As the ringing of the bell dissipated, a loud sound was heard from the tall building.
"Lock the courtyard door and respectfully invite Wenxing!"
As he said this, there was suddenly a bit of restlessness in the examination room, and all the scholars raised their heads one after another and looked at the high pyramid altar in front of them.
Several figures appeared on the road to the north of the Examination Institute. The one at the front was the sacrificial officer who had just recited the document. Those figures had sharp looks and steady steps.
They slowly ascended the stage and then stood tiered on top of the three-tiered pyramid.
The priest at the bottom took out the statues of Kong Sheng and Zhang Sheng and stood on the four corners of the altar.
The four priests on the second floor took out copper boxes from their arms and placed them on the table above the four corners.
The old man walked all the way up, steadily reaching the top of the altar, and then waved his hand in front of everyone.
A metal copper ball appeared at the highest point of the altar, and it was strangely suspended.
When Song Mu saw this situation, his expression suddenly became solemn.
Song Mu also knew something about the rural examination. Different from the college examination examination room, the examination room here would be blessed by five literary stars.
The four literary stars are no different from the literary stars in the academy examination, but the one at the top of the altar is rumored to be a national treasure. The inner core of the sky star was broken into many pieces, and the capable men refined the literary stars and divided them into many pieces. There are uniform literary stars, one for each province and Tao, used for imperial examinations all over the world.
And after that, the Chang'an examination will be the resonance of the thirteen stars. When it comes to the palace examination, it will be in the imperial city, facing the bright star falling into the sky.
Everyone was looking up at this moment, and their heartbeats could not stop accelerating.
And as the huge copper ball was in place, the old man's robes on the top were suddenly shaken, and then all the priests' robes began to stir, and their literary power surged, pouring into the copper ball box. And go.
The next moment, these copper ball boxes slowly unfolded as if they were alive, and on the altar, various lights began to slowly light up.
The four literary stars were still shining with azure light, but the one on top was shining with fiery red light.
Like the scarlet sunset on the horizon, rays of light burst out in an instant, cleansing the hearts of all readers.
The light even rippled across the examination hall and directly to the people watching the ceremony on the street outside. Everyone looked excited at that moment.
"The star of literature has already appeared, God bless the great writer! Literature will prosper!"
"Provincial examination! The examination begins!"
The old man standing at the top of the altar said in a deep voice to the surrounding students. His voice was like thunder from the sky, ringing in everyone's ears.
Song Mu and others bowed deeply in the examination room, and everyone spoke out at this moment.
"God bless great literature, and literature may prosper!"
The bronze bell in the examination building rang loudly again, and everyone took their seats. Teams of small officials began to appear, walking through each examination circle, distributing paper, ink, pens, and inkstones.
Then, all the test questions on the meaning, poetry, and policy of this exam were distributed.
Three pieces of folded white paper were handed to Song Mu's desk. The little official didn't look sideways and walked to the next examination room. Behind him, two people held a huge sign with the words "First Day" written on it. and began to read aloud.
"The questions on this provincial examination on classics and meaning..."
Many petty officials were walking around the examination hall quickly. They finished reciting the questions three times in front of each examination circle and then left quickly.
Then everything fell silent, and in this world, there was only the sound of the examination papers being stretched and the rustling of writing strokes.
Song Mu first carefully put away the answer sheet, then tidied the desktop, and then unfolded the question first.
The question types were distributed like the college examination. Song Mu took a deep breath and looked at it slowly and carefully.
The first thing that came to mind was the classic meaning questions, of which the interpretation questions and the lyrical questions were fairly clear. Until finally when he got the interception questions, Song Mu suddenly frowned.
"Virtue nourishes the body and cultivates the body, then the Tao will be established and the world will be peaceful."
A very confusing question appeared, but Song Mu was asked to write a long article.
The sun was shining brightly at this moment, and the dazzling light reflected from the pure white paper into Song Mu's eyes, making Song Mu feel a little dazed.
As always, Song Mu did not write immediately, or even study the ink. He just thought about these questions carefully and carefully considered the answers to each question in his mind.
This is a habit that Song Mu gradually developed during his studies in government studies. After drafting the manuscript well, he would feel more confident when writing.
Of course, this also depends on Song Mu's extraordinary memory. The practice of reciting books backwards has allowed Song Mu to make good use of this method.
Song Mu was thinking like this, and planned to finish answering only the scriptures and meanings today.
At the same time, the North Building of the Examination Institute was already filled with officials wearing official robes. Disciples from various prefectures were sitting among them. Academician He Shilin was also among them at the moment, but she was chatting with a short and sturdy man next to her. , a man also wearing official robes spoke.
Although the man didn't look strong, he had a fierce look on his face, and even a sense of self-reliance and self-reliance, which was no less impressive than He Shilin's.
The other instructors were all restrained at this moment, and they even looked at the two people talking with a bit of submissiveness.
"Brother Guangyuan is here, which makes He a little surprised. After all, he heard that he joined the military but he is obsessed with official duties."
"He Laoyan is serious. Although Wang holds an important position, he is here to inspect the examination room for the governor, so he must do his best."
"But Mr. He is here to take charge. I came here today just to watch the excitement and feel happy at the same time."
Facing He Shilin's somewhat stern face, the short and stocky man smiled broadly, and there was some humor in his words.
This short and stocky man is the newly appointed military official of Jiangnan West Road, Wang Ye.
Although he has only been in office for just over a year, he has worked hard to improve military discipline, and cooperated with the governor to fight against monsters several times. It can be said that he has made great achievements.
Although he is an official, he is a ruthless character who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He is only willing to show power but not kindness.
But in private, he is somewhat humble, which makes people confused about his temperament.
No one said anything, but at that time a small official bowed upstairs and spoke to He Shilin.
"Sir, all examination affairs have been verified. Please verify."
Hearing this sentence, He Shilin immediately took the booklet handed over by the other party and flipped through it. At this moment, there was an extra smile on his face.
"Haha, Mr. Wang, there are 4,172 candidates for the provincial examination this year, which is the highest number in decades."
He Shilin said this and handed the booklet in his hand to the other party. Wang also took it and looked at it with a smile on his face.
"This year, the Governor, in order to strengthen the army, asked a group of military talents from the Eastern Border Army to take the exam, but I see that there have been a lot more students from various prefectures in the past few years."
"It seems that my writing style in Jiangnan West Road is indeed better. At this rate, it may not take long to compare with that of Fujian."
He Shilin nodded with satisfaction, and Wang Ye smiled and spoke again.
"It seems that the talents taking these exams this year are quite different. I heard that most of them are extremely talented. For example, Yi Xuesheng from Xunyang Mansion was quite talkative at first and his words were astonishing."
"There are also outstanding students from various prefectures. This year, there may be many visions and red lights surging."
He Shilin nodded happily after hearing these words.
"Of course they have some literary talents, but whether they can write good articles depends on their performance."
Saying this, Wang Ye suddenly sighed, and then suddenly said to He Shilin with some fun.
"Speaking of this provincial examination, apart from a few students from our Yuzhang provincial capital, the one I got to know first was Song Mu from Jizhou Prefecture."
"Oh? Would you like to hear the details?"
He Shilin was a little surprised when he heard Song Mu's name coming from Wang Ye's mouth.
And Wang Ye was not embarrassed at the moment and said.
…(To be continued)
