed the current emperor to quell the rebellion. Because of his contribution to quelling the rebellion, he was specially allowed to be naturalized in Longquan County.
Therefore, he can be regarded as a military heir. An Dongjun has been interested in leading soldiers in war since he was a child. However, because his father is Korean, if he takes the military path, there is not much room for advancement.
There were not many soldiers and horses stationed in Shangjing, and An Dongjun was not a Goryeo noble. He had no support and followers from his tribe. If he wanted to lead the army, he could only climb up the ranks of the Han people.
An Dongjun's father knew how difficult it was, so he simply let his son take a literary career. Originally, in the peaceful and prosperous times, culture was emphasized and martial arts was suppressed. After the Three Kings Rebellion was settled, the world gradually stabilized, and martial arts may not have a future.
Therefore, Anton Juncai obtained permission from the county magistrate through his father's connections and returned to Qinghe County to take the county examination.
After Zhao Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but sigh: "How pitiful the hearts of parents in the world are."
It can be seen that whether in ancient times or in later generations, parents work very hard for the future of their children.
He patted An Dongjun on the shoulder: "Work hard, otherwise how can you have the face to go back and face your parents?"
An Dongjun's nose felt sour and tears almost fell out. This was the first time he had been encouraged in this way since he came to Qinghe County. He shouted at Zhao Cheng's back: "Brother Zhao, I will never let you down." ! I won’t let you down!”
Except for An Dongjun, who is secretly cheering, which scholar taking the exam has not been working hard these days? Although the county examination is held once a year, once you fail, you will fall into deep self-denial.
Some people have been taking exams since childhood and are still taking county and government exams when they are in their 50s and 60s. They want to get the status of "township tribute" but can't get it.
Even Zhao Cheng himself is not one of all living beings? They are also working hard for the identity of "township tribute".
Amid the nervous anticipation of many scholars, the county examination finally began.
Before the official examination, Magistrate Pan of Qinghe County first issued an announcement, which was posted on the wall at the yamen gate by the yamen officials, announcing the time and location of this year's Qinghe County examination, as well as the list of candidates and examination numbers.
After the number of candidates for the examination is determined, the identities of the candidates need to be verified to make sure that there are no criminal offenders and that there are no candidates from other prefectures and counties who meet the conditions for this county examination. Only then will the list be reported to the Education Office, and then the list will be The edict was reported to the county magistrate.
Every scholar who can take the exam has a recommender, and Zhao Cheng's recommender is naturally Zheng Yucheng.
The examination room was set up in the county school, not far from the Yamen. As early as a month ago, the county school had been emptied and cleaned to ensure that all rats would starve to death.
However, the examination room was not set up in the house, because the room was not big enough and it was easy for people to talk to each other. Instead, it was set up in the front yard and the backyard. The yard of the county school was relatively spacious, and there was a small square table about ten steps away. , each person has a table, enter at dawn and hand in at sunset.
Examination times have been extremely strict since ancient times. Those who entered the exam room at dawn would queue up outside the county school at midnight. The weather in early spring, when there was no sun, was still so cold that people shivered, but many scholars Even though they were shivering from the cold, no one complained.
Zhao Cheng didn't know the exact time of this "dawn", so he could only bring cushions, exam numbers, pens and inkstones, water, food, and an extra duck down jacket to keep out the cold.
Because cotton was probably introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty, and Dachen replaced the original Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms after the Tang Dynasty, so this time point should be earlier than the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Although there was no cotton, the common people at this time had a lot of clothing to keep out the cold. In addition to clothing made of fur, there were winter coats filled with duck down. Of course, poor people also used reed catkins.
Carrying his pen, inkstone, kettle and other household items, Zhao Cheng couldn't help but yawn. It was still dark and there were people all around. Everyone tried to talk in a low voice, but when there were more people, the noise was still very loud.
After waiting for about two-quarters of an hour, or about half an hour, I suddenly heard the sound of a clapper, and then the government officials holding torches began to maintain order and let the candidates line up. Then the body search began and the admission began.
Zhao Cheng arrived late, so his position was relatively far back, but fortunately the body search was faster. The officials did not search hair or even soles too strictly, but the clothes must be untied and inspected.
